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diff --git a/28401.txt b/28401.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9c54e7d --- /dev/null +++ b/28401.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2373 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Free and Impartial Thoughts, on the +Sovereignty of God, The Doctrines of Election, Reprobation, and Original Sin: Humbly Addressed To all who Believe and Profess those DOCTRINES., by Richard Finch + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Free and Impartial Thoughts, on the Sovereignty of God, The Doctrines of Election, Reprobation, and Original Sin: Humbly Addressed To all who Believe and Profess those DOCTRINES. + +Author: Richard Finch + +Release Date: March 24, 2009 [EBook #28401] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FREE AND IMPARTIAL THOUGHTS *** + + + + +Produced by Keith G. Richardson + + + + + + + +Free _and_ Impartial + +THOUGHTS, + +ON THE + +Sovereignty _of_ God, + +THE + +DOCTRINES + +OF + +Election, Reprobation, + +AND + +Original Sin: + +Humbly Addressed + +To all who Believe and Profess those + +DOCTRINES. + + +The Second Edition, Corrected and Enlarged. + + +_LONDON:_ + +Printed for J. ROBINSON, at the _Golden-Lion_, in _Ludgate-Street._ + +M.DCC.XLV. + + + +THE + +PREFACE + +_I Cannot find, upon the most impartial Retrospection of the +Argument, any Reason to alter my Sentiments concerning it; and as it +is a Matter of the greatest Importance, 'tis hoped that those who +maintain the Doctrines of_ Election, &_c. will afford it all the +Weight and Consideration it deserves. But, if there be any among +them, who will hear no Reason or Argument whatever, and are_ sure, +only because they are sure, _I Have_ little _or_ no Hopes _to +prevail with them, to give me a fair Hearing, or to think_ candidly +_and_ impartially _about it. But as there are among them, some, who +no doubt will allow the_ Possibility _of their being in an Error; to +all such I address my self, and beseech them, as much as possible to +lay aside Prejudice and Partiality; wisely considering, that many of +their Fore-fathers maintained some erroneous Doctrines, with as much +Zeal, and Integrity, as they their Descendants now do the Doctrines +of_ Election, &_c. and yet saw Occasion to renounce them +afterwards._ + +_There is Reason to fear, the just Liberty I have taken with the_ +Doctrines of Election, &_c. may, by some, be deem'd Blasphemy +against_ God _himself; but I am far from intending any such thing. +These Doctrines (I think) on the contrary, are_ in them selves +_nothing better than_ blasphemous, _tho' the Intentions of some who +maintain them, be ever so devout and sincere: And if an Impeachment +of Doctrines, which, instead of preserving_ God's Moral Character, +_robs him of all that is dear and valuable, or that can render him +lovely and adorable to Man, be accounted_ Blasphemy, _the Ignorance +and Bigotry of those, who judge after that Manner, ought much to be +lamented. It is a melancholy Truth, that where Prejudice, in favour +of false Principles, has had early and frequent Access to the Mind, +it too often shuts the Ear against Reason and Truth; and 'tis very +hard to persuade such People to enter at all, and much less +impartially, into the Merits of an Argument advanced against them; +nor indeed is the Liberty of Thought on_ Religious Subjects, duly +inculcated _in Religious Assemblies: For, the_ Teachers of +Christianity, _tho' they are seldom averse to give us the Compliment +of a_ just Liberty of thinking for ourselves, _are but too apt_ to +set the Terrors of the Lord in array against Unbelievers; _tho' +perhaps_ their Dissent _may sometimes be only the_ innocent Effect, +_of the best Examination they are able to make. And if there be any +thing worthy of Notice, in what I have advanced, I hereby intreat +all, into whose Hands this Treatise may come, not to be terrified, +by any such popular Arts, from making a thorough Examination for +themselves; on the other hand, I am altogether as willing to set +right, in whatever I may have erred, or been mistaken._ + +_'Tis well known, the 17th Article of our own_ National Church, +_greatly favours the_ Doctrines _of_ Election _and_ Reprobation; +_and it is also generally believed, that the_ Better Part _of our +Clergy entirely disapprove these Doctrines, and would very readily +assist in expunging them out of their_ Creed; _which would render +their Consciences much easier, than now they are, or can be, under a +Subscription in a Sense so_ very qualified _and_ remote _from the_ +natural Intent _and_ Meaning _of the_ Article. + +_Experience makes it evident, that Education is able to retain Men +of the_ Brightest Understanding, _in the Belief of the_ Greatest +Absurdities. _But, that Men of Learning, Ingenuity and Experience, +who have lived perhaps to the Age of fifty, in the Disbelief of the_ +Doctrines _of_ Election, &_c. should after that sincerely embrace +them, is to me Matter of great Astonishment; yet this I am inform'd +is really the Case, with regard to one of the most ingenious_ +Divines, _our Metropolis has to boast of. One Reason may perhaps be +alledged, for such an unexpected Alteration of Sentiment_, viz. +_That tho' we disbelieve these Doctrines, because they are_ absurd, +_yet we hold at the same time, others_, equally repugnant _to +Reason, and to Common Sense; and certainly we may as reasonably_ +embrace _the one as_ retain _the other. Besides, with what +reasonable Expectation of Success could such a Man as this sit down +to argue with_ another _of_ absurd Principles, _when_ he himself +_might be so easily abash'd and put to Silence, by an Appeal to_ +other Principles, _of_ his own, _equally absurd and inexplicable. +The best way then, instead of embracing a_ fresh, _absurd, Principle +of Faith, is, to renounce the_ old. _I would not willingly Offend_ +Any, _by a special Application to_ particular Societies _and_ +Doctrines: _let but every Man make an honest Application to himself, +and the Articles of Faith he professes, and the Work of Reformation +will, I am persuaded, gain something thereby. And that, not only +these Doctrines, but every other absurd Principle of Faith, which +either Ignorance, or Design, may have introduced into the Christian +church, to the_ Dishonour _of_ God, _the_ Burthen _and_ Reproach _of +Human Nature, may be_ utterly exploded, _is the incessant Wish, and +earnest Desire, of_ + +The Author. + + + +Free _and_ Impartial + +THOUGHTS, &_c_. + +_CHRISTIANITY_ having been instituted, by its great Author and +Publisher, for the Benefit and Advantage of Mankind, it is pity we +should so greatly differ, concerning what _Genuine Christianity_ is; +if the _Holy Bible_, as we generally agree, was designed to lead us +to the true Knowledge of God, and to be a standing and perpetual +Rule of _Faith_ and _Manners_ to Men, it must surely have been +greatly corrupted since the primitive Times of the Gospel, or the +_Explication_ of it designedly left to a more excellent and superior +Director: For the seeming Contradictions, and Multiplicity of +obscure Passages, wherewith it abounds, shew plainly it could never, +in its present Condition, be a Rule of Faith, &_c_. becoming an +all-wise and perfect Being, to give to rational Creatures. Every _good +Man, Society_, and _State_, study Perspicuity in all their _Rules, +Orders, and Statutes,_ dispensed to their _Families, Members,_ and +_Subjects:_ and can we suppose, that He, who is perfect in +Knowledge, would, in the Dispensation of his Laws, take less care of +the everlasting State of his immortal Creature _Man?_ Yet it is +plain, we differ in our Sentiments of Religion, and greatly too, for +want, as I sincerely hope, of the Knowledge of better Helps, to +direct our Inquiries, in Matters, the true Knowledge whereof, is of +so considerable Moment. Therefore, + +I intend, in the Course of this Debate, to descant _freely_, on the +Doctrines of _Divine Sovereignty, Election, Reprobation_, and +_Original Sin;_ and also, on the Arguments which some ingenious +Gentlemen have used to support them. But I hope (with regard to the +_Authors_ I may possibly name) to be perfectly decent, and to treat +them with all becoming Respect and Deference, as I think Men of +Integrity, Learning and Abilities deserve; who, though in some +Points they may err, and hold Doctrines in their own Nature and +Tendency altogether subversive of Religion and Morality, do +nevertheless not perceive them to have these Tendencies, and are +therefore by _no Means_ chargeable with them. Yet, as touching the +_Doctrines_ themselves, I shall presume to speak freely, both in +regard to their Nature, and what appears to me to be their genuine +Fruits and Effects. + +It is with me an establish'd Truth, that the mistaken Notion of some +_learned Men_, concerning the _Sovereignty_ of the _Deity_, has +given these Doctrines a more favourable Acceptance in the World, +than otherwise they would, or could, ever have met with; and +notwithstanding all the Pains and Arguments these Gentlemen have +bestowed, to reconcile their Doctrines to our common Sense of +_Right_ and _Wrong_, it is plain, that, at _bottom_, this is the +grand governing Principle. For, when their Attempts to reconcile +these Doctrines with common Sense and Equity fail, they have +immediate Recourse to God's _Sovereignty_, and even go so far, at +least in Effect, as to deny there is _any_ intrinsick Difference in +Things themselves, as shall be made appear from their most approved +Writers, whenever they are pleased to demand it: But as this +Principle of _Sovereignty_ is most certainly their strong Hold, I +shall therefore endeavour to go to the Depth of this Argument; and +shew, in the first Place, how greatly they misapprehend the Nature +of this _Attribute;_ and, in the second Place, granting it to be as +they say, I shall then shew the _precarious_ and _miserable_ +Condition of all Mankind, not excepting the Elect themselves, under +the Government of such an arbitrary Being. + +To begin with the first. That God is a _Sovereign_, we readily +allow: But it will not therefore follow, he is _morally capable_ of +doing any thing, in its _own Nature_, immoral or unjust. All +religious Debates are allowed to be best determinable by the divine +Attributes; and yet nothing is more common, than to single out, and +lay the greatest Stress on, that Attribute alone, which appears best +to suit our own particular Opinions: which, however innocent our +Intention may be, is, I think, in itself, a very erroneous and +unwarrantable Procedure; for as God is _all-wise_ and _good_, as +well as _almighty_ and _independent_, it is, in the Nature of +Things, impossible (and therefore we should never admit it possible) +he should be capable (in a moral Sense, I mean) of exerting any one +particular Attribute in _Opposition_ to, or _Diminution_ from, +another. A _Sovereign_ he is, nor can any Creature whatever dispute +his _unlimited_ and _uncontroulable_ Power over his _whole +Creation_. But Power alone, without Wisdom and Goodness to make a +right Use and Application of it, may be perfect _Frenzy_, and run +into the greatest Latitude of _Folly_ and _Tyranny_. It is, if I may +be allowed the Comparison, like a _Vessel_ that has lost its Helm, +continually exposed to the tossing of Winds and Waves. To talk, +therefore, of _mere Sovereign Pleasure_, without Regard to the +proper Reason or Fitness of Things, so far operating and bring in +the _Divine Mind_ (and which is nothing more than the Presence and +Operation of his own Wisdom) in order to prefer what, in its own +Nature, is _best_, and _fittest_ to be done, is excluding from the +Deity, those _more_ blessed and _valuable Perfections_ of _Wisdom_ +and _Goodness_, and establishing in their room, and at their +Expence, mere Sovereign Power alone. _Physically speaking_ indeed, +we allow God can do Evil itself; but the moral Perfections of his +Nature, are to us an _infallible_ and _unshaken Security_, that he +_never will_ do it. _Man_ being an impotent and fallible Creature, +liable, not only to mistake the true Nature and importance of +Things, but when he does understand his Duty rightly, liable also, +thro' the Prevalence of _Habit_ and _Passion_, to be very backward +and defective in performing it, must necessarily be subject to such +Laws, as contain in them Rewards and Punishments, proper to +influence his _Hopes_ and his _Fears_. + +But as God, on the contrary, is a Being of all possible and infinite +Perfections; an exact Knowledge of what we call _Right_ and _Wrong_, +_Just_ and _Unjust_, ever hath, and always will exit in the _Divine +Mind_, and be to him a perfect, constant, and invariable Rule of +Action, in relation to his Creatures. He that is _infinite_ in +Knowledge, cannot but know, at all Times, and under the most (to us) +difficult and perplex'd Circumstances of Things, what in its _own +Nature_ is _best_, and _fittest_ to be done; and, being void of all +Bias, Prejudice, and Passion, cannot but approve of what is _right_ +and _best;_ and being likewise _Almighty_, no Power can possibly +interrupt, or prevent what he determined to accomplish: So that it +is _morally impossible_, that God should do an evil Thing, These +Truths are so deducible from each other, and in themselves so +evident, to all unbiassed and inquisitive Minds, that one would +wonder to find Men, of Learning and Integrity, give into the +contrary Sentiments; which, in Effect they do, who hold Doctrines +_naturally subversive_ of these fundamental Truths, as all certainly +do, who depart from the moral Good and Fitness of Things, and +resolve all into _mere sovereign Pleasure_ alone, _independent_ of +Wisdom and Goodness; which must ever be at hand to _cooperate_ with, +and govern the Exertion of, their favourite Attribute, _sovereign +Power_ itself; or, if they do not expressly affirm this, they do by +another Method the very same thing; and that is, by denying, in +Effect, the _intrinsick Difference_ of Good and Evil, which, +according to them, has no Foundation in the _Nature_ and Relations +of Things, but takes its Rise, only, from the mere Will and +Appointment of the _Deity_. But if all Things are in themselves +equally Good, where is the Use to _appoint_, or the Sense of talking +about it? Wisdom and Goodness must, according to this Notion, be +idle and unmeaning Sounds, without Sense or Service. But alas! the +natural Consequence of maintaining Tenets, so repugnant to common +Sense, is seldom less than running into and embracing other +Absurdities, in themselves equally great with what they are brought +to defend, And here, as some of these Gentlemen are exalted, and I +hope deservedly, to the Dignity of Teachers in the _Christian +Church_, they will, I hope, permit me to ask them a Question or two, +which I should, on almost any other Occasion, blush to ask any +rational Man, _viz_. If they do not perceive an intrinsic Beauty and +Excellence in Virtue, as opposed to Vice; independent of all +_positive_ or arbitrary Appointment, tho' of the _Deity_ itself; and +whether, besides the Commands of God, (which to be sure are of high +Importance, and ought ever to be urged with great Strength and +Energy) they do not also _press_ upon their Hearers, the Practice of +Virtue, and endeavour to recommend, and inforce it on the Mind, from +its _own_ native Charms? But to make this Matter, still, if +possible, more evident; let us suppose the present excellent Order +of Things inverted, and that God, of his own mere Pleasure, had +given Mankind quite contrary Laws, and commanded _Rebellion, Murder, +Ingratitude_, and all Manner of Intemperance and Debauchery, instead +of their _opposite virtues;_ would the same Fitness, Beauty, and +Propriety, appear to these Gentlemen, as there now does, in +_Virtue?_ If not, from whence the Difference arises, let them +answer. + +As God is an infinite Mind or Spirit, perfectly acquainted, at every +Instant of Time, with whatever _hath been, is_, or _shall be;_ and +all Things _possible to be;_ 'tis evident, that all possible +Relations of Persons and Things are fully known to him; and that all +_moral_ and _divine_ Obligations, arising from the Relation we stand +in to God, and to each other, did, in their own Nature, _previous_ +to actual Law or Commandment, exist; because the one was in Time, +and the other Eternal; one commenced only (at best) with the _Being_ +and _Beginning_ of Creatures, the other was from all Eternity, +_co-existent_ with the _Divine Wisdom_ itself; and such an inseparable +Concomitant therewith, that, in regard to the _Divine Being_, +himself, it was absolutely impossible, but that, on his creating +such a Rank of Beings as we are, _moral_ and _religious_ Obligations +must have been _invariably_ and _unalterably_ the same; and if, as +these Men teach, God's having commanded the Practice of Virtue, be +its peculiar Sanction, and that _alone_ which distinguishes it from +Vice or Evil; then, by the same or as good an Argument, his +commanding Light in the Beginning, is all the Reason we have for +esteeming Light and Darkness different, (as they really are) the one +being the actual Pretence of a real Body, and the other a mere Name, +to signify its Absence; not that Vice is therefore a mere Name, to +signify the Absence of Virtue, for Comparisons seldom hold good in +_every_ minute Particular; but there is a Parity between the two +Cases, sufficient to justify my bringing in the one, as an +Illustration of the other. There is no Knowledge _more certain_, +than what Mankind commonly have of Good and Evil; and he who, in +order to serve any private Scheme of Religion, goes about to +depreciate this Knowledge, robs Mankind of all Truth and Certainty +whatever, and in the End subjects his own darling Schemes to the +same Uncertainty; for if we cannot judge of the Fitness, of plain +moral Truth and Duty, neither can we of any Scheme of Religion; +especially such as hang together more by Art and human Contrivance, +than by Reason or Revelation. + +Being very desirous to get all the Information I could, concerning +the Matter in Debate; I have attentively read over Mr. _Cole's_ +Treatise on the _Sovereignty_ of God. I know 'tis thought an +unanswerable Performance; and, so far as it regards general +Christianity, it is worth every Christian's serious Notice: But as +to the Doctrine it was wrote to support, it leaves it (in my +Judgment) no better than it found it; but is miserably weak, and +defective, as to any Thing that looks like sound Reason, or true +Argument; and amounts to no more than this _poor Assertion, That +because God is a Sovereign, he may do what he pleases:_ And, from +the Instances he brings from Scripture, 'tis plain, that Mr. _Cole_ +himself pays as _little_ Regard to the intrinsick Worth and +Excellence of Things, as is done by many of his Brethren. The manner +in which he has been pleased to give us the Story of _Jacob_ and +_Esau_, proves the Truth of this Observation, I have no great +Inclination to spend Time in explaining _hard Passages_ of +Scripture, (tho' if any thing of that kind can be serviceable, or +deem'd excellent, 'tis Mr. _Taylor_ of _Norwich_ his Book on +_Original Sin_,) or to trespass on the Reader's Patience, by +throwing one Text of _hard_ and _uncertain_ Meaning against another; +for by this means the Controversy hath been needlessly prolonged. +Where the Scriptures are _plain_, _positive_ and _reasonable_, their +Authority ought to be conscientiously adhered to: But as this is not +always the Case, the _next_ Thing to knowing what is the _true +Meaning_ of any particular Text of Scripture is, to know what it +neither _does_ nor _can_ possibly mean; in which Case, the Divine +Attributes, and the Nature and Reason, or (if you please) Fitness of +Things, is the best Rule. We _cannot_, it is impossible we _should_, +understand the certain determinate Meaning of any Text of Scripture +_better_, if altogether _so well_, as we do _know_ certainly, that +God is _just_ and _good_, and _know_ also as clearly, what _Justice_ +and _Goodness_ mean, when applied to the _Deity_, as we do, when we +apply them to _ourselves_. And this Rule, if duly observed, would be +abundantly sufficient, to set aside many Interpretations of +Scripture, too commonly admitted upon this and the like Occasions. +And, besides this never failing Argument (to all who attend duly to +its Force) it is worth while, just to remark, that though, as the +_Bible_ now stands, there are in it (as we must acknowledge) some +Passages, which (especially at first sight) seem to favour the +Doctrine of _Sovereignty_, &c. yet as it is possible, nay sometimes +easy, to give them _another interpretation_, and the general Scope +and Tenor of the Scripture being agreeable to such an Interpretation, +we have abundantly more Reason to _reject_, than to _admit_ of the +Sense, in which these Gentlemen are pleased to understand and +expound many Texts of the _Bible_, relating to this and other +affinitive Points. + +I would not, as I observed before, presume to impose on the Reader's +Time and Patience, by entering unnecessarily into the scriptural +Part of the Argument; yet I must beg Leave, to make now and then an +Observation or two as I go along: And the first Thing that falls in +my way is, the Story of _Jacob_ and _Esau_, and the Account which +Mr. _Cole_ gives of it. He not only relates the Story, but assures +us, that _Jacob's_ obtaining the Blessing was of Divine Appointment, +and (what is more extraordinary) that the _Falsehood_ and _Fraud_ he +practised to accomplish it, was all of God's own immediate +Direction; and this he gives as an Instance of God's _Sovereignty_, +and proceeding contrary to the moral Fitness of Things, and the +Nature of those Laws he hath given to Man. That God intended _Jacob_ +the _Blessing_, or preferred him to _Esau_, I readily grant; but +cannot admit it to be inferred from thence, that the Means, by which +it was, as we reckon, accomplished, were _Divine_ also: There is a +more natural or (at least) more justifiable way of accounting for +the whole Matter. According to the History, it seems plain, that +_Rebecca_ only, and not her Husband, was privy to this Designation +of the _Deity:_ she had upon Inquiry (when with Child) received such +an Assurance from the Lord; which might be the _first Cause_ of her +preferring _Jacob_ to _Esau_, and which in Time, 'tis probable, grew +up into a much greater Degree of _Partiality_ and _Fondness:_ All +this Time the good Old _Patriarch_, her Husband, seems to have been +entirely unacquainted with the Affair. And when the Time drew nigh, +in which, according (as some think) to Custom, he was about to +_bless_ his _eldest_ Son, _Rebecca_ then grew diffident of the +Accomplishment of the Promise made in _Jacob's_ Behalf, and applied +herself to the Means, which the Text tells us was used on that +Occasion. As to the Authority those Heads of Families had to _confer +Benefits_ on their Offspring, by way of _Blessing_, though I shall +not now much contend about it, yet give me Leave to make a few +Observations. It don't appear to me that _Isaac_, in giving his +Blessing, did so properly or so much bestow it on the _Person_ of +_Jacob_ present, as he did on the _Person_ of _Esau_ absent; because +it is the Intention which ought principally to be regarded, and +_Esau_ undoubtedly was intended. Again, this way of blessing, if +considered in itself as a mere Tradition, could be _no more_ +efficacious, than what now prevails in some Parts of the _Christian +Church_. All true Authority of this kind (if any there be) must +result from _immediate Inspiration and Command;_ and whether _Isaac_ +had these Qualifications, while _Jacob_ stood before him, +personating _Esau_, is a Matter of no small Doubt and Dispute. He +was ('tis evident) much surprised at the _Cheat_, put on him by his +_Wife_ and _Son_, and would doubtless very willingly have given +_Esau_ the Preference, according to his first Intention; but +something _supernatural_ seems now to have seized and satisfied him, +that _Jacob_ was the Person intended; for he cries out, "I have +blessed him, yea and he shall be blessed." And this latter +Assurance, and the Energy and Satisfaction wherewith the Words were +pronounced, I take _rather_ to have been the _true Blessing_ than +the _other_. For, as the Reason of _Jacob's_ Dissimulation was +intirely owing to his Mother's Diffidence and Impatience; so, there +is no Doubt to be made, but that the _Almighty_ himself would, had +she not interfered, have brought it about in a manner becoming his +_Holiness_, and not by _Falsehood_, _Deceit_, and _Dissimulation_. +_Religion_ can never be _more_ dishonoured, or the Despensations of +God to Mankind receive _greater_ Reproach, than when _Divine +Purposes_ are (under God's immediate Direction) said to be +accomplish'd by Methods in themselves _evil_ and _immoral_, and +altogether opposite to His Commands. Hath he forbid us Lying, under +the _Penalty_ of _Hell-Fire_, and shall he himself practise it, or +immediately influence another to do it, for the sake of bringing to +pass some Event, which he could as easily have accomplish'd, by +Methods purely righteous and honourable! And had _Jacob_ never been +prompted, or attempted to obtain the Blessing in the manner he did +attempt it, 'tis more than probable, that God, who removed _Isaac's_ +Surprise, and caused him to break forth as he did, "I have blessed +him, yea and he shall be blessed," would never have permitted or +impowered _Isaac_, to have _blessed Esau_, in an _effectual_ manner +beyond his Brother: Or if a mere Pronouncing of Words, when uttered +as a Blessing from the Heads of Families, was in itself an +_irreversible Blessing_, and _Isaac_ had attempted to bestow it on +_Esau_, God no doubt would have stayed his Mouth by _Intimations +within;_ as he did, on another Occasion, the _Hand of Abraham_, by +an Angel without: Provided, I say, it be allowed, that a _formal +Blessing_, from the Mouth of _Isaac_, was necessary to confirm on +_Jacob_ those superior Privileges, which God had designed for him; +and that this Interpretation of the Text is more honourable, and +better becoming the Truth and Majesty of the _Divine Being_. I +appeal not to Reason only, but to Mr. _Cole_ himself: For whatever +Influence Prejudice, or Enthusiasm, may have on some Minds, there +are certain Seasons, wherein Truth will display itself to the Realm +and Understanding of Mankind, and extort, even from the Mouths of +those, who sometimes oppose her, the most ample Concessions in her +Favour. Take the following as an Instance--_Cole's Sovereignty of +God_, Page 41, 2d Edit. "To this also might be added the strict +Injunctions that God hath laid upon the subordinate Dispensers of +his Law; as namely, to judge the People with just Judgment, not to +wrest Judgment, nor respect Persons; yea, he curseth them that +pervert Judgment, and will surely reprove them that accept Persons; +and shall mortal Man be more just than God? will he, under such +Penalties, command Men to do thus, and not do so himself?" + +The Argument is undoubtedly equally applicable to the Sin of +_Lying_, or indeed to any Sin whatever; and I appeal to every +unprejudiced Reader, if any Thing more to the Purpose could be +urged, against his own Account of the Affair between _Jacob_ and +_Esau_, or even against the Doctrine itself, which he writes his +Book to support: and this, in Conjunction with my foregoing +Arguments, may, I hope, be Answer sufficient for the Use they make +of _all other_ parallel Places of Scripture. + +By this Concession 'tis plain, that Justice and Goodness in God are, +by this Author, considered the same as in us; how else were it +possible, to understand what the Laws of God truly mean? _Be you +perfect, as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect_, is a plain +Indication (taking in the Context) of the moral Perfections of the +Divine Nature, in Part apparent to us, as the Text observes, from +his admirable Bounty in the Creation; _He causeth his Sun to rise on +the Evil and on the Good, and sendeth his Rain on the Just and the +Unjust_. Though at other Times, when these Gentlemen are hard +pinched with the Iniquity and Injustice of their Doctrines, they +apply for Refuge to the _Sovereignty_ of God, and give strong +Intimations, that _Justice_ and _Goodness_, when applied to him, are +mere unmeaning Sounds, which at best signify, what mere Sovereignty +pleases to do, and that when applied to Man, they signify quite +another Thing. And this naturally leads me to the second Thing I +proposed to consider, _viz_. That allowing the Doctrine of +_Election_ to be, as they say, resolveable into God's Sovereignty; +that God is just such a Sovereign, as this Doctrine supposes, and +these Gentlemen take him to be; that they have his Word for their +own Election and Salvation; yet even then, there could be no manner +of Certainty as to Religion, no Dependance on the Promises and +Threatnings of the Gospel; and consequently, the supposed Elect must +_beat the Air_, and run at the same or as great Uncertainties, as +any other Persons whatever, under the Government of such an +arbitrary Being. + +I have, to avoid Dispute, proposed this Argument more to the +Advantage of the Elect, than I was strictly obliged to do, by +allowing them to be absolutely certain, that God has told them, that +they are his Elect, and that he will give them eternal Life; which, +allowing the Doctrine of _Election_ to be true, is generally much +more than they can prove, either to themselves, or to others: +allowing, I say, the Doctrine of _Election_ to be clearly revealed +in Scripture, there will be this Difficulty behind, as to the +certain Marks of being of that Number. The Scripture must also as +clearly reveal the Marks, as it does the Doctrine, or we shall not +be able to apply with any Certainty to ourselves. Is believing the +Doctrine, &_c_. and thinking myself one of this happy Number, a Rule +sufficient to abide by? If so, no Man who has this Faith, concerning +the _Doctrine_ and _himself_, can ever depart from it. Yet, there +have been many Instances of Persons, zealous in that way, who saw +Occasion afterwards to renounce the Doctrine itself, and with it +that _imaginary_ and _ungrounded Conceit_ of their being, for no +Reason whatever, God's dear Children and Favourites, and embraced, +in its room, the Doctrines of _universal Grace_ and _Free-will;_ and +upon the best Reasons too, for as without the one, God cannot be +just, so without the other, Man, being no Agent, can be no Subject +of Rewards and Punishments. These very Men were before thought to be +elect, by their most spiritual and best judging Brethren, who +pronounced them chosen in _Christ_, and unshaken in the Faith; and +so indeed they judged concerning themselves: But the Grace of God +being once permitted freely to operate in the Mind, it soon expelled +that Ignorance, and Narrowness of Spirit, which (even in many well +meaning Persons) is the genuine Effect of such narrow Doctrines. If +having this Faith be no certain Mark, because a Man may depart from +it, what Proof have they? surely none: But allowing them an absolute +Certainty, as to themselves, that God hath told them, in Person, +that they are his Elect, it will (on their own darling Principle of +Sovereignty) amount to just nothing at all; because, as a Sovereign, +God may promise one thing, and intend, nay do another, or the +contrary; nor can they prove, or have they the least Assurance, he +will not thus deal with them, without recurring to other Principles, +which will hold equally strong against the Doctrines themselves--To +this Dilemma are these Gentlemen inevitably reduced; they must +either give up the Doctrines, or part with any Security of +Dependance on God himself, as to their own Happiness. It will be _in +vain_, here, to refer to the _Goodness of God_, though, on _my_ +Principles, the Argument would be unanswerable; on _theirs_, it is +_stark naught_, and avails nothing. And pray observe the _double +Dealing_ this reduces them to; it is something like setting up _two +Gods_ instead of one, or, which is much the same, ascribing to the +_eternal, unchangeable Being_, an inconsistent and contrary Conduct. +Here is, _first_, a _mere_ arbitrary Being, that decrees, or +pretends to decree, by mere _Sovereign Pleasure_ only, the Salvation +of the _Elect;_ but, because such a Being may as well break his +Promise as keep it, here is _another_ to make _good_ the Promise, +who invariably acts according to the moral Fitness of Things: Or, if +you take it the other way, here is, 1_st_, A Promise made as a mere +_Sovereign_, undetermined by, and unregardful of, _all_ moral +Obligations; and, 2_dly_, The Performance of this Promise is +expected, from a Principle of Justice and Goodness; ever conformable +_to_ the moral Reason and Fitness of Things: And certainly, in +either Case, it leaves Things very precarious; nor can the Promises +of such a Being as this (I speak it with all possible Reverence to +the true God himself) be any thing near so valuable, or fit to be +depended on, as the Engagements of a good and worthy Man. And +whatever these Gentlemen, to put a more plausible Out-side on their +Doctrines, say, concerning the Freedom and Excellence of that State, +wherein our first Father _Adam_ was created, and the _Possibility_ +of his having remained perfectly innocent, and the Blessings of +eternal Life, which would have been thence derived to all his +Posterity, it is plain to me, they generally believe no such thing; +but that, on the contrary, God absolutely _willed_ and _decreed_ the +_Fall of Adam_, Mr. _Cole_ himself, their great Advocate, is far +from supposing the Condition of _Adam_ to have been proper for +abiding long in Obedience to the Divine Command, or that, had he +stood, his Posterity would have thence become _impeccable_ and +_happy:_ on the contrary, he represents _Adam's_ Condition as a very +weak and imperfect State, by no mean suited to the Temptations, +which his Maker knew he would shortly be exposed to, and overcome +with; and all his Posterity, _had they been tried one by one, +would_, it seems, _have failed as he did_, Page 72. If all this does +not amount to something equal to a positive Assertion, that God +_willed_ the Fall of Adam, and in Consequence of it, the Guilt and +Desert of eternal Death, which is said to be thence derived, to +_all_ his prosperity, I do not know what is, or can be equal to it; +and indeed all this, and much more, may easily be resolved into the +Doctrine of God's _Sovereignty:_ and whoever thinks I have +misrepresented their Faith, need only consult their great apostle +Mr. _Calvin_. But let me further pursue my Argument, to prove, that +tho' a Man of this _Faith_ has God's _own Word_ for his Election and +Salvation, he cannot, on this Principle of _mere Sovereignty_, +reasonably or safely depend on it: My Reason, which is short and +plain, I have already given; because God, as a _Sovereign_, may do +just what he pleases, _keep_ his Promises, or _break_ them. There +can be no Possibility of evading this Argument, without coming back +to the Goodness of God; which is at once to set aside mere +_Sovereign_ Pleasure, and evidently recurring to the moral Fitness +of Things. As much as these Gentlemen are pleased to despise this +moral Fitness, and superstitiously exalt the mere Will of God in +Opposition thereto; and if the _Goodness_ of God proves, that he +_cannot_ break the Promise he has made to them of eternal Life; it +is at least as strong a Proof to me, that such a good Being _could +not_ possibly make me for eternal Misery, or, which is the very same +Thing, will or decree the Fall of _Adam_, and pass the Sentence of +eternal Death on all his Posterity; the far greatest Part of whom he +leaves, in this Condition, to perish everlastingly, and _miserable_ +me among the rest! + +A Due Survey of the two Cases, or Conditions, of the Elect and +Non-elect, may serve to set this Matter in a clear Light, God being in +himself antecedent to the Existence of all other Beings, infinitely +glorious and happy, could have no Occasion for Creatures to add to +his Blessedness; all that we call _evil_, such as Cruelty and +Injustice in Man, ever arises from such a _vicious_ and _imperfect_ +State of Mind, as cannot, for that Reason, possibly belong to +_Deity_. As the Sources, therefore, whence these Evils arise, cannot +be in God; such a Conduct, as these Doctrines suppose, is also +equally impossible to proceed from God, whose _only Intent_ in +creating must be, to communicate Happiness to his Creatures: +Creation infers Providence, and to bring a sensible rational Being +into this World; and, instead of taking _due Care_ of its Safety and +Happiness, to _decree_ and render it eternally miserable, is in its +_own Nature_, much worse than making an absolute Promise of eternal +Life to any created being, and _disappointing that Being_ of its +Happiness, whether by annihilation, or by changing it to another +State, or Mode of Being, no more happy than the present mortal Life; +'tis only a Breach of Promise, which, in such a _Sovereign_, is a +mere trifle. We have _no natural_ Right to Immortality, _much_ less +to immortal Happiness; it is the mere Effect of Divine Bounty--But, +being created in a weak, dependent State, and surrounded with Wants +and Infirmities, we _have_ a _natural Right_ to the Care and +Protection of our Maker; and tho' we allow, no _formal Promise_ is +made on our Behalf, yet the _very act_ itself, of creating such +Beings, and the Condition we _are_ placed in, contains in it the +_Substance_ of a Promise; and we may be assured, God will have +proper Regard to such Beings. If God be gracious enough to _give_ +eternal Life, to which we have not the _least_ natural Right, can he +possibly with-hold that which, from our Make and Dependance on him, +we have just Reason to expect? and how Much more impossible is it, +that he should make us for everlasting Misery! To make _one Man_ for +Damnation, is much worse, than promising eternal Life to another, +and breaking that Promise; he that does the former, cannot be +depended on in the latter. Methinks, the very Creation itself, and +bountiful Provision therein made, for the Accommodation and +Happiness of Man, might assure us, that (Man being made principally +for another World) a _proportionate Care_ will be taken of his more +important and everlasting Concerns. Which presents me with a fair +Opportunity, of exposing a Notion these Gentlemen hold, or a Method +they have, of interpreting such plain Texts of Scripture, as are +brought to prove God's general Care and Providence over his whole +Creation; in _particular_, where _David_ says, "The tender Mercies +of the Lord are over all his Works:" This, if you believe them, +relates only to this Life; so I think Mr. _Gill_ says. But what +then, Is no Inference thence to be made? If God be thus tender, to +provide Temporals, how _much more_ will he be kind to the Soul, and +provide for _that!_ 'Tis a natural and strong Way of arguing, and it +was our Saviour's own Method of arguing, as the most Plain and +Conclusive: "Wherefore if God so cloath the Grass of the Field, +&_c_. How much more shall he cloath you, &_c_." _Mat_. vi. 30. The +Argument rises in one Case, as much above the other, as _immortal +Life_ is preferable to the present _mortal State;_ and suppose any +of us should sympathise with a near Friend, under a _small Degree_ +of Pain and Affliction, would not the same Spirit of Friendship and +Humanity have a _stronger Sympathy_, when Affliction becomes more +intense and severe? To be tender and pitiful in the least and lowest +Matters, and unregardful and cruel in important and everlasting +Concerns, is, with regard to the _Divine Being_, a moral +Impossibility; 'tis _beneath_ human Nature and Prudence, and the +Practice of a good Man; And yet these Doctrines teach this horrible +impiety concerning the great God himself. + +To sum up this Argument: That Being who can make a sensible rational +Creature, on _Purpose_ for _Damnation_, instead of taking a +reasonable Care of it, which, from its Make and Dependance, it has a +Right to expect, as much as though a formal Promise were made, may, +with altogether as much (_nay more_) Justice, break its Promises of +eternal Life, _made_ to another Creature of the same Kind; its Claim +not being founded in Nature, but built on Promise. As the former +would be a more cruel and un-justifiable Proceeding than the latter, +he that is capable of doing the one, can have _no moral Perfections_ +in his Nature sufficient to secure the _Elect_ against his doing the +other: and on this _wild_ and _boundless_ Principle of _Sovereignty_, +it is possible that, with regard to _Religion_, Things may be quite +_reversed_ hereafter; the _Elect_, as they are called, made _miserable_, +and the _Non-elect, happy_. I think we may challenge the whole World, +to shew on this mad Principle the contrary; and why, as well as any +thing else, such an Economy may not be resolved into _Sovereign +Pleasure_. If God to _Isaac_ conveyed such errant Falshoods, by the +Instrumentality of _Jacob's Mouth_, _Why not_ make the same _deceitful +Use_ of the _Bible_, or even of his own immediate Word, in regard to +the Elect? If God, as Mr. _Gill_ (I think) observes, has two Wills, +"One publick Will of Command, and another of Intention, which is +private;" Why, with regard to the _Elect_, may he not promise one thing, +and intend, nay resolve on another? One would think it impossible, for +any understanding Man to judge thus of his Creator, that it is possible +he should command one Thing under the _severest Penalties_, and at +the _same Time_ not only _will_ and _intend_, but irresistibly and +secretly work to accomplish just the contrary, and (what is amazing +beyond Belief) after all punish severely the Creatures concerned, +whom he actuates to bring his secret Purposes to pass: If there can +be such a thing as arbitrary Power and tyrannical Government, in the +very worst Sense of all, here it is. And here certainly is all the +_Phrensy_, _Folly_, and _Tyranny_, which, I told you in the +Beginning, the Government of such an arbitrary Being (as these +Gentlemen represent the Deity to be) must ever be liable to. + +It is evident, that as worthy Sentiments of God and of Religion, +better the Mind, and improve the Understanding; so do weak and +superstitious Principles corrupt the intellectual Faculty, and +render the Soul more blind and inhuman, than it is in its natural +State, unassisted and unimproved by Divine Grace. I have the rather +made choice of this Argument, not only because I have never seen it +urged before, but because I think it more nearly affects Men of this +Faith, than any I have hitherto met with. I may be mistaken; but +while it has such weight with me, I cannot but earnestly recommend +it to the serious and impartial Consideration of all who profess +this Faith, more especially those who preach it publickly to the +World; whose Acknowledgment of what I take to be Truth, or friendly +Animadversions thereon, will be Matter of no small Satisfaction to +me: But I must here enjoin one Caution, _viz_. that it will be a +absolutely in vain to produce Texts of Scripture, till this Point is +better settled between us. In the Art of evading Scripture Proofs, I +allow these Gentlemen to be very skilful and expert; nor can I help +believing, that a small Part of the Penetration and Dexterity, +usually exercised on these Occasions, would, in Men of contrary +Principles, or even in themselves, could they be persuaded to think +differently, be abundantly sufficient to overthrow even the +Doctrines themselves: They have a peculiar Talent, at misunderstanding; +and perverting the plainest Text, and rendering those which are +difficult and obscure in their literal Sense, with much Boldness, and +without Hesitation; they stumble in a plain Path at Noon-Day, and walk +carelessly at Midnight amongst Rock, and upon the most dangerous +Precipices. And here I might safely rest the Argument, and make a final +End of it. _Sovereignty_, such an one as they contend for, once proved, +any thing whatever may be allowed to follow, and all Disputations will +be utterly in vain. Allow but the _Roman Church_ its _Infallibility_, +and the Truth of other Doctrines will unavoidably follow. Till these +Gentlemen, I say, set my main Principles aside, all the Scripture in the +World will be nothing to their Purpose. Not but in the main the _Bible_ +is against them; for the Scriptures _reveal_ God's Being and Attributes +_more clearly_ than they do most Points of Doctrine: the Reason is, +because the Doctrines commonly embraced, are in themselves _not so +plain_ to Reason, as the Being and Attributes of God; the latter being +generally acknowledged in all Christian Churches, tho' at the same +Time they widely differ about particular Doctrines, some of which +have no doubt been greatly corrupted in passing through _various +Hands_ and Translations: and I have been informed, by much better +Judges than I pretend to be, that the _New Testament_, even in these +very Doctrines I have been contending against, has, by _some +Partiality_ or _Neglect_, been made to speak more roundly in their +Favour, than the original _Greek_, or best Copies, will support; and +that, in some Places, the Meaning of the Original is inverted in the +Translation. The Scripture not only revealing to us the _Being_ and +_Attributes_ of God, _more clearly_ than it does many Doctrines, and +that Fundamental of all true Religion being also in itself perfectly +agreeable to the Light of Nature; 'tis evident, we are bound to +reject the most positive Text of Scripture militating against this +everlasting and fundamental Truth: and rather than part with this, +we had much better suppose the Writer, as to disputable Points, to +have been mistaken at the first, or the true Meaning corrupted by +others. The Translators are allowed to have been fallible Men, and +'tis very probable some Errors might creep in at that Door: But it +will not so easily be granted, that the _inspired Writers_ could +mistake, nor would I suppose it, unless in _very extraordinary +Cases_, where either _that_ or something _worse_ must be supposed; +and such a Supposition will, I am sure; much better become us, than +to imagine it possible for God to make a Revelation of his Will to +Man, which shall upon Examination be found _contrary_ to his Being +and Goodness, as well as expressly contrary to other _plain Parts_ +of this Revelation, Tho' the Argument, I say, might be safely rested +here, yet as there are some well meaning Persons, who believe that +_Adam_ was made upright, and furnished with a Stock of Strength and +Understanding, sufficient to _preserve_ his Innocence; that God made +a Covenant with him, as our _Federal_ or _Representative Head_, +wherein it was stipulated, that if he continued upright, during the +Time of Probation allotted, _all_ his Posterity should be _for ever_ +happy; but that if he fell, _all_ should be _subject_ to everlasting +Misery, as the counter Part of the Covenant; and he falling, the +Restoration of his fallen Race should be intirely owing to the good +Pleasure of God, who might _redeem all_ or only _a Part_, and leave +the rest to perish in the State wherein he found them, and in which +_Adam_ had involved them by his Transgression: This they call +_Preterition_, or a _Passing by_, which sounds a little better than +that harsh Word _Reprobation_, tho' in reality no better at all: And +on this first Transgression _some_ found the Doctrine of _Election_, +and others that of _Infant-Baptism_, as an Expedient to wash away +this original Guilt; and it must be owned, the Virtue of the Remedy +is admirably well suited to the Malignity of the Disease. I shall, +for their sakes, inspect a little farther into the Affair; to me it +appears unreasonable, and therefore improbable, that God should make +with _Adam_ any such Covenant or Agreement, or suffer the eternal +State of all Mankind to hang upon the single Thread of _one Man's_ +Behaviour, and who too (it seems) God knew would swerve from his +Obedience: besides, in all equitable Covenants, _every Party_ +concerned has a Right to be consulted, nor can they be justly +included to their own Detriment, without Consent first obtained, +(especially if the Thing covenanted for, has an immediate, or may +have a very fatal, tho' very remote, Tendency, to make _wretched_ +and _unhappy_) which, in this Case, with regard to the Unborn, could +not possibly be had. I am sensible the Gentlemen against whom I am +arguing (especially Mr. _Gill_) have many pretty Inventions, to +justify such a Conduct in the Divine Being, such as producing +parallel Instances, drawn from the allowed Practice of Men, and Usage +of the State; in particular, the Law relating to _High-Treason_, +whereby a _Rebel's_ immediate Descendants are _deprived_ of +inheriting their Father's Estate, with others of a like Kind; to +all which, what I am about to offer may, I hope, be a sufficient +Answer: The two Cases differ so widely, that it will be no easy +Undertaking to make any Thing of this Instance in their Favour; and +'tis very surprising, to find Men of the brightest Intellects, so +weak as to argue and infer, from the Laws of _Fallible Men_, to the +Laws of an _Infallible_ and _Holy Being:_ The Inference ought rather +to be just the Reverse; for such Institutions as Men, in this weak +and imperfect State, may think convenient for their own Sakes, and +the Good of Society, to establish and ordain, can be _no Rule_ to +him, whose Infinite Wisdom and Almighty Power set him _far above_ +all such Necessity. Nor, again, does this Case come up to the Matter +in Dispute: It is true, that the Heir of a convict Rebel _cannot_, +according to our Laws, inherit his Father's Estate; but what then, +does it deprive him of any thing that was his own before? No; the +Law convicts the Rebel, while _in Possession_ of his Estate, which +it considers as his _own Property_, and which therefore it justly +takes away for his _own Offence_. Perhaps, in Cases of Hereditary +Possessions, it may seem a little hard, because it prevents the +_next_ Heir from inheriting; but if there be any Evil or +Imperfection in this, we must excuse it, for the Sake of the Intent, +which might be for the general Good, the more effectually to deter +Men from _treasonable Conspiracies_ against their Prince, whereby +the Happiness of Society hath been often greatly disturbed, and +whole Kingdoms and Countries depopulated: but in this Case, it is +not strictly the Heir's, till he comes into Possession; for the Law, +by which he may possess hereafter, may be considered as having in it +this _particular_ Exception, as to the Crime of _High-Treason_, +which, whenever it _occurs_ as to the _Parent_, renders the Son +incapable, &_c_. With regard to our Laws, we may, in some Sense, be +said to make them ourselves, by our Representatives, whom we +constitute for that End: and 'tis besides very probable, that some +great Men, who formerly possessed Estates, and settled them on the +Male Heirs in their Families, from one Generation to another, might +help to make this very Law itself concerning Treason, and +consequently they could not but acquiesce with this _very Exception_ +to the Right of Inheritance in their Posterity. But if it be still +said to be unjust, though necessary, 'tis no Argument; for it +_cannot_ be unjust and necessary too: the Law, in this Case, ought +rather (with Submission) so far as it unjustly affects a Man's +Children, to be alter'd; and if it robs us of the Security, which +arises from deterring the Parent, on Account of the Evils which +shall afterwards befall his Child, 'tis easy to remedy this, by +laying an _additional Punishment_ on the Traitor himself; which, as +_Self_ is much nearest to us all, might better prevent the Sin of +Rebellion, If the present Law be just in itself, there can be no +Objection to it; if it be unjust, _no Argument_ of any Weight can be +drawn from it, in regard to the _Divine Being;_ who is holy, wise, +and true, and so are all his Appointments concerning the Children of +Men. + +To bring this kind of Reasoning of theirs up to the Point, they +should have produced a Law, which subjected the Son (for the +Father's Offence) to the _same corporal_ Punishment with the Father, +and then also they must have proved such a Law to be just and good. +But, as these Gentlemen are so fond of bringing Instances from the +_Practice of Men_ in this frail State, in Justification of their own +Doctrine, I shall present them with one or two of my own. _Murder_ +has sometimes been committed under such Circumstances, that though +the Murderer has been arraigned, there hath been no room to condemn +him, all Circumstances having concurred, in the Eye of the Law, to +acquit him; _will the Almighty therefore acquit him?_ Again, on the +other hand, in the Case of Murder, things have so fallen out, as to +make an innocent Person look like the Murderer, in the Eye of the +Law or Court, which has therefore sometimes proceeded to Death +itself; _is this Man therefore guilty before God?_ I have put these +two Cases, purely to shew the Absurdity of such kind of Arguments: +and I hope they will consider better of it, and advance them no +farther. + +If there was such a Covenant between God and Adam, 'tis strange _no +Notice_ should be taken of it in the Law given to _Adam_, as laid +down in the _Bible_, and where, of all Places, we have most Reason +to expect it--this must surely have been the fittest Place for its +Insertion--Nor is it only absent here, for there is no positive +Account of any such Covenant in all the _Old Testament_. Besides, +when the Law was given, and threatening (in Case of Disobedience) +pronounced on _Adam_, 'twas _merely personal_--_In the Day_ thou +_eatest thereof_, thou _shalt surely die_. And when _Adam_ and _Eve_ +had broke the Command, and God descended to judge them for it, their +Sentences were _personal_ and _particular_, and no reproaching +_Adam_ on the Account of Evils to be thence brought on his +Posterity, and _much less_ of eternal Damnation. The _Jews_ indeed, +many of whom were weak enough to embrace any Absurdity at all, had +by some Means contracted a Notion, not altogether unlike this of +_original Sin_, probably from a Misunderstanding of the second +Commandment, which speaks of "visiting the Iniquity of the Father +upon the Children, &_c_." But 'tis highly worthy of our Notice, that +God himself was _greatly displeased_ with their having imbibed this +Notion, and commanded the Prophet _Ezekiel_ to refute it at large; +the Substance of which I cannot avoid setting down, it being so full +to my Purpose. The Prophet introduces it thus, _Ezek_, xviii. 2. +_What mean ye, that use this Proverb in Israel, The Fathers have +eaten sour Grapes, and the Children Teeth are set on edge?_ Ver. 4. +_Behold all Souls are mine, as the Soul of the Father, so also the +Soul of the Son is mine: the Soul that sinneth, it shall die_. The +Prophet then, from _ver_. 5. to 19. puts the _two Cases_ of a +_righteous Man's_ having a _wicked Son_, and a _wicked Man's_ having +a _righteous Son_, in order to shew, that neither is the one +_better_ for his Father's Uprightness, nor the other at all _worse_ +for his Father's Wickedness; but that all is, as it should be, +placed to the Account of their own _Merits_ or _Demerits_. Ver. 20. +_The Soul that sinneth, it shall die: the Son shall not bear the +Iniquity of the Father, neither shall the Father bear the Iniquity +of the Son; the Righteousness of the Righteous shall be upon him, +and the Wickedness of the Wicked shall be upon him_. Ver. 23. _Have +I any Pleasure at all that the Wicked should die? saith the Lord +God: and not that he should return from his Ways and live?_ Ver. 25. +_Yet ye say, the Way of the Lord is unequal. Hear now, O House of +Israel, Is not my Way equal? are not your Ways unequal?_ Ver. 32. +_For I have no Pleasure in the Death of him that dieth, saith the +Lord God: wherefore turn your selves and live ye_. + +Words more positive against this Doctrine cannot be laid together. +_Justice_ and _Equity_ are here, by the Almighty himself, consider'd +as the _very same_, both in God and Man; and the same Justice and +Equity, which _He commands_ us to make the Rule of _our Actions_, +'tis evident _He here_ makes the Rule of his _own_. He blames them +for their false Principles, their Ignorance and Bigotry, and is not +a little offended, because they thought him capable of acing in so +evil and unrighteous a Manner, as that would be, of _punishing the +Child for the Parent's Offence;_ and strongly and solemnly assures +them, he will do no such Thing. And as Justice and Equity would not +bear it then, it is plain that, God could never take any such cruel +and disreputable Measures, either in the Beginning, or at any time +afterwards; because, to act thus at the Creation of Man, and disdain +the Imputation with Indignation afterwards, argues a strange +Inconsistency in the Conduct of God towards Men; but the Truth is, +the same Reasons which made him abhor the Imputation afterwards, +could not but infallibly prevent his making any such unrighteous +Covenant in the Beginning. What would you think of a Man, who is a +Villain to-day, and boasts much of his great Honesty tomorrow? The +_Appearance_ of _Christ_ in the Flesh was, we are told by these +Gentlemen, on Account of _Adam's_ Transgression, without which it +would have been, they say, wholly superfluous. But the Expediency or +End of _Christ's_ coming, may be resolved into the _Love of_ God, on +the _one hand;_ pitying the Ignorance and Folly of Mankind, on the +_other:_ and whether this State was the Effect of _Adam's_ Sin, or +of their _own_ personal Demerits, it makes _no Difference_ in this +Case. Whoever looks carefully into the Evangelists, will find +abundant Reason to disapprove and condemn this Doctrine of _Original +Sin_, and of _Christ's_ coming into the World on _that Account +only_. Our Saviour, had this been the Case, would either have +plainly express'd, or have given some strong Intimations concerning +it: Yet no such thing appears; but the contrary, to a _Demonstration_, +from no less than two Passages of Scripture, recorded by St. _Mark_, +(ix. 36.) When the Disciples had been privately contending for +Preheminence above each other, our Saviour, to rebuke this aspiring +Spirit, sets before them, as a Pattern of Simplicity and Innocence, a +little Child; which must have been very absurd, according to the Notion +of _Original Sin:_ The second is _Mark_ x. _ver_. 13. 14. 15. 16. +where _Christ_ assures his Disciples, that, in order to enter into the +Kingdom of Heaven, they _must become as little Children_. And in St. +_Matthew_ (xviii. _ver_. 3.) this very thing is, if possible, more +_Strongly_ and _Emphatically_ express'd. Which Declarations, had there +been such a Thing as the Guilt of Original Sin, _subjecting Children +to_ God's _Wrath and Displeasure_, would have been ungrounded, and +erroneous in a high Degree; for if they were to become like such a little +Child, as a necessary and fit Condition for Heaven, the Condition of +Infants _must also_ be suitable to that Blessed Place--_Suffer +little Children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is +the Kingdom of Heaven_. The Word Such, is a general Term, equally +applicable to all Infants whatever: it shews their Innocence, and +how acceptable they are to the Almighty; and, consequently, +demonstrates the Doctrine of _Original Sin_ to be Spurious and +Erroneous: as is also the Practice of _Infant Baptism_, in Support +of which, this very Text is wisely alledged; whereas the Text itself +assures us, that Children are _already_, by Nature, in that _same +State_ of Innocence, which _Baptism_ is design'd to procure them: +and how vain the Ceremony, under such a Circumstance, must be, is +_too evident_ to need Explaining. + +But suppose there was such a Covenant, our Condition, in point of +Innocence, is just the same as it would be without it; we could have +no manner of Concern with _Adam's_ Transgression: and our Innocence +in either Case being _exactly_ the same, God cannot but look upon us +(in our natural State, before we commit Sin) as Creatures that never +did any thing to offend him, and consequently be gracious and kind +to us; for to leave us in this State, to suffer everlasting Torment, +is worse than a Breach of Promise made to the Elect; and if we are +as innocent, as tho' no such Covenant had ever been made, God cannot +but regard us accordingly: and this proves that such a Covenant +could never be made, because to no good or valuable End. + +I am fearful of swelling this Pamphlet, beyond its intended Bounds; +yet so fast do my Thoughts, on this Subject, multiply and enlarge +themselves, that I must beg Leave to Say a small Matter, concerning +that _Propensity to Evil_, which we are told is derived from _Adam_, +as a Fruit and Proof of his first and original Offence. If _Adam_'s +Sin had this Influence on his Posterity; as the Act, which produced +it, was _one_ and the _same;_ and all his Posterity standing in the +same Relation to him, as their Federal Head; 'tis evident, in this +View of the Matter, that _this_ Bias to Evil, must in _all_ be +_uniform_ and _alike:_ but the contrary seems demonstrable, from +undoubted and incontestable Experience; some Children having _much +stronger Propensities to Evil_, than others: And if Part of this can +be resolved into something besides the _Influence_ of _Adam's first +Transgression_, and _subsequent_ to the _Fall;_ it lies (I think) on +our Adversaries to shew clearly, why every Propensity to Sin, may +not likewise be resolved into something besides, and _subsequent_ +to, this _original Transgression_. But allowing we are born into the +World, with this _Propensity to Evil_, and that we derive it from +_Adam's_ Sin; yet if God be _merciful_, he could never leave us in +this deplorable Condition; nor would his _Impartiality_ admit of +_redeeming_ the one Part of Mankind in a mere arbitrary Manner, and +_leaving_ the other _to perish_. Nor can much Righteousness be +expected from the _Justice_ of that Being, whose Mercy can be an +idle and unconcerned Spectator, in so very moving, piteous, and +Miserable a Circumstance. As to _Adam's_ Posterity, where is the +Difference to them, whether their present weak and despoiled +Condition (as these Men deem it) be the immediate Work of _Creation_ +itself, or the _Effect_ of _Adam's Sin_, and Abuse of his +intellectual Powers. We are what we are by _Necessity_, strict +_Necessity:_ and though it may be called _moral Necessity_, in order +to palliate and distinguish it from that which is natural; it +operates on us, to all Intents and Purposes, equally the same; and +the giving it a milder Name, looks like a sophistical Artifice. If +Man's Nature be impaired by the Act of another, God, as a _just_ and +_good_ Being, will either abate of the Rigour of his original Law, +or replenish and restore our decayed Powers. + +The _same Goodness_ (if these Gentlemen will allow it was +_Goodness_) which prompted the Almighty to make Man such an +excellent and blessed Creature in the Beginning, must also prevail +with him, to look even on _Adam_ himself with an Eye of Pity and +Compassion, after he had sinned; and much more must he be inclined +to provide for the _Restoration_ of his Off-spring, who themselves +had not _actually_ sinned, but yet had their Natures impaired by the +_Fall_. Besides, if Man was first enslaved by the Devil, not of +_Force_, but by _Fraud_ and _Temptation;_ and Jesus Christ be a kind +of _Chieftain_, set up against Antichrist; his Method of _Recovery_ +must be as extensive as the _Fall_--Why does he save some? but as +they are Objects of Mercy, and to recover, with a just Indignation, +Souls, originally God's own, out of the Hand of an Usurper, Tyrant, +and Destroyer. How can these Reasons operate as to a Part, and have +no Influence as to the Remainder? The more I reflect upon the +Doctrine, and view it in every light, the more terrifying and +deformed it appears: and there is no Argument, short of God's +_Sovereignty_, that will relieve the Difficulty; which admitted, +will bring on and multiply ten thousand greater Evils. + +It may here be proper to take notice of a new Argument, urged in its +full Strength, and with all the Advantage of Rhetorick and +Eloquence, by the most ingenious Dr. _I--c W--s_, in a Book +intituled, _The Ruin and Recovery of Mankind;_ &_c_. We are there +told, that this _covenant_ seems to have been, evidently, calculated +for the best; because _Adam_, in that State of Understanding and +Innocence, was more likely to stand, and maintain his Innocence, +than any of his Posterity, especially when he consider'd himself as +acting for _all_ his Posterity; with which the Doctor supposes him +to have been fully and strongly apprised; as indeed he ought, had +the Case been as the Doctor believes. This Argument I take him to +have mistaken both ways, _viz_. by extolling _Adam's_ Condition, on +the one hand, beyond what in reality it ever was, and setting that +of his Posterity much lower than it really is: and these Errors are +productive of many others. _Adam_ is supposed to have been without +any Pain, or Uneasiness, and that he would so have remained, during +his Innocence: But after Christ has removed the Curse, and taken +away the Sin of his own _Chosen_ Children, bodily Pains and outward +Afflictions are sometimes their Lot, why might not Man, in his +original State of Innocence, be subject, in some Degree, to Pain and +Disease? if _Creation_ were inconsistent with such a mixt +Dispensation of Good and Evil, why not _Redemption?_ If God, for the +Exercise of Man's Fidelity, placed him where he was exposed to the +Evil and Danger of Temptation; why not suffer his Patience to be +exercised, at some Seasons, by Pain and Inquietude? To return to +this _Covenant_, could it be proved to have been as the Doctor +imagines, I see not what could be gained by it: because it would be +trifling to a considerable Degree. And all the Arguments, used by +_Milton_, in his third Book of _Paradise Lost_, to shew the +Absurdity of that Doctrine, which considers _Adam_ as _acting_, or +rather as _being acted, by Necessity_, in that Situation of +Paradise, would be equally applicable to all the Elect, under the +absolute Slavery of the _Fall_. + +Where is the Use of _Reason_, or _Moral Agency_, in Man, if another +be substituted to act in his Stead, and not he himself? Man, being +made a _free_ and _moral_ Agent, has Power to act for himself, and +can be accountable for no body's Crimes but his own. The +_Consciousness_ of being a Sinner, belongs only to him, that +_actually_ sinneth, or omitteth his Duty. Enthusiasm indeed, which, +in its highest Stages, is a kind of spiritual Madness, may have on +some Minds a quite different Effect; and the Poor Soul, that is +subject to this gloomy and tyrannical Principle, may conceit strange +things; it may at one Time imagine itself under the Guilt of +_Adam's_ Sin, which it never committed; and fancy itself a Saint in +Jesus Christ (and what not) at another: it is a mad Principle, +fruitful of false Doctrines, Chimeras, and Monsters. It matters not +whether (as in the Case of _Natural Madness_) the Reason be lost, or +whether (as in that of _Enthusiasm_) it be over-power'd, and brought +into subjection to False Principles. The Effect is the same; and +between Powers that are suffered to lie dormant, and no Powers at +all, there is here no material Distinction to be made. Again, this +Notion of _Adam's_ being more likely to stand than his Posterity, is +a mere Fallacy: it supposes a Difference of State, and Rectitude of +Mind, between him and us; which, if true, will likewise suppose, +that our State being more weak and defenceless than his, the Task or +Duty, assigned us, must be proportionate to our different and +inferior Abilities. If _Adam_ was put into this State, as _The Ruin +and Recovery_ seems to suppose, from a Motive of Love in God, to his +Creatures, in order to prevent the Misery of the Human Race; the +same Love cannot fail to commiserate the Case, and to provide an +effectual Remedy for all such as are included in the Covenant. +_Adam's_ Motive to Obedience must (we are told) have been greatly +strengthened by this Consideration, That on _Him_ depended the +Happiness, not of _himself_ only, but of _all his Posterity_. But, I +believe, Experience will tell us, that if the Consideration of a +Man's own Future State, placed in the strongest Light (as this Book +supposes before _Adam_) be not sufficient to move to Obedience, a +Regard to others will seldom have any considerable Influence: Such a +Covenant enter'd into, or rather arbitrarily imposed on _Adam_ by +his Maker, could not fail to awaken, in so holy and knowing a +Creature, some very uneasy and disquieting Suspicions. This +Covenant, and _Partial Election_ thence following after the _Fall_, +will, if rightly considered, appear very iniquitous and oppressive: +because it makes no proper Difference between the _Righteous_ and +the _Wicked_. If _Adam_ had been considered as a private Person +only; and _all his Posterity_ left to stand or fall, by their own +Merits or Demerits; some of those, whom this Doctrine adjudges to +everlasting Condemnation, would doubtless have been so _wise_ and +_happy_, as to have pleased God in their Generation; while others, +on the contrary, would have sinned, and transgressed his Laws. The +State of the latter is, you see, the same as it would have been, +upon the vulgar Notion of _Adam's Sin;_ or rather the Guilt of it +being, in virtue of this Covenant, imputed to them: The other and +better Part, in virtue of this Doctrine, are miserable, and must +therefore have abundant and bitter Cause of Complaint against the +Doctrine itself. I therefore think it was impossible, such a +Covenant should ever be proposed to _Adam;_ a Covenant which, if +ratified, tended only to make those wretched and miserable, who +without it, had they been left to shift for themselves, would have +used their Liberty and Rational Powers aright, and have pleased and +obtained God's Favour thereby. To talk of its being of general +Service, can never be of sufficient Authority to silence this +Argument. No _private Injuries_ can be excused to _innocent +Sufferers_ (and much less that of _eternal Torment_) on the Score of +general Good; what is it to them, whether _they only_, or _all +Mankind_ suffer. If _Adam_ had stood, these very Men, (who would, +had they been left to their Liberty, have proved obedient) would +have been in no wise bettered; as he failed, Misery came on those, +who would otherwise have been happy. As to those who would, in the +Course of their Liberty, have sinned; this Covenant, had _Adam_ +stood, would ('tis true) have saved them from the Sentence of +_Condemnation_. Take it again the other way: _Adam's Fall_ could +make no Alteration in the State of those who, without it, would have +been Sinners; such as would have proved virtuous and happy, are +hereby made miserable. These are, or must have been the Consequences +of such a Covenant strictly observed; and the Wisdom and Equity of +all Covenants must be judged of, by comparing the good and evil +Consequences, necessarily resulting from them. All the Good such a +Covenant could possibly pretend to, had it been kept, was, the +saving from Wrath such as, without it, would, as free Beings, have +sinned; and if, for their Sakes, and to prevent the Evil that might +otherwise befall them, such a Covenant was worthy of God to make +with Man, a Day of Grace and Salvation, extended for their Recovery, +after they might have transgressed, would have been equally worthy +of God; and we need not recur to such Fictions and Chimeras. One +would think it incumbent on all Legislators, to consider well the +Consequences of every Law they enact; for the preferring a Law, +whose Consequences can at best be of no Service, and will probably +in the main Event of Things be more evil and pernicious than +otherwise, would be preferring Evil to Good; in as great Proportion +as the Evil might exceed the Good: and how such a Constitution could +be better for Mankind, I do not understand. I am sorry any body, +especially the Author of _The Ruin and Recovery_, should imbibe and +defend such erroneous Opinions, and this too, in Opposition to other +and nobler Sentiments of his own, elsewhere delivered. + +But, thus it is to be enslaved to the mere Letter of the _Bible_, +under a Notion of doing it _just Honour_, when, on the contrary, +'tis the ready way to _dishonour_ and _lessen_ its Authority. + +The Pains which Infants suffer, and the many Miseries to which they +are exposed, are, by this Gentleman, consider'd as so many Arguments +of the Guilt of _Original Sin_. He thinks that, without such a +Supposition, the _Justice_ of God cannot be vindicated. [I wish he +would stick true to that Argument.] We must, he thinks, suppose one +of these two Things: either, _That God punishes them without all +Cause or Reason_, or, _That they are under the Curse and +Condemnation of_ Adam'_s Sin:_ and the latter is, in his Opinion, +the best Sentiment. But I am of a contrary Opinion, and think that +in either Case, the _Injustice_ is the same. He _allows_ it in the +_one Case;_ and I hope it is _proved_ in the other: and really the +Picture which this Gentleman has drawn of our young Innocents, is +very dreadful and terrifying. If all the _Evils_ that befall them in +this Life, and _Eternal Damnation_ afterwards, be no more than a +_just_ Punishment for their _Sins_, our _Saviour_ must surely have +been _greatly out_, in the Encomiums he bestows on their +_Innocence_, as I observed before; or, the Kingdom of Heaven, +instead of being design'd for _upright holy Souls_, may be a +Receptacle for the worst of human Race. + +The Brute Creation undergo Pain and Affliction; is _Adam's_ Sin, +therefore, imputed to them? If not, and they sometimes suffer by +Pain and Abuse, why may not Infants do the same? The Miseries of the +human Race, reckon'd up and aggravated thro' so many elaborate +Pages, cannot all of them be supposed to belong to the _Original +Constitution_ of Things, but might be partly owing to the Effect of +Time and Accident, as well as to the Folly and Wickedness of +particular Persons and Nations. This Objection, drawn from the +Sufferings of Brute Animals, the Doctor endeavours to answer: I +wonder _Adam_ is not considered (for the sake of putting an End to +the Difficulty) as their Federal Head. He thinks, however, that +Brutes must be some way or other included in the _Curse;_ and may be +punished, as Man's Property: But has Man, because they are his +Property, a Right to grieve and afflict them? They were bestowed as +a Blessing, for reasonable Service and Delight, not for cruel +Treatment and Abuse. The Doctor's Rule of Faith will tell him, _A +merciful Man will be merciful to his Beast_. If their being Man's +Property will not justify him in abusing or cruelly handling them; +it can be no Reason or Argument, why another should do it, even the +Almighty himself. Consider Beasts, then, as God's own Property; will +that render it a whit more equitable? No: This the Doctor himself, +in the Case of Infants, allows would be cruel, and contrary to the +Divine Justice and Goodness: and the Argument is the same as to +Brutes. But the Doctor, sensible of the Weakness of this Argument, +has recourse to another, which I believe will always be admired as a +standing Mark of _extraordinary Invention_, to get rid of difficult +and perplexing Questions. Brutes may, it seems, contrary to common +Experience, have Sensations _less Quick_ and _Painful_ than ours. I +wonder he allows them any Sensation at all; nay, 'tis doubtful if he +does allow it. Noise, or Crying out, in them, is, it seems, no Mark +of Pain, because some Brutes, under the same Circumstance, remain +quiet and still. But will the Doctor say, they have therefore no +painful Sensations? Are there no Marks of Pain besides those of +crying aloud? Did the Doctor never know a Man sometimes bear a +pretty deal of Pain without crying out at all; and give many +external Tokens of Pain, at another Time? Did he never perceive a +_gaul'd Horse_ wince, upon the most gentle Approach of the Hand; and +discover Signs of the greatest Fear, and most _exquisite Pains?_ Do +not some Brutes take as much Pains to avoid the Discipline of the +Whip, as tho' their Sensations were the same as ours? I am ashamed +to waste Time upon such a Subject; tho' I hope to be pardoned for +following so great a Man in his own Method of arguing. He perhaps +may continue of the same Mind, and there may be no Hopes of +Convincement, till Brutes are taught to speak. By this new Way of +Reasoning, the Ground we tread upon, and every Thing around us, +hitherto thought Inanimate, may be full of Cogitation. If affording +the common Marks of Sensation, be no Proof, that Brutes have it in a +common Degree, Wanting the common Marks of Intelligence, can be no +Proof that a Stock or a Stone has it not. If I mistake not, Bishop +_Berkley_ has furnished the World with something equally instructive +and philosophical, in relation to the Existence of Matter; which, he +endeavours to prove _not_ to be a _real_, but an _ideal_ and +_imaginary Being_. I shall leave others to guess, in what Condition +those must be, who think and reason after this extraordinary Manner. +But the Doctor has yet another Argument in reserve, to vindicate +God's Justice--_Tho' Brutes suffer, yet they may_ it seems _have +upon the whole more Pleasure than Pain_. But do not some Brutes +partake very deeply of the former, in this Life; will the Doctor +therefore suppose a Future State for them, by way of Compensation? +But this Argument ruins the whole Affair, and may be turned against +the Doctor himself, in the Case of Infants, who may be made ample +Amends in a future State, for the Evils sustained here, which Evils +may have other Causes besides _Original Sin;_ for here again, as in +the Case of a Propensity to Evil, Pain in Infants, if inflicted +because of _Adam's Sin_, must in _all_ be _uniform_ and _alike_. But +the Fact being quite otherwise, some of this Pain and Evil must be +resolved into _other Causes;_ and if _some_, why not _all?_ I grant +indeed, that _Adam_ himself might have so far corrupted his Nature, +as to render him more liable to Pain, than in a State of true +Innocence he might have been, and that therefore he might be +instrumental to propagate the Seeds of several Diseases, to his +Posterity: But had he never done this, his Successors might have +done it; and _every Age_ has, perhaps, by Intemperance and +Lasciviousness, been adding to the common Stock of human Diseases +and Calamities: Propensities to Vice might also be propagated in the +same Way, and that, and nothing besides, can (I think) account so +well for their great and infinite Variety. The Doctor, with the rest +of his Brethren, are perpetually urging those common-place +Arguments, drawn from the Practice of Men; which in the general I +have answer'd already: and, had I proper Leisure, it would be no +difficult Matter to give a clear and distinct Answer to every one of +them: And these very Gentlemen would, on other Occasions, had they +no favourite Point to carry, reject such Reasoning with all the +Contempt, and Indignation, it deserves. It is with some Reluctance, +I find myself obliged to disapprove the Sentiments of such wise and +worthy Grey Hairs, to whom the World hath been long and deeply +indebted for his many excellent Services, both from the Pen and the +Pulpit. I have read over Mr. _J--s_'s Book, in Answer to Taylor's +_Free and Candid Examination;_ and tho' I have no personal Knowledge +of that ingenious Gentleman, yet I hope he will permit me to say, +'Tis pity, great pity, that fine Talents (pardon the Expression) +should be prostituted in the Defence of such an unholy and +incongruous System of Religion. Superior Degrees of Learning and +Knowledge are, in themselves, most excellent Things, and eminently +serviceable, when rightly applied to the Honour and Defence of +Truth: But, like a two edged Sword, they cut both ways, and are also +too frequently employed in the Propagation of Error. + +While I am thus rendering _human Learning_, its just Tribute of +Praise, _Truth_ requires, that I should be free to detect those +little Arts, so often practised to deceive the Unwary, and misguide +Mankind. As I am fully persuaded, the Generality of those Writers; +who stick by this _Covenant_, and endeavour to vindicate the Honour, +Justice, and Goodness of God therein, do it _only_ for Decency sake, +_and to put_ (as I observed) _a more plausible Outside on their +Doctrines;_ I think it incumbent on me to _detect_ this _equivocal_ +Way of Writing, and shew, that while the Doctor is endeavouring to +persuade you he _does not_ believe these Doctrines in their most +_harsh_ and _severe_ Sense, there is Reason to suspect he does +notwithstanding, _secretly_ and _strongly_, believe them in that +_very Sense:_ nay, he seems to resolve _them_ very artfully into the +_Sovereignty_ and _Majesty of God_. Any Man, who reads the Book, may +perceive, how greatly the Doctor is _put to it_ for _Arguments_, to +answer _Objections;_ and he himself knows it to be impossible to +make any tolerable or reasonable Defence, of such unreasonable and +unaccountable Doctrines: and therefore, lest his _own People_ +should, from some Expressions, which, at first sight, might look as +though he was arguing merely upon a Principle of _moral Fitness_, +suspect his Sincerity, he has (Second Edition, _Page_ 274) given +strong Intimations of his Faith, as follows: + +"The Doctrine of _Reprobation_, in the most _severe_ and _absolute_ +Sense of it, stands in such a direct Contradiction to all our +Notions of Kindness and Love to others, in which the _blessed God_ +is set forth as our Example, that our Reason cannot tell how to +receive it; yet if it were never so true, and never so plainly +revealed in Scripture, it would only be a Doctrine which would +require our humble Assent, and silent Submission to it; with awful +Reverence of the Majesty and Sovereignty of the great God, &_c_." + +This proves, I think clearly, on what Authority the Doctor himself +believes these _Doctrines;_ and whoever knows, how _common_ it is +for Men of _this_ Faith, to make a specious Shew of reasoning with +others on a Principle of moral Fitness, and among themselves, +without Scruple, resolving all into mere _Sovereignty_, will not +think I have been too forward or severe in my Observation. I +_humbly_ presume, what I have offer'd against this Notion of _God's +Sovereignty_, is a plain Confutation of the Doctor; and I here, with +all due Submission, invite _him_, or any of his _Brethren_, to +defend _the Doctrines;_ and _this Quotation_, against me. If they +_do really_ resolve these Doctrines into _God's Sovereignty_, let +them speak it out plainly; if they _do not_ believe them in this +Sense, let them speak that out plainly too; that we may clearly +understand, in what _determinate Sense_, they do believe them. + +The Doctor has taken a great deal of Pains to make the World +believe, that Christ died for all Men, when it does not appear, that +he himself believes any such thing. Hear him, _Page_ 89, "And +methinks, when I take my justest Survey of this lower World, with +all the Inhabitants of it, I can look upon it no otherwise, than as +a huge and magnificent Structure in Ruins, and turned into a Prison, +and a Lazar-house, or Hospital; wherein lie Millions of Criminals, +and Rebels against their Creator, under Condemnation to Misery and +Death, who are at the same time sick of a mortal Distemper, and +disorder'd in their Minds, even to Distraction: Hence proceed those +infinite Follies, which are continually practised here; and the +righteous Anger of an offended God is visible in ten thousand +Instances: yet there are Proclamations of Divine Grace, Health, and +Life, sounding amongst them; either with a louder Voice, or in +gentler Whispers, though very few of them take any Notice thereof. +But of this great Prison, this Infirmary, there is here and there +one who is called powerfully, by Divine Grace, and attends to the +Office of Reconciliation, and complies with the Proposals of Peace; +his Sins are pardoned, he is healed of his worst Distemper; and +tho', his Body is appointed to go down to the Dust, for a Season, +yet his Soul is taken upwards to a Region of Blessedness; while the +Bulk of these miserable and guilty Inhabitants, perish in their own +wilful Madness and by the just Executions of Divine Anger." + +As I have hitherto troubled the Reader with little Quotation, and it +being now so necessary to let us into the _true Spirit_ of the +Doctor's Belief, notwithstanding any seeming Appearance to the +contrary, I hope to be pardoned. You perceive here, that all are +called, but the _greatest Part_, in such a weak and imperfect +Manner, that is out of _their Power_ to embrace the Call, and so +they perish as _unavoidably_ and _unjustly_, as though no such Call +were extended. The Distinction, which is here made between moral and +natural Necessity, the Doctor thinks sufficient to silence all +Objections, _Page_ 285. I have endeavour'd to shew the contrary, and +I hope with better Success. Again, what the Doctor observes, _Page_ +245, is worthy of Notice,--"Though there must be a _very good +Sense_, in which _Christ_ may be said to die for all Men, because +the Scripture uses this Language; yet it does not follow, that the +Doctrine of Universal Redemption is found there: I cannot find that +Scripture once asserts that _Christ_ redeemed all Men, or _died_ to +redeem them all." + +This is, I think, manifestly a _Contradiction_, and the Doctor, it +seems, believes it, only because the Scripture, as he thinks, +reveals it. Where is the Difference between _dying to save all Men_, +and, _dying to redeem all Men?_ And yet _Jesus Christ_, it seems, +did the one, but not the other. According to him (the Doctor) the +Scripture assures us, that is, the Word of God assures us, both that +_Christ did_, and that he _did not_ die to redeem all Mankind; which +is a flat Contradiction. In what good Sense, I should be glad to +know, could _Christ_ be said to _die_ for _all Men_, when God +purposely, and peremptorily, _with-holds_ proper Assistances to +restore the _greatest Part?_ If this be to die for _all Men_, it is +certainly not in a good, but in a very bad Sense. But, perhaps, the +_Doctor_ means, _that Man, consider'd in his primitive Rectitude, +has Power sufficient to obey the Gospel as proposed to Sinners, and +that_ Adam's _Posterity, consider'd as fallen in him, are under the +same Obligation to keep the Law, as_ Adam _was_. But of this I have +already taken due Notice, and therefore I need only put the Doctor +in mind of a few Words of his, drop'd _Page_ 340, in his +_Consideration of the State of dying Infants_. He thinks, "it would +be by no Means agreeable, to have them condemned to a wretched +Resurrection and eternal Misery, only because they were born of +_Adam_, the original Transgressor." This is a rational Sentiment, +and I wish it were well improved; for it is better to suppose them +entering on a new State of Trial, or downright Annihilation to be +their Portion: But what Havock does this Concession make with the +Doctor's other Doctrines, of _Christ's dying for all Men in a good +Sense, of considering us in point of Obligation to keep the Law +inviolable, the same as Adam was before his Fall;_ of God's either +granting _no Aids_ to enable us to _do this_, or such _as are too +weak and insufficient to enable us thereto!_ We are, he allows, +_under a moral Incapacity to keep the Law_, but not a _natural_ +Incapacity, and therefore God may justly exact our Obedience. But +pray consider, if both a _moral_ and _natural_ Ability be requisite +to keep God's Laws, what signifies which of these is wanting, when +we may as well be without _both_, as without _either_. It signifies +little, what Epithets we bestow on the Word _Necessity_. Wherever it +prevails; and whether it be _moral_ or _natural_, if it is not +_self-caused_, but comes on Man, either by the immediate Decree of +Heaven, or by the _Act of another_, it is _Necessity_, _irresistible +Necessity_, and no Distinction can palliate it. + +I allow indeed, when Man is created upright, and furnished with +sufficient Understanding and Ability to please the Almighty; and +yet, _abusing_ his Liberty, becomes at length so enslaved to his +Passions and Appetites, as to fall into this _moral Debility_, the +Law of God is still his Duty to observe: On the other hand, allowing +Mankind to have lost their _moral Ability_ to practise Virtue in the +Fall of _Adam_, and that God, taking Pity upon Man, grants him +sufficient _Light_, to discern his State, and sufficient _Power_, to +obtain Redemption from it, this Man is also under the _same +Obligation_ to keep the Law of God, as though his moral Powers had +never sustained any _Decay_ or _Loss_ in _Adam;_ and I dare affirm, +that in _no_ other Sense, can Man be accountable for the Pravity of +his Will. And let the Doctor observe this,--If it would be +unsuitable to the Mercy of God, in the Case of Infants not +committing actual Sin, to punish them eternally, _only because they +were born of this first Transgressor_, would it not be equally +unkind, to leave such as arrive at mature Age, under the Power of +those _restless_ and _irresistable_ Propensities to Evil, derived +from _Adam_, and to punish _them_ eternally, only because these +Propensities, derived in virtue of being born of the first +Transgressor, constantly, and _in spite_ of any thing we are able, +considered in a moral and natural Sense, to do to the contrary, +produce _Vice_ and _immorality?_ _All_ evil Actions, consequent upon +this Propensity, are, in fact, as necessary and unavoidable to us, +as the Propensity itself, _Where_ then, in point of Innocence, can +the Difference be, _between_ having imputed Guilt and this +Propensity, in Time of Infancy, and living long enough in this +World, to feel, and shew to others, its arbitrary Effects, in +producing Vice and Impiety whether we will or no? and where then is +the Reason, for such very different Treatment of Infants and adult +Persons? I must observe one Thing--The Doctor and his Brethren, as +they make the Work of Salvation, a very easy and agreeable Thing to +the Elect, on the one hand; so they assign the poor Sinner a very +_hard Task_, on the other: _He that offends in one Point is_, they +say, _guilty of breaking the whole Law_. Here is a _plain Instance_ +of taking _Scripture_ in a literal Sense, when it can by no Means be +so understood. According to this, a Man, that only _steals_, may be +said to commit Murder, and be _punished_ as a Murderer as well as a +Thief; though we know he has not committed it. + +In the main, we may conscientiously observe and keep God's Laws, and +yet in Time of _Temptation_ and _Weakness_ fall into some Evil, +will, God therefore _consider_ and _punish_ us as those who live in +the daily Breach and Contempt of all his Laws? No! For, on the +contrary, God ever waits to be gracious to all such, as through +Inadvertence fall into Sin, and are willing to forsake it. The View +and Intent of our Apostle, in these Words, seems to be of very +_easy_ and _plain_ Signification: There was in those early Times, as +appears from our Saviour's frequently reproving the Hypocrisy of +that Generation, a Sort of People, who appeared zealous in the +Externals of Religion, while at the same Time they neglected Things +of far _greater Moment:_ _Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees, ye pay +Tithe of Mint and Cummin; and have omitted the weightier Matters of +the Law:_ Mat. xxiii. _ver_. 23. They daringly violated God's Laws +in some of the most material and important Instances, and complied +with others in a mere formal ostentatious Way; and were therefore +guilty, in the Divine View, of the Breach of the _whole Law;_ for +_mere Obedience_ upon improper Motives to a _Part_ of the Law, while +at the same Time they allow'd themselves in the _known_ and +_deliberate_ Violation of _more weighty_ Commands, was no true or +proper Obedience at all: and, in this Sense, the _Jewish_ Sacrifices +of the Law, though commanded by the highest Authority, were always +esteemed an Abomination; and the Christian Religion as well as the +Law, is certainly liable to Abuses of the same Kind, from Men of +hypocritical and corrupt Minds, whom therefore this Doctrine of the +Apostle _effectually_ and _peculiarly_ regards and reproves: and I +appeal to all, if this Construction of the Sacred Text be not more +agreeable to Reason and Common Sense, than that which the Doctor has +thought fit and convenient to bestow thereon. I beseech the Doctor +to consider how, according to his Principles, this Covenant could be +proposed to _Adam_, out of a kind and beneficent intention in the +Creator, when God knew, in the first Place, that _Adam_ would not +keep it, and determined, in the second Place, upon the Breach of it, +to leave the Bulk of Mankind to perish everlastingly, without Mercy, +without sufficient or suitable Means of Redemption; and what a +_cruel Joke_, upon the _Calvinistical Scheme_, of God's willing the +_Fall_, was here put upon _Adam_, and all his Posterity! + +To talk as some do, of our existing in _Adam_ at the Time of his +Transgression, is very absurd, when, as _intelligent_ and _free +Creatures_, it is evident, we did not exist at all. _Sin is a +Transgression of some Law, which we have at the same time Power to +keep_. God never requires Impossibilities. He that made Man, knows +best what he is capable of and hath undoubtedly taken care to +proportion the _Duties_ he requires of Man, to the _Powers_ he hath +bestowed on him. The contrary would be very hard dealing indeed--If +a Law be dispensed to me, I must in the first Place have +Understanding sufficient to judge of its Authority, and the +Obligations it lays me under; and, in the second Place, I must also +have Power to keep it, otherwise it can never be a Law suitable to +me; and a Man's _Age_, _Complexion_, _Stature_, and _Circumstances_, +are as just Causes for Damnation, as the Breach of a Law which lies +beyond the Reach of his Knowledge and Abilities. But supposing, in +the last Place, that God did make such a Covenant with _Adam_, &_c_. +(though I think I have shewn it to be impossible) let us see how the +Doctrines of _Election_ and _Preterition_ will turn out _then_. I +have already endeavoured to make it appear, that God does not act in +that arbitrary Manner, which these Gentlemen teach; that though he +is indeed governed by no Law without, or accountable to any for what +he is pleased to do, yet his own Rectitude of Mind, is to him an +invariable Rule of Righteousness, equally secure to all Intents and +Purposes of a written Law without: and this argues the adorable and +incomparable Excellency of his Being who, though by Nature he is +infinitely above all Power and Authority whatever, yet his moral +Perfections continually prompt him to promote the Happiness of the +meanest of his Creatures. It was _sovereign Goodness_ (rather than +_sovereign Pleasure_) which prompted the Almighty to create Man, in +order to communicate Happiness to him; and if _Adam's_ Posterity +might be said to fall in him, yet God must at least look on them in +a more favourable Manner, than if they had actually sinned +themselves; and consequently it could never suit with his Goodness +to punish eternally _any one_ under this Circumstance, without +_first giving_ him an Opportunity of recovering from his lapsed +State; nor could he ordain the Means on Purpose to _save some_ by +_electing Grace_, without _saving all_. God does nothing without +sufficient Reason: he could save none under this Circumstance, but +as they were _in themselves_ Objects of his Pity and Mercy; and if +ever there was an Object of Mercy, here it is, an immortal Soul +condemned, for the Fault of _another_, which it could by no Means +hinder or prevent, to suffer eternal Torment. There is something +greatly moving in such an Object as this; and as _all Adam's_ +Posterity were equally involved in his Guilt, all are Objects of +Mercy _precisely the same_, and therefore there is not the least +Ground for the Difference which we are told is made by Election; +because 'tis making a _Distinction_ where there is _no Difference_. +Here is the Race of _Adam_, considered as _equally_ fallen in him, +divided into two very unequal Parts (equally in themselves, and +altogether Objects of Mercy, if such an Object can be) by the +Almighty himself. The smaller Number he is at all Events determined +to save, and to destroy the greater Number. + +In answer to this, I expect to hear that common, but _weak_ +Argument, drawn from an _earthly Prince_, his extending Pardon to +_one_ Criminal, and leaving _another_ to undergo the Execution of +his Sentence. But this is of the same _fallacious Kind_, as that +drawn from the Case of _Rebellion_, and shews how _very hard_ the +Patrons of this Doctrine are put to it for Arguments. Two Men, +condemned for one Crime, may not be equally wicked, and consequently +_one_ may better deserve Pity than the _other_, and to extend it, is +in itself a rational and worthy Distinction, made between two _such +Criminals_. Let us suppose, in order to illustrate the Argument, +that a Man is _compelled_, by Thieves, to go out on the Highway, +where he plunders, and is at length, with the rest, brought to +Justice; his Sentence would doubtless be the _same_ as theirs: But +when he is consider'd, as having acted not by Choice, but _by +Necessity_, he must needs be an Object of Pity. Nay, mere Justice +itself will plead strongly in his Favour. Apply this (so far as it +belongs) to the Doctrine of _Original Sin;_ which if it makes Men +Sinners _at all_, it must be _by Necessity_, there being no +_Possibility_ for us to prevent it; which is equal to the greatest +Constraint that can be produced or imagined, and consequently _all +Men_ must, under this Consideration, be _at worst_ suitable Objects +of Mercy. Besides, the Weakness of this Argument will plainly +appear, upon considering, with respect to _earthly Princes_, that +where the Equity of making a _due Distinction_ between one +_Criminal_ and another, is not the Reason, why _one is pardoned_, +and the other _left to suffer;_ it _always_ arises either from +_Caprice_, _Interest_, _Solicitation_, or from _Misrepresentation_ +of Facts to Monarchs; who, too often, _see_ and _hear_ through +_others_, that are not always duly conscientious, to preserve +inviolable the Trust reposed in them; and whether such Reasoning as +this, can possibly affect the _Almighty_, any Man of common +Understanding may easily judge. + +But let them apply my Argument on the _Sovereignty of_ God against +the _Certainty_ of their Election, and I believe they will find but +little Reason to boast of their Doctrine of electing Grace. They +tell us indeed, that this Doctrine of theirs, makes the Death of +_Christ_ of more Effect than ours, because it secures the Salvation +of _some_. But I have proved there can be no Security in it; and +surely that Doctrine, which _puts all_ into a Capacity of Salvation, +must be better, than that, which leaves _almost every Man_ to +perish; and if it was better to save a few, than to save none in +this arbitrary Manner, it must still have been better and more to +the Glory of _Christ_, arbitrarily to have saved all Mankind. They +say also, that their Doctrine of Election is a much better Ground +for Love and good Works, than is that of _free Grace_. But the +contrary is apparent, because whoever thinks rightly, cannot be +without this disquieting Thought.--If God, in a mere arbitrary +Manner, and without any Regard to previous Fitness, has chosen me, +and rejected another; how do I know but his Mind may change +hereafter, or that he may not reverse this Decree? or if +_unconditional Election_ be the true Doctrine of the Gospel, and Man +is _equally dear_ and acceptable to God _without_, as he is _with_, +good Works, what Inducement can such a Person have to please God +that Way, when he is already as well pleased without them? If +Election is founded upon an _unconditional Decree_, the natural +Inference (in all such as believe the Doctrine, and themselves to be +of the Elect) must be this--If I am of the Number of the Elect, +nothing can frustrate my Happiness; I may gratify my favourite +Passions, and wallow in all Kinds of Wickedness, Luxury and +Sensuality, and be equally acceptable to the Almighty, as was +_David_ in the Sins of Murder and Adultery: On the contrary, if I am +not of that Number which shall be saved, all my Pains and Obedience +will never procure me Acceptance with God, and therefore I _will +seek_ all possible Gratifications in this Life, seeing it is the +only Time and Place wherein I can obtain any Thing like Happiness; +nor can the Liberty I take here increase my Misery hereafter, the +_precise Degree_ of _that_ being fixed along with the Decree of my +Damnation: Though this Persuasion of being set apart for everlasting +Torment, has more often the Effects of Desperation and _Self-Murder;_ +and indeed the two Extremes of _Presumption_ and _Despair_, +are the natural Brood and Offspring of these Doctrines, as the +reverend and learned Dr. _Trapp_ has abundantly evinced, in his +excellent Discourse, _against the Folly, Sin, and Danger of being +righteous over much_. Hypocrisy and Persecution are also the genuine +Offspring of this Faith; and _whenever_ it has been tried, +Persecution has grown up to a considerable Maturity: for as they +pretend to know the Marks of elect and reprobate Men, what can be +more natural, than for those, who apprehend themselves to be the +_former_, to persecute and take Vengeance on the _latter_. Hath not +God, by his own Decree of Damnation, set them an Example? and if he +has set a Mark on the Reprobate, they (the Elect) may very +reasonably, in Imitation of the _Divine Conduct_, endeavour to make +them as wretched as possible here in this Life, and _who shall lay +any Thing to the Charge of God's Elect?_ I am now shewing, what are +the genuine Effects of this Doctrine, not charging Consequences on +such as neither do _see_ nor _approve_ of them: there is great +Difference in the Conduct of Men of this Principle; and its natural +Effects are, by other Things intervening, often prevented, the chief +of which may, I believe, be Want of Power and Opportunity; for tho' +many, when out of Power, might be apt to say (as _Hazael_ did) _what +is thy Servant a Dog, that he should do this Evil?_ yet they would +perhaps be in some Danger of behaving as that great Man did, when he +came to be tried. Some again, who tho' they profess the Doctrine, +are yet (I doubt not) often under the Influence of God's _Grace_, +which, as it tends to humble the Soul, and render it more loving and +humane than before, naturally prevents the Spirit of Persecution +from taking such deep Root as otherwise it might. And here, though I +do not pretend to be a _nice Judge_ of the spiritual Part of +Religion, yet I have heard such as have been accounted Men of the +best Experience say, that when the Grace of God operates on the +Soul, the ardent Love of Mankind is _inseparable therewith_. If then +the better Sort of those, who profess this Doctrine, are ever +sensible of this _most agreeable_ and humbling Operation in the +Soul, I ask them, if it does not _naturally distend_ and enlarge +their Wishes, in Behalf of all Mankind? and if this Spirit of Love +be the genuine Effect of the Operation of God's Grace, what shall be +said of that ineffable and immense Fountain of Grace and Goodness, +from whence it proceeds? But, on the other hand, it has been +observed, that among mere _enthusiastick and traditional Believers_, +of the Doctrine of Election, their Hypocrisy, Deceit and +Dissimulation has overtop'd that of all the World besides, even +beyond what human Nature could be thought capable of, in its most +wicked and corrupt State; in short, they seem to have made the +Deceit of _Jacob_, and all other parallel Places of Scripture, that +furnish the worst Part of the Lives of good Men, a _standing Rule_ +of Behaviour--What a blessed Company has the Lord set apart for +himself! + +The _Foreknowledge_ of God is supposed, by some, to belong to the +Argument of _Predestination;_ but I think it wholly beside my +present Purpose, to enter circumstantially into it, for _this +Reason_--If, Whatever God _foreknows_, he must also of Necessity +_foreordain;_ it is manifestly using _Foreknowledge_ and +_Ordination_ to signify just the _same Thing_, and, _in this Light_, +every Argument against _Fore-ordination_, must be equally strong +against _Foreknowledge_, so far as it affects the Doctrines under +Consideration; and when these Gentlemen can shew the contrary, or +are willing to enter into the Consideration of the _Divine +Foreknowledge_, either _separate from_, or _connected with_, the +Doctrine of _Fore-ordination_, I shall always be ready to receive +Information. + +This Doctrine of electing Grace, they exalt as an _incomprehensible +Mystery;_ so do the Papists, with as good Reason, that of +_Transubstantiation;_ for neither of them are Mysteries, or +incomprehensible, but _palpable Errors_, whose Absurdity we do +_easily and fully comprehend;_ nor will the stale Art of playing on +the Word _Mystery_ amuse us any longer. Another strange Argument, +which these Men make use of, in order to set aside some Passages of +Scripture, which are positive and express against them, is this, +_that if God wills the Salvation of all Men, all must be saved, +otherwise we may be said to conquer the Will and Grace of God_. To +which the Answer is very easy--Man is made a _free Creature_, and +therefore God deals with him as such; because to make him free, and +then arbitrarily _overrule_ his Freedom, would be making him free to +_no Purpose_. The Will of God is sometimes _positive_, and sometimes +_conditional_. He gives Laws, commands us to keep them, and promises +eternal Life to those who obey; nor can we suppose he commands us to +obey, without willing our Obedience. We may indeed _resist_ the +Operations of his Grace: but to talk of _conquering_ God, is +Nonsense. He has made us free Creatures; he wills our Salvation, and +has granted us such Aids as are sufficient, if we use them aright, +to bring us to Happiness: This Conduct in the Divine Being, is not +only reasonable in itself, but _perfectly agreeable_ to many _plain_ +and _express_ Parts of Scripture. The _Weeping_ and _Lamentation_ of +_Christ_ over _Jerusalem_, is a strong Proof of it: _How often would +I have gathered thee, as a Hen gathereth her Chickens under her +Wings; but thou wouldest not!_ Here was all done, that was fit and +convenient to reclaim free Beings; not only proper Aids offer'd, but +offer'd in the _most tender_ and affectionate Manner, as is evident +from the Comparison of the Hen, &_c_. and by the Words _how often_, +is set forth the _great Patience and longsuffering of God:_ And +notwithstanding all this, they resisted to their own Destruction. +God _willed_, or would have saved her, but she was stubborn and +rebellious, and would not accept of Salvation; did she therefore +_conquer_ the Almighty? Suppose my Father gives me a good Education, +a good Employment, and a competent Portion in Money, and, besides +all, is continually at hand, ready further to advise and assist me, +whenever it may be necessary; yet I am obstinate and disobedient, +and, by pursuing evil Courses, fall into Poverty, Contempt, and +Ruin: I may indeed be said to _resist_, but in no _good Sense_ to +_conquer_ my Father. Besides, according to this absurd Way of +arguing, if God does all in Believers, his Laws are to be _kept_ by +himself; with what Propriety then can they be said to be given to +Man? He to whom the Law is given is to keep it, not the Being who +gives it. + +I might here, very naturally, speak concerning the Sacrifice of +_Christ's Death_, and _his Righteousness_ imputed to us; but I shall +not now discuss it fully, only a few Remarks may not be impertinent +or useless. These two Points appear to me to be much misunderstood; +_Sin_ is said to be infinite, because committed against an infinite +God; and that therefore nothing but an infinite Being can satisfy +the Justice of God for it: A fine Story indeed, for Men to amuse us +with, who pretend to believe in _only one_ God: Here is _one_ +infinite Being, to be satisfied for Sin; and _another_, to satisfy +him. And, what is still as bad or worse, it supposes, that an +infinite Being may, for a certain Season, suffer or undergo a +Diminution of its Happiness; which, in an infinite and unchangeable +Being, I take to be impossible. Was it then _only_ the Person, or +_rational Soul_ of _Jesus Christ_, that suffered, being upheld under +it, by the infinite Being himself? If so, what is become of the +infinite Being, that was to _suffer_ for Sin; for does God make +Satisfaction to himself? 'Till these Gentlemen either renounce, or +better explain this Matter, they will, I hope, think very favourably +of all who deal in absurd Schemes of Faith. + +The Thing productive of these Absurdities, is a _wrong Notion_ of +Sin, and of the Justice of God: Sin, they say, is infinite, because +_committed against an infinite God_. It is doubtless sometimes a +great Aggravation of it, that it is committed against God; but it is +not so much his _Greatness_, as our abusing his _Goodness_, that +aggravates the Crime: As may appear from this short Observation, +That any Favour, disinterestedly done, by a Person of the meanest +Rank in Life, lays the Receiver under the same Obligation, as though +it were granted by the greatest Man upon Earth: It is the Motive and +the Action, put together, that gives it its proper Value to the +Receiver. God's Authority may add some kind of Sanction but no +Alteration of outward Circumstances, in him who confers a Benefit, +can ever after change the Nature of the Action, or the Obligations +resulting from it. + +And, when we consider, on the other hand, that Sin is committed by a +frail finite Being, very often in its unguarded Moments, prompted by +Passion and Appetite, and surrounded with the most powerful +Temptations; this proves more strongly, that it cannot be infinite. +By the _Justice_ of God, is not meant, that he cannot forgive Sin +without Satisfaction, but that he _will_ not punish the Innocent; He +proposes himself as a Pattern for our Imitation, and bids us +_forgive our offending Brethren, if they repent and desire +Forgiveness:_ and he himself will therefore forgive on the same +Terms; for unless Sin becomes so enormous, as to make Punishment +necessary, _Repentance_ and _Amendment_ is all that God expects. The +Gospel is proposed to Sinners, on these Terms; and as to the Death +of Christ, it were unreasonable to think, he laid down his Life by +way of Satisfaction to Offended Justice, in the Manner these +Gentlemen understand it; but in Testimony of the Truth of his +Doctrines, and Confirmation of God's _great Love_ to the World. This +was the Cause of Christ's Coming in the Flesh. God so loved the +World, that he sent Christ to save it, by such Preaching and +Miracles, and other internal Aids, &_c_. as were in themselves +sufficient to beget Faith in such as gave a proper Attention; such a +Faith, in the Soul, as was productive of Morality and Virtue in +Practice. It was an _original Act_ of Grace and Goodness in God, to +send Christ into the World, to save Sinners, and not (as some +superstitiously teach) a mere Compliance in God the Father (and +that, not without full Satisfaction first made) to the _voluntary_ +and _merciful_ Intercession of Christ the Son. For then our +Salvation would be _owing only_ to the Love of Christ, and not _at +all_ to God's Love, who is here considered as a _rigorous_ and +_unrelenting Creditor_, that will not release the Debtor, until full +Satisfaction be made; so that Christ becomes our Creditor, and God +has no farther Demand: and what Need then can there be of +Intercession to God on our Behalf, when the Debt is already paid, +and full Satisfaction made? Christ's coming into the World was +_entirely owing_ to the Father's Mercy. His Doctrine, Miracles, +&_c_. were what he had in Commission from God, as a Means to +instruct and make the World happy; it is he who, instead of being +averse to forgive frail Man his Offences, has through Jesus +_proclaimed Pardon_ to _all_, on Condition of Repentance and +Amendment; and thro' the Love of God it was also, that Christ was +appointed a Mediator for sinful Man: So that the whole Affair arose +from God's own Mercy. + +I stand amazed at the Gentlemen, against whom I am arguing; what a +_Scope_ do they give to the _Sovereignty_ of God, in the Doctrines +of _Election_ and _Reprobation?_ And yet they won't _suffer it_ at +all to operate, in the Case of _forgiving Sin_, on the Terms of +Repentance and Amendment. A small, yea _very small_ and reasonable +Allowance, in regard to the _Exertion_ of this Attribute, and in a +_good Cause_ too, would be sufficient to justify the Mercy of God, +in forgiving Sin. If, as a Sovereign, he punishes where no Sin is, +surely he may also, as a Sovereign, forgive Sin. So that this Notion +of the Impossibility of God's forgiving Sin, without Satisfaction +first made, is erroneous and despicable. Repentance and Amendment in +the Creature is, in the Nature of Things, a _much better_ +Satisfaction, than can be made by the Act of another. By the +_Justice_ of God, I repeat it again, is meant, that he will not +punish the innocent, and not that he cannot shew Mercy to an +offending, repenting, penitent Creature, unless another sheds his +Blood for an Atonement. Nor is the Righteousness of Christ, +_strictly speaking_, imputable to any one. The Terms of the Gospel +are, _Repent, and be converted, and your Sins shall be blotted out:_ +Be _sorry_ and _amend_, and I will _forgive_ you. _The Prayer of a +Righteous Man availeth much;_ and God, in some Cases, to shew his +Regard to the Righteous, and to excite others to become righteous +also, may possibly grant _that_, at the Request of such a righteous +Person, which without, it might be improper to grant; and Christ +being our holy and righteous Mediator, God may do more at his +Request, on our Behalf, than he would do without it. Not but that +(_independent of_ and previous to the Intercession of Christ, at +least to the Account we have of it, in the New Testament) God was +_ever disposed_ to be favourable to Man, and always ready to receive +him, coming to him in a proper and becoming Manner: For even this +very Christ, and his Intercession, &_c_. is all ultimately the Act +of God, and flows from his unbounded Love and Goodness to Man. So +that _imputed Righteousness_ can mean no more, than God's forgiving +us, at the Request of Jesus Christ (whom he sent on purpose to make +that Request, and to do every thing for the Benefit and Happiness of +Man) and not a _real Transfer_ of Christ's _personal_ Righteousness, +which is not only in itself impossible, but would, if true, take +away all Necessity of our becoming holy. The Righteousness of Christ +is altogether different to what these Men take it to be; it is a +real State of Righteousness, wrought in the Soul by the Operation of +Christ's _Spirit_, Man submitting thereto. I know there are some +Expressions in the _New Testament_, which (if precipitantly +understood, without Regard had to the Nature of the Thing, and to +other plain Texts) seem _a little_ to favour these Doctrines. I +can't say, by what Means _precisely_ the _Bible_ came into its +present Condition; many Things might concur to give us wrong +Apprehensions of its true Sense and Meaning, He that understands +human Nature will find, that Men, who have been _great Bigots_ in +any Way of Religion, _will generally retain_ some of their former +Prejudices, even after, in the main, they may have changed their +Principles, Prejudice in Education is a Leaven, not so easily purged +out, as some may imagine; and 'tis possible, the _Writings_ of St. +_Paul_ may have in them a Tincture of this kind; besides what may +have since crept in, by Partiality or Accident: against which, and +_all Errors_ of a like Kind, a due Regard to the _fundamental +Principles_, I have endeavoured to inculcate, will, I hope, +abundantly secure us. These are some succinct Observations, that I +could not well avoid making; which perhaps may shortly be followed +by something more _full_ and _comprehensive_, concerning the +_Virtue_ and _Extent_ of Christ's _Death_, and the Nature of +_imputed Righteousness_. What I have here delivered, concerning +God's _Sovereignty_, is not the Result of a few, hasty, or loose +Thoughts, but the Effect of long and mature Deliberation. I have +weighed over and over the Arguments in my own Breast, and tried +their Strength with People, the most likely to afford me +Satisfaction; and could I have found it in either Way, the World had +never been troubled with these _Free and Impartial Thoughts_. + +Permit me, before I make an End, just to observe, in Regard to the +Controversy, between Mr. _J--s_ and Mr. _Taylor_, on the Scripture +Doctrine of _Original Sin;_ that Mr. _J--s_, as well as Dr. _W--s_, +lays great Stress on that frivolous Distinction, mentioned a few +Pages back, of _moral_ and _natural_ Necessity, to that Degree, that +Mr. _Taylor_ is treated somewhat _rudely_, for not perceiving the +Force of it; when I dare aver, _none_ but misguided Zealots, could +ever see any Reason or Argument in it: Nor do some of these very +Men, who urge it, seem to believe it themselves. Ask them how Man +can be justly accountable for Evils, that proceed from a _Nature +depraved in_ Adam, and they immediately leave _this Distinction_, +and recur to the _Covenant;_ and this Covenant they cannot support +by any Argument short of God's _Sovereignty_, which they are welcome +(if they can tell how) to improve to their own Advantage. + +To say that Man, in the Fall, has natural Powers to act rightly, and +is therefore condemnable when he does not, tho', by Necessity; he +wants Inclinations to be virtuous, would, to _use_ Mr. _J--s_'s +genteel Language, _be a senseless Falshood, and shew Poverty of +Argument_ (I am loth to add as he does) _and Effrontery too_. Such +Rudeness deserves Lamentation as well as Reproof, nor do I on this +Occasion set before _him_ his _own Words_ with any secret Pleasure, +but purely to shew Mr. _J--s_, how agreeable such a Liberty will +appear, when, in return, it may be offered to himself. + +Why is this favourite Distinction urged, unless it be to shew, that +because Man has natural Powers, 'tis his _own_ Fault, if he does not +employ them aright; but how does it appear, that such a Power +_only_, can render _Man_ a whit better, or _more_ a _moral Agent_, +than he is, or would be, without it? If Inclination to _Virtue_, +must _precede_ every truly virtuous Action; and Man's Depravity +under the Fall, be _such_ as prevents his ever having such good +Inclinations, his natural Ability to do Good, must needs be a mere +_Joke_ and a _Cypher_. Just the same as, on the other hand, would +be, the strongest Inclinations to Virtue, and _no_ natural Power of +complying with them in Practice. As nothing short of _Knowledge_ and +_Power_, Power of both kinds, _natural_ and _moral_, can constitute +Man a _moral Agent_, or proper Subject of _Law_, of Rewards and +Punishments, either here, or hereafter; one would wonder to see this +insignificant Distinction urged at all in this Controversy: for it +is, at the best, a mere _Parade of Words;_ which prove nothing, +except it be the Want of Truth and Righteousness, in this Doctrine +of _Original Sin;_ or great _Bigotry_, and Defect of Understanding, +in its most accomplished Patrons. And after all that is, or can be +said, concerning _natural_ and _moral_ Powers; it is doubtful, if +such a depraved miserable Wretch, as Man under the Fall is said by +the _Assemblies Catechism_ to be, can (strictly speaking) have any +Power at all over his own Thoughts and Actions; The immediate Cause +and Spring of Action _is_ the _Soul_, to which the _Body_ is +subservient only as an _Instrument_, but has in itself, according to +the best Philosophy, no Power to produce _voluntary_ or _self +Motion_. What is called _natural_ Power in Man, as opposed to +_moral_, is at least, a Power lodged in the Soul, to give Motion to +the Body. But these _Volitions_ of the Mind, and the immediate Act +of the Soul upon the Body, in order to produce _Virtue_, depending +on the Mind's being in a State of _Freedom_, able to chuse and +prefer Virtue, as better than Vice; it is evident, that in a Mind, +totally abandoned to Evil, _moral_ Motives have not their due Power +over the Man; and what we call his _natural_ Power to be virtuous, +is either suspended, or quite overpowered, by an evil and +irresistable Turn of Inclination, arising from the _Act_ of another; +I mean, _Adam_. Man then, considered as a _moral_ Agent, has Power +to _do_, or _not_ to _do_, the very same Thing; be it good or evil. +But this Liberty of Choice and Action in the Creature, as the _Soul_ +is but one, and also _the_ immediate Source of all Action in Man, +cannot properly, I think, be called _two_ distinct Powers, but +rather _different Applications_ of _one_ and the _same Power_ lodged +in the Soul. On the other hand, in such a _depraved Creature_, as +Man under the Fall is said to be, the Power of _choosing_ and +_refusing_, of being virtuous or vicious, which he _pleases_, is +altogether lost and destroyed; and such a Man, so far from having +_natural_ and _moral_ Powers, has (properly speaking) _no Power_ at +all remaining: all his Thoughts and Actions, like those of a +Machine, are merely involuntary; he is constantly impelled by +something mightier than himself, and ever necessitated to think and +act as he does: his being an intelligent Creature, doth not alter +the State of the Case, or render him more an Agent than a Stock or a +Stone. In this sad Condition, Man can have no Power at all to love +and pursue Virtue, untill the overruling Principle, which determines +all his Thoughts and Actions to the contrary, be removed, or he +receive Superaddition of Understanding and Strength agreeable +thereto. My natural Strength of Body may be equal to four hundred +Weight; but what can this avail, while I am continually pressed down +by four thousand? and all Mr. _J--s_'s Skill and Criticism (_Pages_ +71, 72) will not evade this Reasoning. The Distinction between +immediate and remote Causes of Sin, is as trifling and inconclusive, +as the 'forementioned Distinction of _moral_ and _natural_ Powers. +Those indeed, who can fancy themselves to be God's own dear and +elect Children, may reject all Opposition with _Scorn_, and without +_Examination_, and acquiesce readily in the most rigid and +tyrannical System of Religion, that renders the Bulk of Mankind +miserable, while the Elect may think themselves secure in the Divine +Decree, _with an humble Assent, and awful_ (it should be +superstitious) _Reverence of the Majesty and Sovereignty of the +great God_. But what Reason or Recompence will that be to _him_, who +under proper Means and Motives would have kept the Commandments, and +so have entered into Life; who would have loved the Lord his God, +with all his Heart, Soul, and Strength; and his Neighbour as +himself? Or how can such a partial and tyrannical Doctrine, be +reconciled to the Voice of Reason in Man, to our common Notions of +_Right_ and _Wrong_, to the General Scope and Tenour of the _Holy +Scriptures_, or to that Text in particular, which assures us, that +_the Almighty doth not grieve nor afflict the Children of Men +willingly?_ + +_FINIS._ + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Free and Impartial Thoughts, on the +Sovereignty of God, The Doctrines of Election, Reprobation, and Original Sin: Humbly Addressed To all who Believe and Profess those DOCTRINES., by Richard Finch + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FREE AND IMPARTIAL THOUGHTS *** + +***** This file should be named 28401.txt or 28401.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/4/0/28401/ + +Produced by Keith G. 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