Answer to Granthams Book, Chapter 6
CHAP. VI. Of God's Eternal Decrees, what ſhould come to paſs in Time; and of his governing and diſpoſing of things in the World for his own Glory.
THis Author, in his Epiſtle to his Book, falls upon the Aſſembly of Divines, concerning God's Decrees, and (according to the manner of the Man) leaves out that which ſhould clear their Senſe and Meaning, that ſo he might expoſe them.
The Words in the Aſſembly's Confeſſion are theſe:
God from all Eternity did, by the moſt wiſe and holy Counſel of his own Will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatſoever comes to paſs; yet ſo as thereby neither is God the Author of Sin, nor is Violence offered to the Will of the Creatures, nor is the Liberty or Contingency of Second Cauſes taken away, but rather eſtabliſhed.
This Article is almoſt word for word the ſame with the Eleventh Article of the Epiſcopal Divines in Ireland, 1615. long before the Aſſembly at Weſtminſter; ſo that one would think it was taken thence.
God from all Eternity did, by his Ʋnchangeable Counſel, ordain whatſoever in Time ſhould come to paſs; yet ſo, as thereby no Violence is offered to the Wills of the Reaſonable Creatures, neither the Liberty, nor the Contingency of the Second Cauſes taken away.
The Reader may ſee what a Harmony there is about God's Decrees, between the old Epiſcopal Divines, and the Aſſembly of Divines at Weſtminſter.
There have been two ſorts of Atheiſts in the World; the firſt ſort of Atheiſts denied the Exiſtence and Being of God, the ſecond ſort of Atheiſts denied God's governing the World; the Lord keep this Age from being Atheiſts either of theſe ways.
If the Evills of Afflictions that befall us came merely by Second Cauſes and Inſtruments, and were not determined and decreed by God, how ſhould we ſanctifie God's Name, and humble our ſelves under the mighty Hand of God? As Job did, when he ſaid, The Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken away: Bleſſed be the Name of the Lord.
This Men drive at in this Atheiſtical Age, to throw down the Soveraignty, Independency and Immutability of God, to make him change in his Purpoſes and Intentions, as Men do; and to make Contingencies to God, as there is to Man.
It is come to this daring Boldneſs, that Men have aſſerted in Print, that God hath not determined the Period of Men's Lives, nor other things of that nature: But who, I pray, ſhall order what ſhall come to paſs, but that bleſſed God who hath made àll things for himſelf, for his own Glory, for the Glory of his Wiſdom, Power, Juſtice and Mercy? And who is fit to govern the World, but he that made it?
Ay, but the great Objection that blinds the Ignorant is, That if God have from Eternity decreed all things that come to paſs, then he hath decreed that Men ſhall fall into thoſe Sins that they do fall into.
Anſwer. And what then? Do not we ſay that yet God is not the Author or Approver of Sin, neither is there any Violence offered to the Will of the Creatures? Men ſin as freely as if there were no Decree of God to leave them to commit thoſe Sins. We ſay that God's Decrees are not the Cauſe of Sin, neither is God the Author of Sin. Nihil iſto contradicentius, aut impoſſibilius, nempe Deum eſſe Authorem peccati: Nothing is more contradictory or impoſſible than this Propoſition, that God is the Author of Sin, ſaith Dr. Twiſſe: Yet he is one that this Author puts in his Black Bill.
Well, but this Author ſcrapes together ſeveral Paſſages quoted by Mr. Pierce, and other Writers, out of Calvin, Luther, Zuinglius, Beza, and others; which are very ſtrange concerning God's determining Men's Sins. What do you ſay to theſe Expreſſions?
I anſwer: 1. That Mr. Pierce and this Author might have ſpent their Time better, than to quarrel with Calvin, Luther, and thoſe eminent Inſtruments in the Reformation. This is very pleaſing to the Papiſts, and thoſe that are Popiſhly affected; for they hate the Names of Calvin, Luther, Zuinglius, and thoſe Divines that God made uſe of, to communicate ſo much Light to the World. And if this Author knows it not, I will now tell him, that Bellarmine long ſince, in his Writings, doth inveigh againſt them upon this very Account, concerning God's Decrees and Over-ruling Hand about the Sins of Men.
2. I ſay, I ſhall not meddle with any of his Quotations. One may cut out Snips out of Authors, whereby the true Senſe and Meaning of the Authors may be quite altered.
3. I ſay, I ſhall not take upon me to juſtifie all the Phraſes and Expreſſions of Learned and Godly Men: They may ſometimes in haſte expreſs themſelves not ſo prudently and warily in ſuch a tremendous Myſtery as this is. The truth is, God's myſterious Adminiſtration concerning Sin, in ordering and over-ruling it to his own Glory, is paſt our finding out: 'Tis beſt to ſay, O the Depth! And that to be ſure, though we cannot comprehend it, he is righteous in all his Ways, and holy in all his Works. I would have all Perſons very cautious about this Point, both of the one ſide and the other, and keep cloſe to Scripture-Expreſſions, which I ſhall now ſet before this Author, and thoſe of his Way; and do fear that till they learn more Sobriety, Awe and Reverence of God, they would openly quarrel againſt the Scripture it ſelf in this Matter, if they durſt. Let us then hear what the Scripture ſaith in this Matter.
When Joſeph's Brethren did wickedly and unnaturally ſell him into Egypt, Gen. 45.5. ſaith Joſeph, God ſent me before you, to preſerve Life. And Ver. 7. God ſent me before you, to preſerve you a Poſterity in the Earth. And Gen. 50.20. But as for you, ye thought evil against me, but God meant it for good.
1 King. 22.19, 20, 21, 22, 23. And he ſaid, Hear thou therefore the Word of the Lord: I ſaw the Lord ſitting on his Throne, and all the Host of Heaven by him, on his Right Hand, and on the Left. And the Lord ſaid, Who ſhall perſuade Ahab to go up, and fall at Ramoth Gilead? And one ſaid on this manner, and another ſaid on that manner. And there came forth a Spirit, and ſtood before the Lord, and ſaid, I will perſuade him. And the Lord ſaid, Wherewith? And he ſaid, I will go forth, and be a Lying Spirit in the Mouth of all his Prophets. And he ſaid, Thou ſhalt perſuade him, and prevail alſo: Go forth, and do ſo. Now therefore the Lord hath put a Lying Spirit in the Mouth of all theſe thy Prophets, and the Lord hath ſpoken Evil concerning thee.
Exod. 4.21. And the Lord ſaid unto Moſes, When thou goeſt to return into Egypt, ſee that thou do all theſe Wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine Hand; but I will harden his Heart, that he ſhall not let the People go.
When Job's Subſtance was ſtolen by the Sabeans and Chaldeans, and his Servants ſlain, Job worſhipped, and ſaid, The Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken away, Chap. 1.20, 21.
Concerning God's All-governing Providence, it is ſaid, Eccleſ. 3.14. I know that what God doth, it ſhall be for ever; nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: And God doth it, that Men ſhould fear before him.
Concerning the Aſſyrian, the great Enemy and Spoiler of Iſrael, it is ſaid, Iſa. 10.5. O Aſſyrian, the Rod of mine Anger, and the Staff in their Hand is my Indignation: I will ſend him againſt an hypocritical Nation.
Iſa. 13.16, 17. Their Children alſo ſhall be daſhed in pieces before their Eyes, their Houſes ſhall be ſpoiled, and their Wives raviſhed. Behold, I will ſtir up the Medes againſt them.—
Pſal. 105.25. He turned their Heart to hate his People, and to deal ſubtilly with his Servants.
Matth. 6.13. And lead us not into Temptation.
Prov. 16.4. He hath made all things for himſelf, and the Wicked for the Day of Evil.
When Shimei curſed David, 2 Sam. 16.10. he ſaid, The Lord hath ſaid unto him, Curſe David.
Rom. 1.24. God gave them up to Ʋncleanneſs, through the Luſts of their own Hearts. Ver. 26. God gave them up unto vile Affections.
2 Theſ. 2.11, 12. And for this Cauſe God ſhall ſend them ſtrong Deluſions, that they ſhould believe a Lye, that they all might be damned who believed not the Truth, but had pleaſure in Ʋnrighteouſneſs.
Though God had a glorious Deſign in the Death of Chriſt, yet they were wicked Hands that crucified him: God's Decrees do not juſtifie Men's Sins. It was a moſt horrid Act of the Jews to crucifie the Lord of Glory, yet Peter ſaith, Act. 1.23. Him being delivered by the determinate Counſel and Fore-knowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked Hands have crucified and ſlain. Act. 4.27, 28. For of a truth, againſt thy holy Child Jeſus, whom thou haſt anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, and the People of Iſrael were gathered together, to do whatſoever thy Hand and thy Counſel determined before to be done. The Hand and Counſel of God determined before, even from Eternity, that Chriſt ſhould at that very time die, as Mediator for his Church; and the Jews, by their wicked Hands, to ſatisfie their Malice, did crucifie him, as if he had been a Malefactor. O the depth of the Wiſdom and Knowledge of God! How unſearchable are his Judgments, and his Ways paſt finding out.
But of all the Reformed Divines, this Author ſhews moſt Wrath and Indignation againſt Calvin, who in his Time was a glorious Light in the Church. Mr. Richard Hooker, that wrote againſt him about Church-Diſcipline, yet confeſſeth him to be the wiſeſt Man that ever the Church of France bred. And another Epiſcopal Divine ſaith, He never heard any good Man ſpeak of him without Honour. But this Author makes ſcurrilous Verſes of him, and directs them too to Calvin himſelf, though he hath been ſo long dead; and compares Calvin to Cain, and Michael Servetus to Abel. Let us enquire what this Servetus was. This Author is much miſtaken, to think that he was put to death for being of this Author's Judgment about Baptiſm; it was for Blaſphemy againſt the Bleſſed and Holy Trinity.
Indeed, this Author ſaith, he was a learned and worthy Man, though perhaps miſtaken in ſome things, pag. 27. Ah, Do you put a Perhaps he was miſtaken in ſome things, when he denied and blaſphemed the Holy Trinity? Waving what Sleidan, Roſs, and others ſay of him, let us hear what Dr. Owen, in his Anſwer to the Antitrinitarians and Socinians, ſaith of this Servetus, pag. 44.
Servetus ſtuffed all his Diſcourſes with horrid Blaſphemies. Beza tells us, he called the Trinity, Tricipitem Cerberum, (Words not fit to be Engliſhed, they are ſo full of Blaſphemy;) and wrote, that Moſes was a ridiculous Impoſtor, Beza, Epiſt. 1. And there are Paſſages cited out of his Book of the Trinity, (which I have not ſeen,) that ſeem to have as much of the Devil in them, as ever yet was written or ſpoken by any of the Sons of Men. If, ſaith he, Chriſt be the Son of God, Debuiſſent ergo dicere quod Deus habebat uxorem quandam ſpiritualem, vel quod ſolus ipſe Maſculo-faemineus aut Hermaphroditus, ſimul erat pater & mater, nam ratio vocabuli non patitur ut quis dicatur ſine matre pater: Et ſi Logos Filius erat natus ex patre ſine matre, dic mihi quomodo peperit eum; per ventrem, aut per latus? To this heighth of Atheiſm and Blaſphemy had Satan wrought up the Man; ſo that I muſt needs ſay, he is the only Perſon in the World, that I ever heard or read of, that ever died upon the Account of Religion, in reference to whom, the Zeal of them that put him to death may be acquitted. Thus he.
Although this Author thinks that God doth not, for the Manifeſtation of his own Glory, over-rule the Children of Men, yet it is mamnifeſt that God hath given him a Spirit of Slumber, as a Check and Puniſhment to him, that he ſhould be left of God to deſame ſuch a Man as Calvin, and extol Servetus, an Antitrinitarian, and one of the greateſt Blaſphemers of the for ever Bleſſed Trinity, that ever was in the World. By this you have loſt all Credit and Eſteem, with all wiſe and knowing Chriſtians that Worſhip the Holy Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghoſt, three Perſons, and one God, to whom be glory for ever.