it is the saddest destruction to be in a perpetual state of misery This I say is a more dreadful destruction than to be annihilated and therefore fittest to be called a destruction And if he think the word destruction must signifie of necessity annihilation and cannot signifie a state of misery and punishment he had best remove those difficulties that lye in his way in my first Chapter where the sense of the word hath been cleared against the Socinians And what doth he think to mention but one Text for many of the words of our God in Hosea O Israel thou hast destroyed thy self but in me is thy help Hosea 13.9 Surely he doth not think it is meant that they had turned themselves into nothing but that by their sins they had brought themselves into a miserable condition and made themselves liable to greater miseries In the following Page he runs very swiftly and disputes us into absurdities after this manner The Word saith p. 129. Their end is destruction R. Philip. 3. Their Opinion saith They shall never be destroyed nor ever end The Word saith The last Enemy is Death 1 Cor. 15. Their Opinion saith There is a worse thing after Death to be endured without end B. There are a sort of Men in the World that have wit and subtilty and some kind of Learning too that yet are little better than fools for want of grace and holy wisdom to make a good use of their wits and therefore we use to say of them that they are simple and cunning And whether my Author be not somewhat of Kin to these kind of Men let my Reader judge For in these last passages there is something of subtilty yea enough to deceive the ignorant and unstable and the Men that are inclining to his Opinion but if we view them narrowly they will not appear more subtile than silly For the former runs upon a false supposition that the destruction threatned to the wicked is a Natural destruction whereas it means only a Moral destruction viz. Condemnation and Punishment as was seen before But he saith their end is said to be destruction which he thinks is contrary to us who teach that there shall never be an end of them but that they shall always remain under Punishment But it doth not mean as he would have it that the destruction there spoken of doth make an end of them or imply the dissolution of their natures for we have seen the contrary before and if he entertain such a perswasion he may easily be brought to believe upon the same ground that Everlasting life or happiness will make an end of the Saints for 't is said Their end is everlasting life Rom. 6.22 Wherefore by end we are to understand their final and unchangeable state and portion in another World which is everlasting destruction or misery to the wicked as it is everlasting life or glory to the Righteous But of this I have said something before The other labours under as much weakness as the former for observe it is not said in 1 Cor. 15. that the last enemy is Death absolutely as if there were no worse thing to come after but thus only The last enemy that shall be destroyed 1 Cor. 15.26 is Death where he leaves out that main passage which carries the whole sense of the Text. Just as the Devil alledged the Psalmist he shall give his Angels charge over thee to keep thee and left out the following words in all thy ways or the ways God hath appointed thee to walk in See Matth. 4.6 compared with Psal 91.11 Vid. Muscul in Loc. Now we grant that Death is the last Enemy that shall be destroyed though it shall not be the last evil that by the wicked shall be endured p. 130. In the next Page he heaps up many places to prove that Eternal life belongs not to the wicked To which I answer by distinguishing of the word if he take it as the Scripture doth for Eternal glory and happiness I grant it but if he mean it only of an Eternal continuance in life as life is opposed only to Corporal Death or Annihilation then I say it will agree to the wicked also after the General Resurrection as in its due place hath been manifested The Devils shall not have Eternal life in the sense aforesaid as it is promised to the People of God but yet they shall be eternally alive and live the life of spiritual substances else they could not suffer eternally in the Everlasting fire as we have proved they shall R. If Adam had never sinned he should have dyed nevertheless p. 131. This is proved first because he had a Natural body and was of the Earth earthly and therefore mortal and corruptible B. Whatsoever strength and goodness may be in this kind of Reasoning it is no more than the World hath been acquainted with before ever it was blessed with the sight of his Book the Learned Reader may find it amongst the most Reasonable Doctrines of those Masters of Reason as they would be counted I mean the Socinian Hereticks See Ostorod Instit cap. 33. And it is easily answered by distinguishing of the word Mortal It may be taken two ways as to this present case either first to signifie a person that may die and is capable of dying and so I grant Adam was always mortal which his Reasons sufficiently prove but if we mean it of one that must dye I deny that Adam was mortal in state of Innocency for whatsoever may be said of a possibility of dying he should never have been actually under the power of death if he had not sinned By one man sin entred into the world and death by sin c. Rom 5.12 A porta in Def. fidei cap 27. Aslingii l. c. p. 2. l. 5. q. 2. They that would see a larger discourse on this subject may consult these in the Margin where they may see the Author of this opinion R. Mr. Bolton saith If Adam had stood he could not have conveyed to us a Body Immortal or not dying in his Treat of Heaven p. 131. B. This Gentleman's word is not overmuch to be valued as to the Authors he citeth so he citeth Mr. Bolton here non bona fide as they say in plain English very corruptly For in that place the words run thus our condition speaking of the Saints in Heaven is a thousand times more happy and glorious than if we had stood still with Adam in his Innocency and Felicity for if so he could but have conveyed to us bodies Immortal potentiâ non moriendi ex Hypothesi as they say but in Heaven they shall be Immortal impotentiâ moriendi if he knew not what that means for a few good words I shall be content to tell him if he doth know he cannot but know that he granteth no subjection to the power of death to proceed from the nature of
And that so great sinners are worthy of more punishment than corporal death I believe was scarce ever doubted of by any but Mr. R. that ever were acquainted with Scripture and the sound writings that explain it yea I doubt not but the proudest Jesuit in the world would easily grant it and if it be needful to be proved these considerations may be sufficient for it Sin deserves worse punishment than corporal Death 1. That this is no more than the Beasts and Birds endure who never sinned they dye and dye totally whereas men though never so wicked dye only in their bodies as all but Atheists will acknowledge And can we think an obstinate rebellious sinner deserves no worse than that which the most harmless useful creatures do suffer 2. That the best of the Saints suffer death as well as the worst yea some of them have suffered much worse viz. by conflicting many years with horrid Temptations to despair and the like as Mr. Glover a most excellent Christian in the Book of Martyrs is said to have been in despair five years together And shall we think the wicked are worthy of no worse evil than the best of God's children have undergone God forbid p. 102. In the former part of his Book He tells us of some Books that were burnt in London by the Hangman and saith thereupon the same Spirit is alive to burn this which he hath written And I think it doth as well deserve that honour as ever any book in the world did as may appear not only by what hath been seen of it hitherto but also and especially by that which follows to the end of it and particularly by this act of his in this Page I am upon viz. by urging Rom. 6.21 to prove that there is not any thing to come after Death to speak in his own plain words p. 141. lin 16. Surely it is more than bad enough to doubt whether there be any thing to come after Death or not much worse to hold absolutely that there is not for that contradicts the Scriptures which tell us that after Death there is a Judgment and a Vengeance to be inflicted on them that obey not the Gospel of Christ 2 Thess 1.9 Hebrews 9.27 Heb. 9.27 and in a word everlasting shame and contempt to the wicked he means Dan. 12.2 c. But for a Man to act Mr. R.'s part and to urge Holy Scripture in defence of such a Heathenish Opinion who can imagine how horrible a thing it is in the eyes of God I doubt not but he would suffer worse than corporal Death for it if God should deal with him after his deserts what ever slight thoughts he hath of it And how far these words The end of these things is Death I say how far these words are from proving that there is no Punishment for any after Death is so plain that there 's little need of any thing to be said about it for Death here signifies as before Eternal damnation As when it is said if ye live after the flesh ye shall dye that is be Damned Rom. 8.13 for however they live they are as much subject to temporal Death as 't is clear Proof 3d. R. Their Opinion of a Punishment never to end makes not sin p. 146. but Christ to be the cause of their so suffering for if Christ had not come there had been no Resurrection and if no Resurrection there could be no Punishment after Death But Christ may not be supposed to be the cause of their Punishment c. B. If this be a Proof it is a very ugly one certainly and will not be much valued by them that know what Christ or Sin or Punishment is However I shall not think much to say something to it I confess Christ is said to be the cause of the Resurrection of the Dead He is the efficient cause of the Resurrection of the wicked as he is God of the same substance with his Father and he is the Meritorious cause of the Resurrection of the Saints as their Head and Mediator I mean as their Resurrection is a glorious Resurrection in Philip. 3.11 If by any means I may attain to the Resurrection of the Dead * Intelligit non simplicem sed gloriosam Zanch. in loc Now observe his Argument Without the Resurrection the wicked could not be punished after Death Christ is the cause of their Resurrection if they be raised therefore if they suffer for ever Christ is the cause of it which is absurd This is manifestly his Proof in this matter and how absurd it is may be shewed in a Parallel case as thus Without life and strength Men could not rob on the High-way but it is God that gives them life and strength and without him they could not have them therefore God is the cause of their Robbing Would not a Christian abhor such a Reasoning as this yea would not the Devil himself be almost ashamed of it and yet if I am not most exceedingly mistaken it is as good a Reasoning as that of his yea the very same in kind If he had not forgotten all his Logick he might have remembred that Causa sine quâ non is not a cause strictly and properly so called but only a pre-requisite condition c. Sine ullo causali Influxu as the Learned Scheibler expresseth it * Topic. de causis cap. 2. Artic. 4. If my Author had not had Ink and Paper or something that might serve in stead of them he could not have written these his many Infallible Proofs yet if we speak properly it was not his Ink or his Paper or any such thing that was the cause of his writing them but his Error and his desire of defending it c. And seeing his great weakness in this particular it will not be much amiss to bring in to his Assistance the Learning of his Learned Brother Mr. Tho. Hobbs of Malmesbury who though in some things he speaks more honestly than my Author hath done yet is no approver of the Doctrine I contend for For in his Leviathan Chapter 44. p. 346. as the Reverend Dr. Tully citeth him in his Exposit Symboli he supposeth the Everlasting Punishment spoken of in the Gospel A Digression to Mr. Hobbs to be meant not of every Damned Man in particular but only to be specifical and to respect divers of them successively so as that one should be punished a time and then be turned into nothing then another to come in his place and so soon as he is annihilated another after him and another again after him and so on Which doubtless was the fruit of his own Invention for I verily believe it never came into the Head of any Man before him But I answer Answ 1 1. By his leave there can be no Everlasting Punishment upon them at this rate unless they who are first annihilated are made alive again after their annihilation for if they
Adam or his posterity but from their sinfulness and that they should not have dyed but upon the supposal of sin And I think he hath done no good office to suggest such a thing as this concerning Mr. Bolton to make the world believe that such an able and faithful Teacher of Divine Truth would play any the least part of the Socinians damned Game In the two following pages he is very vain p. 132. and p. 133. and deserves not my Ink to he spent upon him and if I should lay open all his weaknesses 't is possible I might be thought to deal over hardly by him those therefore that little concern the point in hand or are answered already I need not concern my self with I pass therefore to the next p. 134. where the substance of his many words is thus in brief That if death be the punishment of sin then Christ by freeing his people from the punishment of their sins must free them from dying which he doth not I answer Christ by freeing them from the punishment of sin hath also freed them from death so far forth as 't is a punishment viz. from an accursed death The Faithful therefore though they suffer death yet they suffer it not as a punishment properly so called nor in a way of vengeance but in a way of mercy and therefore blessed are they that dye in the Lord. That pale horse though it sometimes affrights them Philip. 1.23 yet it is sent on a good errand viz. to bring their Souls into the blessed presence of their Lord and Saviour which the Apostle assures us in the same Text is far better than to live with their friends in this sinful world p. 135 136. In the 135 and 136. pages there is nothing that I think it worth while to trouble my self with some things being beside his purpose and others in a great measure against it And that which is for it how do the wicked perish for ever if they must live for ever is no new dish but only the old coleworts new sodden and how much it is worth is discoverable from that which was said but a little before to what he had offered about eternal life in pag. 130. p. 137. R. Men build much in this point upon the second death but what that death is they cannot agree B. I think he is much mistaken in this and do not doubt but Orthodox Divines are very well agreed in their Judgments about it and describe it with little variation one from another But the main mischief is that their Judgment of it agrees not to his and if his be infallible theirs must needs be erroneous R. Mr. Perkins saith the Second death is a total separation from God and if so it is not a punishment without end and seeing God is every where if they be any where how can they be absent from God B. But as Mr. Perkins was as wise a man as himself so his speech herein is not so absurd as he imagines it to be yea I doubt not but it is sound and good and now I shall consider briefly what he saith unto it 1. if so then it is not a punishment without end what warrant he hath to make such an Inference from it I for my part cannot understand for what if that Separation be everlasting as we believe it to be then it will be vanity to say so yea a contradiction too So that this Collection of his is utterly groundless unless he understand this Separation to be by Annihilation and if he do so I have shewed the absurdity of it sufficiently already in disproving the Doctrine of the Annihilation of the wicked 2. R. If they be any where how can they be absent from God seeing God is every where But certainly he must be a very silly man that can think Mr. Perkins was such a fool as to suppose that they could be absent from the Lord in a proper sense or out of his presence I dare say that was very far from his mind and he needed no more to be taught the doctrine of God's Omnipresence than wicked men need to be comforted by his Book against the fears of Damnation yet because he hath mentioned the word Absent from God I may lawfully put him in mind of that Text of the Apostle 2 Cor. 5.6 in 2 Cor. while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord he did not think he and the rest of the Faithful were where God is not while they lived in this world and yet he expresses it after that manner because here they were as it were absent from the comfortable presence of God in comparison of that comfort which their Souls should have in his Glorious Presence after they had left their bodies So in this case we mean by the Second Death the total and perpetual Separation of the wicked and impenitent from the comfortable Presence and the glorious Presence of God Luke 13.28 as when they shall be shut out of his glorious Kingdom and depart from Christ to dwell with the Devil and his Angels And though this be not a death properly so called yet it may fitly be called by that name because of the terror of it Death being naturally the most terrible thing as Heaven is fitly called Paradise for the pleasure and purity of it Luke 23 4â—2 though it be not that place which was mentioned in the 2. of Genesis And if a state of worldly troubles may be called a Death in 2. Cor. 1.10 compared with the 8. verse how much more may a state of endless punishment be called by that name See Rev. 21.8 And thus having vindicated Mr. Perkins from Mr. R's cavils I shall pass over the idle discourses of the 139 and 140 pages and speak a few words of that which seems more worthy of my censure in 141 page thus p. 141. R. We read in Rom. 2.31 of very great sinners proud spightful Inventors of evil things and such like yet the word saith not Ro. 6.21 that they are worthy of more than death and if death be the end of these things then there is not any thing to come after death B. This is a rare piece of Learning indeed and such as the common sort of Preachers never had the confidence to teach their hearers either from the Pulpit or the Press But that it may not be thought better of than it deserves let us examine it briefly the main strength of his Speech lies in this That God hath not said that those wicked ones mentioned in that place were worthy of any more than death true indeed they were worthy of no more punishment than death for that death there spoken of is nothing less than eternal Damnation And thus the unpardonable sin 1 Joh. 5.16 called by St. John a sin unto death that is such a sin as necessarily and infallibly brings eternal damnation upon the sinner
it and providing for it is his natural work which his natural affection moves him to But his threatning or correcting of it is in respect of the other his strange work which he doth not as a Parent but as an offended Parent Thus punishing is God's strange work such as he doth not as he is God but as he is an offended God and yet this work of his may continue for ever as we have an Example in the fallen Angels And I think his everlasting punishment is more plainly as well as more frequently discovered against wicked Men than it is against wicked Spirits in the holy Scripture Lastly The Death of Christ is so far from disproving our Doctrine that it doth most strongly confirm it For if God did punish his Son with an accursed Death when he bare the sins of his People in this World what wonder is it if he punish the impenitent with an everlasting curse or punishment in the World to come Nor did Christ dye to make an atonement for the sins of any such as might easily be proved if it were necessary Proof 16 R. Such Punishment agrees not to the mercifulness of the Creator to his Creature p. 185. to impose such a Punishment on any of them And then he adds some places that say he is rich in mercy and the like B. Surely this would be very good news for the Devils to hear of if it were true But we have our Lord's words to assure us of their everlasting punishment Matth. 25. and elsewhere which shew my Author was mistaken in thinking that it cannot stand with his goodness as he is their Creator Yet we say not that he will punish any thus as they are Creatures but as they are offending and rebellious Creatures And as for his Mercy we have spoken of it before and though it be great yea infinite yet it hath its proper object and will not be acted in opposition to his truth which tells us of everlasting punishment for the wicked as well as of Eternal life for the Righteous Proof 17 R. Sin cannot overcome his love where Sin abounded p. 186. Grace abounds much more Rom. 5.20 This declares the mercy of God to be greater than sin if so the grace of God is to all even to the worst of men for sin abounds in them most And where sin abounds grace saith the Apostle abounds much more If so then all their sins shall be forgiven And if any were to suffer eternally how doth grace abound to them much more where sin hath abounded Answer this if you can B. This is a precious Proof indeed and such as he hath shewed his chiefest strength in and therefore he is pleased to triumph over the poor ignorant Men that Preach up the Doctrine of Everlasting Punishment c. as though he had a certain and an everlasting victory over them as to this particular Thus and thus the case stands and Answer this if you can As brave a Challenge as any Gentleman of his Quality ever need to make to such as we But did he not argue against his own conscience as well as against us and our Doctrine or could he really believe that this Proof was unanswerable if so we shall have cause to consider the words of Solomon The Fool rageth and is confident Behold Sir the work is undertaken your command with me is as good as a Law and I will Answer you if I can And first I will deal with your first Assertion that sin cannot overcome his love which is such a speech as I have seldome met with in any Book but yours If it be meant of God's faithful Servants of humble and penitent sinners I grant that his love will overcome in due time all their sins and be magnified towards them by pardon here and glory hereafter Rom. 8.35 for What shall separate them from the love of Christ Rom. 8. But if he speak of the proud contemners of his Word and ways and the deceitful workers of iniquity that continue such then though we care not to say that their sin doth overcome his love yet we confidently affirm that it will so provoke his wrath as to cause him to punish them for ever in the life to come See Col. 3.6 John 3.36 Matth. 25.46 Psal 92.7 and many other places His second Assertion That God's mercy is greater than sin hath been spoken to already and I need now to say but this about it That it is greater than the sin of Devils and yet Devils shall suffer for ever for their sins and so we may say God's healing power is stronger and greater than Diseases and yet Men dye by them for all that His third Assertion That the grace of God is to all even to the worst of Men if it be meant of his saving grace or such mercy as accompanies salvation is a gross untruth for the Gospel tells us that he that believeth not shall be damned Mark 16. v. 16. And his other That all the sins of all Men shall be forgiven is as loud an Error and let him prove it a truth if he can Thus much for his Vanity His Subtilty follows Where sin abounds grace much more abounds Rom. 5.20 therefore the grace of God abounds to all sinners yea to the worst for sin abounds most in them And if they suffer eternally How doth grace or mercy abound to them Yea doubtless this is the Beast that carries the Bell but let us pursue it a little His gross abuse of Rom. 5.20 and we shall perceive that 't is not a pretty Creature but a horrible deformed Monster For I dare challenge Mr. R. and all his Brethren yea all Mankind to shew me any one Text of Scripture that ever was more abominably abused more wretchedly wrested whether by Papists Socinians Atheists or any sort of Men than this Text of St. Paul is in this case by Him For when the Apostle saith where sin did abound grace did abound much more he doth not mean that God will shew himself most gracious to them that have committed the most or greatest sins for then Pharaoh Judas and Jezabel should be more blessed than Moses Joseph and the Virgin Mary And our Damners and Sinkers be more happy than the holy Prophets Apostles and Martyrs For sin hath most abounded in them if we take Mr. R. his sense of the word But the abounding there mentioned is the abounding of it in the sense and feeling of the sinner that God's gracious goodness hath appeared most wonderful in the eyes of those Penitent sinners to whom sin hath appeared most vile and hateful That the abounding of sin in that place is of this nature the words just before will make evident for we read thus therein the Law entred that the offence might abound Surely it was not given to make men abound the more in sin or to make them more sinful than otherwise they would be but to make men more
evil men and seducers will wax worse and worse 2 Tim. 3.13 deceiving and being deceived Behold therefore that which follows and read it deliberately if thou canst read it without horror p. 76. line 13. p. 76. R. Many boast of God's preserving the Hebrew and Greek Bible c. Mr. R.'s Horrid Speech But as he was pleased to deliver up Christ and his People so hath he delivered the Scriptures also into the hands of Sinners to be used at their pleasure Oh Mr. R. which way are you tending whither do you mean your Pen shall run What can you think of these black words Examined or what spirit can you suppose did inspire you with them You seem to have a design to shake the foundations of all Piety and Religion as well as the Pillars of Hell-Torments for that end I confess your speech is very proper for if the Scripture be corrupted as to the main in its perfection and purity as your words seem to suggest then farewel to our Religion our Faith to use your own smooth phrase must needs reel and stagger and stumble as having no ground to stand upon You professed to write your Book for the glory of God in your Title page and I beseech you let it be considered whether it tends to God's glory to bring the Authority of his Word into question And as you desire to comfort sinners so methinks you should have more love towards Professors than to lead them to infidelity in hopes of winning them to your own Opinion God hath delivered the Scriptures into the hands of sinners to be dealt with as they pleased i. e. to be depraved and corrupted how themselves would O monstrum horrendum informe ingens A bold Man indeed He is Doctor Resolutus though not Durandus He is resolved to carry it He will turn all things Arsie versie and weaken the Scripture's authority if it will not stand on his side like him in the Poet. Flectere si nequeat superos Acheronta movebit i.e. More ways than one He will try all If God will not him help the Devil shall But Reader fear not too much his fearful Assertion though it be fierce yet 't is but weak yea notoriously false All those Arguments which Protestants use to prove that the Scripture is not imperfect of such the Learned may see Polanus Scharpius Bishop Ushers Body of Divinity p. 17. Gerrardus de S. Scriptura and others and the meer English Reader may consult those in the Margin * Mr. Leigh's Treatise of Divinity l. 1. cap. 6. p. 116. Proofs that the Scripture is not corrupted by men I say all those Arguments will serve against my Author in this particular as well as against the Papists in the other I shall now urge one or two Arguments in the case If men had corrupted the Scriptures and made them speak in any points of Divinity otherwise than at first it must be supposed to have been done before the coming of Christ in the flesh or after If before surely Christ who taxed many other errors in the Jews would not have suffered such a wickedness to pass without Reprehension And 't is not unknown how careful the Jews were in keeping the Oracles of God committed to them And that they were not corrupted since the Death of Christ is clear for Copies being dispersed in the world more and more one age after another how could such a thing be acted by some but others would soon discover it And it may not be doubted but God's Providence did watch somewhat extraordinarily as to this matter which so much concerned his own glory and the good of his people to the worlds end Surely he that so often discovers those that have corrupted the Coin of Princes and States would not conceal those long that should attempt to corrupt and pervert his Sacred Laws And here I shall borrow an excellent passage of the worthy Mr. R. Baxter Saints Rest part 2. cap 4. Sect. 6. in the last page of the cited Section which may shame all the wittiest men of Mr. R's Religion as to the point If any man saith he be so blind as to think it uncertain whether these be the same Books which the Apostles wrote I would ask him by what assurance he holds his Lands 1. How doth he know that his Deeds Conveyances and Leases be not counterfeit writings or that they are the same that their Fore-fathers made Surely they have nothing but mens words for it and yet they verily think their Lands are their own 2. And whereas they hold all by the Law of the Land how know they that these Laws are not Counterfeit and that they are the same Laws that were made by such and such Kings and Parliaments long ago They have nothing but mens words for all this And yet if this be uncertain then any man may be turned out of all he hath as if he had no certain Tenure And is it not certain that those Laws that are kept and practised throughout the Land cannot possibly be counterfeit but it would have been publickly known And yet a word in a Statute Book may be false Printed And much more certain is it that the Scriptures cannot be counterfeited because it is not in one Kingdom only but in all the world almost that they have been used and the Copies dispersed and Ministers still in Office to preach them and publish them So that they could not be generally and purposely corrupted except all the world should have met and consented together for that end which could not be done in secret but all must know of it And yet many Bibles may be here and there misprinted but then there would be Copies enough to Correct them by So that if it be uncertain whether these be for substance and in the main the same Books that the Apostles writ then nothing in the world can be certain to us but what we see and why we may not as wisely question our Eye-sight I do not well know So far that Learned person And after all this The Author's Proofs I shall add something more to this same end for it is hard to speak too much in such a case farther to confirm the Faith of the weak Christian against the attempts of this mighty Shaker who I think hath out gone most of the Shakers that have went before him Gregory Martyn that grave profound Popeling in Queen Elizabeths Reign did practise this Art with the greatest care and skill he had and discovered if he did not lye a great many gross corruptions in our English Translation to the advantage of our Heresies as he calls it But since the Learned Dr. Fulk * In his defence of the English Translation against Gr. Martin hath took him in hand and shook him soundly for his pains he was never able to recover himself so far as to write any thing more for that purpose and his Brethren in
the Popish iniquity have thought it their best Policy to be silent concerning it since that time But my Author will go higher than so aâ—d shake the Authority of the Hebrew and Greek Copies that are extant in the world And well might he contend with the London Ministers as his friends boasted he should if he could prove the word that they preached to be uncertain and their Greek Testaments supposititious Books but though he cannot prove them to be so yet he will give men occasion to suspect them for such witness his Speech aforementioned possibly he might remember the Counsel of the Poet Horatius Si vis esse aliquis facinus aliquod Audeas egregium c. i.e. If thou wouldst be a man of Fame Thou must do something of great name Other Considerations to prove the Purity of the Original Copies of Scripture And now Reader That thy heart may be throughly antidoted against Mr. R's most pestilent suggestion I shall offer thee these following Considerations 1. That Books of another nature are seldom questioned after this manner when did you hear any man making any doubt whether the Books of Plato of Aristotle Hippocrates and of Pliny and Galen Plutarch of Theophrastus and Cicero of Homer and Hesiod of Suetonius and Florus Tacitus and Livy were the writings of those men whose names they bear or whether they are agreeable to those Copies which they wrote at first So that the Writings of Philosophers and Poets Physicians Historians Naturalists Moralists though very ancient shall pass currantly for theirs whose names they go under and are not imagined to be corrupted or altered from what they were at first Mr. R. doth not insinuate any doubt in that case But when it comes to that which concerns our precious Souls that word which contains our rules in Life our comforts at death and our foundations of hope as to a better world hereafter O then his patient heart is moved his Doubts and Fears and Suspicions are suggested he kicks and flings and lays about him extreamly he throws his blackest dust in our Faces that we may have no eyes to see nor no reason to apprehend that those Copies of the Bible which we have among us are the same in sense and substance with them that the Pen-men of Scripture wrote And all because we have not those Original Copies to shew as we have not of the other for he cannot shew us any of Plato's c. hand-writing Is it not manifestly the work of the Devil to cast doubts in mens minds about the one while he raiseth no doubts about the other It seems he can be content to have us believe that other Books are what they pretend to be but he is not so willing that we should believe the same of God's Book and no wonder for he knoweth the belief of that will be more likely to do us good than the belief of the other Argu. 2 2. If the Scripture were corrupted in the Originals it must be by such as believed it to be the word of God or such as did not If he say by them that believed it so to be then I would fain know how those that had so much Religion as to believe it should at the same time have so much profaneness as to go about to corrupt the Copies of it Would not the heart of the wickedest man fail him when he was about such a horrid design if he had but the least thought that it was the Word of his Maker that he set himself to corrupt If he say it was corrupted by those that did not believe it to be the Word of God but looked upon it as a piece of deceit and a politick innovation to keep fools in awe then why should they trouble themselves to corrupt it doubtless they would think it were corrupt enough already and would not much envy the holy Christians any of those delights and comforts which they had in it or from it And if they should ever have undertaken such a work it being that which would require much time and pains to do it to any purpose it must be supposed that they must have had some considerable motives from credit or profit of which no rational account I dare say can ever be given Nor can it be proved that ever any such thing was designed by the enemies of Christian Religion Julian the Apostate Emperor Acerrimus ille Christi hostis as an excellent Author styles him * Zanchius in Tom. 8. Orat. 1. He I say is well known to have been as fit a man to manage such a work as most ever was in the world for he had wit and learning in abundance he had also great power without him and an impenitent hardned heart within him and employed all his power and policy to the ruine not only of Christians but Christianity and accordingly he proceeded in mischiefs by Banishments and Imprisonments fire and Sword and by pulling down Churches and by putting down all Schools of Learning the two latter of which some that go for Christians among us could have wished him good success in yet I have not found that ever he did any such thing as this we are speaking of or that he employed any others about it to corrupt the Copies of Scripture that were in the hands of Christians or to counterfeit it by any other writing He was crafty enough to take other courses against Christianity that were easier to be followed And if any such thing were done how soon would it be discovered If a Protestant should Print some Mass-Books with some considerable alterations leaving out a prayer to the Virgin Mary and putting in a Prayer to Christ instead of it how quickly would the Romanists espy the change how soon would the Bulls roar from Babylon * Revel 17.5.9.18 How many Declarations Manifesto's and Testimonies would be published speedily in the world to prevent the intended mischief and to assure all that were concerned that those Books were not Authentick or Catholick or allowed under the Hands of the Pope's Holiness And do ye think that the Christians in the Primitive times were not as zealous for the Scriptures as the Papist's are for the Mass-Books or that they would not have been as careful to discover such forgeries in or about them if any such things had been A 3d. Argument for the Purity of Scripture c. 3. If the Scripture were counterfeited or the Original Copies corrupted by any it must be by blockish and ignorant Persons or by Men of considerable Wit and Learning The former would not undertake such a work or if they should they could not manage it and carry it on Nor may we well imagine the latter for certainly Men of wit in any tolerable sense could not but apprehend the difficulty of such a work the Copies being dispersed among Christians that valued them more than all the wealth of the World and would be as careful to preserve
All may be taken of all sorts as before and if I should answer thus Mr. R. might find it hard enough to confute it 2. That the will of God is to be distinguished in this case it may signifie either his Appointing will or his Approving * Vid. Chamier de praedestin l. 7. cap. 6. will God may be said to will the Salvation of All in general by his Approving will because he thus willeth them to walk in the way of Salvation and to shun those things that tend to their Ruine As a King may be said to will that none of his subjects should be put to death because he approves not of but wills them to shun those evil ways which make them deserve such punishment from him But yet in case they prove Thieves or Murderers or unsufferable Enemies to the Common-wealth in any other way he wills that they should die for it and appoints them to be put to death and that without any disparagement to his goodness and merciful disposition So in case men will not forsake their wicked ways and turn to God and his true service the Judge of the world doth will their deserved Punishment and will punish them with an Everlasting destruction * 2 Thess 1.9 and that without any impeachment of his Mercy and Goodness In a word he doth not so will the Salvation of All in general as to bring them to Salvation that 's plain since strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to Salvation Matth. 7.14 and few there be that find it And that this Text aforesaid doth not mean any such thing is plain for he would that All should be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth even his Gospel and word of Truth But 't is clear God doth not so will that All should come to the knowledge of his Truth as to bring them infallibly to the knowledge of it Therefore he doth not so Will that all shall be saved as to bring them infallibly to Salvation The Argument is good because the Apostle maketh no difference between God's Willing that All should be saved and his Willing that all should come to the knowledge of his Truth And the word in the Original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I find is not active but passive only and accordingly it is rendred in our Translation not He Willeth to Save all but He Willeth that all should be saved The former would infer the certain Salvation of All for who hath resisted his Will but not so the latter as the excellent Author in the Margin hath proved in his most Learned Animadversions against Mr. Hoard * B. Davenant p. mihi 17â— c. which our new Predestinarians I hope have so much wisdom as not to oppose He addeth The Protestants in Poland say there will come a time wherein the fallen Angels and the wickedest men shall be set free from Punishment he means B. And what of all that Doth he think they were infallible that we should believe so meerly because they say so Why did he not set down some of their Reasons for it had he done so I would have been content to examine them as I have done his and doubt not but I could Answer them as easily by God's ordinary assistance 2. Whom doth he mean by the Protestants of Poland If he means the best and soundest Protestants as the Denomination ought to be à potiori I say if he means the Orthodox Protestants of that Countrey such as Arnoldus Maccovius Chrzastovius the latter of which wrote against the Arrians * In cap. 1. Johan Evangel in general as the two former against Socinus and Smalcius or * Author Censurae Confess Socin Salinarius Clementinus Zabarovius Zarnovecius c. If he mean such Protestants of Poland as these and the like I utterly deny that ever they taught such Doctrine and if my Author would read their worthy Works he might soon see very much to the contrary But if he mean the Heretical Protestants of Poland who were called Protestants in opposition to Papists and yet were as bad or worse than Papists in doctrine such as Smalcius Archisevius Ostaradius c. then I do not deny but they might be of the opinion that Mr. R. speaks of But the judgment of these men will not go far with me for I am well assured that such rank Socinians as they were not guided by a good Spirit and I think they were not Protestants or Christians unless in the same sense as Rebels are Subjects i. e. bad Subjects p. 177. R. All men are in God for in him we live and move and have our Being And if all men are in God all men are in Christ for He and the Father are one Jo. 10. Now all confess that all who are in Christ shall be saved Rom. 8.1 B. O admirable profoundness and learning enough to puzzle those Mahometan Priests that blew their blinding Powder into the eyes of the People and no less mischievous to the minds of his deluded Disciples than that Powder was to the Gazâ—rs upon Mahomet's Tomb I dare forfeit one of my Fingers if he can shew me a more base and more wilfully-distorted speech a more gross and wretched piece of sophistry in any of the Writings of the Romish Foxes than this under consideration Surely it is hard to guess which he strained most herein his wits or his conscience For my part I do verily judge that he offered violence to both of them And that he should take so much pains in vain may well be matter of vexation to him and yet so he hath done and no better For consider How all men are in God 1. When it is said in the Acts That in God we live and move and have our Being speaking of Men in general that doth not mean that he is the Saviour of all Men in a special sense but that he is the upholder maintainer and preserver of all Men not that all Men have an interest in his saving mercy but that they are sustained by his power and common providence so as that they could not live or move or have a Being without him Wherefore In him we live is as much as if it were said By him we live c. for the Greek Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth commonly signifie By or Through 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. as we find in Hebr. 1.1 God who in times past spake to our Fathers by the Prophets hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son where the Greek hath it in the Prophets and in his Son but the sense of it is by the Prophets and therefore our Translators have rendered it by the Prophets c. And so in the Latine 'tis expressed by Per instead of In Daven in Col. cap. 1. v. 16. by Beza and others And other Instances are given by the excellent Bishop
sensible of sin and of the evil of it The Law saith that Learned Expositor upon the place auget peccatum Paraeus in Rom. 5.20 non efficiendo sed monstrando It encreaseth sin or maketh it abound not by causing of it but by discovering of it and Piscator saith the offence there is not taken properly for the offence it self but figuratively for the knowledge of it and makes this the sense of it that the grace of Christ hath appeared to be more powerful to save Believers than sin is to destroy them Thus I have given an Answer to his Proof and if he like it not he may confute it if he can Proof 18 R. God is just and equal but such an extream misery p. 187. never to end is not equal B. 'T is a sign he spent most of his strength in the last Proof since this next is so exceeding weak It seems he judgeth that it cannot be just with God to punish sinners eternally and not only judgeth so but saith so too To suffer Torment never to end is not equal But though he hath adventured to say so yet his Word is not sufficient for it nor is he a fit man to judge of the equity of Gods Dispensations But 1. If the sin of Angels may be justly punished upon them for ever as few besides himself will question then may the sins of men also for sin is as bad a thing in the one as in the other and God is as worthy to be obeyed by men as by Angels 2. 'T is no wonder if guilty sinners in a natural state do not so easily discern the equity of this severe Dispensation 't is the nature of sin to blind the eyes of its followers nor can we fully know the evil and vileness of sin unless we could fully apprehend the Excellency of that God against whom it is committed 3. Yet we have seen so much as may satisfie a sober Christian in the case in the latter end of the first Chapter of this Book wherefore I shall not need to say any more of the equity of such punishment unless my Author shall Answer what is said therein Proof 19 p. 188. R. It is no profit or pleasure to God to have any man suffer endless Torments He hath no pleasure in the death of any Ezek. 18. much less can it be any pleasure to him for any so to suffer Hosea 6.6 He is said to desire Mercy and not Sacrifice if so he desires none should be sacrificed in a torment never to end God abhors cruelty B. This kind of Reasoning is such as may well become a man of his Principles and suits so fully to his blessed design and to what he had said in other places that we need not doubt but he was guided herein by the self same Spirit The former part of it contains these two Propositions 1. That it is no profit to God to have any man suffer endless punishments 2. That it is no pleasure to him For the first I say thus That if that would prove that God will not have any man suffer for ever at the same rate of Reasoning he might prove that none of the wicked Angels shall suffer for ever For certainly God is no more profited by their sufferings than by the sufferings of sinful men and yet Christians will believe that the wicked Angels shall suffer for ever and I have shewed some reason why they should believe so It was no profit to God to make the world for what need could he have of it who had All-sufficiency in himself and yet Mr. R. doth grant that God hath made it He grants also that God will make his Saints happy and glorious in Heaven and yet I believe he is not so weak as to imagine that God hath any need of their Happiness and Glory nor had he any need of the Death of his enemies in this world and therefore could not be profited by their deaths and yet he hath brought them to death very often and in the most remarkable manner His Second Proposition is this That 't is no pleasure to God to punish any man or any wicked man for ever If he mean 't is no such pleasure to him as 't is to have them obey him or that he is not so pleased with their misery as he is with their obedience or with their happiness in case they were obedient Then we may grant it without wrong to our cause But if he mean that God's pleasure is not in it in any sense then I deny it for it is the good pleasure of his will to punish the impenitent as surely as it is to give the Kingdom of Heaven to his Saints They shall suffer everlasting punishment for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it Matth. 25.46 and since they suffer it not besides the good pleasure of his Will or contrary to it they suffer it with his Will or agreeable to it The Text of Ezekiel ch 18.23 runs thus Have I any pleasure that the wicked should dye or be damned and not that he should return from his ways and live And so the sense is clear against him more than for him and he hath no way to make it appear to be for him but only to mention the first part of the verse without the second wherein he acts like you know whom See Matth. 4.6 compared with Psal 91.11 take the words together as they lye Have I any pleasure that the wicked should die and not that he return c. and then it is as much as if he had said I take more pleasure to have them turn and be saved than to have them go on in sin and be damned But if they will not turn they shall not be saved nor escape damnation and therefore Turn ye turn ye from your evil ways for why will ye dye Ezek. 33.11 saith the Lord in the same Book plainly shewing us that they must dye or be damned if they go on still in their Trespasses and never turn But the latter part of this Proof is if possible more strange than the former viz. God desires Mercy and not Sacrifice therefore he desires not that any should be sacrificed in a punishment never to end As for his Expression of mens being Sacrificed in punishment for ever I do not well approve of it and could easily prove it to be very unfit for the punishment of the wicked is not a Sacrifice for their sins since it makes no atonement for them either Typically or Really wherefore instead of that he might more fitly draw his Conclusion thus Therefore he desires not that any should suffer punishment for ever Now observe Reader the strength of this Argument God desires mercy and not Sacrifice therefore he will not punish any man eternally How could he speak more at random if he had striven to do it for This is meant of his Preceptive will namely that he values obedience in the general or