Selected quad for the lemma: world_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
world_n	love_n	love_v	manifest_v	2,475	5	9.8333	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A95338	Truths conflict with error. Or, Universall redemption controverted, in three publike disputations. The first between M. John Goodwin, and M. Vavasour Powell, in Coleman-street London. The other two between M. John Goodwin, and M. John Simpson, at Alhallowes the great in Thames-street: in the presence of divers ministers of the City of London, and thousands of others.	Goodwin, John, 1594?-1665.; Weekes, John.; Powell, Vavasor, 1617-1670.; Simpson, John, 17th cent.	1650 (1650)	Wing T3167B; Thomason E597_2; ESTC R202232	95,080	122

is said to intend things because he puts forth himself by means of that infinite perfection of his being after such a manner for the bringing to passe of such and such effects as men do when they intend any thing For example When a man intends any thing this in his course he projects meanes or sets afoot and ingageth himself in such or such a way for the effecting of what he intends which is apt and proper to effect it And in this sense I affirm that God intends the salvation of all because he affords exhibits means proper for the salvation of all by the death of Christ And therefore by the way it will not follow that in case the salvation of all men be not actually effected that therefore God failes and miscarries in his intention and the reason is because what ever is attributed to God which is borrowed from men as wisdom love hatred and a thousand such things they are onely attributed to him by way of effect and not by way of affect or of any formall existence or being in God for there is no such thing as love or hatred or wisdome in him to speak properly but God by means of his pure and simple Essence he is these and all these eminently and transcendently but none of them formally that is in such a propriety of their severall natures as wherein they are found in men and in Angells too they are not in the divine nature upon any such account as they are in men So that when we say God intends the salvation of all men we suppose that God doth that or behaves himself upon such terms and in such a way as men do when they intend any thing Yet not so that God doth all things or every thing that men do under their intentions it is sufficient according to the common notion of all Divines that similitudes are good and serviceable to their end if they hold in any one particular though they fal short and vary in a thousand others As for example If God doth any one thing by means of the death of Christ which men are wont to do ordinarily upon their intentions then I suppose the doctrine is true and will stand good That God did intend the salvation of all And therefore as men when they intend many things they do not alwayes intend them upon the highest and most absolute termes but they may really and truly be said to intend them if they can be obtained by such and such means As for example To purchase a house a man may intend it if he can have it upon reasonable terms and such as become a prudent man to give for it but it doth not follow that therfore he will give out of reason for it or such a price that shall declare him to be a fool or a man inconsiderate in his way And so God intends the salvation of all by the death of Christ so far as to give means unto all which are equitable and agreeable to his wisdome for their salvation not that he doth intend by way of decree for the decrees of God if we take the word strictly they are absolute and unchangeable and he will ingage his mighty power to effect them as the resurrection of the dead and the glorification of all those who shall live and die in the faith of his Son these are so decreed by God that all the interposings of all creatures can never hinder the execution of them But now those things which are properly intended by God they are not intended so to be procured as by the omnipotency of his arme and the exerting and putting forth of his mighty power to the utmost but by such meanes as are agreeable to his wisdome and to that kinde of creature whose salvation is intended by him And this is the cleare sense of my opinion touching the intention of God about the death of Christ M. Powell I shall take hold of nothing in this Discourse but onely this one thing Whether did the Lord intend the salvation of all Adams Posteritie conditionally or absolutely M. Goodwin You desired that I should first propound my opinion and then argue it and now it is propounded you come with another demand quite different from it which is just according to the old saying Plura potest interrogare asinus quàm respondere Aristoteles A fool may ask more questions in an houre then a wise man may answer in seven years M. Cranford M. Goodwin hath answered this already that he did not intend it absolutely but conditionally M. Powell If you please to draw up your whole mind into one Argument for no man is able to answer you in this long discourse M. Goodwin It was not propounded for any such end that you should answer it for I have onely asserted I have not proved any thing But I will answer your Question Whether God intends the salvation of all men absolutely or conditionally This then I say that in a sense and true stating of all the decrees and counsells of God I hold that they are all absolute and independent upon any thing in the creature that is that God should intend the salvation of all men in such a sense as I have declared this purpose and intention of his was not occasioned or brought into him by any interposall or consideration from the creature but it was meerly drawne out of his own will and proceeded from his own grace and blessed intent in this sense all the intentions of God are absolute But now if by absolute you mean that God will fulfill and put in execution the thing intended without any condition so I say they are not absolute but conditionall for God doth not intend the salvation of any man but only by the interposall of his faith and believing Now if you please to let me go on I shall produce my argument and if it doth not reach home to my opinion as I have laid it down take notice of the defect and we will eeke it out M. Powell I onely desire this because it is necessary that you first lay down what you assert and go to prove M. Goodwin That God hath intended the salvation of all men And we shall first begin with that known Scripture Joh. 3. 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life From hence I argue thus If so be that love out of which God gave his Son was uniform unto the world that is unto all men then God did intend in the death of his Son the salvation of all men and we might add with uniformity of intention but I shall not need But there he Evangelist expresly affirms that God gave his Son out of that love which he bare unto the world that is unto all men and that for this end that upon their believing they might be saved therefore he did intend in the gift

of his Son the salvation of all men M. Powell Your argument depends upon the word World supposing it to be taken in a uniform sense M. Lordell If it please you Sir deny one of the Propositions M. Powell I deny your minor if by the world you mean all Adams posterity M. Goodwin Very well I prove it thus Either by the world here must be meant all Adams posterity or particularly those whom you call in your language the elect of God but by the world are not meant only the Elect of God in your sense and therefore by the world is meant all mankind without exception M. Powell I may deny both your Propositions M. Goodwin Repeat them and then deny them M. Powell repeated the Argument and answered thus First your major proposition the world is taken in Scripture not only for all the world that is every particular man and for all the Elect but severall other wayes But I come to your minor and say that by the world in this place is meant the Elect of God M. Goodwin If by the world is meant the Elect of God only then the sense of the place must run thus So God loved the Elect of God that whosoever of these Elect of God should believe they should not perish but c. Which clearly implies that some of the Elect of God will not believe and so consequently may perish but this is to put a non-sense upon the place and to destroy the savor that is in it and therefore cannot be the sense of it as taken in this argument that which destroyeth the construction of the sentence and the savor which is in it which alone is fit to feed the understanding of a man that cannot be the sense of the place but now to understand the word world in this place of the Elect only it makes the sense altogether unprofitable and senselesse Ergo M. Powell To this Argument I answer that this may be the sense of the word world and the words may as well be read thus So God loved his Elect that he gave c. that such and such may be saved that is that they for whom he gave Jesus Christ might believe and so be saved for the Lord did not onely love them but he intended to bring them to believe and so the extend of his love and of believing they are as large the one as the other God so loved the Elect that he would give them faith and save them M. Goodwin I do not understand your answer but either you mean by the world the Elect only or else more then the Elect or all mankind in generall but say I neither of the former senses can be meant neither the Elect only nor some others besides the Elect but onely the whole posterity of Adam M. Powell I say by the word world in this place is meant the Elect only because the Evangelist saith God so loved the world he puts a so upon it Now you never find that God in Scripture is said to love all the posterity of Adam with such a love which is here called a loving of them so and which is called in Eph. 2. a great love M. Goodwin The Scripture holds forth a twofold love of God First a generall love which is attributed to him in respect of all his creatures and secondly a more particular and speciall love that is to those who have behaved themselves according to his Will and Word by believing in his Son and so by faith and holinesse continue to the end And whereas you conceive that this particle so here in the Text is only augmentative that it only declares the greatnesse of the love of God this I absolutely deny for together with the greatnesse of this love it doth modifie and restrain it and reduce it to this forme and tenor of love it is not said simply so God loved the world that he gave his Son that all the world should be saved then indeed it had been only augmentative but mark the condition which comes in upon which God loved the world and intends to save it viz. that whosoever believeth shall be saved Which shewes that this particle so is not onely intensive and doth not only stand there to declare the greatnesse and transcendency of the love of God to the world but the tenor and the limitation of it how and upon what termes God loved the world viz. that he gave his Son Jesus Christ so and upon such termes only that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life M. Powell You affirm these two things that there is a generall and a speciall love in God and when you speak of the generall you speak of it as extending to all the creatures But secondly when you speak of a speciall love you seem to say that it is not a speciall love which this word so holds out but I say this is a speciall love my reason is this because the Apostle when he speaketh of this very love in the 5. of the Rom. he saith that God commendeth his love towards us that whilst we were yet sinners Christ died for us This Scripture explains the other and this must of necessity be speciall love M. Goodwin If by speciall you mean great and wonderfull and so forth so I grant it is a speciall love but if you meane such a love or affection in God which is exprest or born by him towards those that do actually believe so that place in the Romans doth not hold forth or speak of any such love for the love of God is generall and he commends it exceedingly and marvellously herein but yet it was a love so limited and qualified by God that no persons should partake of the fruit of it but those that should believe And further this condition which God puts upon the partaking of the fruit of his love doth not represent his love the lesse commendable or lesse worthy of him God doth not shew himself lesse loving hereby but onely declares himself herein to be a God as well of wisdome as of love and it is his wisdome that doth moderate and steer all his Attributes in all their issuings and goings forth unto the world Now it had not been a love worthy of God so infinite in wisdome and goodnesse towards those whom ye call the Elect that they should partake of the benefit of this love but in and by and upon their believing M. Powell From this I gather two things First that the speciall love of God is towards men that are believers and that upon conditions of believing And secondly you say that that is the meaning of the Apostle in the Romans M. Goodwin No that I do not but the contrary and that it is the same with that which is here spoken of for it 's said that whilst we were yet sinners God sent his Son to die for us and I say that the intention of God in this love of his

and in the immediate expression of it in the gift of his Son it was that men should not partake of the compleat fruit and benefit of it but upon the terms and condition of believing M. Powell Let us keep to this either the love of God is a speciall or common love if it was a speciall love then it is a love to all or unto some if to all then you must prove it if to some then it must be tied to the Elect of God M. Goodwin I gave you clearly my sense before that there is an ambiguity in the word speciall if by that you mean great wonderfull and admirable so as to affect the heart and to ravish the souls of men so both this and that in the Romans are the speciall love of God but if you mean by it such a love or such expressions of love from God which are peculiar and appropriate only to believers so I say the love of God is not meant neither in this place nor in that M. Powell I conceive that in both these places he meanes a speciall love in the latter sense for the Evangelist and the Apostle do intend this speciall love to the Elect and my reason is this because God in the Scriptures holds forth no speciall love at all but unto such persons M. Goodwin You deny the conclusion for my conclusion is that it holds forth a speciall love M. Caryll That is not at all in the Question whether the love of God be speciall as a great love or a small love but whether speciall be opposed to generall M. Goodwin If by speciall he means such a love which is exprest or born by God towards those who are actuall believers then I say it is not speciall M. Powell When I speak of speciall love I mean not speciall so as belonging to actuall believers onely but unto those who believe as well de futuro as de praesenti M. Goodwin The Scripture doth not take knowledge or hold forth any speciall love in your sense to any but only unto those that are actuall believers As for all others whom you term the elect of God before their faith the Scripture still wraps them up in the same generall term of the world The whole world lieth in wickednesse saith John Now in this word world certainly there were more elect in your sense that did afterwards believer then at the present els all the labour and preaching of the Apostles had been in vain And therefore for the elect who do not actually believe they are no where presented in the Scripture as under part or fellowship of the speciall love of God which is appropriate to believers but they are bound up in the common bundle of the world and they are enemies to God and God an enemy to them in such a sense as to wicked men M. Powell Give me leave to answer unto this You say that if we mean a speciall love that is such a love as God beare unto believers that then there is no such love in God but unto actuall believers Now I deny this and affirm that there is the same love in God towards others that are elect who are not believers as there is to those who actually believe And this I prove from two Scriptures Jer. 31. 31. I have loved thee with an everlasting love and Rom. 9. 11. Jacob have I loved c. and now from hence I will argue thus That love which these two texts hold forth it is a speciall love and it is towards persons that were not actuall believers M. Cranford M. Goodwin's argument formerly was to this effect That the love of God was the motive to the giving of Christ is extended unto the world and therefore the giving of Christ must likewise concern the world M. Powell's Answer was that by the world is meant onely the elect this was took away thus that such a construction of the word would take away the savor and sense of the Scripture Now M. Powell should have given an answer to this and proved that the love of God in that place is meant of a speciall love Now I desire you to have respect to this word world where your Argument chiefly consists and prove that the word world in a narrower sense then the whole world takes away the savor of the words M. Caryll M. Goodwin seems to conclude against any interpretation but onely that of a universall because if it be taken in any narrower you spoile the sense M. Drake Let that be proved that it marrs the sense M. Goodwin I beseech you consider the words God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever c. Now if by the world you will understand the Elect then the sense must run thus God so loved the Elect that whosoever of these Elect should believe should not perish c. For this word whosoever is a distributive word it must distribute some either the Elect or all men therefore the meaning must needs be that God so loved the world that whosoever they be whether Elect or not Elect that shall believe they shall be saved And if you look your best Expositors many of them do interpret the word world as I do universally Musculus and others M. Powell When M. Goodwin urged his Argument I denied the major and minor Proposition that the world was not taken in that sense onely M. Goodwin Why who then doth he mean by whosoever for that must needs relate to the persons of men and if to men then to some men or to all men if you will not understand it so you make an absolute nonsense of it and put a Pronoune without an Adjective Therefore this word whosoever must distribute either the Elect or all men or else some middle sort of men between both M. Drake I desire you to bring an Argument to prove it nonsense if by the world be meant the Elect. M. Goodwin Mind the words again God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him c. That which I am to prove is that to make sense of the place the word whosoever must distribute some men either the Elect or all men or some other number of men between both If you deny that it must be distributive then find a Substantive to the Adjective who doth God meane when he saith whosoever doth he not mean what man soever M. Powell I think whosoever and world are of the same signification and extent and I suppose by the world there is meant those that should believe and not the world taken as it is oft in Scripture for all men I have given my reason why it cannot be understood but in the former sense for the Elect. M. Cranford Answer punctually to M. Goodwins Argument which is that the word whosoever is a distributive word dividing the subject spoken of into two parts and therefore the word world must not be understood

To give a faire Answer to a faire Demand and reasonable question I shall willingly doe it my sence therefore cleerly is this That the witnesse of Himself which God is there said not to have left Himself without by the meanes there exprest it must be not only a witnesse of his Godhead as of his power and wisdome for that was sufficiently witnessed unto them otherwise as by the fram of Heaven Earth and by the Creation and Generation of men that were then alive in the World but the witnesse which He gave of Himself or which He left not Himself destitute of it was of His grace and goodnesse and of that inclination which was in Him to shew mercy to men upon their Repentance that they might thereupon be saved it did witnesse or manifest to them that He had his Armes open to give entertainment to them and to accept of them upon their foresaking of their sins and turning aside from their wayes and workes of unrighteousnesse now this disposition in God a willingnesse and readinesse of shewing mercy interpretatively and constructively it is a Preaching of Jesus Christ unto men and that upon this accompt because that light of Reason in men which God hath given them at least before they quench it and obscure and bury it under sin and wickednesse it hath a sufficiency in it to prove by the means which God vouchsafeth unto them that there was some kinde of attonement intercession or mediation made betweene God and man otherwise it was not possible that the World should have subsisted under the sinfulnesse of the creature in that frame and state and being to the comfort of man had there not been some such Pillar said to have support it Mr. Ames I humbly crave leave to know this how its possible for us had not wee lived in an age and place where we have the Revelation and Manifestation of Jesus Christ as it is delivered to us in the Bible the Word of God by what rule should we proceed to interpret a shower of Raine or a fruitfull Season into this sence that Jesus Christ is come to save sinners M. Goodw. Look after such a manner or by such a rule of direction as the Jewes especially before the giving of the Law and as under the ceremonies of the Law they were able to pick out Jesus Christ and his satisfaction for the saving of the World by the same rule and meanes may men gather out though not particularly the Name of Jesus Christ I do not say so but that which is vertually and constructively and interpretatively and for the great end and purpose of Salvation every whit as much as the knowledge of that Name amunts unto all this I say may be learned from those gracious dispensation of the Providence of God in the World and my reason is because the reason of man and that light of understanding which God hath put into him it is able to bring him to this point and to fix him here that except some means had been used to pacifie God towards the World it was impossible that a God of that infinite Justice should endure such a World of ungodly ones such a wicked generation of men as wherewith the whole Earth was replenished from the one end of it unto the other This I say is nothing but what in a rationall and faire way may be collected and gathered by those meanes and by that light of direction which God hath ●ouchsafed unto men Mr. Ames Sir I humbly beseech you once more you are pleased to say That a reasonable Creature who never heard of the Revelation of the Gospell as we doe either by the Ministry of it by Men or by Angells from Heaven may as well gather out a Mediator interposing between the Creature and Divine Justice in a shower of Raine and a fruitfull Season as the Iewes were able to do from a Sacrifice and a Priest Mr. Goodw. No Sir that was not my Answer but this I said as that was a very improbable and unlikly way for men to have gathered out a mediator especially in those particularities which Mr. Sympson did urge in his Argument Yet look I say as there was a way and means open to the Jewes hereby to discover Iesus Christ though many of them did not finde Jesus Christ by that light so I say there is a way though I doe not say every way equall or of the same light and efficacy for the giving out of the knowledge of Iesus Christ unto men as the Iewes we speak of had yet it is of the same kinde though a dim saint and obscure way and method And to apply it to the Iewes and to the Heathen looke as the means vouchsafed unto the one and to the other to discover a Saviour and intercessour as the meanes was but weake and the light dim and faint so like were the acceptation of God even of that little which they were in a capacity to collect and gather together by this weak light it was prepared and ready for them and that according to the generall rule of his Providence and Goodnesse which is this to accept of Men according to what they have that is according to what they have power to doe and performe and not according to what they have not Mr. Ames Sir I only crave leave to add this further The different reason between the Ceremonies of the Iewes discovering a Mediator between God and them and the mean's which you say He vouchsafed unto the Gentiles seemes to lye in this That God was pleased to institute and appoint such Ceremonies and Sacrifices Temple and Worship to signifie spirituall things which were to come in the times of the Messiah And after he had instituted and appointed such things for such an end he was pleased them to comment and to gloss upon them and to give the serve of them which made the into pretation of those things easie unto the Iews But God not having declared in his Word that he hath appointed showers and fruitful seasons to be such interpreters of his minde 〈◊〉 to signifie a Mediator neither having glossed upon them I humbly desire to know how we may proceed to finde out a Saviour or to gather such a thing from them As for that which you say That a man by reason and understanding may gather much from such showers and fruitful seasons concerning the inclinable nature in God to shew mercy to a lost creature I humbly conceive that the Creature may gather and collect thus much That the great God who created the World is a God of infinite Goodness and for be drawne But that this God hath provided a Mediator to make an altonoment between him and man this I am not able to conceive how showers and fruitful seasons can discover but his declared minde and will revealed in his Word Mr Symps There hath been more spoken to this Argument then at the first was urged and therefore I conceive