And now , I beseech you , in the first place , to upbraid me no more with the errours of my education ( for so I must now account them ; ) because the greater the prejudices were which were instil'd into me against these doctrines , the greater you ought to conclude the light to be , which hath wrought this my present conviction of their truth , and induced me to imbrace them , ( against all the charmes of interest , and secular advantages , wherewith the world tempts us , to the contrary . )

Unconstancy ( one of your other charges ) I confess is sometimes Culpable : but may we not say so too of Constancy many times ; which is therefore resembled ( somwhere ) to a fullen Porter , who keeps out better company oftentimes than he lets in ? Our happiness that will be unchangable commenceth in a change ; and 't is our duty to turn from darkness to light , though we be called inconstant for it . We were not born with our eyes open ; neither shall we ever see far , if we look no further than that prospect , which some few admired writers have set before us ; The new man , which we are to put on , is renewed in knowledge & . [ Col. 3. 10. ] If we receive our illumination regularly from heaven , that is given according to the capacity of the subject . We have a dawning first , but the progress of our light holds a proportion with the sedulity of our studies . We are never too old to learn in Christ's School . But the great scandal , you say , is , to profess my self a disciple to such Masters . What Masters do you mean ? I call no man Master on Earth ( in this sense ) nor ever will give any so great a dominion over my faith , as to swear allegiance to his doctrines . ( I would others were as free from this yoak of bondage . ) But yet I know 't is not only a thing commendable , but a duty to march after the standard of truth what hand soever carries it before us . And who do you think were the bearers of it ? If you enquire into their learning , ( even their adversaries being Judges ) they were as lights shining in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation , [ Phil. 2. 15. ] and if you examine their lives , for piety and justice , they were blameless and harmless as becomes the sons of God , not more polite in their intellectuals than unreproveable in their morals , but very eminent in both . And they have declared their virtues as well in a way of Passive obedience as Active . What professors were ever more constant and cheerful in their sufferings for the word of God and for the testimony which they held ( having been taught it ( according to their full perswasion ) as the truth is in Jesus . [ Ephes. 4. 21. ] They have been banished , imprisoned , &c. Insomuch that one of them bespeaks his fellow souldiers ( in this Conflict ) after this manner , Vos societatis Apolog. pro Confess . in Praefat. ad finem . nostroe decora ac lumina , quorum vincula iam non in Belgio tantum , sed penè ubique per totum orbem Christianum celebria facta sunt , qui patientiâ vestrâ iam per tot annos invicta atque infracta , adversari is totique adeo mundo fidem fecistis , Conscientiam Remonstrantibus Pluris esse , quam quicquid uspiam carum est in mundo . It a Pergite &c. You the lights and glory of our society , whose bonds are famous throughout the whole Christian world , whose invincible patience hath given proof to your very adversaries and all the world besides , that the Remonstrants value their conscience , above all things whatsoever . March on with me , saith he , to the mark , By honour and dishonour , by evil report and good report , as deceivers and yet true : as unknown and yet well known : as dying and behold we live : as chastened and not killed : as sorrowful , yet alwayes rejoycing : as poor , yet making many rich : as having nothing , and yet possessing all things . 2 Cor. 6. 8 , 9 , 10. Thus far he .

But you will say , non poena sed causa , 't is not the suffering but the cause that makes a man a Martyr ; and those men run after the errour of Pelagius , who was condemned by the Antient Fathers as an enemie to the grace of God . To this I shall return Arminius his own solemn protestation . Inspiciantur capita omnia Pelagianoe doctrinoe , Examen Thesium Gomari pa. 156. & 157. prout illa in Synodis Milevitana , Arausicana , & Hierosolymitana enarrantur & condemnantur , etiam ut à Pontifice Romano Innocentio referuntur ; & adparebit posse quempiam Relagianam doctrinam improbare , & tamen doctrinoeisti ( Gomari sc. ) de Praedestinatione , non accedere : and a little after , Profiteor intereà me Pelagiana dogmata , quae ipsis imponuntur à Synodis supra nominatis , ex animo detestari , & si quis commonstrare possit , ex iis quae dico , quidpiam sequi , quod illis affine est , sententiam mutaturum & correcturum . If the protestation of this person be not sufficient to clear the innocencie of these tenents , then take Vossius his Historia Pelagiana , and Grotius his Disquisitio on that very argument , for their Compurgators . Withal let us remember the Caveat , which Arminius gives ( loco citato ) Neque id solum studio habendum , ut à Pelagiano dogmate recedatur quam longissimè : Cavendum etiam ne in Manichaeismum , aut quod Manichaeismo est intolerabilius , ratione saltem consequentiae suae incidatur . But you object further , that these tenents are not agreeable to the doctrin of St. Augustine , the Maule of Hereticks , as he is stiled . St. Augustine must give us leave to depart from him , where he takes leave to depart from all that went before him , and from himself also ; ( and which of you will follow him in all he held ? ) For it is observed , that he changed his Batteries , as he changed his enemies , and imployed other principles against the Pelagians , than those he used in combating the Manichees , and from the varietie of his opinions in these points it proceeds , that his followers express themselves in such different terms , that though taught in the same Sclool , and of the same master , yet they seem ( as he saith ) not to have learnt the same lesson . And yet we must not denie what Arminius observed ( ubi supra ) that St. Augustine might have confuted the Pelagians sufficiently , and yet have omitted that way of Predestination which he taught . And yet the doctrin of Predestination , as it is handled by Gomarus and the rest of his perswasion , differs much from that of St. Augustine , and layes down many things which Augustin would by no means grant , though the greatest Adversarie the Pelagians had . And therefore your objection that these Tenents are against the doctrin of the Synod of Dort ; is of value , for besides their dissent from all the Antients and from St. Augustin himself , the manner of their proceedings , in carrying on that business against the Remonstrants , were enough alone to beget an aversation to their doctrin . Take it in their words , who had most reason to be sensible of the injury . Scrip. Hist Rem . ( mihi p. 211. ) Where they refer us to their Historica Narratio , & Antidotum , in which they say , iniquitas ( Dordrac . Synodi ) imprimis autem fraudes , imposturae , & aequivocationes in Canonibus Synodicis ad horrendam illam Absolutae Praedestinationis sententiam colore aliquo fucandam & incrustandam usurpatae , clarissime deteguntur . Tilenus , who was present there , an eye and an ear witness of those transactions , could discover something : but he spares you . And yet he cannot but tell you , that the many pittiful shifts , and thin distinctions and horrid expressions , which he observed to be frequently made use of , by persons of that perswasions have contributed very much to the rectifying of his judgement . Would it not startle a man , that were well in his wits , sadly to consider that opinion so stifly maintained by Piscator , Maccovius , and diverse others , viz. a a Pisc . ad amic . dupl . Vorsti . p. 175. in summâse tueti fatetur Deum absolutè decrevisse ab aetérno & efficaciter . ne quispiam hominum plus boni faciat , quam reipsa facit , aut plus mali omittat , quàm reipsâ omittit . See the doctrine , of these Divines recited , Act. Synodal . par. 2. pa. 36 , 37. That God hath so predetermined the will of every man to every action , that he cannot possibly do any more good than he doth , nor omit more evil than he omitteth ? What sad inferences may be drawn , and properly enough from this doctrine ? will it not ( in the consequence of it ) take off the wheels of duty , and furnish the careless with an excuse , and lay all sin at the door of the most Holy God ? Some of you indeed , to decline the odium of this assertion , do tell us the quite contrary , and affirm roundly that men may doe more good , and commit less evil if they will ? but ( see the fallacy ) they hold withall , that for them to will either , the decree of God hath made impossible . You may as well say , that a dogg can fly , and a horse become an excellent Philosopher , if they will . You cannot but take notice when you are treating of these points , how your doctrines and uses do interfere , and when it hath cost you much noise and sweat to confute , what you account an errour , in the doctrine how you are sain to court the very same opinion to come in , to help you , at a dead lift , in your exhortation . You deliver it for sound DIVINITY , that Christ died only for a few , and yet you vehemently urge all men to believe in him , which they cannot rationally do unless they be perswaded of the contrary . Have you heard the Preacher inveigh against Apostacy , and yet almost in the same breath , tell his Audience the Elect can never fall away , and the rest never stood ? What is this but to take away the very subject of that sin ? What construction have I known some men put upon those particles , in those Texts , [ Let him that thinketh he standeth 1 Cor. 10. 12. ] and [ What he seemeth to have Luk. 8. 18. ] as if they signified nothing but a bare appearance or misconceit , when 't is most evident , they are either a redundance in the phrase , or imply reality ? Hebr. 4. 1. One while you cry O 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ! and declaim against prying into God's secrets ; anon you are as definitive , as if you had been of God's Counsel , and seem to be angry that others should pretend to have as good a key to open that Cabinet , as your selves . You ascribe much to God's Omniscience , and yet you will not allow him to see future events but by the perspectives and opticks of such decrees as yourselves fancy him to have made to that purpose . * * Vide infra ad lit . E. ideo praesciverit , quia decreto suo sic ordinaverat . You set up his Sovereignty to confront his other attributes , viz. his Justice and Mercy , and think you do much honour him in assigning him a power b b Fateor & ●pse , quod ad communem sentiendi consuetudinem crudum nimis hoc videri ; Deum posse blasphemiam , perjurium , mendacium &c. imperare : - quodotamen verissimum est in se &c. vid. Szydlovium apud Steph. Curcellaeum , de jure Dei in Creaturas . p. 25 , 26. This is bound up with Armin. Examen Thesium Gomari in octavo , of small price , and great profit . to Command Perjury , Lying , Blasphemy , and a prerogative to cast poor innocent babes into Hell torments ; a piece of doctrine which the great Patriarch certainly never dreamt of , when he expostulated with his Maker , and said , Shall not the Judge of all the world do right ? [ Gen. 18. 25. ] What think you of that passage , which an honest ear-witness told me from the mouth of one of your brethren , that God deals by Reprobates , as the Rat-Catcher does by those Vermine , who stops up all their avenues and Passages , and then hunts them with his doggs that he may provoke them to fly in his face ? Do such expressions become the pulpit , or that reverence which should govern our thoughts , when we speak of the Divine Majesty ? But this is one of your excellent artifices to salve the justice of Gods decree of Reprobation , and because you dishonour him in the first act of it , [ the Praeterition of those forlorn wretches , without any respect to sin , ] you think to make him amends in the later , by saying in effect , c c Ant. Thesius ad Summ. Baronis ex Piscatore , Reprobatio facta est nullâ habitâ peccati ratione : Idem ib. ex Wittak . Cygn . Cant. p. 57. Ibi demum infinitum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 & abyssus est divinae discretionis , quando sine peccati ratione quidam reprobantur . that he does necessitate them to sin , that he may seem not , to condemn them without justice . d d Zanc. de nat. Dei . l. 5. c. 2. de praed. part . 4. Resp. ad postrem . arg. pa. 743 , 744. Quia reprobatio immutabilis est &c. damus reprobos necessitate peccandi eoque & pereundi ex hac Dei ordinatione constringi ; atque ita constringi , ut neque aut non peccare & perire . Et Mox , Non dubitamus ergo confiteri &c. vide . For thus , some of your party say , his wisdome hath contrived it , and his will decreed it , and his power brings it to pass insuperably . I know you will shift this off , by saying that the Reprobates sin voluntarily . But will this plea more alleviate , or aggravate the cruelty ? That holy man could say , It is better to be in Hell without sin , than in Heaven with it . If a man be cast into the Goale without fault , he carries the comforts of a good Conscience to help to bear the burden of his durance ; But when his Judge contrives to draw him in to be a partner in some crime , that the guilt and remordency of his own Conscience may make an accession to his misery , this leaves him nothing to reflect upon to mitigate his torments . I pray , by whose decree comes it to pass that the soul of the Reprobate is polluted at the first . e e Calv. Instit. l. 3. c. 23. Sect. 7. Unde factum est , ut tot gentes , unà cum liberis eorum infantibus aeternae morti involveres lapsus Adae absque remedio , nisi quia Deo ita visum est ? — Decretum quidem horribile , fateor : inficiare tamen nemo poterit quin praesciverit Deus quem exitum habiturus esset homo , antequam ipsum conderet , & ideo praesciverit , quia decreto suo sic ordinarat . Et in responsione ad Calumn . Nebul. ad artic. 1. Interea hanc meamesse doctrinam agnosco , Non solo Dei pern issu , sed arcano etiam Consilio lapsum fuisse Adam , omnesque Posteros suo lapsu in aeternum interitum traxisse . Et paulò post : Quod si Deum naturae legibus subjicere tibi propositum est , injustitiae eum damnabis , quod ob unius hominis culpam omnes aeternae mortis reatu tenemur impliciti . Peccavit unus , omnes ad poenam trahuntur ; neque id modo , sed ex unius vitio omnes Contagionem Contrahunt , ut Corrupti & mortiferâ labe infecti nascantur . Quid tu ad hoc bone Censor ? An Deum crudelitatis damnabis , quia suos omnes faetus praecipitaverit in exitium , unius hominis lapsu ? Et si enim se & su●s perdidit Adam , corruptionem tamen , & reatum arcano Dei judicio adscribere necesse est ; quia nihil ad nos unius hominis Culpa , nisi nos coelestis judex aeterno exitio addiceret . He hath also these words : Liberi arbitrii fuisse dicunt [ Adam ] ut fortunam ipse sibi fingeret : Deum vero nihil destinasse nisi ut pro merito eum tractaret . Tam frigidum Commentum ( So he calls it ) Si recipitur , ubi eri● illa Dei omnipotentia , quà secundum arcanum consilium , quod aliunde non pendet , omnia Moderatur ? Vide Iocum . Instit , ubi suprà . Their 1. sin comes to them only by imputation ( as diverse of your party do contend ) and that drawes all the rest after it by an unavoidable and invincible necessity , as they acknowledge likewise . Upon which account , God should have been less severe , if he had cast them into hell innocent , and without any sin at all , as , you say , he Cast them off , or past them by , at first , without any respect at all to it . But you have one reserve behinde , by the strength whereof you are confident , after all these disputes and foils , to win the field at last . Upon the matter you say , Gods decrees could be no other than they are ; For Decreta & liberae Dei actiones sunt ipse Deus : The Decrees of God are God himself , and therefore to make a conditional decree , were to make a conditional God , and if Election or Reprobation should have respect to any qualifications in their objects , this would amount to a denial of Gods Independency . And having resolved justification to be an immanent act of God , and consequently God himself : it follows , you say , from the same Topick or principle , that it must be from all eternity , and that mens sins are remitted before they be commited , and that it is as impossible for all the most horrid sins in the world , to cause any interruption of a mans justification , as for Almighty God to become immutable in his nature and being ; that faith serves not as a condition to qualifie us for our actual justification before God , but only for a meane to procure the sense and feeling thereof in our selves . These opinions with many others of like import , you say , do unavoidably follow from that one position , which you think as certain , as if you found it ( totidem verbis ) in the Gospel . But that the very foundation , upon which you build so many gros errours , is it selfe unsound , you may learn from your own Gomarus , who was once of that opinion with you , but being afterwards awakned to a more clear sight and mature judgment in this point , he hath left arguments enough upon record in his own writings to confute you ; to which purpose I shall subjoyn his own words presently .

Gomar Tom. 3. Disput. 9. Thes. 28. & seqq.

XXVIII . Ex qua , efficientis decreti . explicatione , gravis illa & ad veri Dei notitiam ac cultum pertinens , controversia ; An decretum Dei , sit Deus , nec ne ? comomodissimè dirimi potest . Siquidem spectata , cum rei , tum Dei , natura , negationis veritas , perspicuè demonstratur .

XXIX . Nam à natura rei haec demonstratio est ; Nulla actio , à consilio & voluntate Dei liberè agente dependens , est Deus : Deus enim , à se , naturâ est : non veró , à consilio ac voluntate libere agente , dependet : Atqui decretum Dei , est actio , à consilio & voluntate Dei , liberè agente dependens : Ergo decretum Dei , non est Deus .

XXX . A natura verò Dei ( ut causae efficientis decreti ) altera etiam invicta demonstratio promanat ; Deus est ens , absolutè necessarium : Decretum Dei non est ens absolutè necessarium . Ergo decretum Dei , non est Deus .

XXXI . Ex quibus etiam ( ut alia omittamus ) clarissimum , aeternitatis Dei & decreti discrimen , elucet . Nam ut Dei existentia sit aeternitas ejusdem , absolutè necessaria est . Contra verò , et decreti existentia , à causa , liberrimè agente , dependet , sic ejusdem aeternitas merè arbitraria est : ut quae sic est , ut non esse potuerit : quemadmodum ex superioribus constat . Ideoque decretum , non 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , seu eadem prorsus ratione , qua Deus ; sed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , aeternum appellatur . Ac propterea ex eo , decreti deitas , non firmatur ; sed evertitur .

XXXII . Neque tamen , essentiae divinae simplicitatem ( qualem Sacrae literae ei attribuunt ) ideo violari , si non omne quod in Deo est , sit Deus , ex actionibus personalibus ( generatione Filii à solo Patre , & spiratione Spiritus sancti , ab utroque ) evincitur .

XXXIII . Eas enim , sic in Deo esse , ut tamen , illaesa illius simplicitate , non sint Deus , sole clarius apparet . Essentia enim Dei , absolute ac simpliciter , communis est tribus personis : contra verò actio personalis , ut generatio silii , non est absolutè & simpliciter communis tribus personis ; sed propria certae : Engo actio personalis , non est essentia Dei . Deinde , Deus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 praedicatur , de singulis personis divinis : actio personalis Dei , non praedicatur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 de singulis personis divinis : Ergo ea non est Deus .