The Protestant Religion Truly State and Justified, Title page – To the reader
THE PROTESTANT Religion TRUELY STATED AND JUSTIFIED: By the late Reverend Mr. RICHARD BAXTER, Prepared for the Preſs ſome time before his Death.
Whereunto is added, By way of Preface, ſome Account of the Learned Author: By Mr. Danel Williams, and Mr. Matthew Sylveſter.
LONDON, Printed for John Salusbury at the Riſing Sun over againſt the Royal Exchange in Cornhill, 1692.
TO THE READER.
THE Author of the following Tract is the Reverend Mr. Baxter, now enjoying that Glory he ſo converſed with in his mortal ſtate. Among his many Excellencies, his Love to God, to Peace, and Truth, was not the leaſt eminent. The laſt rendred him averſe to Logomachies and confuſion; well knowing, How vain all eriſtick debates be, if the Queſtion be not truly and plainly ſtated. This Book will give thee a Specimen of that peculiar accuracy in this kind, as even determineth the Controverſie before an Argument be produced.
It is not to be concealed, that ſome complain of the multitude of his diſtinctions; but ſuch may conſider, that the Comprehenſiveneſs of his Mind accommodated things to the most ſubtil, as well as the leſs intelligent Reader▪ and provided againſt future Errours, as well as the miſtakes he attends to in the particular points before him.
Indeed he was a man born for more laſting ſervice than one Age; yea, his Name will be greateſt, when impartial inquiſitiveneſs after Truth ſhall render men painful; and ſad experience of the miſchief of narrow and dividing Principles hath forced the confident to mutual allowances, and well ſtudied determinations. But how unhappy was he (or rather ſuch as miſtake him) that he is oft charged with deſerting this or that Truth, becauſe he underſtood it in a conſiſtency with it ſelf, and ſuch other truths wherewith it was connected. As if Ort hodoxie muſt be ſacrificed when-ever a Doctrine is made intelligible; or the choice of terms more apt to confute the erroneous, leſs obnoxious to miſtakes, and moſt expreſſive of digeſted thoughts, ought to alarm all ſuch, who ſeem capable to know little more of Truth than the ſound of oft repeated Phraſes.
Nay, as more convincing what treatment any man muſt expect, who ſets himſelf to heal a blind depraved World; The cleareſt repreſentation of his mind will not ſilence the ignorant from charging him with thoſe Errours which he moſt expreſly diſowns. Three of the moſt material are denied and confuted by Mr. Baxter in this very Treatiſe, viz. the moral freedom of the Will of an unregenerate man, conditional Election, and the merit of good Works as oppoſed to, or coordinate with the Righteouſneſs of Chriſt. Neither must it be over-look'd, that it was his Concern in this Book above any other, to ſpeak as near to theſe points as his Judgment could admit; and in other Treatiſes he more largely declares againſt them.
1. Of Free-Will, p. 87. he tells us, he denies that mans Will in his unregenerate ſtate is free from vitious inclination, or from the conduct of an erring Intellect, or from the Biaſs of Senſuality, &c. 2. He denies that the Will thus vitiated, will ever deliver it ſelf without Gods Spirit and Grace, it being rather inclined to grow worſe. 3 As that degree of common Grace, which is in the unregenerate, is but ſuch as conſiſteth with the predominant Reign of Sin; ſo the Will of every unregenerate man in that pravity, is as a Slave to its own vitious dispoſitions, errour, and temptations. Who can ſay more againſt Free-Will? Obj. But he affirms the natural freedom of the Will. Anſw. He doth ſo, and explains it, p. 84, 85, 86, 91. and it is no more than that a Sinner is a man ſtill, tho' he be depraved; and he is a liberal, and not a forced Agent in what he acteth.
Obj. But he ſaith, p. 88. That by common Grace a man may do more good and leſs evil than he doth. Anſw. It's true, he ſaith ſo. But, p. 85. he diſtinguiſheth between common and ſpecial Grace, and denies that we can do that by common Grace, which is proper to ſpecial Grace: and ſaith, men have but juſt ſo much, and no more moral Liberty, and power, as they have of Gods Grace to relieve their vitiated Wills. See p. 91.
2. Of Conditional Election, p. 99. He condemns the Notion called Scientia Media: p. 100. he ſaith, God decreeth not mens Salvation, or Sanctification, meerly on Foreſight of our Faith: but decreeth our Faith it ſelf. Sin he permitteth, but Faith he effecteth, and decreeth to effect: and p. 101. he ſhews, how God decreeth both the means and end. And tho' God juſtly denieth his Grace to many that forfeit it by wilful reſiſtance and contempt; yet he takes not the Forfeiture of the Elect. Yea he adds, That he is deceived, and wrongeth God, that feigneth him to ſend his Son to redeem the World, and his Word to call them, and his Spirit to renew them; and all this at random, not knowing whether it may not all be loſt; or leaving it chiefly to the Free-Will of them, whoſe Wills are contrarily inclined and vitiated; whether Chriſt and all his preparations ſhall be loſt: p. 102. he approveth the plain Chriſtian who holds that our deſtruction is of our ſelves, but our help and Salvation of God; and God is the firſt and chief Cauſe of all good, and men and Devils of all evil.
Obj. But he will not ſay, that God hath by his Will and Decree ordained from Eternity that men ſhall ſin, or will and chuſe evil, p. 100, & 101. God doth not decree that men ſhall ſin, that they may be damned; for ſin is no work of God, &c.
Anſw. But yet he ſaith, p. 100. that,
1. God decreeth who ſhall de damned for ſin.
2. That he foreſaw mens ſins, not as an idle Spectator, but a willing Suſpender of his own Acts, ſo far as to leave Sinners to their ſelf-determining Wills. Reader, if thou art a man of thought, thou ſeeſt Mr. Baxter is clear for abſolute Election, tho' he did not think it neceſſary for the vindication thereof to judge, that God abſolutely decreed men to ſin, that he might damn them: it's enough, that it is from Gods Sovereign Will, that many are not elected; it would be an eaſe to the damned, that they could juſtly ſay, God decreed us to all our ſins, that he might bring us under all this puniſhment, a Non-election to Efficacious Grace, and a poſitive Decree to damn ſuch for ſin, which themſelves would chooſe, beſt ſuited with his Conceptions of Gods Goodneſs, Truth, and Purity.
3. Of the Merit of good Works: Note, Reader, that he is not fond of the word Merit, but his Adverſary leads him to the uſe of it, as thou mayſt ſee p. 96. But let us hear what his ſence is of this point: p. 119. All Saints are ſaved by the full ſufficient Merits of Chriſt, and have none at all of their own, unleſs the amiableneſs of Grace freely given them, be called their Merit; and, p. 95. we do with Paul renounce all Works of our own, that are thought to make the reward to be of Debt, and not of Grace; and that are ſet in the leaſt oppoſition, or competition with Chriſts Merits, or in any place, ſave commanded ſubordination to him: nay, he ſays he firmly holds, That Works done with a conceit of obliging God by Merit in commutative Juſtice, or as conceited ſufficient without a Saviour, and the pardon of their failings, do more further their Damnation, than Salvation. Yea, p. 97. none but Chriſt merited of ſtrict diſtributive Juſtice, according to the Law of Innocency, nor by any Works that will ſave from the charge of ſin, and deſert of death. And that thou mayeſt know what he aſcribes to our Graces, Holineſs, or Works: He tells us, p. 119. we mean by Merit but the moral aptitude for the reward of a free Benefactor, who alſo is Rector, when the ordering of a free gift ſuſpended on official conditions, is ſapientially made a means of procuring obedience. This one Clauſe, if underſtood (and he is a bold Traducer of ſo great a Man, that cannot underſtand words ſo plain) will acquit Mr. B. and inform thee of the place of all Goſpel-Conditions. 1. All Gospel-bleſſings are the free gifts of Chriſt as Benefactor, they have their being without any regard to what we do, therefore nothing in man is a jot of the righteouſneſs or merit for which they are beſtowed. 2. Chriſt is our Rector or Governor, he will rule us as well as be beneficent to us. 3. As a means to incline us to comply with him as Rector, he ſuspends theſe bleſſings on terms of what he makes our Duty; and wiſely orders them as Motives to our Obedience. 4. Any Act of our Obedience is no more than a conformity to that Order of his, and doth not hinder all we receive from him to be of free gift.
Obj. But he ſaith, that good Works are neceſſary to Salvation.
Anſw. He doth ſo, and how few deny it? But, 1. Not if a man dye as ſoon as he be converted; but if he have time, p. 94. 2. Their rewardableneſs is by Gods free Grace, and Promiſe, for the ſake of Chriſts meritorious Righteouſneſs, Sacrifice, and Interceſſion; their imperfection being pardoned, and their holineſs amiable through him: Theſe are his words, p. 76. 3. He ſaith; Not without or as a ſupplement to the Sacrifice, Merits, and free Grace of Chriſt our Saviour, and Faith in him, p. 93, 75. And we give our ſelves to Chriſt, as our Prophet, Prieſt, and King, to be ſaved by his Merits, p. 94.4. He ſaith, our beſt Works will not ſave a man from the charge of ſin, and deſert of death, p. 97. 5. He denies that external Obedience is neceſſary to our admiſſion into a juſtified ſtate, as he ſhews in the Thief on the Croſs. And when he ſaith, we are juſtified by our Faith, Godlineſs, and Works; Juſtification is not taken by him for the pardon of ſin, which he aſcribes wholly to the Merits of Chriſt; but he takes Juſtification there for our acquittance againſt the accuſation that we are Infidels, Ungodly, and Hypocrites. And ſaith, that againſt the charge, that we are Sinners, deſerving Hell, we are juſtified by Chriſt believed in, p. 94. His meaning is plainly this, Chriſt alone by his Merits forgives our ſins, and purchaſed eternal Life for us. But ſeeing that Christ hath promiſed to forgive none but the penitent Believer, and declared he will deſtroy all impenitent, unbelieving, ungodly ſinners: Now he thinks, that we muſt be truly acquitted, that we are not ſuch, or we ſhall not be ſaved by Chriſt: Yea, he thinks, that when God juſtifies a man for Chriſts Merits, he doth alſo declare a man to be a true Believer; becauſe he will juſtifie no other, and will juſtifie all ſuch; and when God admits a man into Glory, he doth even thereby adjudge him a believing, penitent, holy, and upright man; and free from the charge of being an infidel, hypocritical, unholy Enemy; againſt whom the Gospel denounceth Vengeance and bars relief. Let theſe things be weighed, and none will wonder that he ſhould ſay on his ſick bed, No works, I will leave out works, if he grant me the other: And truly, in health none ſpake more humbly of his own Works than he uſed to do. But becauſe ſome confident weak perſons have inferred from that paſſage, that he changed his Principles when he came to dye; we ſhall inform thee, that after that paſſage was utter'd by him, even the night before his death, Mr. Baxter was asked, whether he was of the ſame ſentiments, as formerly, about Juſtification? He anſwered, That he had told the World ſufficiently his thoughts about it by ſeveral Writings, and otherwiſe; and thither he referr'd them. And after a little pauſe, with his Eyes lifted up to Heaven, he cryed, Lord, pity, pity, pity the Ignorance of this poor City. And in the time of his ſickneſs he declared to us and others, that his thoughts in theſe things were the ſame as formerly.
Our regards to Mr. B. force the Publication of what we here inſert; tho' we would not be judged ſo happy, as to arrive at his Light, to lead us to a full Agreement with all his Sentiments. As to this Book, we wiſh there be not ſtill great need of ſuch helps againſt Popery; and we are aſſured it will give more light than ſome greater Volumes on this Subject: That God may render it uſeful, ſhall be the Prayer of
Thy Servants in the Goſpel, Daniel Williams. Matthew Sylveſter.
Proteſtant Religion Truly Stated, and Juſtified, &c.
THE Deceiver calleth his Book The Touchſtone of the Reformed Goſpel, as if he owned a Goſpel diſtinct from that of the Reformed Church. And he undertakes to name fifty two points, which the Proteſtants affirm, but tells you not where, nor proveth his affirmation, but you muſt believe him as a Touchſtone of Truth.
Dec. The firſt Proteſtant affirmation feigned, is, That there is not in the Church One, and that an infallible Rule for underſtanding the Holy Scripture, and conſerving of Ʋnity in matters of Faith.
Anſw. A meer Lye, if he mean that this is any part of Proteſtant Doctrine; but he may find as crude confuſed words, in ſome ignorant perſon that is called a Proteſtant.
The Reformed Catholicks hold, that there is in the Church one, and that an infallible Rule for underſtanding the holy Scripture, and conſerving of Ʋnity in matters of Faith.] And that Rule is, [The Evidence of its own meaning as inherent in its ſelf, diſcernible or intelligible by men prepared and inſtructed, by competent Teaching and Study, and the neceſſary help of Gods Grace and Spirit.] This is that Rule.
But the Reformed believe not 1. That there is any Rule by which ignorant, prejudiced, heretical, wilfully blind, wicked, uncapable men can underſtand ſuch Scripture, as they are hereby undiſpoſed to underſtand, unleſs by a great change made on themſelves. Nor that any Prince can make a Statute, which on Man can miſunderſtand, abuſe or violate.
2. Nor that Men can underſtand it without teaching, and that ſound teaching, nor by hearkening to Erroneous Deceivers.
3. Nor that the Slothfull, that will not meditate on it, can underſtand it, tho' they have the ſoundeſt teachers.
4. Nor that Novices can underſtand as much in a ſhort time and ſmall Study, as aged long exerciſed Students.
5. Nor that wicked proud men, that forfeit Gods help, can ſavingly underſtand it without his Grace and Spirit.
6. Nor that any man, how holy ſoever, perfectly underſtandeth every word in the Scriptures.
7. Nor that a perſon may not be fallible, and deceived, that yet knoweth which is the Infallible Rule: It maketh not all Infallible that know it.
8. Nor that any Church, or any Number of Chriſtians on Earth have ſuch a Ʋnity as conſiſteth in perfect knowledge and agreement in all matters of Faith, that is, of Scripture-record from God.
9. Nor that God hath tyed this Infallible Regulation to the Biſhop of Rome, or made him this Rule; ſeeing no ſuch word of God is extant, and General Councils have condemned Popes of Hereſie, Infidelity, Ignorance, and moſt brutiſh luſt and wickedneſs.
10. Nor that the Judgment of the major part of Chriſtians or Biſhops is the Infallible Rule; for 1. The Papal part are but a third part: And they will hardly believe that the other two or three parts (Abiſſines, Egyptians, Syrians, Armenians, Georgians, Circaſſians, Greeks, Muſcovites, Proteſtants) are the Infallible rule. 2. And if they met in an equal Council, they that are moſt out of the Council, would be the moſt in it. And Epheſ. 2. and many others now condemned, have had the Major part. And Chryſoſtom that thought that [few Biſhops or Prieſts were ſaved,] thought not the greater number to be the infallible Rule.
11. And Pope and Councils agreeing are not that Infallible rule; for two fallibles makes not one infallible, nor two Knaves one honeſt Man. Popes and Councils have oft condemned one another; yea, they have oft agreed in evil, as did that at Laterane the 4th. under Innocent the 3d. that decreed the depoſition of Princes, that exterminate not all that renounce not all Senſes and Humanity; for thoſe that have led into the Churches of the Weſt all the horrid Errors of Rome, to pretend yet that they are the Infallible rule of underſtanding Scripture, is Impudency quite beyond that of Satan himſelf.
12. If this Deceiver hold what is contrary to his accuſed Proteſtant Opinion, he muſt condemn the Church of Rome, that agreeth not of the ſenſe of a thouſand Texts of Scripture, Horſeloads of Commentators, and Cartloads of School-contenders, contradicting one another: And he that will ſay that all revealed in Scripture is not matter of Faith, reproacheth God, as revealing that which is not to be believed. All matters of Faith are not eſſential to Chriſtianity, but ſome are only for the perfection of it: All is matter of Faith that we are bound to believe as Divine Revelation. All the Scripture is ſuch, thô the ignorant muſt have time and help to underſtand it, and explicitely receive it. The Popes themſelves (e. g. Sixtus Quintus, and Clem. 8.) have differed in many hundred Texts about the very Latine Tranſlation. Many hundred Volumes of Controverſies among them, tell us how far they are from ending Controverſies, and agreeing in all matters of Faith: But in ſo much as is neceſſary to Salvation, all ſerious believing Proteſtants, or Reformed Catholicks, are agreed.
Now, to trouble the Reader with the proof of any of theſe twelve particulars, would be but to abuſe Time and him; as to prove that no Man is perfect, and he that ſaith he hath no ſin, is a Lyar: and to prove that the grand Deceivers of the Church are not Infallible, and that Gods Word is not unevident and unintelligible, and that ſuch Villains as their own Councils and Hiſtorians ſay many Popes were, ſpeaks not more intelligibly and wiſely than God; and that the Volumes of Canons and Prieſts Writings are not of more evident meaning than Gods Word; theſe need proof to none but thoſe that are uncapable of it.
What Rule is there for the Infallible underſtanding the ſence of all our Statute Laws? none but what I mentioned. The intelligible evidence in the words, (what elſe are words uſed for) to men duely inſtructed and ſtudyed. The Judges govern by deciding particular cauſes by the Law, but are not an Infallible Rule for all Men to underſtand the true ſence of the Law by, (while Judges and Parliaments differ from each other, as Popes and Councils did.)
The Texts cited by the Deceiver, are ſo vilely abuſed, as if he purpoſed but to make ſport by taking Gods Word in vain.
Point 2. Accuſed, [That in matters of Faith we muſt not rely on the Judgment of the Church, and of her Paſtors, but only on the written word.
Anſ. The Deceiver would Cheat the Ignorant by Confuſion; and belying the Reformed Catholicks: for,
1. It's falſe, that the Reformed hold any of this undiſtinguiſhing Aſſertion. They diſtinguiſh between humane Faith and Divine. (And I hope, God and Man may be diſtinguiſhed.) They ſay that it muſt be a Divine Faith (that is, The Belief of Gods word for the Infallible Veracity of God) that muſt ſave us, and not the belief of Man alone: But that a humane Faith is needful in Subſerviency to a Divine. God hath appointed humane Teachers to the Flocks, and Oportet diſcentem Credere; He will never learn, that will believe nothing on his Teachers Credit. But he muſt believe Man but as Man, an imperfect, fallible Creature, yet as like to know more than he that chooſeth him for his Teacher; And that which Man is to teach us, is to ſee the Evidence of Gods own Word, that we may believe it for that Evidence, as our Teachers themſelves muſt do. For if the Teachers do but believe one another, and not God, (or God only for Man's Authority,) this is not Religion, nor Divne Faith, but humane, ſuch as they had that believed Pythagoras, Plato, Mahomet, &c. If Boys learn of their School-Maſter to underſtand the Greek or Latin Teſtament, and believe them as to Sence, this is not Divine Faith, but a help towards it. The word of God is Infallible: And by the help of fallible Men, (ſuch as diſagreeing Commentators be,) we are furthered for underſtanding it. But falſe bloody Uſurpers are not the likeſt to teach us the Truth, nor fitteſt to be truſted.
His Citations of Scriptures, (to miſtated Controverſies,) are ſo putidly impertinent, that I am aſhamed to detect them by words, which every Man may do.