mankinde exactly answering to the All that have life by Christ which are onely the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those many that believe and are adopted into the Covenant of believers by this indeed it is perceiveable that this was not a natural title or derivation of an inherent corruption from Adam for that must have included All absolutely and universally But that which I here dwell and relie upon is this Sin is often in Scripture us'd for the punishment of sin and they that suffer are called sinners though they be innocent So it is in this case By Adams disobedience many were made sinners that is the sin of Adam pass'd upon them and sate upon their heads with evil effect like that of Bathsheba I and my son shall be accounted sinners 1 Kings 1.21 that is evil will befall us we shall be used like sinners like Traytors and Usurpers So This shall be the sin of Egypt Zech. 14.19 said the Prophet This shall be the punishment so we reade it And Cain complaining of the greatness of his punishment said Mine iniquity is greater then I can bear * And to put it past all doubt not onely punishment is called sin in Scripture but even he that bears it Him that knew no sin 2 Cor. 5.21 God hath made sin that we might be the righteousness of God in him and the Prophet Isaiah speaking of Christ saith Posuit peccatum animam suam Isa 53.10 He hath made his soul a sin that is Heb. 9.28 obnoxious to the punishment of sin Thus it is said that Christ shall appear the second time without sin that is without the punishment of sin unto salvation for of sin formally or materially he was at first as innocent as at the second time that is pure in both And if Christ who bare our burthen became sin for us in the midst of his purest innocence that we also are by Adam made sinners that is suffer evil by occasion of his demerit infers not that we have any formal guilt or enmity against God upon that account Facti peccatores in S. Paul by Adam we are made sinners answers both in the story and in the expression to Christus factus peccatum pro nobis Christ was made sin for us that is was expos'd to the evil that is consequent to sin viz. to its punishment For the further explication of which it is observable that the word sinner and sin in Scripture is us'd for any person that hath a fault or a legal impurity a debt a vitiosity defect or imperfection For the Hebrews use the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for any obligation which is contracted by the Law without our fault Thus a Nazarite who had touch'd a dead body was tied to offer a sacrifice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for sin and the reason is added 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is he had sinn'd concerning the dead body and yet it was nothing but a legal impurity nothing moral And the offering that was made by the leprous or the menstruous or the diseased inprofluvio seminis is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an offering for sin and yet it might be innocent all the way Thus in the Epistle to the Hebrews it is said that our blessed Lord who is compared to the High-Priest among the Jews did offer first for his own sins Heb. 7.27 by which word it is certain that no sin properly could be meant for Christ was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he knew no sin but it means the state of his infirmity the condition of his mortal body which he took for us and our sins and is a state of misery and of distance from heaven for flesh and bloud cannot inherit the Kingdome of Heaven whither Christ was not to go till by offering himself he had unclothed himself of that imperfect vesture as they that were legally impure might not go to the Temple before their offering Rom. 6.10 and therefore when by death he quit himself of this condition it is said he died unto sin Parallel to this is that of S. Paul in the fifth Chapter to the Hebrews where the state of infirmity is expresly called sin Ver. 2.3 The High-Priest is himself also compassed with infirmity and by reason hereof he ought as for the people so also for himself to offer for sins This is also more expresly by S. Rom. 8.3 Paul called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the likeness of the sin of the flesh and thus Concupiscence or the first motions and inclinations to sin is called sin and said to have the nature of sin that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the likeness it may be the material part of sin or something by which sin is commonly known And thus Origen observes that an oblation was to be offered even for new born children 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as if they were not clean from sin But this being an unusual expression among the Hebrews bears its sense upon the palm of the hand and signifies onely the legal impurity in which the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the new born babes and their Mothers were involv'd Even Christ himself who had no Original sin was subject to this purification So we reade in S. Luke Luke 2.22 and when the days of her purification were accomplish'd but in most books and particular in the Kings MS. it is read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the dayes of their purification But the things of this nature being called offerings for sins and the expression usual among the Jews I doubt not but hath given occasion to the Christian Writers to fancy other things then were intended Having now explicated those words of S. Paul which by being misunderstood have caused strange devices in this Article we may now without prejudice examine what really was the effect of Adams sin and what evil descended upon his posterity Adams sin was punish'd by an expulsion out of Paradise in which was a Tree appointed to be the cure of diseases and a conservatory of life There was no more told as done but this and its proper consequents He came into a land less blessed a land which bore thistles and briars easily and fruits with difficulty so that he was forc'd to sweat hard for his bread and this also I cannot say did descend but must needs be the condition of his children who were left to live so and in the same place just as when young Anthony had seis'd upon Marcus Cicero's land the Son also lost what he never had And thus death came in not by any new sentence or change of nature for man was created mortal and if Adam had not sinned he should have been immortal by grace that is by the use of the Tree of life and now being driven from the place where the Tree grew was left in his own natural constitution that is to be sick and die without that remedy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
man by his fault loses those assistances without which he could not keep the law he may nevertheless in the rigor of justice be punished for not keeping it Because the law was given him when he had strength and he ought to have preserv'd it For though he cannot be obliged to a new law to which he is not enabled yet for his sin he shall not be disoblig'd from an old law to which he was enabled Although God will not exceed his measures or doe wrong to a sinner yet by his sin he shall receive no favour or immunity But in laws to be imposed afterwards the case I say is otherwise Because the persons are not capable of any such law and God knowing they cannot perform them cannot intend they should and therefore cannot justly punish them for not doing that which himself did never heartily intend they should doe because he knew they could not The instances will make the matter to be confessed * Suppose a man falling into drunkenness should by the Divine judgement fall lame can God afterwards exact it of him that he should leap and dance in publick festivities when he can neither goe nor stand If so suppose yet further that by the Divine judgement he should fall mad Is the mad man capable of a new law I suppose it will not be said he is or if it be suppose yet further that he be taken speechless and senseless or die Can God still exact of him obedience to any new Commandement If he be dead his day is done he can work no more nor be oblig'd any more and so it is if he be mad or any ways disabled the case is all one For whatsoever the disability be the incapacity and impossibility and the excuse is the same 6. When God as it is said punish'd the first sin with a consequent disability of doing any future services if he also punishes the not doing what he afterwards imposes I ask whether this later punishment be precisely due to the later or to the former sin If to the later then in vain is it laid upon the former account and yet if it be laid upon its own it is high injustice because of this law the man was not a subject capable when it was imposed the man was dead before the law was alive and a tree is as much capable of a law as a man is of an impossible Commandement But if the punishment of this later be inflicted upon the sinner for the first transgression by which he disabled himself then in vain was the later Commandement imposed For since the later sin was unavoidable and the first sin deserv'd the whole damnation what end could there be of imposing this new law by which God could not serve any new purpose no not for the manifestation of his justice in condemning him For if the first sin deserv'd condemnation there was no need to introduce a new pretence and to seek an occasion to slay him But if it did not it is certain the new sin could not make it just to doe what was not just before because by this new omission there can be no new guilt contracted But of this I shall give yet a further account when I shall discourse in what sense God can be said to punish one sin with another The consequent of the parts of this discourse is this that since the sin of Adam did not debauch our nature by any naturall efficiency of the sin it self Idem sensit Jacobus Faber in 5. Rom. Nihil nos ex Adamo trahere nisi obligationem ad mortem Albertus Pighius controv 1. de peccato Orig. Ambr. Catharinus de lapsu hominis peccato Orig. statuunt Peccatum Originis non habere veram peccati rationem sed esse tantùm reatum quo posteri primorum parentum propter transgressionem illorum primaevam sine aliquo vitio proprio inhaerente naturae pravitate devincti teneantur nor by our being in the loyns of Adam nor yet by any sentence or decree of God we are not by Adams sin made necessarily and naturally vicious and inclin'd to evil but are left in our meer nature such as it was and such as it is Nec si miseram Natura Sinonem Finxit vanum etiam mendacémque improba finget Nature makes us miserable and imperfect Epist ad Magnes but not criminal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They are the words of S. Ignatius the Martyr If any man be a pious and a good man he is of God if he be impious he is of the Devil Not by Nature but made so by his own proceedings To all which I adde this That in Scripture there is no signification of any corruption or depravation of our souls by Adams sin which I shall manifest by examination of all those places which are the pretence of the contrary doctrine For if God hath not declared in Scripture any such thing we have the common notions of his justice and wisdome and goodness and truth in prejudice of the contrary §. 2. Consideration of the objections against the former doctrine THE first is Every imagination of the thoughts of mans heart are onely evil continually Gen 6.5 I answer it is true they were so but it was their own fault not Adams for so it is said expresly * V. 12. All flesh had corrupted his way upon earth and the earth was filled with violence 2. If this corruption had been natural and unavoidable why did God punish all the world for it except eight persons why did he punish those that could not help it and why did others escape that were equally guilty Is not this ◠respect of persons and partiality to some and iniquity towards all which farre be it from the Judge of all the world 3. God might as well have punish'd all the world for sleeping once in a day or for being hungry as for sinning if so to doe be natural and unavoidable 4. If God in these words complain'd of their Natural and Original corruption why did he but then as if it were a new thing complain of it and repent that he had made man since he prov'd so bad 5. This malice and corruption was such that God did send Noah the Preacher of righteousness to draw the world from it But no man supposes that it was fit to send a Preacher to dehort them from being guilty of Original sin Therefore it was good counsel Denique teipsum Concute Horat. númque tibi vitiorum inseverit olim Natura aut etiam consuetudo mala namque Neglectis urenda filix innascitur agris Blame not nature but thy own evil customes for thy neglect of thy fields will make fern and thistles to grow It is not onely because the ground is accursed but because it is neglected that it bears thorns Errasti si existimas nobiscum vitia nasci supervenerunt ingesta sunt said Seneca Thou art deceived Epist 94. if thou
quickned by the Spirit of life and grace We were so now we are not We were so by our own unworthiness and filthy conversation now we being regenerated by the Spirit of holiness we are alive unto God and no longer heirs of wrath This therefore as appears by the discourse of S. Paul relates not to our Original sin but to the Actual and of this sense of the word Nature in the matter of sinning we have Justin Martyr or whoever is the Anthor of the Questions and answers ad Orthodoxos to be witness Quaest 88. For answering those words of Scripture There is not any one clean who is born of a woman and there is none begotten who hath not committed sin He sayes their meaning cannot extend to Christ for he was not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 born to sin but he is natura ad peccandum natus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by nature born to sin who by the choice of his own will is author to himself to do what he list whether it be good or evil The following words are eaten out by time but upon this ground whatever he said of Infants must needs have been to better purposes then is usually spoken of in this Article 2. Heirs of wrath signifies persons liable to punishment heirs of death It is an usual expression among the Hebrews So sons of death in the holy Scriptures are those that deserve death or are condemned to die Thus Judas Iscariot is called John 17.12 2 Sam. 12.25 The son of perdition and so is that saying of David to Nathan The man that hath done this shall surely die In the Hebrew it is He is the son of death And so were those Ephesians children or sons of wrath before their conversion that is they had deserv'd death 3. By nature is here most likely to be meant that which Galen calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an acquisite nature that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 customes and evil habits And so Suidas expounds the word in this very place not onely upon the account of Grammar and the use of the word in the best Authors but also upon an excellent reason His words are these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 When the Apostle sayes we were by nature children of wrath he means not that which is the usual signification of nature for then it were not their fault but the fault of him that made them such but it means an abiding and vile habit a wicked and a lasting custome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Aristotle Arist R. het l. 1. c. 11. Lib. 4. de esu anim Custome is like Nature For often and alwayes are not far asunder Nature is alwayes Custome is almost alwayes To the same sense are those words of Porphiry 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The ancients who lived likest to God and were by nature the best living the best life were a golden generation 4. By nature means not by birth and natural extraction or any original derivation from Adam in this place for of this these Ephesians were no more guilty then every one else and no more before their conversion then after but by nature signifies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so the Greek Scholiast renders it really beyond opinion plenè omnino intirely or wholly so the Syriack and so S. Hierome affirms that the Ancients did expound it and it is agreeable to the usage of the same phrase Gal. 4.8 Ye did service to them which by nature are no Gods that is which really are none And as these Ephesians were before their conversion so were the Israelites in the dayes of their rebellion a wicked stubborn people insomuch that they are by the Prophet called children of transgression a seed of falshood Isa 27.4 But these and the like places have no force at all but what they borrow from the ignorance of that sense and acceptation of the word in those languages which ought to be the measure of them But it is hard upon such mean accounts to reckon all children to be born enemies of God that is bastards and not sons heirs of hell and damnation full of sin and vile corruption when the holy Scriptures propound children as imitable for their pretty innocence and sweetness and declare them rather heirs of Heaven then Hell In malice be children 1 Cor. 14.20 Mat. 18.3.19.14 and unless we become like to children we shall not enter into the Kingdome of Heaven and their Angels behold the face of their Father which is in Heaven Heaven is theirs God is their Father Angels are appropriated to them they are free from malice and imitable by men These are better words then are usually given them and signifie that they are beloved of God not hated design'd for Heaven and born to it though brought thither by Christ and by the Spirit of Christ not born for Hell that was prepared for the Devil and his Angels not for innocent babes This does not call them naturally wicked but rather naturally innocent and is a better account then is commonly given them by imputation of Adams sin But not concerning children but of himself S. Paul complains that his nature and his principles of action and choice are corrupted There is a law in my members Rom. 7.23 bringing me into captivity to the law of sin and many other words to the same purpose all which indeed have been strangely mistaken to very ill purposes so that the whole Chapter so as is commonly expounded is nothing but a temptation to evil life and a patron of impiety Concerning which I have already given account and freed it from the common abuse But if this were to be understood in the sense which I then reproved yet it is to be observed in order to the present Question that S. Paul does not say This law in our members comes by nature or is derived from Adam A man may bring a law upon himself by vicious custome and that may be as prevalent as Nature and more because more men have by Philosophy and illuminated Reason cured the disposition of their nature then have cured their vicious habits * Adde to this that S. Paul puts this uneasiness and this carnal law in his members wholly upon the account of being under the law and of his not being under Christ not upon the account of Adams prevarication as is plain in the analogy of the whole Chapter As easie also it is to understand these words of S. Paul without prejudice to this Question The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God 1 Cor. 2.14 neither indeed can he know them meaning as is supposed that there is in our natures an ignorance und aversness from spiritual things that is a contrariety to God But it is observable that the word which the Apostle uses is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is not properly rendred Natural but Animal and it certainly means a man that is guided onely by natural Reason
his servant Moses It is called sinning with a high hand that is with an hand lift up on high against God Corah and his Company committed the sin against the Holy Spirit for they spake against that Spirit and power which God had put into Moses and prov'd by the demonstration of mighty effects It is a denying that great argument of Credibility by which God goes about to verifie any mission of his to prove by mighty effects of Gods Spirit that God hath sent such a man When God manifests his holy Spirit by signs and wonders extraordinary not to revere this good Spirit not to confess him but to revile him or to reproach the power is that which God ever did highly punish Thus it happened to Pharoah he also sinn'd against the Holy Ghost the good Spirit of God for when his Magicians told him that the finger of God was there yet he hardned his heart against it and then God went on to harden it more till he overthrew him for then his sin became unpardonable in the sense I shall hereafter explicate And this pass'd into a law to the children of Israel and they were warned of it with the highest threatning that is of a capital punishment The soul that doeth ought presumptuously or with an high hand the same reproacheth the Lord Num. 15.30 that soul shall be cut off from among his people and this is translated into the New Testament They that doe despite to the Spirit of Grace shall fall into the hands of the living God That 's the sin against the Holy Ghost Now this sin must in all reason be very much greater under the Gospel then under the Law For when Christ came he did such miracles which never any man did and preach'd a better law and with mighty demonstrations of the Spirit that is of the power and Spirit of God prov'd himself to have come from God and therefore men were more convinc'd and he that was so and yet would oppose the Spirit that is defie all his proofs and hear none of his words and obey none of his laws and at last revile him too he had done the great sin for this is to doe the worst thing we can we dishonour God in that in which he intended most to glorifie himself Two instances of this we finde in the New Testament though not of the highest degree yet because done directly against the Spirit of God that is in despite or in disparagement of that Spirit by which so great things were wrought it grew intolerable Ananias did not revere the Spirit of God so mightily appearing in S. Peter and the other Apostles and he was smitten and died Simon Magus took the Spirit of God for a vendible commodity for a thing less then money and fit to serve secular ends and he instantly fell into the gall of bitterness that is a sad bitter calamity and S. Peter knew not whether God would forgive him or no. But it is remarkable that the holy Scriptures note various degrees of this malignity grieving the holy Spirit resisting him quenching him doing despite to him all sin against the Holy Ghost but yet they that had done so were all called to repentance S. Stephens Sermon was an instance of it and so was S. Peters and so was the prayer of Christ upon the Cross for the malicious Jews the Pharisees his betrayers and murtherers But the sin it self is of an indefinite progression and hath not physical limits and a certain constitution as is observable in carnal crimes Theft Murther or Adultery for though even these are increased by circumstances and an inward consent and degrees of love and adhesion yet of the crime it self we can say this is Murther and this is Adultery and therefore the punishment is proper and certain But since there are so many degrees of the sin against the Holy Ghost and it consists not in an indivisible point but according to the nature of internal and spiritual sins it is like time or numbers of a moveable being of a flux unstable immense constitution and may be alwayes growing not onely by the repetition of acts but by its proper essential increment and since in the particular case the measures are uncertain the nature secret the definition disputable and so many sins are like it or reducible to it apt to produce despair in timorous consciences and to discourage Repentance in lapsed persons it will be an intolerable proposition that affirms the sin against the Holy Ghost to be absolutely unpardonable That the sin against the Holy Ghost is pardonable appears in the instance of the Pharisees to whom even after they had committed the sin God was pleased to afford preaching signs and miracles and Christ upon the Cross prayed for them but in what sense also it was unpardonable appears in their case for they were so far gone that they would not return and God did not and at last would not pardon them For this appellative is not properly subjected nor attributed to the sin it self but it is according as the man is The sin may be and is at some time unpardonable yet not in all its measures and parts of progression as appears in the case of Pharaoh who all the way from the first miracle to the tenth sinn'd against the Holy Ghost but at last he was so bad that God would not pardon him Some men are come to the greatness of the sin or to that state and grandeur of impiety that their estate is desperate that is though the nature of their sins is such as God is extremely angry with them and would destroy them utterly were he not restrain'd by an infinite mercy yet it shall not be thus for ever for in some state of circumstances and degrees God is finally angry with the man and will never return to him Untill things be come to this height whatsoever the sin be it is pardonable For if there were any one sin distinguishable in its whole nature and instance from others which in every of its periods were unpardonable it is most certain it would have been described in Scripture with clear characters and cautions that a man might know when he is in and when he is out Speaking a word against the Holy Spirit is by our blessed Saviour called this great sin but it is certain that every word spoken against him is not unpardonable Simon Magus spoke a foul word against him but S. Peter did not say it was unpardonable but when he bid him pray he consequently bid him hope but because he would not warrant him that is durst not absolve him he sufficiently declared that this sin is of an indefinite nature and by growth would arrive at the unpardonable state the state and fulness of it is unpardonable that is God will to some men and in some times and stages of their evil life be so angry that he will give them over and leave them in their reprobate minde But no
answered 272 51 Objections against the repentance of Clinicks 281 57. 277 56. 284 64 Heathens newly baptised if they die immediately need not repentance 284 64 The objection concerning the thief on the Cross answered 288 289 Testimonies of the Ancients against death bed repentance 292 66 The manner of repentance in habitual sinners who begin repentance betimes 305 1 The manner of repentance which habitual sins must be cured by in them who return not till old age 317 12 The usage of sinners who repent not till their death-bed 325 25 Considerations shewing how dangerous it is to delay repentance 325 25 Considerations to be opposed against the despair of penitent Clinicks 329 29 What hopes penitent Clinicks have taken out of the writings of the Fathers of the Church 330 30 The manner how the ancient Church treated penitent Clinicks 3â—7 5 The particular acts and parts of repentance that are fittest for a dying man 339 32 The penitent in the opinion of the Jewish Doctors preferred above the just and innocent 530 5 The practice of the Primitive Fathers about penitent Clinicks 539 the practice of the ancient Fathers excluding from repentance murderers adulterers and idolaters 540 Penitential sorrow is rather in the understanding then the affections 586 12 penitential sorrow is not to be estimated by the measures of sense 588 15 590 17 a double solemne imposition of hands in repentance 633 as our repentance is so is our pardon 649 a man must not judge of his repentance by his tears nor by any one manner of expression 658 1 He that suspects his repentance should use that suspicion as a means to improve his repentance 660 Meditations that will dispose the heart to repentance ibid. No man can be said truly to have grieved for sins which at any time after he remembers with pleasure 662 7 the repentance of Clinicks 667 13 sorrow for sin is but a sign or instrument of repentance 668 14 Restitution considered as a part of repentance 656 84 Romans 7.14 exp 261 40 6.7 exp 266 44 7.7 exp 311 5 5.12 exp 363 7 5.13 14. exp 365 11 7.23 exp 400 50 455 8 7.15 19. exp 454 6 456 9 S. Aug. restrained the words of the Apostle R m 7.15 to the matter of desires and concupiscence and excluded all evil actions from the meaning of that text 463 17 reasons against the interpretation of that Father 465 18 7.9 exp 468 23 8.7 exp 478 29 7.22 23. exp 480 29 5.10 exp 576 77 Revelation 19.9 exp 284 62 Religion if it be seated onely in the understanding not accepted to salvation 476 28 S SAcrament Church of God used to deny the Sacrament to no dying penitent that desired it 330 29 Of confeshon to a Minister in preparation to the Sacrament 678 25 1 Sam 2.25 exp 561 51 Satisfaction what it signified in the sense of the Ancients 644 72 606 34 645 the Ancients did not beleeve satisfactions simply necessary to the procuring of pardon from God 651 78 Sins are not equal 104 5 How they are made greater or less ibid. No sin is ven al 110 9 the smallest sins are destructive of our friendship with God 111 12 the Doctors of the Roman Church doe not rightly define venial sins ibid. the smallest is against charity 123 24 and is turning from God 125 26 the smaller the sin the less excusable if done with observation 127 27 Venial sins distinguished into such as are venial by the imperfection of the agent by the smalness of the matter or venial in the whole kinde 128 28 that no sins are venial in their nature or whole kinde 129 31 sins differ in degree but not in their essential order to punishment 132 33 No sins are venial but by repentance 134 34 The absurdity of the Romane doctrines concerning venial sins 138 39 the inconveniences following from the doctrine of venial sins 137 35 c. Among the ancients the distinction of sins into mortal and venial means not a distinction of kinde but degree 142 44 some sins destroy not holiness 144 45 the distinction of sins into mortal and venial cannot have influence on us to any good purposes 145 46 What sins are venial cannot be known to us 147 47 we should have judged some sins venial if it had not been otherwise revealed in Scripture 148 48 sins that we account in their nature venial may by their multitude become damnable 152 52 the means of expiating venial sins appointed by some Romane Doctors 157 57 Whether every single deliberate act of sin put the sinner out of Gods favour 182 22 single acts of sin without a habit give a denomination 185 25 sins are damnable that cannot be habitual 184 24 single acts of mortal sin displease God and are forbidden but are not a state of death 188 29 what repentance single acts of sin require 198 43 how a single act of sin sometimes is habitual 202 49 sin often in Scripture used for the punishment of sin 368 15 leaving of fin the best sign of hatred of it 603 7 How sin can be consistent with the regenerate estate 485 33 he that leaves a sin out of fear may be accepted 491 the violence of a temptation doth not in the whole excuse sin 511 58 Of the pardon of sins after Baptism 532 7 some sins styled unpardonable but in a limited sense 542 21 God punishes not one sin with another 682 One sin may cause or procure another ibid. Sin Original cap 6 362 whether we from Adam derive Original ignorance 373 22 Adams sin made us not heirs of damnation 375 22 nor makes us necessarily vicious 383 37 Adams sin did not corrupt our nature by a physical efficiency 383 39 nor because we were in the loyns of Adam 384 40 nor because of the will and decree of God 386 41 the principles by which sin pollutes the manners of men 413 66 Sins of Infirmity cap. 7 per tot That which some men call a state of infirmity is a state of sin and death 473 25 Sinner how every sinner is Gods enemy 81.11 God is ready to forgive all and the greatest sinners 530. Sorrow as a fruit of repentance 647 Rules concerning sorrow that is a part of repentance 663 A caution to those that minister comfort to such as are afflicted with immoderate sorrow for their sins 665 10 sorrow for sin is but a sign or instrument of repentance 668 14 cautions concerning the measures of this sorrow 686 30 penitential sorrow is rather in the understanding then the affections 586 12 Scripture the manner of it is to include the consequents in the antecedents 284 62 Spirit the rule of the spirit in us 481 to have received the spirit is not an inseparable propriety of the regenerate 493 39 what the spirit of God doth in us 494 the regenerate man hath not onely received the spirit of God but is wholly led by him 498 42 Supererogation what it is 49 17 T TEars A man by them must not judge of his repentance nor by any other one way of expression 658 1 Temptation every temptation to sin if overcome increases not the reward 234 7 No man is tempted of God 437 10 the violence of a temptation doth not in the whole excuse sin 511 58 Thief on the Cross why his repentance was accepted 289 65 1 Timoth. 5.22 exp 548 31 Titus 3.11 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exp 477 28 V VErtue The difference of vertue is in relation to their objects 206 56 Theology findeth a medium between vertue and vice 268 47 Vnderstanding Religion if it be seated onely in the understanding not accepted to salvation 476 28 Voluntary whether disobedience that is voluntary in the cause but not in the effect is to be punished 388 43 389 390 unwilingness unto sin no sign of regeneration 486 W WIll Of Freewill 418 a mans will hath no infirmity 512 60 the will is not moved necessarily by the understanding ibid. Works covenant of works when it began 1. reasons shewing the justice of that dispensation of Gods beginning his entercourse with man by the covenant of works 6. the Law of works imposed on Adam only 39 1 Y YOung Sins of infirmity not accounted to young men as to others 510 57 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 178 14 The End
be pure and pleasing to God in Jesus Christ This is the summe of all those several senses of perfection which are prescrib'd in the several uses of the word in holy Scripture For though God through Jesus Christ is pleased to abate for our unavoidable infirmities that is for our Nature yet he will not abate or give allowance to our superinduc'd evil customes and the reason is plain for both because the one can be helped and the other cannot and therefore as to allow that is to be a patron of impiety so not to allow for this is to demand what cannot be done that is against the holiness this against the goodness of God There is not a man upon earth that sinneth not said Solomon 1 Kings 8.46 Psal 37.29 vet edit and the righteous shall be punished said David and he found it so by a sad experience for he though affirmed to be blameless save in the matter of Vriah and a man after Gods own heart yet complains that his sins are innumerable more then the hairs upon his head But though no man can live without errour or mistake the effects of weakness and ignorance inadvertency and surprise yet being helped by Gods grace we can and must live without great sins such which no man admits but with deliberation For it is one thing to keep the Commandements in a sense of favour and equity and another thing to be without sin To keep the Commandements 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or exactly is to be without sin because the Commandement forbids every sin and sin is a transgression of the Commandement But as in this sense no man can keep the Commandements so in no sense can he say that he hath not sinned But we can by the help of Gods grace keep the Commandements acceptably through Jesus Christ but we cannot keep them so as to be without sin Which S. Gregory thus expresses Multi sine crimine nullus verò esse sine peccatis valet Many live without crimes none without offence And it is now as it was under the law many were then righteous and blameless David Josiah Joshua Caleb Zachary and Elisabeth Saul before his conversion according to the accounts of the Law and so are many now according to the holy and merciful measures of the Gospel not by the force of Nature but by the helps of Grace not alwayes but at some time not absolutely but in a limited measure that is not innocent but penitent not perfect absolutely but excellently contending and perfect in their desires not at their journeys end but on their way thither free from great sins but speckled with lesser spots ever striving against sin though sometimes failing This is the Precept of perfection as it can consist with the measures and infirmities of a man We must turn from all our evil wayes leaving no sin unmortified that 's one measure of perfection it is a perfect conversion * We must have Charity that 's another perfection it is a perfect grace * We must be ready to part with all for a good conscience and to die for Christ that 's perfect obedience and the most perfect love * We must conform to the Divine Will in doing and suffering that 's perfect patience we must live in all holy conversation and godliness that 's a perfect state * We must ever be going forward and growing in godliness that so we may be perfect men in Christ * And we must persevere unto the end that 's perfection and the crown of all the rest If any thing less then this were intended it cannot be told how the Gospel should be a holy institution or that God should require of us to live a holy life but if any thing more then this were intended it is impossible but all mankinde should perish To the same sense are we to understand those other severe Precepts of Scripture of being pure unblameable without spot or wrinkle without fault that is that we be honest and sincere free from hypocrisie just in our purposes and actions without partiality and unhandsome mixtures S. Paul makes them to expound each other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sincere Phil. 1.10 that is without fault pure and clear in conscience Like to this is that of Toto corde loving and serving God with all our heart and with all our strength That this is possible is folly to deny For he that saith he cannot do a thing with all his strength that is that he cannot do what he can do knows not what he sayes and yet to do this is the highest measure and sublimity of Christian perfection and of keeping the Commandements But it signifies two things 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without hypocrisie sincerely and heartily opposite to that of Corde corde in the Psalmist Corde corde loquuti sunt 1 Chron. 12.33 they spake with a double heart but the men of Zebulon went out to battel absque corde corde they were not of a double heart so S. Hierome renders it but heartily or with a whole heart they did their business 2. It signifies diligence and labour earnestness and caution Totus in hoc sum so the Latines use to speak I am earnest and hearty in this affair I am wholly taken up with it Thus is the whole design of the Gospel rarely abbreviated in these two words of Perfection and Repentance God hath sent Jesus to bless you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whilest or so that Act. 3.36 every one of you turn from your iniquities He blesses us and we must do our duty He pardons us and we obey him He turns us and we are turned And when S. 2 Pet. 3.11 Peter had represented the terrors of the day of Judgement he infers What manner of persons ought we to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ver. 14. in holy living and holy worshippings This he calls a giving diligence to be found 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without spot and unblameable that 's Christian perfection and yet this very thing is no other then what he calls a little before 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a coming to repentance Ver. 9. Living in holy conversation and piety in the faith of Christ is the extent and burthen of repentance and it is the limit and declaration of the spotless and unblameable This is no more and that is no less Upon this account the Commandements are not onely possible but easie necessary to be observed and will be exacted at our hands as they are imposed That is 1. That we abstain from all deliberate acts of sin 2. That we never contract any vicious habit 3. That if we have we quite rescind and cut them off and make amends for what is past 4. That our love to God be intire hearty obedient and undivided 5. That we do our best to understand Gods will and obey it allowing to our selves deliberately or by observation not the smallest action that
be tied to any particular repentance relative to this sin the answer will not be difficult I remember a pretty device of Hierome of Florence a famous Preacher not long since who used this argument to prove the blessed Virgin Mary to be free from Original sin Because it is more likely if the blessed Virgin had been put to her choice she would rather have desired of God to have kept her free from venial actual sin then from Original Since therefore God hath granted her the greater and that she never sinn'd actually it is to be presum'd God did not deny to her the smaller favour and therefore she was free from Original Upon this many a pretty story hath been made and rare arguments fram'd and sierce contestations whether it be more agreeable to the piety and prudence of the Virgin Mother to desire immunity from Original sin that is deadly or from a venial actual sin that is not deadly This indeed is voluntary and the other is not but the other deprives us of grace and this does not God was more offended by that but we offend him more by this The dispute can never be ended upon their accounts but this Gordian knot I have now untied as Alexander did by destroying it and cutting it all in pieces But to return to the Question S. Austin was indeed a fierce Patron of this device and one of the chief inventers and finishers of it and his sense of it is declared in his Book De peccatorum medicinâ Cap. 3. homil 50. where he endevours largely to prove that all our life time we are bound to mourn for the inconveniences and evil consequents deriv'd from Original sin I dare say every man is sufficiently displeased that he is liable to sickness weariness displeasure melancholy sorrow folly imperfection and death dying with groans and horrid spasms and convulsions In what sense these are the effects of Adams sin and though of themselves natural yet also upon his account made penal I have already declar'd and need no more to dispute my purpose being onely to establish such truths as are in order to practice and a holy life to the duties of repentance and amendment But our share of Adams sin either being in us no sin at all or else not to be avoided or amended it cannot be the matter of repentance Neminem autem rectè it a loqui poenitere sese quòd natus sit aut poenitere quòd mortalis sit aut quòd ex offenso fortè vulnerató que corpore dolorem sentiat Li. 17. c. 1. said A. Gellius A man is not properly said to repent that he was born or that he shall die or that he feels pain when his leg is hurt he gives this reason Quando istiusmodi rerum nec consilium sit nostrum nec arbitrium As these are besides our choyce so they cannot fall into our deliberation and therefore as they cannot be chosen so neither refused and therefore not repented of for that supposes both that they were chosen once and now refused * As Adam was not bound to repent of the sins of all his posterity so neither are we tied to repent of his sins Neither did I ever see in any ancient Office or forms of prayer publick or private any prayer of humiliation prescrib'd for original sin They might deprecate the evil consequents but never confess themselves guilty of the formal sin Adde to this Original sin is remitted in Baptism by the consent of those Schools of learning who teach this article and therefore is not reserv'd for any other repentance and that which came without our own consent is also to be taken off without it That which came by the imputation of a sin may also be taken off by the imputation of righteousness that is as it came without sin so it must also goe away without trouble But yet because the Question may not render the practice insecure I adde these Rules by way of advice and caution §. 7. Advices relating to the matter of Original sin 1. IT is very requisite that we should understand the state of our own infirmity the weakness of the flesh the temptations and diversions of the spirit that by understanding our present state we may prevent the evils of carelesness and security * Our evils are the imperfections and sorrows inherent in or appendant to our bodies our souls our spirits * In our bodies we finde weakness and imperfection sometimes crookedness sometimes monstrosity filthiness and weariness infinite numbers of diseases and an uncertain cure great pain and restless night hunger and thirst daily necessities ridiculous gestures madness from passions distempers and disorders great labour to provide meat and drink and oftentimes a loathing when we have them if we use them they breed sicknesses if we use them not we die and there is such a certain healthlesness in many things to all and in all things to some men and at some times that to supply a need is to bring a danger and if we eat like beasts onely of one thing our souls are quickly weary if we eat variety we are sick and intemperate and our bodies are inlets to sin and a stage of temptation If we cherish them they undoe us if we doe not cherish them they die we suffer illusion in our dreams and absurd fancies when we are waking our life is soon done and yet very tedious it is too long and too short darkness and light are both troublesome and those things which are pleasant are often unwholsome wholesome Sweet smels make the head ake and those smels which are medicinal in some diseases are intolerable to the sense The pleasures of our body are bigger in expectation then in the possession and yet while they are expected they torment us with the delay and when they are enjoyed they are as if they were not they abuse us with their vanity and vex us with their volatile and fugitive nature Our pains are very frequent alone and very often mingled with pleasures to spoil them and he that feels one sharp pain feels not all the pleasures of the world if they were in his power to have them We live a precarious life begging help of every thing and needing the repairs of every day and being beholding to beasts and birds to plants and trees to dirt and stones to the very excrements of beasts and that which dogs and horses throw forth Our motion is slow and dull heavy and uneasy we cannot move but we are quickly tired and for every days labour we need a whole night to recruit our lost strengths we live like a lamp unless new materials be perpetually poured in we live no longer then a fly and our motion is not otherwise then a clock we must be pull'd up once or twice in twenty four hours and unless we be in the shadow of death for six or eight hours every night we shall be scarce in the shadows of life the other
commanded me to pray to thee in all needs thou hast made gracious promises to hear and accept me and I will never leave importuning thy glorious Majesty humbly passionately confidently till thou hast heard and accepted the prayer of thy servant Amen dearest Lord for thy mercy sake hear thy servant Amen CHAP. VII Of sins of Infirmity §. 1. 1. ALL Mankinde hath for ever complain'd of their irremediable calamity their propensity to sin For though by the dictates of Nature all people were instructed in the general notices of vertue and vice right reason being our rule insomuch that the old Philosophers as Plutarch reports said that vertue was nothing else but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a disposition and force of reason And this reason having guided the wisest was form'd into laws for others yet this reason serv'd to little other purposes but to upbraid our follies and infelicities and to make our actions punishable by representing them to be unreasonable for they did certainly sin and they could no more help it then they could prevent their being sick or hungry or angry or thirsty Nature had made organs for some and senses for others and conversation and example brought in all So that if you reprov'd a Criminal he heard and understood you but could not help it as Laius in the Tragedy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Reason taught him well but Nature constrain'd him to the contrary his affections were stronger then his reason And it is no wonder that while flesh and bloud is the prevailing ingredient while men are in the state of conjunction and the soul serves the body and the necessities of this are more felt then the discourses of that that men should be angry and lustful proud and revengeful and that they should follow what they lust after not what they are bidden to do For passions and affections are our first governours and they being clearly possessed of all mankinde in their first years have almost secured to themselves the soul of man before reason is heard to speak And when she does speak she speaks at first so little and so low that the common noises of fancy and company drown her voice This I say is the state of Nature And therefore Lactantius brings in a Pagan complaining Lib. 4. Insti c. 24. Volo equidem non peccare sed vincor Indutus enim sum carne fragili et imbecillâ Haec est quae concupiscit quae irascitur quae dolet quae mori timet Itáque ducor incertus pecco non quia volo sed quia cogor Sentio me ipse peccare sed necessitas fragilitatis impellit cui repugnare non possum I would fain avoid sin but I am compelled I am invested with a frail and weak flesh This is it which lusteth which is angry which grieves which fears to die Therefore I am led uncertainly and I sin not because I will but because I am constrained I perceive that I doe ill but the necessity of my weakness drives me on and I cannot resist it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Medea apud Eurip. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I know well and perceive the evils that I go upon and they are horridones but my anger is greater then my reason So Medea in the Tragedy This is the state of a natural man in his meer naturals especially as they are made worse by evil customs and vile usages of the world Now this is a state of infirmity and all sins against which there is any reluctancy and contrary desires of actual reason are sins of infirmity But this infirmity excuses no man for this state of infirmity is also a state of death for by this S. Paul expressed that state from which Christ came to redeem us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when we were yet in infirmity or without strength in due time Christ died for us Rom. 5.6 that is when we were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 impious or sinners such as the world was before it was redeemed before Christ came These are the sick and weak whom Christ the great Physician of our souls came to save This infirmity is the shadow of death and it signifies that state of mankinde which is the state of nature not of original and birth but in its whole constitution as it signifies not onely the natural imperfection but the superinduc'd evil from any principle all that which is oppos'd to Grace To this state of Nature being so pitiable God began to finde a remedy and renewed the measures of vertue and by a law made them more distinct and legible and impos'd punishments on the transgressors For by little and little the notices of natural reason were made obscure some were lost some not attended to all neglected some way or other till God by a law made express prohibition of what was unreasonable forbidding us to desire what before was unfit and unnatural and threatning them that did things unlawful But this way by reason of the peevishness of men succeeded not well but men became worse by it For what the law did forbid without the threatning of any penalty they took for an advice onely and no severe injunction And those Commandements which were established with a threatning to the transgressors they expounded onely by the letter and in the particular instance and in the outward act Before the Law men allowed to themselves many impieties which reason indeed mark'd out to be such but no law had forbidden them in express letter They thought it lawful to seduce and tempt another mans wife and invite her to his house and conjugation so he did not steal or force her away but if they found a coldness between her and her husband they would blow the coals and enkindle an evil flame It is supposed that Herod did so to Herodias his brother Philips wife even after the law They would not by violence snatch the estate from a young prodigal heir but if he were apt they would lend him money and nurse his vice and intangle his estate and at last devour it They would not directly deny to pay the price of a purchase but they would detain it or divert it or pay it in trifling sums or in undesir'd commodities This was Concupiscere rem alienam They did not steal but coveted it and so entred indirectly and this God seeing forbad it by a law Rom. 7.7 For I had not known lust or desires to be a sin saith S. Paul but that the law said Thou shalt not covet But because the law onely forbad lustings but imposed no penalty they despis'd it and those things which were forbidden with an appendent penalty they would act them privately For if they avoided the notice of the Criminal Judge they fear'd not the face of an angry God and this Lactantius observ'd of them Metus legum non scelera comprimebat sed licentiam submovebat Poterant enim leges delicta
displeasing themselves because they doe it think themselves like the Apostle In pursuance of this caution I shall examine the expositions which are pretended 1. These words I do not the good which I would but I doe the evil which I hate are not the words or character of a regenerate person in respect of actual good or bad Rom. 7.15 A regenerate man cannot say that he does frequently or habitually commit the sin that he hates and is against his conscience 1. Because no man can serve two Masters if he be a servant of sin he is not a servant of the Spirit No man can serve Christ and Belial If therefore he be brought into captivity to the law of sin he is the servant of sin and such was he whom S. Paul describes in this Chapter Ver. 23. Therefore this person is not a servant of Christ He that is a servant of righteousness is freed from sin and he who is a servant of sin is not a servant of Rom. 6.20 but freed from righteousness A regenerate person therefore is a servant of the Spirit and so cannot at the same time be a servant or a slave and a captive under sin 2. When the complaint is made I doe the evil which I hate the meaning is I doe it seldome or I doe it commonly and frequently If it means I doe it seldome then a man cannot use these words so well as the contrary he can say The good which I would I doe regularly and ordinarily and the evil which I hate I doe avoid sometimes indeed I am surpris'd and when I doe neglect to use the aids and strengths of the spirit of grace I fall but this is because I will not and not because I cannot help it and in this case the man is not a servant or captive of sin but a servant of Christ though weak and imperfect But if it means I doe it commonly or constantly or frequently which is certainly the complaint here made then to be a regenerate person is to be a vile person sold under sin and not Gods servant For if any man shall suppose these words to mean onely thus I doe not doe so much good as I would and doe sometimes fall into evil though I would fain be intirely innocent indeed this man teaches no false doctrine as to the state or duty of the regenerate which in this life will for ever be imperfect but he speaks not according to the sense and design of the Apostle here For his purpose is to describe that state of evil in which we are by nature and from which we could not be recovered by the law and from which we can onely be redeemed by the grace of Jesus Christ and this is a state of death of being killed by sin of being captivated and sold under sin after the manner of slaves as will further appear in the sequel 3. Every regenerate man and servant of Christ hath the Spirit of Christ Rom 8.9 2 Cor. 3.17 But where the Spirit of God is there is liberty therefore no slavery therefore sin reigns noâ— there Both the propositions are the words of the Apostle The conclusion therefore infers that the man whom S. Paul describes in this Chapter is not the regenerate man for he hath not liberty Ro. 7.23 but is in captivity to the law of sin from which every one that is Christs every one that hath the Spirit of Christ is freed 4. And this is that which S. Paul cals being under the law that is a being carnal and in the state of the flesh not but that the law it self is spiritual but that we being carnal of our selves are not cured by the law but by reason of the infirmity of the flesh made much worse Rom. 7.13 14. 8.3 curbed but not sweetly won admonished but assisted by no spirit but the spirit of bondage and fear This state is opposed to the spiritual state The giving of the law is called the ministery of death 2 Cor. 3.6 7 8. the Gospel is called the ministery of the Spirit and that is the ministration of life and therefore if we be led by the Spirit Gal. 5.18 Rom. 7.9 we are not under the law but if we be under the law we are dead and sin is revived and sin by the law brings forth fruit unto death From hence the argument of the Apostle is clear The man whom he here describes is such a one who is under the law but such a man is dead by reason of sin and therefore hath not in him the Spirit of God for that is the ministration of life A regenerate person is alive unto God he lives the life of righteousness but he that is under the law is killed by sin and such is the man that is here described as appears verse 9. and I shall in the sequel further prove therefore this man is not the regenerate 5. To which for the likeness of the argument I adde this That the man who can say I doe that which I hate is a man in whom sin is not mortified and therefore he lives after the flesh but then he is not regenerate for if ye live after the flesh ye shall die saith S. Rom. 8.13 Paul but if ye through the Spirit doe mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live These arguments are taken from consideration of the rule and dominion of sin in the man whom S. Paul describes who therefore cannot be a regenerate person To the same effect and conclusion are other expressions in the same Chapter 6. The man whom S. Paul here describes who complains That he does not the good which he would but the evil that he would not is such a one in whom sin does inhabit It is no more I Vers 20. but sin that dwelleth in me But in the regenerate sin does not inhabit My Father and I will come unto him and make our abode with him So Christ promised to his servants John 14.23 Ro. 8.11 2 Cor. 6.16 Eph. 3.17 2.22 2 Tim. 1.14 to them who should be regenerate and the Spirit of God dwelleth in them the Spirit of him that raised Jesus from the dead and therefore the Regenerate are called the habitation of God through the Spirit Now if God the Father if Christ if the Spirit of Christ dwels in a man there sin does not dwell The strong man that is armed keeps possession but if a stronger then he comes he dispossesses him If the Spirit of God does not drive the Devil forth himself will leave the place They cannot both dwell together Sin may be in the regenerate and grieve Gods Spirit but it shall not abide or dwell there for that extinguishes him One or the other must depart And this also is noted by Saint Paul in this very place sin dwelleth in me Ver. 17 18. and no good thing dwelleth in me If one does the other does not but yet
of it was sometimes by Deacons sometimes by themselves at home This therefore was the dispensation of the keys this was the effect of the powers of binding and loosing of re mitting or retaining sins according as the sense and practice of the Church expounded her own power The prayers of the Priest going before his ministration of the Communion were called absolution Isaac Lin. tit 1 c. 16. that is the beginning and one of the first portions of it absolutio Sacerdotalium precum so it was called in ancient Councels the Priest imposed hands and prayed and then gave the Communion This was the ordinary way But there was an extraordinary For in some cases the imposition of hands was omitted that is when the Bishop or Priest was absent and the Deacon prayed or the Confessor but this was first by the leave of the Bishop or Priest for to them it belong'd in ordinary And 2. this was nothing else but a taking them from the station of the penitents and a placing them amongst the faithful communicants either by declaring that their penances were performed or not to be exacted For by this we shall be clear of an objection which might arise from the case of dying penitents to whom the Communion was given and they restored to the peace of the Church that is as they supposed to Gods mercy and the pardon of sins for they would not chuse to give the Communion to such persons whom they did not believe God had pardoned but these persons though communicated Can. 78. non tamen se credant absolutos sine manus impositione si supervixerint were not to suppose themselves absolved if they recovered that sicknesse without imposition of hands said the Fathers of the 4th Councel of Carthage by which it should seem absolution was a thing distinct from giving the Communion To this I answer that the dying penitent was fully absolved in case he had receiv'd the first imposition of hands for repentance that is if in his health he submitted himself to penance and publick amends and was prevented from finishing the impositions they supposed that desire and endevour of the penitent man was a worthy disposition to the receiving the holy Communion and both together sufficient for pardon but because this was only to be in the case of such intervening necessity and God will not accept of the will for the deed but in such cases where the deed cannot be accomplished therefore they bound such penitents to return to their first obligation in case they should recover since God had taken off their necessity and restored them to their first capacity And by this we understand the meaning of the third Canon of the first Arausican Councel They who having received penance depart from the body it pleases that they shall be communicated sine reconciliatoriâ manus impositione without the reconciling imposition of hands that is because the penitential imposition of hands was imposed upon them and they did what they could though the last imposition was not though the last hand was not put upon them declaring that they had done their penances and compleated their satisfactions yet they might be communicated that is absolved quod morientis sufficit consolationi this is enough to the comfort of the dying man according to the definition of the Fathers who conveniently enough called such a Communion their Viaticum their Passeport or provision for their way For there were two solemn impositions of hands in repentance The first and greatest was in the first admission of them and in the imposition of the Disciplne or manner of performing penances and this was the Bishops office and of great consideration amongst the holy Primitives and was never done but by the superiour Clergy as is evident in Ecclesiastical story The second solemn imposition of hands was immediatly before their absolution or Communion and it was a holy prayer and publication that he was accepted and had finished that processe This was the lesse solemn and was ordinarily done by the superiour Clergy but sometimes by others as I have remonstrated other intermedial impositions there were as appears by the Creber recursus mentioned in the 3d Councel of Toledo above cited the penitents were often to beg the Bishops pardon or the Priests prayers and the advocations and intercessions of the faithful but the peace of the Church that is that pardon which she could minister and which she had a promise that God would confirm in heaven was the Ministery of pardon in the dispensation of the Sacrament of that body that was broken and that bloud that was powred forth for the remission of our sins The result is That the absolution of sins which in the later forms and usages of the Church is introduced can be nothing but declarative the office of the preacher and the guide of soules of great use to timerous persons and to the greatest penitents full of comfort full of usefulness and institution and therefore although this very declaration of pardon may truly and according to the style of Scripture be called pardon and the power and office of pronouncing the penitents pardon is in the sense of the Scripture and the Church a good sense and signification of power as the Pharisees are said to justifie God when they declare his justice and as the preacher that converts a sinner is said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to save a soul from death yet if we would speak properly and as things are in their own nature and institution this declarative absolution is only an act of preaching or opening and reading the Commission an effect of the Spirit of prudence and government entring upon the Church but the power of the keys is another thing it is the dispensing all those rites and ministeries by which heaven is opened and that is the word and baptisme at the first and ever after the holy Sacrament of the supper of the Lord and all the parts of the Bishops and Priests advocation and intercession in holy prayers and offices But as for the declarative absolution although it is rather an act of wisdom then of power it being true as S. Hierom said In 16 Mat. that as the Priests of the Law could only discern and neither cause nor remove leprosies so the Ministers of the Gospel when they retain or remit sins do but in the one judge how long we continue guilty and in the other declare when we are clear and free yet this very declaration is of great use and in many cases of great effect For as God did in the case of David give to the Prophet Nathan a particular special and extraordinary commission so to the Ministers of the Gospel he gives one that is ordinary and perpetual He had a prophetical evidence but these have a certainty of faith as to one of the propositions and as to the other some parts of humane experience to assure them 1. of Gods gracious pardon to the