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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A69245	The anatomy of Arminianisme: or The opening of the controuersies lately handled in the Low-Countryes, concerning the doctrine of prouidence, of predestination, of the death of Christ, of nature and grace. By Peter Moulin, pastor of the church at Paris. Carefully translated out of the originall Latine copy; Anatome Arminianismi. English	Du Moulin, Pierre, 1568-1658.	1620 (1620)	STC 7308; ESTC S110983	288,727	496

curse What Predestination is The parts of it That Arminius did not vnderstand what the decree of Predestination is and that he hath vtterly taken away Election I SEeing that by one man sinne entred into the world and death by sinne and all men without exception are borne guilty of the curse it is certaine that that no man can be freed from the curse but by the meere grace and fauour of God This grace he hath reuealed to vs in Christ without whom there is no saluation For he put on our nature that by this meanes of his comming betweene and as it were by this knot man might be ioyned with God and hee suffered death that hee might satisfie for our sinnes and so reconciliation being made wee might be restored to the title and degree of the sonnes of God II. This benefit and sauing grace God doth declare to vs by the Gospell wherein that couenant of free grace whereof Christ is the mediator and foundation is propounded III. By this Gospell eternall life is promised to those that beleeue in Christ For as there is no saluation without Christ so without faith Christ cannot be apprehended nor can we come to the saluation appointed onely for the faithfull For as the Apostle saith Heb. 11 Without faith it is vnpossible to please God I call faith not that vaine trust whereby men sleepe in their vices and their consciences are benumbed while they haue a good hope of the mercy of God but a liuely faith which doth worke by charitie Gal. 5.6 which by that very meanes doth increase loue because it driues away feare IV. This faith man hath not of himselfe neither is it a thing of mans free will but the gift of God and the effect of the holy-Ghost who doth draw men by a powerfull calling and doth seale in mens hearts and deepely impresse in their consciences the promises of God propounded in the Gospell V. All men haue not this faith as the Apostie saith 2. Thes 3. for then all men should be conuerted and saued but onely they whom Paul saith are called by the purpose of God Rom. 8.28 and whom God of his meere * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 good pleasure hath chosen to saluation VI. Faith is giuen by the meer good pleasure of God neither is it giuen to the worthy but it doth make them worthy when it is giuen For God doth not find men good but makes them so neither doth he foreknow any good in man but that which hee himselfe shall doe as hereafter shall more fully be taught VII This eternall and therefore immutable decree of God is called Predestination which is a part of the prouidence of God For prouidence is called Predestination when it doth apply it selfe to the saluation or condemnation of the reasonable creature and when it doth dispense and dispose the meanes by which men come to saluation for that these things are gouerned by the diuine will and that God according to his good pleasure doth giue to some that which he doth deny to others cannot be doubted For though the Scripture were here silent yet reason would cry out that it is not likely that God who doth extend his care to all things is negligent in this thing alone which is the chiefest VIII Furthermore although there be a Predestination among the Angels as Saint Paul witnesseth who 1. Tim. 5.21 calleth the Angels Flect Here we are to deale onely with the predestination of men as that which alone belongs to vs. IX Predestination is therefore the decree by which in the worke of our saluation God hath from eternity determined what hee will doe with euery man Or thus Predestination is the decree of God by which of the corrupted masse of mankinde hee hath decreed to saue certaine men by Christ and iustly to punish the rest for their sinnes X. Of this Predestination there are two parts the one is election the other is reprobation whereof the first doth necessarily lay downe the second For as often as some are chosen out of many the rest are necessarily reprobated and of them that are chosen some are preferred before others XI Of election and of the Elect there is often mention in the Scripture Many are called but few are chosen Math. 20.16 God hath chosen vs in Christ before the foundations of the world were laid Ephes 1.4 The purpose of God according to election doth stand not of workes but of him that calleth Rom. 9.11 There is a remnant according to the election of grace Rom. 11.5 False Christs and false Prophets shall arise and shall shew signes and wonders to seduce if it were possible euen the elect Mark 13.22 XII On the other side that some are reprobates the Scripture doth witnesse 1. Pet. 2.8 Which stumble at the word being disobedient whereunto also they were appointed And Iude v. 4. Certaine men are crept in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who were before of old ordained to this condemnation Hitherto belongs that which is said Reuel 20.15 That there is cast into the lake of fire whosoeuer is not sound written in the booke of life Which booke is nothing else but the Catalogue of the Elect determined by the decree of God XIII We haue Iacob and Esau for a notable example of this difference of whom whilest they were yet shut vp in the wombe before they had done either good or euill God doth pronounce I haue loued lacob I haue hated Esau Rom. 9. Also the two Theeues crucified with Christ Two shall be in a bed the one shall be receiued and the other left Luk. 17.34 Not much vnlike that which happened to Pharaohs Butler and his chiefe Baker who being shut vp in the same prison the one was brought forth to honour the other to punishment XIV An example of this difference God hath shewed not onely in Abraham but also in his stocke which for no desert of theirs hee preferred before other Nations When the most high diuided to the Nations their inheritance when he seperated the sonnes of Adam the Londs portion was his people Iacob was the lot of his inheritance Deut. 32. And least any one should suppose that that was done for the vertue of that people fore-seene he thus speaketh to his people Vnderstand therefore that the Lord thy God giueth thee not this good Land to possesse it for thy righteousnesse for thou art a stiffe-necked people Deut. 9.6 XV. And although Predestination doth comprehend reprobation seeing that it is certaine that the wicked are appointed to a certaine end and to their deserued punishments yet the Apostle by the word Predestination doth vnderstand onely Election as Rom. 8. Those that he predestinated he called c. And Ephes 1.5 Hauing predestinated vs to the adoption of children Thomas imitating this manner of speaking doth thus define Predestination 1. Part. Sum. Quest 23. Art 2. Predestination is the preparation to grace in the present and to glory in the world to come XVI But when

the end that is saluation then also hee will equally suggest vnto them the meanes to the end to wit the word faith and the spirit But he doth not suggest these things equally to all neither can any thing be imagined more absurd then that God should equally will that all particular men should beleeue and be saued and yet suggest to some men the meanes that are congruent and fit and will certainely profit but to others meanes that are not congruent nor fit and that certainely will not profit which yet is the doctrine of Arminius XXVII And in setting downe the causes of the greater loue of God towards some one nation and his lesse loue towards some other it cannot be said how coldly they deale Sometimes they make the disposition of the one which is better then the other to be the cause which we deny For Rome or Corinth or Ephesus were not more prone to piety a little before the light of the Gospell was brought to them then they were some ages before Yea at that time prodigious lust riot pride and rapine had so immeasurably increased that they could goe no further At the same time there were many nations euen stupid with their barbarous lewdnesse and seemed more worthy of pitty if the heauenly calling were gouerned by mans reason and not by the secret purpose of God Surely before the comming of Saint Paul God had much people at Corinth as God himselfe saith Acts 18.10 and that among the most foule and common lusts of that most impure citie For which elects sake God in his appointed time sent to Corinth such an excellent Apostle so cleere a trumpet of the Gospell whose preaching and miracles he vsed to the conuersion of them who belonged to his election XXVIII Finally seeing that there is no man who by himselfe and of his owne nature is not vndisposed to faith and conuersion no man that is not dead in sinne no man that is not vnable to follow God calling He is ridiculous who in the worke of regeneration and spirituall resurrection doth seeke for dispositions and inclinations to life among the dead and who doth faigne that God hath a will of sauing vs which doth follow mans free-will and doth depend on it XXIX But to make the fault of their ancestors to be cause of this and to thinke that God therefore would not haue his Gospell to be preached to this nation because their ancestors a thousand or two thousand yeers before refused the grace of God is absurd and nothing to the purpose For the Romanes and Corinthians that liued in the time of the Apostle Paul were sprung of the same ancestors which the Romanes and Corinthians were which liued thirty or forty yeeres before the preaching of Saint Paul Nor is it equall that the ofspring should be punished for the sinnes of their ancestors The sonne shall not beare the iniquity of the father Ezechiel 18. Nor doth the law extend the visitation of the fathers vpon the children beyond the third and fourth generation although also there it is spoken of children that shall walke in the steppes of their fathers and doe imitate their fathers wickednesse Further also by warres by colonies and companies by banishments and by marriages there is a maruailous permixtion and mingling together of mankinde and in one and the same nation there are some who haue proceeded from other ancestors whose manners were diuers Yea one and the same man hath proceeded from ancestors whereof some haue refused the grace of God and some haue not Of all which if regard is to be had if God will haue his Gospell preached or not preached to a nation according as their ancestors haue behaued themselues it will be impossible but that he must be distracted with diuers and contrary thoughts and that his wisedome must be bound with ridiculous bonds and contrary purposes XXX Yet the Arminians doe obstinately persist in their opinion and although they know that in all ages and see that in this our age the name of Christ is vnknowne to many nations yet they doe harden their minde and doe contend that God would haue the Gospell to be preached to all Arnoldus Page 97. doth deny that it may be said that God would not haue the Gospell to be preached to all And Page 397. It is true indeede saith he that the Gospell is not euery where preached to all yet it doth not thence follow that God will not bring all men to faith but this happeneth because by their owne affected malice and peruersity they make themselues vnworthy of that Grace Which words doe seeme to mee to imply a contradiction for if the cause why the Gospell is not preached to a nation is the wickednesse and prauity of it it is playne that God will not haue his Gospell preached to that nation because by this punishment he would reuenge the stubbornnesse and obstinacy of it And to think that any punishments are inflicted on any nations God being vnwilling especially in the worke of our saluation is to accuse God of cruell negligence and to desire to put out the eyes of his prouidence Also wee haue largely taught that all men are vnworthy and that God so dispensing the Gospell is preached to the most vnworthy and to the worst nations According to that Rom. 10.20 I was found of them that sought me not I was made manifest to them that asked not after me XXXI Being driuen therfore from hence they haue deuised another thing then which nothing is more weake They say that it cannot be said that God is vnwilling that the Gospell should be preached to all nations but that many nations sit in darkenesse because there are wanting those who wil preach to them and that this commeth to passe because the zeale of Christians doth grow cold and because of the sloathfulnesse of the pastors of the Church who will not goe thither to preach But if all Christians were affected as it is meete they should and were touched with a zeale of the house of God the preaching of the Gospell would be wanting to no people I answere that I am not hee who will affirme that Christians are altogether faultlesse in this thing Yet notwithstanding it cannot be doubted but that these things are gouerned by the counsell and prouidence of God For if God would haue brought the light of the Gospell to the people of America who haue lyen for many ages in the thicke night of ignorance be had not suffered them for so many ages to be vnknowne to the Christian world For how can they be accused for not preaching the Gospell to the Americans who did not know that there were any such people or that that prat of the earth was inhabited Neither is it credible that God can be disappointed of his intent and of his desire of sauing any Nation by the negligence of some Ministers Nor is it equall that enumerable people should for euer beare the punishment

of others negligence Also if God would haue his Gospell preached to people who are diuided from vs in land climate and language he would haue infused into some of vs the gift of tongues that they might be vnderstood by the Barbarians But at this day the Americans are instructed in Popery in the Spanish tongue to the learning of which they are compelled by force therefore they haue vnwillingly receiued religion with the language so that to know Christ is to them a kinde of punishment and a part of their bondage which the calling of God doth abhorre But it is an easie thing for these inuouators while in this great peace and quietnesse they make worke for themselues and others to talke of these things in corners who if they spoke seriously would forthwith in companies sayle into America or Florida or would goe to the inhabitants of the South continent and would haue instructed them in the faith of Christ and would not being forgetfull of the crosse of Christ and being ouertaken with the itching of their owne wit haue made so many troubles nor haue torne the bowels of their owne Church XXXII But it is wont to be disputed whether the Apostles preached to all men Surely it doth not seeme to me to be likely that the Apostles passed beyond the Aequinoctiall into the inmost parts of Affricke or that they came into America or any other part of the world which is vnknowne The short life of the Apostles was not sufficient for that worke neither was the way knowne to these places also some prints and signes of Christianity would be extant there Saint Paul whose iournyes and courses were well knowne had falsely said that hee had laboured more then all the Apostles 1 Cor. 5.11 if the other Apostles had gone to the Antipodes or to the Articke and Antarticke Pole The memory of all ages doth witnesse that there hath beene more Heathens then Christians and that the Christian Church where it was most flourishing scarce possessed the tithe or tenth part of the earth The Apostles indeede were commanded to preach the Gospell to euery creature but this commandement doth not belong to the Apostles alone but also to their successors who haue or shall carry this lampe of the Gospell deliuered to them by their predecessors through the whole world For the Gospell must be preached to all nations yet not together and at the same time but successiuely If that speach Psal 19. Their sound went through the whole earth be applyed to the preachers of the Gospell yet it will not necessarily follow that this must be at once and at the same moment rather then by parts and successiuely God as it were viewing and going about the Nations vntill there shall be none to whom the doctrine of saluation hath not at length come no otherwise then the Sun in the Aequinoctiall day doth not enlighten the whole Globe of the earth at one time but by parts vntill he hath finished his course For then shall the end of the world be neare when the Gospell hath come to all people as Christ himselfe witnesseth Mat. 24.14 And the Gospell of the kingdome shall be preached in all the world for a witnesse vnto all Nations and then shall the end be which words of our Sauiour doe cut this knot for it is manifest that in the time of the Apostles the Gospell was not preached to all Nations because at that time the end was not neare XXXIII But say you Saint Paul Col. 1.23 doth say that the Gospell was preached to euery creature which is vnder heauen I answere The Apostles vseth a kinde of speech vsuall in the Scriptures which by all that are vnder heauen doe not vnderstand all and euery particular creature absolutely and without exception but very many of them So Acts 2.3 And there were dwelling at Ierusalem Iewes out of euery nation vnder heauen For what were there some out of America or out of the Molucoes or the South contenent the names of which places were not then knowne much lesse that they should come from thence to Ierusalem So Eccles 4.15 I saw all the liuing which walke vnder the sunne When yet Salomon saw onely a little part of the earth See also Ezech. 31.6 and 13. and Chap. 32.4 and you shall know that the word all is not frequently so taken that none is excepted but that it is very oftentimes vsed for many XXXIV That I may not say many things In this question whether God doth equally desire the saluation of all men and whether he doth loue all men with an equall loue the truth is so euident that the Arminians sometimes are ashamed of themselues and vnawares doe come to our side Arminius against Perkins p. 2.4 hath these words If any one by the helpe of peculiar grace hath apprehended grace offred it is thence manifest that God doth loue him with a greater loue then he doth another to whom he hath only made his grace common but hath denied his peculiar grace Arnoldus pag. 380. doth confesse that Arminius doth acknowledge that the meanes to faith are not sufficiently offered to all men all men therefore are not loued alike Neither is any thing so frequent with the Arminians as to say that God calleth some men in a congruent and fit time and manner by which they that are called doe certainly infallibly follow him calling De vocatione qua sit pro vt Drus mouit esse congruum Vide Arno. pag. 73. c et Arminan Perk. pag. 245. but some he calleth by an incongruent and vnfit meanes by which they that are called doe neuer obey God calling But it is no doubt but that they to whom peculiar grace is giuen are more loued then they to whom it is denied as also they to whom sufficient grace for faith is giuen are more loued then they to whom it is not giuen they who are called by a meanes which God knoweth to be congruent and which will certainly profit are more loued then they whom God calleth by an incongruent and which he knoweth will neuer profit Arminius against Perkins pa. 16. hath these words God by a sure decree determined not to giue faith and repentance to some men to wit by yeelding them effectuall grace by which they would certainly beleeue and be conuerted And it is the constant opinion of the Arminians that God doth giue that effectuall grace to all which may be effectuall in act without which no man beleeueth nor no man is saued and that God doth giue but to few that grace whereby he giues not onely to be able but also to will to desire to be conuerted and beleeue God therefore doth more desire the saluation of these men then of others to whom hee doth not vouchsafe this benefit XXXV Notable aboue the rest are the words of Greuinchouius p. 342. Sometimes saith he he doth sooner helpe by his grace greater sinners then lesser for who shall prescribe