Mankind so by propagation al Mankind proceds out of one and as that sin overspreads the whol Man so both parts being infected must needs be propagated Again as this sin is seated specialy in the Soul so 't is chiefly propagated according to Natures cours Hence three points rest to be proved 1. That original sin passeth only by propagation as Scriptures universaly testify By one man death passed upon al becaus al sinned in him and 't is imputed to his Posterity becaus al were in him as the Root or Stock and al descend out of him so his sin becoms ours both by imputation and propagation but by the first becaus of the last For 't is not anothers sin imputed which is not ours but that made ours by propagation actualy which before was only potentialy This is cleer by the Antithesis between the first and secund Adam as in one al dy so in Christ shal al be made aliv The one being Root of Mankind in whom al are by Nature the other Head of the Elect in whom they are al by Grace Such then are deceived as deem Adams sin only imputed like Christs righteousnes sith this last is the Creators voluntary Institution and work of meer Mercy but the first a necessary operation of the Creature and work of Justice So the Antithesis holds tru thus As in Christ we fulfilled the Law suffered death and attained salvation being members of his Body by Grace So in Adam we eat the forbiden fruit becam Satans bondslaves and were in state of damnation being al members of his Body by Nature So Christ derivs his righteousnes to his Children by spiritual regeneration as Adam did his sin to al Men by natural generation Ergo as Christs righteousnes is not imputed but by means of regeneration wherby we becom members of his Body So Adams sin cannot be imputed but by generation wherby we descend from him as his members If Adams sin be simply imputed becaus we are Men as he was who received or lost for himself and al Mankind then must it be imputed to Christ as Man so wel as to us which is not so for our sinning in him and being sinfully propagated from him makes us liable which Christ was not becaus sanctified in the womb by the holy Ghost at first conception but al els derived from him and his sin to us through one anothers loins 2. Original sin cannot be propagated unles the whol Man and both Parts be which necessarily flows from the premisses for except the whol Man descends from him the whol cannot be infected sith neither Soul nor Body alone is the subject of sin but the Person Or if the whol be not the subject 't is not properly sinful The Law likewise is given to the whol and the Person punished or rewarded 3. The whol Man cannot be propagated unles the Soul be sith the whol consists of its parts To say the Soul coms from Adam quoad existentiam unionem non quoad essentiam is sly Sophistry not real or rational for then Man contributs but the worst part not the whol nor half Nor is it tru that Adam is caus of the union but rather God if he creats the Soul Nor if the Soul be infused can any tel how long time after conception during which space the Woman works alone But if the whol Man be said properly to proced from Adam becaus the body doth much more may it be verified to com from God becaus the Soul doth so the union rather to be ascribed to God as the noblest suprem Agent then to Man the baser and inferior If then the whol Man and both parts be not propagated it results that we were in Adam wherin we are not viz. the Person that we sinned in him without that without which he could not sin viz. the Soul That the whol Man was in Adam yet never cam from him That we lost in him which we never had of him viz. original righteousnes That he shal stil be ful of Souls which he never had That the whol person proceds from him yet not that which makes the whol 4. Christs Soul was not created but his whol Humanity taken from the Virgin for his birth life death are curiosly and circumstantialy recorded by the Evangelists but no Soul creation which they would not omit being so pregnant a proof that he was without sin if it was created pure Nor is any Souls creation since Adams specified in Scripture Christ is caled the seed of the Woman and Davids seed according to the flesh which imports the whol Humanity as opposed to his Deity but if his Soul was created the imputation of Adams sin to al Men must be likewise lâ—able to him as Man Ad hereto That the Soul and Body as 't is in al others were conceived at once for the divine Nature being immediatly united to the Soul and by it to the Body the Soul must be produced in the moment of conception with the Body or els the Deity was first united to a brute Body which is brutish to imagin The truth is his Soul being united with the Body into one Nature at first conception becam one Person with the eternal Word by a miraculous working of the holy Ghost who purified the Womb that the Birth becam exempt from sin So his whol Humanity Soul and Body was deduced from Adam and separated from the Virgin by the holy Ghost But a Soul cannot be produced by Natures ordinary cours no more then a Body without concurrence of both Sexes Souls yet being performed by supernatural power 't is a tru Soul and so is the Body both which joined in one Person make a perfect Man as Eve was a very Woman though taken out of Man and Christ tru Man taken only out of Woman For in Mans quadruple production â—â— a duple concordance Adam made immediatly by God without Man or Woman Eve mediatly out of Man without Woman Christ immediatly out of Woman without Man but al els mediatly by both 'T is said the holy Ghost sanctified part of the Virgins substance assumed by the Godhead to make Christs Person which terms are tru if wel understood For by part of hir substance is meant the whol Nature or both parts not Body only whereof his Humanity was framed By sanctifying is not meant clensing that portion from sin but consecrating it to that holy purpos indowing it with gifts fit for so divine union yet was it free from sin or rather never sinful by reason of this union For al substances were created exceeding good and depend immediatly on God Nor is sin essential to Mans Nature but accidental cleaving to the person by Adams fal and not properly in the substance of Human Nature Nor are evil actions or affections stiled simply sinful but the Man sith sin consists not in any pravity of matter but in the corrupt Wil or intent of the dooer Nor is ther any Law to punish parts or substances
we hav no power to doc good or pleas God without his grace preventing us that we may hav a good wil and working when we hav that wil. Article 11. We are accompted righteous before God only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith not for our own works or deservings which is a most wholsom doctrin very ful of comfort Article 12. Albeit works which are fruits of Faith and follow justification cannot put away our sins and endure the severity of Gods judgement yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ and doo spring necessarily from a tru lifely Faith insomuch that by them a lifely Faith may be so evidently known as a Tree discerned by the fruit Article 13. Works doon before the Grace of Christ and justification of his Spirit are not pleasant to God for as much as they spring not from Faith in Jesus Christ nor doo they make men meet to receiv Grace or as School-writers say deserv Grace of congruity yea rather becaus they are not doon as God hath willed and commanded to be doon we doubt not but they hav the nature of sin Article 14. Voluntary works over and abov Gods Commandements caled works of supererogation cannot be taught without arrogance and impiety for by them men declare they doo not only render to God so much as they are bound to doo for themselfs but doo more for his sake then of duty is required which shal transcend to sav others wheras Christ saith plainly When yee hav doon al which is commanded say we be unprofitable servants Article 15. Christ in truth of our Nature is made like to us in al things except only sin from which he was cleerly void both in Life and Spirit he is the Lamb without spot who by sacrifice of himself once made took away the sins of the World and no sin as saint John saith was in him but we although baptised and born again yet offend in many things and if we say we hav no sin we deceiv our selfs and no truth remains in us Article 16. Not every deadly sin willingly committed after Baptism is sin against the holy Ghost and unpardonable wherfore the grant of Repentance may not be denied to such as fal into Sin after Bâ—ptism After we hav received the holy Ghost we may depart from Grace given and fal into sin and by Gods grace we may rise again and â—mend our lifes therfore they are to be condemned which say they can sin no more so long as they liv here being once justified or deny place of forgivnes to such as truly repent Article 17. Predestination to life is Gods everlasting purpos wherby before the worlds foundation he constantly decreed by his Counsil secret to us to deliver from curs and damnation thos whom he hath chosen in Christ out of mankind and to bring them by Christ to everlasting Salvation as vessels made to honor Therfore they which are induâ—d with so excellent a benefit be caled according to Gods purpos by his Spirit working in du season they through Grace obey the caling are justified freely made sons of God by Adoption like the Image of his only begotten Son Jesus Christ walk Religiously in good works and at length by Gods mercy attain everlasting felicity as the godly consideration of Predestination and Election in Christ is ful of sweet pleasant unspeakable comfort to godly persons and such as feel the working of Christs Spirit mortifying the works of the flesh and their earthly members and drawing up their minds to high Heavenly things aswel becaus it doth greatly establish and confirm their faith of eternal Salvation to be enjoied by Christ as bicaus it fervently kindles their lov toward God so for curious carnal persons lacking his Spirit to hav the Sentence of Gods Predestination continualy before their eys is a most dangerous downfal wherby the Devil thrusts them into desperation or rechlesnes of most unclean living no less perilous then despair Farthermore we must receiv Gods promises as they be generaly set forth in holy Scripture and that wil of God is to be folowed in our doings which is expresly declared to us in his word Article 18. They are also to be had accursed who presum that every man shal be saved by the Law or Sect which he professeth so that he be devour and diligent to frame his life according to that Law and Light of Nature for holy Scripture sets out unto us only the name of Jesus Christ wherby we must be saved Article 19. Christs visible Church is a congregation of faithful men in which Gods Word is purely preached and Sacraments duly administred according to Christs Ordinance in al things of necessity râ—qu sit to the same As the Church of Jâ—â—usalem Alexandria and Antioch hav erred so hath that of Rome not only in their living and matter of Ceremonies but also in many matters of Faith Article 20. The Church hath power to decree Rites or Ceremonies and authority in controversies of Faith yet is it not lawful for the Church to ordain any thing contrary to Gods Word nor may it so expound any place of Scripture that it be repugnant to another wherfore tho the Church be a witnes and Keeper of holy writ yet as it may not decree any thing against the same so ought it not to enforce any thing besid it as an Article to be beleeved for necessity of Salvation Article 21. General Councils may not be gathered without command and wil of Princes when they are gathered being but an Assembly of men and al not guided by the Spirit and Word of God they may er and som times hav erred in matters pertaining to God Wherfore things ordained by them as necessary to Salvation hav neither strength nor authority unles it may be declared that they are taken out of holy Scripture Article 22. The Romish Doctrins touching Purgatory Pardons Worshipping both Images and Reliques and Invocation of Saints is a fond thing vainly invented and grounded on no warranty of Scripture but rather repugnant to Gods word Article 23. It is not lawfull for any man to undertake the office of public Preaching or ministring the Sacraments before he be lawfully caled and sent to execut the same such we ought to judg lawfully caled and sent which be chosen or caled to this work by men that hav public authority given them in the Congregation to cal and send ministers or laborers into the Lord's Vineyard Article 24. 'T is flatly repugnant to Gods word and primitiv Churches practis to hav public Praier or Sacraments ministred in a toung not understood of the People Article 25. Sacraments ordained by Christ be not only baâ—ges or tokens of Christian mens profession but rather sure witnesses and effectual signs of Grace and Gods good will toward us by which he works invisibly in us and not only quicken but also strengthen and confirm our faith in him There be two Sacraments ordained by
Humanity becaus when the Body is prepared God hath decreed to infuse a Rational Soul This is soon said gratis but by what warrant or wher doth it appear that God so decreed Repl. Flesh animat is Mans whol Nature not inanimat Ergo the Flesh which he assumed had a Rational Soul at first conception Sol. Som say that Flesh was potentialy animat to be indowed with a Soul in du time Others which hold Soul-creation at conception grant it was actualy animat But as she is caled Mother of God in regard of the Hypostatic union though he had only his Humanity from hir So Parents may be said to beget the whol Man in relation to the union which God hath decreed in du time though they beget only the bodily part apt and apparated to entertain the Soul which sufficeth for denomination Repl. The reason reacheâ—h not right sith Men are Parents to Children becaus the whol Nature is derived from them as Christs Humanity was from the Virgin but she is stiled Deiparent not in respect of his Deity which depends not on hir but for the said hypostatic union of both Natures in one Person having his humanity intirely from hir Ergo the Godhead shal be better tied to his whol Manhood by Traduction of both parts then barely to cloth him with inanimat Flesh Beside she is caled Mother of God for the hypostatic union actualy in being but Parents are said to beget a whol Man in regard of the union to com Sol. He had his whol Humanity from hir in maner foreshewed For when the Body is accomplished and accommoded the Soul shal be necessarily instilled or infused in du time which is al that can be answered in this point of the whol Humanity derived from Parents Ob. The Womans seed shal break the Serpents head but Christ fulfilled this promiss and prophecy chiefly in Soul which descended into Hel to lead Captivity captiv and bind the strong Man in his own Kingdom as his body triumphed over Death in his dominion the Grave by his tridual Resurrection for how is he the Womans seed unless he had his whol Humanity from hir Or how can the Body break the Serpents head Or how could this victory be atchieved if his Soul had not descended Ergo he assumed his Soul also from the Woman by the Holy Ghosts cooperation Sol. Divers Divines deny Christs descent into Hel in Soul but that may rest in debat sith it concerns not the production sav only to shew that by it he brok the Serpents head Touching the promiss and prophecy it was performed principaly by his Soul or rather person and that derived potentialy or preparativly from the Woman in manner foretold but primitivly and actualy from God the Creator or Infuser Ob. To bind up sundry bunches of sour Grapes in one bundle If the Soul be created pure how can it be defiled in an instant by inanimat flesh not capable of sin Or why doth God cast his own workmanship into a stinking Prison purposly to be polluted Or how can a spiritual substance be stained by a material mass specialy sith sin inheres soly in the Soul which is primarily guilty by willing or consenting and the Body only in obeying the one activly as efficient the other passivly as Instrument Upon this ground of the Soul created pure and in capacity to be polluted by lifeless flesh Pelagius built his branded Teneâ— That Children are born free from original sin And S. Austin seeking to crush this Cockatrice in the Eg like such as bow or bend a stick back to bring it right broched another error That al dying unbaptized are infallibly damned or deprived of Beatific vision being liable to the lack or loss of Heavenly happines though not to the pain of Hellish torments whence be is stiled durus Infantum Pater Lastly our Protoparents personal sin becam like sap derived from the root participatly ours not by imputation as Zanchy contests but by tru inhesion infecting the whol Nature which hereditary corruption or conâ—agion is contracted linealy from Parents loins Ergo the Soul as seat source and subject is ex Traduce Sol. This Gordian knot many hav essaied few extricated or cut it asunder like Alexander who shadow it with a vele of windy words but no real resolution Som say the seed is stained ex traduce which like levan sours the whol lump and the Soul supervening receivs stain from it as new Must put into a musty cask which the best Divines disclaim For ther can be no proper physical action of material upon immaterial and the Soul shal be polluted passivly only which sufficeth not to make it guilty unless it be a voluntary Agent yea the similitud halts for ther the Vessel taints the Wine here the Soul was first soiled and principal efficient ther both be material here the chiefest spiritual nor can inanimat flesh be capable of sin before it hath a Soul Zanchy and others hold That as Christs righteousnes so Adams guiltines is ours imputativly only but Natures corruption insuing a just punishment by divine Decree Out alas this sin is a lepry cleaving clos to the flesh and consequently corrupting our whol Nature or els could not beget and bring forth such a serpentin spawn of actual sins Peter Moulin professeth plainly that the Soul is not vitiated by the Body for to incarcerat an innocent Creature his own operature in a plaguy Bridewel purposly to be infected repugns Gods Justice and Goodness but sin being a spiritual vice of the Wil first seizeth the Soul before the Body becoms accessary as Adam first sinned in Wil and Consent yer he stretched his hand to touch or cast so sin passeth from the Soul to the Body not contrarily For the maner of spreading He saith God creats the Soul spotless but destitut of supernatural light which Man lost by his fal hence flows or folows perversnes of Wil purblindnes of Mind and proclivnes to al evil even from inordinat self lov not guided by metaphysical illumination and the temper of Body doth much incens or increas this contagion according to every complexion yet are not humors the causes but incentivs to sin nor doo impress or imprint on the Soul but only incline it therto Quot homines tot sensus so many men so many minds but al driven to sundry shifts how sin can be propagated without traduction of the Soul which being granted wil soon satisfy al scruples Repl. This last devise being newest takes best but is scars soundest for sin is an effect of natural corruption which is more then a defect of supernatural illumination and a positiv depravation of Wil far beyond deprivation of Grace Man indeed lost metaphysical light by his fal yet if our Souls be created spotless they must at first infusion be sinless so al the doubts rest intire how they can so suddenly contract this hereditary pollution diffused over our whol Nature unless the Soul bring that stain with it for
we are for lorn before born being conceived in sin or at least infected in the Womb Ergo Traduction which salvs al scruples and is subject to none is the safer Tenet nor can God otherwise be cleered from being Author of sin for if he creats it pure why did he decree to pollut it presently sith he coula hinder it Al which inormities with the like are voided by Tradaction Sol. Let it serv or suffice for answer That Gods Wil was so to dispose it and who can comptrol it But to shun an inconvenience and run into an evident exploded error is a remedy wors then the Malady To answer the last branch first God decreed to make Man a freewild Creature ad utrumlibet yet imposed a command to try his obedience and foreknew he would prevaricat but determined to permit or not prohibit it which was his Wil so to doo If any ask why he willed not to hinder it sith Qui malum non prohibet cum possit praecipit either by forbearing the Command or by inabling man to keep it or by refraining to creat more Souls for Hel as if he delighted to torture his Creatures S. Paul checks such curious Inquisitors with an Interrogation O man Who art thou that pleadest Rom. 9. 20. with God Who hath known the Lords mind or bin his Counsiler O the depth of the riches of his Wisdom and knowledg how Rom. 11. 33 34. insearchable are his Judgments and his ways past finding out but stil just in al his waies and holy in al his works as David sings Touching the rest 'T is tru that sin is a spiritual vice of the Soul or Wil not of Body sav passivly or organicaly only which stains the Soul at instant of infusion by subtraction of spiritual light wherof being destitut it precipitats into al evil for the Sun is not Author of darknes but light yet by withdrawing his rais induceth darknes So God is no Author of Sin but Grace yet by with-holding his Spirit sin instantly folows in a depraved Soul so saith S. Austin God hardned Pharaohs heart not by impressing of obstinacy but suppressing of Grace howbeit the maner how the Soul is so soon infected and the Body by it is inscrutable and known only to the Father of Lights which is a free confession in this Case But to say it was his Wil to creat every Soul pure to be presently polluted is more then can be warranted by his reveled Wil in the Word For it presupposeth a Postulatum to be granted that Mans Soul is created pure and instantly contracts sin though the manner utterly unknown For upshot the Traductists can better shift the scruple of Immortality then Infusiasts salv or solv that of original sin yet may they not claim the Laurel of Victory sith Verity lies in obscurity Arduares haec est sic sub Judice lis fit This thing is hard and high So in suspence let it ly Thus the Infusiastists Arguments and Replies are 25. so are the Traductists Objections and Replications equal in number with the Answers of ech part to the other but which are the most ponderous or prevalent let the learned Readers judg indifferently and impartialy between both The sum of the Traductists Tenets is That God ceased from Summary of both sides al Creatific Works both Specifical and Individual Compounds and principal Parts being al his Workmanship the seventh day That he gav Man a benediction to multiply like other Animals which beget their own Souls but theirs mortal becaus first formed of the corruptible Chaos and his immortal as being breathed or infused immediatly by God that his Soul by that blessing had a priviledg or dower to produce a like immortal essence though not existing by it self but in a mortal Body That an Animific virtu is conveied with the Spirits of Parents seed to beget or build up a Soul as light diffuseth light That this Soul is the seat of sin being a spiritual vice of the Wil as the Body is the subject of material accidents but Man the denominativ or predicativ subject of both their qualities That this sin is propagated from our first Parents by explicit or implicit Covenant to al their Posterity with the Soul which is produced successivly from Parents Souls with the same stain of sin The Orthodox opinion is fixed on the foundations That as God primarily inspired Adams Soul and afterward Eves so he jugialy creats every Individual That the new-made Soul instantly at infusion whether at conception or quickning acquires the guilt of our Protoparents sin but the maner how inscrutable and inexplicable That this generical sin folows Soul-creating by accident becaus God gav Adam Free-wil to stand or fal for himself and al his Of-spring having predecreed to creat a number of Souls to be infused into Bodies in du times That though God be the Souls sole Archiplast yet Parents properly beget totum Hominem non totum Hominis in regard of preparing the matter or mansion by the Formativ Faculty whence the union necessarily insues by divine decree That Man begets Man becaus he supplies one part intire and concurs to the union though not essence or existence of the other That Mans Soul is not generated as Beasts which perish with them but hav a sublimer origin from the Father of Spirits and shal liv for ever Lastly That this Soul though created pure is at the instant of union guilty of original sin not by imputation but inherent corruption S. Austin Bishop of Hippo durst not presum to decide the debate both parts being so probable But Doctor Goodman In a Treaâ—â—â— of Mans fal lat Bishop of Glocester assums to attone them by a motly moderation that the Soul is both created and generated for God concurs in mans production being to becom his Son by adoption yet every one is not so and Man cooperats by the ordinary way of propagation so in respect of God 't is Creation which implies a beginning different from Natures cours but in respect of Man a usual generation so 't is created ex Traduce in respect of God and procreated ex Traduce by Man thus he This mixt mungrel action obveled in a mist of words is a mystery beyond common capacity and the terms contradictory tho shadowed w th the word Respect For how can one thing be both created and procreated Or how can Creation be ex Traduce the phrase plainly imports that the Soul proceds ex Traduce from Parents though in respect of Gods concurrence as universal Agent it may be caled extraducal creation So let it pass for a rare peece of new coined Logico-Philosophico-Theology But the two forecited Opinions rely on real principles though very dubitable and disputable Six Questions are previously agitated 1. What Seed is 2. What a Soul is 3. Whether it be material 4. How it attains knowledg 5. How many are in Man 6. Whether it be created or generated which last is barely debated
or discussed not boldly decided or determined Spiritus an jugiter genitus sit five creatus Quim Deus infudit lis violenta manet Whether Mans Soul which God breath'd and created Be stil infus'd or bred 't is much debated In dubio lis est an Mens ex Traduce nata Aliter Sit cujusque Hominis sive creata magis 'T is doubt whether ech Mans Soul be generated From Parents Souls or rather by God created Particula in nobis divinae Spiritus aurae Alias Quaeriter an genitus sive creatus inest The Soul 's in us a Part by God inspired Whether begot or creat 't is inquired Nescit Homo an sua mens generetur sive creetur Secus Se tamen ostentat noscere cuncta miser Poor Man knows not if's Soul be bred or moulded Yet boasts that he hath al things els unfolded Appendix Additionalis An additional Appendix THe ensuing Theory is taken mostly from Mr. Henry Woolnots Treatis intituled The tru original of Mans Soul which is brifly extracted God hath a duple voice one speaking in Scriptures which is his written word of Grace another in the Preamble Creatures which is his wrought Word of Nature For as Natural Works are his ordinary power and miraculous extraordinary so Nature is his ordinary Voice and divine Oracles extraordinary What God spake in his Word he hath wrought in the World whos Words and Works agree for secret things belong to him but reveled to us and our Children Wher he hath no toung to speak we may not hav an ear to hear nor heart to inquire but as Creatures we must submit to our Creator and as Christians beleev wher reason cannot reach Now to the Question The Rational Soul whether produced immediatly from Thesis God or mediatly by Man is of immortal Nature yet stained with our first Parents first sin by propagation but how can we know how 't is made before it be in being sith we cannot conceiv what it is being made For though we know 't is a spiritual substance realy subsisting in a Body yet what maner of metaphysical matter 't is made of none knows No marvel then if we be ignorant of the origin which is harder to explore For 't is spiritual and such are difficiler to discern or disquire then corporals subject to sens specialy sith ours is an incomplet Spirit or part of a Creature Man being composed of a mortal Body and immortal Soul the one indued with senses to receiv al corporeal Images the other furnished with a faculty of Reason which from thos Images draws discurses and consequents wherby it gets knowledg of causes and effects wherof Sens is incapable Hence it happens that when we discurs of spiritual Natures which transcend Sens we are put out of our usual way and wander as half lost in incertainty without any exact knowledg to content the Mind Whatever excellences be in inferior Natures are much more perfectly in superiors as thos of other Animals more eminent in Man chiefly in his Soul thos of his Soul more conspicuous in Angels and al perfections of al most trascendent in God So the knowledg of inferior Natures is comprehended in superior but not contrarily Nor can any sav God who hath no superior know it self purely or properly but only by reflexion as the Ey which sees al things cannot behold it self sav in a Glass Nor can we know our own Soul but as 't is shewed in a myrrhour of the Works and as by it we know other things so by them we hav a glimps of it To omit several Opinions of Pagan Philosophers and Christian Opinions Heretics The orthodox jointly agree that Mans Soul is either immediatly created by God or mediatly generated by Man both which are bipartit In point of Creation Hilary with others hold it to be formed without the Body and then infused But the general Tenet is that 't is created and infused in the Body which runs most current So for propagation Som suppose it a corporeal substance and begot in bodily maner which is generaly exploded Others hold it spiritual so produced like light from light which was the mind of most Western Doctors but S. Austin and Eucherius stood in suspens between both inclining chiefly to Creation The case is very dubious and difficil For how can Spiritual substances beget one another If it be daily created of nothing how can it stand with Gods rest from farther creating or his setled cours of al things to multiply their Kinds 't is a silly shâ—ft to say That he rests from creating new Kinds and Compounds but not from Individuals or principal Parts for the words imply no such limitation nor any place els in Scripture so 't is spoken gratis without warrant and a bare begging of the Question or meer fiction for they grant it tru in al things els except only this their own exception which they obtrud without reason when Moses makes it general of al Gods Works A greater obstacle occurs how it can stand with original sins propagation This made the Pelagians and Anabaptists who hold Soul-creation to deny ther is any such sin sav by imitation yea divers Divines seeing the absurdities arising therhence assert Traduction This makes the cheif Patrons of Creation stagger who decline it as a curious Question sith they cannot giv sufficient satisfaction exhorting to Faith beyond Reason and forbid farther disquisition for if the Soul flow immediatly from God how is it defiled being created sinless the Body cannot doo it being drawn into sin by it Nor can this contagion com from the union sith that is Gods Work who wil not put a Soul in it self simply good and his own workmanship into an unclean Vessel purposly to make it guilty of death and damnation for anothers fault shal not the judg of the World doo right 't is a poor position that 't is created in infusing and infused in creating which is al one as to say 't is made in marring and marred in making Nor is it safe to say God so willed or decreed sith it cannot be proved and being unjust is justly disproved It stands not with his Justice that Adams sin should be imputed to us or reputed ours sav as 't is our own by sinning potentialy in him as the root nor is it ours by imputation sav only in respect to propagation but inhesion for if we were simply sinless as a new created Soul is his sin cannot justly hurt us God may punish al for Adams sin yet not soly for it sith he saith The Son shal not bear the Fathers iniquity Ezek. 18. 2â— but becaus by his sin they becam sinful or rather sinned in him they are justly punished for their own sin so propagation is the sole source of original corruption Now if we receiv the worst part only from Adam which is not the subject of sin sith not the parts but whol Person sinned How can a Man
Image Life Knowledg of good and il liberty of Wil in Natural Moral and Civil things Conscience accusing or excusing are stil left after the fal which though given at Creation and so belong to Nature yet to retain them is of Grace both by giving capacity to contract or Covenant and to be a beginning of his restauration but sith thes alone be not able to rais him or recover righteousnes or keep the new Covenant by his old remains God being no hard Task-master or Covenant maker supplies by his Spirit what is farther needful to keep it sith none is bound to impossibilities Upon this keeping the new Covenant depends the eternal Bliss or bale and wo of every Man which he must obediently observ 10 Caling 10. Dispensation of the Covenant by Caling which is a proclaming therof from time to time by preaching the Word els it would soon be forsaken forgoten and slighted This S. Paul Rom. 8. 30. conjoins with Predestinating as he puts Prescience before it which is defined to be a revelation or proclamation of the Gospel Covenant injoining repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ promising remission of sins and life eternal to al that obey It consists of two essential parts or divine acts to make one complet work of Vocation viz. the extern preaching of the Word wherto belong Sacraments Blessings Corrections and intern operation of the Spirit accompanying or assisting the outer means This Caling hath bin dispensed diversly by Gods Wisdom and good Pleasure according to the difference of Times 1. In the old Testament before Christs coming as an outward means and measure of the Spirits operation with effects sutable to both When the bounds were narrower the Word obscurer the Sacraments more mysterious the Spirit more sparing and obedience slenderer then under the new Testament for from Adam to the Confusion of Toungs the caling was universal being al one language under the righteous Patriarchs But afterward God permitting Men which forsook their Religious Ps 147. 19 26. Fathers to walk their own waies renewed his Caling or Covenant with Abram and his Seed contracting the bounds Eph. 2. 12. of his Church The Gentils then were al under wrath and Satan without God in the World Aliens from the Covenant of Promiss For as the Church excommunicats ungodly persons so God excluds unworthy Nations for many generations to punish their ingratitud and contempt of his Word or to make future Ages cleav faster to him by default of former being left to themselfs The mystery of whos Judgments why he one while shuts out Gentils admitting the Jews another extruds the Jews receiving the Gentils is admirable and inscrutable Rom. 11. 25. 33 But why he left al to Covenant with Abram and his Seed no reason can be rendred sav only his free Grace not of Works but Rom 9. 10 11. of him that caleth 2. Under the new Testament after Christs coming which outwardly hath the Word and Sacraments exhibiting Christ with his benefits more cleerly And inwardly more abundant measure of the Spirit intended to multituds of Nations with greater fruits of mens conversion then under the old Testament This is termed the caling of the Gentils when Jews were shut out til their time shal com Here Gods Judgments are to be admired why he witholds from the Jews his inward illumining Spirit and softning Grace which he grants to Gentils keeping stil his word or outer Caling from many Nations which never heard of Christ no more then the old Heathen But we that be under the Grace of Gods caling must be more thankful for it and more careful that it be not conferred in vain upon us Divers Divines make Caling duple 1. Outward of the Word only common to Reprobats and never obeied with truth of heart being ineffectual 2. Inward of the Spirit joined with the Word peculiar to the Elect and never disobeied which is effectual This is not orthodox sith ther is but one Caling both of the Word and Spirit as Body and Soul which is effectual in it self to al under it but if it fail the fault is in the Caled which obey it not For the Spirit goes not so with the Word as to make Man perform what he can by natural strength sith 't is given to help Natures failings but to keep it waking and attentiv So if the Spirit be not present with the Word to som 't is becaus they are not present to it through their stupid supine security Nor is the concurrence of Word and Spirit natural necessary or inseparable but free or arbitrary in Gods good pleasure For as Grace is annexed to the Sacraments so is it to the Word by divine ordinance Hence the Church before Sermons prais for the Spirits illumining power to concur with the Word which God expects he should ask who is to pray for himself and others Another defect why the Spirit doth not stil work with the Word is when 't is not duly and diligently asked Som also are past Grace given to Reprobat sens to whom the Spirit is not present with the Word for former contempt or neglect in their Visitation when God caled who now givs them up to blindnes and hardnes holding back the light of his Spirit and dew of Grace from the Word preached in their hearing though Men know them not in particular and so admit al. We must distinguish betwen the word Caling Persons Caled and operations of the Spirit with the Word in them The Word is duple 1. The Law which hath two parts viz. the 1 The Law Precepts to accuse or convince and the Curs for al transgressors therof to wound or kil The Persons Caled by Gods Minister using the Law are al natural unregenerat sinners or Regenerats relapsed into grievous sins who are either ignorant of their evil estate to whom Law-precepts must be preached to make them know their sin or know it but are secure and sensless of their carnal condition and to such the curs must be denounced The Spirits operations on thes by Laws ministry are to open their eyes and prick their hearts with fear of the Curs which effects the Spirit with the letter of the Law ordinarily produceth by working on thos remains of light left in the mind and of Conscience accusing which works are wrought in many Reprobats who hav som initial parts of Grace as Papists grant 2. The Gospel which hath a Precept to repent of sin shewed 2 Gospel by the Law and beleev in Christ who givs life wher the Law-Curs killeth with a Promiss of sins remission and eternal life Acts 2 38 39. to al that repent and beleev The Persons caled in the words of the Gospel are al sorts of sinners but convict terrified wounded Mat. 11. 28. ful of compunction and self-condemning wrought by the Spirit in preaching the Law The Spirits operations on such by the Gospels ministry are to open their eyes to see
the light of Gods marvellous mercy toward sinners of Christs infinit lov in dying for them the inestimable merits of his death the powerful Gifts Graces and aids of the holy Ghost To pour into sinners hearts hope which shal stay them from desperat sinning To inspire the Grace of praier that they may escape the wrath to com and receiv Gods favor to beget repentance and work Faith that they rely wholy on him and cast themselfs into the arms of his goodnes to be saved by him Thes Graces the holy Ghost is stil ready to work by the Gospel in a repentant sinner humbled and prepared by the Law for what proportion of power the Spirit had in the Law on Unregenerats to humble them the same it hath in the Gospel on the humbled to work hope and infer the other Graces of Praier Repentance Faith Justification Mortification Vivification and new Obedience Howbeit if the Spirit is not present in preaching the Law to giv Unregenerats strength of new obedience becaus 't is present to convince and condemn their wickednes Nor is it present in preaching the Gospel to one not yet penitent or beleeving to giv new obedience or work Peace Joy and Lov as it doth in Beleevers for such degrees com not per saltum The sum is Gods Spirit is annexed to his Word for such Gifts and operations as the hearer is a fit disposed subject to receiv for God works by order of things antecedent or preparativ which if they find no admission the subsequent are suspended Hence coms the frequent just separation of the Spirit by the word by the great Pastor of Souls who sercheth the heart and renes To prov this point that Gods Word in the Law and Gospel is perfect and powerful to convert Souls read Psal 9. 7. Joh. 17. 17. Joh. 20. 21. 2 Cor. 3. 8. Heb. 4 12. wher the Gospel is caled the ministration of the Spirit not of the Letter becaus it givs what it commands but the Law commands and givs no help for the Law was given by Moses not hearts to receiv it Joh. 1. 17. but Grace and Truth cam by Jesus Christ saith S. John To prov that Caling is al one to them that obey not and obey Christs words are cleer Many are caled but few chosen Here Mat. 22. 14. two sorts are specified som caled but not chosen and som caled and chosen of thos many yet the Caling one of both which is not by the outward Word alone for by it none are chosen but by the Word and Spirit in common So the few chosen excelled not in number or Caling but in obeying when the rest refused as the Sun hardens clay and melts wax Christ saith The Ninivets shal rise in judgment with this generation Mat. 12. 41. and condemn it If Jonas preached without the Spirit how did they repent If Jesus preached without it how is he greater then Jonas If refusers be not al equaly caled how can Ninivets rise in Judgment they can answer we were not caled like you by Gods voice speaking to the heart but by Mans barely to the ear If God had excited us as he did you we would repent as you did The Jews exemple confirms the same being yet uncaled not becaus they liv without the Gospels sound sith they convers scatterdly with Christians and may hear Sermons or read Scriptures but becaus they persist obdurat and reject the illumining softning Spirit often offered therfore the distinction of Caling into outward ineffectual and inward effectual is fals or frivolous Bare preaching may be a commanding like the Law not a Caling as the Gospel for God may stil require obedience as a natural duty sith he created Man able but becaus the new Covenant cals Men to Faith and Repentance being unable to rise or recover of themselfs it were a mock and no cal to say turn repent beleev and liv unles som Grace be prepared to doo it The effect of this Caling is ascribed to one caus chefly the Spirits operation yet ther be mo and if any fails the effect fals for obedience to Gods Caling is an act of Mans wil under aid of the Spirit which is oft refused or resisted and Grace offered in vain sith God doth not cross the cours of the secund Causes established at first It also makes Gods Covenant differ from al other in which no party performs al but ech a part for himself wheras here God is made to perform al pacts and promises for both who only undertakes to make his conditions feasible and afford his help so far as is needful as Isaiah intimats For 't is not safe to rely soly on Isai 59. 21. Gods absolut Wil as if we were tied to nothing or to gul our selfs as if God required nothing of us For this Covenant of Grace hath som conditions for Man to fulfil which by Gods universal Grace he is able to doo as shal be shewed 11. Conversion of a Sinner which is the end of Gods Caling 11 Conversion Men by the Word is the obedience of him that is Caled for he must hear and obey els no conversion The terms a Quo ad Quem are from Satans power to God viz. in his mind from darknes to light in wil from Idols to serv the living God Acts 26. 18. and in his whol life from unrighteousnes to holines This conversion is duple 1. When a natural Man is regenerat and made a Member of Gods Church as the Gentils being Aliens were converted 2. When a Regenerat faling into sin returns 1 Thes 1. 9 Acts 1â— 3. by repentance as Peter being converted after his Apâ—stasy was bid strengthen his Brethren The prime principal Caus of Luke 22. 32. Lam. 5. 21. conversion is Gods holy Spirit working on a sinners heart both at beginning middle and end The ordinary instrumental is the word preached the adjuvant means are the cross that chastens Jer. 31. 18. blessings which draw or allure others praiers and exemples of Men already converted The main scruple is what part a sinner to be converted bears in it being a living rational subject whether he be Activ or meerly Passiv whether he can further or hinder it whether supposing two equaly Caled one may be converted and not the other if so whether it riseth from God or Man 12. Gods Grace is al that proceds from him of free favour 12 Free Grace universal tending to a sinners salvation wherby is not meant the remains of Nature as som light of Reason sens of Conscience though thes by Grace were left after the Fal nor the Law describing the righteousnes of Works though the Preacher of Grace useth it to prepare a sinner for Christ nor the bare outward Word of the Gospel though cal'd the Word of Grace becaus internal Grace goes with it but only the inward illuminations teachings tractions motions operations inspirations and gifts of the holy Ghost merited by Christ for
as he makes unable to beleev 4. It oppugns Gods truth and sincerity who is a God of truth without any fraud or falshood See Deut. 32. 4. 1 Sam. 15. 9. John 14. 6. Rom. 3. 4. God lovs thos that are tru of heart and hates Hypocrits with his heart but absolut Reprobation makes him a Lier and Dissembler sith he openly injoins such to repent and beleev whom he secretly intends shal not so doo S. Peter saith Repent and be baptized every one and ye shal receiv the gift of the holy Ghost for to you and Acts 2. 38 39. your Children is the promiss made He makes the Precept and Promiss of equal extent both universal for the one is a motiv of obedience to the other Every one even Reprobats is perswaded he is under the gracious offer of eternal life or els would not strive so much to leav som bosom sins or doo hard duties but by this Tenet most of thos to whom God offers Grace and Glory shal attain neither as Piscator pronounceth Zanchy saith Every one caled ought to think he is elected els he accuseth God of lying So saith Bucer A Man must beleev he is predestinat or els makes God to mock when he caleth Thus they seem sollicitous that others shal not make God a mocker yet they doo it most of al. For if a Creditor resolvs to let his Debtor rot in prison yet shal profer promiss yea and swear to remit al the debt upon certain conditions which he bars him to fulfil would we not reput him a rank deluder or dissembler 'T is easy to apply it Al divine comminations are as Caveats to avoid the evil threatned but if Mens perdition be peremptorily predecreed it cannot possibly be prevented which is plain delusion yea his passionat wishes that al wil repent and be saved are colorable collusions See Deut. 5. 29. Ps 81. 11. Isai 48. 18. So are his mournful expostulations See Isai 5. 3. Jer. 2. 31 32. Ezek. 33. 11. Yea his melting commiserations wil al seem but as Absolons feast Joabs congee Judas kiss or the Crocodiles and Hyaenas tears for in al he saith one thing and means another Nay the whol ministry is meer mockery without tru meaning For God seems thus to speak by his Ministers O Reprobats once dearly loved in your Father Adam now implacably hated by mine own irrevocable decree and sealed up under invincible sin to damnation repent and beleev in my Son if you wil be saved I would not hav you dy nor any to perish but al com to repentance If your sins be red as Scarlet I wil make them whit as Wool I hav cried and caled that you might be converted I hav long waited and knock'd at the dore of your Hearts for entrance O that you had a Heart to fear me and keep my Commandments that it might go wel with you for ever Can God speak thus if he decrees they shal not beleev or repent or be saved without deep dissimulation Or why doth he delude them to use the means in vain 'T is said God willeth or wisheth their salvation seriously A Defens yet not absolutly but on condition if they repent and beleev Ergo tho they perish God is sincere This shift fals too short God wil hav al saved conditionaly if they beleev and repent as S. Austin saith He would hav al Answer saved if they selfs wil for if he would absolutly who can hinder his irresistible Wil 'T is tru that a conditional promiss may be serious so wel as an absolut but then the condition must be possible in his power to whom 't is made and the performance according to the promisers Wil or liking els it cannot be candid or current For to offer a courtesy under impossible condition is frivolous or fucatious as if one should offer mony to a blind Man on condition he wil tel what coin 't is which is al one as to deny an alms nay in som sort wors sith 't is a denial with delusion and derision or a meer mockery The case is the same in the pretended decree of Reprobation 3. 'T is contrary to the use and end of Gods good gifts 3. Reason both of Nature as Creation Preservation Health Strength Wisdom and of Grace which are means either to purchas salvation as Christs coming to be a sacrifice on the Cross or Acts 14 16 17. to apply it as the Ministry of the Word and Sacraments Gods long suffering the inlightning of Mens understandings with many mo for God bestows the gifts of Nature to incourage Acts 17. 26. 27. and inable Men to serv him and sav their own Souls as S. Paul shews Prosper saith Every Creature is made or ordained specialy that Mankind might by sight of them and tast of so many blessings be drawn to lov and serv God So he confers the gifts of Grace to the same end For Christ cam into the John 3. 17. John 12. 47. World not to be a rock of Offens at which most Men should stumble or fal but to shed his blood for the salvation of al even thos who for their wilful infidelity and impenitence are not saved Christ saith the Son of Man cam to seek and sav what Luke 19 10. was lost Ergo to sav every particular S. Peter saith God having Acts 3. 26. raised up his Son Jesus sent him to bless you and turn every one from his iniquity Ergo the end of his coming was to sav al and every Man so wel thos that reject as thos that receiv him Yea the Ministry of the Word is appointed for the same use as an Instrument to convey the Spirit of regeneration unto al that liv under it See Isai 59. 21. 2 Cor. 3. 6. 2 Cor. 5. 19 20. Titus 2. 11. 1 Pet. 1. 23. Prosper saith Al such as say that al to whom the Gospel is preached even thos that obey it not are not caled to Grace they utter untruth which he provs by Isai 5. 2. Mat. 23 37. John 5. 34 40. Touching the end of Sacraments see Marc 1. 4. Acts 2. 38. Rom. 6. 3. Gal. 3. 27. Eph. 5. 26. Titus 3. 5. To the same end is Gods patience and long suffering exercised among Men to work out their repentance and salvation See Rom. 2. 4. 2 Pet. 3. 9. Wher both Apostles declare that God forbears Sinners even such as despise the riches of his Goodnes purposly that they may repent and be saved becaus he would hav none perish Gods other gifts knowledg faith fortitud repentance temperance humility chastity are bestowed on Men that they may attain life eternal for Reprobats are indued with many of them See Mat. 13. 20. Heb. 6. 4. Heb. 10. 26 29. 2 Pet. 2. 20. Al which Graces are not given to abuse them or to doo others good and not themselfs but that they may obtain salvation Som Scriptures seem to oppose this as wher 't is said God reveled
reveled in his holy Word 7. Their clashing contradiction is a plenary confutaâ—son for som say no mixtils or Animats shal subsist but only Câ—lical bodies and two Elements yet can shew no caus or colour why they rather then the rest or how the world shal be more glorious being as a bare house unfurnished and unhabited sith variety makes it Mundus or comly som that al creatures shal be restored so wel as men yet know not how to stow them as two were of ech kind in the Aâ—c in the world unles they fain it of infinit capacity som that such only shal be reserved as are extant at last day that is good luck and bad as al the world is now ruled for why they rather then the rest sith al shal be incinerated so wel as thos already corrupted som that none now or then existent are capable of restitution or resurrection but new shal be formed of rare kinds like thos in the Lunar world to serv the Saints in a new material world to com Touching this Earth som say it shal be refined like gold in the fire and bettered or beautified tenfold for the Saints mutual commerce som that it shal be a mansion for such as neither deserv Heaven for their good deeds nor Hel for hainous crimes som that it shal be the habitation of unbaptized Infants which they hold better then Saint Austins dark dungeon Thes are al carnal conceipts or ungrounded unwarranted Phantasms sith the kingdom of Heaven is stiled the Seat of blessed Spirits wher they shal reside as in their proper place of perpetual possession not as an Inn to lodg in for a space and at last leav it for ever nor shal they hav a City hous and country Grange to remov from Heaven to Earth at pleasures as som sottishly surmise but shal enjoy a Heavenly habitation and beatific Vision for their eternal inheritance which wil be no boot to change for an Earthly mansion though they should enjoy Christs personal presence to boot which they also hav stil in Heaven Most Greec Fathers with many Latin assert annihilation Authorities Hilari saith this Heaven caled Firmament shal pass away and not be but that invisible wherin God dwels abides for ever Clement fains his Master Saint Peter to tel Simon Magus that ther be two Heavens one superior increat eternal wher blessed Spirits inhabit another inferior visible studded with stars which at last day shal be abolished Saint Jerom saith thos two Fathers Opinion was most approved as cohering with Saint Pauls saying The things seen are temporal but thos not seen 2 Cor. 4. 18. eternal meaning that al Visibles shal perish to nothing but invisibles abide for ever in infinity Dr. Hakewil cites sundry late L. 6 Apol. sub â—â—nem Protestant Professors as Patrons of annillation viz. Luther Melancthon Bucer Beroaldus Bartolinus Vorstius Junius Rivet Hunnius Tilenus Cassanius Meisnerus Polanus Martinius Brentius Wollebius Gerard Arnobius Frantzius and others whos pregnant testimonies to that purpose he produceth worthy of exact perusal which to recit or capitulat consorts not with my affected brevity who must hasten to answer the Ronovators and Substitutors Arguments Ob. Saint Peter saith The Heavens must contain Christ til the Acts 3. 19 21. times of refreshing and restitution of al things which God hath spoken by al his holy Prophets Ergo al shal be restored Sol. The Syriac Interpreter renders it til the end of al times or worlds consummation but the times of restitution or refreshing signify the complement of our Redemption for as Calvin comments becaus our restitution or redemption is yet imperfect while we grone under the bond of bondage we shal be restored to liberty at last day when 't is perfected but speaks nothing of the Worlds renovation after 't is burnt nor can it be wiredrawn or wrested to any such construction if rightly sensed Ob. David saith God laid the Earths foundations that it Ps 104. 5. shâ—uld not be removed for ever So Salomon One generation passeth and another coms but the Earth abides for ever Ergo Eccles 1. 4. shal not be annilled Sol. Thes places are stifly urgd against the Earths diurnal motion with more color then to oppugn abolition yet truly against neither for the intention is that by Natures cours it is laid to remain for ever without decay or diminution in the whol like other elements had not God decreed to dissolv it but the parts of them al are subject to jugial alteration and corruption the word for ever is so long as Time or the World lasts so caled in comparison of mans mortal condition as circumcision is stiled perpetual Repl. The Lord saith Lo I creat new Heavens and Earth Isai 6â—â—7 Rev. 21. 1. for the former shal not be remembred So Saint John cals them new for the first passed away and ther was no more Sea so Saint Peter The Heavens shal pass away with a nois and Elements 2 Pet 3 10. 13. melt with heat but we look for new Heavens and Earth Ergo being burnt they shal be refined and renovated or new created and substituted but not al utterly abolished or annulled Sol. See how partial Sectists are it was pressed last that the Earth abides for ever now that it shal be renewed or a new surrogated but truth lies in the kernel of genuin sens not in the shel of words surely they are not meant literaly of material Heavens and Earth or if they be it tends rather to annillation then restitution oâ— substitution for Isai saith The former shal com in mind no more Saint John They passed away and there was no more Sea Saint Peter The Heavens shal pass away with a nois and Elements melt with heat how then renewed such as constru to perish pass away be no more c. of the worlds instauration or melioration and not of annihilation must answer wher in Grammar 't is so taken for in Philosophy and Theology renovation diametraly differs from destruction Beza applies Isais alleged words to the Churches State or Christs kingdom which also alluds to the Saints condition in Heavenly Jerusalem as Saint Johns immediat ensuing words import I saw the holy City new Jerusalem Rev 21. 2. coming from God prepared as a Bride trimmed for her husband which intimats their continual cohabitation or hir eternal Mansion with God hir Bridegroom So Saint John and Peter by new Heavens intend the Saints glory in new Jerusalem with God or the Lamb and not any material new Heavens as al authentic Authors expound Rep. Isaiah saith The Moons light shal be as the Sun and Isai 30. 26. Suns sevenfold as of seven dais Ergo at last day al things shal be perfected in far greater glory not totaly abolished to be no more Sol. The Prophet speaks Mysticaly and Metaphoricaly as oft elswher of the Church under Christ which he cals a new Heaven and Earth as the new Heavens
but the chief charms are reserved for the Children to be Baptised as appeers in their Ceremonies The like are used in Mariage Visitation of the Sick extrem Unction consecrations of Churches and Church-yards to expel Phantasms Faieries and imaginary Spirits al which belong to the Kingdom of Darknes being effects of our natural ignorance Another error is from misinterpreting the words eternal Life everlasting Death and secund Death of which three in order Adam had an estate to liv for ever not by nature in himself Eternal Life or any part of his but by eating the Tree of Life which he had leav to doo so long as he obeied God but was thrust out of Paradise so soon as he sinned lest he should feed theron and liv for ever Now Christs death is a discharge of sin and restitution of Life eternal to al the faithful who beleev in him and to them only Yet the general doctrin of Divines is that every Man hath eternal life by nature of his immortal Soul so that the flaming Sword at entrance of Paradise may hinder him from tasting the Tree of Life but not from immortality which God bereaved Nor shal he need Christs sacrifice for recovery of the same sith not only the faithful or righteous but the wicked and Heathen shal enjoy eternal Life without Death much less a secund everlasting death To salv or shadow this they say by secund everlasting Death is meant a secund everlasting Life but Torments which is a figure never used sav in this very case Is not secund Death an eternal being both of Body and Quaere Soul in Hel-fire under Satan This tenet of the Souls immortality is founded on som obscure places of the new Testament which yet in a different sens of his own mint are cleer enough and unnecessary to Christian Faith For suppose when a Man dies nothing remains but his Carcas cannot God who made clay a living Creature by his word rais it again by another word Yes but not to the same life which vanished to nothing wheras the Soul being immortal persists identical Soul in Scripture stil signifies either Life or a Living Creature and Body jointly with Soul a Body alife As God saith Let the Waters produce Reptile animae viventis the creeping thing with a living Soul we translat that hath life Again God created Whales omnem animam viventem in English every living Creature but of Man God made him of dust and breathed in his face the spiracle or breath of life factus est Homo in animam viventem and Gen. 8. 21. Man was made a living Creature So God said when Noah cam out of the Arc I wil no more smite omnem animam viventem Deut 12. 23. every living Creature Eat not the Blood for 't is the Soul or Life But if Soul signified a substance immortal existing after separation from the Body it may be said of any other Animal so wel as Man Is it said of any other that God having made the Body of Quaere Earth breathed into his face spiraculum Vitae the Spirit of Life Which al interpreters expound of creating and infusing the Soul together He goes on the Souls or Lifes of the Faithful which being accidents that annihilated when the Bodies died must be new made are by Gods special Grace not of their own Nature to remain in their raised Bodies for ever after Judgment Wher 't is said in the new Testament that any shal be cast Body and Soul as if they were distinct Quaere parts into Hel-fire it imports Body and Life how can Life be cast being a bare accident That they shal be cast alife into Rev. 19 v. 20. Gehenna So 't is said The Beast and fals Prophet were both cast alife into a Lake of fire burning with Brimstone This dark doctrin of the Souls subsistence after separation opens a sluce to let in the superstitious superstructures of Purgatory and Indulgences Ghosts or Goblins and Exorcisms invocating of Saints yea Heaven and Hel too with som others For Men before Christs coming being taught from the Greecs Demonology that Mens Souls were distinct substances which after separation must subsist somwher by their own Nature the Doctors of the Church long doubted wher they resided til the general Resurrection supposing they lay under the Altars but finding that Martyrs Souls of them slain for Gods word if they hav Souls why not others Quae c. Lay under the Altar the Church of Rome for their profit Rev. 6 9. erected Purgatory Surely they doo al for profit to maintain their pomp pride power and prodigality Beza to prov Gods Kingdom began at Christs Resurrection Mat. 16. 28. and continues stil urgeth his words Verily I say to you som of them which stand here shal not tast of death til they hav seen Mat. 16. 28. Marc 9. 1. Luk. 9. 37. Gods Kingdom com with power Ergo either Gods Kingdom cam shortly after and is now in this World or els som then standing by Christ are yet alife Sol. This is a darke difficil place which provs nothing necessarily but if Gods Kingdom began at Christs Resurrection why doo we stil pray thy Kingdom com Therfore 't is not meant therof Yea after his Resurrection the Apostles asked Wilt thou now restore the Kingdom of Israel He answered 'T is not for you to know the time or season which the Father hath put in his own power but ye shal receiv power by the holy Ghosts coming on you and shal be my Witnesses in Jerusalem in al Judea and utmost part of the Earth So he told them his Kingdom was not com nor shal they foreknow when 't is to com Christ said to Peter of John If I wil that he tarry Joâ—n â—1 v. 22. til I com what is that to thee Which bred a beleef that he should not dy yet the truth of it was neither confirmed nor confuted by thos words but left as a dark saying and so must this Howbeit sith Christs transfiguration is the next Act handled by al three Evangelists haply he cals that Gods Kingdom which som ther should see being a representation or vision of his glory and Majesty as he shal com in his Kingdom which cannot be proved to begin til the day of Judgment Wher is it proved that any terren Kingdom shal commence Quaeâ—e then Then shal the Faithful rise with glorious spiritual Bodies inlifened and becom Christs Subjects in his Kingdom wher they shal not eat drink marry as they did in their natural Bodies but liv happily in their individual Persons for ever The elect then alife shal be suddenly changed and their Bodies made spiritualy immortal but Reprobats shal rise to receiv punishment yet not eternaly in their individual Persons nor can any place prov it As after the Resurrection the Elect shal be restored to Adams estate before he fel so Reprobats shal be in the
certain Philosophia prima on which al other ought to depend consisting chiefly in right limiting the fignifications of most universal names or appellations to avoid ambiguity or equivocation in reasoning Such are caled Definitions as of Body Time Place Matter Form Essence Subject Substance Accident Act Power Finit Infinit Quantity Quality Motion Action Passion c. necessary to explane a mans conceptions concerning the Nature and Generation of Bodies which Theory is termed Metaphysics Thes mixd with Scripture to make School Divinity teach that ther be certain Essences abstract or separat from Bodies caled substantial Forms for interpreting which Jargon take these solid grounds 1. The univers or Mass of al created things is corporal or an aggregat Body having the Dimensions length bredth depth of maâ—nitud so is every part of it a Body with like dimensions but what is not Body is no part of it and consequently Nothing or No wher becaus the univers is al in al. Yet it follows not that Spirits are Nothing or No wher sith they hav dimensions though commonly caled incorporeal 2. Of Words som are the names of things conceived as of al Bodies in the World som names of Ideas Images and Imaginations of things which we see or remember as Definition Affirmation Negation Syllogism Interrogation Promiss Covenant and other forms of Speech som names of names or several sorts of speech as Universal Plural Singular som to shew the dependance or repugnance of one name to another as when 't is said a Man is a Body being but several names of the same thing Man by coupling them together with the word is in Latin est which signify their consequence and may be expresd by placing two names in order without est or is if it were the custom But what then wil becom of thos terms Entity Essence Essential derived from it with many mo depending on them as commonly applied so they are no names of things but signs which notify how we conceiv the consequence of one Name or Attribut to another as when we say a Man is a living Body we mean not that the Man is one thing a living Body another and Is or Being a third but that Man and living Body is one thing becaus the consequence is tru being signified by the word Is so to be a Body walk speak see and lik Infinitivs which signify just the same are the names of just Nothing 3. This doctrin of separated Essences built on Aristotles vain Philosophy frights men with empty names as Birds are scared from Corn with a bare doublet hat and crooked stick from obeying the Laws of their Country for hence 't is inferred that a Mans Soul or Lâ—f can walk after death and is seen among Graves that the figure color and tast of bread hath being ther wher they say is no Bread but Christs Body that Faith Wisdom and other spiritual Virtues are somtime poured into a Man somtime blown from Heaven which beleefs lessen Subjects dependance on Soveraign power for who wil obey his Country Laws if he expects obedience to be blown into him or who wil not obey a Pâ—irst that can make God rather then his Soveraign or God or who that fears Ghosts wil not honor such as can make holy water to chase them away This Error of separated Essences draws on divers other absurdities for if thos forms be real they must hav som place but becaus they hold them incorporeal they doo not but only invisible sans dimension and Place must be filled with corporals they are driven to devise a ridiculous distinction that they are in place Definitive non circumscriptive when circumscription is the defining or determining of a thing to its place and so both terms of their distinction are the same Touching Mans Essence Soul they say 't is al in the whol and al in every part who wil swalow such gudgeons or beleev thes gulleries Yet they must who beleev the real existence of a Soul or Spirit separat from the Body If it be asked how a Soul can be tormented with fire being incorporeal They only say it cannot be known how fire can burn Souls Sith motion is change of place proper only to Bodies they are troubled to resolv how a Soul can go hence to Heaven Hel or Purgatory without a Body Or Mens Ghosts with Cloths can walk by night Haply 't is definitive non circumscriptive or spiritualy not corporaly and temporaly Are not inanimats compounds consisting of two constiâ—ntiv Quaere parts matter and form which last distinguisheth one kind from another as a Stone from Iron And are not animats so differenced by their several specifical Souls as a Man Mous Marygold If it be said they differ in external shape of Body which is sufficient how doo we differ from Mairmen in shape not at al sav only in rational Souls which they hav not nor any use of Reason more then brute Beasts Much more may be alledged 4. For eternity they wil not hav it an endless succession of time for then they can render no reason how Gods Wil or Decrees to com should not be before his Prescience of the same as an efficient caus before the effect or Agent before the action but a standing stil of the present caled in Schools Nunc stans which they nor any els understand more then they can Hic stans for an infinit immensity of place or the like Wheras we hold a Body having many parts to hav many places for them they teach that by Gods Almighty power one may be in many places or many in one at once as if it were a magnifying of Divine power to say that which is is not or that which has bin hath not bin Such incongruities with many mo Men fal into who disputing Philosophicaly of divine nature in stead of admiring or adoring it heap absurdities one upon another Of Physics or natural Philosophy they render no secundary Physics subordinat causes of events but empty words if ye ask why som Bodies sink down to Earth and others ascend They say from Aristotle 't is through heavines if ye ask what heavines is they say an endevor tending to the Earths Center or to be below is not this like a Horsin a Mâ—â— to say Bodies ascend or descend becaus they doo They say 't is becaus the Center is a resting place for al heavy things wher they desire to be as if stupid inanimats can discern the place they aim at or desire rest like animals or a peece of Glass were less safe in a window then faling to ground If yâ— ask why the same Body without adding or subtracting seems somtime greater somtime lesser They say it only seems so being ratified or condensed as if ther can be matter which hath not a determined quantity and one Body greater then another or as tho a Body were made without any quantity and more or less of it put in afterward to appeer more or less dens
worth In Arts Wit and Learning to set it forth No one Mans Ey tho sharp and sound al doth see Many known things you know yet retractant be Postscripta subjuncta Postscripts subnected MAn's Soul at first Creation on the sixth day was infused 1 Thesis or breathed into Adam by God a Living Rational Intellectual Spirit distinct from the Body Invisible Immaterial Immortal having a power dower or faculty by his general blessing of Increas and multiply to beget a substance like Light from Light endued with the same qualities of intellect Rationality and Immortality as al other Creaturs doo in their several kinds God can doo no wrong nor ly nor sin being contrary to 2 Thesis his Nature who is Essentialy and Abstractly Justice Verity and Goodnes it self Al that he doth is just but to say 't is al just becaus he doth it is a pure error for Justice is a cardinal Moral virtu the same to God and Man by Nature nor can God make an unjust act just becaus he doth it A Pope in Consistory having denounced Fiatur which a Cardinal whispered was fals Latin broke forth furiously into thes words in contemptum omnium Grammaticorum Fiatur 'T is not so with God who wil not make an unjust thing just nor untruth truth but if he should Reprobat Men of meer free pleasure by absolut irrespectiv Decree to shew his power Soveraignty or Dominion over al his Creatures it were a flat unjust act which al the water in Thamis cannot wash whit becaus he did it but to make Man a free Creature able to stand or fal and foreseing in his simple intelligence who wil embrace the means ordained by him for salvation and who refuse or resist his Grace to elect the one and reject or Reprobat the other is tru Justice mixd with Mercy which is al that God doth in his Decrees of Election and Reprobation Before Kings converted to Christianity the Apostles held 3 Thesis al Ecclesiastic power in their hands and after them such as they ordained to succed who appointed others subordinat caled Elders to preach the Gospel by imposition of hands which imports a giving of the holy Ghost or Spirit of God inabling them with gifts fitting to discharge that office as Moses laid his hands on Josisa being to succed him Now the Divine Trinity Mr. Hobbs in Unity is that the Person of God was represented by Moses and the high Priests in the old Testament but by Christ during his abode on Earth and by his Apostles with their lawful Successors ever since The holy Spirit wherby the Apostles spake is God the son who represented his Father is God and Man but the Father as represented by Moses and the high Priests is the same God Hence thos terms Father Son holy Ghost or Spirit are never used for God in the old Testament becaus they be Persons denomined of representing which could not be til divers Men had born Gods Person in â—uliâ—g or directing under him The holy Spirit is somtime stiled Paracletus properly Assister or caled to help but commonly translated a Comforter who givs gifts or graces to Men fit for such spiritual offices wherto they are ordained Presbytery or Ministry is of divine right instituted by Christ in calâ—ng seventy Disciples whom he sent as Harbingers to Preach and prepare the way and confirmed by the Apostles to whom they were subordinat in ordaining Elders every wher So is Episcopat by the same right of Christs chusing twelv Apostles and their substituted Bishops to succed them but Presbyterial single Government without Bishops by a motly mixture of Ministerial and Laic Elders a meer novity deviâ—â—d by Mr. Calvin when the Genevans had expeld their Soveraign Prelat which exigent was caus of this change This is most tru in point of fact VLTIMAT END Valedictio ad Lectores A Farewel to the Readers Pro libito Lectoris habent sua fata Libelli Noster expectet publica Fata liber On Readers pleasure Books doo depend And let my Book the Fate attend Opinion is a lofty Roial Dame Who 's plumes are raisd on Air of vulgar Fame Who Courts hir Grace shal with Ixion find In Juno's stead an empty Cloud or Wind. Let such as list hir giddy favor curry I like not to be tossd with common whoorry Fair Readers which to take or leav are free Scorn to return base Censures for a fee. Let Critics Momes and Mimics doo their worst He that regards their scoss shal be accurst My resolution fears not Censors knocks Nor shal this Book unles it fal ' mongst Blocks VALETE FAREWEL Postscriptum dc Formis A Postscript of al Forms Mr. Pemble a late learned Oxford Man holds which few els doo that al inanimat Forms and two Souls Vegetant Sentient are no distinct substaances but only the crasis or temperament of qualities in every Compouâ—d or Subject His grounds or proofs are thes if the Form of a natural Boâ—y be a substance it must be either material and corporeal or immaterial and spiritual but 't is neither Som say 't is an imperfect substance in a middle degree between it and an accident which is a silly shift or shelter For an imperfect substance wil require a new Predicament and Peripatetics repute Form most sublime yea the perfection of matter in it self most imperfect but a middle nature betwen both is a meer Chimaera or Catamountain not contained in any Category nor hath it any Entity That Form is no material substance thes Reasons evince 1. That which informs the matter i. so pierceth into al parts and principles as to giv specifical essence is not material or corporeal becaus one Body cannot penetrat another nor material substance matter 2. Every corporeal thing is of it self quantitativ and divisible but a form according to Aristotle is indivisible void of quantity 3. Nothing generable or corruptible is material or corporeal sith matter according to Aristotle cannot be begot or perish but al forms except Mans Soul vanish or perish and new are ingendered 4. Principles of Constitution are divers or distinct in essence and proper passions els al things generable would be uniform and homogeneal but if forms be material they differ not from matter sav in som degrees of subâ—â—ety and purity which suffice not to take away uniformity nor diversity 5. A form is the fountain or origin of al actions but if it be material matter is also activ not purely passiv for it hath that activ virtu from matter not elswher or els cannot be a Principle That 't is not an Immaterial spiritual substance thes pregnant Arguments prov 1. Whatever is bred of matters essence must be material as what is generated of pure Air is Aerial but a Form is not material as foreproved or being Immaterial cannot be bred from the essence of matter nor can Principles be ingendred one of another 2. A Form cannot proced from the accidents of matter sith no