truth but a naturall auersion and disability II. Wherefore the Scripture doth call the change of man by the spirit of regeneration sometimes another birth Iohn 3. sometimes the creation of the new man Ephes 4.24 It calleth it another resurrection from the dead Reucl. 20.6 Luke 15.32 Iohn 5.25 Not that creation and resurrection is in all things like to regeneration and the change of the soule but only in this thing of which it is here spoken to wit as the Carkasse cannot dispose nor prepare it selfe to the resurrection and a thing that is not created cannot further any thing to the creation of it So man in the state of sinne and before his regeneration hath nothing whereby he may dispose himselfe or further his regeneration and spirituall new birth III. The Arminian conferrers at the Hage Page 279. doe roundly confesse that by our spirituall death the liberty of doing well or ill is separated from the soule I demand therefore whether an vnregenerate man furnished with that sufficient and vniuersall grace which is giuen euen to Reprobates hath free-will of doing well or ill in those things which belong to saluation If he haue not why doe the Arminians contend he hath If hee hath it is plaine by their owne confession that he is not dead in sinne But there is a speciall force in the word borne For if there were any seeds and reliques of spirituall life in an vnregenerate man as Arnoldus is of opinion there were no neede to be borne againe and that the new man should be formed but God were to be prayed to that he would againe raise vp those sparkes and reliques of spirituall life and would vouchsafe to kindle and increase it as it were by adding fuell to it IV. Adde to these those places which teach vs that without faith it is impossible to please God Heb. 11. That all men haue not faith 2. Thess 3. because it is the gift of God Philip. 1.19 Ephes 2.8 Seeing therefore what soeuer is not of faith is sinne Rom. 14.25 it is plain that in things which belong to saluation and to the worship of God hee doth nothing but sinne that wants faith such as are all the heathen and vnregenerate men In which place to the Romanes it is to be noted that the Apostle speaketh of the vse of meates which he will haue vs to eate with faith that is with a certaine knowledge that the vse of meates is allowed by God and is agreeable to his word Seeing therefore that euen in things which are of their owne nature indifferent wee sinne when we vse them without such a faith how much more are we to thinke that the heathens sinne in euery action that pertaineth to saluation and the worship of God because they are altogether destitute of this faith Hitherto pertaine those places which teach vs that God is the author of euery vertue and euery good worke that is done by vs. We are not sufficient of our selues to thinke any thing as of our selues but our sufficiency is of God 2. Cor. 3.5 And Christ himselfe Iohn 15.5 Without me ye can doe nothing And in the same place we are compared to branches cut off and appointed to the fire vnlesse wee haue beene engrafted into Christ by whom wee liue and beare fruit The Apostle Ephes 2.8 doth teach that saluation and faith is not of our selues but of the gift of God For by grace ye are saued through faith and that not of your selues it is the gift of God How farre is this from Arminius who will haue the totall cause of faith not to be grace alone but grace and free-will And least any of Arminius followers should seeke a refuge and should say that the power of beleeuing is giuen to all vnresistably but that the act of beleeuing is so helped by grace that it is also from free-wil the Apostle doth fitly preuent such a weake subtilty Phil. 1.29 where he saith It is giuen to you in the behalfe of Christ not onely to beleeue on him but also to suffer for his sake You see that not onely the power of beleeuing is giuen vs but also the act it selfe to beleeue Agreeable to this is that Iohn 6. No man can come to me vnlesse my father draw him Where to come is to beleeue in act and not to haue the power and faculty of beleeuing which is brought into act by free-will No lesse direct is that of the Apostle Philip. 2.13 It is God which worketh in you both to will and to doe of his good pleasure Now to will is to will in act and not to haue the power of willing God himselfe Ezechiel 36.27 saith I will put my spirit within you and will cause you to walke in my statutes Therefore hee doth not onely giue the power of walking in his statutes but also doth cause that we really walke and doth worke in vs the very act After what manner and how farre the elect may resist the efficacy of the spirit shall hereafter be seene It is sufficient to the present question if we winne this of them that God doth not onely giue the power whereby we may beleeue but also that hee doth giue and worke in vs the act of beleeuing to beleeue it selfe We meete sometimes with places where the Arminians say that not onely the power of beleeuing but that also the act of beleeuing to beleeue it selfe is giuen by God But they will haue this act so to be giuen by God in as much as he giueth knowledge to the minde and doth raise vp the fainting affections which doe put forward the will to beleeue and that this is done by a morall perswasion and after the same manner that wee are moued by obiects But this is not to giue faith and the act of beleeuing For surely hee that doth perswade that doth propound obiects and doth inuite the appetite to runne doth not giue the act of running to runne it selfe Wherefore the Arminians doe deny that faith it selfe is infused or imprinted on the heart by God but that the will is inuited to beleeue onely by a morall perswasion and by a courteous allurement With a like fraud that they might seeme to attribute some great thing to God they say that God doth giue the power of beleeuing and that vnresistably But when they come to explane the manner whereby these powers are supplied it is manifest that they deny that the power of beleeuing is giuen to man by God For they thinke that God doth giue these powers no otherwise then by enlightning the vnderstanding with knowledge and by stirring vp the appetites which certainely is not to giue the power of beleeuing For hee which in the darke doth with a torch giue light to the wandring traueller and doth stirre him vp to goe doth not thereby giue him the power of going VI. And least any man should in any part arrogate to himself the prayse eyther of that knowledge which he hath obtained
Scripture that cannot lye saith that euery man is a lyar The same Law commandeth that God be loued withall our heart and all our strength which thing how can it be performed by the vnregenerate seeing it was neuer peeformed by the regenerate themselues That which a liuing man neuer performed how can it be performed by him that is dead Finally we must bid Christian religion farewell and another Gospell must be coyned if this prodigious doctrine be admitted IX But that we may come to that double spirit of God Arminius and according to him Arnoldus pag. 399. doe deuise two spirits or rather two acts of the same spirit The one of these spirits they will haue to be common to all men euen to the vnregenerate yea and to heathen men to whom the Gospell hath not come by which spirit they thinke that God doth worke in all men and is idle in none This is that spirit which they call the spirit of bondage of which it is spoken Rom. 8.15 which is opposed in that place to the spirit of Adoption which is peculiar to the true faithfull This spirit of bondage the Arminiaâ—s will haue to be effectuall in the law not onely in the written law but also in that which is naturally imprinted in mens hearts By this spirit they thinke that vnregenerate men doe tremble with a sauing feare doe acknowledge and confesse their sinnes doe implore the grace of God and apply themselues to the obedience of the law of nature these they thinke are preparation and dispositions to regeneration if so be that free-will doth vse well that vniuersall and sufficient grace which is common to all men These are the decrees of this new sect full of many perplexities and filled with nice and slender points X. I finde in the holy Scripture the spirit of adoption the first fruits of the spirit the spirit of sanctification but I no where finde a spirit of God that is tyed to the law and common to all men Nor can the spirit of God working in our hearts be without very great wickednesse seperated from the knowledge of Christ 2 Cor. 3.6 Ministers of the new Testament not of the Letter but of the Spirit for the letter killeth but the spirit giueth life Nor doe I see how there can be in them whom Saint Paul Ephes 2. saith to be dead in sinne strangers from the life of God and without God in the world either any spirituall life or the spirit of God dwelling in their hearts and sauingly mouing and affecting them Certainely the Apostle had neuer called the Law seperated from the Gospell a killing letter nor had opposed it to the spirit if the spirit of God were alway ioyned to the law or if the spirit of God did worke in mens hearts and dispose them to faith and conuersion without the knowledge of the Gospell Nor is the Law a Schoole-master vnto Christ vntill the grace of Christ is offred to vs for then the Law with terrour and threats doth compell vs to imbrace the grace offred XI But that is most dangerous which the Arminians presse downe and hide but dare not vtter to wit that the holy spirit is naturally in euery man For if the spirit of God be effectuall in the law and the law be naturally engrauen in euery man it must needes be that the spirit of God is naturally in euery man And so whatsoeuer the Scripture speaketh of the second birth by the spirit of the creation of the new man and of the spirituall resurrection will fall to the ground yea will be ridiculous For what neede were there to infuse a new spirit for regeneration if the same spirit of God did already dwell in the hearts of the vnregenerate XII And that place of Saint Paul Rom. 8. Ye haue not receiued the spirit of bondage againe to feare they doe falsely and against the Apostles will draw to this matter For Saint Paul neuer called the spirit of God the spirit of bondage for so he had reproached the spirit of God but he onely saith that the spirit that was giuen to them was not seruile and such as should strike their hearts with a slauish feare For where the spirit of God is there is liberty 2 Cor. 3. If I should say that we haue not receiued from God the spirit of lying should I therefore say that there is a spirit of God that compels to lying Is the spirit of God contrary to it selfe that one spirit of God should be called the spirit of bondage and another the spirit of liberty The plaine and simple meaning therefore of the words of the Apostle is this Ye haue receiued the spirit of God not that which should terrifie your consciences with a slauish feare which made you vncertaine and doubtfull before the grace of God and the adoption of Christ was reueiled to you c. XIII And they doe extreamely dote when they put the feare and terrour wherewith the law destitute of the spirit of regeneration and the knowledge of Christ doth strike mens hearts among the effects of the spirit of God For the law thus receiued can onely restraine the raging affections with the feare of punishment and frame a man to certaine outward obedience but it will neuer purge the inward filthinesse or instill any one drop of true repentance yea rather it will stirre vp the inward lusts by the resistance of it as it is engrafted in euery man to encline to that which is forbidden and wheresoeuer hope of impunity is propounded men hauing broken their barres doe so much the more outragiously riot by how much they were straightly bridled in This is that which the Apostle would expresse Rom. 7.5.8 The motions of sinnes by the law did worke in our members and sinne taking occasion by the commandement it selfe wrought concupiscence And that vntill the spirit of life which in Christ frees vs from the law of sinne and death as it is said Chapter 8.2 that is vntill the powerfull efficacy of that quickning which we haue from Christ free vs from that bondage of deadly sinne XIV It is vaine and idle which they obiect that the corruption of an vnregenerate man is compared to sleepe and to an Vlcer I confesse it is compared to a sleepe but to a deadly one and such a one out of which man cannot awaken and raise himselfe That Vlcer and scarre which is spoken of Esay 53.1 and 1 Pet. 2. doth not signifie sinne it selfe but the punishment of sin This therefore is nothing to the reliques and remainds of spirituall life in an vnregenerate man CHAP. XXXV The Obiections which the Arminians borrow from the Pelagians and Papists are answered Whether an vnregenerate man doth necessarily sinne and whether necessitie excuseth the sinner Also whether God doth command those things which cannot be performed by man I. THese thornes and difficulties being taken away wee are to come to the Arguments or rather Declamations with which they
matters For who are these some Are they not some certaine persons Therefore God doth vnresistibly worke that certaine persons should beleeue Is it likely that God doth vnresistibly cause that some should beleeue and hath not appointed who they should be For so it would come to passe that God predestinated some men to beleeue vnresistibly and that he predestinated none Is it possible that God should cause that some men should beleeue vnresistibly and yet tbat the same men should not beleeue vnresistibly As if I should say that God doth cause that some should die who yet certainely doe not die And seeing by the opinion of Arminius there is none of the elect who may not be reprobated and cause that God should be disappointed of his intention it is a meruaile how God should cause vnresistibly that some should beleeue when there is none of them who beleeue and are conuerted but many finally resist and so perish Whatsoeuer may happen to seuerall men may also happen to all Nor can the purpose of God be certaine of causing vnresistibly that some should be conuerted vnlesse some be vnresistibly conuerted Euen as the purpose of God of causing some to be drowned cannot be certaine vnlesse some be drowned The same men Collat pag. 292. say That to conuersion there is required a power which must in many parts exceede euery created power although it should not worke vnresistibly For that nature may be effectually conuerted something is required that is more powerfull then it selfe These things seeme to me to be such as cannot stand together that the power of the spirit by which wee are conuerted doth in many parts exceede the power of nature and yet that it may be so resisted by nature that it may be ouercome and may finally be hindred for of such a resistance is it spoken here There is no cause therefore to feare lest irresistibility being thrust at by the Arminians should fall downe seeing that on the one part they doe hold it vp and vnderproppe it from falling yet it is worth the labour to know with what obiections they doe enforce it CHAP. XLIX The weake obiections of the Arminians against Irresistibility that is the infallible certainty of the conuersion of the elect are answered I. THese Sectaries doe lay the chiefe foundation of their cause in that their false opinion and already confuted by vs. That God doth not administer and supply the meanes to conuersion and faith by any absolute and precise decree For if God calling men doth precisely and absolutely intend the conuersion of no one man it is not needefull that the conuersion of any one should precisely follow the supplying of those meanes This their foundation seeing it hath beene ouerwhelmed and cast downe by vs the other things which they would build vpon this must needes fall II. The Arminian conferrers at the Hage doe very ill heape together many things to the ouerthrowing whereof there is neede of no great contention In the front of the battell they set that place in the Acts Chapter 7.15 Where Stephen doth lay it to the charge of the rebellious Iewes that they haue alwaies resisted the holy-Ghost Whence they inferre that the holy-Ghost when he worketh in man doth not worke conuersion vnresistibly III. But they doe vnwisely proue that which is not in controuersie For we doe not teach we doe not acknowledge that irresistibility which they attribute to vs. This conclusion therefore doth not hurt vs who doe willingly confesse that the holy-Ghost doth not alwaies so worke in mens hearts that hee taketh away all resistance Furthermore they suppose a thing which is most false as a thing true and granted to wit that the holy-Ghost wrought in those Iewes and that they resisted the inward operation of the Spirit Stephen chargeth the Iewes that they alwaies resisted the eu dent testimony of the holy-Ghost speaking by the Prophets This the following words of Stephen doe declare Which of the Prophets haue not your fathers persecuted c. Nor if Stephen should speake of the holy-Ghost dwelling in the impious and vnbeleeuing Iewes which yet is very false would it thence follow that he spake of the spirit of Adoption and of the grace peculiar to the elect which doth certainely and infallibly worke faith and conuersion in them alone IV. With this place there likewise fall to the ground those places in which the Scripture Psal 78. Esay 63. Matth. 23.37 Prou. 1.24 c. saith that the Iewes tempted God and stirred him vp to wrath and made sad the spirit of his holinesse that the chickens would not be gathered that they who were called refused c. All these say I are nothing to the purpose The Scripture there speaketh of vngodly and rebellious persons but in this question it is spoken of the faithfull and the elect and the question is whether it may be that they may neuer be conuerted and may finally resist the spirit of adoption To the prouing of this the places which speaketh of Reprobates which we confesse doe finally resist God calling and doe want the spirit of adoption are plainely besides the purpose Finally these Sectaries doe not proue that in all these places it is spoken of a finall resistance of which alone it is spoken here But say they God Ezechiel 18.31 doth command the Israelites to make them a new heart and a new spirit Whence they gather that man may performe what he is commanded or resist God commanding I am ashamed of this olde trifle and Pelagian colewort so often brought againe and as often reiected First of all what neede is there to proue that an vnregenerate man is able not to obey this commandement of making him a new heart seeing this alone he is able to doe to wit nor to obey and he cannot obey And that man can doe whatsoeuer God commandeth is an heresie of the Pelagians already confuted by vs The precepts of God are not the measure of our powers but the rule of our duty the summe of our debt the matter of our prayers the scope of our strife But of these things more then enough VI. Fourthly they pretend that place Esay 5. What could more haue beene done to my Vineyard which I haue not done to it Whence they inferre that the grace of God doth not worke conuersion in man vnresistibly This is a prodigious consequence and if it were good yet the conclusion would touch neither the question nor vs who confesse that in the elect themselues conuersion is not wrought without some resistance Adde to these that to the question wherein it is spoken of the conuersion of seuerall men a place speaking of the calling of a whole nation is vnwisely brought When it is spoken of the certainty of the conuersion of the elect they ought not to bring a place speaking of the rebellion of an incredulous and vnbeleeuing nation Finally they deale so as they who are very carefull lest they should say any thing
V. Man by his owne fault hath brought destruction to himselfe neither can the fall of man be imputed to God Thy destruction O Israell is from thy selfe but in mee is thy helpe Hosea 12.9.10 As in the generation of the Infant the sunne and man doe worke together yet if a monster be generated it is not ascribed to the sunne but to man For therefore is the monster bred because through the defect of the organs or the euill affection of the matter the vniuersall agent cause is withdrawne from the accustomed course Euen so to humane actions God and mans will doe concurre yet if any euill bee in the action it ought not to be ascribed to God but to the disposition of mans will VI. And yet the Scripture doth sometimes vse those phrases of speech which doe yeeld occasion to the prophane of imputing their sinnes to God as being committed by his will and incitation It is well knowne with how great wickednesse the sonnes of Iacob moued with enuy sold their brother Ioseph Of this fact Ioseph himselfe thus speaketh Genes â—0 Yee indeede thought euill against mee but God meant it vnto good that hee might saue much people aliue As if GOD had beene the authour of this fact The Scripture saith of the sonnes of Samuel that they did not obey their fathers admonitions because God would slay them 1. Samuel 2.25 And 1. King 2. the malignant spirit sets himselfe before the tribunall of God and offers to God his seruice to deceiue the Prophets To whom God said Thou shalt deceiue and thou shalt preuaile Goe forth and doe so Shemei curseth Dauid with foule imprecations 2. Samuel 26. which Dauid receiues as done by the incitation of God Let him curse saith hee for God hath said vnto him Curse Dauid Very grieuous calamities followed Dauids adultery with Bathsheba and his murther of Vrias by the rebellion of his sonne Absalon who droue his father from his kingdome and openly abused his wiues Nathan sent to Dauid from God doth declare how these things came to passe in these wordes Thou didst this secretly but I will doe these things before all Israell 2. Sam. 12. Satan afflicted Iob the Chaldees steale away his goods what saith this seruant of God to these things The Lord saith hee hath giuen and the Lord hath taken away Blessed be the name of the Lord. In the fourth Chapter of the Acts Saint Peter saith thus Against thy holy childe Iesus whom thou hast annointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate and the Gentiles and the people of Israell are assembled together to doe whatsoeuer thy hand and thy counsell haue determined before to bee done Saint Paule in his first chapter of the Epistle of the Romans speaking of the people that were worshippers of Idols and were giuen ouer to all wickednesse saith that God gaue them vp to vile and wicked affections that they might doe these enormious things God himselfe doth witnesse Exod. 10. Rom. 9. That he hardned Pharaohs hart Finally who doth not tremble at these words of God which are set downe in the sixt Chap. of Esay Make the hart of this people fat and make their eares heauy and shut their eyes Least they see with their eyes and heare with their eares and vnderstand with their hearts and so conuert and be healed Least any prophane person should abuse these things to the vnloosing of the claspe of intemperancy and least any whose heart is hardned against the word of God should impute the hardnesse of it to God who cannot be resisted As that yong man in Plautus In â—ulularia thus excusing himselfe Deus mihi impulsor fuit God was an incitor to me it was he drew mee to her therefore some things are to be set downe wherby this question may be cleered and the truth may be brought out of this darkenesse VII Before all other things wee admonish that the middle way be kept betweene the two extreames One whereof is to make God the authour of sinne the other is to assigne any thing to be done God being vnwilling ignorant or not regarding as if sitting in a watch-tower he did expect casuall euents depending vpon chance or vpon mans pleasure Let him runne into neither of these who would acknowledge the prouidence of God without damage of his iustice not fathering his sinnes vpon him and would not call in ignorance or neglect of things in God for the defence of his iustice VIII First therefore it must be graunted that sinne is not committed without Gods permission Neither ought this word of permitting offend any one as if it derogated from the care and prouidence of God seeing Saint Paul himselfe in the 14. chapter of the Acts doth vse this word where he saith to the men of Lycaonia God in times past * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 suffered all nations to walke in their owne wayes therefore God suffered sinne To permit sinne is not to hinder it when thou canst thence it comes to passe that there are so many meanes of permitting sinne as of hindring it God doth hinder sinne two manner of wayes either by his Iustice or by his Power By his Iustice he hindereth sinne by commanding by forbidding by admonishing by threatning and by promising By his power he doth hinder it when he doth take away ability or remoue the occasion of sinning or by the efficacy of his spirit doth change and encline to piety our wils that are prone to sin The former is a morall impediment the latter a naturall or euen a supernaturall According to these meanes of hindering sinne the meanes of permitting it are also diuers For God doth permit sinne either by vnloosing the Law and giuing liberty of sinning or by not drawing away the ability of sinning which might hinder men from sinning in act After the former manner God doth neuer permit sinne after the latter manner he doth permit it which he doth in not hindring that man should assay it and in not giuing a certaine succour and measure of his grace which if it were present the sinne might be preuented IX This permission is a certaine act of the diuine will seeing it is voluntary for God doth nothing vnwitting or vnwilling God therefore permits sinne because he will permit it neither had he permitted it if it had not beene good that it should be permitted for if there were not euill it would not be known what is good euen as we should not know what light were vnlesse there were a night neither had his iustice whereby he punisheth nor his mercy whereby he pardoneth beene made knowne nor his wisedome whereby he can draw good out of euill nor his infinite loue whereby hee sent his sonne into the world that he might die for vs not that God doth stand in neede of our wickednesse to illustrate his glory but because otherwise man could not come to that full felicity to which hee was created For God cannot be perfectly knowne and therefore not
defile that act it must not be said to be from God Man is the effector of sinne God the permitter That act in which there is deformity is naturally good in as much as it is from God but morally euill in as much as it is from man The action in which the sinne is is one thing the deformity of the action in which formally the sinne is is another thing To the action it selfe God doth concurre with man but not to the sinne XVI Neither is God to be blamed that he doth concurre with the creature which hee knoweth will abuse his concurrence and assistance to sinning For mans vice cannot straighten the limits of Gods power nor dissolue that eternall law by which the whole frame of nature doth stand nor pull away that naturall necessity whereby the creature cannot moue it selfeâ— without the assistance of God So the Soule although it knowes that the body will abuse her mouing power to halting doth not keep back her mouing force or abstaine from the motion of the body Neither will therefore the power of God be diminished in naturall things or his influence cease because in morall things the will of man is disobedient to the law of God Yea God cannot require obedience from the creature vnlesse he should sustaine it and giue to it power of mouing it selfe XVII As the Sunne is not the cause of darkenesse although darkenesse doth necessarily follow the absence of it So God seeing he is the most exact iustice is not the cause of sinne although inordinate affections blindenesse of minde the prauity of the will doe necessarily follow the deniall of the grace of God This is their meaning which say that God is not the efficient but the deficient cause of sin Yet I could wish men would abstaine from this kinde of speaking XVIII Although wicked men doe worke freely and of their owne motion are carried to sinne God not alluring nor forcing them yet it is certaine that the euents which doe follow thence are directed and gouerned by Gods prouidence For as the downefall of the running water inclining to the lower parts may be turned the channell being guided by the diligence of the conueyor so although wicked men of their owne disposition are prone to sinne yet by the prouidence of God and his secret counsell they are inclined to commit this sinne rather then that that they may serue the execution of the iudgements of God when he will vse them either to punish any ones wickednesse or to try the faith of the godly or to stirre vp their sloathfulnesse This similitude Salomon doth vse Prou. 21. The heart of the King is in the hand of the Lord as the riuers of waters and hee turnes it whether he will By this meanes as Saint Peter saith Act. 4. The wicked doe whatsoeuer things the hand of God and his purpose had determined to be done Hence it is that God saith Esay 5. that hee will whistle for the remote nations to say waste Iudea And Chap. 10. hee cals Ashur the rod of his wrath Ieroboam seekes after nouelties and doth practise a reuolting from Salomon Ahias the Prophet sent from God doth declare to him the euent of this attempt God did not instill this rebellion into his heart which was before conceiued but hardned his minde which was already euill to the daring this wicked attempt that he might vse the wicked man to punish the sinnes of Salomon and Rehoboam As therefore Horse-leaches applyed to the parts of a sicke man while they satisfie their owne gorge doe performe the intent of the Physitian so wicked men whilest they rage against good men besides their owne intention they further the purpose of God as Esay teacheth in his tenth Chapter where God saith that hee had decreed to vse the King of Assiria to punish the hypocrisie of Israel but that this minde was not in the King being led onely by ambition and desire of prey Thus God vsed the wickednesse of the brethren of Ioseph to keepe famine from his people and the treason of Iudas for the death of Christ and by it for our redemption and the ambition of Augustus Caesar taxing the whole Empire for the bringing of Mary out of Galile to Bethlehem that there shee might be deliuered and so the prophesie of Michai be fulfilled Euen they which resist the commandement of God helpe forward his prouidence and like Rowers which set their backes that way which they goe God by the folly of men doth worke the purposes of his wisedome he doth vse vniust men to the exercising of his iustice as if one with a crooked staffe should strike a straight blow XIX Whensoeuer God letting loose the reines to Sathan doth permit him to tempt any man Sathan truely may allure the appetite by propounding Obiects or trouble the phantasie by the alteration of the humours of the body but he cannot compell the will otherwise the man should not sinne but Sathan Neither could God iustly punish a man for sinne to which hee had beene compelled by an outward cause without his owne inclination XX. But because God when hee would auenge the contumacy of his enemies or punish the sinnes of his owne doth sometimes vse Sathan as his minister the holy Scripture doth attribute one and the same euent both to God and to Sathan So 1 Sam. 16. the euill spirit troubling Saul is said to be from God and 1 Chro. 21. Sathan is said to haue rose vp against Israel and to haue stirred vp Dauid to number the people and 2 Sam. 24. it is attributed to God There God is to be considered as a iust iudge and Sathan as an incitour of the wickednesse By these instructions well conceiued the way of exâ—using Saint Austen will easily be found from whom sometimes there fall some speeches which trouble tender eares if they be not moderated with a fit interpretation such is that which he saith of Shemei cursing Dauid in his Booke de Gratia libero arbitrio Cap. 20. What wise man doth vnderstand how the Lord said to this man Curse Dauid For he did not bid him by commanding him that his obedience should be praised bu because God inclined his will which by his owne proper vice was euill to this sinne by his iust and secret iudgement and therefore is it said the Lord bid him And Cap. 22. God worketh in the hearts of men to incline their wils whithersoeuer he will either to good things of his own mercy or to euill things according to their deserts And against Iulian the Pelagian lib. 5. cap. 3. Many other things we might rehearse in which it would plainely appeare that the heart is made peruerse by the secret iudgement of God that the truth which is said might not be heard and so man might sinne that sinne might be the punishment of a former sinne Yea in the same place he doth contend against Iulian that those which are deliuered vp to their owne desires are
vertue and not saluation it selfe Then also Paul expounds how wee are holy to wit in charity nor in the fruition and enioying of glory He vnderstands the dueties of charity which are exercised in this life vnto which to be exhorted after this life is needelesse Finally by their so various and diuers expositions which ouerthrow one another they doe sufficiently confesse that they haue nothing wherein they may be constant And because they cannot master vs by the weight of their expositions they endeauour to ouerwhelme vs by the multitude of them It is of small importance that from this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is blamelesse they gather that it is spoken of the perfection after this life For the Apostle will haue vs to be blamelesse euen in this life as Philippians 2.15 Where he commands vs to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 blamelesse and harmelesse in the midst of a crooked and peruerse generation Certainly when the Apostle saith that we might be blamelesse in charity it is manifest that he doth not speake of the Saints enioying glory where there is no place for reprehension nor for exhortation to the duties of charitie There is no little force in the following verse He predestinated vs to the adoption of children by Iesus Christ Out of this place I thus reason Those whom God predestinated to adoption he hath predestinated also to the spirit of adoption to be giuen them and this is nothing else but to predestinate them to faith for the spirit of adoption is it that beareth witnesse in our hearts that we are the sonnes of God Rom. 8. and this testimony is faith it selfe It is true indeede that God appointeth no man to adoption but whom God considereth as one that by his gift will be faithfull but the same may also be said of those that are appointed to faith which is appointed to none but whom God considereth as one that will be faithfull And surely they are grosely deceiued who thinke that the faithfull are appointed to the adoption of children seeing in that they are faithfull they are already children This Saint Iohn teacheth chapter 1. To them that beleeued he gaue this prerogatiue to be the sonnes of God II. Agreeable to this place are also many other 1 Cor. 7.25 I haue obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithfull not because he considered me as already faithfull Iohn 15.16 I haue chosen you that you should bring forth fruit therefore he did not choose vs considered as already faithfull and therefore as already bearing fruit Should wee imagine that Christ speakes here onely of the election of the Apostles to their Apostleship I thinke there is none of so impudent a face who can deny that the same thing may be spoken of any of the elect whereof there is none whom God hath not elected that hee might be godly and good euen as also there is no man who is not of a shamelesse countenance who will deny that all the following documents and lessons doe belong to all the faithfull These things I commend you that you loue one another If the world hate you you know that it hath hated me firsh c. III. Not vnlike this is that which the Apostle saith 2 Thes 2.13 God hath chosen you to saluation by sanctification of the spirit and beleefe of the truth He saith that we are elected to obtaine saluation by faith not for faith and so faith is after election and a certaine medium or middle thing betweene election and saluation IV. The words of Ananias to S. Paul Act 22.14 are consonant to this God hath chosen thee that thou shouldst know his will by which knowledge faith and assent to the Gospell is vnderstood for Saint Paul was not elected more to know the Gospell then to beleeue the Gospell Paul therefore was elected to beieeue and so his election was before his faith V. The same Apostle 1 Thessa 1.3 praising the faith and charitie of the Thessalonians doth fetch the cause of these vertues from election it selfe Remembring without ceasing your worke of faith and labour of lone as knowing that you are elected of God Here the Arminians doe willingly stumble in a plaine way for by Election they will haue Calling to be vnderstood which if it be true the reprobates themselues will be elected as being also called Then also Saint Paul is deluded as if hee were not in his right minde For what neede Paul tell the Thessalonians that he knew they were called by the Gospell seeing Saint Paul himselfe preached the Gospell to them He were a ridiculous Grammarian who should tell his Schollers that he had taught I know you haue learned Grammer Arnoldus pag. 66. doth suspect that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 knowing is to be referred to the Thessalonians themselues But the good man hath dealt too negligently here for he doth not see that by this meanes the Greeke speech would be made incongruous and not agreeing for then it must haue beene read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that it might agree with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is in the former verse But distrusting this exposition he hath smelt out that by the word election excellency ought to be vnderstood which truely is an intollerable license seeing election differeth from excellency by the whole praedicament for election is an action excellency is a quality or a relation Surely if it be lawfull to bring such portents and monsters of interpretation what will there be in the holy Scripture which may not be deluded or depraued Let Arnoldus bring another place where Excellency is vnderstood by the word Election For although he that is elected may be taken for him that excelleth yet you shall neuer finde Election to be so taken for Excellency Neither ought it to seeme a maruaile that Paul saith he knew of the election of the Thessalonians for God might reueile that to him concerning the Tessalonians which he reuealed concerning the Corinthians Acts 18.10 I haue much people in this citie Or if that doth not please it may be said that Saint Paul when he saw the Gospell receiued by the Thessalonians with very great ioy and much fruite easily perswaded himselfe that many of that people belonged to the election of God VI. The same Apostle in the beginning of his Epistle to Titus calleth himselfe the Apostle according to the faith of Gods elect It is plaine that faith is said to be of the elect because it is peculiar to the elect or else it were not rightly adorned with this elogy commendation and that by the confession of Vorstius himselfe Collat. cum piscat Sect. 118. Faith saith hee is called the faith of the elect of God Titus 1. because faith is a proper marke of the elect c. But why is faith peculiar to the elect is it because as many as haue true faith are elected by God But the Arminians deny this for they write of the Apostasie of the Saints
Vorstius in his book intituled the Conference with Piscator Sect. 18. If we are adopted by faith we are also elected by faith But I deny that that will follow for Adoption is after Election as the Apostle teacheth Ephes 1.5 He predestinated vs to the adoption He which saith we are adopted by faith doth not therefore say that we are elected by faith or for faith but he saith that by faith we are affected with the sense of the fatherly loue of God to vs and that the beleeuers receiue the spirit of adoption VI. He doth defend himselfe by the words of the Apostle 2 Thes 2. He hath chosen vs from the beginning through faith But here Vorstius doth wickedly cut short the words of the Apostle and doth present them lame vnto vs. The words of Saint Paul are these God from the beginning hath chosen you to saluation through sanctification of the spirit and beliefe of the truth Hee doth not say that we are elected for faith fore seene but that we are elected to obtaine saluation by faith And if it may be gathered from this place that we are elected for faith fore-seene it will be proued by the same place that we are elected for sanctification or regeneration fore-seene which doth not please Arminius He doth vrge that place of Saint Iames chap. 2. Hath not God chosen the poore of the world rich in faith but in vaine for therefore they are rich in faith because God hath giuen them faith and he hath therefore giuen it them because they are elected If I say God hath elected the Saints which doe enioy glory doe I therefore thinke that God elected them for the fore-seeing of the glory to come And if it be lawfull for the Arminians to take these words of Christ I giue my life for my sheepe as being spoken by anticipation or preuention of those who were not yet his theepe but were to be why may it not be lawfull for vs also to take these words God chose the beleeuers as being spoken by an anticipation of those which doe not beleeue in act but are considered as those who are to beleeue VII Vorstius addeth that Mat. 22. few are said to be elected because few haue the wedding garment But I deny that this is to be found there Christ shuts vp with this sentence the parable of those that were called to the wedding wherof onely few obayed him calling them Many are called few chosen In which words the reason is not yeelded why he was cast forth that had not on the wedding garment but why of many that were called there came but a few Which thing that the Reader might not obserue Vorstius hath vsed a double deceit for hee hath omitted those words many are called and then also instead of Nam For he hath sâ—t downe Quia because that he might perswade that here the cause was rendred why he that was vndecently apparelled was call out For he knew that the particle Nam for doth often set downe the note or marke but not the cause as Mâ—t. 26.73 and in many other places but in this place it is no doubt but that here the cause is signified For the cause is noted why of so many that were called so few followed him calling to wit because although many are called yet few are chosen Whence it is manifest that this place if any other doth hurt Arminius VIII The other things which he doth heape vp that hee might proue that they that are elected are those that be ecue are nothing to the purpose For the elect are the beleeuers and the belecuers are the erect But they are not elected because they are belecuers but that they might bereeue IX There is no more force in the obiection which he bringeth out of the 2. Pet. Chap. 1. Make your calling and election sure Out of which words he doth inferre that calling is before election But Peter doth not here set calling before election but the certainty of our cailing before the certainty of our election I willingly acknowledge that that certainty is first in order But that election is before calling Saint Paul teacheth Rom. 8. Whom he predestinated hee called whom he called he iustified whom he iustified he glorified For as iustification is before glorification and calling before iustification so predestination is before calling X. Greuinchouius against Ames Pag. 171. Arnâ—ldus after Armun us vseth the samâ— argument P. 282. doth thus dispute I say that by your predestination the Gospell is inuerted For this is the sâ—ntence of the Gospell If thou beleeuest thou shalt liue but this your predestination saith if you are predestinated to life you shall beleeue I answere it is one thinâ— to inuert or turne the sentence another thing to ouerturne it For this sentence is conuertible whosoeuer is elected shall beleeue and whosoeuer doth beleeue is elected For we speake of that faith which Saint Paul Tit. 1.1 calleth the faith of the elect Doe not the Arminians rather inuert the Gospell which faith that faith is of the elect but they say that faith is not of the elect but that election is of the faithfull That which Greuinchouius in that place doth stuffe in concerning reprobation shall be examined in his owne place XI The same man pag. 130. doth thus argue Saluation is the reward of faith 1 Pet. 1.9 the crowne of righteousnesse the reward of labour the prize of our strife and finished course the inheritance of the sonnes of God that is of the faithfull Iohn 1.12 Gal. 4.30 And because it is hard to see how these things can be drawne to election for faith fore-seene seeing it is not there spoken of election nor of faith foree-seene he addeth these words Therefore Election to saluation is not the decree concerning the end of men as they are men simply but of the saluation of men as they are such sort of men to wit of them that are faithfull and of them that perseuere in the faith This also we confesse in that sense which we said before but it were better to say of them that were to perseuere because God electing doth not consider faith and perseuerance as a thing performed but as a thing to be performed and that by his bounty and gift XII He further addeth The will of bestowing the reward the wages c. doth necessarily presuppose the fore-seeing of faith and perseuerance in faith by the couenant of the Gospell if thou beleeuest and doest perseuere thou shalt be saued Here you digresse from the question For it was spoken of election for faith foreseene but you speake of saluation which is bestowed after faith God electing to saluation doth fore-see that faith will come before the obtaining of saluation but he doth so fore-see it that God foreseeth that which he himselfe is to worke which to speake properly is not to fore-see but to will Furthermore eternall life is called the reward of faith because it is not to be had but
2.13 And that sufficient grace which is giuen to all men yea to the reprobates doth take away the impotency and doth stablish the liberty of free-will as Arminius against Perkins pag. 245. and 246. teacheth Let vs heare the proud words of Greuinchouius p. 253. I separate my selfe for when I might resist God and his predetermination yet I haue not resisted and therefore why may it not be lawfull for me to boast in that as of my owne For that I was able it was of God shewing mercy but that I was willing when I might haue beene vnwilling it was my owne power It is a venter but this little worme will swell so big that he will breake O it is the part of a magnanimious great minded man to be vnwilling to owe too much to God and not to be ouercharged with his benefits Those things which the same author saith pag. 279. sauour of no lesse pride You will say that in this manner of working God doth after a certaine manner depend on the will of man I grant it as concerning the act of free determination Indeede this one thing was wanting to the very height of pride that God should be said to depend on man XXIX There meete vs in the writings of these innouators some places in which they say that man in his corrupted state was altogether dead and that of himselfe he can neither thinke nor will nor doe any thing that is good But these things are said but for a colour and that they might deceiue the vnwary reader For they say that a man is able to doe no good without grace but by this grace they vnderstand vniuersall grace which is common to all men and sufficient grace which is giuen euen to them to whom Christ was made knowne and which doth extend it selfe as farre as nature They say indeede that grace is the cause of beleeuing but they neuer adde that it is the cause alone The Arminian conferrers at the Hage in the third and fourth Articles doe so speake as if they were of the same opinion with vs For there they professe that man hath not saning faith from himselfe and that the grace of God is the beginning the proceeding and the finishing of all good and that all good actions are to be ascribed to the grace of God in Christ But the subtle men when they say that a man hath not faith from himselfe they vnderstand that he hath it not from himselfe alone And when they say that euery good worke is to be ascribed to grace they are very wary least they should say to grace alone Then also in the word grace they lay a snare and being the Apes of the Pelagians they faigne a certaine grace which is common to all which doth extend it selfe as farre as nature Also they distinguish grace from the vse of grace for indeede they will haue grace to be from God but the vse of grace to be in the power of mans free-will With the like craft they say that the power of beleeuing is from grace for they presently draw backe what they haue reached forth while they say that to beleeue it selfe is of mans free-will and that grace is giuen to man to beleeue if he will But whensoeuer they will haue a kinde of speciall grace to come to that generall grace they make the vse of this speciall grace to depend on free-will and they roundly and without any circumstances affirme that the efficiency and working power of grace doth depend vpon it We shall also see that by that vniuersall and sufficient grace common to all men is vnderstood naturall gifts notions that are naturally engrafted and that they cloath nature with the goodly name of grace which thing also Pelagius did Which thing when they doe with their greatest cunning yet their dissembling is neuer so wary but that their Pelagian eares and errour doe appeare and although they doe imitate the speech of truth yet their vizard doth often fall from them vnawares and their vlcers being pressed doe presently cast forth stinking corruption XXX Yet Vorstius here doth differ from his Master For when Arminius saith that no man is conuerted and doth beleeue in act by that vniuer sall grace alone which is common euen to the reprobates but that there is also some speciall grace required Vorstius on the contrary side doth affirme Collat. cum Piscat pag. 57. that some are conuerted by vniuersall grace which he calleth the lesser mercy that is without speciall grace which he calleth grace more then sufficient and super abounding helpe Therefore if this man be beleeued some men come to saluation by that grace alone which is common to all heathen men CHAP. XXXIII It is proued out of the holy Scripture that an vnregenerate man is altogether destitute of the power and liberty of his will in those things which pertaine to faith and saluation I. IF they stand here to the iudgement of the holy Scripture there will be no place of doubting Of a man that is vnregenerate and in his meere naturals the Scripture speaketh thus Gen. 6.5 Euery thought of the heart of man is onely euill continually The same is repeated Chap. 8. Ver. 21. Ieremy in his seauenteenth chapter consenteth to this The heart of man is wicked and vnsearchable And Rom. 3. There is none righteous no not one They are all gone out of the way and are become vnprofitable there is none that doth good no not one And Rom 7.18 I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing And Chap. 8. ver 8 The wisdome of the flesh that is whatsoeuer a carnall man vnderstandeth or perceiueth is enmity against God for it is not subiect to the law of God neither indeede can be Compare these things with the doctrine of Arminius who is of opimon that a man that is an infidell and vnregenerate hath sufficient power to beleeue and to fulfill the law For the Apostle is of opinion that our flesh not onely is not subiect to the law of God but that it cannot be The same Apostle 1. Cor. 2.14 saith that the naturall man receiueth not the things of the spirit of God for they are foolishnesse vnto him neither can he know them Hitherto pertaineth that which the Scripture saith Ezech. 36. That the heart of man is stony and therefore of its owne nature vnapt and vncapable to receiue the impression of the law of God vnlesse God as hee did of old write it on that stone with his finger Also that which Saint Paul saith Ephes 2.1.5 that not onely the Ephesians before their calling but that all of vs were dead in sinnes Hee hath the same words Coloss 2.13 And that which Christ saith Iohn 14.17 The spirit of truth whom the world cannot receiue because it seeth him not neither knoweth him Christ in these words doth plainely acknowledge that there is no free will of man no power to receiue the spirit of
speake of my selfe Hence they would proue that one may doe the will of God before he know Christ and his doctrine This is to delude the Scripture and to wrest it at their pleasure For they speake as if Christ had said Hee that doth fulfill the commandements of God shall afterward know of my doctrine whether it be of God c. Also by the words to doe the will of God they vnderstand to acknowledge their sinnes to feare God with a seruile and slauish feare seriously to wish the grace of God and remission of sinnes to doe those things which are of the law c. All false For to doe the will of God in this place is nothing else then to beleeue Christ speaking for this is that which Christ doth vrge that this is the will of the father that we should beleeue on the Sonne Whose words if any man beleeues hee thereby knoweth that his doctrine is heauenly and diuine wherefore we are not to thinke that we doe the will of God before we beleeue in his Sonne Thus although it be true that he who is moued doth liue yet it doth not thence follow that motion is before life So in that Christ saith Whosoeuer will doe the will of the father shall know that my doctrine is from God It doth not thence follow that the will of the father must be done before it can be knowne that his doctrine is from God But if there is any order of time here it must needes be that the doctrine of Christ be first knowne to be from God before he can be beleeued or obeyed when he speakes For no man doth beleeue that which hee doth not in some part know Christ followeth this order Iohn 17.8 They haue knowne that I came out from thee and they haue beleeued that thou didst send mee And Chap. 14.17 he saith that the spirit of truth is not receiued by the world because the world doth not know him To know therefore is before to receiue V. That is no better which Arnoldus doth adde Page 409. The feare of the Lord is the beginning of wisedome Prou. 1. And The Lord reuealeth his secrets to them that feare him Psal 25. But I deny that the feare of the Lord of which it is spoken here can agree to vnbeleeuers and vnregenerate men Salomon saith that the feare of the Lord is the head of wisedome that is the chiefe part and that wherein wisedome doth chiefely consist for this the Hebrew word Reshith doth plainely signifie And those that feare God to whom he reuealeth his secrets are not vnregenerate persons but those which are truely godly to whom hee doth daily giue increase of wisedome and of the true knowledge of God VI. To the same end Arnoldus Page 397. doth bring the words of the 51. Psalme A contrite spirit is an acceptable sacrifice to God And Esay 66. God will dwell in a contrite spirit Arnoldus thinketh that these things are spoken of an vnregenerate man but yet such a one as doth confesse his sinnes doth grieue hath the beginning of feare c. But hee eyther deceiues or is deceiued For there Dauid lamenting his sinnes with a large confession doth comfort himselfe with this hope and doth promise to himselfe that his contrition will be an acceptable sacrifice to God Whosoeuer therefore doth say that Dauid there speaketh of the contrition of an vnregenerate man doth affirme that Dauid himselfe was vnregenerate And there is no man but seeth that Esay doth speake of them that are truely faithfull and of a filiall feare and contrition and not of that feare which may be in the vnregenerate and in the heathen who haue not heard the word of God For the Prophet saith To whom shall I looke To him that is afflicted and of a contrite heart and trembleth at my word Hee speaketh of the man who is instructed in the word of God and who with a holy feare is moued to the hearing of it VII Arnoldus a little before had reckoned vp the good workes which may be done by an vnregenerate man viz. To doe those things which are of the law to haue some sparkes of light and knowledge engrauen on his heart to grieue for his sinnes to implore the grace of remission of sinnes and of the new spirit But how many nations are there who doe not know what this new spirit is nor haue euer heard any thing of the grace of remission of sins Also I would know whether such things that are done by the vnregenerate without faith are truely good If they be truely good then we can doe that which is truely good without Christ without his spirit and without faith If they are not truely good how can that not be truely good and iust which God alone intendeth and which alone nothing more if Arminius be beleeued he doth require from the vnregenerate man as long as he is vnregenerate VIII A little after he saith that the same worke cannot be performed as perfect in its essence without the faith of Christ and he doth put this difference betweene workes which are done before regeneration and they which are done after regeneration to wit that they are imperfect these are perfect These are the two kindes of merits with which in the Schooles of the Papists make such a noyse merits of congruity and merits of condignity but new dressed and cloathed with other names The Reader therefore shall note that the Arminians place in a regenerate man perfect workes and a perfect loue of God For they thinke that the regenerate may by the spirit of Christ so conforme their life according to that law that they may come to that degree of obedience which God doth require of them These are the words of Arnoldus pag. 492. and pag. 399. according to Arminius he saith that there is a double spirit one that doth goe before regeneration and doth tend to it which is the spirit of bondage to feare the other which doth regenerate and doth perfect regeneration Arminius Resp ad 31. Art pa. 164. and 165. I doe not repugne that opinion of Austin whereby he determines that man may be without sinne in this life Truely it is boldly spoken The Arminians then are better then the Apostle Iames who speaketh thus Chap. 3. In many things we offend all In which speech he doth account himselfe among them who offend in many things Better then Saint Iohn whose confession is this If we say we haue no sinne wee deceiue our selues and the truth is not in vs Yea better then all the Apostles who did daily say Forgiue vs our trespasses Neither is it to be maruailed at if the Arminians thinke that the regenerate can fulfill the Law seeing they also say that the Law of nature may be fulfilled by the heathen and vnregenerate Now the Law of nature is that to which Adam before his fall stood bound which bond passed to his posteritie This Law forbids a man to lye but the
it hath the cooperation of the Holy-Ghost alwaies ioyned to it And this he saith being vnmindefull of that which hee had said a little before where speaking of the word and of the cooperation of the holy spirit he saith these two are almost alwayes ioyned together therefore not alwayes Neither is Arnoldus vnwilling that Arminius should doubt in that thing for pag. 432. he speaketh thus It may be doubted whether Arminius thought that the inward succour of the spirit was alwaies and in all men ioyned with the outward preaching But that which the Master speakes fearefully and doubtingly is openly and without any circumstance affirmed by his schollers For Arnoldus Chap. 4. would draw Arminius into this opinion that the outward calling doth happen to none without the inward and pag. 433. The opinion of Arminius is that the efficacy of the holy Ghost is present with all them who at the first are called The Arminians in their Epistle against the Walachrians pag. 49. doe labour much to teach that in those who are not conuerted the word is not destitute of the quickning spirit Arnoldus pag. 464 teacheth that this quickning force is ioyned not onely to the preaching of the Gospell but also to the preaching of the law and that this change is made by the spirit by the word of the Law preparatorily and by way of preparation by the word of the Gospell consummatorily in respect of the finishing of it and that so as man cannot but receiue that sence and be affected with it and in this action the spirit carrieth himselfe altogether passâ—uely By which feeing hee saith the spirit doth allure the assent the liberty of the will yet remaining safe and whole This holy spirit working in mens hearts by the knowledge of the law Arnoldus doth put euen in Infidels and those that be not regenerate which although it is not the spirit of regeneration yet it doth dispose to regeneration V. This doctrine is repugnant not onely to the holy Scripture but also to experience and common sence For we see many hearers of the word that are no more affected with the preaching of it then if lessons should be sung to them that are deafe those whose mindes doth wander other-where and doth neuer returne besotted with such a stupidity that they haue no relish of the Gospell no feeling of it nor assent vnto it although to other things they are not slow Also there are very many who when they heare the Gospell receiue it with gibing laughter as an absurd thing as the Athenians Acts 13.32 For Christ preached is an offence to the Iewes and foolishnesse to the Greekes because they are offended and these mocke at it I haue seene those who being asked what they brought from the Sermon and what they remembred haue seriously answered they could not discerne whether the Preacher spoke French or Latine VI. In such men yea and in Infidels instructed in the law alone the Arminians say that the spirit of God doth worke and doth necessarily and as they speake vnresistably giue the sence and feeling of the true doctrine although he doth not giue the assent and agreeing to it but by the helpe of free-will Much more therefore among the Arminian multitude there will be none who is not drawne with the holy Ghost and who doth not feele in him the quickning spirit This flying in the ayre doth not much disser from the fanaticall enthusiasme and inspiration of the Anabaptists but that the Anabaptists will haue this sence and feeling peculiar to themselues but these innouators will haue it to be common both to the faithfull and to Infidels yea to all to whom either the Gospell is preached or the Law without the Gospell VII It is to no purpose to reckon vp places of Scripture to ouerthrow this opinion For hitherto belong all those places which wee haue brought Chapter 34. to proue that an vnregenerate man and an infidell is vnable and vnfit to euery worke that is good and profitable to saluation All which were false if the quickning power of the holy spirit did dwell in infidels and vnregenerate persons and if all men were drawne inwardly and by an internall calling VIII To this purpose are those places which teach vs that they alone come to Christ whom the father draweth Iohn 6.44 But according to Arminius all men are drawne and are inwardly affected by the holy Ghost As the winde bloweth where it listeth so also the spirit Iohn 3.8 Therefore hee doth not breath euery where In the multitude of people God opened the heart of Lydia before the rest When the Apostles were astonished the theefe beleeued among the cries of the raging people and so many impediments of beleeuing One little call of Christ moued Mathew that leauing the receipt of Custome he followed Christ when the men of Capernaum among so many miracles and good lessons were hardned at the preaching of the Gospell Whence it appeareth that some men are drawne by the efficacy and power of the spirit and some men are left in their naturall wickednesse Whence is this difference If dignity be respected who among the vnregenerate is not vnworthy of the grace of God seeing all men are of a stony heart and are dead in sinne But if the precedent disposition be respected why are the men of Capernaum rather called by the Gospell then the men of Tyre seeing that Christ doth witnesse that the men of Capernaum were worse affected and lesse inclined to repentance IX Arnoldus Page 445. doth contend that the heart of Lydia was therefore opened because shee was well affected and disposed and that God therefore opened her heart because she opened it her selfe For in that place shee is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that was addicted to the worship of God before she beleeued Paul I might say that there are many who worship God with a wicked and vnlawfull worship But I am more prone to this opinion that I should beleeue that Lydia a Iewish woman was indued with the spirit of regeneration and had receiued true pietie and beleeued in the Messiah promised although she did not yet know that Iesus the Sonne of Mary was the Christ because he was not preached to her Such a one was the Eunuch of Candaces and Cornelius who Acts 10. is called a deuout man whose prayers and almes and piety was praised before hee had heard any thing of Christ These were some of those men who as Saint Luke saith Chapter 2.25 Did expect the consolation of Israell I thinke it were wickednesse to account these among insidels and among the rest of the Iews who did blaspheme Christ and dispise him preaching Seeing therefore that Lydia was such a one God opened her heart that shee might attend to the words of Saint Paul and might learne from him that Christ whom shee did expect was already come and that those thinges were fulfilled which were fore-told of him by the Prophets X. Against these
the life or for a short time If not to the end then this promise is in vaine yea and absurd because by it God should promise that he would so long giue them his grace vntill he should againe take it away and destroy them for euer Also the words themselues doe witnesse that it is spoken of a perpetuall grace For God doth promise that he will cause that they should not depart from his waies in which words finall perseuerance is promised XVII And if the grace of God may be finally hindred in all and particular men it might come to passe that it should be hindred in all men and so there wold be none elected there would be no church and Christ should haue dyed in vaine For nothing can be imagined more absurd then to suppose that God decreed that some men should beleeue and be saued and that that should be done vnresistibly and yet that he did not decree of any one man nor of any particular person There is nothing more absurd then to determine that it must needes be that some be saued and yet that there is no man who may not be damned By what meanes can any certainety be made or concluded out of many vncertainties Or is it credible and likely that the decree of God as concerning the whole Church cannot be deluded and yet may be made frustrate in the seuerall members of the Church XVIII Nor doth the truth finde any small refuge in the words of Christ Iohn 6.44.45 No man can come to me except the father who hath sent me draw him and I will raise him vp at the last day It is written in the Prophets They shall be all taught of God Euery man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of the father commeth to me Euery word is a thunderbolt The Arminians thinke that there are many that heare and learne of the father who doe not come nor follow This is diametrically and directly contrary to the words of Christ Euery man that hath heard and hath learned of the father commeth to me For he speaketh of a certaine manner of hearing and learning which is peculiar to the elect and which doth worke in their heart what he commandeth The same Arminians doe affirme that many are drawne who notwithstanding doe not come But here also they offend against the words of Christ where he saith No man can come to me except the father draw him and I will raise him vp at the last day For he speaketh of a certaine sure kinde of drawing and obedience by which whosoeuer are drawne and doe come shall be raised vp by Christ at the last day Hee speaketh therefore of a kinde of drawing which cannot finally be resisted XIX Out of the same place of Saint Iohn this argument is framed Whosoeuer hath heard and hath learned of the father doth come Whosoeuer is drawne hath heard learned Therfore whosoeuer is drawne doth come XX. By the same place the opinion of the Arminians is refuted whereby they teach that all men are drawne and that sufficient grace is giuen to all For the scope of Christ is to set downe the cause why the Iewes of Capernaum could not come to wit because they were not drawne by the Father that on the contrary he might teach that they would haue come if they had beene drawne by which words hee doth not obscurely teach that all who are drawne doe come XXI These proofes brought out of this place are not grounded on the word drawing which wee know to be many times taken more largely and to be sometimes vsed for an invitation which is not obeyed but they are grounded on the whole coherence of this place and on the course of the speech which doth more then certainely demonstrate that it is here spoken of a kinde of drawing with which whosoeuer are drawne doe come In which sense the word drawing is vsed in the beginning of the Canticles Draw mee and we will runne after thee Which also Saint Austin doth acknowledge Lib. 1. against the two Epistles of the Pelagians where when hee had admonished the Reader that Christ did not say lead but draw he addeth Who is drawne if he be already willing And yet no man commeth vnlesse he be willing He is therefore after a marueilous manner drawne that he should be willing by him who knoweth to worke inwardly in the very hearts of men not that men vnwilling should beleeue which cannot be but that of vnwilling they might be made willing XXII Nor is it credible that that grace is finally resistible whose chiefe office is to take away finall resistance for so it should not doe that for which it is ordained especially seeing that Christ saith Iohn 4.14 Whosoeuer drinketh of the water that I shall giue him shall neuer thirst but the water which I shall giue him shall be in him a well of water springing vp to euerlasting life For it doth manifestly appeare that it is here spoken of a kinde of grace which being once well admitted and receiued into the heart is neuer lost but doth remaine to eternall life and like an euerlasting fountaine is neuer dryed No lesse direct are the words of Christ Iohn 6.35 He that beleeueth in me shall neuer thirst and Vers 51. He that shall eate of this bread shall liue for euer All which were false if true faith which doth seriously apprehend Christ might be shaken off and be finally lost For then there would be some who after the eating of the heauenly bread should perish for euer XXIII And if there be any certainty of saluation or any full perswasion of the Saints it must needs be that the grace of God in them cannot be ouercome nor finally extinguished for otherwise this certainety were vaine and deceitfull For how can he be certaine of his saluation who doth beleeue that the grace of God may be hindred and abolished by a finall resistance And that on Gods part there is no absolute and peremptory election but when the course of our life is finished And that on mans part the free-will of man in most holy men is furnished with power whereby it may altogether driue away the spirit of God XXIV But the Scripture in sixe hundred places doth teach and command certaine and sure confidence of our saluation Saint Paul saith Rom. 8.16 The spirit doth witnesse together with our spirit that we are the sonnes of God Can there be any more certaine witnesse and more worthy of credit then the spirit of God Surely the Scripture doth teach how certaine this inward testimony is while it calleth the spirit a seale deepely imprinting the promises of God on our hearts and the pledge of our inheritance Ephes 1.13 and Chap. 4.30 and 2 Cor. 1. So also 1 Iohn 5.10 He that beleeueth on the sonne of God hath the witnesse of God in himselfe This testimony is beyond all exception which testimony whosoeuer doth not feele in himselfe he ought rather to thinke
the sinnes of their Ancestors Arminius ought not to extend it to so many ages seeing the law doth not extend the visitation of the iniquity of the fathers vpon the children beyond the third and fourth generation And that because a man can scarce liue so long as to see his issue beyond the third or fourth generation For therefore are children punished their fathers beholding it that griefe might thereby increase to their parents and that the fathers might be punished by the misâ—ries of the children which is a cause to me of suspecting that this visitation of the sinne of the fathers vpon the children ought to be vnderstood of temporall and not of eternall punishments VII But to that which was said that the punishment was greater then the sinne because they which in Adam sinned onely in power are for his sinne punished in act it is easie to answere For wee so sinned in Adam in power that also the sinne was in vs in act neither doe we onely beare the punishment of anothers sinne but also of our owne nor is it any maruaile if God hath pardoned Adam and doth not pardon many of his posterity for Adam beleeued and repented but these refuse the grace of God offred and persist in impenitency CHAP. X. Of the propagation of the sinne of Adam to his posteritie where also of the traduction of the soule and of sinne it selfe WE haue already said that the sinne of Adam is conueyed to his posterity two manner of wayes by Imputation and Propagation Of imputation it hath been spoken now we are to speake of Propagation I. That the sinne of Adam hath infected all mankinde with an hereditary deprauation and that this contagion hath farre spred it selfe hath beene abundantly proued by those places by which we haue declared that euery man was conceiued and borne in sinne As by one man sinne entred into the World and death by sinne so death went ouer all in whom all men sinned Rom. 5. II. And if any one would exactly view the manner and circumstances of Adams sinne he shall finde that in euery man the character and no obscure image of that first sinne is deepely impressed for there is engrafted in euery man curiosity desire of knowing those thin gs which pertaine nothing to him and also a distrustfull haesitation and doubting of the word of God And as Adam laid the fault vpon his wife and his wife vpon the Serpent so is it naturall to euery man to couer his fault with anothers fault Also flight and trembling at the meeting of God lying dissembling and a sense of vndecent nakednesse are in all men by nature and are deriued into posterity from that fountaine and to these things we are not taught but made not instructed but infected To these things we doe not onely not need a master but contrary to the teaching of masters and to discipline all stayes and barres being broken wee returne to them nature being conqueror III. As therefore the egges of the Aspe are iustly broken and serpents new bred are iustly killed although they haue yet poysoned none so infants are rightly obnoxious and subiect to punishments For although they haue not yet sinned in act yet there is in them that contagious pestilence and that naturall pronenesse to sinne IV. But hence ariseth a question hard to be dissolued to wit by what meanes sinne is traduced from parents to their posterity and how mens soules may draw this deprauation For seeing all things that God doth are good it is not credible nor likely that God put Originall sinne into mens soules For how should he punish those soules which hee himselfe had corrupted And if he created the soule pure and iust but being included in the body it is defiled with the contagion other discommodities no whit lesse doe arise For to include a pure and innocent soule in a stinking prison and to thrust it as it were into a bridewell that it might bee corrupted there doth not seeme to agree with the iustice and goodnesse of God V. Hereto is added also that sin is the deprauation of the soule not of the body for sin is a spirituall thing a vice of the will the body therefore cannot giue that to the soule which it hath not And seeing the body doth not sinne but when the soule doth vse the body as an organ to sinne Rom. 6.13 it is manifest that sinne doth passe from the soule into the body and not from the body into the soule to which thing the very sinne of Adam is a cleere testimony to vs For Adam first sinned in will before hee stretched forth his hand to the forbidden Apple Caluin saw this who in the first chapter of the second booke of his Institutions hath these words This contagion hath not its cause in the substance of the flesh or of the soule but because it was so appointed by God that what gifts hee had bestowed vpon the first man he should haue them and also loose them both for himselfe and his VI. Here is a way that is obscure and slippery in which we must goe with wary steppes I doe not propound to my selfe to satisfie them that are braine-sicke and wickedly acute I will onely set downe those things which seeme to mee to be agreeable to the word of God and to reason whereunto that the way may be made plaine some things are to be spoken of the originall of the soule and of the traduction of it VII Origen following Plato was of opinion that all soules were at first created together with the Angels and afterwards put into bodies This hee disputes lib. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chap. 7. Tertullian will haue the soule to be conueyed with the seede and the soule of the sonne to be from the soule of the father which is not to be marueiled at in him who doth contend that the soule is the body lib de anima Chap. 5. Saint Ierome in his Epistle to Marcellina and Anapsychia doth witnesse that the greater part of the west were of the same opinion Saint Austin hath writ foure bookes of the originall of the soule in which he leaueth this question vndecided neither dares hee rashly determine any thing And his second booke of retractations Chap. 56. doth witnes that hee continued in that doubt to his death Yet in his 157. Epistle hee doth debate with Tertullian and doth more incline to the contrary opinion VIII But we determin that the reasonable soule is infused into the * i e. The childe conceiued and not yet borne embryon but not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to come from without as Aristotle would haue it lib. 2. de generat animal Cap. 3. But we thinke that it is formed by God in the fruit and in the rudiment of mans body being led thereto by the authority of the Scripture whereunto reason and the nature of the soule it selfe doth agree IX Moses Numb 27.16 saith thus to God Let the Lord the
God of the spirits of all flesh set a man ouer the Congregation And the Apostle to the Hebrewes Chap. 12. v. 9. And if saith he wee had fathers of our bodies which corrected vs and we gaue them reuerence Shall we not much rather be in subiection vnto the father of spirits and liue It is not without consideration that God by a peculiar elegie and stile is called the father of spirits that he might be opposed to the fathers of the flesh for if the soule be by traduction those that are fathers of the flesh would also be the fathers of the spirits Neither should God by this title be distinguished from the fathers of the flesh if he wrought alike in both and did not forme mens soules otherwise then their bodies X. Wherefore Ecclesiastes Chap. 12. saith The body is dissolued to dust and the spirit returneth to God that gaue it which surely would not be aptly spoken if God should giue the spirit no otherwise then he giues the body Certainly by that word of returning of the soule to God Salomon doth insinuate that the soule came from God and doth returne thitherwhence she had her originall which cannot be said of the body XI The conception of Christ in the wombe of his mother doth adde credit to this opinion For seeing that according to the flesh he had not a father it is plaine that his soule was immediately created by God And if it be necessary that thou maist be sonne of Adam to haue thy soule traducted by thy fathers seede Christ could not be called the sonne of Adam nor of Dauid XII It is vnsauory which is brought out of the beginning of Exodus to proue the traduction of the soule Seauenty soules came out of the loynes of Iacob for the propriety of the Hebrew is well knowne that by soules are vnderstood persons XIII Also reason it selfe doth agree with the word of God 1. For the soule which is something which is aboue nature cannot be in a common condition generated with other naturall things 2. Because it is immateriall it cannot be brought forth by the power of any matter 3. If the soule were not generated vnlesse by the body it could not be without the body nor could it subsist by it selfe alone 4. They that would haue the soule to be traduced by the seede doe driue themselues into straights from which they cannot possible free themselues For why should not the soule of the mother be also traduced into the sonne or if the soule of the sonne be traduced as well from the soule of the mother as of the father it must needs be that two soules doe grow together are mingled into one 5. What will be come of so much seede that is lost which either fals from them that sleep or is vnhonestly lost or being receiued into the wombe doth not come to conception Will so many soules of men be lost or shall they be choaked in the wombe or shall they remaine alone without matter seeing it is certaine that they belong not to the number of men 6. Also it must neede be that eyther the whole soule of the father is traduced and so the father shall be made soule-lesse or else a portion and part of the soule and so the soule shall be diuisible Neither can the whole soule be transmitted as when light is kindled of light for such a propagation is made by the transmutation of the matter applyed vnto it and so the applyed matter of the begetting soule should be turned into the soule 7. If the definition of the soule laide downe by Aristotle Lib. 2. de anima Cap 1. and euery where conceiued be true by which he defineth the soule to be the first act of the naturall originall body hauing life in power I doe not see how the rationall soule can enforme and shape the seede in which there are no Organs XIV Neither is man therefore to be said not to beget man although he doth not beget the soule nor the soule be brought forth of the power of the seed yet is it sufficient for the generation of man that in generating although he doth not giue the whole substance yet he doth giue the subsistance of the person and doth not onely supply the matter of the infant but doth also minister dispositions and aptitudes to receiue that forme by which man hath his being For seeing that by the testimony of the Scripture the Virgin Mary is the mother of Christ although the extraordinary power of the holy-Ghost perfected his conception who neede doubt to affirme that commonly man doth beget man seeing all naturall things are done by ordinary meanes and rules These thornes being plucked vp the way to know the manner of the traduction of sinne from parents to their children is made playner XV. In the beginning I thinke I haue shewed by sure reasons that sinne doth not passe from the body into the soule And on the other side that God put into the soule this inclination to sinne it is a great wickednesse to beleeue And yet that originall sinne was in the soule God being vnwilling or being indifferent and permitting it with an idle permission cannot be spoken or beleeued without great offence For seeing Originall sinne is the punishment of the sinne of Adam he that saith that this punishment was inflicted onely by the permission of God and not by his will doth take away from God the office of a Iudge for Iudges doe not punish by permitting but by decreeing XVI For the explication of this Doctrine we lay downe these sixe propositions and foundations of the truth First Although we had not beene borne of Adam yet because hee had receiued supernaturall good things both in his owne and our name seeing he lost them by his owne fault wee are iustly depriued of them Euen as among many brethren one doth waste and consume that mony to his owne and brothers losse which hee receiued in his owne and brothers name Secondly God put into the soule these faculties Vnderstanding Will Sense Appetite which are naturally carried to things that are obuious known and not to things that are vnknowne and farre remoued Thirdly Man cannot know and loue supernaturall and diuine things without diuine and supernaturall enlightning Fourthly Neither could man vse those things that are obuious and naturall iustly and conueniently and to the glory of God vnlesse some supernaturall light did shine forth to him Fifthly God hath put into euery man for his owne preseruation a loue of himselfe which loue is naturally good but doth then beginne to be morally good when it doth accord to and helpe forward the loue of God Sixthly the manners of the minde doe for the most part follow the temper of the body XVII These things being laid down I say that God doth create the soules of men good but destitute of heauenly gilts and supernaturall light and that iustly because Adam lost those gifts for himselfe and