Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	forgive_v	lord_n	sin_n	11,546	5	5.1796	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A90866	Theos anthrōpophoros. Or, God incarnate. Shewing, that Jesus Christ is the onely, and the most high God· In four books. Wherein also are contained a few animadversions upon a late namelesse and blasphemous commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrewes, published under the capital letters, G.M. anno Dom. 1647. In these four books the great mystery of man's redemption and salvation, and the wayes and means thereof used by God are evidently held out to the capacity of humane reason, even ordinary understandings. The sin against the Holy Ghost is plainly described; with the cases and reasons of the unpardonablenesse, or pardonablenesse thereof. Anabaptisme, is by Scripture, and the judgment of the fathers shewed to be an heinous sin, and exceedingly injurious to the Passion, and blood of Christ. / By Edm. Porter, B.D. sometimes fellow of St. John's Colledge in Cambridge, and prebend of Norwich.	Porter, Edmund, 1595-1670.; Downame, John, d. 1652.	1655 (1655)	Wing P2985; Thomason E1596_1; ESTC R203199	270,338	411

●●tu i. that he was in the light of God and company of Saints and St. Austin prayed thus for his godly Aug. Confes l. 9. c. 13. Mother deceased Pro peccatis matris mea deprecor te Deus demit●e illi debita sua c. i. I beseech thee O God for the sins of my Mother that thou wouldst forgive her and yet immediatly he saith Credo jam feceris quod rogo i I beleeve thou hast alread●y done what I now pray for Notwithstanding the Church did so pray and Epiphanius gives this reason why the names of the dead were Epiph. hae 75. mentioned in the Church-prayers Quia hoc magis fuerit utile quid commodius quod credunt praesentes quòd bi qui decesserunt vivunt non sunt nulli i. What can be more profitable to the living then to be assured that the dead persons commemorated do still live and that they are not annihilated So we see the Church had other reasons which moved them so to commemorate the dead though the deceased received no benefit thereby As 1. To commend unto the living and in their mindes to preserve the wholesom doctrine of our Souls immortality 2. Their prayers did challenge the performance of Gods promises to those deceased who had lived and died in the Lord as is declared Rev. 14. 13. Blessed are the dead that dye in the Lord saith the Spirit 3. For the co●solation of the living the Priest declared that the sins of such holy men which had lived and died in the faith of Christ were forgiven 4. The Church gave thanks for their departure to rest as acknowledging the mercy of God by which they were saved and not by their own merits Some Divines think that when St. Paul prayed for Onesiphorus The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day 2 Tim. 1. 18. that Onesiphorus was at that time dead because in the end of the Epistle in the salutations there is no mention of Onesiphorus but of his familie only 2 Tim. 4. 19. And because there is no state or condition of men in this life though never so sinful which excludeth them from the benefit of being prayed for therefore some Expositors have thought that when St. John said There is a sin unto death I do not say he shall pray for it 1 Joh 5. 16. his meaning is that such an one who liveth and dieth in a soul-destroying sin such as shall in this book afterwards be discovered without repentance for such a mans prayers are unprofitable and vaine not excluding others that die in the Lord to be commemorated in the prayers of the living as Onesiphorus before mentioned and in that sense as is before said and this is St. Heromes exposition in his objurgatory Hier 10. 9. Epiad Evang. Epistle to Evangius if it be his own and so also saith the interlineal glosse with Lyra. St. Austin being hard put to it to give an account why the Church prayed for the dead and what benefit the dead had by the prayers of the living by the questions of Dulcitius and Paulinus confesseth most inge Aug. lib. de Cur promort● c. 1. nuously that the dead can have no benefit at all by our prayers here except by their good life they were capable of good before their death and again he saith Because the Church knoweth not unto what dead men Aug. ib. c. 17. her prayers are profitable therefore she prayeth pro omnibus regeneratis i. for all the regenerate that none may be omitted CHAP. XV. That the Fathers did not beleeve that Souls departed were insensible as if they were dead or asleep because the Saints departed do pray for the Church Militant as the Fathers thought HAving shewed before what the Church Militant did here below for the Triumphant part above it would now be considered what the Triumphant Church above doth for us that are on earth in the judgement of the Fathers The ancient Church were so far from thinking that our souls died with our bodies that they affirme and verily beleeve that the souls of holy men departed and being in rest did pray for the Church on earth for so St. Hierom tels us the Saints deceased pray for the living Hier. Epist 53. n. 17. for they that had so much charity on earth as to pray even for their enemies and persecutors much more will they now in heaven pray for the Church St. Paul is not lesse charitable after his departure then he was before and so he wished Heliodor●● that if he died before Hier. Eipst 1. n. 1. Hierom to pray for him when he was in heaven so likewise he desireth a Id. Epist 27. n. 7. Principia and b Id. Epist exeg 140. n. 30 Paula to remember him when they are in heaven And St. Ambrose professeth c Amb. de fide Resur n. 30. That he expecteth the intercession of his brother Satyrus deceased for the speedier deliverance out of the miseries of this life and that he hoped the godly Emperour d Id. de Obit Theod. n. 47. Theodosius departed did yet pray to God for his surviving Children and that the dead Emperor e Id. de Obit Valent. n. 46. Gratian did pray for his brother Valentinian Of the same Judgment is St. Chrysostom f Chrys ser de uno Legisl to 6. n. 55. for he doubteth not to affirm that the Martyrs and Prophets Apostles deceased do actually pray for the living and before him St. Cyprian in his life-time contracted with Cornelius g Cyp. l. 1. Epist 1. Qui prior è vita discesserit oret pro sratribus i. That which of them should first dye must pray for the survivers and in an Epistle written to some Martyrs who were very speedily to suffer death for Christ he desireth † Cyp. ad Marty n. 98. Naz. Orat. 24. them to be mindful of him when they were in the honour of Martyrs with the Lord. Greg. Naz. tells us that Athanasius though deceased yet as he was perswaded did still help and assist the Church and that his friend St. Basil deceased and now in heaven yet Naz. Orat. 20. even there poured out prayers for the people And of his reverend old father deceased who had been a long time Bishop of Nazianzum he saith That he doubteth Id. Orat. 19. not but though he were in heaven yet the same Pastoral care which he had on earth remaineth still with him and now that he is approached nearer to God he doth more good for that flock by his prayers in heaven then he could do by his doctrine on earth This is enough to shew what the Fathers thought of the Immortality of the soules of men and the same opinion was so generally received of Christian people in those dayes that as St. Chrysostome reporteth they Chrys Ser. 4. de Laz. n. 42. would commonly boast that they should

whence either Levi or Ch●●st had their humane souls and so it was to St. Austine himself as I have shewed before The surer answer therefore is this that it being granted that the humane nature of Ch●ist was every way in the loins of Abraham as well as Levi was yet this grand difference is between them That Christs Divine nature or eternall Godhead was not derived from Abrahams loins Although as Christ was in the form of a servant so he came from Abraham and so he paid tithes in Abraham to his type M●lchisedech just as he paid tribute to Caesar or to the Temple because he was a man and a subject to Caesar as S. Ambrose truely saith Christus est servus quatenus incarnatus i. Ambr. in Epist con Aquil. n. 49. When Christ is called a Subject or Servant it is understood of his Incarnation But as he was in the form of God he neither came from Abraham nor was tithed in him nor owed any tribute to Caesar or the Temple Of this nature it is said John 8. 58 Before Abraham was I am Yet in respect of his humane nature I may truly say that Christ before his birth in the loins of Abraham paid tithes to Melchisedech which is all one as to say Christ paid to Christ Christus homo Christo Deo i. The Man Christ to Christ our God This Scripture thus expounded doth clearly set forth the Incarnation of God in the Person of Jesus Christ who for his assumed flesh is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bas de Spir. sanct c. 5. by St. Basil i. flesh-bearing God and in Greg. Nazian and Athanasius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God Incarnate Thus was he every way as hath been shewed a Person fitted to stand in steed of mankind as an undertaker and surety for performance of the Bond Law and Covenant which was laid upon us Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for he hath visited and redeemed his people and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David Laus Deo FINIS THE FOURTH BOOK Of the Vnpardonable SINNE OR The sinne against the Holy Ghost wherein this question is discussed Whether the sinne against the Holy Ghost be absolutely unpardonable Together with a plain Exposition of those places in Scripture which concern that sin viz. wherein the question of Anabaptisme is clearly discussed Matth. 12. 31. Heb. 6. 4. Heb. 10. 26. Epist 1 John 5. 16. Qui legit haec ubi certus est paritêr pergat mecum ubi haesitat quaerat mecum ubi errorem suum cognoscit redeat ad me Aug. de Trinit l. 1. c. 3. LONDON Printed for Humphrey Moseley and are to be sold at his Shop at the Princes Armes in St. Paul's Church-yard 1655. THE PREFACE IN my second Book I propounded two questions to be discussed First what sin that 1. is which three of the Evangelists call the sinne against the Holy Ghost and to me it appeared to be the blasphemous denying the Godhead of Jesus Christ For albeit some other sin may be so called yet that this also is that sinne there meant I nothing doubt Secondly Why the denying the Godhead 2. of Christ is said especially to be unpardonable and to me it seemed that the reason is because he that so sinneth doth thereby renounce the sole and onely means of redemption and pardon for Jesus Christ by vertue of his Godhead inseparably united with his Manhood is the onely All-sufficient Expiatory Sacrifice for sinne There is yet a third Question to be discoursed 3. which is very needfull to be rightly understood lest the former Doctrines should lead such men into desperation who have fallen into this sinne and for the comfort of those particularly who have been misled into this most dangerous blasphemy by reading This new Commentary on the Hebrewes I do thus state this third Question Of THE UNPARDONABLE SINNE CHAP. I. Whether those who have once fallen into the blasphemy 3. Question of denying the Godhead of Jesus Christ are absolutely unpardonable and left without all hope of assoilment or remedie and forgiveness so that they must be certainly and eternally damned THe reason which moved me to attempt this question is because I find in many Writers that the sin against the Holy Ghost is discoursed as being absolutely unpardonable and their perswasion thereof is grounded on the words of Christ which seem to be so peremptory and absolute as if they could not admit any limitation or exception or more favourable Exposition For it is said Matth. 12. 31 32. It shall not be forgiven unto m●n neither in this 〈◊〉 nor in the world to come and Mar. 3. 29. He hath never forgivenesse but is in danger of eternall damnation And in St. Luke it is said He that denieth me before men shall be denied before the Angels of God unto him that blesphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall no be forgive Of this sin or blasphemie against the Holy Ghost our later Expositors understand that saying Heb ● 4. It is impossible for those who were once enlightned if they fal away to renew them again unto 〈◊〉 So do they expound that place also Heb 10. 26. If we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the Truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin but a certain 〈◊〉 looking for of judgement And that which to some men seemeth to prove the absolute unpardonableness of this sin and to put it out of all doubt is that saying 1 John 5. 16. There is a sin unto death I do not say ●● 〈◊〉 for it For if he that once sinneth this sin be not all to be prayed for it will be a great inducement to perswade us that it is altogether unpardonable There is yet another reason alledged by Expositors why this sin is absolutely unpardonable and that is because as they say this blasphemy being one committed it is ever after accompanied with finall 〈◊〉 according to that saying before alledged out of Heb. 6. 6. If this prove true then such blasphemers must certainly perish according to our Saviours words in another case Luke 13. 3. Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish and so this sinne may fitly be called a sinne unto death But yet to say any sin is so great that in any case it cannot be pardoned will be most harsh and derogatory to the infinite mercy of God in Christ for the sacrifice for sin the Lamb of God is of infinite value and an all-sufficient sacrifice but no sins of the sons of men are infinite either in measure or number but onely in respect of the Object that is God a most mercifull God against whom they are committed Pecca a numerari possunt sed misericordia D●● nulla mensura comprehendi potest i. Our sins are not numberless but the mercy Basil in Ascet Reg. n. 31. of God is immense and infinite and the Scripture tells us Rom

5 20. 〈…〉 grace did much more abound and that God is rich in mercie and the Father of 〈…〉 and that his mercie is over all his workes and especially his mercy is seen and excercised on mankind even in such as have sinned with an high hand against him if they doe penitentlie turn unto him no Father or ●ender Mother can so much pittie their owne children as our heavenly Father pittieth us Non sic ins●mus Chrys 77. hom Constant n. 25. 〈…〉 Deus paenitentem animam i no young man sick for love is more inamored with his beloved than our loving God is with a penitent soule Chrys 31. hom Antioch n. 12. and againe the same Father saith Ego testifi●or fide 〈◊〉 si quts discedit à pecc●to nihil aliud requirit Deus i testifie and will be bound that if a sinner will forsake his sin God requireth no more of him The gate of Gods mercy is never shut against a penitent sinner S. Cypri●n saith most comfortably Nulla paenitent Cyp. cont Demet. n. 75. Id de Caena n. 95. a in mu●●o se●a ●st And againe Anim●m egredientem and in lubi● paenitentem non aspernatur Clementissimus Dominus i no repentance can be to late in this life when our Soul is pearched on our lips ready to take her flight even in that moment our most mercifull Lord will not reject her repentance no though her sins have bin never so detestable Prosper saith Nulla Pros de vocat Gent. l. 1. c. 17. sunt tam detestanda ●●elera quae possun gratiae donum arc●re i No wickednes is so detestable which can utterly exclude the mercie of God S. ●asil sets this down as an infallible mark whereby a man may be assured of remission of sins Ce●t●●o rem ●ssi●nis est peccata abhorrere Basil in Ascet n. 31. i if yow would be assured that your sins are remitted leave your sins The Psalmist saith Psal 33. 5. The earth is full of the goodnes of the Lord Because in this life his mercy is more perceived then his justice which he doth for the most part defer til the judgment in the next life by his patience and long suffering yet even then his very judgments are not void of some mercy in Te●tull●an it is but Ironically said O deum ad Tert. cont Marc. l. 3 n. 44. inferos usqu● 〈…〉 i O the mercy of God which extend●th even to hel but S. Austin delivers the same seriously and dogmatically i Dei misericordia Aug de Civit. l. 21. c. 24. extenditur damnatis mitiùs puniens illos quàm mereantur i The mercy of God is in some measure shewed to the damned in that he punisheth them lesse rigorouslie then they deserved Upon these reasons grounded on the mercies of a most mercifull God an Al sufficient Redeemer I dare not pronounce this sin against the Holie Ghost to be absolutely unpardonable CHAP. II. That the sin against the Spirit possibly may be pardoned and that by repentance Gods threatnings are conditional and not alwayes executed yet the truth of God is not violated Threatnings are but prov●cations to repentance But dare any Man say this sin is Pardonable when Christ hath said it shall never be forgiven I answer that neither I nor any one that feareth God would presume to affirme it pardonable except wee were assured that God himself had so affirmed for the same God who is the author both of the old and new Testament hath so declared in both that all his threatnings how peremptorilie or absolutely soever they seeme to be delivered yet they are ever to be understood with this limitation or exception except ye repent For although it be not openly expressed in every particular Commination yet God hath more then once given us to understand that whensoever he threatneth destruction to a sinner his threatning is alwaies to be understood with this limitation Except that sinner repent And this truth hath bin long ago discovered by our owne divines and long before them by the ancient Fathers That al threatnings of God are to be understood with the condition of impenitencie for example God had by his prophet said Fortie dayes Jonah 3. 4. and Nineve shall be des●●oyed Yet Nineve was not so destroied neither was his word false because Gods meaning was with this reservation Except they repented and Gods threatning averting or inflicting temporal plagues in the time of the law were signes what he would doe in the like case either with or without repentance in remitting or inflicting eternal punishments since the Gospel was published If you aske me how wee shall know that when God threatneth destruction without any mention of this exception of repentance that yet he so meaneth I answer that we know it because God hath so tould us once or twice that all his threatnings must be so understood and this we learne from two of his great Prophets both for general threatnings against a whole nation and for particular threatnings against any wicked person for Jer. 18. 7. As what instant I shall speak concerning a nation and concerning a Kingdom to pluck up and to put down and to destroy it If that nation against whom I have pronounced turn from their evil I wil repent of the evil that I thought to doe unto them So againe Ezech. 33. 14. When I say to the wicked thou shalt surely die If he turne from his sin c he shal surely live he shal not die these two are the general rules of all Gods threatnings in the whole Scripture so that if we lay these to any threatning that was executed or not executed yet we shal find that both the mercy and truth of God wil be hereby cleered as in the differing cases of Sodom destroied and Nin●ve saved The same Rules are also to be observed in the threatnings mentioned in the New Testament even where the exception is not expressly mentioned yet it is alwaies to be understood and there we find evident and personal presidents of Gods mercy in sparing those whom he threatned when the threatning seemed to be absolute without any limitation for what threatning can be more peremptorie then that Luc. 12. 9. He that denieth me before men shall be denied before the Angels of God But we know Peter denied him before men yet Mat. 26. 74. we doubt not of Peters Conversion and Salvation And we know that the Jewes unto whom the same Peter preached Act. 3. 14. had denied the Holie One and the Just moreover killed the P●ince of life Yet S● Peter did not think them absolutely unpardonable but exhorted them to repentanc● and shewed that therby their sin might be pardoned for ●aith he v. 19 Repent yet therfore and be convert●d that you● si●s may be blotted out What threatning seemeth more peremptorie then that 1 Cor. 6 9 Be not deceived neither fornicators nor idola●e●s nor adulte●●rs nor t●eves nor

3. therefore any sinne which is perceived to be a sinne not unto death may be prayed for and so pardoned Fourthly let it be observed that the Apostle do●h 4. in the next verse set down what he means in this place by sinne for verse 17. All unrighteousness is sinne John 3. 4. and he had said before chap. 3. verse 4. Sinne is the transgression of the Law From whence it may be reasonably collected that any unrighteonsnesse or transgression of the Law or any sinne if it be discerned to be not unto death may be prayed for and possibly pardoned A sinne not unto death How any sinne can be said to Beza in loc be a sinne and yet not unto death is hard to be understood seeing we reade Rom. 6. 23. The wages of sinne is death for any sinne ever so little rendereth us liable to death and is affirmed so by Beza Omtria peccata per se lethali● id est All sinnes in their own nature are deadly Our very lapst nature in Adams mass Originall sinne and our minima peccata there is no sinne so small or unconsiderable but draweth after it the weight of eternall wrath and a thousand times meriteth eternall death Thus he and Calvin very truely saith Omne peccatum per se mortale Calv. instit 2. 8. 59. id est Every sinne in it self is deadly but when the sins of holy men are said to be not unto death and veniall it is because by Gods mercy they obtain pardon and not because the sinnes are of themselves veniall for who doubteth but that in the reprobate all sinnes are sinnes unto death but in the Elect no sinne is unto death Saint Chrysostome observeth upon those words Matthew Chrys de compunct n. 18. 5. 22. Whosoever shall say to his brother Thou fool c. De levioribus dat sententiam ut de gravioribus non dubitare debeas id est Christ pronounced sentence of Hell fire against so small a sinne that no man should doubt what greater sinnes deserve Again there are very grand and capitall sinnes which yet in some persons are sinnes not unto death as Galathians 5. 19. Adultery Murther Drunkennesse Seditions Heresies Idolatrie c. of which it is there said They that do such things shall not inherit the Kingdome of God and yet we know that some of the Patriarks and many converted from Heathenisme hath committed these sinnes but obtained pardon and shall inherit the Kingdome of Heaven Noahs excesse Davids adultery the Corinthians incest Peters deniall and the Iewes denying and crucifying the holy One and Pauls persecuting the Church all and every of these sinnes in those penitent and Elect vessels were sinnes not unto death This I think will not be denied Not unto death But why are some mens sinnes called not unto death when the very same speciall sins in other men are indeed sinnes unto death The Poet murmured at such a thing Committunt eadem diverso Crimina fato Juven sat 13. Ille crucem sceleris precium tulit hic Diadema For many sins and very capitall ones are common both to the Reprobates and to the Elect and yet in the Elect and the same sin is not unto death which in the Reprobate is unto death The answer is that our Apostle calls that sin a sin not unto death which is confessed repented forsaken and amended before our death or departure out of this life when a man doth not obdurately continue and persevere in his sin untill his death but forsaketh it in his life-time so that the leaving of his sin and amendment of life may be seen by his brother for how else shall a brother see that the sin is not unto death but by the sinners leaving it desisting from and amending it as by ceasing from adultery rebellion oppression and the like for so the Apostle telleth the Corinthians such as these were some of yee but yee are washed but yee are sanctified 1 Cor. 6. 11. So that sinnes not unto death are not so called from the nature or merit of sin but from the circumstance of the time or person sinning and desisting Fot as is said Every sin is mortall deadly and unto death eternall if we look onely on the merit of sin but every sin though the most grand and capitall sin is not unto death if it be repeated of and left before the departure of the soul from the body So the gloss expoundeth this place Non ad mortem Id est non usque ad mortem i. A sin not unto death is when the sin is not continued in untill the time of death and of David it saith David sinned not unto death for he repented and obtained pardon so that the same sin in one man not repenting produceth damnation when in another it is pardoned upon repentance Neither do we hereby assert any Stoicall f Amb. n. 33. Novatian or g Aug. n. to 6. habes Sardos venales alium alio nequiorem ●ul Epist 125 Iovinian equalitie of sinnes For although no sinne may well be called bettet then another because all are naught yet one is worse then another Of two ill painted pieces one asked uter det●rior est i. which is worst and of two evill things in the Comedy it is said h Plaut in Aulular Act. 2. sce ● Alia aliâ pejor est optima nulla est i. one is worse then another neither can be called best i. i Aug. cont mendac c. 8. n. 77. Furum non est ide● quisquam bonus quia pejor est unus i One thief is worse then another yet no thief is therefore good Sin in generall is k Bafil n. 5. Proles Dia●osi and l Theod. n. 13. mater mortis m Chrys n. 59. grandis Damon peccatum i. the bra● of the Devil the mother of death and it self is a Devil and so is called in the Gospel yet sins are of severall growths and degrees For therefore are there severall degrees of torments in hell apportioned to the degrees of sins There is a sin as a mo●e and as a beam and a Camel so there are stripes many stripes weeping wailing gnashing of teeth worm fire and brimstone the damned shall be bound up in bundles according to the likenesse and degrees of their sins and every bundle shall have its just portion as we read of that particular portion of Hypocrites It is a memorable and a terrible observation which Origen makes upon that saying Numb 14. 34. where for one sin in one day a whole year of punishment is apportioned If for every sinne of ours a whole year of Orig. in loc hom 8. punishment shall be allotted I fear that neither the duration of this world nor the eternitie of the next world will be long enough to end ou● torments Let us not therefore flatter our selves w●th the conceit of a little or a veniall sinne as if such deserved not death for

the very least sin is liable to eternall death except it be confessed and in this life in some measure repented But I proceed CHAP. XVII Whas is meant by a sin unto death the judgment of the Fathers and the Ancient expositdrs therein and the discipline of the primitive Church therunto correspondent that the greatest sins both have bin actuallie and so may be pardoned in what sence the Fathers called some sins venial and some Mortal THere is a sinne unto death I do not say he shall pray for it If any words in the whole sacred Scripture will bear this exposition and make good this Doctrine That there is any sinne at all which once committed cannot possibly upon any terms or condition whatsoever be remitted not upon confession or repentance and forsaking and renouncing it and after it adhering to Gods Truth and his Precepts and that even to death and martyrdome nor upon all these together This saying is most likely to bear it A sinne unto death and not to be prayed for which words require a very diligent Explication being of so great weight and concernment Lord Jesus send thy Light and thy Truth A sinne unto death This sin unto death I conceive not to be intended of any particular sin whether it be absolute Atheisme or the blasphemy of Ar●us denying the Godhead of Christ or of Eun●mius denying the Holy Ghost or totall Apostacie from Christianity or Adultery Idolatry witchcraft murther sedition or any of these grand sins mentioned Gal. 5. 19. such as the Fathers do usually ●in som sence call sins Mortall Mortiferous and Capitall My reason is because it may be made apparant by Scriptures and the Records of the Church that particular men who have sinned these sins severally have bin by Gods mercy and his castigations reduced to renounce their errours and to forsake their sins For many of those sins were seen in King Manasses 2 Chron 33. Who yet was converted and humbled himself greatly and God was intreated and we know that many Heathens Atheists Apostates and ●rrians have Paulinus in vita Ambrosii n. 3. Athan. to 2 page 448. n. 17. bin reduced to Confession of their sins and to repentance of their Arrianism● and those who have not bin actually reduced yet during their naturall lives were in a condition reducible if grace sufficient and prevalent had bin given so that their conversion was not absolutely impossible Beza finding fault with distinction of sinnes into Beza in lo● ve●iall and mortall as the Schoolmen sometimes use it for which he had good reason affirmeth that it is absurd to say that mortall sins are utterly left without all hope of pardon and yet he thinketh the sinn● unto death here me●tioned to be that sinne against the holy Ghost and that it is lethiferous and that the commitrers thereof cannot possibly repent which I dare not assent unto but yet he most truly affirmeth that if those who have once committed that sinne against the Holy Ghost would and could repent Certè veniam consequerentur i. certainly they would and might obtain pardon Thus he Vnto death The old Exposition of the Fathers and ancient Expositors surely is the truest and plainest and being received will quit us of many unnecessary doubts and anxi●tics and is most agreeable with the Analogie of Faith particularly with the Article of forgiv●n●sse of sinnes and co●respondeth best with the justice and mercifulnesse of God for thus they write A sinne unto death is any grand or capitall sinne such as is before mentioned out of Gal. 5. 19. in which a man liveth continueth and dieth impenitently And that it is therefore onely so called a sinne unto death because it is obdurately and impenitently continued and persevered in unto the end of our life and expiration of our souls So O●cum●nius saith Solum hoc peccatum ad mortem O●●um in loc est quod ad pae●tentiam non respicit id est Onely that sinne is a sinne unto death which never is repented Beda ●n loc And Beda saith Pecca●um ad mor●em peccatum usque ad tempora mortis protractum diximus r●cte posse intelligi est de tali magno peccato quale David commisit si pro●ractum sit usque ad mortem id est A sinne unto death may truely be understood of a sinne continued in untill the time of our death such a great sinne as David committed if we persevere in it till death So doth Saint Hierome understand it Pecc●tum ad Hier. in Evag. objurg n. 41. mo●tem est cum tempus r●●●ssionis in vitio inueni● id est A sinne unto death is when death cometh and findeth us continuing in sin So doth Saint Austine expound this very Text Peccatum Aug. Retract l. 1. c. 19. ad mor●●m est si in hac perversitate finierit ●anc ui●●m id est The sinne unto death is when a man continueth in sinne obstinately and therein endeth his life and in another place he just so expounds the sin against the holy Ghost which shall never be forgiven Non absurde intelligunt ●um peccare in Spiritum ●sse sine Aug. de fide oper c. 16. n. 79. venia reum aeterni peccati qui usque ad finem vitae ● oluerit credere in Christum id est It is no inconvenience ●o understand it thus that he sinneth against the Holy Spirit and shall not be forgiven for ever who will not at all believe in Christ as long as he liveth Just so Lyra and both gloss●s expound it Ad mortalem i. usque ad mor●em vitae quod in hac vit● non corrigitur est final●s impaenitentia si quis perseveret in eo usque ad finem vitae inclusivè i. unto death signifies to the end of our life natural that sin which is not amended in this life it is finall impenitencie when a man persevereth in sin unto the end of his life inclusively not repenting at the time of his departure but dieth impenitent By all which it appeareth that in the judgement of these Expositors the sin unto death is some of those grand sins in which a man liveth and dieth impenitently and that it is not called the sin unto death in respect of the sin it self but for the sinne●s continuance therein unto his death for the same sin which in one man is a sin unto death and shall never be forgiven in another man proves a sin not unto death but is repented of and so is pardoned that this is the judgment of St. Austin I have divers times shewed before and especially in that place alleaged by me before pag. 201. cap. 14. wh●reafter after a long discourse concerning the sin called the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit he concludeth That no sin against Vide supra ● 14. the Holy Ghost is unpardonable but only in case a man doth obstinately persevere in it without any hope or desire of pardon or care of

The whole Church prayeth that faith may be given to Infidels and S. Austin saith Sacerdos ad altare hortatur populum orare pro incredulis i. The Preist at the very altar in time of the ●olie Euch●rist exhorted the people to pray for unbeleevers and from this practise of the Church Catholick he reproveth the Pelagi●ns who affirmed that men by their owne power without assistant grace might perform the will of God This Doctrins saith he frustrateth the devotion of the Church for why should she pray for that which is not by grace or the gift of God And just so Prosper argueth Prosp Respon act Genuens n. 30. against them If faith be not the gift of God Frustra orat Ecclesia pro non creden ibn● ut credun● i. In vaine doth the Church pray for infidels that they may beleeve if faith were not the gift of God Neither were these prayers put up for heathens or wicked and prophane men Only at such time when they were about to be converted or when they seemed to incline to Christianitie but even then whilest they were at their worst Fulgentius prayeth thus Domine Fulg. vel Paul Diac. de incar n. 2. Opt. lib. 3 mal●s bonos facito i. Lord make them good who are now wicked and Optatus expounding that place 1 Tim. 2. 2. saith Paulus orandum praecipit pro regibus gentilitèr viventibus i. Paule appointed heathen Kings to be prayed for even whilest they lived in their heathenisme So the Church prayed for hereticks and persecutors whilest they continued both hereticks and persecutors Athanasius saith Populus Alexandrinus Orat Atha de populo Alex. n. 19. pro Constantio Artiano and Persecutore i. The people of Alexandria prayed for the Emperor Constantius who was both an Arrian and a persecutor and Epiphanius prayed for Iohn an heretical Bishop of Ierusalem in these Epiph. Epist ad Ioannem n. 31. words Domine praesta Joanni ut rectè credat i. Lord grant unto Iohn a right belief for surely there is very great cause to pray for the conversion of such whose heresies and persecutions doe endanger the very being of the Church and Chrysostome presseth this duetie of praying for such because saith he it is an act and Chrys serm d. Cruce latr n. 48. Machar hom 18. signe of far greater Charitie to pray for our enemies then for our friends finallie the Holie man Macarius said Sancti Orant prototo genere Adae i. Holie men use to pray for the whole generation of Adam In those bookes de vocatione Gentium which goe under the name both of S. Ambrose and also of Prosper the custome of the Church in praying for all sorts of men is fully set forth Supplicat ubique ecclesia deo Amb. de voc Gent. l. 1. c. 4. Prosp n. 53. non solum pro Sanctis jam regeneratis sed pro Omnibus infidelibus inimicis Crucis Christi pro Omnibus idolorum cultoribus pro omnibus qui Christum in membris ipsius persequuntur pro Iudaeis pro haereticis pro schismaticis quid autem pro ipsis petit nisi ut relictis erroribus convertantur ad fidem c. i. The Church doth now every where put up supplications to God not only for her owne holie and regenerate members but for all infidels and enemies of the Cross of Christ for idolaters persecutors Iewes hereticks schismaticks and thus she prayeth for them that they may be converted from their errors to the true faith The like is found in the Epistle of Bishop Caelestinus written in the behalf of Prosper and Hilarie and is amongst the works both of Austin and of Prosper setting forth not only Aug n. 72. Prosp n 62. what kinds of men were prayed for but also what prayers were used Obsecrationum sacerdotalium sacramenta quae ab Apostolis tradita in toto mundo at que in Omni Catholica ecclesia uniformiter celebrantur praesules humani generis agunt causam apud divinam clementiam precantur ut infidelibus donetur fides ut idolaatriae liben●tur ab erroribus ut Iudaeis lux veritatis appareat ut haeretici resi piscant ut scismatici Spiritum redivivae Charitatis accipiant ut lapsis paenitextia remedia conferantur c. The holie Rites of sacerdotal prayers descending downe from the Apostles times are uniformly celebrated in every Catholick Church in the world the prelates are the Orators to God in the behalf of all mankind they pray for infidels that faith may be given to them for Idolaters that they may be delivered from their errors that the Jewes may embrace the truth that hereticks may recant and scismaticks may recover the Spirit of Charitie that all lapsed sinners may have the remedie of repentance Lastly upon all these precepts and presidents both of the Scriptures and the Church primitive the Church of England with great pietie and prudence prayeth also for all men yea for her Enemies In the Letanie and Collect on good-friday persecutors and slanderers that they may find mercy and forgivenes and for the conversion of all Iewes Turks in fidels and hereticks This I trust is sufficient if not to much to set forth that any sinne though ever so great during his life time may be prayed for at least so far as that he may have the grace of convension from his sin * Orandum est pro bene malè viventibus ut bonus perseveret malus convertatur Aug. ad frat in Erem hom 42. And upon these grounds and reasons I would make no scruple at all to pray for the repentance of that partie whom I know to have committed that sin of which it is said It shall never be forgiven because I am fully persuaded that the threatning there is conditional viz. It shall never be forgiven without conversion and repentance as I have shewed before and therfore if I knew any man who had committed tha● sin in that high degree as it is described by Beza viz. He who ' is inlightned with the knowledg of Gods truth so that he Beza in 1 Joh. 5. 16. can not be ignorant though he would yet upon set purpose doth maliciously oppose and resist God purposely and knowingly I see no cause why I should doubt to pray for grace and the conversion of such an heinous sinner whilest he is yet aliue No man living is debarred from the prayers of the Church as you have heard no not the lapsed or excommunicated nor those that are therby delivered to Satan for even that most severe censure was intended for their Conversion and Salvation only as S. Austin noteth u. Ecclesia non Aug. de Civit. lib. 21. c. 24. Orat pro diabolo i The Church prayeth not for the apostate Angels and withal he there professeth that if he did certainly know those men that were predestinated to hell fire which no man can know without an especial revelation then indeed he would

not see sin in such pretty black Saints Now albeit in the prayers of our Saviour and the Protomartyr S. Stephen the words run Forgive them Father Luc. 23. 34. Act. 7. 60. and Lord ●ay not this sin to their Charg without any explicit and overt mention of their Conversion and repentance yet we are not so to understand them that those grand sins should absolutly be pardoned without any conversion or repentance but that the prayers for forgivenes must presuppose and implie an inclusive prayer for the meanes leading to forgiveness which are faith conversion repentance and amendment as if our Saviour had said Father Open their eyes that they may know and confess me and adhere to me and repent and so that their sin may be forgiven and never laid to their charg So S. Chrysostome understandeth Chry n. 48. Fulg. n. 14. the words of Christ for saith he upon these words hinc tria quinque millia conversa and so Fulgentius noteth upon S. Stephens prayer Paulus converticur per orationem Stephani i. That these prayers did implie the conversion of these sinners for by vertue of them 3. and 5. thowsands yea and S. Paule was converted and this is cleerly expressed in S. Peters sermon Act. 3. 17. 19. as an exposition of our Saviours words And now brethren I wot that through ignorance ye did it repent ye therfore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out to signifie that the blotting out of sins ever presupposeth repentance Finally wheras some object that we may nor pray for the Conversion of the malicious enemies of the Church because they say S. Paule did not pray for Alexander the Copper smith mentioned 1 Tim. 4. 14. but said The Lord reward him according to his work To this we say First It doth non appear that S. Paul did not at all pray for his conversion Secondly S. Paul did not hereby forbid prayer for him Thirdly That as those words are no prayer for his conversion so neither are they accounted by the best expositors any imprecation but an Apostolical commination and a leaving of him to the judgment of Theoph. in Loc. Theod. in Loc. Anselm in Loc. God Theophilact expounds it thus Reddat pro reddet verbum pronunciantis est non imprecantis and so saith Theodoret and Anselm i. He saith the Lord reward him for the Lord shall or will reward him it is not the wish but the forewarning of the Apostle and therfore S. Ierome to express rather the meaning then the letter of those words for reddat reades Reddet ei Deus i. God will reward him which is no more then is said of other sinners Heb. 13. 4. Wh●remonge●s and adulterers God will judg CHAP. XXI A recapitulation of the former Expositions of the foure places That finall Impenitencie cannot properly be called the grand sinne The difference of Repentance required to the grand sinne and to other inferiour and unknown sinnes The danger of misunderstanding the solifidian doctrine Of the misbeliefe of the Incarnation of Christ censured with Charitie The Conclusion IT is now high time to ease the Reader and to release him from my tediousnesse and to draw to a conclusion by summing up what hath been delivered concerning this grand sinne against the Holy Ghost in the Expositions of all those difficult places of Scripture the breviate whereof I do here represent in a few conclusions First To that saying Matthew 12. 31. It shall not be 1. forgiven The meaning is that it shal not be forgiven to that man who liveth and dieth in that blasphemie impenitently Secondly to that saying Heb. 6. 4 6. It is impossible 2. to Repentance The meaning is that they cannot be restored to newnesse of life and remission of sinnes after Baptisme by any new or second Baptisme but yet Repentance is not impossible as a second remedy to them that have fallen after Baptisme neither is it during life absolutely denied Thirdly To that saying Heb. 10. 26. If we sinne wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the 3. truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sinne The meaning is he that wilfully rejecteth Christs onely and all-sufficient sacrifice for sinne by accounting his blood Commo● that is by esteeming it to be but the blood of a meer man a meer creature and therefore to be no better nor of more worth then the blood of another man and in this blasphemous conceit and infidelitie liveth and dieth that man must look for nothing but judgement of condemnation and fiery indignation because there is none other sacrifice for sinne possibly to be found but Christ crucified who then was and is and ever will be Emmanuel Fourthly to that saying 1 John 5. 16. There is a sinne 4. unto death I do not say that he shall pray for it The meaning is that whosoever shall commit the grand sinne and in that sinne shall persist continue and persevere obdurately stubbornly and impenitently his whole life time and die therein without repentance and without speciall revocation recantation or retraction therof that man must needs perish everlastingly All prayers for that man so living dying will be unprofitable for his souls health For though whilest he liveth we may pray for his conversion and perhaps beheard for ought we know yet to pray for his pardon and salvation immediately without praying for and desiring his conversion as being necessary in order to his pardon and salvation is a foul abuse of Gods Truth and righteousness Fifthly That if all these Expositions prove true and 5. be so found and approved by the Christian Reader then my former conclusion will necessarily follow that neither this sinne which is called the sinne against the holy Spirit nor any other sinne how great soever is absolutely unpardonable but upon speciall and particular repentance thereof the sinner may finde mercy and forgivenesse From this doctrine of the necessity of repentance to go before forgivnesse some divines suspect that the grand and onely unpardonable sin is final impenitence because it is true that this grand in is pardonable if it be timely repented and as true that when it is accompanied with final impenitence it shall never be forgiven and indeed such a conceit did fall from the pen of Saint Hierom Impenitentiae crimen solum est quod Hier. Epist 4. 8. n. 9. veniam consequi nou potest i. impenitence is the only fault which cannot obtain pardon To this conceit the answer is that impenitencie cannot be called properly the sin unpardonable because of it self it is not alwaies to be called a sin for impenitency is blamlesse where no sin is the holy and unspotted quire of heavenly Angels as they are impeccant so are they not penitent and yet offend not thereby But impenitency in grand and capital offenders is a weighty and an aggravating circumstance then when it is the perpetual concomitant of sin and a consequent finally it makes the

sin far worse and as it is said Rom. 7. 13. By it sin becomes exceeding sinful Chrys de fato lib. 3. n. 21. Non ●am tetra res est peceare quam peccati non pudere i. It is not so bad a thing to sin as not to be ashamed of sin There is a received Maxime Duo si faciant idem non est idem i. Two men may commit the same sin which yet may be far worse in one then in the other for surely if the circumstance of person may varie the sin much rather may a greater circumstance as when a rich man and a poore man commit the like theft who doubts but the theft is more sinful in Aug. to 6. n. 10. the one then in the other two blasphemers do alike blaspheme the Son of God one repenteth the other persisteth the penitent shall be pardoned when the other by reason of this circumstance of impenitency will be condemned If the Reader desire yet to be further satisfied why I have said that this grand sin is not absolutely unpardonable but onely in case it be accompanied with finall impenitencie seeing that other sins also which are not of so high impiety cannot be pardoned without repentance according to our Saviours words Excep● ye repent ye shall all lik w●se p●rish To this my answer is with submission to better judgements First the grand blasphemy of denying the Godhead 1. of Jesus Christ doth utterly root up the very foundation of Chri●tian religion it nullifieth the wonderfull and gracious work of redemption for if the Lord Jesus be not the only Jehova the Supream and most high God then he hath not nor could redeem us and if we do not firmly believe this and adhere to him in this most necessary faith we cannot receive the end and benefit of his redemption Without this confession all other doctrines of our Christian faith will be unprofitable for our soules health for this is the anchor of our faith he that once offendeth in Apostatizing from his confession of faith cannot be recovered or restored to his benefit of Christianity but by a particular and special revocation and renouncing of that damning error and blasphemy whereas for the remission and pardon of other si●s of inferior rank I conceive a generall confession and penitency will be accepted through Christ by our most mercifull and compassionate God For secondly there are many sins which although of 2. themselves in their own nature and merit as they are sins are sufficient to produce the fruit and wages of sin which is death eternal yet they are unknown sins sins of ignorance and such as we do not account or think so and such as we cannot possibly take particular notice of and not onely passing the reach of our understanding Euseb Em. 24. but of our will also Multi peecant qui peccare nolunt i many sin who desire not to sin the evil that I would not that do I the sin of non age children yea and of infants too as Saint Aug. n. 8. 9. 67. Austin accounts them a secret concupiscence an angry wish or word to our brother an error in some point of christian doctrine not fundamental in which a man liveth and dieth in opinion of the truth of it besides thousands of unknown sins and as many sins of Omission called by Saint Austin del●ct● and so called as being derelicta i delinquencies or desertion of that Aug. quaest in Levit. n. 8● which is good and might have been performed Now either such offenders must perish for those unknown sins or else it must follow that a general confession in the lump af all our sins and a deprecation for Gods mercy in Christ to forbear the punishment due to them with a purpose to decline all sin to our power and as much as we can by Grace assistant will be by Gods Mercy accepted through Christ and therefore the holy Psalmist thus confesseth and thus praieth Psalm 19 12. Who can tell how oft he offendeth O cleanse thou me from my secret faults we know how graciously our God did approve of the Publicans generall confession God be merciful to me a sinner Salvianus saith Veniam peto etsi delictum nescio i I pray Salv. Epist ad Par. p. 322. for pardon though I know not my particular sin For when there is an impossibility of knowing all our several sins how can there be a particular confession or repentance in this case the advice of Lactantius is good Nihil aliud precetur homo nisi peccata remitti i Lact. l. 6. de ver● cultu c. 25. n. 21. Let a man pray that his sins may be forgiven though he pray for nothing else in this sense I understand those words of Saint Austin Justam non impediunt à vita Aug. de Spir. lit c. 28. aeterna peccata quaedam venialia sine quibus vix vivitur i there are certaine pardonable sins without which a man can hardly live which shall nor hinder a godly righteous man from heaven provided that the generally confesse and deprecate them in the lump and such an acknowledgment is most necessary But to such Pharisaical and presumptuous Solifidean hypocrites who will not be induced to a confession and penitence for their sins presuming either on an historicall faith or a bold ungrounded conceit that they are elected to heaven and shall be saved by this fancie therein abusing the most comfortable and wholsom doctrine of justification by faith alone acting and operating by love and therefore making no scruple in their conscience of doing injuries and oppressing their despised brethren Tertullian shall speak as sometimes he did to such as themselves Qui aiunt se salva fide peccare salva Tertul. de paen ● 15. venia in Gehennam detrud●ntur i those that presume to act all manner of unrighteousnesse and yet tell us they shall certainly be saved because they hold fast and reserve their Faith Let them know that God also will held fast and reserve his pardon from them and then they will be condemned There remaineth yet one scruple more to be examined concerning Erronious Opinions and misbelief of the Incarnation of God which I thus state If the deniall of the Godhead of Christ persevered in impenitently untill death For after death none of the damned are Atheists or Arians will certainly bring upon such a blasphemer eternall perdition because this blasphemy utterly disclaimeth the grand and principall means of Redemption and so of salvation I aske What shall be thought of them that believe not rightly in the Incarnation of cur Lord Jesus Christ For many which confessed Jesusto be God and also to be Incarnate yet they would not believe that he took his flesh from the Virgine Mary as conceiving it to be too great an abasement of the mighty God to passe through and suffer the pollutions of the womb And also because they reade in Scripture John

Saint Austine therein and the Authors submission thereof to the Reader That because God was to be Incarnate only in the Person of the Sonne and not in the Person of the Father therefore the ancient Fathers said that God was seen in the Person of the Sonne onely and not in the Person of the Father Chapter VII The Incarnation of the Sonne of God is shewed against Page 22 the Commenter That a meer Man may be said to be Incarnate and so may Christ be truly said and much rather because the soul of Man may exist without a body and the Godhead of Christ really did exist from Eternitie without a Body untill his assumption of a temporary shape and his Incarnation in an ever durable Body That the Scripture calleth him that denieth Christs Incarnation a deceiver and an Antichrist Chapter VIII That the Son of God was to be Incarnate necessarily Page 27 by vertue of the Covenant although God could have saved Man by his Power without the Incarnation Of that curious question viz. What God did before the Creation That God was never solitarie though alwaies but One. Of the Everlasting or Eternall Covenant between the Persons of the Father and the Sonne before the world Chapter IX Of the Covenant between God and Man divers Page 33 times renewed The first words of the Covenant about the Tree of Knowledge before the fall The second words of bruising the Serpents head since the fall The same Covenant with Abraham and afterwards with Moses in more words The outward signes of the Covenant viz. Sacrifices circumcision Tabernacle and Leviticall rites That the Legall and Evangelicall Covenant are but one The words of the Evangelicall Covenant Why it is called a new Covenant the Covenant of Grace and of works a better Covenant and a Testament of Christs suretie ship The reason why Christ was circumcised and Baptized Chapter X. That as our state condition now standeth Page 38 man cannot be redeemed and saved but through the Incarnation Obedience and death of the Sonne of God That our salvation is not wrought by the request and verball intreatie of Christ nor by the power onely of God without satisfaction of his Justice The distinction between Christs satisfaction and his merit How Gods just Sentence was fully executed on man and his Law perfectly performed by man Chapter XI That Christ was a Person fitly qualified to stand Page 41 in stead of all Mankind The mutuall unity of Christ and Mankind in that Christ t●oke his flesh from Man and Man received the Spirit from Christ That from this mutuall unity it is that Christs Obedience both Active Passive with great justice and equitie may be imputed to Mankind Chapter XII What interest the unregenerate man hath in Page 54 Christ That the Divine Spirit of Christ is communicated to the unregenerate and therewith some common graces That the Doctrine of the Church declareth the benefit of Christs death to be offered to all men good and bad That God is essentially present in every creature though not commugnicating his sanctifying Grace to every one The Stoicks error concerning the souls of Men. Apollinarius his Heresie concerning the soul of Christ Chapter XIII The Heresie of Valentinus and others concerning Page 59 the Body of Christ compared with the Heresie of Apollinarius concerning Christs Soul That the Arguments proving the derivation of the flesh of Christ from mans body do as well prove the traduction of his soul That the soul of man by nature is Carnall The doctrine of the Church of England doth not clearly determine the originall of Christs soul That if the traduction of souls be granted it will argue a greater nearness and conjunction of God and Man Chapter XIV The question of the propagation of the soul of Page 63 Christ and of other mens souls discoursed the difficultie thereof shewed out of Saint Austine and his inclination and reasons to believe traduction rather then a dayly new creation of souls The judgement of the Western Church herein alledged by Saint Hierome That the opinion of Traduction is not inconsistent with Christian Faith But if it be granted it argues a nearer relation between Christ and us then otherwise the Author leaves it undetermined with submission to the judicious Reader Chapter XV. The Ubiquitie of the Spirit of Christ Of the Page 67 diversitie of the Graces thereof In what degree and measure the Spirit with its common Graces is communicated to men unregenera●e How the one Spirit of God is in Scripture represented as if there were more then one how it is said to be withdrawn or not yet given when it is alwayes present That the union of God and man is hence concluded Chapter XVI That the presence of the Spirit doth not alwayes Page 71 sanctifie is proved from the unction of Heathen Kings How such are called Gods annointed though they were not ceremonially annointed with oyl of Christs Vnction and the appellation of Christians Vespatians touching and curing the infirm thereby The King of Englands cures and unction Of the gift of healing mentioned 1 Cor. 12. 9. Whether it be utterly ceased Chapter XVII The union of Christ and his Church further Page 76 shewed Why Christ is called Adam David and Jacob Why all mankind was extracted out of one man Why Saint Austine denied that there were any Antipodes The difference between Christs union with all mankind and his more speciall union with his Church An Exposition of Heb. 7. 9. Touching the difference of Levi and Christ who were both in the loins of Abraham which place is purposely obscured by the Commenter The Table THE FOURTH BOOK Containing a discussion of this Question Whether the blasphemie of denying Christs Godhead which is the sin against the holy Spirit be absolutely unpardonable with full Expositions of certain Scriptures in the Hebrewes and other places which concern that sin Chapter I. THe question stated The judgement of Page 1 some late Divines therein and their grounds That to affirm it absolutely unpardonable seemeth derogatory to the infinite mercy of God in Christ and the grace of repentance The efficacie of true repentance Chapter II. That this sinne possibly may be pardoned upon Page 5 the sinners repentance That Gods threatnings are not to be understood as absolute but as conditionall That therefore his threatnings are not alwayes executed and yet his Truth not violated That threatnings are intended for provocations to repentance an observation upon Theodosius The judgement of the Fathers concerning those threatnings Chapter III. That the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit or Page 8 God-head of Christ is then onely unpardonable when it is accompanied with finall impenitencie a short Exposition of Matth. 12 31. Chapter IV. Whether the grace of repentance be absolutely denied Page 11 to those who have once sinned this sin The judgement of some Divines herein A full Exposition begun of Heb. 6. 4. concerning final impenitencie That the word inlightned is there meant of