The middle way betwixt. The second part being an apologetical vindication of the former / by John Turner.

AN Apologetical Preface , IN VINDICATION Of the Discourse Entituled , The middle way betwixt Necessity and Freedom .

I Am so well perswaded of the truth of what I have written , and of the honesty of my design in writing it , that I shall need to make no other Apology for its Publication , than that I conceive , it might be useful to the world ; and I hope , the event will prove that I was not mistaken .

The consideration of those Texts of Scripture , wherein God is said to have hardened , or blinded , or deceived men , is the subject of the following Discourse , as it has been already to very little purpose of many larger Volumes ; while some are so nice that they will not allow in any of these Phaenomena any more than a divine Permission , by leaving men wholly to the conduct and guidance of their own unruly Passions , and corrupt Affections , and to the blasting influences of degenerate and wicked Spirits . And others are so hardy as to ascribe all to the arbitrary will of God , founded upon no reason , but a boundless Soveraignty and dominion over all things .

The first of these is so dilute and cold a way of interpreting those places , where so much of activity and positive Concurrence seems plainly to be ascribed to God ; that if such activity can possibly be reconciled to the common notions which we are used to entertain of the divine nature and attributes , and to the standing measures of truth , goodness and justice : It ought by no means to be admitted , because such a way of Interpretation when there is no need , does instead of doing good , do a great deal of mischief in the world , by insinuating the Scripture to be more obscure than it is , and by that means giving too much encouragement to the wild Interpretations of Enthusiastick or designing men . Whereas the Scripture being the universal law of Life , the standing rule of faith and practice amongst men , that it may be the more effectual to those good purposes for which it was designed ; it ought to be rendred as plain and intelligible as may be , neither ought we ever to recur to a figurative sense ; so as for example , when such or such an action , or such or such an effect is ascribed to God , in Scripture , to say that he only permits that action to be done , or that effect to come to pass , unless where the literal and first meaning will not do .

But yet notwithstanding this way of interpretation , how weak and insufficient soever it be in its self , which I think , I have abundantly discovered in the following papers : Yet being made use of upon pious reasons to salve the credit of the divine Justice and goodness , and to make the revealed will of God more unisone and agreeable to the natural reason of men , it is our duty not to decline it without a becoming Reverence ; and to treat the Authours or abettors of it with all imaginable respect and Honour .

But as for that other way which resolves all into the arbitrary pleasure of God , who is according to these men a very arbitrary Being , and damns his Creatures in the other world with as little reason as he hardens them in this , it is an opinion so horrid , and so impious , so derogatory to the honour of God , so expresly levell'd against the happiness of men , attended on all hands with such dismal consequences of inevitable Ruin and Despair , that if it could not be avoided but this must needs be granted to be the natural sense and only true meaning of the Scripture , in those places which either one way or other do concern this point . I should think it my duty to renounce and abominate that Book wherein such prodigious Doctrines were contained , not only so destructive to the interest , but so contrary to the common and received notions of mankind , of which it is impossible for us to rid our selves , and which are themselves on all hands granted to be an unquestionable sort of Revelation .

Now if an expedient can be found out , by which both of the aforementioned inconveniences shall be avoided , which may consist with a more natural and easie way of expounding Scripture , which will do no violence to the attributes of God , or the common sentiments of mankind ; which shall make Religion to be at once an intelligible and highly reasonable thing , and shall at once vindicate it from the scoffs of Atheists , who are its professed Enemies , and from the reproaches of the Calvinists who are its pretended Friends : I hope to discover so wholesome and safe a passage between two dangerous extreams , by both of which the Authority of the Scripture suffers ; by the one from the obscurity , or rather downright Inconsistency of its expressions to the nature of the things intended to be signified by them ; and by the other from the horrid and detestable impiety of its Doctrines , I say , to discover such an expedient as this , for the Cure of two such dangerous and destructive ills , will , I hope , be thought a service done to true Religion , and a further confirmation of the excellence of that Book upon whose Authority and Credit it relies : and this is that which I have endeavoured to do in the ensuing Papers , and the expedient which I propose is this .

That God though he be so far from governing his Creatures by arbitrary measures , that his Justice is every where allay'd and temper'd with an infinite Goodness , Pity , and Compassion ; yet that when men have for a long time obstinately persisted in desperate and profligately wicked Courses , being altogether insensible of the divine patience and forbearance with them , or which is worse , ungrateful under the sense of it , and by a stubborn continuance in the same Courses , bidding an open defyance to his Power , having resisted all the convictions of their own Consciences , the admonitions and advices of their Friends , the gracious impressions of God's Holy Spirit , being deaf to the voice of Reason , secure in the midst of the most dismal fears and dangers , wilfully refractory and disobedient against their truest interest , nothing better'd or amended by all the troubles or inconveniences which former ill practices have brought upon them : that in such case it is just with God to harden them by a particular and positive act of his will into a final impenitence , to fix and rivet such degenerate habits into an utter impossibility of amendment , to make their Sin one part of the punishment which is consequent upon it , and to reserve them on this side the Grave , in a supernatural frenzy to be the publick examples of his Justice and warning pieces to the world , that in such cases as these there is no manner of harm , nor any the least inconsistency with any of his attributes . Psal. 69. v. 27. If he add iniquity to their iniquity , on purpose that they may not enter into his Righteousness . Prov. 16 ▪ v. 4. Or if he that made all things for himself , shall also make the wicked for the day of Evil , that is , make men persist obstinately in those courses which are to appearance wicked , though indeed they be fatal , for the day of Evil , that is , in order to their punishment , as well in this life as in the next .

And truly if we reflect , which in so bad an Age as this , it is not difficult to do , how obstinately some men are bent upon the most desperately wicked Courses , to the destruction of their health , to the ruin of their Interest , in spite of the perswasions and admonitions of their most faithful friends ; a man can hardly think otherwise , but that for some one or more very heinous and provoking Sins , after a long course of impenitence which is in effect every minute a re-commission of the same Sins , they are possessed and actuated by a divine infatuation .

How well I have proved my assertion , and how suitable that Hypothesis which I have laid down is , for the salving the Phaenomena which I pretend to explain by it , must be left to the Judgment of every impartial reader . But because it is objected among other things , in the instance of Pharaoh , which I may call the Master-instance , since it is not only the first , but the most frequently and the most expresly inculcated , of any in the whole Bible , that he is said to have hardened his own heart , and to have sinned yet more , and the like expressions , which may seem at first sight very inconsistent with a fatal obduration ; therefore to remove this difficulty , and render the sense of Scripture as easie and as intelligible as I can , I have endeavoured to show that these two things are by no means incompetible with one another , with what success must be left to others to determine .

I will now add , that I find Josephus in the second of his Antiquities , exactly concurring with me in this opinion : For he plainly makes him to have acted freely in what he did , having reasons and motives of his own to perswade him to it , which was his Sin , and yet to have been all the while possest by so strange a stupidity and sottish Madness , as could not be otherwise than the effect of a divine Judgment , and a fatality not to be resisted .

The grounds of reason assigned by Josephus , by which the King of Egypt was induced not to suffer the people of Israel to depart , are two .

First , That which Moses uses in his own excuse , to free himself from the delivery of a message , which he thought would be to no purpose , who though he there makes a very solemn profession of his devout acknowledgment and adoration of the divine power . Yet he concludes , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ▪ I doubt notwithstanding , saith he , how I being a private man , of no Authority or interest among them , shall be able to perswade my Countrymen to leave that fertile Province of which they are now possessed , and follow me thorough so many dangers into the Land of Canaan . And then immediately sub ▪ joynes , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; If I should be so happy , continued he , to perswade mine own Countrymen , yet how shall the Egyptians , and how shall Pharaoh be wrought upon to suffer them to depart , by whose perpetual drudgery , and daily toils , they gain so much wealth and advantage to themselves ? This therefore was the first rational Inducement why he would not suffer them to depart , because their stay was of so much use to enrich him and his people .

The second account to be given of this obstinacy , so far as it was a voluntary thing is , that sorcery and enchantments were so usual in those times and places among the Egyptians and Chaldeans : that when Moses first gave him a specimen of that miraculous power with which he was endued , as a Testimony of his divine Mission , by changing Aaron's rod into a Serpent , he looked upon this as no other than a magical delusion ; and therefore instead of letting the people go as he desired , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 that is , He grew desperately displeased and angry , calling him a base and wicked fellow , who having fled himself into the Land of Midian , to avoid the Egyptian Bondage , was now returned from thence by sorcery and witchcraft to perswade the rest to follow his example , and force the Egyptians to suffer it by his Enchantments . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . ( L. fortasse . ) 〈◊〉 i e. Which words he had no sooner spoken , but he added immediately , that you may not value your self too much upon your skill in Magick , or think that you are the only person in the world who can make a counterfeit apperance of divine power , you are to understand , Moses , if you do not know it already , that there is nothing more common among the Egyptians than this , and that all our Priests can do the same , at which immediately the Magicians threw down their Rods , which were converted presently into Serpents like that of Aaron , and gave new strength to the obstinacy of Pharaoh's heart .

These were the two rational motives upon which Pharaoh proceeded .

The First was properly a reason of State , and interest why he should not suffer the Israelites to depart .

The Second was an argument with him and his people , not to give that credit to the miracles of Moses which otherwise they might have done .

But this is not all the account Josephus gives , he does manifestly suppose likewise the Concurrence of a necessary , together with the voluntary and spontaneous principle , without which it would have been impossible , but so many and so great Plagues must needs have melted the Egyptian King into a compliance with the demands of Moses , and into a final Resolution , not any more to be recall'd , of suffering the Israelites quietly to go their way .

For when the rod of Aaron had swallowed those of the Magicians , which was a sufficient testimony of a Power superiour to theirs , yet he makes the King of Egypt insensible of any such thing . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and then 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , &c. He was fill'd with rage , but not with fear , or admiration at what had happened .

And when Moses not at all discouraged by his former course Entertainment and contemptuous usage , accosted him a fresh upon the same errant , adding menaces of the utmost Plagues and Calamities to befall him and his people , in case he still continued obstinate and refractory against the divine will and Message . Yet Josephus makes him to take so little notice of it , as if he had not heard what Moses had said : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 .

Again , whereas I have compared this hardness of Pharaoh's heart to a Lethargick or Apoplectick fit , which is awakened sometimes into some degree of sensation by the application of Caustick and painful Remedies ; but frequently upon the abatement of that Pain , relapses into its former security and forgetful Slumber , as Pharaoh was frequently of the mind to yield to the pressing importunity of Moses , when it was backed with the dreadful sollicitation of the most dismal Plagues , but yet upon the least relaxation or intermission of those Plagues , was just the same insensible and stupid Creature that ever he was before . I am in this likewise very strongly supported by the Authority of the same Josephus , of the Rivers being turned into blood , and of the removal of that Calamity he says thus . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 that is , The King being startled at this unexpected event , and being perfectly at his wits end , not knowing at this rate what would become of the Egyptians who must all perish , if the Waters continued to be poisoned , gave leave to the Hebrews immediately to depart , but no sooner was the hand of God removed , but he returned to his former mind , and would by no means permit them to be gone .

So likewise when the Plague of Frogs was by the Mercy of God at the Prayer of Moses removed , he makes him to have been so stupid , that he was no more moved than if no such Judgment had ever been inflicted , his words are these , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 that is , But Pharaoh was no sooner freed from this Judgment , but he forgat the cause and would not dimiss the people .

Again , when the Plague of Lice , that loathsome and abominable Calamity , had filled all Egypt with Terrour and deformity together ; he makes him then , like a man between sleeping and waking , to give his half consent that they should depart . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ( L. Opinor 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 i. e. At this horrible Calamity , the. King of Egypt being affrightned , and fearing at once the Destruction of his people , and recounting with himself the shameful and ignominious manner by which they were about to perish , was now half perswaded to lay aside his perversness , and hearken to sober Counsels . But the Concurrence of these two Causes is most plainly intimated by him at the close of that Chapter , out of which the above mentioned Citations are taken in the following words . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 that is , The aforesaid mischiefs must needs have been sufficient to bring him to a sense of what was equally his interest and his Duty , if he had not lost the use of Reason , together with the sense of Goodness ; but he not so much out of Ignorance , as out of perfect Malice , being sensible of the cause on which all these Judgments depended , would yet notwithstanding set himself in opposition to God Almighty , was a wilful betrayer of himself and his people to Destruction , and did what he knew to be for the worse at that very time when he did it .

Neither is Josephus less favourable to my sentiments , in the case of Rehoboam , than in that of Pharaoh ; but rather more , for he does not only attribute the infatuation of Rehoboam himself , to a positive Act of the divine will ; but he makes his advisers to have been exactly in the same predicament with himself , being all of them alike infatuated and deceived , so , that as he could not take , so neither could they give any other Counsel than they did : his words are these , speaking first of Rehoboam's rejecting the Counsel of the old men ; Antiq. L. 8. c. 3. and then of his applying himself to the younger Fry , for their opinion in the case proposed . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ( L. fortasse , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ) 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 that is , But he ( Rehohoam ) neglected the Counsel of the old men , how good soever in its self , and how suitable soever to the present Circumstance of time wherein it was given , God himself , as I conceive , making him to condemn and disallow that which was most for his advantage : Wherefore assembling his young men and Camerades that had been bred up together with him ; he acquainted them with the advice of the old men , desiring likewise their opinion of the matter , but they partly from the heat and inconsiderate rashness of Youth , and partly because God would not suffer them to discern any thing better , advised him to give for answer , that it was in vain to expect a redress of grievances from him , for that he was so far from it , that they should find his little finger heavier than his Father's loins .

Nay , Curcelleus and Episcopius themselves , who are my great opposers in this point , yet when they are sifted to the bottom , they confess the very same ; though at first they are mealy mouth'd , and will not acknowledge so much . So Curcelleus . L. 6. c. 9. p. 382. Semper enim iis satis lucis relinquit ad omnem justam excusationem adimendum , qualis vel illa sola est quae ex operibus Dei apparet , ex quibus potentia ejus aeterna , & divinitas perspicitur . Rom. 1. 20. Nisi fortè mentem iis eripiat & obbrutescant , ut olim contigit Nebuchadnezari . Sed poenae ejusmodi sunt admodum rarae & extraordinariae ; & quando Deus aliquem ad ejusmodi statum redegit , id quod posteà committit non imputatur illi in peocatum , non magis quàm brutis ratione destitutis , nec supplicium ejus aggravat , sed supplicium ipsum est , quod absurdum foret tale esse ut aliud post se traheret : that is , God always affords men light enough to leave them inexcuseable , that light which shines from the works of the Creation , from whence his eternal power and Godhead is discerned . Rom. 1. 20. Being sufficient to this purpose , unless by a particular Judgment he deprive them of their Reason , so as they degenerate into perfect Bruits , which was the case of Nebuchadnezzar . But punishments of this nature are very rare and unusual , and when they are inflicted , yet whatever a man shall do in such a Condition , cannot properly be called a Sin , any more than the same Action would be in a bruit Beast , which hath no use of Reason , nor any government of its passions , neither doth it enhance or aggravate his punishment , but is a punishment it self ; and it is absurd , that that punishment in which we are perfectly passive , should include in it the nature of guilt , and draw an other Punishment after it .

Thus you see it is granted with much adoe by Curcelleus himself , that God does sometimes , harden , infatuate , and deceive men , but this he says is a very rare , a very unusual thing , but by his favour , that is not the question , whether it be unusual or no ; but whether lawful and consistent with the justice of God to do it . If it be not , why did he do it ? And why does Curcelleus allow it to have been done in the instance of Nebuchadnezzar ? And if it be , then why should we seek a thousand shifts and evasions to elude the force and evidence of other Texts , that speak as plainly and as broadly as those wherein the story of Nebuchadnezzar is told ?

Curcelleus having thus plainly declared himself , it cannot be doubted but his Master and Predecessor Episcopius , whom he does little else but Transcribe , and Copy out will be found , when as throughly examined , to be of the same mind .

In the fourteenth Chapter , Section , the 4th . Of the fourth Book of his Institutions , he says thus : I will repeat it although it be a very long Citation .

Verborum istorum , [ ego indur abo cor Pharaonis ut non dimittat populum meum ] hanc sententiam esse ex iis quae hactenus dictae sunt Colligo . Ego Pharaonem Tyrannum populi mei crudelissimum , quanquam Jamdudum poenâ excidii dignum , non tamen statim puniam , sed primum signis & portentis meis mirabilibus , quibus similia Magi ejus praestare non poterunt , de divinitate & potentiâ meâ convictum , & longanimitate , & beneficentiâ meâ induratum , pro malitiâ suâ ac contumaciâ quâ eum repletum esse scio : & quanquam eò usque eum adducturus sum , ut populum meum retinere ampliùs non sit ausurus , visâ primogenitorum omnium & primogeniti etiam filii sui caede , tamen quia invitò id facturus est , & animum retinendi ac reducendi dimissum à se aut extrusum potius populum non est depositurus , uti eum non deposuisse legere est , Exod. 14. 4. Occasionem ei dabo quam avide arripiet , nimirum populum meum in angustias quasi redigendo , ut mare rubrum ante se & post se desertos montes habiturus sit , absque ullâ , si Pharaoh insequatur , cum instructo exercitu , contra inermes atque imbelles , aut fuga , aut evasionis aut resistendi potentiae spe ; ut eâ oblatâ , non sit dubitaturus infracto atque indurato animo populum in istas angustias redactum insequi , & per ipsam usque maris abyssum , quasi fugientem persequi , ut eò perductus , veluti in theat●um aliquod publicum , supplicio illustri atque spectabili , summaque ejus crudelitate & pertinaciâ digno afficiam , that is , the sense of those words : [ I will harden the heart of Pharaoh , that he shall not let the people go ] is this : I will not punish him , till I have first convinced him by Miracles , which his Magicians cannot imitate , of my Divinity and Power , and hardened him by my Mercy and forbearance with him . And though I design to bring him to that pass by my Judgments , that he shall not dare to detain my people any longer ; yet because it will be only by force and against his will , that he will at last suffer them to depart : Therefore I will give him an occasion , of which he shall be sure to take hold , that having the Israelites at a great advantage , hem'd in on one side by the Mountains , and on the other by the Red-Sea , being undisciplin'd , and unarm'd , unable either to fly or to resist ; he shall pursue them with an obstinate and revengful mind , through the Channel of the Red-Sea , whither when I have brought him as it were into a Theatre , upon a publick Stage , I will make him a notorious example to all Mankind , and will punish him with that severity , which so much Cruelty and so much obstinate perversness have deserved .

This is all that Episcopius will be brought to say , but if you consider how favourable he is in other parts of his writings , to those who deny God's prescience of future Contingences , it amounts in a manner to as much , as if he had spoken as broadly as Curcelleus afterwards did .

Again , he acknowledges that God gave an occasion which he knew before hand Pharaoh would be sure to embrace , that is , that he perswaded the Israelites to go by the way of the Red-Sea , as he did , Exod. 14. 2. On purpose and with a design that Pharaoh should follow after them ; and if he might justly lay such a design as this , and contribute towards it by a positive Act of his will , as to be sure he did , by commanding the Israelites to march that way , I cannot see why he might not as well harden him into a necessity of following them in order to his final overthrow and destruction .

The last Evidence I shall produce to corroborate what I have written , shall be taken from the words of the late excellently learned and exemplarily pious Dr. Hammond , in his little Tract concerning a Death-Bed Repentance , where discoursing concerning this very instance of Pharaoh , after much canvasing of the Business in favour of those , who will not allow that Doctrine which I have laid down to be true , he concludes thus , p. 16.

The result of all that I have laboured to lay down concerning Pharaoh is this , that although his State were a long time but reversibly ill , as long as he hardened his own heart ; yet when his own obdurations were come to the fulness of measure , and he ripe and dropping into Hell ; as after the sixth Judgment he was : then God exchanged the first part of that due punishment of his in another world , that was instantly to have Commenced , for a temporary cooler Hell here ; hardened his heart , and obstructed all possibility of Repentance ▪ from him , and so concluded him in this life in an irreversible Estate .

Which notion he afterwards improves to the same purposes that I have done , and after some further discourse upon this occasion , p. 18. He concludes thus : All which being not only granted , but proposed as necessary considerations to be taken along with this Doctrine ; it remains still clear and uncontrouled , that God may , if he will , thus punish a hard heart with total and final substraction of Grace , and so with hardening irreversibly , either here , which I only say he may , but know not that he will ; or at the hour of Death , at which time there is no doubt but he will thus proceed with every impepenitent .

I account my self very happy in having jumped so exactly in my sentiments of things , with so famous and renowned a Champion of our Church , and I was the more pleased in the first of these Citations to find not only the notion , but the very words in which it is expressed to come so near to some of mine in the following Discourse , though I had not the good fortune to see Dr. Hammond's Treatise till near two Months after I had written mine ; when upon showing what I had written , to a worthy Friend , to have his opinion of it , he was pleased to communicate that piece of the Doctors to me , which , when I found it so agreeable to mine own thoughts ; you may well imagine I read it with abundance of satisfaction .

But still there is some small difference betwixt the learned Doctor and me . He , as I do humbly conceive , out of a needless tenderness for the Honour of God , and for the Glory of his attributes , to make his patience and forbearance with us the more remarkable and conspicuous , will not admit of this way of procedure till the last cast , when the man is grown desperate , and it is almost in vain to expect any amendment from him ; nay , he will not positively determine whether ever God do visit men with final impenitence till the hour of Death . But it is very clear that whatever God may lawfully do without any violence to his Justice , that he may do at all times , whenever there is a lawful or justifiable occasion : since therefore it is confessed on all hands , that God may and does oftentimes take away Sinners in the middest of their days by a particular Judgment , the consequence of which without all question is inevitable Damnation ; why may he not as well harden and blind men sooner or later , as he pleases himself , into an irreversible Impenitence , so as it shall be impossible for them to Repent , that he may reserve them on this side the Grave , to be the publick examples of his Justice to the world ? For no man can be any more than Damned , and therefore with respect to the offender himself ; these are but two several instances of the same rightful dominion and Soveraignty over us , which may take the forfeiture of our Sins either way , and at what time it shall seem best to the supream Lord , and uncontroulable proprietor of all things .

It is true indeed the common impressions which are so deeply rooted in us all concerning the divine nature , and the daily experience we have of his infinite Goodness , in the administration of this lower world , will not permit us to think that God will do either of these without very great provocations , but we are to consider , that all men are not equally ripe for punishment at the same time or age ; there is great difference as to the frequent repetition of Sin , as to the different enormity or heinousness of the Crimes committed , and as to the different aggravation of those circumstances under which they are committed ; one man sins against greater convictions , after greater Mercies , under more powerful Influences of the holy Spirit than another , and these things would make a vast difference as to the time of inflicting punishment , though the divine Justice were always to be administred , ad pondus , and did always hold the same proportion to the Sins of men : but then it is to be considered in the second place , that God is not bound to extend the same patience to all , nor indeed so much to any as he does ; but in some he may take the forfeiture of their Sins sooner , in some later as he pleases himself , which whoever shall seriously reflect upon , will find it a Doctrine not only very reasonable in it self , but in its Consequences so wholesome that nothing can be more .

For what greater Inducement can there possibly be to an holy and virtuous life , to care and watchfulness in all our Conversation , than to think that we are every moment upon our good behaviour ; and that God if we continue to provoke him any longer , may the next minute seal our everlasting Doom , and consign us over to eternal Flames , may put us into an irrecoverable State of degeneracy and Apostacy in this life , that we may be made a Spectacle of shame and horrour in this world , and an eternal prey to infinite and everlasting Torments in the next . Certainly if this one Consideration were but throughly impressed upon the minds of men , there is nothing in the world that could have better effects , or produce a more lasting or a more universal reformation in it . And therefore as you cannot well , if you reflect upon the Circumstances of most men , enlarge this power of obduration in God , so far as to make the exercise of it unjust ; so the farther you do extend it with consistency to reason , and Justice , the better effects it will produce , and the greater advantages will be reaped from it .

There are indeed two things which have made many learned and pious Persons cautious of admitting so much as I have done .

First , Lest God by this means should be looked upon as the Author of Sin , and therefore as the only way in their opinion , to avoid this inconvenience , they generally interpret all those places only of a divine permission , without which indeed it is impossible any Action should be done or any event come to pass ; because upon his will and power the very existence of all things does depend , in him we live and move , and have our being ; therefore if he did not sometimes permit at least , and suffer bad things to be done , no such thing could ever come to pass , besides that a divine permission is of absolute necessity to the very being of virtue and true Religion in the world ; for if men could not Act otherwise than they do , they could not be said to be either good or bad : and therefore that men may use that freedom which is given them aright , it is necessary they should also have a power of determining themselves another way . To be sure with respect to this life this must be granted to be unavoidably true ; for what is our whole life but a perpetual warefare with bad desires from within , with importuning Temptations from without , with our own frailties , and with the Solicitations of others , and with the crafty inveiglements of the Devil , who will be sure to accost us on that side , which is weakest and least defensible in us , by motives of Pleasure , profit , applause or Power ; or whatever else he shall judge most likely to prevail upon us ? But now , I beseech you , who is there , or who ever was there , or will ever be of humane race , so perfectly pure and untainted , that he could not yeild to the importunity of any Temptation ? or what Combate could there be if he could not resist ?

Besides it is necessary there should be such a thing as the Schools are pleased to call libertatem contrarietatis , a liberty of determining either way in an Action or Case given , one of which said determinations shall be Culpable , the other meritorious or praiseworthy ; because to suppose otherwise , is to deprive the divine Justice of any Foundation , to exercise it self upon . Justice in the person punishing , and liberty in the person offending , do naturally suppose one another : for to Condemn one who could not avoid what he did , or to reward another who could not so much as endeavour to merit what he enjoys , may be called Arbitrary , but can never be just . For what Judgment is there where there is no difference ? And what Justice can there be where there is no Judgment , made of the merit of the persons that appear before it ?

Both of which reasons of the divine permission of Sin , are excellently pointed at by an ancient Writer , published among the works of Justin Martyr . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith he , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 that is , God permits us to commit those evils , which we wilfully chuse , not that he is not able to hinder it , but because we have a liberty of doing otherwise , and because by this means he displays his own patience and forbearance with us .

But yet notwithstanding though it be true , that God does and must be supposed to permit Sin in the world , yet to interpret all those places which are the Subject of our present debate only of a bare Permission , will appear very harsh and uncouth , to any that shall peruse the places themselves , wherein a great deale more than this seems manifestly to be contained , and is ascribed to God in as plain words as it is possible for any Language to speak : Besides that it is needless to the design for which it is done , because necessity destroys the nature of Sin ; and just so much as there is of freedom in any Action , so much of moral good or evil there may be in it , but no more ; he that is necessitated is passive in what he does , neither are those Actions which he commits in such a state to be considered as his , but they are the Actions of that Agent by whom he himself is Acted . The case is this , one man kills another lying in wait for him out of Malice , forethought because he bore him a grudge and had vow'd Revenge ; or being in a cooler humour than this , he does it out of a wicked frolick , resolving for a jest to kill the next man he meets , now it so happens that this man himself is afterwards destroyed by the goring of a mad Bull in his passage through the Streets , or by the fall of a Beam from an House , all on fire or the like ; here is the same event on both hands , a man kill'd ; but yet to the Destruction of the one there is a guilt belonging , to the other there is not , what is the reason of this ? why the reason is plain , because the first is the effect of a free , the latter of a necessary Agent . If therefore a man by some external impulse be so far overrul'd that he is not himself , his Actions are not his own neither , but he is in the nature and quality of the mad Bull or the Beam , he does these things because he cannot help it ; and therefore they are no Sins . Or if sometimes there be a Complexion of the free Cause , and of the necessary together , as I have shown there may be , yet the common Action resulting from them both , partakes only of so much guilt , as it borrows of Causality from the Free . It is impossible therefore that God should be the Authour of Sin in any other Sense , than as he is the Authour of that freedom by virtue of which we commit it : but yet to speak properly , it is not the freedom it self which is the cause of Sin , but it is the abuse of that freedom which is wholly owing to our selves , and God is no otherwise concurring to it , than as a causa sine quâ non , in as much as we could not have sinned if we had not abused our freedom ; and we could not have abused our freedom , if God had not made us free . From all which it appears that to talk of God's being the Authour of Sin in men , is to talk not only 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , things that neither can nor ought to be believed , but also 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , things that are utterly impossible to be done . For my part I am so far from favouring any such opinion , that if any man should by way of excuse lay his Sins to the charge of God Almighty , as necessitating him to what he did , I think it is a plain Argument he is sensible of his having done amiss , and consequently might have done better if he had pleased , and shall therefore very heartily joyn in . Philo's imprecation against him . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . i. e. He that shall presume in his own excuse to lay his misdeeds to the charge of God Almighty , let him be punished without mercy , and let no Sanctuary afford him its protection : Sanctuaries not being intended for such as defend their Sins , but for such as do humbly acknowledge and bewail them .

The second Reason , if indeed it may be called a second , and be not rather the same , why some have been so extreamly scrupulous in the interpretation of such places of Scripture , as are now under Consideration , is to be taken from their deserved hatred and utter Abomination , of Calvinistical Doctrines , by which God is represented to be so cruel and sanguinary a being ; but the exposition of these texts according to their first and most natural sense , is so far from bordering upon Calvinism , that it perfectly destroyes it , since every such Text is a new Argument for the liberty of the humane nature and will , in as much as it would be ridiculous to say God hardens or blinds men by a particular Judgment , if before that in their natural and best Estate , they had neither the use of their reason , nor the liberty of their will .

There be four instances made use of in the ensuing Papers , for the Confirmation of this Doctrine , which it will be requisite for the more compleat satisfaction of all those scruples , which either too much nicety , or too much affectation may raise , a little more particularly to insist upon .

The First , is that of Nebuchadnezzar . The Second , of Ahab . The Third , of Absalom . The Fourth of Judas Iscariot .

For the first of them , that is to say the instance of Nebuchadnezzar , I have taken notice that though St. Jerom , in his Commentary upon that Chapter of Daniel , wherein that Story is related ; have with great Judgment rejected the fond conceit of those Ancient Interpreters , who would needs turn the whole business into an Allegory , yet that he himself is every whit as guilty in the other extream by taking all things in the literal sense .

Now that I may not seem to differ without reason from the opinion of so learned a Father , I will repeat his very words , which are these , speaking of Nebuchadnezzar's Transformation into a Beast . Quis enim amentes homines non cernat instar brutorum animantium in agris vivere , locisque silvestribus ? & ut cuncta praeteream , cùm multò incredibiliora & graecae & Romanae Historiae accidisse hominibus prodiderint . Scyllam quoque , Chimeram , Hydram at que Centauros , aves & feras , flores & arbores , stellas & lapides factos ex hominibus narrent fabulae , quid mirum est si ad ostendendum potentiam Dei , & humiliandum regum superbiam hoc Dei judicio sit patratum ? that is , Who is there that is ignorant that men opprest with Melancholy to a degree of Madness , do use to wander about like Beasts in the Fields and Desarts ? Nay , when the fables of the Heathen Poets do tell us such incredible Stories of Scylla , Chimaera , Hydra , and the Centaures , of men transformed into Birds , and Beasts , and Flowers , and Trees , and Stars , and Stones , what wonder is it , if God to give a demonstration of his own infinite Power , and withall to humble the pride and insolence of haughty Kings , should work so great a change as this by transforming Nebuchadnezzar nto one of the Beasts of the Field ? In which words it is plain that he seems first doubtful what to do , and therefore expounds this event only of a Melancholy and lonely way of life in Fields , and Groves , and Desarts like to that of Beasts : But afterwards by the example of such like transformations , recorded to Posterity in the Greeek and Roman story , he is induced to believe that such a change was literally wrought .

But now if those prodigious Metamorphoses did really never happen , as they are reckoned by Palaephatus a very ancient Writer , among the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , things that are not , and ought not to be believed in the grammatical and dry sense , and are all generally expounded by the ancient Mythologists , into a moral meaning , then no argument can be fetched from thence to justifie this pretended change of Nebuchadnezzar ; and consequently if St. Jerom have nothing else to produce in favour of so strange an opinion , we may with modesty enough dissent from his Authority , so far as it is grounded only upon that reason , and it does not appear that he has any other Foundation : Wherefore the truth of the whole matter , which hath not yet that I know of been sufficiently explained by any Interpreter whatsoever , seems to me to beas follows .

Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon , had behaved himself with that Pride , Insolence , and Tyranny towards his Subjects , oppressing them without any sense of humanity or regard to Justice , and forgetting from whom , and to what purposes he had received his Power , that God gave him over as a Prey to the Pride and Haughtiness of his own mind , insomuch that he began now , not only to oppress the meaner Herd as he had done before , but to exercise his Cruelty upon the great ones themselves : those that had been the former Partners , and Associates with him in his Exactions and Severities upon the lower sort ; wherefore as in a common Calamity they all agreed to acknowledge him no longer for their Soveraign , but instead of that they drove him from men , that is , they deposed him from his Royal Throne to dwell with the Beasts of the Field , and to eat Grass as Oxen , that is , they had no more regard of him than as of an ordinary person , or fellow Subject with them .

This is the meaning of Dan. 4. v. 16. Let his heart be changed from man's , and let a Beast's heart be given unto him , that is , let him be utterly devested of his reasonable or humane nature , and let a Beast's heart be given unto him , that is , let him be given up as a Prey to the Exorbitant fury of his Passions , and let those Passions be improved into all manner of savage Rapaciousness and Cruelty , as in Carnivorous animals and Beasts that live by preying upon their Fellows ; and it is said let a Beast's heart be given unto him , because the heart is the seat of the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , it is usually esteemed the seat of Anger and Revenge and of all the irascible Powers of the Soul .

The same is likewise the true and undoubted Interpretation of his hairs being grown like Eagles feathers , and his Nails like Birds Claws , v. 32. For it is manifest these things can never be understood in the literal Sense ; for what a Monster would this make of Nebuchadnezzar betwixt a wild Beast and a ravenous Bird , that had the heart of a Beast , and eat grass as Oxen , having his body wet with the dew of Heaven ; his hairs grown like Eagles feathers ; and his Nails like Birds Claws ? But if you apply all these things which are so perfectly inconsistent with one another , to denote the inflamation of his passions into all manner of exorbitance and excess , there will be at least a symbolical agreement and harmony between them , inasmuch as the do all very properly conspire to denote such a cruel and revengeful temper .

Which things being so very true and so very plain , and being a part and consequence of that divine Judgment , which Nebuchadnezzar saw more darkly in his Vision ; and Daniel afterwards declared to be hanging over his head , and which he advised him to avert ; or at least wise to procrastinate by an early Repentance : what can be more evident from all this , than that such events do sometimes come to pass , not meerly by the bare permission , but by the immediate hand of God , and by a positive determination of the divine will , or as the words of the Vision have expressed it in a more prophetick Stile , by the decree of the Watchers , and by the word of the Holy ones , v. 17.

Lastly , That by eating grass as Oxen , is meant his being levell'd with the ordinary crowd of men , devested of all his Royal Majesty and greatness , I shall now make out as plainly as I have the other , for I do not desire to impose my own Fancies upon any man , any farther than they shall appear to be consonant to reason , and so far they will shift for themselves without any sollicitude or care of mine . Dan. 4. v. 12 , we find these words of Nebuchadnezzar's Tree , The leaves thereof were fair , and the fruit thereof much , and in it was meat for all : The Beasts of the Field had shadow under it , and the Fowles of the Heaven dwelt in the Boughs thereof , and all flesh was fed of it , and what was meant by this Tree , we find expresly set down by Daniel , v. 20 , 21 , 22. The Tree that thou sawest which grew and was strong , whose height reached unto the Heaven , and the sight thereof to all the Earth , whose leaves were fair , and the Fruit thereof much , and in it was meat for all , under which the Beasts of the Field dwelt , and upon whose Branches the Fowles of the Heaven had their habitation . It is thou , O King , that art grown and become strong : For thy greatness is grown , and reacheth unto Heaven , and thy Dominion to the end of the Earth .

Now if the King be this great Tree , then nothing is more clear than that by the Birds of Heaven that dwelt in the Boughs thereof , and by the Beasts of the Field that , had shadow under it his Subjects must be understood , ( unless you will suppose him to have been a King of Birds and Beasts instead of men ) and if so then by the Fowles of Heaven , we are to understand the Nobles , Grandees , and Magistrates , the Ministers of State , and Officers of publick Justice belonging to his Kingdom . These are said to have dwelt in the Boughs thereof , that is , to approach nigher to the Honour and Majesty of the supream Lord , and still as every man's dignity or Office is greater than that of an other , his roost upon this Imperial and symbolick Tree approaches nigher to the top of it .

Again , by the same way of speaking , that the Fowles of Heaven are the great men , the Beasts of the Field are the populace , or common crowd of his Subjects , and these are said to have shadow under this Tree ; as all Societies and Bodies of men in the world owe their Security and defence to the protection of the supream Power , and in acknowledgment of this defence , and of the advantages accruing to themselves , and their Posterities by it , they are to pay a suitable obedience and submission to that supream Authority from whence they receive it .

And therefore when this Tree was to be cut down : v. 13. 14. When the Watcher and the Holy one came down from Heaven , and cry'd aloud and said thus , hew down the Tree , and cut off its branches , shake off his leaves , and scatter his fruit ; that is , let this King be deprived of his imperial Authority and Power : It is added immediately , let the Beasts get away from under it , and the Fowles from under its branches , that is , all the people as well the Commonalty , as the Nobless , are for the present excused from all Duty and Allegiance to him , so long as he continues to exercise his Power only by acts of Cruelty and Tyrannick Madness , to the utter Ruin and destruction of his Subjects .

Now why may not these Beasts be the same with those that are afterwards called Oxen , with whom Nebuchadnezzar is said to have eaten Grass , for it is plain , there was Grass under this prophetick Tree ; and therefore they might Graze as much and as often as they pleased ? for it is said v. 15. Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the Earth , even with a band of Iron and Brass , in the tender Grass of the Field , and then it is immediately subjoyned . Let it be wet with the dew of Heaven , that is , let him be exposed to the hardships and uncertainties of Chance and Fortune , and let his portion be with the Beasts in the Grass of the Earth , that is , let him not exercise any more Authority , Dominion , or Kingly power , than any ordinary or private man , than the Beasts of the people as the Psalmist in the mixt translation somewhere calls them , than the very meanest of all his own Subjects and Vassals . So then he that was to eat Grass with Oxen in an other part of this Chapter , was here to have his portion with the Beasts in the Grass of the Earth , and v. 25 , they are put together ; thy dwelling shall be with the Beasts of the Field , and they shall make thee to eat Grass as Oxen : Therefore they are both the same , but I have proved that by the Beasts of the Field the common Crowd of mankind are to be understood ; therefore it must needs be , that by having his portion with them in the Grass , and by eating Grass as Oxen , must be understood , the being reduced to an equality of Condition with them . This is not Fancy but Demonstration .

Again it is no less plain from other places of Scripture as well as this , that by Oxen in the prophetick or symbolick stile the gross of mankind are signified , as in Pharaoh's Dream of the seven fat and lean Kine , the seven plump and blasted Ears , these were not two several Declarations of the same thing , as in the synchronisticall Visions of the Revelation ; but they were two partial Representations of one and the same entire event , which was afterwards to come to pass . The thin and full Ears , signifi'd the plenty and scarcity of all sorts of Grain ; the number Seven , pointed at the duration of each of these for the continuance of seven Years ; and the Kine were the People or Inhabitants of Egypt , and the neighbouring Countries , who were to enjoy this Plenty , or were in likelyhood of being pinch'd and famish'd under the sad effects of scarcity and want .

So in the building of Solomon's Temple , the Molten-Sea was contrived to stand upon twelve Oxen , 1 Kings , c. 7. v. 25. with allusion to the twelve Tribes , not reckoning the tribe of Levi who had no portion nor Inheritance among them ; as the Ark when it was an Ambulatory thing , was used to be carried to and fro by the Levites , which Levites did represent the first-Born of the twelve Tribes . And thus likewise under the brim of the Molten-Sea , there were knops compassing it , ten in a Cubit round about 1 Kings , c. 7. v. 24. Which knops . 2 Chron. c. 4. v. 3. are called Oxen , but much smaller it seems they were than those twelve already mentioned . Now of these Knops or Oxen , there being ten in a Cubit , and the Molten-Sea , being in Circumference thirty Cubits , it is manifest there must be three hundred of these Oxen , that is five and twenty times twelve , still with a mystical allusion to the twelve Tribes , of which the people of Israel was composed .

Thus I have proved by more arguments than one , that by Oxen in the language of the Scripture , the common crowd of men are sometimes denoted ; and by their eating Grass , the lowness of the plebeian or vulgar fortune is signified , as is both reasonable in its self to believe , and is sufficiently intimated in the story it self , v. 15. Leave the stump of his roots in the Earth , even with a band of Iron and Brass , in the tender Grass of the Field , the plain sense of which is , do not let him be perfectly rooted out , but let him be brought as low as can be : Let him feed on Grass as Beasts do , which is an argument of the baseness of their Condition , according to those known Verses of Ovid.

— Recens tellus seductaque nuper ab alto Aethere cognati retinebat semina coeli , Quam satus Iapeto mistam fluvialibus undis , Finxit in effigiem moderantûm cuncta Deorum . Pronaque cum spectent animalia caetera terram , Os homini sublime dedit , coelumque tueri Jussit , & erectos ad sidera tollere vultus .

And now from this story of Nebuchadnezzar , thus evidently and clearly explained , give me leave to step aside into these following remarks or Observations .

First , That when I say he was deposed by his people , I mean no more , neither is there indeed any more in the truth of the thing it self , than that the Administration of affairs by reason of his extream madness and incapacity to govern , was put into other hands , of one or more , but it is probable , in the East where Monarchy was the only form of Government , of one ; and he as it seems , of the meanest of all the people , chosen perhaps by such another trick as Darius is said to have been , v. 17. The most High ruleth in the Kingdom of men , and giveth it to whomsoever he will , and setteth up over it the basest of men ; which in the language of an Heathen is as much as to say ,

— Valet ima summis Mutare , & insignem attenuat Deus , Obscura promens —

But yet notwithstanding , they did no otherwise disobey Nebuchadnezzar their lawful Soveraign , than by refusing to comply with him , or lend their helping hand to the executing his most unjust and barbarous Decrees ; of which , no doubt he gave many lamentable instances , before any longer Obedience was denied him , and one of them we have no farther off , than in the Chapter immediately preceeding , where all are commandded through all his spatious Provinces and large Dominions to be cast into the Fiery-Furnace , that would not fall down and worship the golden Image which he had set up : A Decree so strangely Tyrannical , and inhumane that it is an equal wonder that there should any where be found so wicked a Prince as to enjoyn , or such enslaved and miserable Subjects as dare not refuse in such a case to obey so savage and so impious a Decree .

Secondly , The second thing which I shall observe , is that being devested of all Power , and that Madness which was the cause of it , being by this means improved to a greater height ; there is no doubt but while he was in this Condition , he did with his own hand commit many great and horrid outrages , though he could not find any body to assist him , but all were either weary , or afraid of being any longer the Executioners of his wicked Commands .

But yet Thirdly , It is plain , notwithstanding all this , that his person e mained sacred and inviolate , neither was any man suffered to hurt or annoy him , for the space , as is probable , of at lest seven Years together ; which Religious care of doing no manner of violence to the Majesty of Princes , which is next to that of God , would without question have lasted longer , if the hand of God had continued any longer upon him , which is a notable example of that strange Veneration which the Liege men of old time did use to pay their natural and rightful Soveraigns , and what an awe and dread they had for that Character which they receiv'd from God , and that unaccountable Authority with which they were by him invested .

Fourthly , No sooner did he return to himself , and the heavy hand of God being removed from him , began to have a sense of his former Miscarriages , and to recover the use of his reason , Dan. 4. 36. But the glory of his Kingdom , his Honour and his Brightness returned together with them , his Councellors and his Lords sought unto him , and he was established in his greatness , and excellent Majesty was added unto him ; which is a new sign how unwillingly they disobeyed him , whom they looked upon as God's vicegerent , and that they thought nothing but absolute necessity could excuse their non-compliance with his Commands , but that when that necessity was once removed they were still under the same obligation as before .

Fifthly , God's suffering him to remain so long a publick example of inviolate and sacred Majesty , his not taking him away , by any untimely death , and perhaps protecting him against the course of Nature , his restoring him after all this to the use of his reason , and to the full exercise of his imperial Dignity and Power , is a plain argument how highly he approved this dutiful behaviour of his Subjects towards him ; and a clear proof , especially if you consider how wicked a King this Nebuchadnezzar was , that Princes are as to their actions Unaccountable , as to their persons Sacred , and as to their Laws , that they are by no means to be disputed or disobeyed by us ; unless in cases of a plain and absolute Necessity , where we cannot do it , without a manifest and open Violence to the laws of God and Nature , to the common sentiments , or the common interest of mankind : as it is when absolute Monarchs use that absolute and arbitrary Power , with which they are entrusted only to the utter Ruin , Destruction , and Extirpation of their Subjects , as Nebuchadnezzar by his sanguinary Edicts , and barbarous acts of Soveraignty was used to do . In this case we are excused from obeying his Commands , but we are in no case to resist or fight against his Person .

The force of which argument will extend yet further if you consider , that though indeed the Eastern Nations are , and have always been observed to be composed of a sort of people , the fittest of all other to bear the Yoke , being by nature the most perfect Slaves ; being not only contented , but proud under that Condition , and being strange admirers of the Majesty and greatness of their Princes : yet when this Majesty was thus eclipsed ; when all further obedience was rendered in a manner impossible , It is an incredible thing that such an awful respect for the person of their King , when they had shaken off all obedience to his Commands , should still remain among all the sorts , and all the several degrees , all the several Constitutions and tempers of men , through all the spacious Territories of so large an Empire ; had it not been that God Almighty did some way or other interpose in his behalf , and did by an immediate hand restrain the fury of those , who would otherwise have reeked their Revenge upon his person , not so much out of kindness to him , so wicked a King , so great a Rebel and Traitor to his God , as to put the world in mind of their Duty to the supream Powers , who are his Vicegerents and not ours , and therefore accountable to none but him : and that it was God's design from the beginning , that his person should not be touched , though his power were for the reason above mentioned taken away , appears plainly from the 15 verse of that Chapter so often cited : Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the Earth , even with a band of Iron and Brass , that is , be sure that his Person , and his Life , which are the Root and Foundation of Power , that these remain still sacred and secure , from whence upon his Repentance and amendment , new Glory and Majesty may sprout and grow .

This is the first instance , in which because I have been much longer than I intended , I shall be the more careful to contract my self in those that follow .

The Second is that of Ahah , about which great stir has been made by learned men , who will by no means admit that God did actually concur to his deceiving , but without reason ; for though I will grant that the thing was not exactly , as it is represented in the 22th . Chapter of the first of Kings , I saw the Lord , says Micajah , the Son of Imlah , v. 19. Sitting on his Throne , and all the Host of Heaven standing by him , on his right hand , and on his left , which things notwithstanding could not be seen , God not being a Corporal substance , and the Angels , if they have any Bodies at all , yet they are of that fine and subtile Contexture that they could not possibly be seen by mortal Eyes , neither has God who is ubiquitary , who is coextended to all places , and to the utmost possibilty of space , in propriety of speech , any right hand or any left ; which modes of expression must therefore be referred , not to the reallity of things themselves , but to the prophetick Scene in which they were represented by corporeal Phantasms to the Imagination of the Prophet , which Josephus understood very well , and therefore has omitted a great part of this visionary apparition , as not necessary to be exactly related : yet to affirm after all this Pompous and magnificent apparatus , to signifie the approaching fate of the King of Israel , that God was no otherwise concerned in it , than by his bare permission , seems to me so far from being true , that it is the most improbable , unlikely thing in the world : we will grant that the Host of Heaven was not assembled around the divine presence , in that manner which is represented , and that one of those blessed Spirits , for such an one to be sure is here described , did not step forth and proffer his service to deceive Ahab ; yet thus much is certainly true , that God did positively design to deceive him , and did actually concur towards it , by dispatching a blessed Spirit , as the instrument of his wrath , to be a lying or deceiving Spirit , in the mouth of Ahab's Prophets .

And if thus much be not the least that is , or can be signified by this prophetick Iconisme in the History of Ahab ; then it must be confessed that here is a very formal story that signifies nothing at all , which , whether it be reasonable to suppose , whether it be for the honour of God , or of his Prophet , or for the credit of that inspir'd Book , wherein matters , in which God Almighty is not at all concerned , are so pompously related , as if it were designed to show that he was concerned in an extraordinary manner , and that none but he and his immediate Agents were concerned , I leave to the Consideration of every sober and unprejudiced person .

To make this a little plainer by other instances of a like nature , the blessed Protomartyr St. Stephen . Acts 7. 55 , 56. Being full of the Holy Ghost , looked up stedfastly into Heaven , and saw the Glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God , and said , behold I see the Heavens opened , and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God , but now if it be true that no man hath seen God at any time , and that he hath no shape , Colour , or likeness by which he can be seen , then St. Stephen did not see him , and consequently could not see the Son of man standing at his right hand ; besides if the Heavens had been really opened , why did not the multitude see it as well as he ? It remains therefore that it was only a divine impression or signature upon the Imagination of St. Stephen , he was filled with the Holy Ghost , and had a visible Idea of those things which were indeed invisible , but yet all this was not for nothing , it brought along with it a strong assurance of the truth and goodness of God , and of his particular favour to him , and was a kind of sensible prelibation of those intellectual Joyes to which he was now going .

Again , Matth. 25. 31 , 32 , &c. Christ at his second coming to judge ▪ the world , is represented sitting on his Throne with the Holy Angels about him , dividing the Sheep and Goats from one another , and placing the one at his right hand , the other at his left , and you have there also , as if it were an humane Court of Judicature , where every respective Prisoner undergoes a formal process at Law , the Pleas and excuses of the wicked in Justification of themselves : yet this all the while must not be thought to be a true Scheme or Draught of the day of Judgment , but it is only an allusion to the way of proceeding in criminal causes upon Earth . For it is certain that at that day , the best of men will be sufficiently sensible of many humane frailties , and of many wilful Sins , Psal. 130. v. 3. For if thou Lord shouldest mark Iniquities , O Lord who shall stand , but there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared . The most righteous and perfect man that shall appear before that great Tribunal , when he compares his good deeds and his bad ones together , will put so little Confidence in his own merit , as if he had never done any thing at all , Matth. 25. v. 37 , 38 , 39. Lord , when saw we thee an hungred and fed thee ? or thirsty and gave thee drink ? When saw we thee a Stranger and took thee in ? or Naked and Cloathed thee ? or when saw we thee Sick , or in Prison , and came unto thee ? 1. Pet. 4. 18. But if the Righteous shall scarcely be saved , where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear ? To be sure there will not need the formality of a Process for the reprobate world , their own Consciences without any further proof will be sufficient to Condemn them , and vindicate the divine Justice in their Condemnation . But yet after all , it would be ridiculous and impious together to make such a magnificent Opera , for the Picture and resemblance of the last Judgment , if there were no such Judgment at all ; it is therefore at least supposed in such a Description as this , that there shall be a second appearance of the blessed Jesus with Majesty and great Glory to judge the world , and that there will certainly be a final day of Doom , Matth. 25. 46. When the wicked shall go away into everlasting Punishment , but the Righteous into life Eternal . And as for the pomp and splendor of this judicial Scene , in the Gospel of St. Matthew , it is suited to the Capacity and to the Imaginations of men ; and all the show and formality belonging to it , is borrowed from the Courts of Judicature upon Earth .

The Application of this , and the preceeding instances to the Prophet Micah's Vision in the case of Ahab , is so easie , and so obvious , that I need not insist upon it . But because I have said it was a blessed Spirit , which God was pleased to dispatch upon this fatal Errant , which there are many that will not grant , that may be thought to need some Vindication . You must consider therefore that it was one of those Spirits which are exhibited in the Vision , as standing round about the Throne of God , but if it be impossible that an evil or fallen Spirit , such as are the Devil and his Apostate Angels , should ever enjoy so near a Communion with the divine presence ; should bask and solace it self in the comfortable Sun-shine , of the divine Glory and Goodness , and should enjoy so blest a Correspondence , and so near a friendship with the immaculate Spirits of those untainted Angels , who had never yet apostatized from their obedience towards God : then without granting this to have been such a blessed Spirit , that was employed upon this deceitful Errant , you must be forced to confess a very great indecorum in the contexture of this Vision ; which being impressed by God himself upon the Imagination of the Prophet , it is not likely that it should be so very disagreeable to the Nature , to the Order , and to the possibility of things .

It is true indeed that in the Apologue or Parabolical Narrative of the sufferings of Job , it is said , c. 1. v. 6 ▪ Now there was a day when the Sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord , and Satan came also among them , and c. 2. v. 1. Again there was a day , when the Sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord , and Satan came also among them , to present himself before the Lord .

But First , This in the very truth and downright reality of things can never be , that being the very nature and mainly consistent cause of his Misery , that he is banished from the company of blessed Spirits , and from all the favourable influences of the divine presence .

Secondly , This in the parable it self , is represented as a very unusual and in a manner impossible thing , such as God himself seems , as it were , to wonder and be surprised at . Therefore he asks him , as if he little looked for his appearance there , Whence comest thou ? c. 1. v. 7. and c. 2. v. 2.

Thirdly , In the story of Ahab God is represented , 1 Kings 22. 19. Sitting on his Throne , and all the Host of Heaven sitting by him , on his right hand and on his left . And it is to them that he propounds this Question , v. 20. Who shall perswade Ahab , that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead ? From whence there are two things to be observed .

First , He is introduced as speaking to the Host of Heaven , but by that only the blessed Spirits are to be understood : The Devils power and residence being confined to a more feculent and earthy Religion ; he is the Prince of the Air , and of the powers of Darkness .

Secondly , God is made to speak indifferently to them all , therefore they were all alike ; but it is unreasonable to suppose an Host of wicked Spirits encompassing the Throne of God : therefore I conclude , they were all immaculate and good Spirits , that had never yet failed in their obedience to their Maker . So that upon the whole matter it appears , that the form or modification of the parable of Job , is so far from prejudicing what I have inferred from the construction of that other parable in the story of Ahab , that it is indeed a very strong support and a mighty Confirmation to it .

But you will say a good Spirit cannot deceive , why not if God himself may do it , as I have proved in some cases that he may , and I affirm this to be one of those cases ? or if you will not believe my bare affirmation , I have sufficiently proved it .

1 Sam. 16. 14. It is said the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul , and an evil Spirit from the Lord troubled him ; it was an evil Spirit , not so in it self perhaps , but with relation to Saul , whom it was determined to torment and vex . An evil Spirit from before the Lord say the Chaldee Paraphrasts ; by which they seem to have had just such another Idea of it , as Micah had of that Spirit , that was sent to deceive the Prophets of Ahab .

Thus you may see how widely they are mistaken , who would needs ascribe this Phaenomenon of Ahab to no more than a divine permission , and not only so , but the deception of the Prophets to the immediate agency of wicked Spirits , without any necessity , and contrary to the decorum and Schematism of the place , though otherwise , as I know , God does permit the Devil and his confederate Angels to abuse and deceive mankind , otherwise they could not do it ; so he may also sometimes be supposed to employ a wicked Angel to be the Minister of his wrath , as well as he may one wicked man to execute his Vengeance upon another , or incite an Idolatrous King to be the scourge and chastisement of a backsliding Nation , which yet no man who understands these matters will deny but he may do , and that he has sometimes actually done it .

Nay , I think the construction of the parable of Job , for though it be very true that there was such a man as Job , who was a great example of piety in his Prosperous , and of patience in his adverse Condition ; yet the story as it is managed in that sacred volume that goes by his name , is not the History , but the Character of a perfect person , and is a parabolical descant upon a ground of truth : I say the construction or way of managing that sacred story , will , if I am not mistaken , evince , that God does not only permit , but sometimes employ the degenerate and fallen Angels upon his Errants .

For First , He so expresses his permission for the time past , that he gives him a kind of invitation for the time to come , to make a trial of the virtue and integrity of his servant Job , c. 1. v. 8. Hast thou considered my servant Job , that there is none like him in the Earth , a perfect and an upright man , one that feareth God , and escheweth evil ? and when Satan urged in derogation of his virtue , that it was the effect of his interest , and that he served God only for the advantages occurring to him by it ; God gives him an express permission , v. 12. Behold all that he hath is in thy power , only upon himself put not forth thine hand : and if you consider all things with that exactness which you ought to do , you will find that there was more than a permission in the case ; It being impossible for any finite Spirit by an act of his will to have such power over the Elements , as Satan is represented to have had at that time , and it was a convincing argument to the Disciples , that our Saviour was an extraordinary person , and had his mission from above , when the Winds and the Sea did hearken to his voice , Matth. 8. 27. What manner of man is this , that even the Winds and the Sea obey him ? Thus when the destroying Angel smote the Host of the Assyrians , when Moses with his Rod divided the Red-Sea , and when Gideon with his Trumpets blew down the Walls of Jericho : We must not think that it was the power of that Angel that wrought that execution , the natural strength or skill of Moses or of Gideon by which those miraculous effects were brought to pass , which are so plainly above the activity and beyond the sphere of all humane efficiency and power ; but it was the will of God overruling the ordinary course of Nature , and positively concurring to make its laws give place , to the will of these Instruments commissioned and employed by him , neither is this any more than what Satan himself acknowledges in the parable of Job , where although God is pleased to say , Behold all that he hath is in thy power , v. 12. Yet Satan plainly acknowledges , v. 11. That he had no power to do that mischief which he did , but what was truely and properly the power of God , v. 11. But put forth thine hand now , and touch all that he hath , and he will curse thee to thy face .

My opinion therefore is , that real miracles , that is , effects far surpassing the regular strength of Nature , and as much exceeding the power of those at whose will those effects are brought to pass , may be and have been actually allowed by God to false Apostles , and false Christs , as well as to true ; to the Magicians as well as to Moses ; and to the Devil himself who is the Prince of darkness , as well as to an Angel of light ; and sure they were not mere Juggles and impostures , which our Saviour honours with the Majestick titles of great signs and wonders , so great that if it were possible for such to be deceived , they should deceive the very Elect , and yet this was a power with which the false Christs , and false Prophets were to be indued , by the express prediction of him who was truth it self , Matth. 24. 24. Neither is it at all prejudical to such a supposition as this , that the wonders of Antichrist and his adherents are called lying wonders , 2 Thes. 2. 9 , For I do not deny that many have pretended to a power of miracles who really had it not , and besides if you take the whole place together , you will perhaps look upon this place , instead of doing any prejudice , to be a confirmation of my opinion , in the Greek it is thus , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 Whose coming or appearance is after the working or activity of Satan , with all power and signs and wonders of a lie . Now it may seem very strange that perfect Tricks and Juggles , the Cheats of Hocus Pocus and Legerdemain should be called not only by the magnificent names of power and signs and wonders , but of all power , all signs , all wonders , for the word all is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 to be referred to each of these .

It will therefore be better to interpret , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , wonders of a lie , as if the Apostle had said , wonders to confirm a lie , or in confirmation of a false Doctrine , as those works may be said to be works of Darkness , which are done at Noon-day , because they tend to the confirmation and Establishment of the Kingdom of Darkness , or to the promotion and encrease of Satan's usurped rule and Soveraignty over the minds of men .

In Miracles there are three things to be considered , the nature of them as to their Causes , the nature of them as to their Effects , and the tendency of them as to their design .

First , As to their Causes , it is necessary they stould be such as plainly carry along with them , the marks and signatures of a supernatural power , otherwise they are not miracles but Tricks and Juggles .

Secondly , As to their effects , if they do nothing but Mischief in the world ; or if they are calculated only for wonder and amazement , not for use , these are not sufficient grounds to rely upon ; that they are intended by God as a testimony to the truth : but it is on the contrary justly suspicious without some further reason for our belief , that it is a doctrine of Devils , not of God ; whereas the excellence of our Saviours miracles consisted in this , that setting aside his Doctrine , they themselves were so useful and beneficial to mankind , he healed Diseases , he cleansed Lepers , and he cast out Devils , and he went about continually doing good ; which was a very strong argument , that he had no ill design to bring any damage or prejudice to the world , ( which is the whole tendency of Diabolical wonders ) when all his miracles were so full of Love , so full of Charity , and Goodness to mankind .

But Thirdly , The tendency of these miracles is to be considered , we must examine carefully those Doctrines which they pretend to advance , if they be inconsistent with right reason or with natural Religion , they are either Juggles and Impostures , or at best they are but Diabolical wonders , or it is the power of God cooperating with the wicked Insinuations of the Devil , for the Sins of men , to harden and to blind the world ; but it is impossible the Elect should be deceived , they who are truly pious and sincere , God will not suffer them to be so fatally imposed upon , and men of rational and sober minds will easily conclude that these miracles are wrought in the name of Belzebub because they tend to the promotion of his interest , and to the advancement of his Kingdom in the world . Whereas if the Doctrine be consonant to reason and useful to mankind , then these miracles are divine miracles , then the Doctrine and the miracles do mutually confirm and strengthen one another , because by our Saviours invincible argument , it would be an absurd thing for the Devil to cast out himself , since a Kingdom divided against it self cannot stand .

St. Paul seems to have foreseen that false Prophets might be and would be endued with a power of working real miracles and that the Devil might and would put on the appearance of an Angel of light , when he so straightly charges his Galathians , Gal. 1. 8. If an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you , than that which we have preached unto you , let him be accursed . Nay , the same Apostle tells us , 1 Cor. 17. 1 , 2. That though a man have the gift of prophecie , though he speak with the Tongue of men and Angels , though he understand all Mysteries , and all Knowledge , and have all Faith , so that he could remove Mountains , yet if he have not Charity he is nothing ; that is , he is nothing in himself , and to others he ought to be looked upon only as a sounding Brass , or a tinkling Cymbal , that is , we are not rashly to believe him , because without Charity , which is the Companion and intimate Friend of truth , he may deceive us , and it is our Saviour's own rule , we must judge of Trees by their Fruits , of Doctrines by their Consonance to natural Reason , and by their tendency to promote the honour of God and the happiness of men ; and of men we must judge by the agreeableness of their lives and Doctrines to the revealed will of God , and to the voice of reason , speaking impartial and useful truth in the minds of unprejudiced and sober men .

The sum of what I have been labouring by this digression , if it be one , to establish , is this , That since false Prophets have wrought true miracles , and since those effects which are sometimes in Scripture ascribed to the Devil , are yet indeed far above the efficiency of any created being , without the concurrence of the divine Power , cooperating with , and assisting the will and intention of the evil Spirit , that therefore it is reasonable to suppose , as well as very suitable to that Hypothesis which I have laid down , that God does sometimes endue false Prophets with a power of miracles , ( and more than that with a perswasion that they speak the truth , which was the case of Zedekiah , and all the four hundred Prophets , that deceived Ahab ) the better to blind , harden , and deceive those who have resisted the force and evidence of reason , or who have either obstinately persisted in a wilful neglect of enquiry into truth , or in an open rebellion and defyance to the Convictions of it ; and that he does sometimes not only permit , but actually employ the fallen Angels , and degenerate Spirits , to be the Ministers of his wrath and vengeance , which to conclude this business , I shall confirm by another instance . The new Inhabitants of Samaria that were transplanted thither by Salmanasser in the room of the ten Tribes , were visited with Lyons , and multitudes of them were slain by them , which is expresly said to have been a Divine Judgment inflicted upon them for their Idolatry , because they knew not the manner of the God of the Land ; but now these Lyons seem to me not to have been real Lyons , but Devils in their shape , both because , I suppose , it will be hard to find so great a number of Lyons in those parts , as might be sufficient to do so great a mischief , and because common Lyons might have been appeased by casting other Prey in their way , or kept out by Walls and other Fences , or caught by Gins and Snares , or shot by Arrows , or poisoned by scattering the Flesh of Animals tinctured with the rankest Poison , in their walks ; but nothing could destroy these , but the Samaritans being instructed in the Law of Moses , and then they went of themselves : And it is in allusion to this , as I conceive , that St. Peter compares the Devil to a roaring Lyon , walking about , and seeking whom he may devour . 1 Pet. 5. 8.

The third Instance is that of Absalom , to whose lying with his Father's Concubines in the face of the Sun , I have made God to concur by an express Act of his will . A bold thing you will say , and I am glad with all my heart to hear you say so ; it is a very good sign you are no Calvinist , for they all say this , and a great deal more .

But if God may make a Tyrant , which was Nebuchadnezzar's case , why not an Adulterer too ? For when the use of Reason is taken away , and a Man is given up to his own Lusts and Passions , in one Man one Passion will prevail , and in another , another , according as the Man's constitution is , or as opportunity presents its self ; besides , Tyranny is an Usurpation upon the Rights of all , Adultery only upon those of one ; so that though Adultery , like other sorts of Injustice , be a very heinous thing , and because of the dismal Consequences of it , the worst sort of private Injustice that can be committed , and the more , because it is an unjust yielding to the importunity of those Desires which are of the lowest rank , and belonging to us in common with the Beasts that perish ; yet Tyranny ( if there be any Degrees of Comparison in matters of so foul a nature ) is so much worse than the other , as it is a greater injury to rob a Caravan , than to pick a Pocket ; to destroy a Nation , than to kill a Man ; to stop the whole course of Law and Justice , than to pronounce an unjust Sentence upon one .

And though I am far from going about to excuse so nefarious and detestable an Action , yet it is still farther to be considered , that they were not Legitimae Uxores , but Concubinae ; David had them not in Marriage properly so called , but in Concubinage only ; and it is very probable they had belonged to Saul , his Predecessor , before him ; for we must observe , that this fact of Absalom was a Judgment upon his Father David , for his Adultery with Bathshebah , the Wife of Uriah the Hittite ; at which Wickedness of his , God was so heavily offended , that he sent him this Message by Nathan the Prophet , 2 Sam. 12. 11 , 12. Thus saith the Lord , Behold , I will raise up Evil against thee out of thine own House , and I will take thy Wives before thine Eyes , and give them unto thy Neighbour , and he shall lye with thy Wives in the sight of this Sun : For thou didst it secretly , but I will do this thing before all Israel , and before the Sun ; which Wives are called Concubines , ch. 16. v. 22. and were probably the very same that were before the Concubines of Saul , c. 12. v. 8. where God by the Prophet Nathan upbraids David with his Bounty towards him ; I gave thee thy Master's House , and thy Master's Wives into thy Bosom , and gave thee the House of Israel , and of Judah . So that though I will not extenuate a Fact , which no good Man can think of without Horrour , yet I would fain know upon supposition , that God enflam'd the Tyrannical humour of Nebuchadnezzar , why he might not also heighten the lustful disposition of Absalom , these being but two several sorts of Injustice , and the latter much less criminal than the former ? besides , that this Adultery , though very heinous , being a breach of Duty to his Father , Loyalty to his King , and Justice to Mankind ; yet it does not seem to have been so heinous as that of Reuben , who went in unto his Father's Concubine Bilhah , Gen. 35. 22. because she by being substituted in the place of her Mistress , was to all intents and purposes in the nature of a lawful Wife , and had heritable Children , which were his half Brethren descended of her Loyns , and because Reuben was under no necessity , as Absalom seems to have been ; for if you consider that this very event was foretold by Nathan the Prophet ; if you reflect upon the strangeness of so loathsom and abominable a deed , for of those Concubines there were ten in number ; if you consider the publickness of it in the face of the Sun , it will seem a perfect Miracle , and can be owing to nothing less than a supernatural Infatuation on all hands , that so grave a Counsellor as old Achitophel should give such Advice as this ; o● that Absalom should take it , whether you reflect upon their Relation to his Father , or the unusual horrour of the Fact it self ; or that the Women without any opposition that appears , should suffer it ; or the people of Israel , as if there had been no natural Turpitude , nor so much as customary indecency in the thing should flock together with an unanimous Consent and Approbation to so horrid , so unclean a spectacle , to behold it : For it is said , 2 Sam. 16. 22. So they spread Absalom a Tent upon the top of the House , and Absalom went in unto his Father's Concubines in the sight of all Israel .

It being therefore expresly prophesi'd , that this event should come to pass by one of David's own House , in the face of the Sun , and in the sight of all Israel ; which things were yet , if you take them together , ( and the last of them by its self ) morally impossible to come to pass , if you will not turn all into an Allegory , which you will find it very hard for you to do , ( and if you allegorize Absalom , you must do the same to David , and Bathshebah , and Uriah , to the Menaces of Nathan , and to the Birth , Reign , and History of King Solomon , because all these things have a Connexion with one another , and you must allegorize all or none ) you must be forced to confess , that there was more than a Divine permission requisite for the fulfilling of this Prophecy , and more there cannot be , without the interposition of a Divine Power ; whence God , as being the cause of that necessity by which it was done , takes the whole Action upon himself , c. 12. v. 12. For thou didst it secretly , ( speaking of the matter of Uriah ) but I will do this thing before all Israel , and before the Sun .

Now these things , as they cannot fairly be interpreted any other way than I have done , so according to my Hypothesis they are all very just and reasonable in themselves , as being only punishments to the several Parties for their respective Sins ; for Achitophel , Absalom , and the people that followed after him , besides other Sins , of which we can give no account , had all of them forfeited their Loyalty and Fealty to their lawful King , and joyned together in a wicked and unnatural Confederacy against him ; and as for the Wives of David , if they were consenting to so foul a thing , as it does not appear but they were , for want of a better expedient , because we know nothing of the persons at this distance of time , we must lay the cause upon their Adultery , first with Saul , and afterwards with David , for so Polygamy was in the strict acceptation of Law , though Custom sometimes hath dispensed with it , there being no question , but by that Text in Levit. 18. 18. Neither shalt thou take a Wife to her Sister to vex her , to uncover her nakedness , besides the other in her life time : Polygamy is forbidden , but of this I have spoken more largely in some other Papers , which will shortly be made publick : but if this will not satisfie them , I think it is no unreasonable presumption to suppose they might be guilty of many other Sins , sufficient to provoke God to cause them to be a spectacle of so publick shame .

You will ask me , because I generally speak of those who are thus hardened and blinded , as if they were concluded ●nder an irreversible estate , whether this be my opinion of all those people , who were the spectators of such a strangely abominable , and loathsom Scene : but to this question , it is impossible to return any other answer , than that nothing certainly can be determined , but that it is more reasonable , from the general goodness with which most of the Instances of Divine Providence are interwoven , to believe that he would not deal so severely with so vast a number together ; but that to some , if not all , of them he restored the use of a better Mind , and abated of the severity of his Justice with them , as he has been observed already to have done in the instance of Nebuchadnezzar .

But this can be no encouragement to any to continue in a course of Sin , because such a continuance upon that presumption is the greater provocation to Almighty God , and makes it more to be feared when he does visit us , that he will not remove his heavy hand any more . Neither must I be thought after all this to make God the Author of Sin , for where necessity begins , morality ceases , and what ever we do , the case is the same in one Sin as another ; after being brought to such a pass , it is no longer a Sin , but a Judgment upon us for our former Sins . In a word , the reasons of all Duty are some way or other reducible to Interest , as I shall prove more largely in a Discourse of the Laws of Nature , and their Obligation .

And the reason in particular why Adultery is a crime , is because it is against the common Interest of Mankind ; it is apt to breed Quarrels , Jealousies , and Blood-shed in the World ; it lays open the enclosures of Property and Right , by which all humane Affairs are governed and supported ; it is commonly joyned with a breach of Friendship and Trust , without which there can be no living among Men ; it creates an alienation of Affection in Men to their lawful Wives , with whom , because the Laws and the Interests of all Societies have obliged them inseparably to live , and to run the same risk of good and bad Fortune , it is their mutual Interest to do nothing that may create a Jealousie in one another , or make any lasting Feuds or Animosities between them . Lastly , it is the direct Road to a prostitute and wandering Lust , which is a slavery so much beneath a Man , that it scarce becomes a Stallion , or a Town Bull , and is always accompanied with the most dreadful Miseries both of Body and Mind .

And herein consists the goodness of God to Men , that he has ordered all things after such a manner , that our Duty and our Interest are both the same ; and besides that , virtuous Courses by the sad experience of those that are wicked and sinful , have always been attended with the greatest outward prosperity , health , and vigour ; he has implanted in our Natures a love and admiration of Goodness , he has given us a tender Principle within to be the Guide and Counsellor of our Actions , that naturally feels a sensible regret and pain from every thing that is base to others , or prejudicial to our selves , but enjoys an exquisite delight and pleasure in the sense of doing well , and in the memory of it after it is done : but if Men will violently break through all manner of Bounds , and let no consideration , how powerful soever in it self , be sufficient to prevail with them to leave their Sins , what can be more just , since they are willfully blind against their truest Interest , and put such an open affront upon him , who has with so much goodness and tenderness so carefully provided for it , than that they should be given over to a reprobate mind , to do those things that are unseemly , and to run on headlong with an impetuous rage and fury upon the mutual destruction of one another ? If we will not see our interest when it lies so plainly before us , we are not certainly to blame Almighty God , if upon so great a provocation to him , and so many wilful affronts and abuses put upon our selves , he shall at length remove it perfectly out of our sight , or make us persist in those courses , which he may do by virtue of his despotical power over us , which tend to our mutual Ruine and Destruction .

It is very foolish to make the loathsomeness or uncleanness of Adultery , that is , its grating upon a modest fancy or Imagination , a reason why God may not in some cases concur to it , as well as to any other fact , which has the appearance of Sin , but is indeed the effect of an external necessity and fate : for the Physical circumstances of Adultery , and of a lawful Bed are the same , only all the difference is that in one case there is a violence done to the undoubted right and property of another ; but in the other there is not , in the one the order and government of the world , upon which all humane affairs have a necessary dependance , is disturbed , but not in the other , and it is nothing else but this difference which makes the one criminal , and the other blameless ; otherwise a man of a nice and dainty humour , may apply to himself , though never so honestly descended , as well as to one begotten in an adulterous coition , the sarcastick Epigram of Palladas .

〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉

It may seem very unsavoury to a squeemish apprehension , that the divine substance which pervades all things , should be coextended to every Jakes and Dunghill , to every rank Brothel-house or fulsome stew , that he should be as it were a spectatour , at the lascivious dances of the Luperci , or at the more execrable Conventicles of the Bacchanalia , that he should fill that Theatre where men are thrown to be devoured by Beasts , or where they are compelled to sacrifice one another to the barbarous applause of a croud that delights in blood .

But yet all this while this is so very true , that without it there can be no notion of the divine omnipresence , no , nor of the divine substance neither ; Nay , all his attributes will vanish into nothing , for he cannot operate where himself is not , and if himself be every where , that cannot be conceived without an infinite extension .

And this , if duly considered , is the greatest aggravation in the world to all our Sins ; that they are committed in the divine presence , and that we do those things , as it were in the company of God Almighty , of which in the presence of many of our fellow Creatures we should be horribly ashamed ; neither can any consideration be so effectual with us for the leading a vertuous and blameless life , as to think that he is intimately present to all our actions , and all our thoughts , all the most secret designs and Imaginations of our hearts , of whose power we have most reason to be afraid ; the transcendent excellence and perfection of whose nature does rightfully challenge the utmost respect and veneration from us , to whose goodness we are most obliged , and to whose Justice we must give account of our selves . It behoves us therefore where ever we go , or whatever we are about , to consider carefully in whose presence we are : To be reflecting frequently within our selves in the language of the Psalmist , Psal. 139. v. 7 , 8 , &c. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit ? or whither shall I flee from thy presence ? If I ascend up into Heaven thou art there , If I make my bed in Hell , behold thou art there ; If I take the wings of the Morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the Sea , even there shall thy hand lead me , and thy right hand shall hold me : If I say surely the darkness shall cover me , even the Night shall be light about me , yea the darkness hideth not from thee , but the Night shineth as the Day , the darkness and the light are both alike to thee : or in that of Aratus .

— 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 — or of St. Paul ,

In him ( that is , in the large comprehension of the divine extension or space ) we live and move and have our being , which notion if we always take care to preserve waking in our minds , we shall not fail to behave our selves as Seneca somewhere in his Epistles has prescribed , Epist. 10. Sic vive cum hominibus tanquam Deus videat , sic , loquere cum Deo tanquam homines audiant : Let your converse with men be such , as if you were always mindful that you are in the presence of God , and let your prayers to God be so free from Lust , Ambition , Covetousness , or Revenge , that you may not be ashamed to own them before men .

I come now to the last instance which is of Judas Iscariot , in which I shall not engage my self at present in the famous Controversie of future Contingences ; only these two things I do affirm ,

First , That it was beforehand designed by God , that one whose name should be Judas , should betray his Master .

Secondly , That in the fulness of time Judas Iscariot was by God Almighty necessitated to betray him .

The first Assertion depends upon these two reasons .

First , That Judas in his name did represent the Nation of the Jehud●jim or the people of the Jews to whom he was betrayed , and by whom afterwards he was Crucified , as the Paschal Lamb was to be slain by the whole Congregation of Israel in the Evening .

Secondly , There was a Typical necessity that his name should be Judas , because it was by Judah's advice that Joseph was sold into Egypt for twenty Pieces of Silver , as our Saviour by Judas was betray'd for thirty , and all men grant that the first of these events was Typical of the latter , which was also the reason why Joseph and the blessed Virgin were warned by the Angel to fly into Egypt with the Child Jesus , Matth. 2. 15. To avoid the rage and Tyranny of Herod , rather than into any other Country , that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophet Hosea , c. 11. v. 1. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Out of Egypt have I called my Son , whose going into Egypt , and consequently his calling out of it , depended only upon Typical reasons , that he might answer the like event of Joseph , and that by this he might signifie his calling us out of that spiritual Bondage , of which Egypt was a Symbol , into the glorious liberty of the Sons of God .

The second Assertion I prove from those words of St. John's Gospel , c. 13. v. 27. And after the Sop Satan entered into him , that is , he was actuated by an evil Spirit of Envy , and Madness ; and immediately went forth in a turbulent and outragious humour , to sell his Lord and Master to his Enemies the Jews , that by Satan such a violent spirit of anger and revenge is signified will not I suppose , by any be denyed ; or if you understand it of the person of that wicked Angel who is called in Scripture Satan and the Devil , it comes to the same thing either way , and it will seem either way very reasonable to believe that Judas was necessitated to what he did .

Therefore all the question will be by whom this necessity was imposed , that it was immediately from the Devil , is plain , if you take the words in the latter sense , but yet that hinders not , but he might be commissioned or employed by God : But I confess I am rather enclinable to interpret it in the former , for Satan is from a word that signifies enmity and hatred , and so may properly enough denote a malicious and revengeful temper , from whomsoever it proceeds , whether from the naughtiness of a man 's own heart , or by the permission of God from the Devil , or by his immediate Judgment from himself .

However St. John tells us expresly that our Saviour gave him that Sop , after the eating of which Satan immediately entered into him ; which manifestly implies that he was at least more than consenting to it , not that this Sop is to be looked upon in the nature of an efficient or instrumental cause , any more than spittle was a cause of restoring the blind man to his sight ; but together with the delivery of this there was a concurrence of the Divine Power , by which the Devil , that is a Spirit of masterless and ungovernable rage , immediately entered into him , which is very agreeable to the Language of the Scripture , very consonant to my Hypothesis and to reason to suppose , if you consider how bad a man Judas had always been , St. John's own Character of him , is , that he was a Thief , John 12. 6. And you may add safely that he was an Hypocrite too , otherwise he had never pretended to be a Disciple , nay , which is more than all this , the Devil had already put it into his heart to betray his Master , John 13. 2. And he had actually covenanted with the chief Priests for thirty pieces of Silver , Matth. 26. 14 , 15. So that after all this it was no wonder , if he were punished with a necessity of doing what he had so wickedly designed , but was as yet under some kind of hesitancy betwixt resisting and yielding to the importunity of the Temptation . Neither is it at all to be wondered ( if by Satan the Person of the great Apostate Angel , or of one of his Missionaries be to be understood ) that the same effect should seem to be ascribed to God and to the Devil , to Christ who gave the Sop , and to Satan who immediately after it entered into him ; because in this case one may be considered as the impulsive cause , the other as the immediate Instrument , Satan necessitated Judas , by God commissioned or employed Satan , as it is said in the case of David , 2 Sam. 24. 1. That the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel , and he moved David against them , to say , go number Israel and Judah , and yet notwithstanding , 1 Chron. 21. 1. Satan stood up against Israel and provoked David to number Israel , where by the way it is an unpardonable presumption in Junius and Tremellius , who have inserted the word Adversarius into the body of their Translation of the former place , to make it answer the more exactly with the latter . The words of their Translation are these , Perrexit autem ira Jehovae accendi in Israelitas , quum incitasset Adversarius Davidem in eos , dicendo , age , numera Israelem & Jehudam . I say it is an unpardonable presumption to take such a liberty of Translation as this is , since these two things are so consistent together , as I have shown them to be ; but it is still more unpardonable in them , according to whose principles there is nothing which God cannot do , or may not decree , his power being the only bounds that can be set to his will , and his power being infinite , that is , no boundary at all .

It is further observable in the instance of David , that he had no sooner numbred the people , But immediately his heart smote him : And David said to the Lord , I have sinned greatly in that I have done . 2 Sam. 24. 10. that is , when this necessity was off , he was sensible that he had done amiss , and he seemed to himself to have committed a great Sin , as not being sensible of that necessity by which he was compelled to do it , which is every man's case who is blinded or hardened by God ; and indeed without a supernatural Fatality , it is impossible to suppose that David the man after God's own heart , who was used to put so great confidence in his God , and so little in the number or strength of his Armies , who was used to overthrow multitudes with an handful of men , and had done such incredible wonders , by such despicable external means : I say , it is impossible to suppose that such an one , so long as he had the use of his reason , and the full exercise of the rational faculties of his mind , should ever distrust so gracious , or go about to disoblige so good a God , so far , as to measure his strength by his numbers , as if he doubted the power of the Almighty for the future , or had forgotten what signal deliverances had been wrought for him , by such inconsiderable and weak Instruments as in which no humane expectation could be placed , and all this notwithstanding the dissuasions of Joab and of the Captains of the Host , who all unanimously addressed themselves to him to divert him from so fatal an intention , 2 Sam. 24. 4. But it is said the King's word prevailed , and notwithstanding the apparent unreasonableness and ingratitude of the thing , yet there being no express law of God against it , the King was of necessity to be obey'd : I am afraid there are those in our days , who would think a less reasonable pretence than this sufficient to excuse and justifie their disobedience .

What has been said of Davids numbering the people , may be said of Pete'r denying his Master , and of Judas his betraying him , that at that time when they did it , they were not sensible of what they did , but were hurried on by an irresistible force which it was utterly impossible for them to withstand , but afterwards when that impetus was abated , and they came perfectly to themselves , they both of them relented , and being altogether insensible of that divine Judgment by which they were violently compelled to what they did , they imputed the whole action entirely to themselves ; wherefore the one wept bitterly , and the other went out and hanged himself .

For the instance of St. Peter , the circumstances with which that story is related in St. Matthews Gospel will sufficiently evince what I have affirmed to be true , Matth. 26. from the thirty first , to the thirty sixth verse we have these words , Then saith Jesus unto them , ( the Disciples ) all ye shall be offended because of me this Night . For it is written I will smite the Shepherd and the Sheep of the Flock shall be scattered abroad — Peter answered and said unto him though all men shall be offended because of thee , yet will I never be offended . Jesus said unto him , Verily , I say unto thee , that this Night , before the Cock crow , thou shalt deny me thrice , Peter said unto him , though I should die with thee , yet will I not deny thee : here we may see how firm and zealous a resolution Peter had made , and we have all the reason in the world to believe he was in very good earnest : Likewise also said all the Disciples , v. 35. But none as it seems , with so much heat and asseveration as he , yet they all forsook him when the Trial came , and Peter denied with the most horrid Oaths and Execrations that ever he knew such a man , and all this the very same Night in which they entered into so solemn an engagement to adhere and stick to their Master to the last .

It will be worth our while to set down all the Circumstances of this Transaction as they are related by St. Matthew , c. 26. v. 37. He took with him Peter , and the two Sons of Zebedee , and began to be sorrowful and very heavy . The two Sons of Zebedee were James , and John , the Disciple whom Jesus loved , and his taking these three asunder from the rest of the Disciples at that time , was an argument of a particular favour and esteem for them above the rest ; and being done , immediately after they had all obliged themselves in so solemn a manner to stick by him , it is an infallible Sign , that he thought their intentions real , and that their love to him was every whit as passionate and cordial in it self , as it seemed to outward appearance ; for there can be nothing more unacceptable to the searcher of Hearts , than a dissembled Profession of faithfulness and obedience to him : Accordingly we find one of them so mindful of his promise , and inspired with so affectionate a Zeal for the safety and defence of his Master , v. 47. that when Judas , one of the Twelve , came with a great Multitude with Swords and Staves from the chief Priests and Elders of the people to apprehend him , behold , one of the Disciples which were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his Sword , and stroke a Servant of the high Priests , and smote off his Ear ; and who should this Disciple be but Peter himself , who seems to have done this in pursuance of that Resolution which he had so lately made ? John 18. 10. Then Simon Peter having a Sword drew it , and smote the high Priest's Servant , and cut off his right Ear ; the Servant's name was Malchus : Neither was this all , but when all the Disciples forsook him and fled , Mat. 26. 8. yet Peter still followed him afar off unto the high Priest's Palace , and went in , and sate with the Servants to see the end .

Thus far therefore his Resolution continued vigorous and warm , and he was still mindful of his promise , not to forsake or to deny his Master : But now all of a sudden , as if he had never dreamt of any such promise , or thought of any such resolution , though he had but newly made it , it came to pass , v. 69. ad 74. That as Peter sate without in the Palace , a Damsel came to him , saying , thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee ; but he denied before them all , saying , I know not what thou sayest : And when he was gone out into the Porch , another Maid saw him , and said unto them that were there , This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth ; and he again denied with an Oath , I do not know the Man : And after a while came unto him they that stood by , and said to Peter , Surely thou also art one of them , for thy speech bewrayeth thee ; then began he to curse and to swear , saying , I know not the Man . A wonderful alteration for so small a time . What ? Shall we think that he had the courage but just now to wound the high Priest's own Servant in the midst of so great a number of armed Men , as might be sufficient to justifie and excuse his fear , or rather prudence , if he had not done it , should now be so wretchedly possest with fear , as not to dare to own his Master to one of the weaker Sex ; but on the contrary , rather than confess him , should with such horrid Oaths and Imprecations impiously perjure and forswear himself ? Or is it not more likely , that he had indeed forgot his promise to that degree , that he knew not the Man , and had lost all memory of his having been once his Disciple ? This is both more pious to believe , and more agreeable to what follows , v. 74 , 75. And immediately the Cock crew , and Peter remembred the words of Jesus , which said unto him , Before the Cock crow , thou shalt deny me thrice ; and he went out , and wept bitterly . But if he did not remember this 'till then , 't is manifest he had forgot it before , and consequently had forgot also that vow and resolution , of which those words of Christ were the occasion ; and if you grant thus much , it will be no hard matter to conceive , that he might speak truth also when he said , I know not what thou sayest , and I know not the Man .

But when the Cock crew , then God was pleased to restore him the use of his Memory , and the exercise of his rational and discoursive Faculties ; he began to perceive then what he was doing , and found himself denying his Master , wherefore his Heart smote him , as David's did , when he had numbred the people , And he went out , and wept bitterly , which is another very strange and sudden alteration , from the cutting of Malchus his Ear , to such an obstinate denial of his Lord ; and from such an obstinate and stiff denial , to such a degree of sorrow and remorse : All which things , as they cannot with any shew of reason be supposed to be the natural turns of a Man 's own Mind , or the ordinary result of humane Passions left perfectly to themselves , that a Man should be so constant , and so false , and so penitent , all in a breath ; so I think it is sufficiently clear from v. 75. that Peter in his denial had lost all sense and memory of him whom he denied , and that this forgetfulness of his was the effect of a Divine Judgment .

If you ask me , for what reason such a Judgment should be inflicted ? I answer , It was a punishment to him , and to the rest , for their presumption ; they leaned too much upon their own strength , and thought themselves sufficient of themselves to withstand any danger , and to resist any temptation how great soever , not considering that humane Frailty is so far from being able to maintain so great a Combat by its own strength , that setting aside the assistances of Grace , without which no such Conflict can be successfully managed , the very ordinary powers of Nature are at God's disposal , and he may either permit or obstruct the use of them as he pleases himself ; all our Springs are in , and all our Faculties are from him .

It is observable therefore , that as the desertion of ten of them ; ( for Judas is not now to be reckoned ) and the denial of Peter was an effect of their presumption : Though I should dye with thee , ( said Peter ) yet will I not deny thee ; likewise also said all the Disciples : Yet Peter was more positive , more presumptuous than the rest , and therefore he is made the greater example of the Infirmity of humane Nature ; the rest only forsook their Lord , but Peter denied him , which was much more ; for it is in some cases lawful to fly from Persecution , but in none to make an express renunciation of Christ , or of his Gospel .

Upon the whole matter I make no scruple to affirm , That the denial of Peter three several times , the Maidens and others giving him so many occasions by their Interrogatories to do it , and the Cock's crowing just at the third time , were all of them managed by a Divine fate .

Judas his case agrees in this with that of David and Peter , that he was hurried on to what he did by a necessity not to be resisted ; for it is said , That Satan entred into him as he did into David ; but yet as in the instance of David , it was no less true , that the Lord moved him to number the people , by which it must be meant , either that the Lord imployed Satan as his Instrument to harden the Heart , and blind the Eyes of David , or that there was a concurrence of the Divine and Diabolical Power together in order to this end : So also in the business of Judas , it is said , That Satan entred into him ; but that was not 'till Christ had given him the Sop , which seems to have been , as it were , the signal for Satan to begin to play his part ; and it is added from our Saviour's own mouth immediately after , speaking to Judas as he was going out , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 That thou doest , do quickl● , John 13. 27. Which words , what are they else but the Divine Will imbodied in an articulate sound , and hurrying him on with an impatient madness to the execution of his treacherous Design ? For there is still this difference betwixt the case of Judas , and that of Peter and of David already mentioned , that the two latter had no foregoing design to do what they did of themselves ; but David on the contrary did express upon all occasions the utmo●● trust and confidence in God ; and Peter was so far from any intention to deny his Master , that he had made the most obstinate resolutions in the world never to be guilty of it . But in Judas it is manifest , that he had before-hand harboured such a wicked intention in his Heart ; that he had not only designed , but that he had actually covenanted and agreed with the chief Priests about it ; which is but another instance , added to those of Pharaoh and of Nebuchadnezzar , of the concurrence of the free and the necessary principle together .

But now whereas I have affirmed that one Judas , and that this very Judas Iscariot was beforehand designed and pitched upon by Divine providence to betray his Master , I will now add , that he was the rather pitched upon , because he was of the Family of the Iscariots , that is to say , the Lepers , because the Leprosie was an argument of guilt under the Law : The Jewish Masters tell us , it was the punishment of Pride ; and therefore the scarlet Wool , Cedar Wood , and Hyssop , which were the Materials made use of in the lustration of it , were to denote partly the heinousness of Sin in general , which cannot be expiated but by Blood , which was the meaning of the scarlet Wool , and the reason of those Sacrifices which were enjoyned in this case by way of expiation ; partly that Pride or haughtiness of Mind , of which the Cedar Tree , by reason of its usual height , was a very fit and proper Emblem , which was the cause or occasion why this Disease was inflicted ; and partly that Humility , that pious Meekness and equability of Spirit , to which the diseased party was warned by this way of expiation to return , the Hyssop being to a very Proverb the most humble and despicable of all kind of Plants whatsoever , 1 King . 4. 33. And he ( Solomon ) spake of Trees , from the Cedar-tree that is in Lebanon , even unto the Hyssop that springeth out of the Wall . Neither was the Leprosie only an effect of Sin , but it was also by its spottedness and deformity a Symbol of it , and of its spreading and infectious nature .

— — Sicut grex totus in agris Unius Scabie cadit & porrigine porci , Uvaque conspectâ livorem ducit ab uvâ.

What fitter name therefore could there be than this , for him who was so black a Traytor to his Master and his Friend , who was himself so bad a Man , and was to dip his hands in the Blood of God ?

And that this was the true sense and meaning of his name , I will now prove as plainly and as briefly as I can , before I pass any farther . Our Saviour was entertained at the House of one Simon , who is by St. Luke called 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Simon the Pharisee ; but by St. Matthew , c. 26. v. 6. and by St. Mark , c. 14. v. 3. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the Leper ; which Epithetes it is manifest at first sight are consistent enough , and do by no means exclude one another , so as they might not both well enough be understood of the same person , though other circumstances of the Story in all the Evangelists had not been so exactly the same as they are : Now it is manifest , that at this Entertainment Judas was present ; for it was he that made that envious , or rather covetous and selfish Objection , when the good Woman poured her precious Ointment upon the Head and Feet of our Lord , John 12. 5. Why was not this Ointment sold for three hundred pence , and given to the Poor ? And he is called every where by St. John , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Joh. 6. 71. & 12. 4. & 13. 26. which is , as I have said , the same exactly with 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , being the Sirname given to their Family , as is probable some Ages before , but upon what particular occasion , cannot now be determined : For Segirouth , or Segiroutha , in the Chaldee Dialect , which was in those days much better understood than the present Hebrew , signifies the Leprosie , to which it is but adding the Greek Termination significative of a Person , and you have without any more ado the very word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and besides , a plain demonstration that Judas was the Son of that Simon who is called ● 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the Leper , which is nothing else but the Greek interpretation of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the Iscariot , Mat. 10. 4. Mar. 3. 18. As likewise in the number of the Apostles we find mention of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Simon the Cananite , or rather the Cananite , by the same way of Analogy , that is , by adding the Greek Termination , Exod. 34. 14. Deut. 4. 24. & 5. 9. & 6. 15. & Nahum . 1. 2. which is expressive of a Person to the Hebrew word Kanna , as appears from this , that the same Disciple is by St. Luke called 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Acts 1. 13. which is exactly the rendition of the Hebrew Kanna , Exod. 20. 5. and in other places .

Which conjecture of mine concerning Judas Iscariot , is strangely confirmed by Beza's excellent M. S. being the same that he afterwards bestowed upon the publick Library of the University of Cambridge , which reads this Name all along through the Gospels of Matthew , Mark , and Luke , a little more near to the Chaldee Segirouth , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ( perhaps for 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ) ; and in the same M. S. in all the five places of St. John , it is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , for 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the corruption arising from the extream likeness of Σ and K in the Majuscular Greek Character , by which it happen'd that the K was twice repeated by some negligent Transcriber , and afterwards by one who was more carefully mistaken , one of them as being needless , as indeed it was , was left out ; wherefore 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , is Judas that was descended from the Scariot , or Judas the Son of Simon the Leper , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as in Thucydides , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , are those who descended from the Athenian Planters , and so in that of Virgil , — Belus & omnes A Belo orti — That is , Belus & omnes Belidae — 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 .

I shall conclude this matter with reflecting upon a Note of Drusius upon Joh. 6. 71. upon these words , Judam Simonis ; Theophylactus , saith he , videtur legisse , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , nam alt Judam alio nomine Simonem appellatum fuisse , falsum nam fuit Simonis Filius . But Drusius was mistaken , and so was Theophylact too , whose words are these : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 Not that this depended upon any corrupt reading of any place in the New Testament as Drusius imagines , but it happened , as I conceive , thus : Theophylact had read in some other History of those Times not now extant , or in some other Author who had borrowed it from thence , of one Simon Iscariot , for that was his proper Name , being the same with 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the Leper ; and then thinking with himself that Judas was always called in Scripture Iscariot , and looking upon this as a name peculiar to his person , not the Sirname of his Family , as indeed it was , he concluded that Judas Iscariot and this Simon must needs be the same ; or that Judas was otherwise called Simon , which is so plain to every Eye , so easie and familiar for every Man to conceive , and is withall so strange a confirmation of that Etymon which I have given of the name Iscariot , that I conclude without any more ado , that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 are certainly the same , that it was the common name of his Family , not proper to his Person , and that Judas Iscariot was the Son of Simon the Leper . Which conjecture , or rather demonstration ; when I consider how natural and easie it is in its self , how useful for explaining the History , and by consequence for vindicating the Authority of the Scripture : and when I compare it with the frigid and far-fetcht conceits of Zacharias Chrysopolitanus , Theodore Beza , Camero , Drusius , Caninius , Grotius , Dr. Lightfoot , and others , I can hardly forbear paying my acknowledgments to the Divine Goodness for so useful a Discovery in the same Language , in which our Saviour did it in behalf of his Disciples , a few contemptible Fishermen , and Handicraft Mechanicks , to whom God by him had revealed those Mysteries which were unknown to the Sages and Rabbins of the world , Matth. 11. 25 , 26. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 .

Thus much may suffice to have been spoken concerning those particular Instances , which are most obnoxious to exception in the following Discourse ; but it is certain , that what God may justly do to one Man , that he may also do to a whole Nation , which is but an aggregate of so many single Men , if the cause for which a punishment is inflicted be as Epidemical as the punishment it self .

It is no wonder therefore , when there were few or none of the Egyptians but what were more or less concerned in oppressing the Israelites , and imposing those intolerable Burthens upon them ; it is no wonder , I say , if a divine or fatal Obduration were superadded to that which was spontaneous and owing to themselves , and if the one were alike Epidemical with the other , for the case being exactly the same with Pharaoh , and with his Subjects or Servants , for when Pharaoh saw that the Rain , and the Hail , and the Thunders were ceased , he sinned yet more , and hardened his Heart , he , and his Servants ; Gen. 9. 34. The way of dealing or proceeding with them , must likewise in all reason and justice be the same .

And what hath been said of the Egyptians in the time of Moses , is true in its proportion of the Jews in that of our Saviour , and in all the succeeding Ages down to this very day ; they are the words of St. Paul , Rom. 11. 25. I would not , Brethren , that ye should be ignorant of this Mystery ( lest you should be wise in your own conceits ) that blindness in part is happened to Israel , until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in : But yet we must not think that this was the only reason , and that God , out of no consideration but only his own Arbitrary choice , did prefer the Gentiles before the Jews ; or that he was carried forth by something in his nature into a greater love for one than for the other , for he is no respecter of persons ; and besides , at this rate the Gentiles would have had some reason , if not to be wise , yet to be pufft up and exalted in their own conceits ; but it depended originally upon the wilful and voluntary Transgressions of the Jewish Nation , on whom God had in vain bestowed the most particular and signal Marks of his favour . Rom. 9. 4 , 5. Who were the Israelites to whom pertained the Adoption , and the Glory , and the Covenants , and the giving of the Law , and the Service of God , and the Promises ; whose were the Fathers , and of whom , as concerning the Flesh , Christ came : And when he did come , he spent the time of his Sojourning upon Earth among his Countrymen the Jews , it was among them he preached , among them he wrought his Miracles , among them he spake by their own confession as never Man spake , and did those Wonders which it was impossible for a meer Man to do ; and what he did himself , that he recommended also in his Instructions to the practice of the Disciples when he sent them abroad , Matth. 10. 5 , 6. Go not into the way of the Gentiles , and into any City of the Samaritans enter ye not ; but go rather to the lost Sheep of the House of Israel : He did not forbid them wholly to preach to the Gentiles , but they were to begin with the Jews , Go rather to the lost Sheep of the House of Israel ; which Instructions were afterwards exactly observed by the Apostles , who did not exercise their Apostleship among the Gentiles , 'till such time as they had first been rejected of the Jews , Acts 13. 45 , 46 , 47. But when the Jews , filled with envy , spake against those things which were spoken by Paul , contradicting and blaspheming ; then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold , and said , It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you ; but seeing ye put it from you , and judge your selves unworthy of everlasting life : Lo , we turn to the Gentiles , for so hath the Lord commanded us , saying I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles , that thou shouldest be for Salvation unto the ends of the Earth . Esa. 49. 6. So true is it , that sufficient means had been used to render the Jews inexcusable before they were rejected . They did not stumble that they might fall , but they first fell of themselves , and then they were blinded and hardened by God . Have they stumbled that they should fall ? says the Apostle , God forbid , but rather through their fall Salvation is come unto the Gentiles ; for to provoke them to Jealousie , that is , to awaken them out of this benummed Estate , and be a happy means of their rising again .

The Jews for many ages before were in expectation of Messias to come , and it appears by several passages up and down in the Gospels , that he was expected at that very time when our Saviour appeared upon Earth : But there were three or four several things which hindered them from believing him to be the person .

As First , That they expected a temporal Prince , that should deliver them from the Roman Yoke , and should establish them in a lasting Soveraignty and dominion over the Nations round about them ; which appears among other things from Herod's cruel Edict for the slaying the Male-Children in Bethlehem and in all the Coasts thereof from two years old and under , with a design among them to have slain the King of the Jews , Matth. 2. 16. that is , the Messias that was to come , which proves plainly what notion the Jews had at that time of the Messias , besides that it would have been a ridiculous piece of Cruelty , for Herod to have done what he did upon any other supposition , than that the Kingdom of the Messias was a Kingdom of this world , that so by slaying of him he might secure the Soveraignty to himself and his Posterity for ever , which was no question his design .

When therefore the Jews found themselves so much disappointed , in a mean , mechanick and obscure person , the Son of Joseph the Carpenter laying claim to so August a Title as that of the Messias ; and yet notwithstanding making no pretences to a temporal Kingdom , but on the contrary mightily disowning and disclaiming it ; and instead thereof preaching obedience to Caesar , and those that were commissioned and employed by him , this was a mighty prejudice against him , that he could not be the person designed ; when the notion which they had conceived of the Messias , was so contrary in all respects to what he expresly declared of himself , and so inconsistent with that contumelious usage , which he not only suffered himself , but told all his followers they must expect no better .

The second Prejudice was taken from his Parentage , they expected a Messias of the house of David , but Joseph the Carpenter , whose reputed Son our Saviour was , though he were of the Tribe of Judah , yet he was either not known to be of the Lineage of David , or it was not thought likely that so mean a Sprout of the Davidical Stock , should bestow the so much talked of , and the so long expected Messias upon their Nation : and therefore let him preach never so much to their Astonishment and Admiration , let him do never so many Miracles , and work never so great wonders ; yet still they would be saying , Matth. 13. 55 , Is not this the Carpenters Son ? And Mark 6. 3 , Is not this the Carpenter the Son of Mary ? As if it were impossible he should be the Messias , the Christ , the great King and Prophet that was to come among them , who was so poorly descended , and was himself so very mean a person .

The third Prejudice was , that they thought him to have been born not in Bethlehem of Judea , but in Nazareth of Galilee . Whereas it was believed to a Proverb among them , that out of Galilee no good could come , and that out of Nazareth no Prophet could arise : For so great was the hatred betwixt the Jews and the Babylonish Planters of Samaria and Galilee , that they could never believe God Almighty would send them a Messias from thence ; or that the most mortal and avowed Enemies of the Jewish Nation , should ever have that honour vouchsafed to them from above ; as that the greatest King , the most infallible Prophet , and every way the most illustrious and accomplisht Person that the Jews had ever seen , or were ever to expect , should be born among Hereticks , Idolaters , and such as were worse than Pagans ▪ which was the best language a Jew would be brought to allow to any Samaritan or Galilean ; and though it is true there were Multitudes of Jews interspersed about in Samaria and Galilee , yet , as if they had all been blasted from the Cradle by a sort of Heretical Contagion from the soyl of so accursed a place , they would not allow that the Spirit of God , or of Prophecy could rest upon them .

The fourth and last great Prejudice which I shall mention , was taken from his laying so little stress upon the Ceremonial part of the Mosaical Institution , and his so frequent , and so bitter invectives against the Traditions of the Jewish matters , whose Authority among the Scribes and Pharisees of those times , and consequently among the much greatest part of the people , was accounted so Sacred , that it was held equal , if not Superior , to the written Law .

These were the main Prejudices , which the Jews in our Saviour's time laboured under , these were the Reasons why they did not receive him as the Prophet that was to come , the Messias and the King of the Jews , and as these Prejudices were all of them very great in themselves , very powerful obstructions against the due reception of his Person , or his Gospel ; so they were still further enflamed by the perpetual inculcation of his mortal Enemies the Scribes and Pharisees , and Lawyers of those times , who would have lost all Credit and Authority among the people , if either his person had received that entertainment which was due to the sacred Character of the Messias ; or if his Doctrine which was so great an enemy to the Dissimulation and Hypocrisie , the Covetousness and Extortion , the Pride , Affectation , and supercilious behaviour of those whited Walls , and painted Sepulchres , had ever prevailed or got to be in vogue among them .

But yet notwithstanding so great were his Miracles , and so useful to the world , so holy was his Life , and so excellent his Doctrine , that they forced Confessions from his greatest Adversaries , very much to the disadvantage of their Cause ; and if they would but have given themselves the trouble of an impartial enquiry , they would have found that he was by Joseph his reputed Father , and perhaps by his Virgin Mother too , though not at the next remove , of the Tribe of Judah , and of the Family of David ; they would have found that he was not born in Nazareth of Galilee , but in Bethlehem of Judea ; they would not have wondered to see him put so ●ittle value upon the ritual part of the Mosaick Law , when he came to introduce that purity of Mind and will , of which those Mosaical washings and Lustrations were but a faint shadow and Typical Representation .

Lastly , Though it was true they did expect then generally not a suffering , but a Triumphant and Victorious Messias , one whose head should be encircled , not with a Crown of Thorns , but with a Chaplet of Laurels : yet this was an opinion wholly owing to that exquisite hatred which they had conceived against their oppressors , of whom they hoped to be sufficiently revenged in the Reign of the Messias , and to the pride and haughtiness of that humour which then prevailed among them .

But if they had considered coolly and impartially with themselves , it would have appeared very reasonable to believe that all the Sacrifices and expiations of the Law were but Typical of that one great Sacrifice , which was in the fulness of time to be offered up for the Sins of the whole world , and after which there was to be no more Sacrifice for Sin : besides that it was prophesied of the Messias by the Prophet Daniel , Dan. 9. 27. That he should cause the Sacrifice and oblation to cease . They might have learnt from the writings of the same Prophet , ib v. 26. That the Messias after a certain period of time was to be cut off , but not for himself , but for the Sins of others : And that after this the Destruction of the second Temple , and of the City of Jerusalem and of the whole Jewish Oeconomy was very soon to follow . They might have known from the Characters which other Prophets have given , but more especially from those of David and Isaiah , that it was a Suffering not a Reigning Messias , that was to come among them , and save them not from their Enemies , but their Sins .

Lastly , Their own traditions would have told them , if they had harkened to them , what manner of Messias that was , who was to be expected , for they all agreed he was to come some time or other upon the Anniversary of the Feast of the Passover ; and it is a common observation among the Jews to this Day , that all their great deliverances have hapned upon this Day ; they acknowledge therefore that the deliverance of the First-Born of Israel by the blood of the Paschal Lamb , when the first born of Egypt was destroyed , and the passage , or Passover through the Red-Sea , that is , through a Sea of blood , was Typical of that great deliverance which was in the fulness of time to be purchased for them by the Messias ; but now nothing is more plain , than that the Sacrifice of the Passover , and the Passage through the Red-Sea , which was a shadow of deliverance by blood , might be very proper Types of a suffering Messias , but by no means of a Triumphant . For what expiation is there in Conquest ? How does Confidence and Assurance answer to Fear ? Security and Triumph to a dangerous and uncertain passage through the middest of an impending Sea , and thorough the dry places of a barren Wilderness into the land of Canaan ?

It is so far therefore from being true , that such a temporal Prince as they looked for , was really to be expected ; that on the contrary all things were so very plain against them the other way , that it can hardly seem less than a divine Infatuation , for the Sins of that and former Ages , that the Jews in our Saviours time were so generally and so obstinately of this opinion , especially if you consider , that it was necessary in order to the bringing the designs of Providence to pass , that they should be of this mind ; For certainly had they believed him to be the Messias , and that the Messias was no otherwise to deliver them than by suffering for them ; they , of all men in the world , would not have embrued their hands in his blood , which yet it was Typically necessary they should do , because the Lamb of the Passover was to be slain by the whole Congregation .

But still the fatality was not yet so strong , but in many of them at least , it might have been overcome , had they not provoked God to inflict a further degree of Obduration by new Provocations , by the contumelious usage of his Person , and by ascribing his Miracles to the efficiency of infernal Spirits , notwithstanding they carried in themselves so plain Demonstrations of a divine power , and were intended to promote a Doctrine so useful and advantageous to mankind , for which our Saviour tells them , that is to say , those of them who were the most eminently and obstinately guilty of it ; that they should not be forgiven either in this World , or the next : what more plain therefore than that their hearts from that time forward were hardened ? That the sentence was past against them by the just Judgment and decree of Heaven ? and that they were given over past all recovery to a final impenitence and irreversible doom ?

Neither in truth is it possible to conceive that any thing less than this could be the occasion of that execrable derision of our Lord upon the Cross , when in the pangs of the most bitter Agony , that humane Nature was capable of enduring , he cryed out with a loud and mournful voice , Eli Eli Lammahsabacthani , my God , my God , why hast thou forsaken mee ? At which some of them in derision said he calleth for Elias : which knowing profanation of the name of God , and from the mouth of Jews , with whom it has always been superstitiously sacred , cannot easily be attributed to any thing less than a supernatural obduration .

Nay , when the Sun it self astonished at so dire a spectacle , durst not behold it , but darkness overspread the face of the whole Earth from the sixth to the ninth hour ; and when at his giving up the Ghost the Foundations of the Earth were shaken , and the relenting Rocks were cleft in sunder ; when the Graves were opened , and the Dead by the groans of Nature were awakened ; when the whole frame and order of the Universe was inverted ; when the vail of the Temple was rent in twain ; when the Centurion and the Guards amazed , smote every Man his hand upon his Breast , and said , Truly , this was the Son of God ; yet the Jews nothing concerned all this while , were so far from being moved by so many , and so great Testimonies given to the Divinity of his Doctrine and his Person , that against the manifest convictions of their own Consciences , they persisted still in an obstinate and open defiance to them both : nay , after his Crucifixion and his Burial , when to prevent the pretence of his rising on the third day , a strong Guard was set upon the Tomb , and yet after all this he did notwithstanding arise , not by any trick or juggle , which that Watch was purposely placed to obstruct , but in reality and truth , to the wonder and astonishment of all Men , and of the Chief Priests and Elders themselves ; yet all this would not melt them into any degree of Repentance , but they were still so far from yielding to so plain Convictions , that by the unanimous consent of a numerous Assembly it was agreed , That the Soldiers must be bribed to confess themselves not only negligent in their Duty , but that they were all fast asleep at one and the same time , which was a very strange thing , and so fast asleep , that all the noise and bustle of the removal of a massy Stone ( on which it is very like some of the Guard themselves might sit , as the Angel did afterwards when it was rolled away ) would not awake one of them into the least sense or knowledge of what was done . And yet if what they said was really true , if they were all never so fast asleep , all that could be made of that would be , that they could not tell whether his Disciples had stollen him or no , or whether he was really risen from the Dead : So that by this pretence there was no proof either way ; and it being very improbable , that so many Men set purposely to watch , should be so forgetful of their Duty , should do so notorious a violence to Military Discipline , and commit a fault which is used to be so severely punished by the necessary rigour of Military Justice , it is plain , that as what they said was no evidence either way upon supposition that it was true , so it was so prodigiously unlikely and improbable a story , that scarce any Man in his wits would ever believe it to be so ; but yet this ridiculous Tale was partly swallowed by the Jews for truth , and partly embraced and abetted by those that made it , and those that knew it certainly to be a very impious and wicked lye : And now if you ask the reason of so great credulity on the one hand , or so great impiety and impudence on the other , it will be impossible to ascribe it with any shew of probability to any thing less than a Divine infatuation , according to that known saying ,

Quos perdere vult Jupiter dementat prius .

But yet , after all this , they were not perfectly given over , but the Apostles ( as I have said , according to our Saviour's Instructions ) did begin the exercise of their Ministry with the Jews , by whom when they had been scornfully and contumeliously rejected , they then applied themselves to the conversion of the Gentile world ; and though no doubt it was then the case of very many of the Jews , that they were hardened into a final Impenitence , yet there were also very many who were not in so deplorable a condition , otherwise it would be ridiculous for St. Paul , as he does , Rom. 9. 3. to wish himself accursed from Christ ; ( though you must not take that to be spoken in the utmost rigour of propriety , but he does by this expression signifie a very passionate Zeal for the Salvation of his Brethren and Kinsmen according to the Flesh ) for what can be more absurd than such a desire , if he knew there was an irreversible Decree gone out against them for their final Impenitence and obduration ? Or what more impious , than to set himself and his will in opposition to the Divine Will and Decree , by which the Jews were irrecoverably given over to a reprobate sense , and placed beyond all possibility of Salvation ? One would think he might at least have added what his Master did before , when he was to drink that bitter Cup so disagreeable and distastful to humane Nature , Nevertheless not my will , but thy will be done .

The same may be argued from c. 10. v. 1. My hearts desire and prayer to God for Israel is , that they might be saved ; and from c. 11. v. 14. If by any means I might provoke to Emulation them which are my Flesh , and might save some of them : For I bear them record , saith he , c. 10. v. 2. that they have a Zeal for God , but not according to knowledge : And how came it to pass that it was not according to knowledge ? Why for this he gives us two reasons , the one was the Sin of the Jews , the other was their Punishment . First their Sin , c. 10. v. 3. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness , and going about to establish their own righteousness , ( that is , seeking righteousness or justification not by Faith in Christ , but by the works of the Law , as it is , c. 9. v. 32. ) have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God . And in this voluntary resistance , or non-submission to the righteousness of God , that is , to the Gospel of Christ , confirmed by so great internal evidence from the reasonableness and beauty of it self , and by so large external attestations of Miracles , and Signs , and mighty Wonders , their Sin consisted , for because of unbelief ( which must be understood of voluntary and wilful unbelief , otherwise the cause was in God , and not in the Jews ) they were broken off from the Root , which Root was Christ , c. 11. v. 20. their unbelief was their Sin , and their being broken off , was the punishment of that Sin ; but they were broken off no otherwise than by being blinded and hardened , v. 25. I would not Brethren , that ye should be ignorant of this Mystery , that blindness in part is happened to Israel ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Now this 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 is a word by which the Divine induration was anciently understood ; It would be better to read it , either by the exclusion of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or by the transposition of it , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , &c. Glossae veteres , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 perduratio , and Hesychius explains it of a benummed estate , as in a Lethargy , or a Dead Palsie , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , saith he , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 Suidas explains it as we do , by blindness , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and a little before , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ( from whence 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 may very well be derived ) 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the congelation or petrification of any moist or fluid substance ; and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to harden and petrifie ; but yet all this while it was but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a blindness , a benummedness , an induration but in part , by which three things may be understood :

First , That this calamity ( for that is another sense of this word taken notice of by the ancient Lexicographers , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ) was not to last for ever upon the Nation of the Jews , but was only to continue 'till the fulness of the Gentiles was come in , as it follows immediately in the same Verse .

Secondly , It may be said to have been in part , in that all the Jews were not hardened or blinded ; but on some the Sun of Righteousness , and the Light of the Gospel , shone as brightly as on the Gentile World .

Thirdly , Of those that were hardened and blinded , all were not in an irreversible condition , but some had still some power and liberty left them of returning to a better mind , or at least that God had resolved to deal so mercifully and kindly with them , as to take off that supernatural blindness from their Eyes , and hardness from their Hearts , that they might see and feel the truth , and arrive at a due sense and knowledge of themselves and him , which seems to be the meaning of that passage in the Prophet Isaiah , c. 10. v. 21 , 22. applied by St. Paul , Rom. 9. 27. The Remnant shall return , even the Remnant of Jacob unto the mighty God ; for though thy people Israel be as the sand of the Sea , yet a Remnant of them shall return : And it was for these , not those who were concluded under a final and irrecoverable Doom , that St. Paul's Prayers and endeavours were intended ; for these and none but these , that to the Jews , he became as a Jew , that he might gain the Jews : And to them that were under the Law , as under the Law ; that he might gain them that were under the Law , 1 Cor. c. 9. v. 20.

And now from this Account which I have given of Gods dealing with the people of the Jews ; I shall make these following observations .

First , That the design of these three Chapters , the 9th . 10th . and 11th . to the Romans is only to give an account of the rejection of the Jews , and the reasons upon which it depended .

Secondly , That one reason of their rejection was owing to themselves , for having abused the Patience and the Mercy of God , and slighted the means and opportunities of Salvation ; which is so far from giving any Countenance or favour to the Doctrine of irrespective Reprobation , that it perfectly destroys it : In as much as here is , here all along a plain consistence observed to the ordinary notions of Equity and Justice amongst men ; nay , these three Chapters of St. Paul are so far from giving any advantage to that cause , that after all these provocations which might make it very just , à parte Post to Doom so many obstinate Sinners to eternal Torments ▪ and though the Jews were under so great disadvantages at that time , by the substraction of the divine Grace , and by a positive Judgment of Blindness and obduration superadded to it ; that it may seem morally impossible for many of them to come to the knowledge of the truth , and to an hearty Repentance for their Sins , that so they might be saved .

Lastly , Though it be very reasonable to believe that God did , as in Justice he might , actually put some of them into such a Condition that there was a natural impossibility of their Repentance ; yet it cannot be proved from any thing in all that long discourse of St. Paul , that any one Jew was so wholly blinded , hardened , and utterly forsaken by the Grace of God , and by the natural powers of his own mind and will ; that it was no way possible for him to Repent , though their Condition was such , that it was morally impossible as I have said , but the far greatest number of them must be lost for ever .

Thirdly , It is very well worth our while to observe , that notwithstanding this blindness or hardness , yet the Jews had all the while a zeal for God ; though that zeal was not according to knowledge . And St. Paul himself in the sincerity of his heart , persecuted Christianity before his Conversion , as thinking he did God good Service thereby ; which was the case of almost all the Jews , as our Saviour himself had foretold it should be . From whence it is easie to perceive that the zeal and heat of a Party , let it be never so much a pretended zeal for God , nay , let it be never so sincere and real in it self , yet it is not always a sign of truth ; but on the contrary , when this zeal for God , is a zeal to divide and break the Unity of the Mystical body of Christ , which is his Church . A zeal without Charity and Brotherly kindness . A zeal of Calumny and slander against all those that are not of the same party with themselves . A zeal to believe all that may do hurt . And a zeal to report it that it may do the more . A zeal of not reading or hearing what other Men can say for themselves , lest they should be instructed or informed . A zeal that calls Truth and Sobriety carnal Reason . A zeal that will still persist when it has nothing to say for its self . A zeal that flies from Conviction , as if it were a Wolf in Sheeps-Cloathing ; or Satan in the shape of an Angel of light . A zeal against the Order , Government , and quiet of the world . A zeal to see all things , like it self on fire . A zeal to propogate Religion by Swords , or by Daggers : to conclude , A zeal for God , but not according to knowledge . A zeal of Impudence . And a zeal for Nonsense ; this kind of zeal though it should be sincere , as it is to be feared , that in many it is not : This is not that Christian zeal which discovers it self chiefly by Charity , Humility , and mutual Forbearance , by obedience to Superiours , and love to one another ; but it is rather the zeal of those who are given over to a repr●bate Mind , and who after all their magnificent and swaggering pretences , are in danger of greater Flames than they endeavour to kindle .

Lastly , I think it very reasonable to believe , that this hardness of the Jews , which was the Consequence of their many and great Sins ; and was the occasion of so horrid outrages committed against the person and followers of our Lord , which we see no argument how powerful soever , had sufficient strength and efficacy to hinder , was after his Crucifixion still greater than it was before , because it is manifest they still persisted in the same impenitent and obdurate State ; and it is equally plain that the reasons which might induce them to a sense and sight of their Sin , grew every day more strong and potent than the other . For when the vail of the Temple was rent in sunder at the instant of his passion , what stronger evidence could there possibly be given by the divine Power or wisdome , that this was indeed that Messias foretold by the Prophet Daniel , and expected by their Fathers and themselves , who was after all their ill grounded Imaginations of a triumphant Prince , after a certain period of time to be cut off , and was to make the Sacrifice and the oblation to cease ? For when the Vail was torn , and the Holy of Holies laid open , and exposed to every Eye , and consequently profaned , exaugurated , and unsanctified again ; what could be more plain , than that God did by this design to signifie the abolition of the Mosaick Law , and that he that sate between the Cherubims , which was the reason of the extraordinary sanctity of that place , had now left that Station for good and all , and had forsaken that ancient Seat where his honour had accustomed to dwell ?

Again , when after his Crucifixion he rose again from the dead , which I have shown plainly they had all the reason in the world very heartily to believe , and yet persisted in the same , or indeed greater incredulity , because the Convictions were greater than they were before ; what can be more reasonable than to think , that for their not laying hold of the former possibilities of Repentance , those possibilities grew every day more faint and weak ; and that there was less hold to be taken of them every day than other ?

Again , when after his Ascension into Heaven , the Holy Ghost in the sight of Multitudes of all sorts , did upon the day of Pentecost descend in bodily and visible shapes upon the Apostles , confirming their Mission to preach the Gospel of the crucified Jesus by a miraculous gift of Tongues ; and when for ever after they were endued with a power of Miracles , and with a gift of Utterance for the more effectual Confirmation of that Gospel which they were to Preach ; and for the more advantagious delivery of it among prejudiced and unequal Hearers , when they acted so much above all humane Power , spake with a more than humane Eloquence , and suffered with a Courage insensible of humane frailty , when they baffled their Adversaries , convinced their Judges , converted thousands at the hearing of one Sermon ; what shall we think , but that they who saw all this , who knew and understood it all very well to be true and yet did not believe themselves , but on the contrary persisted in a furious and fanatick zeal against all those that did : What shall we think , I say , or indeed what can we possibly conceive to have been the cause of such prodigious unbelief , but that for their former Sins , and for their not laying hold of those means , or those possibilities of returning to a sounder mind , which were afforded them ; they were acted every day more strongly by a supernatural Spirit of Incredulity , by the just Judgment and decree of an incensed God , whose goodness and patience had been so much abused , the more effectually to hinder them from Repentance and amendment ?

Nay , When the Oracles grew dumb and silent , when the Devils were cast out , not only in Judea and Palestine , but in all the World , when the powers of Darkness gave place to the light of the Gospel , when the City and Temple of Jerusalem were Demolished , their Altars profaned , their Priesthood rendred useless , their Sacrifices not only excused , but forbidden , their New-Moons antiquated , their Solemn Feasts turned into Fasting and Lamentation . When the Scepter was not only departed from Judah , and a Lawgiver from between his feet , which was an infallible Sign that the true Shiloh was come , but they were dispersed and scattered over the face of the whole Earth , looked upon as the Scorn and Reproach of Mankind : Objects of the utmost hatred and Contempt together , more loathed than their own so much abominated Swine , and more unclean than any of those Beasts that were forbidden them by Moses . When yet after all this there is no Sign appears that their affairs are likely to be in a better Posture , neither are there any the least reasonable hopes of the long lookt for Messias his appearance ; when all that have pretended to that high Dignity , our Jesus only excepted , have all of them sufficiently exposed their Nation and themselves ; have betrayed their own Impiety , and the folly of all their Adherents , have lived without Miracles , and died without Pity , leaving nothing but shame and confusion to their Disciples .

Lastly , When the Jews themselves are forced to confess that the time of the Messias his appearance upon Earth is now long since expired , but that he is still denied them , and delays his coming as a punishment of their Sins ; which reason , or rather excuse , if it be any at all , will be better every Minute than it was before , and consequently a reason why the Messias should never come at all . What can be more plain from so great obstinacy under so great Convictions , than that their not believing him to be come already , is at once their punishment and their Sin together ?

For after all it is by no means consistent with those Notions which we are used , and which we ought all to entertain concerning the divine goodness and Justice ; to think that any one Jew is or ever was so hardly dealt with , that he never was under any the least possibility of Salvation ; for this were to make Power and Arbitrary will , the only Measures by which God proceeds in his Government of the world : for it is manifest , that what he may justly do , that is , without any violence to his Attributes or his Nature to one single Jew , that he may do if he pleases to the whole Nation , and consequently to all mankind .

The Ancestours of the Jews having embrued their guilty hands in the blood of Christ , may be a reason why God may substract the special assistances of his Grace and Spirit from their Posterity , which he is not obliged to vouchsafe in an equal proportion to all Mankind ; but it can be none at all why he should destroy , or impair those natural Powers and faculties of the Mind , without which it is impossible for them to know their Duty ; neither is any thing indeed a Duty any further than it is or may be apprehended by them to be so . Their Fathers were hardened and blinded for their own Transgressions , but the Children are not so dealt with for the Iniquities of the Fathers , which would be unjust , because no man can help his Fathers having been a wicked Man , and no Man ought to be punished for what he could not avoid ; but all the Business is , God may , as I have said , withdraw the special Assistances of his Grace , which he is not obliged to vouchsafe to any , much less to the Posterity of those who have been the most Notorious offenders against him ; and he may take the forfeiture of their own proper Sins ( which he may justly do at any time when ever he pleases ) sooner than he would have done , had their Ancestours pleased him better , which is plainly the meaning of that known place . Exod. 20. 5 , 6. I the Lord thy God , am a jealous God , visiting the Iniquities of the Fathers , upon the Children , unto the third and fourth Generation , of them that hate me , and shew Mercy unto Thousands , of them that love me , and keep my Commandments . In the Hebrew , it is to them that hate me , and to them that keep my Commandments ; and so the 70. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Now if it be demanded what is meant by Gods Visiting the Iniquities of the Fathers , upon the Children unto the third and fourth Generation , to them that hate him : the true answer I suppose , on all hands will be agreed to be , that he punishes the Posterity for the sake of those that went before them ; and so on the other side , his shewing Mercy unto Thousands to them that love him , must be meant both by the rule of opposition , and by Analogy of Interpretation , the Hebrew particle in both cases being the same , of his shewing Mercy for the sake of those that love him .

Again , If it be demanded , how or in what sense it is , that God shews Mercy to Thousands for the sake of them that love him , the Answer will be and must be , not that he will ever suffer Sin , aggravated by impenitence and wilful perseverance to escape wholly unpunished , for the sake of any man let him be never so Holy : this would be a Doctrine very destructive to all manner of piety and goodness among Men , and very inconsistent with the divine Justice , Nay , and with his Mercy too ; if you consider how many would be tempted by such a supposition to Sin against him , and to abuse themselves and others : Wherefore the meaning must be , that he will not be so severe , to mark what is done amiss , with the progeny of those that have endeavoured faithfully to serve and love him , and to obey his Commandments ; but will for their sakes bear with them much longer , than otherwise he would have done ; he will give them farther time , and more Opportunities , greater Assistances , and more powerful Convictions that they may Repent , and to render them the more ungrateful and the more inexcusable , if they do not ; and so on the other hand , he will visit the Sins of the Fathers upon the Children , that is , not that he will inflict any positive and real Punishment , which otherwise it had not been lawful for him to inflict , meerly because of the disobedience of their Fathers , which can no more be the fault or action of the Children , than the person of the Parent , can be the person of the Child ; but there are some things which God may do by virtue of his Despotical power , as he is the supream Lord and Soveraign of all , and there are others which he may do as an exercise of his Justice .

To the first Head there are two things belonging .

First , The Substraction of all , but so much necessary and indispensible Grace , without which it is impossible for us in this degenerate and lapsed Estate , either to withstand the importunity of Temptations , or to repent so effectually for having yielded to them , as is necessary for the attainment of eternal Happiness .

Secondly , The inflicting all those pains of Body , Calamities in our Fortune , or Disappointments as to our Designs , which are not less eligible than non-entity it self , but where there is either a mixture of present enjoyment to make the pain more Tolerable , or an interval of indolency to make it less Lasting , or a strength of mind that is able to combat with pain or with Misfortune , and reaps some inward Satisfaction from the conquest to it self ; or Lastly , a ground of hope that such unhappy Circumstances will have a more pleasing and agreeable Conclusion .

In this case it is plain , that what God may do without any violence to his Justice , by virtue of his Arbitrary Power and will , for no reason at all , but meerly because it so pleases him , that he may do the sooner and the rather when he has a reason for it ; though that reason may not be founded in the person himself , on whom this Calamity is inflicted ; but in that of him of whom he is descended , who having been a great example of wickedness , and of Disloyalty against him ; he may for his sake exercise his Soveraignty and Dominion upon his Posterity , sooner or with more Severity than he would otherwise have allowed himself to do , though he might have done it notwithstanding , if it had so pleased him ; and therefore it is an act of Mercy when ever he does it not .

As when the Disciples demanded of our Saviour , John 9. 2. Master , who did Sin , this Man or his Parents , that he was born blind ? Jesus answered neither hath this Man sinned , nor his Parents ; but that the works of God should be made manifest in him . Where our Saviour grants that such a Punishment as Blindness , being indeed no great infelicity to one who was never acquainted with the advantages of Sight , might justly have been inflicted , for the sake , and upon the account of his Father's Sin ; because whatever God may do for no reason at all , that it is certain he may do much more at any time for a reason , how small soever that reason be : However in this instance he says plainly , that it was not for any Sin of his Parents , but it was an Exercise of Gods despotical Power ; and this Blindness was the rather inflicted upon him , that after such a period of time he might be healed : and by a miraculous recovery of his sight give an attestation to the truth of our Saviour's Doctrine , to the reality of his Mission , and to the divinity of his Person : Neither hath this man sinned , nor his Parents , but that the works of God should be made manifest in him ; where it is true , that he was at length healed , and consequently in the General was made Blind , that the works of God might be made manifest in him : but that he was kept Blind so long from the time of his Birth , till he came to Man's Estate , this was an exercise of despotical Power , since itis plain that the same works of God might have been made manifest in a Child of a year , or two years old , who had been Blind from the Womb for all that time .

This Soveraignty and absolute Dominion of God over his Creatures , which consists in a right of taking away all that he hath given , or in inflicting all those Calamities upon us , which are not more dreadful to humane opinion or Imagination than non-entity it self is acknowledged by Job , when the terrible Judgments there mentioned had devoured all his substance , and destroyed all his Children , leaving him destitute of all things for which life is desirable , c. 1. 20 , 21. Then Job arose and rent his Mantle , and shaved his head , and fell down upon the ground and worshipped , and said Naked came I out of my Mothers womb , and Naked shall I return thither ; the Lord gave , and the Lord taketh away , Blessed be the name of the Lord : and then it follows , v. 22. In all this Job sinned not , nor charged God foolishly , which it seems by this place he had done , if after this severe usage he had charged God with injustice . And what was true as to those goods of Life , which are external to a Man's person , such as are his Children and his Substance , which it has been shewn , may without injustice be taken away by God , by virtue of his absolute Soveraignty over men , the same is likewise acknowledged to be no less true by the same illustrious example of an humble Resignation to the will of the great Disposer ; as to those things in which a Man 's own proper person is more nearly concerned : For when Satan had smitten Job with sore Blanes and Boils , equally loathsome and painful all over his Body , from the crown of his Head , to the sole of his Foot , c. 2. v. 7. and when his Wife upon so suddain occasion , v. 9 , said unto him : Dost thou still retain thine Integrity ? Curse God and Dye ; he makes no other Answer , v. 10 , but , Thou speakest as one of the foolish Women speaketh , What ? shall we receive good at the hand of God , and shall we not receive Evil ? and then it follows again , in all this did not Job sin with his lips . Thus far therefore it is Sin to accuse God of Injustice .

But this is not all neither , but it is still further true by Authority , as great and as sacred as that of the Book of Job , and by the acknowledgment of Abraham the Father of the Faithful , and the friend of God ; that this same absolute Dominion extends it self as far as to Life it self , which it is at God's pleasure to take away by arbitrary measures without being accountable to his own Justice or his goodness for it .

For though it be indeed the expostulation of that Righteous Person , with his Maker in the behalf of Sodom , Gen. 18. v. 23 , 25. Wilt thou also destroy the Righteous with the Wicked ? that be far from thee , to do after this manner , to slay the Righteous with the Wicked , that be far from thee , shall not the Judge of all the Earth do Right ?

And though it be further true that as a Judge , God cannot slay the Righteous with the Wicked , because considering him in that Capacity , he must act according to the respective demerit of those that appear before him at his Tribunal ; yet as a proprietor and Soveraign Lord he may , this being in truth the only proper exercise of his Soveraignty and absolute Dominion over us .

But yet notwithstanding , how closely soever he pressed this argument with his God , he did not dare for all that to interceed any further , than that if there were ten Righteous to be found in the City , he would be pleased to spare it for their sakes ; therefore by his own Concession , and as it were , in Complyince with that agreement and Stipulation which was at that time made betwixt God and himself , he might justly have involved nine Righteous persons in the common Calamity of that wicked place ; but he that may justly slay nine innocent persons , or at least , without any injustice , for Justice supposeth a Punishment and consequently a fault , may likewise without any injustice slay nine Millions , or an infinite number , if it so pleaseth him ; for the injustice is not to be fetched from the repetition , but from the nature of the fact , which if it be once lawful , it can never be repeated so often as to make it otherwise than it is in it self : so that if he may destroy one innocent man without injustice , it is manifest there can be no reason , why he may not do the same to another , and so in infinitum , it being utterly impossible to set any Bounds or Limits to the exercise of this power .

It may seem something hard , to involve good Men in those Calamities , which the Sins of the bad have given casion to ; but it is next kin to an impossibility in this great Ship of the world , where all Men's Concerns and Interests are carried together in the same Bottom , and are so strangely perplexed and entangled with one another , but the Righteous must needs partake in the sufferings of the Wicked ; Nay , it is absolutely impossible as to Men's Fortunes or Interests or Affairs in the world , but it must of necessity be so : and as to the taking away of their lives , or visiting them with any loathsome or painful Disease , though it be not equally necessary that this should light in common as well as the other , yet it is by no means inconsistent with the Justice or goodness of God that it should be so . God is not obliged , when he visiteth any Nation or pepple with a Plague or Epidemical Disease , to order the matter so that the destroying Angel shall pick his way and make a distinction as he goes betwixt the good and bad , such a choice as this would be contrary to the very nature of the Judgment it self , which is as blind and impartial as the Grave to which it sends us ; and therefore that stroke which with respect to the wicked is a Punishment , is in relation to the better sort of Men , an exercise of that power which may justly take away all that it hath given us , without doing the least wrong or injury at all , and this must needs extend as far as life it self ; which together with all the Comforts and enjoyments that are consequent upon it , is the immediate and only gift of God , who is the sole proprietor of that vital warmth which awakens the stupid matter into an enjoyment of it self , and from whom as from the root of life , and the eternal source of all the inferiour perceptive powers , that long meander of Energy and vital activity is derived that passes thorough all the spatious Provinces of this same Secondary , created World , watering the senseless matter as it goes , with an enlivening and refreshing stream .

Thus much may be sufficient to have said concerning the lawful exercise of God's despotical or arbitrary power : I come now to consider what he may do as an exercise of his Justice , and I lay it down for a certain and self-evident Maxim , that he cannot blind or harden Men from the Cradle all along to the day of their Death , in order to their final Destruction and Damnation in the other world , because the pains of that miserable State being supposed to be infinite , both in degree and in duration ; one of these two things must be granted , either that God can do no wrong , let him do what he will or can , what ever is most cruel or seems most unjust , but that he is nothing else but arbitrary will , and that infinite Cruelty is sufficiently warranted and justified by infinite power , which is Mr. Calvins Doctrine , and the avow'd opinion of Mr. Hobbs ; or else that in all instanc es of this nature where he first concludes men under a miserable and fatal necessity of doing what they do , and then damns them for doing or believing what they could not avoid to do or to believe , he is guilty of manifest Injustice ; one of these two things , I say , must be granted , for there is no medium betwixt them .

But now as to the first of them , I do affirm it to be false , for two reasons ; the first of which is taken from the testimony of Scripture , the other from the nature of God ; it remains therefore that the latter must of necessity be true .

And first to argue from the testimony of Scripture , in the expostulation of Abraham with his Maker , of which we have so lately spoken , Shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right ? It is plainly intimated that there are some things that God cannot do , otherwise this would be a very impertinent , and a very ridiculous Expostulation ; and so in that of St. Paul , Rom. 9. 14. What shall we say then ? Is there unrighteousness with God ? God forbid , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 By no means , let not so prophane a surmise as that enter into any Man's Heart ; but still it is certain , if there be such a thing as Unrighteousness , or such a thing as Cruelty , which will admit of no plea or justification for it self , that of condemning the Innocent to eternal and insufferable Torments is the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , it is that unrighteous and accursed thing , and it is as certain that all Men are innocent , whose actions are over-ruled either by an internal necessity of Nature , or by an external one from the will or appointment of God .

Wherefore it would have been needless for St. Paul to startle or boggle at the business so much as he seems to do , as if he were in a fright at the very apprehension of any such blasphemous and vile suggestion , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , God forbid ; much less should he have gone about to justifie the Divine procedure from those two Topicks ; First , of his despotical Power ( which I have shown how far it will extend ; ) and Secondly , of his Justice , ( which is a very idle insignificant word , when Arbitrary Will knows no distinction , and Power justifies whatever that Will can decree ) both of which Topicks I have shown plainly in the following Discourse , that he does very industriously and solicitously insist upon , in justification of God Almighty ; but he might have told us , that Justice is only a name between Man and Man , or a politick contrivance for the better order and government of the World , because Men cannot subsist without one anothers help , they receive equal benefit , and are in equal danger from one another ; and so it was necessary for the better preservation of Mankind , and for the comfort and support of humane life , that there should be here and there a dash of Justice to restrain Men's passions , and qualifie their desires , and to temper and allay such exorbitant and giddy Fumes as those of Malmesbury and of Geneva , but that indeed Justice was only a matter of Relative necessity , not of real or intrinsick goodness , and that none are unjust , but they who want power to vindicate what they have done .

But because this place of St. Paul is connected with that famous instance of Jacob and Esau , v. 12. 13. It was said unto her , the Elder shall serve the Younger , as it is written , Jacob have I loved , and Esau have I hated : Which instance , as well as that of Pharaoh , which is sufficiently cleared in the following Discourse , is brought to patronize the Doctrine of absolute Reprobation : before I pass any farther , I will do what service I can to true Religion , by giving the genuine sense and interpretation of that so celebrated place of Scripture , and making it for ever hereafter useless to serve any Calvinistical or Blasphemous design ; I say Blasphemous only for this reason , because I am certain I can prove it , that Calvinism is Blasphemy in the highest degree .

Let us therefore consider what S. Paul saith in another place , Gal. 4. v. 22. ad 27. It is written , that Abraham had two Sons , the one by a Bond-maid , the other by a Free-woman ; but he who was of the Bond-woman was born after the Flesh , but he of the Free-woman was by promise , which things are an Allegory ; for these are the two Covenants , the one from Mount Sinai , which gendreth to Bondage , which is Agar ; for this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia , and answereth to Jerusalem which now is , and is in Bondage with her Children ; but Jerusalem which is above is free , which is the Mother of us all .

By which we see plainly , not only that the Law it self , and all the ceremonious scrupulosity belonging to it , was a type and shadow of a more perfect Dispensation to come ; but also that the very persons and actions mention'd in the History of the Old Testament , had sometimes a typical designment in them ; which notion will receive yet farther advantage , when upon an impartial enquiry into that matter we shall find , that what St. Paul hath said of Agar and Sarah , and their respective Off-springs Jshmael and Isaac , may with equal , if not greater , probability of truth , to all outward appearance I mean , be applied to the persons of Esau and of Jacob.

Gen. 25. 22 , 23. When the Children strugled within the Womb of Rebecca , and she went to enquire of the Lord ; The Answer she received was this : Two Nations are in thy Womb , and two manner of people shall be separated from thy Bowels , and the one people shall be stronger than the other people , and the elder shall serve the younger . Where the two Nations , and the two manner of people , are the two dispensations of the Law and Gospel , which were of a nature so strangely different from one another , the one all ceremonious and outward , the other all simple , plain , and inward ; neither will it be an easie matter in any other sense but this , to give a fair exposition of what follows , that the one people shall be stronger than the other people , or that the elder shall serve the younger ; but only that the Gospel should prevail over the Law , that the latter should be subservient to the former , and be the Schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ , as St. Paul himself calls it , Gal. 3. 24.

And that Abraham , Isaac , and Jacob , were Typical persons , and had a Typical designment with respect to the Evangelical Dispensation , is clear ; besides , that their Names and their Histories do sufficiently speak for themselves , from the express testimony of the same Apostle , Rom. 9. 6 , 7 , 8. They are not all Israel which are of Israel , neither because they are the Seed of Abraham are they all Children ; but in Isaac shall thy Seed be called , that is , they which are the Children of the Flesh , these are not the Children of God ; but the Children of the promise are counted for the Seed . And Gal. 3. 29. If ye be Christ's , then are ye Abraham's Seed and Heirs according to the promise .

Nay , that the very loving of Jacob , and hating of Esau , was not so Arbitrary a thing as is commonly supposed , but was at least founded upon Typical or Prophetick reasons , seems clear to me from the testimony of St. Paul himself , Rom. 9. 11 , 12. For the Children being not yet born , neither having done any good or evil , that the purpose of God , according to Election , might stand , not of works , but of him that calleth , it was said unto her ( Rebecca ) the elder shall serve the younger : As much as to say , that God made a distinction where there was really none , as to the Children themselves , but only they were both of them Typical persons , the one was a type or shadow of the Mosaick dispensation , the other of that of Christ , and the difference put between them was intended to shew us , that by the works of the Law , or by an exact obedience , which is morally impossible , no man shall be justified ; but that after all we must owe our happiness not to our selves , but to him that calleth , that is , to the mercy and grace of God in and through the merits of his Son , apply'd to us by a stedfast and lively Faith upon the Evangelical condition of Repentance , and that upon such terms as these , God will call us , that is , he will do that as an act of Mercy , which as an act of Justice he was not obliged to do .

To the same purpose are the next words , as hath been said already , It was said unto her , the elder shall serve the younger : For you cannot fairly expound it in any other sense but this , That the Oeconomy of the Law was to be subservient to , and was to usher in that nobler and more perfect dispensation of the Gospel , of which , and of the sufferings of Christ who purchased that advantagious Covenant for us with his Blood , the Ceremonies and Sacrifices of the Law were plainly significative and expressive : For it is clear , notwithstanding this , that Jacob , together with his Wives and Children , did afterwards pay that homage and obedience to his Brother Esau , which by the custom of those times , was usually given to the elder Brother , and is very inconsistent with that temporal Dominion , which is pretended by this Blessing of Isaac to be conferred upon his younger Son Jacob , Gen. 33.

Besides in the blessing , if it may be called one , which Isaac bestowed upon Esau we find these words , Gen. 27. 4. By thy Sword shalt thou live , and shalt serve thy Brother ; which two things taken both of them in the literal and first Sense are inconsistent with one another . For to live by the Sword , is to live by Conquest , by Rapine and Spoile ; and to Serve is to live in Subjection and to obey . It is necessary therefore that they be understood in different Senses ▪ since , without a manifest Contradiction , it is impossible to expound them both the same way ; by thy Sword shalt thou live , that is , thou shalt be the Father of Warlike and predatory Nations , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Nations that live upon Spoile and Rapine without regard to Equity or Justice ; that is , perhaps , of the Arabs , Turks , or Tartars , all whose originals at this day depend upon very obscure Conjectures , and they may either one or more of these people owe their discent to Esau , as well as to any other . But then thou shalt serve thy Brother ; neither must nor can be understood in the same way , and the clean contrary of it is at this day manifestly true , but it is to be understood , not of his Posterity , but his Person ; which as I have shown , was Typically designative of that State of the Church , which was to be subservient to and introductive of the more noble and lasting Establishment of the Gospel .

All which may be still further confirmed from the story of Ishmael the Son of Hagar , of whom the Angel of the Lord gives this Character , Gen. 16. 12. He will be a wild man , his hand will be against every man , and every man's hand against him , which is to be understood of his Posterity , he being generally thought , and that by the Jews themselves who call them Ishmaelim , or Ishmaelites , to be the Father of the Turks of whom this Character is exactly true , which Ishmaelites may also , for ought we know , be the same with the Edomites or Sons of Esau too , that is to say , the descendants of Esau by his Wife Mahalath the Daughter of Ishmael , Gen. 28. 9.

But now notwithstanding , he was to rule and to be so powerful , that all the rest of Mankind would scarce be an equal match for him , which is the case of the Turks at this Day ; yet whatever he was in his Posterity , in himself he was the Son of a Bond-woman and a Servant , a person Typical of the legal Administration , which was in time to be rejected , to make way for the Son of the Free-woman , that is to say , the Gospel , which Christ the descendant of Isaac , and the rightful Heir of all things was to bring into the world . For Hagar and consequently Ishmael her Son , is as St. Paul saith , Mount Sinai in Arabia , that is to say , the legal dispensation , and as the persons of Ishmael and Esau , so likewise those of Isaac and Jacob too had a double respect , the one to the natural seed , the other to the Children of the promise , according to that place of St. Paul already cited . Rom. 9. 8. They which are the Children of the Flesh , these are not the Children of God , but the Children of the promise are counted for the seed .

Again , Gen. 27. 40. We find it thus written , It shall come to pass , when thou shalt have dominion , that thou shalt break his Yoke from off thy Neck ; I speak with all due submission to better Judgments , but indeed I think , nothing can be more impertinent and trifling than this Translation : For it is plainly an Identical proposition , and is as much as to say , when thou shalt have dominion , thou shalt have dominion ; for to have dominion , and to break a Yoke are both of them the same thing , in the Hebrew it is thus : Vehajah caasher Tarid , 70. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which the Roman Edition renders , Erit cum deposueris & solveris jugum illius ; there shall be a time , when thou shalt lay down , and loose his Yoke from off thy Neck . St. Jerom. Erit quando depones & solves jugum illud de collo tuo , the Scholiast in the Roman Edition , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and it shall be , when thou art bent or humbled , or when thou shalt submit thy self , that thou shalt break this Yoke from off thy Neck , which manifestly respects the calling of the Jews , by laying aside that Yoke , to which they now stoop with a voluntary obedience , and which it either is or has been in all their powers to shake off from themselves , which is as much as to say , they will never be an happy people , never equal in any respect to their younger Brother Jacob : Esau in this case being considered as their Father , till laying aside their obstinacy and perversness , and laying down the intolerable Yoke of the Mosaick bondage , they shall submit themselves to the evidence of truth , and to the more gentle Yoke of the Messias , the common Saviour both of Jew and Gentile , in whom all the Families of the Earth are to be blessed : and as for those that expound this place of the revolt of Edom from under the subjection of the Jews , in the second Book of Kings , it is so poor a shift and so inadequate a fulfilling of this Prophecy , considering what a small handful of Men those were , in respect of those many and distant Nations descended from the loins of Esau ; some of which in all probability were not so much as known to the Jews , that it does sufficiently betray its own weakness without any further animadversion of mine .

Esau then is the legal dispensation from Hasah , fecit , because the Justification which is by the works of the Law cannot be obtained without a perfect and unsinning obedience , and because of the many Ceremonies , and troublesome external offices belonging to it ; And Jacob is the Gospel by which the dispensation of the Law was supplanted , a type of the seed of the Woman that was to bruise the Serpents heel , Gen. 13. 15. Where the Hebrew word hakeb is the Root from whence this name is to be derived .

Esau's selling his Birthright for a mess of Pottage , what was it else but the Jews rejecting the Covenant of Grace , to whom the first offer of it was made , and all for the sake of a few hartless Ceremonies , and weak Resemblances of that more perfect dispensation , which was afterwards in the fulness of time to be revealed , and which are far from being able to satisfie the saint and weary Soul ?

Further the Pottage being red , was a Type of that Religion that consisted mainly in the observation of Days and Times , which in ancient as well modern Calendars were used to be marked with red Letters , and from hence he had his name Edom , Gen. 25. 30. Which being likewise exactly the same , as to all its Radicals with Adam , may also signifie that Religion , which besides the divine Revelation , was likewise , by the Pharisaick 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or traditions , to be swelled into so vast a Bulk of trifling by humane ordinances and Institutions .

Esau's being rough , and Jacob smooth , signified the intricacy and perplexity of the legal , and the simplicity , and honest plainness of the Evangelical Administration .

Jacob his name was called Israel from God's appearing to him in Padan Aram , which is one reason assigned of that name , Gen. 35. 9 , 10. And by this name he was a Type of the Messias , for Israel what is it but , Ishraah el ? Man hath seen God , but the Scripture saith expresly , Joh. 1. 18. No man hath seen God at any time , but the only begotten Son , which is in the bosom of the Father , he hath declared him : Wherefore nothing is more plain , than that this name was typical of the Messias , and that more perfect Revelation of the will of God , ( which is there called , seeing and declaring him ) which he was to introduce into the World .

Farther , the hairyness of Esau was a sign of that Religion , which was to be setled and preserved by force and violence , as the Israelites were first setled in the Land of Canaan by the utter extirpation of so many Nations , and as the Jewish Establishment did endeavour afterwards in the beginnings of Christianity to maintain it self by Persecution .

Horrida membra quidem & durae p●r brachia setae , Ostendunt atrocem animum . —

This may also be the signification of his name Edom , which carries along with it the notion of Blood and Slaughter , and with allusion to this notion it is used , Esa. 63. 1 , 2 , 3 ▪ Who is this that cometh from Edom , with dyed Garments from Bozrah ? Wherefore art thou red in thine Apparel , and thy Garments like him that treadeth in the Wine Fat ? I have trodden the Wine Press alone , and of the people there was none with me ; For I will tread them in mine anger , and trample them in my fury , and their Blood shall be sprinkled upon my Garments , and I will stain all my Rayment ; as on the contrary , the smoothness of Jacob was an Emblem of the calmness and benignity , the peaceable and gentle nature of the Gospel , which is likewise intimated in his name Jacob , to shew the supplanting and insinuating power of Truth , which does prevail upon Men's minds without violence , by perswasion and gentle means .

Lastly , the hairyness of Esau was to signifie the ferine or animal Life , and portended the promulgation of that Law , all whose promises were Temporal , and belonging to this lower state , being a sort of sensual and inferiour gratifications ; as on the other side , the smoothness of Jacob was the humane Nature properly so called , whose ultimate end looks farther than this life , whose gratifications as they are distinct from the brutish Nature united to the humane , so they are more refined and noble , more calm , serene , and quiet , and look beyond the rough and turbulent enjoyments of this life , into the peaceable joys , and the unspotted pleasures of another .

Thus I have proved , beyond all possibility of answer from the Authority of Scripture , that there are some things which God cannot lawfully do ; and if there be any thing at all to which the exercise of his power does not extend , it must be the condemning of Watches and Sun-dyals to eternal Torments , for such are all Men who are acted either by an external fate , or by an internal necessity of nature , being no more able to avoid what they do , than the hand of the Watch can help obeying the motions of the Springs and Wheels that are within , or than the Sun-dyal can resist the influences of the Sun , or help discovering the time of day , when the Sun shines directly upon it ; and if the Watch be down , you must not blame that , but its Keeper , that it does not inform you what it is a Clock ; if the Sun does not shine , you must not blame the Gnomon for not casting the shadow upon the hour of the day : if the Watch when it is wound up will not go right , or the Sun-dyal , when the Sun shines never so bright and full upon it , will not go so exactly as the Parish Clock : you may blame the Artificer that made them if you please , but them you cannot , because they are perfectly passive in the business , and can no more represent things otherwise than they do , than Stones can fly upwards , or smoak descend to the Center of the Earth .

I have proved likewise that the instance of Jacob and Esau , of which the predestinarian parly is so fond , is nothing at all to the purpose ; and that though the preferring of Jacob before Esau was Arbitrary as to their person considered barely in themselves , yet , as these persons were Typical of things to come , there was a design in it , and it had at least a prophetical and mystick meaning : and though this difference put between them were never so Arbitrary , yet , if you exclude the Type and Mystery which was hid under it , it concerned only temporal Blessings , in which after all , it does not appear that Esau was ever exceeded by his Brother Jacob , and at this day it is certain , the contrary is true . And what is all this to absolute Reprobation ?

Lastly , I have proved , that those Chapters to the Romans , which are the main Pillars on which Calvinism pretends to stand , are so far from giving Countenance to any such pernicious Doctrine , that on the contrary they afford very strong and very convincing Arguments against it .

I will now add , that if what Mr. Calvin himself hath acknowledged be true , Instit. l. 3. c. 25. s . 12. That the pains of the damned in the world to come do not consist in those bodily Torments by which they are described in Scripture , but that they are the effects only of a constant sense of the Divine displeasure , and of a troublesom and uneasie reflection upon the misdeeds & enormities of this mortal life ; then , if the Calvinistical Principles be true , it is utterly impossible for any one Man to be damned , since God can never be displeased with perfect innocence , which is the condition of all Men who are acted by an irresistible fate ; and since it is equally impossible , if they continue of the same opinion in the World to come , which they would be thought to espouse and patronize in this , ( viz. that all their actions whether good or bad , are owing either to an irresistible corruption , or an irresistible grace ) that they should ever reflect with any thing of trouble , dissatisfaction , or guilt upon those actions , which themselves will then look upon to have been so wholly fatal , that they will seem to themselves to have been meerly passive in all that they have done ; nay , to have been overborn by a necessity so uncontroulable , that it equals , if not surpasses , the brutality of the Beasts that perish , so uncontroulable , that there is perpetual need of an irresistible Grace to keep the world in any tolerable order or quiet , and to hinder the worst of Men from being worse than he is : which opinion , how horrid and how execrably monstrous soever it may seem , yet it is not only defended by Mr. Calvin himself , but it is also of absolute necessity to be maintained by all that would truly assert the Calvinistical Doctrine ; because if Men be acted through the whole course of their lives by a meer fatality , without the least mixture or contemperation of freedom , then it is certain that all necessary Agents do and must always act to the utmost of their respective strengths and powers ; as the Fire cannot but burn , and the Smoak cannot help ascending ; Watches must go 'till they be down , and Clocks must strike at the beginning of the hour ; the Water must flow , if it be not kept out by Banks or other eminencies intercepting , into all places that are beneath its level ; the Sun always shines as much as it can , gives as much light and heat , draws as many Exhalations , ripens as many Fruits , and as much as it is able . And if Mankind be managed by a necessity equal to that with which these Agents are actuated and inspired , if there be in Men nothing else but a constant and perpetual propensity to all manner of evil ; and if this propensity have no inward principle of choice or freedom whereby to regulate it self , if it know no temper , and be incapable of any moderation , then it must always act to the utmost of its force , activity and power : and consequently , this propensity being in all the very same , every Man must be as bad as it is possible for any Man to be , and it must be owing only to an irresistible grace that Men do not tear and devour one another , and that all manner of wickedness is not committed publickly in our Streets , in the sight of Multitudes , and in the face of the Sun .

But if there be on the other side admitted the least blending or mixture of Freedom with this Necessity , it is manifest at first sight , that this freedom is a principle capable of improvement , it may exert it self by a constant and habitual endeavour into still higher and higher degrees of self-activity and self-motion ; and being assisted by the merciful encouragements of God's holy Spirit , which is never wanting to cherish all good motions in us , these sparks of Virtue and Religion , which are thus careful to preserve themselves , will be awakened into a vigorous and lively flame : by which means it will unavoidably come to pass , that the Calvinistical Hypothesis will be utterly overthrown , there being no Man , if we allow thus much , who may not be in some possibility of Salvation .

It is plain therefore as any thing can possibly be , that the Doctrine of Calvin and his Followers is inconsistent with it self : For first , it damns and reprobates the far greatest part of Mankind , and yet notwithstanding , introduces such a fatality into all humane Actions as is perfectly inconsistent with Damnation ; and not with Damnation only , but with Salvation too : for whatever the state and condition of the damned be , it is certain that the joys of Heaven can consist in nothing else , but in a serene and healthful constitution both of body and mind , resulting from a pleasant sense of the favour of God , and from a no less comfortable reflection upon our steady and well-poised behaviour in the midst of all the dangerous temptations and allurements of this mortal life ; or lastly , from the Spirits of the just , in both of these respects , eternally congratulating and blessing one another . But nothing is more evident than that God cannot be pleased with us for doing what we could not possibly avoid ; neither can we be pleased with our selves for being irresistibly acted by another . So that Calvinism , let it pretend to never so great attainments of purity and truth , does yet in reality overthrow that Religion , of which it would be thought the only ground and pillar ; it perfectly destroys the being of any future punishment or reward , and by consequence banishes all manner of Religion and Virtue out of the World .

There is a very plain and a very close connexion betwixt the liberty of humane Actions , and the rewards and punishments of a future State , there being nothing more inconsistent with a merciful Being , as God is represented in Scripture to be , nor more repugnant to those common notions which all Mankind is used to entertain concerning the Divine Goodness , than to endue Men with such a self-moving Principle of choice and freedom , in the midst of so many and so great Temptations , as we are daily and hourly encompassed and surrounded with , and to the wrong use of which freedom , most of the miseries and calamities incident to Mankind are owing , if it were not that we are sent into this World , as into a state of Tryal , where there being many dangers and difficulties to encounter with , there must be a suitable reward annext to the conquest of them ; otherwise the condition of Mankind would be much more hard than of any other part of the Creation ; and it would seem as if God had sent them into the World , only that he might triumph over the infirmities , and sport himself in the misery of his Creatures : for this , as I have said , is the usual effect of that freedom for which I am now contending .

But now , if at the end of this Race there be a Prize proposed , if this laborious Combat , which we are perpetually obliged to maintain with so many unruly Lusts and headstrong Passions , be but to fit and refine our tempers for the enjoyment of a better and a more exalted condition of life ; nay , if the very nature of that happiness do in a great measure consist in a comfortable remembrance of , and reflexion upon that successful Conflict , which we in this life have maintained with the brutish and beastly part of our selves , then all is made good sense again , and here is a very clear account given of the reason of that spontaneous principle , which we find within our selves , and of its Connexion with the happiness or misery of another Life . Whereas on the contrary , if all humane actions be necessary and fatal , the nature of rewards and punishments is utterly destroy'd : For though a Man may be plagued or tormented , yet he can never properly be said to be punished for what he could not avoid ; for all punishment is either for the amendment of the offending party , or for an example to others : Now where there is no fault , there can be no amendment ; and where there is no choice , there can be no fault .

Again , that Calamity which being inflicted upon one , is intended for an example to others , must have its effect upon us , either by the way of a rational motive , or of a necessary cause ; if the first , that supposes that freedom for which we contend , for deliberation without freedom is the greatest non-sense in the world : if the latter , then I demand , whether before the appearance of this necessary cause there were an Antecedent liberty or no ; if you say there was , then I do by no means understand , why the punishment of one or more voluntary Agents should destroy the freedom of all Mankind , invert the order of things , and alter the natural constitution of the world ; and if you will not grant it , then here are two contrary necessities contending with one another , as a Body moved any determinate way , will continue the same motion , and the same determination , if it be not hindered from pursuing its course , and turned another way by another more powerful than it self , whether quiescent or in motion , which it shall meet or overtake in its passage : but then how either of these determinations shall be either culpable or meritorious , is another thing which I do not understand , and I am afraid it will puzzle a wiser head to give a tolerable account of it .

Again , the pains of the Damned in the life to come , consist , as I have said , in a great measure to be certain , in a troublesom and uneasie remembrance of the miscarriages of this : But how can I be troubled for what I could not avoid ? Or if I may be troubled , yet it is plain I am troubled without reason , and consequently this is but the effect of another necessity , and so here is one necessity punished by another , which is certainly the most unreasonable , and the most unjust thing in the world ; so that we must unavoidably grant , either that there can be no such thing as Injustice , or that this is that very thing , aggravated with all the circumstances that can make it most unworthy of God , or most hateful to Men. For here is the greatest injury and the greatest deceit together , the greatest injury for a Man to be tormented to all Eternity for what he could not avoid , and the greatest deceit for a Man to think all the while that he might have acted otherwise than he has ; for that is the case of every Man who is possessed with a sense of Guilt , Repentance , or Shame .

For what is Shame but a troublesom reflexion upon Folly ? And how can Folly and Necessity be consistent together ? What is Guilt but a certain pain and anguish of the Mind arising from a sense of Sin ? And how can that Action be sinful which it was not in our power to eschew ? Or why may we not as well conclude , that the Sun commits a Sin when it parches the Earth with an immoderate heat ? Or the Rain when it poaches it with intemperate showres ? What room can there be for such a passion as Repentance , where there is nothing to be repented of ? And how can any Man repent of that , which it was utterly impossible for him to avoid ? And which being placed in the same circumstances , he must with the same necessity act over again ?

There are those whose dejection of Spirit is so great , under the perpetual weight and pressure of misfortune , that they curse the unhappy day wherein they were born into a World so full of misery and sorrow ; but there are none repent their being born , because Repentance is a reflection upon a Man 's own action , not upon the action of our Parents , or upon the consequence of it ● No Man can be said to repent that he was born blind , or that he became so by the virulence of a Distemper which it was not in his power to prevent , he may wish it had been otherwise , or he may be sorry that it was not ; but this desire , or this sorrow of his , is not accompany'd with a sense of guilt or shame , which is always requisite to fill up the notion , and constitute the nature of Repentance . No Man repents his having had the Rickets in his Childhood , or his being afflicted with the Gout in his old Age , so far as these Distempers depend upon spermatick and hereditary Causes ; but if by Lewdness and Intemperance he shall contract a crazy and infirm habit of Body , and shall derive a sickly and diseased Constitution down to his Issue , then he may and has reason to repent for his own sake , and for theirs too to whom he is the occasion of so great misfortune ; he must needs look back with blushes and confusion of face upon his own personal follies , and it will be still a farther aggravation to the trouble of his mind , that he has poison'd Ages and Generations to come , that his name shall either perish with himself , or dye together with his Children , or live with infamy and disgrace in the infirmity of those that shall succeed them .

What hath been said concerning Guilt , Repentance , and Shame , passions that do unavoidably suppose and prove a freedom , the same is likewise applicable to the business of Temptation : Watch and pray ( said our Blessed Lord to his Disciples ) that ye enter not into Temptation , Mat. 26. 41. But now in all Temptations , liberty is plainly supposed ; for if a Man cannot yield , how is he tempted ? And if he cannot resist , it is more than a Temptation . So that the nature of a Temptation evidently demonstrates a power , either of yielding or resisting in him to whom it is offered , but this power can never be conceived without a concession of freedom .

Again St. Paul tells his Corinthians , Epist. 1. c. 10. v. 13. There hath no Temptation taken you , but such as is common to Man : But God is faithful , who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able , but will with the Temptation also make a way to escape , that ye may be able to bear it . Will he so ? will he enable us to bear it ? but how will he bring this good Effect to pass ? why he will do it partly by the natural Powers , and Faculties which he has given us , and partly by the blessed Influences of his merciful and good Spirit , infused into our Hearts , and strengthning the natural force and activity of our Minds . But yet after all this , we must make our escape our selves ; he will strengthen us with sufficient might in the inward Man , whereby to repel the assault of any Temptation , but yet he does not so strengthen us as to destroy that liberty by which we are still in a possibility of yielding : and if there were not such a possibility , then St. Paul instead of encouraging his Corinthians the more boldly and chearfully to encounter with temptations , from this Consideration , that they have such Assistances both natural and divine , as cannot fail to make their warfare successful , might have told them in short , that they were now arrived to an impeccable Estate , and that they need not trouble their heads any further , with any idle apprehensions of the Devil , or mistrusts of themselves ; with any scruples of Conscience from within , or any fears of Danger from without ; for that they were now arrived at a degree of Perfection , so high , and yet so steady , that it was impossible for them to fall away , or to commit Sin any more : and by this means he might have saved himself , and them the needless trouble of a long Epistle .

Lastly , when he tells them , that no Temptation hath befaln them , but such as is common unto Men , it is as good as to say , that all men who are not perfectly forsaken by God , and hardened into a final impenitence for their former Sins , though they are not assisted with those extraordinary influences of the divine Spirit , which are peculiar to the Christian world , yet they have still such helps both natural and divine , as are at least sufficient to subdue any Temptation that can be offered ; and if they had not , they could not be said so properly to be assaulted by a Temptation , as compelled by necessity and irresistable fate .

But to what purpose does our blessed Lord command his Disciples and consequently us , to Watch and Pray , that we enter not into Temptation , when if the Doctrine of Calvin and his Fellows be true , that all humane actions are necessary and fatal , and that they are predestinated from all Eternity to determine themselves to such and such Objects , after such or such a manner , in such and such periods of time ? then it signifies no more to Watch and Pray , than to whistle against the Wind , out of hopes to divert it into another Quarter . We may as well sleep on and take our rest , for any good we are like to do by Watching : For at this rate all our Watching will be ineffectual , all our Prayers to no end or purpose , and all our Religion will be vain ; for the fatal Knots can neither be unti'd nor cut in sunder : And whatever has been resolved in the utmost recesses of Eternity must come to pass in the predestinated intervals of time , so that the best way for us when all is done , will be to sit down passively consented under every thing that can befal us , and sing the old Catch on Consort with one another .

〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉

But alas , what do I speak of being contented , for we can neither be satisfied nor displeased unless when the fit of necessity takes us . It is now somewha● more than sixteen hundred Years agoe , since a very wise , and a very witty man told the world , ira furor brevis est , anger is but a shorter kind of Madness , but it seems the air of Rome is nothing so sharp and so judicious as that of Geneva , and the Italians may cease hereafter to upbraid the Tramontani with want of understanding ; for had he known so much as the Religionists of our days , and in these parts of the world , he would have concluded that our whole life was nothing else , but one continued frenzy , wherein we always sail by the compass of Necessity , and flow hither and thither without any Guidance and Conduct of our-selves by the Spring-Tide of uncontroulable fate ; he would have seen that our very thoughts are straitned and enlarged , screw'd up and let down by the Eternal wheels and pulleys , and that we speak like Puppets with Bay leaves in our Mouths : to so little purpose , is it that our Saviour exhorts us to Watch and Pray , that we enter not into Temptation , when we can do neither of our selves , but when the necessity comes upon us , we must do both whether we will or no.

Duc me parens celsique dominator Poli , Quocunque visum est , nulla parendi mora est , Assum impiger , fac nolle , comitabor gemens , Malusque patiar quod Pati licuit bono .

But with your leave , Cleanthes , if the world be govern'd by such a Stoicall or Calvinisticall Fate , there can be no such thing , as good or Evil in it ; for Necessity admits of no such moral Distinction : If all things come to pass , because they cannot be otherwise than they are ; then he that Prays to God , and he that Curses him are equally excused : and it is true of the Rich , and of all Men , what Juvenal thought applicable only to the Poor ,

— Jurent licet & samotheacum Et nostrorum aras , contemnere fulmina pauper Creditur , atque deos diis ignoscentibus ipsis .

For how can God with Justice blame us , for stooping to those Laws of Fate , which cannot possibly be resisted by us , and by which he himself is govern'd , For Eadem Necessitas deos irrevocabilis divina pariter atque humana cursus rehit , alligat , ille ipse omnium conditor ac rector , siripsit quidem fata sed sequitur , semel paret semper jussit : said Seneca according to the opinion of the Stoick ; and I shall prove immediately that the Calvinists would be bound to defend the same opinion , if it were capable , as it is not , of being defended .

It is a prodigious thing that an opinion , not only so contrary to reason and to truth , but to the usual Sentiments of those very men that defend it , should ever find so much Countenance or protection among us . For show me but one man , the hottest Pedestinarian of them all , who does not by most of the actions of his Life , suppose and assert that freedom , which in a fit of disputing he denies , and I will yield the Cause : all his Prayers do either return into his own Bosome ; that is , they signifie just nothing at all , or else they flie in his Face , and upbraid him with not giving Glory to God , by an humble acknowledgment and a right use of that Freedom , which those very Prayers do naturally suppose . For to what purpose do we pray , if all things are so unalterably predetermin'd , that they cannot be reversed ? and if it be so that nothing can prevail with God , to alter or to suspend his decrees ? or why in truth should he be moved , more by our Prayers , than by our Curses ? by the supplications of those who call themselves the Sanctifi'd and the Godly party , than by the Blasphemies and Execrations of those who are not less wrongfully stiled , the wicked and unregenerate part of the world , when both of them with respect to us are equally Necessary , and it is impossible for those that do these things , to do otherwise than they do ? or is not this to vilifie and ridicuel , if not perfectly destroy the Christian Life , when at this rate the worst actions which we can commit are very excuseable things , and our Duties are so far from having any rational expectation of acceptance at the hands of God , that they are rather so many pregnant Instances of the Frailty and infirmity of our Natures , overborn by the strength and power of those eternal Decrees , which it is impossible to Conquer , and against which without their own help we cannot strive ? But tell us that Prayers , Almes-giving , Good works , a good Conversation and the like , are means some way or other conducing by the divine appointment to the happiness of men ; to the procuring those blessings for which , and to the averting those Judgments against which we pray , that he that has predestin'd the end , has also predetermin'd the means ; he that has resolv'd from all Eternity to be pleased with such a set number or company of Men , has also appointed that they shall please him , by his acceptance , or his taking in good part such or such Actions which he has before hand determined they shall do ; or by his approbation of certain habits and dispositions of Mind , which he has always resolv'd shall be iresistibly infus'd into them : The English of all which is , That they shall be happy without any reason at all , if Men can be happy that never were ●ood ; or if Men can be good , whose ●ctions are governed not by choice , but by necessity and resistless fate .

But let us admit that he does predetermine the means , as well as he does the end , which it cannot be avoided , but he must do in that Hypothesis which makes all things necessary , what is the natural consequence of this , but that when by the same eternal Decrees he reprobates so unequal a proportion of Mankind : he does also by the same act of his Will , necessitate them to the Commission of such Actions , which he has resolved beforehand , though they be necessary , shall be displeasing to him , and for which , as if they had been voluntary , he has decreed to condemn them to everlasting Torments , or rather for no reason at all , but what is founded in his own Arbitrary will and power , there being no manner of natural Connexion betwixt necessity and punishment , or reward .

But is it not a most astonishingly strange and surprizing thing , that Men should be so obstinate against their own sense and experience , and that they should perpetually deny what they can never help thinking to be true What is it for which we so much decry the Papists for asserting their bold and contradictious Doctrine of Transubstantiation ? Is it not for this reason that their opinion includes in it so flat a repugnancy to their own senses ? That it is so full of absurdities and contradictions , that let them pretend what they please , they can never heartily believe it themselves : Neither can any Man indeed be said properly to believe such Propositions as have no ground of credibility in them , but on the contrary are big with Arguments against the belief of themselves .

And is not this reason every whit as good against those , who subject all humane actions to an unalterable fate ? For every Man , let him say what he pleases in a fit of Disputation , yet he does naturally seem to himself to be free and unrestrain'd in most of the actions of his life ; neither can there be any better Argument of that freedom which he denies , than that he finds himself indu'd with a power of affirming or denying so contrary to the natural sentiments of his own mind and understanding . One Man he looks upon himself to be wise , another just , a third merciful and good , a fourth he is temperate , chast , and sober ; and upon account of these several Accomplishments , they all put a proportionable value upon themselves , and do at the same time despise or hate their Neighbours , if they find them destitute of the same virtuous dispositions and qualifications of Mind ; and all this they do upon a supposition of freedom , otherwise necessity makes all things equal , & they would have no reason to pride themselves in doing what they could not avoid . It would be the greatest nonsense in the world , when Fate and Mechanism are perfect Strangers either to praise or to disgrace , for any Man to value himself , or to despise and much more hate another . And as Pride without a supposition of Liberty is a most ridiculous Passion , a Passion that deserves more contempt than it bestows upon others ; so is Anger too , unless we admit a liberty in that thing or person , which is the object of our anger , whereby it might have behav'd it self otherwise than it has ; but to be angry with things that are acted by necessity , is the anger of Dogs that bark at the Moon , it is what Solomon calls the Anger of Fools ; and such may be angry , if they please , with the Wind for blowing too rudely in their faces ; or with the Dust , for annoying them in a Summer's day .

Sometimes it is a Man's unhappiness to commit a grievous fault , or rather , according to this Hypothesis , to be fallen into a grievous misfortune , for which some are angry , others are sorry , and some endeavour to make him better for the future , by giving him good and wholsom advice , and by shewing him the folly or wickedness of what is past ; and these last no question look upon themselves as very friendly and charitable Men , which it is manifest they cannot do but upon supposition , that they might have done otherwise if they had pleased ; for Fate admits of no such thing as Charity , Friendship , Wisdom , or Virtue ; but it is the same necessity , neither commendable nor blame-worthy in any , which displays it self by different effects in them all , which makes one of them commit such an action , another censure , a third pity it , and a fourth apply himself to remedy the like inconvenience for the future , by his fruitless advice and counsel , which can never hope to stand in competition with the unalterable decrees of Heaven .

Sometimes again you shall have several persons promise or intend to meet together at such a place , upon such a day , for such or such an end ; and this they do , supposing themselves to be free , and indu'd with an ability of being as good as their word ; and it is a shrewd sign that what they supposed was true , when at a Club , a Coffeehouse , a publick Feast , a Rendezvous , or an Exchange , you shall find them all accordingly met together , which if the fatal Hypothesis were true , it seems utterly impossible for them to be ; but most of them by that particular necessity by which they are governed , would either be kept at home , or carry'd violently some other way , to which they were predetermin'd before this assignation was made .

To conclude , we have had very warm and fierce Contentions about things necessary , and things indifferent , and about the Civil Magistrates power as to the latter in Religious affairs , which if the Calvinistical Doctrine be true , is a very needless Controversie ; for according to them , if they will stand to their own Principles , there is nothing indifferent either in Sacred matters or in Civil , but all things are necessary , because unavoidably determined : And so the Controversie is happily at an end , and we should be much to blame for censuring such innocent people for such unavoidable Scruples , but that we cannot help it , which , if this Hypothesis be true , is the Universal reason and excuse of all our actions .

And thus , I think , I have proved that the Doctrine of Transubstantiation it self , how absurd or contradictious soever it may seem , yet it is not more inconsistent with the common sentiments of Mankind , and with the plain acknowledgments of its own Defenders , with reason , experience , and with common sense , than this of the Stoical or Calvinistical fate , which most of the actions of our lives , and most , if not all the Passions which we find within our selves , are combined in a strict confederacy to overthrow , it being directly contrary to the nature of the one , and to the suppositions upon which the other proceed .

Another very just exception which has been made and managed to very great advantage , by a very Reverend and Learned person , Dr. Tillotson Dean of Canterbury . against the absurd and blasphemous Doctrine of Transubstantiation , is this , That it overthrows the whole Fabrick of the Christian Religion , by destroying that Foundation upon which it stands , that is to say , its Divine Authority attested by those Miracles by which it was confirmed , because we have no way to judge of Miracles , or to distinguish them from the ordinary and usual Phaenomena of nature , but by the testimony of our senses ; which if they may deceive us in their proper objects , when they are placed in the most advantageous circumstances to make an unerring Judgment , then it is impossible for us in any case given to determine when a Miracle is wrought , and when it is not , and consequently that Religion , whose Sanction and Authority is founded upon Miracles , can never be thought to be sufficiently confirmed .

And what has been said of Transubstantiation , the very same may be applied to the Predestinarian Doctrine , against which , as being founded in the fatal determination of all humane Actions , there is a loud and a perpetual Clamour of common sense and experience . But , besides this , it is farther evident from other considerations , That if the Doctrine of absolute Reprobation be true , the Scriptures of the New Testament are both a very false and a very impertinent Book , it being not only plainly contradictory to so many plain Texts , of whose true meaning and signification there can be no manner of doubt or question ; but to the whole Oeconomy of the Gospel , to the design of Christ's coming into the world , to the design of his Suffering , to the reason of his Intercession , and Lastly , to the genius and temper of the Christian Dispensation .

S. John tells us , 1 Joh. 4. 8. God is love . He that loveth not , saith he , knoweth not God , for God is love , but you know it is a common rule , denominatio sumitur à parte potiori , if therefore of those who are born into this world , there be not above one in a Thousand who are the Objects of this love and favour , while all the rest are irreversibly doom'd to be the eternal examples of his utmost Vengeance and Displeasure ; and all this for no reason , but what depends upon his Arbitrary power and will without any other Consideration , then it is manifest if a man were to draw a Character of God Almighty , and to exhort Mankind to imitate his example , he must preach a Doctrine quite contrary to that , which was taught by the Disciple whom Jesus loved , and who was himself so full of love to his Brethren ; it being more suitable to the nature of God , if the Calvinistical Painters have drawn him right , to say , he that hateth not , knoweth not God , for God is hatred ; the same may be said of all those other Pathetical exhortations to the mutual endearment and love of one another , which are to be met with in the same Chapter of that good Disciple : Beloved saith he , v. 7. Let us love one another , for love is of God , and every one that loveth is born of God , and knoweth God . And again , v. 9 , 10 , 11. In this was manifested the love of God towards us ; because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world , that we might live through him , herein is love not that we loved God , but that he loved us , and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our Sins . Beloved if God so loved us , we ought also to love one another . Lastly , v. 19 , 20 , 21. We love him because he first loved us : If a man say , I love God , and hate his Brother he is a lar : For he that loveth not his Brother whom he hath seen , how can he love God whom he hath not seen ? And this Commandment have we from him that , he who loveth God , love his Brother also . It is St. Paul's own exhortation in the Epistle to the Ephesians , c. 4. v. 31 , 32. Let all Bitterness , and Wrath , and Anger , and Clamour , and Evil speaking , be put away from you , with all Malice , and be you kind one to another , tender Hearted , forgiving one another , even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you . So the same St. John tells us in the third Chapter of his Gospel , at the 16th . and 17th . verses . God so loved the World , that he gave his only begotten Son : That whosoever believeth in him , should not perish , but have everlasting Life : For God sent not his Son into the World , to Condemn the World , but that the World through him might be saved . And our Saviour himself in his incomparable Sermon on the Mount , exhorts his Disciples to mutual Kindness and Charity for one another , and for their very Enemies , from the example of God , Matth. 5. v. 44 , 45. Love your Enemies , bless them that Curse you , do good to them that hate you , and pray for them that despitefully use you , and persecute you ; that ye may be the Children of your Father which is in Heaven , for he maketh his Sun to rise on the Evil , and on the Good , and sendeth Rain on the just , and on the unjust : And then concludes that Chapter with this general rule to make God the universal pattern of our Imitation , v. 48. Be ye therefore perfect , even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect .

But now if the reprobating Doctrine be consonant to reason and to truth , then we must invert these exhortations from the example of God , and perswade men to the mutual hatred and detestation of one another ; because God who is the most perfect being , and the most worthy of our Imitation , so hated the World that he made the infinitely greatest part of Mankind , out of a design to destroy them , not that they had , or that they could ever offend him , being acted by a resistless Necessity in all they do , but only to reak his everlasting vengeance , and gratifie the eternal malignity of his Nature .

For though it be pretended , and it is very true , that Adam acted freely in the Commission of the first Offence ; yet it is true likewise , Qualis causa talis effectus , such as the cause is , such is the effect ; that very offence being an effect and instance of his Freedom , it was impossible that a free action in him should be the natural and proper cause of a necessary Nature in us ; or indeed that any one action which it was possible for him to Commit , especially that for which the Son of Sirach tells us he made some amends by his Repentance , should so far alter both his Nature , and ours who are descended from him , as that we should be quite another sort and species of Creatures , from what we should have been before : for Necessity and Freedom do , toto genere distare , Heaven and Earth , East and West , the Northern and the Southern Poles are not more Diametrically opposite , or more remotely distant from one another .

Since therefore God did at least forknow , that Adam would commit that offence , which was so fatal to himself and his Posterity ; and since upon supposition of that offence , he did preordain that all Mankind should be tainted by such an universal and irresistible Corruption , which was impossible to be effected by any natural means , it is the same thing , as if he had simply preordained it , without any respect to the fall of Adam at all , because a simple Decree , and a Decree founded upon a condition that will certainly come to pass , are to all intents and purposes the same .

But we need not be so nice and subtle in bringing our Adversaries to an inconvenience , since Mr. Calvin himself is pleased expresly to acknowledge , that God did not only foreknow the fall of our first Parent , but that by a positive act of his will he did absolutely preordain it , as well as all the Mischiefs and Calamities which are consequent upon it , and he refers it all to God's arbitrary Soveraignty and lawless will , which he makes to be the only square and measure of all his actions in the Government of the world . Since therefore it is clear according to the Calvinistical Hypothesis , that God pursues Mankind with such an exquisite and immortal hatred , and since he is certainly the best and the noblest example of our imitation , how can we better imitate and resemble him , than by hating one another ? by persecutig and tormenting every man his Neighbour ? by arming and equipping our selves to the mutual Ruin and Destruction of each other ? neither is it any argument in this ease that such a course of life is against our own interest , as well as against that of those with whom we contend , there being no man who could promise himself one minutes safety , when once he had made himself the common Enemy of all Mankind ; For if God hate us , how can we better express our imitation of him than by hating our selves ? or how can we better express that hatred than by doing those things which tend to our Destruction ?

And though it be true , that a Remnant shall be saved , that is , as our Adversaries do very impiously , and very unreasonably interpret those words , that a very small and inconsiderable party shall be culled out of the gross of Mankind , to be the Objects of the divine Favour , while the rest are for no reason , but his arbitrary pleasure , Condemned to everlasting Torments : yet de non entibus & non appar●ntibus eadem est ratio , it being impossible for us to have a real and inward sense of a nother Man's Conversation , or to feel those influences and intercourses of the divine Spirit which are reciprocated with the Spirit of another man , the best way of imitating God will be , without any respect or distinction of Persons to proclaim an open War against all Mankind , lest by a too sollicitous pity for the Elect , who by the worst that can happen , will but be dispatched to a better place , we spare the Reprobate whom God hath forsaken , and who to gain quarter will be sure to make large pretences to the Seal of the Spirit , whether they have received it or no.

And is not this a precious way of imitating God , which yet is the most proper inference that can be made from that topick , if the Calvinistical reprobation be to be admitted ? are these the words of Peace ? the Laws and Ordinances of the Prince of Peace ? the Doctrine of the Meek and Humble Jesus ? or is it not rather a perfect Burlesque , and Mock-song to the Bible ? an Infamous Pasquil , and a most scandalous Lampoon upon the Gospel ?

Was it for this that Isaac the Type and the Progenitour of the Messias , was called the promised and the Holy seed , the happy Man from whose auspicious Loyns , that Bright , that Glorious , that Majestick Babe was in the fulness of time to be descended ; in whom all the Families of the Earth were to be blessed ? For this that as the watchful Shepheards were guarding of their sleeping Flocks , the Angel of the Lord came upon them , and the glory of the Lord shone round about them , and they were sore afraid : when the blest Spirit Cloth'd with a gentle and refreshing Light , uttered these words of Peace and Comfort to them : Fear not , said he , for behold , I bring you good tidings of great joy , which shall be to all People , for unto you is Born this day in the City of David , a Saviour which is Christ the Lord ? For this the Beautiful and immortal Quire , that sing perpetually before the Throne of God , fill'd Heaven and Earth with their triumphant Song : Glory be to God on High , on Earth Peace , and good will towards Men ? For this old Simeon hugg'd the mighty Infant , and welcom'd his approaching Fate with Notes more Charming than the dying Swan , or Nightingals contending for the Mastery , with the most delicate and tender touches of the fainting string : Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in peace according to thy word , for mine Eyes have seen thy Salvation , which thou hast prepared before the face of all people ; A light to lighten the Gentiles , and the Glory of thy people Israel ?

Was it for this the blessed and Immaculate Virgin , the Royal consort of the Eternal Spirit , the happy Mother of the Son of God , broke out into that thankful Rhapsodie of Joy and gladness . My Soul doth magnify the Lord , and my Spirit hath rejoyced in God my Saviour , for he hath regarded the low Estate of his Handmaiden ; for behold from henceforth all Generations shall call me Blessed , and more to the same or like effect .

But to what purpose is all this joyful , this triumphant Noise ? this sound of Peace , and Happiness , and Salvation ? what reason have all the Generations of the world to call the Virgin Mother Blessed ? how did the Angel bring good tidings of great Joy , which were to be to all People ? how was he a light to lighten the Gentiles ? and how a Glory to his people Israel ? or is he not rather a Reproach to that Stock , from which he is descended , when he came into the World , not so much to save , as to destroy Mankind ? for if so vast a proportion of those miserable Mortals , who are born into this world , are irreversibly consigned to everlasting Torments , without any offence or provocation given on their Parts ; and if Christ himself be that Unmerciful , that Unrelenting Judge , who at his second coming the Circuit of the world , is to pronounce that cruel Sentence against it , and if this second coming cannot be without the intervention of a first , then what was his first appearance ; instead of bringing health and Happiness to men , but the beginning of our Sorrows , the Introduction to eternal Misery and Pain , the mournful Prologue to the Tragedy of Hell ? and is he not more fitly stiled , the Destroyer , than the Saviour , and the Redeemer of Mankind ?

Again , If it be demanded for what reason our ever blessed Lord , is said to be the Saviour and Redeemer of the World ; I answer , there are three ways especially by which he may be said to have purchased to himself those Glorious and Magnificent Titles .

First , In that he came into the world to Redeem us , from the more than Egyptian Bondage of Sin , and Darkness of Ignorance , by the precedent of his Example , by the light of his Gospel , and by the Grace of his Spirit working in the Hearts of his true and faithful Disciples : now all Example is in vain , of which there can be no Imitation ; and there can be no Imitation where there can be no Endeavour ; nor any Endeavour without an inward Principle of Self-activity , and Self-motion ; nor any Self-activity without Freedom , they being indeed but two words for one and the same thing .

Secondly , He redeems us from punishment by his Satisfaction , or by the merit of that propitiatory Sacrifice which he made of himself upon the Cross , for the Sins of all Mankind ; the atonement of which Sacrifice is apply'd to all , who by a lively Faith , sincere Repentance , and hearty endeavour to please God by obeying his Commandments , fulfill those Conditions by virtue of which this application is made ; but now where there is no Sin , there needs no satisfaction , and where there is no Liberty there can be no Sin : St. Paul himself tells us , Rom. 4. 15. That where no Law is , there is no Transgression : And the 1 St. Joh. c. 3. v. 4. That whosoever committeth Sin , transgresseth also the Law , for Sin is the transgression of the Law ▪ but every Law does manifestly suppose a freedom in him to whom it is prescribed , for Laws are given in vain to them that cannot Obey ; and where men must Obey , whether they will or no , there the promulgation of a Law is needless , because our obedience is not paid to the Law it self ; but it is an unavoidable submission to that irresistable Grace , by which our non-complyance is rendered an impossible thing : if then there can be no Law without a supposition of Liberty , nor any Transgression without a Law , then it is manifest according to St. Paul's own Concession , that without the same liberty , there can be no Transgression , which was the thing to be proved .

And indeed how can it ever seem a likely matter , that the Blood of the daily morning and evening Sacrifice , of the Sin and the Trespass Offerings , of the Passovers , the Peace-Offerings , and the Holocausts or Burnt Offerings , the Blood of Rams , and Bulls , and Goats , the Blood of Beasts , and of Birds , should with so great cost and expence , such indefatigable toyl and labour , so much address and ceremony be streaming perpetually under the Mosaick Law , as a pompous and magnificent Introduction to that great Sacrifice , which was in the fulness of time to answer and abolish the shadows of the legal Administration , and all this by way of expiation for those who never had offended ? Or did the Jews undergo all this troublesome and ceremonious Fatigue ? Did Christ himself suffer upon the Cross only for the Sin of our first Parent , imputed without any proper guilt of ours to his Posterity ? No certainly , God is too just to condemn all the World for what they could not avoid ; and the Blood of Christ was too precious to be spilt only for the single Transgression of one single Man . How absurd ? How ridiculous is it to say , that he dyed for those Sins which we never committed ? Or that he rose again for that justification which , by reason of our innocence , we did not need ? Or is it not better to acknowledge as the Scripture does , that upon account of our own personal Guilt , as well as that of our first Parent , we all lay in Darkness , and in the shadow of Death , and that we all have sinned , and come short of the Glory of God ; and that for this reason God himself took our Flesh and dwelt amongst us , that he might be to us in the nature of a legal Redeemer , who was always to be of the Kindred of the party to be redeemed ? Which custom of the Jews God could not any way so properly imitate , as by taking our Flesh and our Nature upon him .

Neither will the intercession of Christ , which is the third way of saving Mankind , according to this Hypothesis , make any better sense than his satisfaction does ; for if we will believe these very Writers themselves , the satisfaction of Christ is alone available for all the Elect ; and for the Re-Probate , it is in vain to make use of any intercession : Therefore I speak it not only with a becoming reverence , but scarce without trembling , what a ridiculous thing do these Men make of the Mediatory Office of Christ in Heaven , who spends so many Ages in a sollicitous , but fruitless intercession at the right hand of God , either for those that cannot do amiss , or for those that cannot possibly be saved . Whereas if we follow the truth it self , rather than the fancies of particular Men , of how great name or authority soever , nothing is more plain than the reason and the usefulness of his Intercession ; for Salvation being annext to Faith and Repentance , and a good Life , and the satisfaction of Christ being apply'd to the person of a Believer upon these conditions , which conditions are not so fully performed by any as they might be , nor equally by all , it is manifest there must needs be very many , whose performance is so weak and imperfect , that without any breach of that Covenant , which God has entered into with Mankind , he might very justly abandon them to eternal Flames , to be tormented for ever with and by the Devil and his Angels , but that the intercession of Christ extends and enlarges the benefit of his satisfaction , and makes it more operative and available than otherwise it would have been .

But , besides the Prophetick Office of Christ , under which I include his example and his preaching , and the Priestly , to which his Sacrifice and his Intercession in virtue of that Sacrifice belong ; there is also his Kingship to be considered , one great part of the exercise of which , consists in his sitting in Judgment at the last day , to pronounce the irreversible sentence of Death or Life upon all Men ; but there can be no Judgment , where there is no difference made betwixt the Moral good or evil of things : for to judge , is to act with reason , and Fate and Morality are inconsistent together , which Fate if it were the only principle and spring of Action , the Reprobate at the last day need not stand in justification of themselves from other Topicks , as they are made to do in Scripture , but they need only say , that what they had done , they could not avoid ; which being a very reasonable excuse , and yet not urged where the Pleas of the Wicked are set down by our Saviour himself , it is a very powerful and convincing Argument , that he will at that day proceed by other measures , and that he will not , much less did he design it from all Eternity , condemn the meanest Wretch that ever wore the shape and title of a Man for any but voluntary and wilfully committed Sins . Shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right ? said Abraham to his God , Gen. 18. 25. That be far from thee to do after this manner . Which Expostulation and Appeal of his to the Divine Justice must either be acknowledged to be very frivolous , and nothing at all to the purpose ; or else we must be forced to confess that Christ , when he sustains the person and character of a Judge , and a Judge of all the Earth , as he will do at the last day ; he will not proceed by Arbitrary measures , which know no distinction of Persons or of Causes , but condemn or save by unaccountable methods , without any regard to reason or to justice , the exercise of which is founded upon the differences of Moral good and evil , all which differences must come to nothing , where the liberty of humane Actions is destroyed ; but he will act with us upon a supposition of Freedom , for the improvement or abuse of which , we shall reap a proportionable punishment or reward .

And as nothing is or can be more contrary to the whole current of the Scripture than the Doctrine of absolute Reprobation ; so neither is there any thing more destructive of that meek , charitable , and humble frame of Mind , which it was the design of the Gospel to establish in the World , the natural and immediate tendency of such Doctrines in the minds of inconsiderate Men , though , if they consider all , they have no reason to be proud , being to create a Spiritual Pride and overweaning Conceit of themselves , together with a contempt and hatred of all others whom they call the Reprobate , and are pleased to look upon as the Dross and Off-scouring of the World .

There neither is nor can be any other opinion , which is so naturally fitted to make distinctions and parties amongst Men , or to preserve those distinctions when they are made , for what greater or what wider difference can there possibly be thought of , than between the Reprobate and the Elect ? Those who are irrecoverably given over to everlasting Torments , and those who are out of all danger of miscarrying , and past the possibility of not being as happy as God and happiness themselves can make them ? Or what greater indignity or reproach can be cast upon one Man by another , than for some to separate from the rest , under pretence that they are rejected and forsaken by God ? This being , if those that separate would speak their minds , one of the true reasons of their separation , as it is likewise the strongest Prop and Pillar by which that uncharitable Schism is supported ; for I reckon that there are six accounts especially to be given of the first rise of this absurd and impious Doctrine of absolute Reprobation , and of its continuance in the World to this day .

The first of which is , that inconsiderate Interpreters , not minding the whole scope and drift of the Writings of St. Paul , but looking only to the immediate seeming sense of one single Proposition , and not considering that neither so well as they should have done , have stretched the interpretation of those places beyond their natural extent , wherein St. Paul sets himself in opposition to the Jews , who expected Justification from the Law of Moses , or to the Judaizing Christians , who would have retained that Law either in whole or in part , as thinking that Justification could not be had without it ; or , lastly , to any other , who expected Salvation from an exact observance of the Duties of natural Religion , or of the Law of Nature : For by the Law in the Writings of St. Paul both these are promiscuously understood , as might be shewn from several places , but that of Gal. 5. 22 , 23. is sufficient : The Fruit of the Spirit is Love , Joy , Peace , long Suffering , Gentleness , Goodness , Faith , Meekness , Temperance ; against such there is no Law : that is , whether of Moses , or of Nature : And the same may very well be the sense of all those places where he says , That the knowledge of Sin is by the Law ; and that if it had not been for the Law , he had not known Sin ; and that by the works of the Law no Flesh can be justified ; and that where there is no Law , neither is there any Transgression . All which may very well be understood of the Law of Nature , as well as of that of Moses , it being equally true of both . Now the reasons why Justification could not be obtained by the works of the Law of Moses , were these two .

First , That that Law containing the Types and Shadows of things to come , when once their Antitypes appeared in the World , they could be of no longer value or signification . And ,

Secondly , That besides that those legal Rites and Ceremonies had a respect to future events , which events were now exactly fulfilled ; they did also under them contain a shadow of that inward sincerity and purity of Mind , without which , notwithstanding all the accuracy of external Observations , they could be of no moment or avail with God , who is the searcher of Hearts , and delights rather in the Sacrifice of a clean and humble Spirit , than in the fat of Rams , or the blood of Bulls and Goats , which could not put away Sin , any otherwise than in a Typical way , as they pointed at that great Sacrifice , which was in God's appointed time to be offered up for the Sins of the whole World ; neither could they Atone for that uncleanness or insincerity of Mind , with which those Sacrifices themselves were offer'd up , or those other Mosaick Ceremonies performed .

These were the two reasons why Justification could not be obtained by the works of the Law of Moses ; but neither was the Law of Nature sufficient for this purpose , not that it was not perfect in it self , for every Law is thus far perfect , That it obliges no farther to punishment , than it does to obedience ; and so the same Apostle tells us , Rom. 2. 14 , 15. That the Gentiles which have not the Law , do by nature the things contained in the Law ; these having not the Law , are a Law unto themselves , which shew the work of the Law written in their Hearts , their Conscience also bearing witness , and their Thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another . But though the Law of nature be perfect in it self , that is , it requires nothing of us but what is truly and intrinsically good : Nay , nothing but what , all things considered , is most for our advantage : ●t exacts no more punishment than it requires Obedience , it Commands nothing which is naturally impossible to be performed , which no Law can be supposed to do ; yet considering the many Temptations , and Infirmities to which we are obnoxious , it is morally impossible but at some time or other , it will so come to pass that what through in inadvertency , Temptation or Frailty , we shall step aside out of the milky way of Innocence and Truth , into the forbidden paths of Lust and Errour ; and it is certain that no man ever did hitherto , nor will ever hereafter live in perfect Innocence , except our Saviour himself who was created in the utmost perfection of the humane Nature , assisted and improved , by a most intimate presence and union of the Divine .

So that in this case , a Sin being once committed , it is necessary in order to our Justification , that is , to our being freed from the punishment which is consequent upon it ; for the guilt can never be wholly washed away , any more than it is possible for that never to have been , which is already past : I say it is necessary that this Justification be attained , one of these five ways , for there can no other be thought of .

First , We may please our selves with a conceit , that the Innocence of our past lives may a tone and satisfie for the offence committed ; but this cannot be , because that Innocence how great soever , is no more than what we were obliged to before : so that having done no more than our Duty , we have nothing left by way of supererrogation to make amends for what we have done amiss , and set the account right again between God and our selves .

Secondly , We may hope that our Repentance will be available with God , and that he will set our Sorrow against our Sin , and let the former expiate for the latter ; and it is certain that the very next thing to Innocence is Repentance , and that God will not despise a broken and a contrite Heart , but still it is equally certain , that whereever there is Repentance , there is Guilt , and whereever there is Guilt , the right of punishment still remains in him against whom the offence is committed , if he have not actually remitted it already , or at least obliged himself by promise that he will do it .

But then Thirdly , The third way from which some might peradventure promise to themselves to be justified or pardoned for their Offences , is by the Obedience of the remaining part of their Life ; but this will not do neither , for a reason already mentioned , namely ; because that Obedience is no more than we are obliged to pay , and so has nothing to spare by way of Expiation , for all or any of those Transgressions which we have committed : and though it be true that this Obedience is a certain sign that our Repentance is sincere , which will for that reason be sure to be the more available with God ; yet whatever motive or Inducement it may be to his Goodness , it lays no such Obligation upon his Justice , as that his right to punishment will be by this means destroyed . But then if you consider how great the frailty and infirmity of humane Nature is ; and how lyable-our very Duties are to a mixture of Guilt and Imperfection by the coldness and indifference of their Performance ; by the want of a due fervour and ardency of Mind , and by the wandering of our thoughts and affections towards unsuitable Objects and desires , in the very midst of our Devotion , and much more in the usual course of our Lives , that Obedience , how great soever it may Comparatively be , when we set it in opposition to that of other men ; yet in it self , it is so far from being able to expiate for the Sins and Follies of our past Life , that it will upon account of its own defects stand in great need of another Expiation .

Wherefore these three ways being found so insufficient for the Justification of a Sinner , for the reasons already mentioned ; the Fourth possible . expedient that may be thought of in order to this end , is that of God's free pardoning and remitting of Sin , as an act of meer Goodness , without any expiation or satisfaction performed by us , either in our own proper Persons , or in that of our Proxy : But it seemed best to his infinite Wisdom , to make use of this fifth and last way , that is , to accept of a Proxenetical or Vicarious expiation in our stead , not that the other way had any Repugnancy in it to any of the Divine Attributes , for it is the undoubted right of all Personalities whatsoever to remit those injuries which are done to themselves , but , as I conceive , especially , for these three reasons , besides others which may very well be unknown to us , and are only discernable to his unsearchable wisdom ,

First , Because as the Authour to the Hebrews tells us , c. 9. v. 22. Almost all things are by the Law purged with Blood , and without shedding of Blood there is no Remission ; the Jews therefore , which was also more or less the case of all the Heathen world , being used in their Religious rites to appease God's wrath by Sacrifices , and by the shedding of Blood , and this by the express Command of God himself , it would have been an excuse to them not to believe the Gospel , nor to accept of that pardon and remission which it offered ; if Justification had been proposed upon any other terms than those o● shedding of Blood , besides that without this they would have had no reason to forsake the Mosaick platform of Divine worship , which must have continued still in force , so long as those shadows were not done away by the more perfect Sacrifice of Christ upon the Cross .

Secondly , By this means God gave the world the strongest assurance that it could possibly receive of his Veracity , or of his fixt and unalterable resolution , to perform on his part the Conditions of that new Covenant which he had entered into with Mankind , whose sanction was founded in the Blood of his only Son , it being not only unreasonable , but impious and highly derogatory to the Honour and Majesty of God , to suppose that the Divinity it self should condescend to appear in the form and likeness of a Servant , should take our Flesh and our Nature upon him ; should stoop to those mean Indignities which were offered him by the vilest of men , and should suffer such a shameful and ignominious Death upon the Cross by the hands of Sinners , and in the scandalous Company of two notorious Malefactors , and all this to no purpose in the world .

Thirdly , A third reason why this Method was taken , seems to me to have been not only that by faith in a crucified God , we might have sufficient assurance of the remission of Sins , but also that by his Resurrection and Ascension which were consequent upon that Crucifixion , we might have the most sensible Demonstration that could be given us of the certainty of our own Resurrection , and of those Eternal Joys that expect us in Heavenly places , there being no way so proper to bring life and immortality to light , as for him who first made so clear and perfect a discovery of them , to rise himself from the Dead , and become the first-fruits of them that slept : and if to these three , you will add likewise a fourth Consideration , it may be this ; that if God had bestowed a gratuitous remission upon the world , that is , for I would not be mistaken in the use of that word , a remission without any satisfaction made for Sin , either by our selves or our Proxy , it would have argued such an easiness in the Divine nature , in the opinion of many men , that it would rather have proved an encouragement to continue in Sin , than an obligation , as it ought to be in point of Gratitude , to greater strictness and Holiness of Conversation , as on the Contrary , if , for this reason , without shedding of Blood there could be no forgiveness : it follows plainly that nothing less than the Sacrifice of God himself upon the Cross , would serve the turn , because nothing short of this could possibly be a compleat Expiation and Atonement for the Sins of the whole world ; but it would be so far from it , that all the Sacrifice that could be offered would fall infinitely short of the value of this , and God might as well pardon us without any Atonement at all , as by that which would be so infinitely disproportionate to the guilt of the offending Parties .

Further , Though it be certain that God could not possibly give the world a more signal Demonstration of his love , than by sending his only begotten , and his entirely beloved Son to die for it , for he that spared not his own Son , but delivered him up for us all , how shall he not with him also freely give us all things , Rom. 8. 32 ? Yet this will but enhance and aggravate the Condemnation of our Disobedience , if after so dear a purchase paid for our Redemption , we shall still notwithstanding continue in an obstinate and wilful course of Sin ; for how shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation ?

And now having thus clearly explained , what is meant by Justification ; namely , the pardon of our Sins , or the remission of that right of Punishment which is devolved upon God by them ; and having likewise seen by what means this Justification is to be procured , that it cannot be obtained by any thing in our selves , but that it is wholly oweing to the Grace and Mercy of God , in and through the meritorious Death and passion of his Son and our Saviour Jesus Christ the Righteous , who knew no Sin , neither was guile found in his Mouth ; and who by the Sacrifice of himself once offered upon the Cross , made a full , perfect , and compleat Satisfaction , Propitiation and Redemption for the Sins of all Mankind . We may now from hence give such a clear and solid Exposition of many places in the writings of St. Paul , which are so miserably abused and stretched beyond their true extent by the Calvinistical Doctors , as to make them for ever hereafter utterly useless , to that cause and party , which without that method which I have used , cannot so convincingly be done by any other way of proceedure .

St. Paul tells us , Rom. 11. v. 6. ( if we are saved ) by Grace then is it no more of Works ; otherwise Grace is no more Grace : But if it be of Works , then is it no more Grace , otherwise Work is no more Work : and Gal. 2. 16. Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law , but by the Faith of Jesus Christ , even we have believed in Jesus Christ , that we might be justified by the Faith of Christ , and not by the works of the Law : For by the works of the Law , shall no Flesh be justified .

Lastly , Eph. 2. 4 , 5. God who is rich in Mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us , even when we were dead in Sins , hath quickned us together with Christ , by Grace ye are saved : And again v. 8 , 9. For by Grace are ye saved through Faith , and that not of your selves , it is the gift of God ; not of works lest any man should boast .

Which places together with several others of a like purport and signification are so far strained beyond their true sence and meaning by Calvinistical Interpreters , as if God in the justification of a Sinner , had no regard to any previous Conditions of Repentance or good Works ; but that he proceeded perfectly by an arbitrary Goodness , and had not the least respect to any other Consideration whatsoever , which it is plain does not only destroy the necessity of Obedience and a good Life , but renders all the exhortations and Encouragements to it , which are so plentifully , and so pathetically interspersed up and down the Scriptures , both of the old and the new Testament ; and all the arguments or menaces made use of , to deter us from sinful gratifications or desires , not only useless but ridiculous , and consequently very unbecoming the Majesty of that God , in whose name and Authority they are delivered : and St. Paul would be very inconsistent with himself , if this opinion were true ; when in the 12th of his Epistle to the Romans , v. 1 , 2. he exhorts them with so much passion as he does : I beseech you Brethren , by the Mercies of God , that ye present your Bodies a living Sacrifice , holy , acceptable unto God , which is your reasonable Service ; and be not conformed to this world , but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind , that ye may prove what is that good , that acceptable and perfect will of God . For why should he exhort us to so great purity both of Body and Mind , if God Almighty in the work of Justification had no manner of regard to those as the Conditions of his Favour ? or if indeed we cannot so much as endeavour to be transformed or renewed of our selves , by the exercise of the natural Faculties and Powers of our own minds , but all must be oweing to an irresistible Grace , by which we are carried away , as by a mighty Torrent , without any the least ability or strength to stemme so rapid and so impetuous a stream ?

Whereas if we go a middle way betwixt these two extreams , it will be very easie to reconcile these places of St. Paul , to themselves and to one another ; to the faculties of men , and the nature of things , and to the rest of the Evangelical , and Apostolical writings .

Follow peace with all men , saith the Authour to the Hebrews , c. 12. v. 14. and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord . But now if a man should say that the true and genuine sense of that place is this , that no man shall see the Lord , but he that cannot help it , or he that must see and enjoy him , whether he will or no ; this would certainly be looked upon by all men as a most absurd and impious Interpretation , and yet this is no other than the necessary consequence of the Calvinistical Doctrine ; if Holiness be meerly owing to an irresistible Grace ; and if it be not , then nothing can be plainer , than that there is something of Endeavour or self-activity required on our parts .

But you will say then how comes it to pass that St. Paul tells us so often that we are justified only by Faith , and by Grace , and not by works ? why this with a very little attention upon what hath been said already will become very plain and easie : For it is one thing to say that Repentance and good works are necessary to Salvation by way of merit , and another to affirm that they are required as an indispensible Condition without which God will not impute Righteousness , or make application of the passion of his Son to the person of a Sinner : The first of these is manifestly false , because as hath been said already , all we can possibly do , is no more than our Duty , and our best performances are accompanied with so many and so great imperfections , that instead of expiating for our grosser Crimes , they themselves do stand in need of an Atonement . But yet after all it is true , that without Holiness , and without Repentance no man shall see the Lord ; and it is so true that even in those to whom God is pleased to extend his Mercy at the very instant of Death , which we have reason to believe to be but very few , yet in these there is at least required an hearty sorrow and contrition for what is past out of a due sense of the foul nature of Sin , or of the heinous malignity of Disobedience and ingratitude to so good and gracious a God ; and there is required also such a serious and devoutly fixt resolution of living better for the future , if in case it shall please God to grant us a longer Life , as may be , not an obligation , but a motive or inducement to his infinite Goodness , which in such cases as these hath great latitude of operation , to accept the will for the deed .

Neither does it follow in the least , because Repentance and Obedience are required , that therefore we are not justified by Grace or by Faith only ; for since our Repentance and our good works have no manner of merit or Atonement in themselves , it is certain that that Atonement must be wholly oweing to something else , and the Scripture tells us plainly what that is , namely to the sufferings of Christ upon the Cross for our Sins , the merit of which sufferings is by the Grace and favour of God , without any pretence or title which we have otherwise to them , appli'd to every true Believer as the reward of his Faith in him , by whom that expiation is wrought : which Faith , though it can never be unaccompani'd with good works , yet it implies in its very nature so perfect a reliance upon the merit and satisfaction of Christ for Justification and Redemption , as does at the same time amount to an absolute Renunciation , or an utter disowning of all kind of claim and title in our selves .

It is almost the same case , as if a Malefactor having committed something worthy of Death , should yet notwithstanding in pity to the innocence of his past Life before the commission of this offence have a Reprieve allowed him , to put him upon a new Tryal , and see how he would behave himself for the future ; and though neither his past nor future deportment be so absolutely blameless , as that no advantage can be taken of them ; yet since he endeavours to make up in his Repentance , what in his obedience is defective ; and since he plainly acknowledges himself a debter to the justice of the Law , and reposeth his only confidence not in his own uprightness or sincerity , but in the goodness of his Prince or Judge ; he is upon these Considerations pardoned , which pardon though without such Considerations and Circumstances it had not been past , yet the very nature of a pardon implies a guilt in him to whom it is given , and a right of punishment in him that gives it ; so that notwithstanding these Conditions the offender's Life is merely and entirely an effect of Mercy , because notwithstanding them he might very justly have been Condemned to Die .

This may be sufficient to have said concerning the first of those six accounts which I have promised to give of the first rise of the Predestinarian Doctrine , that it is grounded upon a mistaken Interpretation of those places of St. Paul , which are opposed only to those who had too high an opinion of themselves , or were not so sensible as they ought to be , of the grace and favour of God towards them , by sending his Son into the world to be the propitiation for their Sins , and of the necessity of that Grace in order to their Justification ; but were by no means intended to destroy the necessity of Obedience and a good Life , or to discourage our honest endeavours at Perfection , how short soever they be of that mark at which they are directed ; but it is rather , on the contrary , a new obligation to watchfulness and diligence in all our Conversation , that God has been pleased to apply so mercifull and so effectual a remedy to those Diseases and Dangers to which either the frailty of our natures , or the perversness of our wills , assisted by the malicious and crafty insinuations of degenerate Spirits , do continually expose us : and I dare confidently appeal to any man , let him be who he will , who is not enslaved past all possibility of redemption to a Spirit of Bigotry and prejudice for a party , without having patience to attend to the real Merits of a Cause , whether I have not very fairly and clearly expounded those places of St. Paul which I have produced upon this head , together with all others of a like meaning and signification ; which it is not necessary accurately to insert ; so as that no advantage can be reaped from them to the Calvinistical Doctrine .

The Second Account which I shall give of the origine and progress of this Opinion , and of its Continuance among us to this Day , shall be taken from those Texts in the Epistles of St. Paul where he describes the Lucta or Contention which is to be found more or less in every man , for it is not equal in all , between the two principles of the Flesh and Spirit ; or between the natural tendencies and desires of the humane Soul , as it moves from its self , by an inward spring or principle of self activity abstracted from all Intanglement or Encumbrance from the Body , which are all regulated by the sober and steady deliberations of right reason without any Prejudice , Humour , Interest , or Passion , and between those desires which are owing to the union of the intellectual or spiritual principle with matter , from whence it comes to pass that our nobler part is perpetually sollicited and frequently overborn by the importunity of sensual Pleasures , by yielding too frequently or too grosly to which , it follows unavoidably that the natural strength and activity of the mind will be by degrees impaired , as Elastical Bodies by moysture lose their Spring ; or as the Bodies of men or other Animals by want of exercise , and too much ease are used to grow Scorbutick , resty , and unactive , but on the contrary by constant breathing , activity and motion , they acquire new strength and arrive to an Athletical firmitude and vigour , as it is also with the Mind , which is not more impaired by a tame and cowardly submission to Animal and fleshly desires , than it is improved and strengthned by a stout and resolute resistance of them .

In this continual combat between concupiscence and reason , consists that spiritual Warfare which we are obliged to maintain with the World , the Flesh , and the Devil , in the conquest of which Enemies , or in our utmost endeavour towards it ; as being an effect of the natural strength and activity of the Soul shaking off the Cloggs and Encumbrances of the sensual or lower Life , which is wholly governed by gross and corporeal Impressions from without , the nature of Virtue consists ; a on the otherside , Vice is nothing else but an unnecessary yielding to so mean impulses , or it is that decay or infirmity of mind which is the consequence of such a yielding .

This Combat is excellently described by St. Paul , in the Seventh Chapter of his Epistle to the Romans , from the 14th . verse , to the end of that Chapter in these words . We know that the Law is Spiritual , but I am carnal sold under Sin : For that which I do , I allow not : For what I would that do I not , but what I hate that do I. If then I do that which I would not , I consent unto the Law that it is good . Now then it is no more I that do it , but Sin that dwelleth in me . For I know that in me that is , in my Flesh , dwelleth no good thing : For to will is present with me , but how to perform that which is good I find not , For the good that I would I do not ; but the evil which I would not that I do , now if I do that I would not , it is no more I that do it , but Sin that dwelleth in me . I find then a Law that when I would do good , evil is present with me . For I delight in the Law of God after the inward man : But I see another Law in my Members , warring against the Law of my mind , and bringing me into Captivity to the Law of Sin , which is in my Members . O wretched man that I am , who shall deliver me from the body of this Death ? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord , So then with my mind I my self serve the Law of God , but with the flesh the Law of Sin .

Much such a Description as this we have likewise by the same Apostle in his Epistle to the Galathians , c. 5. v. 17. The Flesh lusteth against the Spirit , and the Spirit against the Flesh : and these are contrary the one to the other , so that ye cannot do the things that ye would : Where he also acquaints us what are the distinct works of the Flesh and the Spirit , the First consisting mainly in the gratification of sensual Appetites and desires , or in an ambitious pursuit after the Pomp and Vanities of this world , or in that turbulent and uneven constitution of mind , in those either private or publick Mischiefs which are the usual consequences of Lust and Passion , as the latter are chiefly discernible by such a calmness and serenity of Mind and Will , as does perpetually accompany the Soul of man when it is moved from it self ; from an inward spring and principle of its own , and when its streams are not troubled or turned back with violence upon their Fountain , by the tempestuous winds of Passion ; such a calmness and serenity as makes a man most easie to himself , most acceptable to others , and most fit to enjoy an intimate Friendship and Communion with God . Now the works of the Flesh saith he , v. 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23. are manifest which are these , Adultery , Fornication , Uncleanness , Lasciviousness , Idolatry , Witchcraft , Hatred , Variance , Emulations , Wrath , Strife , Seditions , Heresies , Envyings , Murthers , Drunkenness , Revellings , and such like , of the which I tell you before , as I have also told you in time past , that they which do such things , shall not inherit the Kingdom of God : but the fruit of the Spirit is Love , Joy , Peace , Long-suffering , Gentleness , Goodness , Faith , Meekness , Temperance , against such there is no Law . And from this distinction of the Flesh and the Spirit ; men are denominated according to the respective Predominancy of either , sometimes Carnal , or Natural , and sometimes 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or Spiritual men . So in the next Chapter v. 1. Brethren if a man be overtaken in a fault , ye which are Spiritual restore such an one , in the Spirit of meekness , considering thy self lest tho● also be tempted , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , ye which are Spiritual ▪ that is , ye who have mortified the Flesh with its affections and Lusts , ye who have given your selves up to the guidance and conduct of the inward-man whose Souls are as far as may be , retired within themselves , freed from the Dominion of Prejudice and Temptation , and making no further account of any thing without , than it is necessary to the support of Life , or serviceable to the noble ends of Happiness and Virtue , ye who measure all things by a steady and impartial reason according to their true estimate and value , and not as they are falsly and unskilfully represented by the specious flatteries of a deluded fancy , and so those things or truths of which the carnal or natural man , that is , he whose mind is too deeply plunged and immerst in bodily pleasures or desires , can have no relish or savour , are said to be Spiritually discerned . 1 Cor. 2. 14. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God , for they are foolishness unto him ( 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , they have no tast or savour with him ) Neither can he know them because they are Spiritually discerned , and then it follows , v. 15. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but he that is Spiritual judgeth all things , but he himself is judged of no man , where 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in the first place is as much as 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , he discerneth all things , that is , puts a true value and estimate upon them ▪ but he himself 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that is , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , he cannot with Justice be judged or condemned of any .

And that by 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or the natural man in this place which I have last cited , is meant , as I have said , him whose mind being wholly intent and fixt upon sensual Appetites and gratifications , is called off from the true improvement of its intellectual Faculties and Powers , will appear not only from the tenour and scope of the Context it self , and from its being opposed to the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or the spiritual man , but also from this that it looks like a way of speaking borrowed from the School and Philosophy of Plato ; for we all know that in the Platonick Triad there were three several Hypostases or Personalities , which had a dependance upon , and a subordination to one another .

The First of which was the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , by which I understand the divine substance considered as simply and abstractedly as may be , being infinitely perfect and blessed in its self , without any relation to any thing without , or besides it .

The Second was the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that is to say , the mind or understanding of God furnished with an infinite variety of Ideas coextended to the utmost possibility of things , and branched out into all the instances that were possible to be given of the divine Wisdom or Power .

The Third and Last , Was the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 by which they meant the Plastick nature , or the formative and demiurgick power of God , united to a certain subtile or Aetherial matter which it makes use of as its instrument , as well perhaps for the first modelling or exemplification of the divine Ideas ; ( which matter is capable of infinite Variety of possibe Shapes , Modifications and Respects ) as for the warming , enlivening and sustaining that Universe which the divine Power , Wisdome and Goodness have created .

Which three subordinate Hypostases of the Platonick Triad , may be and are not unfitly copy'd out by so many several resemblances in the humane nature .

For First , We may consider the mind of man barely as a simple , immaterial substance , created after the Image of God , having nothing of composition or impurity in its Nature .

Secondly , We may consider it as the recipient or subject of several notices and Ideas , which it considers by themselves and compares together , with a cool and impartial Reason not byassed by Prejudice , or led aside by Passion , or blinded by Humour , Interest or Fancy .

And Lastly , We may consider it , as united to a Body , and presiding over Animal Spirits , which it sends up and down that Body on its Errants , and by them performs the office of a plastick Nature , usiing them as its Instruments in the formation of the Foetus and assimilation of Food , and by which union it is made obnoxious to all the Passions and Impressions of the lower Life , and is but too often overpowered and carryed away into Captivity by them .

Further , that this meaning of the word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which we translate sometimes Natural , and otherwhile Sensual in the writings of St. Paul ; and other of the inspired Writers of the new-Testament whom I shall have occasion to mention by and by , is borrowed as I have suggested from the School of Plato , will appear yet more plain from these two considerations .

First , That this is not any where the notion of the word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 from whence the Adjective 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 is derived , but on the contrary it is every where taken for the inward man or the pure , intellectual , and immaterial nature , considered as distinct from that body to which it is united . So our Saviour himself uses it , Mark , c. 8. v. 36 , 37. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; What shall it profit a man , if he shall gain the whole World , and loose his own Soul ? or what shall a man give in exchange for his Soul ? and 1 Pet. 2. 11. Dearly beloved , I beseech you as Strangers and Pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which war against the Soul : In both which places and in many others , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or the Soul is taken for the pure , immaterial Nature in us , as it is distinct from that Matter or Body to which it is united ; and in whose Happiness or Misery that of the whole Man is unavoidably ingaged , and if 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 were here taken , as it is in its derivative 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 for the sensual or animal Life in men , then fleshly lusts could not be said to war against it , because they are founded and radicated in this lower nature , or in the vital union of a pure and Heavenly Soul , with a gross , feculent , and terrestrial Body .

It being clear therefore that the word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in has no such use or acceptation any where to be met with in the new-Testament Writers ; it must of necessity be , that so different an use of its derivative 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 must be owing to the use of it in some other Authour .

Neither must I from hence be supposed to insinuate , that there is any thing of turbulency or passibility in the nature of God , if that nature be admitted according to the Platonists , to be united to an Emanative or subeternal matter , for though this be the consequence of the union of an humane Soul with its Body , that it suffers from the Reaction of the Matter to which it is united ; which Reaction is caused partly by Impressions from without , and partly from intestine Commotions and Disorders from within ; yet that subtile Matter which is supposed to be thus vitally united to the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or plastick principle of the Universe , being created by it , and having no motion , but what it receives from it ; it cannot reverberate upon its own Cause , without which it has neither being nor power , so as to create any disturbance in its nature , besides that upon supposition of such a reaction in them both , yet the effect will not be the same in a terrestrial and etheriall matter , as shall immediately be made appear .

The Second reason why the signification of this word may be thought to have been borrowed from the Platonick School , is that St. Paul in his use of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or mind , which was the second Person in the Trinity of Plato ; takes it every where in the same sense , which those Philosophers are used to do , for a pure and unprejudic'd reason , or understanding furnish'd with multiplicity of Ideas , of whose objective perfection , and of the motives which may induce it either to pursue or avoid those Objects which they represent ; it considers with a sound and impartial Judgment . So Rom. 7. 23. I see another Law in my Members , warring against the Law of my mind , ( 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ) and again , v. 25. So then with my mind , I my self serve the Law of God : but with the Flesh the Law of Sin , where the same word is still observed . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 .

However that by 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in the language of the New-Testament , that which is carnal and sensual is to be understood , will appear no less plainly from several other places , than from that which hath been already produced . So James 3. 15. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . This Wisdome descendeth not from above , but is Earthly , Sensual , Devilish . And in the Epistle of St. Jude , v. 19. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . These be they who separate themselves , sensual , having not the Spirit , and as 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 are the same ; so also are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the two first being taken for the sensual and concupiscible , as the two latter for the more intellectuall , abstracted , and speculative life in man : for though 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in propriety of Speech do not signifie an immaterial substance , but only a more subtile and tenuious matter , yet that this is the signification of it in many places of Scripture cannot be questioned , especially in that of the Acts , c. 23. 8. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . For the Sadducees say there is no Resurrection , neither Angel nor Spirit : where by 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or Spirit , it is plain an immaterial Nature must be understood , for that there was such a thing as a Cogitant or thinking Substance in general , they could not question , without contradicting themselves ; the very doubt of it being a proof of its Existence , neither could they any more dispute the Existence of a subtile or Aetherial matter , of which common sense , and every Moments experience would undeniably convince them . And this was the reason , why they would not grant the liberty of the humane Will , because Matter and necessity are exactly the same as I shall shew more largely by and by , wherefore looking upon the Soul of man , as the Stoicks and Epicureans likewise did , to be nothing else but a Collection of subtile Matter disposed conveniently for the exercise of Cogitation and Perception , they could not think it capable of Freedom , which implyes some principle distinct from matter , and for the same reason they deny'd the Resurrection , and the immortality of the Soul , because as life according to the Sadducean principles , was nothing but a Collection of subtile Matter disposed and modifi'd after a certain manner ; so Death was nothing else but the Dissolution or Dissipation of that collective Substance : and therefore the Soul after Death must of necessity cease to be .

Lastly , From this Notion of the word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or Spirit , we may frame to our selves a clearer Explication of that famous Place of St. Paul to the Corinthians ▪ than has hitherto been thought of , where speaking concerning the Resurrection , he says thus , 1 Cor. 15. 44. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . It is sown a natural Body , it is raised a Spiritual Body , there is a natural Body , and there is a Spiritual Body . Where though it be true that by 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or a Spiritual Body , may be understood , such a Body as is of a more fine and subtle Contexture , than that we now carry about us , if we regard only the Propriety of the Greek Language , without respect to the peculiar Idiome of the New-Testament ; and though it be likewise true , that the Glorified Bodies of the Saints will actually consist of a more tenuious and Aetherial Substance , because the Scripture tells us that in that State , there will be neither Marrying nor giving in Marriage , that is , no sensual gratifications nor any sensual Desires , which cannot well be , if we carry these Bodies of Flesh about us , which administer perpetual Food to so many disorderly Passions , and in which St. Paul expressly tells us there dwells no good thing , yet this does not depend upon the signification of the Word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but upon the Nature of things themselves ; wherefore he that would rightly understand the true meaning of this Place , must consider the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or Spiritual Body as it stands in opposition to the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or the Natural Body ; and it being manifest from what hath been said already , that by the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 must be understood such a Body as is fittest for the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or Animal life to exercise its Functions and operations in : nothing is more clear than that by the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or Spiritual Body , such an one in General must be understood , as is best fitted for the operations of the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or the pure , immaterial and immortal Nature in us .

Having thus given an Account of that Contention which we find within our selves between the two principles of the Flesh and Spirit , as that Contention is described by St. Paul ; let us now see what advantage may be made from it to the Calvinistical Doctrine , and those advantages are chiefly two .

First , That he seems to speak in such a manner of the Spiritual principle , as if it were perpetually overborn and kept under by the Carnal , so as it could not possibly bring any thing to Effect of it self , nor were in the least wise able to resist the perpetual Impulses of the Animal , or Bruitish Nature , I am carnal , sold under Sin , saith he , Rom. 7. v. 14 , 15. For that which I do , I allow not : For what I would , that do I not : But what I hate , that do I. Again , v. 17 , 18. Now then it is no more I that do it , but Sin that dwelleth in me : For I know that in me , that is , in my Flesh , dwelleth no good Thing : For to will is present with me , but how to perform that which is Good I find not , and more to the same purpose to v. 23 , where he has these words . But I see another Law in my Members , Warring against the Law of my Mind , and bringing me into Captivity to the Law of Sin , which is in my Members . Which difficulty is Capable of a fourfold Solution .

First , That even in profane Authors there are Expressions to be found , which may seem at first sight to infer a natural Impossibility of doing Well ; by which notwithstanding no more than a Moral is to be understood , and that not so neither , as if it were Morally impossible for us to act aright in any one Instance ; for at that rate a natural Impossibility , and a Morral , would be much what the same : but it is to be understood of the whole Course and ordering of our Lives , which for the most part are not governed by the Rules of sound Reason and Judgment , but by Corporeal Impressions ; by suddain Impulses and Phantasms from without , and by half considered Appearances of things ▪

To this purpose are those known Verses of Euripides .

〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉

And Again ,

〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉

And so Lactantius speaks in the person of a Pagan , de ver. Sap. l. 4. c. 24. Volo equidem non peccare , sed vincor . Indutus enim sum carne fragili & imbecillâ : Haec est quae concupiscit , quae irascitur , quae dolet , quae mori timet ; Itaque ducor incertus ; & pecco , non quia volo , sed quia cogor . Sentio me & ipse peccare ; sed necessit as Fragilitatis impellit , cui repugnare non possum . Which words are rather more express in asserting Mankind to be overpowred by an irresistible Necessity , than any that can be produced out of St. Paul , and yet it is certain that nothing else is understood by them , than a Moral impossibility of persisting in Virtuous Courses thorough the whole Series of a Man's Life , as appears by Lactantius his Answer , who endeavours to take off this Excuse by the Example of our Saviour ; who , as he says , how rightly I shall not now dispute , did for that reason take our Flesh upon him , that he might render those Men inexcusable who are used to lay their Sins upon the infirmity of their Nature ; when yet notwithstanding , Christ who was partaker of the same Common Nature with us , did actually persist through the whole course of his Life in such a perpetual and steady course of Innocence , as was not chargeable with the least Sin , or deviation from the Laws of Reason , so much as in any bad thought or vicious Inclination .

The last Instance which I shall produce , for it is not necessary to produce many but pertinent Examples shall be taken out of Seneca ; who in his 52d . Epistle thus speaks to his Lucilius : Quid est hoc , Lucili , quod nos aliò tendentes aliò trahit , & eò unde recedere cupimus impellit ? quid colluctatur cùm animo nostro , nec permirtit nobis quidquam semel velle ? Fluctuamus inter varia consilia : nihil libere volumus , nihil absolute , nihil semper . Stultitia , inquis , est , cui nihil constat , nihil diu placet . In which words , though the former part of them may seem to assert that Necessity which the Stoicall principles pursued into themselves will unavoidably infer , yet by the Close of them it is plain that he did not attribute that uncertainty or fickleness which he describes in the humour of most Men , by which it comes to pass , that they so often change their opinion of things , and their practices which have an immediate dependance upon the present opinion , to any Whirlwind of Fate veering about on the suddain thorough all points of the Compass , but only to Folly and want of Consideration ; and indeed if all Events are owing to such an unalterable Necessity , then the Stoical Wiseman who is used to value himself so much upon his Patience , Equability , Magnanimous and Heroick temper , and such like bigg words as the Gentlemen of the Portico are wont to speak , would have as little Cause to boast , as he that could lay no manner of pretence to any of those Qualifications , there being no virtue , nor any Endowment of the mind , how Noble or Excellent soever it may seem , all whose Praise and Commendation is not by a Supposition of such an absolute Necessity perfectly destroy'd and overthrown .

It is true indeed , that if the Stoical principles be admitted for true , which did not allow of any thing but Matter in the World , that it will unavoidably follow that all things are subject to Necessity and Chance , but yet it is every whit as true , that the Stoicks did not always own the Consequences of their own Doctrine , but rather hearkning to that inward Sence and Feeling which they had of Things ; did acknowledge the Government of a Man's Life and Actions to be in his own Power , as is plain among many others by one place of Seneca in his 58th . Epistle , which I shall here produce . Illud simul cogitemus , si mundum ipsum , non minus mortalem quàm nos sumus , providentia periculis eximit , posse tamen aliquatenus nostra quoque providentia longiorem prorogari huic Corpusculo moram , si Voluptates , quibus pars major perit , potuerimus regere & coercere .

Nay , so great and powerful is the force of Truth , that it has sometimes extorted from them a Confession of an immateriall Nature , from this consideration , that Providence and Wisdome cannot with any shew of Reason be ascribed to meer Matter , and therefore must be the Attributes of some other substance , which is distinct from it , at least thus much is evidently granted by Seneca himself , who in his 58th . Epistle already cited hath these words . Imbecilli fluidique per intervalla consistimus : mittamus animum ad illa quae aeterna sunt . Miremur in sublimi volitantes rerum omnium formas . Deumque inter illa versantem ac providentem , quemadmodum quae immortalia facere non potuit , quia materia prohibebat , defendat a morte , ac ratione vitium corporis vincat : Manent enim cuncta , non quia aeterna sunt , sed quia defenduntur curâ regentis . Immortalia tutore non egent : haec conservat artifex fragilitatem materiae vi suâ vincens . Where it is plain that he supposes some other principle besides the subtle or Aetheriall Matter , by which that Matter is ordered and disposed : and this besides other Passages in this Citation which need no Commentary , is the only possible meaning of those words . Manent enim cuncta non quia aeterna sunt sed quia defenduntur cura regentis , that is , all things above continue as they are , while Sublunary Bodies are obnoxious to Change , not because they consist of an Aetheriall Matter , but because that Matter is preserved in the same State of Fluidity and Motion by the care and Providence of a being distinct from it . For by Aeternus there is no question , but the Aetherial Matter is to be understood , and then all the rest is plain of it self . So the same Authour uses it in his Consolatio and Helviam , c. XI . Corpuculum hoc custodia & vinculum animi , huc atque illuc jactatur : in hoc supplicia , in hoc morbi exercentur : animus quidem ipse sacer & aeternus est , & cui non possunt injici manus . Where what is meant by Aeternus will be best explained by another place , c. 6. of the same Book . Mobilis & inquieta mens homini data est , nunquam se tenet , spargitur , & cogitationes suas in omnia nota atque ignota dimittit , vaga & quietis impatiens , & novitate rerum laetissima . Quod non miraberis , si primam ejus originem spectes , non est ex terreno & gravi concreta Corpore . Ex illo caelesti Spiritu descendit . Caelestium autem natura semper in motu est : fugit & velocissimo cursu agitur , &c. And by another in his Fifty Seventh Epistle . Nunc me put as de Stoicis dicere , qui existimant animam hominis magno pondere extriti permeare non posse & statim spargi , quia non fuerit illi exitus liber : ego verò non facio . Qui hoc dicunt , videntur mihi errare , quemadmodum flamma non potest opprimi , nam circa id disfugit , quo urgetur : quemadmadum aer verbere aut ictu non laeditur , nec scinditur quidem , sed circa id cui cessit refunditur , sic animus , qui ex tenuissimo constat , deprehendi non potest nec intrà corpus affligi : sed beneficio subtilitatis suae , per ipsa quibus premitur erumpit ; quomodo fulmini , etiam cùm latissimè percussit ac fulsit , per exiguum foramen est reditus , sic animo , qui adhuc tenuior est igne , per omne corpus fuga est . And in his Fiftieth Epistle . Nihil est quod non expugnet pertinax opera , & intenta ac diligens cura . Robora in rectum , quamvis flexa , revocabis : Curvatas trabes calor explicat , & aliter natae in id finguntur quod usus noster exigit , quanto faciliùs animus accipit formam , flexibilis & omni hamore obsequentior ? quid enim aliud est animus quàm quodammodo relabens Spiritus ? Vides autem tanto Spiritum esse faciliorem omni aliâ materiâ , quanto tenuior est . Lastly in his Consolatio ad Marciam : he introduces her Deceased Father Cremutius Cordus speaking to her , and endeavouring to give her Comfort upon occasion of the Death of her Son Metilius . Cùm tempus advenerit , quo te mundus renovaturus extinguat , viribus ista te suis caedent , & sidera sideribus incurrent & omni flagrante materiâ , uno igne quicquid nunc ex disposito lucet , ardebit . Nos quoque faelices animae & eterna sortitae , cùm Deo visum erit iterum ista moliri , labentibus cunctis , & ipsi parva ruinae ingentis accessio , in antiqua Elementa vertemur . All which places , as well as many more which might be produced , are therefore alledged by me to show what opinion the Stoicks had of the Soul ; Namely , that it consisted only of a certain Aetherial or subtil Matter , and by Consequence it shows us what the signification of Aeternus is , when it is applied to such a being .

Aeternus then is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that which is of an Aetherial Nature , and from hence it came to signifie that which is immortal . Gloss. Vett . Aethernus , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , either from the permanence of the Heavenly Bodies , while the sublunary are obnoxious to perpetuàl Change and Alteration , or from this , that that those Particles of which the Aether consists , being the most minute of all , and therefore uncapable of actual Divisibility , Resolution , or Corruption in Bodies may proceed so far , but no farther : those particles being immortal and Eternal , that is , they are not capable of any further Divisibility or Change , which may be the meaning of that passage of Seneca in his Fifty Seventh Epistle . Nulla immortalitas cùm exceptione est , nec quidquam noxium aeterno est . That is , this Aetherial Matter which contains the first Seeds and Principles of all things is not it self capable of any lower Divisibility and Resolution .

The same is exactly the Signification of the word Aeternus , in two passages already occasionally cited , but not reflected upon . The First , Epistle 58. Mittamus animum ad illa quae aeterna sunt , miremur in sublimi volitantes rerum omnium formas . Which two Members of the same Sentence are Exegeticall and Explanatory one of another , and he speaks either of the first Models and Schematisms of things below , which it seems are first drawn by the great ▪ Artist in the Aetherial Matter , or else of the Souls of Gods and Men , which according to the Stoical Principles were but so many several Concretions of the Aetherial substance , and that by Aeterna in this place cannot be understood those things which are of an absolutely Immortal and Unfading Nature , is clear from this , that in the Stoical 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or conflagration all these Concretions , whether of humane or Divine Souls , were to be dissolved and reduced into their first Principles again : As is evident from many other places , which might be urged , and particularly from that second Instance , which I am now about to give , of the true signification and meaning of the word Aeternus . Nos quoqe faelices animae , saith Cremutius to his Daughter Marcia , & aeterna sortitae , cùm Deo visum erit iterum ista moliri , labentibus cunctis , & ipsi , parva Ruinae ingentis accessio , in antiqua elementa vertemur ; that is : And we our selves the Happy Souls who are made Inhabitants of the Pure and Spotless Aether , shall be dissolved when it seems good to Fate ; together with all other Terrestrial and Aetherial Concretions into the first Atomes of which we are Composed , and beyond which there is no Resolution .

Lastly , This is the signification of the word Aeternitas , in two other Authors , whose words I shall now set down .

The First is Pacatus in his Panegyrick to Theodosius : Gaudent profecto , saith he , Divina perpetuo motu & jugi agitatione se vegetat Aeternitas .

The Second is Mamertinus in his Genethliacon to Maximian , who speaks to the same purpose : Quicquid immortale est , nescit stare , sempiternoque motu se servat Aeternitas . In both which places by Aeternitas is meant the Aetherial Matter , which by perpetual Motion is preserved in a State of Fluidity , but would otherwise cling together , and become as Gross and Terrestrial as any thing below ; and as Aeternum is that which is Aetherial and Volatil , so Diuturnum is properly that which continues for a long time in such a State , and Sempiternum that which always continues in it .

From all which it may be pretty plain , if that be the signification of the word Aeternus which I have assigned , notwithstanding that the Philosophy of the Stoicks knew no such thing as an immateriall Substance , yet that Seneca by the meer Force and Evidence of Truth , considering with himself how absurd a thing it was to attribute Wisdome , and Providence to meer Matter ; was compelled to side with Anaxagoras and other Incorporealists in the acknowledgment of an immateriall Nature , which was neither Matter nor a Modification of it ; it being absurd to conceive that a Thousand unthinking Atomes can ever be so ordered as to produce Cogitation , for this were to produce something out of nothing , in that Sense which is the most absurd , and Ridiculous to assert , if every distinct Particle does think by it self , that Thousands of them joyned after a certain manner together should unite into one common Soul or Principle of Sensation , or that they are any way capable of Communicating their respective Vitalities to one another . And that Life , Cogitation and Sense were not owing to any particular Modification of Matter , though this be all the Life which the Stoical Philosophy will allow ; he seems to me very inclinable to graunt in his 39th . Epistle , where he hath these words . I nunc & animum humanum ex ijsdem quibus divina constant seminibus compositum , moleste ferre puta transitum ac migrationem , cùm Dei natura assiduâ & citatissimâ commutatione vel delectet se vel conservet , by which he seems to me plainly to allow that the Fluidity of the Aetherial Matter is not essentiall to the Life of God or of Nature , but only more convenient for the Happiness of it .

But yet for all this in other places ( so Confounded were the Philosophers of old Time , betwixt the puzling Conception of an immaterial Being , and the absurdity of attributing Life and Cogitation to Matter ) he treads exactly in the steps of his Masters the Stoicks , and by Deus and Divina and such like words , he means no more but the Aetherial Matter , as the Latines do , when they say such a thing is done Sub Dio , as Lucretius , when he describes that which is Born into the World , as entring in Dias luminis auras , and so Manilius very often uses the name of Deus , as in the following Citations , out of his Fourth Book .

Jam nusquam natura latet , pervidimus omnem , Et capto potimur Mundo , nostrumque parentem Pars tua conspicimus , genitique accedimus astris , An dubium est habitare Deum sub pectore nostro , In coelumque redire animas coeloque venire ?

And presently after ,

— Quid mirum noscere mundum , Si possint homines quibus est & mundus in ipsis ? Exemplumque Dei quisque est in imagine parvâ ? An quoquam genitos , nisi coelo , credere fas est Esse homines —

And again ,

An minus est sacris rationem ducere signis Quàm pecudum mortes aviumque attendere cantus ? Atqui adeò faciem coeli non invidet orbi Ipse Deus , vultusque suos , corpusque recludit Semper volvendo , seque ipsum inculcat & offert , Ut benè cognosci possit , doceatq , videndo , Qualis eat , doceatque suas attendere leges .

And yet he himself seems otherwhiles to allow that there was a Being distinct from the Matter of the Universe , by which that Matter was with infinite Wisdome regulated and governed , in his first Book .

Hoc opus immensi constructum corpore mundi , Membraque naturae diversâ condita formâ , Vis animae divina regit , sacroque meatu Conspirat Deus , & tacitâ ratione gubernat , Et multa in cunctas dispensat faedera partes , Alter ut alterius vires faciatque feratque , Summaque per varias maneat cognata figuras .

And for the same reason that Seneca was so inclinable to believe and assert an immaterial Nature , which was , as it were the common Soul of the World : he does also sometimes , though not without some hesitancy , favour the opinion of an immaterial Principle which is the source of Life : Cogitation , and Activity in Men. So in his Epistles : Epist. 88. Innumerabiles quaestiones sunt de animo tantum : unde sit , qualis sit , quando esse incipiat , quamdiu sit : an aliunde aliò transeat , & domicilium mutet , ad alias animalium formas aliasque conjectus : an non amplius quàm semel serviat & emissus vagetur in toto : utrum corpus sit an non sit : and in his natural questions l. 7. c. 24. Multa sunt quae esse concedimus , qualia sint ignoramus : habere nos animum cujus imperio & impellimur & revocamur , omnes fatebuntur : quid tamen sit animus ille , Rector dominusque nostri , non magis ubi quisqam expediet quàm ubi sit : alius illum dicet esse Spiritum , alius concentum quendam , alius vim Divinam & Dei partem , alius tenuissimum aerem , alius incorporalem potentiam , non deerit qui sanguinem dicat , qui calorem , adeò animo non potest liquere de caeteris rebus , ut adhuc ipse se quaerat . Where incorporalis potentia being opposed to , and distinguished from Spiritus and Concentus quidam : a subtil Matter , and a Harmony resulting from the Modification of that subtil Matter , it is manifest it can be understood of nothing else but an immaterial Being : a Nature perfectly devoid of all Corporeity , and distinct from all impenetrable or tangible Extention , and what he calls in Man incorporalis potentia , that Paulinus a Christian Bishop Cotemporary with St. Austin , and St. Jerom in an Epistle to Jovius calls vis incorporea in the Divine Nature . His words are these Epist. 37. Quis enim non videt mundum istum corporeum vi incorporeâ gubernari ? totamque molem infusam atque permixtam magno universitatis Corpori Divini Spiritûs mente quâ facta est , agitari ad vitam ? temperari ad usum ? contineri ad statum ? ordinari ad diuturnitatem ? Cùm ergò constet quod sentitur aut cernitur , alienae opis ut consistat & maneat indigere , non potest ambigi aliunde etiam ut crearetur eguisse .

What hath been said of the Stoicks , or at least of Seneca , who was their avow'd Disciple , that they did sometimes , constrained by the irrefragable Evidence of appearances about them , acknowledge such a thing as Freedom from Necessity , in the Actions both of God and Men , and entertain some though but slender suspicions of an immaterial Nature , in which that liberty is founded . The same is likewise true in its Proportion of the Epicureans , who though they were of all others the most confident exploders of immaterial Substance , yet rather than deny what they perpetually felt within themselves ; they did acknowledge that there was such a thing as Liberty in the World , though in the Cause of that Liberty they were as widely mistaken , for it follows unavoidably from the Epicurean principles , if there be nothing but Matter in the World , that all events must be owing to Necessity and Chance , which when they felt so plainly that they were not , there being every Day so many in their own Power , and perfectly at their own disposal , they thought it more Philosophical to assign a Cause which will by no means explain it , that is to say , the Deflexion of their supposed Atomical lines from the Parallelism towards the intersection of one another ; a Solution which deserves Laughter instead of Confutation , rather than with perpetual impudence to affront themselves and deny their own inward Feeling and constant Sense of things

To Conclude , Des Cartes , whom I think I can prove to have been as gross a Materialist as any of them all , yet does not only grant the liberty of the Will ; but speaking of that famous Difficulty concerning the inconsistence of the Divine Prescience with it , he says that we are not to deny the truth of a Proposition or Notion which we feel , and of which we are intimately conscious to our selves , for the sake of a Being , whose Modes of operation , and ways of scientifical Intuition by reason of his infirnity we cannot comprehend .

And I do appeal to any Man in the World , let him be who he will , and of what perswasion soever , if Posidonius in a raging fit of the Gout or Stone , should yet out of an affected piece of Stoicism pretend , that all that while he feels no manner of Pain , but that he is perfectly at ease , and should not have suspected himself to be at all discomposed , were it not for the Visits of his Friends , and the formality of a Nurse and a Physician by his Bed-side , that he is listning all this while with unspeakable Delight to the Tunefull and Melodious Musick of the Spheres , when yet his Groans and wry Faces do sufficiently confess , that he feels no such Harmony within , would not every one say that he does not believe himself , and that he has no reason to expect that any one else should believe him ? And shall we not with equal reason say the same of him , who will needs argue and dispute himself into a necessary Agent , notwithstanding he feels himself inwardly to be Free ? Or how is it possible for us ever to look on any Proposition as True , when the universal Seemings and Appearances of Mankind , and those not of things without us , but such as , if they be any thing at all , are a part of our very Nature , and are always , most intimately present with , and in us , shall yet notwithstanding be looked upon as no better than Dreams and Delusions of a sickly Mind .

This is the first Answer to the first Advantage that may be taken from the consideration of that Lucta or Contention which there is between the two Principles of the Flesh and Spirit , as that Contention is described by St. Paul .

But Secondly , The second Answer may be , that if this place of St. Paul or any other be to be understood , of an absolute and uncontrollable Necessity overruling all actions , and thwarting perpetually all our good Desires , so as without the help of an irresistible Grace , they can never produce their effect , this will destroy not only the Necessity but the nature of Obedience , for Obedience and Compulsion are inconsistent together ; to Obey is one thing , and to be compelled is another , not only of a quite different , but of a quite contrary Nature .

Thirdly , Since it is supposed at least from this very place of St. Paul , that there are such good Desires implanted in us by Nature , which yet for all that are everlastingly overborn , without being able to attain that end to which they are directed ; what is this but to represent God as the most cruel and arbitrary Being , that can possibly be conceived , who does not only plague and torment us in the other World , for no reason but his own arbitrary Will and Pleasure ; but to compleat the Torment of those whom he has predestined to Eternal Flames , and to signalize his utmost Vengeance and Displeasure against them ? He begins the Tragedy in this Life , and creates in them a longing after Happiness and Virtue , only to make them the more exquisitely Miserable by an everlasting Frustration ?

Fourthly and Lastly , St. Paul himself in the beginning of the next Chapter hath these words . For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus , hath made us free from the law of Sin and Death : For what the law could not do , in that it was weak through the Flesh , God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful Flesh , and for Sin condemned Sin in the Flesh , that the Righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us , who walk not after the Flesh , but after the Spirit : In which words it is plain beyond all possible colour of Exception , that we are capable by Nature of paying some sort of Obedience to the Laws of God and right reason , for whatever is weak , is acknowledged to have a comparative , though imperfect Strength , and whatever wants to be fulfilled or compleated , is at the same time acknowledged to have something of its own : And so St. Paul tells us elsewhere , not that we cannot possibly do any good work , or think so much as a good thought of our selves , by our own natural ability and power , but that we have all Sinned and come short of the glory of God ; that is , that our Obedience though it is not nothing , and though it may be syncere , yet it is imperfect and stands in need upon account of its defects of some other Expiation , than what we are able to make ; so that after all it is not of him that willeth , nor of him that runneth , though we may do both ; but of God that sheweth Mercy .

It is so far from being true , that by reason of the Original corruption of our natures , we are carried forth with such an irresistible violence to all manner of Evil , that it needs a perpetual Miracle to hinder the most profligate wretches from being worse than they are , which yet Mr. Calvin does expresly assert ; and I have shewn that by his principles he is bound to do it ; that on the contrary it is acknowledged by St. Paul himself , that there are very strong desires and tendencies to Goodness , very powerful inclinations and breathings after Virtue implanted in us by nature , and it is manifest by experience that all manner of Wickedness even in those who are arrived at the utmost perfection of degeneracy and Lewdness ; is at first accompanied with a sensible regret and pain , that every man in the cool and unprejudiced retirement of his thoughts condemnes it , and finds always in it an harsh and grating Incongruity to the natural grain and byass of his mind . Nemo repente fuit turpissimus , it requires a great deal of exercise and practice , for a man to arrive at such a desperate pitch of Madness and Folly ; as to sin without any reluctancy or pain , without some inward blushing and secret shame ; without a silent Confession of his Guilt , and an earnest , though fruitless and impracticable Desire , that his lost Innocence might be retrived : Every man is naturally desirous of a good name , and a good name in the common judgment of all Mankind , not excepting those themselves who have most grosly forfeited their Title to it , is only to be purchased by worthy Inclinations and virtuous Deeds : and for what those Deeds , and those Inclinations are , we have the same unanimous and universal consent . All men admire and envy the Virtues of those who are better than themselves ; they excuse their own Follies , by comparing them with those of other men : and they uphold their drooping Spirits , which would otherwise be oppressed , by the too heavy weight of guilt and shame , either by such Intemperance as removes from them the sight and sence of their Sin , or by such pleasant , though uncharitable , searching into the more infamous Lives or Actions of their Neighbours , as presents them with a comparative Innocence in themselves . There are none so hardened , as to make a publick profession , and shameless boast of Sin , but downright madmen and fools ; and there are many who by a long course of Wickedness , have stifled the convictions of their own minds , who yet are ashamed to own how bad they are , out of a fear and reverence for the common sentiments of Mankind , in a word , no man ever had a good opinion of wickedness , but he that was hardened in it by his own habitual Vices , or by the just Judgment of God , or he that was not truly sensible of what he did or said , in the heat and intemperance of a Debauch , but still as the Debauch goes off , and the man returns to a sounder sense of things , reason by insensible degrees recovers strength , and Virtue begins to shake her drooping wings , and pick out the sickly feathers of the mind , till being too often , and too much opprest by the steams of Concupiscence and vain desire , this Candle of the Lord shines every day with a more gloomy and imperfect light , and at length abandons us to perfect Darkness , and leaves us to become a prey to those unruly Appetites , whose end is temporal and eternal Ruin .

For besides the natural congruity and agreement which there is betwixt all virtuous Actions , and a conscious reflecting nature , which cannot possibly look back with comfort upon any thing but what is reasonable and like it self ; there are such plain advantages in point of temporal Interest and profit , which flow in a perpetual and uninterrupted stream , from all the instances of Virtue and Religion , that it may rather seem a Miracle that all Mankind is no better , than that they are no worse than they are . And from hence it is that Piety and Goodness , are by him who is by God himself honoured with so great a Character as that of the wisest of Princes and of Men , very fitly stiled by the name of Wisdome ; as on the contrary all manner of speculative pravity of the mind , and all external naughtiness of Conversation , is by the same Oracle of experience and truth , branded with the ignominious and reproachful term of Folly : There being no instance of Virtue which is not an argument of the truest Wisdom , nor any example of Wickedness and Vice , which does not palpably discover the greatest folly and Madness in the world . Shall we think that it needs an irresistible Grace to perswade a man to be temperate or sober when the experiments which almost every one may have made of himself , besides the sad examples which every days experience will furnish him with , in others will tell him , how destructive Intemperance is to health ? how unfit it renders us for Business ? how uncapable it makes us of that discretion and Prudence , without which our persons must sink into Contempt : our Estates run to decay , our Families be exposed to inevitable Destruction and Ruin ? or Lastly , how it inflames our Passions , disturbs our Reason , distracts and discomposes our Imagination , and renders the whole man uneasie to himself , and insupportable to others ?

What better Remedy , or what more mitigating asswagement is there in afflictions or disappointments then patience ? and how does a carefull and habitual exercise of this virtue set us in a manner beyond the reach of Fortune , and place us up on a Rock which no Calamity can shake ? How does it smoothen , polish and refine our Souls ? How does it blunt the edge of Misery ? And how does it improve and heighten that calmness and serenity of Spirit , in which the true Nature of happiness consists ?

Lastly , How nigh of kin is Patience to Humility , which gives us Grace and acceptation both with God and men ? Which procures an easie pardon for our faults ; excuses and hides our Imperfections , and sets an additional brightness , and lustre upon all the valuable Endowments of our minds ? How vexatious to our selves , how troublesome to others , and how destructive of the Happiness and quiet of all the world are Insolence , Impatience , and Pride ?

What infinite Charms ? What inexpressible Pleasures are there to be found in Charity , Sincerity , Truth , and Justice ? is it not plain by experience that they procure us a lasting respect and veneration from others ? That they create the most certain delight and satisfaction in our selves ? How do all Mankind endeavour to avoid dependance and subjection ? And how are they in love with Power ? And what nobler , or what safer exercise is there of that Power , than by doing those things which make for the common Interest of the world ? and procure us the Friendship and assistance of all with whom we have to do ? Or of whose help we shall ever stand in need ? What weakness does Hypocrisie and Dissimulation betray ? How bigg is it always with Jealousie , Suspicion , and Shame ? And how often does it lay open and expose it self by a too anxious fear of being discovered , and by a too sollicitous and artificial provision against it ? How pleasant ? How excellent , and how Godlike a thing is it to have Mercy , and to forgive ? How exquisitely painfull and tormenting is an unsatiable thirst after Revenge ? And is it not more safe to pardon a great offence , then by revenging every little one , to draw perpetual Dangers and Troubles upon our heads ? And since besides the outward advantages with which all the instances of Virtue are so plentifully Crown'd : there is also such a strange harmony and agreement , between Happiness and Virtue , implanted by God and Nature in the Souls of men , that we cannot enjoy the one without the other ; but without Virtue the mind is perpetually out of tune , and can make no agreeable Musick to it self : what Madness is it to affront , and abuse that conscious Nature in us , in whose disquiet and pain the very nature of Misery consists , as Happiness is to be measured by its satisfaction and Contentment ?

What hath been said of those Duties which are personal , and of those which relate to our Converse with one another : the First of which have a Natural , the Second only an Hypotheticall or accidentall Obligation , because it is not necessary to the being of a Man , that he should be a Member of a Society , or that any other Man should exist besides himself ; the same is likewise applicable with the same evidence of Demonstration to those Duties which are more properly and strictly denominated Religious , as being conversant about Divine Worship , and having God for the Scope and Object to which they are Directed , that these also are Founded upon principles of such undoubted Interest and Reason ; that as no Man but the Fool did ever say in his Heart there is no God : so it is still an higher degree of Stupidity and Madness , to acknowledge and believe that there is so Powerful , so Good , so Gracious , so Wise , and so immense a Being , and yet not to pay him that Tribute which he may so justly challenge of our Praise and Thanks , and the utmost submission of our most humble and prostrate Adorations .

The Heavens declare the glory of God , saith the Psalmist , and the Firmament sheweth his handy work : Day unto Day uttereth Speech , and Night unto Night sheweth Knowledge . There is no Speech nor Language where their Voice is not heard . Their Crie is gone out through all the Earth , and their Words to the end of the World . And to the same purpose the Apostle to the Romans tells us , The invisible things of him from the Creation of the World are clearly seen , being understood by the things that are made , even his eternal Power and Godhead .

It is impossible for a considerate Man , either to look into himself , or to look abroad into the World , and see the admirable Order , Variety , Usefulness and Beauty of those parts of which it Consists , and shall at the same time reflect , that he does not owe his Being to himself ; that he cannot look back upon any long period of time : that he is subject to a thousand Casualties and Diseases ; that he grows every Day more Crazy and Infirm with Age , that by the experience which he may daily make both in Men and other Animals , that they are perpetually lyable and obnoxious to Death ; he may very reasonably conclude that himself is by no means exempted from it : that he finds in himself every Moment many Frailties and Imperfections which are very inconsistent with a Self-originated , and Self-existent Being .

Lastly , When in the World without him he shall consider that so much Harmony and contrivance could not be owing to an agreement , or Conspiracy of the insensible and inanimate parts of it between themselves , they being by their Nature incapable of entering into any such Confederation , when he shall be convinced , as he will be by a very little attention , that motion does not necessarily belong to the Essence or constituent Idea of Matter , otherwise all Matter would be equally moved , and that it must therefore be the effect or activity of some immaterial Substance , which must of necessity be coextended to its own Energy and Power , when he shall think that the particles of Aire , or Water , or Fire have nothing in themselves by which they are made capable of continuing in such a State , and such a degree of Fluidity , without which notwithstanding it is manifest , the world must run into a Chaos , and all the Animals in it be deprived of Health , Respiration and Life , when he shall discern that any of those fluid Bodies , which I have just newly mentioned , if they should overflow their Banks , transgress their due Bounds , and exceed that Barrier which is determined them by Nature , that is , if they were not Govern'd by more steady Laws than they are Capable of prescribing to themselves , the whole Universe must needs run into Disorder and Confusion . When he shall Contemplate the regular and wellpois'd Motions of the Heavenly Bodies : the wonderful Structure and accurate Organization of Plants and Animals in this Lower World , the Formation of Mettalls and Minerals in the teeming Womb of the Earth , the Provision which is every where made round about us , for the Necessities and for the Pleasures of Life , all which it is Impossible it should be oweing , or indeed any part of it , to nothing but meer Matter , which is both a similar and a passive thing . He cannot chuse from all this but lay it down as a proposition of certain and undoubted Truth , that there is an immaterial , and immortal Nature , infinitely wise , powerful and good , by which this Universe and every part of it is after a wonderful and hidden manner maintained , Supported , Governed , and Directed , and when he is Convinced of the Existence of such a being , he can as little help paying it his utmost Love , Reverence , Praise , Thankfulness , and Adoration .

For this is the nature of Power , that it is productive of Fear , of Goodness that it excites our Love , of Wisdom that it fills us with Wonder and Admiration : and therefore where all these three are met together , not only in a transcendent , but in an infinite manner as they are in God ; it must needs be when ever we Consider it , that it must fill our Hearts with Fear and Reverence , and Thankfulness towards him , and must by Consequence render him the most compleat Object of the utmost Worship and Honour .

For of whose Power have we more reason to be affraid , when we provoke it by any act of impiety or Injustice , than of his who made all things out of nothing , and can immediately by one single act of his will , reduce them into their first nothing again ? What goodness can excite in us a deeper or more affectionate Sence of Love than his , who when he was indued with such a Power , did notwithstanding use it after a manner so infinitely obliging to the unspeakable Benefit and advantage of all his Creatures , and especially of Man to whom all the rest are or may be some way or other subservient and useful ?

Lastly , What Wisdom ought to fill us with greater Admiration , than his whose Wisdom as well as Mercy is over all his works , and who in every part of the Creation , and much more in the whole contrivance and contexture of it , presents us with so amazing an Idea of his incomprehensible knowledge and skill ?

How is it possible for us to be more happy then by employing our thoughts upon the contemplation of so much Excellence and Beauty , by calling off our minds from the rough and perishing Enjoyments of this Life , and by uniting them , as much as may be , to his pure and peaceable and Eternal Nature ? Whom can we thank so properly for all our Enjoyments ? Or whom can we rely upon so safely in all our wants ? or of whose forgiveness have we so much need for all our Offences ? Or what greater Obligation can there be to all the instances of Virtue in our selves , or of Justice and mutual Goodness to one another , then to consider that he is always present to all our thoughts and actions , who has provided with so much tenderness and Mercy for all the sensible Creation , and therefore that it must needs be a very great offence to his Goodness and Provocation to his Power , when ever we are either unkind to our selves , or go about to annoy and hurt one another .

This is the great Flaw in Mr. Hobs his Politicks , who by not taking in the Existence of a God , and the Consideration of that influence which the belief of it ought in reason and Interest to have upon our Actions , has destroy'd the main cement of Obligation , and remov'd the Top stone by which the whole Arch of Virtue is preserv'd . He has by this means opened a fair passage for secret Sin to enter in : Nay , and has made the most open and barefaced Villanies very lawful things , if they have but Power sufficient to Justifie and defend themselves .

Whereas though it may be , and it is , as I conceive very true , that the only principle of Obligation , is the interest or happiness of that being to which that Obligation is Binding ; yet it is equally certain that nothing can be for a Man's interest , which is not only destructive to his own health or wellfare , but , whatever that be which makes for the Disturbance and disquiet of Mankind , as all Acts of Violence and Injustice do , because God Almighty as well in the works of Nature , as in the Administrations of his Providence has expressed so tender a regard to the happiness of Men , that it is not reasonable to believe he will afford that Licence to his Creatures , which he has denied to himself ; or that he will suffer that Barrier of Justice to be no less safely than wrongfully invaded , which if it be once perfectly overthrown , all his other provisions for the Quiet and Happiness of the World , will signifie just nothing at all .

If therefore there be any who do by Acts of Wickedness , and Injustice , disturb and discompose the order and good Government of Mankind , and if after this they escape without punishment in this Life , that very impunity compared with the Justice and the Goodness of God , and with the nature of an humane Soul , which being a Cogitant or thinking being , must be of an immaterial , and consequently of an immortal and unfading Nature , is a sufficient argument to perswade us , that there is another State yet to be expected , wherein they shall certainly meet with a just Retribution of their unjust Dealing : the Consideration of which ought to be so much more terrible , as an Eternal Punishment is infinitely more dreadful than any Temporal Pain .

If then it be true , that Mankind are a sort of reasonable Creatures , as we generally take our selves to be , and if all that is meant by a reasonable Creature , is such an one as does , or may Act by principles of Reason .

Lastly , If there be no instance of our Duty , which is not very agreeable to Reason , which is not therefore our Duty because it is Reasonable , and because it makes for our Interest and Advantage , then it may justly seem a greater Miracle that Men are so bad , then that they are no better than they are , and it is every whit as plain that there is no instance of our Duty , which any man who has his Wits about him , may not of himself perform .

But you will say then that I make the Grace of God of none Effect , and I say God forbid that I should do any such thing ; and therefore that we may steer our Course safely between Scylla and Charybdis , the Heresie of Pelagius on the one hand , and Calvin on the other . I think the use or necessity of Divine Grace , in order to the right Conduct and Government of humane Life , may be reduced under these heads that follow .

First , There is no instance of our Duty , which may not in some sort and Degree , be performed by the natural strength and Abilities of men .

Secondly , There is a Common Grace dispersed over all Mankind , which does encourage and assist the dispositions to Goodness wherever they be found , and Acts generally according to the several Capacities or fitnesses of those Objects with which it Converses , instilling its benigne influences more or less according as the Subjects upon which it Acts are in a greater or lesser preparation to receive them .

This Spirit was the principle of Warmth and vital Heat to the Universal Mass , in the beginning of things , this was that which first infused a vital warmth into the sluggish and unactive Chaos . The Spirit of God says Moses , moved upon the face of the Waters : in the Hebrew it is Merachepheth , which the Rabbins take to be a Metaphor borrowed from an Hen , brooding upon her Eggs or Chickins ; and the Syriack Metaphrast produced by Basilius and St. Ambrose . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and the same Spirit in Beings capable of being informed is a Spirit of Knowledge and Instruction . For whosoever hath , to him shall be given , and he shall have more abundance : but whosoever hath not , from him shall be taken away even that he hath . Matth. 13. 12. That is , the influences of the Spirit are dispensed among Men according to their respective Talents , and their improvement of them , and from him who shuts his Eyes wilfully against the Voice of his own Conscience and understanding , or who Neglects to Improve and Cultivate those natural Powers which he finds within himself , they are utterly taken away , which was the case of the Jews in our Saviour's time , as it immediately follows in the same place , and this is exactly the Sense of an excellent passage in Seneca , Epist. 41. Ita dico , Lucili , sacer intra nos Spiritus sedet , malorum bonorumque nostrorum observator & Custos ; hic prout anobis tractatus est , ità nos ipse tractat : Bonus vir sine Deo nemo est .

Thirdly , As there is a common and Universal influence of the Spirit of God belonging to all Mankind , so is there likewise a more peculiar and immediate Emanation of it upon the Church of Christ , to which the Comforter was sent after his Ascention , to be its perpetual Guide and Director ; and which he himself has promised to be with to the very end of the World , not by the presence of his Person which is in Heaven , but by the Merit of his Passion , the interest of his Intercession , and by the light and Grace of his Spirit .

Fourthly , Though it be true , that there is no instance of our Duty , but may in some sort or other be performed by us , by the naked Strength and Ability of our Natures , because they all depend upon principles of such undoubted interest and Reason , that no Demonstration in Mathematicks can lie more plainly before us , then all the instances of our Duty do , to any man that will but keep himself in a Cool and considering Temper : yet as there is an unquestionable Concurrence of Divine Grace , with all our honest Endeavours after true Virtue and Goodness , so it is yet further to be considered , that the frailty of our Natures , and the predominancy of those unruly Appetites , which keep their inseparable Abode in the very make and Constitution of our Bodies is so great , that without the Assistance of the Spirit of God , it is for the most part Morally impossible for us to perform any Duty , with that entire Resignation of our Minds and Wills , to the Governance and Conduct of unprejudiced Reason , which is requisite to make it acceptable and well pleasing in the sight of God ; and therefore St. Paul tells us in the Business of Prayer , Rom. 8. 26. The Spirit also helpeth our Infirmities : for we know not what we should pray for as we ought , but the Spirit it self maketh Intercession for us , with groanings which cannot be uttered . And St. James saith c. 5. 16. The effectual fervent Prayer of a Righteous Man availeth much . It is therefore Effectual because Fervent , and it cannot well be fervent , without the Assistance of that Spirit which is the only Effectual and certainly productive principle of Godly Fervour and Zeal . Such a zeal as no Predominancy of Lust or Evil Concupiscence from within , no allurement of any Temptation from without can withdraw from its wistly intention and devout prospect upon that Glorious Object to which it is directed : such a zeal as having burnt up all the tares and cockle of the fleshly Life , is fruitful in pious and virtuous Resolutions , and effectual for the bringing them to their intended Issue .

Now it being very rarely , if ever seen , that such extraordinary influences of the Divine Spirit , are bestowed upon such as have no manner of preparation in their Hearts to Receive them , and have not made some sincere at least , though weak and ineffectual attempts towards the Conquest of themselves : from hence it comes to pass that the whole Action resulting from the common Efficiency of humane Endeavours assisted by the Divine Spirit , may in some Sense be attributed wholly to the first of these Causes , as being the Causa sine quâ non , as the Schools love to speak , without which the other would not have exerted it self , and the whole Action is acceptable to God on our behalf , for the sake of that part of it which is owing to our selves , or for the sake of those Virtuous dispositions of Mind , to which the influences of Gods holy Spirit , which are always carried forth in Streams of Love and Goodness , towards the whole Creation have such an unalterable Congruity that they will never fail to be inseparably united to them , nither will they ever forsake us till we have first deserted and forsaken our selves .

Besides that in those good Actions , or those pious Inclinations of ours , in which the Holy Spirit has the greatest share ; there may yet notwithstanding be more of our own , then we are usually wont , or then we ought with any thing of Arrogance or self Conceit , to attribute to our selves , for a man without this Assistance endeavouring to make a perfect Conquest of his inordinate Appetites and Desires , would find them so unruly and ungovernable , and Springing with such perpetual Fruitfulness one out of another , that he would give over the Conflict out of meer Despair , and yield himself tamely into an utter Vassalage and Captivity to them , but when assisted by so potent Aydes , this wonderfully Excites the natural Chearfulness and Vigor of his own Mind , and he Exerts those Faculties and Powers which God has given him , with more Alacrity and with better Success : it being the same Case , as if coming to lift a Burthen , which is plainly too heavy and unwieldy for us , we find a strange unwillingness so much as to attempt it , but when encouraged by the assistance of another , we then with Chearfulness apply our Hands and Shoulders to it , and each man puts forth so much strength and Vigour , as is almost sufficient to surmount the whole difficulty by its self , and this is plainly the meaning of that Phrase which we Translate , by helping our Infirmities . The Spirit also helpeth our Infirmities , in the Greek it is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 that is , it bears a part of the Burthen together with us .

Neither is it true only of Prayer , to which this Text has a more immediate Relation , that the Spirit of God helpeth our Infirmities in the performance of it , but it is the same case in all other Duties of the Christian Life , that these also in their utmost Beauty and perfection are owing to a Concurrence and Cooperation of the same Blessed Spirit , as is very reasonable to believe from this , that Prayer is only a means for the better attainment of that great End , the regular and steady performance of all other Duties in order to Eternal Happiness .

By calling off the mind from Objects of a more gross and Earthly Nature , and by engaging our thoughts in a pursuit after , and insinuating them into a Communion with God : it Creates in us those Calm , Peaceable , and quiet Dispositions , which put us in the best Condition both to know our Duty , and to practise it , by a perpetual , but humble importunity , before the Foot-stool of his Mercy , It calls down those Graces and Influences upon us , whose design and Business is to guide us into all Truth , and to encourage us in every good and Virtuous Undertaking , and it is still further to be considered , that the performance of our Duty its self , is in the nature of a perpetual Prayer , and carrys along with it a most powerful intercession on our behalf ; and therefore may Expect , and will Receive the Encouragements of Divine Assistance upon the same Account , upon which they are afforded to our very Prayers themselves .

Another way by which it comes to pass , that the whole Action of a virtuous and good Man , becomes well-pleasing , and acceptable to God on his behalf , though in its utmost Integrity and perfection it be owing to a concurrence of the Divine Spirit , is from hence , that his mind is not only in some degree of preparedness , to receive those Blessed irradiations from above , but that when he has received them , he affords them a wellcome and suitable Entertainment , he Improves and Thrives under the Influences of Grace : he Warmes and Cherishes his Virtue by that Heavenly Fire , and makes himself every day by an improvement of inward Purity , and outward Cleanness , a more agreeable receptacle for the Holy Ghost , and he that does not quench and resist the Influences of the Spirit , by slothful Negligence , or willful Sin , he that when it was in his power to obstruct and hinder it , does on the contrary promote its Operations , and conspire with it for the Accomplishment of the same Ends and Designs , may not improperly be said to be the Author of those either good Actions , or pious Thoughts , or virtuous Intentions in which he has so great a share , and which it was in his power utterly to have Obstructed : And from hence it is that we are exhorted in Scripture to be Watchful , and Diligent , and Sober , to be frequent in Prayer , and Holy Meditation , because these are natural means to preserve us in that temper of Mind , which fits us best for the performance of our Duty , and for the preserving an uninterrupted Intercourse and Communion with the Spirit of God .

Again , it is to be observed , that the Spirit helps the Infirmities of a good Man , not only by Warming his Affections , but by Enlightening his Understanding , and so far as his Actions or his Inclinations depend only upon this latter Cause , they are as properly his own , as if no such illumination had been , the case being the same , as if in any matter of Difficulty or Moment , in which I am not so throughly versed my self , I should take the Advice of another more skilful than I am , and if being convinced in my self of the reasonableness of that Course which he propounds to me , I shall afterwards follow his Advice , yet the Action is nevertheless mine for having done it by the direction of another , for so soon , as what he says appears reasonable to me , and till it does , my understanding is not Enlightened , so soon his understanding becomes mine , I am really of the same mind , which he is himself , and I act upon Principles of my own , though I have received those Principles from him .

But after all it must be confessed , that of our selves we are a sort of frail and imperfect Creatures , and that our best Actions , even when they receive the greatest Advantages from the Divine Assistance , if they are not Imperfect in themselves , yet they are interwoven with those that are , that so long as we continue here below , we are still in danger of relapsing from our best and firmest Resolutions , and that when ever we give any the least imaginable Ground , we are still exposed to further and less avoidable Dangers , that we are never wholly out of the reach of Temptation , and that nothing but the alone Merits and Mediation of Jesus Christ can make our Persons or Actions so effectually acceptable and wellpleasing to God , as is necessary in order to our Justification .

What hath been said of all our good Actions , and desires in this Fourth Consideration , that in their utmost Beauty of Holiness and Perfection , they are owing to a Concurrence and Cooperation of the Spirit of God , the same is much more true in the Fifth place of an habitual course of Virtue , through all or any of the parts and Stages of our Lives , that this is under a vast degree of moral Impossibility , of being ever effected without the same Assistance : If one single instance of our Duty be so difficult to be performed as it ought to be ; a constant perseverance in the ways of Virtue and Goodness must of Necessity be much more : for by perseverance nothing else is meant but an uninterrupted Series or Complexions of many of those single Instances together , to make a Man's Life appear of the same Grain and Colour , and to be in all its parts consistent to its self , and to the Beauty of every single Action , to add a Beauty of Uniformity resulting from them alltogether .

And this difficulty will appear stigreater , if we consider that we are not only in danger from our selves , but from the Temptations of others , and from the malicious Insinuations of Apostate and degenerate Spirits , besides that our very Virtues themselves do border upon Vice , and the best Actions which we do , are placed upon the brink of dangerous Extreams : how near a Resemblance hath frugality to Covetousness , Liberality to Profuseness , Zeal to Superstition , Humility to a mean and sordid Temper , Prudence to Affectation , Patience to Cowardise , a Generous contempt of Power and Riches to a Scorbutick Idleness and Sloth : and how are Temperance and Sobriety themselves divided only by a Mathematical Line , which is supposed to have no Latitude in its self , from the opposite immoralities of Gluttony and Excess ? It was but necessary therefore for St. Paul to advise his Philippians , and consequently us , and all Mankind as he did , to work out their Salvation with Fear and Trembling , that is , with their utmost Care and Circumspection , because of those many and great Dangers with which this Warfare of ours is perpetually attended , to which it is impossible any so effectual remedy should be applyed , as by keeping a constant and sollicitous Guard upon our selves , by examining the reasonableness of all our Actions before we do them , and of all our designs before we enter upon them , by entering every Morning into new Engagements of a virtuous Life , and by calling our selves to a strict Account every Night , for the behaviour and management of the day , according to the excellent Discipline of the old Pythagorean School .

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But yet that we may not be discouraged from attempting to be good , by a too fearful apprehension of those Dangers and Temptations to which we are exposed , St. Paul adds immediately as a Reason why we should earnestly endeavour after Holiness and Virtue , For it is God that worketh in you , both to Will , and to do of his good Pleasure , that is , if we use that Diligence and Sincerity in our Endeavours which is requisite , God will not fail to superadd the Assistances of his Holy Spirit , to enable us effectually to perform his Will and our Duty .

In the Alexandrine Copy it is , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , it is God that worketh those Powers , and Abilities in you , which you have not , or at least not so entirely and perfectly in your selves . And in another MS. Which Grotius refers to , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , it is God that worketh powerfully in you , for the bringing your good intentions and designs to pass , to the utter Mortification of your Lusts and Passions , and to the making you wellpleasing and acceptable in his sight , to the making you pure , even as he is pure , and holy , as he which hath called you is holy , and perfect even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect .

Sixthly , It is very reasonable to believe that though God Almighty do afford to all , especially those who are in the Communion of the Christian Church , sufficient Assistances of his Grace , to mortifie and subdue themselves , and to persist in a regular and steady course of Virtue , if they be not wanting to themselves , and though it be likewise true , that the improvement of those Talents which we have already received , is still accompanied with further Assistances from above ; yet in the dispensations of Divine Grace , there is also somewhat which is Arbitrary and founded upon no reason but the uncontroulable determination of the will of God : St. Paul tells us in his time that there was diversity of Gifts , though they were all of them owing to the same Spirit , and it is certain that in that Age , and some that Succeeded it , the effusions of the Holy Ghost were more plentiful , and of a more extraordinary Nature then they are now , though that indeed depended upon particular Reasons , and was necessary to support the Church in its Infancy against the heat and fury of so many dreadful Persecutions ; but yet notwithstanding , why may we not allow since God is the sole Proprietor , and for that reason the unaccountable dispencer of his own Grace and Favour , that he does sometimes by arbitrary Measures allot a greater share of it to one man then another , or why may not this be a very allowable Interpretation of that place which I have newly produced . For it is God that worketh in you , both to will , and to do of his good Pleasure , that is , that though he afford sufficient Grace to all , yet he does notwithstanding make some unequal distributions of it , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 that is , pro arbitrio , by Arbitrary and unaccountable Measures .

Seventhly and Lastly , As to Faith in Christ , and the belief of the Gospel , if we mean only an Historical Faith , it may certainly be attained by any considering Man , without any particular Assistance of Divine Grace , by considering only in a Philosophical way the power of God , and his ability to produce those effects which exceed any humane Efficiency or Skill , and by attending to the nature of that Doctrine which Christ is said to have Taught , which conduced so much to the Benefit and advantage of Mankind , compared with that human or traditionary Testimony , which has been handed down to us through so many Centuries of years by Men of unquestionable Credit and Virtue , who neither had , nor could propound any design of temporal advantage to themselves , but on the contrary met with Trouble and Persecution , and expcted to meet with no other for their Pains : I say , upon these Grounds any reasonable Man may of himself believe that there was such a Person as Jesus Christ , Born of a pure Virgin , who lived a most Holy and Exemplary Life , wrought very many , and very great Miracles and Wonders among Men , who was the Promulger and Preacher , of a most wise useful and Glorious Gospel to the World , who Died upon the Cross , to Seal and ratifie that Covenant which he had made between God and Men , and who after his Crucifixion , arose again from the Dead , and ascended in a Glorious and Triumphant manner into Heaven , having obtained a compleat Victory over Death and Sin , where he still continues performing the Office of an everlasting Mediator , and making a perpetual Intercession for us all . This may be believed barely upon the Credit of that Historical Testimony which is given to it , but if by Faith we mean a practical and saving Belief , of these Truths , which by being set home upon our hearts , and being always present upon our Minds , shall have a lasting , and a powerful influence upon our Lives : this as I conceive , cannot be had or hoped for , without the special influence of the Grace of God , for the same Reasons upon which I have already asserted an habitual Goodness not to be obtained without the assistance and influence of the same Spirit . And therefore when Peter made that Confession . Matth. 16. 16. Thou art Christ the Son of the living God , Jesus answered , v. 17. Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona : For Flesh and Blood hath not revealed it unto thee , but my Father which is in Heaven . Not that it was Impossible to come to the Knowledge of this in any degree , without asupernatural Revelation : For several of the Jews did from the greatness of his Miracles , and the Wisdom of his Doctrine suspect and partly believe him to be the Prophet that was to come , by which they meant either the Messias , or his Forerunner , and the Centurion who cannot be thought to have received his Information by any such Miraculous way , when he saw our Saviour giving up the Ghost , and considered the dreadful Agony of Nature , at the instant of his Passion said , of a truth , this was the Son of God . But such a Belief as Peter had of this Truth , that is a practical and deeply rooted Sense of the Truth of what he said , whereby his heart was changed , and his affections subdued , and his whole Man captivated into the Obedience of Christ and his Gospel , this cannot be revealed by Flesh and Blood , which is apt to suggest thoughts , and invite to practices of a quite contrary Nature , but it is owing to the Grace of God , and to the supernatural Illuminations , and Influences of the Divine Spirit , working upon those who have experienced the new Birth , and are become Regenerate , and Born again into newness of Life , by the adoption of Grace .

Thus have I endeavoured to explain the operations of the Holy Spirit , upon the hearts of Men , and especially of the Faithful , so as neither to make them useless with Pelagius , nor irresistable with Calvin , nor unintelligible with some of our Modern Writers , who are cry'd up by their Adherents for nothing more , then that they understand not what they say or Write , nor the other , what they Read or hear , and who do on both hands exactly fulfil that witty , and Judicious Character which Lucretius gives of Heraclitus and his admirers .

Clarus ob obscuram linguam magis inter Inanes , Quam de grates inter Graias qui vera requirunt , Omnia enim stolidi magis admirantur amantque , Inveris quae subverbis latitantia cernunt , Veraque constituunt quae bellè tangere possunt . Aures & lepido quae sunt fucata sonore .

But now that I may not seem in what I have Written upon this weighty Question , to depart from the Sentiments of the Church of England , to whose Authority I shall always pay , as I am in Duty obliged a most profound respect . I will here Transcribe those Articles of Hers , in which this point is Concerned , which are these three which follow .

ARTICLE X. Of Freewill .

The Condition of Man after the fall of Adam , is such , that he cannot Turn and prepare himself , by his own natural Strength , and good works to Faith , and calling upon God : Wherefore we have no Power to do good Works pleasant and acceptable to God , without the Grace of God by Christ preventing us , that we may have a good will , and working with us when we have that good will .

In which Article it is plainly imply'd both that we have some natural strength , and that we are capable of performing some good Works , though that strength be so imperfect , that we cannot by the sole Power and Virtue of it , prepare and turn our selves to Faith , and calling upon God , neither are those Works pleasant and acceptable to God in themselves , by reason of that mixture of imperfection with which they are attended , and because they are interwoven with many bad ones , ( of both which Causes of their non-acceptation I have already spoken , ) without the assistances of Grace , by which the Crudities of the carnal and concupiscible Life in us are attenuated and exalted , which would otherwise ascend in gross and malignant Fumes , darkning the understanding , and depraving the will , so as neither the one could discern its Duty with that Clearness , nor the other execute it with that entire Resignation of it self , to the conduct and governance of Reason , and with that inward Fervo● , Chearfulness , and Sincerity , which is necessary to make our performances acceptable and well-pleasing in the sight of God , and which is that which this Article calls a good will , to which as well in its Being , as continuance and preservation , the Grace of God is of necessity required . Neither would our good works though assisted and improved by these supernatural auxiliaries from above , be acceptable and pleasant in his sight ; that is , so as to be subservient to the great ends of Happiness and Salvation , because in themselves they are no more than what by the Laws of Reason and self-Preservation we are obliged to do , and because they are allay'd and tempered by so many Misdemeanours , whose Guilt all our after-amendment can never wash away , if it were not for the Blood of Christ , which God has accepted as an Attonement and Propitiation for our Sins , and for the placing us in a State , if not of perfect Innocence , yet of Forgiveness and Justification .

ARTICLE XII . Of good Works .

ALbeit that good works , which are the fruits of Faith , and follow after Iustification , cannot put away our Sins , and endure the severity of Gods Iudgement , yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ , and do spring out necessarily of a true and lively Faith , in so much that by them a lively Faith may be as evidently known , as a Tree discerned by the fruit .

In this Article there is nothing which I have not already sufficiently asserted , and insisted upon in what I have said above about Justification , and in what I have just now observed upon the Article of freewill .

And Lastly , In what I have said concerning Perseverance , and of the case of St. Peter , and that confession which he made , that Jesus was the Christ , and the Son of the Living God .

ARTICLE XIII . Of Works before Justification .

WOrks done before the grace of Christ , and the inspiration of his Spirit , are not pleasant to God ; for as much as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ , neither do they make Men meet to receive Grace , or ( as the School Authors say , ) deserve Grace of Congruity : yea rather , for that they are not done as God hath Willed and Commanded them to be done , we doubt not but they have the nature of Sin .

In which last recited Article , though more difficulty may seem to lie then in the two foregoing , yet upon a more particular survey of it , it will appear that there is nothing which is not very consistent to those principles which I have laid down .

For First , This Article asserts plainly that good Works may be done , but that they are not pleasant to God , before the Grace of Christ , and the inspiration of his Spirit ; forasmuch as they spring not of Faith in Jesus Christ , of which I have already spoken .

Secondly , This Article does not deny , that there is such a thing as Grace of Congruity , and consequently that there may and must be , some manner of preparation in our selves , by which we are made capable of receiving it , but only that we cannot deserve this grace of Congruity , and that is very true , for it is still an infinite condescention in the Spirit of God , that it will stoop to our Infirmities , and enter into so strict a Friendship with such polluted Beings , as the best of Men of themselves are found to be .

Lastly , When the Article tells us , that before the Reception of this Grace , even our good Works themselves have the nature of Sin : it is not so to be understood , that good Works proceeding out of an honest Heart , and a pious Intention are or can be displeasing to God , so far forth as they are done to good Purposes , and out of good Designs , for this would be to make them good and bad at the same time ; but before the Reception of this Grace , they are tainted with much of imperfection in themselves , and by their having the nature of Sin may be also meant , that before the Reception of this Grace , and without the satisfaction of Christ , for the transgressions of our Lives , they are no more available for our Justification , than if they had been bad or wicked Works , because no future innocence or virtue can be a proper Attonement or satisfaction for the guilt that is past ; so it being no more than we are always obliged to , it cannot expiate for our former Sins .

Neither is it affirmed as I conceive , in the tenth Article , that we cannot turn or prepare our selves at all , or in the least degree , but that Article is rather to be explained by this expression in the thirteenth , that we cannot so turn or prepare our selves as to deserve the grace of Congruity , which I have already granted to be True , and I have shown the Reason why it is so . St. Paul tells us , Rom , 8. 7. That the Carnal Mind is at Enmity against God , by which it is imply'd at least , that there is a friendship and Congruity , betwixt the spiritual mind , and the mind of God . And the case of the Heathen world in the first Chapter of that Epistle , who were deserted by the spirit of God , and given over to their own beastly Lusts and Affections , to defile themselves with all manner of Wickedness and Uncleanness , shews plainly that there is a common Grace or Influence of the Divine Spirit running through the World , and that it never forsakes us , till we by many acts of willful Sin , have broken , and violated those Congruities to which its presence is inseperably united , according to the greater or lesser proportions in which those Congruities exert themselves , though since no Man by the Assistances of this common Grace , did ever live up to the perfection of the law of Nature : I shall neither be so Uncharitable as to exclude them from all benefit in the Passion of Christ , nor so presumptuous as to determine how far the Merits of that Passion may be applicable to them .

However if it be granted , as it is all the reason in the World that it should , what we find contained in the twentieth Article , that it is not lawful for the Church it self to Ordain any thing that is contrary to Gods word , neither may it so expound one place of Scripture , that it be repugnant to another , then it is easie to perceive what we are to pronounce of the Doctrines of irresistable Grace , and of absolute Reprobation ; if we will adhere either to the Judgment of right Reason , or to the sentiments of the Church of England , it being impossible to maintain either of these Doctrines without explaining one Text after such a manner , as to make it flatly contradictory to another , and consequently to invalidate the Authority of the Scripture , which if it be not consistent to its self , can be of no force or obligation to us .

Besides what hath been already largely represented , of the inconsistency of these Doctrines , with the constant tenour , design , and current of the Scriptures , if in the place of St. Paul so lately mentioned , where he exhorts us to work out our Salvation with fear and trembling , it be but granted , as it cannot be avoided but it must be , that there is a Power or ability of working supposed in them , to whom this exhortation is made , otherwise it would be a very impertinent Exhortation , and if it be affirmed of the very next words , for it is God that worketh in you , both to will and to do , that they are so to be understood , as if he had said , that we are able to do nothing of our selves , but that God does all by an irresistable Grace ; then it is manifest that these two places , though immediately Joyned , are yet plainly contradictory to one another : How is it possible then , if we will follow the Counsel of the Church of England , but we must expound this latter so as I have done , since any other way , they cannot be consistent together ? And what can be a greater disparagement to the Authority of the Scripture , then that in the compass of so few Lines , which are immediately joyned to one another , it should so grosly contradict it self .

But the main inconvenience of the Doctrine of absolute reprobation is this , that though it should be granted to be no other than the constant tenour and Language of the Scriptures , which is all that its hottest assertours can desire , yet this instead of proving that Doctrine to be true , will but prove the Scriptures upon which it is founded to be of no Force or Authority in the World . For if God Almighty in the distribution of Eternal Punishment or Happiness to Men , have no regard to any Principle of Goodness or Justice in his Nature , as he must not have , if he proceed only by arbitrary Measures , and if God may deceive , as I have proved that in some cases he may , and as it is granted to a degree of impiety by the Calvinists themselves , when they distinguish so boldly betwixt his secret and revealed Will , by the one of which he Damns the far greatest part of Mankind ▪ and by the other exhorts and threatens them , and uses such other means as if he intended their Happiness and Salvation , Nay , if we all seem to our selves to be free , when yet notwithstanding we are indeed necessary Agents , which is a strange and a perpetual delusion imposed upon all Mankind : I say , if all this be granted , then though we should suppose the Doctrine of irrespective Reprobation to be the genuine and onely Language of the Scriptures , yet how can we tell notwithstanding , that there is any Truth in it ? Or if we could be secured of its Truth , and were as sure that we are of the number of the Elect , which is a very comfortable assurance when there are so many that go the other way , yet how can we tell that we shall be so to Morrow ? What Hopes ? What Confidence , or Affyance can we put in so arbitrary , so deceitful , and so uncertain a Being ?

Again , when he doomes so many to Eternal Flames , and so few to the blessedness of a better State , if this depend only upon his arbitrary Will founded upon no Reason , that Will may alter , for as little reason as it was made , or if it be , that there is a greater propensity in his nature to Cruelty then Mercy , that Cruelty will be better gratified by the Destruction of all , and the consideration of it will but serve to afford us a very lamentable prospect of what we are all to expect , so true is it , that this Doctrine is so far from being solidly demonstrable out of Scripture , that it plainly undermines the authority of Scripture , as well as the very nature of Morality and Goodness .

Much good therefore may it do our Adversaries , with their new-Friends , the Articles of the Church of England , which how favorable they are to them , we have already seen , and if they had been never so favourable , yet afterwards when they Confess , that even general Councils may Err , and when they refer all to the decision of Scripture , as the only sufficient rule of Christian Faith and Practice , they would by this means perfectly have overthrown themselves ; or if the Scripture could be supposed to favour such a Doctrine , that very supposition would overthrow the truth and certainty of the Scriptures ; but if the Scripture and the Articles should happen to Disagree , as I see no danger that they ever will , In this case it must be remembred that we have subscribed to those very Articles , no further than they shall be found consonant to the Scripture , and therefore unless we have a mind to be forsworn , and Damned into the bargain , we must relinquish our Articles , rather than our Bibles .

But all this while I would not be so understood , as if I thought there never was , or could be such a thing as an irresistable Grace , for this would be in effect to assert that the power of God was not superiour to that of a Mortal Man . Besides that perhaps I have observed more Instances of it up and down the Scriptures , both of the Old Testament and the New , then those who have made the greatest Noise and Clamor about it . The Song of Moses , and the Children of Israel , in the 15th . of Fxodus , after their deliverance from the pursuit of the Egyptians , and the Dangers of the Red-Sea , the prophetick Benediction of Jacob to his Sons in the 49th . of Genesis , and the Song of Deborah , and Barak in the 5th . of Judges , seem all of them to me to have been inspired and uttered by an irresistable Grace , as likewise in the new Testament , the Songs of Mary , and Zachary , and old Simeon upon occasion of the Births of John the Baptist , and of Christ , either shortly expected or already Accomplisht , are without question owing to the same Cause .

When Balaam being sent for by Balack , to Curse the people of Israel , could not do it though he would never so fain , but on the Contrary delivered himself in words Expressive of the greatest Blessings which God could bestow upon his chosen People , when Cajaphas being High Priest , prophesied by vir●ue of his Office , when Pilate , notwithstanding the repeated instances of the Sanhedrim and chief Priests , could not be diverted from an unaccountable pertinaciousness in asserting the Kingship and Dominion of Christ over the Jews , all this was by an irresistible Grace or Spirit .

When the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost descended on the Apostles enduing them with a gift of Tongue , not understood by themselves ; by which they delivered themselves to a mixt assembly made up of divers Nations , so as every Man heard the glad tidings of Salvation in his own Language , when the primitive Christians upon their being brought before the Magistrates and Judges of the Heathen world , instead of being abash'd or dismay'd out of an apprehension of Fear or Danger , expressed so strange a confidence and assurance , as struck a Dread and Terror into their very Enemies themselves , and besides were endued with a gift of utterance , peculiar to those times , and in vain pretended to in these , by which they expressed themselves without Fear or Hesitancy , and beyond their own natural faculties and skill , in the defence of themselves , and to the advantage of the Gospel , when three Thousand , and five Thousand , and multitudes were converted to the Christian Faith , and received the Holy Ghost upon the hearing of one Sermon , all this was by an irresistible Grace .

Nay , the very phrases of receiveing the Holy Ghost , and of the Holy Ghost falling upon them , and of being full of the Holy Ghost , and being in the Spirit , which we find in several places of the new Testament , imply a strong and powerful influence of the Spirit upon their Minds , which they could easily distinguish from the ordinary results of their own thoughts , though we cannot do it now adays ; and from hence it is , that St. Paul speaking of Marriage and a single Life , and of the respective Obligation to each for the better furtherance and promotion of Godliness , distinguishes so exactly betwixt his own advices and the dictates of the Spirit , and otherwhiles he is in doubt , whether what he says be from himself , or from the Spirit of God , the influences of that Spirit not being so potent and sensible at one time as another .

To conclude , when Jesus was driven of the Spirit into the Wilderness , when Philip was carried through the Air to Azotus , when Paul went bound in Spirit to Jerusalem , and when he assayed to go into Macedonia but the Spirit suffered him not , all these were influences of an irresistible Grace , or Power proper to those times , and of which there are no instances to be found in these .

Nay , so violent were the Paroxysms of the Spirit at some times upon them , that they were perfectly distracted and besides themselves , scarce knowing what they did or said , and by the extream eagerness and zeal with which they delivered what they had to say ; they seemed so to others oftener than they were . So the Apostles on the day of Pentecost , seemed to some to be full of new Wine , Acts 2. 13. And though we shall allow it to be true , as the Text tells us , that they only mocked when they said this , and it is likely some of them did not believe it themselves , yet this had been but a cold sort of mockery , had there been no manner of resemblance betwixt Men acted by the Spirit , and Men that were full of new Wine . For this reason it is that St. Paul to the Ephesians opposeth these two , being drunk with Wine , and being filled with the Spirit , as having some kind of proportion and Analogy to each other , c. 5. v. 18. Be not drunk with Wine wherein is Excess , but be filled with the Spirit . Upon which place Grotius has these words , though I am not beholden to him for the Observation , opponit res in aliquo similes , illi vino implentur , vos Spiritu . And Peter standing up in defence of himself , and of his fellow Apostles on the day of Pentecost , lift up his Voice and said unto the Mockers , v. 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18. Ye Men of Judea , and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem , be this known unto you , and harken to my words : For these are not Drunk , as ye suppose , seeing it is but the Third hour of the day : but this is that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel , and it shall come to pass in the last days , saith God , I will power out of my Spirit upon all Flesh , and your Sons , and your Daughters shall Prophecy , and your young Men shall see Visions , and your old Men shall dream Dreams , and on my Servants , and on my Handmaidens I will power out in those days of my Spirit , and they shall Prophecy : in which place it is manifest though he wipe off that slanderous and disgraceful aspersion of their being Drunk with Wine , yet he plainly acknowledges a resemblance as to outward appearance between those in that Condition , and those who were acted with the Spirit of Prophecy , and that this was the reason why the one was by some willfully , and perhaps by others ignorantly mistaken for the other . And what else , I beseech you , is or can be the meaning of that place of St. Paul to the Corinthians , 2 Cor. 5. 13. For whether we be beside our selves it is to God , or whether we be sober it is for your Cause , then this , that whether we be in the Spirit or out of it , we lay out our whole time and strength for your Edification . In the Greek it is , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , where though 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in its most proper notion signifie to be in a Swoon or Trance , and it is as much as 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , yet being opposed as it is in this place to 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which signifies a calm and composed temper of Spirit , it must here denote that turbulent and unquiet disposition of Mind , which is proper to Men , in fits of Madness or Distraction . Though sometimes itis true , that the influences of the Spirit were so powerfull upon them , that they fell into a perfect Transe , having lost all Motion or sense of any thing about them . In such a transport as this , St. John saw his Apocalyptick Visions , and the Prophets beheld insensible Representations , the lively portraitures of things to come , and St. Paul , whether in the Body , or out of the Body he could not tell , was wrapt into the third Heaven , and saw those Glories which it was neither lawfull nor possible to utter .

To the same purpose it is what Festus said with a loud Voice to Paul , Acts 26. 24. Paul thou art beside thy self , much Learning doth make the Mad. To which though St. Paul do there make answer , v. 25. I am not Mad , most noble Festus , but speak forth the words of Truth and Soberness . Yet there is no question , but what with that heat of Temper which was natural to St. Paul , and what with the concern he was in for the just Vindication of himself , and his Religion .

And Lastly , What with the influences of that Spirit , by which in the defence of both these he was acted , he did seem by his Mine and Voice , and his unusual earnestness in the delivery of himself , to be somewhat Distracted and besides himself , which was so far from doing any prejudice to the Gospel , that in the first place it freed those that heard it from any suspition of design , and in the Second it appeared so plain , that the Men were hearty and in earnest in what they said , and that there was an unusual Spirit going along with them , that though some looked upon it as no better than Madness , yet with others it had a strange perswasiveness , and was no doubt one of the main causes of those great Numbers which were used at once to be Converted to the Faith by the Ministry of the Gospel in those days , upon whom though there usually fell a plentifull effusion of the Holy Ghost , yet this was not till after they were in some measure converted by the Preaching of the Apostles . So we find here in this very place of the Acts , though Festus was not willing to allow that this earnestness of St. Paul , was any thing better then Madness , yet Agrippa notwithstanding his Jewish prejudices , which were every whit as inveterate as the Heathen , could say , almost thou perswadest me to be a Christian . And this no question is the meaning of that phrase of Preaching with Power , and with Authority in opposition to the cold way of delivery of the Scribes and Pharisees , that is , Preaching with such a Mine and assurance , such a Vigor , strength and earnestness of Voice , gesture and pression , as had with some a strange perswasiveness , though there were others who looked upon our Saviour to be Distracted , or at least would have had it thought so , as well as his Apostles .

To conclude , under the old Testament , there wanted not many instances of a like Nature , all the Prophets had usually the Garbe and deportment of Mad and Frantick Persons ; Saul being amongst them , stript himself stark Naked , and lay without his Clothes for an whole Night and a Day together : It is the Character which one gave of the young Prophet , who was sent by Elisha to Anoint Jehu , 2 Kings 9. 11. Wherefore came this mad Fellow to thee ? and whoever shall read the Stories of Elijah and Elisha , and his Servant Gehazi , will without much difficulty , be induced to believe that the Spirit of Prophecy was usually attended with a sort of Madness , insomuch that it was the usual Opinion both in the Jewish , and the Heathen Nations , that there was somewhat Sacred and Divine in Frantick Persons , as it is still among the Turks to this day , which was therefore so far from being a disadvantage to the Message of a Prophet , that it rather gave new Authority and Recommendation to it . But since these extraordinary effusions of the Holy Spirit are now wholly ceased , together with the reason of them , there being no new Revelation to be expected , and there being sufficient reason , especially in these parts of the World , to render every man inexcusable who does not believe this . What folly is it to talk of irresistible Grace , when the influences of the Spirit are so Gentle , that they cannot be distinguished from the motions of a Mans own Mind ? When we can give a reasonable Account of what we do , and are not sensible of any Violence from without , by which our natural Propensities are forcibly over-ruled ? though that there may be sometimes , and in some particular Cases , such an unaccountable , and perhaps irresistible bent of our Minds , which cannot well be attributed to any other Cause then to the spirit of God , is a thing which I will not deny , but since the Apostles themselves were not always in the Spirit , and under the influences of such an irresistible Grace , what Madness is it to affirm it of these Times , when there is not the same occasion for it ? or do not Mens Consciences give the Lie to their Tongues , when they talk of an irresistible Spirit , in those very actions in which they seem to themselves , and others to be the most perfectly free and unrestrained .

Thus much is sufficient , if not too much , in answer to the first Advantage , which may be taken from the consideration of that Lucta or Contention which there is betwixt the two principles of the Flesh and the Spirit .

The second possible advantage which may be made is this , that the Spiritual principle there mentioned , may be pretended to be no part of the humane Nature , but that it is only a supernatural influence of Divine Grace from above , Rom. 8. 9. But ye are not in the Flesh , but in the Spirit , if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you , and vers. 13 , 14. For if ye live after the Flesh ye shall dye , but if ye through the Spirit , do mortifie the deeds of the Body ye shall live , for as many as are led by the Spirit of God , they are the Sons of God .

But to this it may be answered .

First , That there are plainly in every Man , if we will believe the express affirmation of St. Paul himself , two distinct principles of Action , which he calls the Flesh and Spirit , and the latter of them sometimes the inward Man , which is a sign that it is a part of our Selves , c. 7. v. 22. For I delight in the Law of God after the inward Man , and sometimes the Mind , v. 23. But I see another Law in my Members , Warring against the Law of my Mind .

Secondly , This Spiritual principle in us , is that which is properly the Image of God , and the resemblance of his Nature ; betwixt which and the Divine Spirit , there is a marvellous Harmony and Agreement ; For as the Carnal Mind is at Enmity with God , Rom. 8. 7. So betwixt the spiritual Mind and him , there is a wonderful Concord and Friendship ; he Cooperates and concurs with it , in all its virtuous Endeavours and Undertakings , And the Spirit it self beareth witness with our Spirit , as it is v. 16. That we are the Children of God . From whence it comes to pass , that the that the same Effects are attributed to the Spirit of God , and to our Spirit as their Cause , because there is a Concurrence of both these for their Production ; and because the utmost perfection of Holiness is scarce attainable in a single Instance , while we carry these fleshly Tabernacles about us , and much less in the whole course and tenour of our Lives , without the assistance of the Divine Spirit .

These are the two advantages , which may be taken from the consideration of that strife or contention betwixt the two principles , which is described by St. Paul , which what Service they are like to do to the Predestinarian Cause we have already seen ; but it is now further to be considered , that the very supposition of a Mind or inward Man , or immaterial principle of Action , for all these are one ; is at the same time , an assertion of humane Freedom , and a shaking off those Clogs and Fetters which the Calvinistical Fatality would put upon us . For when things come to be examined to the Bottom , it will be found that an immaterial Nature , and a free Agent are the same .

Extension is the common attribute of all Substance whatsoever , it being impossible to have any conception of any thing which is not somewhere : or to have any notion of Place ( The School distinction betwixt Locus and Ubi , being a very idle , unintelligible Distinction , ) which is not extended by real Parts , and such as are at least by Cogitation separable from one another .

It being therefore so clear , that no Man can possibly conceive otherwise , but that all Substance is extended , it follows in the next place , either that there is but one sort of Substance , or that there are several sorts of Extension .

If the first be granted , the consequence of this will be .

First , That matter must be self-moved , ( for that there is such a Substance as Matter will not come into dispute . )

And Secondly , That all Matter hath a power of moving it self , because what ever is of the essence of Matter , must belong in common to all Matter whatsoever .

And Thirdly , That all Matter may be moved with an equal celerity and degree of Motion , because the Essences of things are indivisible , and therefore if Motion be of the Essence of Matter , considered barely as such , and be not owing to some other principle from without ; it must belong equally to all Matter whatsoever .

And therefore in the Fourth place , the reason why all Matter is not equally moved , must be , that it is indued with a power of exerting or suspending its Activity , either pro arbitrio for no reason at all , or by the measures of Prudence , for the good of the World .

But if it be absurd , ridiculous , and contrary to experience , to attribute so much Understanding , Will , or Power to every Stick and Clod , to every seemingly stupid and insensible Block , if the communication of Motion from one body to another be a manifest proof , that those numerical degrees of Motion are not essential to either Body , and consequently not to Matter in the general considered , then we must look still further abroad for some other Substance , wherein this Power of self-activity shall reside , which Substance because it is not Matter , must be immaterial ; neither must we be content to say only that selfactivity is an attribute belonging to some immaterial Substance , but that it flowes immediately from the very essence and constitution of it ; because if you take away this , you will then have nothing left but passive or passible Extension , which is the Idea of Matter .

It is plain then , and will be plainer from what I shall say in an Appendix to these Discourses , that there are two sorts of Substance , and by consequence two sorts of Extension , a passive , and an active Extension in the World .

The First of which has no manner of activity or motion , but what is communicated to it from without .

The Second hath a power of selfactivity , or selfmotion within its self , which it can impress upon the matter about it , and which it can either exert or suspend as it pleases , or as it shall see cause .

For that Being , whatever it is , which cannot suspend its motion is passive in it , and consequently is moved from without , and that which cannot exert it from it self , hath no power of self-activity from within ; but that which can do either of these when ever it pleases , as it hath been proved , that it can be no other then an immateriall , so it must be granted to be a free Agent ; and therefore to deny that there is such a thing as freedom of Will , or liberty of Action in Men , is in effect to assert , that they are as very Clods , as the Dirt they tread on ; and that they are not partakers of an immaterial Nature .

The Antients were so sensible of the Truth of what I have here asserted , that matter implies Necessity , and mind self-activity , and by consequence Freedom . That Plutarch in his de placitis Philosophorum lays it down as the General sense of the Philosophers of the earliest Times , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . That is , it is impossible that matter should be the only principle from whence all things proceed , but we must also add to this an active , or intellectual principle , which shall be the cause of Order , Beauty , and diversity in the matter . For this reason it was that the Sadduces who denied the existence of any immaterial Principle , subjected the Government of all humane Actions , to a resistless Necessity and Fate ; but the Pharisees who looked upon themselves , as made up of two distinct and contrary Natures , or as consisting of an active and a passive Principle , an immaterial Soul , whose vigour was blunted , and its activity diluted by the intimate union of a material , gross and earthly Body , did with better reason assert , that there was a mixture of Freedom and Necessity , in humane Life , as Josephus and Abraham Zacuth have reported .

And that the Soul and Body are the two principles of Liberty on the one hand , and Fatality on the other , is likewise acknowledged by Lactantius in that Chapter which I have already cited in these words . Tu quidem non peccas , quia liber es ab hoc corpore , non concupiscis , quia immortali nihil est necessarium .

Lastly , This blending or mixture of Necessity and Freedom , is likewise acknowledged by Pythagoras , or whoever was the Author of those truly Golden Verses that goe under his Name , for Porphyry and Jamblichus , do both of them assure us , that he left no Writing behind him ; and besides the want of the Pythagorick Dorisme does sufficiently discover , that it is a Poem of a much later Composure .

〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 For a small fault , do not thy Friend forgo , But curb thine Anger , ere it lawless grow , For Fate with Freedom is together joyn'd . —

But it is still further admirable to observe , how exactly St. Paul jumps in his sentiments of Things , with the opinion of these ancient Philosophers : For he also makes the Flesh , or the union of the Soul with matter , to be the cause of all those inordinate desires , whereby it is assaulted , though otherwise when she is retired within her self , and disintangled by cool and serious Meditation , from this bodily Encumbrance , all her natural tendencies are to Goodness , or which is all one to the enjoyment of perfect Happiness and Rest . It is and must always be the nature of every cogitant Being , to be carried forth , with a perpetual desire of being Happy , which blessed End being only attainable by the measures of right Reason and Prudence , it can be nothing but Ignorance and Blindness , or want of due heed and attention , or Lastly , the disquiet and disorder of our Passions , all which are owing to the matter which we carry about us , and are in their several degrees , so many approaches towards an absolute and uncontroulable Necessity , which can be the cause of any Sin , or folly of which we are at any time guilty .

So St. Paul , Rom. 7. 14. The Law is Spiritual , but I am carnal sold under Sin . And v. 18. For I know that in me , that is , in my Flesh dwelleth no good thing . And v. 20. Now if I do that I would not , it is no more I that do it , but Sin that dwelleth in me . And v. 23. But I see another Law in my Members , warring against the Law of my Mind , and bringing me into Captivity to the law of Sin , which is in my Members . In which and other places already mentioned , and now needless to be again repeated , he very truely and wisely asserts the mind or inward man to be a principle of Freedom , whose nature and Business it is to determine its self according to what is most suitable to its true Interest , of which when it is not violently carried away by the importunity of passion , and sensual pleasure , it is a proper and impartial Judge , but being united to a Body which is the seed and source of every evil desire and Inclination , it is by their perpetual sollicitation diverted from its proper course , and imposed upon by false appearances of profit , interest or pleasure , so as it cannot so easily discern what is for its true advantage , and before it has sufficiently considered of things , proceeds to action , which is so far sinful , as it might have been avoided by care and circumspection , and so far more or less an approach to absolute Necessity , as it is more or less influenced by the tumult and disorder of the material or necessary principle in us .

So that in every virtuous action , there is an instance given of absolute and untainted Freedom , because in these the Mind considers wholly and indifferently of the true worth and value of things , and determines concerning them , with an equal and unprejudiced Judgment , and proceeds all the way upon steady principles , of Truth and Reason : But in all Vice there is a mixture of Freedom and Necessity together . Of Necessity because all Sin is owing to the predominance of the necessary or material cause , and yet of Freedom , because if that predominance cannot possibly be overcome , by our utmost diligence , or circumspection or power , this perfectly destroys the nature of Sin , and makes us only passive in what we do .

This is the meaning of those other places already cited , v. 15. That which I do , I allow not : For what I would , that do I not , but what I hate that do I. And v. 19. The good that I would I do not , but the evil which I would not that I do : That is , the Will of Man properly so called , is a principle of action , steared and directed by the Understanding , and so is naturally carried forth to nothing but what is reasonable and fit to be done ; and therefore every wicked , or which is all one , unreasonable desire is a violence done to the natural bent and tendency of the humane Will , and is the effect of that union , which there is betwixt the necessary principle and the free , by which it comes to pass that the latter of these , if it be not perfectly overcome , yet being perpetually and strongly sollicited , it is morally impossible for it to keep so strictly upon its Guard , as not sometimes to be imposed upon , and still the more it yields , the more weak and infirm it grows , and the less able to make any tolerable resistance for the future : Besides that it cannot be that considerations of Virtue should be warm upon our Minds at the same time , when temptations of Lust and Pleasure from without , have a powerful influence upon them , for these two are inconsistent together , and do as the Logicians are used to say by contraries , expell one another out of the same Subject .

Now then , saith St. Paul , v. 17 , and 20. It is no more I that do it but Sin that dwelleth in me . No more I , that is , it is not the pure intellectual nature in me , which is truly and properly my self , and which hath no tendency but to reasonable Courses , but Sin that dwelleth in me , that is , it is the animal or bruitish nature , resulting from the union of the Soul with Matter , which by perpetual importunity and sollicitation does by degrees overpower the guards of Reason , and amounts almost to a necessity of doing evil .

But here it is to be taken notice , before we pass any further , that this Pronoun ( I ) in this Chapter , is used by St. Paul , in a threefold acceptation .

First , It signifies the whole Person , consisting both of Soul and Body , of a purely immaterial , and of an animal or fleshly Nature , v. 15 , 16. For that which I do , I allow not , For what I would that do I not , but what I hate that do I : If then I do that which I allow not , I consent unto the Law that it is good , and v. 19 , For the good that I would I do not , but the evil which I would not , that I do .

Secondly , It is taken for the pure intellectual and abstracted Nature , v. 20 , &c. Now if I do that I would not , it is no more I that do it , but Sin that dwelleth in me .

And then Thirdly and Lastly , It is taken otherwhile only for the animal or fleshly Life , v. 18. For I know that in me , that is , in my Flesh dwelleth no good thing : For to will is present with me , but how to perform that which is good I find not .

It is no more I that do it , but Sin that dwelleth in me , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 : Sin is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , by which word the nature of it is very aptly signified , and it is a very fit exposition of v. 19. The good that I would , I do not , but the evil which I would not , that I do . For the Will , as I have said , is naturally directed towards Happiness , which can only be obtained by reasonable and virtuous Courses , so that all Sin hath something of involuntary in it , because it is naturally productive of nothing but mischeif and inconvenience to us , and by consequence is a missing of that Mark , to which our Wills are intentionally directed , which is exactly the sense of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . So the Etymologist whose words I will set down , because they contain a very pat Interpretation , of this place of St. Paul , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 .

And again , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 from whence it is plain , that in the very word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 there is something of involuntary denoted , and that it does very properly shadow cut unto us , that mixture of Necessity and Freedom , which there is to be found in every sinful action , and what if 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in the Greek , should all of them be thought to owe their derivation to the Verb hamar Ligavit , or Manipulos fecit in the Hebrew Language , from whence homer Manipulus , which was a Pledge , or Earnest-penny , or an acknowledgment that the rest of the harvest was equally due to him , to whom the Homer it self was consecrated and offered up ; but this is a small Criticisme , and indeed an improbable one into the bargain , which I do not stand upon .

A third cause which I shall assign of the great prevalence and growth of Calvinistical Doctrines , is this ; that notwithstanding when matters are examined to the bottom , they are destructive of piety and holy living , yet to the careless and unthinking view of many of Mr. Calvin's Disciples and Adherents , they have an appearance of an extraordinary sanctity , by vilifying a man's self at such a prodigious rate , and by magnifying the Grace of God , without which I acknowledge we can do nothing as we ought , to so unreasonable a degree , as includes in it the utter ruin and destruction of all the powers and faculties of the mind of man , which nature will not permit , and therefore God does not and cannot possibly be supposed to require .

A fourth reason which I believe to have been a motive to Mr. Calvin to propagate this Doctrine , and I am sure in the nature of things it was not only a possible , but a very probable reason , is , that in the Church of Rome there were such things as Pardons and Indulgences to be had upon occasion , which gave an Artificial ease to the consciences of men , when the reflection upon the past wickedness and follies of their life , wou'd either have driven them into perfect despair , or at least made them very uneasy and troublesome to themselves ; and the finding out a cheap expedient , an expedient grounded in the very nature of things , and consequently such as might be had for nothing , such as was not exposed to the envy of the Papal Indulgencies and Dispensations , could not chuse but be very serviceable to the Inventor of it , and must needs draw abundance of Fishes into his Net : for men do very easily excuse themselves for what is past , when they consider they could not help it , and then being listed into such a Party , where all take themselves to be of the Elect , added to this other comfortable consideration , that the Elect cannot possibly fall away from Grace ; This makes them look not only without remorse , but with satisfaction and pleasure upon the enormities of their past life , they will repeat them and chew them with a Gusto , as I have seen many of this sort of People do , as being the unavoidable consequences of the beastly , and as I may call with a great deal of reason , the unnatural state of nature . But now they tell you their pardon is seal'd , and they are sure 't is impossible for them to miscarry , which is Milk and Honey without Money and without Price , a Calvinistical Dispensation at once more cheap and more effectual then any his Holiness can afford at Rome , which was thought for many years to have been the only staple of that profitable Trade ; for it is profitable to the cause of Calvinism , and to the interest of a separation that might be justifyed upon other grounds ; though it be more effectually promoted by this , and though the Pope indeed in point of ready money , have perhaps the start of the Doctours of Geneva .

Which brings me to the fifth thing , and that is , that this Doctrine of Election on the one hand , and of absolute rejection and reprobation on the other , is apt to fill men with insolence and pride , with an high opinion of themselves , and with a contempt and hatred of others ; and so is at once a natural cause of separation , and of an obstinate and inveterate continuance in it . Whether the grounds of such separation be reasonable or no , which , as it did confirm and strengthen the separation from the Church of Rome , ( a thing that was otherwise necessary to be done without fancying any such eternal decrees to make themselves proud , and to breed an hatred and contempt of those from whom they separate for justifyable reasons ) so I reckon likewise that it is the great Pillar of the Schisme from our Church at this day , which as it pretends to greater purity , so it proceeds upon an opinion that the Separatists for it are the Elect of God , while we from being peaceable and sincerely honest without terms of art , ●or being good Subjects without any reserve , and for being good Christians without censuring all as Reprobates , that differ from us , are sometimes pityed , and at other times despised as unregenerate Wretches , being yet in our sins and in the state of nature , that is , in such a state in which there is no salvation , and in which there is no other prospect but of Eternal death , and a certain fearful looking for of judgment , and fiery indignation to devour the Adversaries . This , if it be examined , will be found to be the general Ear-mark and Characteristique of the Separation ; and I am of opinion , that there cannot be a better service done to the Church or to Mankind , then by exposing such pernicious doctrines , so injurious to God , and so destructive to the peace and quiet of the world , to that disgrace and infamy which they deserve .

But sixthly and lastly , the last thing which I shall mention , as having given occasion and encouragement ▪ to so dangerous a doctrine , is the overheated zeal of St. Austine , St. Jerome and others of that age against Pelagius , who though it neither can nor must be denyed , that he was much to blame , that he attributed too much to the Powers of Nature , and too little to the helps and Assistances of Grace , yet it is equally certain that those who opposed him both in that age and afterwards , went too far into the other extreme ; it must likewise be acknowledged to the credit of our Country , in which he had his birth , that he was a very wise , as well as virtuous person , and that for the clearness of his reason , he had incomparably the advantage of all his adversaries put together ; and upon supposition that his last concessions were not extorted from him by the violence of his opposers , but by the evidence of truth , and by a more serious enquiry into the sense of Scripture , and into the nature of things , ( for our belief of these divine assistances is founded in both : ) I should make no very great scruple to affirm , that he was a tolerably Orthodox Divine . And thus much shall suffice to have written upon this weighty Subject concerning Freedom and Necessity , and concerning their several bounds , borderings , and interfering mixtures , together with the genuine causes and effects of the one and of the other .

FINIS .