The Reasons of the Christian Religion Part 1, Part 2 · Chapter 10

The Reasons of the Christian Religion Part 1 · Part 2 · Chapter 10

p. 371CHAP. X. The Intrinſecal Difficulties in the Chriſtian Faith, reſolved.

Object. I. THe Doctrine of the Trinity is not intelligible or credible.

Anſw. 1. Nothing at all in God can be comprehended, or fully known by any creatures: God were not God, that is, Perfect and Infinite, if he were comprehenſible by ſuch Worms as we. Nothing is ſo certainly known as God, and yet nothing ſo imperfectly.

2. The doctrine of the Trinity in Unity is ſo intelligible and credible, and is ſo admirably apparent in its products, in the methods of Nature and Morality, that to a wiſe Obſerver it maketh Chriſtianity much the more credible, becauſe it openeth more fully,See Part 1. Chap. 5. Pardon the Repetitions here for the reaſons after-mentioned. theſe excellent myſteries and methods. It is intelligible and certain that MAN is made in the Image of God: And that the nobleſt Creatures bear moſt of the impreſs of their Makers excellency: And that the inviſible Deity is here to be known by us,See before in the Marg. of Chap. 5. Part 1. the Collection of Chriſtoph. Simpſon of Trinity in Unity, in the Harmony of Muſical Concordance, in The Diviſion-Violiſt. pag. 17. as in the Glaſs of his viſible works: Of which the Rational or Intellectual Nature is the higheſt with which we are acquainted. And it is moſt certain, that in the Unity of mans Minde or Soul, there is a Trinity of Eſſentialities, or Primalities (as Campanella calleth them) that is, ſuch faculties as are ſo little diſtinct from the Eſſence of the Soul as ſuch, that Philoſophers are not yet agreed, whether they ſhall ſay, it is realiter, formaliter, relativè vel denominatione extrinſeca. To paſs by the three faculties of Vegetation, ſenſation and intellection; In the Soul as Intellectual there are the Eſſential faculties, of Power (executive or communicative ad extra) Intellect and Will; Poſſe, Scire, Velle;Read Campanella's Metaphyſicks, and his Atheiſmus triumphatus of this. And accordingly in morality or virtue, there is in one New-creature, or holy Nature, wiſdom, goodneſs, and ability or fortitude (and promptitude) to act according to them. And in our Relation to things below us, in the unity of our Dominion or ſuperiority, there p. 372is a Trinity of Relations;Richardus in Opuſcul. ad S. Bernard: de appropriatis perſonarum, inquit, Quod Potentia, Sapientia & Bonitas, ſunt notiſſima quid ſint apud nos, qui ex viſibilibus inviſibilia Dei per ea quae facta ſunt, intellecta conſpicimus: Et quoniam in Elementis & plantis & brutis reperitur Potentia ſine ſapientia; & in Homine & in Angelo reperitur Potentia, ſed non ſine ſapientia: Et in Lucifero reperitur Potentia & Sapientia, ſine Bonitate & Charitate, ſe… Bona Voluntate: Sed in Homine bono, bono que in Angelo, non datur Bona Voluntas, niſi adſit Poſſe & Scire: Igitur ſunt tria haec diſtincta; et POSSE eſt per ſe ut principale, SAPIENTIA eſt a POTENTIA, & ab utriſ que VOLUNTAS & AMOR. viz. we are their Owners, their Rulers (according to their capacity) and their End and Benefactors: ſo that in the Unity of Gods Image upon man, there is this natural, moral and dominative Image: and in the Natural, the Trinity of Eſſential faculties, and in the Moral, the Trinity of holy Virtues; and in the Dominative, a Trinity of ſuperiour Relations.

And though the further we go from the root, the more darkneſs, and diſſimilitude appeareth to us, yet it is ſtrange to ſee even in the Body, what Analogies there are to the Faculties of the Soul; In the ſuperior, middle, and inferior Regions: And in them the natural, vital, and animal parts, with the three ſorts of Humours; three ſorts of Concoctions, and three ſorts of Spirits, anſwerable thereto, and admirably united: with much more, which a juſt Scheme would open to you. And therefore ſeeing God is known to us by this his Image, and in this Glaſs, though we muſt not think that any thing in God is formally the ſame as it is in Man; yet certainly we muſt judge, that all this is eminently in God; and that we have no fitter notions and names concerning his incomprehenſible Perfections, than what are borrowed from the Minde of man. Therefore it is thus undenyable, that GOD is in the Unity of his Eternal, Infinite Eſſence, a Trinity of Eſſentialities, or Active Principles: viz. POWER, INTELLECT and WILL: And in their HOLY Perfections, they are, Omnipotency, Omniſcience (or Wiſdom) and Goodneſs: And in his Relative Supremacy is contained this Trinity of Relations, He is our OWNER, our RECTOR and our CHIEF GOOD, that is, Our Benefactor and our end.

And as in Mans Soul, the Poſſe, Scire, Velle, are not three parts of the Soul, it being the whole Soul quae poteſt, quae intelligit & quae vult; and yet theſe three are not formaliter, p. 373(or how you will otherwiſe call the diſtinction) the ſame:Ecce in uno capite, duo tibi ſunt Oculi: ſed eſt ſubſtantiae eorum unus Aſpectus, &c. Quod ſi unius ſubſtantiae in te iſta bina continent unitatem, non v…s in Deo Patre & Filio vere duas perſonas unam habere ſubſtantiam. Arnobius Conflict. cum Serapione. p. 354. Vid. Caeſarii dialog. Q. 2. de triplici lumine foreign, inquit Theophil. Antioch. ad Antol. l. 1. p. 3. Leg. Auguſt, de Trinitate, & Dialog. ex eo excerpt. de Trinit. in B.P. Gr. Lat. To. 1. p 540. Even ſo in GOD, it is not one Part of God that hath POWER, and another that hath UNDERSTANDING, and another that hath WILL; but the whole Deity is POWER, the whole is UNDERSTANDING, and the whole is WILL: The whole is Omnipotency, the whole is Wiſdom, and the whole is Goodneſs (the Fountain of that which in man is called Holineſs or Moral Goodneſs): And yet formally to underſtand is not to will, and to will is not to be able to execute.

If you ſay, what is all this to the Trinity of Hypoſtaſes or perſons, I anſwer, Either the three Subſiſtences in the Trinity are the ſame, with the Potentia, Intellectus and Voluntas, in the Divine Eſſence, or not: If they are the ſame, there is nothing at all intelligible, incredible or uncertain in it: For natural Reaſon knoweth that there is all theſe eminently in God; And whoever will think that any humane language can ſpeak of him, muſt confeſs that his Omnipotence, Wiſdom and Goodneſs, his Power, Intellect and Will, muſt be thus to mans apprehenſion diſtinguiſhed: Otherwiſe we muſt ſay nothing at all of God, or ſay that his power is his willing, and his willing is his knowing, and that he willeth all the ſin which he knoweth, and all that he can do: which language will, at beſt, ſignifie nothing to any man.

And it is to be noted, that our Saviour in his Eternal ſubſiſtence, is called in Scripture, The WISDOM of God, (or his internal Word): and in his Operations in the Creation; he is called, The Word of God, as operative or efficient: and in his Incarnation, he is called The Son of God: Though theſe terms be not alwayes and only thus uſed, yet uſually they are.

The Words of an ancient godly Writer before cited, are conſiderable; Potho Prumenſis, de ſtatu domus Dei, lib. 1.Nihil aliud eſt Filius vel Verbum Dei, quam Cogitatio, vel Ars, vel Sapientia ejus— Nihil aliud Sp. ſanctus quam Amor Dei intelligitur. Id. Ibid. pag. 542, 543. Leg. & Hilar. de Trinit. p. 567. in Biblioth. Patr. T. 9. [Tria ſunt inviſibilia Dei, h. e. Potentia, Sapientia, Benignitas, a quibus omnia procedunt, in quibus omnia ſubſiſtunt, per quae omnia reguntur: Pater eſt Potentia, Filius Sapientia, Sparitus ſanctus Benignitas. Potentia creat, Sapientia gubernat, … Benignitas conſervat. Potentia per Benignitatem ſapienter creat: Sapientia per potentiam benignè gubernat: Benignitas per ſapientiam potenter conſervat: Sicut Imago in ſpeculo cernitur, ſic p. 374in ratione animae. Vid. Maxim. Myſtagog. Eccleſiaſt. cap. 6. Per talem rationem venit homo ad cognitionem Dei, quod eſt Unus in ſubſtantia, & Trinus in Perſonis. Iſtud idem videt homo in ſeipſo: Nam ipſe videt bene quod ſemper habuit homo in ſeipſo Potentiam, & poſt Potentiam, Sapientiam: — Et de ambabus venit Amor: & quando videt homo quod ita eſt in ſeipſo, ex hoc intelliget bene quod ita eſt in Deo, qui eſt ultra illum: viz. Quod in Deo fit Poteſtas, & de illa Poteſtate venit ſapientia, & de utraque venit Amor. Et propter hoc quod ex prima perſona venit ſecunda, & de ambabus procedit tertia, ideo prima perſona vocatur Pater, ſecunda Filius, tertia Spiritus S. Iſto modo venit homo primo ad cognitionem Dei ſui creatoris, quomodo eſt fine principio, & quare vocatur Deus, …nus ſubſtantia, trinus perſonis. Et quia prima perſona vocatur Pater, ſecunda Filius, tertia Spiritus Sanctus; & quia appropinquatur Poteſtas Patri, Sapientia Filio, Bonitas & Amor Sp. Sancto: Tali modo debet cognoſcere Deum Filium, & iſte modus cognitionis eſt fundamentum contemplationis. Edmund. Archiepiſ. Cantuari. Specul. Eccleſ. cap 28. See more of this before, tom. 1. cap. 5.Sir 28Huic ſimilitudini Dei approximat homo; cui Potentia Dei dat Bonum poſſe; ſapientia tribuit ſcire; Benignitas prae…tat velle: Haec triplex Animae rationalis vis eſt; ſcil. Poſſe, Scire, Velle; quae ſupradictis tribus fidei, ſpei, & charitati cooperantur, &c. Read more in the Author, and in Raimundus Lullius: and among latter Writers, in Campanella, Raymundus de ſabundis, &c. as I ſaid before. He that will give you a ſcheme of Divinity in the true method, will but ſhew you how all God's Works and Laws flow from theſe Three Eſſentialities or Principles; and the three great Relations founded in them, (His being our Owner, Ruler, and Chief Good:) And how all our duty is branch'd out accordingly in our correlations: He will ſhew you the Trinity of Graces, Faith, Hope and Love; and the three ſummary Rules, the Creed, Lord's Prayer and Decalogue; and, in a word, would ſhew you, that the Trinity revealeth it ſelf through the whole frame of true Theology or Morality. But who is able to diſcern it in the ſmaller and innumerable branches?

Yea, if ever it were to be hoped, that our Phyſicks ſhould be brought into the light of certainty and true method, you would ſee Ʋnity in Trinity in all things in the world. You would ſee that in the Sun, and the other Celeſtial Luminaries, (which are the glorious Images of the Intellectual world) in the Ʋnity of their Eſſence, there is a Moving, Illuminating and Heating Power: and that no one of theſe is formally the other: nor is any one of them a Part of the Sun or other Luminary, much leſs a meer accident of quality, but an Eſſential Active Principle or Power; the whole Luminary being eſſentially a Principle of Motion, Light and Heat; which are not accidents in them, but Acts flowing immediately from their Eſſential Powers, as Intellection and Volition from the Soul.

p. 375I ſhall now ſay no more of this, but profeſs, that the diſcovery of the emanations or products of the Trinity, and the Image and Veſtigia of it, in the courſe of Nature, and Method of Morality, doth much increaſe my reverence to the Chriſtian Doctrine, ſo far is the Trinity from being to me a ſtumbling-block.

Object. But what are ſuch Trinities in Ʋnity as theſe to the Trinity of Perſons in the Deity? ſuch weak arguments will but increaſe incredulity. Will you pretend to prove the Trinity by natural reaſon? or would you perſwade us that it is but three of God's Attributes, or our inadequate conceptions of him? Opera Trinitatis ad extra ſunt indiviſa: Ergo, No creature can reveal to us the Trinity.

Anſw. 1. It is one thing to prove the Sacred Trinity of Perſons, by ſuch reaſon (or to undertake fully to open the myſtery) and it is another thing to prove that the Doctrine is neither incredible nor unlikely to be true; and that it implieth no contradiction or diſcordancy, but rather ſeemeth very congruous both to the frame of nature, and of certain moral verities. This only is my task againſt the Infidel.

2. It is one thing to ſhew in the creatures a clear demonſtration of this Trinity of Perſons, by ſhewing an effect that fully anſwereth it; and another thing to ſhew ſuch veſtigia, adumbration or image of it, as hath thoſe diſſimilitudes which muſt be allowed in any created image of God. This is it which I am to do.

3. He that confoundeth the Attributes of God, and diſtinguiſheth not thoſe which expreſs theſe three Eſſential Primalities, or Active Principles, to which our faculties are analogous, from the reſt; or that thinketh that we ſhould caſt by this diſtinction, under the name of an inadequate conception, ſo far as we can imagine theſe Principles to be the ſame, and that there is not truly in the Deity a ſufficient ground for this diſtinction, is not the man that I am willing now to debate this cauſe with; I have done that ſufficiently before. Whether the diſtinction be real, formal or denominative, the Thomiſts, Scotiſts and Nominals have diſputed more than enough. But even the Nominals ſay, that there is a ſufficient ground for the denomination, which ſome call Virtual, and ſome Relative. And they that diſpute of the p. 376diſtinction of Perſons, do accordingly differ, calling it either Relative, Virtual, Formal or Modal, or ratione ratiocinata, as they imagine beſt. And they that differ about theſe, do accordingly differ about the difference of the faculties of our ſouls. For my part I ſee not the leaſt reaſon to doubt, but that the Trinity of Divine Primalities, Principles and Perfections hath made its impreſs on man's ſoul, in its three parts, viz. the Natural, the Moral, and the Dominative parts: in the firſt we have an Active Power, an Intellect and Free-will. In the ſecond Fortitude, (or holy promptitude and ſtrength) Wiſdom and Goodneſs, (or Love:) In the third, we are to the inferiour creatures their Owners, Rulers and Benefactors, or End: and what ever you will call our faculties and their moral perfections, it is undoubted that in God, his Omnipotency, Wiſdom and Goodneſs are his Eſſence, and yet as much diſtinct as is aforeſaid. And what mortal man is able to ſay, whether the diſtinction of Perſons be either greater or leſs than this? And remember, that as I ſpeak of Motion, Light and Heat, both as in the faculties of the Sun, (as I may call them) and in the Acts or Emanations; and of the Power, Intellect and Will of man, both as in the Faculties and Acts; ſo do I here of the Divine Primalities; yet ſo, as ſuppoſing that in God, who is called a Pure Act, there is not ſuch a difference between Power and Act, as there is in man or other creatures.

4. No man, I think, is able to prove, that the works of the Trinity, ad extra, are any more undivided, than the works of the three Eſſential Active Principles: they are ſo undivided, as that yet the work of Creation is eminently, or moſt notably aſcribed to the Father, (as is alſo the ſending of the Son into the world, the forgiving of ſin for his ſake, &c.) and the work of Redemption to the Son, and the work of Sanctification to the holy Ghoſt: We ſhall be as loth to ſay, that the Father or holy Ghoſt was incarnate for us, or died for us, or mediates for us, as that the Power or Love of God▪ doth the works which belong to his Wiſdom. And the Eſſential Wiſdom and Love of God are no more communicable to man, than the Son and holy Spirit, who are ſaid to be given to us, and to dwell within us. The Scripture often calleth Chriſt the Wiſdom of God: and foreign is both the Ratio & p. 377Oratio, the Internal and Expreſſed (or Incarnate) Word. And he that underſtandeth that by the holy Ghoſt, which is ſaid in Scripture to be given to believers, is meant the habitual or prevalent LOVE to GOD, will better underſtand how the holy Ghoſt is ſaid to be given to them that already have ſo much of it as to cauſe them to believe. Abundance of Hereticks have troubled the Church with their ſelf-deviſed opinions about the Trinity, and the Perſon and Natures of Chriſt: and I am loth to ſay, how much many of the Orthodox have troubled it alſo, with their ſelf-conceited, miſguided, uncharitable zeal, againſt thoſe whom they judged Hereticks: The preſent diviſions between the Roman Church, the Greeks, the Armenians, Syrians, Copties and Ethiopians, is too ſad a proof of this: and the long contention between the Greeks and Latins about the terms Hypoſtaſis and Perſona.

5. And I would adviſe the Reader to be none of thoſe,See Bp. Lucy, in the end of his Book againſt Hobs, proving the Trinity by Lully's reaſons. that ſhall charge with Hereſie all thoſe School-men and late Divines, both Papiſts and Proteſtants, who ſay, that the Three Perſons are Deus ſeipſum intelligens, Deus à ſeipſo intellectus, & Deus à ſeipſo amatus, (though I am not one that ſay as they:) nor yet thoſe holy men whom I have here cited, (Potho Prumenſis, Edmundus Archiepiſc. Cantuarienſis & Pariſienſis, and many others, who expreſly ſay, that Potentia, Sapientia & Amor, are the Father, Son and holy Ghoſt.

6. But for my own part, as I unfeignedly account the doctrine of the Trinity, the very ſumm and kernel of the Chriſtian Religion▪ (as expreſt in our Baptiſm) and Athanaſius his Creed, the beſt explication of it that ever I read; ſo I think it very unmeet in theſe tremendous myſteries, to go further than we have God's own light to guide us: And it is none of my purpoſe at all to joyn with either of the two fore-mentioned parties; nor to aſſert that the myſterie of the bleſſed Trinity of Hypoſtaſes or Perſons is no other than this uncontroverted Trinity of Eſſential Principles. All that I endeavour is but as aforeſaid, to ſhew that this Doctrine is neither contradictory, incredible, nor unlikely, by ſhewing the veſtigia or Image of it, and that which is as liable to exception, and yet of unqueſtionable truth. And if the three Hypoſtaſes be not the ſame with the Trinity of Principles p. 378aforeſaid, yet no man can give a ſufficient reaſon, why Three in One ſhould not be truly credible and probable in the one inſtance, when common natural reaſon is fully ſatisfied of it in the other. He muſt better underſtand the difference between a Perſon and ſuch an Eſſential Principle in Divinis, than any mortal man doth, who will undertake to prove from the Title of a [Perſon] that one is incredible or unlikely, when the other is ſo clear and ſure: or rather, he underſtandeth it not at all, that ſo imagineth. For my part, I again from my heart profeſs, that the Image or Veſtigia of Trinity in Unity through the moſt notable parts of Nature and Morality, do increaſe my eſtimation of the Chriſtian Religion, becauſe of the admirable congruity and harmony.

Arnobius junior, in his conflict, cum Serapion, uſeth this ſimilitude: As fire and gold are two diſtinct ſubſtances, yet fire is of it ſelf inviſible, till by union with the heated gold it becometh viſible: So Chriſt's Divine Nature and his Humane, &c. Leg. pag. 368, 369. And to the queſtion, Utrum Pater Filium genuerit Neceſſitate an Voluntate, he anſwereth, Neither becauſe underſtanding or Wiſdom is not neceſſitated, and yet is antecedent to Volition: But by Neceſſity he ſeemeth to mean that which is by conſtraint. Vid. Nat. Fevardent. in loc. Leg. Methodii Reſp. ad eos qui dicunt, Quid profuit nobis Filius Dei homo factus? &c. Edit. per Gretſer.Object. II. But who is able to believe the Incarnation and Hypoſtatical Ʋnion? If you ſhould read that a Kings Son, in compaſſion to poor flies, or fleas, or lice, had himſelf become a flie, or flea, or louſe, (had it been in his power) to ſave their lives, would you have thought it credible? And yet the condeſcenſion had been nothing to this, as being but of a creature to a creature.

Anſw. This is indeed the greateſt difficulty of faith: but if you do not miſtake the matter, you will find it alſo the greateſt excellency of faith. 1. Therefore you muſt take heed of making it difficult by your own errour: think not that the Godhead was turned into man, (as you talk of a man becoming a flie) nor yet that there was the leaſt real change upon the Deity by this incarnation: nor the leaſt real abaſement, diſhonour, loſs, injury or ſuffering to it thereby. For all theſe are not to be called difficulties, but impoſſibilities and blaſphemies. There is no abatement of any of the Divine Perfections by it, nor no confinement of the Eſſence: but as the ſoul of man doth animate the body, ſo the Eternal Word doth, as it were, animate the whole humane Nature of Chriſt. As Athanaſius ſaith, As the reaſonable ſoul and humane fleſh do make one man, ſo God and Man are one Chriſt: and that without any coarctation, limitation, or reſtriction of the Deity. 2. And this ſhould be no ſtrange Doctrine, nor incredible to moſt of the Philoſophers of the world, who have one part of them taught, that God is the Soul of the world; and that the whole Univerſe is thus animated by him: and another p. 379part, that he is the Soul of Souls, or Intelligences,Tunilius de part. Div. Leg. l. 1. c. 19. ſaith, that Et eſſentia vel natura facit, quia ei nihil accidens eſt, & tamen voluntate, quia nihil facit neceſſitate vel coactus. Speaking of his operations as he is Bonas, Sapiens, Fortis. Leg. Ruperti Tuitienſ. de Divin. Offic. l. 11. c. 2, & 3, & 4. Quod nomen Patris, Fil…i & Sp. Sancti propria veri Dei deſcriptio ſit, &c. per totum lib. Arnob. ubi ſupra, l. 1. telleth the Heathens, how many they worſhip as Gods, who once were men, as Jupiter, Aeſculapius, Hercules, &c. p. 6. Leg. Theodori Preſbyteri Rhaithuenſis Praepar. & Meditat. de Incarnat. Chriſti, & Hereſibus circa eandem. Leg. & Theodori Abucarae Opuſcul. 2. explan. vocum quibus Philoſophi utuntur, &c. Et ejuſdem fidem orthodox. miſſam ad Armen. à Thoma Patriarch. Hieroſol. Vide & Theoriani Dialog. cum Generaliſſ. Armeniorum. At Deus Verbum nihil ipſum à ſocietate & animae immutatum neque illorum imbecilitatis particeps, ſed eis ſuam divinitatem impartiens, unum cum eis fit; & permanet, quod erat ante junctionem. Vid. caetera in Nemeſio Emiſſen. de Natura hom. cap. 3. animating them as they do bodies. That therefore which they affirm of all, cannot by them be thought incredible of one. And it is little leſs, if any thing at all, which the Peripateticks themſelves have taught of the aſſiſtant Forms (Intelligences) which move the Orbs; and of the Agent, Intellect in man; and ſome of them, of the univerſal ſoul in all men. And what all their vulgar people have thought of the Deifying of Heroes, and other men, it is needleſs to recite; Julian himſelf believed the like of Aeſculapius. None of theſe Philoſophers then have any reaſon to ſtumble at this, which is but agreeable to their own opinions. And indeed the opinion, that God is the Soul of ſouls, or of the Intellectual world, hath that in it, which may be a ſtrong temptation to the wiſeſt to imagine it: Though indeed he is no conſtitutive form of any of thoſe creatures, but to be their Creator and total efficient is much more. What Union it is which we call Hypoſtatical, we do not fully underſtand our ſelves: but we are ſure that it is ſuch as no more abaſeth the Deity, than its concourſe with the Sun in its efficiencies.

Object. But what kin are theſe aſſertions of Philoſophers to yours, of the Incarnation of the Eternal Word and Wiſdom of God?

Anſw. What was it but an Incarnation of a Deity, which they affirmed of Aeſculapius and ſuch others? And they that thought God to be the Soul of the world, thought that the world was as much animated with the Deity, as we affirm the humane Nature of Chriſt to have been; yea, for ought I ſee, whilſt they thought that this ſoul was parcelled out to every individual, and that Matter only did pro tempore individuate, they made every man to be God incarnate. And can they believe that it is ſo with every man, and yet think it p. 380incredible in Chriſtianity, that our humane Nature is perſonally united to the Divine? I think in this they contradict themſelves.

3. And it is no way incredible that God ſhould value man according to his natural worth and uſefulneſs, as an intellectual agent, capable of Knowing, and Loving, and Praiſing him, and Enjoying him: His creating us ſuch, and his abundant mercies to us, do abundantly prove the truth of this. Nor is it incredible that he ſhould be willing that his depraved creature ſhould be reſtored to the uſe and ends of its nature: nor is it incredible that God ſhould chooſe the beſt and fitteſt means to effect all this. Nothing more credible than all this.

4. And it is not incredible at all, that the Incarnation of the Eternal Word ſhould be the fitteſt means for this reparation: If we conſider, 1. What queſtion we ſhould have made of the word of an Angel, or any meer creature, that ſhould have ſaid, he came from God to teach us; ſeeing we could not be ſo certain that he was infallible, and indefectible. 2. And how ſhort a creature would have fallen in the Prieſtly part of Mediation. 3. And how inſufficient he would have been for the Kingly Dignity, and univerſal Government and Protection of the Church, and Judgement of the world. 4. And withall, that God Himſelf, being the Glorifier of Himſelf, and the Donor of all felicity to us, it is very congruous, that he ſhould moſt eminently Himſelf perform the moſt eminent of theſe works of mercy.

5. And it much aſſiſteth my belief of the Incarnation, to conſider, that certainly the work that was to be done for man's recovery, was the winning of his heart to the Love of God, from himſelf and other creatures: and there was no way imaginable ſo fit to inflame us with love to God, as for him moſt wonderfully to manifeſt his love to us: which is more done in the work of man's Redemption, than any other way imaginable; ſo that being the moſt ſuitable means to reſtore us to the love of God, it is fitteſt to be the way of our recovery; and ſo the more credible.

6. And it much ſuppreſſeth temptation to unbelief in me, to conſider, that the three grand works in which God's Eſſentialities declare themſelves, muſt needs be all ſuch as beſeemeth p. 381God; that is, moſt wonderful, tranſcending man's comprehenſion. And as his Omnipotency ſhewed it ſelf (with Wiſdom and Love) in the great work of Creation, ſo was it meet that his Wiſdom ſhould ſhew it ſelf moſt wonderfully in the great work of Redemption, in order to the as wonderful declaration of his Love and Goodneſs, in the great work of our Salvation, (our Regeneration, and Glorification.) And therefore if this were not a wonderful work, it were not fit to be parallel with the Creation, in demonſtrating God's Perfections to our minds.

Object. III. But how incredible is it that humane nature ſhould, in a glorified Chriſt, be ſet above the Angelical nature.

Anſw. There is no arguing in the dark, from things unknown, againſt what is fully brought to light. What God hath done for man, the Scripture hath revealed, and alſo that Chriſt himſelf is far above the Angels: But what Chriſt hath done for Angels, or for any other world of creatures, God thought not meet to make us acquainted with. There have been Chriſtians who have thought, (by plauſible reaſonings from many Texts of Scripture) that Chriſt hath three Natures, the Divine, and a Super-angelical, and a Humane; and that the Eternal Word did firſt unite it ſelf to the Super-angelical nature, and in that created the world; and in that appeared to Abraham and the other Fathers; and then aſſumed the Humane nature laſt of all for Redemption: And thus they would reconcile the Arrians and the Orthodox. But the moſt Chriſtians hold only two Natures in Chriſt: but then they ſay, that he that hath promiſed that we ſhall be equal with the Angels, doth know that the nature of Man's Soul and of Angels differ ſo little, that in advancing one, he doth as it were advance both: and certainly maketh no diſorder in nature, by exalting the inferiour in ſenſu compoſito, above the Superiour and more excellent. Let us not then deceive our ſelves, by arguing from things unknown.

Object. IV. There are things ſo incredible in the Scripture-Miracles, that it is hard to believe them to be true.

Anſw. 1. No doubt but Miracles muſt be Wonders: they were not elſe ſo ſufficient to be a divine atteſtation, if they were not things exceeding our power and reach. But why ſhould they be thought incredible? Is it becauſe they tranſcend p. 382the Power of God, or his Wiſdom, or his Goodneſs? Or becauſe they are harder to him than the things which our eyes are daily witneſſes of? Is not the motion of the Sun and Orbs, and eſpecially of the Primum Mobile, which the Peripateticks teach; yea, or that of the Earth and Globes, which others teach, as great a work, as any miracle mentioned in the holy Scriptures? Shall any man that ever conſidered the number, magnitude, glory, and motions of the Fixed Stars, object any difficulty to God? Is it not as eaſie to raiſe one man from the dead, as to give life to all the living?

2. And are not Miracles according to our own neceſſities and deſires? Do not men call for ſigns and wonders, and ſay, If I ſaw one riſe from the dead, or ſaw a Miracle, I would believe? Or at leaſt, I cannot believe that Chriſt is the Son of God, unleſs he work Miracles? And ſhall that be a hinderance to your belief, which is your laſt remedy againſt unbelief? Will you not believe without miracles, and yet will you not believe them becauſe they are Miracles? This is but meer perverſneſs? as much as to ſay, we will neither believe with Miracles nor without.

3. Impartially conſider of the proof I have before given you, of the certain truth of the matter of Fact, that ſuch miracles were really done: and then you may ſee not only that they are to be believed, but the doctrine to be the rather believed for their ſakes.

††Fuge garrulitates anxias Philoſophorum qui aſſerere non erubeſcunt, ſuas canum que animas eandem tenere ſpeciem. Baſil Hexam. l. 8. Interp. Euſtath. Leg. Mammerti Claudiani lib. 3. de ſtatu Animae; & praecipuè Gr. Nyſſenum: & quae ex eo cit…ntur in Caeſarii Dialog. 3. This ſtuck with Galen and ſome ſuch. His & talibus adductus Socrates, nec patronum quaeſivit ad judicium capitis, nec judicibus ſupplex fuit: Adhibuit que liberam contumaciam à magnitudine animi ductam, non à ſuperbia: & ſupremo vitae die de hoc ipſo multa diſſeruit; & paucis ante d…ebus, cum facile poſſet educi è cuſtodia, noluit: Et cum pene in manu jam mortiferum illud teneret poculum, locutus ita eſt, ut non ad mortem, verum in coelum videretur aſcendere. Ita enim cenſebat at que diſſeruit: Duas eſſe vias, dupliceſque curſus animorum è corpore excedentium: Nam qui ſe humanis vitiis contaminaſſent, & ſe totos libidinibus dediſſent quibus coecati velut domeſticis vitiis at que flagitiis ſe inquinaſſent vel in Republica violanda fraudes inexpiabiles concepiſſent, iis devium quoddam iter eſſe ſecluſum à Concilio Deorum: Qui autem ſe integros caſtoſque ſervaſſent, quibuſque fuiſſet minima cum corporibus contagio, ſeſeque ab his ſemper ſevocaſſent, eſſentque in corporibus humanis vitam imitati Deorum, his ad illos à quibus eſſent profecti, reditum facilem patere. Cicer. Tuſcul. 1. pag. 233.Obj. V. It is hard to believe the Immortality of the Soul, and the Life to come, when we conſider how much the ſoul dependeth in its operations on the body; and how it ſeemeth but gradually to exceed the bruits: Eſpecially to believe the Eternity of it, or its joyes; when omne quod oritur interit; And if Eternity à parte ante be proper to God, why not Eternity à parte poſt?

p. 383Anſw. 1. The Immortality of the Soul, and conſequently its perpetual duration, and a life of Retribution after this, did not ſeem things incredible to moſt of the Heathens and Infidels in the World: And I have proved it before by evidence of Nature to common Reaſon. So that to make that incredible in Chriſtianity, which Philoſophers and almoſt all the World hold, and which hath cogent natural evidence, is to put out the eye of Reaſon as well as of Faith.

2. And that it hath much uſe of, or dependance on the body in its preſent operations, is no proof at all that when it is out of the body it can no otherwiſe act or operate. Not to meddle with the controverſie, whether it take with it hence the material ſenſitive Soul as a body afterward to act by? or whether it fabricate to it ſelf an aethereal body? or remain without any body of it ſelf? It is certain, that it was not the Body that was the Principle of Intellection and Volition here: but it was the Soul which did all in the body, but according to the mode of its preſent coexiſtence: ſeeing then that it was the Soul that did it here, why may it not alſo do it hereafter? If the Candle ſhine in the Lanthorn, It can ſhine out of it, though with ſome difference: He is ſcarce rational that doubteth whether there be ſuch things as incorporeal inviſible intelligences, minds or ſpirits: And if they can act without bodies, why may not our minds? Though the Egge would die if the ſhell were broken, or the Hen did not ſit upon it, it doth not follow, that therefore the Chicken cannot live without a ſhell, or ſitting on. Though the Embrio and Infant muſt have a continuity with the mother, and be nouriſhed by her nouriſhment, it doth not follow, that therefore it muſt be ſo with him, when he is born and grown up to ripeneſs of age. And when there is full proof that Souls have a future life to live, it is a folly to doubt of it, meerly becauſe we cannot conceive of the manner of their acting without a body: For he that is not deſirous to be deceived, muſt reduce things uncertain and dark, to thoſe that are clear and certain, and not contrarily: All good arguing is à notioribus, and not à minùs notis. The neerer any Being is in excellency unto God, the more there is in it which is hard to be comprehended: Spirits p. 384and Minds are excellent Beings; and therefore very imperfectly known even by themſelves, while they are in the Lanthorn, the Shell, the Womb of fleſh. The Eye is not made to ſee its own ſight, though it may ſee in a Glaſs the Organ of its ſight: And as ſight ſeeth not ſight, nor hearing heareth not hearing, nor taſte taſteth not taſting, &c. the act being not its own object; But yet by ſeeing other things, I am moſt certain that I ſee, and by hearing, taſting, ſmelling, &c. I am certain that I hear, taſte, and ſmell; ſo is not the Intellect here fitted intuitively to underſtand its own act of underſtanding; but by underſtanding other objects, it underſtandeth that it doth underſtand: (Though I confeſs, ſome learned men in this think otherwiſe, viz. that the Intellect intuitively knoweth it ſelf.) If a man have a Watch which is kept in order, to tell him the hour of the day, though he know not the reaſon of the frame, the parts and motions, nor how to take it into pieces, and ſet it again together, yet it ſerveth his turn to the uſe he bought it for. And a Ship may carry him who is unacquainted with the workmanſhip that's in it: And ſo if a mans Soul know how to love and pleaſe its Maker, and know it ſelf morally, it attaineth its end,Campanella well inteth, that the Soul hath naturally a certain inward knowledge or ſenſe of it ſelf; but when men go about to bring this to ſuch a knowledge as we have of things extrinſical by ratiocination, they oft-times reaſon themſelves into Ignorance and Error. And Cicero hath the very ſame. Nec vero de hoc quiſquam dubitare poſſet, niſi idem nobis accideret diligenter de animo cogitantibus, quod iis ſaepe uſu venit, qui acriter oculis deficientem ſolem intuerentur, ut aſpectum omnino amitterent; ſic mentis acies ſeipſam intuens, nonnunquam hebeſcit; ob eam que cauſam contemplandi diligentiam amittimus. Cic. Tuſc. l. 1. p. 233. though it know not it ſelf phyſically ſo far, as to be able to anatomize its faculties and acts. Argue not therefore from obſcurities againſt the Light.

And that man doth not differ from a bruit only in degree, but ſpecifically, he that is indeed a man doth know: Conſidering what operations the minde of man hath above Bruits; not only in all the moſt abſtruſe and wonderful Arts and Sciences, Aſtronomy, Geometry, Muſick, Phyſick, Navigation, Legiſlation, Logick, Rhetorick, &c. but alſo his knowledge of a Creator, a love and fear of him, an obedience to him, and a care for an Everlaſting Life: Whether Bruits have Analogical Ratiocination or not, it is certain that theſe things are far above them.

2. If by the Eternity of our felicity were meant only an Aevum of very long duration, it would be ſo ſtrong a motive p. 385to Godlineſs and Chriſtianity, as with any rational man, as to weigh down all the counter-pleaſures of this world.

3. But as long as there is no want of Power in God to perpetuate our bleſſedneſs, nor any proof that it is diſagreeable to his Wiſdom or his Will, why ſhould that ſeem incredible to us, which is ſealed and atteſted ſo fully by ſupernatural revelation, as I have proved? If once the revelation be proved to be Divine, there is nothing in this which reaſon will not believe.

4. And all they that confeſs the immortality and perpetuity of the ſoul, muſt confeſs the perpetuity of its pleaſure or pain.

5. And why ſhould it be hard for the Peripatetick to believe the perpetuity of the ſoul, who will needs believe the eternity of the world it ſelf, both as à parte ante, and à parte poſt? Surely it ſhould ſeem no difficulty to any of that opinion.

Object. VI. Who can believe that God will torment his creatures in the flames of hell for ever? Is this agreeable to infinite Goodneſs?

Anſw. 1. I have fully anſwered this already, chap. 15.Soſipatra ubi— incidiſſet in diſputationem de anima in genere; quae ejus pars ſupplicio puniatur, quaeque interitus ſit expers, dum furore quodam divino incitata rapitur, &c. Eunap. in Aedeſ. p. 594. Et, ut quod gnotum eſt pateat, haec eſt hominis vera mors, cum animae neſcientes Deum, perlongiſſimi temporis cruciatu conſumuntur ignifero, in quem illas jacium quidam crudeliter ſaevi, & ante Chriſtum incogniti, & ab ſolo ſciente detecti. This was the conceit of Arnob. adv. Gent. l. 2. p. 14. part 1. and therefore I muſt intreat the Objector to peruſe his Anſwer there: Only I ſhall now ſay, that it is not incredible that God is the Governour of the world; nor that he hath given man a Law; nor that his Law hath penalties to the diſobedient; nor that he is juſt; and will judge the world according to that Law, and make good his threatnings: nor is it incredible that thoſe who choſe ſin, when they were fore-told of the puniſhment, and refuſed Godlineſs, when they were fore-told of the bleſſed reward and fruits, and this with obſtinacy to the laſt, ſhould have no better than they choſe. It is not incredible that unholy enemies of God and Holineſs, ſhould not live hereafter in the bleſſed ſight and love, and holy delightful fruition of God, no more than that a Swine is not made a King: nor that an immortal Soul, who is excluded immortal happineſs by his wilful refuſal, ſhould know his folly, and know what he hath loſt by it: nor that ſuch knowledge ſhould be his continual torment: nor is it incredible that God will not continue to him the pleaſures of whoredom, and gluttony, and drunkenneſs, and p. 386ſports, and worldly wealth, or tyrannical domination, to quiet him in his loſs of heaven: nor that he will deprive him of the temporal mercies which now content him, or may afford him any delight hereafter: nor is it incredible, if his body riſe again, that it ſhall be partaker with his ſoul: nor that God, who might deprive him of his being, if he had been innocent, may make him worſe, or bring him into a condition to which he would prefer annihilation, when he is an obſtinate impenitent ſinner. It is not incredible, that a good King or Judge may hang a Felon or Traitor, for a crime againſt man and humane ſociety. Nor is it any goodneſs in them to be unjuſt, or to cheriſh murderers by impunity: none of all this is at all incredible. But it is indeed incredible, till conſcience have humbled him, that the Thief or Murderer ſhould like this penalty, or think well of the Judge: or that a ſinner, who judgeth of good and evil in others as Dogs do, by the intereſt of his throat or fleſh, and thinks them good only that love him, and bad that hurt him and are againſt him, ſhould ever believe that it is the amiable goodneſs of God, which cauſeth him in juſtice to condemn the wicked.

**We ſay not that corporeal fire doth touch the ſoul. Sed memo…atae apud inferos poenae & ſuppliciorum generibus multiformes: Ecquis erit tam brutus, & rerum conſequentias neſciens, qui animis incorruptibilibus credat, aut tenebras tartareas poſſe aliquid nocere? aut igneos fluvios aut …aenoſis gurgitibus paludes; aut rotarum volubilium circumactus. Quod enim eontiguum non eſt, & à legibus diſſolutionis amotum eſt, licet omnibus ambiatur flammis, —illibatum neceſſe eſt permaneat. Arnob. adverſ. Gent. l. 2. p. 17. Auct. Bibl. Pat. To. 1.2. But yet let not miſunderſtanding make this ſeem harder to you than indeed it is. Do not think that ſouls in hell are hanged up in flames, as beaſts are hanged in a butchers ſhambles: or that ſouls have any pain but what is ſuitable to ſouls, (and that's more than bodies bear:) It is an affliction in rational ways, which falls on rational ſpirits. Devils are now in torment, and yet have a malignant kingdom and order, and rule in the children of diſobedience; and go up and down ſeeking whom they may devour. We know not the particular manner of their ſufferings, but that they are forſaken of God, and deprived of his complacential love and mercy; and have the rational miſery before deſcribed, and ſuch alſo as ſhall be ſuitable to ſuch kind of bodies as they ſhall have. And while they are immortal, no wonder if their miſery be ſo.

Object. VII. Who can believe that the damned ſhall be far more than the ſaved? and the devil have more than God? How will this ſtand with the infinite goodneſs of God?

Anſw. I have fully anſwered this before in Part 1. chap. p. 38711. and ſhould now adde but this; 1. In our enquiries,And ſeeing moſt of the Heathens believe the Immortality of ſouls, and the Juſtice of God, it is meet that they believe a puniſhment for the bad, as they do a reward for the good. As Arnobius ſaith, lib. 2. adverſ. Gent. Cum igitur haec ita ſunt, quaenam injuſtitia tanta eſt, ut fatui vobis credulitate in iſta videamur? Cum vos & ſimilia credere, & in eadem videamus expectatione verſari? Si irriſione exiſtimamur digni, quod ſpem nobis hujuſmodi pollicemur, & vos eadem expectat irriſio, qui ſpem vobis immortalitatis adſciſcitis. Si tenetis aliquam ſequiminique ratione, & nobis portione ex iſta rationem concedite. Si nobis haec gaudia Plato promiſiſſet —Conſentaneum fuerat ejus ſuſcipere nos cultus, à quo tantum doni expectaremus & muneris. Nunc cum eam Chriſtus non tantum promiſerit, verum etiam virtutibus tantis manifeſtaverit, poſſe compleri, quid alienum facimus aut ſtultitiae crimen quibus rationibus ſuſtinemus, ſi ejus nomini Majeſtatique ſubſternimur à quo ſperamus utrumque & mortem cruciabilem fugere, & vitam aeternitate donari? page 17. A…ct. Bib. Pat. To. 1. we muſt begin with the primum cognita, or notiſſima, as aforeſaid: that God is moſt good, and alſo juſt, and puniſheth ſinners, is before proved to be among the notiſſima, or primum cognita; and therefore it is moſt certain, that theſe are no way contradictory to each other.

2. And if it be no contradiction to God's goodneſs, to puniſh and caſt off for ever the leſſer part of the world, then it is none to puniſh or caſt off the greater part. The inequality of number will not alter the caſe.

3. It is no way againſt the goodneſs of humane Governours, in ſome caſes, to puniſh even the greater number, according to their deſerts.

4. Can any man that openeth his eyes deny it in matter of fact, that the far greater part of the world is actually ungodly, worldly, ſenſual and diſobedient? Or that ſuch are meet for puniſhment, and unmeet for the love and holy fruition of God? When I ſee that moſt men are ungodly, and uncapable of Heaven, is it not harder to reaſon, to believe that theſe ſhall have that joy and employment of which they are uncapable, than that they ſhall have the puniſhment which agreeth with their capacity, deſert and choice? Muſt I believe that God's enemies ſhall love him for ever, meerly becauſe they are the greater number? If one man that dieth unrenewed be capable of heaven, another is ſo, and all are ſo: Therefore I muſt either believe that no impenitent ungodly perſon is ſaved, or that all be ſaved. The number therefore is nothing to the deciding of the caſe.

5. Can any man in his wits deny, that it is as ſure that God permitteth ſin in the world, as that the Sun ſhineth on us: yea, that he permitteth that univerſal enormous deluge of wickedneſs which the world groaneth under at this day? p. 388And that this ſin is the ſouls calamity; and to a right judgment, is much worſe than puniſhment, what ever beaſtly ſenſuality may gainſay. If then the viſible wickedneſs of the world be permitted by God, without any impeachment of his goodneſs, then certainly his goodneſs may conſiſt with puniſhment, (which as ſuch is good, when ſin is evil:) And much of this puniſhment alſo is but materially permitted by God, and executed by ſinners upon themſelves.

6. The wiſdom and goodneſs of God ſaw it meet, for the right government of this world, to put the threatnings of an everlaſting puniſhment in his Law: (and how can that man have the face to ſay, it was needleſs, or too much in the Law, with whom it proved not enough to weigh down the trifling intereſts of the fleſh.) And if it was meet to put that penalty in the Law, it is juſt and meet to put that Law into execution, how many ſoever fall under the penalty of it, (as hath been proved.)

7. The goodneſs of God conſiſteth not in a Will to make all his creatures as great, or good and happy, as he can: but it is eſſentially in his infinite perfections; and expreſſively in the communication of ſo much to his creatures, as he ſeeth meet, and in the accompliſhment of his own pleaſure, by ſuch ways of Benignity and Juſtice as are moſt ſuitable to his Wiſdom and Holineſs. Man's perſonal intereſt is an unfit rule and meaſure of God's goodneſs.

8. To recite what I ſaid, and ſpeak it plainlier, I confeſs it greatly quieteth my mind againſt this great objection of the numbers that are damned and caſt off for ever, to conſider how ſmall a part this earth is of God's creation, as well as how ſinful and impenitent. Ask any Aſtronomer, that hath conſidered the innumerable number of the fixed Stars and Planets, with their diſtances, and magnitude, and glory,Of the probability of the habitation of the Planets, ſee Gaſſendus, and his reaſons, that the inhabitants are not men of our ſpecies, but that the inhabitants are diverſified as the habitations are, and other things in the univerſe. and the uncertainty that we have whether there be not as many more, or an hundred or thouſand times as many, unſeen to man, as all thoſe which we ſee (conſidering the defectiveneſs of man's ſight, and the Planets about Jupiter, with the innumerable Stars in the Milky way, which the Tube hath lately diſcovered, which man's eyes without it could not ſee,) I ſay, ask any man who knoweth theſe things, whether all this earth be any more in compariſon of p. 389the whole creation,Though Cicero frequently derideth the ſuperſtitious fear of Hell, yet he meaneth not of all future puniſhment of the wicked, but of the Poets fables of Styt, Cerberus, Tantalus, and Syſiphus kind of penalties, and of Minos and Rhadamanthu… the infernal Judges. than one Priſon is to a Kingdom or Empire, or the paring of one nail, or a little mole, or wart, or a hair, in compariſon of the whole body. And if God ſhould caſt off all this earth, and uſe all the ſinners in it as they deſerve, it is no more ſign of a want of benignity or mercy in him, than it is for a King to caſt one ſubject of a million into a Jail, and to hang him for his murder, or treaſon, or rebellion; or for a man to kill one louſe, which is but a moleſtation to the body which beareth it; or than it is to pare a mans nails, or cut off a wart, or a hair, or to pull out a rotten aking tooth.Sed Gegenetis Chriſtus humani (inquitis) c…nſervator advenit cur non omnes aequali munifi…entia liberat? Reſp. Aequaliter liberat, qui aequa…i…et omnes vocat: Haud ab ind…lgentia principali quemquam repellit, aut reſpuit: qui ſublimibus, infimis, ſervis, &c. uniformiter poteſtatem ven…endi ad ſe facit? Patet omnibus fons vitae, neque ab jure potandi quiſquam prohibetur. Si tibi faſtidium tantum eſt, ut oblati reſpuas beneficium muneris, quinimo ſi tantum ſapientia praevales, ut ea quae offeruntur à Chriſto ludum & ineptias nomines quid invitans peccat, cujus ſolum ſunt hae partes, ut ſub tui juris arbitrio fructum ſuae benignitatis exponat? —An orandus es ut beneficium ſalutis à Deo digneris accipere, & tibi aſpernanti, fugientique longiſſime, infundenda eſt in gremium divinae benevolentiae gratia? Vis ſumere quod offertur, & in tuos uſus convertere conſulueris tu tibi. Aſpernaris, contemnis & deſpicis, te muneris commoditate privaveris. Nulli Deus infert neceſſitatem. Object. Nolo (inquis) & voluntatem non babeo. Reſp. Quid ergo criminaris Deum, tanquam tibi deſit? Opem deſideras tibi ferre, cujus dona & munera non tantum aſperneris & fugias, verum in alia verbà cognomines, & jocularibus facetiis proſequaris. Arnob. adv. Gent. l. 2. I know it is a thing uncertain and unrevealed to us, whether all theſe Globes be inhabited or not: but he that conſidereth, that there is ſcarce any uninhabitable place on earth, or in the water, or air, but men, or beaſts, or birds, or fiſhes, or flies, or worms and moles do take up almoſt all, will think it a probability ſo near a certainty, as not to be much doubted of, that the vaſter and more glorious parts of the Creation are not uninhabited; but that they have Inhabitants anſwerable to their magnitude and glory (as Palaces have other inhabitants than Cottages): and that there is a connaturality and agreeableneſs there as well as here, between the Region or Globe, and the inhabitants. But whether it be the Globes themſelves, or only the inter-ſpaces, or other parts that are thus inhabited, no reaſon can doubt, but that thoſe more vaſt and glorious ſpaces are proportionably poſſeſs'd: And whether they are all to be called Angels or Spirits, or by what other name, is unrevealed to us: but what ever they are called, I make no queſtion but our number to theirs is not one to a million at the moſt.

p. 390Now this being ſo, for ought we know thoſe glorious parts may have inhabitants without any ſin or miſery; who are filled with their Makers love and goodneſs; and ſo are fitter to be the demonſtration of that love and goodneſs, than this ſinful mole-hill or dungeon of ignorance is. If I were ſure that God would ſave all mankind, and only leave the devils in their damnation, and forſake no part of his Creation but their Hell, it would not be any great ſtumbling to my faith: Or if Earth were all God's creation, and I were ſure that he would condemn but one man of a hundred thouſand, or a million, and that only for final impenitency in the contempt of the mercy which would have ſaved him; this would be no great difficulty to my faith. Why then ſhould it be an offence to us, if God, for their final refuſal of his grace, do for ever forſake and puniſh the far greater part of this little dark and ſinful world, while he glorifieth his Benignity and Love abundantly upon innumerable Angels, and bleſſed Spirits, and inhabitants of thoſe more large and glorious ſeats? If you would judge of the Beneficence of a King, will you go to the Jail and the Gallows to diſcern it, or to his Palace and all the reſt of his Kingdom? And will you make a few condemned malefactors the meaſure of it? or all the reſt of his obedient proſperous ſubjects? If Hell be totally forſaken of God, as having totally forſaken him; and if Earth have made it ſelf next to Hell, and be forſaken as to the far greater part, becauſe that greater part hath forſaken him; as long as there may be millions of bleſſed ones above, to one of theſe forſaken ones on earth, it ſhould be no offence to any but the ſelfiſh guilty ſinner. I confeſs I rather look on it as a great demonſtration of God's holineſs and goodneſs in his Juſtice, that he will puniſh the rebellious according to his Laws; and a great demonſtration of his Goodneſs in his Mercy, that he will ſave any of ſuch a rebellious world, and hath not forſaken it utterly as Hell:Eunomiani minas futuri ſupplicii & gehennae, non ad veritatem, ſed ad metum prolatas aiebant. Hermenopul. de Sectis. Sect. 13. And when of all the thouſands of Worlds or Globes which he hath made, we know of none forſaken by him, but Hell, and part of the Earth, all the Devils, and moſt of Men; we ſhould admire the glory of his bounty, and be thankful with joy, that we are not of the forſaken number; and that even among ſinners, he will caſt off none but thoſe that finally reject his mercy.

p. 391But ſelfiſhneſs and ſenſe do make men blinde, and judge of Good and Evil only by ſelf-intereſt and feeling; and the malefactor will hardly magnifie Juſtice, nor take it to be a ſign of Goodneſs: But God will be God whether ſelfiſh rebels will or not.

Obj. That any thing exiſteth beſides God cannot be known but by ſenſe or hiſtory: Have you either of theſe for thoſe Inhabitants? And if we may go by Conjectures, for ought you know there may as many of thoſe Worlds be damned, as of earthly men.

Anſ. 1. Some men are ſo little conſcious of their humanity, that they think that nothing is known at all: But he that knoweth by ſenſe that He is himſelf, and that there is a World about him, and then by Reaſon that there is a God, may know alſo by Reaſon that there are other Creatures which he never ſaw: Neither ſenſe nor hiſtory told us of the inhabitants of the (then) unknown parts of the World; and yet it had been eaſie to gather at leaſt a ſtrong probability that there are ſuch. He that knoweth that an intelligent Nature is better than a non-intelligent, and then knoweth that God hath made man intelligent, and then thinketh what difference there is in matter, magnitude and glory, between the dirty body of Man with the Earth he liveth in, and thoſe vaſt and glorious Ethereal ſpaces; will quickly judge that it is a thing incredible, that God ſhould have no Creatures nobler than man, nor imprint more of his Image upon any in thoſe more glorious Regions, than on us that dwell as Snails in ſuch a ſhell; or that there ſhould be ſuch a ſtrange diſproportion in the works of God, as that a punctum of dirty earth only ſhould be poſſeſſed of the Divine or Intellectual nature, and the vaſt and glorious Orbs or Spaces be made only to look on, or to ſerve theſe mortal Worms: But proofs go according to the preparation of the Receivers minde: Nothing is a proof to the unprepared and prejudiced.

2. We have ſenſe by the Teleſcope to tell us, that the Moon hath parts unequal, and looketh much like the habitable Earth: And we have ſenſe to tell us, that there are Witches and Apparitions, and conſequently other kinde of intellectual Wights than we. And we have Hiſtory to tell us p. 392of the appearances and offices of Angels: And if there be certainly ſuch wights, our eyes may help us to conjecture at their Numbers (compared to us) by the ſpaces which they inhabit.

3. There is a proportion and harmony in all the works of God: And therefore we that ſee how much the ſuperiour Orbs do in glory excell this dirty Earth, have reaſon to think that the nature of the Inhabitants is ſuited to their Habitations; and conſequently that they are more excellent Creatures than we, and therefore leſs ſinfull, and therefore more happy.

4. Yet after all this, I am neither aſſerting that all this is ſo, nor bound to prove it. I only argue, that you who are offended at the numbers that ſin and periſh, do wrangle in the dark, and ſpeak againſt you know not what. Conjecture is enough for me, to prove that you do fooliſhly to argue againſt experience (of the ſin and miſery of the moſt) upon meer uncertainties. You will not cenſure the actions of a Prince or Generall, when your ignorance of their Counſels maketh you uncertain of the cauſe; yea and of the matter of fact it ſelf. The proof lyeth on your part, and not on mine: You ſay, our doctrine is incredible, becauſe ſo few are ſaved, and yet confeſs that for ought you know, taking all together it may be many millions for one that periſheth. I think by proving you uncertain of this, I prove you fooliſh in your Infidelity. And if you will conjecture then, that there may as many of thoſe other Regions be damned, 1. You ſhew your ſelves much more harſh in your cenſures than the Chriſtians are, whoſe harſhneſs you are now reproving: Yea you conjecture this without all ground or probability. And will you ſay then, For ought I know it may be ſo, Ergo, Chriſtianity is incredible? Can a groundleſs conjecture allow any rational man ſuch a Concluſion?

Obj. But you ſay your ſelves that many of the Angels fell, and are now Devils.

Anſw. But we ſay not how many: we never ſaid that it is the whole number of the Glorious Inhabitants of all the ſuperiour World, who are called Angels, as Meſſengers or Officers about man: we know not how ſmall a part of them comparatively it may be: And of them we know not p. 393how few fell. Auguſtine conjectured that it was the tenth part; but we have no ground for any ſuch conjecture.

Obj. But it is incredible that the World ſhould periſh for one mans ſin, whom they never knew, nor could prevent?

Anſ. 1. To them that know what Generation is, and what the Son is to the Father, it is not incredible at all that the unholy Parents do not beget holy Children, nor convey to them that which they have not themſelves: nor yet that God ſhould hate the unholy: Nor that the Parents choice ſhould ſignifie much for their Childrens ſtate, who have no wills of their own fit for actual choice; nor that reſtored imperfect holineſs ſhould not be conveyed to Children by natural propagation; which came to the Parents by Regeneration: nor that the Children of Traytors ſhould be diſinherited for their Fathers faults: nor that the Children of Drunkards and Gluttons ſhould be naturally diſeaſed.

2. No man in the World doth periſh for Adams ſin alone without his own: (Though we judge the caſe of Infants to allow you no exception, yet to carry the controverſie to them into the dark, and to argue à minus notis, is not the property of ſuch as ſeek impartially for truth.) Chriſt hath procured a new Covenant upon which all thoſe that hear the Goſpel, ſhall again be tryed for life or death: And thoſe that hear it not, have divers means which have a tendency to their recovery, and are under undenyable Obligations to uſe thoſe means in order to their recovery: which if they do not faithfully, they periſh for their own ſin. Should it not make Chriſtianity the more eaſily credible, when certain experience aſſureth us, how prone even Infants are to ſin, and how univerſally the World is drown'd in wickedneſs; and then to finde ſo admirable and ſuitable a Remedy revealed?

Obj. But Puniſhment is to warn others from ſinning: But after this life there will be none to warn: therefore there will be no puniſhment, becauſe the end of puniſhing ceaſeth.

Anſw. 1. It is a falſe poſition, that puniſhment is only or chiefly to be a warning to others. It is chiefly for the ultimate end of Government, which ſecundum quid among men, is the bonum publicum; but ſimpliciter, in Gods Government, p. 394it is the Glorifying or demonſtration of the Holineſs and Juſtice of God the univerſal Governour, to the pleaſure of his holy will.

See more of this before, Part 1 Ch. 15. The Reader man pardon this ſpeaking of the ſame thing twice, both becauſe the Objection requireth the repetition, and becauſe I think it needfull to moſt Readers; to procure their obſervation.2. It is the Penalty as Threatned in the Law, and not the penalty as executed, which is the firſt neceſſary means to deterre others from offending: And then the execution is ſecondarily neceſſary, becauſe the Law muſt be fulfilled. It is not the actual hanging of a murderer; which is the firſt neceſſary inſtrument or means to reſtrain murderers: But it is the Penalty in the Law, which ſaith that Murderers ſhall be hanged: And the commination of the Law would be no reſtraint, if it were not that it relateth to a juſt execution. So that it was neceſſary to the reſtraint of ſinners in this world, Aut ideo gregem puſillum appellat, quia totum hominum genus, ne dum ſoli ſancti, cum immenſa illa Angelorum multitudine, collatum, perexiguus grex eſt. Eſt enim illorum multitudo incredibilis, hominum nume um infinitis pene partibus exceden…. Titus …oſtrenſ. in Luc. cap. 12.Luke 12that God ſhould threaten Hell in his Law: And therefore it is neceſſary that he execute that Law; or elſe it would be deluſory, and contemptible.

3. How know we who ſhall ſurvive this preſent World, to whom God may make mans Hell a warning? Are not the Devils now ſet out in Scripture for a warning to Man? And how know we what other Creatures God hath, to whom theſe puniſhed ſinners may be a warning? Or whether the New Earth, wherein Righteouſneſs muſt dwell, according to Gods Promiſe (2 Pet. 3.12, 13.) ſhall not have uſe of this warning to keep them in their righteouſneſs? As long as all theſe things are probable, and the contrary utterly uncertain, how fooliſh a thing is it, to go from the light of a plain Revelation and Scripture, and argue from our dark uncertainties and improbabilities againſt that light? And all becauſe ſelf-love and guilt doth make ſinners unwilling to believe the truth? So much for the Objection againſt Hell.

Obj. VIII. But it is incredible, that all thoſe ſhall be damned that live honeſtly and ſoberly, and do no body harm, if they do not alſo live a holy and heavenly life, and forſake all for another World.

We deny not but that there are different degrees of puniſhment according to the difference of mens ſins.Anſw. It is but ſelfiſhneſs and blindneſs, which maketh men call him an honeſt man, and ſpeak lightly of his wickedneſs who preferreth the dung and trifles of this World, before his Maker, and Everlaſting glory. What if a pack of Murderers, Thieves and Rebels, do live together in love, p. 395and do one another no harm? ſhall that excuſe their murders or rebellions, and give them the name of honeſt men?Etſi mortalibus in decies millenos annos haec extemis ſenſibus expoſita vita producatur, nunquam tamen opinor tantae Angelorum & Daemonum multitudini, hamanarum animamarum numerus par erit. Aeneas Gazaeus de Animâ Theophraſtus p. 399. What is the Creature to the Creator? what greater wickedneſs can man commit, than to deny, deſpiſe and diſobey his Maker? and to preferre the moſt contemptible vanity before him? and to chooſe the tranſitory pleaſure of ſinning, before the endleſs fruition of his God? what is wronging a Neighbour, in compariſon of this wrong? ſhall a ſinner refuſe his everlaſting happineſs when it is offered him, and then think to have it, when he can poſſeſs the pleaſure of ſin no longer? and all becauſe he did no man wrong? Doth he think to refuſe Heaven, and yet to have it? If he refuſe the Love of God, and perfection of Holineſs, he refuſeth Heaven. It is ſo far from being incredible that the unholy ſhould be damned, and the Holy only ſaved, that the contrary is impoſſible: I would not believe an Angel from Heaven, if he ſhould tell me that one unholy Soul, in ſenſu compoſito, while ſuch, ſhall be ſaved, and have the heavenly felicity: becauſe it is a meer contradiction. For to be bleſſed in Heaven, is to be happy in the perfect Love of God: And to love God without Holineſs, ſignifieth to love him without loving him. Are theſe the Objections of unbelief?

Obj. IX. The Reſurrection of theſe Numerical Bodies, when they are devoured and turned into the ſubſtance of other bodies, is a thing incredible ††Cum non eſſes, re formavit ex humida & mini…a ſubſtantia, & ex minutiſſima guttula, quae nec ipſi aliquando erat. Thioph. Antioch. ad Antolych. l. 1..

Anſw. 1. If it be neither againſt the Power, the Wiſdom, or the Will of God, it is not incredible at all.One that had never heard nor thought of the way of generation, would think it as unlikely a thing that an Aco…n ſhould bring forth an Oak, or ſuch a thing as ſperma humanum the Body of a man, as you do that the body riſe again. And the Platoniſts think, that all Souls preſently upon their departure hence do fabricate to themſelves either acreal or ethereal bodies: And why ſhould you think them ſo alienated from the bodies which they lived in, as only to be uncapable of thoſe? If we knew what the hoc idem of the Body is, we might have more particular explicit ſatisfaction: In the mean time we muſt implicitly truſt in God. Leg. Finem Diſput. Zachariae Scholaſt. Mitylen. But it is not againſt any of theſe. Who can ſay, that God is unable to raiſe the dead, who ſeeth ſo much greater things performed by him, in the daily motion of the Sun (or Earth) and in the ſupport and courſe of the whole frame of Nature? He that can every Spring give a kinde of Reſurrection, to Plants and Flowers, and Fruits of the Earth, can eaſily raiſe our bodies from the duſt. And no man can prove, that the Wiſdom of God, or yet his Will, are againſt our Reſurrection; but that both p. 396are for it,Lege etiam Athenagoram de Reſurrectione. Read Garbut of the Reſurrection. may be proved by his Promiſes: Shall that which is beyond the power of Man, be therefore objected as a difficulty to God?

2. Yea, it is congruous to the Wiſdom and Governing Juſtice of God, that the ſame Body which was partaker with the Soul in ſin and duty, ſhould be partaker with it in ſuffering or felicity?Read Aen. Gazaeus his Theophraſtus, where is a handſome diſcourſe of the Reſurrection.

3. The Lord Jeſus Chriſt did purpoſely die and riſe again in his humane body, to put the Reſurrection out of doubt, by undenyable ocular demonſtration, and by the certainty of belief.

4. There is ſome Natural Reaſon for the Reſurrection in the Souls inclination to its Body. As it is unwilling to lay it down, it will be willing to reaſſume it, when God ſhall ſay, The time is come. As we may conclude at night when they are going to bed, that the people of City and Countrey will riſe the next morning, and put on their Cloaths, and not go naked about the ſtreets, becauſe there is in them a Natural inclination to riſing and to cloaths, and a natural averſneſs to lie ſtill or to go uncloathed; ſo may we conclude from the ſouls natural inclination to its body, that it will reaſſume it as ſoon as God conſenteth.

5. And all our Objections which reaſon from ſuppoſed contradictions vaniſh; becauſe none of us all have ſo much skill in Phyſicks as to know what it is which individuateth this Numerical Body, and ſo what it is which is to be reſtored: But we all confeſs, that it is not the preſent maſs of fleſh and humours, which being in a continual flux, is not the ſame this year which it was the laſt, and may vaniſh long before we die.

Obj. X. If Chriſt be indeed the Saviour of the World, why came he not into the World till it was 4000 years old? And why was he before revealed to ſo few? and to them ſo darkly? Did God care for none on earth, but a few Jews? or did he not care for the Worlds recovery till the later age, when it drew towards its end?

Anſw. It is hard for the Governour of the World, by ordinary means, to ſatisfie all ſelf-conceited perſons of the wiſdom and equity of his dealings. But 1. it belongeth not to us, but to our free Benefactor, to determine of the meaſure, p. 397and ſeaſon of his benefits: May he not do with his own as he liſt? And ſhall we deny or queſtion a proved truth, becauſe the reaſon of the circumſtances is unrevealed to us? If our Phyſician come to cure us of a mortal diſeaſe, would we reject him becauſe he came not ſooner? and becauſe he cured not all others that were ſick as well as us?

2. The Eternal Wiſdom and Word of God, the ſecond Perſon in the Trinity, was the Saviour of the World before he was incarnate. He did not only by his Ʋndertaking, make his future performances valid, as to the merit and ſatisfaction neceſſary to our deliverance;If Philoſophy be medicinal to the fooliſh world, why were Thales, Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Ariſtotle, and Zeno born no ſooner? but the world ſuffered to lie ſo long in ignorance? Anſwer this your ſelves, and you are anſwered. but he inſtructed Mankinde in order to their recovery, and Ruled them upon terms of grace, and ſo did the work of a Redeemer or Mediator, even as Prophet, Prieſt and King, before his Incarnation. He enacted the Covenant of Grace, that whoever repenteth and believeth ſhall be ſaved; and ſo gave men a conditional pardon of their ſins.

3. And though Repentance and the Love of God, was neceſſary to all that would be ſaved, even as a conſtitutive cauſe of their ſalvation; yet that Faith in the Mediator, which is but the means to the Love of God, and to ſanctification,Arnobius anſwereth this Objection, partly by alledging mans ignorance of what God did to former ages, and partly by aſſerting Gods mercy to them▪ adv. Gentes li. 2. was not alwayes, nor in all places, in the ſame particular Articles neceſſary as it is now, where the Goſpel is preached. Before Chriſts coming, a more general belief might ſerve the turn, for mens ſalvation; without believing, that [This Jeſus is the Chriſt; that he was conceived by the Holy Ghoſt, born of the Virgin Mary, ſuffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead, and buryed, and deſcended to Hades, and roſe again the third day, and aſcended into Heaven, &c.] And as more is neceſſary to be believed, ſince Chriſts incarnation and reſurrection than before; ſo more was before neceſſary to the Jewes, who had the Oracles of God, and had more revealed to them than to other Nations who had leſs revealed: And now more is neceſſary where the Goſpel cometh, than where it doth not.

4. So that the Gentiles had a Saviour before Chriſts Incarnation, and not only the Jewes. They were reprieved from Legal Juſtice, and not dealt with by God upon the proper terms of the Covenant of Works, or meer Nature: They had all of them much of that mercy which they had p. 398forfeited;Obj. Quid viſum eſt ut ante horas pauculas ſoſpitator Chriſtus coeli ex arcibus mitteretur? Reſp. Quae cauſa eſt quod ſerius hyems, aeſtas, autumnus fiant? — Non minus inficias neſcire nos: nec promptum eſt cu… quam Dei mentem videre, aut quibus modis ordinaverit res ſuas, homo animal coecum & ipſum ſe neſciens ullis poteſt rationibus conſequi— Nec continuo ſequitur ut infecta fiant quae facta ſunt, & amittat res fidem, quae poteſtatibus eſt monſtratum. Id. ib. which came to them by the Grace of the Redeemer. They had time and helps to turn to God, and a courſe of means appointed them to uſe, in order to their recovery and ſalvation: According to the uſe of which they ſhall be judged: They were not with the Devils left remedileſs, and ſhut out of all hope, under final deſperation: No one ever periſhed in any Age or Nation of the World, who by believing in a mercifull, pardoning, holy God, was recovered to love God above all. And if they did not this, they were all without a juſt excuſe.

5. The courſe of Grace as that of Nature, doth wiſely proceed from low degrees to higher, and bringeth not things to perfection at the firſt: The Sun was not made the firſt day of the Creation; nor was Man made, till all things were prepared for him. The Churches Infancy was to go before its Maturity. We have ſome light of the Sun, before it riſe; much more before it come to the height: As Chriſt now teacheth his Church more plainly, when he is himſelf gone into Glory, even by his Paſtors whom he fitteth for that work, and by his Spirit; ſo did he (though more obſcurely yet ſufficiently) teach it before he came in the fleſh, by Prophets and Prieſts: His work of Salvation conſiſteth in bringing men to live in Love and Obedience: And his way of Teaching them his ſaving doctrine is by his Miniſters without,Nam quod nobis objectare conſueſtis, novellam eſſe Religionem noſtram, & ante dies propemodum paucos natam, ne que vos potuiſſe antiquam & patriam linquere, &c. ratione iſtud intenditur nulla: Quid enim ſi hoc modo culpam velimus infligere, prioribus illis & antiquiſſimis ſeculis, quod inventis frugibus glandes ſpreverint, quod corticibus contegi, & amiciri deſierint pellibus, poſtquam veſtis excogitatae eſt textili, — Commune eſt omnibus &-ab ipſis pene incunabulis traditum, bona malis anteferre, inutilibus utilia praeponere — Convenit ut inſpiciatis non factum, nec quid reliquerimus opponere, ſed ſecuti quid ſimus potiſſimum contucri. Arnob. ib. l. 2. And he next inſtanceth, what abundance of things they had then innovated at Rome. Et poſtea—ſed novellum nomen eſt noſtrum, & ante dies paucos Religio eſt nata quam ſequimur: Reſp. Ut interim concedam— Quid eſt in negotiis hominum, quod vel opere corporis & manibus fiat, vel ſolius animae diſciplina & cognitione teneatur, quod non ex aliquo coeperit tempore? Philoſophia, Muſica, Aſtronomia, &c. Id. ib. p. 24. and by his Spirit within: And thus he did before his coming in fleſh, and thus he doth ſince: we that are born ſince his coming, ſee not his Perſon, any more than they who were born before. But we have his Word, Miniſters, and Spirit, and ſo had they: His reconciling ſacrifice was effectual morally in eſſe cognito & volito before the performance of it: And the means of reconciling our mindes to God, were ſufficient in their kind before, though more full and excellent ſince his coming.

p. 399If you would not be deluded into Infidelity by this objection (which indeed is one of the greateſt difficulties of Faith) you muſt not further one error by another. 1. Think not that God is hired or perſwaded by Chriſt as againſt his will to forgive mens ſins and ſave their ſouls, or to do them any good. Underſtand, that no good cometh to man, or any Creature, but totally from Gods will and Love, who is the Original and Eternal Goodneſs. All the queſtion is but of the modus conferendi, the way of his Conveyance: And then it will not ſeem incredible, that he ſhould give out his mercy by degrees, and with ſome diverſity.

2. Think not that Chriſtianity doth teach men, that all thoſe who were not of the Jewiſh Nation or Church then, or that are not now of the Chriſtian Church, were ſo caſt off and forſaken by God as the Devils are, to be left as utterly hopeleſs or remedileſs: nor that they were upon no other terms for ſalvation, than man in innocency was under; which was [Obey perfectly and live; or if thou ſin, thou ſhalt die]: For this had been to leave them as hopeleſs as the Devils, when once they had ſinned.

3. And think not that Chriſt can ſhew no mercy, nor do any thing towards the ſalvation of a ſinner, before he is known himſelf to the ſinner; eſpecially before he is known as an incarnate Mediator, or one that is to be incarnate. He ſtruck down Paul, and ſpake to him from Heaven, before Paul knew him: He ſent Philip to the Eunuch, before he knew him, and Peter to Cornelius, and ſendeth the Goſpel to Heathen Nations, before they know him. If the Apoſtles themſelves, even after that they had lived long with Chriſt, and heard his preaching, and ſeen his Miracles, yea and preached and wrought Miracles themſelves, did not yet underſtand that he muſt ſuffer, and die, and riſe again, and ſend down the Spirit, &c. you may conjecture by this what the common Faith of thoſe before Chriſts coming was, who were ſaved.

4. Think not therefore that Chriſt hath no way or degree of effectual Teaching, but by the expreſs doctrine of his Incarnation, Death and Reſurrection, which is now THE GOSPEL.

5. And think not that all the mercies which Pagan Nations p. 400have from God, are no acts of Grace, nor have any tendency to their converſion and ſalvation. Doubtleſs, it is the ſame Redeemer, even the eternal Wiſdom and Word of God, who before his Incarnation gave greater mercy to the Jews, Religionis autoritas non eſt tempore eſtimanda ſed numine. Id. ib. Yet next he ſaith, Our Religion is the oldeſt, becauſe God is ſo, though Chriſt came but lately to teach it us better.and leſſer to the Gentiles: He doth by theſe mercies oblige or lead men to Repentance and Gratitude, and reveal God as mercifull and ready to forgive all capable ſinners: As even under the Law, Exod▪ 34. he revealed himſelf fullyer to Moſes, [The Lord, the Lord God, mercifull and gracious, long-ſuffering and abundant in goodneſs and truth, keeping mercy for thouſands, forgiving iniquity, tranſgreſſion and ſin, &c.] though he will by no means (no not by Chriſt) clear the guilty, that is, either ſay to the wicked, thou art juſt, or pardon any uncapable ſubject. Doubtleſs, mercy bindeth Heathens to know God as mercifull, and to love him, and to improve that mercy to their attainment of more, and to ſeek after further knowledge, and to be better than they are; and they are ſet under a certain courſe of Means, and appointed Duty, in order to their recovery and ſalvation: Elſe it might be ſaid, that they have nothing to do for their own recovery, and conſequently ſin not by omitting it. By all this you may perceive, that Chriſt did much by Mercies and Teaching before his Incarnation, and ſince for all the World, which hath a tendency to their converſion, recovery and ſalvation.

Obj. XI. The conception of a Virgin, without man, is improbable; and muſt all depend upon the credit of her own word: And the meanneſs of his Parentage, breeding and condition, doth more increaſe the difficulty.

Anſw. 1. It was meet that the birth of Chriſt ſhould begin, in a Miracle, when his life was to be ſpent and finiſhed in Miracles. 2. It is no more than was promiſed before by the Prophet, Iſa. 7.14. A Virgin ſhall conceive and bear a Son, &c. And why ſhould the fulfilling of a Propheſie by miracle be incredible? 3. It is neither above nor againſt the Power, Wiſdom or Love of God, and therefore it ſhould not ſeem incredible. There is no contradiction or impoſſibility in it; nor any thing contrary to Senſe or Reaſon. Reaſon ſaith indeed, that it is above the power of man, and above the common courſe of Nature; but not that it is above the Power p. 401of the God of Nature: Is it any harder for God to cauſe a Virgin to conceive by the Holy Ghoſt, than to make the firſt of Humane kinde, (or any other kinde) of nothing? 4. It was meet that he who was to be a Sacrifice for ſin, and a Teacher and pattern of perfect righteouſneſs, and a Mediator between God and Man, ſhould not be an ordinary Childe of Adam, nor be himſelf defiled with Original or actual ſin; and therefore that he ſhould be in a peculiar ſenſe the Son of God. 5. And this doth not depend only on the Credit of the Virgin-mothers word, but on the multitude of Miracles whereby God himſelf confirmed the truth of it.

And as for the Meanneſs of his Perſon and Condition, 1. It was a needfull part of the humiliation which he was for our ſins to undergo; that he ſhould take upon him the form of a Servant, and make himſelf of no reputation, Phil. 2.7, 8, 9. 2. It was a ſuitable teſtimony againſt the pride, carnality, and worldly-mindedneſs of deluded men, who overvalue the honour and pleaſure and riches of the World: And a ſuitable means to teach men to judge of things aright, and value every thing truely as it is. The contrary whereof is the cauſe of all the ſin and miſery of the World. He that was to cure men of the Love of the World, and all its riches, dignities and pleaſure, & he that was to ſave them from this, by the Office of a Saviour, could not have taken a more effectual way, than to teach them by his own example, and to go before them in the ſetled contempt of all theſe vanities, and preferring the true and durable felicity. 3. Look inwardly to his God-head, and ſpiritual perfections: Look upward to his preſent ſtate of Glory, who hath now all power given into his hands, and is made Head over all things to the Church, Eph. 1.22. Look forward to the day of his glorious appearing, when he ſhall come with all his Celeſtial Retinue, to judge the World: And then you will ſee the Dignity and excellency of Chriſt. If you preferre not ſpiritual and heavenly dignities your ſelves, you are uncapable of them, and cannot be ſaved: But if you do, you may ſee the excellencies of Chriſt. He that knoweth how vain a bubble the honour of man and the glory of this world is, will not be offended at the King of Saints becauſe his Kingdom is not of this World: And he that knoweth any thing p. 402of the difference between God and the Creature, Heaven and Earth, will not deſpiſe the Eternal Jehovah, becauſe he weareth not a ſilken Coat, and dwelleth not in the guilded Palaces of a Prince: If Earthly Glory had been the higheſt, it had been the glory of Chriſt: And if he had come to make us happy by the rich mans way, Luk. 16. To be cloathed in Purple and Silk, and faring ſumptuouſly every day, then would he have led us this way by his example. But when it is the work of a Saviour to ſave us from the fleſh, and from this preſent evil World, the Means muſt be ſuited to the end.

Obj. XII. But it is a very hard thing to believe that perſon to be God Incarnate, and the Saviour of the World, who ſuffered on a Croſs, as a Blaſphemer and a Traytor that uſurped the Title of a King.

Anſw. The Croſs of Chriſt hath ever been the ſtumbling-block of the proud and worldly ſort of men. But it is the confidence and conſolation of true Believers. For 1. It was not for his own ſins but for ours that he ſuffered: Even ſo was it propheſied of him, Iſa. 53.4. Surely, he hath born our griefs, Leg. Ivon Carnotenſ. de rebus Eccleſiaſt. cap. Quare Deus natus & paſſus eſt? Bibl. Pat. To. 10. pag. 809, 810. Etiam Ruper. Tuitienſ. li. 3. de Divinis Offic. cap. 14. de eo quod ſolet quaeri, Cur Deus lapſum hominis evenire permiſerit, pro quo Incarnatio ejus neceſſaria fuit? pag. 897. Pythagoras ſamius ſuſpicione dominationis injuſtâ vivus concrematus in fano eſt: Nunquid ea quae docuit, vim propriam perdiderunt, quia non Spiritum ſponte, ſed crudelitate appetitus effudit: ſimiliter Socrates civitatis ſuae judicio damnatus, &c. Aquilius, Trebonius, Regulus, acerbiſſinarum mortium experti ſunt formas: nunquid idcirco poſt vitam judicati ſunt turpes? Nemo unquam innocens male interemptus infamis eſt; nec turpitudinis alicujus commaculatur nota, qui non ſuo merito, poenas graves, ſed truciatoris perpetitur ſaevitatem. Arnob. adv. Gent. li. 1. p. 7.and carryed our ſorrows; yet did we eſteem him ſtricken of God, and afflicted: But he was wounded for our tranſgreſſions; he was bruiſed for our iniquities, the chaſtiſement of our peace was upon him, and with his ſtripes we are healed: All we like Sheep have gone aſtray, we have every one turned to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. And it is impudent ingratitude to make thoſe his ſufferings the occaſion of our unbelief, which we were the cauſes of our ſelves; and to be aſhamed of that Croſs which we laid upon him by our ſins. It is not worth the labour to anſwer the ſlanders of his accuſers, about his uſurpation of a Kingdom, when they believed it not themſelves: He was above a worldly Kingdom. And it could be no blaſphemy for him to ſay that he was the Son of God, when he had ſo fully proved it by his works.

p. 4032. His ſuffering as a reputed Malefactor on a Croſs, was a principal part of the merit of his Patience: For many a man can bear the corporal pain, who cannot ſo far deny his honour, as to bear the imputation of a Crime: For the innocent Son of God, that was never convict of ſin, to ſuffer under the name of a Blaſphemer and a Traytor, was greater condeſcention, than to have ſuffered under the name of an innocent perſon.

3. And in all this it was needfull that the Saviour of Mankinde, ſhould not only be a Sacrifice and Ranſom for our ſinfull Souls, but alſo ſhould heal us of the over-love of Life, and Honour by his Example. Had not his ſelf-denyal and patience extended to the loſs of all things in this World, both life it ſelf, and the reputation of his righteouſneſs, it had not been a perfect example of ſelf-denyal and patience unto us. And then it had been unmeet for ſo great a work, as the cure of our Pride and love of Life. Had Chriſt come to deliver the Jews from Captivity, or to make his Followers great on Earth, as Mahomet did, he would have ſuited the Means to ſuch an End: But when he came to ſave men from pride, and ſelf-love, and the eſteem of this World, and to bring them to Patience, and full obedience to the will of God, and to place all their happineſs in another life, true Reaſon telleth us that there was no example ſo fit for this end, as Patient ſubmiſſion to the greateſt ſufferings. The Croſs of Chriſt then ſhall be our glory, and not our ſtumbling-block or ſhame. Let the Children of the Devil boaſt, that they are able to do hurt, and to trample upon others: The Diſciples of Chriſt will rather boaſt, that they can patiently endure to be abuſed, as knowing that their Pride and Love of the World, is the enemy which they are moſt concern'd in conquering.

Obj. XIII. It was but a few mean unlearned perſons who believed in him at the firſt: And it is not paſt a ſixth part of the World, that yet believeth in him: And of theſe, few do it judiciouſly and from their hearts, but becauſe their Kings or Parents, or Countrey are of that Religion.

Anſw. 1. As to the Number I have anſwered it before. It is no great number comparatively that are Kings, or Lords, or Learned men, and truly judicious and wiſe: will you p. 404therefore ſet light by any of theſe? Things excellent are ſeldom common. The Earth hath more Stones than Gold or Pearls.How gallantly have your Learned Philoſophers excelled us? When the Pyrrhonians and Arceſilas his new Academeticks have learned to know that …ing can be known; and the one ſort of them ſay that they know not that much neither. But whether they dare ſay that they know that they know not that much they have not told us. Of them even Cicero learned as much to doubt as to know. All thoſe believed in Chriſt who heard his word, and ſaw his works, and had wiſe, conſiderate, honeſt hearts, to receive the ſufficient evidence of truth. The greater part are every where ignorant, raſh, injudicious, diſhoneſt, and carryed away with prejudice, fancy, cuſtom, error and carnal intereſt. If all men have means in its own kind ſufficient to bring them to believe, to underſtand ſo much as God immediately requireth of them, it is their fault who after this are ignorant and unbelieving; and if it prove their miſery, let them thank themſelves. But yet Chriſt will not leave the ſucceſs of his undertaking ſo far to the will of man, as to be uncertain of his expected fruits: He hath his choſen ones throughout the World, and will bring them effectually to Faith and Holineſs, to Grace and Glory, though all the Powers of Hell do rage againſt it: In them is his delight, and them he will conform to his Fathers will, and reſtore them to his Image,Quicquid nil verum ſtatuens Academia duplex Perſonat; arroſo quicquid ſapit ungue Cleanthes — Apol. Sidonius Carm. 2. p. 123. and fit them to love and ſerve him here, and enjoy him for ever: And though they are not the greater number, they ſhall be the everlaſting demonſtration of his Wiſdom, Love, and Holineſs: And when you ſee all the worlds of more bleſſed Inhabitants, you will ſee that the Damned were the ſmaller number, and the Bleſſed in all probability many millions to one: If the Devil have the greater number in this World, God will have the greater number in the reſt.

2. It was the wiſe deſign of Jeſus Chriſt, that few in compariſon ſhould be converted by his perſonal converſe or teaching, and thouſands might be ſuddenly converted upon his Aſcenſion, and the coming down of the Holy Ghoſt: Both becauſe his Reſurrection and Aſcenſion were part of the Articles to be believed, and were the chiefeſt of all his Miracles which did convert men: And therefore he would Riſe from the dead before the multitude ſhould be called: And becauſe the Spirit as it was his extraordinary Witneſs and Advocate on Earth, was to be given by him after he aſcended into glory; And he would have the World ſee, that the Converſion of men to Faith and Sanctity, was not the effect of any politick Confederacy between him and p. 405them, but the effect of Gods Power, Light and Love: ſo that it ſhould be a great confirmation to our Faith to conſider, that thoſe multitudes believed by the wonderfull teſtimony and work of the Holy Ghoſt, upon the Diſciples, when Chriſt had been crucified in deſpight, who yet believed not before, but were his Crucifiers: It was not ſo hard nor honourable an act to believe in him; when he went about working Miracles, and ſeemed in a poſſibility to reſtore their temporal Kingdom, as to believe in him after he had been crucified among Malefactors. He therefore that could after this by the Spirit and Miracles, bring ſo many thouſands to believe, did ſhew that he was alive himſelf and in full power.

3. And that the Apoſtles were mean unlearned men, is a great confirmation to our Faith. For now it is apparent that they had their abilities, wiſdom and ſucceſſes from the Spirit and Power of God: But if they had been Philoſophers or cunning men, it might have been more ſuſpected to be a laid contrivance between Chriſt and them. Indeed for all his Miracles, they began to be in doubt of him themſelves, when he was dead and buryed, till they ſaw him riſen again, and had the Spirit came upon them, and this laſt undenyable evidence, and this heavenly inſuperable Call and Conviction was it, which miraculouſly ſetled them in the Faith.

**Quid nobis eſt inveſtigare …a quae ne que ſcire compendium, ne que ignorare detrimentum eſt ullum? Remittite haec Deo, at que ipſum ſcire concedite, quid, quare, & unde ſit? debuerit eſſe aut non eſſe. Veſtris non eſt rationibus liberum implicare vos talibus, & tam remotas inutiliter curare res: Veſtra in ancipiti ſita eſt ſalus animarum veſtrarum; & niſi vos applicatis Dei Principis notioni, à corporalibus vinculis exolutos, expectat mors ſaeva; non repentinam afferens extinctionem, ſed pertractum temporis cruciabilis poenae acerbitate conſumens. Arnob. adv. Gent. l. 2.4. And that Saviour, who came not to make us Worldlings, but to ſave us from this preſent evil World, and to cure our eſteem and love of worldly things, did think it meeteſt both to appear in the form of a poor man himſelf, and to chooſe Diſciples of the like condition, and not to chooſe the worldly wiſe, and great, and honourable, to be the firſt atteſters of his miracles, or preachers of his Goſpel. Though he had ſome that were of place and quality in the World, (as Nicodemus, Joſeph, Cornelius, Sergius Paulus, &c.) yet his Power needed not ſuch Inſtruments: As he would not teach us to magnifie worldly Pomp, nor value things by outward appearance, as the deluded dreaming world p. 406doth, ſo he would ſhew us, that he needeth not Kings nor Philoſophers, by worldly power or wiſdom to ſet up his Kingdom. He giveth power, but he receiveth none: He ſetteth up Kings, and by him they reign; but they ſet not up him, nor doth he reign by any of them: Nor will he be beholden to great men, or learned men for their help, to promote his cauſe and intereſt in the World. The largeneſs of his mercy indeed extendeth to Kings, and all in Authority, as well as to the poor, and if they will not reject it, nor break his bonds, but kiſs the Son, before his wrath break forth againſt them, they may be ſaved as well as others: (Pſal. 2.1, 2, 9, 10. 1 Tim. 2.1, 2.) But he will not uſe them in the firſt ſetting up of his Church in the World, leſt men ſhould think, that it was ſet up by the Learning, Policy or Power of man: 1 Cor. 1.26, 27, 28, 29. and 2.5, 6, 7, 10, 13. & 13.19, &c. And therefore he would not be voted one of the Gods by Tyberius, or Adrians Senate, nor accept of the worſhip of Alexander Sev…rus, who in his Lararium worſhipped him as one of his Demi-gods; nor receive any ſuch beggarly Deity from man; but when Conſtantine acknowledged him as God indeed, he accepted his acknowledgement. Thoſe unlearned men whom he uſed were made wiſer in an hour by the Holy Ghoſt, than all the Philoſophers in the World: And thoſe mean contemned perſons overcame the Learning and Power of the World, and not by Arms as Mahomet, but againſt Arms and Arguments, wit and rage, by the Spirit alone they ſubdued the greateſt powers to their Lord.

Obj. XIV. But it doth ſapere ſcenam, ſound like a Poetical fiction, that God ſhould ſatisfie his own Juſtice, and Chriſt ſhould die inſtead of our being damned, and this to appeaſe the wrath of God, as if God were angry, and delighted in the blood or ſufferings of the innocent.

Anſw. Ignorance is the great cauſe of unbelief. This objection cometh from many errours, and falſe conceits about the things of which it ſpeaketh.Lege pretioſiſſimum Grotii lib. de ſatiſfactione: Item Zarnovecium & Johan. Junium & Eſſenium de ſatisf. 1. If the word [Satisfaction] offend you, uſe only the Scripture-words, that Chriſt was a Sacrifice, an Atonement, a Propitiation, a Price, &c. And if this be incredible, how came it to paſs that ſacrificing was the cuſtom of all the world? Doth not this objection p. 407as much militate againſt this? was God angry?Pontifex ille credo eſt qui principaliter apud divinitatem ſummae Trinitatis humani generis oblata ſanctificat, peccata expiat, vota commendat. Ipſe ergo verus ſacerdos eſt, quia Filius Dei ſecundum id quod aequalis eſt Patri, non tam preces fundit, quam prec…ntes exaudit; homo potius hic intelligendus eſt, quem Pontificem Apoſtolus d… cens, noſtriſque infirmitatibus compati, &c. Claudian Mammert. de ſtatu Animae contr. Fauſt. l. 1 c 3. or was he delighted in the bloud and ſufferings of harmleſs ſheep and other cattel? and muſt theſe either ſatisfie him, or appeaſe his wrath? What think you ſhould be the cauſe, that ſacrificing was thus commonly uſed in all ages through all the earth, if it ſavoured but of poetical fiction?

2. God hath no ſuch thing as a paſſion of anger to be appeaſed, nor is he at all delighted in the bloud or ſufferings of the worſt, much leſs of the innocent, nor doth he ſell his mercy for bloud; nor is his ſatisfaction any reparation of any loſs of his, which he receiveth from another. But, 1. Do you underſtand what Government is? and what Divine Government is? and what is the end of it? even the pleaſing of the will of God in the demonſtrations of his own perfections: if you do, you will know, that it was neceſſary that God's penal Laws ſhould not be broken by a rebel world, without being executed on them according to their true intent and meaning, or without ſuch an equivalent demonſtration of his Juſtice, as might vindicate the Law and Law-giver from contempt, and the imputation of ignorance or levity, and might attain the ends of Government as much, as if all ſinners had ſuffered themſelves: And this is it that we mean by a Sacrifice, Ranſom, or Satisfaction. Shall God be a Governour and have no Laws? or ſhall he have Laws that have no penalties? or ſhall he ſet up a lying ſcar-crow to frighten ſinners by deceit? and have Laws which are never meant for execution? Are any of theſe becoming God? Or ſhall he let the Devil go for true, who told Eve at firſt, You ſhall not die? and let the world ſin on with boldneſs, and laugh at his Laws, and ſay, God did but frighten us with a few words, which he never intended to fulfill? or ſhould God have damned all the world according to their deſert? If none of all this be credible to you, then certainly nothing ſhould be more credible, than that his wiſdom hath found out ſome way, to exerciſe pardoning ſaving mercy, without any injury to his governing juſtice and truth, and without expoſing his Laws and himſelf to the contempt of ſinners, or emboldening them in their ſins; even a way which ſhall vindicate his honour, and attain his ends of government, as well as if we had been all puniſhed with death and hell; and p. 408yet may ſave us with the great advantage of honour to his mercy; and in the fulleſt demonſtration of that love and goodneſs, which may win our love. And where will you find this done but in Jeſus Chriſt alone? 2. You muſt diſtinguiſh between Anger and Juſtice: when God is ſaid to be angry, it meaneth no more but that he is diſpleaſed with ſin and ſinners, and executeth his governing-juſtice on them. 3. You muſt diſtinguiſh between ſufferings in themſelves conſidered, and as in their ſignification and effects: God loved not any mans pain and ſuffering and death, as in it ſelf conſidered, and as evil to us: (no not of a ſacrificed beaſt) but he loveth the demonſtration of his truth, and juſtice, and holineſs, and the vindication of his Laws from the contempt of ſinners, and the other good ends attained by this means: and ſo as a means adapted to ſuch ends he loveth the puniſhment of ſin.

Object. XV. It is a ſuſpicious ſign that he ſeeketh but to ſet up his name, and get diſciples, that he maketh it ſo neceſſary to ſalvation to believe in him; and not only to repent and turn to God.

Anſw. He maketh not believing in him neceſſary, ſub ratione finis, as our holineſs and love to God is; but only ſub ratione medii, as a means to make us holy, and work us up to the love of God. He proclaimeth himſelf to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life, by whom it is that we muſt come to the Father; and that he will ſave to the uttermoſt all that come to God by him, Heb. 7.25. Joh. 14.6. So that he commandeth Faith but as the bellows of Love, to kindle in us the heavenly flames. And I pray you, how ſhould he do this otherwiſe? Can we learn of him, if we take him for a deceiver? Will we follow his example, if we believe him not to be our pattern? Will we obey him, if we believe not that he is our Lord? Will we be comforted by his gracious promiſes and covenant, and come to God with ever the more boldneſs and hope of mercy, if we believe not in his Sacrifice and Merits? Shall we be comforted at death in hope that he will juſtifie us, and receive our ſouls, if we believe not that he liveth, and will judge the world, and is the Lord of life and glory? Will you learn of Plato or Ariſtotle, if you believe not that they are fit to be your Teachers? Or will you take p. 409Phyſick of any Phyſician whom you truſt not, but take him for a deceiver? Or will you go in the Veſſel with a Pilot, or ſerve in the Army under a Captain, whom you cannot truſt? To believe in Chriſt, which is made ſo neceſſary to our juſtification and ſalvation, is not a dead opinion, nor the joyning with a party that cryeth up his name: But it is to become Chriſtians indeed; that is, to take him unfeignedly for our Saviour, and give up our ſelves to him by reſolved conſent or covenant, to be ſaved by him from ſin and puniſhment, and reconciled to God, and brought to perfect holineſs and glory. This is true juſtifying and ſaving faith. And it is our own neceſſities that have made this faith ſo neceſſary as a means to our own ſalvation. And ſhall we make it neceſſary for our ſelves, and then quarrel with him for making it neceſſary in his Covenant?

Object. XVI. If Chriſt were the Son of God, and his Apoſtles inſpired by the holy Ghoſt, and the Scriptures were God's Word, they would excel all other men and writings in all true rational worth and excellency: whereas Ariſtotle excelleth them in Logick and Philoſophy, and Cicero and Demoſthenes in Oratory, and Seneca in ingenious expreſſions of morality, &c.

**The parts and ſtyle of men may vary, who ſpeak the ſame truth. Sentit ut Py…hagoras, dividit ut Socrates, explicat ut Plato, implicat ut Ariſtoteles, ut Aeſchines blanditur, ut Demoſthenes iraſcitur, vernat ut Hortenſius, ut Cethegus, incitat ut Curio, moratur ut Fabius, ſimulat ut Craſſus, diſſimulat ut Caeſar, ſuadet ut Cato, diſſuadet ut Appius, perſuadet ut Tullius: inſtruit ut Hieronimus, deſtruit ut Lactantius, aſtruit ut Auguſtinus, attollitur ut Hilarius, ſummittitur ut Joannes, ut Baſilius corripit, ut Gregorius conſolatur, ut Oroſius affluit, ut Ruffinus ſtringitur, ut Euſebius narrat; ut Eucheus ſollicitat, ut Paulinus provocat, ut Ambroſius perſeverat. Sidonius Ep Mamme…t. pop. l. de Even as your Heathen Authors had their ſeveral ſtyles, ſo had the Sacred Writers. Qua Criſ…us brevitate pla…er, quo pondere Varro. Quo genio Plautus, quo flumine Quintilianus. Qua pompa Tacitus nunquam ſine laude loquendus. Apol. Sidonius Carm 2. Auctuar. Bib. Patr. p. 123.Anſw. You may as well argue, that Ariſtotle was no wiſer than a Minſtrel, becauſe he could not fiddle ſo well, nor than a Painter, becauſe he could not limn ſo well; or than a harlot, becauſe he could not dreſs himſelf ſo neatly. Means are to be eſtimated according to their fitneſs for their ends. Chriſt himſelf excelled all mankind, in all true perfections; and yet it became him not to exerciſe all mens arts, to ſhew that he excelleth them. He came not into the world to teach men Architecture, Navigation, Medicine, Aſtronomy, Grammar, Muſick, Logick, Rhetorick, &c. and therefore ſhewed not his skill in theſe. The world had ſufficient helps and means for theſe in Nature. It was to ſave men from p. 410duplicate page p. 411duplicate page p. 410ſin and hell, Nihil fide noſtra ini quius fingi poſſet, ſi in eruditos tantum, & dicendi facultate & Logicis demonſtrationibus excellentes caderet: popularis autem multitudo, ut auro & argento aliiſque omnibus rebus, quae hic in pretio habentur, atque à pleriſque avide expetuntur, ſic hoc quoque fruſtraretur, ac Deus id quod altum & excelſum eſt, & ad paucos pertingit, gratum acceptumque haberet; contra, quod propinquius eſt, nec vulgi captum ſuperat, aſpernaretur & rejiceret. Nazianz. Orat. 26. p. 458. Sed ab indoctis hominibus & rudibus ſcripta ſunt. Et idcirco non ſunt facili auditione credenda. Vide ne magis fortior haec cauſa fit: cur illa ſint nullis coinqu…nata mendaciis; mente ſimplici prodita, & ignara lenociniis ampliare Trivialis & ſordidus ſermo eſt: Nunquam enim veritas ſectata eſt fucum, nec quod exploratum & certum eſt, circumduci ſe patitur orationis per ambitum longiorem: Collectiones Enthymemeta, definitiones, omniaque illa ornamenta quibus fides quaeritur aſſertionis, ſuſpicantes adjuvant, non veritatis lineamenta demonſtrant— Soloeciſmis, Barbariſmis, inquis obſitae ſunt tes veſtrae— Puerilis ſane & anguſti pectoris reprehenſio: Quam ſi admitteremus ut vera ſit— Quid enim officit, O quaeſo? aut quam praeſtat intellectui tarditatem? utiumne quid leve, an hirſuta cum aſperitate promatur? inflectatur quod acui, an acuatur quod oportebat inflecti— Arnob. l. 1. p. 10. Diſſoluti eſt pectoris, in rebus ſeriis quaerere voluptatem— Atſi verum ſpectes, nullus ſermo natura eſt integer, vitioſus ſimiliter nullus: Quaenam enim eſt ratio naturalis, aut in mundi conſtitutionibus lex ſcripta, ut hic paries dicatur, & haec ſella? Id. ibid.and bring them to pardon, holineſs and heaven, that Chriſt was incarnate, and that the Apoſtles were inſpired, and the Scriptures written: and to be fitted to theſe ends, is the excellency to be expected in them: and in this they excell all perſons and writings in the world. As God doth not ſyllogize or know by our imperfect way of ratiocination, but yet knoweth all things better than ſyllogizers do; ſo Chriſt hath a more high and excellent kind of Logick and Oratory, and a more apt and ſpiritual and powerful ſtyle, than Ariſtotle, Demoſthenes, Cicero or Seneca. He ſhewed not that skill in methodical healing which Hippocrates and Galen ſhewed: But he ſhewed more and better skill, when he could heal with a word, and raiſe the dead, and had the power of life and death, ſo did he bring more convincing evidence than Ariſtotle, and perſwaded more powerfully than Demoſthenes or Cicero. And though this kind of formal learning was below him, and below the inſpired meſſengers of his Goſpel, yet his inferiour ſervants (an Aquinas, a Scotus, an Ockam, a Scaliger, a Ramus, a Gaſſendus) do match or excel the old Philoſophers, and abundance of Chriſtians equalize or excel a Demoſthenes or Cicero, in the trueſt Oratory.

2. His mercy had a general deſign, for the ſalvation of all ſorts and ranks of men, and therefore was not to confine it ſelf to a few trifling pedantick Logicians and Orators, or thoſe that had learned to ſpeak in their new-made words and phraſes: but he muſt ſpeak in the common Dialect of all thoſe whom he would inſtruct and ſave. As the Statutes of the land, or the Books of Phyſick, which are moſt excellent, p. 411are written in a ſtyle which is fitted to the ſubject matter, and to the Readers, and not in Syllogiſms, or terms of Logick; ſo was it more neceſſary that it ſhould be with the doctrine of ſalvation. The poor and unlearned were the greateſt number of thoſe that were to be converted and ſaved by the Goſpel, and ſtill to uſe the holy Scriptures.

3. There is greater exactneſs of true Logical method in ſome parts of the Scripture, (as e. g. in the Covenant of Faith, the Lord's Prayer, and the Decalogue) than any is to be found in Ariſtotle or Cicero; though men that underſtand them not do not obſerve it. The particular Books of Scripture were written at ſeveral times, and on ſeveral occaſions, and not as one methodical ſyſtem, (though the Spirit that indited it, hath made it indeed a methodical ſyſtem, agreeably to its deſign:) but if you ſaw the doctrines of all this Bible uno intuitu, in a perfect ſcheme, as it is truly intended by the Spirit of God; if you ſaw all begin the Divine Unity, and branch out it ſelf into the Trinity, and thence into the Trinity of Relations and Correlations, and thence into the multiplied branches of Mercy and Precepts, and all theſe accepted and improved in Duty and Gratitude by man, and returned up in Love to the bleſſed Trinity and Unity again, and all this in perfect order, proportion and harmony; you would ſee the moſt admirable perfect method that ever was ſet before you in the world: The reſemblance of it is in the circular motion of the humours and ſpirits in mans body, which are delivered on from veſſel to veſſel, and perfected in all their motions. I know there are many ſyſtems and ſchemes attempted, which ſhew not this: but that is becauſe the wiſdom of this method is ſo exceeding great, that it is yet but imperfectly underſtood: for my own part, I may ſay as thoſe that have made ſome progreſs in Anatomy beyond their Anceſtors, that they have no thought that they have yet diſcovered all; but rejoyce in what they have diſcovered, which ſhewed them the hopes and poſſibility of more. So I am far from a perfect comprehenſion of this wonderful method of Divinity; but I have ſeen that which truly aſſureth me, that it excelleth all the art of Philoſophers and Orators, and that it is really a moſt beautiful frame, p. 412and harmonious conſort; and that more is within my proſpect than I am yet come to.

4. Moreover it is Chriſt who gave all men all the gifts they have: to Logicians, Orators, Aſtronomers, Grammarians, Phyſicians, and Muſicians, &c. what ever gifts are ſuited to mens juſt ends and callings, he beſtoweth on them; and to his Apoſtles he gave thoſe gifts which were moſt ſuitable to their work: I do not undervalue the gifts of Nature or Art in any; I make it not, with Ariſtotle, an argument for the contempt of Muſick, Jovem neque canere, neque cytharam pulſare; but I may ſay, that as God hath greater excellencies in himſelf, ſo hath he greater gifts to give; and ſuch gifts as were fitteſt for the confirmation of the truth of the Goſpel, and firſt planting of the Churches he gave to the Apoſtles: and ſuch as were fit for the edifying of the Church he giveth to his Miniſters ever ſince. And ſuch as were fit for the improvement of Nature, in lower things, he gave the Philoſophers and Artiſts of the world.

Object. XVII. The Scripture hath many contradictions in it, in points of Hiſtory, Chronology, and other things: Therefore it is not the word of God.

Anſw. Nothing but ignorance maketh men think ſo: underſtand once the true meaning, and allow for the errors of Printers, Tranſcribers and Tranſlators, and there will no ſuch thing be found. Young Students, in all Sciences, think their books are full of contradictions; which they can eaſily reconcile, when they come to underſtand them. Books that have been ſo oft tranſlated into ſo many Languages, and the Originals and Tranſlations ſo oft tranſcribed, may eaſily fall into ſome diſagreement between the Original and Tranſlations; and the various Copies may have divers inconſiderable verbal differences. But all the world muſt needs confeſs, that in all theſe Books, there is no contradiction in any point of Doctrine, much leſs in ſuch as our ſalvation reſteth on.

There are two opinions among Chriſtians about the Books of the holy Scripture: the one is, That the Scriptures are ſo entirely and perfectly the product of the Spirit's Inſpiration; that there is no word in them which is not infallibly true. The other is, That the Spirit was promiſed and given to the Apoſtles, to enable them to preach to the world p. 413the true Doctrine of the Goſpel, and to teach men to obſerve what ever Chriſt commanded; and truly to deliver the Hiſtory of his Life and Sufferings, and Reſurrection, (which they have done accordingly.) But not to make them perfect and indefectible in every word, which they ſhould ſpeak or write, no not about Sacred things; but only in that which they delivered to the Church, as neceſſary to ſalvation, and as the Rule of Faith and Life: but every Chronological and Hiſtorical narrative, is not the Rule of Faith or Life. I think that the firſt opinion is right, and that no one errour or contradiction in any matter, can be proved in the Scriptures: yet all are agreed in this, that it is ſo of Divine Inſpiration, as yet in the manner, and method, and ſtyle, to partake of the various abilities of the Writers, and conſequently of their humane imperfections. And that it is a meer miſtake, which Infidels deceive themſelves by, to think that the Writings cannot be of Divine Inſpiration, unleſs the Book, in order, and ſtyle, and all other excellencies, be as perfect as God himſelf could make it: Though we ſhould grant that it is leſs Logical than Ariſtotle, and leſs Oratorical and Grammatical and exact in words, than Demoſthenes or Cicero, it would be no diſparagement to the certain truth of all that is in it. It doth not follow that David muſt be the ableſt man for ſtrength, nor that he muſt uſe the weapons which in themſelves are moſt excellent, if he be called of God to overcome Goliah; but rather that it may be known that he is called of God, he ſhall do it with leſs excellence of ſtrength and weapons, than other men: and ſo there may be ſome real weakneſs (not culpable) in the Writings of the ſeveral Prophets and Apoſtles in point of ſtyle and method, which ſhall ſhew the more that they are ſent of God to do great things by little humane excellency of ſpeech, (and yet that humane excellency be never the more to be diſliked, no more than a ſword, becauſe David uſed but a ſling and ſtone.) If Amos have one degree of parts, and Jeremiah another, and Iſaiah another, &c. God doth not equal them all by Inſpiration, but only cauſe every man to ſpeak his ſaving truth in their own language, and dialect, and ſtyle. As the body of Adam was made of the common earth, though God breathed into him a rational ſoul, (and ſo is the body of p. 414every Saint, even ſuch as may partake of the infirmities of parents) ſo Scripture hath its ſtyle, and language, and methods ſo from God, as we have our bodies; even ſo that there may be in them the effects of humane imperfection; and it is not ſo extraordinarily of God as the truth of the Doctrine is: All is ſo from God, as to be ſuitable to its proper ends: but the body of Scripture is not ſo extraordinarily from him, as the ſoul of it is; as if it were the moſt excellent and exact in every kind of ornament and perfection. The Truth and Goodneſs is the ſoul of the Scripture, together with the power manifeſted in it: and in theſe it doth indeed excel. So that variety of gifts in the Prophets and Apoſtles, may cauſe variety of ſtyle and other accidental excellencies in the parts of the holy Scriptures, and yet all theſe parts be animated with one ſoul of Power, Truth and Goodneſs.

But thoſe men who think that theſe humane imperfections of the Writers do extend further, and may appear in ſome by-paſſages of Chronologies or Hiſtory, which are no proper part of the Rule of Faith and Life, do not hereby deſtroy the Chriſtian cauſe. For God might enable his Apoſtles to an infallible recording and preaching of the Goſpel, even all things neceſſary to ſalvation, though he had not made them infallible in every by-paſſage and circumſtance, no more than they were indefectible in life.

As for them that ſay, I can believe no man in any thing, who is miſtaken in one thing, (at leaſt as infallible) they ſpeak againſt common ſenſe and reaſon: for a man may be infallibly acquainted with ſome things, who is not ſo in all: An Hiſtorian may infallibly acquaint me, that there was a Fight at Lepanto, at Edge-hill, at York, at Naſeby; or an Inſurrection and Maſſacre in Ireland and Paris, &c. who cannot tell me all the circumſtances of it: or he may infallibly tell men of the late Fire which conſumed London, though he cannot tell juſt whoſe houſes were burnt, and may miſtake about the Cauſers of it, and the circumſtances. A Lawyer may infallibly tell you whether your cauſe be good or bad, in the main, who yet may miſreport ſome circumſtances in the opening of it. A Phyſician, in his Hiſtorical obſervations, may partly erre as an Hiſtorian in ſome circumſtances, & yet be infallible as a Phyſician in ſome plain caſes which belong directly to his p. 415Art. I do not believe that any man can prove the leaſt error in the holy Scripture in any point, according to its true intent and meaning: but if he could, the Goſpel, as a Rule of Faith and Life, in things neceſſary to ſalvation, might be nevertheleſs proved infallible by all the evidence before given.

Object. XVIII. The Phyſicks in Gen: 1. are contrary to all true Philoſophy, and ſuited to the vulgars erroneous conceits.

Anſw. No ſuch matter: there is ſounder doctrine of Phyſicks in Gen. 1. than any Philoſopher hath who contradicteth it. And as long as they are altogether by the ears among themſelves, and ſo little agreed in moſt of their Philoſophy, but leave it to this day, either to the Scepticks to deride as utterly uncertain, or to any Noveliſt to form anew,Lege Baſilii Hexamer. & Greg. Nyſſeni addit. into what principles and hypotheſis he pleaſe; the judgment of Philoſophers is of no great value, to prejudice any againſt the Scriptures. The ſum of Gen. 1. is but this, [That God having firſt made the **Baſil ſaith, that In principio is In the beginning of time; but that the intellectual world is here preſuppoſed: Erat antiquiſſima creaturae ordinatio, illis quae extra mundum ſunt, apta virtutibus, orta ſine tempore, ſempiterna ſibique propria: in qua conditor omnium Deus opera certa conſtituit, id eſt, lumen intellectibile, conveniens beatitudini amantium Dominum: Rationabile, inviſibileſque dico naturas, & omnium intellectibilium decorationem, quae capacitatem noſtrae mentis excedunt, quorum nec vocabula reperire poſſibile eſt. Haec ſubſtantiam inviſibilis mundi repleviſſe ſciendum eſt, &c. Baſil. Hex. interp. Euſtath. l. 1. Caeſarius Dial. 1. Qu. 50 & Qu. 51. ſaith, That Moſes paſt by the Nations of Angels, and began with the creation of the viſible world, and that the firſt day he created Matter, and afterward other things of that, &c. And that of the Light firſt made, God made the Sun. But he ignorantly denieth its circular motion.Intellectual Superiour part of the world, and the matter of the Elementary world in an unformed Maſs or Chaos, did the firſt day diſtinguiſh or form the active Element of Fire, and cauſed it to give Light: The ſecond day he ſeparated the attenuated or rarifi'd part of the paſſive Element, which we call the Air; expanding it from the earth upwards, to ſeparate the clouds from the lower waters, and to be the medium of Light. (And whether in different degrees of purity, it fill not all the ſpace between all the Globes both fixed and planetary, is a queſtion which we may more probably affirm than deny; unleſs there be any waters alſo upwards by condenſation, which we cannot diſprove:) The third day he ſeparated the reſt of the paſſive Element, Earth and Sea, into their proper place and bounds: and alſo made individual Plants, in their ſpecifick forms and virtue of generation, or multiplication of individuals: The fourth day he made the Sun, Moon and Stars, (either then p. 416forming them, or then making them Luminaries to the earth, and appointing them their relative office; but hath not told us of their other uſes, which are nothing to us.) The fifth day he made inferiour Senſitives, Fiſhes and Birds, the inhabitants of Water and Air, with the power of generation or multiplication of individuals. The ſixth day he made firſt the terreſtrial Animals, and then Man, with the power alſo of generation or multiplication. And the ſeventh day, having taken complacency in all the works of this glorious perfected frame of Nature, he appointed to be obſerv'd by mankind as a day of reſt from worldly labours, for the worſhipping of Him their Omnipotent Creator, in commemoration of this work.]

This is the ſum and ſenſe of the Phyſicks of Gen. 1. And here is no errour in all this, what ever prejudice Philoſophers may imagine.

Object. XIX. It is a ſuſpicious ſign, that Believing is commanded us inſtead of knowing, and that we muſt take all upon truſt without any proof.

Anſw. This is a meer ſlander. Know as much as you are able to know: Chriſt came not to hinder, but to help your knowledge: Faith is but a mode, or act of knowing: How will you know matters of Hiſtory which are paſt, and matters of the unſeen world, but by believing? If you could have an Angel come from heaven to tell you what is there, would you quarrel becauſe you are put upon believing him? if you can know it without believing and teſtimony, do: God biddeth you believe nothing but what he giveth you ſufficient reaſon to believe: Evidence of credibility in Divine faith, is evidence of certainty: Believers in Scripture uſually ſay, [We know that thou art the Chriſt, &c.] You are not forbidden, but encouraged to try the ſpirits, and not to believe every ſpirit nor pretended prophet: Let this Treatiſe teſtifie, whether you have not Reaſon and evidence for Belief: it is Mahomet's doctrine and not Chriſt's, which forbiddeth examination.

Object. XX. It impoſeth upon us an incredible thing, when it perſwadeth us, that our undoing, and calamity, and death, are the way to our felicity and our gain; and that ſufferings work together for our good: At leaſt theſe are hard terms, which we p. 417cannot undergoe, nor think it wiſdom to loſe a certainty for uncertain hopes.

Anſw. Suppoſe but the truth of the Goſpel proved, yea or but the Immortality and Retribution for Souls hereafter, (which the light of Nature proveth) and then we may well ſay, that this Objection ſavoureth more of the Beaſt than of the Man: A Heathen can anſwer it though not ſo well as a Chriſtian: Seneca and Plutarch, Antonine, and Epictetus have done it in part. And what a dotage is it to call things preſent, Certainties, when they are certainly ready to paſs away, and you are uncertain to poſſeſs them another hour? who can be ignorant what haſte Time maketh,Sed & no… in h…juſmodi caſibus non auxiliatur Deus. Prompta & manifeſta cauſa eſt. Nihil enim eſt nobis promiſſum ad hanc vitam▪ nec in carunculae hujus folliculo conſtitutis, opis al… quid ſponſum eſt, auxilii que decretum: Quinimo edocti ſumus minas omnes quaecun que ſunt parvi ducere— At que iſta quam dicitis perſecut onis aſperitas, liberatio noſtra eſt, non perſecutio: nec poenam vexat o inferet, ſed ad lucem libertat…s educet: Arnobius adv. Gent. l. 2. in fine. and how like the Life of man is to a dream? What ſweetneſs is now left of all the pleaſant cups and morſels, and all the merry hours you have had, and all the proud or luſtfull fancies, which have tickled your deluded fleſhly mindes? Are they not more terrible than comfortable to your moſt retired ſober thoughts? and what an inconſiderable moment is it, till it will be ſo with all the reſt? All that the World can poſſibly afford you, will not make Death the more welcom, nor leſs terrible to you; nor abate a jot of the pains of Hell. It is as comfortable to die poor as rich, and a life of pain and weakneſs and perſecution, will end as pleaſantly as a life of Pomp and wealth, and pleaſures. If it be no unreaſonable motion of a Phyſician to tell you of blood-letting, vomiting, parging and ſtrict dyet, to ſave your lives, nor any hard dealing in your Parents, to ſet you many years to School, to endure both the labour of learning and the Rod; and after that to ſet you to a ſeven years Apprentice-ſhip, and all this for things of a tranſitory nature; ſince God deſerveth not to be accuſed as too ſevere, if he train you up for Heaven, more ſtrictly and in a more ſuffering way, than the fleſh deſireth. Either you believe that there is a future Life of Retribution, or you do not: If not, the foregoing Evidences muſt firſt convince you, before you will be fit to debate the caſe, whether ſufferings are for your hurt or benefit: But if you do believe a life to come, you muſt needs believe that its concernments weigh down all the matters of fleſhly intereſt in this World, as much as a mountain would weigh down a feather: And then do but further bethink your ſelves impartially, whether a life p. 418of Proſperity or of Adverſity be the liker to tempt you into the Love of this World, and to wean away your thoughts and deſires from the heavenly felicity? Judge but rightly firſt of your own intereſt, and you will be fitter to judge of the Doctrine of Chriſt.

Obj. XXI. Chriſt ſeemeth to calculate all his Precepts to the poorer ſort of peoples ſtate, as if he had never hoped that Kings and Nobles would be Chriſtians: If men think as hardly of the Rich as he doth, and take them to be ſo bad, and their ſalvation ſo difficult, how will they ever honour their Kings and Governours? And if all men muſt ſuffer ſuch as abuſe and injure them, and muſt turn the other cheek to him that ſtriketh them, and give him their Coat who taketh away their Cloak, what uſe will there be for Magiſtrates and Judicatures?

Anſ. 1. Chriſt fitteth his Precepts to the benefit of all men: But in ſo doing he muſt needs tell them of the danger of over-loving this World, as being the moſt mortal ſin which he came to cure: And he muſt needs tell them what a dangerous temptation a fleſh-pleaſing proſperous ſtate is to the moſt, to entice them to this pernicious ſin. Had he ſilenced ſuch neceſſary truths as theſe, he could not have been their Saviour: For how ſhould he ſave them from ſin, if he conceal the evil and the danger of it? If the corruption of mans Nature be ſo great, that Riches and Honours, and Pleaſures are ordinarily made the occaſions of mens perdition, muſt Chriſt be Chriſt and never tell them of it? And is he to be blamed for telling them the truth? or they rather who create theſe difficulties and dangers to themſelves? Chriſt teacheth men to honour a Sacred Office, ſuch as Magiſtracy is, without honouring Vice, or betraying ſinners by concealing their temptations. And to holy faithfull Rulers he teacheth us, to give a double honour. They that will prove, that moſt of the great and wealthy ſhall be ſaved, muſt prove firſt that moſt of them are godly, and mortified, heavenly perſons: And the fit proof of that muſt be by ſhewing us the men that are ſo.

2. The Laws of Chriſt require every Soul to be ſubject to the higher Powers, and not reſiſt; and this not only for fear of their wrath, but for Conſcience ſake; and to pay honour p. 419and cuſtom to all whom it is due to. And what more can be deſired for the ſupport of Government.

3. Yea, nothing more tendeth to the comfort and quietneſs of Governours, than the obedience of thoſe Precepts of patience and peace, which the Objection quarrelleth with. If Subjects would love each other as themſelves, and forgive injuries, and love their enemies, what could be more joyfull to a faithfull Governour? And to the Queſtion, What uſe would there be then of Judicatures? I anſwer, They would be uſefull to good men for their protection againſt the injuries of the bad; where we are but Defendants; And alſo in Caſes where it is not want of Love, but of Knowledge, which cauſeth the Controverſie, and when no fit arbitration can decide it: And they will be uſefull among contentious perſons: For all men are not true Believers: The moſt will be (ordinarily) the worſt: As we will not be Fornicators, Thieves, Perjured, &c. leſt you ſhould ſay, To what purpoſe is the Law againſt ſuch offenders? ſo we will not be revengefull and contentious, leſt you ſhould ſay, To what end are Judicatures? The Law is to prevent offences by threatned penalties: And that is the happyeſt Commonwealth, where the Law doth moſt without the Judge, and where Judicatures have leaſt employment: For there is none to be expected on Earth ſo happy, where meer LOVE (of Virtue and of one another) will prevent the uſe both of Penal Laws and Judicatures.

4. And it is but ſelfiſhneſs, and contentiouſneſs, and private revenge which Chriſt forbiddeth, and not the neceſſary defence or vindication of any Talent which God hath committed to our truſt, ſo it be with the preſervation of brotherly Love and Peace.

5. And that Chriſt foreknew what Princes and States would be converted to the Faith, is manifeſt, 1. In all his Prophets, who have foretold it (that Kings ſhall be our Nurſing Fathers, &c.) 2. In that Chriſt propheſied himſelf, that when he was lifted up, he would draw all men to him. 3. By the Prophecies of John, who ſaith, that the Kingdoms of the World ſhould become the Kingdoms of the Lord, and of his Chriſt.

p. 420Obj. Sed & ipſe pollicetur …uae non probat. R…ſp. Ita eſt: Nulla enim futurorum exiſtere poteſt comprobatio. Arnob. lib. 2.Obj. XXII. But it is the obſcurity of all thoſe Phophecies which is one of the difficulties of our Faith, and that they are never like to be fulfilled: Almoſt all your Expoſitors differ about the ſenſe of Johns Revelations: And the Calling of the Jews, and bringing in all the Gentiles to their ſubjection, ſeem to be plainly propheſyed of, which are never like to come to paſſe.

Anſw. 1. Prophecies are ſeldom a Rule of Life, but an Encouragement to hope, and a Confirmation to Faith when they are fulfilled: And therefore if the particularities be dark, and underſtood by few, ſo the general ſcope be underſtood, it ſhould be no matter of offence or wonder. It is doctrine and precept, and promiſes of ſalvation, which are the daily food of Faith.

2. If no man can hitherto truly ſay, that any one Promiſe or Prophecie hath failed, why ſhould we think that hereafter they will fail? what though the things ſeem improbable to us? They are never the unliker to be accompliſhed by God: The Converſion of the Gentiles, of the Roman Empire, and ſo many other Nations of the World, was once as improbable as the Calling of the Jews is: and yet it was done.

3. And many of thoſe Prophecies are hereby fulfilled, it being not a worldly Kingdom, as the carnal Jews imagined, which the Prophets foretold of the Meſſiah, but the ſpiritual Kingdom of a Saviour: When the power and glory of the Roman Empire in its greateſt height, did ſubmit and reſign it ſelf to Chriſt, with many other Kingdoms of the world, there was more of thoſe Prophecies then fulfilled, than ſelfiſhneſs will ſuffer the Jews to underſtand. And the reſt ſhall all be fulfilled in their ſeaſon. But as in all Sciences, it is but a few of the extraordinarily wiſe, who reach the moſt ſubtile and difficult points, ſo it will be but a very few Chriſtians who will underſtand the moſt difficult prophecies, till the accompliſhment interpret them.

Obj. XXIII. But the difficulties are as great in the Doctrines as in the Prophecies: Who is able to reconcile Gods Decrees; foreknowledge and efficacious ſpecial Grace, with mans Free-will, and the righteouſneſs of Gods Judgement, and the reaſonableneſs of his Precepts, Promiſes and Threats? How Gods Decrees p. 421are all fulfilled, and in him we live, and move, and be, Read Cicero de Fato, de Divinatione, &c. and all thoſe Philoſophers de Fato, whoſe Opinions Grotius hath collected, and you will ſee that they had the ſame doubts as we, but were leſs able to reſolve them.and are not ſufficient for a good thought of our ſelves, but to believe, to will, and to do, is given us, and he will have mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth, and it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that ſheweth mercy: And yet that he would not the death of a ſinner, but rather that he repent and live, and that he would have all men ſaved, and come to the knowledge of the truth, and layeth all the blame of their miſery on themſelves.

Anſ. Firſt, conſider theſe things apart and in themſelves,Intellectum eſt optimum cognoſcere voluntatem Dei: O… nium ſuperior efficitur homo, qui ob… d erit veritati. Pachomius in mo…i…. per Voſſ. Ed…t. and then comparatively as they reſpect each other. 1. Is it an incredible thing, that all Being ſhould be from the Firſt Being? and all Goodneſs from the Infinite, Eternal Good? and that nothing ſhould be unknown to the infinite omniſcient Wiſdom? and that nothing can overcome the Power of the Omnipotent?Leg. librum excell. D. Strangii Scoti de hiſce controverſiis. Plurima etiam conſideratu digniſſima ſunt in Ro…. B… o…ii Metaphyſic. or that he is certainly able to procure the accompliſhment of all his own Will? and that none ſhall diſappoint his Purpoſes, nor make him fall ſhort of any of his Councils or Decrees? Go no further now, and do not by falſe or uncertain Doctrine make difficulties to your ſelves, which God never made, and then tell me whether any of this be doubtfull?

2. On the other ſide, is it incredible, that Man is a rational free Agent, and that he is a Creature governable by Laws, and that God is his Ruler, Law-giver, and Judge? and that his Laws muſt command and prohibit, and the ſanction contain rewards and puniſhments? and that men ſhould be judged righteouſly according to their works? or that the Meſſengers of Chriſt ſhould intreat and perſwade men to obey? and that they ſhould be moved as men by motives of good or evil to themſelves? Is there any thing in this that is incredible or uncertain? I think there is not.

And theſe difficulties will concern you nevertheleſs, whether you are Chriſtians or not? They are harder points to Philoſophers than to us: and they have been their controverſies before Chriſt came into the World: They are points that belong to the natural part of Theology, and not that which reſteth only on ſupernatural Revelation; and therefore this is nothing againſt Chriſt.

p. 4222. But yet I will anſwer your queſtion, Who can reconcile theſe things? 1. They can do much to the reconciling of them, who can diſtinguiſh a meer Volition or Purpoſe or Decree, from an efficacious pre-determining influx:Dorothaeus Doct. 6. to prove the unſearchableneſs of Gods Counſels and differencing grace, doth inſtance in two young Maids in natural temper much like, both brought as Captives in a Ship to be ſold. A holy woman bought one of them, and inſtructed her in holyneſs. A Harlot bought the other, and taught her the trade of wickedneſſe: And who, ſaith he, can give the reaſon of this event? 2. And can diſtinguiſh between thoſe effects which need a poſitive cauſe and purpoſe or decree, and thoſe nullities which having no cauſe but defective, do need no poſitive purpoſe or decree. 3. And can diſtinguiſh between the need we have of Medicinal Grace for holy actions, and the need we have of common help for every action natural and free. 4. And can diſtinguiſh between an abſolute Volition, and a limited Volition in tantum & ad hoc, and no further. 5. They that can diſtinguiſh between mans Natural liberty of ſelf-determination, and his Civil liberty from reſtraint of Law, and his moral liberty from vicious habits: 6. They that can well difference mans Natural power or faculties, from his moral power of good and holy diſpoſition: 7. They that know what a free Power is, and how far the cauſer of that Power is or is not the cauſe of the act or its omiſſion. 8. They that can diſtinguiſh between thoſe acts which God doth as our Owner or as our free Benefactor, and thoſe which he doth as Rector: 9. And between thoſe which he doth as Rector by his Legiſlative will, antecedent to mens keeping or breaking of his Laws, and by his Judicial and executive will, as conſequent to theſe acts of man. 10. He that can diſtinguiſh between Gods method in giving both the firſt Call of the Goſpel, and the firſt internal Grace to receive it, and of his giving the Grace of further ſanctification, juſtification, and glory: 11. And between the manner of his procuring our firſt faith, and the procuring our following ſanctification. 12. And he that knoweth how eaſie it is with God to attain what he willeth, without deſtroying the Liberty of our wills: (As a Miller can make the ſtream of water turn his Mill and grinde his Corn, without altering any thing in the inclination of the water.) 13. And withall how incomprehenſible the nature and manner of Gods operation is to Man; and how tranſcendently it is above all Phyſical agency by corporeal contact or motion: I ſay, he that underſtandeth and can apply theſe diſtinctions, can reconcile the Decrees and concourſe of God, with his Government and mans Free-will, p. 423as farre as is neceſſary to the quieting of our underſtandings.

Obj. XXIV. But the Chriſtian Faith doth ſeem to be but Humane and not Divine, in that it is to be reſolved into the Credit of Men: Even of thoſe men who tell us, that they ſaw Chriſts miracles, and ſaw him riſen and aſcend; and of thoſe who ſaw the miracles of the Apoſtles; and of thoſe who tell us, that the firſt Churches witneſs that they ſaw ſuch things. The certainty cannot exceed the weakeſt of the Premiſes: And this is the argument: [The Doctrine which was atteſted by Miracles is of God: But the Chriſtian Doctrine was atteſted by Miracles: Proved: The ſpectators averred it to others, who have tranſmitted the Teſtimony down to us.] So that you are no ſurer of the Doctrine than of the Miracles, and no ſurer of the Miracles than of the Humane Teſtimony which hath delivered it to you.

Anſ. If you will be at the labour to read over what I have written before, you ſhall finde a threefold teſtimony to Chriſt, beſides this of Miracles: And you ſhall finde the Apoſtles teſtimony of Chriſts Miracles and Reſurrection atteſted by more than a humane teſtimony: And you ſhall finde the Miracles of the Apoſtles alſo to have a fuller atteſtation: Even 1. beſides the moſt credible humane teſtimony, 2. a natural impoſſibility of deceit and falſhood, 3. and a further atteſtation of God ſupernaturally: And you ſhall finde that the Goſpel hath its certain evidence, in the ſanctifying effect by the co-operation of the holy Spirit of Chriſt unto this day. Peruſe it impartially, and you will finde all this in what is ſaid.

What would men rather deſire to atteſt the veracity of a Meſſenger from Heaven, than Miracles: Evident, uncontrolled; multiplyed miracles? And muſt this meſſenger live in every age, and go into every Land, to do theſe Miracles in the preſence of every living Soul? If not, how would thoſe that live in another Land or Age, be brought to the knowledge of them, but by the teſtimony of thoſe that ſaw them? And how would you have ſuch teſtimonies better confirmed, than by multiplyed miracles, delivered in a way which cannot poſſibly deceive? and fully and perpetually atteſted by the Spirit of effectual ſanctification p. 424on Believers? It is an unreaſonable arrogancy to tell our Maker, that we will not believe any miracles which he doth, by whomſoever or howſoever witneſſed, unleſs we ſee them our ſelves with our own eyes; and ſo they be made as common as the ſhining of the Sun; (and then we ſhould contemn them as of no validity.)

So much ſhall here ſuffice againſt the Objections from the Intrinſecal difficulties in the Chriſtian Faith. Many more are anſwered in my Treatiſe againſt Infidelity publiſhed heretofore.