‛ ΑΥΤΟΚΑΤΑΚΡΙΣΙΣ , OR , Self-Condemnation , EXEMPLIFIED In Mr. Whitfield , Mr. Barlee , and Mr. Hickman . WITH OCCASIONAL REFLEXIONS On Mr Calvin , Mr Beza , Mr Zuinglius , Mr Piscator , Mr Rivet , and Mr Rollock : BUT MORE ESPECIALLY On DOCTOR Twisse , and MASTER Hobbs ; AGAINST WHOM , God's Purity and his Praescience , and his Eternal Decrees according to Praescience , ( commonly called Respective or Conditional Decrees ) with the sincere intention and the general extent of the Death of Christ , are finally cleared and made good ; And the Adversaries Absurdities ( confessed by themselves to be unexcusable ) are proved against them undeniably , out of their own hand-writings .

WITH An ADDITIONAL ADVERTISEMENT Of Mr Baxter's late Book Entituled The Grotian Religion discovered , &c.

By THOMAS PIERCE Rector of Brington in Northampton-shire .

London , Printed by J.G. for R. Royston at the Angel in Ivy-lane , 1658.

THAT I presume to entertain thee with this Additional Importunity in vindication of those things so largely insisted upon already in several Tracts , to wit the Truth and Goodness of God's Decrees , and the things that are consequent thereunto , there is this ( amongst other reasons ) to be alledged for an excuse , that 't is intended to be the last . Or if I live to grow worthier of bringing my thoughts into the light , as it is not likely to be in haste , so I hope it will be in some other kind .

I wish that some had remembred whilest they were men of ripe years , what we all have been taught in our several childhoods , that there are four sorts of things which should not be drawn into dispute ; but either be granted , or rejected , as soon as named . And I had once a very pleasing , but ( it seems ) a vain hope , that it could never become a Question , * * See the right Reverend Bishop Bramhal his catching of the Leviathan , particularly from p. 467. to p. 473. Whether or no there is a God ? or , Whether God is a Spirit ? or , Whether the holy Spirit of God can be the soveraign Author of all uncleanness . To be barely sceptical in such things as these , is sure a crime of greater moment then to be cherished with impunity , or to be suffered to pass abroad without being put unto a stand .

But it seems we are fallen into that Age of the World , wherein the worst of Questions have not onely been rudely started , but blasphemously stated in the very worst sense too . The most unwholsom Doctrines that can be named , have not onely been brewed in the private phantasies and brains of unlearned men , but have publickly been broached by men of parts ; and running out at their Pens , have been given for Drink to the giddy People .

Reader , thou wilt find , in the ensuing Treatise , strange contradictions of divers men , both against the Scriptures and themselves too . Thou wilt find them saying that sins are the works of God , that God is pleased with them , that God doth will them with a perfect willingness , and that they make for God's glory . All directly against themselves , who having said such things in many places of their works , have also said sometimes they never said them . And all directly against the Scriptures , which say that sins are the works of the Devil , that they are grievous to God Almighty , that he wills them not , but abhorres them , and that he is extremely dishonoured by them . Thou shalt find it acknowledged and avowed to have been publickly taught by famous men , whom thou wilt find to be justified in their very worst sayings , and not onely so , but even owned for orthodox and classical Authors ; I say , by such men as these thou shalt find it confessed to have been taught , If in a multitude of examples the Reader desires to be directed to one or two , he may satisfie himself , ch. 3. sect. 13 & sect. 27. n. 2 , 3 , 4 , 5. that God in plain terms is the Author of sin , that he not onely wills it , but impells men to it , and makes them sin by coaction . And yet with a turn of the tongue , thou wilt find a bold Artist trying to lick them all clean . For though such things ( saith † † Look forward on c. 3. sect. 27. he ) have fallen from the pens of the Orthodox , yet they have not understood them in any flagitious or unconscionable sense , nor have they used to do it often , and the Jesuites have done it as well as they , and they have said the contrary at other times : and so without any more ado , salvares est , saltat senex . Thou wilt find men obtruding new Creeds upon the Church . One inserting this Article , that God is no Spirit ; Another this , that God is the maker of all things real , and so ( by a consequence unavoidable ) of all the wickedness in the world . In a word , thou wilt find , that we * * Isa. 6.5 . dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips , who † † Ezek. 22.26 . put no difference between the holy and profane . It is impossible ( saith * * Job 14.4 . Job ) to bring a clean thing out of an unclean ; much more impossible ( say I ) to bring any thing unclean from the Spirit of purity . It is a lesser wickednesse of the two , to ascribe unto the Devil some good works of God , then to charge God foolishly with the evil works of the Devil . It is a very great sin , for men to bear false witnesse against their neighbours : 't is yet a greater , to be false witnesses * * 1 Cor. 15.15 . for God . It is a greater sin yet to be false witnesses against him : but sure 't is the greatest sin of all ( by † † 2 Pet. 3.16 . wresting and corrupting his sacred word ) to make him bear false witness against himself .

Had such impieties as these been onely practised in private corners ( as the Feasts of Bacchus heretofore ) I had contented my self to have mourned over them in secret , like one of the * * Lam. 2.10 . Elders of the daughters of Zion , I had sate upon the ground and kept silence : having the words of the Prophet Amos as it were sounding in mine ears , The † † Amos 5.13 . prudent shall keep silence in that time , for it is an evil time . I should then have reasoned within my self , ** ** Mat. 7.6 . that no man living can be obliged to cast what is holy unto * Doggs , or to give the * Pearl of reproof to Swine , ( if yet my charity could have suffered me to think mine Adversaries such . ) For why should I draw upon my self the implacable hatred of evil doers , in case I had reason to expect a very great prejudice to my self , without any the least hope of being profitable to others ?

But when I saw such things proclaimed in Gath , and as it were written with a Sun-beam in the streets of Askelon ; when I found it taught by * * Damus Deum esse causam particularem uniuscu jusque actus . Vin. Gr. l. 2. p. 40. col. 2. Doctor Twisse and his followers ( Mr. W. and Mr. B. ) that God is the cause in particular of every act , nay the natural Cause , and the † † Mr. B. c. 3. p. 11. soveraign Author of the act of sin ; nay that he wills and works , not in the act of sin onely , but in the * * Mr. W. Ext. of D. Prov. p. 12. sin of the Act too , whose very pravity and deformity doth make way for God's glory ; and when I found it acknowledged by Doctor Twisse , † † Ex quibus quàm facile quae●o fuit viris istis indoctis , quales erant Libertini colligere D●um Aucrorem faisse omnium scelerum quae ab hominibus perpetrantur . Vin. Gr. l. 2. sect. 1. p. 52. that such illiterate men as the Libertines then were ( and as the Ranters now are ) might very easily collect even from this one Doctrine , [ The Act of sin is from God ] that God himself is the Author of all the wickednesse in the World ; when I found it granted by * * Of lib. and Nec . p. 26. & Q. p. 11. Mr. Hobbs himself , that evil use may be made of such bold assertions , and that though he thought them to be true , and so to be inwardly believed , yet he thought them too dangerous to be spoken aloud , much lesse fit to be preached and printed too , ( forgetting that himself had even preached them in print , and that in the very same books wherein he confesseth the danger of them ; ) when I considered how great an odium had been derived from these doctrines upon the Protestant name , through the dexterities of the Jesuites , and other Emissaries of Rome , who have charged the whole body of the Reformed Church with the particular misbehaviours of some very unsound and unruly members ; when I considered that those Doctrines had stopt the way to reconcilement betwixt the Lutheran Churches , and those that follow the way of Calvin , they † † See Doctor Jacksons Exact Collect. l. 10 sect. 6. p. 3188. not agreeing ( say the Lutherans ) in the worship of one God , because the God of the Lutherans is onely the Author of what is good , whereas the God of the Calvinists is owned by them to be the Author of what is morally evil ; last of all , when I considered the tremendous dignity of my calling , which is not onely to be a shepherd , and a * Watchman in Israel , ** ** Ezek. 33.7 , 8. & ch. 34. v. 2 , 10. ( and as such to be accountable as well for † † Ibid. other mens lapses as for mine own ) but also a * * 1 Cor. 4.1 . steward of the mysteries of the living God , ( however unworthy and † † 2 Cor. 2.16 . insufficient for so insuperable a work ; ) I say when I seriously considered these several things , and compared them all with one another , I had not the courage to be afraid of my fellow-creatures , the fear of whom did seem to me to be a desperate boldness : for what greater boldnesse can there be , then to stand in so great a fear of them who can at the * * Mat. 10.28 . most but destroy the body , as not to stand in fear of him who can cast both body and soul into Hell ? It is not a true love of God , which is not able to † † Joh. 4.18 . cast out the fear of men . I know what * * Ecclus. 2.12 , 13. wo is to them who have fearful hearts and faint hands , and what will be said at the judgment-seat , unto the sinner that goeth two wayes ? I know the † † Rev. 21.8 . fearful and unbelieving shall have their portion in the lake of fire and brimstone . I know it was one of those sins which the Prophet did not think he could sufficiently bewail , ( unlesse his * * Jer. 9.1 . head were all water , and his eyes a fountain of tears , that he might weep day and night , † † Vers. 3. Isa. 58.1 . NOT TO BE VALIANT for the TRUTH . Isaiah was bid to cry aloud without sparing , and to lift up his voice like a Trumpet in shewing the people their transgressions . Should I presume to be afraid of the wrath of men , and in an aw of their persons forbear to tell them of their sins , ( for some mens Doctrines become their sins , if 't is a sin to blnspheme and dishonour God ) I might well cry out , as the same Prophet did , * * Isa. 6.5 . Vae mihi quia lacui , id est , quia peccata non liberè reprehendi . Grot. in locum . WO IS ME FOR I●AM UNDON . And that for the very s●●e reason which the Prophet gives of his outcry in the following words , because I am a man of unclean lipps . That is , ( as the learnedst Annotators have explained the place ) I have been guiltily afraid to tell the great ones of their iniquities . Many are tickled with an opinion of their Policy and Prudence , when 't is but cowardize and coldnesse in the cause of God . Wo be to such , for they are undon .

But neither indeed can I pretend to have been valiant in my encounters , whom even mine Adversaries themselves have made unable to be afraid . For I have spoken no harder things of what I have found in their writings , then their Masters have spoken of the same , when they have found them in the writings or mouths of others . And this I doubt not but they will grant me , that Henbane is not the wholsomer for being found to grow in a specious Garden , no more then a Tul●p is the uglier for having grown out of a Dunghil . Nor is El●sphemy the better for being found in he Works of a Christian Writer , any more then Pontius Pilate for having been mentioned in the Creed . When I find men * * Jam. 2.7 . bl●spheming that worthy name , which ( I hope ) shall ever be dearer to me then my life ; and when I find them † † Psal. 73.8 . corrupting others ( as the Psalmist speaks ) even by * * vers. 9. stretching forth their mouth unto the h●avens , and that their † † vers. 8. talking is against the most H●gh ; and when many of the * * vers. 10. people do fall unto them , whereout th●y suck no small advantage ; I cannot but be offen●ed at what is spoken , without partiality to them that speak . Whether I find it in the Jesuites ( as sometimes I do , ) or in the rigid Pre●byterians , ( as I have many times don . ) or in the d wnright Libertines , ( as who does not ? ) I desire to give it its proper name . When Mr. Calvin writ against Quintin and Pocquet , and other persons of quality who were domestick servants to the Queen of Navar , See Calvins Epist. 62. compared with what follows . he made no scruple to call them Libe●tines , † † Qui ●gnorab●nt quid sibi vel●et Lib rt●norum nomen , id Quintini nomi●e cogn●turi sunt . Exp●dit Be●luas tam p●●niciosas no â aliq â ●nsigni●i . Blash● m ●s x cra●il●s s●a●gunt . — Non solùm Ch●●s ; t nam Relig onem , s d e●●am omnem human●tat●m quae hactenus inter Tu●cas , &c Calv. adversus Libers . c. 4. and ( what is more ) pernicious b●asts , charged them with ex●crable blasphemy , then which no villany was greater , no poyson worse , as tending ( saith the ) to the subversion , not of the Christian Religion onely , but even of that ingenuity and civil nature , which hath hitherto prevailed amongst Turks and Infidels . The making of God to be an Author and Cause of sin , Voetius confesseth to be [ * * Voetius in Method . Resp. Calum . p. 1136. absurd , and sottish , and implying a contradiction , horrid , blasphemous , scandalous , against all Theologie and the consent of Christendom , against the light of nature , and the dictates of reason . ] If Voetius say thus , much more may I. Again , to say that God hath imposed a necessity of sinning upon his creatures , is concluded by † † Hist. Gottesch . c. 11. p. 173. R g. 5. Remigius , to be a charging God foolishly as the Author of sin , which Doctor Whitaker affirmes to be a very * * Dr. Whitaker contra D●raeum . l. 8. sect , 1. p. 524. great blasphemy . Nay whether it is not the greatest to be imagined , let the Reader conjecture by that which followes .

1. The greatest blasphemy is that , which ascribes to God ( as the Principal Cause and Contriver ) the very worst of the worst that can be possibly imagined . 2. That is the worst of the worst which is the very worst thing in the Devil himself . 3. The Devil hath nothing worse in him then a necessity of sinning , or an impossibility to abstain from sin . 4. Therefore to say that God Almighty did eternally cause , or contrive , decree , or praedestin a necessity of sinning , in a great part of the Angels , and in the greatest part of mankind , is the greatest blasphemy to be imagined .

That this is frequently to be met with in a great variety of Writers , the intelligent Reader needs not be told . And such a variety he will meet with in the following Treatise . For though that rigid Ternary of Presbyterians , Mr. W. Mr. B. and Mr. H. may seem to be the chief in my consideration , yet my Reader will much misunderstand me , if he thinks that Writers of their Pitch could have drawn so many sheets from me , upon the sole account of their own atchievements . Had I spent so great a share of my precious time upon but two or three Aggressors of no greater fame and consideration , I had done much more then I could have answered , if not to my conscience , yet at least to my discretion . Mr. Whitfield and Mr. Barlee , in their several songs to the same Tune , ( which they both intitle their vindications , ) were of themselves sufficient to be the principal occasions of this my enterprise , but the impulsive causes were much more worthy : For I look upon these two , as on a couple of Chymists , whose very Quintessence and Elixir of strength and subtilty , I clearly discover to have been fetched from the publick Elaboratories of the greatest Artists , both of the upper , and lower way ; and in a more especial manner of Mr. Calvin and Doctor Twisse , whose good Latine they have turned into no good English ; and what for many years together they had been gathering , they have at once produced in the great , and in the profuseness of their humour have shed it abroad amongst the people . It hath been therefore my chiefest aim , to enfeeble those Armories and Magazins , from whence these Combatants have borrowed their choicest weapons , whether engaged in their offensive , or defensive quarrells .

I have allowed Mr. W. the first and chief place in my consideration , ( I mean in respect of Mr. B. and Mr. H. ) first because he is a person of the greatest gravity and the † † So saith Mr. B. in his Neces . V.n.c. ● . p. 32. l penult . grayest haire , and one who was versed in these Controversies ( as Mr. Barlee saith often ) * * Introduct. p. 3 & ch. 3. p. 18. before I was born or brought forth into the l●ght ; before I had a head or an eye ; one who subscribed the 39. Articles * * Ibid. p. 40. before there was any such thing in the world as Mr. T. P. Lastly † † ch. 2. p. 34. Old enough and wise enough to be my father . When I observed Mr. B. upbraiding to me my want of years , † † Ibid. p. 49. more then any other thing , not one y in these pages which I have cited , but in many more which I conceal , ( calling me one while , a * * c. 2. p. 41. Demure Junior , and another while , a † † c. 2. p. 53. Juvenal Divine ) sometimes objecting his * * Ch. 2. p. 27. own antiquity , and Mr. W's extremely often , as if he thought that old age were the strongest * * The weakness of it is visible in the S●nner Impleaded , p. 300 , 301. argument in the world against what ever had been alledged by one who followed them into the world at some years distance ; I comforted my self with the remembrance , that I did not chuse my nativity , nor was I the Lord of my own Horoscope , and in regard I was as old as I was able to be by any means , it would no be reckoned as my fault , that I could not plead my longevity for the advantaging of my cause . It a ●pears by the words of * * 1 Tim. 4.12 . S. Paul to Timothy , that a Priest is too apt to be despised for his youth . And to remove that stumbling-block out of the old man's way , he shall know that our Lord and Saviour did not quite attain to my years in his Peregrination upon the earth . S. John and S. Timothy were both but young men , when yet the first was an Apostle , and the second a Bishop . If Argumentation and Orthodoxy were to be reckoned by a man's age , I am sure the old Serpent would go beyond them . And though I my self am far from it , yet the truth which I assert hath Age enough to become an Argument . * * Quod primum verum est . Tertul. So that from this day forwards , I hope the difference of years betwixt my adversaries and me , ( which they have hitherto more insisted on in all the●r publick and private chat , then upon any one thing which they have conceived to be of use ) shall be no longer an ingredient in our dispute . yet this is one reason , why * * Job . 32.4 , 6.7 . Mr. W. comes first into my consideration . Another reason is , because he publickly made me a second challenge from the Presse , when I had in modesty and in mercy refused his first , as having been backward and unwilling to expose his age to inconvenience , ( for which reason also I have been sparing to Mr. Cawdrey , notwithstanding his publick and grand abuses ) but finding he thought himself unanswerable in that he saw he was not answer●d , I straight concluded it a charity , to undeceive him . A third reason●s , because he professeth in his Preface to his first book ( which he hath boldly repeated in his second ) that he * * Ext. of Div. Prov. is Praef. p. goes h●gh●r , then other Divines of his party , in making God have an active hand in the actions of sinful men . How much higher then the most , the Reader shortly will see and wonder . Adde to this , my having heard , that upon some weak Readers his book hath made some strong impressions . So that men of no skill , who are of narrow capacity , and very slow of apprehension , are not long to be trusted with that temptation . Again , I find that Mr. B. doth rely on Mr. W. as upon one of his * * Corr. Corr. Ep. Ded. p. 8. Majorites , to whose Protection and Patronage he chose to dedicate his former Book , ( to wit his first-born , the excellency of his strength ) and whose gracious † † Ibid. assistance he then implored . Mr. W. answers to the call , ownes himself for a Majorite , comes in to the rescue of Mr. B. ( as Milo ran to set his shoulders as an equal prop to the falling house , which crushed him into Quiddini for his presumption ) and 't is but fit he should first be heeded , whom common Fame hath set uppermost in the thoughts of men .

Next I proceed to Mr. B. his second part ( as he calls it ) because I was bound to it by promise , which I was loath not to perform . Then I antidote Mr. Hickman because he invenomed Mr. Barlee , and intermeddled in his affaires to such a desperate degree , that if he preacheth as he hath printed , his Disciples ( of all others ) have the greatest need of a preservative . I have often to do with Dr. Twisse , because they often translate his words , and once most solemnly they bring him to me with a defiance . Not to mention all particulars ( with whom I have to do as occasion serves ) I have many reflexions on Mr. Hobbs , because he jumps so often with my Assailants , as if he had borrowed from their writings , or they from his . What I have more to premise I will dispatch in few words .

If I seem too much inlarged in explaining some things , It is partly because I have to deal with such disputants , as cannot be confuted but by being first taught ; and partly because it often happens , that their Master's confutatian doth stand in theirs .

Sect. 1 , 2. THe nearest way to end a Controversie , is to strike altogether at the Root of error . Sect. 3. The grand error touching Gods Decrees , and its numerous off-spring , is rooted in the mistake of two things , The false conceits of Praescience and Praedetermination . Sect. 4 , & 5. The speedy way to Conviction , made plain and open by a manifestation of three things . Sect. 6. The three things undertaken solemnly to be proved . Sect. 7. The same men affirm it to be both blasphemy , and truth , to say that God is the Author or Cause of sin , that he wills and works sin , &c. Sect. 8. Nothing but their Principles of Gods Decrees can lead them to blasphemies of such a Nature . Instances briefly set down from Calvin , Zuinglius , Zanchy , Piscator , P. Martyr , Beza , Borrhaus , Triglandius , Dr. Twisse , Mr. Hobbs , Mr. Whitfield , and Mr. Barlee , and Mr. Hick . Sect. 9. How the violent streams of blasphemy may be quickly dried up in their several channels . Sect. 10. Mr. Whitfields whole Fabrick plucked up by the Foundation . His explication of what he means by conditional Decrees . His provision for a Flight from his whole undertaking . He is equally unfortunate whether he intended sense or non-sense . He is equally unhappy , whatever he means by the word Condition . Sect. 11. His first Argument compared with his Exposition of Conditional Decrees as he professeth to understand them . He is as unhappy in his best as in his worst meaning . His way of arguing in his best sense against Conditional Decrees , is as much against the Trinity of persons in the Godhead . He argues against his own Masters and Brethren , Beza , Wollebius , Dr. Reynolds . Directly against Saint Paul , and against the Eternity of Gods foreknowledge . And in a flat contradiction to himself ; also against Dr. Twisse , and even against the Tenet for which he argues . He is fain to make Gods decrees to be Actus D●i ad iutra , against his own party who teach them to be ad extra . He makes Gods Actions to be God himself ( and so infers many Gods ) even against his own Masters , Gomarus and Wollebius . Five blasphemous Absurdities which that absurdity doth infer . He makes God himself to be Reprobation it self . Sect. 12. An easie way to Mr. W's Reformation concisely opened and pointed at . To his pretended Arguments against Conditional Decrees are confronted two Arguments for conditional Decrees . The first is grounded on the Confession of all the contrary party , and according to the tenour of the seventeenth Article of the Church of England exhibited to us in the last clause of the Article . The second is grounded on another Confession of the contrary party in their definition of Gods Decrees . Sect. 13. Mr. W's mistake of the thing in question represented in clearer and fairer colours .