Account thereof The Ministers and Elders of the Church at Vilna were much movâ—d at Calvin's writing against him and therefore after they had reprovâ—d him do advise him to reconcile himself unto Blandrata who was to their Knowledge Ubi sup 258. a most sincere Man free from the least Suspicion of Errors For they believed not a word of what Calvin had said to the contrary However Calvin persists in the Opinion he had of Blandrata and can by no means be taken off from exposing his Heresies and evil Practices expressing his Trouble to observe him by his crafty method to get such an Interest in the favour of so eminent a Person as his Anonymous Friend was In his Letter to Stanislaus saith he I cannot but observe how all men in a manner as if they had been under a Fascination admire Blandrata 't is you alone who begin to suspect the Truth of what is said of him but that you may obtain a more certain Knowledge of him I must tell you that Valentinus Gentilis whose wild Notions I have confuted is of the same Faction and another Blandrata altho the one will not give place unto the other If his Frauds his Ensnaring and crafty Courses had not been taken notice of in Poland it might have been more tolerable but I am amaz'd to think that a Man who hath nothing else but Pride and Ostentation to recommend him should get such a Reputation amongst you as to be esteemed the Atlas that bears the Church on his Shoulders In his Answer to Felix Cruciger and his Collegues and other faithful Pastors and Ministers in Lesser Poland There is oâ—e thing I cannot but suggest unto you saith he that they who did with so much Humanity and Respect entertain Blandrata were not so cautiâ—ns and wary nor did they consult your Reputation as they should have done and am more surprized that some of the Chiefest Rank are greatly offended because I did as it became me discover the Man I beseech you not to believe that I have hastily taken up any Reports I have written a Narrative which will clear the Truth of Matter of Fact And to the Ministers and Elders of the Church at Vilna Tho you saith he have no Suspicion touching Blandrata his Errors and Practices yet with me he is clearly convicted and so he is before this Church Ye believe not what I say why then should I believe what you say You have much time to spare to call Synods about such Tristes You admire him as if he had been an Angel dropt down from Heaven but he is in other Nations a Man of no Account A brief History of him I will give you and lest you should have no regard to what I say it is attested by the Elders of the Italian Church with us and by the Renowned Peter Martyr The History they give of him is to this purpose 〈◊〉 â—â—orge Blandrata a Physician demeanâ—d himself amongst us for some time very peaceably and with much Temper desirous of Instruction so that we innocently receivâ—d him into our Number At length he began to talk as if he designed to call in question the Article of Christ's Divinity and privately spread this Notion amongst the more ignorant Then would he weary Calvin with his Enquiries and seem abundantly satisfy'd with his Answers but carry'd it so that at last Calvin discover'd his persidious and deceitful Courses and his Carriage to be such as made it necessary for the Senate to deal with hâ—m where altho he was convicted of notorious Falshoods against Calvin yet never blush'd His intimate Friend and Companion was Johannes Paulus Alciatus who said that we worship three Devils much worse than all the Popish Idols because we hold Three Persons There arose a fresh Complaint of the Italian Church against him for using Clandestine Arts to ensnare the Vulgar to a Closure with his Dotages Thus this Man a real Enemy to the Fundamental Doctrines of Christian Religion the great Patron of Socinus and his Partizans to the end he might the more effectually propagate his Errors pretends a Zeal for the Truth joyns himself to the Orthodox subscribes sound Confessions gains a Reputation amongst the châ—efest of the Orthodox for being sound and sincere This deceitful Method of â—landrata hath been exactly observ'd as by many of the same Principles abroad so by the Socinians in our Country who notwithstanding the Contradiction there is in the Doctrines by Law established to their Tenents and the strict Subscriptions required of all that enter into the Ministry get into the Church and fix their Communion there That they may pave the way for the Consciences of others their Attempts are to make the Subscription to the Thâ—rty-nine Articles to signify nothing The Belief of the Athanasian Creed not requiâ—ed by the Châ—ef Eng. p. 2. Those Thirty-nine Articles say they are not Articles of Faith but Peace As several of her most learned Bishops have declared and in a word the Title of the Articles says as much and the Preface before them And yet in the Title 't is declared that these Articles were agreed upon for the avoiding Diversities of Opinion and for the Establishing of Consent touching true Religion And in the Preface 't is declared That the Articles do Contain the True Doctrine of the Church of England agreeable to Gods word And the Charge his Majesty gives is That no Man shall either Print or Preach to draw the Article aside any way but shall submit to it in the Plain and full meaning thereof And shall not put his own sense or Comment to be the Meaning of the Article but shall take it in the Literal or Grammatical Sense So that whatever any Bishops have declared The Import of the Title and Preface is That the Subscribers Agree in Believing the Doctrines contained in the Articles to be True that the Articles taken in the Literal and Grammatical Sense are agreeable to God's word How can a Socinian then subscribe the first Article where 't is said There is but One Living and True God and in Unity of this Godhead there be Three Persons of one Substance Power and Eternity the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost Doth this Article contain in it the Truth If it doth the Socinian Principle is False If it doth not they subscribe to a Lye And tho' the Church did not Require the Belief of the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity as delâ—vered in the Athanasian Creed as Necessary to Salvation Yet seeing it Requires the Belief of this Doctrine as True they who deny this Doctrine can't without being guâ—lty of grossest Hypocrisy subscribe it But what can't a designing English Socinian do Thus you see that tho' the Thirty-nine Articles are as expressly against the Dogmata of our â—nglish Socinians as words can make them yet can they not keep an English Socinian out of the Church And having broken their Subscriptions they go on to tell us Trinitar Scheme
time Further their vacating and making void the Fourth Commandment which is attended with a neglect of the Lord's Day is an in-let into all manner of Vice and the very Notions they frame of God to support their other Errors are such as lessen the Fear Men ought to have of God's Judgments And as Dr. Edwards hath well observed Socinus by denying the Divinity and Satisfaction of Christ hath plainly over-turn'd the Foundation Preser against Socin p. 42. 43. upon which the Christian Church and Religion have been built and by his other Methods hath given a shrew'd blow to all Religion whatsoever whether Natural or Revealâ—d so that an unwary Reader by perusing his Writings may find himself an Atheist before he well perceives how he comes to be so as he saith in another Case viz. His Opinion against Hell Torments that he had so contriv'd the Matter Vt lector prius sentiat Doctrinam istam sibi jam persuasum esse quam suaderi animadvertat When I most impartially weigh these things I mean their deceitful Attempts to ensnare the Unwary to favour their Opinions their Contemptuous Treatment of the Blessed Mysteries of the Gospel and its Advocates together with their assuming to themselves the Character of being the most Rational Divines and Men of Excelling Piety and Holiness even when none do more contradict the plainest Maxims of Reason and lay a surer Foundation for the utmost Immoralities When I lay these things together I am so far from thinking as those great Men do who represent them to be the fairest Adversaries that I rather incline at least to fear that the Account given of them by the despised Lubbertus which I will lay down in his own Words is most true They are saith he Arrogant and Proud who measure all things by vaâ—n Glory and empty Names of Honour when they see that those who in other Disciplines invent some new Notions to be Commended they think it will be Laudable in them to Innovate in Sacred Theology And being unskill'd in true Divinity they despair of gaining a Name by Explicating or Defending the Orthodox Doctrine But burning with a desire of Praise they disturb every thing that they may be Famous and had rather be talk'd of for breaking of Churches than grow old without Fame in the true and Orthodox Religion When they perceive other Learned Men to be preferr'd before them they are angry and what is most base they Dissemble and Counterfeit the Orthodox Religion pretend to a Zeal for defending sound Doctrine Lubbert Praef. ad lib. de Jesu servat cont Socin p. 2. swear to our received Confessions and Catechisms and with their own Hands subscribe to what they swore and yet they with utmost Endeavours oppose the Sound and publickly embraced Doctrine and craftily instill a new and wicked One into their Disciples and carry about Calumnies against the Orthodox Thus much touching the Methods used by Foreign Socinians to insinuate and spread their Errors I will in the next place show how exactly they are followed by the Remonstrants and then acquaint the Reader with the Arts of out English Socinians SECT V. The Arminians imitate the Socinians They pretend an Agreement with the Orthodox THE Arminians to the end they might with the greater Success insinuate their Errors do also their utmost to cover them Nothing therefore they say can be found amongst their Assertions but what is conform to the Holy Scriptures the Heidelberg Catechism established A. D. 1578. by a Synod of Dort for the publick use of their Churches the Belgick and other Reformed Confessions Armin. Epist ad Hypolit Arminius in his Epistle to Hypolitus à Collibus protests that he never either in the Church or University taught any thing but what was according to the Holy Scriptures the Belgick Confession and Heidelberg Catâ—echism In a Letter to Johannes Matthisius These things which I have at this time delivered as they do agree with the Holy Scriptures so they are not contrary to our Confession and Catechism for which reason I do the more freely express my self In another to Sebastian Egbert I do publickly preach to a numerous Auditory and frequently dispute when my Reverend Collegues are present at which times I have used the greatest freedom in the Answers I have return'd to Objections Besides I have a private College at which thirty Students or more attend and yet never hath there been the least mention that I ever uttered any thing contrary to the Holy Scriptures or our Confessions and Catechism although some of my Collegues whose Zeal is such for the Purity of Doctrine that they would never have been silent had they whereof to accuse me have been instigated thereunto And whereas it 's spread abroad that I direct my Pupils to Read the Writings of the Jesuits and Coornhertius the slander is so gross that I cannot find softer Words to express it by than to say It is a down right Lye for I never advis'd so much as one to any such thing But this indeed I do after the Reading of the Scriptures which I do most earnestly press yea more than any other as the whole Academy can testifie I do direct to the reading of Calvin's Commentaries which I praise much more than Helmichius himself ever did as he hath confess'd For I do esteem them to excell all others so much in the Interpretation of Scriptures that there are none to be compared with them in the Bibliotheca Patrum that there was a more excellent Spirit in him than in any other As for Common Places I Recommed his Institutions to be read after the Catechism as containing the best Explication of it For the truth of this I can bring a multitude of Witnesses In a Declaration of his Sentiments made to the States of Holland and West-Frâ—ezeland wherein are the Reasons why he declin'd to give any Answer to the Questions propos'd by Lansbergius Fraxinus and Dolegius Deputies from the Synod of South-Holland and by Eogardus and Rolandus Deputies from the Synod of North-Holland his endeavour is to show an Agreement between his Notions in each of the controverted Articles and the Belgick Confession and Catechism I will give you what he saith touching the Grace of God in Conversion and the Justification of a Sinner in the sight of God What concerns the Grace of God I do first of all saith he believe it to be that gracious and free Affection whereby God doth take pity on a miserable Sinner by which he doth in the first place give his Son that whoever believes in him may have Everlasting Life then doth he justifie him and give him the Privilege of a Child by Adoption even a Right to Salvation 2. This Grace is an infusion of all the Gifts of the Holy Spirit which are for the Regenerating and renewing of the Vnderstanding as well as Will and Affections such as Faith Hope Charity c. without which Gifts of Grace no Man is able
Frieseland for the supp essing all Socinian Prints and Conventicles which they sent out in pursuance of the Supplication made unto them by the Deputies of the Synod of South and North Holland approved of by Triglandius Heidanus and Cocceius Professors at Leiden I say in this Apology he doth his utmost by using Orthodox Phrases to make their Errors look as though they differd but little from the Common Faith For saith he 't was never in our thoughts to deny the Unity of the Trinity that we do with our whole Heart Believe and openly own the Father Son and Holy Ghost to be One that we confess Christ to be God ascribing to him that Divinity which appertains to the Son of God the like of the Holy Ghost And whereas we are charg'd for Denying Christ's Satisfaction Apol. pro verit accusat p. 12. if it be meant of the thing which in the Holy Scriptures is assigned unto it we do most firmly believe that Jesus Christ to the end he might obtain for us the Remission of Sins hath so far satisfied the Divine Will P. 24. that there is nothing wanting to a most full and Compleat Satisfaction As to the Merit of Christ if by it they mean his Perfect Obedience and Righteousness we do freely confess that Christ's Obedience for our obtaining Eternal Life doth much more abound to us than Adam's Sin to our Condemnation Apol. 25. not excluding our Obedience which all that have received Faith and the Spirit of Christ have more or less whose Defects are through the Grace of God supplyed by Christ's most Compleat and Perfect Obedience We acknowledge that we are Sinners Apol. p. 53. and fall very short of the perfect Rule of Righteousness and therefore sly unto Christ that we may be justified by him without the Deeds of the Law nor do we by the Faith of Christ destroy the Law as it respects Moral Precepts which is the true Righteousness but establish it That Conversion is by the Power of the Spirit we never denied unless as held by such as make Men to be but as Stocks utterly rejecting and banishing from the Christian Religion all Vertue and Vice Reâ—â—ards and Punishments P. 26. leaving it destitute of all Encouragements to true Piety P. 87. We trust not to the Strength or Power of our own Will knowing that unless it be excited cherished and helped by a Heavenly Power we cannot so much as Will much less Perform any thing and seeing we can neither begin P. 65. nor finish any thing without the help of God's Grace we lift up our Prayers and Thanksgivings unto God â—or do we deny the Resurrection P. 76. but with the Apostle we have our Hope in God touching the Resurrection of the â—â—â—d both of the Just and Vnjust believing that the Just shall be raised to the Joys of an Eternal Life and the Unjust to the Punishment of Everlasting Fire wherefore knowing the Terrour of the Lord we perswade Men. â—ruâ—peorius a â—niâ—ht and Counsellor of the Flector of â—randenlurg Przipâ—â—v Apol. 〈◊〉 â—â—â—â—cen in his Apology for afflicted Innocence directed to the Fâ—â—â—lar and Supreme Prince of Prussia seems to speak as Ortho loxly as any one could wish For saith he we with due Honour receive the Doctrine of the Triatry the Father Son and Holy Spirit in whose Name we are Baptized Concerning the Divinity of our Lord We acknowledge him to be properly and truly speaking the only Begotten Son of God not meerly because of the I ominion and Omnipotence given to him but because of that Divine Nature which he received by the voluntary Generation of his most loving Father in which the Character and Image of the Divine Sub stance of the Father shines and so we Worship Adore and Invoke him as the True God even by Nature in a proper Sence now and for ever Blessed Then of the Holy Ghost he says Nothing can by any Man be said so sublime concerning the Holy Spirit which we do not willingly admit so that the Name and Title of the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ remain peculiar to the Omnipotent Person of the Father Then concerning the Merit of Christ's Death We acknowledge the Merit of the Death of Christ and our Redemption effected by his most precious Blood poured out but so as that the Grace and Favour of Forgiveness remain owing to his most merciful Father He is positive that touching Magistracy they confess with the Apostle Paul that the Magistrate is the Minister of God to Punish by the Sword evil Doers and protect the Innocent and that they are not to be removed out of the Church of Christ that in the other Articles of Religion they hold nothing Blasphemous Heretical or Absurd not daring to deviate in the least from the Apostle's Creed and Holy Scriptures Whoever considers that what is here delivered by this Author is done Apologetically to put a stop to the troubles they endured or at least to get 'em mitigated cannot but concur with me in concluding that He uses these Orthodox Phrases to the end He and they might be esteemed as Men Sound in the Faith far from holding the Heresies they were charged with and therefore no way deserving the Severities that were only due to Blasphemous Hereticks and yet as we shall hereafter shew as there is a mixture of Unfound Expressions even in the Places where he speaks thus of the Trinity and Christ's Divinity so doth he otherwhere deny these Doctrines â—nyedinus Superintendent of the Vnitarian Churches in Transilvania in his Preface to his Explication of those places in the Old and New Testament produced by the Orthodox to prove the Trinity doth positively aver Enjed. Praesâ—ad explicat Loc. V. N. Test That the whole they believe is owned by Papists Lutheran and Calvinist Namely That Jesus Christ called the Son of God the Father Almighty Maker of the Heavens and the Earth even he who was conceived by the Holy Ghost and Born of the Virgin the Man Christ Jesus is the One and only Mediator between God and Men by whose Death Salvation is procured for us and through whom both Jew and Gentile have Access to the Father and in whose Name by the Holy Ghost we obtain a Pardon and an Assurance of Eternal Life This is the summ of the New Testament-Doctrine and the Faith which we constantly Profess and Defend And who dares deny it Do the Papist Lutheran or Calvinist No by no means I could easily add many other Socinian Authors speaking after this very way as if they Dissented not from the Orthodox in any Important Points But these being enough to Evince the Truth of my Assertion I will go on to shew that notwithstanding these seeming Approaches towards the Truth they are at the utmost distance from it denying those glorious Doctrines they would be thought to embrace SECT III. The real Distance there is between the Socinian and Orthodox That
in his Bodecherus Ineptiens his answers to Homnius and his Apology oft strenuously endeavour'd to clear himself and Remonstrants from the charge of Socinianism yet in his answer to the Specimen of Calumnies and elsewhere is bold enough to own that he cann't condemn them as guilty of Heresie Episcop Resp ad specim Calum ad Caâ—al The reason saith he why we are not fully perswaded that the Socinians are to be condemned for Hereticks are these 1. Because it 's certain that in the Holy Scriptures neither expresly nor by manifest Consequence was any Anathema denounced against such as err'd only as the Socinians do 2. That they seem to have some weighty Reasons for their Error securing them from a Pertinacious adherence thereunto and consequently from the Fault of Heresie The Reasons that seem to favour them are 1. Many places in Holy-Writ at first view appear to be for them 2. That what is urged against them from the Holy Scriptures Councils or Writings of the Orthodox are either so confounded by the variety of Interpretations given by the Orthodox themselves or feebly prest or so as to be accommodated to Socinian Errors 3. They who write against them freely yield that the Socinian Notions are more conform to Humane Reason than their own 4. That in every age from the first rise of Christian Churches they mention Christians not a few even Doctors and Bishops Eminent for Learning and Holiness of Life that have thought and spoke differently of this matter And many wholly ignorant of the Eternal Generation of the Son of God from the Father even most of the Fathers before the Nicene Council such as Irenaeus Justin Tertullian Oreign and many others 6. Because there have arisen incredible Dissentions Inexplicable Questions Innumerable Controversies not only about the Doctrine it self but the terms and words used to explain it which after utmost endeavours they could never understand 7. Because out of Justin the most ancient Writer who lived next the Apostles times a Martyr for the Truths of Christ they have reason to believe that the most Primitive Church held Communion with them who profess'd to believe that Christ was but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a meer Man begotten only of Man and made Christ by Election These are some of the Reasons adduced by Episcopius but learnedly answered by Dr. Bull for Vindicating their refusal to condemn the Socinians as Hereticks in which abating the words Error given the Socinian â—nd Orthodox given to their Adversaries he insinuates as if the Socinians had the better of it in the Controversie What the Orthodox offer to explain their Sense is said to be with so much obscurity and Confusion that it 's not easie to be understood they are divided amongst themselves and give different Interpretations of Texts are loose in their Arguing and do oft in their opposition fall in with their Adversaries whilst on the other hand the Socinians have the Holy Scriptures in their first appearances and the most reason the Orthodox themselves being Judges and all the Fathers till the Council of Nice for them all which is about the very Doctrines wherein the Socinians differ from the Orthodox But touching the Points wherein the Socinians fall in with the Orthodox the Calvinists are not to be compared with them We cannot saith Episcopius forbear giving in our Testimony on behalf of Sociâ—â—s Episcop Bâ—decher Inepti p 65. and let the whole World if they please consider it He disputes most closely giving the Adversary scope enough granting whatever may be without prejudice to Truth and his Cause Where he is to press hard upon him there he fastens his Foot and with much Pungency brings home his Arguments to the Conscience he will rather urge plain Scripture than insist on other Hypotheses and brings Reasons without prejudice and not argue after the manner in the Calvinian Schools nor hide himself in Clouds of Sophistry nor seek Evasions but hasten to the Merits of the Cause So far Episcopius whose farther endeavour is contemptuously to expose the Calvinistâ—s having just before boldly asserted that the Socinians do really agree with the Orthodox touching the substance of these following Doctrines viz. The Authority Perfection Episcopius ubi sup Perspicuity the Reading and Interpretation of the Holy Scriptures the Nature Properties and Actions of God the Creation of Men and Angels Providence and Predestination the Precepts Promises Lords Prayer Discipline Church c. In all these things saith Episcopius as to what belongs to their substance Socinus agreeth with the Orthodox And about these very points lyeth the Vitals of Socinianism even their denying the necessity of the Old Testament their confirming the whole of Christian Religion to the New as if Christ had never been foretold Praefigur'd or Promised in the Old The Scripture's so perspicuous that we may attain to the saving knowledge of them without the help of the Holy Spirit That there is but one Person in the Nature of God That God is not Immense Omnipotent Omniscient as in the Holy Scriptures 't is declared and asserted That Man was not created in Knowledge and Righteousness that the Image of God on Man lyeth only in having Rational Faculties and Dominion over the Creatures That in his first make he was Mortal and should have dyed tho' he had never sinned That future Contingents cannot be known by God himself That on the admitting the Infallible Praescience of all things Future there could be no withstanding the Calvinian Doctrine of Praedestination That the Precepts given Adam were adjusted to the Infant state of Mankind and were imperfect that Jesus Christ gave new and more perfect Laws That he enlarged the Obligation of some of the Moral Laws abolished others and added three new Moral Precepts to the Old given by Moses That the Promises of the Old Testament were only of Temporal Blessings and that Men under it were not sav'd as we are under the New by Faith in the Messiah Whatever Episcopius means by the Socinians Agreement with the Orthodox these are the Doctrines of Socinus and his Followers most opposite unto and inconsistent with what is held by the Orthodox and cannot be sound and true in the Judgment of Episcopius himself unless he himself be a Socinian And sure I am that whatever they suggest to the contrary about their being in suspence and doubt in this Partitâ—cular they look on the Socinians to be good Christians as appears further by their holding Communion in Acts of Religious Worship with them amongst the Mennistâ—s What I have taken out of these Arminian Writers doth as any one may easily perceive make it clear that it hath been their as well as the Socinian Method by the use of Orthodox Phrases and Subscriptions to sound Catechisms and Confessions of Faith to hide for a while their erroneous Opinions and when they have gainâ—d a Reputation with the People then to open themselves and appear above board slily insinuating a New and
to be Hereticks who Affirm him to be so If we take the word Heretick in the most common Acceptation for one who is without the Pale of the Church in which Sense it 's manifest that Volanus himself uses the Word in this Place that they do greatly Err I firmly Believe But I do not therefore Exclude them from the Fellowship of the Saints so long as in other Respects they Persevere in the Right Way to Salvation approving themselves Obedient unto Christ Nor were they so Fond of the Mahometan Religion as not to think it a Reproach to be numbred amongst its Favourers This is sufficiently Cleared by Ruarus For whereas Beza Epist 16. â— 122 123. in an Epistle to Peter Statorius mentions Valentilis Gentilis his Accusing Paulus Alciatus for turning Turk Abraham Calovius no sooner mentions this Story in a Letter to Ruarus but Ruarus as one who Abhorr'd the Mahometan Religion Epist 47. p. 225 226. doth what he can to Vindicate Alciatus from so Vile a Calumny Most Worthy Sir saith he to Calovius Forgive me that I attempt to Free you from a Mistake in a Point of History It is about what is Reported of Paulus Alciatus and Nuserus closing with the Turkish Religion as if they had abandon'd Christianity and had taken up with the Alcoran I am apt to think Beza in one of his Epistles lead you into this Mistake when he mentions what Gentilis accused him of before the Magistrates of Bern. But this might be done by Gentilis only to Ingratiate himself with the Magistrates especially seeing he knew Alciatus did acknowledge only the Father of Jesus Christ to be the most High God And he himself after a sort making a Profession of Three Gods might be the more easily Induced to load him with the reproachful Charge of Turcism But whatever Gentilis imagined you know very well that Alciatus did for many Years in this City lead a Pious Life according to the Christian Rules and when he dyed he commended his Soul to Christ the Saviour Thus much hath been Attested by many and some now Living c. But tho' Socinus and Ruarus were so kind as to clear us from the Guilt of Idolatry and Heresie Reckoning us to be Members of that Church in which Salvation may be had yet so much Candor must not be look'd for from the English Socinians For They esteem us so Byassed against their Religion by Prejudices and the like Exhort to â—ice Enqu p. 3. that we use not a reasonable Diligence to obtain the Knowledge of what they call Truth and therefore we are told That as to the Jenâ—s and Turks Nâ—tes on Athanas p. 3â— who Believe and Worship the One True God and him only perhaps they are in a Nearer Proximity to Salvation than such as against sufficient Opportunities of a right Information and for Worldly Interests have Apostatized from the Christian Faith to the Athanasiam Thus they make us Apostates from Christianity further off from Salvation than Jews or Turks And that we may see what Charity they have for the Mahometans and their Religion they add Divers Historians will have it Reâ—â—lâ—â— coâ—â—â—â—â—ng the Tâ—â—â—iâ—â— and Incarnat p. 18 19. that Mahomet meant not his Religion should be esteemed a New Religion but only the Restitution of the true Intent of the Christian Religion They affirm moreover that the Mahometan Learned Men call themselves the True Disciples of the Messias or Christ intimating thereby that Christians are Apostates from the most Essentians Parts of the Doctrine of the Messiah This Plea our English Socinians make for Mahomet and his Religion Representing the Turkish Topperies to be a more Refined Christianity than that Embraced by the Orthodox brings to my Remembrance an Old Prophecy of Simler which on the Reviving of the Errors of Servetus by â—oelius Socinus Blandrata and others he wrote Anno 1568. A part of it is to this Purpose When Matters Religious are in Agitation I would not willingly Immix with them what are of a Civil Nature nor would I rashly Fore bode Evil to any Man However if we may make a Judgment of things Future by what hath heretofore fâ—ln out I am afraid this Doctrine viz. of the Socinians will prepare the way for Mahometanism and Portend Ruin to those Flourishing Countries in which it is sown c. The whole Prophecy is in the Close of that Historical Preface which Cloppenhurch hath set before his Conâ—rtation of the Compendiâ—lum â—ocinianismi supposed by him to have been Written by Ostorodius and â—oidovius but as Sandias hath it by Conradus Vortius To return The Malignity of these English Socinians runs higher they can't consent themselves to throw us into a worse state than the Turks are in Placing us in the next Rank to them But to vent their Spight they make our very Religion as bad as the Impostures and Dotages of the Egyptian and Roman Pagans Touching the Mystery of the Trinity they say There is no Parallel for it in all Trinitarian Scheme p. 7. either History or Nature but the Mysteries of the Egyptians For as the Egyptians were at prodigious Cost in making and setting up a great number of Images in and about their Temples by which Lieroglyphicks they pretended to Teach men the Secrets of Natural Philosophy But when ask'd to Explain their meaning they gave a very mean and triffling sense or a sense very absurd and false So after Trinitarians have long Amused their Disciples with Terms as mystical as the Egyptian Hieroglyphicks such as Trinity We would easily forgive them the foll of their Mysteries if their Hieroglyphick Language were not as False and Contradictory as it is Vain and Trifling A little after this speaking of the Blessed Trinity This is Egyptian all over 'T is the very Genius and Spirit of the old Mystical Hieroglyphicks That is to say Partly Foolish and Partly False Once more For my Part I never think of these whether Dotages or Impostures without such an Inclimation as I hardly Resist of applying to our Athanasian Doctors what Cato said of the Roman Augures and Aruspices He knew their pretended Learning and Discipline was the Religion Establish'd by Law warranted by Custom and Prescription and Authâ—rized by the Consent of Laws For all that 't was a Cheat so Gross and Palpable that he could not but Admire the Augures were such stark Fools or such perfect Knaves that meeting they could carry a grave look upon one another This is the Kindness the English Socinians have for the Orthodox and more especially for the Religion by Law Establisht They make us worse than Turks and as bad as Pagans as if all we teach were a Gross and Palpable Cheat. And by their Complaints of the Evils arising from Church Preferments Considâ—◠〈…〉 p. 44. and the Care and Favour of a Wealthy Mother they show they have an aking Tooth at the Church Revenues Let the Bishops Deans and Chapters
would be Advocates for Mahomet or his Religion have very little Reason for their Pretences to Sobriety or Liberty of Conscience which is no otherwise granted by them than as it's subservient to their secular Interests And touching that ingenious Gentleman who under the plausible Covert of the Reasonableness of Christianity hath lopt off so many of the most Essential Parts of Christ's Religion as to defend no more of it than that Grand Impostor Mahomet would have done he has I think done no service at all to Christianity and it must be acknowledged that those English Socinians who write so Honourably of Mahomet his Design and Religion may be more justly look'd on as Pensioners of the Great Turk than the learned Opposers of Socinian Heresies can be represented as the Grand Pensioner of the World The CONCLVSION THESE are some of those Methods which the Arminians the Foreign and English Socinians have taken to Instill and Propagate their Errours which for the Help of the less studied I will reduce to the Following Heads Sect. I. These Gentlemen not being able to comprehend some of the most Important Points of Christian Religion because of their Mysteriousness do reject them as Contradictious and Unreasonable On this Ground the Socinians Explode the Doctrines of the Blessed Trinity and Incarnation Christ's Satisfaction and that Mystical Vnion which is betwixt Him and Believers And the Arminians Oppugn the Absolute and Eternal Decrees together with the Irresistible Operations of Grace in the Conversion of Sinners But that they may the more consistently Prosecute their Design they find themselves necessitated to Frame such an Idea of God as comes short of a Being Infinitely Perfect and thus lead their Followers into Atheism Chap. 1. Sect. II. The Erroneous finding in their corrupt Hearts an Innate Antipathy against Justification by the Righteousness of another do endeavour to establish a Righteousness of their own To compass thus much the more Learned knowing that there is an Eternal Law of Right of which no one Precept or Rule is or can be Abrogated or Repealed whilst God is an Holy Just and Righteous God and Man a rational Creature do hold that this is the Law by which all Men shall be judged at the last day Only those who have believed Jesus to be the Messiah and have taken Him to be their King with a sincere Endeavour after Righteousness in obeying his Law shall have their past Sins not imputed to them And shall have that Faith taken instead of Obedience that is their Faith shall be taken for a Compleat Performance of this Law where by Imperfection is stretched to the utmost length of Perfection But the more unlearned to escape this Rock have vacated the Penal Sanction of the old Law and erected a New which threatens no Sins but final Unbelief and Impenitence with Eternal Death who must hold that no other Sins but Unbelief and Impenitence are in their own Nature mortal and deadly deserving everlasting Misery or at least by setting up this New Law to the End imperfect Obedience may answer their New Rule they must make all their Deficiencies which by the Eternal Law were Sins to be no Sins at all and thus framing their Rule to our Imperfections instead of Christ's Righteousness they constitute one of their own for Justification And to make out these things they give us a New Scheme of Divinity more suited to the Socinian than Gospel Rule though it must be acknowledged that these Gentlemen and some others nearly allâ—ed unto 'em by Principles observing â—ow unsuccessful the Candour and Sincerity of Foreign Socinians hath been in owning the Genuine Import of some Phrases which because expressive of what they approved not they rejected these Gentlemen have imposed a wrong sense on em and in the Controversies about Christ's Satisfaction retained their Use and pervert the Truth in this important Article of our Holy Religion Cap. 2. Cap. 3. Sect. 8. Pag. 82 c. Sect. IV. That the Foreign Socinians and Arminians might the more easily propagate their Errors they did at first appear under the Character of Men found in the Faith using Orthodox Terms and Phrases and subscribing the commonly received Catechisms and Confessions of Faith whereby they gain'd great Reputation amongst the Orthodox Thus was Blandrata who as Calvin saith had nothing but Pride and Ostentation to recommend him esteemed by Men of Eminence and Soundness in the Faith as the Atlas that bears the Church on his Shoulders And thus other Men also of little Learning great Industry instigated by greater Pride have by their Flatteries and deceitful Subscriptions to Orthodox Confessions insinuated themselves into the Hearts of well-meaning People and lead 'em into Errors of a most pernicious â—â—endency as hath been cleared in sundry Instances throughout Chap. 3. Chap. 4. Sect. 7. Sect. V. The English Socinian wanting both the Learning and Candour of their Brethren beyond the Seas are not willing to abide by their Confessions or Catechisms nor are they prepared to emit any of their own Composure and therefore they do studiously labour to conceal what it is they are for and bend their strength against the Truth and turn themselves into any shape may they thereby advance their Designs If it be their Interest to profess they are of the Church of England or to plead the Cause of Mahomet and reduce the Christian Religion to one Article found in the Turkish Alcoran they do it And it must be confessed that by their refusing to give Divine Worship to Jesus Christ they have put it out of their Power to prove themselves to be better Christians than the Mahometans are no wonder then that they are sometimes for acting the Part of a Quaker and again for pleading the Cause of the Papists but any thing every thing rather than an Orthodox Christian For as they cannot be held by Subscriptions neither are the Blessed Sacraments sacred enough to bring 'em under Obligation These are with them but Incantations Charms Spells Norman Knots c. and seeing no spiritual Blessing is in their Opinion annexed to the Right partaking of a Sacrament it cannot in any Christian Kingdom whatever be a Test to keep them out of the Government so wisely have they ordered their Affairs in matters Religious that however it goeth with them in the next World it may be well with them in This. See how these things are cleared Chap. 4. Sect. 1 2.4.10 Sect. VI. And that they may the more easily impose their Dotages upon the Vnlearned They represent the Principles believed by the Orthodox to worse than Judaism or Mahometanism and as bad as Egyptian and Roman Paganism Crying down Learning and a learned Ministry and most bitterly reviling their Judicious Adversaries How virulently have they treated the Reformed Divines in France and Holland And with what Contempt and Scorn have they fall'n upon the Learned Clergy not only Dr. Bull but amongst many others on my Lord of Worcester who may be justly styled Malleus Socinianorum And when this Art fails 'em they tack about and on a sudden pretend a Zeal for Learning claiming a Right in the Anti-Nicene Fathers and the first Reformers such as Luther and Calvin and will have it that the Great Hugo Grotius is theirs But their pretence are without the least shadow of Reason Vid. Ch. 4. Sect. 3.5 6 and such as are neglected by the more Learned of their own Way Sect. VII To the End they may prepare a Place for their Dagon their Care is to cast what Reproach they can on the Blessed Trinity which they can't more effectually do than by pleading for a Trinity of Essences or a Plurality of Gods which was the Master-piece of the Italian Combination What Pranks these prevaticating Hereticks played I have briefly intimated a Conspiracy which in its Tendency was not very different from that entred into by Vaninus and twelve more who went into divers Parts of the World on purpose to propagate Atheism as Gualterius the Jesuit as I have some-where Read doth in his Cronological Tables report That there is a Combination of the same Nature with the Old Italians entred into by the English Socinians who-ever will consult their Writings will see but little Reason to doubt of it And when I come to shew what Methods have been taken to corrupt and subvert the Doctrine of Christ's Satisfaction I hope 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to show that some have as industriously acted their Part as if they had been in a Combination to bring that blessed Doctrine into doubt which was a Branch of the Contrivance of Laelius Socinus Paruta Ochinus and their Partizans Chap. 4. Sect. 8. There is one thing more to be observed it is this Sect. VIII That notwithstanding their grievous out-cries against the Gospel of our Lord Christ because of the Mysteries which are in it they have their Trinity and Mysteries too Only they are not so sublime nor so clearly revealed in Scripture as what we believe and tho' full of Contradictions yet without Scruple received by ' em 'T is true they strugled hard to bury in an Eternal Oblivion the Terms Trinity Incarnation c. because as they said not found in the Letter of the Sacred Text which if they could have done we should have heard nothing of their Trinity But failing of Success here as they retained the Term Trinity so they substituted in the Place of a Trinity of Persons in the Godhead a Trinity of Somewhats of their own Invention Ch. 4. Sect. 9. I shall trespass no further on my Reader in the Repetition of what is done and as for what else I have more to do if God permit and Prudence directs I shall take my Time FINIS
Consid p. 28 That they Place not Religion in Worshipping God by themselves or after a Particular Form or Manner but in a Right Faith and a just and charitable Conversation We Approve of known Forms say they of Praising and Praying to God as also in Administring Baptism the Lords Supper Marriage and the other Religious Offices We like well of the Discipline of the Church by Bishops and Parochial Ministers We have an Esteem for the Eminent Learning and Exemplary Piety of the Conforming Clergy For these Reasons we Communicate with that Church as far as we can and Contribute our Intrest to Favour her against all Others who would take the Chair We would not therefore be Understood to be Enemies to the Church nor as seeking to undermine her And that they may hold Communion with the Church in her Sacraments they have framed such an Idea of 'em as makes it easy for Men of their Opinions to joyn in the Sacraments not only with the Church of England but with Presbyterian Independent Anabaptist Lutheran or Papist They do not look on the Sacraments as Ordinances of the Gospel to which they must go that they may Partake of Spiritual Blessings In their Opinion the Person that Receives Baptism is only to Resolve and Purpose Renovation and Newness of Life Trinitar Scheme Consid p. 26 He doth say they thereby Profess he will purge his Mind and Conscience and his whole Conversation from Impurity and Wickedness And concerning the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper They commemorate and represent the shedding the Lord's Blood and breaking hâ—s Body for Mankind But for the miraculous Effects and Consequences ascribed to the right partaking of this Sacrament Vnitarians can find them no where but in the Books and Sermons of the Superstitious Admirers I might have said Idolaters of External Things If they had been perswaded that the Sacraments were Ordinances design'd of God for the conveying of spiritual Blessings to such as do aright partake of them then they could nor be Protestants and yet communicate in the Sacrament with Papists because their way of Administration is not right But now to serve a Turn they can take the Sacrament according to the Church of England or to promote their Cause go to Mass They are so well pleased with this Piece of Jesuitism they do it 's like find it so advantageous for the propagating their Notions that they canâ—t forbear an exposing the opposite Truth held by Protestants as most vile and ridâ—culous Trinitar Scheme Consid p. 24 The Sacraments accordâ—ng to the Sense of the Orthodox are a sort of Means which works on our Minds as Spells Charms and Incantations and such lâ—ke obtain their pretended Effects by a preternatural Power extraordinarily given to them by God or by those Spirits who preside over such Afâ—â—â—s â—â—et a Man in Black sprinkle you wâ—th some of the Churches Water or give you a bit of Bread or sup of Wine over which he hath pronounced the wonder-working Words prescribed in Mother Churches Ritual tho by Nature you are as bad as the Devil you shall presently be inclin'd to as much Good as will save you from Hell and qualify you for Heaven And this no less certainly if you are one of the Elect for else the Churches Incantation produces only a momentary Effect and a false Appearance of Good no less certainly I say than by tying the Norman Knot you may gain the Love of the Person you desire or by other Devices recorded in the learned Books so Fools esteem them of Magick you may cause Hatred raise Winds and do a thousand other Feats which have no more natural or real Agreement with those Causes that are said to produce 'em than Faith and Obedience have with a bit of Bread or with a sprinkling of Water Therefore when St. Augustine defin'd a Sacrament to be the outward visible Sign of an inward invisible Grace or Energy the good Father should have considered that this is the Definition of a Charm not of a Gospel Sacrament for a Charm is a bare outward visible Sign that has no natural or real Agreement with the Effect and if the Effect prove for the Good of the Person concerned it may be called the inward invisible Grace of such Sign or Charm As when the Effect is to beget Love or such like But if the Effect of the Charm be hurtful as to kill or such like then it must be called the Energy not the Grace of the Charm as that damning Power or Quality which our Opposers impute to the Sacrament of the Supper when not receivâ—d aright cannot be called the Grace of that Sacrament but only the Energy So that let them turn themselves which way soever they can they have turnâ—d the Gospel-Sacraments as I have said before into Charms and Spells Thâ—se are the Evincements of English Socinian Modesty whose Dâ—sign of bringing the blessed Sacraments into the greatest Contempt is manifest But what I chiefly urge it for is that hereby they prepare the Mâ—nds of their Followers to prostitute their Consciences to a Compliance with any Religion to the end they may promote their own if it may be called a Religion For when onâ—e they have debauchâ—d their Consciences so throughly that they can take the Sacrament any way without Remorse as their Notion of it leads Men to do then may the more learned of their Party profess themselves to be either Papisis or Lutherans Calvinists or Remonstrants and carry on the Socinian Design either by a clandestine Insâ—â—tâ—asion of their Errors as Blandrata and sundry others of them have done or in theâ—r Opposition to Socinus pitch on such Topicks as weaken the Truth which is done by them who assert the Persons in the Blessed Trinity to be Three distinct Essences or represent the Socinian Error to be less dangerous than really it is and the Socinians themselves to be Men of greater Learning and Probity than most of them are Such Methods as these have been taken by Przipcovius Daniel Zuickerus Forstius Episcopius Curcellaeus and many others and not altogether without Success However I must and do acknowledge Johannes Niemojevius a Polonian Knight and once a Judge tho a Socinian yet generously opposed Georgius Schomannus who pleaded for this very Principle about the Vse and End of the Lord's Supper He freely declared That in this Point he differed as much from Socinus as the Heavens are distant from the Earth Vid. Secin Oper. tom 1. p. 756. And in Defence of what he wrote against the Theses of Emanuel Vega he expressed the religious sense of his Soul by that Grief he conceived on the spreading of this pernicious Error amongst them Do we not read saith he that Faith comes by Hearing which is confirm'd and increas'd in pious Minds by the same means And shall we ascribe less to the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper than to Hearing of the Word Socinus may perhaps do so but I suppose no