no man ought to proceed further in the interpretation of Scripture than the Soveraign limits So that a Soverâ—ign ought to be either a more exact Divine than ever I heard of in the World to interpret all places of Scripture that a question is demanded of or else of a most exact and quick Iudgment to limit others how far they shall go And suppose a Soveraign prove a fool or like an ill Steersman always turning the boat round uncertain in his resolves who must interpret the matter thenâ— But I shall pass this over without more saying as one of the chances of Mr. Hobbes his fancy Mr. Hobbes p. 263. saith That the end of Our Saviour's câ—ming into the World was to restore unto God the Kingdom cut off from him by the rebellion of the Israelites in the election of Saul So far he hath renounced all Salvation by Christ. But to do him right he saith afterwards That our Saviour had an other imploy and that was to Preach that he was the Messiah and in case the Nation of the Iews should refuse him then to call to his obedience the Gentiles So now he seems only by the accident of the Iews refusal to exclude them from Salvation and by the same accident only to make the Gentiles capable of mercy Now is any thing more plain in the World than that he came into the World to satisfie God's justice for the sins of the World and with intent to bring in the Gentiles as well as the Iews and to make them one sheepfold under himself the great Shepherd And that appears from the first promise of him viz. That the Seed of the Woman should break the Serpents Head that is should take away that misery from the Seed of the Woman which the subtlety of the Serpent had brought upon it and I suppose Mr. Hobbes will not say amidst his new found unreasonable Doctrines That the Gentiles as well as the Iews were not the off-spring of Eve And he was the blood of the everlasting covenant and the great Shepherd of the Sheep spoken of Heb. 13. 20. And Iohn 1.29 he is called the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the World and this was before he was rejected by the Iews And all the Prophesies of our Saviour in the Old Testament express our Saviour's bringing in the Gentiles and the intent of God to do so as Isaiah 49. 22. I will lift up my Hand to the Gentiles and set up my Standard to the People and this was before our Saviour's coming into the World Texts for this I shall cite no more it being a thing so plain against Mr. Hobbes and one would wonder ever such conceits without ground or reason should come into any Man's Head Mr. Hobbes after a great deal of stir about the Trinity and the Unity of that Trinity which is hard to make any thing of or rather impossible by reason his opinion was concealed comes p. 268. to tell us his opinion in these words following viz. To conclude saith he the Doctrine of the Trinity as far as can be gathered directly from the Scripture is in substance this That the God who is always one and the same was the person represented by Moses the person represented by his Son incarnate and the person represented by the Apostles As represented by the Apostles the Holy Spirit by which they spake is God as by Moses the Father is God as represented by his Son that was God and Man the Son is God These are his very words So observe he absolutely denies in this the personal existence of the two last Persons in the Trinity And 't is in short to say as others have said before me that there is but one Person under different conceptions And the inference is direct and natural for saith Mr. Hobbes God was in three respects represented which excludes the real existence of three Divine Persons in the Godhead and only supposeth three Persons that represented this one God not that there are three Persons in the Godhead or that are God for no one is said to represent that is the Person represented Now to illustrate this the King of England is represented by the Lord Deputy of Ireland by the Viceroy of Scotland and by his Governor of the Island of Iersey But still 't is the energy of the one Person of the King that actuates them all and there are not three Persons of the King nor any of those three Persons are the King no more are there three Persons in the Godhead if we will believe Mr. Hobbes who makes the three Persons in the Trinity but three Names to express one only Person of God So 't is all one as if he had said the Son is not God as a distinct Person from the Father but that the only one Person of the Godhead was come into Man or at best had taken the Virgins Son into it or that he had said the Person of the Holy Ghost was not God as a distinct Person from the Father but that the only one Person of God inspired the Apostles So then clearly here is a denial of the two second Persons in the Trinity for if there be only one Person there is not three in the Trinity But Mr. Hobbes in this hath the confidence to say That this his fancy is all that can be gathered from Scripture concerning the Trinity And that he may meet with his match I will say the contrary and I doubt not but my authorities for my opinion will prove better than his It is said in 1 Ioh. 5. 7. There are three bear record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost and these three are one So this is clear that the Godhead is three Persons not as 't is represented at three different times upon Earth but as it is three distinct Persons in Heaven So this makes an end of Mr. Hobbes his conceit that there are only said to be three Persons in the Godhead to be made out by Scripture in respect of the three representations upon Earth for they are in this Text said to be three in Heaven and all three are said to be in action that is to bear record which shews they are several and distinct Persons And the 3 d of Titus 4 5 6. v. clearly shews the Trinity of the Persons really existent which Texts are viz. After the love of God our Saviour toward Man appeared By his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost Which he shed on us abundantly through Iesus Christ our Saviour Here is God the Father that saves his people by regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost and 't is through Iesus Christ our Saviour So what can be plainer besides the Scriptures that speak of the descent and mission of the Holy Ghost that the Godhead hath three Persons in it in another manner than as it was represented by Moses for here is God the Father
he that hath the best Right must carry it except the Iudges be so honest as not to take bribes which must be supposed as lawful as the giving them Mr. Hobbes though he ventured upon this Position could not but know how odious bribes are accounted in the Scripture as 1 Sam. 8. 3. where bribes and perverting of Iudgment go together And a gift Deut. 16. 19. is called The blinder of the Eyes and the perverter of Iudgment and is expresly forbidden Exod. 23. 8. But as Mr. Hobbes before had laboured to destroy all Religion so now he is endeavouring to destroy all common Honesty and dares say that which never any Man before durst but was ashamed to own though perchance he might be so wicked as to do it And Mr. Hobbes gives no reason for this Position but because saith he perchance Iustice cannot be had without it that is to say every Litigant may be wicked because it may be some Iudges are But though this opinion I believe hath been as successful as any wicked opinion of Mr. Hobbes in all his Book complying so much with Men's interests yet he and every other Man ought to know that a Man ought rather to venture the loss of his Right than to do any thing repugnant to God's Word and common honesty except Mr. Hobbes will inve all and say That 't is better to gain some of the World though he lose his own Soul Mr. Hobbes saith p. 133. That the words Repent and be Baptized are in Scripture Counsil and not commands So by his Rule we may neglect either Repentance or Baptism without sin but for this gives he no reason Nay he hath formerly allowed of the word Imperative and yet now he will not allow of the Imperative Mood to bid or command for 't is Repent and be Baptized in English and in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which are Aorists of the Imperative Mood and why then they should not be words of command I know not except because Mr. Hobbes in his new Models hath otherwise estâ—blish'd it But observe Mr. Hobbes hiâ— reason why 't is no command Because saith he 't is not to the benefit of God Almighty but of our selves that we do Excellenty argued Mr. Hobbes for by the same reason we have no command upon us to obey any of God's Commands for 't is not for God's benefit but our own Nay we need obey none of them as Mr. Hobbes frequently argues because there is no Law enjoyns them except where there is a Soveraign power that so commands I suppose that his chief intent in this is to ease Men's Consciences and to give wicked Men liberty to sin having no command as Mr. Hobbes here saith from God to the contrary what else should put this â—rotchet into Mr. Hobbes his Head I know not For if a Law be made for the good of the People every Man is bound to perform it and 't is a command as well as an advise The People asked St. Peter what they should do Repent and be Baptised saith he And suppose a Child being at the brink of River should ask his Father what he should do if his Father should bid him go over the Bridge would it not be a command And certainly Peter had as much Authority in matters of Faith as a Parent hath in common actions But I think this Position of Mr. Hobbes's is as true as his saying p. 135. That passion makes Men eloquent which is contrary to experience except he means by Eloquence making a Noise as he hath with his Leviathan without sence or reason Mr. Hobbes p. 139. saith That Customs are not Laws by virtue of prescription of Time but by constitutions of their present Soveraigns Here I suppose Mr. Hobbes principally aimed at the supplanting of our Common Law and thereby make the readier way to bring all Men's Properties into incertainty and confusion which was at the time 1651 the readiest means and most plausible to vest all in the Army or him that should be turned up trump For 't is by the Common Law that is the general custom of the Nation that most Men enjoy their Estates either real or personal now if length of time should not justifie that property without the constitutions of the Soveraign and such constitutions could not be found as 't is most apparant they cannot down goes the Common Law and Property with it and then let the strongest take all Witty Mr. Hobbes that can in a Treatise of Law lay down a Position that would destroy the Law of his native Country and thereby make way for an arbitrary Power But Mr. Hobbes in the same Paragraph makes a little amends for this for though he had given the Common Law a box on one Ear to make it stagger he hits it a clap on the other to set it upright again for he saith That when an unwritten Law shall be generally observed and no iniquity appear in the use of it then it can be nothing but a Law of Nature and obliges all mankind Well said Mr. Hobbes for now he makes every Custom which an unwritten Law implies unalterable by Act of Parliament for an Act of Parliament against the Law of Nature is void This was a perfect rapture of Mr. Hobbes's without consideration for is any thing more apparent than that generally Customs are no part of the Law of Nature which is universal and that customs of all Nations differ according to the convenience of the several People and that which is good for one People though the Law of Nature be the same to all is ill for another and that appears by the practices of all Nations that ever I heard of But if Mr. Hobbes mean by the unwritten Law the verbal command of his Soveraign 't is grosser nonsence than the other for a Law of Nature ex vi termini can only be produced by Nature and not by any humane Institution Nature being previous to policy and every thing being productive of its own Laws or else they would be the Laws of others But Mr. Hobbes saith excellent well p. 143. That all he saith is not presently Law and 't is the greatest piece of modesty I think in his whole Book and if he had but added that his Incongruities had been innumerable and not worth answering in this Chapter it had been fit to be ranked with his greatest Truths Mr. Hobbes p. 144. saith That if â— Man accused of a capital Crime fly for fear of the event seing his enemies Malice and Power and frequent corruption of Iudges and maketh it appear upon his Trial he is not guilty and be acquitted yet by the Law he shall lose his Goods and this â—aith Mr. Hobbes is against the Law of Nature I cannot say but that a case may be made that a general Law may seem severe in but therefore is a general Law against the Law of Nature which is adapted to the generality of cases that may be
fully set forth a part that through mercy he saved us and God the Holy Ghost in another manner set forth than represented by the Apostles for this is spoken of the renewing of the Holy Ghost in all believers and Iesus Christ the meritorious cause of our Salvation which he could not have been but as he was both God and Man and Mr. Hobbes calls him so in this Chapter So that Christ as Christ Mr. Hobbes makes meer Man as he stiles him and would make him Chap. 38. though otherwise calls him in this Chapter for he makes himâ— only the representer of God as Moses was and the Holy Ghost Mr. Hobbes saith in effect is nothing for he saith that that denomination was attributed to God as he was represented by the Apostles So that the Holy Ghost was only an Attribute of God But besides all this Mr. Hobbes spoke before upon his reliance upon the Church of England as to matters of Faith and that the Civil Soveraign is to appoint what is to be taught for Doctrine And the Church of England and our Soveraigns have establish'd Athanasius his Creed to be read and as necessary to Salvation to be believed and that Creed as well as the begining of the Litany is expresly against Mr. Hobbes for it saith That there is one Person of the Father another of the Son and another of the Holy Ghost which Creed and Litany speak them in themselves three distinct Persons and as such are prayed to without interesting Moses or the Apostles in the matter and agree to my interpretation of Scripture So for once I hope without boasting I may say I have got the better of Mr. Hobbes Indeed this opinion of his is like the rest of the abominable and damnable whimsies of his own brain and ought to be ranked in the front of them And to give Mr. Hobbes a little over weight I will refer it to any rational Man whether Mark 1. 10. Ioh. 1. 32. do not absolutely shew the distinction of the two second Persons in the Trinity where 't is said That the Spirit of God descended from Heaven like a Dove and abode upon Christ. Now taking Christ to be God as Mr. Hobbes frequently calls him in this Chapter what was the Spirit that abode upon him but a distinct Person in the Godhead and Heb. 3. 7. conjoined to Psal. 95. 7. to which it relates may fully conclude Mr. Hobbes For the former Text saith That the Holy Ghost said To day if ye will hear his voice which last words are the words of the latter Text in the 95. Psalm So 't is apparent that in David's time which I hope Mr. Hobbes will allow to be before the Apostles time there was an Holy Ghost So I will leave Mr. Hobbes in hopes he will live long enough to recant this opinion Mr. Hobbes saith p. 282. That the four first of the ten Commandments were particular to the Israelites but the six latter obliged all mankind being but the Law of Nature I shall agree with Mr. Hobbes as to the six latter that they are but what Nature dictated before But as to the four first I would know a reason why they were not obligatory by the Law of Nature at least secondarily that is to say obligatory by Nature upon all Men that know there was one and only one living and true God as all Men may see there is by the things that he hath made which knowledge makes it as natural as to the three first Commands for us to be bound by those Laws as 't is for a Man naturally to be bound not to injure his neighbour As for Example Is it not as natural for the Creature to worship his Creator and not to set up false gods to deprive him of his honour and not to use his Name irreverently as 't is for a Man not to desire or take that which is an other Mans 'T is more natural if we will believe what Mr. Hobbes said before viz. That by Nature all Men were in an estate of Civil War and might catch what they could and in that state all force and fraud were cardinal Virtues but certainly never was any state or condition so where it was a cardinal Virtue to worship any god but the true one or to be irreverent to his Name But Mr. Hobbes his conceit is good in this place for one thing and that is that after he hath been blaspheming God and taking from him his Attributes and giving Men a toleration as to external acts or confession to acknowledge any thing for God that here he gives a reason for all that he said as to us Gentiles for we may do or say what we will noâ— being Iews in respect of God Almighty for that there is no Law if we will believe Mr. Hobbes to oblige us Gentiles to the contrary The four first Commands not being by the Law of Nature obligatory to any Man and being particular to the Israelites as made at mount Sinai Now the Nature of a particular Law is only to oblige that particular people for whom 't was particularly made and those were the Israelites in this case if Mr. Hobbes be an authentick Author And as to the fourth Command I think though the day be changed yet that in substance is as obligatory as the other three are by the Law of Nature for 't is as natural to set a time a part for the worship of God as 't is to worship him and since God hath limited the Iews a whole day why should not we take that as our pattern For 't is as natural to take God for our pattern in this as in other things Be ye holy as I am holy And we have not only his Command to the Iews for a pattern but his own Example of resting the seventh day and sanctifying it upon the knowledge of which why should it not be natural for Men to keep holy one day in seven For the Law of Nature is twofold either primary without any prerequisite as 't is natural for a thing that hath life to move Or secondary when something is requisite to give liberty to Nature to work as for Example Men love their Children naturally but they must know first that they are their Children before they love them as such For if a Father had never seen his Child from his birth till ten years of age and then should accidentally meet him he would love him no better then any other but after he was acquainted by undoubted circumstances that it was his Child then naturally would result an emanation of affection So after we know that there is only one God and that he hath appointed one day in seven for his service though to another people which day he sanctified and rested upon Gen. 2. 3. why is it not natural for us to serve him all mankind having an inbred awe towards something above them and that on one day in seven according to his example
make us know and that in such things knowledge and belief are the same As when we say I believe in God the Father Almighty c. It is the same with I know that there is such a person in the Trinity as God the Father and so of the rest of our Creed But when we have not had full testimony and something may be for ought we know undiscovered that may alter the matter then belief and knowledge are no more the same than Is and may be But to make Mr. Hobbes the example in the matter we will suppose that he before a pardon had been indicted of high Treason for indeavouring to subvert by his Book the antient Government of this Nation both in respect of the Subjects subjection to their King and the Peoples properties and twelve Men had been of the Iury in Middlesex none of which we will suppose stood by when he wrote the Book but had testimony all that the matter was capable of to prove that he did write it and thereupon the Iury had found him guilty and Mr. Hobbes had had Iudgment accordingly certainly he would have thought that the belief of the Iury and the knowledge of the Iury in this matter had been the same The case differs not mutato nomine as to the Scriptures for that we believe and know them to be the Word of God they having been delivered to us by unquestionable persons and all the Testimony the thing is capable of But of this I said a little before and to avoid a tedious Discourse shall refer my Reader for a perfect satisfaction to the Learned Dr. Stillingfleet's Origines Sacrae and to one of the Sermons of the Excellent Dr. Tillotson another of our not only Learned but firm Protestant Divines who are the rather to be regarded because they have neither feared to stand the Ire of a cloud full charged with Popery or provided themselves by an halting Sermon a shelter against the rain whose contrary are enough not only to fright Christians from the Altar but to make Men abhor the offerings of the Lord And if any such be that will not repent let them not despair but dye Mr. Hobbes p. 324. saith That the only Article of Faith which the Scripture makes necessary to Salvation is this that Iesus is the Christ. If an other Man had said this I should have taken little notice of it because I should have supposed that he had meant that Christ was the corner Stone and Captain of our Salvation But I doubt Mr. Hobbes saith this to incourage Men in Idleness and Ignorance which the Papists say is the Mother of Devotion And though Mr. Hobbes was so much against Bellarmine in his last Chapter yet he is so much a Papist in this that he may taste of all Errors that he uses but the same saying here that Papists use against Reading of the Scriptures and whether he intend it so far or that the notion was set down by chance is doubtful But 't is plain in our Creed and by the Doctrine of our Church which Mr. Hobbes allows of that there are other points necessary to Salvation besides this As we must believe in God the Father and the Holy Ghost as well as in God the Son and this Mr. Hobbes acknowledgeth in p. 328. only under his own limitations which are hard to be understood But then p. 331. he strains my Faith upon one Article he lays down For he saith That he hath in all his Treatise of Christian Politicks now run through alledged no Text of Scripture but in such sence as is most agreeable to the scope of the Bible which I confess I cannot believe or if he believes himself I shall change my opinion of him and instead of thinking him the grandest Heretick think him the weakest person that ever laid pen to paper or at least that ever had any reputation in the World for so doing except it be admitted me that he is given up to believe a lye in matters of Religion and I pray God he be not Mr. Hobbes after his saying p. 244. That the punishment of the damned should not be everlasting now he comes to p. 343. and goes over it again the fear of the contrary I doubt running in his mind and begins to interpret Scripture concerning the immortality of the Soul in general which he saith may have an other interpretation than is usual and first cites the 12. Eccles. 7. which saith Dust to dust and the Spirit to God that gave it which saith Mr. Hobbes ought to be interpreted That God only knows what becomes of Man's Spirit and not Man and so of another Text he cites Hence he infers That because God only knows what becomes of Man's Spirit that therefore the Spirit of Man lives not after the death of the Body till the resurrection First The Interpretation is expresly against the Text and absurd Secondly The Inference is nonsense for doth it follow that because God knows where the Spirit of Man is that therefore 't is not with God himself It is just as if I should say to a Man you know where your coat is and from thence I should infer that he hath it not upon his back So I hope no Body will much heed his interpretation of Scripture But then p. 345. he tells us That in the resurrection the Righteous shall have glorious and spiritual Bodies and eternal but saith that 't is not manifest by Scripture that the Wicked shall have glorious and spiritual Bodies or that they shall be as the the Angels of God neither Eating nor Drinking nor Ingendring or that their life shall be eternal and so the reprobate saith he shall be in the estate Adam was in after he had sinned and Marry and give in Marriage only shall have no Redeemer I hope now Mr. Hobbes hath perfected his safe bargain he before had begun let his opinions be never so gross as to God and Religion for he shall be still upon Earth and in no worse a condition than Adam was in after his fall and that was for ought we know free from torment or indeed any trouble of mind save fear and only at th time when he heard God in the Garden But Mr. Hobbes hath not I thank him left us so much in the dark for he goes on to the particulars of the future torment which he saith are eating and drinking I suppose he means an appetite to eat and drink when he hath no Money in his pocket and ingendring I suppose he means that he is cruelly afraid of a luxurious Wife or else that he hath been unneighbourly dealt with in his Youth and is afraid of the same hereafter For otherwise cannot I imagin the torment of eating and drinking and ingendring And further he goes on and saith That the wicked shall not always personally be in this torment but dye after a time and their Children shall succeed in the same torments And all this he