upon the Earth where 't is already And to shew that there is now and was then such a place as Hell look Prov. 15. 11. where 't is said that Hell and destruction are before the eyes of the Lord that is he knows what the wicked there suffer To end this see Mark 9. 44â— 46 48. where 't is said the worm dieth not that is the lash of Conscience and the fire is not quenched speaking of a Man's being cast into Hell So then if the worm dies not the subject of that worm must live that is the wicked person and the fire of Hell is said to be as everlasting For 't is not quenched which must be intended never shall be quenched And to stop Mr. Hobbes his Mouth as to the eternity of punishment and reward look Matth. 25. 46. These shall go into everlasting punishment but the righteous into life eternal And that the Soul lives after the death of the Body until the resurrection see Eccl. 12. 7. where Solomon speaking of Man's dissolution saith The dust that is the Body shall return to the Earth and the Spirit to God that gave it And Acts 7. 59. Stephen when stoned said Lord Iesus receive my Spirit These two Texts must be intended of living Spirits for what should God do with dead Spirits which are nothing who is God of the living and not of the dead None of which Texts Mr. Hobbes takes any notice of save that in Mark of the worm not dying To which he saith 't is metaphorically to be understood and this answer would serve for any thing else as well as this I shall pass the rest of Mr. Hobbes his absurdities in this Chapter about these matters save one at the latter end where he jumps again into setting the place of Men's eternal happiness upon Earth and p. 246. cites Isaiah 33. v. 20 21â— 22 23 24. to be full in the matter which is so far from the matter that it is only Scripture to signifie God's destruction of the Assyrians and the Iews deliverance from them But whether the punishment be by fire or without I shall not argue though the Texts say it is which are better authority than ever I heard to the contrary only I hope no Man will venture upon the punishment which is everlasting Matth. 25. 46. presuming upon Mr. Hobbes his assertions to be true Neither do I think any good Man will think the merits of our blessed Lord and Saviour the less for what Mr. Hobbes in this Chapter saith who after he hath been endeavouring to make all Religion a foppery to set up Idolatrous worship to debase our Saviour in respect of his miracles to make the credibility of the Scriptures questionable to deprive God of his Attributes now comes p. 248. to undervalue the sufferings of our Saviour and saith That the sufferings of our Saviour were no satisfaction or price for sin whereby Christ could claim right to a pardon for us from his offended Father but that price that God in mercy was pleased to demand And this he further explains himself in p. 261. I acknowledge that the sufferings of our Saviour were all that God demanded as a satisfaction for sin but when our Saviour had performed what God did require it was an absolute satisfaction And this is clear reason in the transactions of Men when the debt is paid by ones self or an other or that is paid that is required there is a full satisfaction and the prisoner or he that paid the debt may of right claim his discharge So may Christ of right claim a pardon for us from his Father when the satisfaction for sin is paid For although there was no reason that our Saviour should suffer for us but meer mercy as 't was God's mercy to accept of Christ in our stead yet 't is great Reason that when he hath suffered for our sins he should of right claim to have us delivered from the punishment of them And he was the true Scape-goat that carried all our sins into the Land of forgetfulness And Matth. 1. 21. He shall save his people from their sins that is by his merits defend them from his Father's wrath With which Text agrees 18. Matth. 11. 1 Tim. 1. 15. He came to save sinners and multitudes of Texts to this purpose And besides God when he first promised Christ to mankind said That he should break the Serpent's head that is by his own efficacy for he was God as well as Man and that gave power to effect and value to satisfie But Mr. Hobbes his conceit had been good in case that after a sinner had lain in Hell seven years God had said this is enough and had freed him Here 't is true the sinner could not have claimed a right to a pardon for what he had suffered but that suffering was all that God was pleased in mercy to demand for that a sinner can never make a full satisfaction for his sin But here we cannot but suppose God the Father and his Innocent Son as it were making I speak it with reverence a contract The Father as it were saying If you 'l suffer I will take it as a satisfaction for Man's sin And his Son saying I will for he voluntarily laid down his life it was not taken from him and those sufferings God would not dispense with suffer for sinners or in their stead Certainly now he hath suffered he may of right claim a pardon for sinners But as to this matter I wave further Discourse there being so many Treatises upon it Mr. Hobbes p. 250 251. saith That the Israelites obligation to obey Moses was only from their desire and promise at mount Sinai Exod. 20. 18. where they said Speak thou to us and we will hear but let not God speak to us lest we die Certainly any rational Man would wonder at such a fancy when 't is apparent that Moses was God's messenger by the many miracles wrought by his Hands both in Egypt from whence he led them and at the red Sea where they were miraculously saved and the Egyptians drowned and by many other miracles before they came to mount Sinai And upon that account as so apparently sent by God they were bound to obey Moses or disobey God himself and this promise at mount Sinai was only to free them from the terror they had undergone before But that which Mr. Hobbes drives at in this conceit may be to persuade Men that they need not obey any of the Prophets Apostles or Ministers of the Gospel since without their express promise so to do And so further labours to enervate the authority of the Scriptures and Gospel Ministry But as Mr. Hobbes gave Moses a smaller authority in this than one would have expectâ—d so in p. 252. he gives him and all succeeding Monarchs a greater trouble than 't is reasonable to impose upon them For he saith That all Soveraigns are the sole interpreters of God's commands and that
no man ought to proceed further in the interpretation of Scripture than the Soveraign limits So that a Soverâ—ign ought to be either a more exact Divine than ever I heard of in the World to interpret all places of Scripture that a question is demanded of or else of a most exact and quick Iudgment to limit others how far they shall go And suppose a Soveraign prove a fool or like an ill Steersman always turning the boat round uncertain in his resolves who must interpret the matter thenâ— But I shall pass this over without more saying as one of the chances of Mr. Hobbes his fancy Mr. Hobbes p. 263. saith That the end of Our Saviour's câ—ming into the World was to restore unto God the Kingdom cut off from him by the rebellion of the Israelites in the election of Saul So far he hath renounced all Salvation by Christ. But to do him right he saith afterwards That our Saviour had an other imploy and that was to Preach that he was the Messiah and in case the Nation of the Iews should refuse him then to call to his obedience the Gentiles So now he seems only by the accident of the Iews refusal to exclude them from Salvation and by the same accident only to make the Gentiles capable of mercy Now is any thing more plain in the World than that he came into the World to satisfie God's justice for the sins of the World and with intent to bring in the Gentiles as well as the Iews and to make them one sheepfold under himself the great Shepherd And that appears from the first promise of him viz. That the Seed of the Woman should break the Serpents Head that is should take away that misery from the Seed of the Woman which the subtlety of the Serpent had brought upon it and I suppose Mr. Hobbes will not say amidst his new found unreasonable Doctrines That the Gentiles as well as the Iews were not the off-spring of Eve And he was the blood of the everlasting covenant and the great Shepherd of the Sheep spoken of Heb. 13. 20. And Iohn 1.29 he is called the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the World and this was before he was rejected by the Iews And all the Prophesies of our Saviour in the Old Testament express our Saviour's bringing in the Gentiles and the intent of God to do so as Isaiah 49. 22. I will lift up my Hand to the Gentiles and set up my Standard to the People and this was before our Saviour's coming into the World Texts for this I shall cite no more it being a thing so plain against Mr. Hobbes and one would wonder ever such conceits without ground or reason should come into any Man's Head Mr. Hobbes after a great deal of stir about the Trinity and the Unity of that Trinity which is hard to make any thing of or rather impossible by reason his opinion was concealed comes p. 268. to tell us his opinion in these words following viz. To conclude saith he the Doctrine of the Trinity as far as can be gathered directly from the Scripture is in substance this That the God who is always one and the same was the person represented by Moses the person represented by his Son incarnate and the person represented by the Apostles As represented by the Apostles the Holy Spirit by which they spake is God as by Moses the Father is God as represented by his Son that was God and Man the Son is God These are his very words So observe he absolutely denies in this the personal existence of the two last Persons in the Trinity And 't is in short to say as others have said before me that there is but one Person under different conceptions And the inference is direct and natural for saith Mr. Hobbes God was in three respects represented which excludes the real existence of three Divine Persons in the Godhead and only supposeth three Persons that represented this one God not that there are three Persons in the Godhead or that are God for no one is said to represent that is the Person represented Now to illustrate this the King of England is represented by the Lord Deputy of Ireland by the Viceroy of Scotland and by his Governor of the Island of Iersey But still 't is the energy of the one Person of the King that actuates them all and there are not three Persons of the King nor any of those three Persons are the King no more are there three Persons in the Godhead if we will believe Mr. Hobbes who makes the three Persons in the Trinity but three Names to express one only Person of God So 't is all one as if he had said the Son is not God as a distinct Person from the Father but that the only one Person of the Godhead was come into Man or at best had taken the Virgins Son into it or that he had said the Person of the Holy Ghost was not God as a distinct Person from the Father but that the only one Person of God inspired the Apostles So then clearly here is a denial of the two second Persons in the Trinity for if there be only one Person there is not three in the Trinity But Mr. Hobbes in this hath the confidence to say That this his fancy is all that can be gathered from Scripture concerning the Trinity And that he may meet with his match I will say the contrary and I doubt not but my authorities for my opinion will prove better than his It is said in 1 Ioh. 5. 7. There are three bear record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost and these three are one So this is clear that the Godhead is three Persons not as 't is represented at three different times upon Earth but as it is three distinct Persons in Heaven So this makes an end of Mr. Hobbes his conceit that there are only said to be three Persons in the Godhead to be made out by Scripture in respect of the three representations upon Earth for they are in this Text said to be three in Heaven and all three are said to be in action that is to bear record which shews they are several and distinct Persons And the 3 d of Titus 4 5 6. v. clearly shews the Trinity of the Persons really existent which Texts are viz. After the love of God our Saviour toward Man appeared By his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost Which he shed on us abundantly through Iesus Christ our Saviour Here is God the Father that saves his people by regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost and 't is through Iesus Christ our Saviour So what can be plainer besides the Scriptures that speak of the descent and mission of the Holy Ghost that the Godhead hath three Persons in it in another manner than as it was represented by Moses for here is God the Father
fully set forth a part that through mercy he saved us and God the Holy Ghost in another manner set forth than represented by the Apostles for this is spoken of the renewing of the Holy Ghost in all believers and Iesus Christ the meritorious cause of our Salvation which he could not have been but as he was both God and Man and Mr. Hobbes calls him so in this Chapter So that Christ as Christ Mr. Hobbes makes meer Man as he stiles him and would make him Chap. 38. though otherwise calls him in this Chapter for he makes himâ— only the representer of God as Moses was and the Holy Ghost Mr. Hobbes saith in effect is nothing for he saith that that denomination was attributed to God as he was represented by the Apostles So that the Holy Ghost was only an Attribute of God But besides all this Mr. Hobbes spoke before upon his reliance upon the Church of England as to matters of Faith and that the Civil Soveraign is to appoint what is to be taught for Doctrine And the Church of England and our Soveraigns have establish'd Athanasius his Creed to be read and as necessary to Salvation to be believed and that Creed as well as the begining of the Litany is expresly against Mr. Hobbes for it saith That there is one Person of the Father another of the Son and another of the Holy Ghost which Creed and Litany speak them in themselves three distinct Persons and as such are prayed to without interesting Moses or the Apostles in the matter and agree to my interpretation of Scripture So for once I hope without boasting I may say I have got the better of Mr. Hobbes Indeed this opinion of his is like the rest of the abominable and damnable whimsies of his own brain and ought to be ranked in the front of them And to give Mr. Hobbes a little over weight I will refer it to any rational Man whether Mark 1. 10. Ioh. 1. 32. do not absolutely shew the distinction of the two second Persons in the Trinity where 't is said That the Spirit of God descended from Heaven like a Dove and abode upon Christ. Now taking Christ to be God as Mr. Hobbes frequently calls him in this Chapter what was the Spirit that abode upon him but a distinct Person in the Godhead and Heb. 3. 7. conjoined to Psal. 95. 7. to which it relates may fully conclude Mr. Hobbes For the former Text saith That the Holy Ghost said To day if ye will hear his voice which last words are the words of the latter Text in the 95. Psalm So 't is apparent that in David's time which I hope Mr. Hobbes will allow to be before the Apostles time there was an Holy Ghost So I will leave Mr. Hobbes in hopes he will live long enough to recant this opinion Mr. Hobbes saith p. 282. That the four first of the ten Commandments were particular to the Israelites but the six latter obliged all mankind being but the Law of Nature I shall agree with Mr. Hobbes as to the six latter that they are but what Nature dictated before But as to the four first I would know a reason why they were not obligatory by the Law of Nature at least secondarily that is to say obligatory by Nature upon all Men that know there was one and only one living and true God as all Men may see there is by the things that he hath made which knowledge makes it as natural as to the three first Commands for us to be bound by those Laws as 't is for a Man naturally to be bound not to injure his neighbour As for Example Is it not as natural for the Creature to worship his Creator and not to set up false gods to deprive him of his honour and not to use his Name irreverently as 't is for a Man not to desire or take that which is an other Mans 'T is more natural if we will believe what Mr. Hobbes said before viz. That by Nature all Men were in an estate of Civil War and might catch what they could and in that state all force and fraud were cardinal Virtues but certainly never was any state or condition so where it was a cardinal Virtue to worship any god but the true one or to be irreverent to his Name But Mr. Hobbes his conceit is good in this place for one thing and that is that after he hath been blaspheming God and taking from him his Attributes and giving Men a toleration as to external acts or confession to acknowledge any thing for God that here he gives a reason for all that he said as to us Gentiles for we may do or say what we will noâ— being Iews in respect of God Almighty for that there is no Law if we will believe Mr. Hobbes to oblige us Gentiles to the contrary The four first Commands not being by the Law of Nature obligatory to any Man and being particular to the Israelites as made at mount Sinai Now the Nature of a particular Law is only to oblige that particular people for whom 't was particularly made and those were the Israelites in this case if Mr. Hobbes be an authentick Author And as to the fourth Command I think though the day be changed yet that in substance is as obligatory as the other three are by the Law of Nature for 't is as natural to set a time a part for the worship of God as 't is to worship him and since God hath limited the Iews a whole day why should not we take that as our pattern For 't is as natural to take God for our pattern in this as in other things Be ye holy as I am holy And we have not only his Command to the Iews for a pattern but his own Example of resting the seventh day and sanctifying it upon the knowledge of which why should it not be natural for Men to keep holy one day in seven For the Law of Nature is twofold either primary without any prerequisite as 't is natural for a thing that hath life to move Or secondary when something is requisite to give liberty to Nature to work as for Example Men love their Children naturally but they must know first that they are their Children before they love them as such For if a Father had never seen his Child from his birth till ten years of age and then should accidentally meet him he would love him no better then any other but after he was acquainted by undoubted circumstances that it was his Child then naturally would result an emanation of affection So after we know that there is only one God and that he hath appointed one day in seven for his service though to another people which day he sanctified and rested upon Gen. 2. 3. why is it not natural for us to serve him all mankind having an inbred awe towards something above them and that on one day in seven according to his example