upon the Earth where 't is already And to shew that there is now and was then such a place as Hell look Prov. 15. 11. where 't is said that Hell and destruction are before the eyes of the Lord that is he knows what the wicked there suffer To end this see Mark 9. 44â— 46 48. where 't is said the worm dieth not that is the lash of Conscience and the fire is not quenched speaking of a Man's being cast into Hell So then if the worm dies not the subject of that worm must live that is the wicked person and the fire of Hell is said to be as everlasting For 't is not quenched which must be intended never shall be quenched And to stop Mr. Hobbes his Mouth as to the eternity of punishment and reward look Matth. 25. 46. These shall go into everlasting punishment but the righteous into life eternal And that the Soul lives after the death of the Body until the resurrection see Eccl. 12. 7. where Solomon speaking of Man's dissolution saith The dust that is the Body shall return to the Earth and the Spirit to God that gave it And Acts 7. 59. Stephen when stoned said Lord Iesus receive my Spirit These two Texts must be intended of living Spirits for what should God do with dead Spirits which are nothing who is God of the living and not of the dead None of which Texts Mr. Hobbes takes any notice of save that in Mark of the worm not dying To which he saith 't is metaphorically to be understood and this answer would serve for any thing else as well as this I shall pass the rest of Mr. Hobbes his absurdities in this Chapter about these matters save one at the latter end where he jumps again into setting the place of Men's eternal happiness upon Earth and p. 246. cites Isaiah 33. v. 20 21â— 22 23 24. to be full in the matter which is so far from the matter that it is only Scripture to signifie God's destruction of the Assyrians and the Iews deliverance from them But whether the punishment be by fire or without I shall not argue though the Texts say it is which are better authority than ever I heard to the contrary only I hope no Man will venture upon the punishment which is everlasting Matth. 25. 46. presuming upon Mr. Hobbes his assertions to be true Neither do I think any good Man will think the merits of our blessed Lord and Saviour the less for what Mr. Hobbes in this Chapter saith who after he hath been endeavouring to make all Religion a foppery to set up Idolatrous worship to debase our Saviour in respect of his miracles to make the credibility of the Scriptures questionable to deprive God of his Attributes now comes p. 248. to undervalue the sufferings of our Saviour and saith That the sufferings of our Saviour were no satisfaction or price for sin whereby Christ could claim right to a pardon for us from his offended Father but that price that God in mercy was pleased to demand And this he further explains himself in p. 261. I acknowledge that the sufferings of our Saviour were all that God demanded as a satisfaction for sin but when our Saviour had performed what God did require it was an absolute satisfaction And this is clear reason in the transactions of Men when the debt is paid by ones self or an other or that is paid that is required there is a full satisfaction and the prisoner or he that paid the debt may of right claim his discharge So may Christ of right claim a pardon for us from his Father when the satisfaction for sin is paid For although there was no reason that our Saviour should suffer for us but meer mercy as 't was God's mercy to accept of Christ in our stead yet 't is great Reason that when he hath suffered for our sins he should of right claim to have us delivered from the punishment of them And he was the true Scape-goat that carried all our sins into the Land of forgetfulness And Matth. 1. 21. He shall save his people from their sins that is by his merits defend them from his Father's wrath With which Text agrees 18. Matth. 11. 1 Tim. 1. 15. He came to save sinners and multitudes of Texts to this purpose And besides God when he first promised Christ to mankind said That he should break the Serpent's head that is by his own efficacy for he was God as well as Man and that gave power to effect and value to satisfie But Mr. Hobbes his conceit had been good in case that after a sinner had lain in Hell seven years God had said this is enough and had freed him Here 't is true the sinner could not have claimed a right to a pardon for what he had suffered but that suffering was all that God was pleased in mercy to demand for that a sinner can never make a full satisfaction for his sin But here we cannot but suppose God the Father and his Innocent Son as it were making I speak it with reverence a contract The Father as it were saying If you 'l suffer I will take it as a satisfaction for Man's sin And his Son saying I will for he voluntarily laid down his life it was not taken from him and those sufferings God would not dispense with suffer for sinners or in their stead Certainly now he hath suffered he may of right claim a pardon for sinners But as to this matter I wave further Discourse there being so many Treatises upon it Mr. Hobbes p. 250 251. saith That the Israelites obligation to obey Moses was only from their desire and promise at mount Sinai Exod. 20. 18. where they said Speak thou to us and we will hear but let not God speak to us lest we die Certainly any rational Man would wonder at such a fancy when 't is apparent that Moses was God's messenger by the many miracles wrought by his Hands both in Egypt from whence he led them and at the red Sea where they were miraculously saved and the Egyptians drowned and by many other miracles before they came to mount Sinai And upon that account as so apparently sent by God they were bound to obey Moses or disobey God himself and this promise at mount Sinai was only to free them from the terror they had undergone before But that which Mr. Hobbes drives at in this conceit may be to persuade Men that they need not obey any of the Prophets Apostles or Ministers of the Gospel since without their express promise so to do And so further labours to enervate the authority of the Scriptures and Gospel Ministry But as Mr. Hobbes gave Moses a smaller authority in this than one would have expectâ—d so in p. 252. he gives him and all succeeding Monarchs a greater trouble than 't is reasonable to impose upon them For he saith That all Soveraigns are the sole interpreters of God's commands and that
none at all and this without vouchsafing a Reason of such an idle conceit And let Mr. Hobbes say what he can or any one for him this Paragraph tends only to draw wicked or unwary Readers into contempt of Religion and to make a mockery of it which must tend to their Eternal misery and to keep them from that beatifical vision which Mr. Hobbes page 30. without Sence or Reason calls a word of the Schoolmen and unintelligible Mr. Hobbes p. 32. saith That when we believe the Scriptures to be the Word of God we believe the Church or a Prophet except some immediate revelation intervene so far as 't is possible to know what he means He saith That if we believe not the Scriptures the affront is done to the Church or a Prophet and not to God as the not believing the Stories of Livy concerning the gods the affront is done to Livy and not to the gods This is to undermine the Scriptures before he comes to blow them up But let Mr. Hobbes look the 5 th of Ephes. and he shall find that the Church hath handed down the Scriptures to us so united to Christ and the Union so firm there expressed between Christ and the Church that he must needs conclude that any affront done to the Scriptures must necessarily be done to Christ and to God And I do affirm against all the conceited Irreligionists in the World that the Scriptures would have been the Word of God and the Rules of Salvation although our blessed Saviour had not appointed any Church to have handed them down to us not that I say every cavilling Atheist would have assented to them But then as Mr. Hobbes plentifully urges in his Book How shall we know that they are the Word of God And of this I shall say something more hereafter But at present say that I think 't is sufficiently satisfactory to any rational Christian that they are the Word of God because they teach us our misery by sin to which our mortality is so subject our Redemption by Christ and appoint us a Pious and Virtuous way of living here and the way to an happy immortality hereafter Besides what rational Man can suppose that the good and wise God would leave mankind without a guide to a blessed immortality and what guide is there like this So that any Man that is not frantick or resolved to quarrel with every thing other people assent to but must say that God is the Author of them and consequently the disbelief of them is an affront done to God if we deny them and not to Man only And I think good King Iosiah and all Iudah with him believed the Law to be the Word of God and thought the contrary would be an affront to God upon less or at least upon less inviting grounds 2 Kings 21. than we ought now to believe the volume of the Bible to be so But if we believe not the Fables of Livy concerning the gods the affront is only done to Livy and not to his gods for they were no gods at all and so Mr. Hobbes's Example is at best but a fallacy which he is very frequent in and I have so much charity for him as to believe that 't is not always out of design but sometimes caused by his want of a clear Iudgement for Mr. Hobbes cannot but know that a juggling Cock is often hit Mr. Hobbes after a long discourse of the passions the absurdity of which is not worth the answering p. 38. saith That the Scriptures by the Spirit of God in Man mean a Mans Spirit inclined to godliness And for this he cites Exod. 28.3 which is nothing to his purpose though not so much against him as other Texts are As 31. Exod. 3. which saith expresly I have fill'd him with the Spirit of God to work which as Mr. Hobbes saith Is Mans Spirit inclined to godliness And the 51. Psal. 11 12. where David prays That God's Spirit may not be taken from him but that he may be upheld by it is as Mr. Hobbes saith David's own Spirit without doubt David thought it God's Spirit or he would have called it by an other name and I believe David knew as well as Mr. Hobbes how to express himself So to make this Opinion sufficiently ridiculous look Iudges 15. 14. where 't is said The Spirit of the Lord came mightily on Samson and the cords brake and he kill'd the Philistines that is saith Mr. Hobbes Samson's Spirit was inclined to godliness And from hence Mr. Hobbes may raise this Observation That a mans godliness makes him able to pull cords asunder which perchance Mr. Hobbes trusted to when he wrote his Leviathan Mr. Hobbes saith p. 38 39. That all those that our Saviour is said to cast Devils out of were nothing but mad Men. And I will deal plainly with Mr. Hobbes and tell him that none but mad Men think so For was he only mad that was torn by the evil Spirit before he came out of the Man possessed Or were they only mad that were possessed by the Devils 8. Matth. 31. when the Devils spake and after Christ permitted them to go into the herd of Swine and why ran the herd of Swine thereupon into the Sea To this Mr. Hobbes may say That they were mad Swine to do so And in the 12. of Matth. 27. our Saviour saith If I by Beelzebub cast out Devils by whom do your children cast them out Here 't is agreed both by our Saviour and the unbelieving Iews that our Saviour did cast out Devils therefore the Men were something else besides mad out of whom Devils were cast And why Mr. Hobbes should be wiser or undertake to be so than either the Iews or our blessed Lord and Saviour is an hard matter to know except it be that after his labour to bring Religion and the Scriptures into contempt now thinks by a side wind to debase our Saviour in his Miracles whereof one of the most eminent was his casting out Devils before he strike at his Godhead Mr. Hobbes in his tenth Chapter hath much to do with Power and Honour and saith That good success is Power p. 41. and to flatter is to Honour p. 42. and that an action whether just or unjust if great and difficult is Honourable p. 44,45 Of which last I will give an Example If two high-way Men rob six honest Men or a Ruffian ravish a Woman of great Quality 't is Honourable And this I have Mr. Hobbes's warrant for But in short I repeated these last sentences to shew his vain humor Mr. Hobbes saith p. 50. That Ignorance of the causes of Iustice disposeth a Man to make custom and example the rule of his actions and to judge that just or unjust of the punishment or example of which they can produce an example or as the Lawyers which only use this false measure of Iustice call it a precedent Thus far he I thank Mr. Hobbes that whilst
he that hath the best Right must carry it except the Iudges be so honest as not to take bribes which must be supposed as lawful as the giving them Mr. Hobbes though he ventured upon this Position could not but know how odious bribes are accounted in the Scripture as 1 Sam. 8. 3. where bribes and perverting of Iudgment go together And a gift Deut. 16. 19. is called The blinder of the Eyes and the perverter of Iudgment and is expresly forbidden Exod. 23. 8. But as Mr. Hobbes before had laboured to destroy all Religion so now he is endeavouring to destroy all common Honesty and dares say that which never any Man before durst but was ashamed to own though perchance he might be so wicked as to do it And Mr. Hobbes gives no reason for this Position but because saith he perchance Iustice cannot be had without it that is to say every Litigant may be wicked because it may be some Iudges are But though this opinion I believe hath been as successful as any wicked opinion of Mr. Hobbes in all his Book complying so much with Men's interests yet he and every other Man ought to know that a Man ought rather to venture the loss of his Right than to do any thing repugnant to God's Word and common honesty except Mr. Hobbes will inve all and say That 't is better to gain some of the World though he lose his own Soul Mr. Hobbes saith p. 133. That the words Repent and be Baptized are in Scripture Counsil and not commands So by his Rule we may neglect either Repentance or Baptism without sin but for this gives he no reason Nay he hath formerly allowed of the word Imperative and yet now he will not allow of the Imperative Mood to bid or command for 't is Repent and be Baptized in English and in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which are Aorists of the Imperative Mood and why then they should not be words of command I know not except because Mr. Hobbes in his new Models hath otherwise estâ—blish'd it But observe Mr. Hobbes hiâ— reason why 't is no command Because saith he 't is not to the benefit of God Almighty but of our selves that we do Excellenty argued Mr. Hobbes for by the same reason we have no command upon us to obey any of God's Commands for 't is not for God's benefit but our own Nay we need obey none of them as Mr. Hobbes frequently argues because there is no Law enjoyns them except where there is a Soveraign power that so commands I suppose that his chief intent in this is to ease Men's Consciences and to give wicked Men liberty to sin having no command as Mr. Hobbes here saith from God to the contrary what else should put this â—rotchet into Mr. Hobbes his Head I know not For if a Law be made for the good of the People every Man is bound to perform it and 't is a command as well as an advise The People asked St. Peter what they should do Repent and be Baptised saith he And suppose a Child being at the brink of River should ask his Father what he should do if his Father should bid him go over the Bridge would it not be a command And certainly Peter had as much Authority in matters of Faith as a Parent hath in common actions But I think this Position of Mr. Hobbes's is as true as his saying p. 135. That passion makes Men eloquent which is contrary to experience except he means by Eloquence making a Noise as he hath with his Leviathan without sence or reason Mr. Hobbes p. 139. saith That Customs are not Laws by virtue of prescription of Time but by constitutions of their present Soveraigns Here I suppose Mr. Hobbes principally aimed at the supplanting of our Common Law and thereby make the readier way to bring all Men's Properties into incertainty and confusion which was at the time 1651 the readiest means and most plausible to vest all in the Army or him that should be turned up trump For 't is by the Common Law that is the general custom of the Nation that most Men enjoy their Estates either real or personal now if length of time should not justifie that property without the constitutions of the Soveraign and such constitutions could not be found as 't is most apparant they cannot down goes the Common Law and Property with it and then let the strongest take all Witty Mr. Hobbes that can in a Treatise of Law lay down a Position that would destroy the Law of his native Country and thereby make way for an arbitrary Power But Mr. Hobbes in the same Paragraph makes a little amends for this for though he had given the Common Law a box on one Ear to make it stagger he hits it a clap on the other to set it upright again for he saith That when an unwritten Law shall be generally observed and no iniquity appear in the use of it then it can be nothing but a Law of Nature and obliges all mankind Well said Mr. Hobbes for now he makes every Custom which an unwritten Law implies unalterable by Act of Parliament for an Act of Parliament against the Law of Nature is void This was a perfect rapture of Mr. Hobbes's without consideration for is any thing more apparent than that generally Customs are no part of the Law of Nature which is universal and that customs of all Nations differ according to the convenience of the several People and that which is good for one People though the Law of Nature be the same to all is ill for another and that appears by the practices of all Nations that ever I heard of But if Mr. Hobbes mean by the unwritten Law the verbal command of his Soveraign 't is grosser nonsence than the other for a Law of Nature ex vi termini can only be produced by Nature and not by any humane Institution Nature being previous to policy and every thing being productive of its own Laws or else they would be the Laws of others But Mr. Hobbes saith excellent well p. 143. That all he saith is not presently Law and 't is the greatest piece of modesty I think in his whole Book and if he had but added that his Incongruities had been innumerable and not worth answering in this Chapter it had been fit to be ranked with his greatest Truths Mr. Hobbes p. 144. saith That if â— Man accused of a capital Crime fly for fear of the event seing his enemies Malice and Power and frequent corruption of Iudges and maketh it appear upon his Trial he is not guilty and be acquitted yet by the Law he shall lose his Goods and this â—aith Mr. Hobbes is against the Law of Nature I cannot say but that a case may be made that a general Law may seem severe in but therefore is a general Law against the Law of Nature which is adapted to the generality of cases that may be
there is a Commonwealth Although St. Paul when he was at Corinth and wrote to the Romans who were all at that time under a Commonwealth thought the contrary or else he would not have said Rom. 14. 23. That he that doubteth is damned if he eat certainly much more he is damned that not only doubteth of the illegality of an action but believeth that 't is unlawful to eat and is satisfied in his Conscience of it And certainly from the reason of the thing to act against a Man's Conscience must be a sin because it is a daring to do that which is displeasing to God whether the particular act in it self was displeasing to him or no and consequently an affront to God and a not setting a due estimate upon his Power and Goodness Mr. Hobbes hath several leaves together and in other precedent parts of his Book been laying down Rules for a Government and p. 176. saith That those Principles of Reason which he lays down will make the constitution of his Government except by external violence everlasting And what those Principles are my Lord of Clarendon a Noble and equal Adversary both to absolute Power and confusion hath fully set forth and made sufficiently ridiculous But Mr. Hobbes after his long Treatise of an Earthly comes to an Heavenly Soveraign and that is God himself and cites places of Scripture p. 186. very devoutly even before the Sword in 1651. had determined what was Scripture and what not And the first onset Mr. Hobbes makes for erecting the Kingdom of God is the telling us that God's Kingdom over Vegitables and Beasts is but Metaphorical for he only is properly said to Raign that Governs his Subjects by his Word and Promises which things Inanimate saith Mr. Hobbes are uncapable of But why he saith That God is not properly but Metaphorically King of Beasts and Inanimates as well as Men he gives no reason and Psal. 47. 7. saith That God is King of all the Earth expresly if of all the Earth then of Beasts and Inanimates And 't is further plain that God is King of Vegitables and Beasts for that he Rules them by his Word and Power and provides for them as well as Men and it is the property of a King to Govern and what he Governs he is King of and may as well be said to be King of these as of Men the Word King being but a contraction of the Saxon word Cyning which signifies Chief Mr. Hobbes saith p. 187. That the right of Nature whereby God Raigns over Men and punisheth them for breach of his Laws is derived not from Creating them as if he required obedience as of gratitude but from his irresistable Power as if a Man had had power above all the rest there had been no reason but that he should have Ruled according to his own discretion And to irresistable Power further saith he the Dominion of all Men naturally adhereth hence it is that God's Kingdom over Men and his right of afflicting them at his pleasure belongeth naturally to God not as Creator and Gratious but as Omnipotent and his right to afflict Men is not always from sin but from his Power Thus ends this abominable Paragraph which I almost tremble at when I read it yet he indeavours to confirm it by places of Scripture in the next page which by and by I shall come to which makes me think it impossible for the Devil to raise any Heretick so abominable but that he will find Texts of Scripture to cite in favour of his Opinions and if any Heretic ever deserved to be burn'd certainly the Author of this Paragraph doth it being a Text fâ—om which naturally ariseth these four Doctrines first That Mr. Hobbes or any Man else if Mr. Hobbes here saith true may without ingratitude dethrone his Maker if he can because Man is obliged to God as he saith only because of his Power Secondly That all right of Government or acting which he makes the same what any one pleaseth is from Power There 's an end of Dr. Gosdwin's Dominium fundatur in gratiae So that ten highway Men have right to take all they can get from any two other Men because they are stronger And any Subject may depose his King if he be able good Doctrine for a Popish cabal and as long as he is stronger than the people may Rule them at his own discretion Thirdly That it is consistent with the Nature of God to be cruel to Man although Man had never offended him Fourthly That no gratitude is due to God by Man for Creating him though he hath made him little lower than the Angels in his own Image and Crowned him with glory and honour and made him capable of being blessed for ever The Impiety of all this is enough to put any Man into an amaze But he must be out of an amaze that Answers Mr. Hobbes in this place for observe how subtle he is being led by the instigation of the Devil to put the right of Government and Power of puniâ—hment together as if they were expressive of the same thing and necessarily connext it being impossible for a King to govern without a Power to punish when as the right and the Power to act may be as far distant as right and wrong though frequently in Civil actions they are conjoyned As for Example When a Sheriff executes a Man for Murder he hath both right and Power to do so But when Sir Edm. Bury Godfrey was decoy'd into Somerset-house and there strangled with a twisted Handkerchief by Romish Priests and Iesuits there was irresistable Power to do the fact but no right to do it So 't is apparent that this putting Power of punishment and a right of Government together is nothing but a fallacy the Proposition having Truth in it only pro hic nunc not universally But to reason the case a little with Mr. Hobbes as to Gods right of governing of us because he is our Creator and gratious Suppose a company of Men were here together upon Earth and all of equal Power and one in particular had conferr'd signal benefits upon all the rest and they having no King or Governour were resolved to choose one from amongst themselves Ought they not in gratitude which I think little less than creates a natural right to choose their Benefactor to that honour before any one else Certainly they ought in any sober Man's judgment Why then is it not naturally right that Men obey God out of love because he hath done so much for them as to create them in such a sublime State and his continuing still to be gratious to them to which Mr. Hobbes to do him right agrees p. 190. as well as because he is Omnipotent and by consequence hath Power to punish their disobedience I might here say That 't is as natural for Man to obey his Creator as 't is for a Son to obey his Father but that Mr. Hobbes before so
far as he is intelligible hath denied any obedience due to a Father upon the account of generation Now since Mr. Hobbes for this Paragraph cites places of Scripture even in the Year 1651. before the Sword had determined what was Scripture and what not let me cite some now 't is the Year 1679. and all Men have agreed the Bible to be the Word of God to prove that God hath a right to Rule as he is Creator and gratious and to shew the apparent falseness of what Mr. Hobbes hath said in this pageâ— Rom. 9. v. 20,21 clearly shews that God as Creator hath power or liberty as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies to order his Creatures as he pleaseth and that upon the account as Creator for he is there compared to the Potter 'T is true those Texts speak only of making of Men and Mr. Hobbes is now upon the governing of Men but observe those Texts relate to the future state of Men which God as Creator hath liberty or power to order as he pleaseth And Isaiah 37. v. 26. There God saith by the Prophet That he had formed the Earth and brought it to pass that Sennacherib should lay wast Cities Where observe That God's creating the World and his Government of it go together which to my apprehension shews his right to Govern upon the account of creating 'T is true irresistable power God is pleased to make use of to punish wicked Men as in this last mentioned Chapter he is said to do by putting an hook in Sennacherib's Nose and a bridle in his Lips and turning him back like an unruly strong beast but God rules his own People by love and they obey him upon the account of his Goodness for the love of Christ constrains Men and as he is their Creator and thereby hath the right to govern them But 't is true wicked Men obey him because they cannot help it yet from thence it follows not that God hath not right to govern wicked Men as he is their Creator And to stop Mr. Hobbes his mouth let him read the 20. Exod. v. 2. 3 4 c. and he will find that God tells the Israelites what he had done for them and immediately ensues his commands which clearly tells any rational Man that God hath right to govern upon the account of his Goodness and with this accords all the Chapters in Deuteronomy that treat of obedience and clearly shew that 't is due upon the account of God's goodness But now I come to Mr. Hobbes his Texts of Scripture which he cites for his opinion and they as little justifie his opinion as his opinion is agreeable to Truth He introduceth his Texts by saying that it stagger'd all sorts of Men The prosperity of the wicked and the adversity of the good and particularly David Psalm 73. v. 1. 2 3. which verses treat of David's wonder at the prosperity of the wicked and never goes on to the 17. 18 19 20. verses where David expresseth his satisfaction as to that matter And then Mr. Hobbes proceeds to Iob's Expostulation with God about his afflictions notwithstanding his righteousness and this he saith God answers not by arguments drawn from Iob's sin but his own power and quotes Iob 38. v. 4. where God saith Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the Earth In which Text I think as well as the whole Chapter Mr. Hobbes answereth himself and shews God's Soveraignty by reason of his Creation but Mr. Hobbes saith this approved Iob's innocence why I know not either from the Text or Context and Iob saith himself Chap. 40. v. 4. I am vile and cannot answer And then Mr. Hobbes cites the saying of our Saviour 't is the 9 th of Iohn v. 3. That our Saviour saith That neither the blind Man nor his Parents had sinned but that the works of God might be manifest in him Therefore he would conclude that sin is not always the cause of punishment Why For no reason but because God was pleased to make this Man without sight as he might have done all the World that his son Iesus our blessed Lord and Saviour might afterwards work a Miracle upon him for the setling the Gospel Or it may prove that God may make Man as he pleaseth as the Potter may order the clay Is this any thing to punishment at all It is impossible for 't is no punishment to be created as God pleaseth for punishment is a deprivation of some good a Man hath had and 't is no punishment for a Man not to have that which he never had or had any right to till God gave it him and Mr. Hobbes might as well have said that 't is a punishment for him not to be born to 1000 l. a year because his Neighbour was as that 't is a punishment for a Man to be born without Eyes because his Neighbour was born with Eyes One would wonder that any Man in his wits should cite so many Texts of Scripture and so little to a purpose And then saith Mr. Hobbes Though death entred by sin yet God might have afflicted Adam though he had never sinned and here Mr. Hobbes breaks off without giving any shadow of reason or authority for his assertion What God might have done by his Prerogative I know not but this I say that I never read in the Bible of any affliction upon a people but it was for sin at least sin preceded and all along the Bible God lays the reason of his punishments upon his peoples sins as well as the punishments of other Nations upon their sins and why then Mr. Hobbes should say That punishments are not always from Men's sins is impossible to find a sound reason and admit God should lay some affliction upon an innocent person were there any such which is absolutely or the next to blasphemy to affirm yet this would not be punishment but an act of his Will and Power and admit he may do such a thing it doth not therefore follow that ever God did as Mr. Hobbes hath affirmed but not proved Mr. Hobbes saith p. 190. That knowledge and understanding cannot be attributed to God and to justifie himself gives a definition of them and that is That thâ—y are nothing in us but tumults of the mind raised by External things that press the Organs of the Body and there is no such thing in God I doubt when Mr. Hobbes wrote this he had a tumult in his mind for any rational Man would think him mad who confesseth a God that notwithstanding shall deny God one of his great Attributes and one so great that without it all the rest would signifie nothing and that is Knowledge or Understanding and this for no reason but because God cannot be said to understand things in the same manner that we do admitting Mr. Hobbes his definition true which is false Tumult being an enemy to understanding God having no organical parts For is it not
possible that a Being more excellent should understand things in another manner than one that is less excellent 'T is rational to suppose it may Besides the Scriptures expresly ascribe knowledge to God as amongst the rest Amos 3. v. 2. Gal. 4. v. 9. expresly mention God's knowledge And to deny God's knowledge is to deny God that is a Being infinitely wise So that I may truly if not improperly changing the Text of Scripture say that Mr. Hobbes acknowledgeth a God but in words denies him And in the next page to prevent being confused in this matter Mr. Hobbes saith 'T is a dishonour to God to dispute about his Attributes Certainly then Mr. Hobbes is guilty of a greater dishonour to God to deny his Attributes And in p. 192. Mr. Hobbes saith That only those Attributes of God are to be allowed in public worship which the Soveraign ordaineth So now 't is uncertain whether he will allow him any Attributes of perfection in public worship or no for in case the Soveraign prove as bad or worse than Iulian and command Injustice or Ignorance to be those Attributes that are only to be allowed or used for signs of honour as he saith Attributes are no other must be used And now he hath made the honour of God wholly to depend on the will of Man that is the Soveraign yet in this Mr. Hobbes grows a little better for here though before he had denied God his Attributes he gives the Soveraign power to restore God's Attributes to him again But what nonsence is this that a Soveraign that is a Man upon Earth and God Almighty his creature should be said to have power to dispose of God's Attributes who is the commander of all the World This is against the nature of Powers dispoâ—al for he disposeth only that hath the supream Power of disposing And the sence of this is the like Divinity of this as well as of that which follows and that is Mr. Hobbes his interpretation of the Text of Scripture viz. 'T is better to obey God than Man which he saith hath only place in the Kingdom of God by pact and not by Nature That is to say as I suppose that am a little acquainted with his language when a people have made an express covenant with God to obey him as the Israelites did by Moses they ought rather to obey God than Man but all other people over which God hath only a natural Kingdom that have made no particular covenant as none can now a days as Mr. Hobbes said before with God ought to obey Man rather than God So now we may lawfully be Papists Turks Iews Infidels or any thing that Man commands us and this place opens Mr. Hobbes to the life in what I have spoken to before about this matter and so I shall say no more of it in this place Mr. Hobbes p. 195. coming to handle the Nature and Rights of a Christian Commonwealth calls our natural Reason the undoubted Word of God So I thank him that something he allows to be the undoubted Word of God and that God hath not wholly left us without his Word to direct us though Mr. Hobbes would not allow us the Scriptures to be so without Man's approbation But I think Mr. Hobbes had done much better if in this place he had set up the Light within us and thereby turned Quaker to be the undoubted Word of God for then he would have had George Fox of his side Or if he had said our sences had been the undoubted Word of God I should sooner have believed him for that all mankind as we see daily is less apt to err in matters of sence than matters of Reason And according to what Mr. Hobbes saith If a Man's natural Reason tell him that the World is eternal à parte ante and parte post 't is the undoubted Word of God and accordingly to be believed for I suppose Mr. Hobbes will grant that God is to be believed I not remembring that ever Mr. Hobbes hath denied God his Truth though he hath denied him Understanding and Knowledge And by the same argument if the Israelites natural Reason had told them that the Calf brought them out of the Land of Egypt it was to have been believed even by Moses and Aaron And if a Man 's natural Reason should tell him that for gain he might cut his Neighbours throat we ought to believe it for that the Word of God is in every place and part of it to be believed But suppose a Man's natural Reason should tell him that Mr. Hobbes his Leviathan is a Book not only full of Blasphemy but Nonsence and particularly in this Paragraph where he goes with a great deal of other unintelligible matter from calling Reason the Word of God to say Reason is to be made use of in acquiring of peace c. and saying When in Reason there is any thing contrary to God's Word the fault is either in ill interpretation or erroneous ratiocination which makes all he said signifie nothing would Mr. Hobbes admit that this Man's Reason was the Word of God No I believe he would say That there was a fault in this Man's ratiocination as I am sure there is in Mr. Hobbes's in the next page where he saith That God may speak to a Man by Dreams Visions or Inspiration but no other Man is bound to believe it which taken as an universal proposition makes an end of all belief in the Scriptures But of this I have spoken before and referred matters of this nature as well as the knowledge of a true Miracle or Prophet to the Learned Origines Sacrae which I hope any rational or good Man will rather read and regard upon that subject than Mr. Hobbes his Leviathan So little consistent with it self or intelligible by any rational Man besides the Errors and foolish Interpretations of Scripture and particularly of Deut. 13. v. 5. which saith That a dreamer or a Prophet that seeks to make Men revolt from God shall be put to death Mr. Hobbes saith That that place is equivalent to revolt from the King And also his interpretation of the 1. of Gal. 1 8. where Paul saith That he that preacheth any other Gospel let him be accursed that is saith Mr. Hobbes that Christ is King and hence he infers That all preaching against the Power of the King is accursed which let it be as true as it will in it self is such an unreasonable inference that 't is not capable to be more exposed But now I think upon it 't is probable Mr. Hobbes look'd into Scripture to find a Text which may maintain that they were accursed in 1651. that Preached revolting from Oliver's Army or that the said Army who had the Power and consequently was Mr. Hobbes his King which he attended to determin matters of Religion could not settle any thing for Scripture or Religion it pleased or that Preached that any thing ought not to be
observed of Mahomet's doctrine for Religion that the Turk teacheth within his Dominions or that a Papist should teach if uppermost So now Mr. Hobbes hath done like a Scholar as he may well think to find a place in the Bible to prevent Preaching against the Alcoran or Mass Yet to do Mr. Hobbes Right after his so many assertions that that only is to be acknowledged as Canonical Scripture which the Civil Soveraign saith is so and that in 1651. he attended the determination of the Sword to decide all Doctrines he saith That he can acknowledge nothing to be Canonical Scripture but that which the Church of England hath commanded to be acknowledged for such and I think there is nothing so near an Orthodox opinion in all his Book but I suppose he meant that he would acknowledge it to be so only until the Sword had at that time determin'd it After Mr. Hobbes had laid down positive general Rules for enervating the Scriptures in saying That the Authority of them depended upon the determination of the Soveraign now in his 33. Chap. he comes to the particulars of the several Books of the Scriptures and hopes there I suppose to compleat the work For he saith That the several Books especially of the Old Testament were not written by those that are commonly supposed to be the Penmen of them but by others a long time after their deaths which if true may raise a scruple to the truth of them only he saith That he supposeth Moses wrote the greatest part of Deuteronomy else that the Old Testament was penned generally by Esdras for which he cites the Apocrypha Esdras the 14 th Chapter and when he hath done so takes it for granted that Esdras penned them after the captivity To answer particularly Mr. Hobbes in this would require a very large Discourse enough to tire out both Me and my Reader besides I think it not worth my while to answer general assertions in matters of fact which are contrary to the general admissions of the most Learned Men with long Discourses but rather content my self with saying that they are not to be credited but rejected Yet to that which Mr. Hobbes is particular in I shall answer particularly He saith The Pentateuch was penned long after Moses death and for this he cites the 12. of Genesis v. 6. which saith That when Abraham passed through the Land to the plain of Moreh the Canaanite was then in the Land Which shews clearly saith Mr. Hobbes that this Book was written after Moses time because the Canaanite was not displaced till after Moses death But if Mr. Hobbes had well considered and look'd into the 7 th verse he would have found that God promised Abraham the Land in which at that time Abraham built an Altar unto the Lord which was as it were a taking possession of the Land and by God's gift he had a better right to it as to futurity than the Canaanite had whereupon Abraham by Faith look'd upon the future time and saw the Canaanite displaced and knew that by force of God's promise the Canaanites antient right to them and their posterity was changed So that the Canaanites as to the succession might be rather said to have had the Land than that they had it and so is the 48. Gen. 21. to be understood Or may not the Text be rationally intended that Moses said this to declare that the Canaanite was then in the Land and not any other people How unreasonable then it is for Mr. Hobbes to change a general supposition at the best but upon a doubtful Text of Scripture and an Apocryphal story I shall refer to any Man that hath his reason and if reason be on my side Mr. Hobbes ought to be so too because he said before that Reason is the Word of God The rest of Mr. Hobbes his Texts to prove this are nothing to the purpose and so I pass them over As to the Pen-men of the Books of the New Testament he determins nothing but saith That they were made Canonical by the Church and that the writers of them were indowed with God's spirit in that they conspire to the setting forth the rights of the Kingdom of God the Father Son and Holy Ghost Let me then ask Mr. Hobbes why they need to be made Canonical and to be approved or rejected by the Soveraign or his reciprocal Word the Sword Mr. Hobbes said p. 38. That the Scriptures by the spirit of God in Man mean a mans spirit inclined to godliness the falsness of which I have upon that page spoken to Now p. 207. he comes to treat of Spirits in general what they aâ—e and saith if I rightly understand him which I think is difficult in so perplex'd a discourse as he makes all over this his 34. Chapter That they are bodies for he saith that substance and body are the same thing And p. 17 53 214. saith That all substances must be bodies and that the words incorporeal substance joined together are unintelligible nonsence and imply a contradiction And so runs on further in his old vein of making positive affirmations contrary to the general received opinion of all Christian Men without giving any reason at all for his so â—aying But to reason the matter a little why are the words incorporeal substance contradictories Why may there not be a substance that hath no Body as well as a substance that hath one For substance is nothing but that which doth substare such and such qualifications as are proper and do belong to the being or nature of the thing in which those qualifications are and without which those qualifications could not be for want of something to support them As we may say that Iron which is a corporeal substance is hard so we may say that a thing of a more subtle existence or substance is intelligent rational or wise For that it may be equally capable to support these as the Iron doth hardness colour or any other qualification Now then to say that body and substance are the same thing is only a positive saying and if the words had been never thought on before might as well signifie variously as the same Then certainly 't is a strange piece of confidence to obtrude such a position upon the World without any possibility of reason which is contrary to the sentiments of all Learned persons that ever I heard of But if Mr. Hobbes ask me what a Spirit is if it be not a Body I must say that I can no more tell the likeness of it than Mr. Hobbes supposing he had never seen by some external obstruction any thing nor spoken with them that had could have told what a like thing an Horse or a grey Hound is things incapable and things obstructed giving the same account of their proceedings But 't is apparent that there is such a thing as a Spirit for our Saviour saith Luke 24. 39. Handle me and see for a Spirit hath
he doth in all Commonwealths for by him King's reign For there was a certain time when there was no King in Israel and God appointed sometimes Iudges Chiefs that is Kings to govern them between which Iudges there was intervals and I would know what temporal Iurisdiction God exercised over them in those intervals or at that time when there was no King Certainly none that we ever read of in holy Writ and 't is reasonable to suppose God exercised none for that the people of Israel were then grievously oppressed and so continued sometimes forâ—y Years before a deliverer rose up which they needed not to have done if God had undertaken the temporal government for that God by his Power was able to have deliver'd them which we see he never did but by a temporal Governor in the time of which Governor the high Priest was not God's Viceroy but rather the Governor 's and the 17. Deut. 9. 12. v. clearly makes the Priest and the Iudge which should then afterwards be different persons and different Emploiments So 't is most apparent that God was no otherwise the temporal King of the Israelites than he was King of all the Earth nor the high Priest as high Priest his Viceroy though the Israelites were his chosen people as to Religious worship And as to the 1 Sam. 8. 7. which Mr. Hobbes cites where God said to Samuel when the people asked a King They have not rejected thee but they have rejected me that I should not rule over them it is no more but that God was angry with them for not taking such a Governor as he was pleased to set over them as Samuel then was and Baruck Ieptha and Samson had been but that they would have one not only of their own choosing but also aâ—ter the similitude of other Nations which God had rejected and had chosen them for his peculiar people and so in that sence they may be said to reject God in that they rejected those he did set over them As to Mr. Hobbes his other places of Scripture I think them nothing to the matter and so I shall pass them over as he saith he doth many more places for this purpose not cited but instead of citing them slily as I think claps his hands at the Clergy p. 219. and saith 'T is a wonder no more notice is taken of this but that it gives too much light to Christian Kings to see their right of Ecclesiastical government To this I will answer for the Clergy of England that those that are not infected with a spice of Popery as I am afraid some such there are God make them fewer or some for want of due consideration always acknowledge the King for supream Head of the Church and by that Title pray for him and not by that sleighty Title of Supream Moderator of the Church and the English Clergy if some few do otherwise are no more to be blamed for this than the English Souldiers were in the blessed Reign of Queen Elizabeth to be blamed in Holland because Stanly and York delivered Towns up to the Spaniard or English Writers because one English Man hath written such a Book as the Leviathan who after his Learned Discourse of the Kingdom of God comes to tell us p. 219. what the Kingdom of Grace is and saith Those are in it that promise obedience to God's government I suppose he means temporal of which he hath been treating before to whom saith he God hath gratis given to be his Subjects hereafter which is called the Kingdom of Glory Now certainly the Kingdom of Grace by all Men before Mr. Hobbes was taken to be God's Spiritual government which he exerciseth in the Hearts of good Men by his commands threats and promises to which if they yield obedience in and through the mercies of our blessed Saviour they are made inheritors of the Kingdom of Glory And what a quibble this is of Mr. Hobbes from the word gratis to change the sence of the Kingdom of Grace I shall refer to any intelligent person Mr. Hobbes coming in his 36. Chapter to treat of â—he Word of God and the Prophets comes to shew what Word signifies in Scripture of which I do think he hath given a true account in several Texts but is not able in any kind of Truth to hold out long For p. 224. he saith That the Word of God in several Texts of Scripture signifies which I never observed in any such words as are consonant to the dictates of right Reason and the first Text he cites is 2 Chron. 35. 22. where 't is said That Iosiah harkned not to the words of Necho from the mouth of God which saith Mr. Hobbes were but the dictates of Reason This is most palpably unreasonable for there was no reason for Iosiah to forbear fighting with Necho the Kings of Iudah having beaten as great Kings as the Kings of Egypt and the Iews being then in a powerful condition when he came into his Country with a great Army So this Text must either be intended that the words of Necho were but what God had told him or that they were revealed to Iosiah to be God's mind by some Prophet which most Interpreters take to be Ieremiah nay Mr. Hobbes himself cites Esdras for this last Interpretation but saith That in this he approves not an Apocryphal writer though before when he had a mind to invalidate the Scriptures by making the Penmen of them uncertain seemed strongly to incline that Esdras was the Penman of them after the Captivity when it might be supposed the certain Truth was lost and that only from the Authority of the Book of Esdras whose Authority or rather Interpretation he here rejects And then Mr. Hobbes goes on to cite several other Texts of Scripture to prove that in Scripture by the Word of God is meant the dictates of Reason or Equity as Ierem. 31. 33. and other places where God saith He will write his Laws in their Hearts Which places by all other Men I think have been interpreted the operation of God's Spirit upon the minds of Men by inclining them to obey his Laws after God had taught them by his Prophets or Ministers And there is no cause to call that reason or the proceed of reason which the Scripture terms the operation of God A Man bringing reason or an aptitude to it into the World and so he doth not that which God effects in him after he is in the World Mr. Hobbes p. 238. saith That a private Man hath Power to believe or not believe Miracles Thought bâ—ing free but saith he when it comes to publick confession the private reason must submit to the publick Now by his Rule though a Man do not believe lying wonders yet he may say he doth if any one will believe Mr. Hobbes In short this is much like his precedent Doctrine of practice and serves to authorise the grossest hypocrisie in the World in case the
no man ought to proceed further in the interpretation of Scripture than the Soveraign limits So that a Soverâ—ign ought to be either a more exact Divine than ever I heard of in the World to interpret all places of Scripture that a question is demanded of or else of a most exact and quick Iudgment to limit others how far they shall go And suppose a Soveraign prove a fool or like an ill Steersman always turning the boat round uncertain in his resolves who must interpret the matter thenâ— But I shall pass this over without more saying as one of the chances of Mr. Hobbes his fancy Mr. Hobbes p. 263. saith That the end of Our Saviour's câ—ming into the World was to restore unto God the Kingdom cut off from him by the rebellion of the Israelites in the election of Saul So far he hath renounced all Salvation by Christ. But to do him right he saith afterwards That our Saviour had an other imploy and that was to Preach that he was the Messiah and in case the Nation of the Iews should refuse him then to call to his obedience the Gentiles So now he seems only by the accident of the Iews refusal to exclude them from Salvation and by the same accident only to make the Gentiles capable of mercy Now is any thing more plain in the World than that he came into the World to satisfie God's justice for the sins of the World and with intent to bring in the Gentiles as well as the Iews and to make them one sheepfold under himself the great Shepherd And that appears from the first promise of him viz. That the Seed of the Woman should break the Serpents Head that is should take away that misery from the Seed of the Woman which the subtlety of the Serpent had brought upon it and I suppose Mr. Hobbes will not say amidst his new found unreasonable Doctrines That the Gentiles as well as the Iews were not the off-spring of Eve And he was the blood of the everlasting covenant and the great Shepherd of the Sheep spoken of Heb. 13. 20. And Iohn 1.29 he is called the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the World and this was before he was rejected by the Iews And all the Prophesies of our Saviour in the Old Testament express our Saviour's bringing in the Gentiles and the intent of God to do so as Isaiah 49. 22. I will lift up my Hand to the Gentiles and set up my Standard to the People and this was before our Saviour's coming into the World Texts for this I shall cite no more it being a thing so plain against Mr. Hobbes and one would wonder ever such conceits without ground or reason should come into any Man's Head Mr. Hobbes after a great deal of stir about the Trinity and the Unity of that Trinity which is hard to make any thing of or rather impossible by reason his opinion was concealed comes p. 268. to tell us his opinion in these words following viz. To conclude saith he the Doctrine of the Trinity as far as can be gathered directly from the Scripture is in substance this That the God who is always one and the same was the person represented by Moses the person represented by his Son incarnate and the person represented by the Apostles As represented by the Apostles the Holy Spirit by which they spake is God as by Moses the Father is God as represented by his Son that was God and Man the Son is God These are his very words So observe he absolutely denies in this the personal existence of the two last Persons in the Trinity And 't is in short to say as others have said before me that there is but one Person under different conceptions And the inference is direct and natural for saith Mr. Hobbes God was in three respects represented which excludes the real existence of three Divine Persons in the Godhead and only supposeth three Persons that represented this one God not that there are three Persons in the Godhead or that are God for no one is said to represent that is the Person represented Now to illustrate this the King of England is represented by the Lord Deputy of Ireland by the Viceroy of Scotland and by his Governor of the Island of Iersey But still 't is the energy of the one Person of the King that actuates them all and there are not three Persons of the King nor any of those three Persons are the King no more are there three Persons in the Godhead if we will believe Mr. Hobbes who makes the three Persons in the Trinity but three Names to express one only Person of God So 't is all one as if he had said the Son is not God as a distinct Person from the Father but that the only one Person of the Godhead was come into Man or at best had taken the Virgins Son into it or that he had said the Person of the Holy Ghost was not God as a distinct Person from the Father but that the only one Person of God inspired the Apostles So then clearly here is a denial of the two second Persons in the Trinity for if there be only one Person there is not three in the Trinity But Mr. Hobbes in this hath the confidence to say That this his fancy is all that can be gathered from Scripture concerning the Trinity And that he may meet with his match I will say the contrary and I doubt not but my authorities for my opinion will prove better than his It is said in 1 Ioh. 5. 7. There are three bear record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost and these three are one So this is clear that the Godhead is three Persons not as 't is represented at three different times upon Earth but as it is three distinct Persons in Heaven So this makes an end of Mr. Hobbes his conceit that there are only said to be three Persons in the Godhead to be made out by Scripture in respect of the three representations upon Earth for they are in this Text said to be three in Heaven and all three are said to be in action that is to bear record which shews they are several and distinct Persons And the 3 d of Titus 4 5 6. v. clearly shews the Trinity of the Persons really existent which Texts are viz. After the love of God our Saviour toward Man appeared By his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost Which he shed on us abundantly through Iesus Christ our Saviour Here is God the Father that saves his people by regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost and 't is through Iesus Christ our Saviour So what can be plainer besides the Scriptures that speak of the descent and mission of the Holy Ghost that the Godhead hath three Persons in it in another manner than as it was represented by Moses for here is God the Father
fully set forth a part that through mercy he saved us and God the Holy Ghost in another manner set forth than represented by the Apostles for this is spoken of the renewing of the Holy Ghost in all believers and Iesus Christ the meritorious cause of our Salvation which he could not have been but as he was both God and Man and Mr. Hobbes calls him so in this Chapter So that Christ as Christ Mr. Hobbes makes meer Man as he stiles him and would make him Chap. 38. though otherwise calls him in this Chapter for he makes himâ— only the representer of God as Moses was and the Holy Ghost Mr. Hobbes saith in effect is nothing for he saith that that denomination was attributed to God as he was represented by the Apostles So that the Holy Ghost was only an Attribute of God But besides all this Mr. Hobbes spoke before upon his reliance upon the Church of England as to matters of Faith and that the Civil Soveraign is to appoint what is to be taught for Doctrine And the Church of England and our Soveraigns have establish'd Athanasius his Creed to be read and as necessary to Salvation to be believed and that Creed as well as the begining of the Litany is expresly against Mr. Hobbes for it saith That there is one Person of the Father another of the Son and another of the Holy Ghost which Creed and Litany speak them in themselves three distinct Persons and as such are prayed to without interesting Moses or the Apostles in the matter and agree to my interpretation of Scripture So for once I hope without boasting I may say I have got the better of Mr. Hobbes Indeed this opinion of his is like the rest of the abominable and damnable whimsies of his own brain and ought to be ranked in the front of them And to give Mr. Hobbes a little over weight I will refer it to any rational Man whether Mark 1. 10. Ioh. 1. 32. do not absolutely shew the distinction of the two second Persons in the Trinity where 't is said That the Spirit of God descended from Heaven like a Dove and abode upon Christ. Now taking Christ to be God as Mr. Hobbes frequently calls him in this Chapter what was the Spirit that abode upon him but a distinct Person in the Godhead and Heb. 3. 7. conjoined to Psal. 95. 7. to which it relates may fully conclude Mr. Hobbes For the former Text saith That the Holy Ghost said To day if ye will hear his voice which last words are the words of the latter Text in the 95. Psalm So 't is apparent that in David's time which I hope Mr. Hobbes will allow to be before the Apostles time there was an Holy Ghost So I will leave Mr. Hobbes in hopes he will live long enough to recant this opinion Mr. Hobbes saith p. 282. That the four first of the ten Commandments were particular to the Israelites but the six latter obliged all mankind being but the Law of Nature I shall agree with Mr. Hobbes as to the six latter that they are but what Nature dictated before But as to the four first I would know a reason why they were not obligatory by the Law of Nature at least secondarily that is to say obligatory by Nature upon all Men that know there was one and only one living and true God as all Men may see there is by the things that he hath made which knowledge makes it as natural as to the three first Commands for us to be bound by those Laws as 't is for a Man naturally to be bound not to injure his neighbour As for Example Is it not as natural for the Creature to worship his Creator and not to set up false gods to deprive him of his honour and not to use his Name irreverently as 't is for a Man not to desire or take that which is an other Mans 'T is more natural if we will believe what Mr. Hobbes said before viz. That by Nature all Men were in an estate of Civil War and might catch what they could and in that state all force and fraud were cardinal Virtues but certainly never was any state or condition so where it was a cardinal Virtue to worship any god but the true one or to be irreverent to his Name But Mr. Hobbes his conceit is good in this place for one thing and that is that after he hath been blaspheming God and taking from him his Attributes and giving Men a toleration as to external acts or confession to acknowledge any thing for God that here he gives a reason for all that he said as to us Gentiles for we may do or say what we will noâ— being Iews in respect of God Almighty for that there is no Law if we will believe Mr. Hobbes to oblige us Gentiles to the contrary The four first Commands not being by the Law of Nature obligatory to any Man and being particular to the Israelites as made at mount Sinai Now the Nature of a particular Law is only to oblige that particular people for whom 't was particularly made and those were the Israelites in this case if Mr. Hobbes be an authentick Author And as to the fourth Command I think though the day be changed yet that in substance is as obligatory as the other three are by the Law of Nature for 't is as natural to set a time a part for the worship of God as 't is to worship him and since God hath limited the Iews a whole day why should not we take that as our pattern For 't is as natural to take God for our pattern in this as in other things Be ye holy as I am holy And we have not only his Command to the Iews for a pattern but his own Example of resting the seventh day and sanctifying it upon the knowledge of which why should it not be natural for Men to keep holy one day in seven For the Law of Nature is twofold either primary without any prerequisite as 't is natural for a thing that hath life to move Or secondary when something is requisite to give liberty to Nature to work as for Example Men love their Children naturally but they must know first that they are their Children before they love them as such For if a Father had never seen his Child from his birth till ten years of age and then should accidentally meet him he would love him no better then any other but after he was acquainted by undoubted circumstances that it was his Child then naturally would result an emanation of affection So after we know that there is only one God and that he hath appointed one day in seven for his service though to another people which day he sanctified and rested upon Gen. 2. 3. why is it not natural for us to serve him all mankind having an inbred awe towards something above them and that on one day in seven according to his example
Not but that I admit that the fourth Command as to the precise seventh day was ceremonial and is determin'd since the time of our Saviour Mr. Hobbes after he hath denied the personal Divinity of our Saviour now comes to tell us p. 286. That our Saviour nor his Apostles had any power to make Laws and that they that broke any of his dictates did not sin in it but died in their sins not being pardoned for their offences to the Laws of their respective Countries or of Nature And for this he cites Iohn 3.18 which saith They are condemned already not that they shall be condemned saith he And this conceit Mr. Hobbes grounds upon our Saviours saying his Kingdom is not of this World and he that hath no Kingdom saith Mr. Hobbes can make no Laws so our Saviour's precepts obliged not And now one would think Mr. Hobbes might rest satisfied for after as he thought he had robbed Christ of his personal Godhead now he robs him of his Authority to make Laws and so all the wicked in the World are obliged to him for setting them free from the Gospel in case they will but go into any part of the World to live where the Gospel of Christ or his Apostles are not made Canonical by the Law of that Country But in short to answer Mr. Hobbes is to give the true interpretation of the words of our Saviour Ioh. 18.36 where he saith His Kingdom is not of this World which is no more but that he designed not to take away the Romans Iurisdiction in respect of the external acts and punishments of Men but doth it therefore follow that he that was Lord of the whole Earth who Mr. Hobbes said before represented God had no power by his Word and Doctrine to oblige the Consciences of those that submitted to the Truth of them or to leave those without excuse that refused and that under the penalty of eternal Misery And that we may see that he took upon him to make Laws look Ioh. 14. 15. 1 Ioh. 2. 3. 3. 22 24. which all speak of Christ's commands and that it was the token of peoples love and obedience to him that they kept them and in another place Christ saith A new command I give unto you that ye love one another If Christ had no Authority to make Laws why are his words called commands even by him himself For had they been only directions or beseechings he and the Apostles would have stiled them so Nay Mr. Hobbes saith p. 308. That the Command is the stile of a Law So that 't is clear our Saviour had power to make Laws which he executed upon the Consciences of Men which was the Kingdom of Heaven at hand preached of by St. Iohn although he was not pleased to exercise a Temporal Iurisdiction and we may suppose it was to shew the extraordinary Spirituality of his Government in which sence he may be said to be King of the Iews though his Kingdom was not of this World And as to Mr. Hobbes his Text out of Ioh. 3. 18. whereby he would prove that those that obeyed not Christ's commands were not guilty of a sin but were condemned already for sin as he saith against Nature or the Laws of their Country Mr. Hobbes cites so much of the Text and no more than he thinks to his purpose and 't is one of the pitifullest shifts in all his Book for the latter end of the verse saith the words were spoken of Men condemned already for not believing in Christ not for disobeying the Laws of their Country Now who would trust such a juggler that hath the confidence to cite part of a verse to prove that which the residue proves the contrary But hence 't is manifest that wicked Men and Seducers grow worse and worse And now Mr. Hobbes p. 300. falls upon Cardinal Bellarmine and continues battering of him many pages together about the Supremacy of the Pope over the Church I think it might be a greater question and harder to resolve whether Cardinal Bellarmine or Mr. Hobbes was the archer Heretick That making more God's than one and this denying the one only God his Attributes and the existency of two of the Persons in the Godhead That being a Papist and the worshipper of false gods as a Wafer-cake and Pictures Angels and dead People This a worshipper of no God at all a Stock or a Stone when the Soveraign commands or when he shall change a Chistian for an Heathenish soil That being obstinate in his Religion and this ready to change as to external acts when the Soveraign bids him This question I leave to better judgments to decide Mr. Hobbes p. 323. saith That there is nothing in Scripture from whence may be inferr'd the infallibility of the Church If Mr. Hobbes mean the particular Church of Rome I shall agree with him for as to so much as I know of it 't is as full of Errors and unreasonable Tenets as the Quakers or Mr. Hobbes his Book But as to Christ's Church in general I would have Mr. Hobbes look Ephes. 5. 35 36 37. v. and he will find that Christ hath purified his Church that it might be without spot c. that is without Error And in the same Chapter he will find how Christ and his Church are one as a Man and his Wife are and that Christ loves it and cherisheth it which either must be intended in keeping it from Errors or I know not what those Texts signifie For if Christ suffer it to run into Error it will be ruined or run into decay and God will deal with it as he threatned to the particular Churches in the Revelations except they did amend And Christ saith Matth. 16. 18. That the gates of Hell should not prevail against it And 1 Tim. 3. 15. calls the Church the pillar and ground of the Truth Besides many more Texts of this kind but these are sufficient to shew Mr. Hobbes his confidence or ignorance to sâ—y That the Scripture contained nothing in it from whence might be inferr'd the infallibility of the Church see then how dangerous it is to believe Mr. Hobbes Yet from this Position he infers in the next page That Christians do not know the Scriptures to be the Word of God only believe it He might as well have said that Christians do not know that there is a God only believe it and 't is like this he may aim at Or he might have said that I know not having never travell'd thither there is such a place as Spain only believe it One part of this Proposition of Mr. Hobbes is true viz. That the Scriptures are believed to be the Word of God But the ignorance of Mr. Hobbes lies in this That in matters of fact which our senses have not perceived or we have not been at the transaction or institution of the best evidence the thing is capable of that is unquestionable testimony is sufficient to
make us know and that in such things knowledge and belief are the same As when we say I believe in God the Father Almighty c. It is the same with I know that there is such a person in the Trinity as God the Father and so of the rest of our Creed But when we have not had full testimony and something may be for ought we know undiscovered that may alter the matter then belief and knowledge are no more the same than Is and may be But to make Mr. Hobbes the example in the matter we will suppose that he before a pardon had been indicted of high Treason for indeavouring to subvert by his Book the antient Government of this Nation both in respect of the Subjects subjection to their King and the Peoples properties and twelve Men had been of the Iury in Middlesex none of which we will suppose stood by when he wrote the Book but had testimony all that the matter was capable of to prove that he did write it and thereupon the Iury had found him guilty and Mr. Hobbes had had Iudgment accordingly certainly he would have thought that the belief of the Iury and the knowledge of the Iury in this matter had been the same The case differs not mutato nomine as to the Scriptures for that we believe and know them to be the Word of God they having been delivered to us by unquestionable persons and all the Testimony the thing is capable of But of this I said a little before and to avoid a tedious Discourse shall refer my Reader for a perfect satisfaction to the Learned Dr. Stillingfleet's Origines Sacrae and to one of the Sermons of the Excellent Dr. Tillotson another of our not only Learned but firm Protestant Divines who are the rather to be regarded because they have neither feared to stand the Ire of a cloud full charged with Popery or provided themselves by an halting Sermon a shelter against the rain whose contrary are enough not only to fright Christians from the Altar but to make Men abhor the offerings of the Lord And if any such be that will not repent let them not despair but dye Mr. Hobbes p. 324. saith That the only Article of Faith which the Scripture makes necessary to Salvation is this that Iesus is the Christ. If an other Man had said this I should have taken little notice of it because I should have supposed that he had meant that Christ was the corner Stone and Captain of our Salvation But I doubt Mr. Hobbes saith this to incourage Men in Idleness and Ignorance which the Papists say is the Mother of Devotion And though Mr. Hobbes was so much against Bellarmine in his last Chapter yet he is so much a Papist in this that he may taste of all Errors that he uses but the same saying here that Papists use against Reading of the Scriptures and whether he intend it so far or that the notion was set down by chance is doubtful But 't is plain in our Creed and by the Doctrine of our Church which Mr. Hobbes allows of that there are other points necessary to Salvation besides this As we must believe in God the Father and the Holy Ghost as well as in God the Son and this Mr. Hobbes acknowledgeth in p. 328. only under his own limitations which are hard to be understood But then p. 331. he strains my Faith upon one Article he lays down For he saith That he hath in all his Treatise of Christian Politicks now run through alledged no Text of Scripture but in such sence as is most agreeable to the scope of the Bible which I confess I cannot believe or if he believes himself I shall change my opinion of him and instead of thinking him the grandest Heretick think him the weakest person that ever laid pen to paper or at least that ever had any reputation in the World for so doing except it be admitted me that he is given up to believe a lye in matters of Religion and I pray God he be not Mr. Hobbes after his saying p. 244. That the punishment of the damned should not be everlasting now he comes to p. 343. and goes over it again the fear of the contrary I doubt running in his mind and begins to interpret Scripture concerning the immortality of the Soul in general which he saith may have an other interpretation than is usual and first cites the 12. Eccles. 7. which saith Dust to dust and the Spirit to God that gave it which saith Mr. Hobbes ought to be interpreted That God only knows what becomes of Man's Spirit and not Man and so of another Text he cites Hence he infers That because God only knows what becomes of Man's Spirit that therefore the Spirit of Man lives not after the death of the Body till the resurrection First The Interpretation is expresly against the Text and absurd Secondly The Inference is nonsense for doth it follow that because God knows where the Spirit of Man is that therefore 't is not with God himself It is just as if I should say to a Man you know where your coat is and from thence I should infer that he hath it not upon his back So I hope no Body will much heed his interpretation of Scripture But then p. 345. he tells us That in the resurrection the Righteous shall have glorious and spiritual Bodies and eternal but saith that 't is not manifest by Scripture that the Wicked shall have glorious and spiritual Bodies or that they shall be as the the Angels of God neither Eating nor Drinking nor Ingendring or that their life shall be eternal and so the reprobate saith he shall be in the estate Adam was in after he had sinned and Marry and give in Marriage only shall have no Redeemer I hope now Mr. Hobbes hath perfected his safe bargain he before had begun let his opinions be never so gross as to God and Religion for he shall be still upon Earth and in no worse a condition than Adam was in after his fall and that was for ought we know free from torment or indeed any trouble of mind save fear and only at th time when he heard God in the Garden But Mr. Hobbes hath not I thank him left us so much in the dark for he goes on to the particulars of the future torment which he saith are eating and drinking I suppose he means an appetite to eat and drink when he hath no Money in his pocket and ingendring I suppose he means that he is cruelly afraid of a luxurious Wife or else that he hath been unneighbourly dealt with in his Youth and is afraid of the same hereafter For otherwise cannot I imagin the torment of eating and drinking and ingendring And further he goes on and saith That the wicked shall not always personally be in this torment but dye after a time and their Children shall succeed in the same torments And all this he