Anti-Socinianism, Part 16
Adamus Neuſerus Paſtor Heidelbergae.
Neuſerus recto de tramite aherrat, & inter
Fines Numedicos carpere tentat iter.
IT is a common ſaying among us, give the Devil his due: And ſurely it is poſſible for us to wrong, even that malignant Spirit, in caſting upon him thoſe evills of which he is not guilty, not can properly be called his: It is true, he is the tempter, and both injects evil motions, and draws them forth into act: but yet all ill is not immediately his; We have enough, and too much of our own, to ſtand faſt long in a good profeſſion, unleſſe the Lord be pleaſed to afford us the grace and favour of his aſſistance, if he do but withdraw himſelf, or his ſupport from us, we fall away from the truth, and wander up and down in the by-pathes of errour, till at length we become a prey to that roaring Lyon. Thus did it happen to this Adam Neuſerus, once one of our own, (as we ſuppoſed) a painful and induſtrious preacher of the Goſpel, Pastor of the Church at Heidelberg, and outwardly a great ſtickler for the truth; but one that ſecretly harboured Arianiſme in his heart: as he evidently afterward declared. The gloſſe of profeſſion without ſincerity will not laſt. What St. Hierome ſaid of the Scriptures, we may ſay of Religion: It is not in ſuperficie & verborum folijs, ſed in medullâ cordis, not read in ſuperficial leaves and letters, but in the marrow, and ſubſtance of the heart. Christian religion is more practical, then theorical, rather an occupation, then a meer profeſſion, which is like the Artificers wit, at his fingers ends. But can we taxe hereticks of idleneſs? Me thinks they are buſy enough, both to their own, and the ruine of thoſe that are bewitched by them; they work indeed, but it is ſecretly and cloſly, like Moles under ground; So Neuſerus, having ordered all things, as he thought cloſe enough, for his paſſage over to the Turks, with whom he had before bin tampering, but was taken as it were in the very act by Prince Palatine Frederick III. and caſt into priſon; From whence by ſleight or connivence, he ſecretly ſtole away, and went into Poland, after that into Tranſylvania, ſowing ſtill as he went, the ſeeds of his deſperate and damnable Doctrine againſt the bleſſed Trinity; which became the ſubject of oppoſition, to every idle and phantastick brain; againſt the nature, office, and merit of Chriſt, his ſatisfaction made to the juſtice of his Father for us, together with our redemption, juſtification, &c. But all this while Neuſerus was not where he would be, and therefore he never reſted, till he got over to Conſtantinople among thoſe, whoſe religion he eſteemed, and whoſe Society he affected above all other: The wicked cannot be quiet, till their vicious deſires be accompliſhed; they have oculos inquietos ad peccandum, as Calvin renders it, their meat and drink is to do their Fathers will, that is, Satans.
Ahab is ſick till have Naboths Vineyard; and Neuſerus is ill at eaſe, till he be with his deſired companions: Well among them, he is; But what does he there? that which would make a Chriſtians heart to tremble, renounce that religion, whereof he made profeſſion, while he was among us, turned Turk, and after their manner was circumciſed, and ſo lived among them; But breve ſui ſceleris gaudium. For God ſtruck him with an incurable diſeaſe, of which he ſhortly dyed, and that with ſuch horrid clamours, and dreadful yellings, that the very Turks themſelves were aſtoniſhed at it, and openly confeſſed, that they never ſaw any man expire, in a more tragical manner, than he; whom therefore they called in their language Satan ogli, the very Child of the Devil. And this was the unhappy end of this miſerable caitiffe, this grand Apoſtate, firſt from the true-faith to Arianiſme, from thence to flat Turciſme. Let the fall of others be a warning to us.