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A53904 Naaman vindicated as well from the idolatries of the house of Rimmon in Syria, as from the abuses of the atheists and hypocrites in England / by Richard Pearson, priest of the Church of England. Pearson, Richard, 1641?-1710. 1700 (1700) Wing P1013; ESTC R28783 86,525 92

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Naaman Vindicated As well from the IDOLATRIES OF THE House of Rimmon IN SYRIA As from the ABUSES OF THE ATHEISTS and HYPOCRITES IN ENGLAND By Richard Pearson Priest of the Church of England 2 Kings Chap. 5. 18. and part of the 19 Verse In this thing the Lord pardon thy Servant that when my Master goeth into the House of Rimmon to Worship there and he leaneth on my Hand and I bow my self in the House of Rimmon When I bow down my self in the House of Rimmon the Lord pardon thy Servant in this thing And he said unto him Go in Peace LONDON Printed for Samuel Reble at the Turks-Head over against Fetter-lane end in Fleetstreet 1700. Naaman Vindicated As well from the IDOLATRIES OF THE House of RIMMON c. CHAP. I. Containing a brief Introduction together with the Proposal of the general Method and Design of the following Discourse SUCH is the strange Obstinacy and Perversness of some ill Men that even the best things in the World are liable to be abused and corrupted by them Antidotes themselves may be turned into Poison by a wrong Application and the Word of God it self which is the savour of Life to others and the chief means of Salvation may be and frequently is turned into the savour of Death unto those that Perish Thus if bad Men can but find out any one Passage of Scripture which tho' in direct contradiction to the purport of many other Places and after much straining they can make only to seem to countenance or excuse them in the doing such things as their own vile Lusts make them first fully resolved to commit With what ease security and credit do they then conclude they may apply themselves to the practice thereof Nor was it therefore without sufficient Grounds that the Apostle Peter speaking of St. Paul's Epistles tells us That there are some things in them which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest as they do also the other Scriptures unto their own Destruction 2 Pet. 3. 16. Into the Catalogue of which other Scriptures this passage here about Naaman may certainly with as good Reason be inserted as any other in the whole Bible Since none perhaps has been more abused or wrested to worse Purposes From hence some Men think themselves sufficiently authorised to take up such loose Principles that come what will or let them go where they please they 'r sure enough that their Religion shall never create them the least trouble Since let them travel the whole World over they can every where afford so to order the Matter and their own Behaviour that those of every place where they happen to be shall have no other reason than to think their Religion the same with that of their own Country be that what it will From hence do they take Courage if not down right to deride all the Doctrines of the Cross and those that Practice them yet at least to excuse nay even justify and applaud themselves for all their base Shiftings and Turnings and most dishonourable double dealings both with God and Man As for their invisible Part as they would fain believe themselves to have no such thing so they seem not much to scruple the reserving that entirely for God provided in the mean time they can but wrest a Licence from him so to dispose of their dear outward Man upon all Occasions as that they may be still sure to keep themselves in a whole Skin If they can obtain thus much only no more seems aimed at by these pretended Men of Wit who then grow proud enough to think that they have fairly out-witted their Creator And how do they hug themselves and scornfully snear out their inward Satisfaction in having at last discovered even in those so much despised Volumes such a rich precious Passage whereby as they would pretend they can make God himself even in the most material point contradict his own self who has solemnly professed That he will not give his Honour to another nor in his Worship admit of any Co partners But The Lord pardon thy Servant in this Matter c. is the only thing like a Prayer that can ever be observed to come from some Mens Mouths and Naaman Naaman still becomes the chief ditty not only of the Drunkards Song but of all other sorts of wretched Miscreants also whether more secret or professed Enemies to Religion If they can but force Elisha here so to resolve this case of Conscience as they would have him he 'll then prove to this sort of People as fit a Prophet as if he had Prophesied unto them even of Wine and Strong Drink nay indeed far more acceptable and delicious And let what will become of all the other Prophets Apostles or Evangelists whilst this alone in contradiction to all the rest and to himself too can be perswaded by them here to seem to reconcile the Worship of God and that of Mamon for this piece of service only they easily forgive and forget all his other Righteousness he shall then be allowed by them to pass for the only Man of God nay for a Friend so particular that they 'll endeavour to strain Courtesies with him and give this Prophet himself also free leave to depart in Peace In short whilst Atheists and Hypocrites would gladly spare all the rest of the sacred Writings they 'd easily allow this Text with their own Comments thereupon to pass for the only useful and Canonical piece of Scripture to which they readily apply themselves upon all Occasions as their common Sanctuary and sure retreat What can be better worth the while therefore than to endeavour to beat them off from this which they look upon as their strongest Hold by cutting off all their Lines of Communication therewith and shewing them how impossible it is for them to find therein any true Refuge If instead of thanks for this performance I shall chance to meet with nothing but rage and hatred I must needs say 't is no other than what was to be expected from some Men. But the best of it still is that in this Argument I can offend none but either such vile Monsters only as are first offended at the very Being of the great Authour of their Beings or else the desperate Crew of loathsome Hypocrites who indeed if searched to the bottom will be found the greatest and very worst of Atheists Of whom how prevalent soever among us may be the Interests or how deplorably great so ever may be their wretched numbers 't is to be hoped notwithstanding that no Man as yet needs either to be ashamed or afraid to encounter them For tho' we have sometimes known very innocent Treatises pleading nothing but the Cause of Piety and Good Conscience wholly silenced and suppressed whilst Persons of Atheistical Principles have been freely suffer'd in the most open manner to diffuse their Poison without meeting with any of those publick Censures which in this Case might