NOR can we doubt , but that our first Parents , seeing into what a state they had brought themselves , did earnestly repent , and embrace the promise of the blessed Seed , and understand so much of the meaning of it as was for their use and comfort . Neither could they live without fear thereafter , of sinning ( again ) by the like disobedience : For by occasion of their sin , they came to see into the horrour of eternal death , which remained as the utmost punishment thereof , and which they could not understand so well before .

●r●naeus l. 3. ●ontra Haer. cap. 34 , &c. Eppihan . Her . 46 , ●7 . And this truth the Catholick Church hath ever held with so much zeal , that it hath taxed Tatianus and the Encratitae , of Heresie , for holding to the contrary . For ( say they ) if these were not saved , of whom Christ was to be born , Nihil quicquam eorum massae salvabitur , Nothing of their mass can ever be saved . And if they were to perish , certainly the whole Church of God was once at a loss and failure ; which , that it might not be , God had no sooner excommunicated them out of his Temple of Paradise , but he took them into the Church of Christ , the State of Grace ; whereinto he called them by repentance * * Deus utrumque poslquam peccârunt , non dereliquit , sed increpando requisivit , & adpoenitentiam vocavit : & ut eos in majorem spem veniae erigeret , promisit Semen ex Muliere nasciturum , quo aliquando conter●ret●r Caput Serpentis , qui eos ad transgressionem Divinae Legis induxerat . Est. in 1. 2. d. 33. §. 10. , and faith in his blessed promise . He did not leave them so soon as they had left him , but he brought them about again , by reproving of their sin , and setting a better hope before them than they had deserved .

And the effects themselves will shew it : For they not only submitted unto their punishments with thankfulness , in that they were delivered both from sudden and eternal death ; but also o●●ered continual Sacrifices and Oblatitions unto God , both of their Herds and Flocks and Fruits and all their encrease or acquists , that they had ; and so they taught their Children all alike , that God might be glorified in all , and their Children become Partakers of the same hope , which themselves , through mercy , had received . Now ,

As for Sacrifices , we may well think that it could not lightly enter into their heads to invent them ; but if they had , that God himself was unlikely to be so well pleased with their will-worship , as , first , to accept , and after , to make a standing Ordinance of them ( with the addition of many more Rites ) till the fulness of time should be accomplished : Nor is it easie to discover how this kind of service ( which was a Type and a Mystery ) came to be first revealed to them .

I cannot pass the Porch of this Argument , but I shall meet Pelagius ready to oppose me with the first ; For it follows from his opinion , That Sacrifices were but of the light of Nature only , if the Fathers , * * Pelagius docuit primos post peccatum homines , sal●atos suisse per Legem Naturae ; pos●eriores per Legem Mosis ; postremos vero per Evangelium Chris●i , quasi ●ine gratiâ Christi , vel Natura , vel Moses cuiquam potuerit prodesse ad salutem . Est. in l. 3. sent. d. 1. § 3. from Adam to Moses , lived by no other light ; as from Moses to Christ , by the Law ; and we at last by Grace ( by him also ‖ ‖ Pelagius vero , cùm gratiam Dei omninò negare non posset , docebac ●am in libero arbitrio , in Lege data , in exemplo Chrisli ▪ &c. sitam es●e . Id. in l. 2. sent. d. 26. §. 18. Naturalis gratia ha●ent●r bona gubernationis , &c. ut & dona naturalia scientiae , & morum : quanquam gratia significavit antiquitus donum aliquod supernaturalis Ordinis , alque dovec Pelagius abus●● est boc nomine , ad significandum solam Naturam gratis creatam . Alvar. disp. 1. de auxiliis . Quam gratiam sussecisse ad salutem , secundùm P●lagium ▪ resert etiam Voss. Hist. Pelag. l. 3 th . 1. perperam intellectam . )

As for the practice it self , there is no doubt : for although we do not read that Adam himself did make any Sacrifice or Oblation , Gen. 4. yet we find that in process of time , Cain ( being a Tiller of the [ newly accursed ] ground ) brought of the fruits thereof an Offering unto the Lord ▪ And Abel ( being a Keeper of the Sheep amongst which the immaculate Lamb was ) brought of the firstlings of his flock , and of the fat thereof . Which how should they do , but by their Parents directions ▪ That Abraham offered the Tent● of his spoils unto Melchisedeck ; Chap. 14. and that Iacob vowed a vow , saying , If God will be with me , &c. then shall the Lord be thy God , and of all that thou shalt give me , I will surely give the tenth unto thee . ● Ch. 28.20 If to Sacrifices , what should he add ? If to any Priesthood , after the disappearing of Melchisedeck , where was the like o●der ? If to any other pious uses ( since the Building of Altars of Earth or loose Stones was of little charge , and Poor he had none ) Expositors are troubled to shew them ; unless there be some light arising out of those words , — ver. 22. And this Stone which I have set for a Pillar , shall be Gods House ; as if he had designed , like David , to erect a Temple over his Altar , if it had pleased God to permit him . Only it is manifest that these things were revealed ( ab initio ) from the very first .

Not by the light of Nature : For then , 1. Adam in innocency had been bound to sacrifice ; 2. Since Christ's death , Sacrifices also would be in force as much as the rest of the Laws of Nature ; 3. It seemeth rather abhorrent unto Nature to shed the blood of Beasts in vain ; so that many of the Heaten Philosophers have seemed to symbolize with those passages of the Psalmist , Psal. 51.16 . Thou desirest not Sacrifice , thou delightest not in Burnt-offerings . Will I eat the flesh of Bulls , — 50.13 . or drink the blood of Goats ?

Indeed it is a Question among the School-men , whether Christ should have been incarnate , though Adam had not sinned ; but it was never doubted , whether he should have been crucified without out it . And that the slaying of Beasts prefigured this , the common consent of Christians hath made it manifest , who ever since the death of Christ , did not only cease to sacrifice , but declare all sacrificing to be a denial of it , and a crucifying of Him afresh . And the power of God hath so wrought , that where-ever the Gospel came , the Heathen Sacrifices also decayed by degrees . Nay , that where it came not ( to our knowledg ) as in America , and the utmost Indies , the sacrificing of any Beasts was not found in use when later Travellers came amongst them . But why they were in use all the World over , before the coming of Christ , no other reason can be given than that Adam , first , and after Noah , taught their Children all alike to offer Sacrifice . But as it went , it gathered manifold corruptions : for whereas Adam and Abel ( as Selden and Bertram judg * * Selden de jure naturali , & Gentium juxtadisciplinam Ebraeor . l. 3 c. 8. & quia Noachus munda ab immundis segregavit . Gen. 7.2 . Item Bertr . de Rep. Ebr. cap. 2. Illud non praeter●undum , non sicut ips● Sacrificia , ita omnia , quae prophanae Gentes ad Sacrificia adhibuerant , adscita ●uisse in Dei sacra : nec enim omnia Animantium , nec Rituum sacrificalium genera eadem in populi Isra●litici , a● Gentium a'iarum , sacris ●rant . Ou●●am de Sacrificiis , lib. 1. cap. 1. put a difference betwixt the clean and unclean in their Sacrifices ; the Gentiles afterwards offered Swine , and all abominations , even ‖ ‖ Vt notum est de Poenis , Phoenicibus , Syris . DeGallis etiam Caesar : pro vitâ hominis nisi vita hominis reddatu● , non posse D●orum Immortalium numen placari arbitrantur . De Bello Gall. lib. 6. Mankind , unto some or other of their Idols ; and by erecting Altars for Sacrifice unto other men , they did translate them into the number of their reputed Deities . But so much by occasion of Pelagius .

On another hand , who will dare to say , That it was lawful to sacrifice ( which was the special Sacrament of the Old Testament , in lieu of which the Papists would set up their Sacrifice of the Altar , tanquam incruentum only , as a proper Sacrifice of the like kind ) without an institution ? Or who can shew the institution before the practice ? A Point that is like to move the Kidney in two sorts of men .

The first can never prove , That God did directly institute this Ordinance of sacrificing , the most substantial part of his worship , which , no doubt , from Adam unto Moses ( whatever he added to it ) was not without confession and bewailing of sins , so far as the Sacrifices were Sin-offerings , that is , of expiation or atonement ; or without prayers , if they were but Peace-offerings , or Sacrifices of propitiation for obtaining of benevolence ; nor without certain words of Benediction , or Thanksgiving , when they were oblations of inanimate things for the blessings that God had bestowed , or continued to them . How do they then stand so stiffly on it , that nothing is to be admitted in the worship and service of God , without a positive command , extending to all the material circumstances , ( at the least ) when they cannot find so much as a syllable of the substance of this first Sacrament at all ?

In the New Testament , we find no institution neither ( which will touch them nearer still ) of the Lords Supper itself ( which all hold for an Ordinance , and a Sacrament , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; and it may be a weak pretence , why they excuse so many from coming to it , and keep so many more from it : ) For when our Lord gave it to his Disciples , he only shewed them an example , as to some part of the manner ( not observable , or observed since , in point of conscience ; as to be celebrated at the Passover , or in the midst , or after Supper ; or sitting , kneeling , standing ; or with or without any form or gift of Prayer , more than blessing or asking of a blessing , before the breaking of the bread and pouring out of the wine ) but as if he left them at an ingenuous liberty , according to their own good will , or love ; 1 Cor. 11.25 , 26. he only saith , As oft as ye do this , do it in remembrance of me : not so much as directing them how oft to do it .

In the like manner St Paul , — v. 23. I have received of the Lord ( whether by tradition , or report , or example of the Apostles at Ierusalem , and the Churches of their first planting , or by special revelation ) that which I also delivered unto you , setting forth no more but only Christ's own example . Will they therefore wholely deny any institution , by way of implicit precept ? or raise example in some one case , or two , as high as a precept ; and in many more , of great importance , study to dwindle it to nothing ?

As for Baptism , indeed , our Lord speaks positively , and expresly ( as if they might inferr , that this ordinance of initiation were only instituted ; and not the other , which they account worthily , of greater excellency ) Go teach all Nations , Matt. 28.19 . baptizing them , Mark 16.15 . &c. but say the Anabaptists , baptize only such as ye have taught before , and not Infants , which could not understand you ; contrary to the universal practice of the Church , succeeding in the next age from the Apostles , as deriving from the first : Shall we therefore stand strictly to the institution ( as some account institution ) and deny Baptism unto Infants ?

No , say others , that is utterly unreasonable . Gen. 2.2 , 3. Yet some of these will scarce acknowledge that those express words , Exod. 20.11 . God rested on the s●venth day , and therefore blessed the seventh day , and sanc●ified it , did amount to any institution , as to Adam in Paradise , or his Children afterwards , Vide ●tiam plura de hac qu. in Seldeno , loco supra citato & cap. 9. sequen●e . affirming that the Patriarchs did not keep it , because they do not read that they did , ( as if God were obliged to be as punctual in his Commands and Records as men , if he would be obeyed ) but that it was of Moses first ; not considering , or not weighing what St Paul says , Gal. 3. that the Law of Moses was added only because of transgressions : and therefore because in ●gypt ( it is like ) this Observation had been neglected , God would have the transgression of this his original Institution to become Capital for the future . Nor yet , that Moses brought in no new Institutions at all , but of Rites and Circumstances relating to the Iewish Church and Commonwealth alone . And although the Sabbath be not of the Law of nature , yet I doubt not * * Videsis que fusius de hác re disseruit Selden . de jure natur . &c. l. 3. cap. 8. & 9. but it obliged all Nations from Adam , as the penalty did the Iews alone by virtue of the Law of Moses .

The same men ( that they may preserve the greater veneration to the Customs of the Church ) though Christ arose on the first day of the Week , ( the seventh being the first day to Adam also , Gen. 1.31 . who was created on the sixth ) and sent the Holy Ghost on the same , and the Disciples met on the same to break Bread , ( in no common way ) and that St Paul saith expresly , 1 Cor. 16.1 , 2. Concerning the collection for the Saints , as I have given order to the Churches of Galatia , so do ye . Vpon the first day of the Week let every one contribute , as God hath prospered him ; do notwithstanding hold , that the Lords Day is but of even rank with other Holy days that the Church observes , as if it were of Ecclesiastical Tradition only , and not of Institution ; whereas it may be shewn when other Feasts began successively , and demonstrated that the Lords Day began from Easter and Whitsunday , ( fifty days after ) and so continued without any interruption hitherto , as hath happened unto all the rest .

But if all this amount not to an institution , in vain do they object against the Anabaptists that which they may so readily retort . For may not they say , Why do not you hold the Lords Day to be jure Divino ? Is it not for the same reason that we hold Infant-Baptism to be nothing so ?

The like might be said of single Marriage , Gen. 2.23 , 24. That it was instituted or ordained in Paradise as an implicite positive Law , dispensed with ( for a time ) by the Law-giver unto the Patriarchs , and Divorces indulged to the Israelites ( till Christ came ) for the hardness of their hearts . Matth. 19.4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8. Mark 10.5 , 6 , 7 , 8. Eph. 5.31 , 32. But when he says , From the beginning it was not so , without more words he revives the Primitive Institution . So that where the Scripture speaks but little , there is much to be understood ; John 21.25 . for if all should be written at large , the world it self could not contain the Books that should be written . It remains therefore that we think otherwise of Institutions than some men do : And , for all these two Institutions in Paradise , ( viz. of the Sabbath and of single Marriage ) that we do not presently imagine , * * Cautione adhibitaâ contra Socinum , qui censet Adamum ante pecc●sse , quàm comed ret , ●ametsi sola comessione à slat● excideret . that though Adam had not eaten of the forbidden Fruit , he might have fallen some other way ; but rather that he was under a Sacramental Guard before he made a breach upon Gods injuction .

BUT ( to resume our Argument about the original of Sacrifices ) the modern Pelagians ( learning how to ward the Passes that pressed home upon their Founder ) espied this to be one , That if Sacrifices had been of the light of Nature , it would have been written there indelebly , as with a Sun-beam , at the same time that Adam received the Image of God ; or ( if there be any difference ) if it were of the Law of Nature , mens consciences could not chuse but bear witness to it , Rom. 2.15 . their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another , according to the performance or omission of their Sacrifices ; and this as much before the Fall as after : whereupon they bethought themselves of such a subterfuge as this , Referente Outramo lib. 1. c. 1. §. 6. in haec verba , Hi , qui sua sponte pririò sa 〈◊〉 judicant , bun● sacri●ic●●●i Rit●m ad Naturea 〈…〉 dictas , ●ternas , ●lique● , & immutabiles non reser●nt ; sed ad ejus●nodi Instituta , quae ratio naturalis ●xcogitaverit , tanguam 〈◊〉 icuum Dei cultum apt●●●●●● , & idonea , &c Contra sententiam Antiquoram , qui Sacrificia isla ignita , ex jussu , seu inspiratione Numinis , cum caeteris ad cultum necessari●● , originem babuisse tradid●runt . Uti probant Alex. Halens . p. 4. membr . 6. & Scot. in sent. 4. dist. 1. quaest. 7. viz. That Sacrifices were offered unto God of m●ns own accord , not accord●●g to the Laws of Nature properly so called , ( which are eternal , immutable , confirmed , and far from being abolished by Christ himself ) but according to such institutes thereof as natural reason might excogitate as apt and sit for the conspicuous worship of God . v. gr . To offer the best of the Flock [ like an Herriot ] unto God in acknowledgment of his dominion and power and bounty ; but more especially as the Lord of life and death , in token of homage , as other Offerings in token of thanksgiving for their encrease . Which is the most favourable opinion of such as do but socinianize , and so double-refine upon him , who thought he had refined Pelagius before . Neque mirum , inquiunt , se quae primi illi homines Deo sacra faciebant , ea igne absumenda curarent , u●pote quod faciendum erat , ne quod Deo sacratum fuit , ad usus prophanos transferretur , quod aliter accidere potuisset . For they say it was no wonder , but most natural that the Ancients should consume by fire that which they had dedicated unto God , lest any remainders of them should hap to be afterwards converted to prophane uses . Which doth not amount to so much as the Heathen did imagine , who thought their Sacrifices to be sanctified by that Celestial Element of fire . Or the Iewish Rabbins , ( enemies unto Christ , or any mystery relating unto him ) for they held , D ● Lig●t●oot's Temple Service ch. 8. § 1. That Burnt-offerings were to expiate for matters whereupon there was a penalty ; and that the Body of the Beast that was sacrificed did serve to expiate , even for the thoughts of the heart . From which we may collect , That they also thought their Offerings to have been purified by the ●ir● of the Altar .

Now I can hardly forbear ( at the first entrance ) to declare my opinion , That whoever doubteth ●o deny , that Sacrifices came in ure by the use of natural reason , ( e●cogitating any acceptable service unto God ) or to determine and affirm with us , that they came in by institution only , according to the illumination of the very first Patriarchs , and were not essential to salvation before Moses ; they can hardly come so clearly off from Pelagianism or Socinianism , as to oppose them ab imis fundamentis , but must needs yield Goliah's Sword to gratifie them . Neither yet that they can heartily acknowledge this fundamental Principle , Vn●m esse omnium fidem , that there was but one faith and way of salvation from the beginning , I mean since the Fall , ( which I am shortly about more clearly to demonstrate ) till the end . I shall therefore immediately betake my self to compare opinions , that contraria juxta se pos●ta , magis illucescant , contraries being set one against another , the truth may arise the brighter out of all obscurity , the one setting off the other .

When we meet with any Divine Notions among the Heathen Writers ( which are not a few ) we may take all the rest , that they had not from the Phoenicians ( by which name they seem to have known in general the Hebrew people ) to have been clearly from the light of Nature , or from some old Traditions , traduced by their Poets , which were their ancientest Philosophers . When there are any Passages quoted out of the Iewish Rabbins in favour of any Gloss or Tenent , we are to consider whether that Author lived before our Saviours birth , or after : If before , how far suspicious of the leven of the Pharisees ; if after , how much tainted with the reprobate imaginations of the unbelieving Iews , ( which yet some do swallow as a Loche ; ) or , in fine , how far free from contradiction , ( those blinded people , out of hatred to Christianity , having many ways belied one another , in delivering of their pretended Rites and Traditions . ) In Christian Controversies , where the Authority of Fathers and Councils is quoted , the times , circumstances , occasions , interests and powers , are either to be added or substracted , as Grains are in the weight of Gold . But the present scope and design of Parties may seem to give us the best light ( if we can discover it ) into modern opinions , what to judge of them . I will therefore here endeavour to detect that of the Socinians , ( as far as I am able ) because it stands in my way now , and is like to stand in my light hereafter , ( as I proceed ) if I do not utterly remove it .

The design of Socinianism is not to destroy all Religion , without which they could not make a Sect ; nor yet to deny the Gospel in express terms , ( lest they be questioned of Iudaism or Mahumetism , which would work nothing else to their purpose besides a prejudice ) but by consequence only . Yet because they draw as near to the Borders of Atheism as those of Poland do to the Grand Seignior's , they have a mighty ●orce ( as it were ) of Cossacks , that pretend indeed as if they were of that Sect , but really hang betwixt that and utter Atheism . Their main foundation is , That men might and may be saved by the light of Nature in things Divine and moral .

To second which Hypothesis , E praelectionibus th●olog . F. S●cini Senensis , sparsim . amongst others , these are some of the chief , First ▪ That men argue so from Scripture , a●●f they did ( in effect ) but adhere to their own opinions , according to their light of reason , or capacity of reasoning ; taking only the Subject of it to furnish their apprehensions with some more probable matter of believing , and generally seem to adhere unto that common reason , whereof they accuse Socinians only . Secondly , That there is not naturally a sense of the Being and Providence of God in men , but that it is a matter of Faith only to believe that God is . Heb. 11.6 . . Thirdly , That natural Religion is only moral , and that he which is just shall be saved , though he believe not whether there be a God or no ; and to believe more , they are only bound to whom more hath been revealed . Fourthly , That there was no such thing as original righteousness in Adam ( but only innocency ) before the Fall ; nor as original sin , ensuing thereupon , or any imputation of his sin at all to his Posterity : ( For he holds that Adam was mortal in Paradise , though he might have been continued in life , or have been translated if he had not si●ned that sin ( though he did others in inordinate affections , at the least , before ) and that his Posterity was little the worse for it , although somewhat . ) Fifthly , That Christ ( though a more Divine Person than any other ) neither justly could , nor did satisfie for sin ; so that his righteousness can be any way said to be imputed : but th●t men are justified by simple condonation only . Sixthly , That he was given to us , chiefly as an example , to shew us that way to Heaven , which else it would have been hard for us to find . Seventhly , That as Adam had free-will before he fell , so all his Posterity hath still ; since there is no cause why he should be deprived of it by his Fall , nor the nature of the thing it self , nor of Divine Justice so admitting . Eighthly , That by the right use of this , a man may obey the Divine Law . Ninthly , That Predestination unto life is of such as shall do so , according to the foreknowledge of God . Tenthly , That such foreknowledge relieth on no Decree , Cui ●nim usui , obsecro , is●a praenotio esset ? Annon fatis est , D●●n c●n●la regere perpetu● , ac g●b●●nare , n●●●pso plan● nelente quidquam fieri posse ? S●a cura ubique semper , ●ta scientiâ , ac potentiâ suâ praest● esse , ut omnes ho●inis conatus & perspicere , & si sibi visum suerit , impedire posse● , insin●●aque suâ sa●i●ntiâ ( ●uicquid homo ●●oliatur , aut moliri 〈◊〉 ) omnia ad sui gloriam 〈◊〉 ; & quà rationi , prout hominis conatus suerit , sibi , ag●ndu● sit , ja● , ant●a , si it● placet , constituisse ? cap. 9. but is like to the foresight only of a prudent man , including no contingences .