not this revelation nor were yet in being yet they are a party to the Covenant and bound to obey what Abraham should declare to them for Gods Law which they could not be but in vertue of the obedience they owed to their Parents who if they be Subject to no other earthly power as here in the case of Abraham have Soveraign power over their children and servants Againe where God saith to Abraham In thee shall all Nations of the earth be blessed For I know thou wilt command thy children and thy house after thee to keep the way of the Lord and to observe Righteousnesse and Judgement it is manifest the obedience of his Family who had no Revelation depended on their former obligation to obey their Soveraign At Mount Sinai Moses only went up to God the people were forbidden to approach on paine of death yet were they bound to obey all that Moses declared to them for Gods Law Upon what ground but on this submission of their own Speak thou to us and we will heare thee but let not God speak to us lest we dye By which two places it sufficiently appeareth that in a Common-wealth a subject that has no certain and assured Revelation particularly to himself concerning the Will of God is to obey for such the Command of the Common-wealth for if men were at liberty to take for Gods Commandements their own dreams and fancies or the dreams and fancies of private men scarce two men would agree upon what is Gods Commandement and yet in respect of them every man would despise the Commandements of the Common-wealth I conclude therefore that in all things not contrary to the Morall Law that is to say to the Law of Nature all Subjects are bound to obey that for divine Law which is declared to be so by the Lawes of the Common-wealth Which also is evident to any mans reason for whatsoever is not against the Law of Nature may be made Law in the name of them that have the Soveraign power and there is no reason men should be the lesse obliged by it when t is propounded in the name of God Besides there is no place in the world where men are permitted to pretend other Commandements of God than are declared for such by the Common-wealth Christian States punish those that revolt from Christian Religion and all other States those that set up any Religion by them forbidden For in whatsoever is not regulated by the Common-wealth t is Equity which is the Law of Nature and therefore an eternall Law of God that every man equally enjoy his liberty There is also another distinction of Laws into Fundamentall and not Fundamentall but I could never see in any Author what a Fundamentall Law signifieth Neverthelesse one may very reasonably distinguish Laws in that manner For a Fundamentall Law in every Common-wealth is that which being taken away the Common-wealth faileth and is utterly dissolved as a building whose Foundation is destroyed And therefore a Fundamentall Law is that by which Subjects are bound to uphold whatsoever power is given to the Soveraign whether a Monarch or a Soveraign Assembly without which the Common-wealth cannot stand such as is the power of War and Peace of Judicature of Election of Officers and of doing whatsoever he shall think necessary for the Publique good Not Fundamentall is that the abrogating whereof draweth not with it the dissolution of the Common-Wealth such as are the Lawes concerning Controversies between subject and subject Thus much of the Division of Lawes I find the words Lex Civilis and Jus Civile that is to say Law and Right Civil promiscuously used for the same thing even in the most learned Authors which neverthelesse ought not to be so For Right is Liberty namely that Liberty which the Civil Law leaves us But Civill Law is an Obligation and takes from us the Liberty which the Law of Nature gave us Nature gave a Right to every man to secure himselfe by his own strength and to invade a suspected neighbour by way of prevention but the Civill Law takes away that Liberty in all cases where the protection of the Law may be safely stayd for Insomuch as Lex and Jus are as different as Obligation and Liberty Likewise Lawes and Charters are taken 〈◊〉 for the same thing Yet Charters are Donations of the Soveraign and not Lawes but exemptions from Law The phrase of a Law is Jubeo Injungo I Command and Enjoyn the phrase of a Charter is Dedi Concessi I have Given I have Granted but what is given or granted to a man is not forced upon him by a Law A Law may be made to bind All the Subjects of a Common-wealth a Liberty or Charter is only to One man or some One part of the people For to say all the people of a Common-wealth have Liberty in any case whatsoever is to say that in such case there hath been no Law made or else having been made is now abrogated CHAP. XXVII Of CRIMES EXCUSES and EXTENUATIONS A Sinne is not onely a Transgression of a Law but also any Contempt of the Legislator For such Contempt is a breach of all his Lawes at once And therefore may consist not onely in the Commission of a Fact or in the Speaking of Words by the Lawes forbidden or in the Omission of what the Law commandeth but also in the Intention or purpose to transgresse For the purpose to breake the Law is some degree of Contempt of him to whom it belongeth to see it executed To be delighted in the Imagination onely of being possessed of another mans goods servants or wife without any intention to take them from him by force or fraud is no breach of the Law that sayth Thou shalt not covet nor is the pleasure a man may have in imagining or dreaming of the death of him from whose life he expecteth nothing but dammage and displeasure a Sinne but the resolving to put some Act in execution that tendeth thereto For to be pleased in the fiction of that which would please a man if it were reall is a Passion so adhaerent to the Nature both of man and every other living creature as to make it a Sinne were to make Sinne of being a man The consideration of this has made me think them too severe both to themselves and others that maintain that the First motions of the mind though checked with the fear of God be Sinnes But I confesse it is safer to erre on that hand than on the other A CRIME is a sinne consisting in the Committing by Deed or Word of that which the Law forbiddeth or the Omission of what it hath commanded So that every Crime is a sinne but not every sinne a Crime To intend to steale or kill is a sinne though it never appeare in Word or Fact for God that seeth the thoughts of man can lay it to his charge but till it appear by some thing
first that of Luke 22. 31. Simon Simon Satan hath desired you that hee may sist you as wheat but I have prayed for thee that thy faith faile not and when thou art converted strengthen thy thy Brethren This according to Bellarmines exposition is that Christ gave here to Simon Peter two priviledges one that neither his Faith should fail nor the Faith of any of his successors the other that neither he nor any of his successors should ever define any point concerning Faith or Manners erroneously or contrary to the definition of a former Pope Which is a strange and very much strained interpretation But he that with attention readeth that chapter shall find there is no place in the whole Scripture that maketh more against the Popes Authority than this very place The Priests and Scribes seeking to kill our Saviour at the Passeover and Judas possessed with a resolution to betray him and the day of killing the Passeover being come our Saviour celebrated the same with his Apostles which he said till the Kingdome of God was come hee would doe no more and withall told them that one of them was to betray him Hereupon they questioned which of them it should be and withall seeing the next Passeover their Master would celebrate should be when he was King entred into a contention who should then be the greatest man Our Saviour therefore told them that the Kings of the Nations had Dominion over their Subjects and are called by a name in Hebrew that signifies Bountifull but I cannot be so to you you must endeavour to serve one another I ordain you a Kingdome but it is such as my Father hath ordained mee a Kingdome that I am now to purchase with my blood and not to possesse till my second coming then yee shall eat and drink at my Table and sit on Thrones judging the twelve Tribes of Israel And then addressing himself to St. Peter he saith Simon Simon Satan seeks by suggesting a present domination to weaken your faith of the future but I have prayed for thee that thy faith shall not fail Thou therefore Note this being converted and understanding my Kingdome as of another world confirm the same faith in thy Brethren To which S. Peter answered as one that no more expected any authority in this world Lord I am ready to goe with thee not onely to Prison but to Death Whereby it is manifest S. Peter had not onely no jurisdiction given him in this world but a charge to teach all the other Apostles that they also should have none And for the Infallibility of St. Peters sentence definitive in matter of Faith there is no more to be attributed to it out of this Text than that Peter should continue in the beleef of this point namely that Christ should come again and possesse the Kingdome at the day of Judgement which was not given by this Text to all his Successors for wee see they claime it in the World that now is The second place is that of Matth. 16. Thou art Peter and upon this rocke I will build my Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it By which as I have already shewn in this chapter is proved no more than that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against the confession of Peter which gave occasion to that speech namely this that Iesus is Christ the Sonne of God The third Text is Iohn 21. ver 16 17. Feed my sheep which contains no more but a Commission of Teaching And if we grant the rest of the Apostles to be contained in that name of Sheep then it is the supreme Power of Teaching but it was onely for the time that there were no Christian Soveraigns already possessed of that Supremacy But I have already proved that Christian Soveraignes are in their owne Dominions the supreme Pastors and instituted thereto by vertue of their being Baptized though without other Imposition of Hands For such Imposition being a Ceremony of designing the person is needlesse when hee is already designed to the Power of Teaching what Doctrine he will by his institution to an Absolute Power over his Subjects For as I have proved before Soveraigns are supreme Teachers in generall by their Office and therefore oblige themselves by their Baptisme to teach the Doctrine of Christ And when they suffer others to teach their people they doe it at the perill of their own souls for it is at the hands of the Heads of Families that God will require the account of the instruction of his Children and Servants It is of Abraham himself not of a hireling that God saith Gen. 18. 19. I know him that he will command his Children and his houshold after him that they keep the way of the Lord and do justice and judgement The fourth place is that of Exod. 28. 30. Thou shalt put in the Breastplate of Iudgment the Vrim and the Thummin which hee saith is interpreted by the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Evidence and Truth And thence concludeth God had given Evidence and Truth which is almost Infallibility to the High Priest But be it Evidence and Truth it selfe that was given or be it but Admonition to the Priest to endeavour to inform himself cleerly and give judgment uprightly yet in that it was given to the High Priest it was given to the Civill Soveraign For such next under God was the High Priest in the the Common-wealth of Israel and is an argument for Evidence and Truth that is for the Ecclesiasticall Supremacy of Civill Soveraigns over their own Subjects against the pretended Power of the Pope These are all the Texts hee bringeth for the Infallibility of the Judgement of the Pope in point of Faith For the Infallibility of his Judgment concerning Manners hee bringeth one Text which is that of Iohn 16. 13. When the Spirit of truth is come hee will lead you into all truth where saith he by all truth is meant at least all truth necessary to salvation But with this mitigation he attributeth no more Infallibility to the Pope than to any man that professeth Christianity and is not to be damned For if any man 〈◊〉 in any point wherein not to erre is necessary to Salvation it is impossible he should be saved for that onely is necessary to Salvation without which to be saved is impossible What points these are I shall declare out of the Scripture in the Chapter following In this place I say no more but that though it were granted the Pope could not possibly teach any error at all yet doth not this entitle him to any Jurisdiction in the Dominions of another Prince unlesse we shall also say a man is obliged in conscience to set on work upon all occasions the best workman even then also when he hath formerly promised his work to another Besides the Text he argueth from Reason thus If the Pope could erre in necessaries then Christ hath not sufficiently provided
us And therefore in the Holy Scripture Remission of Sinne and Salvation from Death and Misery is the same thing as it appears by the words of our Saviour who having cured a man sick of the Palsey by saying Mat. 9. 2. Son be of good cheer thy Sins be forgiven thee and knowing that the Scribes took for blasphemy that a man should pretend to forgive Sins asked them v. 5. whether it were easier to say Thy Sinnes be forgiven thee or Arise and walk signifying thereby that it was all one as to the saving of the sick to say Thy Sins are forgiven and Arise and walk and that he used that form of speech onely to shew he had power to forgive Sins And it is besides evident in reason that since Death and Misery were the punishments of Sin the discharge of Sinne must also be a discharge of Death and Misery that is to say Salvation absolute such as the faithfull are to enjoy after the day of Judgment by the power and favour of Jesus Christ who for that cause is called our SAVIOUR Concerning Particular Salvations such as are understood 1 Sam. 14. 39. as the Lord liveth that saveth Israel that is from their temporary enemies and 2 Sam. 22. 4. Thou art my Saviour thou savest me from violence and 2 Kings 13. 5. God gave the Israelites a Saviour and so they were delivered from the hand of the Assyrians and the like I need say nothing there being neither difficulty nor interest to corrupt the interpretation of texts of that kind But concerning the Generall Salvation hecause it must be in the Kingdome of Heaven there is great difficulty concerning the Place On one side by Kingdome which is an estate ordained by men for their perpetuall security against enemies and want it seemeth that this Salvation should be on Earth For by Salvation is set forth unto us a glorious Reign of our King by Conquest not a safety by Escape and therefore there where we look for Salvation we must look also for Triumph and before Triumph for Victory and before Victory for Battell which cannot well be supposed shall be in Heaven But how good soever this reason may be I will not trust to it without very evident places of Scripture The state of Salvation is described at large Isaiah 33. ver 20 21 22 23 24. Look upon Zion the City of our solemnities thine eyes shall see Ierusalem a quiet habitation a tabernacle that shall not be taken down not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed neither shâ—…ll any of the cords thereof be broken But there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams wherein shall goe no Gally with oares neither shall gallant ship passe â—…hereby For the Lord is our Iudge the Lord is our Lawgiver the Lord is our King he will save us Thy tacklings are loosed they could not well strengthen their mast they could not spread the sail then is the prey of a great spoil divided the lame take the prey And the Inhabitant shall not say I am sicke the people that shall dwell therein shall be forgiven their Iniquity In which words wee have the place from whence Salvation is to proceed Ierusalem a quiet habitation the Eternity of it a tabernacle that shall not be taken down c. The Saviour of it the Lord their Iudge their Lawgiver their King he will save us the Salvation the Lord shall be to them as abroad mote of swift waters c. the condition of their Enemies their tacklings are loose their masts weak the lame shal take the spoil of them The condition of the Saved The Inhabitant shal not say I am sick And lastly all this is comprehended in Forgivenesse of sin The people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity By which â—…t is evident that Salvation shall be on Earth then when God shall reign at the coming again of Christ in Jerusalem and from Jerusalem shall proceed the Salvation of the Gentiles that shall be received into Gods Kingdome as is also more expressely declared by the same Prophet Chap. 65. 20 21. And they that is the Gentiles who had any Jew in bondage shall bring all your brethren for an offering to the Lord out of all nations upon horses and in charets and in litters and upon mules and upon swift beasts to my holy mountain Ierusalem saith the Lord as the Children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessell into the House of the Lord. And I will also take of them for Priests and for Levâ—…tes saith the Lord Whereby it is manifest that the chief seat of Gods Kingdome which is the Place from whence the Salvation of us that were Gentiles shall proceed shall be Jerusalem And the same is also confirmed by our Saviour in his discourse with the woman of Samaria concerning the place of Gods worship to whom he saith Iohn 4. 22. that the Samaritans worshipped they knew not what but the Jews worship what they knew For Salvation is of the Iews ex Iudae is that is begins at the Jews as if he should say you worship God but know not by whom he wil save you as we doe that know it shall be by one of the tribe of Judah a Jew not a Samaritan And therefore also the woman not impertinently answered him again We know the Messias shall come So that which out Saviour saith Salvation is from the Iews is the same that Paul sayes Rom. 1. 16 17. The Gospel is the power of God to Salvation to every one that beleeveth To the Iew first and also to the Greek For therein is the righteousnesse of God revealed from faith to faith from the faith of the Jew to the faith of the Gentile In the like sense the Prophet Ioel describing the day of Judgment chap. 2. 30 31. that God 〈◊〉 shew wonders in heaven and in earth bloud and fire and pillars os smoak The Sun should be turned to darknesse and the Moon into bloud before the great and terrible day of the Lord come he addeth verse 32. and it shall come to passe that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved For in Mount Zion and in Ierusalem shall be Salvation And Obadiah verse 17. saith the same Vpon Mount Zion shall be Deliverance and there shall be holinesse and the house of Iacob shall possesse their possessions that is the possessions of the Heathen which possessions he expresseth more particularly in the following verses by the mount of Esau the Land of the Philistines the fields of Ephraim of Samaria Gilead and the Cities of the South and concludes with these words the Kingdom shall be the Lords All these places are for Salvation and the Kingdome of God after the day of Judgement upon Earth On the other side I have not found any text that can probably be drawn to prove any Ascension of the Saints into Heaven that is to say into