A Defense of the Principles of Love, Part 2 · Exception 41
EXCEPT. XLI. Answered. HavingBeda etiam, …ist. Eccl. l. 1. c. 9. Maximus vir str…n…us & p…obus at que Augusto dignus, nisi contra Sacramenti fidem per tyrannidem emersisset, &c. Invitus propemodum ab exercitu c…eatus Imperator, &c. my self been bred up under some Tutors, and with acquaintance, that kept up a reputation of great learning and wisdom, by crying down the Puritans as unlearned fellows, when themselves were more unlearned than I will here express, on the by I said that I had known such, and also that there were some such now, who having clumsie wits that cannot feel so fine a thred, nor are capable of mastering difficulties, do censure what they understand not: And that many that should be conscious of the dulness and ignorance of their fumbling, unfurnished brains, have no way to keep up the reputation of their wisdom, but to tell men, O such a one hath dangerous errors, &c.] To this he saith, that if Ben. Johnson or Hudibras had writ it,—but for Learned Mr. B. mortified Mr. B. judicious Mr. Baxter, to fall into such levity, will I hope warn all to take heed how they over-value themselves, left God in judgement leave them to themselves, as he hath evidently done this poor man, &c. And he concludeth with an invitation of me, [to a second and more seasonable retractation.]
Answ. I heartily thank you for your pity, and for any zeal of God, though it be not according to knowledg; And for my retractation, I suppose you would have called it a third. You quarrelled not with my suspension of my Aphorisms of Justification. And for my retractation of my Political Aphorisms, I have no more to say to you and others of your mind, but that you would better consult your own peace and other mens, and your innocency too, if you would meddle with your own matters, or with that only which concerneth you.
And to conclude, 1. I unfeignedly forgive you all the revilings and other injuries of this your Book.
2. I intreat you to review what is against God and his Church, against Faith, Love, and Peace, and to repent of it in time.
3. I beseech you to give over this pernicious flattery of Professors, and daubing over their ignorance, injudiciousness, pride, and divisions▪
4. I intreat you to be more impartial towards dissenters, and let not your Judgment be blinded by your passions.
5. To help you to impartiality, I beseech you consider how you tempt the Bishops to think it no harm, to silence men that bold and do such things as you have vented and done in this book.
6. I beseech you to that end, better to study your self, and to know what manner of spirit you are of. Besides all the intimated Untruths, here are 30 or 31 gross Untruths in matter of fact which I have set before you. For my self, it is not the least part of my Non-conformity, That I dare not lie, by publick Declaration to say, I Assent and Consent where I do not. Now shall a man aggravate the crime of such things as these, and yet do what you do himself?
7. I do solemnly profess to you, that I feel no malice against you, much less a desire of your hurt in all this that I say which is against your Judgment, but an unfeigned love to you, and tenderness of your person.
8. Lastly, I again protest against the injustice of any one that shall charge your Opinions and Miscarriages on the Non-conformists; when I know not two Presbyterians or meer Independants of your mind; though too many so called in England, have enclined to unjust separations. And we are no more concerned in the opinions of them that are not Protestants, though they also go under the name of Non-conformists, than in the opinions of the Papists, who are called Recusants.
And to Conclude, I assure you, that if you write any more at the rates as you have done in this Antidote, I shall give you the last word, as not intending to confute you, if you shall maintain that Light is darkness; nor plead any more a cause against you, which needeth not much argumentation as to sober judgements, but as to interests, passions, and byassed wills, which are otherwise moved than by truth and reason, and have but one eare; And I fear not to encourage you before-hand by telling you, that you shall see that I have somewhat else to do. For it is a truth that I tell you with grief, that he that will take out of your book, 1. All the false doctrines. 2. All the gross untruths. 3. And all the impotent revilings, together with the professed end or design, to undeceive them that have a good opinion of me; will leave so little, as may contained in a very narrow room. And he that seeketh in it for any thing that savoureth much of Judgement, Repentance, Love, Unity, or Peace, must have other eyes than mine, or be disappointed. And I wonder not at that, when the sound Principles of Love, Unity and Peace are the things that have cast you into this displeasure, and which you write against. For where ever the Principles of Christian Love and Peace seem intolerable, there are such contrary principles as will bring forth contrary effects, which will prove indeed intolerable in the end.
As there is nothing in this World which God doth design more gloriously to manifest and magnifie than his LOVE, and nothing which he so much obligeth mankind to, especially Believers, as the LOVE of Him and one another, so there is nothing which the great enemy of God and man doth so much hate, and seek to extinguish; fighting by many sorts of weapons neither against small nor great, in comparison of Divine and Christian LOVE. And his common way is to present the persons to us as UNLOVELY, or Odious, whom he would have us hate. And as their own predominant Carnality and Impiety doth give him full advantage with the ungodly, to make first that Holyness which is contrary to them odious, and consequently holy persons, and God himself; so with those that really Love God, the Tempter findeth this double advantage to make their brethren seem odious to them.
1. The great weakness and error of their judgements, sometimes about the Things in difference, and sometimes about the Persons through unacquaintedness; whereby, either through mistake of the Cause or of the Man, they easily deny or extenuate all the amiable Goodness which is in him, and think that the Love of God, and of Truth and Godliness obligeth them to hate their brother, as a supposed enemie to both. And yet while they openly declare to the World, an Aversation and a want of Love, and a desire to make the person seem odious to others, by their obloquy, detraction and backbiting accusations they make themselves believe that all this is indeed no effect of Hatred or Malice, but of Love, because they can still say, that they desire unfeignedly that the man were of their mind and way, which they call a desiring of his Conversion and Conviction, and of his own and the Churches good. And thus not only the hereticks of his time, but the very Jews were Lovers of Paul, and of other Apostles: No doubt but they desired that which they thought was their Conversion and their good; And what hatred so great that may not have such a cover; not only a feigned pretence, but a real, though erroneous desire. Gardiner and Bonner exprest the like, and no doubt, did really wish the Martyrs had been of their mind; And no doubt, but many that wish'd this, thought they wish'd but the persons and the Churches good. The burning zeal which hath so much depopulated much of the World, was in many a zeal of God, though not according to knowledge. He that can transform himself into an Angel of Light, and his Ministers into Ministers of Righteousness and free Grace, no doubt, can teach them to persecute men in Love, and to excommunicate them in Love: To revile others in Love, to hinder the Preaching of the Gospel in Love, to afflict, or to Divide the Church in Love. Alas, how much is the Serpent too subtile, for the understanding that trusteth to it self, and is not illuminated and guided by the spirit of Light and Love: How easily can he hide from us, that in our brother which we should Love, and magnifie and multiply his faults into odious crimes, and transform his very virtues into vices, and his rightest judgement into errors. In this, brother, I thank God that my principles give me that advantage of you, that I think you not odious, but weak.
2. The other yet greater advantage that Satan findeth, to kill the Love of most, is SELFISHNESS; one selfish man thinks that he may well account him bad and odious, who is against his worldly wealth and honour: And another thinks him bad and odious, who is against his Learned or Religious reputation, and would detect his ignorance or vice. Another thinks him bad and odious, who is against his Opinions, and the words or manner of worshipping God, which he is confident are best; And he that hath once suffered spiritual pride to extoll his own understanding and his piety, will make that so far the measure of his censures, that all shall be thought so far to swerve from Truth and Godliness as they swerve from him. But if we should suffer much by others, and that for a cause which we take to be the cause of God, how easie is it for selfishness to stir up those Passions, which shall blind our understandings, so far as to see no good at all scarce in them that we suffer by, or to extenuate all that is Lovely in them; yea, to think hardly of almost all others of their judgement and party, for their sakes: And if we think we may once call them Persecutors, yea, or but such as Conform to the Persecutors waies, we think it …yeth almost any thing which we say … to make them odious: As th…se on the … side think they are justified in all … may say or do against m…n i… …hey ….
… are men from Loving their enemies, … …ssing them that curse them, and doing good to them that hate them, and praying for them that despightfully use them, (or falsely accuse them,) and persecute them, that they are hardly kept from hating those that Love them, and cursing those that bless them, and hurting those that would do them good, and falsely accusing and despightfully using and persecuting those that pray for them: And yet lest they should not be flattered in their sin, and that yet they may judge themselves the children of our heavenly father, they will do all this as Acts of Love, to the Church and Truth, and to the persons souls; and will Love them, as is said, with a hurting, a reviling, a slandering, a cursing, and a hating and malicious Love.
O that the God of Love would pitty and undeceive the selfish and passionate sort of professed Christians! and teach them to know what manner of spirit they are of! O that he would rebuke the evil spirits that are gone fo…th! The spirit of Cove…o…sness and Pride: … Hypocrisie, and Religious Imagery! O… Self-conceitedness! Of Malice and Wrath! Of Back-biting and False accusing, before that both Christianity and Humanity be turned into Devilisme, (2. Tim. 3. 3. foreign,) and earth be more conformable to Hell! O that the spirit of Light would make us of one mind, and the spirit of Love would mortifie both mens malignant and religious passions, contentiousness and malice, and cause us to Love our Neighbours as our selves! That as the envious and striving wisdom from beneath, hath caused Confusion, and every evil work, so the wisdom from above, which is first pure, and then peaceable, gentle, and easie to be intreated, might bring forth Mercy and good fruits, without partiality and hypocrisie; that we might edifie the body of Christ in Love, (Eph. 4. 16.) and frustrate the hopes of the enemies of our peace, who wait for our total dissolution, and triumph already in our Divisions, (when it is their own Mill which grindeth us into powder,) But God can make their Oven to bake us into a more Christian and salubrious Consistency, (that I may use Ignatius his …llegory,) but it must be first by …ermenting us with unfeigned Love; and then we shall be Lovely in his …ight, and the God of Love and Peace will be with us, 2 Cor. 13. 11.
Amen.