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A25449
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Animadversions upon a sheet of Mr. Baxters entituled An appeal to the light, printed 1674 for the farther caution of his credulous readers.
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1675
(1675)
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Wing A3202; ESTC R34208
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9,926
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18
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if I wrong Him in the least nay I durst almost did not the Thing seen too shamefull to be confess'd appeal unto Himself However if I am mistaken I shall be heartily glad to know it but then to convince me He must bring some better Light then shines in His Appeal Pag. 3. He has discover'd a new and wonderful kind of Justification we must be Justified saies He by our Faith against the charge of Infidelity and by our Repentance against the charge of Impaenitency by our Love Holiness and Sincerity against the charge if Final unholiness rebellion and being Hypocrites Is not this a pretty fort of Justification 1. Unknown to S. Paul who alone of all the Inspired writers has ex professo and so largely tread of this Doctrine He tells us of no Justification but by Faith without workes and from Mr Baxter we have a particular-Particular-Justification for every particular Grace than can be nam'd for we must not suppose Him to exclude any His reason being the same for all The Apostle therfore by this Rare Divinity might have said Being Justified by Patience Chastity Temperance Frugality c. as well as being Justified by FAITH nay He ought to have said so if He would be Faithful to his Trust and to the Souls of men 2. This Justification gives no more to Faith then to any other Consequent Grace point blank contrary to S. Paul and to the Doctrine of the Reformed Churches particularly that of the Church of England as I have elsewhere prov'e as plain as words can do it 3. If we are Justified by Faith only from Infidelity and from every other Sin respectively by its opposite Grace and vertue how shall we understand Him who is THE TRUTH when He tells us so often to this effect He that BELIEVETH shall be Sav'd and what means S. Paul to assure us that being Justified by Fatih we have peace with God For if Faith Justify us only against the charge of Infidelity and every other Grace be requir'd to Justify us against its opposite Sin then it cannot be true at least universally as the words are intended that He who believeth shall be sav'd and have peace with God no more then that a Felon shall be acquitted at the Assizes and freed from fear who is found not guilty of one Inditement and has twenty more to plead to We are sent to no garment to cover our Iniquities from the Eye of Divine Justice but the Robe of Christs Righteousness put on by Faith alone a Robe without seam or patch no Linsey-wolsey stuff admitted there But the Defence He makes for Himself against a City Report is very considerable and as cleer as midnight Pag. 5. He tells us how it was reported that He should saey the Difference between us and Papists was but in words I hope He would not do so but what saies He to it for now it concerns Him to speake Why truly as to the Business against his Libertines Antinomians S. Paul and the Reformed Churches in the point of Justification wherein His Appeal seems chiefly if not solely concern'd I can find nothing but a general Complement to his Reporters an Information how dear He has bought his knowledge a Prophecy that He may shortly Dy with an Information of Preferments offer'd This in effect is All to the Defence He makes to a Charge of that moment Let every one be satisfied by his own eyes Only He complains that some Distinctions and Instances of His were left out in the Report Now observe how He Courts the LIGHT to which He appeals Let any man read the beginning of his 4th Section where indeed He distinguishes between Popish Points some of meer Interest and some arising from the Difficulty of the matter and the weakness of human understanding of the former He gives us also some Instances as the Papal power Indulgences Purgatory c. Of the latter not one that is either usually or properly call'd Popish but such as are canvass'd by the Remonstrants and their Antagonists as well as the Jesuits and so smooths off the business and All is well But not a word all this while of his Libertine Points Justification by Faith c. Not the least direction where we shall bestow these whether amongst the Interest or the Difficulty-matters No no There is a Time for All Things This is Mr Baxters APPEAL to the LIGHT And whereas He concludes with this bold Perswasion that few Ministers of Christ in England will prove so weak as to propagate what He condemns and call's Errours 't is an immodest Bravado highly injurious to the Vertues and Learning of the MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND as if They were generally in such a Readiness to forsake the Banner of their own Church with All Her Renowned Captains to fight under the Colours of a single Mr BAXTER FINIS Courteous Reader By some unfortunate mistake in my Absence my Answer to Mr Baxters Quotations for his new Original Sin have wholy escap'd the Press It should have enter'd pag. 20. after lin 14. which therefore I am necessitated to peece here at the end and referr all to your favourable Construction From pag. 12 to 21. I find you very busie in smoothing your way where none can easily stumble to prove some Interest of children in their wicked Progenitors Sins a thing never question'd by me nor by any man else I think who owns the Authoritie of the second Commandment so that I am not the man you combate though your Credulous Readers must upon your word beleive the contrarie All 's but the shadow of your Fancie and the Itch of your Pen to fall upon me I charge you with a new Secondarie Original Sin whose pedigree is not from Adam I engage not a syllable farther And now let us advance to your Proofs and observe the issue Tertullian leads your Van but neither He nor any of the rest strike one stroke in your Cause Pag. 22. I cannot in Reason exspect that He should so much as use the word Original when applyed to Sin for If I mistake not it came not in on that account till about Austin's time in his famous warrs with the Pelagian However if we can find the Thing this Secundary Original Sin all 's well enough I am for no meer Logomachies All that can be forc'd from that Quotation must lye in the single clause of Quanquam si Evangelium veritatis accipias c. which in English sounds thus Allthough if you own the Truth of the Gospel you will find to whom appertains the sentence of visiting the Iniquities of the Fathers upon the children namely to Them who were to bring this Doom upon themselves His blood be upon us and upon our children Now This is very farr from curing any Admiration of mine as you seem to promise me save that of giving your selfe the Trouble to quote Him so little to the purpose Pag. 21. For He proves nothing in contest between Us
ANIMADVERSIONS upon a sheet of Mr BAXTERS ENTITULED An APPEAL to the LIGHT Printed 1674. For the farther Caution of his Credulous Readers Mat. 10.26 There is nothing cover'd that shall not be reveal'd OXFORD Printed by H. HALL 1675. I Do not remember I ever saw a Discourse more at variance with its Inscription and so much its Confutation as This. Let any indifferent Reader Judge what Light there is in it not one Text of Scripture the best and safest Light little else but darke general and roving Reflexions throughout as we shall presently see It seems He was accus'd for some Sermon He had Preach'd and there we have his Lightsome vindication He tells us first that after He had open'd no less then 50. blessings or Priviledges of Believers He nam'd 20 counterfeit Priviledges asserted by the Libertines called Antinomians Corrupters of the Doctrine of Jesus Now may we know who these Libertines Antinomians c. be For if He mean only such as are usually distinguish'd by those infamous Names where have They of late apper'd with what strength and numbers to require so brisk an alarme as if they were still at our Gates and ready to climbe our walls To what purpose is He in such hast to abase his Pen by setting it to scrach in those Dunghills where such names have layn buried and putrifying lo long Sure there must be somthing in it of more Mystery then This. Let us try if we can find it out First it were worth our knowing what Monsters they are who say not who meane or spake by consequence but say downright that Christ was not only an Ignorant Infidel Pag. 1. Atheist a Blasphemer a murderer an Adulterer a Lyar I tremble to repeat the words but the greatest Sinner in the world as having the Sins of all the world or Elect made in THEMSELVES His VERY SINS and this with great moderation He calls ill Language and no more But 't were fit we should know whose Language it is Antinomians or others that we may have them more in Execration otherwise let any Body Judge at whose doore all this Blasphemy must be lay'd the very repetition of it in such odious particularities without their Author sounding little better then a Libel against that Holy ONE The son of God we know very well who besides Libertines Antinomians c. affirm truly that all the Sins of Believers are Christs by Imputation and that God caus'd to meet upon Him the Iniquities of us All but not in the vile sense Mr B seems willing to have his Reader believe we know none such and if we did should call it somwhat more then ill Language Nor will it help him a jot to allege that such Blasphemies flow from His Libertines Principles unless some Body would own Them He is not to take up all the filth He can find in the chanel for any Consequence of His making to be thrown against our blessed Lord this is not Reverence And 't is as farr from LIGHT for which of his Ordinary Credulous Readers will understand Him otherwise but that indeed there is a Generation in the world who tremble not to utter such names and characters of Christ as He out of his Aboundance has marshall'd together for Them and that His Libertine and Antinomian are but his stalking-Horses not his Game will be more and more discovered and 't is but fit 't is high time it should Next though He allowes Christ to be a Mediatour yet He denyes Him to be a FULL REPRESENTER of our Persons Ibid. and why so Hear Himself speak and they are no ordinary words that is saith He His Person and the Person of each sinner were not the same indeed But first they were the same indeed Ibid. Legally and sensu forensi though not naturally But his plain meaning is if his words have any sense at all Christ and a Believer are not one and the same Individual natural Person therfore He cannot be a FULL Representer But I would fain know how He should be a Representer at all if He were not another Person Must He represent Himself be Servant Agent Delegate to Himself as He varies the Expression what ever Divinity this be 't is certainly new Law and new Common sense too For to Represent has ever bin taken in the Judgment of Mankind as well as of the Law Locum alterius numerum obtinere to stand in anothers stead and not to be that other Person But this is the effect of Hast and wandring too farr from Home Mean while He very well knowes though his poor Ignorant Reader must not that Christs full Representation has other And much Greater Assertors then Libertines and Antinomians who are no Corrupters of the Gospel of Jesus but have done it farr better Service then Himself and no disparagement to Him Again when He would perswade us p. 4. that He has only opend a waighty part of Christs Gospell which Babes should understand and has only sought to keep us from such Corruptions as look too like another Gospel and if prevalently practis'd would be Mens utter Ruin 't is plain I think to any considering Man that His eye is chiefly upon his Justification by works and the Points depending This is one at least of his waighty Parts of Christs Gospel to deny which in the prevalent practise would be mens utter Ruin And are none but Antinomians and Libertines concern'd in This what an odd thing is it for a Man when He winks to fancy no Body sees Him But to be short and to let all the world see I do Him no injury may we believe Himself then Hear Him in his Aphorisms till his Retractations appear Thes 20. p. 111. To affirm saith He that our Evangelical or new Covenant Righteousness is in Christ and not in our selves or performed by Christ and not by our selves is such a MONSTROVS peece of ANTINOMIAN Doctrine But that All our Justifying new Covenant Righteousness is extra Nos in Christ not in our selves perform'd by Christ not by our selves is the general Affirmation of the Reformed World its Churches and Doctors Therfore These are amongst Mr Baxters Libertines and Monstrous Antinomians Corrupting the Gospel of Jesus The like in a private Letter to his Friend Mr Ant. Burgess I suppose some two or three years after I have not the Book by me but this He knows to be the sense of his words that if we grant not his Principles in the Doctrine of Justification it would be no hard matter to maintain all the dotages of the Antinomians or to that effect So now at last I think we have brought Him to the LIGHT indeed His Libertines Antinomians c. are whosoever assert against Him the Justification of a Sinner by Faith without works such as the Church of England with the rest of the Reformed Churches These must be driven by Him with the Herd of Libertines as Beasts to the Slaughter Let any sober man Judge