which they might gather themselues to the fould of Christ For if they had not beene giuen to Christ vntill they had ioyned themselues to Christ by faith they had giuen themselues to Christ before God had giuen them to Christ XXXI In the meane time it is to be obserued with what fidelity these sectaries doe deale here For they will haue God to haue chosen those that beleeue Neither doe we deny it so that by beleeuers those be vnderstood who are to beleeue by the gift of God and those to whom God hath decreed to giue faith For we say that faith is considered as a thing to be performed and not as a thing present and already performed and when wee speake of Election we say that beleeuers are called not in respect of present condition but of that to come This thing although it be agreeable to reason and to the word of God yet it is reiected by these sectaries as absurd And yet the same men a little after doe vse the same thing and yeeld to our part For they will haue that speech I giue my life for my sheepe to be taken in respect not of the present condition but of the future and that they are called sheepe because they shall gather themselues to the fould of Christ There is no cause therfore why they should so much be moued when we say that beleeuers are elected not in respect of the present or past but of the future condition and by the beholding of that faith by which by the gift of God they are to come to saluation That which pleaseth them when themselues say it ought not to displease them when it is vsed by vs Especially seeing the Scripture doth neuer expresly say that beleeuers are elected but doth cleerely pronounce that Christ died for his sheepe and for the Church XXXII For these causes the holy Scriptures which doth sometimes say that Christ died for all in that sence which I haue said doth oftentimes shorten and restraine that generall speech laying that the blood of Christ was shed for many Matth. 26.28 And that the sonne of man came that he might giue his life a redemption for many And that he was offered once for the sinnes of many Heb. 9.28 XXXIII And if you would fetch the matter from the beginning and from the couenant which God made with Adam you shall finde that this couenant doth belong onely to them alone whose heele the Serpent bruiseth and whom hee hurteth with a light wound and therefore onely to the faithfull and the elect for the rest the serpent infecteth with his poison killeth them with his biting and taketh them away with a deadly wound XXXIV And if Christ by his death obtained reconciliation for Cain Pharaoh Iudas c. It must needs be that Christ redeemed them But he hath not redeemed them because they alway doe and shall remaine captiue Nor is it credible that Christ would pay the price of redemption for them whom he knew were neuer to be freed or that Sathan could take away those soules redeemed by Christ with so great a price XXXV Saint Paul 2 Cor. 5.20 saith That God was in Christ reconciling the world vnto himselfe If by the world are vnderstood all and seuerall men without exception it must be beleeued that not onely reconciliation was obtained for all and seuerall men but also that they are reconciled in act and that Iudas and Pharaoh were sometimes among the friends of God which thing Arminius himselfe doth not dare to say XXXVI Finally if Christ hath obtained reconciliation for all men euen for them who are without the couenant then no man shall be borne without the couenant of Christ and that will be false which Saint Paul saith Ephes 2.3 where speaking of the condition in which we are borne he saith that by nature we are the children of wrath that is borne subiect to the curse For how can any one be borne subiect to the curse if reconciliation is obtained with God for all men without exception CHAP. XXIX The obiections of the Arminians are dissolued by which they endeauour to maintaine and confirme the obtaining of saluation for all men THE Arminians make many obiections against these things but preuaile nothing First they flourish with places of Scripture and then they handle the matter with other reasons I. They bring that place of Saint Iohn Chaper 3. Verse 16. Where God is said to haue so loued the world that he gaue his Sonne which place wee haue already taught doth hurt Arminius and that the sending of the same is in the following words restrained to the beleeuers alone Whence it is manifest that Christ was not sent but to saue them who were to beleeue I might say that the world is here taken for the faithfull alone as Iohn 6.33 and 1 Tim. 3.16 and Hâ—b 2.5 But although we grant that by the world all mankinde are contained in the whole yet it will not thence follow that Christ purchased saluation for all and particular men for the obtaining of the saluation of some men doth abundantly testifie that mankinde is loued by God II And it is worth the labour to know what meaning the Arminians apply to Christ and what according to the Arminians is the sense of these words of Christ God so loued the world that he gaue his onely begoâ—ten Sonne that whosoeuer beleeueth in him should not perish but haue euerlasting life According to the doctrine of Arminius this must be the sense of these words God so loued all mankinde with a loue wherewith he hath not willed their saluation that he decreed to send his sonne before he thought of sauing man to purchase for himselfe the power of sauing man and afterward he decreed to giue euery man power of beleeuing if he himselfe would that so he might haue eternall life A monster of Doctrine and a new Gospell III. They assault vs also with the words of Saint Iohn 1 Epist 2. Chap. 2. v. where Christ is said to be the propitiation for the sinnes of the whole world And out of the first Chapter of Saint Iohn where hee is called the Lambe taking away the sins of the world But by these they effect nothing for this is said because in the whole world no mans sinnes are remitted but by Christ In the same sense that 1 Cor. 15.22 Saint Paul saith In Christ all men are made aliue because no man is made aliue but by him So hee that should say that Hypocrates taught all Graecia and Italy the art of Physicke did not say that all and seuerall men of Graecia and Italy learned Physicke of him but that no man learned Physicke but from him For it is manifest that Christ hath not taken away the sinnes of all and seuerall men because very many remaine in sinne and are condemned for their sinnes IV. They doe colourably boast of that place 1 Tim. 2.4 God would haue all men to be saued and come to the
againe their negligence can hurt none but those whom God will absolutely destroy and who cannot be saued The Pelagians obiected the same things to Saint Austin Lib. de bono perseu Chap. 14. August de bono perseu cap. 14. â—iunt praedestinationis definitionem vtilitati praeâ—â—catronis aduersam Whereunto wee haue already largely answered For the same reasons which stirre vp the carefulnesse of the hearers to repentance and good workes are also of power to stirre vp pastors diligently to vndergo their office and to prick forward their hearers to repentance For although the elect cannot perish yet wee know that God doth bring the elect to saluation by the word and sacraments and by the ministery of the Gospell whose decree our obedience must serue And although the minister of the word dealing perfunctoriously and carelesly cannot cause that he that is elected should perish yet hee hurts himselfe and shall beare the punishment of that negligence in the day of iudgement Therefore although he did not hurt others yet hee should very much wrong himselfe Saint Paul a most vehement maintainer of election doth professe that he endureth all things for the elect that they may obtaine saluation 2. Tim. 2.10 XXXVIII As concerning the Reprobates if this reason of Arminius preuaile by the like reason we shall neyther eate nor drinke nor shall parents be bound to be carefull of the health of their children because this negligence can hurt none but them whom God will haue to perish who by his decree hath set sure bounds to the life of euery particular person which cannot be pulled backe nor passed ouer And if it were manifest to the pastors which of their flocke were Reprobates then there were some colour for the doubting whether they ought to be carefull for the saluation of them that are Reprobates But seeing that this is vnknowne to them they ought to scatter the seede of the word euery where and leaue the euent to God XXXIX Arnoldus Page 307. saith that which in my iudgement is exceeding bad If any one saith he should teach that God himselfe hath precisely appointed to nourish one for some time in this life and that he would so prouide the bread where with he should be nourished that he could not but haue it aboundantly I grant that such a one neede not be warned that hee should be carefull how to prouide himselfe bread But I affirme that such an one needes and ought to be warned to prepare himselfe bread because the same God who doth promise bread and hath decreed to giue it doth also declare in his word that he will giue this bread to our labour and by the meanes of our carefulnesse Therefore he that will giue the bread doth also giue strength will and industry whereby this bread should be prepared So that Arnoldus yeelds that to himselfe which no man in his right sense would yeeld to him XL. Furthermore the certainty of Election may be taken two manner of waies eyther for the immutability of the decree of God or for that certaine perswasion whereby any one doth beleeue that he is elected Of the former kinde of certainty it is onely spoken here the latter doth require a peculiar treatise But by the way we say that we beleeue none of those things which Arnoldus doth falsely attribute to vs whereof this is one that all men are bound to beleeue that they are elected to eternall life Nay we teach that he that will not beleeue in Christ and repent is bound to beleeue that saluation gotten by the death of Christ doth not pertaine to him Of the same stampe is that calumny when he saith that we command wicked men to be secure as they that can lose saluation by no euill deedes Fie on that abhominable doctrine To say I am elected therefore I may be wicked is the speech of a reprobate man who will therefore be wicked because God is good By this meanes that loue wherewith God in Christ hath loued vs which is the most vehement incitation to loue God is turned into a pillow on which prophane security may sleepe Whosoeuer God hath elected he hath giuen him or will giue him the holy-Ghost by which he abstaineth from so prophane a thought So him whom hee hath appointed to life he hath appointed also to foode and to breathing He were ridiculous who should say if God hath decreed that I should liue till I am eighty yeeres old what neede I eate seeing it cannot be but I must liue so long Surely the destruction of such a man is neere for God hath determined to vse this his sencelesse peeuishnesse to punish him XLI In the meane while wee admonish that the certainty of the election of seuerall persons is carefully to be distinguished from that certainty whereby seuerall men beleeue themselues to be elected The former is the certainty of the decree the latter is the certainty of faith For if Arminius could proue that piety and the endeauour of good workes is extinguished by the perswasion of election yet it would not thence follow that the decree of God concerning the election of particular persons is not certaine and precise But it would onely follow that this decree is not to be beleeued by vs to be certaine Whence it appeares how ill Arminius and Arnoldus doe reason who thereby inferre that the decree of God concerning the election of particular persons is not absolute nor precise because the confidence of election doth make some men more negligent to the workes of piety XLII Adde to these those things which we haue laid downe in the second chapter where we haue shewed how many waies the doctrine concerning election is profitable to good manners and to the discipline of piety which notwithstanding wee would haue thus to be taken not that euery one is to expect a reuelation of his election but the Gospell is to be heard and this promise whereby God doth promise life to them that beleeue is throughly to be fastned in our minde and to be embraced with our whole heart By which perswasion whosoeuer shall feele himselfe to be liuely affected with the loue of God and to be driuen to repentance shall easily gather that he is elected and that the thing promised in the Gospell doth belong to him For although election is in nature before faith and repentance as the cause from whence these vertues flow yet faith and repentance is better knowne to vs and we are alwaies to proceede from the things that best are knowne whence it commeth to passe that many times we goe to the cause by the effects which order in the schooles is called Resolutiuus XLIII And if we would imitate Arminius it were an easie thing to lay these things vpon him and to teach how many waies his doctrine doth offend against the wisedome and goodnesse of God and therefore also against his iustice How many waies occasion may thence be taken either of distrust or of
frowardnesse by what meanes it doth blow vp a man while he burst and lift him vp on high that it might throw him downe headlong For one that is filled with Armianisme may say thus God indeede is willing to saue me but he may be disappointed of his will hee may be defrauded of his naturall defires which are farre the best Those whom God will saue by his Antecedent will hee will destroy by his Consequent will Also his election doth rest on the fore-seeing of mans will I were a miserable man if my saluation depended vpon so vnstable a thing The same man will also reason thus God giueth to all men sufficient grace but hee hath not manifested Christ to all men therefore there is some grace sufficient without the knowledge of Christ Also the same man will easily beleeue that God doth mocke men for he hath learned in the schoole of Arminius that God doth seriously desire intend the saluation of all and singular men and yet that neuerthelesse he doth call very many by a meanes that is not congruent that is by a meanes in a time and measure which is not apt nor fit by which meanes whosoeuer is called doth neuer follow God calling But what doe I know whether he calleth by a congruent and agreeable meanes or no Adde also these famous opinions that vnregenerate men doe good workes that they are meeke thirsting after and doing the will of the Father that faith is partly from grace and partly from free-will Nay what that any maintainer of the sect of Arminius shall dare to set lawes to God himselfe and to say that God is bound to giue to all men power of beleeuing And that the iustice of God doth require that he may giue to man that which is his owne and that man himselfe may determine and open his owne heart to receiue the word of God O your fidelity Are these your famous incitations to holinesse of life Doth Arminius traine vp men to piety by these instructions Surely if any one is stirred vp to good workes by these things hee is thereby the more corrupted For God had rather haue sinnes with repentance then righteousnesse with pride God will not stirre vp men to repentance with the losse eyther of our faith or his glory Nor are we onely to doe our endeauour that men be stirred vp to repentance but we must also see that it be done by meanes that are conuenient and not contumelious against God CHAP. XXV Whether Christ be the cause and foundation of Election I. WE say that no man is saued but by and for Christ and that Christ is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and price of our redemption the foundation and meritorious cause of our saluation But we doe not say that he is the cause of election or the cause why of two considered in the corrupted masse one is preferred before another There are not wanting examples of most wicked men to one whereof God so dispensing the Gospell hath beene preached whence it came to passe that he was conuerted and did beleeue but to the other the Gospell hath not beene preached The Scripture doth not say that the death of Christ is the cause of this but doth fetch the cause from the good pleasure of God who hath mercy on whom he will For the loue of the father doth alwaies goe before the mediation of the sonne seeing that the loue of the father to the world was the cause why he sent his sonne Yea truely seeing Christ himselfe as he is man is elected and the head of the elect hee cannot be the foundation and cause of election For as hee is the head of men as he is a man so is he the head of them that are predestinated as he is a man predestinated to so great honour which came to him by the meere grace of God II. Wherefore the Apostle calleth Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the price of our redemption and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the propitiation Coloss 1. Rom. 3. but he doth not say that he is the cause why some men should be elected rather then others III. Reason it selfe doth consent For as the recouery of the sicke-man doth in the intention alwaies goe before the vsing of the Phisitian so it must needes be that in the minde of God the thought of sauing men was not in time but in order before the thought of sending the Sauiour IV. Adde to these that the mediation and redemption of Christ is an action whereby the iustice of God is satisfied which is not signified by the word Election for it is one thing to be a mediator and another thing to be the cause of Election or of the preferring of one before another in the secret counsell of God Whence it is that Christ is the meritorious cause of our saluation but not of our election which is as much as if I should say that Christ is the foundation and cause of the execution of the decree of Election but not the cause of Election it selfe V. It is of no small moment that Christ Iohn 15.13 saith That he layeth downe his life for his friends chap. 10. v. 11. he calleth himselfe the good shepheard that layeth downe his life for his sheepe And if Christ be dead for his friends and for his sheepe it must needs be that when he died for them he did consider them as being already friends and sheepe although many of them were not then called as Christ himselfe doth testifie who in the sixteenth verse of the same chapter doth call those also his sheepe who were not yet conuerted And if Christ dying for vs considered vs as his friends and sheepe it is plaine that before the death of Christ there was already destinction made betweene his friends and enemies betweene the sheep and goates and therefore that the decree of Election was in order before the death of Christ and that the opinion of Arminius is to be hissed out as an opinion subuerting the Gospell whereby hee thinkes that the election had not place when Christ died Certainly he that died for his sheepe died for the elect and not for them who were to be elected after hee was dead By these things it is plaine that by those friends and sheepe for which Christ died are not vnderstood those onely who loue God and follow Christ but all those whom God loueth and whose saluation hee decreed for whom Christ died when they did not yet loue God and when they were enemies to him And therefore they are called enemies Rom. 5.10 because they did not loue God but yet euen then they were highly loued by God and were appointged to saluation in Christ For in a diuers respect they were both friends and enemies sheepe and goates Friends because God loued them enemies because they did not yet loue God VI. Neither is iniurie done to Christ if the loue of the Father and his good pleasure be said to goe in order
Preâ—estination although some abuse it to curiosity and impiety And whereto it is profitable THere are some who being weary of the contentions which proceede from the doctrine of Prouidence and Predestination doe thinke that it is most safe for the peace of the Church and quiet of conscience not to touch these questions nor to speake any words of them to the people to be suggested into them seeing that by these speeches scruples are fastned in mens mindes doubtings are bred and the faith of the weake is shaken Let the people be taught say they not what God doth or decreeth but what he would haue to be done by vs let the doctrine of good Workes be instilled into their minds and the secrets of Election and Reprobation left to God Surely this speech sauoureth more of honesty then truth For these men while they make shew of the study of piety and loue of concord they doe secretly accuse Christ and his Apostles of imprudency and indiscretion because they so often beate vpon the doctrine of Election in the new Testament And while they are held with a preposterous religion they are the authors that the Pastours of the Church cut away a portion from the word of God neither doe they propound to the people the intire Doctrine of the Gospell And whilest in a voluntary ignorance they affect the praise of modesty they require discretion in God himselfe And what shall we say to this that without this Doctrine due honour cannot be giuen to God nor our faith made stable For by the Doctrine of Predestination that immeasurable heape of the goodnesse and loue of God towards vs by which he loued vs and respected vs before the foundations of the world were laid doth enter into our mindes Also whatsouer light or grace God doth measure to vs is acknowledged to be a riuer flowing from that eternall loue By this doctrine mans merits doe fall to the ground and the imaginary faculty of free-will in things pertaining to saluation doth vanish away The confidence of our saluation will also stagger vnlesse it be vpholden by the immutable decree of God and not by mans free-will This doctrine also is a great lightning of our sorrowes and mittigation of all bitternesse while we consider that all things euen those that are most grieuous turne to the good of them who are called by the purpose of God Neither is there any more forcible instigation to good workes then the acknowledgement of that eternall loue wherewith God in Christ hath loued vs before all worlds Finally by this doctrine we are taught to search into our selues and to try our owne consciences to finde in vs and to stirre vp the testimonies of our election knowing that our owne endeauour and care ought to further the election of God and that by the way of hell that is by impenitency and vnbeliefe it is impossible to come to heauen This Doctrine therefore the Scripture being our guide may profitably be propounded so we keepe mediocrity betweene affected ignorance and rash curiosity and follow such a moderation that while we doe auoide things vnlawfull we doe not abstaine from those that are lawfull In this worke we haue to doe with men which offend both wayes and doe runne vpon either extremity For if any one Arminius doth breake into the secrets of God and doth with a scrupulous curiosity cut into peeces the decree of Election and yet the same man doth extenuate the whole doctrine of Election as a thing which if it were not knowne Gods loue by it would not be diminished towards vs nor any iniury done to his grace They which denie this election saith he denie that which is true In Perkin Pag. 84. but without any wrong to the grace or mercy of God CHAP. III. What the prouidence of God is How farre it extends That God is not the author of sinne What permission is And what blinding and hardening is I. PRouidence is a diuine vertue the gouernesse of all things by which God hath fore-knowne and fore-ordained from eternity both the ends of all things and the meanes tending to those ends II. All things being present to God there is nothing which from eternity he hath not foreseene But whether hee hath made a peculiar decree for all seuerall euents it may be doubted For it doth not seeme likely that God from eternity hath decreed how many eares of Corne shall grow in the Neapolitan or any other field or how many shreds hang on the torne beggars coate or couering Because these things haue no respect of good or euill neither doe they adde to the glory of God or protection of the world Summ Theol. 2 part Qu. 23 Art 7. And therefore Thomas is of opinion That by the decree of God the number of men is determined but not the number of Gnats or Wormes Not that those little things doe escape rhe knowledge of God or that God cannot extend his prouidence to them but because it doth not seem conuenient to his so great wisdome to decree any thing which doth adde nothing to his glory or to the protection of the vniuerse Surely God hath from eternity fore-knowne all things euen those that are least But hee hath onely pre-ordained and decreed those things which haue in them some matter of good and whereby the glory of God is made more illustrious or the world more perfect III. The will of God cannot bee resisted Rom. 9.20 God speaketh of himselfe Esay 46.10 My Counsell shall stand and I will doe all my pleasure And Saint Paul Ephes 1. God hath made all things according to the purpose of his Will This doth not please Arminius For he in his booke against Perkins the 60. page is of opinion that God may make frustrate that particular end which hee hath propounded to himse fe and page 198. doth thinke that the antecedent will of God may be resisted But how truely we shall hereafter see IV. God is in no wise the author or instigator of sin Psal 5.5 Ps 45.8 For God is not onely iust but also iustice it selfe And it is as impossible that hee who is iustice it selfe should sinne or be the author of sinne as that whitenesse should blacke the wall or heate make one cold Neither doth God onely doe the thing that is iust but therefore the thing is iust because God doeth it And surely that idle deuise of some is to be hissed out who say that God though he doth enforce men to sinne yet himselfe doth not sin because there is no sin where there is no law and God is bound by no laws I confesse indeed that God is obnoxious to no Law And yet it is certaine that hee can doe nothing that is contrary to his owne Nature God cannot lie because hee is truth it selfe God cannot sinne because he is perfect righteousnesse it selfe These speeches that sinne is committed eyther by Gods procuring or furthering are altogether to be rooted out of diuinity
V. Man by his owne fault hath brought destruction to himselfe neither can the fall of man be imputed to God Thy destruction O Israell is from thy selfe but in mee is thy helpe Hosea 12.9.10 As in the generation of the Infant the sunne and man doe worke together yet if a monster be generated it is not ascribed to the sunne but to man For therefore is the monster bred because through the defect of the organs or the euill affection of the matter the vniuersall agent cause is withdrawne from the accustomed course Euen so to humane actions God and mans will doe concurre yet if any euill bee in the action it ought not to be ascribed to God but to the disposition of mans will VI. And yet the Scripture doth sometimes vse those phrases of speech which doe yeeld occasion to the prophane of imputing their sinnes to God as being committed by his will and incitation It is well knowne with how great wickednesse the sonnes of Iacob moued with enuy sold their brother Ioseph Of this fact Ioseph himselfe thus speaketh Genes â—0 Yee indeede thought euill against mee but God meant it vnto good that hee might saue much people aliue As if GOD had beene the authour of this fact The Scripture saith of the sonnes of Samuel that they did not obey their fathers admonitions because God would slay them 1. Samuel 2.25 And 1. King 2. the malignant spirit sets himselfe before the tribunall of God and offers to God his seruice to deceiue the Prophets To whom God said Thou shalt deceiue and thou shalt preuaile Goe forth and doe so Shemei curseth Dauid with foule imprecations 2. Samuel 26. which Dauid receiues as done by the incitation of God Let him curse saith hee for God hath said vnto him Curse Dauid Very grieuous calamities followed Dauids adultery with Bathsheba and his murther of Vrias by the rebellion of his sonne Absalon who droue his father from his kingdome and openly abused his wiues Nathan sent to Dauid from God doth declare how these things came to passe in these wordes Thou didst this secretly but I will doe these things before all Israell 2. Sam. 12. Satan afflicted Iob the Chaldees steale away his goods what saith this seruant of God to these things The Lord saith hee hath giuen and the Lord hath taken away Blessed be the name of the Lord. In the fourth Chapter of the Acts Saint Peter saith thus Against thy holy childe Iesus whom thou hast annointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate and the Gentiles and the people of Israell are assembled together to doe whatsoeuer thy hand and thy counsell haue determined before to bee done Saint Paule in his first chapter of the Epistle of the Romans speaking of the people that were worshippers of Idols and were giuen ouer to all wickednesse saith that God gaue them vp to vile and wicked affections that they might doe these enormious things God himselfe doth witnesse Exod. 10. Rom. 9. That he hardned Pharaohs hart Finally who doth not tremble at these words of God which are set downe in the sixt Chap. of Esay Make the hart of this people fat and make their eares heauy and shut their eyes Least they see with their eyes and heare with their eares and vnderstand with their hearts and so conuert and be healed Least any prophane person should abuse these things to the vnloosing of the claspe of intemperancy and least any whose heart is hardned against the word of God should impute the hardnesse of it to God who cannot be resisted As that yong man in Plautus In â—ulularia thus excusing himselfe Deus mihi impulsor fuit God was an incitor to me it was he drew mee to her therefore some things are to be set downe wherby this question may be cleered and the truth may be brought out of this darkenesse VII Before all other things wee admonish that the middle way be kept betweene the two extreames One whereof is to make God the authour of sinne the other is to assigne any thing to be done God being vnwilling ignorant or not regarding as if sitting in a watch-tower he did expect casuall euents depending vpon chance or vpon mans pleasure Let him runne into neither of these who would acknowledge the prouidence of God without damage of his iustice not fathering his sinnes vpon him and would not call in ignorance or neglect of things in God for the defence of his iustice VIII First therefore it must be graunted that sinne is not committed without Gods permission Neither ought this word of permitting offend any one as if it derogated from the care and prouidence of God seeing Saint Paul himselfe in the 14. chapter of the Acts doth vse this word where he saith to the men of Lycaonia God in times past * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 suffered all nations to walke in their owne wayes therefore God suffered sinne To permit sinne is not to hinder it when thou canst thence it comes to passe that there are so many meanes of permitting sinne as of hindring it God doth hinder sinne two manner of wayes either by his Iustice or by his Power By his Iustice he hindereth sinne by commanding by forbidding by admonishing by threatning and by promising By his power he doth hinder it when he doth take away ability or remoue the occasion of sinning or by the efficacy of his spirit doth change and encline to piety our wils that are prone to sin The former is a morall impediment the latter a naturall or euen a supernaturall According to these meanes of hindering sinne the meanes of permitting it are also diuers For God doth permit sinne either by vnloosing the Law and giuing liberty of sinning or by not drawing away the ability of sinning which might hinder men from sinning in act After the former manner God doth neuer permit sinne after the latter manner he doth permit it which he doth in not hindring that man should assay it and in not giuing a certaine succour and measure of his grace which if it were present the sinne might be preuented IX This permission is a certaine act of the diuine will seeing it is voluntary for God doth nothing vnwitting or vnwilling God therefore permits sinne because he will permit it neither had he permitted it if it had not beene good that it should be permitted for if there were not euill it would not be known what is good euen as we should not know what light were vnlesse there were a night neither had his iustice whereby he punisheth nor his mercy whereby he pardoneth beene made knowne nor his wisedome whereby he can draw good out of euill nor his infinite loue whereby hee sent his sonne into the world that he might die for vs not that God doth stand in neede of our wickednesse to illustrate his glory but because otherwise man could not come to that full felicity to which hee was created For God cannot be perfectly knowne and therefore not
he may fulfill what is commanded for man himselfe is the cause of his owne impotency and inability neither is God bound to giue those powers to man which he lost by his owne fault He which is in debt doth not owe the lesse because hee hath consumed his estate neither doth that creditor deale vniustly which requireth his debt of the Bankerupt because he doth not consider him as a poore man but as a debtor Arminius therefore is deceiued in reasoning thus against Perkins Hee that will denie to any one saith he necessary helpe to performe the act of Faith he doth desire that such a one should not beleeue Certainely he that will not giue money to a poore man which is falne into pouertie by his owne fault doth not therefore desire he should be poore nor is delighted with his pouerty Nor is that any better which he doth adde As it cannot bee saide saith hee that God is willing that creature should liue to whom hee doth deny the act of his preseruation So also it cannot be saide that God is willing that that action should he performed by any one to whom hee doth deny his concurrence and helpe necessary for the performing of that action These things and other such like doth hee ill beate vpon for hee doth vse a similitude which is a plaine dissimilitude for no man is bound to his Esse to his being neither can God exact from him that is not that hee should be But to obey God man is naturally bound Therefore God can rightly require of man what hee oweth and yet is not therefore bound to giue him ability of obeying and fulfilling what hee commands for God is not bound to restore to man that power which was once giuen and is now lost by the fault of man But here I would vse the fittest words and I had rather say that God decreed not to giue grace to one whereby he should be conuerted and should beleeue then to say that God decreed that the man should be an vnbeleeuer and impenitent For the word decreeing is more fit to note out those things which God determined to doe then those things which he determined not to cure XI Furthermore vnder the word obedience I comprehend also faith in Christ for as much as it is one kinde of obedience to which wee are bound by the law which doth command that God be loued with all our heart and with all our strength and therefore that God be obeyed that his word be beleeued whatsoeuer it shall be that God shall command Whence it commeth to passe that wee cannot reiect the doctrine of the Gospell by vnbeleefe but we also sinne against the law by disobedience which if it be so although faith on Christ was not expresly commanded by the Law nor was Adam before his fall bound to beleeue in Christ yet it is certaine that God commanding assent and reuerence to be exhibited to his Gospell doth require that that loue which is commanded in the law and which is naturally due should be yeelded to him that is to Christ All these things that haue beene spoken tend thither that wee might teach that there is no difference betweene these two willes of God Lâ—t Saint Ausâ—ens Encheridion to Laurentius Chapter 101. be read where hee doth teach how Gods will may be done of them which doe not the will of God and that that is not done besides Gods will which is done against his will CHAP. V. Of the Antecedent and consequent will of God DAmascen in his second Booke of Orthodox faith Chap. 29. doth set downe two wils of God the one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Antecedent the other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Consequent Arminius hath catched this distinction and doth place in it the chiefe strength of his Doctrine and as often as he is vrged by our side he creepes into this denne as the Lyzard into the thickets I. The Antecedent will of God hee saith is that whereby God doth will any thing to the reasonable creature before all the actions of it or before any act of that creature but the consequent is that whereby he doth will any thing to the reasonable creature after any one act or after many acts of the creature To the explication of which distinction he bringeth these examples God saith he by his Antecedent will would stablish and confirme for euer the kingdome of Saul by his Consequent will he would put him from his kingdome and substitute in his place a man better then he Christ by his Antecedent will would gather the Iewes as a Henne gathereth her Chickens but by his Consequent will hee would â—â—atter them through all the Nations By his Antecedent will they are cited to the marriage which by his Consequent will were declared vnworthy Matth. 22. By his Antecedent will the man without the wedding garment was inuited by his Consequent will he was cast out By his Antecedent will the talents are giuen by his Consequent will the talent is taken from the seruant II. The one of these willes is called the Antecedent will the other is called the Consequent not because that will goeth before this for in this sense this distinction may be admitted because there is a certaine order among the purposes of God Thus his will of creating man was in order before his will of feeding or cloathing him But with Damascen and Arminius it is called the Anrecedent will of God because it goeth before the act of mans will and they call that the consequent will of God which is after the will of man and doth depend vpon it This Arminius doth cleerely teach in his definitions before laide downe III. Betweene these two willes of God hee puts this difference that the Antecedent will of God may be resisted the consequent cannot Hee would haue it that God should be disappointed in his antecedent will and faile of his propounded end But the consequent will of God cannot he frustrated but it must necessarily be fulfilled for hee thinks that God doth not alwaies attaine to that which hee intends and that sometimes hee is disappointed of that particular end which he propounds to himselfe and that God is prepared to doe that which from eternity he knoweth he shall not doe whence it comes to passe that he hath prepared himselfe in vaine and that by his consequent will which is eternall certaine and immutable hee hath decreed to harden those reprobates which by his antecedent will he is prepared to mollifie and conuert And so he is prepared to doe that which he hath decreed not to doe IV. Betweene these two wils of God if any credit may be giuen to Arminius doth mans will come in which doth cause that God doth reuoke his antecedent will which is farre the best and being driuen from his propounded end doth turne himselfe to another thing then that which at the first he had intended so farre that Vorstius saith Disput de Deo p. 65.
it must needes be that God put in man that inclination to sinne which seeing it is an euill thing God should be made the author of that which is euill and to haue inclined man to sinne which cannot be spoken without hainous wickednesse III. It was the least finne which Adam sinned in gluttony but that was farre the greatest that he had rather beleeue the Serpent then God and that being spurred on by ambition he would be like God in the knowledge of good and euill And that while hee obeyed the Serpent hee gaue credit to reproaches cast vpon God Finally because he preferred so small a thing before the commandement of God therefore the lesser the eating of the Apple was the greater was his sinne IV. This ruine beganne at the vnderstanding ouer which Sathan had spread the cloud of false opinion and had cast the imagination of a false good To whose perswasion when man shewed himselfe ready then peruersenesse of the will and inclination of the appetites to sinne followed this darkening of the minde V. This fall happened God indeede not compelling it but yet permitting it There was not wanting power to his omnipotency by which hee was able to hinder this fall neither did enuy turne away his goodnesse God therefore permitted it because he would permit it and because it was good that he should permit it He that is the chiefest good would not haue permitted euill vnlesse it had beene good that euill should haue entred into the world by that permission he made a way for the manifestation of his glory and opened a way to man himselfe to a state farre more excellent For without sinne the mercy of God whereby he pardoneth and his iustice whereby he punisheth had neither of them been made knowne nor had hee made knowne his infinite loue to the church by the sending of Christ into the world to abolish our sinnes and to carry vs to a celestiall glory Neither doe I say these things as if I thought that God doth stand in neede of our wickednesse to the manifestation of his glory but I say that God created man that hee might come to greater perfection then that was in which hee was created And hee could not come to that perfection without the knowledge of Gods iustice and mercy which doth shine forth out of this fall and out of the remedy which he had prepared for this fall To which purpose the words of Saint Austen in his booke de Correp grati Cap. 10. are very proper He that created all things very good and fore-knew that euill things would rise out of those good things knew that it did more pertaine to his omnipotent goodnesse to make good things euen out of euill things then not to suffer euill things to be The like hee saith Encherid Chap. 96. VI. The Arminians bring no other cause of this permission then this Because God would not force mans voluntary liberty nor compell his will neither did he thinke it conuenient to vse his omnipotency in a thing which belongs to mans free will But they doe too negligently touch so great a matter neither doe they sufficiently weigh the moment of things and the circumstances of the fall of Adam For God without the diminishing of mans liberty could haue restrained Sathan and hindred him that hee should not tempt man He could haue forewarned man that he should not beleeue the Serpent He was able not to haue propounded the tree to man by the eating whereof he knew man would sinne Hee could haue giuen man more strength and more light and more vnderstanding He could haue giuen extraordinary strength in the very instant of temptation And yet by these force had not beene offered to mans will nor his liberty violated The Angels are examples hereof whom he doth confirme in good without any constraint By these it is manifest that the fall of man happened God not compelling but yet dispenfing and by his prouidence turning that euent which hee fore-knew from eternity to an end which hee had determined with himselfe from eternity VII Neither is it to be said that God withdrew his grace from man for this were to compell him as the house doth necessarily fall when the pillars are taken away nor that God tooke from him the liberty of his will for so he had brought a necessity of sining but he would not hinder that man should not be tempted by Sathan nor would he helpe him with extraordinary succour And whereas man sinned freely yet that fell out which God from eternity fore-knew would bee and the creatures themselues before the creation of man did testifie that it would come to passe For before Adam had sinned God had put into the Plants healthfull powers to keepe away diseases already had he cloathed the sheepe with fleeces and had formed cattell for the vse of man which are reliefes of humaine infirmity and had beene in vaine created if man had stood in his integrity VIII Now whether the digestion and egestion of meate to be refreshed with sleepe after labour to enioy the marriage bed to grow in stature to haue flesh that may be wounded and burnt to all which man before his fall was obnoxious whether I say these are such things as may perpetually agree to a creature perfectly blessed or whether they doe not secretly testifie what should be the condition of man to come I leaue it to be iudged of by wise men IX And yet it is no doubt but that Adam without any extraordinary helpe had strength to resist Sathan For it is not credible that God gaue a Law to man when he was made at first to the performing of which he did not giue power yet in respect of the fore-knowledge of God the fall of man was certaine For the act of the will may be certaine and defined before God the liberty of mans will being vntouched and intire So it is no doubt but the tortours had power and ability of breaking the bones of Christ when yet in respect of the fore-knowledge and prouidence of God it was impossible that they should be broken The will of man may by a certaine and voluntary motion determine it selfe to some one thing and yet doe that which either the knowledge of God hath certainely fore-knowne or his prouidence hath certainely fore-ordained X. These things are firmely to be held least the fault of man be transferred vpon God For howsoeuer God doth draw good out of the fall of Adam yet he neuer doth doe euill that good may come of it Neither must we think that God would force man to sinne although his glory should manifest y appeare thereby Gods glory must not be further I with the damage of his iustice but after a maâ—ueâ—ous and vnvtterable manner God doth so dispose and gouerne the euents of things that vnauoâ—dably those things happen which he doth condemne and disalow and the diuine prouidence doth keepe a course betweene iniustice and negligence
his posterity which he had receiued for himselfe and his posterity Not to giue supernatural light to the minde is not to put into the will although peruersenesle of will doth afterwards follow the blindenesse of the minde For the will being destitute of this light and of the knowledge of supernaturall good things cannot moue it selfe to things vnknowne but onely to things that are present and knowne such as are the pleasures of the body riches c. Which although they be naturally good yet they turne the will from the study and desire of supernaturall things Then also selfe-loue which is naturally good and necessary doth beginne to be morally euill because it doth inuade that place which is due to the loue of God Hence is that pronenesse to euill which is in that inordinate selfe loue which supernaturall illumination doth not direct which light God not giuing to the soule doth not therefore put sinne into it No otherwise then if one doth take away from the Traueller the light of the Sunne by putting darkenesse betweene be doth not force the Traueller to stragle nor doth turne him from the right way but onely he doth take away that without which the right way cannot be knowne XVIII The temper of the body doth increase this contagion For it is found by experience that sanguine men are bloudy and libidinous cholericke men are rash and angry melancholicke men are suspicious and stedfast in their purposes deepely hiding their malice blacke and yealow choller are as sparkes and tinder put to the appetite by which it catcheth flames and burnes And according to the temper of the body one laughes vnder the scourge another weepes with a blow The humours of the body therefore are not causes but prouocations of sinne neither doe they compell the will but allure it nor doe they impresse sinne on the soule but doe put forward the sinfull soule and there being may waies open to sinne they doe incline the soule hither rather then thither CHAP. XI Whether the power of beleeuing the Gospell is lost by the sinne of Adam I. IT is demanded whether by the sinne of Adam we haue lost the power of beleeuing the Gospell Arminius that maruailous artificer of deuising doth deny it For that he might proue that God is bound to giue to euery man power of beleeuing in Christ and obtaining faith he doth contend that Adam before his fall had not power of beleeuing in Christ nor was it needfull for him therefore we could not loose in Adam that which Adam himselfe had not He saith also that faith was not commanded by the law and therefore Adam was not bound to faith because onely the law was giuen to him he addeth also that no man can beleeue but he that is a sinner And if Adam did not receiue power wherby if he fell he might rise again he did not receiue power of beleeuing the Gospell by which we rise out of this fall II. Seeing these things tend thither that Arminius might make a way for himselfe to that impious and vngodly opinion whereby he affirmes that God is bound to giue to all men power of beleeuing and that God is prepared to giue faith to all men if they themselues will This question is of no small moment nor to be perfunctoriously and lightly handled III. We therefore contend against Arminius that mankinde by the sinne of Adam together with their originall purity and righteousnesse lost also the power of beleeuing in Christ For by the fall of Adam we lost the power of louing God and of obeying him Now saith doth include the loue of God and it is a certaine kinde of obedience IV. Adam indeede before his fall was not bound to beleeue in Christ because he was not declared to him neither then was there neede but he was bound to beleeue euery word of God whatsoeuer should afterward be this bond passed to his posteritie but it had not passed if Adam had not beene tyed to the like bond So the israelites in the time of Dauid were not bound to beleeue Ieremy foretelling the instant captiuity into Babylon because Ieremy then was not neither was it needfull for them to know this and yet the Iewes in contemning the prophesie of Ieremy violated that law by which the same people was held and bound in the time of Dauid Hee were a foole who would say that hee that hath lost his sight hath not lost the power of seeing that house which was built foure yeares after or that hee that is blinde by his owne fault hath not lost the faculty of seeing the collyria or plaisters which the Physitian bringeth him some moneths after Surely Adam before his fall had power of beleeuing in Christ after the same manner that he had then power of succouring and helping the sicke and miserable although before the fall there was no misery nor could there be Adam was in the remote power to beleeue the Gospell as a sound man is in the remote power to vse the remedies of a disease that will or may come But that he did not beleeue in Christ it was not because it did exceede the power giuen him by God but because it was not needefull Finally seeing Adam by his incredulity lost the power of beleeuing the word of God it must needes be that hee lost also the power of beleeuing that word by which God was to bring a remedy to this euill V. In vaine doth Arminius thinke that it is vnaptly spoken if it be said that Adam had power of beleeuing when hee had no neede which power was taken from him when hee began to haue neede of it For neither was the power of beleeuing wanting to Adam nor was it taken from him but hee willingly lost it when he lost the power of obaying God And God of his meere grace doth restore the same to whom he will not because we will but because he worketh in vs that we will VI. But that is ridiculous which Arnoldus cap. 14. doth say that Adam before his fall did not receiue power by which he might rise if he should fall For that power whereby men rise after the fall is not giuen before the fall seeing the power is lost by the fall but after the fall is repaired There is no doubt but that Adam before his fall had strength whereby he might rise againe if hee had not lost it by his fall Arnoldus therefore thus speakes as if I should say that hee to whom God hath giuen sound and cleare eyes hath not receiued power by which he might see with those eyes after he is made blinde VII Finally as many as are the posterity of Adam are bound to fulfill the law this is a naturall debt and the law commands vs to loue God and to obey him and therefore to beleeue him speaking Whensoeuer then Christ is preached the doctrine of the Gospell cannot be refused but with the contempt of the Gospell the law also is
we should be holy it is certaine it is manifest Therefore we were to be such because he elected vs predestinating vs that by his grace we should be holy In then inteenth chapter he repeateth the same words and addeth moreouer these When therefore he predestinated vs hee fore knew his owne worke who hath made vs holy and without spot In the same place the Pelagians reiecting election for workes fore-seene sticke onely in the fore-seeing of faith Wee say they doe say that our God fore knew nothing but faith whereby we beginne to beleeue and therefore he elected vs c. Against these things Saint Austin disputeth much and at the length he doth thus conclude his speech Neither doth faith it selfe goe before for he doth not choose vs because we beleeue but he chose vs that we might beleeue least we should be said to choose him first and that should be false which God forbid which Christ saith ye haue not chosen me but I haue chosen you Neither are we called because we doe beleeue but we are called that we might beleeue and by that calling which is without repentance it is wrought and throughly wrought that we should beleeue Finally he saith that Pelagius himselfe to the intent that he might delude the Palestine Synode with an ambiguous confession condemned those that say that grace is giuen according to merit which opinion was allowed by the Synode and they were condemned who said election was for faith fore-seene For Saint Austin confirmeth that these two come to one and the same sence in his fift booke against Iulian chap. 3. God electeth no man that is worthy but by electing him he maketh him worthy And he doth in sixe hundred places beate vpon absolute election or as Arminius calleth it precise election and not depending vpon the fore-seeing of any vertue or worth As Epist 105. Why one should beleeue and another not beleeue when both heare the same thing and if a miracle be done in both their sights it is the height of the riches of the wisdome and knowledge of God whose iudgements are vnsearchable and with whom there is no iniquitie while he will haue mercy on whom he will and hardneth whom he will for those things are not vniust because they be hidden and secret But these things are not hidden to Arminius for hee saith the cause of this difference is the fore-seeing of faith in one of them The Booke de fide ad Petrum whether it be the Booke of Fulgentius or of Austin in the third chapter hath these words They shall raigne with Christ whom God of his free gracious goodnesse hath elected to the kingdome because by predestinating them he hath prepared them to be such that they might be worthy of the kingdome he hath prepared them whom according to his purpose he will call that they may obey he hath prepared them whom he will iustifie that hauing receiued grace they might beleeue rightly and liue well To which kingdome they haue come whom God hath saued of his free-grace for no precedent merit of good will or good worke CHAP. XXIV The arguments of the Arminians by which they endeauour to stablish Election for faith fore-seene are examined I. THe Arminians who by a new name call themselues Remonstrants in the conference at the Hage doe poure downe a thicke haile of places of Scripture by which they endeauour to perswade that election is of them that beleeue and that the decree of Predestination is nothing else but the will of sauing them that beleeue This is to doe another thing and not to touch the question for the controuersie betweene vs is not concerning these things The state of the question is this Whether election be for faith fore seene Then also whether God electing seuerall and certaine persons doth consider in them perseuerance in faith as a thing already fulfilled and as a condition on the performance whereof Election doth rest But these men leauing the question vntouched are altogether in that that they might prooue election to be of them that beleeue Wherefore although the ranke of their nine Syllogisms which they set in order or admit many other exceptions yet because they are all faulty in that fallacy which is called Ignoratio Elenchi by which that which is concluded is thought to hurt the aduersary when yet it doth not hurt him it is better to grant that which they would haue to wit that God electeth none but they which beleeue and that election is of the faithfull so this be fitly receiued and in a good sense to wit that God doth elect and that he is willing to saue those that beleeue because hee saueth no man but to whom hee will giue faith and because without faith it is impossible to come to saluation And that God in electing doth consider men as faithfull that is as those that by his gift were to haue faith And that the decree of election is with respect of faith because the decree of saluation doth include also the decree of the meanes to come to that end and therefore also of faith in Christ And surely Arminius and after him Arnoldus pag 92. doe falsely fasten on vs this opinion That God determined to saue the elect without the consideration of faith in them The thunderbolt therefore that they cast with such a noise is turned away onely with a blast or with the winde of ones cap and toucheth neither vs nor to the matter II. No more to the purpose doth the other sectaries so often heape vp the words of Saint Paul Ephes 1.4 He hath elected vs in Christ which they so take as if Saint Paul had said He hath elected vs for Christ and considered as already beleeuing in Christ when he did elect vs. The Apostle saith no such thing whose meaning is plaine and simple He elected vs in Christ that is He appointed vs to saluation to be bestowed vpon vs by Christ or in Christ III. They effect nothing more by these places No man shall separate vs from the loue of God which is in Christ Iesus Rom. 8.39 And God was in Christ reconciling the world to himselfe 2 Cor. 5. Surely here is not a word of faith fore-seene For if they should bite their nayles vntill the bloud followeth they could proue nothing by sixe hundred such places God was in Christ while he was on the earth in him and by him working out our reconciliation but what is this to faith fore-seene IV. It is a weake dart which they cast He that beleeueth in me hath euerlasting life Iohn 6. and without faith it is impossible to please God Heb. 11. By these places indeede the necessitie of faith is proued but not the fore-seeing of it before election No man is saued but hee that beleeueth because God would haue this to be the way of saluation and because hee giueth saluation to none to whom hee doth not giue faith V. These are the words of Conradus
before the decree of sending his sonne seeing Christ himselfe doth witnesse it Iohn 3.16 God so loued the world that he gaue his onely begotten sonne c. where the loue of the father is manifestly set before the sending of the sonne which is so to be vnderstood as that the sonne is not excluded from the act of election it selfe seeing that he also is one God with the father but this was done by him not as hee is mediator but as he is God VII Neither is any iniury done to Christ if the will of the father concerning the sauing of men be said to goe before the redemption of Christ seeing that this redemption is also after sinne for the disease is before the medicine VIII Nor is any thing detracted from the greatnesse of the price of our redemption if his will who offered the price be said to goe before it IX The very definition of the decree of election doth proue this thing for election is the decree of sauing certaine men by Christ in which definition Christ is laid downe not as the cause of election but as the meanes of the execution of it and as the meritorious cause of saluation X. It is maruailous how much the Arminians insult here For because wee make the loue of God to goe not in time but in order before the mediation of the sonne they so deale with vs as if we taught that God loued vs without Christ and as being considered without faith in Christ which doth differ as much from our opinion as that which doth differ most Be it farre from vs that wee should say that God would euer bestow saluation vpon vs but that together and in the same moment he considered vs in Christ as being to be saued by him Nor was there any cause why we for that thing should be accused of Sicianisme we haue nothing to doe with that Alastor and hellish monster which doth altogether ouerthrow the benefit of Christ But it is one thing to say that the loue of the father doth in order goe before the mediation of the sonne and another thing to say that God loueth vs without the sonne It is one thing to dispose the thoughts of God in order and another thing to separate them and pull them asunder Arminius who in the beginning of his booke against Perkins calleth himselfe a wirty fellow doâ—h craftily yea wickedly catch at and hunt after points of priority in order to pull asunder those things which cannot be seperated Hee doth therefore as much as if one should say that the thought of creating man was first in order in God before the thought of adorning him with holinesse and righteousnes and would thence inferrre that God would first create man not iust or first to haue considered him as not holy If any man saith that in the decree of God the thought of ouerthrowing of the world was before the thought of ouerthrowing it by fire hee doth not therefore say that God first thought of ouerthrowing it without fire All the purposes of God are eternall although there be a certaine order and dependency betweene them XI That place of Saint Iohn Chap. 3. vexeth Arminius God so loued the world that hee gaue his onely begotten sonne c. where the loue of God is laide downe as the cause by which it came to passe that he gaue the sonne He doth therefore endeauour to delude so direct a place by a witlesse cauell That loue saith he is not that by which he will giue eternall life which appeareth by the very words of Iohn who doth ioyne faith betweene this loue and eternall life The Reader therefore shall obserue that Arminius himselfe doth acknowledge that there is a kinde of loue of God towards men which doth goe before his decree of sending his sonne But hee saith that God by that loue is not willing to giue eternall life What then will hee doe by it For this thing hee ought to shew Will God by that loue leaue men in death Is it possible that God should loue the creature created by him to life but he must needes by the same loue will that it should liue I am ashamed of so weake a subtilty Yea truely in that he sent his sonne by that loue it is sufficiently manifest that by that loue he was willing man should be restored to life But saith he faith commeth betweene that loue and eternall life What then Cannot I will the recouery of him that is sicke although the Phisition come betweene my will and his recouery Surely he maketh those things opposite and contrary which are appolite and ioyned together But I doe not see how he rather fauoureth Socinus who saith that Christ is not the cause of Election then he that saith that Christ is not the cause of the loue whereby God would send Christ into the world and prouide for vs a redeemer Or why there should be a greater offence in making the redemption of Christ to be the medium and meane betweene the loue of God by which hee elected vs and betweene our saluation then if it be made the medium a meane betweene the loue of God by which he will giue Christ for vs and betweene our saluation For on both sides redemption is made the meanes and not the first cause Let vs not therefore enuy God the father this praise that his good pleasure thould be made the fountaine and first originall of our Election XII Obserue moreouer that that Election whereof Arminius will haue Christ to be the foundation is that generall election whereby all men are conditionally elected which seeing wee haue largely consuted Chap. 18. whatsoeuer the Arminians doe bring to proue that Christ is the foundation of election doth vanish away Surely there was no cause why they should so earnestly labour to proue that Christ was the foundation of that election by which Pharaoh and Iudas were elected Of which imaginary election he shall haue the true character and portraiture who hath brought in God speaking thus I decreed to send my sonne to saue all men who shall beleeue but who and how many they shall be I haue not determined onely I will giue to all men sufficient power to beleeue but he shall belecue who will himselfe XIII Arminius doth defend himselfe against so euident a truth by one little word of the Apostle Ephes 1.4 He hath elected vs in Christ But it is one thing to be elected in Christ and another thing to be elected for Christ so that Christ should be the cause why one is elected rather then another The meaning of the Apostle is cleere To elect is nothing else then to appoint to saluation Therfore to elect in Christ is to appoint to saluation to be obtained in or by Christ For whosoeuer God hath decreed to saue he hath giuen them to Christ and hath considered them as ioyned to Christ Hee seeketh a knot in a bulrush who by farre fetched interpretations would darken
that which is perspicuous and plaine XIV For a foundation of this their opinion Arminius and after him Arnoldus doth lay this proposition That Predestination is the foundation of Christianity This demand he will haue to be granted him for he doth not proue it no otherwise then if one in the beginning of a disputation would obtaine by suite and would desire that it might be granted him that a circle hath corners This is a great demand and that which I thinke no man would grant him who knoweth what predestination is and what is the foundation of Christian Religion The foundation of Christian Religion is to acknowledge that Christ the onely sonne of God is sent from the father that whosoeuer beleeueth in him might not perish but haue euerlasting life It must needes be that the foundation of Christianity be the rule of faith on which the faith of Christians must rest but predestination is not the rule of faith but the action of God whereby bee determined to saue certaine men by Christ Farre be it from vs that wee should say that the secret decree by which seuerall men as Peter or Charles c. are elected is the foundation of Christianity Whosoeuer would from thence beginne to teach Religion and would beginne the elements of Christian faith at this decree of Predestination hee should eyther by the darkenesse cast before him tremble at the very entrance or should fall downe right as being taken with giddinesse Whatsoeuer things therfore Arnoldus doth build on so false a proposition doe of themselues fall to the ground so that we neede not ouerthrow those things which of themselues will fall downe Further also he doth impugne and striue against that thing which is not beleeued by vs to wit that we are loued by God without Christ onely the ambiguity wherewith he would deceiue the Reader is to be noted when he saith Page 171. That Christ is the foundation of our receining into grace and into the loue of God If by receiuing into grace and loue he vnderstand the reconciliation by his satisfaction performed for vs I confesse that Christ is the foundation of that receiuing into grace and of that loue But if by receiuing into grace and loue be vnderstood that loue of the father by which hee would send his sonne to saue vs which is the greatest loue of all and the fountaine of all good certainely Arminius himselfe would not haue Christ to be the foundation of that loue and yet by that very same loue God chose from eternity whom he would XV. I doe not search into that which Arminius boldly and rashly hath dared to say that God could not saue vs otherwise then by Christ nor had he any other meanes for the saluation of man God could not saith he will eternall life to any one without the respect of a mediator And the Arminian conferrers at the Hage It is impossible for God to decree saluation to sinners but that he must before haue decreed the satisfaction of his iustice Now they speake of the satisfaction of Christ Surely they doe boldly and rashly containe the wisedome of God within limits and if this thing were true yet it were not for man to speake such things It is sufficient that God hath followed the most conuenient way and then which none is better By the way it is to be obserued that this opinion hath not pleased Vorstius He Page 33. disput de Deo doth affirme That it was lawfull for God to relent or yeelde somewhat of his owne right no lesse then to retaine or pursue that which is his right And Page 399. It is false to say that no sinne could be let passe vnpunished by the iustice of God XVII The conferrers at the Hage doe thus argue If the decree of Christ the Sauiour be after the decree of the election of some particular persons to saluation then God decreed the saluation of some particular persons in order before he decreed the satisfaction of his iustice Here is a manisold deceite For the decree of sauing certaine men and the decree of sending Christ to saue them they make two decrees when it is but one for election is the decree of sauing certaine men in Christ It is not one decree by which God hath appointed man to life and another by which he hath appointed him to breathing There is another fraud in that they compare the saluation of seuerall men with the satisfaction of Gods iustice when the comparison was to be made of the manifestation of the goodnesse of God by which hee doth saue seuerall men with the satisfaction of his iustice It is not inconuenient if God be said first to haue decreed the manifestation of his goodnesse before the satisfaction of his iustice Adde to these that they doe craftily vse these words the election of some particular persons to extenuation and contempt for these some particular persons are the Church of the Elect whose saluation is of so great account with God that for the saluation thereof he would satisfie his owne iustice Whence it followeth that God that he might declare his goodnesse did first intend their saluation before the satisfaction of his iustice CHAP. XXVI The other things which they adde are now to be examined by vs. I. THE doctrine of Reprobation is so farre profitable to the elect in as much as by the comparison of the lot of Reprobates with theirs they are stirred vp to the praise and admiration of the bounty of God towards them Then also when the pledges of Election doe begin to faile and the spirit of adoption is grieued by the lusts of the flesh it is profitable to the faithfull to be striken with some horrour and to be stirred vp to try themselues whether they proceede in regeneration or whether they grow worse and fall backe that so pricks and incitements might be put to them that are sloathfull II. The very word election doth proue that there are some that are reprobates for there were not some elected vnlesse the rest were passed by and reiected The Scripture maketh mention of Reprobates 1. Pet. 2.8 Which stumble at the word being disobedient whereunto also they were appointed And Iude 4. Certaine men are crept in vnawares who were before of old ordained to this condemnation These in the Reuelation are noted out vnto vs by those who are not written in the book of life the number of whom Christ doth insinuate to be very great when hee saith Many are called few chosen The same is proued by experience For not onely before the comming of Christ but also at this time there are very many nations to whom the name of Christ is not knowne without the knowledge of which there is no saluation III. Reprobation is the decree of God by which from eternity he decreed not to giue to certaine men his grace by which they might be freed from their engrafted deprauation and from the curse due to them and appointed
they should say that freedome was obtained for one but not that he should be freed or that foode was obtained for one but it was not procured that hee should be fed with this foode IX And seeing that by faith the application of the death of Christ is made if Christ by his death hath not obtained for vs the application of this reconciliation it will follow that he hath not obtained faith for vs For they must needes deny that faith is obtained for vs who will not haue faith to be from grace alone but to be partly from free-will in whose power they will haue it to be to refuse or admit grace to beleeue in act or not to beleeue X. And surely hee that shall more attentiuely consider what these words meane The obtaining of application and the application of the thing obtained will finde that it is a meere Meteor or building of Castles in the ayre and that they are vnseasonable trifles with which they enwrap mens wits seeing Christ doth obtaine nothing which he doth not apply nor doth he apply any thing which he hath not obtained Otherwise in vaine were the obtaining of that benefit which both he that obtaineth it and he of whom it is obtained knoweth that it will neuer be applied and that it will neuer profit him for whom it is obtained Nor is it credible that the remission of that sinne which shall neuer be remitted is procured XI Yea these innouators doe so speake as they that would haue by the death of Christ something to be procured not for vs but for God For they say that by the death of Christ God obtained power of sauing vs but they denie that the application or conferring of saluation was obtained by the death of Christ for Peter or Paul but that onely a gate and way was opened for them by which they might come to saluation Wherefore Christ by his death will be said to be not the giuer but the preparer of saluation And certainly the opinion of Arminius doth tend thither that Christ should be said not to haue obtained reconciliation for any one but to haue laid open a way for God by which he might bestow saluation XII They doe no lesse trifle when they confesse that the fruit of the resurrection of Christ Aduer Walach P. 51. Non ad eos omnes fructus resurrectionis extenditor prâ— quibus mâ—rtem oppetijt Christâ—â— pertained onely to the faithfull but the fruit of his death that is reconciliation and remission of sinnes they extend to all and seuerall men Ther fore if these men be beleeued there will be some mâ—n to whom the fruit of the death of Christ doth pertaine but the fruit of his resurrection doth not pertaine As if they should say that Christ died for some men for whom hee hath not ouercome death And that the fruit of the fight belonged to all but not the fruit of the victory And there will be some men for whom although he hath offered himselfe on earth yet hee doth not offer himselfe in heauen But the Scripture ioyneth these things as inseuerable and vnseperable that hee died for vs and that he rose againe for vs Rom 8.34 It is Christ that died yea rather that is risâ—n againe who is at the right hand of God making intercession for vs. And the 2. Co. 5.14 That they which liue should not henceforth liue vnto themselues but vnto him that died for them and rose againe Because no man is made partaker of the fruite of the death of Christ but by his resurrection XIII It is of no small moment that if reconciliation were obtained for all mankind it must needs be that all infants borne without the couenant are reconciled their sinne is forgiuen them Whence it would come to passe that they could not haue a greater benefit bestowed vpon them then if one in a gentle cruelty should kill them in their cradles For if they die in this state of reconciliation their saluation is certaine but if they liue they shall be brought vp in paganisme which is the most sure way to eternall destruction XIV And seeing no man can be saued but hee for whom reconciliation hath beene obtained and hath also beene applied I doe not see what the obtaining of reconciliation doth differ from the application of it in infants which are taken away by an vntimely death For by the doctrine of Arminius they are saued by reconciliation alone Here therefore that distinction of the obtaining of reconciliation and of applying of it doth vanish away Which distinction although it may haue place among men yet with God it cannot haue place who granteth nothing which he doth not giue from whom nothing is obtained which hee doth not giue and conferre in act For to him all things are fore-seene neyther can any thing happen by which hee should be compelled to deny what hee hath granted to change his counsell or to abolish his acts XV. And if these two things be compared betweene themselues to obtaine reconciliation for his enemies that they might be saued and to bestow saluation on them that are already reconciled it is no doubt but that it is farre greater loue to die to reconcile his enemies then to giue saluation to them that are reconciled The Apostle teacheth thâ—s expresly Rom. 5.10 If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his sonne much more being reconciled we shall be saued by his life If Saint Paul be beleeued it is an easier and more likely thing to saue him that is reconciled then to reconcile him that is an enemy by dying for him Seeing therefore that Christ if we giue credit to Arminius hath performed for all men that which is farre the greatest and is an argument of his highest loue it will be said that Christ in dying for vs loued Pilate Iudas Saul and Pharaoh no lesse then Peter and Iohn But there is no man can make himselfe beleeue vnlesse it be hee that is willing to be deceiued that Christ loued those with his greatest loue whom his father from eternity hated and whom the sonne himselfe knew were from eternity appointed to punishment XVI Yea truely seeing Christ as hee is one God with the father hath from eternity predestinated the reprobates to damnation it is not likely yea not possible that the same Christ hath obtained reconciliation for Iudas as hee is man and a mediator and hath from eternity reprobated the same man as hee is God For although these sectaries will haue the decree of reprobation to be in order after the obtaining of reconciliation yet neither of them is in time before the other and it must needes be that the desire of reconciling and the decree of reprobating were together in one and the same minde XVII Notable is the speech of Christ Iohn 15.13 Greater loue hath no man then this that one lay downe his life for his friends The meaning of Christ is that friends cannot
all men to be saued Which that it was truely spoken by Faustus and according to the Catholike faith the Arelaten Synode hath rightly iudged For the Synode beleeued that this was spoken by Faustus against Pelagius who seeing hee denied originall sinne and thought that a man might perfectly fulfill the law by his owne free-will it is no maruaile if hee said that Christ died not for all for why should Christ die for them that were not sinners Or what neede is there of Phisicke where there is no disease Or what neede of the Gospell to him who hath fulfilled the law But Faustus a crafty and subtle man imposed it vpon the Arelaten Synode with ambiguous and deceitfull words wherewith that Epistle was cloathed which hee offered to the Synode For afterward he explaned his meaning in the booke which hee writ De gratia qua saluamur where hee doth more incline to Pelagius which booke Gennadius Gennad lib de Scriptor Eccles cap. 85. Sydon Apol. lib 9. Epist 9. and Sydonius Apollinaris doe so mention that they seeme to thinke honorably of it But at the same time Caesarius Bishop of Arles and Auitus Bishop of Vienna writ against this Booke as Ado doth testifie in his Chronicle to whom Fulgentius Bishop of Ruspe in Africa ioyned himselfe Whereby we may see that the authority of Faustus is not so great that it ought to be of any estimation here Neither was this question euer handled in that sence that now it is for there was neuer question made as farre as I know before this age whether Christ by his death purchased saluation for all and seuerall men or whether by his death he obtained reconciliation as well for Pharaoh as for Peter CHAP. XXXI Whether God loue all men equally and doth alike desire the saluation of all I. THe question whereby it is demanded whether God doth equally loue all men and so desire their saluation is an addition to the former question and doth depend on it For if remission of sinnes and saluation are not purchased for all men by the death of Christ it is plaine that all men are not equally loued by God wherefore these innouators doe defend themselues in either question by the same places of Scripture These are the words of Arnoldus pag. 379 God in a generall will and affection doth equally desire the saluation of all men Greuinchouius pag. 335. doth consent to this The will of God and his affection of sauing men is equall towards all For in that series and order of the foure decrees in which they comprehend the whole doctrine of Predestination this is the third that God decreed to administer to all men sufficient meanes to faith and repentance But I suppose that these things are affirmed by them not because they beleeue and seriously thinke so but that they might maintaine their other opinions which cannot stand if this opinion fall for they doe openly repugne the Scripture experience yea and themselues II. Which before we demonstrate the reader is to be admonished that loue in God is not an affection nor passion nor inclination of the minde nor any desire for God is not touched by these passions as being impassible and not subiect to affections But as God is said then to be angry or to hate when he will punish or destroy so loue in God is a eertaine and sure will of doing good to the creature Whence it commeth to passe that hee may rightly be said to be loued by God to whom hee hath giuen or hath decreed to giue more and better good things III. This difference is manifestly seene not onely betweene the good and the euill but also betweene good men themselues to some one of whom God hath giuen more vnderstanding and doth measure out his spirit in a larger greater measure but to another more sparingly and as it were with a striked measure to one he giueth two talents to another fiue according to his owne good pleasure Not onely giuing many things to the best men but also making them better while hee giueth them many things IV. And here I cannot but meruaile with what face Greuinchouius pag. 335. dares to say that God gaue fiâ—e talents to one in the hope of receiuing more gaine from him then the other as if hope or feare or gaine could happen to God or as if he who so carefully encreased his estate by the fiue talents put out to vsury had not from God the will and power of imploying them so happily God is vnaptly said to hope for that which himselfe is to worke These subtill men are wont to say when they are vrged that these things are spoken by an Anthropopathy to mans capacity but in the meane while they abuse these improper words to bring in their owne speculations and to build vp their owne opinions In preaching and speaking to the people this impropriety of speech is to be borne with but not in disputing and when the importance of truth is to be considered and weighed V. Concerning this inequality of the gifts of God I would haue the Arminians shew me why God hath giuen more gifts to Paul then to Marke or Cleophas that were otherwise holy and good men Was it because Saint Paul before his conuersion was more inclined to the faith of Christ and better affected then they Or because Paul vsed that common and generall grace which happeneth euen to the reprobates better then Marke These are trifles for there was then none more deadly enemie to the name of Christ then Paul What then was the cause why because it so seemed good to God who doth with his owne what he will and who in distributing the gifts of the holy Ghost doth not follow an Arithmeticall or Geometricall proportion for he doth giue vnequall good things to them that are equally euill according to his owne pleasure as being a debtor to no man nor subiect to any Law VI. But the difference and inequality of the loue of God will more clearely appeare if those whom God doth call by his word and to whom he doth giue the spirit of adoption and faith and by them saluation be compared with other men Many saith Christ Mat. 22.4 are called few chosen Behold here three sorts of men some that are not called some that are called and not elected some that are called and elected all which that they are confusedly and equally loued and that God doth alike desire their saluation cannot be said or thought VII Christ Iohn 6.44 saith No man can come to me vnlesse my father which sent me draw him Where that it is spoken of the drawing to faith and by faith to saluation no man doth doubt Secing therefore by these words it is manifest that all are not so drawne it is certaine that they are most loued who are so drawne Faith is the gift of God but all men haue not faith and it is giuen but to few therefore these are more loued So the