The Growth of Error, Chapter 4 · Section 6
SECT. VI.
Their Boaſts of Learned Men on their Sid. Their Claim to the Fathers, in the Opinion of ſome Foreign Socinians Groundleſs. Calvin not Diſpleaſed with the Term [TRINITY.] Grotius not Socinian allover.
A Suſpicion that theſe Methods may fail of the deſired Succeſs, puts 'em on Attempts of a contrary kind: And therefore, in caſe Learning, and Learned Men keep up their Eſteem, they tell us, That the …nitarians have a particular Reputation,Exhort. to a Free Enq. p. 3. as moſt skillful in that, which is the Proper Learning of Divines, The Sacred Criticiſm, and are talk't of by their Adverſaries, as a ſort of Subtile, Rational and Diſcerning Men.
They lay a Claim to the Anti-Nicene Fathers: and to ſeveral Learned Men amongſt Modern Writers, who indeed are none of theirs. Whence it is, that the moſt Lear… …ians abroad, ſuch as Socinus, Crellius a …ittichius averrs, confin'd themſelves in their Arguments, to the Holy Scriptures, and Sound Reaſon.
This Gittichius ſaw the Fathers to be ſo much againſt them, that inſtead of Appealing unto them, He repreſents them, as a Company of Ignorant Fooliſh Scriblers, Epiſt. Reſp. ad Ruar.not more ſit to determine Controverſies of this Nature than Blind Men are to Judge of Colours. And whereas a very Eminent Perſon, had offered ſome Scruples againſt the Doctrines of Socinus, amongſt which one was their being Embraced only by the Thionites, Cerinthians, and Arians, in the firſt Ages of Chriſtianity: Socinus in his Anſwer, tells us, that their Doctrines were clearly Revealed in Scripture: That if ſome men perceiv'd it not, it was their own Fault: That how great ſoever their Ignorance was, 'twas not in thoſe Points without the Knowledge of which there could be no Salvation. And what was ſaid of Ebion, Cerinthus, and Arius, concern'd not them,Quae hic de Ebione, Cerintho, & Ario dicuntur ad rem non faciunt cum nemo illorum ipſam ſententiam noſtram Defenderit— Socin. Solut. Scrupul.— for not one of them Defended what they held.
And in his Anſwer to Vujekus, he is more full; Declaring, that as the Authority of the Fathers could be of no weight when put in the Scales againſt the Holy Scriptures, ſo they, lay no claim unto them, no not to thoſe, who were before the Nicene Council. The many Authorities and Teſtimonies, (ſaith he) taken out of the Fathers and Councils, are of no Force at all, eſpecially amongſt us, who Own that we diſſent from them, which are extant: Nor can it be ſhown,Socin. Reſp. ad Vujek. p. 444. that any of our way affirmed the Anti-Nicene Fathers, which are now extant, to be of our Opinion: Altho we are all perſwaded, they are no leſs, if not more againſt our Adverſaries.
Howbeit, there have been ſome feeble Efforts put forth towards the Proving that the Fathers are Theirs, but ſuch as have been to their ſhame, fully Confuted.
They have therefore endeavoured to ſhelter themſelves under the Wings of Calvin, and Luther, as if They had been ſuch Nominal Trinitarians as the Sabellians, and much diſpleaſed with the Uſe of the Term [Trinity.] M. Luther complains the word Trinity ſounds odly,Nom. Real Trin. p. 40. it were better to call Almighty God GOD, than Trinity, Poſtil. major. Dominic. Mr. Calvin is leſs pleaſed with theſe kind of Terms: He ſays, I like not this Prayer, O Holy, Bleſſed and Glorious Trinity.] it ſavours of Barbarity— The Word Trinity is Barbarous, Inſipid, Profane, an Human Invention grounded on no Teſtimony of God's Word. The Popiſh God, unknown to the Prophets and Apoſiles. Admonit. 1. ad Polon.
What …uther is brought in for, is not much to the Purpoſe, but if our Socinians have truly Repreſented Calvin, 'tis, I confeſs, a Quotation driven to the Head. But when upon this account I could not but very carefully examine his Admonition to the Polonians, unto which he Refers us, I can find there no ſuch Thing.
That the Engliſh Socinian's Truth and Candour therefore may be the more ſet in the Light, I will bring to the Reader's View, what it is, Calvin doth ſay on this Occaſion.
In C…lvin's Theological Tractates, there is an Anſwer to the Polenian Brethren, Refuting the Error of Stancarus, who held that Chriſt was a Mediator, only with Reſpict to his Human Nature, whereby Chriſt's Satisfaction,Epiſt. 1. p. …2. and Man's Redemption, are ſubverted, and as Beza affirms a Door is opened unto the Tritheiſts, who lead the Way to Arianiſm, as Arianiſm brings in the Blaſphemies of Samoſatenus, [the Grand Idol of Socinus] After this Anſwer there is a Irief Admonition ſent to theſe Polonians, cautioning them againſt a cloſure with I landrata, …xct. Theol. Ed. 3. Genec. A. D. 2611. p. 683. &c.in making to themſelves Three Gods, by Imagining the Three Perſons to be Three Eſſences. But neither in the Anſwer, nor Admonition is there a Word in Favour of the Engliſh Socinians. There is alſo an Epiſtle ſent to the Polonian Nobility, and Gentry, and to the Worthy Citizens of Cracow, occaſion'd by what Chriſtophorus Trecius, Staniſlaus Sarnictus, and Jacobus Sylvius, wrote to Calvin about the Various Arts, and Fraudulent Methods uſed by Hereticks, to enſnare the People into a Denial of Chriſt's Divinity, and a Trinity of Perſons in the Unity of Eſſence. But nothing in this Epiſtle to Juſtify the Charge of our Gentlemen; it being notoriouſly Manifeſt, that Calvin was for the uſe of the Terms [Trinity, and Perſons.]
In his Anſwer to Blandrata's Queſtion, about the Name [Perſon] he is Poſitive, That the uſe of it is Neceſſary to Detect the Frauds of them, who craftily endeavour to ſubvert the Foundations of our Faith. And in his Epiſtles, Calv. Epiſt. Edit. 2. A. D. 1576. p. 290.'tis more fully declared, that the Terms [Trinity, and Perſons] are very Profitable to the Church of Chriſt, as by which the true Deſtinction between the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoſt, is more clearly diſcovered, and Vexatious Controverſies more Eſſectually Prevented, for which Reaſon they were by no means to be laid aſide.
'Tis true Calvin in his Letter to the Polonian Nobility expreſſes his Diſlike of this Prayer, [Sancta Trinitas, Ʋnus Deus miſerere noſtri] Precatio mihi non placet (ſays he) & omnino Barbariem ſapit. The Prayer, not the word [Trinity] diſguſted him. And whereas Stancarus had wreſted the Scriptures; affirming, that when 'tis ſaid — There is One God, and One Mediator. [GOD] there ſignifies the Trinity. That they may know thee the only true [GOD,] that is the Trinity. Whatever ye ask of the Father, that is, of the Trinity: Calvin, in Oppoſition to theſe wretched Interpretations of Stancarus, ſaith, We reject them not only as Inſipid but as Prophane. But what is this to his ſaying the Word [Trinity is Barbarous, Inſipid, Prophane, the Popiſh God, &c.? Or what Credit is there to be given to the Reports of an Engliſh Socinian?
Amongſt many others, Grotius is ſaid by them to be Socinian all over. This Great Man (ſay they) in his Younger Years attacked the Socinians in a Principal Article of their Doctrine,Hiſt. S…he. Let. 1 p 11. But being Anſwered by J. Crellius, he not only never Replyed▪ but thanked Crellius, for his Anſwer, and afterwards writing Annotations on the whole Scriptures, he Interpreted every where according to the Sentiments of the Socinians. There is nothing in all his Annotations, which the more ſtrict followers of Socinus his Doctrine do not approve, and applaud. His Annotations are a Compleat Syſtem of Socinianiſm, not excepting his Notes on the firſt Chapter of St. John's Goſpel, which are written ſo Artificially and Interwoven with ſo many different Quotations, that he hath covered himſelf, and his Senſe of that Portion of Scripture from ſuch as do not read him carefully.
But to clear it, that this Great Man, the Learned Grotius is not theirs: I will offer the following Conſiderations.
Firſt then, 'tis Manifeſt from what, Grotius himſelf hath oft avowed, that altho' he did not Anſwer Crellius, yet he had not changed his Opinion touching what he had written of Chriſt's Satisfaction—In a Letter to Reigersbergius, he ſaith thus: In that I did not make Reply to Crellius, I acted, as I think, very Prudently, and according to the Advice and Deſire of the Reformed Paſtors in France, who not having that Controverſy ſtarted amongſt them, Praved that I would not by writing a Confutation of Crellius bring it in amongſt their People. And in his Letter to Voſſius he adds, What need is there of my Repeating what hath been already ſo fully done? I am not afraid (as he told Reigersberg) of any ones comparing the Texts I produced, together with thoſe Explications and Arguments I urged to defend 'em, with what hath been writ againſt them: Nor do I in the leaſt doubt, but that an Equal Judge will determine for me. And to Voſſius: If Crellius cannot Prove, that it is Ʋnjuſt, for One, by his own Conſent to bear the Puniſhment due to another, which he will never be able to do, the contrary being Agreeable to the Sentiments of the Wiſe in every Nation; which, in that very Book Crellius anſwered, and ſince the Publiſhing his Anſwer, in my Book de Jure Belli & Pacis: …it. de Poenarum Commun §. xi. I have fully ſhown, and deſign to do it yet more largely in my Annotations Matt. 20.28. from Teſtimonies out of Hebrew Writers, a Copy of which I have given to Mr. …ſſe, an Engliſh Divine, who came over chiefly to make me a Viſit; 'twill moſt certainly follow, that neither Socinus nor Crellius had any Reaſon to leave the proper ſign ſ…ation of the Word foreign, the Price of our Redemption, contrary to the moſt plain and manifeſt Senſe of all Antiquity.
2. This Great Man doth moreover provoke them to his Verity of Chriſtian Religion, for their Conviction, that he had not …har…d his Opinion about Chriſt's Satisf…ction. If any, ſaith he deſire to know what my Judgment is about the Points Controverted between Crellius, and my ſelf, ſince the coming out of his Book, he may ſee it from what I have written on the fifty third of Iſay, …in my Diſputation with the Jews, and from what I have ſaid in the cloſe of my Book, de Veritate.
The fifty third of I ſay he proves to be a Prophecy concerning the Meſſiah, and gives ſuch a Senſe of Heb. 1.3. as is moſt oppoſite unto the Doctrine of Socinus. How then could our Hiſtorian Venture to make him Socinian all over? It is becauſe Grotius wrote a Letter of thanks unto Crellius, on the Publiſhing his Book: To this I'll give you Grotius's own Reply, which is,
3. An Eminent Engliſh Divine ſpake to me of ſome Letters,Epiſt. ad Gul. G…te. p. 8…. which a while ago I had written unto Crellius, who writing with the greateſt Candour, and Civility unto me, I returned an Anſwer with the ſame Reſpect unto him: This Civility and Reſpect of mine to Crellius, the Followers of Socinus, have turn'd into an Argument for my Agreement with them, and to Inſinuate thus much have ſcattered abroad ſome Parts of my Letters, I wiſh, with all my heart, they had Publiſhed them whole and entire. Then it would appear plainly, that I have not, in the leaſt altered my Judgment. In another Letter to his Brother William, he ſaith, I have had ſome Diſcourſe about theſe things with Biſterfield, pag. 884.who told me, he underſtood from you, and I alſo have heard the ſame, that Crellius a little before his Death ſhould ſay, that had he ſeen what I have written de Poenarum Communicatione, in my Book de Jure Belli & Pacis, he would never have anſwered my Book de Satisfactione.
4. That he could not be Socinian all over, is Evident from what he wrote to Graſwinkelius, to whom he declared,Epiſt ad. Graſwink▪ p. 53…. That he did ſtrictly Adhere to the Doctrines of the Fathers, not only about the Trinity but the Two Natures in Chriſt, ſatisfaction and other Points oppugned by Socinus and his Followers.
5 As for his Annotations, it's not clear to me, that the Socimaniſm, which is in them, is his; it looks rather as if thoſe parts were ſome Excerpta taken out of Socinian Commentators, with a Deſign to Examine them. And ſure I am that Grotius did not only ſuſpect Curcellaeus, F…ct. …. Grot. … …93.the Correcter of the Preſs, as an Inconſtant Man, under the Influence of ſuch as were no Friends to him, hoping to be Reſtor'd to his Miniſtry in …ance… but is Poſitive, that Curcellaeus made ſeveral changes in his Annotations, contrary to his mind, and will — In Annotatis quaedam contra meum Senſum, Pag. 910.Curcellaeus mutavit— quod nolim fieri.
However, the Engliſh Socinians ſay, That Grotius is for them even in his Notes, on the firſt Chapter of St. John's Goſpel, but then they Confeſs, He hath written them ſo Artificially, and Interwove them with ſo many Quotations, that he hath cover…d him ſelf and his ſenſe of that Portion of Scripture, from ſuch as do not read him carefully. This is a Generous ſort of Confeſſion, cunningly deviſed, and might have paſſed, had there not been ſome Learned and Careful Readers amongſt us to Detect the Falſhood of the Inſinuation, which is very Excellently well performed to the Reproach of theſe bold Aſſertors, and pretendedly Wiſe Interpreters of Scripture.
Theſe few Intimations I ſuppoſe may ſuffice to ſhow what Pitiful Shifts the Engliſh Socinians are driven to, for the ſupport of their Tottering Cauſe, wherein I confeſs they fail of the Learning, Candor, and Integrity of ſome Foreign Socinians. If Grotius muſt be lookt on as a Socinian, ſaith Gittichius, who hath with a freedom Anſwerable to his Heat, Expreſſed his Reſentments, he is a Betrayer of the Faith.
To this Purpoſe, Gittichius expreſſes himſelf, in an Epiſtle to Ru…rus, where he charges Grotius for Writing in ſuch a way, that without putting his Words on the Rack, 'tis impoſſible to ſecure 'em from Error. Thus it is with what he ſaith, concerning an Appeaſing of the Wrath of God againſt us, by the Grievous Sufferings of Chriſt. When Grotius ſaith that the Pardon of Sin firſt offered to the Iſraelites, then to the whole World, Preached by Chriſt, Confirmed by his Miracles, Death, and Exaltation, was Purchaſed for us by that moſt Perfect Sacrifice, the Bloody Death of Chriſt, he affirms what is moſt contrary to the Holy Scriptures, and yet thus doth he do, in his Explicating the ſixth Verſe of the firſt of the Epheſians. Gittichius concludes his Epiſtle with this Prayer, The Lord grant unto Grotius a Sounder Judgment, and ſecure his Church from ſuch as he is, and put forth his uttermoſt Power, that there may not be at any time ſuch Grotius's in his Church: ſeeing the Church is in much greater Danger from ſuch than from any open Enemies and Antichriſts.
Thus much Gittichius wrote to Ruarus, who, becauſe of Grotius's Candour, repreſented him a Friend to their Party: but, as any one may ſee, Grotius was far from being Socinian all over.