Misopogon checks the soft and effeminate people of Antioch by his own education which was no way suitable to them My Pedagogue saith he taught me when I went into the Theatre to look upon the ground he would have him cast his eyes downward not look up upon the wanton and lascivious objects there presented to spectatours His office likewise was to accompany his young master when he went abroad or from home Thus the famous Cato the latter of the two and the last of the Romanes aged fourteen when upon a visit he went to Sylla being then at the height of his tyrannies and saw the heads of the proscribed lye by heaps at the gate of his Palace had a Pedagogue attending on him and well it was he had so for he talked so desperately upon their return that as my Authour saith semper postea adduxit excussum when ever after they were to go thither care was taken that he might be searched left the fierce youth should bear any thing about him that might carry danger with it Yea more than all this the Pedagogue did wait upon this his charge when he went to school to learn letters and literature Barthius Advers. 21. 1. Paedagogi sequebantur pueros heriles literis operam daturos and Chrysostom saith that the Pedagogue is not contrary to the Master {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} but joyns with him in the work and prepares the scholar to take the lessons that are to be taught him Manifestly distinguishing him from a Schoolmaster taken in the common and vulgar notion So our Authour with many others mistakes the second term in lex Paedagogus noster Thirdly they mistake as much and as ill the word noster for the Nos included in that Possessive they take tor particular Christians now living and for such as shall hereafter live in the Church of God Answer to Qu. 167. The law was given for a Schoolmaster to tutour men to Christ men indefinitely and indifferently meaning to humble unconverted Christians in a sense of their sins till such time as they have attained peace and pardon and then the Law hath done the work belonging to it when they have attained faith they are no longer under such a master Whereas the Apostle doth not speak of particular persons nor of the differing condition and estate of a man before his conversion and after Although it be true that the work of the Law is needfull to prepare for Justification through Christ Jesus and a distressed conscience makes way for saving grace and spiritual comfort yet that is not it which the Apostle teacheth there he maketh comparison not between two several estates of the same person but between two several people He compareth the Judaical Church and the Christian Church and considering them both together as a congregative body or one entire person he speaks of the several ages of that Body or Person The Church of God under the old Testament was a Childe or Heir in his minoritie But the Christian Church in the new Testament is as a man grown up or of full age as if he had thus said We the Jews were under the law of Ceremonies and circumcision but now we are no longer so For neither doth he say in the present time The Law is but it was heretofore a Schoolmaster to Christ And lastly they mis-understand the word Christ in this sentence The Law is a Schoolmaster to Christ For they take Christ here for a Saviour at large as faith in the next verse Gal. 3. 25. for justifying faith or faith in a Saviour whereas Christ here signifyeth Christ revealed or manifested in the times of the Gospel as chap. 2. verse 4. Our libertie which we have in Christ Jesus and chap. 6. vers. 15. in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth nor uncircumcisison in the old Testament it was something now it is nothing And Faith in the place now named after that faith is come meaneth Tempus Evangelii the Gospel or Doctrine of Christ exhibited in the flesh Whereas therefore they take the meaning of these two verses to be this Gal. 3. 24 25. The Moral Law shewing what God requireth of us and what the curse is that is due to the breach of it driveth us to Christ and forceth us to seek a Saviour but after we be jastified by faith in Christ we are no longer under that Law the Apostle saith not so but this it amounteth to which he saith The Ceremonial law under which ye would still continue was but to train you up and prepare you for the full manifestation of Christ incarnate and now when Christ Jesus is come the Church of God hath no more need of shadows and Ceremonies their work is done and we are freed from being under them any longer That this is the meaning of the words and that S. Paul by being under a Schoolmaster meaneth not Being under the spirit of bondage as some call it and that he speaks not of Christian liberty from the curse of the Moral Law but onely from the burden of the Ceremonial law is evident by that which follows in the fourth chapter For they who were under this Schoolmaster whosoever they were were the mean while heirs or children not servants although in some regards not much distant from servants A servant knoweth not what his lord doth A servant knoweth as much as the heir doth before he be of age being kept in ignorance little acquainted with his fathers minde yet he knoweth that his father loves him and will make him inheritour of his estate But they who are under the malediction of the Moral Law know not thus much know not so much as this comes to neither are they heirs or lords of all The Jews whiles under this Schoolmaster were children after Christ came they were sons they were sons before but how naturâ non libertate sons in their minority and under tutelage They were made partakers of Christ but not of Christ fully manifested So that the Apostle maketh opposition betwixt these two Children and Sons by sons understanding adulti men of age The difference of which words in the Apostles text chap. 3. vers. 26. and chap. 4. vers. 1 6. is not observed accordingly in some translations though in some others it be and among the former Ours is Clemens Alex. Paedag. 1. 6. {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} when he called them Sons he meant they were men to distinguish them from infants or little ones under the Law So then there is nothing spoken by St Paul here that giveth countenance to them that make void the force of the Decalogue to beleeving Christians and though our Authour in expounding of the words goes not alone yet approved writers never go so far as to teach that when a Christian hath attained faith he is no longer under the Regulation of the Moral Law though they teach he is no longer under the malediction of it Qu. 216. what is
to Keep the whole Law Jam. 2. 10. I think it is no sense and therefore can be no truth to say That we vowed in our Baptisme to keep Gods holy Intention that all men or each man respectively should be saved How much better a transition then this do we finde in the Church Catechisme You said you did promise in your Baptisme to keep Gods holy Commandments Tell me how many there be Ten c. So that the meanest capacity understood that question far better without this answer then with it As for the Text 1 Tim. 2. 4. God will have all men to be saved to come to the knowledge of the truth it may be thus explained S. Paul sheweth there the reason why at that time kings and worldly powers were to be prayed for more than in former times because God now intended to enlarge the limits of his Church and shew mercy to all the world excluding no nation or people And as it was more suitable to Gods nature who is a Spirit to be worshipped in spirit and truth Joh. 4. and not as before Christs coming in outward rites shadows and ceremonies which then bare a great part of Gods service So was it more agreeable and consonant That whereas there is one God Creatour of all mankinde there should be now access to him for all people by one Mediatour and not for one nation onely as heretofore And because this cannot be done so well not quietly and peaceably unless Kings and earthly Potentates embrace the Christian faith Therefore especially must they be prayed for So that Gods will in this place is not his command and to be saved is matter of reward not of work a reward which he bestoweth on us not a work which he commandeth us to do And to come to the knowledge of the truth is not to beleeve but to be made partakers of the Gospel by publication The which was joyned indeed with a command or charge to his Apostles to preach the Gospel but no command there was to the Nations to receive it untill it were brought them and they did come to the knowledge of it But may the universalists now say If it be indeed the will of God that all that hear the Gospel should be saved Then is not salvation limited to some onely called the Elect. To this I answer by putting them in minde of what I suppose they have often heard Gods will is twofold 1. Revealed and Conditional thus he willeth all men to be saved 2. Secret and absolute so he willeth onely a few to be saved If they cannot understand how he should will things thus contrary one to the other let them help themselves with this similitude A Nobleman Landlord to many decayed tenants deeply endebted to him willeth them to pay what they ow him otherwise to be ejected To some few of them formerly his menial servants he sendeth secretly supplies and enableth them to discharge their arrears against the rest the law passeth The Landlords will now is that all his tenants should pay their rents enjoy their houses and lands as formerly and that none of them should be dispossessed or emprisoned And it is his will also that a few of his tenants should certainly hold possession though most of them be cast out of these two the first will is conditional upon their performance and payment the second is absolute because accompanied with his power and purse and grounded upon his own performance If this be right and reason and plain to be understood then let them not say that we denie the Scripture-saying God willeth all men to be saved and let them give us leave to say withall that he doth not absolutely will all men to be saved because he doth not by his Almighty arm rescue all men out of the bands of infidelity in which by their own fault they are fast held Qu. and Answ 295 296 297 298 299 300. It is observed of some men that in disputation and of many men that in discourse they will be sure soon to winde themselves into that point where their skill lyes Our Authour in his fix last Questions and Answers returns thither where his zeal lyes and where he is never found long time non-resident This zeal he sheweth not in giving his adversaries a parting blow but as I may say in storming them having before given them onely some easier assaults And as in a fray is usual he taketh up that which cometh next to hand to strike and to lay on withall though no way fitted though never intended for any such purpose And rather then he will suspect his own confidence he will censure wel-nigh all Christians the generality almost so he saith Qu. 297. as if they were false worshippers unbeleevers and void of true religion because they refuse what he tenders them that may presently turn their dross to silver and their shadows to solidity and substance Among other things he saith they give God the lie words with which it pleaseth the holy Ghost to aggravate the hainous and sacrilegious sin of wilfull infidelity of denying Christ made known to whom God the Father gave so manifold testimony but are not lightly to be taken up against every false opinion much less in defence of any errour He saith They make void Gods grace and Christs death This is truly said of such as persist in their unbelief rejecting the Gospel being offered and refusing to be baptized He needed not to have spoken more hardly of them had they renounced their Saviour and turned to Mahomets belief They are very zealous he saith but their Religion and Devotion are abominable in Gods sight and most horrible impieties He hath left nothing wherewithall to express the worst that is in them when their best is thus bad They multiply services without knowledge and offer the sacrifice of fools they miss of Gods promises and seek after him but finde him not because they seek him by the works of the Law endeavouring to establish their own righteousness As if it were all one to him to speak what is true and to speak what he knoweth to be false when he is in hot pursuit of his adversaries But I have now paid that small debt which I might seem to ow as vvell to them that desire to learn and not to be abused as to others vvho love to be deceived rather than be taught The vvords of Salvian though touching another subject shall serve me for my Caution and for my Conclusion De Gubern Dei lib. 1. Sed de his dicendum amplius non est tanta quippe est majestatis sacrae tam tremenda reverentia ut non solùm eaquae ab illis contra religionem dicuntur horrere sed etiam quae pro religione nos ipsi dicimus cum grandi metu ac disciplina dicere debeamus that is It is best to say no more concerning these matters because so great and so dreadfull is the sacred Majestie of
their false collection and reasoning thence namely that because the world hath so long continued therefore it must always continue and never have end Now shall we think that Jesus Christ did interpose as Mediatour between God and us when as yet there was no need Or that there was a Remedy published to the world before the Maladie was known or was If any difference there be in the Dialect and voice of the creatures and works of God then they do not utter his goodness towards men more than they did before sin came into the world rather his anger and punishing hand The vanity and servitude of corruption to which the creature is unwillingly subject testifying as well the frown of Gods countenance as the sin and fall of man The characters of Divine Providence though they be not very dim to be discerned yet are they very difficult to be disciphered and do present to the quickest view and apprehension the Bounty of the Supreme Lord and the curse of his Law set one over against the other but not the contents of the Gospel or the mercy of a Saviour The Gospel being Tidings must be brought and being News must be told before it can be known and being tendred by way of Covenant implyeth a necessity that notice be given to the parties concerned Faith in Christ comes by hearing how can they beleeve in him of whom they have not heard Our Redemption is taught us in the school of Christ not in the Theatre of the world 1 Cor. 1.21 After that in the wisdome of God that is in the Glass of the Creatures where shineth Gods wisdome and power and goodness the world by wisdome that is by their own wisdome and search and interpretations and collections knew not God not God a Saviour it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching that is by making known to the world that the eternal Son of God was crucified for them to save them that beleeve No mystery is known by nature The Gospel is a mysterie or secret 1 Tim. 3.16 a mysterie which none of the Princes of the world knew And whereas he saith Qu 152. The works of Creation do speak of Christ but more obscurely against this I argue thus If heathen persons by means of the creatures were brought to know Christ a Saviour though more obscurely Then when Christ a Saviour is evidently taught they would have entertained him But when he was evidently taught they refused him and counted his Gospel foolishness Therefore they did not know him before no not so much as obscurely When Paul preached Jesus at Athens where was highest improvement of natural light he was not onely encountred by the Philosophers even the Stoicks the best of the pack but a worse matter then so he was had before the Highest Court and endited for innovating in Religion And every where as well as there was the Gospel spoken against Acts 28. He who should have counted all fabulous that was reported of America or the Western world at the first discovery certainly that man never had formerly any such suspicion or surmise as Columbus had namely that of the huge space or quantity of the Globe terrestrial which the Sun in daily motion compasseth and which was not then taken notice of there might be as well land as sea and that land habitable and inhabited for had he thus imagined of himself he would not then have laughed at the story of the New-found land and held it as a foolish fiction Had the Mediation of Christ a Saviour been darkly gathered from the fabrick of the world and works of Providence then would it not when fully faithfully and credibly published prove to be matter of offence and be judged folly as it was of them who had no other call but outward And how could that be seen of them by the less light that was not seen of them by the greater light arising and shining on them And whereas he saith that Gods works speak christ as the work the workman it comes in here impertinenly and belongs to the former member of the Division They speak of God but do they speak of Christ So asketh the Question which is as much as to say thus The works speak of a Creatour but do they speak also of a Saviour Now they speak God the Creatour and not Christ the Saviour as the work the workman Secondly it is true that the work shews the workman but as a workman and no further it shews qualis or qualis artifex but not quis not his name if it did we should not see Artists set their names upon their curious pieces Such a one Fecit Sculpsit or if his name not his disposition and moral character or if that not his Will and Testament If a Nobleman should build a large and fair house furnishing it with all things needfull and making it his place of residence should freely entertain passengers for the time they stay with him thus far may they well reason and conclude Surely this great man had money enough neither did he spare for any cost in rearing this edifice One of good judgement he is and discretion thus to contrive the rooms and order his family in so frugal and so plentifull a manner A good and courteous man he also is to treat us so liberally that we want neither meat nor drink nor lodging nor atendance Thus far should they argue well from the effect to the cause from the work to the workman But too simple and shallow should he be among them that should conclude thus from the premises Therefore surely he will pay my debts therefore he will put me into his Will and give me such and such Legacies therefore he will make me one of his heirs The works which God hath made and the blessings he bestoweth on us with an open hand and daily loadeth us withall do witness of him his goodness his eternal power and Godhead But they shew not who he is they declare not his name nor that he is the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob that brought Israel out of Egypt This is his name and this is his memorial they shew not his nature nor the persons of the Trinity and therefore not the second person or the Mediatour not his Will how he must be worshipped and served in the Covenant of works much less his Gospel or Covenant of Grace that he made and that by way of Testament with his Church and people designed by him to be heirs of his kingdome Qu. 155. But can we finde that God ever accepted of any faith men acted towards him by means of any works of his short of the distinct knowledge of Christ A. Yes sure both Rahab and Cornelius and divers others God being no respecter of persons but through the Mediation of Christ accepting every one in any nation that by what means he affords them do fear him and work righteousness before him They who have hitherto denied and opposed the