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Title: An Apology for the True Christian Divinity: Being an Explanation
and Vindication of the Principles and Doctrines of the People Called
Quakers
Creator(s): Barclay, Robert (1648-1690)
Print Basis: New York: Samuel Wood and Sons, 1827. 8th ed.
Rights: Public Domain
CCEL Subjects: All;
LC Call no: BX7601
LC Subjects:
Christian Denominations
Protestantism
Post-Reformation
Other Protestant denominations
Friends. Society of Friends. Quakers
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AN
APOLOGY
FOR THE
TRUE CHRISTIAN DIVINITY:
BEING
AN EXPLANATION AND VINDICATION
OF
THE PRINCIPLES AND DOCTRINES
OF THE PEOPLE CALLED
QUAKERS.
WRITTEN IN LATIN AND ENGLISH
BY ROBERT BARCLAY,
AND SINCE TRANSLATED INTO HIGH DUTCH, LOW DUTCH, FRENCH,
AND SPANISH, FOR THE INFORMATION OF STRANGERS.
FIRST STEREOTYPE EDITION, FROM THE EIGHTH LONDON EDITION.
NEW YORK:
PRINTED BY SAMUEL WOOD AND SONS
No 261 PEARL STREET.
FOR THE TRUSTEES OF OBADIAH BROWN'S BENEVOLENT FUND.
1827.
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INTRODUCTION
TO THE PRESENT EDITION.
The following brief account of the Author of the Apology, may not be
uninteresting to the reader. It will tend to show that the tenour of
his life corresponded with the holiness of his profession. It will also
evince the high estimation in which his character and writings were
held by his cotemporaries of the same religious faith. The truth of
this last circumstance, has been called in question by some who have
endeavoured to misrepresent the acknowledged faith of the Society, of
which he was a bright and conspicuous ornament.
Robert Barclay was born at Gordonstown, in the shire of Murray, in
Scotland, the 23d of December, (the then tenth month,) 1648. He was the
son of David Barclay, of whom Robert testifies, that he was a favoured
and valuable Friend, and made a happy end. See Barclay's Works in
folio, page 907.
Robert received the rudiments of his education in his native country,
and having attended the best schools there, he was sent to the Scots'
College at Paris, of which his uncle Robert was rector. Here he made so
great proficiency in his studies, as to gain the notice and praise of
the masters of the college. In compliance with his mother's dying
request, his father went to Paris, and returned with him home in 1664,
when he was about sixteen years of age. His father, during his ab-
sence, had embraced the principles of the Society of Friends, and
Robert, when he had attained to the age of nineteen, being convinced of
the truth of these principles, did not hesitate openly to profess them,
and soon became a public advocate in what he believed to be the cause
of truth; cheerfully submitting to the indignities and imprisonments
which were often the lot of our early Friends. In his youth, and even
in childhood, he appears to have been favoured with the visitations of
Divine love, by the tendering influence of which, he was fitted and
prepared for the duties lie was afterwards called to perform. For a
particular account of these early religious impressions, the reader is
referred to the Introduction to his treatise on Universal Love; and to
the 7th section of the XIth Proposition of this work, pages 353-357.
Among his other extensive labours, it may be stated, that in 1677, he
accompanied George Fox, William Penn, and other Friends, in a religious
visit to Holland, a service in which they were much united, as appears
by George Fox's Journal, Vol. II. pages 235, 237.
In 1686, by the solicitation of George Fox and other Friends, he came
up to London, and remained there some time, actively employed in
various ways on behalf of the Society.
In 1690, he accompanied James Dickinson, in a religious visit to some
parts of the north of Scotland, and soon after his return to his own
house at Ury, he was seized with a fever, which in a short time put a
period to his useful life, on the 3d of 8th mo. (now the 10th mo.) in
his forty-second year.
The estimation in which his character and writings were held by George
Fox, who, in the Divine hand, was greatly instrumental in the founding
and settlement of the Society of Friends, will appear from the
following short, but comprehensive testimony, prefixed to the folio
edition of Robert Barclays works; which being now rarely to be met
with, the testimony is copied entire; trusting that the reader will not
be so fastidious as to contemn the simplicity of style of this eminent
and faithful servant.
"A testimony concerning our dear brother in the Lord, Robert Barclay,
who was a wise and faithful minister in Christ, and writ many precious
books in the defence of the Truth, in English and Latin, and after
translated into French and Dutch. He was a scholar and a man of great
parts, and underwent many calumnies, slanders and reproaches, and
sufferings, for the name of Christ: but the Lord gave him power over
them all. He travelled often up and down Scotland, and in England, and
in Holland, and Germany, and did good service for the Lord: and was a
man of repute among men, and preacht the everlasting Gospel of Christ
freely, turning people from darkness to light, and from the power of
Satan to God. And his father was a noble man for the Lord and his
truth, and died in the Lord. And after, when his son Robert had
fulfilled his ministry and finished his testimony, he also died in the
Lord, and is blessed, and at rest, and ceased from his labours, and his
works follow him. Much more might be written concerning this faithful
brother in the Lord, and pattern in the church of Christ; who was a man
I very much loved for his labour in the truth: but I shall leave the
rest to his countrymen; and the Lord raise up more faithful labourers
in Christ Jesus, to stand in his place, and preserve his tender wife
end children in the truth. Amen.
The 13th of 9th mo. (now the 11th mo.) 1690."
William Penn, in his excellent Preface to Robert Barclay's works,
speaking of the Apology, says, "The book shows so much for us and
itself too, that I need say the less; but recommend it to thy serious
perusal, Reader, as that which may be instrumental, with God's
blessing, to inform thy understanding, confirm thy belief, and comfort
thy mind about the excellent things of God's kingdom."
From the testimonies of George Fox, William Penn, Patrick Livingston,
and Andrew Jaffrey, men who knew him well; and from his life and
writings; the following character of Robert Barclay is faithfully
delineated.
"He was distinguished by strong mental powers, particularly by great
penetration, and a sound and accurate judgment. His talents were much
improved by a regular and classical education. It does not, however,
appear that his superior qualifications produced that elation of mind,
which is too often their attendant: he was meek, humble, and ready to
allow others the merits they possessed. All his passions were under the
most excellent government. Two of his intimate friends, in their
character of him, declare, that they never knew him to be angry. He had
the happiness of early perceiving the infinite superiority of religion
to every other attainment; and Divine grace enabled him to dedicate his
life and all that he possessed, to promote the cause of piety and
virtue. For the welfare of his friends, he was sincerely and warmly
concerned, and he travelled and wrote much, as well as suffered
cheerfully, in support of the Society and the principles to which he
had conscientiously attached himself. But this was not a blind and
bigotted attachment. His zeal was tempered with charity; and he loved
and respected goodness wherever he found it. His uncorrupted integrity
and liberality of sentitiment, his great abilities, and the suavity of
his disposition, gave him much interest with persons of rank and
influence; and he employed it in a manner that marked the benevolence
of his heart. He loved peace, and was often instrumental in settling
disputes, and in producing reconciliation between contending parties.
In the support and pursuit of what he believed to be right, he
possessed great firmness of mind; which was early evinced in the pious
and dutiful sentiments he expressed to his uncle, who tempted him by
great offers to remain in France, against the desire of his father: "He
is my father, (said he,) and he must be obeyed." All the virtues
harmonize, and are connected with one another: this firm and resolute
spirit in the prosecution of duty, was united with great sympathy and
compassion towards persons in affliction and distress. They were
consoled by his tenderness, assisted by his advice, and occasionally
relieved by his bounty. His spiritual discernment and religious
experience, directed by that Divine influence which he valued above all
things, eminently qualified him to instruct the ignorant, to reprove
the irreligious, to strengthen the feeble minded, to animate the
advanced Christian to still greater degrees of virtue and holiness.
In private life he was equally amiable. His conversation was cheerful,
guarded, and instructive. He was a dutiful son, an affectionate and
faithful husband, a tender and careful father, a kind and considerate
master. Without exaggeration, it may be said, that piety and virtue
were recommended by his example; and that though the period of his life
was short, he had, by the aid of Divine grace, most wisely and happily
improved it. He lived long enough to manifest in an eminent degree, the
temper and conduct of a Christian, and the virtues and qualifications
of a true minister of the Gospel."
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Short account of the Life and Writings of Robert Barclay, published at
Philadelphia, in 1805.
Among Robert Barclay's other valuable works, are his "Catechism and
Confession of Faith," first published in 1673; the "Anarchy of the
Ranters," in 1677; and a treatise on "Universal Love," in 1777. The
date of the address to King Charles II. prefixed to the Apology, shows
that the first edition was published in 1675, in the 28th year of the
Author's age, and this is corroborated by William Penn's Preface to
Barclay's works, page 21, and by John Gough's History. From its first
publication, it has received the unqualified approbation of the Society
of Friends, as containing a just and correct exposition of their faith
and principles. In reply to an inquiry of a Correspondent in the
"Christian Observer," a periodical work published in London, in which
some statements made by Leslie, (a writer against the society in early
times,) have been discussed; Henry Tuke, a valued Friend, in England,
since deceased, says, [see Christian Observer for 1804, vol. III. pages
73, 74,] "The first publication of the work, (Barclay's Apology) was
under the sanction of the Society; and it having passed through two or
three editions in English, as well as some in other languages, before
Leslie could have written the controverted passages, are circumstances
which fix upon him a wilful misrepresentation of the Society. It may be
proper to add, (he continues) that it was first printed in Latin; has
since passed through eight editions in English, under the sanction of
the Society, besides one printed in Dublin, and another at Birmingham,
by Baskerville. It has likewise undergone three editions in German, two
in Dutch, two in French, one in Spanish, and one in Danish; also a
second edition in Latin. All or most of these in foreign languages,
have likewise been at the direction and expense of the Society; and a
year never elapses without a public recognition of the work by the
Society at large, by reading over a list of books in their Annual
Meetings, in order to consider of the republishing of such as are
nearly out of print. Nor is this all; it is a book, as far as my
knowledge extends, the only book which has been given by the Society to
many of the public libraries in Europe, as well as to some sovereigns
and ambassadors, for conveying a correct information of their
principles, and for counteracting those misrepresentations with which
adversaries, such as Leslie, have endeavoured to impress the public
mind."
By this account, it appears that to the time when H. Tuke wrote, 1804,
twenty-one editions of the Apology had been published in Europe. Four
or five editions of the work have also been printed in America. It has
twice been published under the sanction of the Yearly Meeting of
Friends in New England, viz. in 1728, when an edition of one thousand
copies was printed, by the direction of the Meeting, under the care of
a committee appointed for that purpose; and again in 1774, the printing
of another edition having been proposed, it is stated in the minute
then made, that the proposal was unanimously approved by the Meeting,
and a Committee appointed to superintend the printing, and correct the
press.
Friends having thus, at different times, and in various parts of the
world, united in their approbation of the work, this circumstance, it
is thought, will be sufficient to convince a candid public, that as a
Society, they have been uniform and consist- ent in their religious
profession as to doctrine. This uniform sanction of the Society,
together with the acknowledged piety of the author, as well as the
intrinsic value of the work itself, will, it is confidently trusted,
secure for it a candid perusal. The design of the author in its first
publication, was undoubtedly, the promotion of the cause of Truth and
Righteousness in the earth. If this great cause shall be further
promoted by its more extensive circulation, the sincere desire of the
present publishers will be realized.
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TO
CHARLES II.
KING OF GREAT BRITAIN,
AND
THE DOMINIONS THEREUNTO BELONGING:
ROBERT BARCLAY,
A servant of Jesus Christ, called of God to the Dispensation of the
Gospel now again revealed, and, after a long and dark night of
Apostacy, commanded to be preached to all nations, wisheth health and
salvation.
As the condition of kings and princes placeth them in a station more
obvious to the view and observation of the world, than that of other
men, of whom, as Cicero observes, neither any word or action can be
obscure; so are those kings, during whose appearance upon the stage of
this world it pleaseth the Great King of kings singularly to make known
unto men the wonderful steps of his unsearchable providence, more
signally observed, and their lives and actions more diligently
remarked, and inquired into by posterity; especially if those things be
such as not only relate to the outward transactions of this world, but
also are signalized by the manifestation or revelation of the knowledge
of God in matters spiritualand religious. These are the things that
rendered the lives of Cyrus, Augustus Caesar, and Constantine the Great
in former times, and of Charles the Fifth, and some other modern
princes in these last ages, so considerable.
But among all the transactions which it hath pleased God to permit, for
the glory of his power, and the manifestation of his wisdom and
providence, no age furnisheth us with things so strange and marvellous,
whether with respect to matters civil or religious, as these that have
fallen out within the compass of thy time; who, though thou be not yet
arrived at the fiftieth year of thy age, hast yet been a witness of
stranger things than many ages before produced. So that whether we
respect those various troubles wherein thou foundest thyself engaged
while scarce got out of thy infancy; the many different afflictions
wherewith men of thy circumstances are often unacquainted; the strange
and unparalleled fortune that befel thy father; thy own narrow escape,
and banishment following thereupon, with the great improbability of thy
ever returning, at least without very much pains and tedious
combatings; or finally the incapacity thou wert under to accomplish
such a design, considering the strength of those that had possessed
themselves of thy throne, and the terror they had inflicted upon
foreign states; and yet that, after all this, thou shouldest be
restored without stroke of sword, the help or assistance of foreign
states, or the contrivance and work of human policy; all these do
sufficiently declare that it is the Lord's doing; which, as it is
marvellous in our eyes, so it will justly be a matter of wonder and
astonishment to generations to come; and may sufficiently serve, if
rightly observed, to confute and confound that Atheism wherewith this
age doth so much abound. As the vindication of the liberty of
conscience (which thy father, by giving way to the importunate clamours
of the clergy, the answering and fulfilling of whose unrighteous wills
has often proved hurtful and pernicious to princes, sought in some part
to restrain) was a great occasion of those troubles and revolutions; so
the pretence of conscience was that which carried it on, and brought it
to that pitch it came to. And though no doubt some that were engaged in
that work designed good things, at least in the beginning, albeit
always wrong in the manner they took to accomplish it, viz. by carnal
weapons; yet so soon as they had tasted the sweets of the possessions
of them they had turned out, they quickly began to do those things
themselves for which they had accused others. For their hands were
found full of oppression, and they hated the reproof of instruction,
which is the way of life; and they evilly entreated the messengers of
the Lord, and caused his prophets to be beaten and imprisoned, and
persecuted his people, whom he had called and gathered out from among
them, whom he had made to beat their swords into plough-shares, and
their spears into pruning-hooks, and not to learn carnal war any more:
but he raised them up, and armed them with spiritual weapons, even with
his own Spirit and power, whereby they testified in the streets and
highways, and public markets and synagogues, against the pride, vanity,
lusts, and hypocrisy of that generation, who were righteous in their
own eyes, though often cruelly entreated therefor: and they faithfully
prophesied and foretold them of their judgment and downfal, which came
upon them, as by several warnings and epistles delivered to Oliver and
Richard Cromwell, the parliament, and other then powers, yet upon
record, doth appear.
And after it pleased God to restore thee, what oppressions, what
banishments, and evil entreatings they have met with, by men pretending
thy authority, and cloaking their mischief with thy name, is known to
most men in this island; especially in England, where there is scarce a
prison that hath not been filled with them, nor a judge before whom
they have not been haled; though, they could never yet be found guilty
of any thing that might deserve that usage. Therefore the sense of
their innocency did no doubt greatly contribute to move thee, three
years ago, to cause some hundreds of them to be set at liberty: for
indeed their sufferings are singular, and obviously distinguishable
from all the rest of such as live under thee in these two respects.
First, In that among all the plots contrived by others against thee
since thy return into Britain, there was never any, owned of that
people, found or known to be guilty, (though many of them have been
taken and imprisoned upon such kind of jealousies,) but were always
found innocent and harmless, as became the followers of Christ; not
coveting after, nor contending for, the kingdoms of this world, but
subject to every ordinance of man, for conscience' sake.
Secondly, In that in the hottest times of persecution, and the most
violent prosecution of those laws made against meetings, being clothed
with innocency, they have boldly stood to their testimony for God,
without creeping into holes or corners, or once hiding themselves, as
all other Dissenters have done; but daily met, according to their
custom, in the public places appointed for that end; so that none of
thy officers can say of them, that they have surprised them in a
corner, overtaken them in a private conventicle, or catched them
lurking in their secret chambers; nor needed they to send out spies to
get them, whom they were sure daily to find in their open assemblies,
testifying for God and his truth.
By which those who have an eye to see, may observe their Christian
patience and courage, constancy and suffering joined in one, more than
in any other people that differ from them, or oppose them. And yet, in
the midst of those troubles, thou canst bear witness, that as on the
one part they never sought to detract from thee, or to render thee and
thy government odious to the people, by nameless and scandalous
pamphlets and libels; so on the other hand they have not spared to
admonish, exhort, and reprove thee; and have faithfully discharged
their consciences towards thee, without flattering words, as ever the
true prophets in ancient times used to do to those kings and princes,
under whose power violence and oppression was acted.
And although it is evident by experience to be most agreeable both to
divine truth and human policy, to allow every one to serve God
according to their consciences, nevertheless those other sects, who for
the most part durst not peep out in the times of persecution, while
these innocent people stood bold and faithful, do now combine in a
joint confederacy, notwithstanding all the former janglings and
contentions among themselves, to render us odious; seeking unjustly to
wrest our doctrine and words, as if they were both inconsistent with
Christianity and civil society: so that to effectuate this their work
of malice against us, they have not been ashamed to take the help, and
commend the labours, of some invidious Socinians against us. So do
Herod and Pontius Pilate agree to crucify Christ.
But our practice, known to thee by good experience to be more
consistent with Christianity and civil society, and the peace and
welfare of this island, than that of those who thus accuse us, doth
sufficiently guard us against this calumny; and we may indeed appeal to
the testimony of thy conscience, as a witness for us in the face of the
nations.
These things moved me to present the world with a brief, but true
account of this people's principles, in some short theological
propositions; which, according to the will of God, proving successful,
beyond my expectation, to the satisfaction of several, and to the
exciting in many a desire of being farther informed concerning us, as
being every where evil spoken of; and likewise meeting with public
opposition by some, as such will always do, so long as the devil rules
in the children of disobedience; I was thereby farther engaged, in the
liberty of the Lord, to present to the world this apology of the truth
held by those people: which, because of thy interest in them, and
theirs in thee, as having first appeared, and mostly increased, in
these nations under thy rule, I make bold to present unto thee.
Thou knowest, and hast experienced their faithfulness towards their
God, their patience in suffering, their peaceableness towards the king,
their honesty, plainness and integrity in their faithful warnings and
testimonies to thee; and if thou wilt allow thyself so much time as to
read this, thou mayest find how consonant their principles are both to
scripture, truth, and right reason. The simplicity of their behaviour,
the generality of their condition, as being poor men and illiterate;
the manner of their procedure, being without the wisdom and policy of
this world; hath made many conclude them fools and madmen, and neglect
them, as not being capable of reason. But though it be to them as their
crown, thus to be esteemed of the wise, the great, and learned of this
world, and though they rejoice to be accounted fools for Christ's sake;
yet of late some, even such who in the world's account are esteemed
both wise and learned, begin to judge otherwise of them, and find that
they hold forth things very agreeable both to scripture, reason, and
true learning.
As it is inconsistent with the truth I bear, so it is far from me to
use this epistle as an engine to flatter thee, the usual design of such
works; and therefore I can neither dedicate it to thee, nor crave thy
patronage, as if thereby I might have more confidence to present it to
the world, or be more hopeful of its success. To God alone I owe what I
have, and that more immediately in matters spiritual; and therefore to
him alone, and to the service of his truth, I dedicate whatever work he
brings forth in me; to whom only the praise and honour appertain, whose
truth needs not the patronage of worldly princes; his arm and power
being that alone by which it is propagated, established, and confirmed.
But I found it upon my spirit to take occasion to present this book
unto thee; that as thou hast been often warned by several of that
people, who are inhabitants of England; so thou mayest not want a
seasonable advertisement from a member of thy ancient kingdom of
Scotland; and that thou mayest know, which I hope thou wilt have no
reason to be troubled at, that God is raising up and increasing that
people in this nation. And the nations shall also hereby know, that the
truth we profess is not a work of darkness, nor propagated by stealth;
and that we are not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, because we know it
to be the power of God unto salvation; Rom 1:16 and that we are no ways
so inconsistent with government, nor such disturbers of the peace, as
our enemies, by traducing us, have sought to make the world believe we
are: for which to thee I dare appeal, as a witness of our peaceableness
and Christian patience.
Generations to come shall not more admire that singular step of Divine
Providence, in restoring thee to thy throne, without outward bloodshed,
than they shall admire the increase and progress of this truth, without
all outward help, and against so great opposition; which shall be none
of the least things rendering thy memory remarkable. God hath done
great things for thee; he hath sufficiently shown thee, that it is by
him princes rule, and that he can pull down and set up at his pleasure.
He hath often faithfully warned thee by his servants, since he restored
thee to thy royal dignity, that thy heart might not wax wanton against
him, to forget his mercies and providences towards thee; whereby he
might permit thee to be soothed up, and lulled asleep in thy sins, by
the flattering of court-parasites, who, by their fawning, are the ruin
of many princes.
There is no king in the world, who can so experimentally testify of
God's providence and goodness; neither is there any who rules so many
free people, so many true Christians: which thing renders thy
government more honourable, thyself more considerable, than the
accession of many nations, filled with slavish and superstitious souls.
Thou hast tasted of prosperity and adversity; thou knowest what it is
to be banished thy native country, to be over-ruled, as well as to
rule, and sit upon the throne; and being oppressed, thou hast reason to
know how hateful the oppressor is both to God and man: If after all
these warnings and advertisements, thou dost not turn unto the Lord
with all thy heart, but forget him, who remembered thee in thy
distress, and give up thyself to follow lust and vanity; surely great
will be thy condemnation.
Against which snare as well as the temptation of those that may or do
feed thee, and prompt thee to evil, the most excellent and prevalent
remedy will be, to apply thyself to that Light of Christ, which shineth
in thy conscience, which neither can nor will flatter thee, nor suffer
thee to be at ease in thy sins; but doth and will deal plainly and
faithfully with thee, as those that are followers thereof have also
done.
GOD Almighty, who hath so signally hitherto visited thee with his love,
so touch and reach thy heart, ere the clay of thy visitation be
expired, that thou mayest effectually turn to him, so as to improve thy
place and station for his name. So wisheth, so prayeth,
Thy faithful friend and subject,
Robert Barclay.
From Ury, in my native country
of Scotland, the 26th of the
month called November, in the
year MDCLXXV.
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R. B. Unto the Friendly Reader wisheth Salvation.
FORASMUCH as that, which above all things I propose to myself, is to
declare and defend the truth, for the service whereof I have given up
and devoted myself, and all that is mine; therefore there is nothing
which for its sake (by the help and assistance of God) I may not
attempt. And in this confidence, I did some time ago publish certain
propositions of divinity, comprehending briefly the chief principles
and doctrines of truth; which appearing not unprofitable to some, and
being beyond my expectation well received by many, though also opposed
by some envious ones, did so far prevail, as in some part to remove
that false and monstrous opinion, which lying fame, and the malice of
our adversaries, had implanted in the minds of some, concerning us and
our doctrines.
In this respect it seemed to me not fit to spare my pains and labour;
and therefore, being actuated by the same Divine Spirit, and the like
intention of propagating the truth, by which I published the
propositions themselves, I judged it meet to explain them somewhat more
largely at this time, and defend them by certain arguments.
Perhaps my method of writing may seem not only different, but even
contrary, to that which is commonly used by the men called divines,
with which I am not concerned: inasmuch as I confess myself to be not
only no imitator and admirer of the school-men, but an opposer and
despiser of them as such, by whose labour I judge the Christian
religion to be so far from being bettered, that it is rather destroyed.
Neither have I sought to accommodate this my work to itching ears, who
desire rather to comprehend in their heads the sublime notions of
truth, than to embrace it in their hearts: for what I have written
comes more from my heart than from my head; what I have heard with the
ears of my soul, and seen with my inward eyes, and my hands have
handled of the Word of Life, and what hath been inwardly manifested to
me of the things of God, that do I declare; not so much regarding the
eloquence and excellency of speech, as desiring to demonstrate the
efficacy and operation of truth; and if I err sometimes in the former,
it is no great matter; for I act not here the Grammarian, or the
Orator, but the Christian; and therefore in this I have followed the
certain rule of the Divine Light, and of the Holy Scriptures.
And to make an end; what I have written, is written not to feed the
wisdom and knowledge, or rather vain pride of this world, but to starve
and oppose it, as the little preface prefixed to the propositions doth
show; which, with the title of them, is as followeth.
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THESES THEOLOGICAE.
======
TO
THE CLERGY,
OF WHAT SORT SOEVER,
UNTO WHOSE HANDS THESE MAY COME;
BUT MORE PARTICULARLY
To the Doctors, Professors, and Students of Divinity in the
Universities and Schools of Great Britain, whether Prelatical,
Presbyterian, or any other;
ROBERT BARCLAY,
A Servant of the Lord God, and one of those who in derision are called
Quakers, wisheth unfeigned Repentance, unto the Acknowledgment of the
Truth.
Friends,
Unto you these following propositions are offered; in which, they being
read and considered in the fear of the Lord, you may perceive that
simple, naked truth, which man by his wisdom hath rendered so obscure
and mysterious, that the world is even burthened with the great and
voluminous tractates which are made about it, and by their vain
jangling and commentaries, by which it is rendered a hundred-fold more
dark and intricate than of itself it is: which great learning, (so
accounted of,) to wit, your school-divinity, (which taketh up almost a
man's whole life-time to learn,) brings not a whit nearer to God,
neither makes any man less wicked, or more righteous than he was.
Therefore hath God laid aside the wise and learned, and the disputers
of this world; and hath chosen a few despicable and unlearned
instruments, (as to letter-learning,) as he did fishermen of old, to
publish his pure and naked truth, and to free it of those mists and
fogs wherewith the clergy hath clouded it, that the people might admire
and maintain them. And among several others, whom God bath chosen to
make known these things, (seeing I also have received, in measure,
grace to be a dispenser of the same Gospel,) it seemed good unto me,
according to my duty, to offer unto you these propositions; which,
though short, yet are weighty, comprehending much, and declaring what
the true ground of knowledge is, even of that knowledge which leads to
Life Eternal; which is here witnessed of, and the testimony thereof
left unto the Light of Christ in all your consciences.
Farewell.
R. B.
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THE FIRST PROPOSITION.
Concerning the true Foundation of Knowledge.
Seeing the height of all happiness is placed in the true knowledge of
God, (This is life eternal, to know thee the only true God, and Jesus
Christ whom thou has sent,) [1] the true and right understanding of
this foundation and ground of knowledge, is that which is most
necessary to be known and believed in the first place.
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[1] John xvii. 3.
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THE SECOND PROPOSITION.
Concerning Immediate Revelation.
Seeing no man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son
revealeth him; [2] and seeing the revelation of the Son is in and by
the Spirit; therefore the testimony of the Spirit is that alone by
which the true knowledge of God hath been, is, and can be only
revealed; who as, by the moving of his own Spirit, he converted the
chaos of this world into that wonderful order wherein it was in the
beginning, and created man a living soul, to rule and govern it, so by
the revelation of the same Spirit he hath manifested himself all along
unto the sons of men, both patriarchs, prophets, and apostles; which
revelations of God by the Spirit, whether by outward voices, and
appearances, dreams, or inward objective manifestations in the heart,
were of old the formal object of their faith, and remain yet so to be;
since the object of the saints' faith is the same in all ages, though
set forth under divers administrations. Moreover, these divine inward
revelations, which we make absolutely necessary for the building up of
true faith, neither do nor can ever contradict the outward testimony,
of the scriptures, or right and sound reason. Yet from hence it will
not follow, that these divine revelations are to be subjected to the
examination, either of the outward testimony of the scriptures, or of
the natural reason of man, as to a more noble or certain rule or
touchstone: for this divine revelation, and inward illumination, is
that which is evident and clear of itself, forcing, by its own evidence
and clearness, the well-disposed understanding to assent, irresistibly
moving the same thereunto; even as the common principles of natural
truths move and incline the mind to a natural assent: as, that the
whole is greater than its part; that two contradictory sayings cannot
be both true, nor both false; which is also manifest, according to our
adversaries' principle, who (supposing the possibility of inward divine
revelations) will nevertheless confess with us, that neither scripture
nor sound reason will contradict it: and yet it will not follow,
according to them, that the scripture, or sound reason, should be
subjected to the examination of the divine revelations in the heart.
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[2] Mat. xi. 27.
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THE THIRD PROPOSITION.
Concerning the Scriptures.
From these revelations of the Spirit of God to the saints, have
proceeded the scriptures of truth, which contain, 1. A faithful
historical account of the actings of God's people in divers ages, with
many singular and remarkable providences attending them. 2. A
prophetical account of several things, whereof some are already past,
and some yet to come. 3. A full and ample account of all the chief
principles of the doctrine of Christ, held forth in divers precious
declarations, exhortations, and sentences, which, by the moving of
God's Spirit, were at several times, and uponsundry occasions, spoken
and written unto some churches and their pastors: nevertheless, because
they are only a declaration of the fountain, and not the fountain
itself, therefore they are not to be esteemed the principal ground of
all truth and knowledge, nor yet the adequate primary rule of faith and
manners. Nevertheless, as that which giveth a true and faithful
testimony of the first foundation, they are and may be esteemed a
secondary rule, subordinate to the Spirit, from which they have all
their excellency and certainty; for as by the inward testimony of the
Spirit we do alone truly know them, so they testify, that the Spirit is
that guide by which the saints, are led into all truth: [3] therefore,
according to the scriptures, the Spirit is the first and principal
leader. And seeing we do therefore receive and believe the scriptures,
because they proceeded from the Spirit; therefore also the Spirit is
more originally and principally the rule, according to that received
maxim in the schools, Propter quod unumquodque est tale, illud ipsum
est magis tale. Englished thus: That for which, a thing is such, that
thing itself is more such.
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[3] John xvi. 13. Rom. viii. 14.
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THE FOURTH PROPOSITION.
Concerning the Condition of Man in the Fall.
All Adam's posterity (or mankind) both Jews and Gentiles, [4] as to the
first Adam or earthly man, is fallen, degenerated, and dead, deprived
of the sensation or feeling of this inward testimony or seed of God,
and is subject unto the power, nature, and seed of the serpent, which
he sows in men's hearts, while they abide in this natural and corrupted
state; from whence it comes, that not their words and deeds only, but
all their imaginations are evil perpetually in the sight of God, as
proceeding from this depraved and wicked seed. Man therefore, as he is
in this state, can know nothing aright; yea, his thoughts and
conceptions concerning God and things spiritual, until he be disjoined
from this evil seed, and united to the divine light, are unprofitable
both to himself and others: hence are rejected the Socinian and
Pelagian errors, in exalting a natural light; as also of the Papists,
and most Protestants, who affirm, That man, without the true grace of
God, may be a true minister of the gospel. Nevertheless, this seed is
not imputed to infants, until by transgression they actually join
themselves therewith; for they are by nature the children of wrath, who
walk according to the power of the prince of the air. [5]
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[4] Rom. v. 12, 15.
[5] Eph. ii. 1.
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FIFTH AND SIXTH PROPOSITIONS.
Concerning the Universal Redemption by Christ, and also the Saving and
Spiritual Light, wherewith every man is enlightened.
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THE FIFTH PROPOSITION.
God, out of his infinite love, who delighteth not in the death of a
sinner, but that all should live and be saved, hath so loved the world,
that he hath given his only Son a light, that whosoever believeth in
him should be saved; who enlighteneth every man that cometh into the
world, and maketh manifest all things that are reproveable, and
teacheth all temperance, righteousness, and godliness: [6] and this
light enlighteneth the hearts of all in a day, [7] in order to
salvation, if not resisted: nor is it less universal than the seed of
sin, being the purchase of his death, who [8]
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[6] Ezek. xviii. 23., Isa. xlix. 6., John iii. 16. & i. 9., Tit. ii.
11., Eph. v. 13., Heb. ii. 9.
[7] Pro tempore, for a time.
[8] tasted death for every man; for as in Adam all die, even so in
Christ shall all be made alive.">1 Cor. iv. 22.
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THE SIXTH PROPOSITION.
According to which principle (or hypothesis) all the objections against
the universality of Christ's death are easily solved; neither is it
needful to recur to the ministry of angels, and those other miraculous
means, which, they say, God makes use of, to manifest the doctrine and
history of Christ's passion, unto such who (living in those places of
the world where the outward preaching of the gospel is unknown) have
well improved the first and common grace; for hence it well follows,
that as some of the old philosophers might have been saved, so also may
now some (who by providence are cast into those remote parts of the
world, where the knowledge of the history is wanting) be made partakers
of the divine mystery, if they receive and resist not that grace, a
manifestation whereof is given to every man to profit withal. [9] This
certain doctrine then being received (to wit) that there is an
evangelical and saving light and grace in all, the universality of the
love and mercy of God towards mankind (both in the death of his beloved
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the manifestation of the light in
the heart) is established and confirmed against all the objections of
such as deny it. Therefore Christ hath tasted death for every man; [10]
not only for all kinds of men, as some vainly talk, but for every one,
of all kinds; the benefit of whose offering is not only extended to
such, who have the distinct outward knowledge of his death and
sufferings, as the same is declared in the scriptures, but even unto
those who are necessarily excluded from the benefit of this knowledge
by some inevitable accident; which knowledge we willingly confess to be
very profitable and comfortable, but not absolutely needful unto such,
from whom God himself hath with-held it; yet they may be made partakers
of the mystery of his death (though ignorant of the history) if they
suffer his seed and light (enlightening their hearts) to take place (in
which light, communion with the Father and Son is enjoyed) so as of
wicked men to become holy, and lovers of that power, by whose inward
and secret touches they feel themselves turned from the evil to the
good, and learn to do to others as they would be done by; in which
Christ himself affirms all to be included. As they then have falsely
and erroneously taught, who have denied Christ to have died for all
men; so neither have they sufficiently taught the truth, who affirming
him to have died for all, have added the absolute necessity of the
outward knowledge thereof, in order to the obtaining its saving effect;
among whom the Remonstrants of Holland have been chiefly wanting, and
many other assertors of Universal redemption, in that they have not
placed the extent of this salvation in that divine and evangelical
principle of light and life, wherewith Christ hath enlightened every
man that comes into the world, which is excellently and evidently held
forth in these scriptures, Gen. vi. 3.
Deut. xxx. 14.
John i. 7, 8, 9.
Rom. x. 8.
Tit. ii. 11.
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[9] 1 Cor. xiii. 7.
[10] Heb. ii. 9.
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THE SEVENTH PROPOSITION.
Concerning Justification.
As many as resist not this light, but receive the same, in them is
produced an holy, pure, and spiritual birth, bringing forth holiness,
righteousness, purity, and all these other blessed fruits which are
acceptable to God; by which holy birth (to wit, Jesus Christ formed
within us, and working his works in us) as we are sanctified, so are we
justified in the sight of God, according to the apostle's words, [11]
But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the
name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. Therefore it is
not by our works wrought in our will, nor yet by good works, considered
as of themselves, but by Christ, who is both the gift and the giver,
and the cause producing the effects in us; who, as he hath reconciled
us while we were enemies, doth also in his wisdom save us, and justify
us after this manner, as with the same apostle elsewhere, According to
his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing
of the Holy Ghost. [12]
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[11] 1 Cor. vi. 11.
[12] Tit. iii. 5.
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THE EIGHTH PROPOSITION.
Concerning Perfection.
In whom this holy and pure birth is fully brought forth, the body of
death and sin comes to be crucified and removed, and their hearts
united and subjected unto the truth, so as not to obey any suggestion
or temptation of the evil one, but to be free from actual sinning, and
transgressing of the law of God, and in that respect perfect. Yet doth
this perfection still admit of a growth; and there remaineth a
possibility of sinning, where the mind doth not most diligently and
watchfully attend unto the Lord. [13]
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[13] Rom. vi. 14., Id. viii. 13., Id. vi. 2.,18. 1 John iii. 6.
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THE NINTH PROPOSITION.
Concerning Perseverance, and the possibility of falling from Grace.
Although this gift, and inward grace of God, be sufficient to work out
salvation, yet in those in whom it is resisted, it both may and doth
become their condemnation. Moreover, in whom it hath wrought in part,
to purify and sanctify them, in order to their further perfection, by
disobedience such may fall from it, and turn it to wantonness, making
shipwreck of faith; and after having tasted of the heavenly gift, and
been made partakers of the Holy Ghost, again fall away. [14] Yet such
an increase and stability in the truth may in this life, be attained,
from which there cannot be a total apostacy.
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[14] 1 Tim. i. 6., Heb. vi. 4, 5, 6.
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THE TENTH PROPOSITION.
Concerning the Ministry.
As by this gift, or light of God, all true knowledge in things
spiritual is received and revealed; so by the same, as it is manifested
and received in the heart by the strength and power thereof; every true
minister of the gospel is ordained, prepared and supplied in the work
of the ministry: and by the leading, moving, and drawing hereof, ought
every evangelist and Christian pastor to be led and ordered in his
labour and work of the gospel, both as to the place where, as to the
persons to whom, and as to the times when he is to minister. Moreover,
those who have this authority may and ought to preach the gospel,
though without human commission or literature; as on the other hand,
those who want the authority of this divine gift, however learned or
authorized by the commissions of men and churches, are to be esteemed
but as deceivers, and not true ministers of the gospel. Also, who have
received this holy and unspotted gift, as they have freely received, so
are they freely to give, [15] without hire or bargaining, far less to
use it as a trade to get money by it: yet if God hath called any from
their employments, or trades, by which they acquire their livelihood,
it may be lawful for such (according to the liberty which they feel
given them in the Lord) to receive such temporals (to wit, what may be
needful to them for meat and clothing) as are freely given them by
those to whom they have communicated spirituals.
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[15] Mat. x. 8.
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THE ELEVENTH PROPOSITION.
Concerning Worship.
All true and acceptable worship to God is offered in the inward and
immediate moving and drawing of his own Spirit, which is neither
limited to places, times, or persons; for though we be to worship him
always, in that we are to fear before him, yet as to the outward
signification thereof in prayers, praises, or preachings, we ought not
to do it where and when we will, but where and when we are moved
thereunto by the secret inspirations of his Spirit in our hearts, which
God heareth and accepteth of, and is never wanting to move us
thereunto, when need is, of which he himself is the alone proper judge.
All other worship then, both praises, prayers, and preachings, which
man sets about in his own will, and at his own appointment, which he
can both begin and end at his pleasure, do or leave undone as himself
sees meet, whether they be a prescribed form, as a liturgy, or prayers
conceived extemporarily, by the natural strength and faculty of the
mind, they are all but superstitions, will-worship, and abominable
idolatry in the sight of God; which are to be denied, rejected, and
separated from, in this day of his spiritual arising: however it might
have pleased him (who winked at the times of ignorance, with respect to
the simplicity and integrity of some, and of his own innocent seed,
which lay as it were buried in the hearts of men, under the mass of
superstition) to blow upon the dead and dry bones, and to rake some
breathings, and answer them, and that until the day should more clearly
dawn and break forth. [16]
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[16] Ezek. 13., Mat. x. 20, Acts ii. 4.; xviii. 5., John iii. 6.; iv.
21., Jude xix., Acts xvii. 23.
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THE TWELFTH PROPOSITION.
Concerning Baptism.
As there is one Lord and one faith, so there is one baptism; which is
not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a
good conscience before God, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. [17]
And this baptism is a pure and spiritual thing, to wit, the baptism of
the spirit and fire, by which we are buried with him, that being washed
and purged from our sins, we may walk in newness of life; [18] of which
the baptism of John was a figure, which was commanded for a time, and
not to continue forever. As to the baptism of infants, it is a mere
human tradition, for which neither precept nor practice is to be found
in all the scripture.
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[17] Eph. iv. 5., 1 Pet. iii. 21, Rom. vi. 4., Gal. iii. 27., Col. ii.
12., John iii. 30.
[18] 1 Cor. i. 17.
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THE THIRTEENTH PROPOSITION.
Concerning the Communion, or Participation of the Body and Blood of
Christ.
The communion, of the body and blood of Christ is inward and spiritual,
[19] which is the participation of his flesh and blood, by which the
inward man [20] is daily nourished in the hearts of those in whom
Christ dwells; of which things the breaking of bread by Christ with his
disciples was a figure, which they even used in the church for a time,
who had received the substance, for the cause of the weak; even as
abstaining from things strangled and from blood; the washing one
another's feet; and the anointing of the sick with oil; all which are
commanded with no less authority and solemnity than the former; yet
seeing they are but the shadows of better things, they cease in such as
have obtained the substance. [21]
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[19] 1 Cor. x. 16, 17.
[20] John vi. 32, 33, 35., 1 Cor. v. 8.
[21] Acts xv. 20., John xiii. 14, James v. 14
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THE FOURTEENTH PROPOSITION.
Concerning the Power of the Civil Magistrate, in matters purely
Religious, and pertaining to the Conscience.
Since God hath assumed to himself the power and dominion of the
conscience, who alone can rightly instruct and govern it, therefore it
is not lawful for any whatsoever, by virtue of any authority or
principality they bear in the government of this world, to force the
consciences of others; and therefore all killing, banishing, fining,
imprisoning, and other such things, which men are afflicted with, for
the alone exercise of their conscience, or difference in worship or
opinion, proceedeth from the spirit of Cain, the murderer, and is
contrary to the truth; provided always, that no man, under the pretence
of conscience, prejudice his neighbour in his life or estate; or do any
thing destructive to, or inconsistent with human society; in which case
the law is for the transgressor, and justice to be administered upon
all, without respect of persons. [22]
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[22] Luk ix. 55, 56., Mat. vii. 12, 29., Tit. iii. 10.
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THE FIFTEENTH PROPOSITION.
Concerning Salutations and Recreations, &c.
[23] Seeing the chief end of all religion is to redeem man from the
spirit and vain conversation of this world and to lead into inward
communion with God, before whom, if we fear always, we are accounted
happy; therefore all the vain customs and habits thereof, both in word
and deed, are to be rejected and forsaken by those who come to this
fear; such as the taking off the hat to a man, the bowings and
cringings of the body, and suchother salutations of that kind, with all
the foolish and superstitious formalities attending them; all which man
has invented in his degenerate state, to feed his pride in the vain
pomp and glory of this world; as also the unprofitable plays, frivolous
recreations, sportings and gamings, which are invented to pass away the
precious time, and divert the mind from the witness of God in the
heart, and from the living sense of his fear, and from that evangelical
Spirit wherewith Christians ought to be leavened, and which leads into
sobriety, gravity, and godly fear; in which, as we abide, the blessing
of the Lord is felt to attend us in those actions in which we are
necessarily engaged, in order to the taking care for the sustenance of
the outward man.
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[23] Eph. v. 11., 1 Pet. i. 14., John v. 44., Jer. x. 3., Acts x. 26.,
Mat. xv. 13., Col. ii. 8.
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AN
APOLOGY
FOR THE
TRUE CHRISTIAN DIVINITY.
____________________________
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PROPOSITION I.
Concerning the true Foundation of Knowledge.
Seeing the height of all happiness is placed in the true knowledge of
God, (This is life eternal, to know thee the only true God, and Jesus
Christ whom thou hast sent,) the true and right understanding of this
foundation and ground of knowledge, is that which is most necessary to
be known and believed in the first place. [24]
HE that desireth to acquire any art or science, seeketh first those
means by which that art or science is obtained. If we ought to do so in
things natural and earthly, how much more then in spiritual? In this
affair then should our inquiry be the more diligent, because he that
errs in the entrance is not so easily brought back again into the right
way; he that misseth his road from the beginning of his journey, and is
deceived in his first marks, at his first setting forth, the greater
his mistake is, the more difficult will be his entrance into the right
way.
[25] Thus when a man first proposeth to himself the knowledge of God,
from a sense of his own unworthiness, and from the great weariness of
his mind, occasioned by the secret checks of his con-science, and the
tender, yet real glances of God's light upon his heart; the earnest
desires he has to be redeemed from his present trouble, and the fervent
breathings he has to be eased of his disordered passions and lusts, and
to find quietness and peace in the certain knowledge of God, and in the
assurance of his love and good-will towards him, make his heart tender,
and ready to receive any impression; and so (not having then a distinct
discerning) through forwardness embraceth any thing that brings present
ease. If either through the reverence he bears to certain persons, or
from the secret inclination to what doth comply with his natural
disposition, he fall upon any principles or means, by which he
apprehends he may come to know God, and so doth centre himself, it will
be hard to remove him thence again, how wrong soever they may be: for
the first anguish being over, he becomes more hardy; and the enemy
being near, creates a false peace, and a certain confidence, which is
strengthened by the mind's unwillingness to enter again into new
doubtfulness, or the former anxiety of a search.
[26] This is sufficiently verified in the example of the Pharisees and
Jewish Doctors, who most of all resisted Christ, disdaining to be
esteemed ignorant; for this vain opinion they had of their knowledge
hindered them from the true knowledge; and the mean people, who were
not so much pre-occupied with former principles, nor conceited of their
own knowledge, did easily believe. Wherefore the Pharisees upbraid
them, saying, Have any of the Rulers or Pharisees believed on him? But
this people, which know not the law, are accursed. [27] This is also
abundantly proved by the experience of all such, as being secretly
touched with the call of God's grace unto them, do apply themselves to
false teachers, where the remedy proves worse than the disease; because
instead of knowing God, or the things relating totheir salvation
aright, they drink in wrong opinions of him; from which it is harder to
be disentangled, than while the soul remains a blank, or Tabula rasa.
For they that conceit themselves wise, are worse to deal with than they
that are sensible of their ignorance. Nor hath it been less the device
of the devil, the great enemy of mankind, to persuade men into wrong
notions of God, than to keep them altogether from acknowledging him;
the latter taking with few, because odious; but the other having been
the constant ruin of the world: for there hath scarce been a nation
found, but hath had some notions or other of religion; so that not from
their denying any Deity, but from their mistakes and misapprehensions
of it, hath proceeded all the idolatry and superstition of the world;
yea, hence even atheism itself hath proceeded: for these many and
various opinions of God and religion, being so much mixed with the
guessings and uncertain judgments of men, have begotten in many the
opinion, That there is no God at all. This, and much more that might be
said, may show how dangerous it is to miss in this first step: All that
come not in by the right door, are accounted as thieves and robbers.
Again, how needful and desirable that knowledge is, which brings life
eternal, Epictetus showeth, [28] saying excellently well, cap. 38. ithi
hoti to Kuriotaton, &c. Know, that the main foundation of piety is
this, to have orthas hupolepseis, right opinions and apprehensions of
God.
This therefore I judged necessary, as a first principle, in the first
place, to affirm; and I suppose will not need much farther explanation
or defence, as being generally acknowledged by all (and in these things
that are without controversy I love to be brief) as that which will
easily commend itself to every man's reason and conscience; and
therefore I shall proceed to the next proposition; which,though it be
nothing less certain, yet by the malice of satan, and ignorance of
many, comes far more under debate.
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[24] John xvii. 3
[25] The way to the true knowledge of God
[26] Jewish Doctors and Pharisees resist Christ.
[27] John vii. 48, 49
[28] Epictetus
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PROPOSITION II.
Of Immediate Revelation.
[29] Seeing no man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the
Son revealeth him; and seeing the revelation of the Son is in and by
the Spirit; therefore the testimony of the Spirit is that alone by
which the true knowledge of God hath been, is, and can be only
revealed; who as, by the moving of his own Spirit, he disposed the
chaos of this world into that wonderful order in which it was in the
beginning, and created man a living soul, to rule and govern it, so by
the revelation of the same Spirit he hath manifested himself all along
unto the sons of men, both patriarchs, prophets, and apostles; which
revelations of God by the Spirit, whether by outward voices and
appearances, dreams, or inward objective manifestations in the heart,
were of old the formal object of their faith, and remain yet so to be;
since the object of the saints' faith is the same in all ages, though
held forth under divers administrations. Moreover, these divine inward
revelations, which we make absolutely necessary for the building up of
true faith, neither do nor can ever contradict the outward testimony of
the scriptures, or right and sound reason. Yet from hence it will not
follow, that these divine revelations are to be subjected to the test,
either of the outward testimony of the scriptures, or of the natural
reason of man, as to a more noble or certain rule and touchstone; for
this divine revelation, and inward illumination, is that which is
evident and clear of itself, forcing, by its own evidence and
clearness, the well-disposed understanding to assent, irresistibly
moving the same thereunto, even as the common principles of natural
truths do move and incline the mind to a natural assent: as, that the
whole is greater than its part; that two contradictories can neither be
both true, nor both false.
[30] S:. I. It is very probable, that many carnal and natural
Christians will oppose this proposition; who, being wholly unacquainted
with the movings and actings of God's Spirit upon their hearts, judge
the same nothing necessary; and some are apt to flout at it as
ridiculous; yea, to that height are the generality of Christians
apostatized and degenerated, that though there be not any thing more
plainly asserted, more seriously recommended, or more certainly
attested, in all the writings of the holy scriptures, yet nothing is
less minded and more rejected by all sorts of Christians, than
immediate and divine revelation; insomuch that once to lay claim to it
is matter of reproach. Whereas of old none were ever judged Christians,
but such as had the Spirit of Christ, Rom. viii. 9. But now many do
boldly call themselves Christians, who make no difficulty of confessing
they are without it, and laugh at such as say they have it. Of old they
were accounted the sons of God, who were led by the Spirit of God,
ibid. ver. 14. But now many aver themselves sons of God, who know
nothing of this leader; and he that affirms himself so led, is, by the
pretended orthodox of this age, presently proclaimed a heretic. The
reason hereof is very manifest, viz. Because many in these days, under
the name of Christians, do experimentally find, that they are not
actuated nor led by God's Spirit; yea, many great doctors, divines,
teachers, and bishops of Christianity, (commonly so called,) have
wholly shut their ears from hearing, and their eyes from seeing, this
inward guide, and so are become strangers unto it; whence they are, by
their own experience, brought to this strait, either to confess that
they are as yet ignorant of God, and have only the shadow of knowledge
and not the true knowledge of him, or that this knowledge is acquired
without immediate revelation.
[31] For the better understanding then of this proposition, we do
distinguish betwixt the certain knowledge of God, and the uncertain;
betwixt the spiritual knowledge and the literal; the saving
heart-knowledge, and the soaring airy head-knowledge. The last, we
confess, may be divers ways obtained; but the first, by no other way
than the inward immediate manifestation and revelation of God's Spirit,
shining in and upon the heart, enlightening and opening the
understanding.
S:. II. Having then proposed to myself, in these propositions, to
affirm those things which relate to the true and effectual knowledge
which brings life eternal with it, therefore I have truly affirmed that
this knowledge is no otherways attained, and that none have any true
ground to believe they have attained it, who have it not by this
revelation of God's Spirit.
The certainty of which truth is such, that it hath been acknowledged by
some of the most refined and famous of all sorts of professors of
Christianity in all ages; who being truly upright-hearted, and earnest
seekers of the Lord, (however stated under the disadvantages and
epidemical errors of their several sects or ages,) the true seed in
them hath been answered by God's love, who hath had regard to the good,
and hath had of his elect ones among all; who finding a distaste and
disgust in all other outward means, even in the very principles and
precepts more particularly relative to their own forms and societies,
have at last concluded, with one voice, that there was no true
knowledge of God, but that which is revealed inwardly by his own
Spirit. Whereof take these following testimonies of the ancients.
[32] 1. "It is the inward master (saith Augustine) that teacheth, it is
Christ that teacheth, it is inspiration that teacheth: where this
inspiration and unction is wanting, it is in vain that words from
without are beaten in." - And thereafter: "For he that created us, and
redeemed us, and called us by faith, and dwelleth in us by his Spirit,
unless he speaketh unto us inwardly, it is needless for us to cry out."
[33] 2. "There is a difference (saith Clemens Alexandrinus) betwixt
that which any one saith of the truth, and that which the truth itself,
interpreting itself, saith. A conjecture of truth differeth from the
truth itself; a similitude of a thing differeth from the thing itself;
it is one thing that is acquired by exercise and discipline; and
another thing which, by power and faith." Lastly, the same Clemens
saith, "Truth is neither hard to be arrived at, nor is it impossible to
apprehend it; for it is most nigh unto us, even in our houses, as the
most wise Moses hath insinuated." [34]
[35] 3. "How is it (saith Tertullian) that since the devil always
worketh, and stirreth up the mind to iniquity, that the work of God
should either cease, or desist to act? Since for this end the Lord did
send the Comforter, that because human weakness could not at once bear
all things, knowledge might be by little and little directed, formed,
and brought to perfection, by the holy Spirit, that vicar of the Lord.
I have many things yet (saith he) to speak unto you, but ye cannot as
yet bear them; but when that Spirit of truth shall come, he shall lead
you into all truth, and shall teach you these things that are to come.
But of this his work we have spoken above. What is then the
administration of the Comforter, but that discipline be directed, and
the scriptures revealed? &c."
[36] 4. "The law (saith Hierom) is spiritual, and there is need of a
revelation to understand it." And in hisEpistle 150. to Hedibia, Quest.
11. he saith, "The whole Epistle to the Romans needs an interpretation,
it being involved in so great obscurities, that for the understanding
thereof we need the help of the holy Spirit, who through the apostle
dictated it."
[37] 5. "So great things (saith Athanasius) doth our Saviour daily: he
draws unto piety, persuades unto virtue, teaches immortality, excites
to the desire of heavenly things, reveals the knowledge of the Father,
inspires power against death, and shows himself unto every one."
[38] 6. Gregory the Great, upon these words [He shall teach you all
things] saith, "That unless the same Spirit is present in the heart of
the hearer, in vain is the discourse of the doctor; let no man then
ascribe unto the man that teacheth, what he understands from the mouth
of him that speaketh; for unless he that teacheth be within, the tongue
of the doctor, that is without, laboureth in vain."
[39] 7. Cyrillus Alexandrinus plainly affirmeth, "That men know that
Jesus is the Lord by the holy Ghost, no otherwise, than they who taste
honey know that it is sweet, even by its proper quality."
[40] 8. "Therefore (saith Bernard) we daily exhort you, brethren, that
ye walk the ways of the heart, and that your souls be always in your
hands, that ye may hear what the Lord saith in you." And again, upon
these words of the apostle, [Let him that glorieth, glory in the Lord,]
"With which threefold vice (saith he) all sorts of religious men are
less or more dangerously affected, because they do not so diligently
attend, with the ears of the heart, to what the Spirit of truth, which
flatters none, inwardly speaks."
This was the very basis, and main foundation, upon which the primitive
reformers built.
[41] Luther, in his book to the nobility of Germany, saith, "This is
certain, that no man can make himself a teacher of the holy scriptures,
but the holy Spirit alone." And upon the Magnificat he saith,"No man
can rightly know God, or understand the word of God, unless he
immediately receive it from the Holy Spirit; neither can any one
receive it from the Holy Spirit, except he find it by experience in
himself; and in this experience the Holy Ghost teacheth, as in his
proper school; out of which school nothing is taught but mere talk."
[42] Philip Melancthon, in his annotations upon John vi. "Those who
hear only an outward and bodily voice, hear the creature; but God is a
Spirit, and is neither discerned, nor known, nor heard, but by the
Spirit; and therefore to hear the voice of God, to see God, is to know
and hear the Spirit. [43] By the Spirit alone God is known and
perceived. Which also the more serious to this day do acknowledge, even
all such who satisfy themselves not with the superficies of religion,
and use it not as a cover or art. Yea, all those who apply themselves
effectually to Christianity, and are not satisfied until they have
found its effectual work upon their hearts, redeeming them from sin, do
feel that no knowledge effectually prevails to the producing of this,
but that which proceeds from the warm influence of God's Spirit upon
the heart, and from the comfortable shining of his light upon their
understanding."
[44] And therefore to this purpose a modern author, viz. Dr. Smith of
Cambridge, in his select discourses, saith well; " To seek our divinity
merely in books and writings, is to seek the living among the dead; we
do but in vain many times seek God in these, where his truth is too
often not so much enshrined as entombed. Intra te quoere Deum, Seek God
within thine own soul. He is best discerned noera epaphe (as Plotinus
phraseth it) by an intellectual touch of him. We must see with our
eyes, and hear with our ears, and our hands must handle the word of
life, (to express it in St. John's words,) hesi kai psuches haithesis
tis, &c. The soul itself hath its sense as well as the body. And
thereforeDavid, when he would teach us to know what the divine goodness
is, calls not for speculation, but sensation: Taste, and see how good
the Lord is. That is not the best and truest knowledge of God which is
wrought out by the labour and sweat of the brain, but that which is
kindled within us, by an heavenly warmth in our hearts." And again:
"There is a knowing of the truth as it is in Jesus, as it is in a
Christ-like nature; as it is in that sweet, mild, humble, and loving
Spirit of Jesus, which spreads itself, like a morning sun, upon the
souls of good men, full of light and life. It profits little to know
Christ himself after the flesh; but he gives his Spirit to good men,
that searcheth the deep things of God." And again: "It is but a thin
airy knowledge that is got by mere speculation, which is ushered in by
syllogisms and demonstrations; but that which springs forth from true
goodness, is theioteron ti pases upodeixeos (as Origen speaks,) It
brings such a divine light into the soul, as is more clear and
convincing than any demonstration.
[45] S:. III. That this certain and undoubted method of the true
knowledge of God hath been brought out of use, hath been none of the
least devices of the devil, to secure mankind to his kingdom. For after
the light and glory of the Christian religion had prevailed over a good
part of the world, and dispelled the thick mists of the heathenish
doctrine of the plurality of gods, he that knew there was no
probability of deluding the world any longer that way, did then puff
man up with false knowledge of the true God; setting him on work to
seek God the wrong way, and persuading him to be content with such a
knowledge as was of his own acquiring, and not of God's teaching. And
this device hath proved the more successful, because accommodated to
the natural and corrupt spirit and temper of man, who above all things
affects to exalt himself; in which exaltation, as God is greatly
dishonoured, so therein the devil hath his end; who is not anxious how
much God is acknowledged in words, provided himself be but always
served; he matters not how great and high speculations the natural man
entertains of God, so long as he serves his own lusts and passions, and
is obedient to his evil suggestions and temptations. [46] Thus
Christianity is become as it were an art, acquired by human science and
industry, like any other art or science; and men have not only assumed
the name of Christians, but even have procured themselves to be
esteemed as masters of Christianity by certain artificial tricks,
though altogether strangers to the spirit and life of Jesus. But if we
make a right definition of a Christian, according to the scripture,
That he is one who hath the Spirit and is led by it, how many
Christians, yea, and of these great masters and doctors of
Christianity, so accounted, shall we justly divest of that noble title?
If those therefore who have all the other means of knowledge, and are
sufficiently learned therein, whether it be the letter of the
scripture, the traditions of churches, or the works of creation and
providence, whence they are able to deduce strong and undeniable
arguments, (which may be true in themselves,) are not yet to be
esteemed Christians, according to the certain and infallible definition
above mentioned; and if the inward and immediate revelation of God's
Spirit in the heart, in such as have been altogether ignorant of some,
and but very little skilled in others, of these means of attaining
knowledge, hath brought them to salvation; then it will necessarily and
evidently follow, that inward and immediate revelation is the only sure
and certain way to attain the true and saving knowledge of God. [47]
But the first is true: therefore the last.
Now as this argument doth very strongly conclude for this way of
knowledge, and against suchas deny it, so in this respect it is the
more to be regarded, as the propositions from which it is deduced are
so clear, that our very adversaries cannot deny them. For as to the
first it is acknowledged, that many learned men may be, and have been,
damned. And as to the second, who will deny but many illiterate men may
be, and are, saved? Nor dare any affirm, that none come to the
knowledge of God and salvation by the inward revelation of the Spirit,
without these other outward means, unless they be also so bold as to
exclude Abel, Seth, Noah, Abraham, Job, and all the holy patriarchs
from true knowledge and salvation. [48]
S:IV. I would however not be understood, as if hereby I excluded those
other means of knowledge from any use or service to man; it is far from
me so to judge, as concerning the scriptures, in the next proposition,
will more plainly appear. The question is not, what may be profitable
or helpful, but what is absolutely necessary. Many things may
contribute to further a work, which yet are not the main thing that
makes the work go on.
The sum then of what is said amounts to this That where the true inward
knowledge of God is, through the revelation of his Spirit, there is
all; neither is there an absolute necessity of any other. But where the
best, highest, and most profound knowledge is, without this, there is
nothing, as to the obtaining the great end of salvation. This truth is
very effectually confirmed by the first part of the proposition itself,
which in few words comprehendeth divers unquestionable arguments, which
I shall in brief subsume.
I. First, That there is no knowledge of the Father but by the Son.
II. Secondly, That there is no knowledge of the Son but by the Spirit.
III. Thirdly, That by the Spirit, God hath always revealed himself to
his children.
IV. Fourthly, That these revelations were the formal object of the
saints' faith.
V. And Lastly, That the same continueth to be the object of the saints'
faith to this day.
Of each of these I shall speak a little particularly, and then proceed
to the latter part.
[49] S:V. As to the first, viz. That there is no knowledge of the
Father but by the Son, it will easily be proved, being founded upon the
plain words of scripture, and is therefore a fit medium from whence to
deduce the rest of our assertions.
For the infinite and most wise God, who is the foundation, root, and
spring of all operation, hath wrought all things by his eternal Word
and Son. [50] This is that WORD that was in the beginning with God, and
was God, by whom all things were made; and without whom was not any
thing made that was made. [51] This is that Jesus Christ by whom God
created all things, by whom, and for whom, all things were created,
that are in heaven and in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be
thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers, Col. i. 16 who
therefore is called, The first born of every creature, Col. i. 15.As
then that infinite and incomprehensible fountain of life and motion
operateth in the creatures by his own eternal word and power, so no
creature has access again unto him but in and by the Son, according to
his own express words, No man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to
whom the Son will reveal him, Mat. xi. 27.Luke x. 22. And again, he
himself saith, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh
unto the Father but by me, John xiv. 6.
Hence he is fitly called, The Mediator betwixt God and man: for, having
been with God from all eternity, being himself God, and also in time
partaking of the nature of man, through him is the goodness and love of
God conveyed to mankind, and by him again man receiveth and partaketh
of these mercies.
Hence is easily deduced the proof of this first assertion, thus:
If no man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son will
reveal him, then there is no knowledge of the Father but by the Son.
But, no man knoweth the Father but the Son.
Therefore there is no knowledge of the Father but by the Son.
The first part of the antecedent are the plain words of scripture: the
consequence thereof is undeniable; except one would say, that he hath
the knowledge of the Father, while yet he knows him not; which were an
absurd repugnance.
Again, if the Son be the way, the truth, and the life, and that no man
cometh unto the Father, but by him; then there is no knowledge of the
Father but by the Son.
But the first is true: therefore the last.
The antecedent are the very scripture words: the consequence is very
evident: for how can any know a thing, who useth not the way, without
which it is not knowable? But it is already proved, that there is no
other way but by the Son; so that whoso uses not that way, cannot know
him, neither come unto him.
[52] S: VI. Having then laid down this first principle, I come to the
second, viz. That there is no knowledge of the Son but by the Spirit;
or, That the revelation of the Son of God is by the Spirit.
Where it is to be noted, that I always speak of the saving, certain,
and necessary knowledge of God; which that it cannot be acquired
otherways than by the Spirit, doth also appear from many clear
scriptures. For Jesus Christ, in and by whom the Father is revealed,
doth also reveal himself to his disciples and friends in and by his
Spirit. As his manifestation was outward, when he testified and
witnessed for the truth in this world, and approved himself faithful
throughout, sobeing now withdrawn, as to the outward man, he doth teach
and instruct mankind inwardly by his own Spirit; He standeth at the
door and knocketh, and whoso heareth his voice and openeth, he comes in
to such, Rev. iii. 20. Of this revelation of Christ in him Paul
speaketh, Gal. i. 16. in which he placeth the excellency of his
ministry, and the certainty of his calling. And the promise of Christ.
to his disciples, Lo, I am with you to the end of the world, confirmeth
the same thing; for this is an inward and spiritual presence, as all
acknowledge: but what relates hereto will again occur. I shall deduce
the proof of this proposition from two manifest places of scripture:
the first is, 1 Cor. ii. 11, 12. [53] What man knoweth the things of a
man, save the spirit of a man which is in him? Even so the things of
God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the
spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know
the things which are freely given us of God. [54] The apostle in the
verses before, speaking of the wonderful things which are prepared for
the saints, after he hath declared that the natural man cannot reach
them, adds, that they are revealed by the Spirit of God, ver. 9, 10.
giving this reason, For the Spirit searcheth all things, even the deep
things of God. And then he bringeth in the comparison, in the verses
above-mentioned, very apt, and answerable to our purpose and doctrine,
that as the things of a man are only known by the spirit of man, so the
things of God are only known by the Spirit of God; that is, that as
nothing below the spirit of man (as the spirit of brutes, or any other
creatures) can properly reach unto or comprehend the things of a man,
as being of a nobler and higher nature, so neither can the spirit of
man, or the natural man, as the apostle in the 14th verse subsumes,
receive nor discern the things of God, or the things that are
spiritual, as being also of an higher nature: which the apostle himself
gives for the reason, saying, Neither can he know them, because they
are spiritually discerned. So that the apostle's words, being reduced
to an argument, do very well prove the matter under debate, thus:
If that which appertaineth properly to man, cannot be discerned by any
lower or baser principle than the spirit of man; then cannot those
things, that properly relate unto God and Christ, be known or discerned
by any lower or baser thing than the Spirit of God and Christ.
But the first is true: therefore also the second.
The whole strength of the argument is contained in the apostle's words
before-mentioned; which therefore being granted, I shall proceed to
deduce a second argument, thus:
That which is spiritual can only be known and discerned by the Spirit
of God.
But the revelation of Jesus Christ, and the true and saving knowledge
of him, is spiritual:
Therefore the revelation of Jesus Christ, and the true and saving
knowledge of him, can only be known and discerned by the Spirit of God.
[55] The other scripture is also a saying of the same apostle, 1 Cor.
xii. 3. No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
This scripture, which is full of truth, and answereth full well to the
enlightened understanding of the spiritual and real Christian, may
perhaps prove very strange to the carnal and pretended follower of
Christ, by whom perhaps it hath not been so diligently remarked. [56]
Here the apostle doth so much require the Holy Spirit in the things
that relate to a Christian, that he positively avers, we cannot so much
as affirm Jesus to be the Lord without it; which insinuates no less,
than that the spiritual truths of the gospel are as lies in the mouths
of carnal and unspiritual men; for though in themselves they be true,
yet are they not true as to them, because not known, noruttered forth
in and by that principle and spirit that ought to direct the mind and
actuate it; in such things they are no better than the counterfeit
representations of things in a comedy; neither can it be more truly and
properly called a real and true knowledge of God and Christ, than the
actions of Alexander the Great, and Julius Caesar, &c. if now
transacted upon a stage, might be called truly and really their doings,
or the persons representing them might be said truly and really to have
conquered Asia, overcome Pompey, &c.
[57] This knowledge then of Christ, which is not by the revelation of
his own Spirit in the heart, is no more properly the knowledge of
Christ, than the prattling of a parrot, which has been taught a few
words, may be said to be the voice of a man; for as that, or some other
bird, may be taught to sound or utter forth a rational sentence, as it
hath learned it by the outward ear, and not from any living principle
of reason actuating it; so just such is that knowledge of the things of
God, which the natural and carnal man hath gathered from the words or
writings of spiritual men, which are not true to him, because conceived
in the natural spirit, and so brought forth by the wrong organ, and not
proceeding from the spiritual principle; no more than the words of a
man acquired by art, and brought forth by the mouth of a bird, not
proceeding from a rational principle, are true with respect to the bird
which utters them. Wherefore from this scripture I shall further add
this argument:
If no man can say Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost; then no man
can know Jesus to be the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
But the first is true: therefore the second.
From this argument there may be another deduced, concluding in the very
terms of this assertion: thus,
If no man can know Jesus to be the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost, then
there can be no certain knowledge or revelation of him but by the
Spirit.
But the first is true: therefore the second.
[58] S: Vll. The third thing affirmed is, That by the Spirit God always
revealed himself to his children.
For making the truth of this assertion appear, it will be but needful
to consider God's manifesting himself towards and in relation to his
creatures from the beginning, which resolves itself always herein. The
first step of all is ascribed hereunto by Moses, Gen. i. 2. And the
Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. [59] I think it will
not be denied, that God's converse with man, all along from Adam, to
Moses, was by the immediate manifestation of his Spirit: and
afterwards, through the whole tract of the law, he spake to his
children no otherways; which, as it naturally followeth from the
principles above proved, so it cannot be denied by such as acknowledge
the scriptures of truth to have been written by the inspiration of the
Holy Ghost: for these writings, from Moses to Malachi, do declare, that
during all that time God revealed himself to his children by his
Spirit.
[60] But if any will object, That after the dispensation of the law
God's method of speaking was altered;
[61] I answer: First, That God spake always immediately to the Jews, in
that he spake always immediately to the High-Priest from betwixt the
Cherubims; who, when he entered into the Holy of Holies, returning, did
relate to the whole people the voice and will of God, there immediately
revealed. So that this immediate speaking never ceased in any age.
Secondly, from this immediate fellowship were none shut out, who
earnestly sought after and waited for it; in that many, besides the
High- Priest, who were not so much as of the kindred of Levi, nor of
the prophets, did receive it and speak from it; as it is written, Numb.
xi. 25 where the Spirit is said to have rested upon the seventy elders;
which Spirit also reached unto two that were not in the tabernacle, but
in the camp; whom when some would have forbidden, Moses would not, but
rejoiced, wishing that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that he
would put his Spirit upon them, ver. 29. [62]
This is also confirmed Neh. ix. where the elders of the people, after
their return from captivity, when they began to sanctify themselves by
fasting and prayer, numbering up the many mercies of God towards their
fathers, say, verse 20. Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct
them; and verse 30. Yet many years didst thou forbear, and testify
against them by thy Spirit in thy prophets. Many are the sayings of
spiritual David to this purpose, as Psalm li. 11, 12. Take not thy holy
Spirit from me; uphold me with thy free Spirit. Psal. cxxxix. 7 Whither
shall I go from thy Spirit? Hereunto doth the prophet Isaiah ascribe
the credit of his testimony, saying, chap. xlviii. 16. And now the Lord
God and his Spirit hath sent me. And that God revealed himself to his
children under the New Testament, to wit, to the apostles, evangelists,
and primitive disciples, is confessed by all. How far now this yet
continueth, and is to be expected, comes hereafter to be spoken to.
[63] S:. VIII. The fourth thing affirmed is, That these revelations
were the object of the saints' faith of old.
[64] This will easily appear by the definition of faith, and
considering what its object is: for which we shall not dive into the
curious and various notions of the school-men, but stay in the plain
and positive words of the apostle Paul, who, Heb. xi. describes it two
ways. Faith (saith he) is the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen: which, as the apostle illustrateth it in
the same chapter by many examples, is no other but a firmand certain
belief of the mind, whereby it resteth, and in a sense possesseth the
substance of some things hoped for, through its confidence in the
promise of God: and thus the soul hath a most firm evidence, by its
faith, of things not yet seen nor come to pass. [65] The object of this
faith is the promise, word, or testimony of God, speaking in the mind.
Hence it hath been generally affirmed, that the object of faith is Deus
loquens, &c. that is, God speaking, &c. which is also manifest from all
those examples deduced by the apostle throughout that whole chapter,
whose faith was founded neither upon any outward testimony, nor upon
the voice or writing of man, but upon the revelation of God's will,
manifest unto them, and in them; as in the example of Noah, ver. 7.
thus, By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet,
moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the
which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness
which is by faith. [66] What was here the object of Noah's faith, but
God speaking unto him? He had not the writings nor prophesyings of any
going before, nor yet the concurrence of any church or people to
strengthen him; and yet his faith in the word, by which he contradicted
the whole world, saved him and his house. [67] Of which also Abraham is
set forth as a singular example, being therefore called the Father of
the Faithful, who is said against hope to have believed in hope, in
that he not only willingly forsook his father's country, not knowing
whither he went; in that he believed concerning the coming of Isaac,
though contrary to natural probability; but above all, in that he
refused not to offer him up, not doubting but God was able to raise him
from the dead; of whom it is said, that in Isaac shall thy seed be
called. And last of all, in that he rested in the promise, that his
seed should possess the land, wherein he himself was but a pilgrim, and
which to them was not to befulfilled while divers ages after. The
object of Abraham's faith in all this was no other but inward and
immediate revelation, or God signifying his will unto him inwardly and
immediately by his Spirit.
But because, in this part of the proposition, we made also mention of
external voices, appearances, and dreams in the alternative, I think
also fit to speak hereof, what in that respect may be objected; to wit,
[68] That those who found their faith now upon immediate and objective
revelation, ought to have also outward voices or visions, dreams or
appearances for it:
[69] It is not denied but God made use of the ministry of angels, who,
in the appearance of men, spake outwardly to the saints of old, and
that he did also reveal some things to them in dreams and visions; none
of which we will affirm to be ceased, so as to limit the power and
liberty of God in manifesting himself towards his children. But while
we are considering the object of faith, we must not stick to that which
is but circumstantially and accidentally so, but to that which is
universally and substantially so.
Next again, we must distinguish betwixt that which in itself is subject
to doubt and delusion, and therefore is received for and because of
another; and that which is not subject to any doubt, but is received
simply for and because of itself, as being prima veritas, the very
first and original truth. Let us then consider how or how far these
outward voices, appearances, and dreams were the object of the saints'
faith: was it because they were simply voices, appearances, or dreams?
[70] Nay, certainly; for they were not ignorant, that the devil might
form a sound of words, convey it to the outward ear, and deceive the
outward senses, by making things to appear that are not. Yea, do we not
see by daily experience, that the jugglers and mountebanks can do as
much as all that by their legerdemain? God forbid then that the saints'
faith should be founded upon so fallacious a foundation as man's
outward and fallible senses. What made them then give credit to these
visions? Certainly nothing else but the secret testimony of God's
Spirit in their hearts, assuring them that the voices, dreams, and
visions were of and from God. Abraham believed the angels; but who told
him that these men were angels? We must not think his faith then was
built upon his outward senses, but proceeded from the secret persuasion
of God's Spirit in his heart. This then must needs be acknowledged to
be originally and principally the object of the saints' faith, without
which there is no true and certain faith, and by which many times faith
is begotten and strengthened without any of these outward or visible
helps; as we may observe in many passages of the holy scripture, where
it is only mentioned, And God said, &c. And the word of the Lord came
unto such and such, saying, &c.
[71] But if any one should pertinaciously affirm, That this did import
an outward audible voice to the carnal ear;
[72] I would gladly know what other argument such an one could bring
for this his affirmation, saving his own simple conjecture. It is said
indeed, The Spirit witnesseth with our Spirit; but not to our outward
ears, Rom. viii. 16. And seeing the Spirit of God is within us, and not
without us only; it speaks to our spiritual, and not to our bodily ear.
Therefore I see no reason, where it is so often said in scripture, The
Spirit said, moved, hindered, called such or such a one, to do or
forbear such or such a thing, that any have to conclude, that this was
not an inward voice to the ear of the soul, rather than an outward
voice to the bodily ear. If any be otherwise minded, let them, if they
can, produce their arguments, and we may further consider of them.
From all therefore which is above declared, I shall deduce an argument
to conclude the proof of this assertion, thus:
That which any one firmly believes, as the ground and foundation of his
hope in God, and life eternal, is the formal object of his faith.
But the inward and immediate revelation of God's Spirit, speaking in
and unto the saints, was by them believed as the ground and foundation
of their hope in God, and life eternal.
Therefore these inward and immediate revelations were the formal object
of their faith.
[73] S:. IX. That which now cometh under debate, is what we asserted in
the last place, to wit, That the same continueth to be the object of
the saints' faith unto this day. Many will agree to what we have said
before, who differ from us herein.
There is nevertheless a very firm argument, confirming the truth of
this assertion, included in the proposition itself, to wit, That the
object of the saints' faith is the same in all ages, though held forth
under divers administrations; which I shall reduce to an argument, and
prove thus:
First, Where the faith is one, the object of the faith is one.
But the faith is one: Therefore, &c.
That the faith is one; are the express words of the apostle, Eph. iv.
5. who placeth the one faith with the one God; importing no less, than
that to affirm two faiths is as absurd as to affirm two Gods.
[74] Moreover, if the faith of the ancients were not one and the same
with ours, i. e. agreeing in substance therewith, and receiving the
same definition, it had been impertinent for the apostle, Heb. xi. to
have illustrated the definition of our faith by the examples of that of
the ancients, or to go about to move us by the example of Abraham, if
Abraham's faith were different in nature from ours. Nor doth any
difference arise hence, because they believed in Christ with respect to
his appearance outwardly as future, and we, as already appeared: for
neither did they then so believe in him to come, as not to feel him
present with them, and witness him near; seeing the apostle saith, They
all drank of that spiritual rock which followed them, which rock was
Christ; nor do we so believe concerning his appearance past, as not
also to feel and know him present with us, and to feed upon him; except
Christ (saith the apostle) be in you, ye are reprobates; so that both
our faith is one, terminating in one and the same thing. And as to the
other part or consequence of the antecedent, to wit, That the object is
one where the faith is one, the apostle also proveth it in the
fore-cited chapter, where he makes all the worthies of old examples to
us. Now wherein are they irritable, but because they believed in God?
And what was the object of their faith, but inward and immediate
revelation, as we have before proved? Their example can be no ways
applicable to us, except we believe in God, as they did; that is, by
the same object. The apostle clears this yet further by his own
example, Gal. i. 16. where he saith, So soon as Christ was revealed in
him, he consulted not with flesh and blood, but forthwith believed and
obeyed. The same apostle, Heb. xiii. 7, 8. where he exhorteth the
Hebrews to follow the faith of the elders, adds this reason,
Considering the end of their conversation, Jesus Christ, the same
to-day, yesterday, and forever: Hereby notably insinuating, that in the
object there is no alteration.
[75] If any now object the diversity of administration;
[76] I answer; That altereth not at all the object: for the same
apostle mentioning this diversity three times, 1 Cor. xii. 4, 5, 6.
centereth always in the same object; the same Spirit, the same Lord,
the same God.
But further; If the object of faith were not one and the same both to
us and to them, then it would follow that we were to know God some
other way than by the Spirit.
But this were absurd: Therefore, &c.
Lastly, This is most firmly proved from a common and received maxim of
the school-men, to wit, Omnis actus specificatur ab objecto, Every act
is specified from its object: from which, if it be true, as they
acknowledge, (though for the sake of many I shall not recur to this
argument, as being too nice and scholastic, neither lay I much stress
upon those kind of things, as being that which commends not the
simplicity of the gospel,) it would follow, that if the object were
different, then the faith would be different also.
Such as deny this proposition now-a-days use here a distinction;
granting that God is to be known by his Spirit, but again denying that
it is immediate or inward, but in and by the scriptures; in which the
mind of the Spirit (as they say) being fully and amply expressed, we
are thereby to know God, and be led in all things.
As to the negative of this assertion, That the scriptures are not
sufficient, neither were ever appointed to be the adequate and only
rule, nor yet can grade or direct a Christian in all those things that
are needful for him to know, we shall leave that to the next
proposition to be examined. What is proper in this place to be proved
is, That Christians now are to be led inwardly and immediately by the
Spirit of God, even in the same manner (though it befall not many to be
led in the same measure) as the saints were of old.
[77] S:. X. I shall prove this by divers arguments, and first from the
promise of Christ in these words, John xiv. 16. And I will pray the
Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may abide with
you for ever. Ver. 17. Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot
receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know
him, for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. Again, ver. 26. But
the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my
name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your
remembrance. And xvi. 13. But when the Spirit of truth shall come, he
shall lead you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but
whatsoever he shall hear he shall speak, and shall declare unto you
things to come. We have here first, who this is, and that is divers
ways expressed, to wit, The Comforter, the Spirit of truth, the Holy
Ghost, the sent of the Father in the name of Christ. And hereby is
sufficiently proved the sottishness of those Socinians, and other
carnal Christians, who neither know nor acknowledge any internal Spirit
or power but that which is merely natural; by which they sufficiently
declare themselves to be of the world, who cannot receive the Spirit,
because they neither see him nor know him. Secondly, Where this Spirit
is to be, He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. And Thirdly, What
his work is, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to
your remembrance, and guide you into all truth, hodegesei humas eis
oasan ten aletheian.
[78] As to the First, Most do acknowledge that there is nothing else
understood than what the plain words signify; which is also evident by
many other places of scripture that will hereafter occur; neither do I
see how such as affirm otherways can avoid blasphemy: for, if the
Comforter, the Holy Ghost, and Spirit of truth, be all one with the
scriptures, then it will follow that the scriptures are God, seeing it
is true that the Holy Ghost is God. [79] If these men's reasoning might
take place, wherever the Spirit is mentioned in relation to the saints,
thereby might be truly and properly understood the scriptures; which,
what a nonsensical monster it would make of the Christian religion,
will easily appear to all men. As where it is said, A manifestation of
the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal; it might be rendered
thus, A manifestation of the scriptures is given to every man to profit
withal; what notable sense this would make, and what a curious
interpretation, let us consider by the sequel of the same chapter, 1
Cor. xii. 9, 10, 11. To another the gifts of healing, by the same
Spirit; to another the working of miracles, &c. But all these worketh
that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as
he will. What would now these great masters of reason, the Socinians,
judge, if we should place the scriptures here instead of the Spirit?
Would it answer their reason, which is the great guide of their faith?
Would it be good and sound reason in their logical schools, to affirm
that the scripture divideth severally as it will, and giveth to some
the gift of healing, to others the working of miracles? If then this
Spirit, a manifestation whereof is given to every man to profit withal,
be no other than that Spirit of truth before-mentioned which guideth
into all truth, this Spirit of truth cannot be the scripture. I could
infer an hundred more absurdities of this kind upon this sottish
opinion, but what is said may suffice. For even some of themselves,
being at times forgetful or ashamed of their own doctrine, do
acknowledge that the Spirit of God is another thing, and distinct from
the scriptures, to guide and influence the saints.
[80] Secondly, That this Spirit is inward, in my opinion needs no
interpretation or commentary, He dwelleth with you, and shall be in
you. This indwelling of the Spirit in the saints, as it is a thing most
needful to be known and believed, so is it as positively asserted in
the scripture as any thing else can be. If so be that the Spirit of God
dwell in you, saith the apostle to the Romans, chap. viii. 9. And
again, Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, 1
Cor. vi. 19. And that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 1 Cor. iii.
16. Without this the apostle reckoneth no man a Christian. If any man
(saith he) have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. These
words immediately follow those above-mentioned out of the epistle to
the Romans, But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be
the Spirit of God dwell in you. [81] The context of which showeth, that
the apostle reckoneth it the main token of a Christian, both positively
and negatively: for in the former verses he showeth how the carnal mind
is enmity against God, and that such as are in the flesh cannot please
him. Where subsuming, he adds concerning the Romans, that they are not
in the flesh, if the Spirit of God dwell in them. What is this but to
affirm, that they in whom the Spirit dwells are no longer in the flesh,
nor of those who please not God, but are become Christians indeed?
Again, in the next verse he concludes negatively, that If any man have
not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his; that is, he is no
Christian. He then that acknowledges himself ignorant and a stranger to
the inward inbeing of the Spirit of Christ in his heart, doth thereby
acknowledge himself to be yet in the carnal mind, which is enmity to
God; to be yet in the flesh, where God cannot be pleased; and in short,
whatever he may otherways know or believe of Christ, or however much
skilled or acquainted with the letter of the holy scripture, not yet to
be, notwithstanding all that, attained to the least degree of a
Christian; yea, not once to have embraced the Christian religion. For
take but away the Spirit, and Christianity remains no more
Christianity, than the dead carcase of a man, when the soul and spirit
is departed, remains a man; which the living can no more abide, but do
bury out of their sight, as a noisome and useless thing, however
acceptable it hath been when actuated and moved by the soul. Lastly,
Whatsoever is excellent, whatsoever is noble, whatsoever is worthy,
whatsoever is desirable in the Christian faith, is ascribed to this
Spirit, without which it could no more subsist than the outward world
without the sun. Hereunto have all true Christians, in all ages,
attributed their strength and life. It is by this Spirit that they
avouch themselves to have been converted to God, to have been redeemed
from the world, to have been strengthened in their weakness, comforted
in their afflictions, confirmed in their temptations, imboldened in
their sufferings, and triumphed in the midst of all their persecutions.
[82] Yea, the writings of all true Christians are full of the great and
notable things which they all affirm themselves to have done, by the
power, and virtue, and efficacy of this Spirit of God working in them.
It is the Spirit that quickeneth, John vi. 63. It was the Spirit that
gave them utterance, Acts ii. 4. It was the Spirit by which Stephen
spake, That the Jews were not able to resist, Acts vi. 10. It is such
as walk after the Spirit that receive no condemnation, Rom. viii. 1. It
is the law of the Spirit that makes free, ver. 2. It is by the Spirit
of God dwelling in us, that we are redeemed from the flesh, and from
the carnal mind, ver. 9. It is the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us that
quickeneth our mortal bodies, ver. 11. It is through this Spirit that
the deeds of the body are mortified, and life obtained, ver. 13. It is
by this Spirit that we are adopted, and cry ABBA, Father, ver. 15. It
is this Spirit that beareth witness with our spirit that we are the
children of God, ver. 16. It is this Spirit that helpeth our
infirmities, and maketh intercession for us, with groanings which
cannot be uttered, ver. 26. It is by this Spirit that the glorious
things which God hath laid up for us, which neither outward ear hath
heard, nor outward eye hath seen, nor the heart of man conceived by all
his reasonings, are revealed unto us, 1 Cor. ii. 9, 10. It is by this
Spirit that both wisdom and knowledge, and faith, and miracles, and
tongues, and prophecies, are obtained, 1 Cor. xii. 8, 9, 10. It is by
this Spirit that we are all baptized into one body, ver. 13. In short,
what thing relating to the salvation of the soul, and to the life of a
Christian, is rightly performed, or effectually obtained, without it?
And what shall I say more? For the time would fail me to tell of all
those things which the holy men of old have declared, and the saints of
this day do themselves enjoy, by the virtue and power of this Spirit
dwelling in them. Truly my paper could not contain the many testimonies
whereby this truth is confirmed; wherefore, besides what is
above-mentioned out of the fathers, whom all pretend to reverence, and
those of Luther and Melancthon, I shall deduce yet one observable
testimony out of Calvin, because not a few of the followers of his
doctrine do refuse and deride (and that, as it is to be feared, because
of their own non-experience thereof) this way of the Spirit's
in-dwelling, as uncertain and dangerous; that so, if neither the
testimony of the scripture, nor the sayings of others, nor right reason
can move them, they may at least be reproved by the words of their own
master, who saith in the third book of his Institutions, cap. 2. on
this wise:
[83] "But they allege, It is a bold presumption for any to pretend to
an undoubted knowledge of God's will; which (saith he) I should grant
unto them, if we should ascribe so much to ourselves as to subject the
incomprehensible counsel of God to the rashness of our understandings.
But while we simply say with Paul, that we have received not the spirit
of this world, but the Spirit which is of God, by whose teaching we
know those things that are given us of God, what can they prate against
it without reproaching the Spirit of God? For if it be an horrible
sacrilege to accuse any revelation coming from him, either of a lie, of
uncertainty or ambiguity, in asserting its certainty wherein do we
offend? But they cry out, That it is not without great temerity that we
dare so boast of the Spirit of Christ. Who would believe that the
sottishness of these men were so great, who would be esteemed the
masters of the world, that they should so fail in the first principles
of religion? Verily I could not believe it, if their own writings did
not testify so much. Paul accounts those the Sons of God, who are
actuated by the Spirit of God; but these will have the children of God
actuated by their own spirits without the Spirit of God. He will have
us call God Father, the Spirit dictating that term unto us, which only
can witness to our spirits that we are the Sons of God. These, though
they cease not to call upon God, do nevertheless dismiss the Spirit, by
whose guiding he is rightly to be called upon. He denies them to be the
Sons of God, or the Servants of Christ, who are not led by his Spirit;
but these feign a Christianity that needs not the Spirit of Christ. He
takes away the hope of a blessed resurrection, unless we feel the
Spirit residing in us; but these feign a hope without any such a
feeling; but perhaps they will answer, that they deny not but that it
is necessary to have it, only of modesty and humility we ought to deny
and not acknowledge it. What means he then, when he commands the
Corinthians to try themselves, if they be in the faith; to examine
themselves, whether they have Christ, whom whosoever acknowledges not
dwelling in him, is a reprobate? By the Spirit which he hath given us,
saith John, we know that he abideth in us. And what do we then else but
call in question Christ's promise, while we would be esteemed the
servants of God without his Spirit, which he declared he would pour out
upon all his? Seeing these things are the first grounds of piety, it is
miserable blindness to accuse Christians of pride, because they dare
glory of the presence of the Spirit; without which glorying,
Christianity itself could not be. [84] But by their example they
declare, how truly Christ spake, saying, That his Spirit was unknown to
the world, and that those only acknowledge it with whom it remains."
Thus far Calvin.
If therefore it be so, why should any be so foolish as to deny, or so
unwise as not to seek after this Spirit, which Christ hath promised
shall dwell in his children? They then that do suppose the indwelling
and leading of his Spirit to be ceased, must also suppose Christianity
to be ceased, which cannot subsist without it.
[85] Thirdly, What the work of this Spirit is, is partly before shown,
which Christ compriseth in two or three things, He will guide you into
all truth; He will teach you all things, and bring all things to your
remembrance. Since Christ hath provided for us so good an instructer,
why need we then lean so much to those traditions and commandments of
men wherewith so many Christians have burthened themselves? [86] Why
need we set up our own carnal and corrupt reason for a guide to us in
matters spiritual, as some will needs do? May it not be complained of
all such, as the Lord did of old concerning Israel by the prophets,
Jer. ii. 13. For my people have committed two evils, they have forsaken
me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken
cisterns, that can hold no water? Have not many forsaken, do not many
deride and reject, this inward and immediate guide, this Spirit that
leads into all truth, and cast up to themselves other ways, broken ways
indeed, which have not all this while brought them out of the flesh,
nor out of the world, nor from under the dominion of their own lusts
and sinful affections, whereby truth, which is only rightly learned by
this Spirit, is so much a stranger in the earth?
[87] >From all then that hath been mentioned concerning this
promise, and these words of Christ, it will follow, that Christians are
always to be led inwardly and immediately by the Spirit of God dwelling
in them, and that the same is a standing and perpetual ordinance, as
well to the church in general in all ages, as to every individual
member in particular, as appears from this argument:
The promises of Christ to his children are Yea and Amen, and cannot
fail, but must of necessity be fulfilled.
But Christ hath promised, that the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, the
Spirit of truth, shall abide with his children forever, shall dwell
with them, shall be in them, shall lead them into all truth, shall
teach them all things, and bring all things to their remembrance:
Therefore the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of truth, his
abiding with his children, &c. is Yea and Amen, &c.
Again: No man is redeemed from the carnal mind, which is at enmity with
God, which is not subject to the law of God, neither can be: no man is
yet in the Spirit, but in the flesh, and cannot please God, except he
in whom the Spirit of God dwells.
But every true Christian is in measure redeemed from the carnal mind,
is gathered out of the enmity, and can be subject to the law of God; is
out of the flesh, and in the Spirit, the Spirit of God dwelling in him.
Therefore every true Christian hath the Spirit of God dwelling in him.
Again: Whosoever hath not the Spirit of Christ, is none of his; that
is, no child, no friend, no disciple of Christ.
But every true Christian is a child, a friend, a disciple of Christ:
Therefore every true Christian hath the Spirit of Christ.
Moreover: Whosoever is the temple of the Holy Ghost, in him the Spirit
of God dwelleth and abideth.
But every true Christian is the temple of the Holy Ghost:
Therefore in every true Christian the Spirit of God dwelleth and
abideth.
But to conclude: He in whom the Spirit of God dwelleth, it is not in
him a lazy, dumb, useless thing; but it moveth, actuateth, governeth,
instructeth, and teacheth him all things whatsoever are needful for him
to know; yea, bringeth all things to his remembrance.
But the Spirit of God dwelleth in every true Christian:
Therefore the Spirit of God leadeth, instructeth, and teacheth every
true Christian whatsoever is needful for him to know.
[88] S:. XI. But there are some that will confess, That the Spirit doth
now lead and influence the saints, but that he doth it only
subjectively, or in a blind manner, by enlightening their
understandings, to understand and believe the truth delivered in the
scriptures; but not at all by presenting those truths to the mind by
way of object, and this they call Medium incognitum assentiendi, as
that of whose working a man is not sensible.
[89] This opinion, though somewhat more tolerable than the former, is
nevertheless not altogether according to truth, neither doth it reach
the fulness of it.
[90] 1. Because there be many truths, which, as they are applicable to
particulars and individuals, and most needful to be known by them, are
in no-wise to be found in the scripture, as in the following
proposition shall be shown.
Besides, the arguments already adduced do prove, that the Spirit doth
not only subjectively help us to discern truths elsewhere delivered,
but also objectively present those truths to our minds. For that which
teacheth me all things, and is given me for that end, without doubt
presents those things to my mind which it teacheth me. It is not said,
It shall teach you how to understand those things that are written ;
but, It shall teach you all things. Again, That which brings all things
to my remembrance, must needs present them by way of object; else it
were improper to say, It brought them to my remembrance; but only, that
it helpeth to remember the objects brought from elsewhere.
[91] My second argument shall be drawn from the nature of the new
covenant ; by which, and those that follow, I shall, prove that we are
led by the Spirit both immediately and objectively. The nature of the
new covenant is expressed in divers places; and,
[92] First, Isa. lix. 21. As for me, this is my covenant with them,
saith the Lord; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have
put into thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the
mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, with the
Lord, from henceforth and for ever. By the latter part of this is
sufficiently expressed the perpetuity and continuance of this promise,
It shall not depart, saith the Lord from henceforth and forever. In the
former part is the promise itself, which is the Spirit of God being
upon them, and the words of God being put into their mouths.
[93] First, This was immediate, for there is no mention made of any
medium; he saith not, I shall by the means of such and such writings or
books, convey such and such words into your mouths; but My words, I,
even I, saith the Lord, have put into your mouths.
[94] Secondly, This must be objectively; for [the words put into the
mouth] are the object presented by him. He saith not, The words which
ye shall see written, my Spirit shall only enlighten your
understandings, to assent unto; but positively, My words, which I have
put into thy mouth, &c. From whence I argue thus:
Upon whomsoever the Spirit remaineth always, and putteth words into his
mouth, him doth the Spirit teach immediately, objectively, and
continually.
But the Spirit is always upon the seed of the righteous, and putteth
words into their mouths, neither departeth from them:
Therefore the Spirit teacheth the righteous immediately, objectively,
and continually.
[95] Secondly, The nature of the new covenant is yet more amply
expressed, Jer. xxxi. 33, which is again repeated and reasserted by the
apostle, Heb. viii. 10, 11. in these words, For this is the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel, after those days, saith the
Lord, I will put my laws into their minds, and write them in their
hearts, and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.
And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his
brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall all know me, from the
least to the greatest.
The object here is God's law placed in the heart, and written in the
mind; from whence they become God's people, and are brought truly to
know him.
[96] In this then is the law distinguished from the gospel; the law
before was outward, written in tables of stone but now is inward
written in the heart: of old the people depended upon their priests for
the knowledge of God, but now they have all a certain and sensible
knowledge of Him; concerning which Augustine speaketh well, in his book
De Litera & Spiritu ; from whom Aquinas first of all seems to have
taken occasion to move this question, Whether the new law be a written
law, or an implanted law? Lex scripta, vel lex indita? Which he thus
resolves, affirming, That the new law, or gospel, is not properly a law
written, as the old was, but Lex indita, an implanted law; and that the
old law was written without, but the new law is written within, on the
table of the heart.
[97] How much then are they deceived, who, instead of making the gospel
preferable to the law, have made the condition of such as are under the
gospel far worse? For no doubt it is a far better and more desirable
thing to converse with God immediately, than only mediately, as being
an higher and more glorious dispensation: and yet these men acknowledge
that many under the law had immediate converse with God, whereas they
now cry it is ceased.
Again: Under the law there was the holy of holies, into which the high
priest did enter, and received the word of the Lord immediately from
betwixt the cherubims, so that the people could then certainly know the
mind of the Lord; but now, according to these men's judgment, we are in
a far worse condition, having nothing but the outward letter of the
scripture to guess and divine from; concerning the sense or meaning of
one verse of which scarce two can be found to agree. But Jesus Christ
hath promised us better things, though many are so unwise as not to
believe him, even to guide us by his own unerring Spirit, and hath rent
and removed the veil, whereby not only one, and that once a year, may
enter; but all of us, at all times, have access unto him, as often as
we draw near unto him with pure hearts: he reveals his will to us by
his Spirit, and writes his laws in our hearts. These things then being
thus premised, I argue,
Where the law of God is put into the mind, and written in the heart,
there the object of faith, and revelation of the knowledge of God, is
inward, immediate, and objective.
But the law of God is put into the mind, and written in the heart of
every true Christian, under the new covenant.
Therefore the object of faith, and revelation of the knowledge of God
to every true Christian, is inward, immediate, and objective.
The assumption is the express words of scripture: the proposition then
must needs be true, except that which is put into the mind, and written
in the heart, were either not inward, not immediate, or not objective,
which is most absurd.
[98] S:. XII. The third argument is from these words of John, 1 John
ii. ver. 27. But the anointing, which ye have received of him, abideth
in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but the same anointing
teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie; and even as it
hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
[99] First, This could not be any special, peculiar, or extraordinary
privilege, but that which is common to all the saints, it being a
general epistle, directed to all them of that age.
[100] Secondly, The apostle proposeth this anointing in them, as a more
certain touch-stone for them to discern and try seducers by, even than
his own writings; for having in the former verse said, that he had
written some things to them concerning such as seduced them, he begins
the next verse, But the anointing, &c. and ye need not that any man
teach you, &c. which infers, that having said to them what can be said,
he refers them for all to the inward anointing, which teacheth all
things, as the most firm, constant, and certain bulwark against all
seducers.
[101] And Lastly, That it is a lasting and continuing thing; the
anointing which abideth. If it had not been to abide in them, it could
not have taught them all things, neither guarded them against all
hazard. From which I argue thus,
He that hath an anointing abiding in him, which teacheth him all
things, so that he needs no man to teach him, hath an inward and
immediate teacher, and hath some things inwardly and immediately
revealed unto him.
But the saints have such an anointing:
Therefore, &c.
I could prove this doctrine from many more places of scripture, which
for brevity's sake I omit; and now come to the second part of the
proposition, where the objections usually formed against it are
answered.
[102] S:. XIII. The most usual is, That these revelations are
uncertain.
[103] But this bespeaketh much ignorance in the opposers; for we
distinguish between the thesis and the hypothesis; that is, between the
proposition and supposition. For it is one thing to affirm, that the
true and undoubted revelation of God's spirit is certain and
infallible; and another thing to affirm, that this or that particular
person or people is led infallibly by this revelation in what they
speak or write, because they affirm themselves to be so led by the
inward and immediate revelation of the Spirit. The first is only
asserted by us, the latter may be called in question. The question is
not who are or are not so led: But whether all ought not or may not be
so led?
[104] Seeing then we have already proved that Christ hath promised his
Spirit to lead his children, and that every one of them both ought and
may be led by it; if any depart from this certain guide in deeds, and
yet in words pretend to be led by it into things that are not good, it
will not from thence follow, that the true guidance of the Spirit is
uncertain, or ought not to be followed; no more than it will follow
that the sun showeth not light, because a blind man, or one who
wilfully shuts his eyes, falls into a ditch at noon-day for want of
light; or that no words are spoken, because a deaf man hears them not;
or that a garden full of fragrant flowers has no sweet smell, because
he that has lost his smelling doth not smell it; the fault then is in
the organ, and not in the object.
All these mistakes therefore are to be ascribed to the weakness or
wickedness of men, and not to that Holy Spirit. Such as bend themselves
most against the certain and infallible testimony of the Spirit use
commonly to allege the example of the old Gnostics, and the late
monstrous and mischievous actings of the Anabaptists of Munster, all
which toucheth us nothing at all, neither weakens a whit our most true
doctrine. Wherefore, as a most sure bulwark against such kind of
assaults, was subjoined that other part of our proposition thus:
Moreover these divine and inward revelations, which we establish as
absolutely necessary for the founding of the true faith, as they do
not, so neither can they at any time, contradict the Scriptures'
testimony, or sound reason.
[105] Besides the intrinsic and undoubted truth of this assertion, we
can boldly affirm it from our certain and blessed experience. For this
Spirit never deceived us, never acted nor moved us to any thing that
was amiss; but is clear and manifest in its revelations, which are
evidently discerned by us, as we wait in that pure and undefiled light
of God (that proper and fit organ) in which they are received.
Therefore if any reason after this manner,
(That because some wicked, ungodly, devilish men have committed wicked
actions, and have yet more wickedly asserted, that they were led into
these things by the Spirit of God;
Therefore, No man ought to lean to the Spirit of God, or seek to be led
by it,)
[106] I utterly deny the consequence of this proposition, which, were
it to be received as true, then would all faith in God and hope of
salvation become uncertain, and the Christian religion be turned into
mere Scepticism. For after the same manner I might reason thus:
Because Eve was deceived by the lying of the serpent;
Therefore she ought not to have trusted to the promise of God.
Because the old world was deluded by evil spirits ;
Therefore ought neither Noah, nor Abraham, nor Moses, to have trusted
the Spirit of the Lord.
Because a lying spirit spake through the four hundred prophets, that
persuaded Ahab to go up and fight at Ramoth Gilead;
Therefore the testimony of the true Spirit in Micaiah was uncertain,
and dangerous to be followed.
Because there were seducing spirits crept into the church of old;
Therefore it was not good, or it is uncertain, to follow the anointing,
which taught all things, and is truth, and is no lie.
Who dare say, that this is a necessary consequence? Moreover, not only
the faith of the saints and church of God of old, is hereby rendered
uncertain, but also the faith of all sorts of Christians now is liable
to the like hazard, even of those who seek a foundation for their faith
elsewhere than from the Spirit. For I shall prove by an inevitable
argument, ab incommodo, i.e. from the inconveniency of it, that if the
Spirit be not to be followed upon that account, and that men may not
depend upon it as their guide, because some, while pretending
thereunto, commit great evils; that then, neither tradition, nor the
scriptures, nor reason, which the Papists, Protestants, and Socinians
do respectively make the rule of their faith, are any whit more
certain. [107] The Romanists reckon it an error to celebrate Easter any
other ways than that church doth. This can only be decided by
tradition. And yet the Greek church, which equally layeth claim to
tradition with herself, doth it otherwise. Yea, so little effectual is
tradition to decide the case, that Polycarpus, the disciple of John,
and Anicetus, the bishop of Rome, who immediately succeeded them,
according to whose example both sides concluded the question ought to
be decided, could not agree. [108] Here of necessity one of them must
err, and that following tradition. Would the Papists now judge we dealt
fairly by them, if we should thence aver, that tradition is not to be
regarded? Besides, in a matter of far greater importance the same
difficulty will occur, to wit, in the primacy of the bishop of Rome;
for many do affirm, and that by tradition, that in the first six
hundred years the Roman prelates never assumed the title of Universal
Shepherd, nor were acknowledged as such. And, as that which altogether
overturneth this precedency, there are that allege, and that from
tradition also, that Peter never saw Rome; and that therefore the
bishop of Rome cannot be his successor. Would you Romanists think this
sound reasoning, to say as you do?
Many have been deceived, and erred grievously, in trusting to
tradition;
Therefore we ought to reject all traditions, yea, even those by which
we affirm the contrary, and, as we think, prove the truth.
[109] Lastly, In the *council of Florence, the chief doctors of the
Romish and Greek churches did debate whole sessions long concerning the
interpretation of one sentence of the council of Ephesus, and of
Epiphanius, and Basilius, neither could they ever agree about it.
Secondly, As to the scripture, the same difficulty occurreth: the
Lutherans affirm they believe consubstantiation by the scripture; which
the Calvinists deny, as that which, they say, according to the same
scripture, is a gross error. The Calvinists again affirm absolute
predestination, which the Arminians deny, affirming the contrary;
wherein both affirm themselves to be ruled by the scripture and reason
in the matter. Should I argue thus then to the Calvinists?
Here the Lutherans and Arminians grossly err, by following the
scripture;
Therefore the scripture is not a good nor certain rule; and e
contrario.
Would either of them accept of this reasoning as good and sound? What
shall I say of the Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Independents, and
Anabaptists of Great Britain, who are continually buffeting one another
with the scripture? To whom the same argument might be alleged, though
they do all unanimously acknowledge it to be the rule.
[110] And Thirdly, as to reason, I shall not need to say much; for
whence come all the controversies, contentions, and debates in the
world, but because man thinks he follows right reason? Hence of old
came the jangles between the Stoics, Platonists, Peripatetics,
Pythagoreans, and Cynics, late betwixt the Aristotelians, Cartesians,
and other naturalists: Can it be thence inferred, or will the
Socinians, those great reasoners, allow us to conclude, because many,
and those very wise men, have erred, by following, as they supposed,
their reason, and that with what diligence, care and industry they
could, to find out the truth, that therefore no man ought to make use
of it at all, nor be positive in what he knows certainly to be
rational? And thus far as to opinions; the same uncertainty is no less
incident unto those other principles.
[111] S:. XIV. But if we come to practices, though I confess I do with
my whole heart abhor and detest those wild practices which are written
concerning the Anabaptists of Munster; I am bold to say, as bad, if not
worse things, have been committed by those that lean to tradition,
scripture, and reason wherein also they have averred themselves to have
been authorized by these rules. I need but mention all the tumults,
seditious, and horrible bloodshed, wherewith Europe hath been afflicted
these divers ages; in which Papists against Papists, Calvinists against
Calvinists, Lutherans against Lutherans, and Papists assisted by
Protestants, against other Protestants assisted by Papists, have
miserably shed one another's blood, hiring and forcing men to kill each
other, who were ignorant of the quarrel, and strangers one to another:
all, meanwhile, pretending reason for so doing, and pleading the
lawfulness of it from scripture.
[112] For what have the Papists pretended for their many massacres,
acted as well in France as elsewhere, but tradition, scripture, and
reason. Did they not say, that reason persuaded them, tradition allowed
them, and scripture commanded them, to persecute, destroy, and burn
heretics, such as denied this plain scripture, Hoc est corpus meum,
This is my body? And are not the Protestants assenting to this
bloodshed, who assert the same thing, and encourage them, by burning
and banishing, while their brethren are so treated for the same cause?
Are not the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, yea, and all the
Christian world, a lively example hereof, which were divers years
together as a theatre of blood; where many lost their lives, and
numbers of families were utterly destroyed and ruined? For all which no
other cause was principally given, than the precepts of the scripture.
If we then compare these actings with those of Munster, we shall not
find great difference; for both affirmed and pretended they were
called, and that it was lawful to kill, burn, and destroy the wicked.
We must kill all the wicked, said those Anabaptists, that we, that are
the saints, may possess the earth. We must burn obstinate heretics, say
the Papists, that the holy church of Rome may be purged of rotten
members, and may live in peace. We must cut off seducing separatists,
say the Prelatical Protestants, who trouble the peace of the church,
and refuse the divine hierarchy, and religious ceremonies thereof. We
must kill, say the Calvinistic Presbyterians, the Profane Malignants,
who accuse the Holy Consistorial and Presbyterian government, and seek
to defend the Popish and Prelatic hierarchy; as also those other
sectaries that trouble the peace of our church. What difference I pray
thee, impartial reader, seest thou betwixt these?
[113] If it be said, The Anabaptists went without, and against the
authority of the magistrate; so did not the other ;
[114] I might easily refute it, by alleging the mutual testimonies of
these sects against one another. The behaviour of the Papists towards
Henry the Third and Fourth of France; their designs upon James the
Sixth in the gunpowder treason; as also their principle of the Pope's
power to depose kings for the cause of heresy, and to absolve their
subjects from their oath, and give them to others, proves it against
them.
[115] And as to the Protestants, how much their actions differ from
those other above-mentioned, may be seen by the many conspiracies and
tumults which they have been active in, both in Scotland and England,
and which they have acted within these hundred years in divers towns
and provinces of the Netherlands. Have they not oftentimes sought, not
only from the Popish magistrates, but even from those that had begun to
reform, or that had given them some liberty of exercising their
religion, that they might only be permitted, without trouble or
hindrance, to exercise their religion, promising they would not hinder
or molest the Papists in the exercise of theirs? And yet did they not
on the contrary, so soon as they had power, trouble and abuse those
fellow-citizens, and turn them out of the city, and, which is worse,
even such who together with them had forsaken the Popish religion? Did
they not these things in many places against the mind of the
magistrates? Have they not publicly, with contumelious speeches,
assaulted their magistrates, from whom they had but just before sought
and obtained the free exercise of their religion? Representing them, so
soon as they opposed themselves to their hierarchy, as if they regarded
neither God nor religion? Have they not by violent hands possessed
themselves of the Popish churches, so called, or by force, against the
magistrates' mind, taken them away? Have they not turned out of their
office and authority whole councils of magistrates, under pretence that
they were addicted to Popery? Which Popish magistrates nevertheless
they did but a little before acknowledge to be ordained by God;
affirming themselves obliged to yield them obedience and subjection,
not only for fear, but for conscience' sake; to whom moreover the very
preachers and overseers of the reformed church had willingly sworn
fidelity; and yet afterwards have they not said, that the people are
bound to force a wicked prince to the observation of God's word? There
are many other instances of this kind to be found in their histories,
not to mention many worse things, which we know to have been acted in
our time, and which for brevity's sake I pass by.
[116] I might say much of the Lutherans, whose tumultuous actions
against their magistrates not professing the Lutheran profession, are
testified of by several historians worthy of credit. Among others, I
shall propose only one example to the reader's consideration, which
fell out at Berlin in the year 1615. "Where the seditious multitude of
the Lutheran citizens, being stirred up by the daily clamours of their
preachers, did not only with violence break into the houses of the
reformed teachers, overturn their libraries, and spoil their furniture;
but also with reproachful words, yea, and with stones, assaulted the
Marquis of Brandenburg, the Elector's brother, while he sought by
smooth words to quiet the fury of the multitude; they killed ten of his
guard, scarcely sparing himself, who at last by flight escaped out of
their hands." All which sufficiently declares, that the concurrence of
the magistrate doth not alter their principles, but only their method
of procedure. So that for my own part, I see no difference betwixt the
actings of those of Munster, and these others, (whereof the one
pretended to be led by the Spirit, the other by tradition, scripture,
and reason,) save this, that the former were rash, heady, and foolish,
in their proceedings, and therefore were the sooner brought to nothing,
and so into contempt and derision: but the other being more politic and
wise in their generation, held it out longer, and so have authorized
their wickedness more, with the seeming authority of law and reason.
But both their actings being equally evil, the difference appears to me
to be only like that which is between a simple silly thief, that is
easily catched, and hanged without any more ado; and a company of
resolute bold robbers, who being better guarded, though their offence
be nothing less, yet by violence do, to shun the danger, force their
masters to give them good terms.
From all which then it evidently follows, that they argue very ill, who
despise and reject any principle because men pretending to be led by it
do evil; in case it be not the natural and consequential tendency of
that principle to lead unto those things that are evil.
Again: It doth follow from what is above asserted, that if the Spirit
be to be rejected upon this account, all those other principles ought
on the same account to be rejected. And for my part, as I have never a
whit the lower esteem of the blessed testimony of the holy scriptures,
nor do the less respect any solid tradition, that is answerable and
according to truth; neither at all despise reason, that noble and
excellent faculty of the mind, because wicked men have abused the name
of them, to cover their wickedness, and deceive the simple; so would I
not have any reject or doubt the certainty of that unerring Spirit
which God hath given his children, as that which can alone guide them
into all truth, because some have falsely pretended to it. [117]
S:. XV. And because the Spirit of God is the fountain of all truth and
sound reason, therefore we have well said, That it cannot contradict
either the testimony of the scripture, or right reason: "Yet (as the
proposition itself concludeth, to the last part of which I now come) it
will not from thence follow, that these divine revelations are to be
subjected to the examination either of the outward testimony of
scripture, or of the human or natural reason of man, as to a more noble
and certain rule or touchstone; for the divine revelation, and inward
illumination, is that which is evident by itself, forcing the
well-disposed understanding, and irresistibly moving it, to assent by
its own evidence and clearness, even as the common principles of
natural truths do bend the mind to a natural assent."
He that denies this part of the proposition must needs affirm, that the
Spirit of God neither can, nor ever hath manifested itself to man
without the scripture, or a distinct discussion of reason; or that the
efficacy of this supernatural principle, working upon the souls of men,
is less evident than natural principles in their common operations;
both which are false.
For, First, Through all the scriptures we may observe, that the
manifestation and revelation of God by his Spirit to the patriarchs,
prophets, and apostles, was immediate and objective, as is above
proved; which they did not examine by any other principle, but their
own evidence and clearness.
[118] Secondly, To say that the Spirit of God has less evidence upon
the mind of man than natural principles have, is to have too mean and
too low thoughts of it. How comes David to invite us to taste and see
that God is good, if this cannot be felt and tasted? This were enough
to overturn the faith and assurance of all the saints, both now and of
old. How came Paul to be persuaded, that nothing could separate him
from the love of God, but by that evidence and clearness which the
Spirit of God gave him? The apostle John, who knew well wherein the
certainty of faith consisted, judged it no ways absurd, without further
argument, to ascribe his knowledge and assurance, and that of all the
saints, hereunto in these words, Hereby know we that we dwell in him,
and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit, 1 John iv. 13.
And again, chap. v. ver. 6. It is the Spirit that beareth witness,
because the Spirit is truth.
[119] Observe the reason brought by him, Because the Spirit is truth;
of whose certainty and infallibility I have heretofore spoken. We then
trust to and confide in this Spirit, because we know, and certainly
believe, that it can only lead us aright, and never mislead us; and
from this certain confidence it is that we affirm, that no revelation
coming from it can ever contradict the scripture's testimony nor right
reason: not as making this a more certain rule to ourselves, but as
condescending to such, who not discerning the revelations of the
Spirit, as they proceed purely from God, will try them by these
mediums. Yet those that have their spiritual senses, and can savour the
things of the Spirit, as it were in prima instantia, i.e. at the first
blush, can discern them without, or before they apply them either to
scripture or reason; just as a good astronomer can calculate an eclipse
infallibly, by which he can conclude (if the order of nature continue,
and some strange and unnatural revolution intervene not) there will be
an eclipse of the sun or moon such a day, and such an hour; yet can he
not persuade an ignorant rustic of this, until he visibly see it. [120]
So also a mathematician can infallibly know, by the rules of art, that
the three angles of a right triangle are equal to two right angles;
yea, can know them more certainly than any man by measure. And some
geometrical demonstrations are by all acknowledged to be infallible,
which can be scarcely discerned or proved by the senses; yet if a
geometer be at the pains to certify some ignorant man concerning the
certainty of his art, by condescending to measure it, and make it
obvious to his senses, it will not thence follow, that that measuring
is so certain as the demonstration itself, or that the demonstration
would be uncertain without it.
S:. XVI. But to make an end, I shall add one argument to prove, that
this inward, immediate, objective revelation, which we have pleaded for
all along, is the only sure, certain, and unmoveable foundation of all
Christian faith; which argument, when well weighed, I hope will have
weight with all sorts of Christians, and it is this:
[121] That which all professors of Christianity, of what kind soever,
are forced ultimately to recur unto, when pressed to the last; that for
and because of which all other foundations are recommended, and
accounted worthy to be believed, and without which they are granted to
be of no weight at all, must needs be the only most true, certain, and
unmoveable foundation of all Christian faith.
But inward, immediate, objective revelation by the Spirit, is that
which all professors of Christianity, what kind soever, are forced
ultimately to recur unto, &c.
Therefore, &c.
The proposition is so evident, that it will not be denied; the
assumption shall be proved by parts.
[122] And First, as to the Papists, they place their foundation in the
judgment of the church and tradition. If we press them to say, Why they
believe as the church doth? their answer is, Because the church is
always led by the infallible Spirit. So here the leading of the Spirit
is the utmost foundation. Again, if we ask them, Why we ought to trust
tradition? they answer, Because these traditions were delivered us by
the doctors and fathers of the church; which doctors and fathers, by
the revelation of the Holy Ghost, commanded the church to observe them.
Here again all ends in the revelation of the Spirit.
[123] And for the Protestants and Socinians, both which acknowledge the
scriptures to be the foundation and rule of their faith; the one as
subjectively influenced by the Spirit of God to use them, the other as
managing them with and by their own reason; ask both, or either of
them, Why they trust in the scriptures, and take them to be their rule?
their answer is, Because we have in them the mind of God delivered unto
us by those to whom these things were inwardly, immediately, and
objectively revealed by the Spirit of God; and not because this or that
man wrote them, but because the Spirit of God dictated them.
[124] It is strange then that men should render that so uncertain and
dangerous to follow, upon which alone the certain ground and foundation
of their own faith is built; or that they should shut themselves out
from that holy fellowship with God, which only is enjoyed in the
Spirit, in which we are commanded both to walk and live.
If any reading these things find themselves moved, by the strength of
these scripture-arguments, to assent and believe such revelations
necessary, and yet find themselves strangers to them, which,as I
observed in the beginning, is the cause that this is so much gainsaid
and contradicted, let them know, that it is not because it is ceased to
become the privilege of every true Christian that they do not feel it,
but rather because they are not so much Christians by nature as by
name; and let such know, that the secret light which shines in the
heart, and reproves unrighteousness, is the small beginning of the
revelation of God's Spirit, which was first sent into the world to
reprove it of sin, John xvi. 8. And as by forsaking iniquity thou
comest to be acquainted with that heavenly voice in thy heart, thou
shalt feel, as the old man, or the natural man, that savoureth not the
things of God's kingdom, is put off, with his evil and corrupt
affections and lusts; I say, thou shalt feel the new man, or the
spiritual birth and babe raised, which hath its spiritual senses, and
can see, feel, taste, handle, and smell the things of the Spirit; but
till then the knowledge of things spiritual is but as an historical
faith. [125] But as the description of the light of the sun, or of
curious colours to a blind man, who, though of the largest capacity,
cannot so well understand it by the most acute and lively description,
as a child can by seeing them; so neither can the natural man, of the
largest capacity; by the best words, even scripture-words, so well
understand the mysteries of God's kingdom, as the least and weakest
child who tasteth them, by having them revealed inwardly and
objectively by the Spirit.
Wait then for this in the small revelation of that pure light which
first reveals things more known; and as thou becomest fitted for it,
thou shalt receive more and more, and by a living experience easily
refute their ignorance, who ask, How dost thou know that thou art
actuated by the Spirit of God? Which will appear to thee a question no
less ridiculous, than to ask one whose eyes are open, How he knows the
sun shines at noon-day? And though this be the surest and certainest
way to answer all objections; yet by what is above written it may
appear, that the mouths of all such opposers as deny this doctrine may
be shut, by unquestionable and unanswerable reasons.
__________________________________________________________________
[29] Mat. xi. 27
[30] Revelation rejected by apostate Christians.
[31] Knowledge spiritual and literal distinguished.
[32] Aug. ex Tract. Ep. Job. 3.
[33] Clem Alex. 1.1. Strom.
[34] PAEdag.
[35] Tertullianus Lib. de veland. Virginibus cap. 1.
[36] Hierom. Ep. Paulin. 103.
[37] Athanasius de Incarn. Verbi Dei.
[38] Greg. Mag. Hom. 30. upon the Gospel.
[39] Cyril. Alex. in Thesauro lib. 13. c. 3.
[40] Bernard in Psal. 84.
[41] Luther. tom. 5. p. 76.
[42] Phil. Melancthon.
[43] By the Spirit alone God is known.
[44] Dr. Smith of Cambridge, concerning book divinity.
[45] Apostacy and a false knowledge introduced.
[46] Christianity is become an art, acquired by human science and
industry.
[47] By revalation is the true knowledge of God.
[48] Abel, Seth, Noah, &c. instanced.
[49] Assert. 1. proved.
[50] John i. 1,2,3.
[51] Eph. iii. 9.
[52] Asser. 2. proved.
[53] Proof I.
[54] The things of God are known by the Spirit of God.
[55] Proof II. No man can call Jesus Lord &c.
[56] Spiritual truths are lies spoken by carnal men.
[57] Like the prattling of a parrot.
[58] Assert. 3. proved.
[59] That revelation is by the Spirit of God.
[60] Object.
[61] Ans. Sanctum Sanctorum.
[62] None shut out from this immediate fellowship.
[63] Assert. 4.
[64] Proved. What faith is.
[65] The object of faith, Deus loquens.
[66] Noah's faith.
[67] Abraham's faith.
[68] Object.
[69] Answ. The ministry of angels speaking in the appearance of men to
the saints of old.
[70] Revelations by dreams and visions.
[71] Object.
[72] Answ. The Spirit speaks to the spiritual ear, not to the outward.
[73] Assert. 5. proved.
[74] The faith of the saints of old the same with ours.
[75] Object.
[76] Answ.
[77] Christians are now to be led by the Spirit, in the same manner as
the saints of old.
[78] Query 1. Who is this Comforter?
[79] Nonsensical consequences from the Socinians' belief of the
scriptures being the Spirit.
[80] Query 2. Where is his Place?
[81] The Spirit within, the main token of a Christian.
[82] The great and notable acts that have been and are performed by the
Spirit in all ages.
[83] Calvin of the necessity of the Spirit's indwelling in us.
[84] Without the Spirit's presence, Christianity must cease.
[85] Query 3. What is the work of the Spirit? John xvi. 13. and xiv.
26.
[86] The Spirit the guide.
[87] A perpetual ordinance to God's church and people.
[88] Object.
[89] Answ.
[90] Arg. 1.
[91] Arg. 2.
[92] Proof 1.
[93] 1. Immediately.
[94] 2. Objectively.
[95] Proof 2.
[96] The difference between the outward and inward law.
[97] The gospel dispensation more glorious than that of the law.
[98] Arg. 3. The anointing recommended, as
[99] 1. Common.
[100] 2. Certain.
[101] 3. Lasting.
[102] Object.
[103] Answ.
[104] The certainty of the Spirit's guidance proved.
[105] By experience.
[106] The absurdity of the consequence.
[107] 1. Instances of tradition.
[108] Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. 5. c. 26.
[109] *Conc. Flor. Sess. 5. decreto quodam Conc. Eph. Act. 6. Sess. 11
& 12. Conc. Flor. Sess. 18, 20. Conc. Flor. Sess. 21. p. 480. & seq.
[110] 3. Of reason. The debates hence arising betwixt the old and late
philosophers.
[111] Anabaptists for their wild practices, and Protestants and Papists
for their wars and bloodshed, each pretending scripture for it.
[112] Tradition, scripture, and reason, made a cover for persecution
and murder.
[113] Object.
[114] Answ. Examples of Popish cruelties.
[115] Protestant violences and persecutions in Scotland, England, and
Holland.
[116] Lutheran seditions against the reformed teachers, and assault
upon the Marquis of Brandenburg, &c. in Germany.
[117] Let none reject the certainty of the one unerring Spirit of God,
because of false pretenders to it.
[118] The self-evidence of the Spirit.
[119] The Spirit contradicts not the scripture nor right reason.
[120] Natural demonstrations from astronomy and geometry.
[121] Immediate revelation the immoveable foundation of all Christian
faith.
[122] Papists foundation, their church and tradition, why?
[123] Protestants and Socinians make the scriptures their ground and
foundation, why?
[124] Christians by name, and not by nature, hold revelation ceased
contrary to scripture.
[125] Who wants his sight sees not the light.
__________________________________________________________________
PROPOSITION III.
Concerning the Scriptures.
From these revelations of the Spirit of God to the saints, have
proceeded the Scriptures of Truth, which contain,
I. A faithful historical account of the actings of God's people in
divers ages; with many singular and remarkable providences attending
them.
II. A prophetical account of several things, whereof some are already
past, and some yet to come.
III. A full and ample account of all the chief principles of the
doctrine of Christ, held forth in divers precious declarations,
exhortations, and sentences, which, by the moving of God's Spirit, were
at several times, and upon sundry occasions, spoken and written unto
some churches and their pastors.
Nevertheless, because they are only a declaration of the fountain, and
not the fountain itself; therefore they are not to be esteemed the
principal ground of all truth and knowledge, nor yet the adequate
primary rule of faith and manners. [126] Yet because they give a true
and faithful testimony of the first foundation, they are and may be
esteemed a secondary rule, subordinate to the spirit, from which they
have all their excellency and certainty: for as by the inward testimony
of the Spirit we do alone truly know them, so they testify, That the
Spirit is that Guide by which the saints are led into all Truth;
therefore, according to the scriptures, the Spirit is the first and
principal leader. Seeing then that we do therefore receive and believe
the scriptures because they proceeded from the Spirit, for the very
same reason is the Spirit more originally and principally the rule,
according to the received maxim in the schools, Propter quod
unumquodque est tale, illud ipsum est magis tale: That for which a
thing is such, that thing itself is more such.
[127] S:. I. The former part of this proposition, though it needs no
apology for itself, yet it is a good apology for us, and will help to
sweep away that, among many other calumnies, wherewith we are often
loaded, as if we were vilifiers and deniers of the scriptures; for in
that which we affirm of them, it doth appear at what high rate we value
them, accounting them, without all deceit or equivocation, the most
excellent writings in the world; to which not only no other writings
are to be preferred, but even in divers respects not comparable
thereto. For as we freely acknowledge that their authority doth not
depend upon the approbation or canons of any church or assembly; so
neither can we subject them to the fallen, corrupt, and defiled reason
of man: and therein as we do freely agree with the Protestants against
the error of the Romanists, so on the other hand, we cannot go the
length of such Protestants as make their authority to depend upon any
virtue or power that is in the writings themselves; but we desire to
ascribe all to that Spirit from which they proceeded.
We confess indeed there wants not a majesty in the style, a coherence
in the parts, a good scope in the whole; but seeing these things are
not discerned by the natural, but only by the spiritual man, it is the
Spirit of God that must give us that belief of the scriptures which may
satisfy our consciences; therefore some of the chief among Protestants,
both in their particular writings and public confessions, are forced to
acknowledge this.
[128] Hence Calvin, though he saith he is able to prove that if there
be a God in heaven, these writings have proceeded from him, yet he
concludes another knowledge to be necessary. Instit. lib. 1. cap. 7.
sect. 4.
"But if (saith he) we respect the consciences, that they be not daily
molested with doubts, and hesitate not at every scruple, it is
requisite that this persuasion which we speak of be taken higher than
human reason, judgment, or conjecture; to wit, from the secret
testimony of the Spirit." And again, "To those who ask, that we prove
unto them, by reason, that Moses and the prophets were inspired of God
to speak, I answer, That the testimony of the Holy Spirit is more
excellent than all reason." And again, "Let this remain a firm truth,
that he only whom the Holy Spirit hath persuaded, can repose himself on
the scripture with a true certainty." And lastly, "This then is a
judgment which cannot be begotten but by an heavenly revelation, &c."
[129] The same is also affirmed in the first public confession of the
French churches, published in the year 1559. Art. 4. "We know these
books to be canonical, and the most certain rule of our faith, not so
much by the common accord and consent of the church, as by the
testimony and inward persuasion of the Holy Spirit."
[130] Thus also in the 5th article of the confession of faith, of the
churches of Holland, confirmed by the Synod of Dort. "We receive these
books only for holy and canonical, --not so much because the church
receives and approves them, as because the Spirit of God doth witness
in our hearts that they are of God."
[131] And lastly, The divines, so called, at Westminster, who began to
be afraid of, and guard against, the testimony of the Spirit, because
they perceived a dispensation beyond that which they were under
beginning to dawn, and to eclipse them; yet could they not get by this,
though they have laid it down neither so clearly, distinctly, nor
honestly as they that went before. It is in these words, Chap. 1. Sect.
5. "Nevertheless our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible
truth thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit, bearing
witness by and with the Word in our hearts."
By all which it appeareth how necessary it is to seek the certainty of
the scriptures from the Spirit, and no where else. The infinite
janglings and endless contests of those that seek their authority
elsewhere, do witness to the truth hereof.
[132] For the ancients themselves, even of the first centuries, were
not agreed among themselves concerning them; while some of them
rejected books which we approve, and others of them approved those
which some of us reject. It is not unknown to such as are in the least
acquainted with antiquity, what great contests are concerning the
second epistle of Peter, that of James, the second and third of John,
and the Revelations, which many, even very ancient, deny to have been
written by the beloved disciple and brother of James, but by another of
that name. What should then become of Christians, if they had not
received that Spirit, and those spiritual senses, by which they know
how to discern the true from the false? It is the privilege of Christ's
sheep indeed that they hear his voice, and refuse that of a stranger;
which privilege being taken away, we are left a prey to all manner of
wolves.
[133] S:. II. Though then we do acknowledge the scriptures to be very
heavenly and divine writings, the use of them to be very comfortable
and necessary to the church of Christ, and that we also admire and give
praise to the Lord, for his wonderful providence in preserving these
writings so pure and uncorrupted as we have them, through so long a
night of apostacy, to be a testimony of his truth against the
wickedness and abominations even of those whom he made instrumental in
preserving them, so that they have kept them to be a witness against
themselves: yet we may not call them the principal fountain of all
truth and knowledge, nor yet the first adequate rule of faith and
manners; because the principal fountain of truth must be the Truth
itself; i. e. that whose certainty and authority depends not upon
another. When we doubt of the streams of any river or flood, we recur
to the fountain itself; and having found it, there we desist, we can go
no farther, because there it springs out of the bowels of the earth,
which are inscrutable. Even so the writings and sayings of all men we
must bring to the Word of God, I mean the Eternal Word, and if they
agree hereunto, we stand there. For this Word always proceedeth, and
doth eternally proceed from God, in and by which the unsearchable
wisdom of God, and unsearchable counsel and will conceived in the heart
of God, is revealed unto us. That then the scripture is not the
principal ground of faith and knowledge, as it appears by what is above
spoken, so it is proved in the latter part of the proposition; which
being reduced to an argument, runs thus:
That whereof the certainty and authority depends upon another, and
which is received as truth because of its proceeding from another, is
not to be accounted the principal ground and origin of all truth and
knowledge:
But the scriptures' authority and certainty depend upon the Spirit by
which they were dictated; and the reason why they were received as
truth is, because they proceeded from the Spirit:
Therefore they are not the principal ground of truth.
To confirm this argument, I added the school maxim, Propter quod
unumquodque est tale, illud ipsum magis est tale. Which maxim, though I
confess it doth not hold universally in all things, yet in this it doth
and will very well hold, as by applying it, as we have above intimated,
will appear.
[134] The same argument will hold as to the other branch of the
proposition, That it is not the primary adequate rule of faith and
manners; thus,
That which is not the rule of my faith in believing the scriptures
themselves, is not the primary adequate rule of faith and manners:
But the scripture is not, nor can it be, the rule of that faith by
which I believe them, &c.
Therefore, &c.
[135] But as to this part we shall produce divers arguments hereafter.
As to what is affirmed, that the Spirit, and not the scriptures, is the
rule, it is largely handled in the former proposition; the sum whereof
I shall subsume in one argument, thus,
If by the Spirit we can only come to the true knowledge of God; if by
the Spirit we are to be led into all truth, and so be taught of all
things; then the Spirit, and not the scriptures, is the foundation and
ground of all truth and knowledge, and the primary rule of faith and
manners:
But the first is true, therefore also the last.
Next, the very nature of the gospel itself declareth that the
scriptures cannot be the only and chief rule of Christians, else there
should be no difference betwixt the law and the gospel; as from the
nature of the new covenant, by divers scripturesdescribed in the former
proposition, is proved.
[136] But besides these which are before mentioned, herein doth the law
and the gospel differ, in that the law, being outwardly written, brings
under condemnation, but hath not life in it to save; whereas the
gospel, as it declares and makes manifest the evil, so, being an inward
powerful thing, it gives power also to obey, and deliver from the evil.
Hence it is called Euangelion, which is glad tidings. The law or
letter, which is without us, kills; but the gospel, which is the inward
spiritual law, gives life; for it consists not so much in words as in
virtue. Wherefore such as come to know it, and be acquainted with it,
come to feel greater power over their iniquities than all outward laws
or rules can give them. Hence the apostle concludes, Rom. vi. 14. Sin
shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but
under grace. This grace then that is inward, and not an outward law, is
to be the rule of Christians. Hereunto the apostle commends the elders
of the church, saying, Acts xx. 32. And now, Brethren, I commend you to
God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and
to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. He doth
not commend them here to outward laws or writings, but to the word of
grace, which is inward; even the spiritual law, which makes free, as he
elsewhere affirms, Rom. viii. 2. The law of the Spirit of life in
Christ Jesus, hath made me free from the law of sin and death. This
spiritual law is that which the apostle declares he preached and
directed people unto, which was not outward, as by Rom. x. 8. is
manifest; where distinguishing it from the law, he saith, The word is
nigh thee, in thy heart, and in thy mouth; and this is the word of
faith which we preach. >From what is above said I argue thus: The
principal rule of Christians under the gospel is not an outward letter,
nor law outwardly written and delivered, but an inward spiritual law,
engraven in the heart, the law of the Spirit of life, the word that is
nigh in the heart and in the mouth.
But the letter of the scripture is outward, of itself a dead thing, a
mere declaration of good things, but not the things themselves:
Therefore it is not, nor can be, the chief or principal rule of
Christians.
[137] S:.III. Thirdly, That which is given to Christians for a rule and
guide, must needs be so full, that it may clearly and distinctly guide
and order them in all things and occurrences that may fall out.
But in that there are numberless things, with regard to their
circumstances, which particular Christians may be concerned in, for
which there can be no particular rule had in the scriptures;
Therefore the scriptures cannot be a rule to them.
I shall give an instance in two or three particulars to prove this
proposition. It is not to be doubted but some men are particularly
called to some particular services; their being not found in which,
though the act be no general positive duty, yet in so far as it may be
required of them, is a great sin to omit; forasmuch as God is zealous
of his glory, and every act of disobedience to his will manifested, is
enough not only to hinder one greatly from that comfort and inward
peace which otherwise he might have, but also bringeth condemnation.
As for instance, Some are called to the ministry of the word: Paul
saith, There was a necessity upon him to preach the gospel; wo unto me,
if I preach not.
If it be necessary that there be now ministers of the church, as well
as then, then there is the same necessity upon some, more than upon
others, to occupy this place; which necessity, as it may be incumbent
upon particular persons, the scripture neither doth nor can declare.
[138] If it be said, That the qualifications of a minister are found in
the scripture, and by applying these qualifications to myself, I may
know whether I befit for such a place or not;
[139] I answer, The qualifications of a bishop, or minister, as they
are mentioned both in the epistle to Timothy and Titus, are such as may
be found in a private Christian; yea, which ought in some measure to be
in every true Christian: so that this giveth a man no certainty. Every
capacity to an office giveth me not a sufficient call to it.
Next again, By what rule shall I judge if I be so qualified? How do I
know that I am sober, meek, holy, harmless? Is it not the testimony of
the Spirit in my conscience that must assure me hereof? And suppose
that I was qualified and called, yet what scripture-rule shall inform
me, Whether it be my duty to preach in this or that place, in France or
England, Holland or Germany? Whether I shall take up my time in
confirming the faithful, reclaiming heretics, or converting infidels,
as also in writing epistles to this or that church?
The general rules of the scripture, viz. To be diligent in my duty, to
do all to the glory of God, and for the good of his church, can give me
no light in this thing. Seeing two different things may both have a
respect to that way, yet may I commit a great error and offence in
doing the one, when I am called to the other. If Paul, when his face
was turned by the Lord toward Jerusalem, had gone back to Achaia or
Macedonia, he might have supposed he could have done God more
acceptable service, in preaching and confirming the churches, than in
being shut up in prison in Judea; but would God have been pleased
herewith? Nay certainly. Obedience is better than sacrifice; and it is
not our doing that which is good simply that pleaseth God, but that
good which he willeth us to do. [140] Every member hath its particular
place in the body, as the apostle showeth, 1 Cor. xii. If then, I being
the foot, should offer to exercise the office of the hand; or being the
hand, that of the tongue; my service would be troublesome, and not
acceptable; and instead of helping the body, I should make a schism in
it. So that that which is good for another to do, may be sinful to me;
for as masters will have their servants to obey them, according to
their good pleasure, and not only in blindly doing that which may seem
to them to tend to their master's profit, whereby it may chance (the
master having business both in the field and in the house) that the
servant that knows not his master's will may go to the field, when it
is the mind of the master he should stay and do the business of the
house, would not this servant then deserve a reproof, for not answering
his master's mind? And what master is so sottish and careless, as,
having many servants, to leave them in such disorder as not to assign
each his particular station, and not only the general terms of doing
that which is profitable? which would leave them in various doubts, and
no doubt end in confusion.
[141] Shall we then dare to ascribe unto Christ, in the ordering of his
church and servants, that which in man might justly be accounted
disorder and confusion? The apostle showeth this distinction well, Rom.
xii. 6, 7, 8. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that
is given to us; whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the
proportion of faith; or ministry, let us writ on our ministering; or he
that teacheth, on teaching; or he that exhorteth, on exhortation. Now
what scripture-rule showeth me that I ought to exhort, rather than
prophesy? or to minister, rather than teach? Surely none at all. Many
more difficulties of this kind occur in the life of a Christian.
Moreover, that which of all things is most needful for him to know, to
wit, whether he really be in the faith, and an heir of salvation, or
not, the scripture can give him no certainty in, neither can it be a
rule to him. [142] That this knowledge is exceedingly desirable and
comfortable all do unanimously acknowledge; besides that it is
especially commanded, 2 Cor. xiii. 5. Examine yourselves, whether ye be
in the faith, prove yourselves; know ye not your own selves, how that
Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? And 2 Pet. i. 10.
Wherefore the rather, brethren, give all diligence to make your calling
and election sure. Now I say, What scripture-rule can assure me that I
have true faith? That my calling and election is sure?
If it be said, By comparing the scripture-marks of true faith with
mine:
I demand, Wherewith shall I make this observation? What shall ascertain
me that I am not mistaken? It cannot be the scripture: that is the
matter under debate.
If it be said, My own heart:
[143] How unfit a judge is it in its own case? And how like to be
partial, especially if it be yet unrenewed? Doth not the scripture say,
that it is deceitful above all things? I find the promises, I find the
threatenings, in the scripture; but who telleth me that the one belongs
to me more than the other? The scripture gives me a mere declaration of
these things, but makes no application; so that the assumption must be
of my own making, thus; as for example: I find this proposition in
scripture;
He that believes, shall be saved: thence I draw the assumption.
But I, Robert, believe;
Therefore, I shall be saved.
The minor is of my own making, not expressed in the scripture; and so a
human conclusion, not a divine position; so that my faith and assurance
here is not built upon a scripture proposition, but upon an human
principle; which, unless I be sure of elsewhere, the scripture gives me
no certainty in the matter.
Again, If I should pursue the argument further, and seek a new medium
out of the scripture, the same difficulty would occur: thus,
He that hath the true and certain marks of true faith, hath true faith:
But I have those marks:
Therefore I have true faith.
For the assumption is still here of my own making, and is not found in
the scriptures; and by consequence the conclusion can be no better,
since it still followeth the weaker proposition. [144] This is indeed
so pungent, that the best of Protestants, who plead for this assurance,
ascribe it to the inward testimony of the Spirit; as Calvin, in that
large citation, cited in the former proposition. So that, not to seek
farther into the writings of the primitive Protestants, which are full
of such expressions, even the Westminster confession of faith
affirmeth, Chap. 18. Sect. 12. "This certainty is not a bare conjecture
and probable persuasion, grounded upon fallible hope, but an infallible
assurance of faith, founded upon the divine truth of the promise of
salvation; the inward evidences of these graces, unto which these
promises are made; the testimony of the Spirit of adoption, witnessing
to our spirits that we are the children of God; which Spirit is the
earnest of our inheritance, whereby we are sealed to the day of
redemption."
Moreover, the scripture itself, wherein we are so earnestly pressed to
seek after this assurance, doth not at all affirm itself a rule
sufficient to give it, but wholly ascribeth it to the Spirit, as Rom.
viii. 16. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we
are the children of God. 1 John iv. 13. Hereby know we that we dwell in
him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit; and chap. v.
6. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is
truth.
S:. IV. [145] Lastly, That cannot be the only, principal, nor chief
rule, which doth not universally reach every individual that needeth it
to produce the necessary effect; and from the use of which, either by
some innocent and sinless defect, or natural yet harmless and blameless
imperfection, many who are within the compass of the visible church,
and may, without absurdity, yea, with great probability, be accounted
of the elect, are necessarily excluded, and that either wholly, or at
least from the immediate use thereof. But it so falls out frequently
concerning the scriptures, in the case of deaf people, children, and
idiots, who can by no means have the benefit of the scriptures. Shall
we then affirm, that they are without any rule to God-ward, or that
they are all damned? As such an opinion is in itself very absurd, and
inconsistent both with the justice and mercy of God, so I know no sound
reason can be alleged for it. Now if we may suppose any such to be
under the new covenant dispensation, as I know none will deny but that
we may suppose it without any absurdity, we cannot suppose them without
some rule and means of knowledge; seeing it is expressly affirmed, They
shall all be taught of God, John vi. 45. And they shall all know me
from the least to the greatest, Heb. viii. 11. But secondly, Though we
were rid of this difficulty, how many illiterate and yet good men are
there in the church of God, who cannot read a letter in their own
mother tongue? Which imperfection, though it be inconvenient, I cannot
tell whether we may safely affirm it to be sinful. These can have no
immediate knowledge of the rule of their faith; so their faith must
needs depend upon the credit of other men's reading or relating it unto
them; where either the altering, adding, or omitting of a little word
may be a foundation in the poor hearer of a very dangerous mistake,
whereby he may either continue in some iniquity ignorantly, or believe
a lie confidently. [146] As for example, The Papists in all their
catechisms, and public exercises of examinations towards the people,
have boldly cut away the second command, because it seems so expressly
to strike against their adoration and use of images; whereas many of
these people, in whom by this omission this false opinion is fostered,
are under a simple impossibility, or at least a very great difficulty,
to be outwardly informed of this abuse. But further; suppose all could
read the scriptures in their own language; where is there one of a
thousand that hath that thorough knowledge of the original languages in
which they are written, so as in that respect immediately to receive
the benefit of them? Must not all these here depend upon the honesty
and faithfulness of the interpreters? Which how uncertain it is for a
man to build his faith upon, the many corrections, amendments, and
various essays, which even among Protestants have been used, (whereof
the latter have constantly blamed and corrected the former, as guilty
of defects and errors,) doth sufficiently declare. And that even the
last translators in the vulgar languages need to be corrected (as I
could prove at large, were it proper in this place) learned men do
confess.
But last of all, there is no less difficulty occurs even to those
skilled in the original languages, who cannot so immediately receive
the mind of the authors in these writings, as that their faith doth not
at least obliquely depend upon the honesty and credit of the
transcribers, since the original copies are granted by all not to be
now extant. [147] Of which transcribers Jerom in his time complained,
saying, That they wrote not what they found, but what they understood.
And Epiphanius saith, That in the good and correct copies of Luke it
was written, that Christ wept, and that Irenaeus doth cite it; but that
the Catholics blotted it out, fearing lest heretics should have abused
it. [148] Other fathers also declare, that whole verses were taken out
of Mark, because of the Manichees.
[149] But further, the various readings of the Hebrew character by
reason of the points, which some plead for, as coeval with the first
writings, which others, with no less probability, allege to be a later
invention; the disagreement of divers citations of Christ and the
apostles with those passages in the Old Testament they appeal to; the
great controversy among the fathers, whereof some highly approve the
Greek Septuagint, decrying and rendering very doubtful the Hebrew copy,
as in many places vitiated, and altered by the Jews; other some, and
particularly Jerom, exalting the certainty of the Hebrew, and
rejecting, yea even deriding, the history of the Septuagint, which the
primitive church chiefly made use of; and some fathers that lived
centuries before him, affirmed to be a most certain thing; and the many
various readings in divers copies of the Greek, and the great
altercations among the fathers of the first three centuries, who had
greater opportunity to be better informed than we can now lay claim to,
concerning the books to be admitted or rejected, as is above observed;
I say, all these and much more which might be alleged, puts the minds
even of the learned into infinite doubts, scruples, and inextricable
difficulties: whence we may very safely conclude, that Jesus Christ,
who promised to be always with his children, to lead them into all
truth, to guard them against the devices of the enemy, and to establish
their faith upon an unmoveable rock, left them not to be principally
ruled by that, which was subject in itself to many uncertainties: and
therefore he gave them his Spirit, as their principal guide, which
neither moths nor time can wear out, nor transcribers nor translators
corrupt; which none are so young, none so illiterate, none in so remote
a place but they may come to be reached, and rightly informed by it.
Through and by the clearness which that Spirit gives us it is that we
are only best rid of those difficulties that occur to us concerning the
scriptures. [150] The real and undoubted experience whereof I myself
have been a witness of, with great admiration of the love of God to his
children in these latter days: for I have known some of my friends, who
profess the same faith with me, faithful servants of the Most High God,
and full of divine knowledge of his truth, as it was immediately and
inwardly revealed to them by the Spirit from a true and living
experience, who not only were ignorant of the Greek and Hebrew, but
even some of them could not read their own vulgar language, who, being
pressed by their adversaries with some citations out of the English
translation, and finding them to disagree with the manifestation of
truth in their own hearts, have boldly affirmed the Spirit of God never
said so, and that it was certainly wrong; for they did not believe that
any of the holy prophets or apostles had ever written so; which when I
on this account seriously examined, I really found to be errors and
corruptions of the translators; who (as in most translations) do not so
much give us the genuine signification of the words, as strain them to
express that which comes nearest to that opinion and notion they have
of truth. And this seemed to rne to suit very well with that saying of
Augustine. Epist. 19. ad Hier. Tom. ii. fol. 14. after he has said,
"That he gives only that honour to those books which are called
canonical, as to believe that the authors thereof did in writing not
err," he adds, "And if I shall meet with any thing in these
writingsthat seemeth repugnant to truth, I shall not doubt to say, that
either the volume is faulty or erroneous; that the expounder hath not
reached what was said; or that I have in no wise understood it." So
that he supposes that in the transcription and translation there may be
errors.
S:. V. [151] If it be then asked me, Whether I think hereby to render
the scriptures altogether uncertain, or useless;
[152] I answer; Not at all. The proposition itself declares how much I
esteem them; and provided that to the Spirit from which they came be
but granted that place the scriptures themselves give it, I do freely
concede to the scriptures the second place, even whatsoever they say of
themselves; which the apostle Paul chiefly mentions in two places, Rom.
xv. 4. Whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our
learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might
have hope. 2 Tim. iii. 15, 16, 17. The holy scriptures are able to make
wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Jesus Christ. All
scripture given by inspiration of God, is profitable for correction,
for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect,
thoroughly furnished unto every good work.
[153] For though God doth principally and chiefly lead us by his
Spirit, yet he sometimes conveys his comfort and consolation to us
through his children, whom he raises up and inspires to speak or write
a word in season, whereby the saints are made instruments in the hand
of the Lord to strengthen and encourage one another, which doth also
tend to perfect and make them wise unto salvation; and such as are led
by the Spirit cannot neglect, but do naturally love, and are
wonderfully cherished by, that which proceedeth from the same Spirit in
another; because such mutual emanations of the heavenly life tend to
quicken the mind, when at any time it is overtaken with heaviness.
Peter himself declares this to have been the end of his writing, 2 Pet.
i. 12, 13. Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in
remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in
the present truth; yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this
tabernacle, to stir you up, by putting you in remembrance.
God is teacher of his people himself; and there is nothing more
express, than that such as are under the new covenant, need no man to
teach them: yet it was a fruit of Christ's ascension to send teachers
and pastors for perfecting of the saints. So that the same work is
ascribed to the scriptures as to teachers; the one to make the man of
God perfect, the other for the perfection of the saints.
As then teachers are not to go before the teaching of God himself under
the new covenant, but to follow after it; neither are they to rob us of
that great privilege which Christ hath purchased unto us by his blood;
so neither is the scripture to go before the teaching of the Spirit, or
to rob us of it.
[154] Secondly, God hath seen meet that herein we should, as in a
looking-glass, see the conditions and experiences of the saints of old;
that finding our experience answer to theirs, we might thereby be the
more confirmed and comforted, and our hope of obtaining the same end
strengthened; that observing the providences attending them, seeing the
snares they were liable to, and beholding their deliverances, we may
thereby be made wise unto salvation, and seasonably reproved and
instructed in righteousness.
[155] This is the great work of the scriptures, and their service to
us, that we may witness them fulfilled in us, and so discern the stamp
of God's Spirit and ways upon them, by the inward acquaintance we have
with the same Spirit and work in our hearts. The prophecies of the
scriptures are also very comfortable and profitable unto us, as the
same Spirit enlightens us to observe them fulfilled, and to be
fulfilled; for in all this it is to be observed, that it is only the
Spiritual man that can make a right use of them: they are able to make
the man of God perfect, (so it is not the natural man,) and whatsoever
was written aforetime, was written for our comfort, [our] that are the
believers, [our] that are the saints; concerning such the apostle
speaks: for as for the others, the apostle Peter plainly declares, that
the unstable and unlearned wrest them to their own destruction: these
were they that were unlearned in the divine and heavenly learning of
the Spirit, not in human and school literature; in which we may safely
presume that Peter himself, being a fisherman, had no skill; for it may
with great probability, yea certainty, be affirmed, that he had no
knowledge of Aristotle's logic, which both Papists and Protestants
now*, degenerating from the simplicity of truth, make the handmaid of
divinity, as they call it, and a necessary introduction to their
carnal, natural, and human ministry. [156] By the infinite obscure
labours of which kind of men, intermixing their heathenish stuff; the
scripture is rendered at this day of so little service to the simple
people; whereof if Jerome complained in his time, now twelve hundred
years ago, Hierom. Epist. 134. ad Cypr. Tom. 3. saying, It is wont to
befall the most part of learned men, that it is harder to understand
their expositions, than the things which they go about to expound; what
may we say then, considering those great heaps of commentaries since,
in ages yet far more corrupted?
S:. VI. In this respect above-mentioned then, we have shown what
service and use the holy scriptures, as managed in and by the Spirit,
are of to the church of God; wherefore we do account them a secondary
rule. [157] Moreover, because they are commonly acknowledged by all to
have been written by the dictates of the Holy Spirit, and that the
errors which may be supposed by the injury of times to have slipped in,
are not such but that there is a sufficient clear testimony left to all
the essentials of the Christian faith; we do look upon them as the only
fit outward judge of controversies among Christians; and that
whatsoever doctrine is contrary unto their testimony, may therefore
justly be rejected as false. And for our parts, we are very willing
that all our doctrines and practices be tried by them; which we never
refused, nor ever shall, in all controversies with our adversaries, as
the judge and test. We shall also be very willing to admit it as a
positive certain maxim, That whatsoever any do, pretending to the
Spirit, which is contrary to the Scriptures, be accounted and reckoned
a delusion of the devil. For as we never lay claim to the Spirit's
leadings, that we may cover ourselves in any thing that is evil; so we
know, that as every evil contradicts the scriptures, so it doth also
the spirit in the first place, from which the scriptures came, and
whose motions can never contradict one another, though they may appear
sometimes to be contradictory to the blind eye of the natural man, as
Paul and James seem to contradict one another.
Thus far we have shown both what we believe, and what we believe not,
concerning the holy scriptures, hoping we have given them their due
place. But since they that will needs have them to be the only,
certain, and principal rule, want not some show of arguments, even from
the scripture itself, (though it no where calls itself so,) by which
they labour to prove their doctrine, I shall briefly lay them down by
way of objections, and answer them, before I make an end of this
matter.
S:. VII. [158] Their first objection is usually drawn from Isaiah viii.
20. To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to
this word, it is because there is no light in them. Now this law,
testimony, and word, they plead to be the scriptures.
[159] To which I answer, That that is to beg the thing in question, and
remains yet unproved. Nor do I know for what reason we may not safely
affirm this law and word to be inward: but suppose it was outward, it
proves not the case at all for them, neither makes it against us; for
it may be confessed, without any prejudice to our cause, that the
outward law was more particularly to the Jews a rule, and more
principally than to us; seeing their law was outward and literal, but
ours, under the new covenant, (as hath been already said,) is expressly
affirmed to be inward and spiritual; so that this scripture is so far
from making against us, that it makes for us. [160] For if the Jews
were directed to try all things by their law, which was without them,
written in tables of stone; then if we will have this advice of the
prophet to reach us, we must make it hold parallel to that dispensation
of the gospel which we are under: so that we are to try all things, in
the first place, by that word of faith which is preached unto us, which
the apostle saith is in the heart; and by that law which God hath given
us, which the apostle saith also expressly is written and placed in the
mind.
Lastly, If we look to this place according to the Greek interpretation
of the Septuagint, our adversaries shall have nothing from thence to
carp; yea, it will favour us much; for there it is said, that the law
is given us for an help; which very well agrees with what is above
asserted.
[161] Their second objection is from John v. 39. Search the scriptures,
&c. Here, say they, we are commanded by Christ himself, to search the
scriptures.
[162] I answer, First, That the scriptures ought to be searched, we do
not at all deny; but are very willing to be tried by them, as hath been
above declared: but the question is, Whether they be the only and
principal rule? Which this is so far from proving, that it proveth the
contrary; for Christ checks them here for too high an esteem of the
scriptures, and neglecting of him that was to be preferred before them,
and to whom they bore witness, as the following words declare; for in
them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of
me: and ye will not come unto me, that ye might have life. This shows,
that while they thought they had eternal life in the scriptures, they
neglected to come unto Christ to have life, of which the scriptures
bore witness. This answers well to our purpose, since our adversaries
now do also exalt the scriptures, and think to have life in them; which
is no more than to look upon them as the only principal rule and way to
life, and yet refuse to come unto the Spirit of which they testify,
even the inward spiritual law, which could give them life: so that the
cause of this people's ignorance and unbelief was not their want of
respect to the scriptures, which though they knew, and had an high
esteem of, yet Christ testifies in the former verses, that they had
neither seen the Father, nor heard his voice at any time; neither had
his word abiding in them; which had they then had, then they had
believed in the Son. [163] Moreover, that place may be taken in the
indicative mood, Ye search the scriptures; which interpretation the
Greek word will bear, and so Pasor translateth it: which, by the
reproof following, seemeth also to be the more genuine interpretation,
as Cyrillus long ago hath observed.
S:. VIII. [164] Their third objection is from these words, Acts. xvii.
11. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they
received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the
scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
Here, say they, the Bereans are commended for searching the scriptures,
and making them the rule.
[165] I answer, That the scriptures either are the principal or only
rule, will not at all follow from this; neither will their searching
the scriptures, or being commended for it, infer any such thing for we
recommend and approve the use of them in that respect as much as any;
yet will it not follow, that we affirm them to be the principal and
only rule.
[166] Secondly, It is to be observed that these were the Jews of Berea,
to whom these scriptures, which were the law and the prophets, were
more particularly a rule; and the thing under examination was, whether
the birth, life, works, and sufferings of Christ, did answer to the
prophecies that went before of him; so that it was most proper for
them, being Jews, to examine the apostle's doctrine by the scriptures;
seeing he pleaded it to be a fulfilling of them. It is said
nevertheless, in the first place, That they received the word with
cheerfulness; and in the second place, They searched the scriptures:
not that they searched the scriptures, and then received the word; for
then could they not have prevailed to convert them, had they not first
minded the word abiding in them, which opened their understandings; no
more than the Scribes and Pharisees, who (as in the former objection we
observed) searched the scriptures, and exalted them, and yet remained
in their unbelief, because they had not the word abiding in them.
[167] But lastly, If this commendation of the Jewish Bereans might
infer that the scriptures were the only and principal rule to try the
apostle's doctrine by, what should have become of the Gentiles? How
should they ever have come to have received the faith of Christ, who
neither knew the scriptures, nor believed them? [168] We see in the end
of the same chapter, how the apostle, preaching to the Athenians, took
another method, and directed them to somewhat of God within themselves,
that they might feel after him. He did not go about to proselyte them
to the Jewish religion, and to the belief of the law and the prophets,
and from thence to prove the coming of Christ; nay, he took a nearer
way. Now certainly the principal and only rule is not different; one to
the Jews, and another to the Gentiles; but is universal, reaching both:
though secondary and subordinate rules and means may be various, and
diversely suited, according as the people they are used to are stated
and circumstantiated: even so we see that the apostle to the Athenians
used a testimony of one of their own poets, which he judged would have
credit with them; and no doubt such testimonies, whose authors they
esteemed, had more weight with them than all the sayings of Moses and
the prophets, whom they neither knew nor would have cared for. Now
because the apostle used the testimony of a poet to the Athenians, will
it therefore follow he made that the principal or only rule to try his
doctrine by? So neither will it follow, that though he made use of the
scriptures to the Jews, as being a principle already believed by them,
to try his doctrine, that from thence the scriptures may be accounted
the principal or only rule.
S:. IX. The last, and that which at first view seems to be the greatest
objection, is this:
[169] If the scripture be not the adequate, principal, and only rule,
then it would follow that the scripture is not complete, nor the canon
felled ; that if men be now immediately led and ruled by the Spirit,
they may add new scriptures of equal authority with the old; whereas
every one that adds is cursed: yea, what assurance have we, but at this
rate every one may bring in a new gospel according to his fancy?
[170] The dangerous consequences insinuated in this objection were
fully answered in the latter part of the last proposition, in what was
said a little before, offering freely to disclaim all pretended
revelations contrary to the scriptures.
[171] But if it be urged, That it is not enough to deny these
consequences, if they naturally follow from your doctrine of immediate
revelation, and denying the scripture to be the only rule;
[172] I answer, We have proved both these doctrines to be true and
necessary, according to the scriptures themselves; and therefore to
fasten evil consequences upon them, which we make appear do not follow,
is not to accuse us, but Christ and his apostles, who preached them.
[173] But secondly, we have shut the door upon all such doctrine in
this very position; affirming, That the scriptures give a full and
ample testimony to all the principal doctrines of the Christian faith.
For we do firmly believe that there is no other gospel or doctrine to
be preached, but that which was delivered by the apostles; and do
freely subscribe to that saying, [174] Let him that preacheth any other
gospel, than that which hath been already preached by the apostles, and
according to the scriptures, be accursed.
[175] So we distinguish betwixt a revelation of a new gospel, and new
doctrines, and a new revelation of the good old gospel and doctrines;
the last we plead for, but the first we utterly deny. For we firmly
believe, That no other foundation can any man lay, than that which is
laid already. But that this revelation is necessary we have already
proved: and this distinction doth sufficiently guard us against the
hazard insinuated in the objection.
[176] As to the scriptures being a filled canon I see no necessity of
believing it. And if these men, that believe the scriptures to be the
only rule, will be consistent with their own doctrine, they must needs
be of my judgment; seeing it is simply impossible to prove the canon by
the scriptures. For it cannot be found in any book of the scriptures,
that these books, and just these, and no other, are canonical, as all
are forced to acknowledge; how can they then evite this argument?
That which cannot be proved by scripture is no necessary article of
faith.
But the canon of the scripture, to wit, that there are so many books
precisely, neither more nor less, cannot be proved by scripture:
Therefore, it is no necessary article of faith.
[177] If they should allege, That the admitting of any other books to
be now written by the same Spirit, might infer the admission of new
doctrines;
I deny that consequence; for the principal or fundamental doctrines of
the Christian religion, are contained in the tenth part of the
scripture; but it will not follow thence that the rest are impertinent
or useless. [178] If it should please God to bring to us any of those
books, which by the injury of time are lost, which are mentioned in the
scripture; as, The Prophecy of Enoch; the Book of Nathan, &c. or, the
Third Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians; I see no reason why we ought
not to receive them, and place them with the rest. That which
displeaseth me is, that men should first affirm that the scripture is
the only and principal rule, and yet make a great article of faith of
that which the scripture can give us no light in.
As for instance: How shall a Protestant prove by scripture, to such as
deny the Epistle of James to be authentic, that it ought to be
received?
First, If he would say, Because it contradicts not the rest, (besides
that there is no mention of it inany of the rest,) perhaps these men
think it doth contradict Paul in relation to faith and works. But, if
that should be granted, it would as well follow, that every writer that
contradicts not the scripture, should be put into the canon; and by
this means these men fall into a greater absurdity than they fix upon
us: for thus they would equal every one the writings of their own sect
with the scriptures; for I suppose they judge their own confession of
faith doth not contradict the scriptures: Will it therefore follow that
it should be bound up with the bible? [179] And yet it seems
impossible, according to their principles, to bring any better argument
to prove the Epistle of James to be authentic. There is then this
unavoidable necessity to say, We know it by the same Spirit from which
it was written; or otherwise to step back to Rome, and say, We know by
tradition that the church hath declared it to be canonical; and the
church is infallible. Let them find a mean, if they can. So that out of
this objection we shall draw an unanswerable argument ad hominem, to
our purpose.
That which cannot assure me concerning an article of faith necessary to
be believed, is not the primary, adequate, only rule of faith, &c.
Therefore, &c.
I prove the assumption thus:
That which cannot assure me concerning the canon of the scripture, to
wit, that such books are only to be admitted, and the Apocrypha
excluded, cannot assure me of this.
Therefore, &c.
[180] And lastly, As to these words, Rev. xxii. 18. That if any man
shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that
are written in this book; I desire they will show me how it relates to
any thing else than to that particular prophecy. It saith not, Now the
canon of the scripture is filled up, no man is to write more from the
Spirit; yea, do not all confess that there have been prophecies and
true prophets since? The Papists deny it not. And do not the
Protestants affirm, that John Hus prophesied of the reformation? Was he
therefore cursed? Or did he therein evil? [181] I could give many other
examples, confessed by themselves. But, moreover, the same was in
effect commanded long before, Prov. xxx. 6. Add thou not unto his
words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar: Yet how many
books of the prophets were written after? And the same was said by
Moses, Deut. iv. 2. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you;
neither shall ye diminish aught from it. So that, though we should
extend that of the revelation beyond the particular prophecy of that
book, it cannot be understood but of a new gospel, or new doctrines, or
of restraining man's spirit, that he mix not his human words with the
divine; and not of a new revelation of the old, as we have said before.
__________________________________________________________________
[126] John xvi. 13. Rom. vii. 14.
[127] The holy scriptures the most excellent writings in the world.
[128] Calvin's testimony that the Scripture certainly is from the
Spirit.
[129] The confession of the French churches.
[130] Churches of Holland assert the same.
[131] Westminster confession the same.
[132] Apocrypha. Conc. Laod. Can. 58. in Cod. Ec. 163. Conc. Laod. held
in the year 364 excluded from the canon Eccl the Wisdom of Solomon,
Judith, Tobius, the Maccabees, which the council of Carthage, held in
the year 399, received.
[133] The Scriptures are not the principal ground of truth.
[134] Neither are they the primary rule of faith and manners.
[135] That the Spirit is the rule.
[136] Wherein the law & gospel differ.
[137] The scripture not the rule.
[138] Object.
[139] Answ.
[140] That which is good for one to do, may be sinful to another.
[141] Diversities of gifts.
[142] Of faith and salvation can the scriptures assure thee?
[143] The heart of man deceitful.
[144] The inward testimony of the Spirit the seal of
scripture-promises.
[145] That the scriptures are not the chief rule. 1. Deaf people,
children, and idiots are instanced.
[146] 2. Papists conceal the second commandment from the people. 3. The
uncertainty of the interpreters of the scripture, and their
adulterating it.
[147] Hieron. Epist. 28. ad Lucin. p. 247.
[148] Epiph. in Anachor, tom. oper.
[149] The various readings of the Hebrew character, &c.
[150] Wrong translations of scripture discerned in the Spirit by the
unlearned in letters.
[151] Object.
[152] Answ.
[153] The saints mutual comfort is the same Spirit in all.
[154] Ans. 2. The scriptures a looking glass.
[155] The scriptures' work and service.
[156] Logic. *1675.
[157] The scriptures a secondary rule.
[158] Obj. 1
[159] Answ.
[160] To try all things, by what?
[161] Obj. 2.
[162] Ans. 1. Search the scriptures, &c.
[163] Ans. 2.
[164] Obj. 3.
[165] Ans. 1.
[166] Ans. 2. The Bereans searching the scriptures, makes them not the
only rule to try doctrines.
[167] Ans. 3.
[168] The Athenians instanced.
[169] Obj. 4.
[170] Answ.
[171] Obj. 1.
[172] Ans. 1.
[173] Ans. 2.
[174] Gal. i. 8.
[175] A new revelation is not a new gospel.
[176] Books canonical.
[177] Obj. 2.
[178] Books lost.
[179] Whether the Epistle of James be authentic and how to know it.
[180] Obj. 3. Answ.
[181] What it means to add to the scriptures.
__________________________________________________________________
PROPOSITION IV.
Concerning the Condition of Man in the Fall.
[182] All Adam's posterity, or mankind, both Jews and Gentiles, as to
the first Adam, or earthly man, is fallen, degenerated, and dead;
deprived of the sensation or feeling of this inward testimony or seed
of God; and is subject unto the power, nature, and seed of the serpent,
which he soweth in men's hearts, while they abide in this natural and
corrupted estate; from whence it comes, that not only their words and
deeds, but all their imaginations, are evil perpetually in the sight of
God, as proceeding from this depraved and wicked seed. Man therefore,
as he is in this state, can know nothing aright; yea, his thoughts and
conceptions, concerning God and things spiritual, until he be disjoined
from this evil seed, and united to the Divine Light, are unprofitable
both to himself and others. Hence are rejected the Socinian and
Pelagian errors, in exalting a natural light; as also of the Papists,
and most Protestants, who affirm, That man, without the true grace of
God, may be a true minister of the gospel. [183] Nevertheless, this
seed is not imputed to infants, until by transgression they actually
join themselves therewith; for they are by nature the children of
wrath, who walk according to the power of the prince of the air, the
spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, having their
conversation in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the
flesh, and of the mind.
S:. I. Hitherto we have discoursed how the true knowledge of God is
attained and preserved; also of what use and service the holy scripture
is to the saints.
We come now to examine the state and condition of man as he stands in
the fall; what his capacity and power is; and how far he is able, as of
himself, to advance in relation to the things of God. Of this we
touched a little in the beginning of the second proposition; but the
full, right, and thorough understanding of it is of great use and
service; because from the ignorance and altercations that have been
about it, there have arisen great and dangerous errors, both on the one
hand and on the other. While some do so far exalt the light of nature,
or the faculty of the natural man, as capable of himself, by virtue of
the inward will, faculty, light, and power, that pertains to his
nature, to follow that which is good, and make real progress towards
heaven: And of these are the Pelagians, and Semi-Pelagians of old; and
of late the Socinians, and divers others among the Papists.
[184] Others again will needs run into another extreme, (to whom
Augustine, among the ancients, first made way in his declining age,
through the heat of his zeal against Pelagius,) not only confessing man
incapable of himself to do good, and prone to evil; but that in his
very mother's womb, and before he commits any actual transgression, he
is contaminate with a real guilt, whereby he deserves eternal death: in
which respect they are not afraid to affirm, That many poor infants are
eternally damned, and forever endure the torments of hell. Therefore
the God of truth, having now again revealed his truth (that good and
even way) by his own Spirit, hath taught us to avoid both these
extremes.
That then which our proposition leads to treat of is,
[185] First, What the condition of man is in the fall; and how far
incapable to meddle in the things of God.
[186] And secondly, That God doth not impute this evil to infants,
until they actually join with it: that so, by establishing the truth,
we may overturn the errors on both parts.
[187] And as for that Third thing included in the proposition itself,
concerning these teachers which want the grace of God, we shall refer
that to the tenth proposition, where the matter is more particularly
handled.
S:. II. [188] As to the first, not to dive into the many curious
notions which many have concerning the condition of Adam before the
fall, all agree in this, That thereby he came to a very great loss, not
only in the things which related to the outward man, but in regard of
that true fellowship and communion he had with God. This loss was
signified unto him in the command, For in the day thou eatest thereof,
thou shalt surely die, Gen. ii. 17. This death could not be an outward
death, or the dissolution of the outward man; for as to that, he did
not die yet many hundred years after; so that it must needs respect his
spiritual life and communion with God. The consequence of this fall,
besides that which relates to the fruits of the earth, is also
expressed, Gen. iii. 24. So he drove out the man, and he placed at the
east of the garden of Eden cherubims, and a flaming sword, which turned
every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. Now whatsoever literal
signification this may have, we may safely ascribe to this paradise a
mystical signification, and truly account it that spiritual communion
and fellowship, which the saints obtain with God by Jesus Christ; to
whom only these cherubims give way, and unto as many as enter by him,
who calls himself the Door. [189] So that, though we do not ascribe any
whit of Adam's guilt to men, until they make it theirs by the like acts
of disobedience; yet we cannot suppose that men, who are come of Adam
naturally, can have any good thing in their nature, as belonging to it;
which he, from whom they derive their nature, had not himself to
communicate unto them.
If then we may affirm, that Adam did not retain in his nature (as
belonging thereunto) any will or light capable to give him knowledge in
spiritual things, then neither can his posterity: for whatsoever real
good any man doth, it proceedeth not from his nature, as he is man, or
the son of Adam; but from the seed of God in him, as a new visitation
of life, in order to bring him out of this natural condition: so that,
though it be in him, yet it is not of him; and this the Lord himself
witnessed, Gen. vi. 5 . where it is said, he saw that every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually: which words as
they are very positive, so are they very comprehensive. [190] Observe
the emphasis of them; First, There is every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart; so that this admits of no exception of any imagination of
the thoughts of his heart. Secondly, Is only evil continually; it is
neither in some part evil continually, nor yet only evil at some times;
but both only evil, and always and continually evil; which certainly
excludes any good, as a proper effect of man's heart, naturally: for
that which is only evil, and that always, cannot of its own nature
produce any good thing. The Lord expressed this again a little after,
chap. viii. 21. The imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth:
Thus inferring how natural and proper it is unto him; from which I thus
argue:
If the thoughts of man's heart be not only evil, but always evil; then
are they, as they simply proceed from his heart, neither good in part,
nor at any time.
But the first is true; therefore the last.
Again,
If man's thoughts be always and only evil, then are they altogether
useless and ineffectual to him in the things of God.
But the first is true; therefore the last.
[191] Secondly, This appears clearly from that saying of the prophet
Jeremiah, chap. xvii. 9. The heart is deceitful above all things, and
desperately wicked. For who can with any colour of reason imagine, that
that which is so hath any power of itself, or is in any wise fit, to
lead a man to righteousness, whereunto it is of its own nature directly
opposite? This is as contrary to reason, as it is impossible in nature
that a stone, of its own nature and proper motion, should fly upwards:
for as a stone of its own nature inclineth and is prone to move
downwards towards the centre, so the heart of man is naturally prone
and inclined to evil, some to one, and some to another. From this then
I also thus argue:
That which is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, is
not fit, neither can it lead a man aright in things that are good and
honest.
But the heart of man is such:
Therefore, &c.
[192] But the apostle Paul describeth the condition of men in the fall
at large, taking it out of the Psalmist. There is none righteous, no
not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh,
after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are altogether become
unprofitable; there is none that doth good, no not one. Their throat is
an open sepulchre, with their tongues they have used deceit, the poison
of asps is under their lips: whose mouths are full of cursing and
bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery
are in their ways: and the way of peace have they not known. There is
no fear of God before their eyes. What more positive can be spoken? He
seemeth to be particularly careful to avoid that any good should be
ascribed to the natural man; he shows how he is polluted in all his
ways; he shows how he is void of righteousness, of understanding, of
the knowledge of God; how he is out of the way, and in short
unprofitable; than which nothing can be more fully said to confirm our
judgment: for if this be the condition of the natural man, or of the
man as he stands in the fall, he is unfit to make one right step to
heaven.
[193] If it be said, That is not spoken of the condition of man in
general; but only of some particulars, or at the least that it
comprehends not all;
[194] The text showeth the clear contrary in the foregoing verses,
where the apostle takes in himself, as he stood in his natural
condition. What then? Are we better than they? No, in no wise; for we
have before, proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under
sin, as it is written: and so he goes on; by which it is manifest that
he speaks of mankind in general. [195] If they object that which the
same apostle saith in the foregoing chapter, ver. 14, to wit, That the
Gentiles do by nature the things contained in the law, and so
consequently do by nature that which is good and acceptable in the
sight of God;
[196] I answer, this nature must not, neither can be understood of
man's own nature, which is corrupt and fallen; but of the spiritual
nature, which proceedeth from the seed of God in man, as it receiveth a
new visitation of God's love, and is quickened by it: which clearly
appears by the following words, where he saith, These not having a law
(i.e.) outwardly, are a law unto themselves; which shows the work of
the law written in their hearts. These acts of theirs then are an
effect of the law written in their hearts; but the scripture declareth,
that the writing of the law in the heart is a part, yea, and a great
part too, of the new covenant dispensation, and so no consequence nor
part of man's nature.
[197] Secondly, If this nature here spoken of could be understood of
man's own nature, which he hath as he is a man, then would the apostle
unavoidably contradict himself; since he elsewhere positively declares,
That the natural man discerneth not the things of God, nor can. Now I
hope the law of God is among the things of God, especially as it is
written in the heart. The apostle, in the viith chap. of the same
epistle, saith, verse 12. that the law is holy, just, and good; and
verse 14. the law is spiritual, but he is carnal. Now in what respect
is he carnal, but as he stands in the fall unregenerate? Now what
inconsistency would here be, to say, That he is carnal, and yet not so
of his own nature, seeing it is from his nature that he is so
denominated? We see the apostle contra-distinguisheth the law as
spiritual, from man's nature as carnal and sinful. Wherefore, as Christ
saith, [198] There can no grapes be expected from thorns, nor figs of
thistles; so neither can the fulfilling of the law, which is spiritual,
holy, and just, be expected from that nature which is corrupt, fallen,
and unregenerate. [199] Whence we conclude, with good reason, that the
nature here spoken of, by which the Gentiles are said to have done the
things contained in the law, is not the common nature of men; but that
spiritual nature that ariseth from the works of the righteous and
spiritual law that is written in the heart. I confess they of the other
extreme, when they are pressed with this testimony by the Socinians and
Pelagians, as well as by us when we use this scripture, to show them
how some of the heathens, by the light of Christ in their heart, came
to be saved, are very far to seek; giving this answer, That there were
some relics of the heavenly image left in Adam, by which the heathens
could do some good things. Which, as it is in itself without proof, so
it contradicts their own assertions elsewhere, and gives away their
cause. For if these relics were of force to enable them to fulfil the
righteous law of God, it takes away the necessity of Christ's coming;
or at least leaves them a way to be saved without him; unless they will
say, (which is worst of all,) That though they really fu!fil the
righteous law of God, yet God damned them, because of the want of that
particular knowledge, while he himself withheld all means of their
coming to him from them; but of this hereafter.
S:. III. [200] I might also here use another argument from those words
of the apostle, 1 Cor. ii. where he so positively excludes the natural
man from an understanding in the things of God; but because I have
spoken of that scripture in the beginning of the second proposition, I
will here avoid to repeat what is there mentioned, referring thereunto:
yet because the Socinians and others, who exalt the light of the
natural man, or a natural light in man, do object against this
scripture, I shall remove it before I proceed.* [201]
[202] They say, The Greek word psuchikos ought to be translated animal,
and not natural; else, say they, it would have been phusikos. From
which they seek to infer, that it is only the animal man, and not the
rational, that is excluded here from discerning the things of God.
Which shift, without disputing about the word, is easily refuted;
neither is it anywise consistent with the scope of the place. For,
[203] First, The animal life is no other than that which man hath in
common with other living creatures; for as he is a mere man, he differs
no otherwise from beasts than by the rational property. Now the apostle
deduceth his argument in the foregoing verses from this simile; That as
the things of a man cannot be known but by the spirit of a man, so the
things of God no man knoweth but by the Spirit of God. But I hope these
men will confess unto me, that the things of a man are not known by the
animal spirit only, i. e. by that which he hath in common with the
beasts, but by the rational; so that it must be the rational that is
here understood. Again, the assumption shows clearly, that the apostle
had no such intent, as these men's gloss would make him have, viz. So
the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. According to
their judgment he should have said, The things of God knoweth no man by
his animal spirit, but by his rational spirit: for to say, the Spirit
of God, here spoken of, is no other than the rational spirit of man,
would border upon blasphemy, since they are so often
contra-distinguished. Again, going on, he saith not that they are
rationally, but spiritually discerned.
[204] Secondly, The apostle throughout this chapter shows how the
wisdom of man is unfit to judge of the things of God, and ignorant of
them. Now I ask these men, whether a man be called a wise man from his
animal property, or from his rational? [205] If from his rational, then
it is not only the animal, but also the rational, as he is yet in the
natural state, which the apostle excludes here, and whom he
contra-distinguisheth from the spiritual, verse 15. But the spiritual
man judgeth all things. This cannot be said of any man merely because
rational or as he is a man, seeing the men of the greatest reason, if
we may so esteem men, whom the scripture calls wise, as were the Greeks
of old, not only may be, but often are, enemies to the kingdom of God;
while both the preaching of Christ is said to be foolishness with the
wise men of the world, and the wisdom of the world is said to be
foolishness with God. Now whether it be any ways probable that either
these wise men that are said to account the gospel foolishness, are
only so called with respect to their animal property, and not their
rational; or that the wisdom that is foolishness with God is not meant
of the rational, but only the animal property, any rational man, laying
aside interest, may easily judge.
S:. IV. [206] I come now to the other part, to wit, That this evil and
corrupted seed is not imputed to infants, until they actually join with
it. For this there is a reason given in the end of the proposition
itself, drawn from Eph. ii. For these are by nature children of wrath,
who walk according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Here the apostle
gives their evil walking, and not any thing that is not reduced to act,
as a reason of their being children of wrath. And this is suitable to
the whole strain of the gospel, where no man is ever threatened or
judged for what iniquity he hath not actually wrought: such indeed as
continue in iniquity, and so do allow the sins of their fathers, God
will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children.
Is it not strange then that men should entertain an opinion so absurd
in itself, and so cruel and contrary to the nature as well of God's
mercy as justice, concerning which the scripture is altogether silent?
[207] But it is manifest that man hath invented this opinion out of
self-love, and from that bitter root from which all errors spring; for
the most part of Protestants that hold this, having, as the fancy, the
absolute decree of election to secure them and their children, so as
they cannot miss of salvation, they make no difficulty to send all
others, both old and young, to hell. For whereas self-love, which is
always apt to believe that which it desires, possesseth them with an
hope that their part is secure, they are not solicitous how they leave
their neighbours, which are the far greater part of mankind, in these
inextricable difficulties. The Papists again use this opinion as an art
to augment the esteem of their church, and reverence of its sacraments,
seeing they pretend it is washed away by baptism; only in this they
appear to be a little more merciful, in that they send not these
unbaptized infants to hell, but to a certain limbus, concerning which
the scriptures are as silent as of the other. This then is not only not
authorized in the scriptures, but contrary to the express tenor of
them. The apostle saith plainly, Rom. iv. 15. Where no law is, there is
no transgression. And again, v . 13. But sin is not imputed, where
there is no law. [208] Than which testimonies there is nothing more
positive; since to infants there is no law, seeing as such they are
utterly incapable of it; the law cannot reach any but such as have in
some measure less or more the exercise of their understanding, which
infants have not. So that from thence I thus argue:
Sin is imputed to none, where there is no law.
But to infants there is no law:
Therefore sin is not imputed to them.
The proposition is the apostle's own words; the assumption is thus
proved:
Those who are under a physical impossibility of either hearing,
knowing, or understanding any law, where the impossibility is not
brought upon them by any act of their own, but is according to the very
order of nature appointed by God; to such there is no law.
But infants are under this physical impossibility:
Therefore, &c.
Secondly, What can be more positive than that of Ezek. xviii. 20. The
soul that sinneth, it shall die: the son shall not bear the father's
iniquity. For the prophet here first showeth what is the cause of man's
eternal death, which he saith is his sinning; and then, as if he
purposed expressly to shut out such an opinion, he assures us,The son
shall not bear the father's iniquity. From which I thus argue:
[209] If the son bear not the iniquity of his father, or of his
immediate parents, far less shall he bear the iniquity of Adam.
But the son shall not bear the iniquity of his father:
Therefore, &c.
S:. V. Having thus far shown how absurd this opinion is, I shall
briefly examine the reasons its authors bring for it.
[210] First, They say, Adam was a public person, and therefore all men
sinned in him, as being in his loins. And for this they allege that of
Rom. v. 12. Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and
death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have
sinned, &c. These last words, say they, may be translated, In whom all
have sinned.
[211] To this I answer: That Adam is a public person is not denied; and
that through him there is a seed of sin propagated to all men, which in
its own nature is sinful, and inclines men to iniquity; yet it will not
follow from thence, that Infants,who join not with this seed, are
guilty. As for these words in the Romans, the reason of the guilt there
alleged is, For that all have sinned. Now no man is said to sin, unless
he actually sin in his own person; for the Greek words eph' ho may very
well relate to thanatos, which is the nearest antecedent; so that they
hold forth, how that Adam, by his sin, gave an entrance to sin in the
world: and so death entered by sin, eph' ho i. e. upon which [viz.
occasion] or, in which [viz. death] all others have sinned; that is,
actually in their own persons; to wit, all that were capable of
sinning: of which number that infants could not be, the apostle clearly
shows by the following verse, Sin is not imputed, where there is no
law: and since, as is above proved, there is no law to infants, they
can not be here included.
[212] Their second objection is from Psalm li. 5. Behold I was shapen
in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Hence, they say, it
appears that infants from their conception are guilty.
[213] How they infer this consequence, for my part I see not. The
iniquity and sin here appears to be far more ascribable to the parents
than to the child. It is said indeed, In sin did my mother conceive me;
not my mother did conceive me a sinner. Besides that, so interpreted,
contradicts expressly the scripture before-mentioned, in making
children guilty of the sins of their immediate parents, (for of Adam
there is not here any mention,) contrary to the plain words, the son
shall not bear the father's iniquity.
[214] Thirdly, They object, That the wages of sin is death; and that
seeing children are subject to diseases and death, therefore they must
be guilty of sin.
[215] I answer, That these things are a consequence of the fall, and of
Adam's sin, is confessed; but that that infers necessarily a guilt in
all others that are subject to them is denied. For though the whole
outward creation suffered a decay by Adam's fall, which groans under
vanity; according to which it is said in Job, that the heavens are not
clean in the sight of God; yet will it not from thence follow, that the
herbs, earth, and trees are sinners.
Next, death, though a consequent of the fall, incident to man's earthly
nature, is not the wages of sin in the saints, but rather a sleep, by
which they pass from death to life; which is so far from being
troublesome and painful to them, as all real punishments for sin are,
that the apostle counts it gain: To me, saith he, to die is gain,
Philip. i. 21.
[216] Some are so foolish as to make an objection farther, saying, That
if Adam's sin be not imputed to those who actually have not sinned,
then it would follow that all infants are saved.
[217] But we are willing that this supposed absurdity should be the
consequence of our doctrine, rather than that which it seems our
adversaries reckon not absurd, though the undoubted and unavoidable
consequence of theirs, viz. That many infants eternally perish, not for
any sin of their own, but only for Adam's iniquity; where we are
willing to let the controversy stop, commending both to the illuminated
understanding of the Christian reader.
This error of our adversaries is both denied and refitted by Zuinglius,
that eminent founder of the Protestant churches of Switzerland, in his
book De Baptismo, for which he is anathematized by the council of
Trent, in the fifth session. We shall only add this information: That
we confess then that a seed of sin is transmitted to all men from Adam,
although imputed to none, until by sinning they actually join with it;
in which seed he gave occasion to all to sin, and it is the origin of
all evil actions and thoughts in men's hearts, 12(p' 65 to wit, 6ava2w,
as it is in Rom. v. i. e. In which death all have sinned. For this seed
of sin is frequently called death in the scripture, and the body of
death; seeing indeed it is a death to the life of righteousness and
holiness: therefore its seed and its product is called the old man, the
old Adam, in which all sin is; for which cause we use this name to
express this sin, and not that of original sin; of which phrase the
scripture makes no mention, and under which invented and unscriptural
barbarism this notion of imputed sin to infants took place among
Christians. [218]
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[182] Rom. v. 12, 15.
[183] Eph. ii.
[184] Augustine's zeal against Pelagius.
[185] I.
[186] II.
[187] III.
[188] Part I. Adam's fall.
[189] Guilt not ascribed to Adam's posterity.
[190] Every imagination of the natural man is evil.
[191] The heart of man deceitful.
[192] Rom. iii. 10. Psa. xiv. 3. & liii. 2, &c. Man's estate in the
fall.
[193] Object.
[194] Answ.
[195] Object.
[196] Ans. 1. By what nature the Gentiles did do the things of the law.
[197] Ans. 2. The natural man discerneth not, &c.
[198] Mat. vii. 16.
[199] The Gentiles spiritual nature in doing the law.
[200] Socinians exalting the light of the natural man.
[201] *Ante-quam pro grediar.
[202] Object.
[203] Answ. 1 The animal man is the same with natural.
[204] Answ. 2
[205] The rational man in the natural state excluded from discerning
the things of God.
[206] Infants, no sin imputed to them.
[207] The absolute decree of election springs from self-love.
[208] To infants there is no law, so no transgression.
[209] Infants bear not Adam's transgression.
[210] Obj. 1.
[211] Answ.
[212] Obj. 2.
[213] Answ. Conceived in sin answered.
[214] Obj. 3.
[215] Answ. Death the wages of sin answered.
[216] Obj. 4.
[217] Answ.
[218] Original sin no scripture phrase.
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PROPOSITIONS V. & VI.
Concerning the Universal Redemption by Christ, and also the Saving and
Spiritual Light, wherewith every man is enlightened.
__________________________________________________________________
PROPOSITION V.
[219] God, out of his infinite love, who delighteth not in the death of
a sinner, but that all should live and be saved, hath so loved the
world, that he hath given his only Son a LIGHT, that whosoever
believeth in him shall be saved, John iii. 16. who enlighteneth EVERY
man that cometh into the world, John i. 9. and maketh manifest all
things that are reproveable, Eph. v. 13. and teacheth all temperance,
righteousness, and godliness; and this Light enlighteneth the hearts of
all for a time, in order to salvation; and this is it which reproves
the sin of all individuals, and would work out the salvation of all, if
not resisted. Nor is it less universal than the seed of sin, being the
purchase of his death, who tasted death for every man: for as in Adam
all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive, 1 Cor. xv. 22.
__________________________________________________________________
[219] Ezek. xviii. 32. & xxxiii. 11.
__________________________________________________________________
PROPOSITION VI.
According to which principle or hypothesis all the objections against
the universality of Christ's death are easily solved; neither is it
needful to recur to the ministry of angels, and those other miraculous
means which they say God useth to manifest the doctrine and history of
Christ's passion unto such, who, living in parts of the world where the
outward preaching of the gospel is unknown, have well improved the
first and common grace. [220] For as hence it well follows that some of
the old philosophers might have been saved, so also may some, who by
providence are cast into those remote parts of the world where the
knowledge of the history is wanting, be made partakers of the divine
mystery, if they receive and resist not that grace, a manifestation
whereof is given to every man to profit withal. This most certain
doctrine being then received, that there is an evangelical and saving
light and grace in all, the universality of the love and mercy of God
towards mankind, both in the death of his beloved Son the Lord Jesus
Christ, and in the manifestation of the light in the heart, is
established and confirmed, against all the objections of such as deny
it. [221] Therefore Christ hath tasted death for every man; not only
for all kinds of men, as some vainly talk, but for every man of all
kinds: the benefit of whose offering is not only extended to such who
have the distinct outward knowledge of his death and sufferings, as the
same is declared in the scriptures, but even unto those who are
necessarily excluded from the benefit of this knowledge by some
inevitable accident; which knowledge we willingly confess to be very
profitable and comfortable, but not absolutely needful unto such from
whom God himself hath withheld it; yet they may be made partakers of
the mystery of his death, though ignorant of the history, if they
suffer his seed and light, enlightening their hearts, to take place, in
which light communion with the Father and the Son is enjoyed, so as of
wicked men to become holy, and lovers of that power, by whose inward
and secret touches they feel themselves turned from the evil to the
good, and learn to do to others as they would be done by, in which
Christ himself affirms all to be included. As they have then falsely
and erroneously taught, who have denied Christ to have died for all
men; so neither have they sufficiently taught the truth, who, affirming
him to have died for all, have added the absolute necessity of the
outward knowledge thereof, in order to obtain its saving effect. Among
whom the Remonstrants of Holland have been chiefly wanting, and many
other asserters of universal redemption, in that they have not placed
the extent of this salvation in that divine and evangelical principle
of light and life, wherewith Christ hath enlightened every man that
cometh into the world, which is excellently and evidently held forth in
these scriptures, Gen. vi. 3.
Deut. xxx. 14.
John i. 7, 8, 9, 16.
Rom. x. 8.
Titus ii. 11.
[222] Hitherto we have considered man's fallen, lost, corrupted, and
degenerated condition. Now it is fit to inquire, how and by what means
he may come to be freed out of this miserable and depraved condition,
which in these two propositions is declared and demonstrated; which I
thought meet to place together because of their affinity, the one being
as it were an explanation of the other.
As for that doctrine which these propositions chiefly strike at, to
wit, absolute reprobation, according to which some are not afraid to
assert, "That God, by an eternal and immutable decree, hath
predestinated to eternal damnation the far greater part of mankind, not
considered as made, much less as fallen, without any respect to their
disobedience or sin, but only for the demonstrating of the glory of his
justice; and that for the bringing this about, he hath appointed these
miserable souls necessarily to walk in their wicked ways, that so his
justice may lay hold on them: and that God doth therefore not only
suffer them to be liable to this misery in many parts of the world, by
withholding from them the preaching of the gospel and the knowledge of
Christ, but even in those places where the gospel is preached, and
salvation by Christ is offered; whom though he publicly invite them,
yet he justly condemns for disobedience, albeit he hath withheld from
them all grace by which they could have laid hold of the gospel, viz.
Because he hath, by a secret will unknown to all men, ordained and
decreed (without any respect had to their obedience or sin) that they
shall not obey, and that the offer of the gospel shall never prove
effectual for their salvation, but only serve to aggravate and occasion
their greater condemnation."
I say, as to this horrible and blasphemous doctrine, our cause is
common with many others, who have both wisely and learnedly, according
to scripture, reason, and antiquity, refuted it. Seeing then that so
much is said already and so well against this doctrine, that little can
be superadded, except what hath been said already, I shall be short in
this respect; yet, because it lies so in opposition to my way, I cannot
let it altogether pass.
[223] S:. I. First, We may safely call this doctrine a novelty, seeing
the first four hundred years after Christ there is no mention made of
it: for as it is contrary to the scriptures' testimony, and to the
tenor of the gospel, so all the ancient writers, teachers, and doctors
of the church, pass it over with a profound silence. The first
foundations of it were laid in the latter writings of Augustine, who,
in his heat against Pelagius let fall some expressions which some have
unhappily gleaned up, to the establishing of this error; thereby
contradicting the truth, and sufficiently gainsaying many others, and
many more and frequent expressions of the same Augustine. Afterwards
was this doctrine fomented by Dominicus a friar, and the monks of his
order; and at last unhappily taken up by John Calvin, (otherwise a man
in divers respects to be commended,) to the great staining of his
reputation, and defamation both of the Protestant and Christian
religion; which, though it received the decrees of the synod of Dort
for its confirmation, hath since lost ground, and begins to be exploded
by most men of learning and piety in all Protestant churches. However,
we should not oppugn it for the silence of the ancients, paucity of its
asserters, or for the learnedness of its opposers, if we did observe it
to have any real bottom in the writings or sayings of Christ and the
apostles, and that it were not highly injurious to God himself, to
Jesus Christ our Mediator and Redeemer, and to the power, virtue,
nobility, and excellency of his blessed gospel, and lastly unto all
mankind.
[224] S:. lI. First, It is highly injurious to God, because it makes
him the author of sin, which of all things is most contrary to his
nature. I confess the asserters of this principle deny this
consequence; but that is but a mere illusion, seeing it so naturally
follows from this doctrine, and is equally ridiculous, as if a man
should pertinaciously deny that one and two make three. For if God has
decreed that the reprobated ones shall perish, without all respect to
their evil deeds, but only of his own pleasure, and if he hath also
decreed long before they were in being, or in a capacity to do good or
evil, that they should walk in those wicked ways, by which, as by a
secondary means, they are led to that end: who, I pray, is the first
author and cause thereof but God, who so willed and decreed? This is as
natural a consequence as can be: and therefore, although many of the
preachers of this doctrine have sought out various, strange, strained,
and intricate distinctions to defend their opinion, and avoid this
horrid consequence; yet some, and that of the most eminent of them,
have been so plain in the matter, as they have put it beyond all doubt.
Of which I shall instance a few among many passages. [225] *I say, That
by the ordination and will of God Adam fell. God would have man to
fall. Man is blinded by the will and commandment of God. We refer the
causes of hardening us to God. The highest or remote cause of hardening
is the will of God. It followeth that the hidden counsel of God is the
cause of hardening. These are Calvin's expressions. 1 God (saith Beza)
hath predestinated not only unto damnation, but also unto the causes of
it, whomsoever he saw meet. 2 The decree of God cannot be excluded from
the causes of corruption. 3 It is certain (saith Zanchius) that God is
the first cause of obduration. Reprobates are held so fast under God's
almighty decree, that they cannot but sin and perish. 4 It is the
opinion (saith ParAEus) of our doctors, That God did inevitably decree
the temptation and fall of man. The creature sinneth indeed
necessarily, by the most just judgment of God. Our men do most rightly
affirm, that the fall of Man was necessary and inevitable, by accident,
because of God's decree. 5 God (saith Martyr) doth incline and force
the wills of wicked men into great sins. 6 God (saith Zuinglius) moveth
the robber to kill. He killeth, God forcing him thereunto. But thou
wilt say, he is forced to sin; I permit truly that he is forced. 7
Reprobate persons (saith Piscator) are absolutely ordained to this
two-fold end, to undergo everlasting punishment, and necessarily to
sin; and therefore to sin, that they may be justly punished.
If these sayings do not plainly and evidently import that God is the
author of sin, we must not then seek these men's opinions from their
words, but some way else. It seems as if they had assumed to themselves
that monstrous and two-fold will they feign of God; one by which they
declare their minds openly, and another more secret and hidden, which
is quite contrary to the other. Nor doth it at all help them, to say
that man sins willingly, since that willingness, proclivity, and
propensity to evil is, according to their judgment, so necessarily
imposed upon him, that he cannot but be willing, because God hath
willed and decreed him to be so. Which shift is just as if I should
take a child incapable to resist me, and throw it down from a great
precipice; the weight of the child's body indeed makes it go readily
down, and the violence of the fall upon some rock or stone beats out
its brains and kills it. Now then, I pray, though the body of the child
goes willingly down, (for I suppose it, as to its mind, incapable of
any will,) and the weight of its body, and not any immediate stroke of
my hand, who perhaps am at a great distance, makes it die, whether is
the child or I the proper cause of its death? Let any man of reason
judge, if God's part be, with them, as great, yea, more immediate, in
the sins of men, (as by the testimonies above brought doth appear,)
whether doth not this make him not only the author of sin, but more
unjust than the unjustest of men?
[226] S:. III. Secondly, This doctrine is injurious to God, because it
makes him delight in the death of sinners, yea, and to will many to die
in their sins, contrary to these scriptures, Ezek. xxxiii. 11. 1 Tim.
ii. 4. 2 Pet. iii. 9. For if he hath created men only for this very
end, that he might show forth his justice and power in them, as these
men affirm, and for effecting thereof hath not only with-held from them
the means of doing good, but also predestinated the evil, that they
might fall into it; and that he inclines and forces them into great
sins; certainly he must necessarily delight in their death, and will
them to die; seeing against his own will he neither doth, nor can do
any thing.
[227] S:. IV. Thirdly, It is highly injurious to Christ our mediator,
and to the efficacy and excellency of his gospel; for it renders his
mediation ineffectual, as if he had not by his sufferings thoroughly
broken down the middle wall, nor yet removed the wrath of God, or
purchased the love of God towards all mankind, if it was afore-decreed
that it should be of no service to the far greater part of mankind. It
is to no purpose to allege that the death of Christ was of efficacy
enough to leave saved all mankind, if in effect its virtue be not so
far extended as to put all mankind into a capacity of salvation.
[228] Fourthly, It makes the preaching of the gospel a mere mock and
illusion, if many of these, to whom it is preached, be by any
irrevocable decree excluded from being benefitted by it; it wholly
makes useless the preaching of faith and repentance, and the whole
tenor of the gospel promises and threatenings, as being all relative to
a former decree and means before appointed to such; which, because they
cannot fail, man needs do nothing but wait for that irresistible
juncture, which will come, though it be but at the last hour of his
life, if he be in the decree of election; and be his diligence and
waiting what it can, he shall never attain it, if he belong to the
decree of reprobation.
[229] Fifthly, It makes the coming of Christ, and his propitiatory
sacrifice, which the scripture affirms to have been the fruit of God's
love to the world, and transacted for the sins and salvation of all
men, to have been rather a testimony of God's wrath to the world, and
one of the greatest judgments, and severest acts of God's indignation
towards mankind, it being only ordained to save a very few, and for the
hardening, and augmenting the condemnation of the far greater number of
men, because they believe not truly in it; the cause of which unbelief
again, as the divines [so called] above assert, is the hidden counsel
of God: certainly the coming of Christ was never to them a testimony of
God's love, but rather of his implacable wrath and if the world may be
taken for the far greater number of such as live in it, God never loved
the world, according to this doctrine, but rather hated it greatly, in
sending his Son to be crucified in it.
[230] S:.V. Sixthly, This doctrine is highly injurious to mankind; for
it renders them in a far worse condition than the devils in hell. For
these were some-time in a capacity to have stood, and do suffer only
for their own guilt; whereas many millions of men are forever
tormented, according to them for Adam's sin, which they neither knew
of, nor ever were accessary to. It renders them worse than the beasts
of the field, of whom the master requires no more than they are able to
perform; and if they be killed, death to them is the end of sorrow;
whereas man is for ever tormented for not doing that which he never was
able to do. It puts him into a far worse condition than Pharaoh put the
Israelites; for though he withheld straw from them, yet by much labour
and pains they could have gotten it: but from men they make God to
withhold all means of salvation, so that they can by no means attain
it; yea, they place mankind in that condition which the poets feign of
Tantalus, who, oppressed with thirst, stands in water up to the chin,
yet can by no means reach it with his tongue; and being tormented with
hunger hath fruits hanging at his very lips, yet so as he can never lay
hold on them with his teeth; and these things are so near him, not to
nourish him, but to torment him. So do these men: they make the outward
creation of the works of Providence, the smitings of conscience,
sufficient to convince the heathens of sin, and so to condemn and judge
them: but not at all to help them to salvation. They make the preaching
of the gospel, the offer of salvation by Christ, the use of the
sacraments, of prayer, and good works, sufficient to condemn those they
account reprobates within the church, serving only to inform them to
beget a seeming faith and vain hope; yet because of a secret impotency,
which they had from their infancy, all these are wholly ineffectual to
bring them the least step towards salvation; and do only contribute to
render their condemnation the greater, and their torments the more
violent and intolerable.
[231] Having thus briefly removed this false doctrine which stood in my
way, because they that are desirous may see it both learnedly and
piously refuted by many others, I come to the matter of our
proposition, which is, That God out of his infinite love, who
delighteth not in the death of a sinner, but that all should live and
be saved, hath sent his only begotten Son into the world, that
whosoever believeth in him might be saved; which is also again affirmed
in the sixth proposition, in these words, Christ then tasted death for
every man, of all kinds. Such is the evidence of this truth, delivered
almost wholly in the express words of scripture, that it will not need
much probation. Also, because our assertion herein is common with many
others, who have both earnestly and soundly, according to the
scripture, pleaded for this universal redemption, I shall be the more
brief in it, that I may come to that which may seem more singularly and
peculiarly ours.
[232] S:. VI. This doctrine of universal redemption, or Christ's dying
for all men, is of itself so evident from the scripture-testimony, that
there is scarcely found any other article of the Christian faith so
frequently, so plainly, and so positively asserted. It is that which
maketh the preaching of Christ to be truly termed the gospel, or an
annunciation of glad tidings to all. Thus the angel declared the birth
and coming of Christ to the shepherds to be, Luke ii. 10. Behold I
bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people: he
saith not, to a few. Now if this coming of Christ had not brought a
possibility of salvation to all, it should rather have been accounted
bad tidings of great sorrow to most people; neither should the angel
have had reason to have sung, Peace on earth, and good will towards
men, if the greatest part of mankind had been necessarily shut out from
receiving any benefit by it. How should Christ have sent out his
servants to preach the gospel to every creature, Mark xvi. 15. (a very
comprehensive commission,) that is, to every son and daughter of
mankind, without all exception? [233] He commands them to preach
salvation to all, repentance and remission of sins to all: warning
every one, and exhorting every one, as Paul did, Col. i. 28. Now how
could they have preached the gospel to every man, as became the
ministers of Jesus Christ, in much assurance, if salvation by that
gospel had not been possible to all? What! if some of those had asked
them, or should now ask any of these doctors, who deny the universality
of Christ's death, and yet preach it to all promiscuously, Hath Christ
died for me? How can they, with confidence, give a certain answer to
this question? If they give a conditional answer, as their principle
obligeth them to do, and say, If thou repent, Christ hath died for
thee; doth not the same question still recur? Hath Christ died for me,
so as to make repentance possible to me? To this they can answer
nothing, unless they run in a circle; whereas the feet of those that
bring the glad tidings of the gospel of peace are said to be beautiful,
for that they preach the common salvation, repentance unto all;
offering a door of mercy and hope to all, through Jesus Christ, who
gave himself a ransom for all. The gospel invites all: and certainly by
the gospel Christ intended not to deceive and delude the greater part
of mankind, when he invites, and crieth, saying; Come unto me all ye
that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. If all then
ought to seek after him, and to look for salvation by him, he must
needs have made salvation possible to all; for who is bound to seek
after that which is impossible? Certainly it were a mocking of men to
bid them do so. And such as deny, that by the death of Christ salvation
is made possible to all men, do most blasphemously make God mock the
world, in giving his servants a commission to preach the gospel of
salvation unto all, while he hath before decreed that it shall not be
possible for them to receive it. [234] Would not this make the Lord to
send forth his servants with a lie in their mouth, (which were
blasphemous to think,) commanding them to bid all and every one believe
that Christ died for them, and had purchased life and salvation?
whereas it is no such thing, according to the fore-mentioned doctrine.
But seeing Christ, after he arose and perfected the work of our
redemption, gave a commission to preach repentance, remission of sins,
and salvation to all, it is manifest that he died for all. For He that
hath commissionated his servants thus to preach, is a God of truth, and
no mocker of poor mankind; neither doth he require of any man that
which is simply impossible for him to do: for that no man is bound to
do that which is impossible, is a principle of truth engraven in every
man's mind. And seeing he is both a righteous and merciful God, it
cannot at all stand, either with his justice or mercy, to bid such men
repent or believe, to whom it is impossible.
[235] S:. VII. Moreover, if we regard the testimony of the scripture in
this matter, where there is not one scripture, that I know of, which
affirmeth, Christ not to die for all, there are divers that positively
and expressly assert, He did; as, 1 Tim. ii. 1, 3, 4, 6. I exhort
therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions,
and giving of thanks, be made for all men, &c. For this is good and
acceptable in the sight of God our saviour, who will have all men to be
saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth; who gave himself a
ransom for all, to be testified in due time. Except we will have the
apostle here to assert quite another thing than he intended, there can
be nothing more plain to confirm what we have asserted. And this
scripture doth well answer to that manner of arguing which we have
hitherto used: for, first, the apostle here recommends them to pray for
all men; and to obviate such an objection, as if he had said with our
adversaries, Christ prayed not for the world, neither willeth he us to
pray for all; because he willeth not that all should be saved, but hath
ordained many to be damned, that he might show forth his justice in
them: he obviates, I say, such an objection, telling them, that it is
good and acceptable in the sight of God, who will have all men to be
saved. I desire to know what can be more expressly affirmed? or can any
two propositions be stated in terms more contradictory than these two?
God willeth some not to be saved; and God willeth all men to be saved,
or God will have no man perish. If we believe the last, as the apostle
hath affirmed, the first must be destroyed; seeing of contradictory
propositions, the one being placed, the other is destroyed. Whence, to
conclude, he gives us a reason of his willingness that all men should
be saved, in these words, Who gave himself ransom for all; as if he
would have said, Since Christ died for all, since he gave himself a
ransom for all, therefore he will have all men to be saved. This Christ
himself gives as a reason of God's love to the world, in these words:
John iii. 16. God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life;compared with 1 John iv. 9. This [whosoever ] is an
indefinite term, from which no man is excluded. From all which then I
thus argue:
[236] For whomsoever it is lawful to pray, to them salvation is
possible:
But it is lawful to pray for every individual man in the whole world:
Therefore salvation is possible unto them. I prove the major
proposition thus;
[237] No man is bound to pray for that which is impossible to be
attained:
But every man is bound and commanded to pray for all men:
Therefore it is not impossible to be attained. I prove also this
proposition further, thus;
[238] No man is bound to pray, but in faith:
But he that prayeth for that, which he judges simply impossible to be
obtained, cannot pray in faith:
Therefore, &c. Again,
[239] That which God willeth is not impossible:
But God willeth all men to be saved:
Therefore it is not impossible. And lastly;
[240] Those for whom our Saviour gave himself a ransom, to such
salvation is possible:
But our Saviour gave himself a ransom for all:
Therefore salvation is possible.
[241] S:.VIII. This is very positively affirmed, Heb. ii. 9. in these
words, But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels,
for the suffering of death,crowned with glory and honour, that he by
the grace of God might taste death for every man. He that will but open
his eyes, may see this truth here asserted: if he tasted death for
every man, then certainly there is no man for whom he did not taste
death; then there is no man who may not be made a sharer of the benefit
of it: for he came not to condemn the world, but that the world through
him might be saved, John iii. 17. [242] He came not to judge the world,
but to save the world, John xii. 47. Whereas, according to the doctrine
of our adversaries, he rather came to condemn the world, and judge it;
and not that it might be saved by him, or to save it. For if he never
came to bring salvation to the greater part of mankind, but that his
coming, though it could never do them good, yet shall augment their
condemnation; from thence it necessarily follows, that he came not of
intention to save, but to judge and condemn the greater part of the
world, contrary to his own express testimony; [243] and as the apostle
Paul, in the words above-cited, doth assert affirmatively, That God
willeth the salvation of all, so doth the apostle Peter assert
negatively, That he willeth not the perishing of any, 2 Pet. iii. 9.
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count
slackness, but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any
should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And this is
correspondent to that of the prophet Ezekiel, xxxiii. 11. As I live,
saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that
the wicked turn from his way, and live. If it be safe to believe God,
and trust in him, we must not think that he intends to cheat us by all
these expressions through his servants, but that he was in good
earnest. And that this will and desire of his hath not taken effect,
the blame is on our parts, as shall be after spoken of; which could not
be, if we never were in any capacity of salvation, or that Christ had
never died for us, but left us under an impossibility of salvation.
What mean all those earnest invitations, all those serious
expostulations, all those regretting contemplations, wherewith the holy
scriptures are full? As, Why will you die, O house of Israel! Why will
ye not come unto me, that ye might have life? I have waited to be
gracious unto you: I have sought to gather you: I have knocked at the
door of your hearts: Is not your destruction of yourselves? I have
called all the day long. If men who are so invited be under no capacity
of being saved, if salvation be impossible unto them, shall we suppose
God in this to be no other but like the author of a romance, or master
of a comedy, who amuses and raises the various affections and passions
of his spectators by divers and strange accidents; sometimes leading
them into hope, and sometimes into despair: all those actions, in
effect, being but a mere illusion, while he hath appointed what the
conclusion of all shall be?
[244] Thirdly, this doctrine is abundantly confirmed by that of the
apostle, 1 John ii. 1, 2 And if any man sin, we have an advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he is the propitiation for
our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole
world. [245] The way which our adversaries take to evite this
testimony, is most foolish and ridiculous: the [world] here, say they,
is the world of believers: for this commentary we have nothing but
their own assertion, and so while it manifestly destroys the text, may
be justly rejected. For, first, let them show me, if they can, in all
the scripture, where the [whole world] is taken for believers only; I
shall show them where it is many times taken for the quite contrary;
as, The world knows me not: The world receives me not: I am not of this
world: besides all these scriptures, Psalm xvii. 14. Isai. xiii. 11.
Mat. xviii. 7. John vii. 7. and viii. 26. and xii. 19. and xiv. 17. and
xv. 18, 19. and xvii. 14. 14. and xviii. 20. 1 Cor. i. 21. and ii. 12.
and vi. 2. Gal. vi. 14. James i. 27. 2 Pet. ii. 20. 1 John ii. 15. and
iii. 1. and iv. 4, 5. and many more. Secondly, The apostle in this very
place contra-distinguisheth the world from the saints thus; And not for
ours only, but for the sins of the whole world: What means the apostle
by [ours] here? Is not that the sins of believers? Was not he one of
those believers? And was not this an universal epistle, written to all
the saints that then were? So that according to these men's comment,
there should be a very unnecessary and foolish redundancy in the
apostle's words; as if he had said, He is a propitiation not only for
the sins of all believers, but for the sins of all believers: Is not
this to make the apostle's words void of good sense? Let them show us
wherever there is such a manner of speaking in all the scripture, where
any of the penmen first name the believers in concreto with themselves,
and then contra-distinguish them from some other whole world of
believers. That [whole world] if it be of believers, must not be the
world we live in. But we need no better interpreter for the apostle
than himself, who uses the very same expression and phrase in the same
epistle, ch. v. 19. saying, We know that we are of God, and the whole
world lieth in wickedness. There cannot be found in all the scripture,
two places which run more parallel; seeing in both the same apostle, in
the same epistle to the same persons, contra-distinguisheth himself,
and the saints to whom he writes, from the whole world; which,
according to these men's commentary, ought to be understood of
believers: as if John had said, We know particular believers are of
God; but the whole world of believers lieth in wickedness. What absurd
wresting of scripture were this? And yet it may be as well pleaded for
as the other; for they differ not at all. Seeing then that the apostle
John tells us plainly, That Christ not only died for him, and for the
saints and members of the church of God, to whom he wrote, but for the
whole world, let us then hold it for a certain and undoubted truth,
notwithstanding the cavils of such as oppose.
[246] This might also be proved from many more scripture-testimonies,
if it were at this season needful. All the fathers, so called, and
doctors of the church, for the first four centuries, preached this
doctrine; according to which they boldly held forth the gospel of
Christ, and efficacy of his death; inviting and entreating the heathens
to come and be partakers of the benefits of it, showing them how there
was a door open for them all to be saved through Jesus Christ; not
telling them that God had predestinated any of them to damnation, or
had made salvation impossible to them, by withholding power and grace,
necessary to believe, from them. But of many of their sayings, which
might be alleged, I shall only instance a few.
[247] Augustine, on the xcvth Psalm, saith, "The blood of Christ is of
so great worth, that it is of no less value than the whole world."
Prosper ad Gall. c. 9. "The redeemer of the world gave his blood for
the world, and the world would not be redeemed, because the darkness
did not receive the light. He that saith, the Saviour was not crucified
for the redemption of the whole world, looks not to the virtue of the
sacrament, but to the part of infidels; since the blood of our Lord
Jesus Christ is the price of the whole world; from which redemption
they are strangers, who either delighting in their captivity would not
be redeemed, or after they were redeemed returned to the same
servitude."
The same Prosper, in his answer to Vicentius' first objection: "Seeing
therefore because of one common nature and cause in truth, undertaken
"by our Lord, all are rightly said to be redeemed, and nevertheless all
are not brought out of captivity; the property of redemption without
doubt belongeth to those from whom the prince of this world is shut
out, and now are not vessels of the devil, but members of Christ; whose
death was so bestowed upon mankind, that it belonged to the redemption
of such who were not to be regenerated. But so, that that which was
done by the example of one for all, might, by a singular mystery, be
celebrated in every one. For the cup of immortality, which is made up
of our infirmity and the divine power, hath indeed that in it which may
profit all: but if it be not drank, it doth not heal."
The author de vocat. gentium, lib. ll. cap. 6. "There is no cause to
doubt but that our Lord Jesus Christ died for sinners and wicked men.
And if there can be any found, who may be said not to be of this
number, Christ hath not died for all; he made himself a redeemer for
the whole world."
[248] Chrysostom on John i. "If he enlightens every man coming into the
world, how comes it that so many men remain without light? For all do
not so much as acknowledge Christ. How then doth he enlighten every
man? He illuminates indeed so far as in him is; but if any of their own
accord, closing the eyes of their mind, will not direct their eyes unto
the beams of this light, the cause that they remain in darkness is not
from the nature of the light, but through their own malignity, who
willingly have rendered themselves unworthy of so great a gift. But why
believed they not? Because they would not: Christ did his part."
The Arelatensian synod, held about the year 490, Pronounced him
accursed, who should say that "Christ hath not died for all, or that he
would not have all men to be saved."
Ambr. on Psalm cxviii. Serm. 8. "The mystical Sun of Righteousness is
arisen to all; he came to all; he suffered for all; and rose again for
all: and therefore he suffered, that he might take away the sin of the
world. But if any one believe not in Christ, he robs himself of this
general benefit, even as if one by closing the windows should hold out
the sun-beams. [249] The sun is not therefore not risen to all, because
such an one hath so robbed himself of its heat: but the sun keeps its
prerogative; it is such an one's imprudence that he shuts himself out
from the common benefit of the light."
The same man, in his 11th book of Cain and Abel, cap. 13. saith,
"Therefore he brought unto all the means of health, that whosoever
should perish, may ascribe to himself the causes of his death, who
would not be cured when he had the remedy by which he might have
escaped."
S:. IX. Seeing then that this doctrine of the universality of Christ's
death is so certain and agreeable to the scripture-testimony, and to
the sense of the purest antiquity, it may be wondered how so many, some
whereof have been esteemed not only learned, but also pious, have been
capable to fall into so gross and strange an error. But the cause of
this doth evidently appear, in that the way and method by which the
virtue and efficacy of his death is communicated to all men, hath not
been rightly understood, or indeed hath been erroneously taught. [250]
The Pelagians, ascribing all to man's will and nature, denied man to
have any seed of sin conveyed to him from Adam. And the Semi-Pelagians,
making grace as a gift following upon man's merit, or right improving
of his nature, according to the known principle, Facienti quod in se
est, Deus non denegat gratiam.
[251] This gave Augustine, Prosper, and some others occasion, labouring
in opposition to these opinions, to magnify the grace of God, and paint
out the corruptions of man's nature (as the proverb is of those that
seek to make straight a crooked stick) to incline to the other extreme.
So also the reformers, Luther and others, finding among other errors
the strange expressions used by some of the Popish scholastics
concerning free-will, and how much the tendency of their principles is
to exalt man's nature and lessen God's grace, having all those sayings
of Augustine and others for a pattern, through the like mistake run
upon the same extreme: though afterwards the Lutherans, seeing how far
Calvin and his followers drove this matter, (who, as a man of subtle
and profound judgment, foreseeing where it would land, resolved
above-board to assert that God had decreed the means as well as the
end, and therefore had ordained men to sin, and excites them thereto,
which he labours earnestly to defend,) and that there was no avoiding
the making of God the author of sin, thereby received occasion to
discern the falsity of this doctrine, and disclaimed it, as appears by
the latter writings of Melancthon, and the Mompelgartensian conference,
where Lucas Osiander, one of the collocutors, terms it impious; calls
it a making God the author of sin and an horrid and horrible blasphemy.
[252] Yet because none of those who have asserted this universal
redemption since the reformation have given a clear, distinct, and
satisfactory testimony how it is communicated to all, and so have
fallen short of fully declaring the perfection of the gospel
dispensation, others have been thereby the more strength ened in their
errors; which I shall illustrate by one singular example.
The Arminians, and other asserters of universal grace, use this as a
chief argument. That which every man is bound to believe, is true: But
every man is bound to believe that Christ died for him:
Therefore, &c.
[253] Of this argument the other party deny the assumption, saying,
That they who never heard of Christ, are not obliged to believe in him;
and seeing the Remonstrants (as they are commonly called) do generally
themselves acknowledge, that without the outward knowledge of Christ
there is no salvation, that gives the other party yet a stronger
argument for their precise decree of reprobation. For, say they, seeing
we all see really, and in effect, that God hath withheld from many
generations, and yet from many nations, that knowledge which is
absolutely needful to salvation, and so hath rendered it simply
impossible unto them; why may he not as well withhold the grace
necessary to make a saving application of that knowledge, where it is
preached? For there is no ground to say, That this were injustice in
God, or partiality, more than his leaving those others in utter
ignorance; the one being but a withholding grace to apprehend the
object of faith, the other a withdrawing the object itself. For answer
to this, they are forced to draw a conclusion from their former
hypothesis of Christ's dying for all, and God's mercy and justice,
saying, That if these heathens, who live in these remote places, where
the outward knowledge of Christ is not, did improve that common
knowledge they have, to whom the outward creation is for an object of
faith, by which they may gather that there is a God, then the Lord
would, by some providence, either send an angel to tell them of Christ,
or convey the scriptures to them, or bring them some way to an
opportunity to meet with such as might inform them. Which, as it gives
always too much to the power and strength of man's will and nature, and
savours a little of Socinianism and Pelagianism, or at least of
Semi-Pelagianism, so, since it is only built upon probable conjectures,
neither hath it evidence enough to convince any strongly tainted with
the other doctrine; nor yet doth it make the equity and wonderful
harmony of God's mercy and justice towards all so manifest to the
understanding. So that I have often observed, that these asserters of
universal grace did far more pithily and strongly overturn the false
doctrine of their adversaries, than they did establish and confirm the
truth and certainty of their own. [254] And though they have proof
sufficient from the holy scriptures to confirm the universality of
Christ's death, and that none are precisely, by an irrevocable decree,
excluded from salvation, yet I find when they are pressed in the
respects above mentioned, to show how God hath so far equally extended
the capacity to partake of the benefit of Christ's death unto all, as
to communicate unto them a sufficient way of so doing, they are
somewhat in a strait, and are put more to give us their conjectures
from the certainty of the former pre-supposed truth, to wit, that
because Christ hath certainly died for all, and God hath not rendered
salvation impossible to any, therefore there must be some way or other
by which they may be saved; which must be by improving some common
grace, or by gathering from the works of creation and providence, than
by really demonstrating, by convincing and spiritual arguments, what
that way is.
S:. X. It falls out then, that as darkness, and the great apostacy,
came not upon the Christian world all at once, but by several degrees,
one thing making way for another; until that thick and gross veil came
to be overspread, wherewith the nations were, so blindly covered, from
the seventh and eighth, until the sixteenth century; even as the
darkness of the night comes not upon the outward creation at once, but
by degrees, according as the sun declines in each horizon; so neither
did that full and clear light and knowledge of the glorious
dispensation of the gospel of Christ appear all at once; the work of
the first witnesses being more to testify against and discover the
abuses of the apostasy, than to establish the truth in purity. He that
comes to build a new city, must first remove the old rubbish, before he
can see to lay a new foundation; and he that comes to an house greatly
polluted and full of dirt, will first sweep away and remove the filth,
before he puts up his own good and new furniture. The dawning of the
day dispels the darkness, and makes us see the things that are most
conspicuous: but the distinct discovering and discerning of things, so
as to make a certain and perfect observation, is reserved for the
arising of the sun, and its shining in full brightness. And we can,
from a certain experience, boldly affirm, that the not waiting for
this, but building among, yea, and with, the old Popish rubbish, and
setting up before a full purgation, hath been to most Protestants the
foundation of many a mistake, and an occasion of unspeakable hurt.
[255] Therefore the Lord God, who as he seeth meet doth communicate and
make known to man the more full, evident, and perfect knowledge of his
everlasting truth, hath been pleased to reserve the more full discovery
of this glorious and evangelical dispensation, to this our age; albeit
divers testimonies have thereunto been borne by some noted men in
several ages, as shall hereafter appear. And for the greater
augmentation of the glory of his grace, that no man might have whereof
to boast, he hath raised up a few despicable and illiterate men, and
for the most part mechanics, to be the dispensers of it; by which
gospel all the scruples, doubts, hesitations, and objections above
mentioned, are easily and evidently answered, and the justice as well
as mercy of God, according to their divine and heavenly harmony, are
exhibited, established, and confirmed. According to which certain light
and gospel, as the knowledge thereof has been manifested to us by the
revelation of Jesus Christ in us, fortified by our own sensible
experience, and sealed by the testimony of the Spirit in our hearts, we
can confidently affirm, and clearly evince, according to the testimony
of the holy scriptures, the following points:
[256] S:. XI. First, That God, who out of his infinite love sent his
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into the world, who tasted death for every
man, hath given to every man, whether Jew or Gentile, Turk or Scythian,
Indian or Barbarian, of whatsoever nation, country, or place, a certain
day or time of visitation; during which day or time it is possible for
them to be saved, and to partake of the fruit of Christ's death.
[257] Secondly, That for this end God hath communicated and given unto
every man a measure of the light of his own Son, a measure of grace, or
a measure of the Spirit, which the scripture expresses by several
names, as sometimes of the seed of the kingdom, Mat. xiii. 18, 19. the
light that makes all things manifest, Eph. v.13. the Word of God, Rom.
x. 17. or manifestation of the Spirit given to profit withal, 1 Cor.
xii. 7. a talent, Mat. xxv. 15. a little leaven, Mat. xiii. 33. the
gospel preached in every creature, Col. i. 23.
[258] Thirdly, That God, in and by this Light and Seed, invites, calls,
exhorts, and strives with every man, in order to save him; which, as it
is received, and not resisted, works the salvation of all, even of
those who are ignorant of the death and sufferings of Christ, and of
Adam's fall, both by bringing them to a sense of their own misery, and
to be sharers in the sufferings of Christ inwardly, and by making them
partakers of his resurrection, in becoming holy, pure, and righteous,
and recovered out of their sins. By which also are saved they that have
the knowledge of Christ outwardly, in that it opens their understanding
rightly to use and apply the things delivered in the scriptures, and to
receive the saving use of them: but that this may be resisted and
rejected in both, in which then God is said to be resisted and pressed
down, and Christ to be again crucified, and put to open shame in and
among men. And to those who thus resist and refuse him, he becomes
their condemnation.
[259] First then, According to this doctrine the mercy of God is
excellently well exhibited, in that none are necessarily shut out from
salvation; and his justice is demonstrated, in that he condemns none
but such to whom he really made offer of salvation, affording them the
means sufficient thereunto.
[260] Secondly, This doctrine, if well weighed, will be found to be the
foundation of Christianity, salvation, and assurance.
[261] Thirdly, It agrees and answers with the whole tenor of the gospel
promises and threats, and with the nature of the ministry of Christ;
according to which, the gospel, salvation, and repentance are commanded
to be preached to every creature, without respect of nations, kindred,
families, or tongues.
[262] Fourthly, It magnifies and commends the merits and death of
Christ, in that it not only accounts them sufficient to save all, but
declares them to be brought so nigh unto all, as thereby to be put into
the nearest capacity of salvation.
[263] Fifthly, It exalts above all the grace of God, to which it
attributeth all good, even the least and smallest actions that are so;
ascribing thereunto not only the first beginnings and motions of good,
but also the whole conversion and salvation of the soul.
[264] Sixthly, It contradicts, overturns, and enervates the false
doctrine of the Pelagians, Semi-Pelagians, Socinians, and others, who
exalt the light of nature, the liberty of man's will, in that it wholly
excludes the natural man from having any place or portion in his own
salvation, by any acting, moving, or working of his own, until he be
first quickened, raised up, and actuated by God's Spirit.
[265] Seventhly, As it makes the whole salvation of man solely and
alone to depend upon God, so it makes his condemnation wholly and in
every respect to be of himself, in that he refused and resisted
somewhat that from God wrestled and strove in his heart, and forces him
to acknowledge God's just judgment in rejecting and forsaking of him.
[266] Eighthly, It takes away all ground of despair, in that it gives
every one cause of hope and certain assurance that they may be saved;
neither doth feed any in security, in that none are certain how soon
their day may expire: and therefore it is a constant incitement and
provocation, and lively encouragement to every man, to forsake evil,
and close with that which is good.
[267] Ninthly, It wonderfully commends as well the certainty of the
Christian religion, among infidels, as it manifests its own verity to
all, in that it is confirmed and established by the experience of all
men seeing there never was yet a man found in any place of the earth,
however barbarous and wild, but hath acknowledged, that at some time or
other, less or more, he hath found somewhat in his heart reproving him
for some things evil which he hath done, threatening a certain horror
if he continued in them, as also promising and communicating a certain
peace and sweetness, as he has given way to it, and not resisted it.
[268] Tenthly, It wonderfully showeth the excellent wisdom of God, by
which he hath made the means of salvation so universal and
comprehensive, that it is not needful to recur to those miraculous and
strange ways; seeing, according to this most true doctrine, the gospel
reacheth all, of whatsoever condition, age, or nation.
[269] Eleventhly, It is really and effectively, though not in so many
words, yet by deeds, established and confirmed by all the preachers,
promulgators, and doctors of the Christian religion, that ever were, or
now are, even by those that otherways in their judgment oppose this
doctrine, in that they all, whatever they have been or are, or
whatsoever people, place, or country they come to, do preach to the
people, and to every individual among them, that they may be saved;
entreating and desiring them to believe in Christ, who hath died for
them. So that what they deny in the general, they acknowledge of every
particular; there being no man to whom they do not preach in order to
salvation, telling him Jesus Christ calls and wills him to believe and
be saved; and that if he refuse, he shall therefore be condemned, and
that his condemnation is of himself. Such is the evidence and virtue of
Truth, that it constrains its adversaries even against their wills to
plead for it.
[270] Lastly, According to this doctrine the former argument used by
the Arminians, and evited by the Calvinists, concerning every man's
being bound to believe that Christ died for him, is, by altering the
assumption, rendered invincible; thus,
That which every man is bound to believe, is true: But every man is
bound to believe that God is merciful unto him:
Therefore, &c.
This assumption no man can deny, seeing his mercies are said to be over
all his works. And herein the scripture every way declares the mercy of
God to be, in that he invites and calls sinners to repentance, and hath
opened a way of salvation for them: so that though those men be not
bound to believe the history of Christ's death and passion who never
came to know of it, yet they are bound to believe that God will be
merciful to them, if they follow his ways; and that he is merciful unto
them, in that he reproves them for evil, and encourages them to good.
[271] Neither ought any man to believe that God is unmerciful to him,
or that he hath from the beginning ordained him to come into the world
that he might be left to his own evil inclinations, and so do wickedly,
as a means appointed by God to bring him to eternal damnation; which,
were it true, as our adversaries affirm it to be of many thousands, I
see no reason why a man might not believe; for certainly a man may
believe the truth.
As it manifestly appears from the thing itself, that these good and
excellent consequences follow from the belief of this doctrine, so from
the proof of them it will yet more evidently appear; to which before I
come, it is requisite to speak somewhat concerning the state of the
controversy, which will bring great light to the matter: for from the
not right understanding of a matter under debate, sometimes both
arguments on the one hand, and objections on the other, are brought,
which do no way hit the case; and hereby also our sense and judgment
therein will be more fully understood and opened.
[272] S:. XII. First then, by this day and time of visitation, which we
say God gives unto all, during which they may be saved, we do not
understand the whole time of every man's life; though to some it may be
extended even to the very hour of death, as we see in the example of
the thief converted upon the cross: but such a season at least as
sufficiently exonerateth God of every man's condemnation, which to some
may be sooner, and to others later, according as the Lord in his wisdom
sees meet. So that many men may out-live this day, after which there
may be no possibility of salvation to them, and God justly suffers them
to be hardened, as a just punishment of their unbelief, and even raises
them up as instruments of wrath, and makes them a scourge one against
another. [273] Whence to men in this condition may be fitly applied
those scriptures which are abused to prove that God incites men
necessarily to sin. This is notably expressed by the apostle, Rom. i.
from verse 17. to the end, but especially verse 28. And even as they
did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a
reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient. That many
may outlive this day of God's gracious visitation unto them, is shown
by the example of Esau, Heb. xii. 16, 17. who sold his birth-right: so
he had it once, and was capable to have kept it; but afterwards, when
he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected. This appears
also by Christ's weeping over Jerusalem, Luke xix. 42. saying, If thou
hadst known in this thy day the things that belong unto thy peace; but
now they are hid from thine eyes. Which plainly imports a time when
they might have known them, which now was removed from them, though
they were yet alive; but of this more shall be said hereafter.
[274] S:. XIII. Secondly, By this seed, grace, and word of God, and
light wherewith we say every one is enlightened, and hath a measure of
it, which strives with him in order to save him, and which may, by the
stubbornness and wickedness of man's will, be quenched, bruised,
wounded, pressed down, slain and crucified, we understand not the
proper essence and nature of God precisely taken, which is not
divisible into parts and measures, as being a most pure, simple being,
void of all composition or division, and therefore can neither be
resisted, hurt, wounded, crucified, or slain by all the efforts and
strength of men; but we understand a spiritual, heavenly, and invisible
principle, in which God, as Father, Son, and Spirit, dwells; a measure
of which divine and glorious life is in all men as a seed, which of its
own nature draws, invites, and inclines to God; and this some call
vehiculum Dei, or the spiritual body of Christ, the flesh and blood of
Christ, which came down from heaven, of which all the saints do feed,
and are thereby nourished unto eternal life. [275] And as every
unrighteous action is witnessed against and reproved by this light and
seed, so by such actions it is hurt, wounded, and slain, and flees from
them; even as the flesh of man flees from that which is of a contrary
nature to it. [276] Now because it is never separated from God nor
Christ, but wherever it is God and Christ are as wrapped up therein,
therefore and in that respect as it is resisted, God is said to be
resisted; and where it is borne down, God is said to be pressed as a
cart under sheaves, and Christ is said to be slain and crucified. And
on the contrary, as this seed is received in the heart, and suffered to
bring forth its natural and proper effect, Christ comes to be formed
and raised, of which the scripture makes so much mention, calling it
the new man, Christ within, the hope of glory. This is that Christ
within, which we are heard so much to speak and declare of, everywhere
preaching him up, and exhorting people to believe in the light, and
obey it, that they may come to know Christ in them, to deliver them
from all sin.
[277] But by this, as we do not at all intend to equal ourselves to
that holy man the Lord Jesus Christ, who was born of the virgin Mary,
in whom all the fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily, so neither do we
destroy the reality of his present existence, as some have falsely
calumniated us. For though we affirm that Christ dwells in us, yet not
immediately, but mediately, as he is in that seed, which is in us;
whereas he, to wit, the Eternal Word, which was with God, and was God,
dwelt immediately in that holy man. He then is as the head, and we as
the members; he the vine, and we the branches. Now as the soul of man
dwells otherwise and in a far more immediate manner in the head and in
the heart, than in the hands or legs; and as the sap, virtue, and life
of the vine lodgeth far otherwise in the stock and root than in the
branches; so God dwelleth otherwise in the man Jesus than in us. We
also freely reject the heresy of Apollinarius, who denied him to have
any soul, but said the body was only actuated by the Godhead. As also
the error of Eutyches, who made the manhood to be wholly swallowed up
of the Godhead. Wherefore, as we believe he was a true and real man, so
we also believe that he continues so to be glorified in the heavens in
soul and body, by whom God shall judge the world, in the great and
general day of judgment.
[278] S:. XIV. Thirdly, We understand not this seed, light, or grace to
be an accident, as most men ignorantly do, but a real spiritual
substance, which the soul of man is capable to feel and apprehend, from
which that real, spiritual, inward birth in believers arises, called
the new creature, the new man in the heart. This seems strange to
carnal-minded men, because they are not acquainted with it; but we know
it, and are sensible of it, by a true and certain experience. Though it
be hard for a man in his natural wisdom to comprehend it, until he come
to feel it in himself; and if he should, holding it in the mere notion,
it would avail him little; yet we are able to make it appear to be
true, and that our faith concerning it is not without a solid ground:
for it is in and by this inward and substantial seed in our hearts as
it comes to receive nourishment, and to have a birth or geniture in us,
that we come to have those spiritual senses raised by which we are made
capable of tasting, smelling, seeing, and handling the things of God;
for a man cannot reach unto those things by his natural spirit and
senses, as is above declared.
Next, We know it to be a substance, because it subsists in the hearts
of wicked men, even while they are in their wickedness, as shall be
hereafter proved more at large. Now no accident can be in a subject
without it give the subject its own denomination; as where whiteness is
in a subject, there the subject is called white. [279] So we
distinguish betwixt holiness, as it is an accident, which denominates
man so, as the seed receives a place in him, and betwixt the holy
substantial seed, which many times lies in man's heart as a naked grain
in the stony ground. So also as we may distinguish betwixt health and
medicine; health cannot be in a body without the body be called
healthful, because health is an accident; but medicine may be in a body
that is most unhealthful, for that it is a substance. And as when a
medicine begins to work, the body may in some respect be called
healthful, and in some respect unhealthful, so we acknowledge as this
divine medicine receives place in man's heart, it may denominate him in
some part holy and good, though there remain yet a corrupted
unmortified part, or some part of the evil humours unpurged out; for
where two contrary accidents are in one subject, as health and sickness
in a body, the subject receives its denomination from the accident
which prevails most. So many men are called saints, good and holy men,
and that truly, when this holy seed hath wrought in them in a good
measure, and hath somewhat leavened them into its nature, though they
may be yet liable to many infirmities and weaknesses, yea and to some
iniquities: for as the seed of sin and ground of corruption; yea and
the capacity of yielding thereunto, and sometimes actually falling,
doth not denominate a good and holy man impious; so neither doth the
seed of righteousness in evil men, and the possibility of their
becoming one with it, denominate them good or holy.
[280] S:. XV. Fourthly, We do not hereby intend anyways to lessen or
derogate from the atonement and sacrifice of Jesus Christ; but on the
contrary do magnify and exalt it. For as we believe all those things to
have been certainly transacted which are recorded in the holy
scriptures concerning the birth, life, miracles, sufferings,
resurrection, and ascension of Christ; so we do also believe that it is
the duty of every one to believe it to whom it pleases God to reveal
the same, and to bring to them the knowledge of it; yea, we believe it
were damnable unbelief not to believe it, when so declared; but to
resist that holy seed, which as minded would lead and incline every one
to believe it as it is offered unto them, though it revealeth not in
every one the outward and explicit knowledge of it, nevertheless it
always assenteth to it, ubi declaratur, where it is declared.
Nevertheless as we firmly believe it was necessary that Christ should
come, that by his death and sufferings he might offer up himself a
sacrifice to God for our sins, who his own self bare our sins in his
own body on the tree; so we believe that the remission of sins which
any [281] partake of, is only in and by virtue of that most
satisfactory sacrifice, and no otherwise. For it is by the obedience of
that one that the free gift is come upon all to justification. For we
affirm, that as all men partake of the fruit of Adam's fall, in that
by, reason of that evil seed, which through him is communicated unto
them, they are prone and inclined unto evil, though thousands of
thousands be ignorant of Adam's fall, neither ever knew of the eating
of the forbidden fruit; so also many may come to feel the influence of
this holy and divine seed and light, and be turned from evil to good by
it, though they knew nothing of Christ's coming in the flesh, through
whose obedience and sufferings it is purchased unto them. And as we
affirm it is absolutely needful that those do believe the history of
Christ's outward appearance, whom it pleased God to bring to the
knowledge of it; so we do freely confess, that even that outward
knowledge is very comfortable to such as are subject to and led by the
inward seed and light. For not only doth the sense of Christ's love and
sufferings tend to humble them, but they are thereby also strengthened
in their faith, and encouraged to follow that excellent pattern which
he hath left us, who suffered for us, as saith the apostle Peter, 1
Pet. ii. 21. leaving us an example that we should follow his steps: and
many times we are greatly edified and refreshed with the gracious
sayings which proceed out of his mouth. [282] The history then is
profitable and comfortable with the mystery, and never without it; but
the mystery is and may be profitable without the explicit and outward
knowledge of the history.
[283] But Fifthly, This brings us to another question, to wit, Whether
Christ be in all men or no? Which sometimes hath been asked us, and
arguments brought against it; because indeed it is to be found in some
of our writings that Christ is in all men; and we often are heard, in
our public meetings and declarations, to desire every man to know and
be acquainted with Christ in them, telling them that Christ is in them;
it is fit therefore, for removing of all mistakes, to say something in
this place concerning this matter. We have said before how that a
divine, spiritual, and supernatural light is in all men; how that that
divine supernatural light or seed is vehiculum Dei ; how that God and
Christ dwelleth in it, and is never separated from it; also how that as
it is received and closed with in the heart, Christ comes to be formed
and brought forth: but we are far from ever having said, that Christ is
thus formed in all men, or in the wicked: for that is a great
attainment, which the apostle travailed, that it might be brought forth
in the Galatians. Neither is Christ in all men by way of union, or
indeed to speak strictly, by way of inhabitation; because this
inhabitation, as it is generally taken, imports union, or the manner of
Christ's being in the saints: as it is written, I will dwell in them,
and walk in them, 2 Cor. vi. 16. But in regard Christ is in all men, as
in a seed, yea, and that he never is, nor can be, separate from that
holy pure seed and light which is in all men; therefore may it be said
in a larger sense, that he is in all, even as we observed before. The
scripture saith, Amos ii. 13. God is pressed down as a cart under
sheaves, and Christ crucified in the ungodly; though to speak properly
and strictly, neither can God be pressed down, nor Christ as God, be
crucified. In this respect then, as he is in the seed which is in all
men, we have said, Christ is in all men, and have preached and directed
all men to Christ in them, who lies crucified in them by their sins and
iniquities, [284] that they may look upon him whom they have pierced,
and repent: whereby he that now lies as it were, slain and buried in
them, may come to be raised, and have dominion in their hearts over
all. And thus also the apostle Paul preached to the Corinthians and
Galatians, 1 Cor. ii. 2. Christ crucified in them, en humin, as the
Greek hath it. This Jesus Christ was that which the apostle desired to
know in them, and make known unto them, that they might come to be
sensible how they had thus been crucifying Christ, that so they might
repent and be saved. And, forasmuch as Christ is called that light that
enlightens every man, the light of the world, therefore the light is
taken for Christ; who truly is the fountain of light, and hath his
habitation in it for ever. Thus the light of Christ is sometimes called
Christ, i. e. that in which Christ is, and from which he is never
separated.
S:. XVI. Sixthly, It will manifestly appear by what is above said, that
we understand not this divine principle to be any part of man's nature,
nor yet to be any relics of any good which Adam lost by his fall, in
that we make it a distinct separate thing from man's soul, and all the
faculties of it: yet such is the malice of our adversaries, that they
cease not sometimes to calumniate us, as if we preached up a natural
light, or the light of man's natural conscience. Next there are that
lean to the doctrine of Socinus and Pelagius, who persuade themselves
through mistake, and out of no ill design to injure us, as if this
which we preach up were some natural power and faculty of the soul, and
that we only differ in the wording of it, and not in the thing itself;
whereas there can be no greater difference than is betwixt us in that
matter: for we certainly know that this light of which we speak is not
only distinct, but of a different nature from the soul of man, and its
faculties. [285] Indeed that man, as he is a rational creature, hath
reason as a natural faculty of his soul, by which he can discern things
that are rational, we deny not; for this is a property natural and
essential to him, by which he can know and learn many arts and
sciences, beyond what any other animal can do by the mere animal
principle. Neither do we deny but by this rational principle man may
apprehend in his brain, and in the notion, a knowledge of God and
spiritual things; yet that not being the right organ, as in the second
proposition hath more at length been signified, it cannot profit him
towards salvation, but rather hindereth; and indeed the great cause of
the apostacy hath been, that man hath sought to fathom the things of
God in and by this natural and rational principle, and to build up a
religion in it, neglecting and overlooking this principle and seed of
God in the heart; so that herein, in the most universal and catholic
sense, hath Anti-Christ in every man set up himself, and sitteth in the
temple of God as God, and above every thing that is called God. [286]
For men being the temple of the Holy Ghost, as saith the apostle, 1Cor.
iii. 16, when the rational principle sets up itself there above the
seed of God, to reign and rule as a prince in spiritual things, while
the holy seed is wounded and bruised, there is Anti-Christ in every
man, or somewhat exalted above and against Christ. Nevertheless we do
not hereby affirm as if man had received his reason to no purpose, or
to be of no service unto him, in no wise: we look upon reason as fit to
order and rule man in things natural. [287] For as God gave two great
lights to rule the outward world, the sun and moon, the greater light
to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; so hath he
given man the light of his Son, a spiritual divine light, to rule him
in things spiritual, and the light of reason to rule him in things
natural. And even as the moon borrows her light from the sun, so ought
men, if they would be rightly and comfortably ordered in natural
things, to have their reason enlightened by this divine and pure light.
Which enlightened reason, in those that obey and follow this true
light, we confess may be useful to man even in spiritual things, as it
is still subservient and subject to the other; even as the animal life
in man, regulated and ordered by his reason, helps him in going about
things that are rational. [288] We do further rightly distinguish this
from man's natural conscience; for conscience being that in man which
ariseth from the natural faculties of man's soul, may be defiled and
corrupted. It is said expressly of the impure, Tit. i. 15. That even
their mind and conscience is defiled; but this light can never be
corrupted nor defiled; neither did it ever consent to evil or
wickedness in any: for it is said expressly, that it makes all things
manifest that are reproveable, Eph. v. 13. and so is a faithful witness
for God against every unrighteousness in man. [289] Now conscience, to
define it truly, comes from [conscire,] and is that knowledge which
ariseth in man's heart, from what agreeth, contradicteth, or is
contrary to any thing believed by him, whereby he becomes conscious to
himself that he transgresseth by doing that which he is persuaded he
ought not to do. So that the mind being once blinded or defiled with a
wrong belief, there ariseth a conscience from that belief, which
troubles him when he goes against it. [290] As for example: A Turk who
hath possessed himself with a false belief that it is unlawful for him
to drink wine, if he do it, his conscience smites him for it; but
though he keep many concubines, his conscience troubles him not,
because his judgment is already defiled with a false opinion that it is
lawful for him to do the one, and unlawful to do the other. Whereas, if
the light of Christ in him were minded, it would reprove him, not only
for committing fornication, but also, as he became obedient thereunto,
inform him that Mahomet was an impostor; as well as Socrates was
informed by it, in his day, of the falsity of the heathen's gods.
[291] So if a Papist eat flesh in Lent, or be not diligent enough in
adoration of saints and images, or if he should contemn images, his
conscience would smite him for it, because his judgment is already
blinded with a false belief concerning these things: whereas the light
of Christ never consented to any of these abominations. Thus then man's
natural conscience is sufficiently distinguished from it; for
conscience followeth the judgment, doth not inform it; but this light,
as it is received, removes the blindness of the judgment, opens the
understanding, and rectifies both the judgment and conscience. [292] So
we confess also, that conscience is an excellent thing, where it is
rightly informed and enlightened: wherefore some of us have fitly
compared it to the lantern, and the light of Christ to a candle: a
lantern is useful, when a clear candle burns and shines in it; but
otherwise of no use. To the light of Christ then in the conscience, and
not to man's natural conscience, it is that we continually commend men;
that, not this, is it which we preach up, and direct people to, as a
most certain guide unto life eternal.
Lastly, This light, seed, &c. appears to be no power or natural faculty
of man's mind; because a man that is in his health can, when he
pleases, stir up, move, and exercise the faculties of his soul; he is
absolute master of them; and except there be some natural cause or
impediment in the way, he can use them at his pleasure: but this light
and seed of God in man he cannot move and stir up when he pleaseth; but
it moves, blows, and strives with man, as the Lord seeth meet. [293]
For though there be a possibility of salvation to every man during the
day of his visitation, yet cannot a man, at any time when he pleaseth,
or hath some sense of his misery, stir up that light and grace, so as
to procure to himself tenderness of heart; but he must wait for it:
which comes upon all at certain times and seasons, wherein it works
powerfully upon the soul, mightily tenders it, and breaks it; at which
time, if man resist it not, but close with it, he comes to know
salvation by it. Even as the lake of Bethesda did not cure all those
that washed in it, but such only as washed first after the angel had
moved upon the waters; so God moves in love to mankind, in his seed in
his heart, at some singular times, setting his sins in order before
him, and seriously inviting him to repentance, offering to him
remission of sins and salvation; which if man accept of, he may be
saved. Now there is no man alive, and I am confident there shall be
none to whom this paper shall come, who, if they will deal faithfully
and honestly with their own hearts, will not be forced to acknowledge
that they have been sensible of this in some measure, less or more;
which is a thing that man cannot bring upon himself with all his pains
and industry. This then, O man or woman, is the day of God's gracious
visitation to thy soul, which, if thou resist not, thou shalt be happy
for ever. [294] This is the day of the Lord, which, as Christ saith, is
like the lightning, which shineth from the east unto the west; [295]
and the wind or spirit, which blows upon the heart, and no man knows
whither it goes, nor whence it comes.
[296] S:. XVII. And lastly. This leads me to speak concerning the
manner of this seed or light's operation in the hearts of all men,
which will show yet more manifestly, how widely we differ from all
those that exalt a natural power or light in man; and how our principle
leads above all others to attribute our whole salvation to the mere
power, Spirit, and grace of God.
To them then that ask us after this manner, How do ye differ from the
Pelagians and Arminians? For if two men have equal sufficient light and
grace, and the one be saved by it, and the other not; is it not because
the one improves it, the other not? Is not then the will of man the
cause of the one's salvation beyond the other? [297] I say, to such we
thus answer: That as the grace and light in all is sufficient to save
all, and of its own nature would save all; so it strives and wrestles
with all in order to save them; he that resists its striving, is the
cause of his own condemnation; he that resists it not, it becomes his
salvation: so that in him that is saved, the working is of the grace,
and not of the man; and it is a passiveness rather than an act; though
afterwards, as man is wrought upon, there is a will raised in him, by
which he comes to be a coworker with the grace: for according to that
of Augustine, He that made us without us, will not save us without us.
So that the first step is not by man's working, but by his not contrary
working. And we believe, that at these singular seasons of every man's
visitation above-mentioned, as man is wholly unable of himself to work
with the grace, neither can he move one step out of the natural
condition, until the grace lay hold upon him; so it is possible for him
to be passive, and not to resist it, as it is possible for him to
resist it. So we say, the grace of God works in and upon man's nature;
which, though of itself wholly corrupted and defiled, and prone to
evil, yet is capable to be wrought upon by the grace of God; even as
iron, though an hard and cold metal of itself, may be warmed and
softened by the heat of the fire, and wax melted by the sun. And as
iron or wax, when removed from the fire or sun, returneth to its former
condition of coldness and hardness; so man's heart, as it resists or
retires from the grace of God, returns to its former condition again. I
have often had the manner of God's working, in order to salvation
towards all men, illustrated to my mind by one or two clear examples,
which I shall here add for the information of others.
[298] The first is, Of a man heavily diseased; to whom I compare man in
his fallen and natural condition. I suppose God, who is the great
physician, not only to give this man physic, after he hath used all the
industry he can for his own health, by any skill or knowledge of his
own; as those that say, If a man improve his reason or natural
faculties, God will superadd grace; or, as others say, that he cometh
and maketh offer of a remedy to this man outwardly, leaving it to the
liberty of man's will, either to receive it or reject it. But He, even
the Lord, this great physician, cometh, and poureth the remedy into his
mouth, and as it were, layeth him in his bed; so that if the sick man
be but passive, it will necessarily work the effect. But, if he be
stubborn and untoward, and will needs rise up and go forth into the
cold, or eat such fruits as are hurtful to him, while the medicine
should operate, then, though of its nature it tendeth to cure him, yet
it will prove destructive to him, because of those obstructions which
it meeteth with. Now as the man that should thus undo himself would
certainly be the cause of his own death; so who will say, that, if
cured, he owes not his health wholly to the physician, and not to any
deed of his own; seeing his part was not any action, but a passiveness?
[299] The second example is, Of divers men lying in a dark pit
together, where all their senses are so stupified, that they are scarce
sensible of their own misery. To this I compare man in his natural,
corrupt, fallen condition. I suppose not that any of these men,
wrestling to deliver themselves, do thereby stir up, or engage one able
to deliver them to give them his help, saying within himself, I see one
of these men willing to he delivered, and doing what in him lies,
therefore he deserves to be assisted; as say the Socinians, Pelagians,
and Semi-Pelagians. Neither do I suppose that this deliverer comes to
the top of the pit, and puts down a ladder, desiring them that will to
come up; and so puts them upon using their own strength and will to
come up; as do the Jesuits and Arminians: yet, as they say, such are
not delivered without the grace; seeing the grace is that ladder by
which they were delivered. But I suppose that the deliverer comes at
certain times, and fully discovers and informs them of the great misery
and hazard they are in, if they continue in that noisome and
pestiferous place; yea, forces them to a certain sense of their misery,
(for the wickedest men at times are made sensible of their misery by
God's visitation,) and not only so, but lays hold upon them, and gives
them a pull, in order to lift them out of their misery; which if they
resist not will save them; only they may resist it. This being applied
as the former, doth the same way illustrate the matter. Neither is the
grace of God frustrated, though the effect of it be diverse, according
to its object, being the ministration of mercy and love in those that
reject it not, but receive it, John i. 12. But the ministration of
wrath and condemnation in those that do reject it, John iii. 19. Even
as the sun by one act or operation melteth and softeneth the wax, and
hardeneth the clay, [300] The nature of the sun is to cherish the
creation, and therefore the living are refreshed by it, and the flowers
send forth a good savour, as it shines upon them, and the fruits of the
trees are ripened; yet cast forth a dead carcase, a thing without life,
and the same reflection of the sun will cause it to stink, and putrefy
it; yet is not the sun said thereby to be frustrated of its proper
effect. So every man during the day of his visitation is shined upon by
the sun of righteousness, and capable of being influenced by it, so as
to send forth good fruit, and a good savour, and to be melted by it.
But, when he hath sinned out his day, then the same sun hardeneth him,
as it doth the clay, and makes his wickedness more to appear and
putrefy, and send forth an evil savour.
[301] S:. XVIII. Lastly, as we truly affirm that God willeth no man to
perish, and therefore hath given to all race sufficient for salvation;
so we do not deny, but that in a special manner he worketh in some, in
whom grace so prevaileth, that they necessarily obtain salvation;
neither doth God suffer them to resist. For it were absurd to say, that
God had not far otherwise extended himself towards the virgin Mary and
the apostle Paul, than towards many others: neither can we affirm that
God equally loved the beloved disciple John and Judas the traitor; yet
so far, nevertheless, as none wanted such a measure of grace by which
they might have been saved, all are justly inexcusable. And also God
working in those to whom this prevalency of grace is given, doth so
hide himself, to shut out all security and presumption, that such may
be humbled, and the free grace of God magnified, and all reputed to be
of the free gift; and nothing from the strength of self. Those also who
perish, when they remember those times of God's visitation towards
them, wherein he wrestled with them by his Light and Spirit, are forced
to confess, that there was a time wherein the door of mercy was open
unto them, and that they are justly condemned, because they rejected
their own salvation.
Thus both the mercy and justice of God are established, and the will
and strength of man are brought down and rejected; his condemnation is
made to be of himself; and his salvation only to depend upon God. Also
by these positions two great objections, which often are brought
against this doctrine, are well solved.
[302] The first is deduced from those places of scripture, wherein God
seems precisely to have decreed and predestinated some to salvation;
and for that end, to have ordained certain means, which fall not out to
others; as in the calling of Abraham, David, and others, and in the
conversion of Paul; for these being numbered among such to whom this
prevalency is given, the objection is easily loosed.
The second is drawn from those places, wherein God seems to have
ordained some wicked persons to destruction; and therefore to have
obdured their hearts to force them unto great sins, have raised them
up, that he might show in them his power; who, if they be numbered
amongst those men whose day of visitation is passed over, that
objection is also solved; as will more evidently appear to any one that
will make a particular application of those things, which I at this
time, for brevity's sake, thought meet to pass over. [303]
S:. XIX. Having thus clearly and evidently stated the question, and
opened our mind and judgment in this matter, as divers objections are
hereby prevented, so will it make our proof both the easier and the
shorter.
[304] The first thing to be proved is, That God hath given to every man
a day or time of visitation, wherein it is possible for him to be
saved. If we can prove that there is a day and time given, in which
those might have been saved that actually perish, the matter is done:
for none deny but those that are saved have a day of visitation. This
then appears by the regrets and complaints which the Spirit of God
throughout the whole scripture makes, even to those that did perish;
sharply reproving them, for that they did not accept of, nor close with
God's visitation and offer of mercy to them. Thus, the Lord expresses
himself then first of all to Cain, Gen. iv. 6, 7. And the Lord said
unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen? If
thou dost well, shalt thou not be accepted ? If thou dost not well, sin
lieth at the door. This was said to Cain before he slew his brother
Abel, when the evil seed began to tempt him, and work in his heart. We
see how God gave warning to Cain in season, and in the day of his
visitation towards him, acceptance and remission if he did well: for
this interrogation, Shalt thou not be accepted? imports an affirmative,
Thou shalt be accepted, if thou dost well. So that if we may trust God
Almighty, the fountain of all truth and equity, it was possible in a
day, even for Cain to be accepted. Neither could God have proposed the
doing of good as a condition, if he had not given Cain sufficient
strength, whereby he was capable to do good. [305] This the Lord
himself also shows, even that he gave a day of visitation to the old
world, Gen. vi. 3. And the Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive
in man; for so it ought to be translated. This manifestly implies, that
his Spirit did strive with man, and doth strive with him for a season;
which season expiring, God ceaseth to strive with him, in order to save
him: for the Spirit of God cannot be said to strive with man after the
day of his visitation is expired; seeing it naturally, and without any
resistance, works its effect then, to wit, continually to judge and
condemn him. [306] From this day of visitation, that God hath given to
everyone, is it that he is said to wait to be gracious, Isa. xxx. 18.
and to be long-suffering, Exod. xxxiv. 6. Numb. xiv. 18. Psal. lxxxvi.
15. Jer. xv. 15. Here the prophet Jeremy, in his prayer, lays hold upon
the long-suffering of God; and in his expostulating with God, he shuts
out the objection of our adversaries in the 18th verse; Why is my pain
perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? Wilt
thou altogether be unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail? Whereas,
according to our adversaries' opinion, the pain of the most part of men
is perpetual, and their wound altogether incurable; yea, the offer of
the gospel, and of salvation unto them, is as a lie, and as waters that
fail, being never intended to be of any effect unto them. The apostle
Peter says expressly, that this long-suffering of God waited in the
days of Noah for those of the old world, 1 Pet. iii. 20. which, being
compared with that of Gen. vi. 3. before-mentioned, doth sufficiently
hold forth our proposition. And that none may object that this
long-suffering or striving of the Lord was not in order to save them,
the same apostle saith expressly, 2 Pet. iii. 15. [307] That the
long-suffering of God is to be accounted salvation; and with this long
suffering, a little before in the 9th verse, he couples, That God is
not willing that any should perish. Where, taking him to be his own
interpreter, (as he is most fit,) he holdeth forth, That those to whom
the Lord is long-suffering, (which he declareth he was to the wicked of
the old world, and is now to all, not willing that any should perish,)
they are to account this long-suffering of God to them salvation. Now
how or in what respect can they account it salvation, if there be not
so much as a possibility of salvation conveyed to them therein? For it
were not salvation to them, if they could not be saved by it. In this
matter Peter further refers to the writings of Paul, holding forth this
to have been the universal doctrine. [308] Where it is observable what
he adds upon this occasion, how there are some things in Paul's
epistles hard to be understood, which the unstable and unlearned wrest
to their own destruction; insinuating plainly this of those expressions
in Paul's epistles, as Rom. ix. &c. which some, unlearned in spiritual
things, did make to contradict the truth of God's long-suffering
towards all, in which he willeth not any of them should perish, and in
which they all may be saved. Would to God many had taken more heed than
they have done to this advertisement! That place of the apostle Paul,
which Peter seems here most particularly to hint at, doth much
contribute also to clear the matter, Rom. ii. 4. Despisest thou the
riches of his goodness and forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing
that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? Paul speaketh here
to the unregenerate, and to the wicked, who (in the following verse he
saith) Treasure up wrath unto the day of wrath; and to such he commends
the riches of the forbearance and long-suffering of God; showing that
the tendency of God's goodness leadeth to repentance. How could it
necessarily tend to lead them to repentance, how could it be called
riches or goodness to them, if there were not a time wherein they might
repent by it, and come to be sharers of the riches exhibited in it?
From all which I thus argue:
[309] If God plead with the wicked, from the possibility of their being
accepted; if God's Spirit strive in them for a season, in order to save
them, who afterwards perish; if he wait to be gracious unto them; if he
be long suffering towards them; and if this long-suffering be salvation
to them while it endureth, during which time God willeth them not to
perish, but exhibiteth to them the riches of his goodness and
forbearance to lead them to repentance; then there is a day of
visitation wherein such might have been, or some such now may be saved,
who have perished; and may perish, if they repent not:
[310] But the first is true; therefore also the last.
[311] S:. XX. Secondly, This appeareth from the prophet Isaiah, v. 4.
What could I have done more to my vineyard? For in verse 2, he saith;
He had fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof; and planted it
with the choicest vine; and yet (saith he) when I looked it should have
brought forth grapes, it brought forth wild grapes. Wherefore he
calleth the inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah to judge betwixt
him and this vineyard, saying; What could I have done more to my
vineyard, than I have done in it? and yet (as is said) it brought forth
wild grapes: which was applied to many in Israel who refused God's
mercy. The same example is used by Christ, Mat. xxi. 33. Mark xii. 1.
Luke xx. 9.where Jesus shows, how to some a vineyard was planted, and
all things given necessary for them, to get them fruit to pay or
restore to their master; and how the master many times waited to be
merciful to them, in sending servants after servants, and passing by
many offences, before he determined to destroy and cast them out. First
then, this cannot be understood of the saints, or of such as repent and
are saved; for it is said expressly, He will destroy them. Neither
would the parable any ways have answered the end for which it is
alleged, if these men had not been in a capacity to have done good;
yea, such was their capacity, that Christ saith in the prophet, What
could I have done more? So that it is more than manifest, that by this
parable, repeated in three sundry evangelists, Christ holds forth his
long-suffering towards men, and their wickedness, to whom means of
salvation being afforded, do nevertheless resist, to their own
condemnation. To these also are parallel these scriptures, Prov. i. 24,
25, 26. Jer. xviii. 9, 10. Mat. xviii. 32, 33, 34. Acts xiii. 46.
[312] Lastly, That there is a day of visitation given to the wicked,
wherein they might have been saved, and which being expired, they are
shut out from salvation, appears evidently by Christ's lamentation over
Jerusalem, expressed in three sundry places, Matth. xxiii. 37. Luke
xiii. 34. and xix. 41, 42. And when he was come near, he beheld the
city, and wept over it, saying; If thou hadst known, even thou, at
least in this thy day, the things that belong to thy peace; but now
they are hid from thine eyes! Than which nothing can be said more
evident to prove our doctrine. For, First, he insinuates that there was
a day wherein the inhabitants of Jerusalem might have known those
things that belonged to their peace. Secondly, That during that day he
was willing to have gathered them, even as an hen gathereth her
chickens. A familiar example, yet very significative in this case;
which shows that the offer of salvation made unto them was not in vain
on his part, but as really, and with as great cheerfulness and
willingness, as an hen gathereth her chickens. Such as is the love and
care of the hen toward her brood. Such is the care of Christ to gather
lost men and women, to redeem them out of their corrupt and degenerate
state. Thirdly, that because they refused, the things belonging to
their peace, were hid from their eyes. Why were they hid? Because ye
would not suffer me to gather you; ye would not see those things that
were good for you, in the season of God's love towards you. And
therefore now, that day being expired, ye cannot see them, and, for a
farther judgment, God suffers you to be hardened in unbelief.
[313] So it is, after real offers of mercy and salvation are rejected,
that men's hearts are hardened, and not before. Thus that saying is
verified. To him that hath shall be given; and from him that hath not,
shall be taken away even that which he hath. This may seem a riddle,
yet it is according to this doctrine easily solved. He hath not,
because he hath lost the season of using it, and so to him it is now as
nothing. For Christ useth this expression, Matt. xxv. 26. upon the
occasion of the taking the one talent from the slothful servant, and
giving it to him that was diligent; which talent was no ways
insufficient of itself, but of the same nature with those given to the
others. And therefore the Lord had reason to exact the profit of it
proportionably, as well as from the rest. So, I say, it is after the
rejecting of the day of visitation, that the judgment of obduration is
inflicted upon men and women, as Christ pronounceth it upon the Jews
out of Isa. vi. 9. which all the four evangelists make mention of. Mat.
xiii. 14. Mark iv. 12. Luke viii. 10. John xii. 40. And last of all the
apostle Paul, after he had made offer of the gospel of salvation to the
Jews at Rome, pronounceth the same, Acts xxviii. 26. after that some
believed not. Well spake the Holy Ghost, by Isaiah the prophet, unto
our fathers, saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall
hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not
perceive. For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears
are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should
see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with
their hearts, and should be converted, and I should heal them. So it
appears, that God would have them to see, but they closed their eyes;
and therefore they are justly hardened. [314] Of this matter, Cyrillus
Alexandrinus upon John, lib. 6. cap. 21. speaks well, answering to this
objection. "But some may say, If Christ be come into the world, that
those that see may be blinded, their blindness is not imputed unto
them; but it rather seems that Christ is the cause of their blindness,
who saith," He is come into the world, that those that see may be
blinded. "But," said he, "they speak not rationally, who object these
things unto God, and are not afraid to call him the author of evil,
[315] For, as the sensible sun is carried upon our horizon, that it may
communicate the gift of its clearness unto all, and make its light
shine upon all. Yet if any one close his eye-lids, or willingly turn
himself from the sun, refusing the benefit of its light, he wants not
its illumination, and remains in darkness, not through the defect of
the sun, but through his own fault. So that the true sun, who came to
enlighten those that sat in darkness, and in the region of the shadow
of death; visited the earth for this cause, that he might communicate
unto all the gift of knowledge and grace, and illuminate the inward
eyes of all by a spiritual splendour: but many reject the gift of this
heavenly light freely given to them, and have closed the eyes of their
minds, lest so excellent an illumination or irradiation of the eternal
light should shine unto them. It is not then through defect of the true
sun that they are blinded, but only through their own iniquity and
hardness for, as the wise man saith, Wisdom ii. their wickedness hath
blinded them."
From all which I thus argue:
[316] If there was a day wherein the obstinate Jews might have known
the things that belonged to their peace, which, because they rejected
it, were hid from their eyes; if there was a time wherein Christ would
have gathered them, who, because they refused, could not be gathered;
then such as might have been saved do actually perish, that slighted
the day of God's visitation towards them, wherein they might have been
converted and saved.
But the first is true ; therefore also the last.
[317] S:. XXI. Secondly, that which comes in the second place to be
proved is, That whereby God offers to work this salvation during the
day of every man's visitation; and that is, That he hath given to every
man a measure of saving, sufficient, and supernatural light and grace.
This I shall do, by God's assistance, by some plain and clear
testimonies of the scripture.
[318] First, from that of John i. 9. That was the true light, which
lighteth every man that cometh into the world. This place doth so
clearly favour us, that by some it is called the Quakers' text ; for it
doth evidently demonstrate our assertion; so that it scarce needs
either consequence or deduction, seeing itself is a consequence of two
propositions asserted in the former verses, from which it followeth as
a conclusion in the very terms of our faith. The first of these
propositions is, The life that is in Him is the light of men. The
second, The light shineth in the darkness. And from these two he
infers, and He is the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh
into the world.
[319] >From whence I do in short observe, That this divine apostle
calls Christ the light of men, and giveth us this as one of the chief
properties, at least considerably and especially to be observed by us;
seeing hereby, as he is the light, and as we walk with him in that
light which he communicates to us, we come to have fellowship and
communion with him; as the same apostle saith elsewhere, 1 John i. 7.
Secondly, That this light shineth in darkness, though the darkness
comprehend it not. [320] Thirdly, that this true light enlighteneth
every man that cometh into the world. Where the apostle, being directed
by God's Spirit, hath carefully avoided their captiousness, that would
have restricted this to any certain number: where every one is, there
is none excluded. Next, should they be so obstinate, as sometimes they
are, as to say that this every man, is only every one of the elect;
these words following, every man that cometh into the world, would
obviate that objection. So that it is plain there comes no man into the
world, whom Christ hath not enlightened in some measure, and in whose
dark heart this light doth not shine; though the darkness comprehend it
not, yet it shineth there; and the nature thereof is to dispel the
darkness, where men shut not their eyes upon it. [321] Now for what end
this light is given, is expressed in verse 7, where John is said to
come for a witness, to bear witness to the light, that all men through
it might believe; to wit, through the light, ~i avm', which doth very
well agree with ow-r6;, as being the nearest antecedent, though most
translators have (to make it suit with their own doctrine) made it
relate to John, as if all men were to believe through John. For which,
as there is nothing directly in the text, so it is contrary to the very
strain of the context. For, seeing Christ hath lighted every man with
this light, is it not that they may come to believe through it? All
could not believe through John, because all men could not know of
John's testimony; whereas every man being lighted by this, may come
there-through to believe. John shined not in darkness; but this light
shineth in the darkness, that having dispelled the darkness, it may
produce and beget faith. And lastly, we must believe through that, and
become believers through that, by walking in which, fellowship with God
is known and enjoyed; but, as hath been above observed, it is by
walking in this light that we have this communion and fellowship; not
by walking in John, which were nonsense. So that this relative Si
aurtt, must needs be referred to the light whereof John bears witness,
that through that light, wherewith Christ hath lighted every man, all
men might come to believe. [322] Seeing then this light is the light of
Jesus Christ, and the light through which men come to believe, I think
it needs not to be doubted, but that it is a supernatural, saving, and
sufficient light. If it were not supernatural, it could not be properly
called the light of Jesus; for though all things be His, and of Him,
and from Him, yet those things which are common and peculiar to our
nature, as being a part of it, we are not said in so special a manner
to have from Christ. Moreover, the evangelist is holding out to us here
the office of Christ as mediator, and the benefits which from him as
such do redound unto us.
[323] Secondly, it cannot be any of the natural gifts or faculties of
our soul, whereby we are said here to be enlightened; because this
light is said to shine in the darkness, and cannot be comprehended by
it. Now this darkness is no other but man's natural condition and
state; in which natural state he can easily comprehend, and doth
comprehend, those things that are peculiar and common to him as such.
That man in his natural condition is called darkness, see Eph. v. 8.
For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. And
in other places, as Acts xxvi. 18. Col. i. 3. 1 Thess. v. 5. where the
condition of man in his natural state is termed darkness: therefore I
say this light cannot be any natural property or faculty of man's soul,
but a supernatural gift and grace of Christ.
[324] Thirdly, It is sufficient and saving.
[325] That which is given that all men through it may believe, must
needs be saving and sufficient: that, by walling in which, fellowship
with the saints and the blood of Christ, which cleanseth from all sin,
is possessed, must be sufficient:
But such is the LIGHT, 1 John i. 7.
Therefore, &c.
Moreover;
[326] That which we are commanded to believe in that we may become the
children of the light, must be a supernatural, sufficient, and saving
principle:
But we are commanded to believe in this light:
Therefore, &c.
The proposition cannot be denied. The assumption is Christ's own words,
John xii. 36. While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye
may be the children of the light.
[327] To this they object, That by [light] here is understood Christ's
outward person, in whom he would have them believe.
[328] That they ought to have believed in Christ, that is, that He was
the MESSIAH that was to come, is not denied; but how they evince that
Christ intended that here, I see not: nay, the place itself shows the
contrary, by these words, While ye have the light; and by the verse
going before, Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon
you: which words import, that when that light in which they were to
believe was removed, then they should lose the capacity or season of
believing. Now this could not be understood of Christ's person, else
the Jews might have believed in him; and many did savingly believe in
him, as all Christians do at this day, when the person, to wit, his
bodily presence, or outward man, is far removed from them. [329] So
that this light in which they were commanded to believe, must be that
inward spiritual light that shines in their hearts for a season, even
during the day of man's visitation; which while it continueth to call,
invite, and exhort, men are said to have it, and may believe in it; but
when men refuse to believe in it, and reject it, then it ceaseth to be
a light to show them the way; but leaves the sense of their
unfaithfulness as a sting in their conscience, which is a terror and
darkness unto them, and upon them, in which they cannot know where to
go, neither can work any ways profitably in order to their salvation.
And therefore to such rebellious ones the day of the Lord is said to be
darkness, and not light, Amos v. 18.
From whence it appears, that though many receive not the light, as many
comprehend it not, nevertheless this saving light shines in all, that
it may save them. [330] Concerning which also Cyrillus Alexandrinus
saith well, and defends our principle: "With great diligence and
watchfulness," saith he, "doth the apostle John endeavour to anticipate
and prevent the vain thoughts of men: for there is here a wonderful
method of sublime things, and overturning of objections. He had just
now called the Son the true light, by whom he affirmed that every man
coming into the world, was enlightened; yea, that he was in the world,
and the world was made by him. One may then object, If the word of God
be the light, and if this light enlighten the hearts of men, and
suggest unto men piety and the understanding of things; if he was
always in the world, and was the creator or builder of the world, why
was he so long unknown unto the world? It seems rather to follow
because he was unknown to the world, therefore the world was not
enlightened by him, nor he totally light. Lest any should so object, he
divinely infers [and the world knew him not.] Let not the world," saith
he, "accuse the word of God, and his eternal light, but its own
weakness; for the sun enlightens, but the creature rejects the grace
that is given unto it, and abuseth the sharpness of understanding
granted it, by which it might have naturally known God; and, as a
prodigal, hath turned its sight to the creatures, neglecting to go
forward, and through laziness and negligence buried the illumination,
and despised this grace. [331] Which that the disciple of Paul might
not do, he was commanded to watch; therefore it is to be imputed to
their wickedness, who are illuminated, and not unto the light. For as
albeit the sun riseth upon all, yet he that is blind receiveth no
benefit thereby; none thence can justly accuse the brightness of the
sun, but will ascribe the cause of not seeing to the blindness: so I
judge it is to be understood, of the only begotten Son of God; for he
is the true light, and sendeth forth his brightness upon all; but the
god of this world, as Paul saith, hath blinded the minds of those that
believe not, 2 Cor. iv. 4. that the light of the gospel shine not unto
them. We say then that darkness is come upon men, not because they are
altogether deprived of light, for nature retaineth still the strength
of understanding divinely given it, but because man is dulled by an
evil habit, and become worse, and hath made the measure of grace in
some respect to languish. When therefore the like befalls man, the
Psalmist justly prays, crying, Open mine eyes, that I may behold the
wonderful things of thy law. For the law was given that this light
might be kindled in us, the blearedness of the eyes of our minds being
wiped away, and the blindness being removed which detained us in our
former ignorance. By these words then the world is accused as
ungrateful and insensible, not knowing its author, nor bringing forth
the good fruit of the illumination; that it may now seem to be said
truly of all, which was of old said by the prophet of the Jews, I
expected that it should have brought forth grapes, but it brought forth
wild grapes. For the good fruit of the illumination was the knowledge
of the only begotten, as a cluster hanging from a fruitful branch, &c."
[332] >From which it appears Cyrillus believed that a saving
illumination was given unto all. For as to what he speaks of nature, he
understands it not of the common nature of man by itself, but of that
nature which hath the strength of understanding divinely given it: for
he understands this universal illumination to be of the same kind with
that grace of which Paul makes mention to Timothy, saying, Neglect not
the grace that is in thee. Now it is not to be believed that Cyrillus
was so ignorant as to judge that grace to have been some natural gift.
[333] S:. XXII. That this saving light and seed, or a measure of it, is
given to all, Christ tells us expressly in the parable of the sower,
Mat. xiii. from ver. 18. Mark iv. and Luke viii. 11. he saith, That
this seed sown in those several sorts of grounds is the word of the
kingdom, which the apostle calls the word of faith, Rom. x. 8. James i.
21. 11oy. ilCCpu7, the implanted ingrafted word, which is able to save
the soul; the words themselves declare that it is that which is saving
in the nature of it, for in the good ground it fructified abundantly.
Let us then observe, that this seed of the kingdom, this saving,
supernatural, and sufficient word, was really sown in the stony thorny
ground, and by the way-side, where it did not profit, but became
useless as to these grounds: it was, I say, the same seed that was sown
in the good ground. It is then the fear of persecution and
deceitfulness of riches, as Christ himself interpreteth the parable,
which hindereth this seed to grow in the hearts of many not but that in
its own nature it is sufficient, being the same with that which groweth
up and prospereth in the hearts of those who receive it. So that though
all are not saved by it, yet there is a seed of salvation planted and
sown in the hearts of all by God, which would grow up and redeem the
soul, if it were not choked and hindered. Concerning this parable
Victor Antiochenus on Mark iv. as he is cited by Vossius, in his
Pelagian History, book 7. saith, "That our Lord Christ hath liberally
sown the divine seed of the word, and proposed it to all, without
respect of persons; and as he that soweth distinguisheth not betwixt
ground and ground, but simply casteth in the seed without distinction,
so our Saviour hath offered the food of the divine word so far as was
his part, although he was not ignorant what would become of many.
Lastly, He so behaved himself, as he might justly say, What should I
have done that I have not done?" And to this answered the parable of
the talents, Mat. xxv. he that had two talents was accepted, as well as
he that had five, because he used them to his master's profit: and he
that had one might have done so; his talent was of the same nature of
the rest: it was as capable to have proportionably brought forth its
interest as the rest. And so though there be not a like proportion of
grace given to all; to some five talents, to some two talents, and to
some but one talent; yet there is given to all that which is
sufficient, and no more is required than according to that which is
given: For unto whomsoever much is given, from him shall much be
required, Luke xii. 48. He that had the two talents was accepted for
giving four, nothing less than he that gave the ten: so should he also
that gave the one, if he had given two; and no doubt one was capable to
have produced two, as well as five to have produced ten; or two, four.
[334] S:. XXIII. Thirdly, This saving spiritual light is the gospel,
which the apostle saith expressly is preached in every creature under
heaven; even that very gospel whereof Paul was made a minister, Col. i.
23. [335] For the gospel is not a mere declaration of good things,
being the power of God unto salvation to all those that believe, Rom.
i. 16. Though the outward declaration of the gospel be taken some times
for the gospel; yet it is but figuratively, and by a metonymy. For to
speak properly, the gospel is this inward power and life which
preacheth glad tidings in the hearts of all men, offering salvation
unto them, and seeking to redeem them from their iniquities, and
therefore it is said to be preached in every creature under heaven:
whereas there are many thousands of men and women to whom the outward
gospel was never preached. Therefore the apostle Paul, Romans i. where
he saith the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, adds, that
therein is revealed the righteousness of God from faith to faith; and
also the wrath of God against such as hold the truth of God in
unrighteousness; for this reason, saith he, because that which may be
known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them. Now
that which may be known of God, is known by the gospel, which was
manifest in them. For those of whom the apostle speaks had no outward
gospel preached unto them; so that it was by the inward manifestation
of the knowledge of God in them, which is indeed the gospel preached in
man, that the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith;
that is, it reveals to the soul that which is just, good, and
righteous; and that as the soul receiveth it and believes,
righteousness comes more and more to be revealed from one degree of
faith to another. For though, as the following verse saith, the outward
creation declares the power of God; yet that which may be known of him
is manifest within: by which inward manifestation we are made capable
to see and discern the Eternal Power and Godhead in the outward
creation; so were it not for this inward principle, we could no more
understand the invisible things of God by the outward visible creation,
than a blind man can see and discern the variety of shapes and colours,
or judge of the beauty of the outward creation. Therefore he saith,
first, That which may be known of God is manifest in them, and in and
by that they may read and understand the power and Godhead in those
things that are outward and visible. And though any might pretend that
the outward creation doth of itself, without any supernatural or saving
principle in the heart, even declare to the natural man that there is a
God; yet what would such a knowledge avail, if it did not also
communicate to me what the will of God is, and how I shall do that
which is acceptable to him? [336] For the outward creation, though it
may beget a persuasion that there is some eternal power or virtue by
which the world hath had its beginning; yet it doth not tell me, nor
doth it inform me of that which is just, holy, and righteous; how I
shall be delivered from my temptations and evil affections, and come
unto righteousness; that must be from some inward manifestation in my
heart. Whereas those Gentiles of whom the apostle speaks, knew by that
inward law and manifestation of the knowledge of God in them to
distinguish betwixt good and evil, as in the next chapter appears, of
which we shall speak hereafter. The prophet Micah, speaking of man
indefinitely, or in general, declares this, Mic. vi. 8. He hath showed
thee, O man, what is good. And what doth the Lord require of thee, but
to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? He
doth not say God requires, till he hath first assured that he hath
showed unto them. Now because this is showed unto all men, and manifest
in them, therefore, saith the apostle, is the wrath of God revealed
against them, for that they hold the truth in unrighteousness; that is,
the measure of truth, the light, the seed, the grace in them: for that
they hide the talent in the earth; that is, in the earthly and
unrighteous part in their hearts, and buffer it not to bring forth
fruit, but to be choked with the sensual cares of this life, the fear
of reproach, and the deceitfulness of riches, as by the parables above
mentioned doth appear. But the apostle Paul opens and illustrates this
matter yet more, Rom. x. where he declares, That the word which he
preached (now the word which he preached, and the gospel which he
preached, and whereof he was a minister, is one and the same) is not
far off, but nigh in the heart and in the mouth; which done, he frameth
as it were the objection of our adversaries in the 14th and 15th
verses, How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And
how shall they hear without a preacher? This he answers in the 18th
verse, saying, But, I say, have they not heard? Yes, verily, their
sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the
world; insinuating that this divine preacher had sounded in the ears
and hearts of all men: for of the outward apostles that saying was not
true, neither then, nor many hundred years after; yea, for aught we
know there may be yet great and spacious orations and kingdoms that
never have heard of Christ nor his apostles as outwardly. [337] This
inward and powerful word of God is yet more fully described in the
epistle to the Hebrews, chap. iv. 12. 13. For the word of God is quick,
and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to
the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. [338] The
virtues of this spiritual word are here enumerated: it is quick,
because it searches and tries the hearts of all; no man's heart is
exempt from it: for the apostle gives this reason of its being so in
the following verse, But all things are naked and opened unto the eyes
of him with whom we have to do and there is not any creature that is
not manifest in his sight. Though this ultimately and mediately be
referred to God, yet nearly and immediately it relates to the word or
light, which, as hath been before proved, is in the hearts of all, else
it had been improper to have brought it in here. [339] The apostle
shows how every intent and thought of the heart is discerned by the
word of God, because all things are naked before God; which imports
nothing else but it is in and by this word whereby God sees and
discerns man's thoughts; and so it must needs be in all men, because
the apostle saith, there is no creature that is not manifest in his
sight. [340] This then is that faithful witness and messenger of God
that bears witness for God, and for his righteousness in the hearts of
all men: for he hath not left himself without a witness, Acts xiv. 17.
and he is said to be given for a witness to the people, Isa. lv. 4.
[341] And as this word beareth witness for God, so it is not placed in
men only to condemn them: for as he is given for a witness, so saith
the prophet, he is given for a leader and commander. The light is
given, that all through it may believe, John i. 7. for faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God, which is placed in man's
heart, both to be a witness for God, and to be a means to bring man to
God through faith and repentance: it is therefore powerful, that it may
divide betwixt the soul and the spirit: it is like a two-edged sword,
that it may cut off iniquity from him, and separate betwixt the
precious and the vile; and because man's heart is cold and hard like
iron naturally, therefore hath God placed this word in him, which is
said to be like a fire, and like a hammer, Jer. xxiii. 29. that like as
by the heat of the fire the iron, of its own nature cold, is warmed,
and softened, and by the strength of the hammer is framed according to
the mind of the worker; so the cold and hard heart of man is by the
virtue and powerfulness of this word of God near and in the heart, as
it resists not, warmed and softened, and receiveth an heavenly and
celestial impression and image. The most part of the fathers have
spoken at large touching this word, seed, light, and saving voice
calling all unto salvation, and able to save.
[342] Clemens Alexandrinus saith, lib. 2, Stromat. "The divine word
hath cried, calling all, knowing well those that will not obey; and
yet, because it is in our power either to obey or not to obey, that
none may have a pretext of ignorance, it hath made a righteous call,
and requireth but that which is according to the ability and strength
of every one." The self-same, in his warning to the Gentiles; "For as,"
saith he, "that heavenly ambassador of the Lord, the grace of God, that
brings salvation, hath appeared unto all, &c. This is the new song,
coming and manifestation of the word, which now shows itself in us,
which was in the beginning, and was first of all." And again, "Hear
therefore, ye that are afar off; hear, ye who are near; the word is hid
from none, the light is common to all, and shineth to all. [343] There
is no darkness in the word; let us hasten to salvation, to the new
birth, that we being many, may be gathered into the one alone love."
Ibid. he saith, "that there is infused into all, but principally into
those that are trained up in doctrine, a certain divine influence, ri;
a7op~otoc 8ria." And again he speaks concerning the innate witness,
"worthy of belief, which of itself doth plainly choose that which is
most honest." And again he saith, "That it is not impossible to come
unto the truth, and lay hold of it, seeing it is most near to us, in
our own houses, as the most wise Moses declareth, living in three parts
of us, viz. in our hands, in our mouth, and in our hearts. This," saith
he, "is a most true badge of the truth; which is also fulfilled in
three things, namely, in counsel, in action, in speaking." And again he
saith also unto the unbelieving nations, "Receive Christ, receive
light, receive sight, to the end thou mayest rightly know both God and
man. [344] "The word that hath enlightened us is more pleasant than
gold, and the stone of great value." And again he saith, "Let us
receive the light, that we may receive God; let us receive the light,
that we may be the scholars of the Lord." And again he with to those
infidel nations, "The heavenly Spirit helpeth thee; resist and flee
pleasure." Again, lib. 5. Strom. he saith, "God forbid that man be not
a partaker of divine acquaintance, adocs ivvoc'ocs, who in Genesis is
said to be a partaker of inspiration." And Paed. lib. 1 cap. 3. "There
is," saith he, "some lovely and some desirable thing in man, which is
called the in-breathing of God, Elc0ancca, &-V." The same man, lib. 10.
Strom. directeth men unto the light and water in themselves, who have
the eye of the soul darkened or dimmed through evil education and
learning: let them enter in unto their own domestic light, or unto the
Iight which is in their own house, mpos ocxECOV, unto the truth, which
manifests accurately and clearly these things that have been written.
[345] Justin Martyr, in his first Apology, saith, "That the word which
was and is, is in all; even that very same word which, through the
prophets, foretold things to come."
[346] The writer of the Calling of the Gentiles saith, lib. 1. cap. 2.
"We believe according to the same (viz. scripture,) and most
religiously confess, that God was never wanting in care to the
generality of men; who although he did lead by particular lessons a
people gathered to himself unto godliness, yet he withdrew from no
nation of men the gifts of his own goodness, that they might be
convinced that they had received the words of the prophets, and legal
commands in services and testimonies of the first principles." Cap. 7.
he saith, "That he believes that the help of grace hath been wholly
withdrawn from no man." Lib. 2. Cap. 1. Because, albeit salvation is
far from sinners, yet there is nothing void of the presence and virtue
of his salvation." Cap. 2. But seeing none of that people over whom was
set both the doctrines, were justified but through grace by the spirit
of faith, who can question but that they, who of whatsoever nation, in
whatsoever times, could please God, were ordered by the spirit of the
grace of God, which although in fore time it was more sparing and hid,
yet denied itself to no ages, being in virtue one, in quantity
different, in counsel unchangeable, in operation multifarious."
[347] S:. XXlV. The third proposition which ought to be proved is, That
it is by this light, seed, or grace, that God works the salvation of
all men, and many come to partake of the benefit of Christ's death, and
salvation purchased by him. By the inward and effectual operations of
which, as many heathens have come to be partakers of the promises who
were not of the seed of Abraham after the flesh, so may some now, to
whom God hath rendered the knowledge of the history impossible, come to
be saved by Christ. Having already proved that Christ hath died for
all, that there is a day of visitation given to all, during which
salvation is possible to them, and that God hath actually given a
measure of saving grace and light unto all, preached the gospel to and
in them, and placed the word of faith in their hearts, the matter of
this proposition may seem to be proved. Yet shall I a little, for the
further satisfaction of all who desire to know the truth, and hold it
as it is in Jesus, prove this from two or three clear scripture
testimonies, and remove the most common as well as the more strong
objections usually brought against it. [348] Our theme then hath two
parts; First, That those that have the gospel and Christ outwardly
preached unto them, are not saved but by the working of the grace and
light in their hearts.
[349] Secondly, That by the working and operation of this, many have
been, and some may be saved, to whom the gospel hath never been
outwardly preached, and who are utterly ignorant of the outward history
of Christ.
[350] As to the first, though it be granted by most, yet because it is
more in words than deeds, (the more full discussing of which will occur
in the next proposition concerning justification,) I shall prove it in
few words. And first from the words of Christ to Nicodemus, John iii.
3. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God. [351] Now this birth cometh not by the
outward preaching of the gospel, or knowledge of Christ, or historical
faith in him; seeing many have that, and firmly believe it, who are
never thus renewed. The apostle Paul also goes so far, while he
commends the necessity and excellency of this new creation, as in a
certain respect to lay aside the outward knowledge of Christ, or the
knowledge of him after the flesh, in these words, 2 Cor. v. 16, 17.
Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh; yea, though we
have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no
more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old
things are passed away, behold all things are become new. Whence it
manifestly appears, that he makes the knowledge of Christ after the
flesh but as it were the rudiments which young children learn, which
after they are become better scholars, are of less use to them, because
they have and possess the very substance of those first precepts in
their minds. As all comparisons halt in some part, so shall I not
affirm this to hold in every respect: yet so far will this hold, that
as those that go no farther than the rudiments are never to be
accounted learned, and as they grow beyond these things, so they have
less use of them, even so such as go no farther than the outward
knowledge of Christ shall never inherit the kingdom of heaven. But such
as come to know this new birth, to be in Christ indeed, to be a new
creature, to have old things passed away, and all things become new,
may safely say with the apostle, Though we have known Christ, after the
flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. [352] Now this new
creature proceeds from the work of this light and grace in the heart:
it is that word which we speak of that is sharp and piercing, that
implanted word, able to save the soul, by which this birth is begotten;
and therefore Christ has purchased unto us this holy seed, that thereby
this birth might be brought forth in us, which is therefore also called
the manifestation of the spirit, given to every one to profit withal;
for it is written, that by one Spirit we are all baptized into one
body. And the apostle Peter also ascribeth this birth to the seed and
word of God, which we have so much declared of, saying, 1 Pet. i. 23.
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the
word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. Though then this seed
be small in its appearance, so that Christ compares it to a grain of
mustard-seed, which is the least of all seeds, Matth. xiii. 31, 32. and
that it be hid in the earthly part of man's heart; yet therein is life
and salvation towards the sons of men wrapped up, which comes to be
revealed as they give way to it. [353] And in this seed in the hearts
of all men is the kingdom of God, as in capacity to be produced, or
rather exhibited, according as it receives depth, is nourished and not
choked: hence Christ saith, that the kingdom of God was in the very
Pharisees, Luke xvii. 20, 21. who did oppose and resist him, and were
justly accounted as serpents, and a generation of vipers. Now the
kingdom of God could be no otherways in them than in a seed, even as
the thirty-fold and the hundred-fold is wrapt up in a small seed, lying
in a barren ground, which springs not forth because it wants
nourishment: and as the whole body of a great tree is wrapped up
potentially in the seed of the tree, and so is brought forth in due
season; and as the capacity of a man or woman is not only in a child,
but even in the very embryo, even so the kingdom of Jesus Christ, yea
Jesus Christ himself, Christ within, who is the hope of glory, and
becometh wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, is in
every man's and woman's heart, in that little incorruptible seed, ready
to be brought forth, as it is cherished and received in the love of it.
For there can be no men worse than those rebellious and unbelieving
Pharisees were; and yet this kingdom was thus within them, and they
were directed to look for it there: so it is neither lo here, nor lo
there, in this or the other observation, that this is known, but as
this seed of God in the heart is minded and entertained. And certainly
hence it is, even because this light, seed, and grace that appears in
the heart of man is so little regarded, and so much overlooked, that so
few know Christ brought forth in them. [354] The one sort, to wit, the
Calvinists, they look upon grace as an irresistible power, and
therefore neglect and despise this eternal seed of the kingdom in their
hearts, as a low, insufficient, useless thing as to their salvation. On
the other hand, the Papists, Arminians, and Socinians, they go about to
set up their natural power and will with one consent, denying that this
little seed, this small appearance of the light, is that supernatural
saving grace of God given to every man to save him. And so upon them is
verified that saying of the Lord Jesus Christ, This is the condemnation
of the world, that light is come into the world, but men love darkness
rather than light; the reason is added, because their deeds are evil.
All confess they feel this; but they will not have it to be of that
virtue. Some will have it to be reason; some a natural conscience;
some, certain reliques of God's image that remained in Adam. So that
Christ, as he met with opposition from all kinds of professors in his
outward appearance, doth now also in his inward. [355] It was the
meanness of his outward man that made many despise him, saying, Is not
this the son of the carpenter? Are not his brethren and sisters among
us? Is not this a Galilean? And came there ever a prophet out of
Galilee? and suchlike reasonings. For they expected an outward
deliverer, who as a prince should deliver them with great ease from
their enemies, and not such a MESSIAH as should be crucified
shamefully, and as it were lead them into many sorrows, troubles, and
afflictions. So the meanness of this appearance makes the crafty
Jesuits, the pretended rational Socinians, and the learned Arminians
overlook it; desiring rather something that they might exercise their
subtilty, reason, and learning about, and use the liberty of their own
wills. And the secure Calvinists, they would have a Christ to save them
without any trouble; to destroy all their enemies for them without
them, and nothing or little within, and in the meanwhile to be at ease
to live in their sins secure. [356] Whence, when all is well examined,
the cause is plain; it is because their deeds are evil that with one
content they reject this light: for it checks the wisest of them all,
and the learnedest of them all; in secret it reproves them; neither can
all their logic silence it, nor can the securest among them stop its
voice from crying, and reproving them within, for all their confidence
in the outward knowledge of Christ, or of what he hath suffered
outwardly for them. For, as hath been often said, in a day it strives
with all, wrestles with all; and it is the unmortified nature, the
first nature, the old Adam, yet alive in the wisest, in the learnedest,
in the most zealous for the outward knowledge of Christ, that denies
this, that despises it, that shuts it out, to their own condemnation.
They come all under this description, Every one that doth evil, hateth
the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be
reproved, John iii. 20. So that it may be said now, and we can say from
a true and certain experience, as it was of old, Psalm cxviii. 22. Mat.
xxi. 42. Mark xii. 10. Luke xx. 17. Acts iv. 11. The stone which the
builders of all kinds have rejected, the same is become unto us the
head of the corner. Glory to God for ever! who hath chosen us as
first-fruits to himself in this day, wherein he is arisen to plead with
the nations; and therefore hath sent us forth to preach this
everlasting gospel unto all, Christ nigh to all, the light in all, the
seed sown in the hearts of all, that men may come and apply their minds
to it. And we rejoice that we have been made to lay down our wisdom and
learning (such of us as have had some of it) and our carnal reasoning,
to learn of Jesus; and sit down at the feet of Jesus in our hearts, and
hear him, who there makes all things manifest, and reproves all things
by his light, Eph. v. 13. [357] For many are wise and learned in the
notion, in the letter of the scripture, as the Pharisees were, and can
speak much of Christ, and plead strongly against Infidels, Turks, and
Jews, and it may be also against some heresies, who, in the mean time,
are crucifyng Christ in the small appearance of his seed in their
hearts. Oh! better were it to be stripped and naked of all, to account
it as dross and dung, and become a fool for Christ's sake, thus knowing
him to teach thee in thy heart, so as thou mayest witness him raised
there, feel the virtue of his cross there, and say with the apostle, I
glory in nothing, save in the cross of Christ, whereby I am crucified
to the world, and the world unto me. This is better than to write
thousands of commentaries, and to preach many sermons. [358] And it is
thus to preach Christ, and direct people to his pure light in the
heart, that God hath raised us up, and for which the wise men of this
world account us fools; because by the operation of this cross of
Christ in our hearts, we have denied our own wisdom and wills in many
things, and have forsaken the vain worships, fashions, and customs of
this world. For these divers centuries the world hath been full of a
dry, fruitless, and barren knowledge of Christ, feeding upon the husk,
and neglecting the kernel; following after the shadow, but strangers to
the substance. Hence the devil matters not how much of that knowledge
abounds, provided he can but possess the heart, and rule in the will,
crucify the appearance of Christ there, and so keep the seed of the
kingdom from taking root. [359] For he has led them abroad, lo here,
and lo there, and has made them wrestle in a false zeal so much one
against another, contending for this outward observation, and for the
other outward observation, seeking CHRIST in this and the other
external thing, as in bread and wine; contending one with another how
he is there, while some will have him to be present therein this way,
and some the other way; and some in scriptures, in books, in societies,
and pilgrimages, and merits. But some, confiding in an external barren
faith, think all is well, if they do but firmly believe that he died
for their sins past, present, and to come; while in the mean time
Christ lies crucified and slain, and is daily resisted and gainsayed in
his appearance in their hearts. Thus, from a sense of this blindness
and ignorance that is come over Christendom, it is that we are led and
moved of the Lord so constantly and frequently to call all, invite all,
request all, to turn to the light in them, to mind the light in them,
to believe in Christ, as he is in them: and that in the name, power,
and authority of the Lord, not in school-arguments and distinctions,
(for which many of the wise men of this world account us fools and
mad-men,) we do charge and command them to lay aside their wisdom, to
come down out of that proud, airy, brain-knowledge, and to stop that
mouth, how eloquent soever to the worldly ear it may appear, and to be
silent, and sit down as in the dust, and to mind the light of Christ in
their own consciences; which, if minded, they would find as a sharp two
edged sword in their hearts, and as a fire and a hammer, that would
knock against and burn up all that carnal, gathered, natural stuff, and
make the stoutest of them all tremble, and become Quakers indeed; which
those that come not to feel now, and kiss not the Son while the day
lasteth, but harden their hearts, will feel to be a certain truth when
it is too late. [360] To conclude, as saith the apostle, All ought to
examine themselves, whether they be in the faith indeed; and try their
ownselves: for except Jesus Christ be in them, they are certainly
reprobates, 2 Cor. xiii. 5.
[361] S:. XXV. Secondly, that which remains now to be proved is, That
by the operation of this light and seed some have been and may yet be
saved, to whom the gospel is not outwardly preached, nor the history of
Christ outwardly known. To make this the easier, we have already shown
how that Christ hath died for all men; and consequently these are
enlightened by Christ, and have a measure of saving light and grace;
yea, that the gospel, though not in any outward dispensation, is
preached to them, and in them: so that thereby they are stated in a
possibility of salvation. From which I may thus argue:
[362] To whom the gospel, the power of God unto salvation, is manifest,
they may be saved, whatever outward knowledge they want:
But this gospel is preached in every creature; in which are certainly
comprehended many that have not the outward knowledge:
Therefore of those many may be saved.
But to those arguments, by which it hath been proved, That all men have
a measure of saving grace, I shall add one, and that very observable,
not yet mentioned, viz. that excellent saying of the apostle Paul to
Titus, chap. ii. verse 11. The grace of God, that brings salvation,
hath appeared to all men; teaching us, that denying ungodliness and
worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this
present world: than which there can be nothing more clear, it
comprehending both the parts of the controversy. First, It testifies
that it is no natural principle or light, but saith plainly, It brings
salvation. Secondly, It says not, that it hath appeared to a few, but
unto all men. [363] The fruit of it declares also how efficacious it
is, seeing it comprehends the whole duty of man: it both teacheth us,
first, to forsake evil, to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts; and then
it teacheth us our whole duty. First, to live Soberly; that comprehends
temperance, chastity, meekness, and those things that relate unto a
man's self. Secondly, Righteously; that comprehends equity, justice,
and honesty, and those things which relate to our neighbours. And
lastly, Godly; which comprehends piety, faithfulness, and devotion,
which are the duties relating to God. So then there is nothing required
of man, or is needful to man, which this grace teacheth not. Yet l have
heard a public preacher, (one of those that are accounted zealous men,)
to evite the strength of this text, deny this grace to be saving, and
say, It was only intended of common favours and graces, such as is the
heat of the fire, and outward light of the sun. Such is the darkness
and ignorance of those that oppose the truth; whereas the text saith
expressly, that it is saving. [364] Others, that cannot deny but it is
saving, allege, This [all] comprehends not every individual, but only
all kinds: but is a bare negation sufficient to overturn the strength
of a positive assertion? If the scriptures may be so abused, what so
absurd, as may not be pleaded for from them? or what so manifest, as
may not be denied? But we have no reason to be staggered by their
denying, so long as our faith is found in express terms of the
scripture; they may as well seek to persuade us, that we do not intend
that which we affirm, (though we know the contrary,) as make us
believe, that when the apostle speaks forth our doctrine in plain
words, yet he intends theirs, which is quite the contrary. And indeed,
can there be any thing more absurd, than to say, where the word is
plainly [all] few is only intended? For they will not have [all] taken
here for the greater number. Indeed, as the case may be sometimes, by a
figure [all] may be taken of two numbers, for the greater number; but
let them show us, if they can, either in scripture, or profane or
ecclesiastical writings, that any man that wrote sense did ever use the
word [all] to express, of two numbers, the lesser. Whereas they affirm,
that the far lesser number have received saving grace; and yet will
they have the apostle, by [all] to have signified so. Though this might
suffice, yet, to put it further beyond all question, I shall instance
another, saying of the same apostle, that we may use him as his own
commentator, Rom. v. 18. Therefore as by the offence of one, judgment
came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one,
the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. Here no man
of reason, except he will be obstinately ignorant, will deny, but this
similitive particle [as] makes the [all] which goes before, and comes
after, to be of one and the same extent; or else let them show one
example, either in scripture, or elsewhere, among men that speak proper
language, where it is otherwise. We must then either affirm that this
loss, which leads to condemnation, hath not come upon all; or say, that
this free gift is come upon all by Christ. Whence I thus argue:
[365] If all men have received a loss from Adam, which leads to
condemnation; then all men have received a gift from Christ, which
leads to justification:
But the first is true; therefore also the last.
[366] >From all which it naturally follows, that all men, even the
heathens, may be saved: for Christ was given as a light to enlighten
the Gentiles, Isai. xlix. 6. Now, to say that though they might have
been saved, yet none were, is to judge too uncharitably. I see not what
reason can be alleged for it; yea, though it were granted, which never
can be, that none of the heathens were saved; it will not from thence
follow, that they could not have been saved; or that none now in their
condition can be saved. For, A non esse ad non posse non datur sequela,
i. e. That consequence is false, that concludes a thing cannot be,
because it is not.
[367] But if it be objected, which is the great objection, That there
is no name under heaven, by which salvation is known, but by the name
JESUS:
Therefore they (not knowing this) cannot be saved:
[368] I answer; Though they know it not outwardly, yet if they know it
inwardly, by feeling the virtues and power of it, the name Jesus
indeed, which signifies a Saviour, to free them from sin and iniquity
in their hearts, they are saved by it: I confess there is no other name
to be saved by: but salvation lieth not in the literal, but in the
experimental knowledge; albeit, those that have the literal knowledge
are not saved by it, without this real experimental knowledge: yet
those that have the real knowledge may be saved without the external;
as by the arguments hereafter brought will more appear. For if the
outward distinct knowledge of him, by whose means I receive benefit,
were necessary for me before I could reap any fruit of it; then, by the
rule of contraries, it would follow, that I could receive no hurt,
without I had also the distinct knowledge of him that occasioned it;
whereas experience proves the contrary. How many are injured by Adam's
fall, that know nothing of there ever being such a man in the world, or
of his eating the forbidden fruit? Why may they not then be saved by
the gift and grace of Christ in them, making them righteous and holy,
though they know not distinctly how that was purchased unto them by the
death and sufferings of Jesus that was crucified at Jerusalem;
especially seeing God hath made that knowledge simply impossible to
them? As many men are killed by poison infused into their meat, though
they neither know what the poison was, nor who infused it; so also on
the other hand, how many are cured of their diseases by good remedies,
who know not how the medicine is prepared, what the ingredients are,
nor often times who made it? The like may also hold in spiritual
things, as we shall hereafter prove.
[369] S:. XXVI. First, If there were such an absolute necessity for
this outward knowledge, that it were even of the essentials of
salvation, then none could be saved without it; whereas our adversaries
deny not, but readily confess, that many infants and deaf persons are
saved without it: so that here they beak that general rule, and make
salvation without it. Neither can they allege, that it is because such
are free from sin; seeing they also affirm, that all infants, because
of Adam's sin, deserve eternal condemnation, as being really guilty in
the sight of God; and of deaf people, it is not to be doubted, and
experience shows us, that they are subject to many common iniquities,
as well as other men.
[370] If it be said, That these children are the children of believing
parents:
[371] What then? They will not say that they transmit grace to their
children. Do they not affirm, that the children of believing parents
are guilty of original sin, and deserve death as well as others? How
prove they that that makes up the loss of all explicit knowledge?
[372] If they say, Deaf people may be made sensible of the gospel by
signs:
[373] All the signs cannot give them any explicit knowledge of the
history of the death, sufferings, and resurrection of Christ. For what
sign can inform a deaf man, That the Son of God took on him man's
nature, was born of a virgin, and suffered under Pontius Pilate?
[374] And if they should further allege; That they are within the bosom
of the visible church, and partakers of the sacraments:
[375] All that gives no certainty of salvation; for, as the Protestants
confess, they confer not grace ex opere operato. And will they not
acknowledge, that many are in the bosom of the church, who are visibly
no members of it? But if this charity be extended towards such who are
where the gospel is preached, so that they may be judged capable of
salvation, because they are under a simple impossibility of distinctly
knowing the means of salvation; what reason can be alleged why the like
charity may not be had to such, as though they can hear, yet are under
a simple impossibility of hearing, because it is not spoken unto them?
Is not a man in China, or in India, as much to be excused for not
knowing a thing which he never heard of, as a deaf man here, who cannot
hear? [376] For as the deaf man is not to be blamed, because God hath
been pleased to suffer him to lie under this infirmity; so is the
Chinese or the Indian as excusable, because God hath with-held from him
the opportunity of hearing. He that cannot hear a thing, as being
necessarily absent, and he that cannot hear it, as being naturally
deaf, are to be placed in the same category.
[377] Secondly, This manifestly appears by that saying of Peter, Acts
x. 34. Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons; but
in every nation, he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is
accepted of him. Peter was before liable to that mistake that the rest
of the Jews were in; judging that all were unclean, except themselves,
and that no man could be saved, except he were proselyted to their
religion, and circumcised. [378] But God showed Peter otherways in a
vision, and taught him to call nothing common or unclean; and
therefore, seeing that God regarded the prayers of Cornelius, who was a
stranger to the law and to Jesus Christ as to the outward, yet Peter
saw that God had accepted him; and he is said to fear God before he had
this outward knowledge; therefore Peter concludes that every one in
every nation, without respect of persons, that feareth God and worketh
righteousness, is accepted of him. So he makes the fear of God and the
working of righteousness, and not an outward historical knowledge, the
qualification: they then that have this, where-ever they be, they are
saved. Now we have already proved, that to every man that grace is
given, whereby he may live godlily and righteously; and we see, that by
this grace Cornelius did so, and was accepted, and his prayers came up
for a memorial before God before he had this outward knowledge. Also,
Was not Job a perfect and upright man, that feared God, and eschewed
evil? [379] Who taught Job this? How knew Job Adam's fall? And from
what scripture learned he that excellent knowledge he had, and that
faith, by which he knew his Redeemer lived? (For many make him as old
as Moses.) Was not this by an inward grace in the heart? Was it not
that inward grace that taught Job to eschew evil, and to fear God? And
was it not by the workings thereof that he became a just and upright
man? How doth he reprove the wickedness of men, chap. xxiv? And after
he hath numbered up their wickedness, doth he not condemn them, verse
13. for rebelling against this light, for not knowing the way thereof,
nor abiding in the paths thereof? It appears then Job believed that men
had a light, and that because they rebelled against it, therefore they
knew not its ways, and abode not in its paths; even as the Pharisees,
who had the scriptures, are said to err, not knowing the scriptures.
[380] And also Job's friends, though in some things wrong; yet who
taught them all those excellent sayings and knowledge which they had?
Did not God give it them, in order to save them? or was it merely to
condemn them? Who taught Elihu, that the inspiration of the Almighty
giveth understanding; that the Spirit of God made him, and the breath
of the Almighty gave him life? And did not the Lord accept a sacrifice
for them? And who dare say that they are damned? But further, the
apostle puts this controversy out of doubt; for, if we may believe his
plain assertions, he tells us, Rom. ii. That the heathens did the
things contained in the law. From whence I thus argue;
[381] In every nation, he that feareth God, and worketh righteousness,
is accepted:
But many of the heathens feared God, and wrought righteousness:
Therefore they were accepted.
The minor is proved from the example of Cornelius: but I shall further
prove it thus;
He that doth the things contained in the law, feareth God, and worketh
righteousness:
But the heathens did the things contained in the law:
Therefore they feared God, and wrought righteousness.
Can there be anything more clear? For if to do the things contained in
the law, be not to fear God, and work righteousness, then what can be
said to do so, seeing the apostle calls the law spiritual, holy, just,
and good? But this appears manifestly by another medium, taken out of
the same chapter, verse 13. So that nothing can be more clear: the
words are, The doers of the law shall be justified. From which I thus
argue, without adding any word of my own;
[382] The doers of the law shall be justified:
But the Gentiles do the things contained in the law:
[383] All, that know but a conclusion, do easily see what follows, from
these express words of the apostle. And indeed, he through that whole
chapter labours, as if he were contending now with our adversaries, to
confirm this doctrine, vers. 9, 10, 11. Tribulation and anguish upon
every soul of man that doth evil, to the Jew first, and also to the
Gentile: for there is no respect of persons with God. Where the apostle
clearly homologates, or confesses to the sentence of Peter
before-mentioned; and shows that Jew and Gentile, or as he himself
explains in the following verses, both they that have an outward law,
and they that have none, when they do good, shall be justified. And to
put us out of all doubt, in the very following verses he tells, That
the doers of the law are justified; and that the Gentiles did the law.
So that except we think he spake not what he intended, we may safely
conclude, that such Gentiles were justified, and did partake of that
honour, glory, and peace, which comes upon every one that doth good;
even the Gentiles, that are without the law, when they work good;
seeing with God there is no respect of persons. So as we see, that it
is not the having the outward knowledge that doth save, without the
inward; so neither doth the want of it, to such to whom God hath made
it impossible, who have the inward, bring condemnation. [384] And many
that have wanted the outward, have had a knowledge of this inwardly, by
virtue of that inward grace and light given to every man, working in
them, by which they forsook iniquity, and became just and holy, as is
above proved; who, though they knew not the history of Adam's fall, yet
were sensible in themselves of the loss that came by it, feeling their
inclinations to sin, and the body of sin in them: and though they knew
not the coming of Christ, yet were sensible of that inward power and
salvation which came by him, even before as well as since his
appearance in the flesh. For I question whether these men can prove,
that all the patriarchs and fathers before Moses had a distinct
knowledge either of the one or the other, or that they knew the history
of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and of Adam's eating the
forbidden fruit; far less that Christ should be born of a virgin,
should be crucified, and treated in the manner he was. [385] For it is
justly to be believed, that what Moses wrote of Adam, and of the first
times, was not by tradition, but by revelation; yea, we see that not
only after the writing of Moses, but even of David and all the
prophets, who prophesied so much of Christ, how little the Jews, that
were expecting and wishing for the Messiah; could thereby discern him
when he came, that they crucified him as a blasphemer, not as a
Messiah, by mistaking the prophecies concerning him; for Peter saith
expressly, Acts iii. 17. to the Jews, That both they and their rulers
did it through ignorance. And Paul saith, 1 Cor. ii. 8. That had they
known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. Yea, Mary
herself, to whom the angel had spoken, and who had laid up all the
miraculous things accompanying his birth in her heart, she did not
understand how, when he disputed with the doctors in the temple, that
he was about his father's business. And the apostles that had believed
him, conversed daily with him, and saw his miracles, could not
understand, neither believe those things which related to his death,
sufferings, and resurrection, but were in a certain respect stumbled at
them.
[386] > [387] S:. XXV11. So we see how that it is the inward work,
and not the outward history and scripture, that gives the true
knowledge; and by this inward light many of the heathen philosophers
were sensible of the loss received by Adam, though they knew not the
outward history: hence Plato asserted, That man's soul was fallen into
a dark cave, where it only conversed with shadows. Pythagoras saith,
Man wandereth in this world as a stranger, banished from the presence
of God. And Plotinus compareth man's soul, fallen from God, to a
cinder, or dead coal, out of which the fire is extinguished. Some of
them said, That the wings of the soul were clipped or fallen off so
that they could not flee unto God. All which, and many more such
expressions, that might be gathered out of their writings, show, that
they were not without a sense of this loss. Also they had a knowledge
and discovery of Jesus Christ inwardly, as a remedy in them, to deliver
them from that evil seed; and the evil inclinations of their own
hearts, though not under that partic ular denomination.
Some called him an Holy Spirit, as Seneca, Epist. 41. who said, There
is an Holy Spirit in us, that treateth us as we treat him. Cicero,
calleth it an innate light, in his book De Republica, cited by
Lactantius, 6 Instit. where he calls this, right reason, given unto
all, constant and eternal, calling unto duty by commanding, and
deterring from deceit by forbidding. [388] Adding, That it cannot be
abrogated, neither can any be freed from it, neither by senate or
people; that is one eternal, and the same always to all nations; so
that there is not one at Rome, and another at Athens: Whoso obeys it
not, must flee from himself, and in this is greatly tormented, although
he should escape all other punishments. Plotinus also calls him light,
saying, That as the sun cannot be known but by its own light, so God
cannot be known but with his own light: and as the eye cannot see the
sun but by receiving its image, so man cannot know God but by receiving
his image; and that it behoveth man to come to purity of heart before
he could know God; calling him also Wisdom, a name frequently given him
in scripture; see Prov. i. 20. to the end; and Prov. viii. 9. 34. where
Wisdom is said to cry, entreat, and invite all to come unto her, and
learn of her: and what is this Wisdom but Christ? [389] Hence such as
came, among the heathen, to forsake evil, and cleave to righteousness,
were called philosophers, that is, lovers of wisdom. They knew this
wisdom was nigh unto them, and that the best knowledge of God, and
divine mysteries, was by the inspiration of the wisdom of God.
Phocylides affirmed, that the word of the wisdom of God was best. His
words in the Greek are, T,~s & OEomeu5n; dopia~ ;,6yamp; E5'iv dpt~.
And much more of this kind might be instanced, by which it appears they
knew Christ; and by his working in them, were brought from
unrighteousness to righteousness, and to love that power by which they
felt themselves redeemed; so that, as saith the apostle, They show the
work of the law written in their hearts, and did the things contained
in the law; and therefore, as all doers of the law are, were no doubt
justified, and saved thus by the power of Christ in them. And as this
was the judgment of the apostle, so was it of the primitive Christians.
[390] Hence Justin Martyr stuck not to call Socrates a Christian,
saying, that all such as lived according to the divine word in them,
which was in all men, were Christians, such as Socrates and Heraclitus,
and others among the Greeks, &c. That such as live with the word, are
Christians without fear or anxiety.
[391] Clemens Alexandrinus saith, Apol. 2. Strom. lib. 1. That this
wisdom or philosophy was necessary to the Gentiles, and was their
school-master to lead them unto Christ, by which of old the Greeks were
justified.
[392] Nor do I think, saith Augustine, in his book of the City of God,
lib. 18. cap. 47. that the Jews dare affirm that none belonged unto God
but the Israelites. Upon which place Ludovicus Vives saith, That thus
the Gentiles, not having a law, were a law unto themselves; and the
light of so living is the gift of God, and proceeds from the Son; of
whom it is written, that he enlighteneth every man that cometh into the
world.
[393] Augustine also testifies in his confessions, lib. 1. cap. 9. That
he had read in the writings of the Platonists, though not in the very
same words, yet that which by many and multiplied reasons did persuade,
that in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God; this was
in the beginning with God, by which all things were made, and without
which nothing was made that was made: in him was life, and the life was
the light of men: and the light shined in the darkness, and the
darkness did not comprehend it. And, albeit the soul gives testimony
concerning the light, yet it is not the light, but the word of God; for
GOD is the true LIGHT, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into
the world; and so repeats to verse 14. of John i. adding, These things
have I there read.
[394] S:. XXVIII. Seeing then it is by this inward gift, grace, and
light, that both those that have the gospel preached unto them, come to
have Jesus brought forth in them, and to have the saving and sanctified
use of all outward helps and advantages; and also by this same light,
that all may come to be saved; and that God calls, invites, and strives
with all, in a day, and saveth many, to whom he hath not seen meet to
convey this outward knowledge; therefore we, having the experience of
the inward and powerful work of this light in our hearts, even Jesus
revealed in us, cannot cease to proclaim the day of the Lord that is
arisen in it, crying out with the woman of Samaria; Come and see one
that hath told me all that ever I have done; Is not this the Christ?
That others may come and feel the same in themselves, and may know,
that that little small thing that reproves them in their hearts,
however they have despised and neglected it, is nothing less than the
gospel preached in them. Christ, the wisdom and power of God, being in
and by that seed seeking to save their souls.
[395] Of this light therefore Augustine speaks in his confessions, lib.
11. cap. 9. In this beginning, O God! thou madest the heavens and the
earth, in thy word, in thy Son, in thy virtue, in thy wisdom,
wonderfully saying, and wonderfully doing. Who shall comprehend it? Who
shall declare it? What is that which shineth in unto me, and smites my
heart without hurt, at which I both tremble, and am inflamed? I
tremble, in so far as I am, unlike unto it; and I am inflamed, in so
far as I am like unto it: it is wisdom, wisdom which shineth in unto
me, and dispelleth my cloud, which had again covered me, after I was
departed from it, with darkness, and the heap of my punishments. And
again he saith, lib. 10. cap. 27. It is too late that I have loved
thee, O thou beautifulness, so ancient and so new! late have I loved
thee, and behold thou wast within, and I was without, and there was
seeking thee! thou didst call, thou didst cry, thou didst break my
deafness, thou glancedst; thou didst shine, thou chasedst away my
darkness.
[396] Of this also our countryman George Buchanan speaketh thus in his
book De Jure regni apud Scotos: Truly I understand no other thing at
present than that light which is divinely infused into our souls: for
when God formed man, he not only gave him eyes to his body, by which he
might shun those things that are hurtful to him, and follow those
things that are profitable; but also hath set before his mind as it
were a certain light, by which he may discern things that are vile from
things that are honest. Some call this power nature, others, the law of
nature; I truly judge it to be divine, and am persuaded that nature and
wisdom never say different things. Moreover God hath given us a compend
of the law, which in few words comprehends the whole; to wit, that we
should love him from our hearts, and our neighbours as ourselves. And
of this law all the books of the holy scriptures, which pertain to the
forming of manners, contain no other but an explication.
[397] This is that universal evangelical principle, in and by which
this salvation of Christ is exhibited to all men, both Jew and Gentile,
Scythian and Barbarian, of whatsoever country or kindred he be: and
therefore God hath raised up unto himself, in this our age, faithful
witnesses and evangelists to preach again his everlasting gospel, and
to direct all, as well the high professors, who boast of the law and
the scriptures, and the outward knowledge of Christ, as the infidels
and heathens that know not him that way, that they may all come to mind
the light in them, and know Christ in them, the just one, r6v Aixatov
whom they have so long killed, and made merry over, and he hath not
resisted, James v. 6. and give up their sins, iniquities, false faith,
professions, and outside righteousness, to be crucified by the power of
his cross in them, so as they may know Christ within to be the hope of
glory, and may come to walk in his light and be saved, who is that true
light that enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world.
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[220] 1 Cor. xii. 7.
[221] Heb. ii. 9.
[222] Absolute reprobation, that horrible and blasphemous doctrine,
described.
[223] This doctrine a novelty. The rise of it.
[224] Highly injurious to God, in making him the author of sin.
[225] Calvin in cap. 3. Gen. Id. 1. Inst. c. 18 S. 1. Id. lib. de
PrAEd. Id. lib. de Provid. Id. inst. c. 23. S. 1. 1 Beza lib. de PrAEd.
2 Id. de PrAEd. ad. Art. 1. 3 Zanch. de ExcAEcat. q 5. Id. lib. 5 de
Nat. Dei. cap 2. de prAEd. 4 ParAEus, lib 3. de Amis gratiAE c. 2.
Ibid. c. 1. 5 Martyr in Rom. 6 Zuing. lib de Prov c. 5. 7 Resp. ad
Vorst. pa. 1. p.120.
[226] 2. It makes God delight in the death of a sinner.
[227] 3. It renders Christ's mediation ineffectual.
[228] 4. It makes the gospel a mock.
[229] 5. It makes the coming of Christ an act of wrath.
[230] 6. It renders mankind in a worse condition than the devils--
--Than the Israelites under Pharaoh. Tantalus' condition.
[231] Christ tasted death for every man.
[232] Christ's redemption universal, contrary to the doctrine of
absolute reprobation.
[233] The gospel is preached to every man.
[234] The absurdity of that doctrine of absolute reprobation.
[235] To pray for all; for Christ died for all-- --and will have all
men to be saved.
[236] Arg. 1.
[237] Arg. 2.
[238] Arg. 3.
[239] Arg. 4.
[240] Arg. 5.
[241] Proof 1.
[242] Our adversaries' false doctrine of a great part of mankind being
pre-ordained for damnation, refuted.
[243] Proof 2.
[244] Proof 3.
[245] Adversaries comment on the words the whole world.
[246] The heathens invited to salvation; none predestinated to
damnation.
[247] Proof 4. The testimonies of the doctors and fathers of the first
church, that Christ died for all.
[248] The cause they remain in darkness.
[249] The sunbeams shut out, heat not.
[250] Pelagian errors.
[251] Extremes fallen into by some, making God the auther of sin.
[252] Epit. Hist. Eccl. Lucae Osiand. Cent. 16. 1. 4. cap 32.
[253] Remonstrants' opinion strengthens the precise decree of
reprobation.
[254] None, by an irrevocable decree, excluded from salvation.
[255] The more full discovery of the gospel reserved to this our age.
[256] Prop.l. A day of visitation to all.
[257] Prop. 2. A measure of light in all.
[258] Prop. 3. God's salvation wrought by the light in all.
[259] Conseq. 1.
[260] Conseq. 2.
[261] Conseq. 3.
[262] Conseq. 4.
[263] Conseq. 5.
[264] Conseq. 6.
[265] Conseq. 7.
[266] Conseq. 8.
[267] Conseq. 9.
[268] Conseq. 10
[269] Conseq. 11.
[270] Conseq. 12.
[271] Our adversaries' unmerciful assertion of God.
[272] Ques. 1 The stating of the question.
[273] That many may outlive the day of God's visitation.
[274] Ques. 2
[275] The light, what it is, and its properties described. Cant. iii.
9.
[276] 1 Tim. vi. 16.
[277] That the fulness of the Godhead dwells in Christ bodily, &c.
[278] Ques. 3. That the light is a spiritual substance, which may be
felt in the soul and apprehended.
[279] The degrees of its operation in the soul of man.
[280] Ques. 4.
[281] That remission of sins is only and alone by Christ.
[282] The history is profitable with the mystery.
[283] Ques. 5 How Christ is in all men.
[284] Christ crucified in man by iniquities,
[285] The faculties of man's reason.
[286] Anti-christ in the temple of God.
[287] The divine light and natural reason distinguished.
[288] The light distinguished from man's natural conscience.
[289] Conscience defined.
[290] Example of a Turk.
[291] Example of a Papist.
[292] The natural conscience compared to a lantern, and the light of
Christ to a candle.
[293] The waiting upon the movings of the light and grace.
[294] Mat. xxiv. 27.
[295] John iii. 8.
[296] Ques.7
[297] The light's operations in order to salvation.
[298] The example of a diseased man and the physician.
[299] The example of men lying stupified in a dark pit, and their
deliverer.
[300] a simile of the sun's melting and hardening power.
[301] All have grace sufficient for salvation, given to them by God.
[302] Object.
[303] Predestination to salvation, and preordination to destruction,
answered.
[304] Prop. 1. Proved. Proof 1. Those that perish had a day of mercy
offered them. Instances. 1. Cain.
[305] 2. The old world.
[306] God is long-suffering, and long waiting to be gracious unto all--
[307] --In order to save them.
[308] Some things in Paul's epistles hard to be understood.
[309] Arg. God's spirit strives in the wicked.
[310] Pr. II.
[311] The vineyard planted brought forth wild grapes.
[312] Pr. III. Christ's lamentation over Jerusalem.
[313] God hardens, when. The one talent was sufficient.
[314] Cyril. Alex.
[315] the cause of man's remaining in darkness, the closing his eyes.
[316] The obstinate Jews had a day.
[317] Prop.Il. Proved.
[318] Proof 1. The light enlightening every man.
[319] Obs. 1.
[320] --Not to a certain number of men, but everyman.
[321] The light dispelling darkness begets faith.
[322] The light is supernatural, saving, and sufficient.
[323] Observ. 2. The darkness is man's natural state and condition.
[324] Observ. 3.
[325] Arg. 1.
[326] Arg. 2.
[327] Object.
[328] Answ. Whether Christ's outward person was the light.
[329] The light of Christ is not Christ's outward man or person.
[330] Cyrillus Alexandrinus upon John, lib. 1. chap. 2.
[331] The sun enlightens, but man through negligence buries
illumination.
[332] Grace no natural gift.
[333] Pro. II. The seed of the kingdom is sown in several sorts of
grounds without distinction.
[334] Pr. III.
[335] The light is the gospel, the power of God preached in every
creature under heaven.
[336] The outward creation may beget a persuasion in man of an eternal
power or virtue.
[337] The divine preacher, the word nigh, hath sounded in the ears and
hearts of all men.
[338] Before whom all things are manifest.
[339] And every thought and intent of the heart.
[340] The faithful witness.
[341] A leader and commander. A two-edged sword. A fire and a hammer.
[342] Clem. Alex.
[343] The gathering unto the one and alone love.
[344] The enlightening word.
[345] J. Martyr.
[346] Auth. de Voc. Gen.
[347] Pr. III. Proved. God's salvation wrought by the light in all.
[348] 1 Part.
[349] 2 Part.
[350] 1 Part proved.
[351] The new birth or regeneration cometh not by the outward knowledge
of Christ;
[352] but by the work of light and grace in the heart.
[353] The kingdom of God is in the seed in the hearts of all men.
[354] Calvinists, Papists, Arminians, and Socinians' errors denying the
light to be saving.
[355] The meanness of Christ's appearance in the flesh.
[356] The nature of the light.
[357] The wise and learned in the notion, crucifiers of Christ.
[358] None are saved by the knowledge of the history, but by the
operation of the light of Christ in the mystery.
[359] Contentions about outward observations and lo here's.
[360] The call of God to blinded Christendom.
[361] 2 Part proved. That many by the light may be saved, that have not
the outward knowledge of Christ.
[362] Arg.
[363] The saving grace of God teacheth the whole duty of man.
[364] The absurdity of our adversaries' comment upon the word all,
denying grace to be saving. Tit. ii 11.
[365] Arg.
[366] Even the heathens may be saved by the light.
[367] Object.
[368] Answ. The literal knowledge of Christ is not saving, but the real
experimental.
[369] The outward knowledge not essential to salvation; instance in
infants and deaf persons.
[370] Obj. 1.
[371] Answ.
[372] Obj. 2.
[373] Answ.
[374] Obj. 3.
[375] Answ.
[376] A Chinese or Indian excusable for not knowing the history of the
death of Christ, &c.
[377] Ans. 2.
[378] God regarded the prayers of Cornelius, a stranger to the law.
[379] From what scripture did Job learn his excellent knowledge?
[380] Job's friends, their excellent sayings.
[381] Arg.
[382] Arg.
[383] The Gentiles justified doing the law.
[384] Many wanting the history, were sensible of the loss by Adam, and
salvation come by Christ in themselves.
[385] How little the Jews knew Christ, mistaking the prophets.
[386] The heathens were sensible of the loss received by Adam..
[387] Heathen philosophers divine knowledge. Plato. Pythag. Plotin.
[388] Cicero calls it an innate light. Lactan. instit.
[389] Philosophers, whence so called? Phocylides.
[390] Socrates a Christian, &c.
[391] Clem Alex.
[392] Augustin. deCiv. Dei. Lud. Vives.
[393] The Platonists saw the word in the beginning; which was light.
[394] The day of the Lord proclaimed.
[395] Augustine trembled at the inshinings of the light unto him, and
why?
[396] Buchanan testifying to the light.
[397] Jew and Gentile, Scythian and Barbarian, partakers of the
salvation of Christ.
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PROPOSITION VII.
Concerning Justification.
As many as resist not this light, but receive the same, it becomes in
them an holy, pure, and spiritual birth, bringing forth holiness,
righteousness, purity, and all those other blessed fruits which are
acceptable to God: by which holy birth, to wit, Jesus Christ formed
within us, and working his works in us, as we are sanctified, so are we
justified in the sight of God, according to the apostle's words; But ye
are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of
the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God, 1 Cor. vi. 11. Therefore
it is not by our works wrought in our will, nor yet by good works
considered as of themselves; but by Christ, who is both the gift and
the giver, and the cause producing the effects in us; who, as he hath
reconciled us while we were enemies, doth also in his wisdom save us
and justify us after this manner, as saith the same apostle elsewhere;
According to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and
the renewing of the Holy Ghost, Tit. iii. 5. S:. 1. The doctrine of
justification comes well in order after the discussing of the extent of
Christ's death, and of the grace thereby communicated, some of the
sharpest contests concerning this having from thence their rise. Many
are the disputes among those called Christians concerning this point;
and indeed, if all were truly minding that which justifieth, there
would be less noise about the notions of justification. I shall briefly
review this controversy as it stands among others, and as I have often
seriously observed it; then in short state the controversy as to us,
and open our sense and judgment of it; and lastly prove it, if the Lord
will, by some scripture testimonies, and the certain experience of all
that ever were truly justified.
[398] S:. II. That this doctrine of justification, hath been and is
greatly vitiated in the church of Rome, is not by us questioned; though
our adversaries, who, for want of better arguments, do often make lies
their refuge, have not spared in this respect to stigmatize us with
popery, but how untruly will hereafter appear. For to speak little of
their meritum ex condigno, which was no doubt a very common doctrine of
the Romish church, especially before Luther, though most of their
modern writers, especially in their controversies with Protestants, do
partly deny it, partly qualify it, and seem to state the matter only as
if they were propagators and pleaders for good works by the others
denied; yet if we look to the effects of this doctrine among them, as
they appear in the generality of their church members, not in things
disapproved, but highly approved and commended by their father the Pope
and all his Clients, as the most beneficial casualty of all his
revenue, we shall find that Luther did not without great ground oppose
himself to them in this matter: and if he had not run himself into
another extreme, of which hereafter, his work would have stood the
better. For in this, as in most other things, he is more to be
commended for what he pulled down of Babylon, than for what he built of
his own. Whatever then the Papists may pretend, or even some good men
among them may have thought, experience showeth, and it is more than
manifest by the universal and approved practice of their people, that
they place not their justification so much in works that are truly and
morally good, and in the being truly renewed and sanctified in the
mind, as in such things as are either not good nor evil, or may truly
be called evil, and can no otherways be reckoned good than because the
pope pleases to call them so. [399] So that if the matter be well
sifted, it will be found, that the greatest part of their justification
depends upon the authority of his bulls, and not upon the power,
virtue, and grace of Christ revealed in the heart, and renewing of it,
as will appear, First, From their principle concerning their
sacraments, which they say confer grace ex opere operato. So that if a
man partake but of them, he thereby obtains remission of sin, though he
remains as he was; the virtue of the sacraments making up the want that
is in the man. So that this act of submission and faith to the laws of
the church, and not any real inward change, is that which justifieth
him. As for example; if a man make use of the Sacrament, as they call
it, of penance, so as to tell over his sins to a priest, though he have
not true contrition, which the Lord hath made absolutely necessary for
penitent sinners, but only attrition, a figment of their own, that is,
if he be sorry he hath sinned, not out of any love to God, or his law
which he hath transgressed, but for fear of punishment, yet doth the
virtue of the sacrament, as they affirm, procure to him remission of
sins; so that being absolved by the priest, he stands accepted and
justified in the sight of God. This man's justification then proceedeth
not from his being truly penitent, and in any measure inwardly changed
and renewed by the working of God's grace, in his heart, but merely
from the virtue of the sacrament, and authority of the priest, who hath
pronounced him absolved; so that his justification is from somewhat
without him, and not within him.
[400] Secondly, This will yet more appear in the matter of indulgences,
where remission of all sins, not only past but for years to come, is
annexed to the visiting such and such churches and reliques, saying
such and such prayers; so that the person that so doth is presently
cleared from the guilt of his sin, and justified and accepted in the
sight of God. As for example: he that in the great jubilee will go to
Rome, and present himself before the gate of Peter and Paul, and there
receive the pope's blessing; or he that will go a pilgrimage to James'
sepulchre in Spain, or to Mary of Loretto, is, upon the performance of
those things, promised forgiveness of sins. Now if we ask them the
reason how such things as are not morally good in themselves come to
have virtue? they have no other answer but because of the church and
pope's authority, who being the great treasurer of the magazine of
Christ's merits, lets them out upon such and such conditions. Thus also
the invention of saying mass is made a chief instrument of
justification; for in it they pretend to offer Christ daily to the
Father a propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of the living and dead: so
that a man for money can procure Christ thus to be offered for him when
he pleases; by which offering he is said to obtain remission of sins,
and to stand justified in the sight of God. From all which, and much
more of this nature which might be mentioned, it doth appear, that the
Papists place their justification not so much in any work of holiness
really brought forth in them, and real forsaking of iniquity, as in the
mere performance of some ceremonies, and a blind belief which their
teachers have begotten in them, that the church and the pope having the
absolute dispensation of the merits of Christ, have power to make these
merits effectual for the remission of sins, and justification of such
as will perform those ceremonies. This is the true and real method of
justification taken by the generality of the church of Rome, and highly
commended by their public preachers, especially the monks, in their
sermons to the people, of which I myself have been an ear and an
eye-witness; however some of their modern writers have laboured to
qualify it in their controversies. [401] This doctrine Luther and the
Protestants then had good reason to deny and oppose; though many of
them ran into another extreme, so as to deny good works to be necessary
to justification, and to preach up not only remission of sins but
justification by faith alone, without all works, however good. So that
men do not obtain their justification according as they are inwardly
sanctified and renewed, but are justified merely by believing that
Christ died for them; and so some may be perfectly justified, though
they be lying in gross wickedness; as appears by the example of David,
who they say was fully and perfectly justified while he was lying in
the gross sins of murder and adultery. As then the Protestants have
sufficient ground to quarrel and confute the Papists concerning those
many abuses in the matter of justification, showing how the doctrine of
Christ is thereby vitiated and overturned, and the word of God made
void by many and useless traditions, the law of God neglected, while
foolish and needless ceremonies are prized and followed, through a
false opinion of being justified by the performance of them; and the
merits and sufferings of Christ, which is the only sacrifice appointed
of God for remission of sins, derogated from, by the setting up of a
daily sacrifice never appointed by God, and chiefly devised out of
covetousness to get money by; [402] so the Protestants on the other
hand, by not rightly establishing and holding forth the doctrine of
justification according as it is delivered in the holy scriptures, have
opened a door for the Papists to accuse them, as if they were
neglecters of good works, enemies to mortification and holiness, such
as esteem themselves justified while lying in great sins: by which kind
of accusations, for which too great ground hath been given out of the
writings of some rigid Protestants, the reformation hath been greatly
defamed and hindered, and the souls of many ensnared. Whereas, whoever
will narrowly look into the matter, may observe these debates to be
more in specie than in genere, seeing both do upon the matter land in
one; and like two men in a circle, who though they go sundry ways, yet
meet at last in the same centre.
[403] For the Papists say, They obtain remission of sins, and are
justified by the merits of Christ, as the same are applied unto there
in the use of the sacraments of the church, and are dispensed in the
performance of such and such ceremonies, pilgrimages, prayers, and
performances, though there be not any inward renewing of the mind, nor
knowing of Christ inwardly formed; yet they are remitted and made
righteous ex opere operato, because of the power and authority
accompanying the sacraments and the dispensers of them.
The Protestants say, That they obtain remission of sins, and stand
justified in the sight of God, by virtue of the merits and sufferings
of Christ, not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning
their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous,
they resting on him and his righteousness by faith; which faith, the
act of believing, is not imputed unto them for righteousness.
So the justification of neither here is placed in any inward renewing
of the mind, or by virtue of any spiritual birth, or formation of
Christ in them; but only by a bare application of the death and
sufferings of Christ outwardly performed for them: whereof the one lays
hold on a faith resting upon them, and hoping to be justified by them
alone; the other by the saying of some outward prayers and ceremonies,
which they judge makes the death of Christ effectual unto them. I
except here, being unwilling to wrong any, what things have been said
as to the necessity of inward holiness, either by some modern Papists,
or some modern Protestants, who in so far as they have laboured after a
midst betwixt these two extremes have come near to the truth, as by
some citations out of them hereafter to be mentioned will appear:
though this doctrine hath not since the apostacy, so far as ever I
could observe, been so distinctly and evidently held forth according to
the scripture's testimony, as it hath pleased God to reveal it and
preach it forth in this day, by the witnesses of his truth whom he hath
raised to that end; which doctrine, though it be briefly held forth and
comprehended in the thesis [404] itself, yet I shall a little more
fully explain, and show the state of the controversy as it stands
betwixt us and those that now oppose us.
[405] S:. III. First then, as by the explanation of the former thesis
appears, we renounce all natural power and ability in ourselves, in
order to bring us out of our lost and fallen condition and first
nature; and confess, that as of ourselves we are able to do nothing
that is good, so neither can we procure remission of sins or
justification by any act [406] of our own, so as to merit it, or draw
it as a debt from God due unto us; but we acknowledge all to be of and
from his love, which is the original and fundamental cause of our
acceptance.
[407] Secondly, God manifested this love towards us, in the sending of
his beloved Son the Lord Jesus Christ into the world, who gave himself
for us an [408] offering and a sacrifice to God, for a sweet-smelling
savour; and having made peace through the blood of his cross, that he
might reconcile us unto himself, and by the Eternal Spirit offered
himself without spot unto God, and suffered for our sins, the just for
the unjust, that he might bring us unto God.
[409] Thirdly then, Forasmuch as all men who have come to man's estate
(the man Jesus only excepted) have sinned, therefore all have need of
this Saviour, to remove the wrath of God from them due to their
offences; in this respect he is truly said to have borne the iniquities
of us all in his body on the tree, and therefore is the only Mediator,
having qualified the wrath of God towards us; so that our former sins
stand not in our way, being by virtue of his most satisfactory
sacrifice removed and pardoned. Neither do we think that remission
[410] of sins is to be expected, sought, or obtained any other way, or
by any works or sacrifice whatsoever; though, as has been said
formerly, they may come to partake of this remission that are ignorant
of the history. So then Christ by his [411] death and sufferings hath
reconciled us to God, even while we are enemies; that is, he offers
reconciliation unto us; we are put in a capacity of being reconciled;
God is willing to forgive us our iniquities, and to accept us, as is
well expressed by the apostle, 2 Cor. v. 19. God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto
them, and hath put in us the word of reconciliation. And therefore the
apostle, in the next verses, entreats them in Christ's stead to be
reconciled to God; intimating that the wrath of God being removed by
the obedience of Christ Jesus, he is willing to be reconciled unto
them, and ready to remit the sins that are past, if they repent.
[412] We consider then our redemption in a two-fold respect or state,
both which in their own nature are perfect, though in their application
to us the one is not, nor can be, without respect to the other.
[413] The First is the redemption performed and accomplished by Christ
for us in his crucified body without us: the other is the redemption
wrought by Christ in us, which no less properly is called and accounted
a redemption than the former. The first then is that whereby a man, as
he stands in the fall, is put into a capacity of salvation, and hath
conveyed unto him a measure of that power, virtue, spirit, life, and
grace that was in Christ Jesus, which, as the free gift of God, is able
to counter-balance, overcome, and root out the evil seed, wherewith we
are naturally, as in the fall, leavened.
[414] The Second is that whereby we witness and know this pure and
perfect redemption in ourselves, purifying, cleansing, and redeeming us
from the power of corruption, and bringing us into unity, favour, and
friendship with God. By the first of these two, we that were lost in
Adam, plunged into the bitter and corrupt seed, unable of ourselves to
do any good thing, but naturally joined and united to evil, forward and
propense to all iniquity, servants and slaves to the power and spirit
of darkness, are, notwithstanding all this, so far reconciled to God by
the death of his Son, while enemies, that we are put into a capacity of
salvation, having the glad tidings of the gospel of peace offered unto
us, and God is reconciled unto us in Christ, calls and invites us to
himself, in which respect we understand these scriptures; [415] He slew
the enmity in himself. He loved us first; seeing us in our blood, he
said unto us, Live; he who did not sin his own self, bare our sins in
his own body on the tree; and he died for our sins, the just for the
unjust.
By the second, we witness this capacity brought into act, whereby
receiving and not resisting the purchase of his death, to wit, the
light, spirit, and grace of Christ revealed in us, we witness and
possess a real, true, and inward redemption from the power and
prevalency of sin, and so come to be truly and really redeemed,
justified, and made righteous, and to a sensible union and friendship
with God. [416] Thus he died for us, that he might redeem us from all
iniquity; and thus we know him and the power of his resurrection, and
the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable to his death.
This last follows the first in order, and is a consequence of it,
proceeding from it, as an effect from its cause: so as none could have
enjoyed the last, without the first had been, such being the will of
God; so also can none now partake of the first, but as he witnesseth
the last. Wherefore as to us, they are both causes of our
justification; the first the procuring efficient, the other the formal
cause.
[417] Fourthly, We understand not by this justification by Christ
barely the good works even wrought by the Spirit of Christ; for they,
as Protestants truly affirm, are rather an effect of justification than
the cause of it; but we understand the formation of [418] Christ in us,
Christ born and brought forth in us, from which good works as naturally
proceed as from a fruitful tree. It is this inward birth in us,
bringing forth righteousness and holiness in us, that doth justify us;
which having removed and done away the contrary nature and spirit that
did bear rule and bring condemnation, now is in dominion over all in
our hearts. Those then that come to know Christ thus formed in them, do
enjoy him wholly and undivided, who is the LORD our RIGHTEOUSNESS, Jer.
xxiii. 6. This is to be clothed with Christ, and to have put him on,
whom God therefore truly accounteth righteous and just. This is so far
from being the doctrine of Papists, that as the generality of them do
not understand it, so the learned among them oppose it, and dispute
against it, and particularly Bellarmine. Thus then, as I may say, the
formal cause of justification is not the works, to speak properly, they
being but an effect of it; but this inward birth, this Jesus brought
forth in the heart, who is the well-beloved, whom the Father cannot but
accept, and all those who thus are sprinkled with the blood of Jesus,
and washed with it. By this also comes that communication of the goods
of Christ unto us, by which we come to be made partakers of the divine
nature, as saith Peter, 2 Pet. i. 4. and are made one with him, as the
branches with the vine, and have a title and right to what he hath done
and suffered [419] for us; so that his obedience becomes ours, his
righteousness ours, his death and sufferings ours. And by this nearness
we come to have a sense of his sufferings, and to suffer with his seed,
that yet lies pressed and crucified in the hearts of the ungodly, and
so travail with it, and for its redemption, and for the repentance of
those souls that in it are crucifying as yet the Lord of Glory. Even as
the apostle Paul, who by his sufferings is said to fill up that which
is behind of the afflictions of Christ for his body, which is the
church. Though this be a mystery sealed up from all the wise men that
are yet ignorant of this seed in themselves, and oppose it,
nevertheless some Protestants speak of this justification by Christ
inwardly put on, as shall hereafter be recited in its place.
[420] Lastly, Though we place remission of sins in the righteousness
and obedience of Christ performed by him in the flesh, as to what
pertains to the remote procuring cause, and that we hold ourselves
formally justified by Christ Jesus formed and brought forth in us, yet
can we not, as some Protestants have unwarily done, exclude works from
justification. [421] For though, properly we be not justified for them,
yet are we justified in them; and they are necessary, even as causa
sine qua non, i. e. the cause, without which none are justified. For
the denying of this, as it is contrary to the scripture's testimony, so
it hath brought a great scandal to the Protestant religion, opened the
mouths of Papists, and made many too secure while they have believed to
be justified without good works. Moreover, though it be not so safe to
say they are meritorious, yet seeing they are rewarded, many of those
called the Fathers have not spared to use the word [merit,] which some
of us have perhaps also done in a qualified sense, but no ways to infer
the Popish abuses above mentioned. And lastly, if we had that notion of
good works which most Protestants have, we could freely agree to make
them not only not necessary, but reject them as hurtful, viz. That the
best works even of the saints are defiled and polluted. For though we
judge so of the best works performed by man, endeavouring a conformity
to the outward law by his own strength, and in his own will, yet we
believe that such works as naturally proceed from this spiritual birth
and formation of Christ in us are pure and holy, even as the root from
which they come; and therefore God accepts them, justifies us in them,
and rewards us for them of his own free grace. The state of the
controversy being thus laid down, these following positions do from
hence arise in the next place to be proved.
[422] S:. IV. First, That the obedience, sufferings, and death of
Christ is that by which the soul obtains remission of sins, and is the
procuring cause of that grace, by whose inward working Christ comes to
be formed inwardly, and the soul to be made conformable unto him, and
so just and justified. And that therefore, in respect of this capacity
and offer of grace, God is said to be reconciled; not as if he were
actually reconciled, or did actually justify, or account any just, so
long as they remain in their sins, really impure and unjust.
[423] Secondly, That it is by this inward birth of Christ in man that
man is made just, and therefore so accounted by God: wherefore, to be
plain, we are thereby, and not till that be brought forth in us,
formally, if we must use that word, justified in the sight of God;
because justification is both more properly, and frequently in
scripture taken in its proper signification for making one just, and
not reputing one merely such, and is all one with sanctification.
[424] Thirdly, That since good works as naturally follow from this
birth as heat from fire, therefore are [425] they of absolute necessity
to justification, as Causa sine qua non, i.e. though not as the cause
for which, yet as that in which we are, and without which we cannot be,
justified. And though they be not meritorious, and draw no debt upon
God, yet he cannot but accept and reward them: for it is contrary to
his nature to deny his own, since they may be perfect in their kind, as
proceeding from a pure holy birth and root. Wherefore their judgment is
false and against the truth that say, that the holiest works of the
saints are defiled and sinful in the sight of God: for these good works
are not the works of the law, excluded by the apostle from
justification.
[426] S:. V. As to the first, l prove it from Rom. iii. 25. Whom God
hath set forth to be a propitiation [427] through faith in his blood,
to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past,
through the forbearance of God. Here the apostle holds forth the extent
and efficacy of Christ's death, showing that thereby, and by faith
therein, remission of sins that are past is obtained, as being that
wherein the forbearance [428] of God is exercised towards mankind. So
that though men for the sins they daily commit deserve eternal death,
and that the wrath of God should lay hold upon them; yet, by virtue of
that most satisfactory sacrifice of Christ Jesus, the grace and seed of
God moves in love towards them, during the day of their visitation; yet
not so as not to strike against the evil, for that must be burnt up and
destroyed, but to redeem man out of the evil.
[429] Secondly, If God were perfectly reconciled with men, and did
esteem them just while they are actually unjust, and do continue in
their sins, then should God have no controversy with them; [430] how
comes he then so often to complain, and to expostulate so much
throughout the whole scripture with such as our adversaries confess to
be justified, telling them that their sins separate betwixt him and
them? Isai. lix. 2. For where there is a perfect and full
reconciliation, there is no separation. Yea, from this doctrine it
necessarily follows, either that such for whom Christ died, and whom he
hath reconciled, never sin, or that when they do so, they are still
reconciled, and their sins make not the least separation from God: yea,
that they are justified in their sins. From whence also would follow
this abominable consequence, that the good works and greatest sins of
such are alike in the sight of God, seeing neither the one serves to
justify them, nor the other to break their reconciliation, which
occasions great security; and opens a door to every lewd practice.
[431] Thirdly, This would make void the whole practical doctrine of the
gospel, and make faith itself needless. For if faith and repentance,
and the other conditions called for throughout the gospel, be a
qualification upon our part necessary to be performed, then, before
this be performed by us, we are either fully reconciled to God, or but
in a capacity of being reconciled to God, he being ready to reconcile
and justify us as these conditions are performed; which latter, if
granted, is according to the truth we profess. And if we are already
perfectly reconciled and justified before these conditions are
performed, (which conditions are of that nature that they cannot be
performed at one time, but are to be done all one's lifetime,) then can
they not be said to be absolutely needful; which is contrary to the
very express testimony of scripture, which is acknowledged by [432] all
Christians: For without faith it is impossible to please God. They that
believe not are condemned already because they believe not in the only
begotten Son of God. Except ye repent ye cannot be saved for if ye live
after the flesh ye shall die. And of [433] those that were converted; I
will remove your candlestick from you, unless ye repent. Should I
mention all the scriptures that positively and evidently prove this, I
might transcribe much of all the doctrinal part of the Bible. For since
Christ said, It is finished, and did finish his work sixteen hundred
years ago and upwards; if he so fully perfected redemption then, and
did actually reconcile [434] every one that is to be saved, not simply
opening a door of mercy for them, offering the sacrifice of his body,
by which they may obtain remission of their sins when they repent, and
communicating unto them a measure of his grace, by which they may see
their sins, and be able to repent; but really making them to be reputed
as just, either before they [435] believe, as say the Antinomians, or
after they have assented to the truth of the history of Christ, or are
sprinkled with the baptism of water, while nevertheless they are
actually unjust, so that no part of their redemption is to be wrought
by him now, as to their reconciliation and justification; then the
whole doctrinal part of the bible is useless, and of no profit: in vain
were the apostles sent forth to preach repentance and remission of
sins; and in vain do all the preachers bestow their labour, spend their
breath, and give forth writings; yea, much more in vain do the people
spend their money which they give them for preaching; seeing it is all
but Actum agere, but a vain and ineffectual essay, to do that which is
already perfectly done without them.
[436] But lastly, To pass by their human labours, as not worth the
disputing whether they be needful or not, since (as we shall hereafter
show) themselves confess the best of them is sinful; this also makes
void the present intercession of Christ for men. What will become of
that great article of faith, by which we affirm, That he sits at the
right [437] hand of God, daily making intercession for us; and for
which end the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings
which cannot be uttered? For Christ maketh not intercession for those
that are not in a possibility of salvation; that is absurd. Our
adversaries will not admit that he prayed for the world at all; and to
pray for those that are already reconciled, and perfectly justified, is
to no purpose: to pray for remission of sins is yet more needless, if
all be remitted, past, present, and to come. Indeed there is not any
solid solving of this, but by acknowledging according to the truth,
That Christ by his death removed the wrath of God, so far as to obtain
remission of sins for as many as receive that grace and light that he
communicates unto them, and hath purchased for them by his blood;
which, as they believe in, they come to know remission of sins past,
and power to save them from sin, and to wipe it away, so often as they
may fall into it by unwatchfulness or weakness, if, applying themselves
to this grace, they truly repent; for to as many as receive him, he
gives power to become the sons of God: so none are sons, none are
justified, none reconciled, until they thus receive him in that little
seed in their hearts: And life eternal is offered to those who, by
patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory, honour, and
immortality: for if the righteous man depart from his righteousness,
his righteousness shall be remembered no more. And therefore on the
other part, none are longer sons of God, and justified, than they
patiently continue in righteousness and well-doing. And therefore
Christ lives always making intercession, during the day of every man's
visitation, that they may be converted: and when men are in some
measure converted, he makes intercession that they may continue and go
on, and not faint, nor go back again. Much more might be said to
confirm this truth; but I go on to take notice of the common objections
against it, which are the arguments made use of to propagate the errors
contrary to it.
S:. VI. The first and chief is drawn from that saying of the apostle
before-mentioned, 2 Cor. v. 18, 19. God hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ: God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself,
not imputing their trespasses unto them.
[438] >From hence they seek to infer, That Christ fully perfected
the work of reconciliation while he was on earth.
[439] I answer; If by [reconciliation] be understood the removing of
wrath, and the purchase of that grace by which we may come to be
reconciled, we agree to it; but that that place speaks no more, appears
from the place itself: for when the apostle speaks in the perfect time,
saying, He hath reconciled us, he [440] speaks of himself and the
saints; who having received the grace of God purchased by Christ, were
through faith in him actually reconciled. But as to the world, he saith
[reconciling] not [reconciled]; which reconciling, though it denotes a
time somewhatpast, yet it is by the imperfect time, denoting that the
thing begun was not perfected: For this work Christ began towards all
in the days of his flesh, yea, and long before; for He was the mediator
from the beginning, and the lamb slain from the foundation of the
world: but in his flesh, after he had perfectly fulfilled the law, and
the righteousness thereof, had rent the veil, and made way for the more
clear and universal revelation of the gospel to all, both Jew and
Gentile; he gave up himself a most satisfactory sacrifice for sin;
which becomes effectual to as many as receive him in his inward
appearance, in his light in the heart. Again, this very place showeth
that no other reconciliation is intended, but the opening of a door of
mercy upon God's part, and a removing of wrath for sins that are past;
so as men, notwithstanding their sins, are stated in a capacity of
salvation: for the apostle, in the following verse, saith, Now then we
are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we
pray you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God. For if their
reconciliation had already been perfectly accomplished, what need any
entreating then to be reconciled? Ambassadors are not sent after a
peace already perfected, and reconciliation made, to entreat for a
reconciliation; for that implies a manifest contradiction.
[441] Secondly, They object, verse 21st of the same chapter, For he
hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him. From whence they argue, That as our
sin is imputed to Christ, who had no sin; so Christ's righteousness is
imputed to us, without our being righteous.
[442] But this interpretation is easily rejected; for though Christ
bare our sins, and suffered for us, and was among men accounted a
sinner, and numbered among transgressors; yet that God reputed him a
sinner, is no where proved. For it is said, He was found before him
holy, harmless, and undefiled, neither was there found any guile in his
mouth. [443] That we deserved these things, and much more for our sins,
which he endured in obedience to the father, and according to his
counsel, is true; but that ever God reputed him a sinner, is denied:
neither did he ever die that we should be reputed righteous, though no
more really such than he was a sinner, as hereafter appears. For
indeed, if this argument hold, it might be stretched to that length, as
to become very pleasing to wicked men that love to abide in their sins:
for if we be made righteous, as Christ was made a sinner, merely by
imputation; then as there was no sin, not in the least, in Christ, so
it would follow, that there needed no more righteousness, no more
holiness, no more inward sanctification in us, than there was sin in
him. So then, by his [being made sin for us] must be understood his
suffering for our sins, that we might be made partakers of the grace
purchased by him; by the workings whereof we are made the righteousness
of God in him. For that the apostle understood here a being made really
righteous, and not merely a being reputed such, appears by what
follows, seeing in vers. 14,15,16. of the following chapter, he argues
largely against any supposed agreement of light and darkness,
righteousness and unrighteousness; which must needs be admitted, if men
are to be reckoned ingrafted in Christ, and real members of him, merely
by an imputative righteousness, wholly without them, while they
themselves are actually unrighteous. And indeed it may be thought
strange, how some men have made this so fundamental an article of their
faith, which is so contrary to the whole strain of the gospel: a thing
which Christ in none of all his sermons and gracious speeches ever
willed any to rely upon; always recommending to us works, as
instrumental in our justification. And the more it is to be admired,
because that sentence or term (so frequently in their mouths, and so
often pressed by them, as the very basis of their hope and confidence)
to wit, The imputed righteousness of Christ, is not to be found in all
the bible, at least, as to my observation. Thus have I passed through
the first part, and that the more briefly, because many, who assert
this justification by bare imputation, do nevertheless confess, that
even the elect are not justified until they be converted; that is, not
until this imputative justification be applied to them by the Spirit.
[444]
[445] S:. VII. I come then to the second thing proposed by me, which
is, That it is by this inward birth, or Christ formed within, that we
are (so to speak) formally justified in the sight of God. I suppose I
have said enough already to demonstrate how much we ascribe to the
death and sufferings of Christ, as that whereby satisfaction is made to
the justice of God, remission of sins obtained, and this grace and seed
purchased, by and from which this birth proceeds. The thing now to be
proved is, That by Christ Jesus formed in us, we are justified, or made
just. Let it be marked, I use justification in this sense upon this
occasion.
[446] First then, I prove this by that of the apostle Paul, 1 Cor. vi.
11. And such were some of you; but ye are washed, but ye are
sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by
the Spirit of our God. First, This [justified] here understood, must
needs be a being really made just, and not a being merely imputed such;
else [sanctified] and [washed] might be reputed a being esteemed so,
and not a being really so; and then it quite overturns the whole intent
of the context. For the apostle showing them in the preceding verses,
how the unrighteous cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and descending
to the several species of wickedness, subsumes, That they were
sometimes such, but now are not any more such. Wherefore, as they, are
now washed and sanctified, so are they justified: for if this
justification were not real, then it might be alleged that the
Corinthians had not forsaken these evils; but, though they still
continued in them, were notwithstanding justified: which as in itself
it is most absurd, so it very clearly overturneth the very import and
intent of the place; as if the Corinthians turning Christians had not
wrought any real change in them, but had only been a belief of some
barren notions, which had wrought no alteration in their affections,
will, or manner of life. For my own part, I neither see any thing, nor
could ever yet hear or read any thing, that with any colour of reason
did evince [justified] in this place to be understood any other ways
than in its own proper and genuine interpretation of being made just.
[447] And for the more clear understanding hereof; let it be
considered, that this word [justify] is derived either from the
substantive justice, or the adjective just: both which words import the
substantive, that true and real virtue in the soul, as it is in itself;
to wit, it signifies really, and not suppositively, that excellent
quality expressed and understood among men by the word [justice]; and
the adjective [just] as applied, signifies a man or woman who is just,
that is, in whom this quality of justice is stated: for it would not
only be great impropriety, but also manifest falsity, to call a man
just, merely by supposition; especially if he were really unjust. Now
this word [justify] formed from justice, or just, doth beyond all
question signify a making just; it being nothing else but a composition
of the verb facio, and the adjective justus, which is nothing else than
thus, justifico, i. e. justum facio I make just; and [justified] of
justus and fio, as justus fio, I become just, and justificatus, i. e.
justus factus, I am made just. Thus also it is with verbs of this kind,
as sanctifico, from sanctus, holy, and facio; honorifico, from honor
and facio; sacrifico, from sacer and facio: all which are still
understood of the subject really and truly endued with that virtue and
quality from which the verb is derived. [448] Therefore, as none are
said to be sanctified that are really unholy while they are such; so
neither can any be truly said to be justified, while they actually
remain unjust. Only this verb justify hath, in a metaphorical and
figurative sense, been otherwise taken, to wit, in a law sense; as when
a man really guilty of a crime is freed from the punishment of his sin,
he is said to be justified; that is, put in the place as if he were
just. For this use of the word hath proceeded from that true
supposition, That none ought to be acquitted, but the innocent. Hence
also that manner of speaking, I will justify such a man, or I will
justify this or that, is used from the supposition that the person and
thing is really justifiable: and where there is an error and abuse in
the matter, so far there is also in the expression.
[449] This is so manifest and apparent, that ParAEus, a chief
Protestant, and a Calvinist also in his opinion, acknowledges this; "We
never at any time said," saith he, "nor thought, that the righteousness
of Christ was imputed to us, that by him we should be named formally
just, and not be so, as we have divers times already showed; for that
would no less soundly fight with right reason, than if a guilty man
absolved in judgment should say, that he himself was formally just by
the clemency of the judge granting him his life." Now is it not
strange, that men should be so facile in a matter of so great
concernment, as to build the stress of their acceptance with God upon a
mere borrowed and metaphorical signification, to the excluding, or at
least esteeming not, necessary, that without which the scripture saith
expressly, No man shall ever see God? [450] For if holiness be
requisite and necessary, of which this is said, then must good works
also; unless our adversaries can show us an holy man without good
works. But, moreover, [justified] in this figurative sense is used for
approved; and indeed for the most part, if not always in scripture,
when the word [justify] is used, it is taken in the worst part; that
is, that as the use of the word that way is an usurpation, so it is
spoken of such as usurp the thing to themselves, while it properly doth
not belong unto them; as will appear to those that will be at the pains
to examine these places; Exod. xxiii. 7. Job ix. 20. & xxvii. 5. Prov.
xvii. 15. Isai. v. 23. Jer. iii. 11. Ezek. xvi. 51, 52. Luke x. 29. &
xvi. 15. which are all spoken of men justifying the wicked, or of
wicked men justifying themselves; that is, approving themselves in
their wickedness. If it be at any time in this signification taken in
good part, it is very seldom, and that so obvious and plain by the
context, as leaves no scruple. But the question is not so much of the
use of the word, where it is passingly or occasionally used, as where
the very doctrine of justification is handled. Where indeed to mistake
it, viz. in its proper place, so as to content ourselves with an
imaginary justification, while God requires a real, is of most
dangerous consequence. For the disquisition of which let it be
considered, that in all these places to the Romans, Corinthians,
Galatians, and elsewhere, where the apostle handles this theme, the
word may be taken in its own proper signification without any
absurdity. [451] As, where it is often asserted in the above-mentioned
epistles to the Romans and Galatians, That a man cannot be justified by
the law of Moses, nor by the works of the law; there is no absurdity
nor danger in understanding it according to its own proper
signification, to wit, that a man cannot be made just by the law of
Moses; seeing this so well agrees with that saying of the same apostle,
That the law makes nothing perfect. And also where it is said, We are
justified by faith, it may be very well understood of being made just;
seeing it is also said, That faith purifies the heart; and no doubt the
pure in heart are just; and the just live by faith. Again, where it is
said, We are justified by grace, we are justified by Christ, we are
justified by the Spirit: it is no ways absurd to understand it of being
made just, seeing by his spirit and grace he doth make men just. But to
understand it universally the other way, merely for acceptance and
imputation, would infer great absurdities, as may be proved at large;
but because I judged it would be acknowledged, I forbear at present for
brevity's sake. [452] But further, in the most weighty places where
this word justify is used in scripture, with an immediate relation to
the doctrine of justification, our adversaries must needs acknowledge
it to be understood of making just, and not barely in the legal
acceptation: as first, in that of 1 Cor. vi. 11. But ye are washed, but
ye are sanctified, but ye are justified, as I before have proved; which
also many Protestants are forced to acknowledge. [453] "Neither diffide
we," saith Thysius, "because of the most great and strict connexion,
that justification doth sometimes seem also to comprehend
sanctification as a consequence, as in Rom. viii. 30. Tit. iii. 7. 1
Cor. vi. 11. And such sometimes were ye, but ye are washed, &c."
Zanchius, having spoken concerning this sense of justification, adds,
saying; "There is another signification of the word; viz. for a man
from unjust to be made just, even as sanctified signifies from unholy
to be made holy: in which signification the apostle said, in the place
above-cited, And such were some of you, &c. that is, of unclean ye are
made holy, and of unjust ye are made just by the Holy Spirit, for
Christ's sake, in whom ye have believed. Of this signification is that,
Rev. xxii. 11. Let him that is just, be just still; that is, really
from just become more just, even as from unjust he became just." "And
according to this signification the Fathers, and especially Augustine,
have interpreted this word." [454] Thus far he, H. Bullinger, on the
same place, 1 Cor. vi. speaketh thus; "By divers words," saith he, "the
apostle signifies the same thing, when he saith, Ye are washed, ye are
sanctified, ye are justified."
[455] Secondly, In that excellent saying of the apostle, so much
observed, Rom. viii. 30. Whom he called, them he also justified, and
whom he justified, them he also glorified: this is commonly called the
golden chain, as being acknowledged to comprehend the method and order
of salvation. And therefore, if [justified] were not understood here in
its proper signification of being made just, sanctification would be
excluded out of this chain. [456] And truly it is very worthy of
observation, that the apostle, in this succinct and compendious
account, makes the word [justified] to comprehend all betwixt calling
and glorifying; thereby clearly insinuating, that the being really
righteous is that only medium by which from our calling we pass to
glorification. Almost all do acknowledge the word to be so taken in
this place; not only so, but most of those who oppose are forced to
acknowledge, that as this is the most proper, so the most common
signification of it: thus divers famous Protestants acknowledge. "We
are not," saith D. Chamierus, such impertinent esteemers of words, as
to be ignorant, nor yet such importunate sophists, as to deny that the
words justification and sanctification do infer one another; yea, we
know that the saints are chiefly for this reason so called, because
that in Christ they have received remission of sins: and we read in the
revelations, Let him that is just, be just still; which cannot be
understood, except of the fruit of inherent righteousness. Nor do we
deny, but perhaps in other places they may be promiscuously taken,
especially by the Fathers." [457] "I take," saith Beza, the name of
justification largely, so as it comprehends whatsoever we acquire from
Christ, as well by imputation, as by the efficacy of the Spirit in
sanctifying us. So likewise is the word justification taken, Rom. viii.
30." Melancthon saith, "That to be justified by faith, signifies in
scripture not only to be pronounced just, but also of unrighteous to be
made righteous." Also some chief Protestants, though not so clearly,
yet in part, hinted at our doctrine, whereby we ascribe unto the death
of Christ remission of sins, and the work of justification unto the
grace of the Spirit, acquired by his death. Martinus BorAEus,
explaining that place of the apostle, Rom. iv. 25. Who was given for
our sins, and rose again for our justification, saith: "There are two
things beheld in Christ, which are necessary to our justification; the
one is his death, the other is his arising from the dead. By his death,
the sins of this world behoved to be expiated: by his rising from the
dead, it pleased the same goodness of God to give the Holy Spirit,
whereby both the gospel is believed, and the righteousness, lost by the
fault of the first Adam, is restored." And afterwards he saith; "The
apostle expresseth both parts in these words, Who was given for our
sins, &c. In his death is beheld the satisfaction for sin; in his
resurrection, the gift of the Holy Spirit, by which our justification
is perfected." And again, the same man saith elsewhere; "Both these
kinds of righteousness are therefore contained in justification,
neither can the one be separate from the other. So that in the
definition of justification, the merit of the blood of Christ is
included, both with the remission of sins, and with the gift of the
Holy Spirit, of justification and regeneration:" Martinus Bucerus
saith; Seeing by one sin of Adam the world was lost, the grace of
Christ hath not only abolished that one sin, and death which came by
it; but hath together taken away those infinite sins, and also led into
full justification as many as are of Christ; so that God now not only
remits unto them Adam's sin, and their own, but also gives them
therewith the Spirit of a solid and perfect righteousness, which
renders us conform unto the image of the first begotten." [458] And
upon these words [by Jesus Christ] he saith; "We always judge that the
whole benefit of Christ tends to this, that we might be strong through
the gift of righteousness, being rightly and orderly adorned with all
virtue, that is, restored to the image of God." [459] And lastly,
William Forbes, our countryman, bishop of Edinburgh, saith; "Whensoever
the scripture makes mention of the justification before God, as
speaketh Paul, and from him (besides others) Augustine, it appears that
the word [justify] necessarily signifies not only to pronounce just in
a law sense, but also really and inherently to make just; because that
God doth justify a wicked man otherwise than earthly judges. For he,
when he justifies a wicked or unjust man doth indeed pronounce him as
these also do; but by pronouncing him just, because his judgment is
according to truth, he also makes him really of unjust to become just."
And again, the same man, upon the same occasion, answering the more
rigid Protestants, who say, That God first justifies, and then makes
just; he adds "But let them have a care, lest by too great and empty
subtilty, unknown both to the scriptures and the fathers, they lessen
and diminish the weight and dignity of so great and divine a benefit,
so much celebrated in the scripture, to wit, justification of the
wicked. For if to the formal reason of justification of the ungodly
doth not at all belong his justification, (so to speak,) i. e. his
being made righteous, then in the justification of a sinner, although
he be justified, yet the stain of sin is not taken away, but remains
the same in his soul as before justification: and so, notwithstanding
the benefit of justification, he remains as before, unjust and a
sinner; and nothing is taken away, but the guilt and obligation to
pain, and the offence and enmity of God through non-imputation. But
both the scriptures and fathers do affirm, that in the justification of
a sinner, their sins are not only remitted, forgiven, covered, not
imputed, but also taken away, blotted out, cleansed, washed, purged,
and very far removed from us, as appears from many places of the holy
scriptures." The same Forbes shows us at length, in the following
chapter, That this was the confessed judgment of the fathers, out of
the writings of those who hold the contrary opinion; some whereof, out
of him, I shall note. [460] As, first, Calvin saith, "That the judgment
of Augustine, or at least his manner of speaking, is not throughout to
be received; who although he took from man all praise of righteousness,
and ascribed all to the grace of God, yet he refers grace to
sanctification, by which we are regenerate through the Spirit unto
newness of life." [461] Chemnitius saith, "That they do not deny, but
that the fathers take the word [justify] for renewing, by which works
of righteousness are wrought in us by the Spirit." And p. 130. "I am
not ignorant, that the fathers indeed often use the word [justify] in
this signification, to wit, of making just." [462] Zanchius saith,
"That the fathers, and chiefly Augustine, interpret the word [justify]
according to this signification, to wit, of making just; so that,
according to them, to be justified was no other than of unjust to be
made just, through the grace of God for Christ." He mentioneth more,
but this may suffice to our purpose.
[463] S:. VIII. Having thus sufficiently proved, that by justification
is to be understood a really being made righteous, I do boldly affirm,
and that not only from a notional knowledge, but from a real, inward
experimental feeling of the thing, That the immediate, nearest, or
formal cause (if we must in condescendence to some use this word) of a
man's justification in the sight of God, is, the revelation of Jesus
Christ in the soul, changing, altering, and renewing the mind by whom
(even the author of this inward work) thus formed and revealed, we are
truly justified and accepted in the sight of God. [464] For it is as we
are thus covered and clothed with him, in whom the Father is always
well pleased, that we may draw near to God, and stand with confidence
before his throne, being purged by the blood of Jesus inwardly poured
into our souls, and clothed with his life and righteousness therein
revealed. And this is that order and method of salvation held forth by
the apostle in that divine saying, Rom. v. 10. For if when we were
enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son; much more,
being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. For the apostle first
holding forth the reconciliation wrought by the death of Christ,
wherein God is near to receive and redeem man, holds forth his
salvation and justification to be by the life of Jesus. Now, that this
life is an inward, spiritual thing revealed in the soul, whereby it is
renewed and brought forth out of death, where it naturally hath been by
the fall, and so quickened and made alive unto God, the same apostle
shows, Eph. ii. 5. Even when we were dead in sins and trespasses, he
hath quickened us together in Christ (by whose grace ye are saved) and
hath raised us up together. Now this none will deny to be the inward
work of renovation, and therefore the apostle gives that reason of
their being saved by grace; which is the inward virtue and power of
Christ in the soul: but of this place more hereafter. Of the revelation
of this inward life the apostle also speaketh, 2 Cor. iv. 10. That the
life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our bodies; and ver. 11.
That the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
Now this inward life of Jesus is that whereby, as is before observed,
he said, we are saved.
[465] Secondly, That it is by this revelation of Jesus Christ, and the
new creation in us, that we are justified, doth evidently appear from
that excellent saying of the apostle included in the proposition
itself, Tit. iii. 5. According to his mercy he hath saved us, by the
washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, &c. Now that
whereby we are saved, that we are also no doubt justified by; which
words are in this respect synonymous. Here the apostle clearly ascribes
the immediate cause of justification to this inward work of
regeneration, which is Jesus Christ revealed in the soul, as being that
which formally states us in a capacity of being reconciled with God;
the washing or regeneration being that inward power and virtue, whereby
the soul is cleansed, and clothed with the righteousness of Christ, so
as to be made fit to appear before God.
[466] Thirdly. This doctrine is manifest from 2 Cor. xiii. 5. Examine
yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your ownselves: know ye
not your ownselves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be
reprobates? First, It appears here how earnest the apostle was that
they should know Christ in them; so that he presses this exhortation
upon them, and inculcates it three times. Secondly, He makes the cause
of reprobation, or not justification, the want of Christ thus revealed
and known in the soul whereby it necessarily follows, by the rule of
contraries, where the parity is alike, (as in this case it is evident,)
that where Christ is inwardly known, there the persons subjected to him
are approved and justified. For there can be nothing more plain than
this, That if we must know Christ in us, except we be reprobates, or
unjustified persons; if we know him in us, we are not reprobates, and
consequently justified ones. Like unto this is that other saying of the
same apostle, Gal. iv. 19. My little children, of whom I travail in
birth again, until Christ be formed in you; and therefore the apostle
terms this, Christ within, the hope of glory, Col. i. 27, 28. Now that
which is the hope of glory, can be no other than that which we
immediately and most nearly rely upon for our justification, and that
whereby we are really and truly made just. [467] And as we do not
hereby deny, but the original and fundamental cause of our
justification is the love of God manifested in the appearance of Jesus
Christ in the flesh, who by his life, death, sufferings, and obedience,
made a way for our reconciliation, and became a sacrifice for the
remission of sins that are past, and purchased unto us this seed and
grace, from which this birth arises, and in which Jesus Christ is
inwardly received, formed, and brought forth in us, in his own pure and
holy image of righteousness, by which our souls live unto God, and are
clothed with him, and have put him on, even as the scripture speaks,
Eph. iv. 23, 24. Gal. iii. 27. we stand justified and saved in and by
him, and by his Spirit and grace, Rom. iii. 24. 1 Cor. vi. 11. Tit.
iii. 7. So again, reciprocally, we are hereby made partakers of the
fulness of his merits, and his cleansing blood is near, to wash away
every sin and infirmity, and to heal all our backslidings, as often as
we turn towards him by unfeigned repentance, and become renewed by his
Spirit. Those then that find him thus raised, and ruling in them, have
a true ground of hope to believe that they are justified by his blood.
But let not any deceive themselves, so as to foster themselves in a
vain hope and confidence, that by the death and sufferings of Christ
they are justified, so long as sin lies at their door, Gen. iv. 7.
iniquity prevails, and they remain yet unrenewed and unregenerate; lest
it be said unto them, I know you not. Let that saying of Christ be
remembered, Not every one that saith, Lord, Lord, shall enter, but he
that doth the will of my father, Mat. vii. 21. To which let these
excellent sayings of the beloved disciple be added; Little children,
let no man deceive you; he that doth righteousness is righteous, even
as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; because if
our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all
things, 1 John iii. 7, 20.
Many famous Protestants bear witness to this inward justification by
Christ inwardly revealed and formed in man. [468] As M. BorhAEus: "In
the imputation, saith he, wherein Christ is ascribed and imputed to
believers for righteousness, the merit of his blood, and the Holy Ghost
given unto us by virtue of his merits, are equally included. [469] And
so it shall be confessed, that Christ is our righteousness, as well
from his merit, satisfaction, and remission of sins obtained by him, as
from the gifts of the Spirit of righteousness. And if we do this, we
shall consider the whole Christ proposed to us for our salvation, and
not any single part of him." The same man, p. 169. In our justification
then Christ is considered, who breathes and lives in us, to wit, by his
Spirit put on by us; concerning which putting on the apostle saith, Ye
have put on Christ." And again, p. 171. "We endeavour to treat in
justification, not of part of Christ, but him wholly, in so far as he
is our righteousness every way." And a little after: " As then blessed
Paul, in our justification, when he saith, Whom he justified, them he
glorified, comprehends all things which pertain to our being reconciled
to God the Father, and our renewing, which fits us for attaining unto
glory, such as faith, righteousness, Christ, and the gift of
righteousness exhibited by him, whereby we are regenerated, to the
fulfilling of the justification which the law requires; so we also will
have all things comprehended in this cause, which are contained in the
recovery of righteousness and innocency." And p. 181. "The form, saith
he, of our justification, is the divine righteousness itself, by which
we are formed just and good. This is Jesus Christ, who is esteemed our
righteousness, partly from the forgiveness of sins, and partly from the
renewing and the restoring of that integrity, which was lost by the
fault of the first Adam: so that this new and heavenly Adam being put
on by us, of which the apostle saith, Ye have put on Christ, ye have
put him on, I say, as the form, so the righteousness, wisdom, and life
of God." [470] So also affirmeth Claudius Alberius Inuncunanus, see his
Orat. Apodict. LausaniAE Excus. 1587. Orat. 2. p. 86, 87. Zuinglius
also, in his epistle to the princes of Germany, as cited by Himelius,
c. 7. p. 60. saith, "That the sanctification of the Spirit is true
justification, which alone suffices to justify." Estius upon 1 Cor. vi.
11. saith, "Lest Christian righteousness should be thought to consist
in the washing alone, that is, in the remission of sins, he addeth the
other degree or part, [but ye are sanctified,] that is, ye have
attained to purity, so that ye are now truly holy before God. Lastly,
Expressing the sum of the benefit received in one word, which includes
both the parts, But ye are justified (the apostle adds in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ, that is, by his merits, and in the Spirit of our
God, that is, the Holy Spirit proceeding from God, and communicated to
us by Christ." And lastly, Richard Baxter, a famous English preacher,
in his book called Aphorisms of Justification, p. 80. saith, "That some
ignorant wretches gnash their teeth at this doctrine, as if it were
flat Popery, not understanding the nature of the righteousness of the
new covenant; which is all out of Christ in ourselves, though wrought
by the power of the Spirit of Christ in us."
[471] S:. IX. The third thing proposed to be considered is, concerning
the necessity of good works to justification. I suppose there is enough
said before to clear us from any imputation of being Popish in this
matter.
[472] But if it be queried, Whether we have not said, or will not
affirm, that a man is justified by works?
[473] I answer; I hope none need, neither ought, to take offence, if in
this matter we use the plain language of the holy scripture, which
saith expressly in answer hereunto, James ii. 24. Ye see then how that
by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. I shall not offer
to prove the truth of this saying, since what is said in this chapter
by the apostle, is sufficient to convince any man that will read and
believe it; I shall only from this derive this one argument.
[474] If no man can be justified without faith, and no faith be living,
nor yet available to justification without works, then works are
necessary to justification:
But the first is true; therefore also the last.
For this truth is so apparent and evident in the scriptures, that for
the proof of it we might transcribe most of the precepts of the gospel.
I shall instance a few, which of themselves do so clearly assert the
thing in question, that they need no commentary, nor farther
demonstration. And then I shall answer the objections made against
this, which indeed are the arguments used for the contrary opinion,
Heb. xii. 14. Without holiness no man shall see God. [475] Mat. vii.
21. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven, but he that doth the will of my Father which is in
heaven. John xiii. 7. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do
them. 1 Cor. vii. 19. Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is
nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God. Rev. xxii. 14.
Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to
the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city: and
many more that might be instanced. From all which I thus argue:
[476] If those only can enter into the kingdom that do the will of the
Father; if those be accounted only the wise builders and happy that do
the sayings of Christ; if no observations avail, but only the keeping
of the commandments; and if they be blessed that do the commandments,
and thereby have right to the tree of life, and entrance through the
gates into the city; then works are absolutely necessary to salvation
and justification:
But the first is true; and therefore also the last.
The consequence of the antecedent is so clear and evident, that I think
no man of sound reason will call for a proof of it.
[477] S:. X. But they object, That works are not necessary to
justification: First, because of that saying of Christ, Luke xvii. 10.
When ye shall have done all these things that are commanded you, say,
We are unprofitable servants, &c.
[478] Answer; As to God we are indeed unprofitable, for he needeth
nothing, neither can we add anything unto him: but as to ourselves, we
are not unprofitable; else it might be said, that it is not profitable
for a man to keep God's commandments; which is most absurd, and would
contradict Christ's doctrine throughout. Doth not Christ, Mat. v.
through all those beatitudes, pronounce men blessed for their purity,
for their meekness, for their peaceableness, &c? And is not then that
for which Christ pronounceth men blessed, profitable unto them?
Moreover, Mat. xxv. 21, 23. Doth not Christ pronounce the men good and
faithful servants that improved their talents? Was not their doing of
that then profitable unto them? And ver. 30. it is said of him that hid
his talent, and did not improve it, Cast ye the unprofitable servant
into utter darkness. If then not improving of the talent made the man
unprofitable, and he was therefore cast into utter darkness, it will
follow by the rule of contraries, so far at least, that the improving
made the other profitable; seeing, if our adversaries will allow us to
believe Christ's words, this is made a reason, and so at least a cause
instrumental of their acceptance; Well done, good and faithful servant,
thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over
many things; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.
[479] Secondly, They object those sayings of the apostle, where he
excludes the deeds of the law from justification; as first, Rom. iii.
20. Because by the deeds of the law there shall be no flesh justified
in his sight. And verse 28. Therefore we conclude, that a man is
justified by faith, without the deeds of the law.
[480] Answ. We have shown already what place we give to works, even to
the best of works, in justification; and how we ascribe its immediate
and formal cause to the worker brought forth in us, but not to the
works. But in answer to this objection, I say, there is a great
difference betwixt the works of the law, and those of grace, or of the
gospel. The first are excluded, the second not, but are necessary. The
first are those which are performed in man's own will, and by his
strength, in a conformity to the outward law and letter; and therefore
are man's own imperfect works, or works of the law, which makes nothing
perfect: and to this belong all the ceremonies, purifications,
washings, and traditions of the Jews. The second are the works of the
Spirit of grace in the heart, wrought in conformity to the inward and
spiritual law; which works are not wrought in man's will, nor by his
power and ability, but in and by the power and Spirit of Christ in us,
and therefore are pure and perfect in their kind, (as shall hereafter
be proved,) and may be called Christ's works, for that he is the
immediate author and worker of them; such works we affirm absolutely
necessary to justification, so that a man cannot be justified without
them; and all faith without them is dead and useless, as the apostle
James saith. [481] Now, that such a distinction is to be admitted, and
that the works excluded by the apostle in the matter of justification
are of the first kind, will appear, if we consider the occasion of the
apostle's mentioning this, as well here, as throughout his epistle to
the Galatians, where he speaks of this matter and to this purpose at
large: which was this, That whereas many of the Gentiles, that were not
of the race or seed of Abraham, as concerning the flesh, were come to
be converted to the Christian faith, and to believe in him, some of
those that were of the Jewish proselytes, thought to subject the
faithful and believing Gentiles to the legal ceremonies and
observations, as necessary to their justification: this gave the
apostle Paul occasion at length, in his epistle to the Romans,
Galatians, and elsewhere, to show the use and tendency of the law, and
of its works, and to contra-distinguish them from the faith of Christ,
and the righteousness thereof; showing how the former was ceased and
become ineffectual, the other remaining, and yet necessary. And that
the works excluded by the apostle are of this kind of works of the law,
appears by the whole strain of his epistle to the Galatians, chap. i,
ii, iii, and iv. For after, in chap. iv. he upbraideth them for their
returning unto the observation of days and times, and that, in the
beginning of chap. v. he showeth them their folly, and the evil
consequence of adhering to the ceremonies of circumcision, then he
adds, ver. 6. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor
uncircumcision availeth, but faith, which worketh by love; and thus he
concludes again, chap. vi. ver. 15. For in Christ Jesus neither
circumcision availeth, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. From
which places appeareth that distinction of works before-mentioned,
whereof the one is excluded, the other necessary to justification. For
the apostle showeth here, that circumcision (which word is often used
to comprehend the whole ceremonies and legal performances of the Jews)
is not necessary, nor doth avail. Here then are the works which are
excluded, by which no man is justified; but faith, which worketh by
love, but the new creature, this is that which availeth, which is
absolutely necessary: for faith, that worketh by love, cannot be
without works; for, as it is said in the same 5th chapter, ver. 22.
Love is a work of the Spirit; also the new creature, if it avail and be
necessary, cannot be without works; seeing it is natural for it to
bring forth works of righteousness. [482] Again, that the apostle no
ways intends to exclude such good works appears, in that in the same
epistle he exhorts the Galatians to them, and holds forth the
usefulness and necessity of them, and that very plainly, chap. vi. ver.
7, 8, 9. Be not deceived, saith he God is not mocked; for whatsoever a
man soweth, that shall he also reap: for he that soweth to the flesh,
shall of the flesh reap corruption: but he that soweth to the Spirit,
shall of the, Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary of
well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not: Doth it
not hereby appear, how necessary the apostle would have the Galatians
know that he esteemed good works to be? To wit, not the outward
ceremonies and traditions of the law, but the fruits of the Spirit,
mentioned a little before; by which Spirit he would have them to be
led, and walk in those good works: as also, how much he ascribed to
these good works, by which he affirms life everlasting is reaped. Now,
that cannot be useless to man's justification, which capacitates him to
reap so rich an harvest.
[483] But lastly; For a full answer to this objection,and for the
establishing of this doctrine of good works, I shall instance another
saying of the same apostle Paul, which our adversaries also in the
blindness of their minds make use of against us; to wit, Tit. iii. 5.
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his
mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the
Holy Ghost. It is generally granted by all, that [saved] is here all
one as if it had been said [justified.] Now there are two kinds of
works here mentioned: one by which we are not saved, that is, not
justified; and another by which we are saved, or justified. The first,
the works of righteousness which we have wrought, that is, which we in
our first fallen nature, by our own strength, have wrought, our own
legal performances, and therefore may truly and properly be called
ours, whatever specious appearances they may have. And that it must
needs and ought to be so understood, doth appear from the other part,
By the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; seeing
regeneration is a work, comprehensive of many good works, even of all
those which are called the fruits of the Spirit. [484]
[485] Now in case it should be objected, That these may also be called
ours, because wrought in us, and also by us many times as instruments;
[486] I answer; It is far otherwise than the former: for in the first
we are yet alive in our own natural state, unrenewed, working of
ourselves, seeking to save ourselves, by imitating and endeavouring a
conformity to the outward letter of the law; and so wrestling and
striving in the carnal mind, that is enmity to God, and in the cursed
will not yet subdued. But in this second we are crucified with Christ,
we are become dead with him, have partaken of the fellowship of his
sufferings, are made conformable to his death; and our first man, our
old man with all his deeds, as well the openly wicked as the seemingly
righteous, our legal endeavours and foolish wrestling, are all buried
and nailed to the cross of Christ; and so it is no more we, but Christ
alive in us, the worker in us. [487] So that though it be we in a
sense, yet it is according to that of the apostle to the same
Galatians, ch. ii, ver. 20. I am crucified, yet nevertheless I live,
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: not I, but the grace of Christ in
me. These works are especially to be ascribed to the Spirit of Christ,
and the grace of God in us, as being immediately thereby acted and led
in them, and enabled to perform them. And this manner of speech is not
strained, but familiar to the apostles, as appears, Gal. ii. 8. For he
that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the
circumcision, the same was mighty in me, &c. Phil. ii. 13. For it is
God which worketh in you, both to will and to do, &c. So that it
appears by this place, that since the washing of regeneration is
necessary to justification, and that regeneration comprehends works,
works are necessary; and that these works of the law that are excluded,
are different from those that are necessary and admitted.
[488] S:. Xl. Thirdly, They object that no works, yea, not the works of
Christ in us, can have place in justification, because nothing that is
impure can be useful in it; and all the works wrought in us are impure.
For this they allege that saying of the prophet Isaiah, lxiv. 6. All
our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; adding this reason, That seeing
we are impure, so must our works be; which though good in themselves,
yet as performed by us, they receive a tincture of impurity, even as
clean water passing through an unclean pipe is defiled.
[489] That no impure works are useful to justification is confessed;
but that all the works wrought in the saints are such is denied. And
for answer to this, the former distinction will serve. We confess, that
the first sort of works above-mentioned are impure; but not the second:
because the first are wrought in the unrenewed state, but not the
other. And as for that of Isaiah, it must relate to the first kind; for
though he saith, All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, yet that
will not comprehend the righteousness of Christ in us, but only that
which we work of and by ourselves. For should we so conclude, then it
would follow, that we should throw away all holiness and righteousness;
since that which is as filthy rags, and as a menstruous garment, ought
to be thrown away; yea, it would follow, that all the fruits of the
Spirit, mentioned Gal. iv. were as filthy rags: whereas on the
contrary, some of the works of the saints are said to have a sweet
savour in the nostrils of the Lord; are said to be an ornament of great
price in the sight of God; are said to prevail with him, and to be
acceptable to him; which filthy rags and a menstruous garment cannot
be. [490] Yea, many famous Protestants have acknowledged, that this
place is not therefore so to be understood. Calvin upon this place
saith, "That it is used to be cited by some, that they may prove there
is so little merit in our works, that they are before God filthy and
defiled: but this seems to me to be different from the prophet's mind,"
saith he, "seeing he speaks not here of all mankind." Musculus upon
this place saith, "That it was usual for this people to presume much of
their legal righteousness, as if thereby they were made clean;
nevertheless they had no more cleanness than the unclean garment of a
man. Others expound this place concerning all the righteousness of our
flesh; that opinion indeed is true; yet I think that the prophet did
rather accommodate these sayings to the impurity of the people in legal
terms." The author (commonly supposed Bertius) speaking concerning the
true sense of the 7th chapter of the epistle to the Romans, hath a
digression touching this of Isaiah, saying; "This place is commonly
corrupted by a pernicious wresting; for it is still alleged, as if the
meaning thereof inferred the most excellent works of the best
Christians, &c." James Coret, a French minister in the church of Basil,
in his apology concerning justification against Alescales, saith;
"Nevertheless according to the counsel of certain good men, I must
admonish the reader, that it never came into our minds to abuse that
saying of Isa. lxiv. 6. against good works, in which it is said, that
all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, as if he would have that
which is good in our good works, and proceedeth from the Holy Spirit,
to be esteemed as a filthy and unclean thing."
S:. XII. As to the other part, That seeing the best of men are still
impure and imperfect, therefore their works must be so; it is to beg
the question, and depends upon a proposition denied; and which is to be
discussed at farther length in the next proposition. But though we
should suppose a man not thoroughly perfect in all respects, yet will
not that hinder, but good and perfect works in their kind may be
brought forth in him by the Spirit of Christ: neither doth the example
of water going through an unclean pipe hit the matter; because though
water may be capable to be tinctured with uncleanness, yet the Spirit
of God cannot, whom we assert to be the immediate author of those works
that avail in justification: and therefore Jesus Christ's works in his
children are pure and perfect, and he worketh in and through that pure
thing of his own forming and creating in them. [491] Moreover, if this
did hold, according to our adversaries' supposition, That no man ever
was or can be perfect, it would follow, that the very miracles and
works of the apostles, which Christ wrought in them, and they wrought
in and by the power, spirit, and grace of Christ, were also impure and
imperfect; such as their converting of the nations to the Christian
faith; their gathering of the churches, their writing of the holy
scriptures; yea, and their offering up and sacrificing of their lives
for the testimony of Jesus. What may our adversaries think of this
argument, whereby it will follow, that the holy scriptures, whose
perfection and excellency they seem so much to magnify, are proved to
be impure and imperfect, because they came through impure and imperfect
vessels? It appears by the confessions of Protestants, that the Fathers
did frequently attribute unto works of this kind that instrumental
work, which we have spoken of in justification, albeit some ignorant
persons cry out it is Popery, and also divers, and those famous
Protestants, do of themselves confess it. [492] Amandus Polanus, in his
Symphonia Catholica, cap. 27. de Remissione Peccatorum, p. 651. places
this thesis as the common opinion of Protestants, most agreeable to the
doctrine of the Fathers: "We obtain the remission of sins by
repentance, confession, prayers and tears, proceeding from faith, but
do not merit, to speak properly; and therefore we obtain remission of
sins, not by the merit of our repentance and prayers, but by the mercy
and goodness of God." Innocentius Gentiletus, a lawyer of great fame
among Protestants, in his Examen of the Council of Trent, p. 66, 67. of
justification, having before spoken of faith and works, adds these
words: "But seeing the one cannot be without the other, we call them
both conjunctly instrumental causes." Zanchius, in his fifth book, De
Natura Dei, saith; "We do not simply deny, that good works are the
cause of salvation, to wit, the instrumental, rather than the efficient
cause, which they call [sine qua non."] And afterwards, "Good works are
the instrumental cause of the possession of life eternal: for by these,
as by a means and a lawful way, God leads unto the possession of life
eternal." [493] G. Amesius saith, "That our obedience, albeit it be not
the principal and meritorious cause of life eternal, is nevertheless a
cause in some respect, administering, helping, and advancing towards
the possession of the life." Also Richard Baxter, in his book
above-cited, pag. 155. saith, "That we are justified by works in the
same kind of causality as by faith, to wit, as being both causes sine
qua non, or conditions of the new covenant on our part requisite to
justification." And p. 195. he saith, "It is needless to teach any
scholar, who hath read the writings of Papists, how this doctrine
differs from them."
[494] But lastly, Because it is fit here to say something of the merit
and reward of works, I shall add something in this place of our sense
and belief concerning that matter. We are far from thinking or
believing, that man merits any thing by his works from God, all being
of free grace; and therefore do we, and always have denied that Popish
notion of meritum ex condigno. Nevertheless we cannot deny, but that
God, out of his infinite goodness wherewith he hath loved mankind,
after he communicates to him his holy Grace and Spirit, doth, according
to his own will, recompense and reward the good works of his children;
and therefore this merit of congruity or reward, in so far as the
scripture is plain and positive for it, we may not deny; neither wholly
reject the work, in so far as the scripture makes use of it. For the
same Greek al~cov, which signifies [merit] is also in those places
where the translators express it worth, or worthy, as Mat. iii. 8. 1
Thess. ii. 12. 2 Thess. i. 5, 11. Concerning which R. Baxter saith, in
the book above-cited, p. 8. "But in a larger sense, as promise is an
obligation, and the thing promised is said to be debt, so the
performers of the conditions are called worthy, and that which they
perform merit; although properly all be of grace, and not of debt."
Also those, who are called the Fathers of the church, frequently used
this word of merit, whose sayings concerning this matter I think not
needful to insert, because it is not doubted, but evident, that many
Protestants are not averse from this word, in the sense that we use it.
The apology for the Augustan confession, art. 20. hath these words; "We
agree that works are truly meritorious, not of remission of sins, or
justification; but they are meritorious of other rewards corporal and
spiritual, which are indeed as well in this life, as after this life."
And further, "Seeing works are a certain fulfilling of the law, they
are rightly said to be meritorious; it is rightly said that a reward is
due to them."
[495] In the acts of the conference of Oldenburgh, the electoral
divines, p. 110. & 265. say, "In this sense our churches are also not
averse from the word [merit] used by the Fathers; neither therefore do
they defend the Popish doctrine of merit."
[496] G. Vossius, in his theological thesis concerning the merits of
good works, saith; "We have not adventured to condemn the word [merit]
wholly, as being that which both many of the ancients use, and also the
reformed churches have used in their confessions. Now that God judgeth
and accepteth men according to their works, is beyond doubt to those
that seriously will read and consider these scriptures," Mat. xvi. 27.
Rom. ii. 6, 7, 10. 2 Cor. v. 10. James i. 25. Heb. x. 35. 1 Pet. i. 17.
Rev. xxii. 12.
[497] S:. XIII. And to conclude this proposition, let none be so bold
as to mock God, supposing themselves justified and accepted in the
sight of God, by virtue of Christ's death and sufferings, while they
remain unsanctified and unjustified in their own hearts, and polluted
in their sins, lest their hope prove that of the hypocrite, which
perisheth. Neither let any foolishly imagine, that they can by their
own works, or by the performance of any ceremonies, or traditions, or
by the giving of gold or money, or by afflicting their bodies in
will-worship and voluntary humility, or foolishly striving to conform
their way to the outward letter of the law, flatter themselves that
they merit before God, or draw a debt upon him, or that any man or men
have power to make kind of things effectual to their justification,
lest they be found foolish boasters, and strangers to Christ and his
righteousness indeed. But blessed forever are they, that having truly
had a sense of their own unworthiness and sinfulness, and having seen
all their own endeavours and performances fruitless and vain, and
beheld their own emptiness, and the vanity of their vain hopes, faith
and confidence, while they remained inwardly pricked, pursued, and
condemned by God's holy witness in their hearts; and so having applied
themselves thereto, and suffered his grace to work in them, are become
changed and renewed in the spirit of their minds, passed from death to
life, and know Jesus arisen in them, working both the will and the
deed; and so having put on the Lord Jesus Christ, in effect are clothed
with him, and partake of his righteousness and nature; such can draw
near to the Lord with boldness, and know their acceptance in and by
him; in whom, and in as many as are found in him, the Father is well
pleased.
__________________________________________________________________
[398] Observat. The method of justification taken by the church of
Rome. The pope's doctrine of merits, the most beneficial of all his
revenue.
[399] Papists' justification depends upon the pope's bulls. Proof I.
Their sacraments. Papist's penance.
[400] Pr. II. Papist indulgences. Papist mass what it is.
[401] Luther and the Protestants opposing the popes doctrine of works,
fell into the other extreme of no good works necessary to
justification.
[402] Papists' device to get money.
[403] Papists' belief of justification meets in the same centre with
the Protestants' belief. So saith the Westminster Confession of Faith,
chap. 11. Sect. 1.
[404] State of the controversy.
[405] Expl. I.
[406] Justification springs of and from the love of God.
[407] Expl. 2.
[408] Christ giving himself a sacrifice for us.
[409] Expl. 3.
[410] The remission of sins.
[411] The only mediator betwixt God and man.
[412] A two-fold redemption.
[413] I. The redemption of Christ without us.
[414] II. The redemption wrought by Christ in us.
[415] Eph. ii. 15. 1 John iv. 10. Ezek xvi. 6. 1 Pet. ii. 22, 24; iii.
18.
[416] Tit. ii. 14. Phil. iii. 10.
[417] Expl. 4.
[418] The formation of Christ in us begets good works.
[419] Christ's obedience, righteousness, death, and sufferings are
ours.
[420] Expl. 5.
[421] Good works are not excluded justification.
[422] Posit. 1.
[423] Posit. 2.
[424] Posit. 3.
[425] Good works are Causa sine qua non---of justification.
[426] Posit. 1.
[427] Proof I.
[428] The efficacy of Christ's death to redeem man out of evil.
[429] Pr. II.
[430] I do not only speak concerning men before conversion, who
afterwards are converted, whom yet some of our antagonists, called
Antinomians, do aver were justified from the beginning; but also
touching those who according to the common opinion of Protestants have
been converted; whom albeit they confess they persist always in some
misdeeds, and sometimes in heinous sins, as is manifest in David's
adultery and murder, yet they assert to be perfectly and wholly
justified.
[431] Pr. III.
[432] Heb. xi. 6. John iii. 18. Luke xiii. 3. Rom. viii. 13.
[433] Apoc. ii. 5.
[434] A door of mercy opened by Christ upon repentance.
[435] The Antinomians' opinion of reconciliation and justification.
[436] Pr. IV.
[437] Christ's daily making intercession for us.
[438] Obj. 1.
[439] Answ.
[440] The difference between reconciled to Christ, and reconciling.
[441] Obj. 2.
[442] Answ. Heb. vii. 26. 1 Pet. ii. 22.
[443] Men's imputed righteousness solidly refuted.
[444] Christ's imputed righteousness not found in all the Bible.
[445] Posit. I. By Christ formed within we are justified.
[446] Proof I. Justified, i.e. being made just really, not by
imputation.
[447] The derivation of the word justify considered, &c.
[448] Justified none are, while they actually remain unjust.
[449] ParAEus de Just. cont. Bell. 1. 2. c. 7. p.469.
[450] Holiness required, therefore good works are.
[451] Justified in its proper signification.
[452] Justification signifies a making just.
[453] Thysius Disp. de Just. Thes. 3. Zanchius in c. p. 2. ad Eph. v.
4. loc. de Just.
[454] H. Bulling.
[455] Pr. II.
[456] Righteousness the only medium by which from our calling we pass
to glorification. D. Cham. Tom. 3. de Sanct. 1. 10. p. 1.
[457] Beza in c. 3. ad Tit. ver. 7. Melanet. in Apol. Conf. Aug.
BorAEus, in Gen. c. 15. Credidit. Abraham. Deo. p. 161. Idem lib. 3.
Reg. cap. 9 v. 4. p. 681. Bucerus, in Rom. 4. ad. ver. 16.
[458] Righteousness a conformity to the image of the first begotten.
[459] W. Forbes in consider. Modest. de Just lib. 2. Sect. 8. How God
justifies the wicked.
[460] Calv. Inst. 1. 3. c. 11. Sect. 15.
[461] Chemnit. in Exam. Conc Trid. de Just. p. 129.
[462] Zanchius in c. 2. ad Ep. ver. 4. loc. deJust. Thes. 13.
[463] Asser. 1.
[464] Christ revealed and formed in the soul of a man, is the formal
cause of man's justification. Proof I.
[465] Pr. II. The immediate cause of justification is the inward work
of regeneration.
[466] Pr. III. The cause of reprobation is Christ not known by inward
revelation.
[467] Christ by his death and suffering has opened a way for our
reconciliation.
[468] BorhAEus in Gen. p. 162.
[469] The testimonies of famous Protestants of inward justification.
[470] Inuncunan. Zuinglius. Estius. R. Baxter.
[471] Pos. III.
[472] Object.
[473] Answ. That works are necessary to justification.
[474] Arg.
[475] Not the sayers, but the doers, are blessed.
[476] Arg.
[477] Obj. 1. Unprofitable servants.
[478] Answ. God needeth nothing. Those that had improved their talents,
were called good and faithful servants.
[479] Obj. 2.
[480] Ans. 1. The works of the gospel or grace distinguished from those
of the law.
[481] The occasion of the apostle's speaking of the works of the law,
which are excluded.
[482] The usefulness and necessity of good works.
[483] Ans. 2.
[484] Justified not by our legal performances, but the fruit of the
Spirit.
[485] Object.
[486] Answ.
[487] Not we, but Christ in us is the worker of righteousness.
[488] Obj. 3.
[489] Ans. 1. What sort of righteousness is as filthy rags.
[490] Calvin and others, their sense concerning Isa. lxiv. 6. of our
righteousness. Musculus. Bertius, EpistolAE prAEfixAE dissert. ann. Ja.
Coret Apol. Impress. Paris, ann. 1597, page 78.
[491] Were the miracles and works of the apostles wrought by the power
of Christ in them, impure and imperfect?
[492] A. Polan. Our doctrine of justification and works is not Popery.
Gentiletus ex Impress. Gen. 1516. Zanchius.
[493] G. Ames. in Medulla S. Theologise, 1. 2. c. 1 Thes. 30. R.
Baxter.
[494] Of the merit and reward of works. God rewards the good works of
his children.
[495] Conference of Oldenburgh.
[496] G. Vossius of the word merit.
[497] Job. viii. 13. The hope of the hypocrite shall perish, but grace
is to the humble.
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PROPOSITION VIII.
Concerning Perfection.
In whom this pure and holy birth is fully brought forth, the body of
death and sin comes to be crucified and removed, and their hearts
united and subjected to the truth; so as not to obey any suggestions or
temptations of the evil one, but to be free from actual sinning and
transgressing of the law of God, and in that respect perfect: yet doth
this perfection still admit of a growth; and there remaineth always in
some part a possibility of sinning, where the mind doth not most
diligently and watchfully attend unto the Lord.
S:. 1. Since we have placed justification in the revelation of Jesus
Christ formed and brought forth in the heart, there working his works
of righteousness, and bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit, the
question is, How far he may prevail in us while we are in this life; or
we over our souls' enemies, in and by his strength? Those that plead
for justification wholly without them, merely by imputative
righteousness, denying the necessity of being clothed with real and
inward righteousness, do consequently affirm, "That it is impossible
for a man, even the best of men, to be free of sin in this life, which,
they say, no man ever was; but on the contrary, that none can, neither
of himself, nor by any grace received in this life (O wicked saying
against the power of God's grace,) keep the commandments of God
perfectly; but that every man doth break the commandments in thought,
word, and deed:" whence they also affirm, as was a little before
observed, "That the very best actions of the saints, their prayers,
their worships, are impure and polluted." [498] We on the contrary,
though we freely acknowledge this of the natural fallen man, in his
first state, whatever his profession or pretence may be, so long as he
is unconverted and unregenerate, yet we do believe, that to those in
whom Christ comes to be formed, and the new man brought forth, and born
of the incorruptible seed, (as that birth, and man in union therewith,
naturally doth the will of God,) it is possible so far to keep to it,
as not to be found daily transgressors of the law of God. And for the
more clear stating of the controversy, let it be considered:
[499] S:. II. First, That we place not this possibility in man's own
will and capacity, as he is a man, the son of fallen Adam, or as he, is
in his natural state, however wise or knowing, or however much endued
with a notional and literal knowledge of Christ, thereby endeavouring a
conformity to the letter of the law, as it is outward.
[500] Secondly, That we attribute it wholly to man, as he is born
again, renewed in his mind, raised by Christ, knowing Christ alive,
reigning and ruling in him, and guiding and leading him by his Spirit,
and revealing in him the law of the Spirit of life; which not only
manifests and reproves sin, but also gives power to come out of it.
[501] Thirdly, That by this we understand not such a perfection as may
not daily admit of a growth, and consequently mean not as if we were to
be as pure, holy, and perfect as God in his divine attributes of
wisdom, knowledge, and purity; but only a perfection proportionable and
answerable to man's measure, whereby we are kept from transgressing the
law of God, and enabled to answer what he requires of us; even as he
that improved his two talents so as to make four of them, perfected his
work, and was so accepted of his Lord as to be called a good and
faithful servant, nothing less than he that made his five ten. Even as
a little gold is perfect gold in its kind, as well as a great mass, and
a child hath a perfect body as well as a man, though it daily grow more
and more. Thus Christ is said, Luke ii. 52. to have increased in wisdom
and stature, and in favour with God and man; though before that time he
had never sinned, and was no doubt perfect, in a true and proper sense.
[502] Fourthly, Though a man may witness this for a season, and
therefore all ought to press after it; yet we do not affirm but those
that have attained it in a measure may, by the wiles and temptations of
the enemy, fall into iniquity, and lose it sometimes, if they be not
watchful, and do not diligently attend to that of God in the heart. And
we doubt not but many good and holy men, who have arrived to
everlasting life, have had divers ebbings and flowings of this kind;
for though every sin weakens a man in his spiritual condition, yet it
doth not so as to destroy him altogether, or render him uncapable of
rising again.
[503] Lastly, Though I affirm, that after a man hath arrived at such a
state, in which he may be able not to sin, yet he may sin:
nevertheless, I will not affirm that a state is not attainable in this
life, in which to do righteousness may be so natural to the regenerate
soul, that in the stability of that condition he cannot sin. Others may
speak more certainly of this state, if they have arrived at it. With
respect to myself, I speak modestly, because I ingenuously confess that
I have not yet attained it; but I cannot deny that there is such a
state, as it seems to be so clearly asserted by the apostle, 1 John
iii. 9. He that is born of God sinneth not, neither can he, because the
seed of God remaineth in him.
[504] The controversy being thus stated, which will serve to obviate
objections, I shall proceed, First, to show the absurdity of that
doctrine that pleads for sin for term of life, even in the saints.
[505] Secondly, To prove this doctrine of perfection from many pregnant
testimonies of the holy scripture.
[506] And, Lastly, To answer the arguments and objections of our
opposers.
[507] S:. III. First then, This doctrine, viz. That the saints nor can
nor ever will be free of sinning in this life, is inconsistent with the
wisdom of God, and with his glorious power and majesty, who is of purer
eyes than to behold iniquity;* who having purposed in himself to gather
to him that should worship him, and be witnesses for him on earth, a
chosen people, doth also no doubt sanctify and purify them. For God
hath no delight in iniquity, but abhors transgression; and though he
regard man in transgression so far as to pity him, and afford him means
to come out of it; yet he loves him not, neither delights in him, as he
is joined thereunto. Wherefore if man must be always joined to sin,
their God would always be at a distance with him; as it is written,
Isa. lix. 2. Your iniquities have separated between you and your God,
and your sins have hid his face from you; whereas on the contrary, the
saints are said to partake, even while here, of the divine nature, 1
Pet. i. 4. and to be one spirit with the Lord, 1 Cor. vi. 17. Now no
unclean thing can be so. It is expressly written, That there is no
communion betwixt light and darkness, 2 Cor. vi. 14. But God is light,
and every sin is darkness in a measure: [508] What greater stain then
can there be than this upon God's wisdom, as if he had been wanting to
prepare a means whereby his children might perfectly serve and worship
him, or had not provided a way whereby they might serve him in any
thing, but that they must withal still serve the devil no less, yea,
more than himself? For he that sinneth is the servant of sin, Rom. vi.
16. and every sin is an act of service and obedience to the devil. So
then if the saints sin daily in thought, word, and deed, yea, if the
very service they offer to God be sin, surely they serve the devil more
than they do God: for besides that they give the devil many entire
services, without mixture of the least grain to God, they give God not
the least service in which the devil hath not a large share: and if
their prayers and all their spiritual performances be sinful, the devil
is as much served by them in these as God, and in most of them much
more, since they confess that many of them are performed without the
leadings and influence of God's Spirit. Now who would not account him a
foolish master among men, who being able to do it, and also desirous it
might be so, yet would not provide a way whereby his children and
servants might serve him more entirely than his avowed enemy; or would
not guard against their serving of him, but be so imprudent and
unadvised in his contrivance, that whatever way his servants and
children served him, they should no less, yea often much more, serve
his enemy? What may we then think of that doctrine that would infer
this folly upon the Omnipotent and Only Wise God?
[509] S:. IV. Secondly, It is inconsistent with the justice of God. For
since he requires purity from his children, and commands them to
abstain from every iniquity, so frequently and precisely as shall
hereafter appear, and since his wrath is revealed against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, it must needs follow, that he
hath capacitated man to answer his will, or else that he requires more
than he has given power to perform; which is to declare him openly
unjust, and, with the slothful servant, to be an hard master. We have
elsewhere spoken of the injustice these men ascribe to God, in making
him to damn the wicked, to whom they allege he never afforded any means
of being good; but this is yet an aggravation more irrational and
inconsistent, to say, that God will not afford to those, whom he hath
chosen to be his own, (whom they confess he loveth,) the means to
please him. What can aIlow then from so strange a doctrine?
This imperfection in the saints either proceeds from God or from
themselves: If it proceeds from them, it must be because they are short
in improving or making use of the power given them, whereby they are
capable to obey; and so it is a thing possible to them, as indeed it is
by the help of that power: but this our adversaries deny: they are then
not to be blamed for their imperfection and continuing in sin, since it
is not possible for them to do otherwise. If it be not of themselves,
it must be of God, who hath not seen meet to allow them grace in that
degree to produce that effect: and what is this but to attribute to God
the height of injustice, to make him require his children to forsake
sin, and yet not to afford them sufficient means for so doing? [510]
Surely this makes God more unrighteous than wicked men, who if (as
Christ saith) their children require bread of them, will not give them
a stone; or instead of a fish, a serpent. But these men confess we
ought to seek of God power to redeem us from sin, and yet believe they
are never to receive such a power; such prayers then cannot be in
faith, but are all vain. Is not this to make God as unjust to his
children as Pharaoh was to the Israelites, in requiring brick, and not
giving them straw? But blessed be God, he deals not so with those that
truly trust in him, and wait upon him, as these men vainly imagine; for
such faithful ones find of a truth that his grace is sufficient for
them, and know how by his power and spirit to overcome the evil one.
[511] S:. V. Thirdly, This evil doctrine is highly injurious to Jesus
Christ, and greatly derogates from the power and virtue of his
sacrifice, and renders his coming and ministry, as to the great end of
it, ineffectual. For Christ, as for other ends, so principally he
appeared for the removing of sin, for the gathering a righteous
generation, that might serve the Lord in purity of mind, and walk
before him in fear, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and that
evangelical perfection which the law could not do. Hence he is said,
Tit. ii. 14. to have given himself for us, that he might redeem us from
all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of
good works. This is certainly spoken of the saints while upon earth;
but, contrary thereunto, these men affirm, that we are never redeemed
from all iniquity, and so make Christ's giving of himself for us void
and ineffectual, and give the apostle Paul the lie plainly, by denying
that Christ purifieth to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good
works. How are they zealous of good works, who are ever committing evil
ones? How are they a purified people, that are still in impurity, as
they are that daily sin, unless sin be accounted no impurity? Moreover
it is said expressly, 1 John iii. 5, 8. That for this purpose the Son
of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil;
and ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins. But these men
make this purpose of none effect; for they will not have the Son of God
to destroy the works of the devil in his children in this world,
neither will they at all believe that he was manifest to take away our
sins, seeing they plead a necessity of always living in them. And lest
any should wrest this place of the apostle, as if it were spoken only
of taking away the guilt of sin, as if it related not to this life, the
apostle, as if of purpose to obviate such an objection, adds in the
following verses, Whosoever abideth in him, sinneth not, &c. I hope
then they sin not daily in thought, word, and deed. Let no man deceive
you; he that doth righteousness, is righteous, even as he is righteous;
he that committeth sin, is of the devil; but he that sinneth daily in
thought, word, and deed, committeth sin; how comes such an one then to
be the child of God? And if Christ was manifest to take away sin, how
strangely do they overturn the doctrine of Christ that deny that it is
ever taken away here? And how injurious are they to the efficacy and
power of Christ's appearance? Came not Christ to gather a people out of
sin into righteousness; from the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of
the dear Son of God? And are not they that are thus gathered by him his
servants, his children, his brethren, his friends? who as he was, so
are they to be in this world, holy, pure, and undefiled. [512] And doth
not Christ still watch over them, stand by them, pray for them, and
preserve them by his power and Spirit, walk in them, and dwell among
them; even as the devil on the other hand doth among the reprobate
ones? How comes it then that the servants of Christ are less his
servants than the devil's are his? Or is Christ unwilling to have his
servants thoroughly pure? Which were gross blasphemy to assert,
contrary to many scriptures. Or is he not able by his power to preserve
and enable his children to serve him? Which were no less blasphemous to
affirm of him, concerning whom the scriptures declare, That he has
overcome sin, death, hell, and the grave, and triumphed over them
openly, and that all power in heaven and earth is given to him. But
certainly if the saints sin daily in thought, word, and deed, as these
men assert, they serve the devil daily, and are subject to his power;
and so he prevails more than Christ doth, and holds the servants of
Christ in bondage, whether Christ will or not. But how greatly then
doth it contradict the end of Christ's coming? as it is expressed by
the apostle, Eph. v. 25, 26, 27. Even as Christ also loved the church,
and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the
washing of water by the word: that he might present it to himself a
glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but
that it should be holy, and without blemish. Now if Christ hath really
thus answered the thing he came for, then the members of this church
are not always sinning in thought, word, and deed, or there is no
difference betwixt being sanctified and unsanctified, clean and
unclean, holy and unholy, being daily blemished with sin, and being
without blemish.
[513] S:. VI. Fourthly, This doctrine renders the work of the ministry,
the preaching of the word, the writing of the scripture, and the
prayers of holy men, altogether useless and ineffectual. As to the
first, Eph. iv. 11. Pastors and teachers are said to be given for the
perfection of the saints, &c. until we all come in the unity of the
faith, and of the knowledge of the son of God, unto a perfect man, unto
a measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. Now if there be a
necessity of sinning daily, and in all things, then there can be no
perfection; for such as do so cannot be esteemed perfect. And if for
effectuating this perfection in the saints the ministry be appointed
and disposed of God, do not such as deny the possibility hereof render
the ministry useless, and of no profit? Seeing there can be no other
true use assigned, but to lead people out of sin into righteousness. If
so be these ministers assure us that we need never expect to be
delivered from it, do not they render their own work needless? What
needs preaching against sin, for the reproving of which all preaching
is, if it can never be forsaken? Our adversaries are exalters of the
scriptures in words, much crying up their usefulness and perfection:
now the apostle tells us, 2 Tim. iii. 17. That the scriptures are for
making the man of God perfect; and if this be denied to be attainable
in this life, then the scriptures are of no profit; for in the other
life we shall not have use for them. It renders the prayers of the
saints altogether useless, seeing themselves do confess they ought to
pray daily that God would deliver them from evil, and free them from
sin, by the help of his Spirit and grace, while in this world. But
though we might suppose this absurdity to follow, that their prayers
are without faith, yet were not that so much, if it did not infer the
like upon the holy apostles, who prayed earnestly for this end, and
therefore no doubt believed it attainable, Col. iv. 12. Labouring
fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect, &c. 1 Thess.
iii. 13. and v. 23. &c.
S:. VII. [514] But Fifthly, This doctrine is contrary to common reason
and sense. For the two opposite principles, whereof the one rules in
the children of darkness, the other in the children of light, are sin
and righteousness; and as they are respectively leavened and actuated
by them, so they are accounted either as reprobated or justified,
seeing it is abomination in the sight of God, either to justify the
wicked or condemn the just. Now to say that men cannot be so leavened
by the one as to be delivered from the other, is in plain words to
affirm, that sin and righteousness are consistent; and that a man may
be truly termed righteous, though he be daily sinning in every thing he
doth; and then what difference betwixt good and evil? Is not this to
fall into that great abomination of putting light for darkness, and
calling good evil, and evil good? Since they say the very best actions
of God's children are defiled and polluted, and that those that sin
daily in thought, word, and deed, are good men and women, the saints
and holy servants of the holy pure God. Can there be any thing more
repugnant than this to common reason? Since the subject is still
denominated from that accident that doth most influence it; as a wall
is called white when there is much whiteness, and black when there is
much blackness, and such like; but when there is more unrighteousness
in a man than righteousness, that man ought rather to be denominated
unrighteous than righteous. [515] Then surely if every man sin daily in
thought, word, and deed, and that in his sins there is no righteousness
at all, and that all his righteous actions are polluted and mixed with
sin, then there is in every man more unrighteousness than
righteousness; and so no man ought to be called righteous, no man can
be said to be sanctified or washed. Where are then the children of God?
Where are the purifed ones? Where are they who were sometimes unholy,
but now holy: that sometimes were darkness, but now are light in the
Lord? There can none such be found then at this rate, except that
unrighteousness be esteemed so: and is not this to fall into that
abomination above mentioned of justifying the ungodly? [516] This
certainly lands in that horrid blasphemy of the Ranters, that affirm
there is no difference betwixt good and evil, and that all is one in
the sight of God. I could show many more gross absurdities, evil
consequences, and manifest contradictions implied in this sinful
doctrine; but this may suffice at present, by which also in a good
measure the proof of the truth we affirm is advanced. Yet nevertheless,
for the further evidencing of it, I shall proceed to the second thing
proposed by me, to wit, to prove this from several testimonies of the
holy scriptures.
S:. VIII. [517] And First, I prove it front the peremptory positive
command of Christ and his apostles, seeing this is a maxim engraven in
every man's heart naturally, that no man is bound to do that which is
impossible: since then Christ and his apostles have commanded us to
keep all the commandments, and to be perfect in this respect, it is
possible for us so to do. Now that this is thus commanded without any
commentary or consequence, is evidently apparent from these plain
testimonies, Mat. v. 48. and vii. 21. John xiii. 17. 1 Cor. vii. 19. 2
Cor. xiii. 11. 1 John ii. 3, 4, 5, 6. and iii 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,
10. These scriptures intimate a positive command for it; they declare
the absolute necessity of it; and therefore, as if they had purposely
been written to answer the objections of our opposers, they show the
folly of those that will esteem themselves children or friends of God,
while they do otherwise.
[518] Secondly, It is possible, because we receive the gospel and law
thereof for that effect; and it is expressly promised to us, as we are
under grace, as appears by these scriptures, Rom. iv. 14. Sin shall not
have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace:
and Rom. viii. 3. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak
through the flesh, God sending his own Son, &c. that the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us, &c. [519] For if this were not a
condition both requisite, necessary, and attainable under the gospel,
there were no difference betwixt the bringing in of a better hope, and
the law which made nothing perfect; neither betwixt those which are
under the gospel, or who under the law enjoyed and walked in the life
of the gospel, and mere legalists. Whereas the apostle, throughout the
whole sixth to the Romans, argues not only the possibility, but the
necessity of being free from sin, from their being under the gospel,
and under grace, and not under the law; and therefore states himself
and those to whom he wrote in that condition in these verses, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6, 7. and therefore in the 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18 verses he argues
both the possibility and necessity of this freedom from sin almost in
the same manner we did a little before; and in the 22d he declares them
in measure to have attained this condition in these words, But now
being made free from sin, and become servants to God; ye have your
fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. [520] And as this
perfection or freedom from sin is attained and made possible where the
gospel and inward law of the Spirit is received and known, so the
ignorance hereof has been and is an occasion of opposing this truth.
For man not minding the light or law within his heart, which not only
discovers sin but leads out of it, and so being a stranger to the new
life and birth that is born of God, which naturally does his will, and
cannot of its own nature transgress the commandments of God, doth, I
say, in his natural state look at the commandments as they are without
him in the letter; and finding himself reproved and convicted, is by
the letter killed, [521] but not made alive. So man, finding himself
wounded, and not applying himself inwardly to that which can heal,
labours in his own will after a conformity to the law as it is without
him, which he can never obtain, but finds the more he wrestles, the
more he falleth short. So this is the Jew still in effect, with his
carnal commandment, with the law without, in the first covenant state,
which makes not the comers thereunto perfect, as pertaining to the
conscience, Heb. ix. 9. though they may have here a notion of
Christianity, and an external faith in Christ. This hath made them
strain and wrest the scriptures for an imputative righteousness wholly
without them, to cover their impurities; and this hath made them
imagine an acceptance with God possible, though they suppose it
impossible ever to obey Christ's commands. But alas! O deceived souls!
that will not avail in the day wherein God will judge every man
according to his work, whether good or bad. It will not save thee to
say, it was necessary for thee to sin daily in thought, word, and deed;
for such as do so have certainly obeyed unrighteousness: and what is
provided for such, but tribulation and anguish, indignation and wrath;
even as glory, honour, and peace, immortality and eternal life to such
as have done good, and patiently continued in well doing. [522] So
then, if thou desirest to know this perfection and freedom from sin
possible for thee, turn thy mind to the light and spiritual law of
Christ in the heart, and suffer the reproofs thereof; bear the judgment
and indignation of God upon the unrighteous part in thee as therein is
revealed, which Christ hath made tolerable for thee, and so suffer
judgment in thee to be brought forth into victory, and thus come to
partake of the fellowship of Christ's sufferings, and be made
conformable unto his death, that thou mayest feel thyself crucified
with him to the world by the power of his cross in thee; so that that
life that sometimes was alive in thee to this world, and the love and
lusts thereof, may die, and a new life be raised, by which thou mayest
live hence forward to God, and not to or for thyself; and with the
apostle thou mayest say, Gal. ii. 20. It is no more I, but Christ alive
in me; and then thou wilt be a Christian indeed, and not in name only,
as too many are; then thou wilt know what it is to have put off the old
man with his deeds, who indeed sins daily in thought, word, and deed;
and to have put on the new man, that is renewed in holiness, after the
image of him that hath created him, Eph. iv. 24. and thou wilt witness
thyself to be God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good
works, and so not to sin always. [523] And to this new man Christ's
yoke is easy, and his burden is light; though it be heavy to the old
Adam; yea, the commandments of God are not unto this man grievous; for
it is his meat and drink to be found fulfilling the will of God.
[524] Lastly, This perfection or freedom from sin is possible, because
many have attained it, according to the express testimony of the
scripture; some before the law, and some under the law, through
witnessing and partaking of the benefit and effect of the gospel, and
much more many under the gospel. As first, It is written of Enoch, Gen.
v. 22, 24. that he walked with God, which no man while sinning can; nor
doth the scripture record any failing of his. It is said of Noah, Gen.
vi. 9. and of Job i. 8. and of Zacharias and Elizabeth, Luke i. 6. that
they were perfect; but under the gospel, besides that of the Romans
above mentioned, see what the apostle saith of many saints in general,
Eph. ii. 4, 5, 6. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love
wherewith he hath loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ; by grace ye are saved; and hath
raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus, &c. I judge while they were sitting in these heavenly
places, they could not be daily sinning in thought, word, and deed;
neither were all their works which they did there as filthy rags, or as
a menstruous garment. See what is further said to the Hebrews, iii. 22,
23. Spirits of just men made perfect. And to conclude, let that of the
Revelations, xiv. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. be considered, where though their
being found without fault be spoken in the present time, yet it is not
without respect to their innocency while upon earth; and their being,
redeemed from among men, and no guile found in their mouth, is
expressly mentioned in the time past. [525] But I shall proceed now, in
the third place, to answer the objections, which indeed are the
arguments of our opposers.
S:. IX. [526] I shall begin with their chief and great argument, which
is the words of the apostle, 1 John i. 8. If we say that we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. This they think
invincible.
[527] But is it not strange to see men so blinded with partiality? How
many scriptures tenfold more plain do they reject, and yet stick so
tenaciously to this, that can receive so many answers? As first, [If we
say we have no sin, &c.] will not import the apostle himself to be
included. Sometimes the scripture useth this manner of expression when
the person speaking cannot be included; which manner of speech the
grammarians call metaschematismus. Thus James iii. 9, 10. speaking of
the tongue, saith, Therewith bless we God, and therewith curse we men;
adding, These things ought not so to be. Who from this will conclude
that the apostle was one of those cursers? [528] But secondly, This
objection hitteth not the matter; he saith not, We sin daily in
thought, word, and deed; far less that the very good works which God
works in us by his Spirit are sin: yea, the very next verse clearly
shows, that upon confession and repentance we are not only forgiven,
but also cleansed; He is faithful to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Here is both a forgiveness and
removing of the guilt, and a cleansing or removing of the filth; for to
make forgiveness and cleansing to belong both to the removing of the
guilt, as there is no reason for it from the text, so it were a most
violent forcing of the words, and would imply a needless tautology. The
apostle having shown how that not the guilt only, but even the filth
also of sin is removed, subsumes his words in the time past in the 10th
verse, If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar. [529] Thirdly,
As Augustine well observed, in his exposition upon the epistle to the
Galatians, It is one thing not to sin, and another thing not to have
sin. [530] The apostle's words are not if we say we sin not, or commit
not sin daily, but we say we have no sin: and betwixt these two there
is a manifest difference; for in respect all have sinned, as we freely
acknowledge, all may be said in a sense to have sin. Again, sin may be
taken for the seed of sin, which may be in those that are redeemed from
actual sinning; but as to the temptations and provocations proceeding
from it being resisted by the servants of God, and not yielded to, they
are the devil's sin that tempteth, not the man's that is preserved.
[531] Fourthly, This being considered, as also how positive and plain
once and again the same apostle is in that very epistle, as in divers
places above cited, is it equal or rational to strain this one place,
presently after so qualified and subsumed in the time past, to
contradict not only other positive expressions of his, but the whole
tendency of his epistle, and of the rest of the holy commands and
precepts of the scripture?
[532] Secondly, Their second objection is from two places of scripture,
much of one signification: the one is, 1 Kings viii. 46. For there is
no man that sinneth not. The other is, Eccles. vii. 20. For there is
not a just man upon earth, that doth good, and sinneth not.
[533] I answer, First, These affirm nothing of a daily and continual
sinning, so as never to be redeemed from it; but only that all have
sinned, or that there is none that doth not sin, though not always, so
as never to cease to sin; and in this lies the question. Yea, in that
place of the Kings he speaks within two verses of the returning of such
with all their souls and hearts; which implies a possibility of leaving
off sin. Secondly, there is a respect to be had to the seasons and
dispensations; for if it should be granted that in Solomon's time there
was none that sinned not, it will not follow that there are none such
now, or that it is a thing not now attainable by the grace of God under
the gospel for A non esse ad non posse non valet sequela. And Lastly,
This whole objection hangs upon a false interpretation; for the Hebrew
word btonl may be read in the Potential Mood, thus, There is no man who
may not sin, as well as in the Indicative: so both the old Latin,
Junius and Tremellius, and Vatablus have it; and the same word is so
used, Psalm cxix. 11. I have hid thy word in my heart, 17NtOhN N17 that
is to say, That I may not, sin against thee, in the Potential Mood, and
not in the Indicative; which being more answerable to the universal
scope of the scriptures, the testimony of the truth, and the sense
almost of all interpreters, doubtless ought to be so understood, and
the other interpretation rejected as spurious.
[534] Thirdly, They object some expressions of the apostle Paul, Rom.
vii. 19. For the good that I would, I do not; but the evil which I
would not, that I do. And verse 24. O wretched man that I am! who shall
deliver me from the body of this death?
[535] I answer, This place infers nothing, unless it were apparent that
the apostle here were speaking of his own condition, and not rather in
the person of others, or what he himself had sometimes borne; which is
frequent in scripture, as in the case of cursing, in James before
mentioned. But there is nothing in the text that doth clearly signify
the apostle to be speaking of himself, or of a condition he was then
under, or was always to be under; yea, on the contrary, in the former
chapter, as afore is at large shown, he declares, they were dead to
sin; demanding how such should yet live any longer therein? Secondly,
It appears that the apostle personated one not yet come to a spiritual
condition, in that he saith, verse 14. But I am carnal, sold under sin.
Now is it to be imagined that the apostle Paul, as to his own proper
condition, when he wrote that epistle, was a carnal man, who in chap.
i. testifies of himself, That he was separated to be an apostle,
capable to impart to the Romans spiritual gifts; and chap. viii. ver.
2. That the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus had made him free
from the law of sin and death? So then he was not carnal. And seeing
there are spiritual men in this life, as our adversaries will not deny,
and is intimated through the whole viiith chapter to the Romans, it
will not be denied but the apostle was one of them: so then as his
calling himself carnal in chap. vii. cannot be understood of his own
proper state, neither can the rest of what he speaks there of that kind
be so understood: yea after, verse 24. where he makes that exclamation,
he adds in the next verse, I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord;
signifying that by him he witnessed deliverance; and so goeth on,
showing how he had obtained it in the next chapter, viz. viii. ver. 35.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? And ver. 37. But in all
these things we are more than conquerors: and in the last verse,
Nothing shall be able to separate us, &c. But wherever there is a
continuing in sin, there is a separation in some degree, seeing every
sin is contrary to God, and avoluia, i. e. a transgression of the law,
1 John iii. 4. and whoever committeth the least sin, is overcome of it,
and so in that respect is not a conqueror, but conquered. [536] This
condition then, which the apostle plainly testified he with some others
had obtained, could not consist with continual remaining and abiding in
sin.
[537] Fourthly, They object the faults and sins of several eminent
saints, as Noah, David, &c.
[538] I answer, That doth not at all prove the case: for the question
is not whether good men may not fall into sin, which is not denied; but
whether it be not possible for them not to sin? It will not follow
because these men sinned, that therefore they were never free of sin,
but always sinned: for at this rate of arguing, it might be urged,
according to this rule, (Contrariorum par ratio, i. e. The reason of
contraries is alike,) that if, because a good man hath sinned once or
twice, he can never be free from sin, but must always be daily and
continually a sinner all his life long; then by the rule of contraries,
if a wicked man have done good once or twice, he can never be free from
righteousness, but must always be a righteous man all his lifetime:
which as it is most absurd in itself, so it is contrary to the plain
testimony of the scripture, Ezek. xxxiii. 12-18. [539]
[540] Lastly, They object, That if perfection or freedom from sin be
attainable, this will render mortification of sin useless, and make the
blood of Christ of no service to us, neither need we any more pray for
forgiveness of sins.
[541] I answer, I had almost omitted this objection, because of the
manifest absurdity of it: for can mortification of sin be useless,
where the end of it is obtained? seeing there is no attaining of this
perfection but by mortification. Doth the hope and belief of overcoming
render the fight unnecessary? Let rational men judge which hath most
sense in it, to say, as our adversaries do, It is necessary that we
fight and wrestle, but we must never think of overcoming, we must
resolve still to be overcome; or to say, Let us fight, because we may
overcome? Whether do such as believe they may be cleansed by it, or
those that believe they can never be cleansed by it, render the blood
of Christ most effectual? If two men were both grievously diseased, and
applied themselves to a physician for remedy, which of those do most
commend the physician and his cure, he that believeth he may be cured
by him, and as he feels himself cured, confesseth that he is so, and so
can say this is a skilful physician, this is a good medicine, behold I
am made whole by it, or he that never is cured, nor ever believes that
he can so long as he lives? [542] As for praying for forgiveness, we
deny it not; for that all have sinned, and therefore all need to pray
that their sins past may be blotted out, and that they may be daily
preserved from sinning. And if hoping or believing to be made free from
sin, hinders praying for forgiveness of sin, it would follow by the
same inference that men ought not to forsake murder, adultery, or any
of these gross evils, seeing the more men are sinful, the more
plentiful occasion there would be of asking forgiveness of sin, and the
more work for mortification. But the apostle had sufficiently refuted
such sin-pleasing cavils in these words, Rom. vi. 1, 2. Shall we
continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid.
But lastly, It may be easily answered, by a retortion to those that
press this from the words of the Lord's prayer, forgive us our debts,
that this militates no less against perfect justification than against
perfect sanctification: for if all the saints, the least as well as the
greatest, be perfectly justified in that very hour wherein they are
converted, as our adversaries will have it, then they have remission of
sins long before they die. May it not then be said to them, What need
have ye to pray for remission of sin, who are already justified, whose
sins are long ago forgiven, both past and to come?
[543] S:. X. But this may suffice: concerning this possibility Jerom
speaks clearly enough, lib. 3. adver. Pelagium, "This we also say, that
a man may not sin, if he will, for a time and place, according to his
bodily weakness, so long as his mind is intent, so long as the cords of
the Cithara relax not by any vice:" and again in the same book, "Which
is that that I said, that it is put in our power (to wit, being helped
by the grace of God) either to sin or not to sin." For this was the
error of Pelagius, which we indeed reject and abhor, and which the
Fathers deservedly withstood, "That man by his natural strength,
without the help of God's grace, could attain to that state so as not
to sin." [544] And Augustine himself, a great opposer of the Pelagian
heresy, did not deny this possibility as attainable by the help of
God's grace, as in his book de Spiritu & litera, cap. 2. and his book
de Natura & Gratis against Pelagius, cap. 42, 50, 60, and 63. de Gestis
Concilii PalAEstini, cap. 7, and 2, and de Peccato Originali, lib. 2.
cap. 2. [545] Gelasius also, in his disputation against Pelagius,
saith, "But if any affirm that this may be given to some saints in this
life, not by the power of man's strength, but by the grace of God, he
doth well to think so confidently, and hope it faithfully; for by this
gift of God all things are possible." That this was the common opinion
of the Fathers, appears from the words of the Aszansie Council, canon
the last, "We believe also this according to the Catholic faith, that
all who are baptized through grace by baptism received, and Christ
helping them, and co-working, may and ought to do whatsoever belongs to
salvation, if they will faithfully labour."
[546] S:. XI. Blessed then are they that believe in him, who is both
able and willing to deliver as many as come to him through true
repentance from all sin, and do not resolve, as these men do, to be the
devil's servants all their life-time, but daily go on forsaking
unrighteousness, and forgetting those things that are behind, press
forward toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus; such shall not find their faith and confidence to be in
vain, but in due time shall be made conquerors through him in whom they
have believed; and so overcoming, shall be established as pillars in
the house of God, so as they shall go no more out, Rev. iii. 12.
__________________________________________________________________
[498] These are the words of the Westminster larger catechism. Whether
it is possible to keep the commandments of God? Part I. Controversy
stated.
[499] I. Notional knowledge.
[500] II. The new birth.
[501] III. Growth in perfection. He that improved his two talents was
nothing less acceptable than he with five.
[502] IV. Wiles of the enemy. Every sin weakens a man in his spiritual
condition, but doth not destroy him altogether.
[503] V. Righteousness become natural.
[504] Part II. Sect. 1.
[505] Sect. 2.
[506] Sect. 3.
[507] Sect. I. Proof I. The doctrine of pleading for sin for term of
life absurd. *Hab. i. 13.
[508] Hath God's wisdom been wanting to prepare a means to serve and
worship him perfectly?
[509] Proof 2. Its inconsistency with the justice of God.
[510] Who will give their children a stone instead of bread?
[511] Pr. III. The great and principal end of Christ's coming and
appearance was for the removing of sin, and to redeem us from all
iniquity.
[512] The devil dwells among the reprobates.
[513] Pr. IV. Pastors, teachers, and scriptures are given for
perfecting of the saints.
[514] Pr. V. Darkness and light, sin and righteousness, inconsistent
together. Prov. xvii. 15.
[515] If all daily sin, where is the righteous man then spoken of in
scripture?
[516] The blasphemy of the Ranters or libertines.
[517] Sect.II. Proof 1. Be ye perfect, &c. Keep my commandments
[518] Proof 2. The possibility of it.
[519] The difference of the law and gospel
[520] Perfection and freedom from sin attained and made possible by the
gospel
[521] The letter kills, and maketh not alive
[522] How we partake of Christ's sufferings, and are made conformable
unto his death.
[523] Mat. xi. 30. 1 John v. 3.
[524] Proof 3. Many have attained perfection. Enoch walked with God,
and was perfect.
[525] Sec. III.
[526] Obj. 1.
[527] Ans. 1. If we say we have no sin, &c. objected.
[528] Ans. 2.
[529] Ans. 3.
[530] It is one thing not to sin, and another thing not to have sin.
[531] Ans. 4.
[532] Obj. 2.
[533] Answ. Diversity of seasons & dispensations respected.
[534] Obj. 3.
[535] Answ. Paul personates the wretched man to show them the Redeemer.
[536] Whom sin has conquered, he is no conqueror.
[537] Obj. 4.
[538] Answ.
[539] Can they that sin be never freed from sin?
[540] Object.
[541] Answ. Who fights and not in hopes to overcome his foe?
[542] Praying for forgiveness of sin.
[543] Testimonies of the fathers concerning perfection or freedom from
sin. Jerom.
[544] Augustine.
[545] Gelasius. That by the gift of God all things are possible.
[546] Conclusion. Phil. iii. 14. Press forward to the mark, for the
prize and overcoming.
__________________________________________________________________
PROPOSITION IX.
Concerning Perseverance, and the Possibility of Falling from Grace.
Although this gift and inward grace of God be sufficient to work out
salvation, yet in those in whom it is resisted, it both may and doth
become their condemnation. Moreover, they in whose hearts it hath
wrought in part to purify and sanctify them in order to their further
perfection, may, by disobedience, fall from it, turn it to wantonness,
Jude iv. make shipwreck of faith, 1 Tim. i. 19. and after having tasted
the heavenly gift, and been made partakers of the Holy Ghost, again
fall away, Heb. vi. 4, 5, 6. yet such an increase and stability in the
truth may in this life be attained, from which there can be no total
apostacy.
S:. I. THE first sentence of this proposition hath already been treated
of in the fifth and sixth propositions, where it hath been shown that
that light which is given for life and salvation becomes the
condemnation of those that refuse it, and therefore is already proved
in those places, where I did demonstrate the possibility of man's
resisting the grace and Spirit of God; and indeed it is so apparent in
the scriptures, that it cannot be denied by such as will but seriously
consider these testimonies, Proverbs i. 24, 25, 26. John iii. 18, 19. 2
Thess. ii. 11, 12. Acts vii. 51. & xiii. 46. Rom. i. 18. As for the
other part of it, that they in whom this grace may have wrought in a
good measure in order to purify and sanctify them, tending to their
further perfection, may afterwards, through disobedience, fall away,
&c. the testimonies of the scripture included in the proposition itself
are sufficient to prove it to men of unbiassed judgment; but because as
to this part our cause is common with many other Protestants, I shall
be the more brief in it for it is not my design to do that which is
done already, neither do I covet to appear knowing by writing much; but
simply purpose to present to the world a faithful account of our
principles, and briefly to let them understand what we have to say for
ourselves.
[547] S:. lI. From these scriptures then included in the proposition,
not to mention many more which might be urged, I argue thus:
[548] If men may turn the grace of God into wantonness, then they must
once have had it:
But the first is true, therefore also the second.
[549] If men may make shipwreck of faith, they must once have had it;
neither could they ever have had true faith without the grace of God:
But the first is true, therefore also the last.
[550] If men may have tasted of the heavenly gift, and been made
partakers of the Holy Spirit, and afterwards fall away, they must needs
have known in measure the operation of God's saving grace and Spirit,
without which no man could taste the heavenly gift, nor yet partake of
the Holy Spirit:
But the first is true, therefore also the last.
[551] Secondly, Seeing the contrary doctrine is built upon this false
hypothesis, That grace is not given for salvation to any, but to a
certain elect number, which cannot lose it, and that all the rest of
mankind, by an absolute decree, are debarred from grace and salvation;
that being destroyed, this falls to the ground. Now as that doctrine of
theirs is wholly inconsistent with the daily practice of those that
preach it, in that they exhort people to believe and be saved, while in
the mean time, if they belong to the decree of reprobation, it is
simply impossible for them so to do; and if to the decree of election,
it is needless, seeing it is as impossible to them to miss ofit, as
hath been before demonstrated; so also in this matter of perseverance,
their practice and principle are no less inconsistent and
contradictory. For while they daily exhort people to be faithful to the
end, showing them if they continue not they shall be cut off and fall
short of the reward, which is very true, but no less inconsistent with
that doctrine that affirms there is no hazard, because no possibility
of departing from the least measure of true grace; which if true, it is
to no purpose to beseech them to stand, to whom God hath made it
impossible to fall. I shall not longer insist upon the probation of
this, seeing what is said may suffice to answer my design; and that the
thing is also abundantly proved by many of the same judgment. That this
was the doctrine of the primitive Protestants thence appears, that the
Augustine Confession condemns it as an error of the Anabaptists to say,
That they who once are justified, cannot lose the Holy Spirit. Many
such like sayings are to be found in the common places of Philip
Melancthon. [552] Vossius, in his Pelagian History, lib. 6. testifies,
that this was the common opinion of the Fathers. In the confirmation of
the twelfth thesis, page 587. he hath these words: "That this which we
have said was the common sentiment of antiquity, those at present can
only deny, who otherways perhaps are men not unlearned, but
nevertheless in antiquity altogether strangers," &c. These things thus
observed, I come to the objections of our opposers.
[553] S:. III. First, They allege, That those places mentioned of
making shipwreck of faith, are only to be understood of seeming faith,
and not of a real true faith.
[554] This objection is very weak, and apparently contrary to the text,
1 Tim. i. 19. where the apostle addeth to faith a good conscience, by
way of complaint; whereas if their faith had been only seeming and
hypocritical, the men had been better without it than with it; neither
had they been worthy of blame for losing that which in itself was evil.
But the apostle expressly adds [and of a good conscience,] which shows
it was real; neither can it be supposed that men could truly attain a
good conscience without the operation of God's saving grace; far less
that a good conscience doth consist with a seeming false and
hypocritical faith. Again, these places of the apostle being spoken by
way of regret, clearly import that these attainments they had fallen
from were good and real, not false and deceitful, else he would not
have regretted their falling from them; and so he saith positively,
They tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy
Ghost, &c. not that they seemed to be so, which showeth this objection
is very frivolous.
[555] Secondly, They allege, Phil. i. 6. Being confident of this very
thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it
until the day of Jesus Christ, &c. and 1 Pet. i. 5. Who are kept by the
power of God through faith unto salvation.
[556] These scriptures, as they do not affirm any thing positively
contrary to us, so they cannot be understood otherwise than as the
condition is performed upon our part, seeing salvation is no otherways
proposed there but upon certain necessary conditions to be performed by
us, as hath been above proved, and as our adversaries also acknowledge,
as Rom. viii. 13. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if
ye through the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
And Heb. iii. 14. We are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the
beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end. For if these places
of the scripture upon which they build their objections were to be
admitted without these conditions, it would manifestly overturn the
whole tenor of their exhortations throughout all their writings. Some
other objections there are of the same nature, which are solved by the
same answers, which also, because largely treated of by others, I omit,
to come to that testimony of the truth which is more especially ours in
this matter, and is contained in the latter part of the proposition in
these words: Yet such an increase and stability in the truth may in
this life be attained, from which there cannot be a total apostacy.
S:. IV. As in the explanation of the fifth and sixth propositions I
observed, that some that had denied the errors of others concerning
reprobation, and affirmed the universality of Christ's death, did
notwithstanding fall short in sufficiently holding forth the truth, and
so gave the contrary party occasion by their defects to be strengthened
in their errors, so it may be said in this case. As upon the [557] one
hand they err who affirm that the least degree of true and saving grace
cannot be fallen from, so do they err upon the other hand that deny any
such stability to be attained from which there cannot be a total and
final apostacy. And betwixt these two extremes lieth the truth apparent
in the scriptures, which God hath revealed unto us by the testimony of
his Spirit, and which also we are made sensible of by our own
experience. And even as in the former controversy was observed, so also
in this, the defence of truth will readily appear to such as seriously
weigh the matter; for the arguments upon both hands, rightly applied,
will as to this hold good; and the objections, which are strong as they
are respectively urged against the two opposite false opinions, are
here easily solved, by the establishing of this truth. For all the
arguments which these allege that affirm there can be no falling away,
may well be received upon the one part, as of those who have attained
to this stability and establishment, and their objections solved by
this confession; so upon the other hand, the arguments alleged from
scripture testimonies by those that affirm the possibility of falling
away may well be re ceived of such as are not come to this
establishment, though having attained a measure of true grace. Thus
then the contrary batterings of our adversaries, who miss the truth, do
concur the more strongly to establish it, while they are destroying
each other. But lest this may not seem to suffice to satisfy such as
judge it always possible for the best of men before they die to fall
away, I shall add, for the proof of it, some brief considerations from
some few testimonies of the scripture.
[558] S:. V. And first, I freely acknowledge that it is good for all to
be humble, and in this respect not over confident, so as to lean to
this, to foster themselves in iniquity, or to lie down in security, as
if they had attained this condition, seeing watchfulness and diligence
is of indispensable necessity to all mortal men, so long as they
breathe in this world; for God will have this to be the constant
practice of a Christian, that thereby he may be the more fit to serve
him, and better armed against all the temptations of the enemy. For
since the wages of sin is death, there is no man, while he sinneth, and
is subject thereunto, but may lawfully suppose himself capable of
perishing. Hence the apostle Paul himself saith, 1Cor. ix. 27. But I
keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest that by any
means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
Here the apostle supposes it possible for him to be a cast-away, and
yet it may be judged he was far more advanced in the inward work of
regeneration when he wrote that epistle; than many who now-a-days too
presumptuously suppose they cannot fall away, because they feel
themselves to have attained some small degree of true grace. But the
apostle makes use of this supposition or possibility of his being a
cast-away, as I before observed, as an inducement to them to be
watchful; I keep under my body, lest, &c. Nevertheless the same
apostle, at another time, in the sense and feeling of God's holy power,
and in the dominion thereof, finding himself a conqueror there-through
over sin and his soul's enemies, maketh no difficulty to affirm, Rom.
viii. 38. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, &c. which
clearly showeth that he had attained a condition from which he knew he
could not fall away.
But secondly, It appears such a condition is [559] attainable, because
we are exhorted to it; and, as [560] hath been proved before, the
scripture never proposeth to us things impossible. Such an exhortation
we have from the apostle, 2 Pet. i. 10. Wherefore the rather, brethren,
give diligence to make your calling and election sure. And though there
be a condition here proposed, yet since we have already proved that it
is possible to fulfil this condition, then also the promise annexed
thereunto may be attained. And since, where assurance is wanting, there
is still a place left for doubtings and despairs, if we should affirm
it never attainable, then should there never be a place known by the
saints in this world, wherein they might be free of doubting and
despair; which as it is most absurd in itself, so it is contrary to the
manifest experience of thousands.
Thirdly, God bath given to many of his saints [561] and children, and
is ready to give unto all, a full [562] and certain assurance that they
are his, and that no power shall be able to pluck them out of his hand.
But this assurance would be no assurance, if those who are so assured
were not established and confirmed beyond all doubt and hesitation: if
so, then surely there is no possibility for such to miss of that which
God hath assured them of. And that there is such assurance attainable
in this life, the scripture abundantly declareth, both in general and
as to particular persons. As first, Rev. iii. 12. Him that overcometh
will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more
out, &c. which containeth a general promise unto all. Hence the apostle
speaks of some that, are sealed, 2 Cor i. 22. Who hath also sealed us,
and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts: wherefore the Spirit
so sealing is called the earnest or pledge of our inheritance, Eph. i.
13. In whom ye were sealed by the holy Spirit of promise. And therefore
the apostle Paul, not only in that of the Romans above noted, declareth
himself to have attained that condition, but 2 Tim. iv. 7. he affirmeth
in these words, I have fought a good fight, &c. which also many good
men have and do witness. And therefore, as there can be nothing more
evident than that which the manifest experience of this time showeth,
and therein is found agreeable to the experience of former times, so we
see there have been of old and of late that have turned the grace of
God into wantonness, and have fallen from their faith and integrity;
thence we may safely conclude such a falling away possible. We also see
that some of old and of late have attained a certain assurance, some
time before they departed, that they should inherit eternal life, and
have accordingly died in that good hope, of and concerning whom the
Spirit of God testifieth that they are saved. Wherefore we all see such
a state is attainable in this life, from which there is not a falling
away: for seeing the Spirit of God did so testify, it was not possible
that they should perish, concerning whom he who cannot lie thus bare
witness.
__________________________________________________________________
[547] I. A falling from grace by disobedience evinced.
[548] Arg. 1.
[549] Arg. 2.
[550] Arg. 3.
[551] II. The doctrine of election and reprobation is inconsistent with
preaching and daily exhortation.
[552] The opinion of the fathers concerning falling from grace.
[553] Obj. 1.
[554] Answ. A good & evil conscience.
[555] Obj. 2.
[556] Answ. Salvation is proposed upon certain conditions by us to be
performed.
[557] The two extremes some run into by asserting a final falling or
not falling from grace impossible.
[558] I.Watchfulness and diligence is of indispensable necessity to
all.
[559] II.
[560] A condition attainable in this life, from which there is no
falling away.
[561] III.
[562] A certain assurance and establishment given of God to many of his
saints and children.
__________________________________________________________________
PROPOSITION X.
Concerning the Ministry.
As by the light or gift of God all true knowledge in things spiritual
is received and revealed, so by the same, as it is manifested and
received in the heart, by the strength and power thereof, every true
minister of the gospel is ordained, prepared, and supplied in the work
of the ministry; and by the leading, moving, and drawing hereof ought
every evangelist and Christian pastor to be led and ordered in his
labour and work of the gospel, both as to the place where, as to the
persons to whom, and as to the time wherein he is to minister.
Moreover, they who have this authority may and ought to preach the
gospel, though without human commission or literature; as on the other
hand, they who want the authority of this divine gift, however learned,
or authorized by the commission of men and churches, are to be esteemed
but as deceivers, and not true ministers of the gospel. [563] Also they
who have received this holy and unspotted gift, as they have freely
received it, so are they freely to give it, without hire or bargaining,
far less to use it as a Trade to get money by: yet if God hath called
any one from their employment or trades, by which they acquire their
livelihood, it may be lawful for such, according to the liberty which
they feel given them in the Lord, to receive such temporals (to wit,
what may be needful for them for meat and clothing) as are given them
freely and cordially by those to whom they have communicated
spirituals.
S:. I. Hitherto I have treated of those things which relate to the
Christian faith and Christians, as they stand each in his private and
particular condition, and how and by what means every manmay be a
Christian indeed, and so abide. Now I come in order to speak of those
things that relate to Christians, as they are stated in a joint
fellowship and communion, and come under a visible and outward society,
which society is called the church of God, [564] and in scripture
compared to a body, and therefore named the body of Christ. As then in
the natural body there be divers members, all concurring to the common
end of preserving and confirming the whole body, so in this spiritual
and mystical body there are also divers members, according to the
different measures of grace and of the Spirit diversely administered
unto each member; and from this diversity ariseth that distinction of
persons in the visible society of Christians, as of apostles, pastors,
evangelists, ministers, &c. That which in this proposition is proposed,
is, What makes or constitutes any a minister of the church, what his
qualfications ought to be, and how he ought to behave himself? But
because it may seem somewhat preposterous to speak of the distinct
offices of the church, until something be said of the church in
general, though nothing positively be said of it in, the proposition;
yet, as here implied, I shall briefly premise something thereof, and
then proceed to the particular members of it.
S:. II. It is not in the least my design to meddle with those tedious
and many controversies, wherewith the Papists and Protestants do tear
one another concerning this thing; but only according to the truth
manifested to me, and revealed in me by the testimony of the Spirit,
according to that proportion of wisdom given me, briefly to hold forth
as a necessary introduction both to this matter of the ministry and of
worship, which followeth those things which I, together with my
brethren, do believe concerning the church.
[565] The Church then, according to the grammatical signification of
the word, as it is used in the holy scripture, signifies an assembly or
gathering of many into one place; [566] for the substantive ekklesia
comes from the word ekkaleo I call out of, and originally from kaleo I
call; and indeed, as this is the grammatical sense of the word, so also
it is the real and proper signification of the thing, the church being
no other thing but the society, gathering, or company of such as God
hath called out of the world, and worldly spirit, to walk in his Light
and Life. The church then so defined is to be considered, as it
comprehends all that are thus called and gathered truly by God, both
such as are yet in this inferior world, and such as having already laid
down the earthly tabernacle, are passed into their heavenly mansions,
which together do make up the one catholic church, concerning which
there is so much controversy. [567] Out of which church we freely
acknowledge there can be no salvation; because under this church and
its denomination are comprehended all, and as many, of whatsoever
nation, kindred, tongue, or people they be, though outwardly strangers,
and remote from those who profess Christ and Christianity in words, and
have the benefit of the scriptures, as become obedient to the holy
light and testimony of God in their hearts, so as to become sanctified
by it, and cleansed from the evils of their ways. [568] For this is the
universal or catholic spirit, by which many are called from all the
four corners of the earth, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob: by this the secret life and virtue of Jesus is conveyed into
many that are afar off; even as by the blood that runs into the veins
and arteries of the natural body the life is conveyed from the head and
heart unto the extreme parts. [569] There may be members therefore of
this catholic church both among heathens, Turks, Jews, and all the
several sorts of Christians, men and women of integrity and simplicity
of heart, who though blinded in some things in their understauding, and
perhaps burdened with the superstitions and formality of the several
sects in which they are engrossed, yet being upright in their hearts
before the Lord, chiefly aiming and labouring to be delivered from
iniquity, and loving to follow righteousness, are by the secret touches
of this holy light in their souls enlivened and quickened, thereby
secretly united to God, and therethrough become true members of this
catholic church. Now the church in this respect hath been in being in
all generations; for God never wanted some such witnesses for him,
though many times slighted, and not much observed by this world; and
therefore this church, though still in being, hath been oftentimes as
it were invisible, in that it hath not come under the observations of
the men of this world, being, as saith the scripture, Jer. iii. 14. one
of a city, and two of a family. And yet though the church thus
considered may be as it were hid from wicked men, as not then gathered
into a visible fellowship, yea, and not observed even by some that are
members of it; yet may there notwithstanding many belong to it, as when
Elias complained he was left alone, 1 King. xix. 18. God answered unto
him, I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed
their knees to the image of Baal; whence the apostle argues, Rom. xi.
the being of a remnant in his day.
[570] [571] S:. III. Secondly, The church is to be considered as it
signifies a certain number of persons gathered by God's Spirit, and by
the testimony of some of his servants raised up for that end, unto the
belief of the true principles and doctrines of the Christian faith,
who, through their hearts being united by the same love, and their
understandings informed in the same truths, gather, meet, and assemble
together to wait upon God, to worship him, and to bear a joint
testimony for the truth against error, suffering for the same, and so
becoming through this fellowship as one family and household in certain
respects, do each of them watch over, teach, instruct, and care for one
another, according to their several measures and attainments: such were
the churches of the primitive times gathered by the apostles; whereof
we have divers mentioned in the holy scriptures. And as to the
visibility of the church in this respect, there hath been a great
interruption since the apostles' days, by reason of the apostacy, as
will hereafter appear.
[572] S:. IV. To be a member then of the Catholic church, there is need
of the inward calling of God by his light in the heart, and a being
leavened into the nature and spirit of it, so as to forsake
unrighteousness, and be turned to righteousness, and in the inwardness
of the mind to be cut out of the wild olive tree of our own first
fallen nature, and ingrafted into Christ by his Word and Spirit in the
heart. And this may be done in those who are strangers to the history,
(God not having pleased to make them partakers thereof,) as in the
fifth and sixth propositions hath already been proved.
[573] To be a member of a particular church of Christ, as this inward
work is indispensably necessary, so is also the outward profession of,
and belief in, Jesus Christ, and those holy truths delivered by his
Spirit in the scriptures; seeing the testimony of the Spirit recorded
in the scriptures, doth answer the testimony of the same Spirit in the
heart, even as face answereth face in a glass. Hence it follows, that
the inward work of holiness, and forsaking iniquity, is necessary in
every respect to the being a member in the church of Christ; and that
the outward profession is necessary to be a member of a particular
gathered church, but not to the being a member of the Catholic church;
yet it is absolutely necessary, where God affords the opportunity of
knowing it: and the outward testimony is to be believed, where it is
presented and revealed; the sum whereof hath upon other occasions been
already proved.
[574] S:. V. But contrary hereunto, the devil, that worketh and hath
wrought in the mystery of iniquity, hath taught his followers to
affirm, That no man, however holy, is a member of the church of Christ
without the outward profession; and unless he be initiated thereinto by
some outward ceremonies. And again, That men who have this outward
profession, though inwardly unholy, may be members of the true church
of Christ, yea, and ought to be so esteemed. This is plainly to put
light for darkness, and darkness for light; as if God had a greater
regard to words than actions, and were more pleased with vain
professions than with real holiness; but these things I have
sufficiently refuted heretofore. Only from hence let it be observed,
that upon this false and rotten foundation Antichrist hath built his
Babylonish structure, and the Antichristian church in the apostacy hath
hereby reared herself up to that height and grandeur she hath attained;
so as to exalt herself above all that is called God, and sit in the
temple of God as God.
[575] For the particular churches of Christ, gathered in the apostles'
days, soon after beginning to decay as to the inward life, came to be
overgrown with several errors, and the hearts of the professors of
Christianity to be leavened with the old spirit and conversation of the
world. Yet it pleased God for some centuries to preserve that life in
many, whom he emboldened with zeal to stand and suffer for his name
through the ten persecutions; but these being over, the meekness,
gentleness, love, long-suffering, goodness, and temperance of
Christianity began to be lost. For after that the princes of the earth
came to take upon them that profession, and that it ceased to be a
reproach to be a Christian, but rather became a means to preferment;
[576] men became such by birth and education, and not by conversion and
renovation of spirit: then there was none so vile, none so wicked, none
so profane, who became not a member of the church. And the teachers and
pastors thereof becoming the companions of princes, and so being
enriched by their benevolence, and getting vast treasures and estates,
became puffed up, and as it were drunken with the vain pomp and glory
of this world: and so marshalled themselves in manifold orders and
degrees; not without innumerable contests and altercations who should
have the precedency. [577] So the virtue, life, substance, and kernel
of Christian religion came to be lost, and nothing remained but a
shadow and image; which dead image, or carcase of Christianity (to make
it take the better with the superstitious multitude of heathens that
were engrossed in it, not by any inward conversion of their hearts, or
by becoming less wicked or superstitious, but by a little change in the
object of their superstition) not having the inward ornament and life
of the Spirit, became decked with many outward and visible orders, and
beautified with the gold, silver, precious stones, and the other
splendid ornaments of this perishing world: so that this was no more to
be accounted the Christian religion, and Christian church,
notwithstanding the outward profession, than the dead body of a man is
to be accounted a living man; which, however cunningly embalmed, and
adorned with ever so much gold or silver, or most precious stones, or
sweet ointments, is but a dead body still, without sense, life, or
motion. [578] For that apostate church of Rome has introduced no fewer
ceremonies and superstitions into the Christian profession, than were
either among Jews or heathens; and that there is and hath been as much,
yea, and more pride, covetousness, uncleanness, luxury, fornication,
profaneness, and atheism among her teachers and chief bishops, than
ever was among any sort of people, none need doubt, that have read
their own authors, to wit, Platina and others.
[579] Now, though Protestants have reformed from her in some of the
most gross points and absurd doctrines relating to the church and
ministry, yet (which is to be regretted) they have only lopt the
branches, but retain and plead earnestly for the same root, from which
these abuses have sprung. So that even among them, though all that mass
of superstition, ceremonies, and orders be not again established, yet
the same pride, covetousness, and sensuality is found to have
overspread and leavened their churches and ministry, and the life,
power, and virtue of true religion is lost among them; and the very
same death, barrenness, dryness, and emptiness, is found in their
ministry. So that in effect they differ from Papists but in form and
some ceremonies; being with them apostatized from the life and power
the true primitive church and her pastors were in: so that of both it
may be said truly (without breach of charity) that having only a form
of Godliness, (and many of them not so much as that,) they are deniers
of, yea, enemies to, the power of it. And this proceeds not simply from
their not walking answerably to their own principles, and so
degenerating that way, which also is true; but, which is worse, their
laying down to themselves, and adhering to certain principles, which
naturally, as a cursed root, bring forth these bitter fruits: these
therefore shall afterwards be examined and refuted, as the contrary
positions of truth in the proposition are explained and proved.
For as to the nature and constitution of a church, [580] (abstract from
their disputes concerning its constant visibility, infallibility, and
the primacy of the church of Rome,) the Protestants, as in practice, so
in principles, differ not from Papists; for they engross within the
compass of their church whole nations, making their infants members of
it, by sprinkling a little water upon them; so that there is none so
wicked or profane who is not a fellow-member; no evidence of holiness
being required to constitute a member of the church. Nay, look through
the Protestant nations, and there will no difference appear in the
lives of the generality of the one, more than of the other; he, who
ruleth in the children of disobedience, reigning in both: [581] so that
the reformation, through this defect, is only in holding some less
gross errors in the notion, but not in having the heart reformed and
renewed, in which mainly the life of Christianity consisteth.
[582] S:. VI. But the Popish errors concerning the ministry, which they
have retained, are most of all to be regretted, by which chiefly the
life and power of Christianity is barred out among them, and they kept
in death, barrenness, and dryness; there being nothing more hurtful
than an error in this respect. For where a false and corrupt ministry
entereth, all manner of other evils follow upon it, according to that
scripture adage, [583] Like people, like priest: for by their
influence, instead of ministering life and righteousness, they minister
death and iniquity. The whole backslidings of the Jewish congregation
of old are hereto ascribed: The leaders of my people have caused them
to err. The whole writings of the prophets are full of such complaints;
and for this cause, under the New Testament, we are so often warned and
guarded to beware of false prophets, and false teachers, &c. What may
be thought then, where all, as to this, is out of order; where both the
foundation, call, qualifications, maintenance, and whole discipline are
different from and opposite to the ministry of the primitive church:
yea, and necessarily tend to the shutting out of a spiritual ministry,
and the bringing in and establishing of a carnal? This shall appear by
parts.
[584] S:. V1I. That then which comes first to be questioned in this
matter, is concerning the call of a minister; to wit, What maketh, or
how cometh a man to be a minister, pastor, or teacher, in the church of
Christ. [585] We answer; By the inward power and virtue of the Spirit
of God. For, as saith our proposition, [586] Having received the true
knowledge of things spiritual by the Spirit of God, without which they
cannot be known, and being the same in measure purified, and sanctified
he comes thereby to be called and moved to minister to others; being
able to speak, from a living experience, of what he himself is a
witness; and therefore knowing the terror of the Lord, he is fit to
persuade men, &c. 2 Cor. v. 11. and his words and ministry, proceeding
from the inward power and virtue, reach to the heart of his hearers,
and make them approve of him, and be subject unto him. [587] Our
adversaries are forced to confess, that this were indeed desirable and
best; but this they will not have to be absolutely necessary. I shall
first prove the necessity of it, and then show how much they err in
that which they make more necessary than this divine and heavenly call.
[588] [589] First; That which is necessary to make a man a Christian,
so as without it he cannot be truly one, must be much more necessary to
make a man a minister of Christianity; seeing the one is a degree above
the other, and has it included in it: nothing less than he that
supposeth a master, supposeth him first to have attained the knowledge
and capacity of a scholar. They that are not Christians, cannot be
teachers and ministers among Christians.
But this inward call, power, and virtue of the Spirit of God, is
necessary to make a man a Christian; as we have abundantly proved
before in the second proposition, according to these scriptures, He
that hath not the Spirit of Christ, is none of his. As many as are led
by the Spirit of God, are the Sons of God:
Therefore this call, moving and drawing of the Spirit, must be much
more necessary to make a minister.
[590] Secondly; All ministers of the New Testament ought to be
ministers of the Spirit, and not of the letter, according to that of 2
Cor. iii. 6. and as the old Latin hath it, Not by the letter, but by
the Spirit: But how can a man be a minister of the Spirit, who is not
inwardly called by it, and who looks not upon the operation and
testimony of the Spirit as essential to his call? As he could not be a
minister of the letter who had thence no ground for his call, yea, who
was altogether a stranger to, and unacquainted with it, so neither can
he be a minister of the Spirit who is a stranger to it, and
unacquainted with the motions thereof, and knows it not to draw, act,
and move him, and go before him in the work of the ministry. I would
willingly know, how those that take upon them to be ministers (as they
suppose) of the gospel, merely from an outward vocation, without so
much as being any ways sensible of the work of the Spirit, or any
inward call therefrom, can either satisfy themselves or others that
they are ministers of the Spirit, or wherein they differ from the
ministers of the letter? For,
[591] Thirdly; If this inward call, or testimony of the Spirit, were
not essential and necessary to a minister, then the ministry of the New
Testament would not only be no ways preferable to, but in divers
respects far worse than that of the law. For under the law there was a
certain tribe allotted for the ministry, and of that tribe certain
families set apart for the priesthood and other offices, by the
immediate command of God to Moses; so that the people needed not to be
in any doubt who should be priests and ministers of the holy things:
yea, and besides this, God called forth, by the immediate testimony of
his Spirit, several at divers times to teach, instruct, and reprove his
people, as Samuel, Nathan, Elias, Elisha, Jeremiah, Amos, and many more
of the prophets: but now under the new covenant, where the ministry
ought to be more spiritual, the way more certain,and the access more
easy unto the Lord, our adversaries, by denying the necessity of this
inward and spiritual vocation, make it quite otherwise. For there being
now no certain family or tribe to which the ministry is limited, we are
left in uncertainty, to choose and have pastors at a venture, without
any certain assent of the will of God; having neither an outward rule
nor certainty in this affair to walk by: for that the scripture cannot
give any certain rule in this matter, hath in the third proposition
concerning it been already shown.
[592] Fourthly; Christ proclaims them all thieves and robbers, that
enter not by him the door into the sheepfold, but climb up some other
way; whom the sheep ought not to hear: [593] but such as come in
without the call, movings, and leadings of the Spirit of Christ,
wherewith he leads his children into all truth, come in certainly not
by Christ, who is the door, but some other way, and therefore are not
true shepherds.
[594] S:. VIII. To all this they object the succession of the church;
alleging, That since Christ gave a call to his apostles and disciples,
they have conveyed that call to their successors having power to ordain
pastors and teachers; by which power the authority of ordaining and
making ministers and pastors is successively conveyed to us; so that
such, who are ordained and called by the pastors of the church, are
therefore true and lawful ministers; and others, who are not so called,
are to be accounted but intruders. Hereunto also some Protestants add a
necessity, though they make it not a thing essential; That besides this
calling of the church, every one, being called, ought to have the
inward call of the Spirit, inclining him so chosen to his work: but
this they say is subjective, and not objective; of which before.
[595] As to what is subjoined of the inward call of the Spirit, in that
they make it not essential to a true call, but a supererogation as it
were, it showeth how little they set by it: since those they admit to
the ministry are not so much as questioned in their trials, whether
they have this or not. [596] Yet, in that it hath been often mentioned,
especially by the primitive Protestants in their treatises on this
subject, it showeth how much they were secretly convinced in their
minds, that this inward call of the spirit was most excellent, and
preferable to any other; and therefore in the most noble and heroic
acts of the reformation, they laid claim unto it; so that many of the
primitive Protestants did not scruple both to despise and disown this
outward [597] call, when urged by the Papists against them. But now
Protestants, having gone from the testimony of the Spirit, plead for
the same succession; and being pressed (by those whom God now raiseth
up by his spirit to reform those abuses that are among them) with the
example of their forefathers' practice against Rome, they are not at
all ashamed utterly to deny that their fathers were called to their
work by the inward and immediate vocation of the Spirit; clothing
themselves with that call, which they say their forefathers had, as
pastors of the Roman church. For thus (not to go further) affirmeth
Nicolaus Arnoldus, [598] in a pamphlet written against the same
propositions, called, A Theologick Exercitation, Sect. 40. averring,
That they pretended not to an immediate act of the Holy Spirit; but
reformed by the virtue of the ordinary vocation which they had in the
church, as it then was, to wit, that of Rome, &c.
[599] S:. IX. Many absurdities do Protestants fall into, by deriving
their ministry thus through the church of Rome. As, first, They must
acknowledge her to be a true church of Christ, though only erroneous in
some things; which contradicts their forefathers so frequently, and yet
truly, calling her Antichrist. Secondly, They must needs acknowledge,
that the priests and bishops of the Romish church are true ministers
and pastors of the church of Christ, as to the essential part; else
they could not be fit subjects for that power and authority to have
resided in; neither could they have been vessels capable to receive
that power, and again transmit it to their successors. Thirdly, It
would follow from this, that the priests and bishops of the Romish
church are yet really true pastors and teachers: for if Protestant
ministers have no authority but what they received from them, and since
the church of Rome is the same she was at that time of the reformation
in doctrine and manners, and she has the same power now she had then,
and if the power lie in the succession, then these priests of the
Romish church now, which derive their ordination from those bishops
that ordained the first reformers, have the same authority which the
successors of the reformed have, and consequently are no less ministers
of the church than they are. But how will this agree with that opinion
which the primitive Protestants had of the Romish priests and clergy,
to whom Luther did not only deny any power or authority, but
contrary-wise affirmed, That it was wickedly done of them, to assume to
themselves only this authority to teach, and be priests and ministers,
&c. [600] For he himself affirmed, That every good Christian (not only
men, but even women also) is a preacher.
[601] S:. X. But against this vain succession, as asserted either by
the Papists or Protestants as a necessary thing to the call of a
minister, I answer; That such as plead for it, as a sufficient or
necessary thing to the call of a minister, do thereby sufficiently
declare their ignorance of the nature of Christianity, and how much
they are strangers to the life and power of a Christian ministry, which
is not entailed to succession, as an outward inheritance; and herein,
as hath been often before observed, they not only make the gospel not
better than the law, but even far short of it. For Jesus Christ, as he
regardeth not any distinct particular family or nation in the gathering
of his children; but only such as are joined to and leavened with his
own pure and righteous seed, so neither regards he a bare outward
succession, where his pure, immaculate, and righteous life is wanting;
for that were all one. He took not the nations into the new covenant,
that he might suffer them to fall into the old errors of the Jews, or
to approve them in their errors, but that he might gather unto himself
a pure people out of the earth. [602] Now this was the great error of
the Jews, to think they were the church and people of God, because they
could derive their outward succession from Abraham, whereby they
reckoned themselves the children of God, as being the offspring of
Abraham, who was the Father of the Faithful. But how severely doth the
scripture rebuke this vain and frivolous pretence? Telling them, That
God is able of the stones to raise children unto Abraham; and that not
the outward seed, but those that were found in the faith of Abraham are
the true children of faithful Abraham. Far less then can this pretence
hold among Christians, seeing Christ rejects all outward affinity of
that kind: These, saith he, are my mother, brethren and sisters, who do
the will of my Father which is in heaven: And again; He looked round
about him, and said, Who shall do the will of God, these, saith he, are
my brethren. [603] So then, such as do not the commands of Christ, are
not found clothed with his righteousness, are not his disciples; and
that which a man hath not, he cannot give to another: and it is clear,
that no man nor church, though truly called of God, and as such having
the authority of a church and minister, can any longer retain that
authority, than they retain the power, life, and righteousness of
Christianity; [604] for the form is entailed to the power and
substance, and not the substance to the form. So that when man ceaseth
inwardly in his heart to be a Christian (where his Christianity must
lie) by turning to Satan, and becoming a reprobate, he is no more a
Christian, though he retain the name and form, than a dead man is a
man, though he hath the image and representation of one, or than the
picture or statue of a man is a man: and though a dead man may serve to
a painter to retain some imperfect representation of the man that once
was alive, and so one picture may serve to make another by, yet none of
those can serve to make a true living man again, neither can they
convey the life and spirit of the man; it must be God, that made the
man at first, that alone can revive him. [605] As death then makes such
interruption of an outward natural succession, that no art nor outward
form can uphold, and as a dead man, after he is dead, can have no
issue, neither can dead images of men make living men: so that it is
the living that are only capable to succeed one another; and such as
die, so soon as they die cease to succeed, or to transmit succession.
So it is in spiritual things; it is the life of Christianity, taking
place in the heart, that makes a Christian; [606] and so it is a number
of such, being alive, joined together in the life of Christianity, that
make a church of Christ; and it is all those that are thus alive and
quickened, considered together, that make the Catholic church of
Christ: therefore when this life ceaseth in one, then that one ceaseth
to be a Christian; and all power, virtue, and authority, which he had
as a Christian, ceaseth with it; so that if he hath been a minister or
teacher, he ceaseth to be so any more: and though he retain the form,
and hold to the authority in words, yet that signifies no more, nor is
it of any more real virtue and authority, than the mere image of a dead
man. And as this is most agreeable to reason, so it is to the
scriptures' testimony; for it said of Judas, Acts i. 25. [607] That
Judas fell from his ministry and apostleship by transgression; so his
transgression caused him to cease to be an apostle any more: whereas,
had the apostleship been entailed to his person, so that transgression
could not cause him to lose it, until he had been formally degraded by
the church, (which Judas never was so long as he lived,) Judas had been
as really an apostle, after he betrayed Christ, as before. And as it is
of one, so of many, yea, of a whole church: for seeing nothing makes a
man truly a Christian, but the life of Christianity inwardly ruling in
his heart; so nothing makes a church, but the gathering of several true
Christians into one body. Now where all these members lose this life,
there the church ceaseth to be, though they still uphold the form, and
retain the name: for when that which made them a church, and for which
they were a church, ceaseth, then they cease also to be a church: and
therefore the Spirit, speaking to the church of Laodicea, because of
her lukewarmness, Rev. iii. 16. threateneth to spew her out of his
mouth. [608] Now suppose the church of Laodicea had continued in that
lukewarmness, and had come under that condemnation and judgment, though
she had retained the name and form of a church, and had had her pastors
and ministers, as no doubt she had at that time, yet surely she had
been no true church of Christ, nor had the authority of her pastors and
teachers been to be regarded, because of an outward succession, though
perhaps some of them had it immediately from the apostles. From all
which I infer, That since the authority of the Christian church and her
pastors is always united, and never separated from the inward power,
virtue, and righteous life of Christianity; where this ceaseth, that
ceaseth also. But our adversaries acknowledge, That many, if not most
of those, by and through whom they derive this authority, were
altogether destitute of this life and virtue of Christianity: therefore
they could neither receive, have, nor transmit any Christian authority.
[609] But if it be objected, That though the generality of the bishops
and priests of the church of Rome, during the apostacy, were such
wicked men; yet Protestants affirm, and thou thyself seemest to
acknowledge, that there were some good men among them, whom the Lord
regarded, and who were true members of the Catholic church of Christ;
might not they then have transmitted this authority
[610] I answer; This saith nothing, in respect Protestants do not at
all lay claim to their ministry as transmitted to them by a direct line
of good men; which they can never show, nor yet pretend to: [611] but
generally place this succession as inherent in the whole pastors of the
apostate church. Neither do they plead their call to be good and valid,
because they can derive it through a line of good men, separate and
observably distinguishable from the rest of the bishops and clergy of
the Romish church; but they derive it as an authority residing in the
whole: for they think it heresy, to judge that the quality or condition
of the administrator doth any ways invalidate or prejudice his work.
This vain and pretended succession not only militates against, and
fights with the very manifest purpose and intent of Christ in the
gathering and calling of his church, but makes him (so to speak) more
blind and less prudent than natural men are in conveying and
establishing their outward inheritances. [612] For where an estate is
entailed to a certain name and family, when that family weareth out,
and there is no lawful successor found of it, that can make a just
title appear, as being really of blood and affinity to the family; it
is not lawful for any one of another race or blood, because he assumes
the name or arms of that family, to possess the estate, and claim the
superiorities and privileges of the family: but, by the law of nations
the inheritance devolves into the prince, as being Ultimus Haeres; and
so he giveth it again immediately to whom he sees meet, and makes them
bear the names and arms of the family, who then are entitled to the
privileges and revenues thereof. So in like manner, the true name and
title of a Christian, by which he hath right to the heavenly
inheritance, and is a member of Jesus Christ, is inward righteousness
and holiness, and the mind redeemed from the vanities, lusts, and
iniquities of this world; and a gathering or company, made up of such
members, makes a church. Where this is lost, the title is lost; and so
the true seed, to which the promise is, and to which the inheritance is
due, becomes extinguished in them, and they become dead as to it: and
so it retires, and devolves itself again into Christ, who is the
righteous heir of life; and he gives the title and true right again
immediately to whom it pleaseth him, even to as many as being turned to
his pure light in their consciences, come again to walk in his
righteous and innocent life, and so become true members of his body,
which is the church. So the authority, power and heirship are not
annexed to persons, as they bear the mere names, or retain a form,
holding the bare shell or shadow of Christianity; but the promise is to
Christ, and to the seed, in whom the authority is inherent, and in as
many as are one with him, and united unto him by purity and holiness,
and by the inward renovation and regeneration of their minds.
Moreover, this pretended succession is contrary to
scripture-definitions, and the nature of the church of Christ; and of
the true members. For, first, The church is the house of God, the
pillar and ground of truth, 1 Tim. iii. 15. [613] But according to this
doctrine, the house of God is a polluted nest of all sorts of
wickedness and abominations, made up of the most ugly, defiled and
perverse stones that are in the earth; where the devil rules in all
manner of unrighteousness. For so our adversaries confess, and history
informs, the church of Rome to have been, as some of their historians
acknowledge; and if that be truly the house of God, what may we call
the house of satan? Or may we call it therefore the house of God,
notwithstanding all this impiety, because they had a bare form, and
that vitiated many ways also; and because they pretended to the name of
Christianity, though they were antichristian, devilish, and atheistical
in their whole practice and spirit, and also in many of their
principles? Would not this infer yet a greater absurdity, as if they
had been something to be accounted of, because of their hypocrisy and
deceit, and false pretences? Whereas the scripture looks upon that as
an aggravation of guilt, and calls it blasphemy, Rev. ii. 9. Of two
wicked men, he is most to be abhorred, who covereth his wickedness with
a vain pretence of God and righteousness: even so these abominable
beasts, and fearful monsters, who looked upon themselves to be bishops
in the apostate church, were never a whit the better, that they falsely
pretended to be the successors of the holy apostles; unless to lie be
commendable, and that hypocrisy be the way to heaven. Yea, were not
this to fall into that evil condemned among the Jews, Jer. vii. 4.
Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, the temple
of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these; thoroughly amend your
ways, &c. as if such outward names and things were the thing the Lord
regarded, and not inward holiness? Or can that then be the pillar and
ground of truth, which is the very sink and pit of wickedness, from
which so much error, superstition, idolatry, and all abomination
spring? Can there be any thing more contrary both to scripture and
reason?
[614] [615] Secondly, The church is defined to be the kingdom of the
dear Son of God, into which the saints are translated, being delivered
from the power of darkness. It is called the body of Christ, which,
from him by joints and bands having nourishment ministered and knit
together, increaseth with the increase of God, Col. ii. 19. But can
such members, such a gathering as we have demonstrated that church and
members to be, among whom they allege their pretended authority to have
been preserved, and through which they derive their call; can such, I
say, be the body of Christ, or members thereof? Or is Christ the head
of such a corrupt, dead, dark, abominable, stinking carcase? If so,
then might we not as well affirm against the apostle, 2 Cor. vi. 14.
[616] That righteousness hath fellowship with unrighteousness, that
light hath communion with darkness, that Christ hath concord with
Belial, that a believer hath part with an infidel, and that the temple
of God hath agreement with idols? Moreover no man is called the temple
of God, nor of the Holy Ghost, but as his vessel is purified, and so he
fitted and prepared for God to dwell in; and many thus fitted by Christ
become his body, in and among whom he dwells and walks, according as it
is written, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their
God, and they shall be my people. It is therefore that we may become
the temple of Christ and people of God, that the apostle in the
following verse exhorts, saying out of the prophet, Wherefore come out
from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the
unclean thing, and I will receive you; and I will be a father unto you,
and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. [617]
But to what purpose is all this exhortation? And why should we separate
from the unclean, if a mere outward profession and name be enough to
make the true church; and if the unclean and polluted were both the
church and lawful successors of the apostles, inheriting their
authority, and transmitting it to others? Yea, how can the church be
the kingdom of the Son of God, as contra-distinguished from the kingdom
and power of darkness? And what need, yea, what possibility, of being
translated out of the one into the other, if those that make up the
kingdom and power of darkness be real members of the true church of
Christ, and not simply members only, but the very pastors and teachers
of it? But how do they increase in the increase of God, and receive
spiritual nourishment from Christ the head, that are enemies of him in
their hearts by wicked works, and openly go into perdition? [618]
Verily as no metaphysical and nice distinctions, (as that though they
were practically as to their own private states enemies to God and
Christ, and so servants of Satan; yet they were, by virtue of their
office, members and ministers of the church and so able to transmit the
succession,) I say, as such invented and frivolous distinctions will
not please the Lord God, neither will he be deluded by such, nor make
up the glorious body of his church with such mere outside hypocritical
shows, nor be beholden to such painted sepulchres to be members of his
body, which is sound, pure, and undefiled, and therefore he needs not
such false and corrupt members to make up the defects of it; so neither
will such distinctions satisfy truly tender and Christian consciences;
especially considering the apostle is so far from desiring us to regard
this, that we are expressly commanded to turn away from such as have a
form of godliness, but deny the power of it. For we may well object
against these, as the poor man did against the proud prelate, that went
about to cover his vain and unchristian-like sumptuousness, by
distinguishing that it was not as bishop but as prince he had all that
splendour; to which the poor rustic wisely is said to have answered,
[619] When the prince goeth to hell, what shall become of the
prelate?And indeed this were to suppose the body of Christ to be
defective, and that to fill up these defective places, he puts
counterfeit and dead stuff instead of real living members; like such as
lose their eyes, arms, or legs, who make counterfeit ones of wood or
glass instead of them. But we cannot think so of Christ, neither can we
believe for the reasons above adduced, that either we are to account,
or that Christ doth account, any man or men a whit the more members of
his body, because though they be really wicked, they hypocritically and
deceitfully clothe themselves with his name, and pretend to it; for
this is contrary to his own doctrine, where he saith expressly, John
xv. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, &c. That he is the vine, and his disciples are
the branches; that except they abide in him, they cannot bear fruit;
and if they be unfruitul, they shall be cast forth as a branch, and
wither. [620] Now I suppose these cut and withered branches are no more
true branches nor members of the vine; they can no more draw sap nor
nourishment from it, after that they are cut off, and so have no more
virtue, sap, nor life: What have they then to boast or glory of any
authority, seeing they want that life, virtue, and nourishment from
which all authority comes? So such members of Christ as are become dead
to him through unrighteousness, and so derive no more virtue nor life
from him, are cut off by their sins, and wither, and have no longer any
true or real authority, and their boasting of any is but an aggravation
of their iniquity by hypocrisy and deceit. But further, would not this
make Christ's body a mere shadow and phantasm? Yea, would it not make
him the head of a lifeless, rotten, stinking carcase, having only some
little outward false show, while inwardly full of rottenness and dirt?
[621] And what a monster would these men make of Christ's body, by
assigning it a real, pure, living, quick head, full of virtue and life,
and yet tied to such a dead lifeless body as we have already described
these members to be, which they allege to have been the church of
Christ? Again, the members of the church of Christ are specified by
this definition, to wit, as being the sanctified in Christ Jesus, 1
Cor. i. 2. But this notion of succession supposeth not only some
unsanctified members to be of the church of Christ, but even the whole
to consist of unsanctified members; yea, that such as were professed
necromancers and open servants of Satan were the true successors of the
apostles, and in whom the apostolic authority resided, these being the
vessels through whom this succession is transmitted; though many of
them, as all Protestants and also some Papists confess, attained these
offices in the (so called) church not only by such means as Simon Magus
sought it, but by much worse, even by witchcraft, traditions, money,
treachery, and murder, which Platina himself confesseth [622] of divers
bishops of Rome.
S:. XI. But such as object not this succession of the church, which yet
most Protestants begin now to do, distinguish in this matter,
affirming, that in a great apostacy, such as was that of the church of
Rome, God may raise up some singularly by his Spirit, who from the
testimony of the scriptures perceiving the errors into which such as
bear the name of Christians are fallen, may instruct and teach them,
and then become authorized by the people's joining with and accepting
of their ministry only. Most of them also will affirm, That the Spirit
herein is subjective, and not objective.
[623] But they say, That where a church is reformed, (such as they
pretend the Protestant churches are) there an ordinary orderly call is
necessary; and that of the Spirit, as extraordinary, is not to be
sought after: alleging, that Res aliter se habet in ecclesia
constituenda, quam in ecclesia constituta; that is, There is a
difference in the constituting of a church, and after it is
constituted.
[624] I answer, This objection as to us saith nothing, seeing we
accuse, and are ready from the scriptures to prove the Protestants
guilty of gross errors, and needing reformation, as well as they did
and do the Papists; and therefore we may justly lay claim, if we would,
to the same extraordinary call, havingthe same reason for it, and as
good evidence to prove ours as they had for theirs. [625] As for that
maxim, viz. That the case is different in constituting a church, and a
church constituted, I do not deny it; and therefore there may be a
greater measure of power required to the one than to the other, and God
in his wisdom distributes the same as he sees meet; but that the same
immediate assistance of the Spirit is not necessary for ministers in a
gathered church, as well as in gathering one, I see no solid reason
alleged for it: for sure Christ's promise was to be with his Children
to the end of the world, and they need him no less to preserve and
guide his church and children than to gather and beget them. Nature
taught the Gentiles this maxim,
Non minor est virtus, quam quaerere, parta tueri.
To defend what we attain, requires no less strength than what is
necessary to acquire it.
For it is by this inward and immediate operation of the Spirit, which
Christ hath promised to lead his children with into all truth, and to
teach them all things, that Christians are to be led in all steps, as
well last as first, which relate to God's glory and their own
salvation, as we have heretofore sufficiently proved, and therefore
need not now repeat it. [626] And truly this device of Satan, whereby
he has got people to put the immediate guidings and leadings of God's
Spirit as an extraordinary thing afar off, which their forefathers had,
but which they now are neither to wait for nor expect, is a great cause
of the growing apostacy upon the many gathered churches, and is one
great reason why a dry, dead, barren, lifeless, spiritless ministry,
which leavens the people into the same death, doth so much abound, and
is so much overspreading even the Protestant nations, that their
preaching and worships, as well as their whole conversation, is not to
be discerned from Popish by any fresh living zeal, or lively power of
the Spirit accompanying it, but merely by the difference of some
notions and opinions.
[627] S:. XII. Some unwise and unwary Protestants do sometimes object
to us, That if we have such an immediate call as we lay claim to, we
ought to confirm it by miracles.
[628] But this being an objection once and again urged against the
primitive Protestants by the Papists, we need but in short return the
answer to it that they did to the Papists, to wit, [629] That we need
not miracles, because we preach no new gospel, but that which is
already confirmed by all the miracles of Christ and his apostles; and
that we offer nothing but that which we are ready and able to confirm
by the testimony of the scriptures, which both already acknowledge to
be true: [630] and that John the Baptist and divers of the prophets did
none that we hear of, and yet were both immediately and extraordinarily
sent. This is the common Protestant answer, therefore may suffice in
this place; though, if need were, I could say more to this purpose, but
that I study brevity. S:. XIII. There is also another sort of
Protestants, to wit, [631] the English Independents, who, differing
from the Calvinistical Presbyterians, and denying the necessity of this
succession, or the authority of any national church, take another way;
affirming, That such as have the benefit of the scriptures, any company
of people agreeing in the principles of truth as they find them there
declared, may constitute among themselves a church, without the
authority of any other, and may choose to themselves a pastor, who by
the church thus constituted and consenting, is authorized, requiring
only the assistance and concurrence of the pastors of the neighbouring
churches, if any such there be; not so much as absolutely necessary to
authorize, as decent for order's sake. Also, they go so far as to
affirm, That in a church so constituted, [632] any gifted brother, as
they call them, if he find himself qualified thereto, may instruct,
exhort, and preach in the church; though, as not having the pastoral
office, he cannot administer those which they call their sacraments.
To this I answer, That this was a good step out of the Babylonish
darkness, and no doubt did proceed from a real discovery of the truth,
and from the sense of a great abuse of the promiscuous national
gatherings. Also this preaching of the gifted brethren, as they call
them, did proceed at first from certain lively touches and movings of
the Spirit of God upon many; but alas! because they went not forward,
that is much decayed among them; and the motions of God's Spirit begin
to be denied and rejected among them now, as much as by others.
[633] But as to their pretended call from the scripture, I answer, The
scripture gives a mere declaration of true things, but no call to
particular persons; so that though I believe the things there written
to be true, and deny the errors which I find there testified against,
yet as to those things which may be my particular duty, I am still to
seek; and therefore I can never be resolved in the scripture whether I
(such a one by name) ought to be a minister? And for the resolving this
doubt I must needs recur to the inward and immediate testimony of the
Spirit, as in the proposition concerning the Scriptures is shown more
at large.
S:. XIV. From all this then we do firmly conclude, that not only in a
general apostacy it is needful men be extraordinarily called, and
raised up by the Spirit of God, but that even when several assemblies
or churches are gathered by the power of God, not only into the belief
of the principles of truth, so as to deny errors and heresies, but also
into the life, spirit, and power of Christianity, so as to be the body
and house of Christ indeed, and a fit spouse for him, [634] that he who
gathers them doth also, for the preserving them in a lively, fresh, and
powerful condition, raise up and move among them, by the inward
immediate operation of his own Spirit, ministers and teachers, to
instruct and teach, and watch over them, who being thus called, are
manifest in the hearts of their brethren, and their call is thus
verified in them, who by the feeling of that life and power that
passeth through them, being inwardly builded up by them daily in the
most holy faith, become the seals of their apostleship. And this is
answerable to another saying of the same apostle Paul, 2 Cor. xiii. 3.
Since ye seek a proof of Christ's speaking in me, which to you-wards is
not weak, but is mighty in you. [635] So this is that which gives a
true substantial call and title to a minister, whereby he is a real
successor of the virtue, life, and power that was in the apostles, and
not of the bare name: and to such ministers we think the outward
ceremony of ordination or laying on of hands not necessary, neither can
we see the use of it, seeing our adversaries who use it acknowledge
that the virtue and power of communicating the Holy Ghost by it is
ceased among them. And is it not then foolish and ridiculous for them,
by an apish imitation, to keep up the shadow, where the substance is
wanting? And may not they by the same rule, where they see blind and
lame men, in imitation of Christ and his apostles, bid them see and
walk? Yea, is it not in them a mocking of God and men, to put on their
hands, and bid men receive the Holy Ghost, while they believe the thing
impossible, and confess that that ceremony hath no real effect? Having
thus far spoken of the call, I shall proceed next to treat of the
qualifications and work of a true minister.
[636] [637] S:. XV. As I have placed the true call of a minister in the
motion of this Holy Spirit, so is the power, life, and virtue thereof,
and the pure grace of God that comes therefrom, and the chief and most
necessary qualification, without which he can no ways perform his duty,
neither acceptably to God nor beneficially to men. [638] Our
adversaries in this case affirm, that three things go to the making up
of a minister, viz. 1. Natural parts, that he be not a fool. 2.
Acquired parts, that he be learned in the Ianguages, in philosophy, and
school divinity. 3. The grace of God.
The two first they reckon necessary to the being of a minister, so as a
man cannot be one without them; the third they say goeth to the
well-being of one, but not to the being; so that a man may truly be a
lawful minister without it, and ought to be heard and received as such.
But we, supposing a natural capacity, that one be not an ideot, judge
the grace of God indispensably necessary to the very being of a
minister, as that without which any can neither be a true, nor lawful,
nor good minister. As for letter-learning, we judge it not so much
necessary to the well-being of one, though accidentally sometimes in
certain respects it may concur, but more frequently it is hurtful than
helpful, as appeared in the example of Taulerus, [639] who being a
learned man, and who could make an eloquent preaching, needed
nevertheless to be instructed in the way of the Lord by a poor laic. I
shall first speak of the necessity of grace, and then proceed to say
something of that literature which they judge so needful.
[640] First then, as we said in the call, so may we much more here, if
the grace of God be a necessary qualification to make one a true
Christian, it must be a qualification much more necessary to constitute
a true minister of Christianity. That grace is necessary to make one a
true Christian I think will not be questioned, since it is by grace we
are saved, Eph. ii. 8. [641] It is the grace of God that teacheth us to
deny ungodliness, and the lusts of this world, and to live godlily and
righteously, Tit. ii. 11. Yea, Christ saith expressly, That without him
we can do nothing, John xv. 5. and the way whereby Christ helpeth,
assisteth, and worketh with us is by his grace: hence he saith to Paul,
My grace is sufficient for thee. A Christian without grace is indeed,
no Christian, but an hypocrite, and a false pretender. Then I say, If
grace be necessary to a private Christian, far more to a teacher among
Christians, who must be as a father and instructer of others, seeing
this dignity is bestowed upon such as have attained a greater measure
than their brethren. Even nature itself may teach us that there is more
required in a teacher than in those that are taught, and that the
master must be above and before the scholar in that art or science
which he teacheth others. Since then Christianity cannot be truly
enjoyed, neither any man denominated a Christian without the true grace
of God, therefore neither can any man be a true and lawful teacher of
Christianity without it.
[642] [643] [644] Secondly, No man can be a minister of the church of
Christ, which is his body, unless he be a member of the body, and
receive of the virtue and life of the head:
But he that hath not true grace can neither be a member of the body,
neither receive of that life and nourishment which comes from the head:
Therefore far less can he be a minister to edify the body.
That he cannot be a minister who is not a member is evident; because he
who is not a member is shut out and cut off, and hath no place in the
body; whereas the ministers are counted among the most eminent members
of the body. But no man can be a member unless he receive of the
virtue, life, and nourishment of the head; for the members that receive
not this life and nourishment decay and wither, and then are cut off.
And that every true member doth thus receive nourishment and life from
the head, the apostle expressly affirmeth, Eph. iv. 16. From whom the
whole body being fitly joined together, and compacted by that which
every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the
measure of every part, makes increase of the body unto the edifying of
itself in love. Now this that thus is communicated, and which thus
uniteth the whole, is no other than the grace of God; and therefore the
apostle in the same chapter, ver. 7. saith, But unto every one of us is
given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ; and ver.
11. he showeth how that by this grace and gift both apostles, prophets,
evangelists, pastors, and teachers are given for the work of the
ministry; and edifying of the body of Christ. And certainly then no man
destitute of grace is fit for this work, seeing that all that Christ
gives are so qualified; and these that are not so qualified, are not
given nor sent of Christ, are not to be heard, nor received, nor
acknowledged as ministers of the gospel, [645] because his sheep
neither ought nor will hear the voice of a stranger. This is also clear
from 1 Cor. xii. throughout; for the apostle in that chapter, treating
of the diversity of gifts and members of the body, showeth how by the
workings of the same Spirit in different manifestations or measures in
the several members of the body the whole body is edified, saying, ver.
13. That we are all baptized by the one Spirit into one body; and then,
ver. 28. he numbers up the several dispensations thereof, which by God
are set in the church through the various workings of his Spirit for
the edification of the whole. Then if there be no true member of the
body which is not thus baptized by the Spirit, neither any thing that
worketh to the edifying of it, but according to a measure of grace
received from the Spirit, surely without grace none ought to be
admitted to work or labour in the body, because their labour and work,
without this grace and Spirit, would be but ineffectual.
S:. XVI. Thirdly, That this grace and gift is a necessary qualification
to a minister, is clear from that of the apostle Peter, 1 Pet. iv. 10,
11. As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one
to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man
speak, let him speak as the oracles of God: if any man minister, let
him do it as of the ability which God giveth; that God in all things
may be glorified through Jesus Christ; to whom be praise and dominion
forever, Amen. [646] >From which it appears, that those that
minister must minister according to the gift and grace received; but
they the that have not such a gift, cannot minister according
thereunto. Secondly, As good stewards of the manifold grace of God: but
how can a man be a good steward of that which he hath not? [647] Can
ungodly men, that are not gracious themselves, be good stewards of the
manifold grace of God? And therefore in the following verses he makes
an exclusive limitation of such that are not thus furnished, saying, If
any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; and if any man
minister, let him do it as of the ability that God giveth: which is as
much as if he had said, they that cannot thus speak, and thus minister,
ought not to do it: for this [If] denotes a necessary condition. Now
what this ability is, is manifest by the former words, to wit, the gift
received, and the grace whereof they are stewards, as by the immediate
context and dependency of the words doth appear. Neither can it be
understood of a mere natural ability, because man in this condition is
said not to know the things of God, and so he cannot minister them to
others. And the following words show this also, in that he immediately
subjoineth, that God in all things may be glorified; but surely God is
not glorified, but greatly dishonoured, when natural men, from their
mere natural ability, meddle in spiritual things, which they neither
know nor understand.
[648] Fourthly, That grace is a most necessary qualification for a
minister, appears by those qualifications which the apostle expressly
requires, 1 Tim. iii. 2. Tit. i. &c. where he saith, A bishop must be
blameless, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, apt to teach, patient, a
lover of good men, just, holy, temperate, as the steward of God,
holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught. Upon the other
hand, He must neither be given to wine, nor a striker, nor covetous,
nor proud, nor self-willed, nor soon angry. [649] Now I ask if it be
not impossible that a man can have all these above-named virtues, and
be free of all these evils, without the grace of God? If then these
virtues, for the producing of which in a man grace is absolutely
necessary, be necessary to make a true minister of the church of Christ
according to the apostle's judgment, surely grace must be necessary
also.
Concerning this thing a learned man, and well skilled in antiquity,
about the time of the reformation, writeth thus: [650] Whatsoever is
done in the church, either for ornament or edification of religion,
whether in choosing magistrates or instituting ministers of the church,
except it be done by the ministry of God's Spirit, which is as it were
the soul of the church, it is vain and wicked. For whoever hath not
been called by the Spirit of God to the great office of God and dignity
of apostleship, as Aaron was, and hath not entered in by the door,
which is Christ, but hath otherways risen in the church by the window,
by the favours of men, &c. [651] truly such a one is not the vicar of
Christ and his apostles, but a thief and robber, and the vicar of Judas
Iscariot and Simon the Samaritan. Hence it was so strictly appointed
concerning the election of prelates, which holy Dionysius calls the
sacrament of nomination, that the bishops and apostles who should
oversee the service of the church should be men of most entire manners
and life, powerful in sound doctrine, to give a reason for all things.
So also another, [652] about the same time writeth thus:
Therefore it can never be, that by the tongues or learning any can give
a sound judgment concerning the holy scriptures, and the truth of God.
"Lastly," saith he, the sheep of Christ seeks nothing but the voice of
Christ, which he knoweth by the Holy Spirit, wherewith he is filled: he
regards not learning, tongues, or any outward thing, so as therefore to
believe this or that to be the voice of Christ his true shepherd; he
knoweth that there is need of no other thing but the testimony of the
Spirit of God.
[653] S:. XVII. Against this absolute necessity of grace they object,
That if all ministers had the saving grace of God, then all ministers
should be saved, seeing none can fall away from or lose saving grace.
[654] But this objection is built upon a false hypothesis, purely
denied by us; and we have in the former proposition concerning
perseverance already refuted it.
Secondly, It may be objected to us, That since [655] we afirm that
every man hath a measure of true and saving grace, there needs no
singular qualification either to a Christian or minister; for seeing
every man hath this grace, then no man needs forbear to be a minister
for want of grace.
I answer, We have above shown that there is [656] necessary to the
making a minister a special and particular call from the Spirit of God,
which is something besides the universal dispensation of grace to all,
according to that of the apostle, No man Heb. v. 4. taketh this honour
unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. Moreover, we
understand by [657] grace as a qualification to a minister, not the
mere measure of light, as it is given to reprove and call him to
righteousness; but we understand grace as it hath converted the soul,
and operateth powerfully in it, as hereafter, concerning the work of
ministers, will further appear. So we understand not men simply as
having grace in them as a seed, which we indeed affirm all have in a
measure; but we understand men that are gracious, leavened by it into
the nature thereof, so as thereby to bring forth those good fruits of a
blameless conversation, and of justice, holiness, patience, and
temperance, which the apostle requires as necessary in a true Christian
bishop and minister.
Thirdly, They [658] object the example of the false [659] prophets, of
the Pharisees, and of Judas.
But First, As to the false prophets, there can [660] nothing be more
foolish and ridiculous; as if because there were false prophets, really
false, without the grace of God, therefore grace is not necessary to a
true christian minister. Indeed if they had proved that true prophets
wanted this grace, they had [661] said something; but what have false
prophets common with true ministers, but that they pretend falsely that
which they have not? And because false prophets want true grace, will
it therefore follow. that true prophets ought not to have it, that they
may be true and not false? The example of the Pharisees and priests
under the law will not answer to the gospel times, because God set
apart a particular [662] tribe for that service, and particular
families, to whom it belonged by a lineal succession; and also their
service and work was not purely spiritual, but only the performance of
some outward and carnal observations and ceremonies, which were but a
shadow of the substance that was to come; and therefore their work made
not the comers thereunto perfect, as appertaining to the conscience
seeing they were appointed only according to the law of a carnal
commandment, and not according to the power of an endless life.
Notwithstanding as in the figure they were to be without blemish as to
their outward man, and in the performance of their work they were to be
washed and purified from their outward pollutions, so now, under the
gospel times, the ministers in the antitype must be inwardly without
blemish in their souls and spirits, being, as the apostle requires,
blameless, and in their work and service must be pure and undefiled
from their inward pollutions, and so clean and holy, that they may
offer up spiritual sacr!flces acceptable to God by Jesus Christ, [663]
1 Pet. ii. 5. As to Judas, the season of his ministry was not wholly
evangelical, as being before the work was finished, and while Christ
himself and his disciples were yet subject to the Jewish observances
and constitutions, and therefore his commission, as well as that which
the rest received with him at that time, was only to the house of
Israel, Mat. x. 5, 6. which made that by virtue of that commission the
rest of the apostles were not empowered to go forth and preach after
the resurrection until they had waited at Jerusalem for the pouring
forth of the Spirit: so that it appears Judas's ministry was more legal
than evangelical. Secondly, Judas's case, as all will acknowledge, was
singular and extraordinary, [664] he being immediately called by Christ
himself, and accordingly furnished and empowered by him to preach, and
do miracles; which immediate commission our adversaries do not so much
as pretend to, and so fall short of Judas, who trusted in Christ's
words, and therefore went forth and preached, without gold or silver,
or scrip for his journey; giving freely as he had freely received;
which our adversaries will not do, as hereafter shall be observed: also
that Judas at that time had not the least measure of God's grace, I
have not as yet heard proved. But is it not sad, that even Protestants
should lay aside the eleven good and faithful apostles, and all the
rest of the holy disciples and ministers of Christ, and betake them to
that one, of whom it was testified that he was a devil, for a pattern
and example to their ministry? Alas! it is to be regretted, that too
many of them resemble this pattern over-much.
Another objection is usually made against the [665] necessity of grace,
[666] That in case it were necessary, then such as wanted it could not
truly administer the sacraments; and consequently the people would be
left in doubts and infinite scruples, as not knowing certainly whether
they had truly received them, because not knowing infallibly whether
the administrators were truly gracious men.
But this objection hitteth not us at all, because [667] the nature of
that Spiritual and Christian worship, which we according to the truth
plead for, is such as is not necessarily attended with these carnal and
outward institutions, from the administering of which the objection
ariseth; and so hath not any such absurdity following upon it, as will
afterwards more clearly appear.
[668] S:. XVIII. Though then we make not human learning necessary, yet
we are far from excluding true learning; to wit, that learning which
proceedeth from the inward teachings and instructions of the Spirit,
whereby the soul learneth the secret ways of the Lord, becomes
acquainted with many inward travails and exercises of the mind; and
learneth by a living experience how to overcome evil, and the
temptations of it, by following the Lord, and walking in his light, and
waiting daily for wisdom and knowledge immediately from the revelation
thereof; and so layeth up these heavenly and divine lessons in the good
treasure of the heart, as honest Mary did the sayings which she heard,
and things which she observed: and also out of this treasure of the
soul, as the good scribe, brings forth things new and old, according as
the same Spirit moves, and gives true liberty, and as the glory of God
requires, for whose glory the soul, which is the temple of God,
learneth to do all things. This is that [669] good learning which we
think necessary to a true minister; by and through which learning a man
can well instruct, teach, and admonish in due season, and testify for
God from a certain experience; as did David, Solomon, and the holy
prophets of old, and the blessed apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
testifed of what they had seen, heard, felt, and handled of the word of
life, 1 John i. 1. Ministering the gift according as they had received
the same, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God; and preached
not the uncertain rumours of men by hearsay, which they had gathered
merely in the comprehension, while they were strangers to the thing in
their own experience in themselves: as to teach people how to believe,
while themselves were unbelieving; or how to overcome sin, while
themselves are slaves to it, as all ungracious men are; or to believe
and hope for an eternal reward, which themselves have not as yet
arrived at, &c.
[670] S:. XIX. But let us examine this literature, which they make so
necessary to the being of a minister, as, in the first place, the
knowledge of the tongues, at least of the Latin, Greek, and [671]
Hebrew. The reason of this is, That they may read the scripture, which
is their only rule, in the original languages, and thereby be the more
capable to comment upon it, and interpret it, &c. That also which made
this knowledge be the more prized by the primitive Protestants, was
indeed the dark barbarity that was over the world in the centuries
immediately preceding the reformation; the knowledge of the tongues
being about that time, (until it was even then restored by Erasmus and
some others,) almost lost and extinct. And this [672] barbarity was so
much the more abominable, that the whole worship and prayers of the
people were in the Latin tongue; and among that vast number of priests,
monks, and friars, scarce one of a thousand understood his breviary, or
that mass which he daily read and repeated: the scripture being, not
only to the people, but to the greater part of the clergy, even as to
the literal knowledge of it, as a sealed book. I shall not at all
discommend the [673] zeal that the first reformers had against this
Babylonish darkness, nor their pious endeavours to translate the Holy
Scriptures: I do truly believe, according to their knowledge, that they
did it candidly: and therefore to answer the just desires of [674]
those that desire to read them, and for other very good reasons, as
maintaining a commerce and understanding among divers nations by these
common languages, and others of that kind, we judge it necessary and
commendable that there be public schools for the teaching and
instructing such youth, as are inclinable thereunto, in the languages.
And although that papal ignorance deserved justly to be abhorred and
abominated, we see nevertheless, that [675] the true reformation
consists not in that knowledge; because although since that time the
Papists, stirred up through emulation of the Protestants, have more
applied themselves to literature, and it now more flourisheth in their
universities and cloisters, than before, (especially in the Ignatian or
Jesuitic sect, ) they are as far now as ever from a true reformation,
and more hardened in their pernicious doctrines. But all this will not
make it a necessary qualification to a minister, far less a more
necessary qualification than the grace of God and his spirit; because
the Spirit and grace of God can make up this want in the most rustic
and ignorant; but this knowledge can no ways make up the want of the
Spirit in the [676] most learned and eloquent. For all that which man
by his own industry, learning, and knowledge in the languages, can
interpret of the scriptures, or find out, is nothing without the
Spirit; he cannot be certain, but may still miss of the sense of it:
Whereas a poor man, that knoweth not a letter, when he heareth the
scriptures read, by the same Spirit, he can say, This is true; and by
the same Spirit he can understand, open, and interpret it, if need be:
yea, finding his condition to answer the condition and experience of
the saints of old, he knoweth and possesseth the truths there
delivered, because they are sealed and witnessed in his own heart by
the same Spirit. And this we have plentiful experience of in many of
those illiterate men, whom God hath raised up to be ministers in his
church in this day; so that some such, by his Spirit, have corrected
some of the errors of the translators, as in the third proposition
concerning [677] the Scriptures I before observed. Yea, I know myself a
poor shoe-maker, that cannot read a word, who being assaulted with a
false citation of scripture, from a public professor of divinity,
before the magistrate of a city, when he had been taken up for
preaching to some few who came to hear him; I say, I know such a one,
and he is yet alive, who, though the professor, who also is esteemed a
learned man, constantly asserted his saying to be a scripture-sentence,
yet affirmed, not through any certain letter-knowledge he had of it,
but from the most certain evidence of the Spirit in himself, that the
professor was mistaken; and that the Spirit of God never said any such
thing as the other affirmed: and the Bible being brought, it was found
as the poor shoemaker had said. . XX. The second part of their
literature is [678] logic and philosophy, an art so little needful to a
true minister, that if one that comes to be a true minister hath had
it, it is safest for him to forget and lose it; for it is the root and
ground of all contention and debate, and the way to make a thing a
great deal darker, than clearer. For under the pretence of regulating
man's reason into a certain order and rules, that he may find out (as
they pretend) the truth, it leads into such a labyrinth of contention,
as is far more fit to make a sceptic than a Christian, far less a
minister of Christ; yea, it often hinders man from a clear
understanding of things that his own reason would give him; and
therefore through its manifold rules and divers inventions, it often
gives occasion for a man, that hath little reason, foolishly to speak
much to no purpose; seeing a man, that is not very wise, may
notwithstanding be a perfect logician. And then, if ye would make a man
a fool to purpose that is not very wise, do but teach him logic and,
philosophy; and whereas before he might have been fit for something, he
shall then be good for nothing, but to speak nonsense; for these
notions will so swim in his head, that they will make him extremely
busy about nothing. The use that wise and solid men make of it, is, to
[679] see the emptiness thereof; therefore saith one, It is an art of
contention and darkness, by which all other sciences are rendered more
obscure, and harder to be understood.
If it be urged, That thereby the truth may be maintained and confirmed,
and heretics confuted; [680] I answer,. The truth, in men truly
rational, needeth not the help thereof; and such as are obstinate, this
will not convince; for by this they may learn twenty tricks and
distinctions, how to shut out the truth: and the truth proceeding from
an honest heart, and spoken forth from the virtue and Spirit of God,
will have more influence, and take sooner and more effectually, than by
a thousand [681] demonstrations of logic; as that heathen philosopher
[682] acknowledged, who, disputing with the Christian bishops in the
council of Nice, was so subtile, that he could not be overcome by them;
but yet by a few words spoken by a simple old rustic, was presently
convinced by him, and converted to the Christian faith; and being
inquired how he came to yield to that ignorant old man, and not to the
bishops; he said, That they contended with him in his own way, and he
could still give words for words; but there came from the old man that
virtue, which he was not able to resist. This secret virtue and power
ought to be the logic and philosophy wherewith a true Christian
minister should be furnished: and for which they need not be beholden
to Aristotle. [683] As to natural logic, by which rational men, without
that art and rules, or sophistical learning, deduce a certain
conclusion out of true propositions, which scarce any man of reason
wants, we deny not the use of it; and I have sometimes used it in [684]
this treatise; which also may serve without that dialectic art. As for
the other part of philosophy, which is called moral, or ethics, it is
not so necessary to Christians, who have the rules of the holy
scriptures, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, by [685] which they can be
much better instructed. The physical and metaphysical part may be
reduced to the arts of medicine and the mathematics, which have nothing
to do with the essence of a Christian minister. And therefore the
apostle Paul, who well understood what was good for Christian
ministers, and what hurtful, thus exhorted the Colossians, Beware lest
any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit. And to his
beloved disciple Timothy he writes also thus, O Timothy, keep that
which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings,
and oppositions of science, falsely so called. S:. XXI. The third and
main part of their literature is [686] school-divinity, a monster, made
up of some scriptural notions of truth, and the heathenish terms and
maxims; being, as it were, the heathenish philosophy christianized, or
rather, the literal external knowledge of Christ heathenized. It is man
in his first, fallen, natural state, with his devilish wisdom, pleasing
himself with some notions of truth, and adorning them with his own
sensual and carnal wisdom, because he thinks the simplicity of the
truth too low and mean a thing for him; and so despiseth that
simplicity, wheresoever it is found, that he may set up and exalt
himself, puffed up with this his monstrous birth. It is the devil,
darkening, obscuring, and veiling the knowledge of God, with his
serpentine and worldly wisdom; that so he may the more securely deceive
the hearts of the simple, and make the truth, as. it is in itself,
despicable and hard to be known and understood, by multiplying a
thousand difficult and needless questions, and endless contentions and
debates. All which, he who perfectly knoweth, is not a whit less the
servant of sin than he was; but ten times more so, in that he is
exalted, and proud of iniquity, and so much the farther from receiving,
understanding, or learning the truth, as it is in its own naked
simplicity; because he is full, learned, rich, and wise in his own
conceit: and so those that are most skilled in it, wear out their day,
and spend their pre-
cious time about the infinite and innumerable questions they have
feigned and invented concerning it. A certain learned man called it, A
two-fold discipline, like the race of the Centaurs, partly proceeding
from divine sayings, partly from philosophical reasons. A thousand of
their questions they [687] confess themselves to be no-ways necessary
to salvation; and yet many more of them they could never agree upon,
but are, and still will be, in endless janglings about them. The
volumes that have been written about it, a man in his whole age could
scarce read, though he lived to be very old; and when he has read them
all, he has but wrought himself a great deal more vexation and trouble
of spirit than he had before. These certainly are the words multiplied
without knowledge; by which counsel hath been darkened, 1 They make the
scripture the text of all this mass; and it is concerning the sense of
it that their voluminous debates arise. But a man of a good upright
heart may learn more in half an hour, and be more certain of it, by
waiting upon God, and his Spirit in the heart, than by reading a
thousand of their volumes; which, by filling his head with many
needless imaginations, may well stagger his faith, but never confirm
it: and indeed those that give themselves most to it, are most capable
to fall into error, as appeareth by the example of Origen, who, by his
learning, was one of the first, that falling into this way of
interpreting the scriptures, wrote so many volumes, and in them so many
errors, as very much troubled the church. Also [688] Arius, led by this
curiosity and human scrutiny, despising the simplicity of the gospel,
fell into his error, which was the cause of that horrible heresy which
so much troubled the church. Methinks the simplicity, plainness, and
brevity of the scriptures themselves, should be a sufficient reproof
for such a science; and
the apostles, being honest, plain, illiterate men, may be better
understood by such kind of men now, than with all that mass of
scholastic stuff, which neither Peter, nor Paul, nor John, ever thought
of.
~. XXII. But this invention of Satan, wherewith [689] he began the
apostacy, hath been of dangerous consequence; for thereby he at first
spoiled the simplicity of truth, by keeping up the heathenish learning,
which occasioned such uncertainty, even among those called Fathers, and
such debate, [690] that there are few of them to be found, who, by
reason of this mixture, do not only frequently contradict one another,
but themselves also. And therefore, when the apostacy grew greater, he,
as it were, buried the truth with this veil of darkness, wholly
shutting out people from true knowledge, and making the learned (so
accounted) busy themselves with idle and needless questions; while the
weighty truths of God were neglected, and went, as it were, into
disuse.
Now, though the grossest of these abuses be swept away by Protestants;
yet the evil root still remains, and is nourished and upheld; and the
science kept up, as being deemed necessary for a minister: for, while
the pure learning of the Spirit of truth is despised and neglected, and
made ineffectual, man's fallen earthly wisdom is upheld; and so in that
he labours and works with the scriptures, being out of the Life and
Spirit which those that wrote them were in, by which only they are
rightly understood, and made use of. And so he that is to be [691] a
minister, must learn this art or trade of merchandising with the
scriptures, and be that which the apostle would not be, to wit, a
trader with them, 1 That he may acquire a knack from a verse of
scripture, by adding his own barren notions and conceptions to it, and
his uncertain conjectures, and what he hath stolen out of books; for
which end he must have of necessity a good many by him, and may each
sabbath-day, as they call it, or oftener, make a discourse for an hour
[692] long; and this is called the the preaching of the word: whereas
the gift, grace, and Spirit of God, to teach, open, and instruct, and
to preach a word in season, is neglected; and so man's arts and parts,
[693] and knowledge, and wisdom, which is from below, are set up and
established in the temple of God, yea, and above the little seed; which
in effect is Antichrist, working in the mystery. And so the devil may
be as good and able a minister as the best of [694] them; for he has
better skill in languages, and more logic, philosophy, and
school-divinity, than any of them; and knows the truth in the notion
better than they all, and can talk more eloquently than all those
preachers. But what availeth all this? Is it not all but as death, as a
painted sepulchre, and dead carcase, without the power, life and spirit
of Christianity, which is the marrow and substance of a Christian
ministry? And he that hath this, and can speak from it, though he be a
poor shepherd, or a fisherman, and ignorant of all that learning, and
of all those questions and notions; yet speaking from the Spirit, his
ministry will have more influence towards the converting of a sinner
unto God, than all of them who are learned after the flesh; as in that
example of the old man at the council of Nice did appear.
[695] S:. XXIII: And if in any age, since the apostles' days, God hath
purposed to show his power by weak instruments, for the battering down
of that carnal and heathenish wisdom, and restoring again the ancient
simplicity of truth, this is it. For in our day, God hath raised up
witnesses for himself, as he did fishermen of old; many, yea, most of
whom, are labouring and mechanic men, who, altogether without that
learning, have, by the
power and Spirit of God, struck at the very root and ground of Babylon;
and in the strength and might of this power, have gathered thousands,
by reaching their consciences, into the same power and life, who, as to
the outward part, have been far more knowing than they, yet not able to
resist the virtue that proceeded from them. Of which I myself am a true
witness; and can declare from certain experience, because my heart hath
been often greatly broken and tendered by that virtuous life that
proceeded from the powerful [696] ministry of those illiterate men: so
that by their very countenance, as well as words, I have felt the evil
in me often chained down, and the good reached to and raised. What
shall I then say to you, who are lovers of learning, and admirers of
knowledge? Was not I also a lover and admirer of it, who also sought
after it, according to my age and capacity? But it pleased God in his
unutterable love, early to withstand my vain endeavours, while I was
yet but eighteen years of age; and made [697] me seriously to consider,
(which I wish also may befall others,) That without holiness and
regeneration, no man can see God; and that [698] the fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom, and to depart from iniquity, a good
understanding; and how much knowledge puffeth up, and leadeth away from
that inward quietness, stillness, and humility of mind, where the Lord
appears, and his heavenly wisdom is revealed. If ye consider these
things, then will ye say with me, that all this learning, wisdom, and
knowledge, gathered in this fallen nature, is but as dross and dung, in
comparison of the cross of Christ; especially being destitute of that
power, life, and virtue, which I perceive these excellent (though
despised, because illiterate) witnesses of God to be filled with: and
therefore seeing, that in and among them, I, with many others, have
found the heavenly food that gives content- ment, let my soul seek
after thislearning, and wait for it for ever. [699]
S:. XXIV. Having thus spoken of the call and qualifications of a
gospel-minister, that which comes next to be considered, is, [700] What
his proper work is,how, and by what rule, he is to be ordered? Our
adversaries do all along go upon externals, and therefore have certain
prescribed rules and methods, contrived according to their human and
earthly wisdom: we, on the contrary, walk still upon the same
foundation, and lean always upon the immediate assistance and influence
of that [701] Holy Spirit, which God hath given his children, to teach
them all things, and lead them in all things: which Spirit, being the
Spirit of order, and not of confusion, leads us, and as many as follow
it, into such a comely and decent order as becometh the church of God.
But our adversaries, having shut themselves nut from this immediate
counsel and influence of the Spirit, have run themselves into many
confusions and disorders, seeking to establish an [702] order in this
matter. For some will have first a chief bishop, or pope, to rule and
be a prince over all; and under him, by degrees, cardinals, patriarchs,
archbishops, priests, deacons, sub-deacons; and besides these,
Acoluthi, Tonsorati, Ostiarii, &c. And in their theology, (as they call
it,) professors,bachelors, doctors, &c. And others would have every
nation independent of another, having its own metropolitan or
patriarch; and the rest in order subject to him, as before. Others
again are against all precedency among pastors, and constitute their
subordination not of persons, but of powers: as first the consistory,
or session; then the class, or presbytery; then the provincial; and
then the national synod, or assembly. Thus they tear one another, and
contend among themselves concerning the ordering, distinguishing, and
making their several orders and offices; concerning which there hath
been no less The work of a minister. The Holy Spirit, a Spirit of
order, and not of confusion. contest, not only by way of verbal
dispute, but even by fighting, tumults, wars, devastations, and
bloodshed, [703] than about the conquering, overturning, and
establishing of kingdoms. And the histories of late times are as full
of the various tragedies, acted on account of this spiritual and
ecclesiastical monarchy and commonwealth, as the histories of old times
are of the wars and contests that fell out both in the Assyrian,
Persian, Greek, and Roman empires: these last upon this account, though
among those that are called Christians, have been no less bloody and
cruel than the former among heathens, concerning their outward empires
and governments. Now all this, both among [704] Papists and
Protestants, proceedeth, in that they seek in imitation to uphold a
form and shadow of things, though they want the power, virtue, and
substance; while for many of their orders and forms they have not so
much as the name in the scripture. But in opposition to all this mass
of formality, and heap of orders, rules and governments, we say, the
substance is chiefly to be sought after, and the power, virtue, and
spirit, is to be known and waited for, which is one in all the
different names and offices the scripture makes use of; as appears by 1
Cor. xii. 4. (often before-mentioned,) There are diversities of gifts,
but the same Spirit. And after the apostle, throughout the whole
chapter, hath shown how one and the self-same Spirit worketh in and
quickeneth each member; then, in verse 28. he showeth how thereby God
hath set in the church, first apostles, secondly prophets, teachers,
&c. And likewise to the same purpose, Eph. iv. 11. he showeth, how by
these gifts he hath given some apostles, some prophets, some
evangelists, some pastors, some teachers, &c. Now it never was Christ's
purpose, nor the apostles', that Christians should, without this Spirit
and heavenly gift, set up a shadow and form of these orders, and so
make several ranks and degrees, to establish a carnal ministry of men's
making, without the life, power, and spirit of [705] Christ: this is
that work of Antichrist, and mystery of iniquity, that hath got up in
the dark night of apostacy. But in a true church of Christ, gathered
together by God, not only into the belief of the principles of truth,
but also into the power, life, and Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of God
is the orderer, ruler, and governor; as in each particular, so in the
general. And when they assemble together to wait upon God, and to
worship and adore [706] him; then such as the Spirit sets apart for the
ministry, by its divine power and influence opening their mouths, and
giving them to exhort, reprove, and instruct with virtue and power;
these are thus ordained of God and admitted into the ministry, and
their brethren cannot but hear them, receive them, and also honour them
for their work's sake. And so this is not monopolized by a certain
[707] kind of men, as the clergy, (who are to that purpose educated and
brought up as other carnal artists,) and the rest to be despised as
laics; but it is left to the free gift of God to choose any whom he
seeth meet thereunto, whether rich or poor, servant or master, young or
old, yea, male or [708] female. And such as have this call, verify the
gospel, by preaching not in speech only, but also in power, and in the
Holy Ghost, and in much fulness, 1 Thess. i. 5. and cannot but be
received and heard by the sheep of Christ.
[709] S:. XXV. But if it be objected here, That I seem hereby to make
no distinction at all betwixt ministers and others; which is contrary
to the apostle's saying, 1 Cor. xii. 29. Are all apostles? Are all
prophets? Are all teachers? &c. From thence they insinuate, That I also
contradict his comparison in that chapter, of the church of Christ with
a human body; as where he saith, verse 17. If the whole body were an
eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the
smelling? &c. Also the apostle not only distinguisheth the ministers of
the church in general from the rest of the members, but also from
themselves; as naming them distinctly and separately, apostles,
prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, &c.
As to the last part of this objection, to which [710] I shall first
answer; it is apparent, that this diversity [711] of names is not to
distinguish separate offices, but to denote the different and various
operations offices; of the Spirit; a manner of speech frequent with the
apostle Paul, wherein he sometimes expatiates to the illustrating of
the glory and praise of God's grace: as in particular, Rom. xii. 6.
Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given us,
whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;
or ministry, let us wait on our ministering; or he that teacheth, on
teaching; or he that exhorteth, on exhortation. Now none will say from
all this, that these are distinct offices, or do not or may not
coincide in one person, as may all those other things mentioned by him
in the subsequent verses, viz. Of loving, being kindly affectioned,
fervency of Spirit, hospitality, diligence, blessing, rejoicing, &c.
which he yet numbers forth as different gifts of the Spirit, and
according to this objection might be placed as distinct and separate
offices, which were most absurd.
Secondly, In these very places mentioned it is clear that it is no real
distinction of separate offices: because all acknowledge, that pastors
and teachers, (which the apostle there no less separateth and
distinguisheth, than pastors and prophets, or apostles,) are one and
the same, and coincide in the same office and person; and therefore may
be said so of the rest. For [prophecy] as it signifies the foretelling
[712] of things to come, is indeed a distinct gift, but no distinct
office; and therefore our adversaries do not place it among their
several orders: neither will they deny, but that it both may be and
hath been given of God to some, that not only have been pastors and
teachers, and that there it hath coincided in one person with these
other offices, but, also to some of the laics: and so it hath been
found, according to their own confession, without [713] the limits of
their clergy. Prophecy in the other sense, to wit, as it signifies a
speaking from the Spirit of truth, is not only peculiar to pastors and
teachers, who ought so to prophesy; but even a common privilege to the
saints. For though to instruct, teach, and exhort, be proper to such as
are more particularly called to the work of the ministry; yet it is not
so proper to them, as not to be (when the saints are met together, as
any of them are moved by the Spirit) common to others: for some acts
belong to all in such a relation; but not only to those within that
relation: Comptunt omni, sed non soli. Thus to see and hear are proper
acts of a man; seeing it may be properly predicated of him, that he
heareth and seeth: yet are they common to other creatures also. So to
prophesy in this sense, is indeed proper to ministers and teachers; yet
not so, but that it is common and lawful to other saints, when moved
thereunto, though it be not proper to them by way of relation: because,
notwithstanding that motion, they are not particularly called to the
work of the ministry, as appears by 1 Cor. xiv. where the apostle at
large declaring the order and ordinary method of the church, saith,
vers. 30, 31. But if any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by,
let the first hold his peace; for ye may all prophesy one by one, that
all may learn, and all be comforted: which showeth that none is here
excluded. But yet that there is a subordination, according to the
various measures of the gift received, the next verse showeth: And the
spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets: for God is not the
author of confusion, but of peace. Now that prophesying, in this sense,
may be common to all saints, appears by verse 39. of the same chapter,
where speaking to [all] in general, he saith, Wherefore, brethren,
covet to prophesy; and verse 1. he exhorts them, saying, Desire
spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.
Secondly, As to evangelists the same may be said; [714] for whoever
preacheth the gospel is really an evangelist, and so consequently every
true minister of the gospel is one; else what proper office can they
assign to it, unless they should be so foolish as to affirm that none
were evangelists but Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, who wrote the
account of Christ's life and sufferings? and then it were neither a
particular office, seeing John and Matthew were apostles, Mark and Luke
pastors and teachers, so that there they coincided in one. And indeed
it is absurd to think, that upon that particular account the apostle
used the word [evangelist.] Calvin acknowledgeth, that such as preach
the gospel in purity, after some time of apostacy, may be truly called
evangelists, and therefore saith, that there were apostles in his time;
and hence the Protestants, at their first coming forth, termed
themselves evangelici, or evangelics.
Lastly, An apostle, if we look to the etymology [715] of the word,
signifies one that is sent; and in respect every true minister is sent
of God, in so far he is an apostle; though the twelve, because of their
being specially sent of Christ, were therefore called apostles kat'
exochen, or per eminentiam, i.e. by way of excellency. And yet that
there was no limitation [716] to such a number, as some foolishly
imagine, appears, because after that number was filled up, the apostle
Paul was afterwards so called; therefore we judge that these are no
distinct separate offices, but only names used upon occasion to express
the more eminent arising and shining forth of God's grace. As if any
minister of Christ should now proselyte and turn a whole nation to the
Christian [717] faith, though he had no distinct office, yet I doubt
not but both Papists and Protestants would judge it tolerable to call
such an one an apostle, or an evangelist; for on this account the
Jesuits call some of their sect apostles of India and of Japan; and
Calvin testifies that there were apostles and evangelists in his time,
in respect to the reformation; [718] upon which account also we have
known John Knox often called the apostle of Scotland. So that we
conclude that ministers, pastors, or teachers do comprehend all, and
that the office is but one, and therefore in that respect we judge
there ought to be no precedency among them: to prove which I shall not
here insist, seeing it is shown largely, and treated of by such as have
denied the Diocesan Episcopacy, as they call it.
S:. XXVI. As to the first part of the objection, [719] viz. That I seem
to make no distinction betwixt the minister and people, I answer, If it
be understood of [720] a liberty to speak or prophesy by the Spirit, I
say all may do that, when moved thereunto, as above is shown; but we do
believe and affirm that some are more particularly called to the work
of the ministry, and therefore are fitted of the Lord for that purpose;
whose work is more constantly and particularly to instruct, exhort,
admonish, oversee, and watch over their brethren; and that as there is
something more incumbent upon them in that respect than upon every
common believer, so also, as in that relation, there is due to them
from the flock such obedience and subjection as is mentioned in these
testimonies of the scripture, Heb. xiii. 17. 1 Thess. v. 12, 13. 1 Tim.
v. 17. 1 Pet. v. 5. [721] Also besides these who are thus particularly
called to the ministry, and constant labour in the word and doctrine,
there are also the elders, who though they be not moved to a frequent
testimony by way of declaration in words, yet as such are grown up in
the experience of the blessed work of truth in their hearts, they watch
over and privately admonish the young, take care for the widows, the
poor, and fatherless, and look that nothing be wanting, but that peace,
love, unity, concord, and soundness be preserved in the church of
Christ; and this answers to the deacons mentioned Acts vi.
That which we oppose, is the distinction of [722] laity and clergy,
which in the scripture is not to be found, whereby none are admitted
unto the work of the ministry but such as are educated at schools on
purpose, and instructed in logic and philosophy, &c. and so are at
their apprenticeship to learn the art and trade of preaching, even as a
man learns any other art, whereby all other honest mechanic men, who
have not got this heathenish art, are excluded from having this
privilege. And so he that is a scholar thus bred up must not have any
honest trade whereby to get him a livelihood, if he once intend for the
ministry, but he must see to get him a place, and then he hath his set
hire for a livelihood to him. He must [723] also be distinguished from
the rest by the colour of his clothes, for he must only wear black; and
must be a master of arts: but more of this hereafter.
S:. XXVII. As this manner of separating men for the ministry is nothing
like the church in the apostles' days, so great evils have and do
follow upon it. For first, Parents seeing both the honour and profit
that attends the clergy, do allot their children sometimes from their
infancy to it, and so breed them up on purpose. And others, come to
age, upon the same account betake them to the same trade, and having
these natural and acquired parts that are judged the necessary
qualifications of a minister, are thereby admitted, and so are bred up
in idleness and pleasure thinking it a disgrace for them to work with
their hands; [724] and so just study a little out of their books, to
make a discourse once or twice a week during the running of an
hour-glass whereas the gift, grace, and Spirit of God, to call and
qualify fo the ministry, is neglected and overlooked. And many
covetous, corrupt, earthly, carnal men, having a mere show and form,
but strangers to, and utterly ignorant of, the inward work and grace
upon their hearts, are brought in and intrude themselves, and so
through them death, barrenness, and darkness, and by consequence,
superstition, error, and idolatry have entered and leavened the church.
And they that will narrowly observe, shall find that it was thus the
apostacy came to take place; of the truth of which I could give many
examples, which for brevity's sake I omit. Thus the office, reverence,
and respect due to it were annexed to the mere name, so that when once
a man was ordained a bishop or a priest, he was heard and believed,
though he had nothing of the Spirit, power, and life that the true
apostles and ministers were in. And thus in a short time the succession
came to be of the name and title, and the office was thereto annexed;
and not of the nature, virtue, and life; which in effect made them to
cease to be the ministry and ministers of Christ, but only a shadow and
vain image of it; which also decaying, was in some ages so
metamorphosed, that not only the substance was lost, but the very form
wholly [725] vitiated, altered, and marred; so that it may be far
better said of the pretended Christian church, as was disputed of
Theseus's boat, (which by the piecing of many new pieces of timber was
wholly altered,) whether indeed it were the same or another? But in
case that the first had been of oak, and the pieces last put in but of
rotten fir, and that also the form had been so far changed as to be
nothing like the first, I think it would have suf fered no dispute, but
might have easily been concluded to be quite another, retaining nothing
but the name, and that also unjustly. Secondly, From [726] this
distinction of laity and clergy this abuse also follows, that good,
honest, mechanic men, and others who have not learned the art and trade
of preaching, and so are not licentiated according to these rules they
prescribe unto themselves; such, I say, being possessed with a false
opinion that it is not lawful for them to meddle with the ministry, nor
that they are any ways fit for it, because of the defect of that
literature, do thereby neglect the gift in themselves, and quench many
times the pure breathings of the Spirit, of God in their hearts; which,
if given way to, might prove much more for the edification of the
church than many of the conned sermons of the learned. And so by this
means the apostle's command and advice is slighted, who exhorteth, 1
Thess. v. 19, 20. not to quench the Spirit, nor despise prophesyings.
And all this is done by men pretending to be Christians, who glory that
the first preachers and propagators of their religion were such kind of
plain mechanic men, and illiterate. And even Protestants do no less
than [727] Papists exclude such kind of men from being ministers among
them, and thus limit the Spirit and gift, of God; though their Fathers,
in opposition to Papists, asserted the contrary; and also their own
histories declare how that kind of illiterate men did, without
learning, by the Spirit of God, greatly contribute in divers places to
the Reformation.
By this it may appear, that as in calling and qualifying, so in
preaching and praying, and the other particular steps of the ministry,
every true minister is to know the Spirit of God by its virtue and life
to accompany and assist him; but because this relates to worship, I
shall speak of it more largely in the next proposition, which is
concerning worship. The last thing to be considered and inquired into
is, concerning the maintenance of a gospel minister; but before I
proceed, I judge it fit to speak something in short concerning the
preaching of women, and to declare what we hold in that matter.
[728] Seeing male and female are one in Christ Jesus, and that he gives
his Spirit no less to one than to the other, when God moveth by his
Spirit in a woman, we judge it no ways unlawful for her to preach in
the assemblies of God's people. Neither think we that of Paul, 1 Cor.
xiv. 34. to reprove the inconsiderate and talkative women among the
Corinthians, who troubled the church of Christ with their unprofitable
questions, or that, 1 Tim. ii. 11, 12. that women ought to learn in
silence, not usurping authority over the man, any ways repugnant to
this doctrine; because it is clear that women have prophesied and
preached in the church, else had that saying of Joel been ill applied
by Peter, Acts ii. 17. And seeing Paul himself, in the same epistle to
the Corinthians, giveth rules how women should behave themselves in
their public preaching and praying, it would be a manifest
contradiction if that other place were taken in a larger sense. And the
same Paul speaks of a woman that laboured with him in the work of the
gospel: and it is written [729] that Philip had four daughters that
prophesied. And Lastly, It hath been observed, that God hath
effectually in this day converted many souls by the ministry of women;
and by them also frequently comforted the souls of his children; which
manifest [730] experience puts the thing beyond all controversy. But
now I shall proceed to speak of the maintenance of ministers.
S:. XXVIII. We freely acknowledge, as the proposition [731] holds
forth, that there is an obligation upon such to whom God sends, or
among whom he raiseth up a minister, that, if need be, they minister to
his necessities. Secondly, That it is lawful for him to receive what is
necessary and convenient. To prove this I need not insist, for our
adversaries will readily grant it to us; for the thing we affirm is,
that this is all that these scripture testimonies relating to this
thing do grant, Gal. vi. 6. 1 Cor. ix. 11, 12, 13, 14. 1 Tim. v. 16.
That which we then oppose in this matter is, First, That it should be
constrained and limited. Secondly, That it should be superfluous,
chargeable, and sumptuous. And Thirdly, The manifest abuse thereof, of
which I shall also briefly treat.
As to the First, our adversaries are forced to [732] recur to the
example of the law; a refuge they use in defending most of their errors
and superstitions, which are contrary to the nature and purity of the
gospel.
They say, God appointed the Levites the tithes, [733] therefore they
belong also to such as minister in holy things under the gospel.
I answer, All that can be gathered from this is, [734] that as the
priests had a maintenance allowed them under the law, so also the
ministers and preachers [735] under the gospel, which is not denied;
but the comparison will not hold that they should have the very same;
since, First, There is no express gospel command for it, neither by
Christ nor his apostles. Secondly, The parity doth no ways hold betwixt
the Levites under the law, and the preachers under the gospel; because
the Levites were one of the tribes of Israel, and so had a right to a
part of the inheritance of the land as well as the rest of their
brethren; and having none, had this allotted to them in lieu of it.
Next, The tenth of the tithes was only allowed to the priests that
served at the altar, the rest being for the Levites, and also to be put
up in store-houses, for entertaining of widows and strangers. But these
preachers, notwithstanding they inherit what they have by their
parents, as well as other men, yet claim the whole tithes, allowing
nothing either to widow or stranger. But as to the tithes I shall not
insist, because divers others have clearly and learnedly treated of
them apart, and also divers Protestants do confess them not to be jure
divino; and the parity as to the quota doth not hold, but only in
general as to the obligation of a maintenance ; which maintenance,
though the hearers be obliged to give, and fail of their duty if they
do not, yet that it [736] ought neither to be stinted, nor yet forced,
I [737] prove; because Christ, when he sent forth his apostles, said,
Freely ye have received, freely give, Mat. x. 8. and yet they had
liberty to receive meat and drink from such as offered them, to supply
their need. Which shows that they were not to seek or require any thing
by force, or to stint, or make a bargain before hand, as the preachers
as well among Papists as Protestants do in these days, who will not
preach to any until they be first sure of so much a year; but on the
contrary, these were to do their duty, and freely to communicate, as
the Lord should order them, what they had received, without seeking or
expecting a reward.
[738] The answer given to this by Nicolaus Arnoldus, Exercit. Theolog.
Sect. 42, 43. is not to be forgotten, but indeed to be kept upon record
for a perpetual remembrance of him and his brethren; for he frankly
answers after this manner, We have not freely received, and therefore
are not bound to give freely. The answer I confess is ingenuous and
good; for if those that receive freely are to give freely, it would
seem to follow by the rule of contraries, that those that receive not
freely ought not to give freely, and I shall grant it; only they must
grant me, that they preach not by and according to the gift and grace
of God received, nor can they be good stewards of the manifold grace of
God, as every true minister ought to be; or else they [739] have gotten
this gift or grace by money, as Simon Magus would have been compassing
it, since they think themselves not bound to give it without money
again. But to be plain, l believe he intended not that it was from the
gift or grace of God they were to preach, but from their acquired arts
and studies, which have cost them much labour, and also some money at
the university; and therefore, as he that puts his stock into the
public bank expects interest again, so these scholars, having spent
some money in learning the art of preaching, think they may boldly say
they have it not freely; for it hath cost them both money and pains,
and therefore they expect both money and ease again. And therefore, as
Arnoldus gets money for teaching his young students the art and trade
of preaching, so he intends they should be repaid before they give it
again to others. It was of old said, Omnia venalia Romae, i.e. All
things are set to sale at Rome; [740] but now the same proverb may be
applied to Franequer. And therefore Arnoldus's students, when they go
about to preach, may safely seek and require hereby, telling their
hearers their master's maxim, Nos gratis non accepimus, ergo neque
gratis dare tenemur. But then they may answer again, That they find
them and their master to be none of his ministers, who, when he sent
forth his disciples, gave them this command, Freely ye have received,
freely give, and therefore we will have none of your teaching, because
we perceive you to be of the number of those that look for their gain
from their quarter. [741]
S:. XXIX. Secondly, The scripture testimonies [742] that urge this are
in the same nature of those that press charity and liberality towards
the poor, and command hospitality, &c. but these are not nor [743] can
be stinted to a certain quantity, because they are deeds merely
voluntary, where the obedience to the command lieth in the good will of
the giver, and not in the matter of the thing given, as Christ showeth
in the example of the widow's mite. So that though there be an
obligation upon Christians to minister of outward things to their
ministers, yet there can be no definition of the quantity but by the
giver's own consent, and a little from one may more truly fulfil the
obligation than a great deal from another. And therefore asacts of
charity and hospitality can neither be limited nor forced, so neither
can this. [744] If it be objected, That ministers may and ought to
exhort, ersuade, yea, and earnestly press Christians, if they find them
defective therein, to acts of charity and hospitality, and so may they
do also to the giving of maintenance; [745] I answer, All this saith
nothing for a stinted and forced maintenance, for which there cannot so
much as the show of one solid argument be brought from scripture. I
confess ministers may use exhortation in this as much as in any other
case, even as the apostle did to theCorinthians, showing them [746]
their duty; but it were fit for ministers that so do (that their
testimony might have the more weight, and be the freer of all suspicion
of covetousness and self-interest) that they might be able to say truly
in the sight of God that which the same apostle subjoins upon the same
occasion, 1Cor. ix. 15, 16, 17, 18. But I have used none of these
things; neither have I written these things, that it should be so done
unto me: f'or it were better for me to die, than that any man should
make my glorying void. For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing
to glory of; for necessity is laid upon me, yea, woe is unto me if I
preach not the gospel. For if I do this thing willingly, I have a
reward; but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is
committed unto me, what is my reward then? Verily that when I preach
the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I
abuse not my power in the gospel. Thirdly, As there is neither precept
nor example [747] for this forced and stinted maintenance in the
scripture, so the apostle, in his solemn farewell to the pastors and
elders of the church of Ephesus, guards them against it, Acts xx. 33,
34, 35. But if the thing had been either lawful or practised, he would
rather have exhorted them to be content with their stinted hire, and
not to covet more; whereas he showeth them, first, by his own example,
that they were not to covet or expect any man's silver [748] or gold;
secondly, that they ought to work with their hands for an honest
livelihood, as he had done; and lastly, he exhorts them so to do from
the words of Christ, because it is a more blessed thing to give than to
receive; showing that it is so far from a thing that a true minister
ought to aim at, or expect, that it is rather a burden to a true
minister, and cross to him, to be reduced to the necessity of wanting
it.
S:. XXX. Fourthly, If a forced and stinted [749] maintenance were to be
supposed, it would make the ministers of Christ just one with those
hirelings [750] whom the prophets cried out against. For certainly if a
man make a bargain to preach to people for so much a year, so as to
refuse to preach unless he have it, and seek to force the people to
give it by violence, it cannot be denied that such a one preacheth for
hire, and so looks for his gain [751] from his quarter, yea, and
prepares war against such as put not into his mouth; but this is the
particular special mark of a false prophet and an hireling, and
therefore can no ways belong to a true minister of Christ.
Next, that a superfluous maintenance, that is, [752] more than in
reason is needful, ought not to be received by Christian ministers,
will not need much proof, seeing the more moderate and sober, both
among Papists and Protestants, readily confess it, who with one voice
exclaim against the excessive revenues of the clergy; and that it may
not want a proof from scripture, what can be more plain than that of
the apostle to Timothy? 1 Tim. vi. 7, 8, 9, 10. where he both shows
wherewith we ought to be content, and also the hazard of such as look
after more; and indeed, since that very obligation of giving
maintenance to a minister is founded upon their need, and such as have
opportunity to work are commended rather in not receiving than in
receiving, it can no ways be supposed lawful for them to receive more
than is sufficient. And indeed, were they truly pious and right, though
necessitous, they would rather incline to take too little, than be
gaping after too much.
[753] S:. XXXI. Now that there is great excess and [754] abuse hereof
among Christians, the vast revenues which the bishops and priests have,
both Papists and Protestants, do declare; since I judge it may be said
without any hyperbole, that some particular persons have more paid them
yearly than Christ and his apostles made use of in their whole
lifetime, who yet wanted not what was needful as to the outward man,
and no doubt deserved it far better than those that enjoy that fulness.
But it is manifest these bishops and priests love their fat benefices,
and the pleasure and honour that attends them, so well, that they
purpose neither to follow Christ nor his apostles' example or advice in
this matter.
[755] But it is usually objected, That Christians are become so
hard-hearted, and generally so little heed spiritual things, that if
ministers had not a settled and stinted maintenance secured them by
law, they and their families might starve for want of bread.
[756] I answer, This objection might have some weight as to a carnal
ministry, made up of natural men, who have no life, power, nor virtue
with them, and so may insinuate some need of such a maintenance for
such a ministry; but it saith nothing as to such as are called and sent
of God, who [757] sends no man a wayfaring upon his own charges; and so
go forth in the authority and power of God, to turn people from
darkness to light; for such can trust to him that sendeth them and do
believe that he will provide for them, knowing that he requireth
nothing of any but what he giveth power to perform; and so when they
return, if he inquire, can say they wanted nothing. And such also when
they stay in a place, being immediately furnished by God, and not
needing to borrow and steal what they preach from books, and take up
their time that way, fall a working at their lawful employments and
labour with their hands, as Paul did when he gathered the church at
Corinth. And indeed if this objection had any weight, the apostles and
primitive pastors should never have gone forth to convert the nations,
for fear of want. Doth not the doctrine of Christ teach us to venture
all, and part with all, to serve God? Can they then be accounted
ministers of Christ who are afraid to preach him lest they get not
money for it, or will not do it until they be sure of their payment?
What serves the ministry for but to perfect the saints, and so to
convert them from that hard-heartedness?
But thou wilt say, I have laboured and preached to [758] them, and they
are hard-hearted still, and will, not give me any thing:
Then surely thou hast either not been sent to [759] them of God, and so
thy ministry and preaching hath not been among them in the power,
virtue, and life of Christ, and so thou deservest nothing; or else they
have rejected thy testimony, and so are not worthy, and from such thou
oughtest not [760] would give thee, but thou oughtest to shake off the
dust from thy feet, and leave them. And how frivolous this objection
is, appears, in that in the darkest and most superstitious times the
priests' revenues increased most, and they were most richly rewarded,
though they deserved least. So that he that is truly sent of God, as he
needs not, so neither will he, be afraid of want, so long as he serves
so good a master; neither will he ever forbear to do his work for that
cause. And indeed such as make this objection show truly that they
serve not the Lord Christ, but their own belly, and that makes them so
anxious for want of food to it.
[761] S:. XXXII. But lastly, As to the abuses of this [762] kind of
maintenance, indeed he that would go through them all, though he did it
passingly, might make of it alone a huge volume, they are so great and
numerous. For this abuse, as others, crept in with the apostacy, there
being nothing of this in the primitive times: then the ministers
claimed no tithes, neither sought they a stinted or forced maintenance;
but such as wanted had their necessity supplied by the church, and
others wrought with their hands. But the persecutions being over, and
the emperors and princes coming under the name of Christians, the zeal
of those great men was quickly abused by the covetousness of the
clergy, who soon learned to change their cottages with the palaces of
princes, and rested not until by degrees some of them came to be
princes themselves, nothing inferior to them in splendor, luxury, and
magnificence; a method of living that honest Peter and John, the
fishermen, and Paul the tent-maker, never coveted; and perhaps as
little imagined that men pretending to be their successors should have
arrived to these things. And so soon as the bishops were thus seated
and constituted, forgetting the life and work of a Christian, they went
usually by the ears together about the precedency and revenues, each
coveting the chiefest and fattest benefice. It is also to be regretted
to think how soon this mischief crept in among Protestants, who had
scarce well [763] appeared when the clergy among them began to speak at
the old rate, and show that though they had forsaken the bishop of
Rome, they were not resolved to part with their old benefices; and
therefore so soon as any princes or states shook off the Pope's
authority, and so demolished the abbies, nunneries, and other monuments
of superstition, the reformed clergy began presently to cry out to the
magistrates to beware of meddling with the church's patrimony, severely
exclaiming against making a lawful use of those vast revenues that had
been superstitiously bestowed upon the church, so called, to the good
and benefit of the commonwealth, as no less than sacrilege.
But by keeping up of this kind of maintenance [764] for the ministry
and clergymen, so called, there is first a bait laid for covetousness,
which is idolatry, and of all things most hurtful; so that for
covetousness' sake, many, being led by the desire of filthy lucre, do
apply themselves to be ministers, that they may get a livelihood by it.
If a man have several children, he will allot one of them to be a
minister; which if he can get it to be, he reckons it as good as a
patrimony: so that a fat benefice hath always many expectants; and then
what bribing, what courting, what industry, and shameful actions are
used to acquire these things, is too openly known, and needs not to be
proved.
The scandal that by these means is raised among Christians is so
manifest; that it is become a proverb, [765] that the kirk is always
greedy. Whereby the gift and grace of God being neglected, they have
for the most part no other motive or rule in applying themselves to one
church more than another but the greater benefice. For though they
hypocritically pretend, at their accepting of and entering into their
church, that they have nothing before them but the glory of God and the
salvation of souls; yet if a richer benefice offer itself, they
presently find it more for God's glory to remove from the first, and go
thither. And thus they make no difficulty often to change, while
notwithstanding they accuse us that we allow ministers to go from place
to place, and not to be tied to one place; but we allow this not for
the gaining of money, but as moved of God. For if a minister be called
to minister in a particular place, he ought not to leave it, except God
call him from it, and then he ought to obey: for we make the will of
God inwardly revealed, and not the love of money and more gain, the
ground of removing.
[766] Secondly, From this abuse hath proceeded that luxury and idleness
that most of the clergy live in, even among Protestants as well as
Papists, to the great scandal of Christianity. For not having lawful
trades to work with their hands, and being so superfluously and
sumptuously provided for, they live in idleness and luxury; and there
doth more pride, vanity, and worldly glory appear in their wives and
children than in most others, which is open and evident to all.
[767] Thirdly, They become hereby so glued to the love of money, that
there is none like them in malice, rage, and cruelty. If they be denied
their hire, they rage like drunken men, fret, fume, and as it were go
mad. A man may sooner satisfy the severest creditor than them; the
general voice of the poor doth confirm this. For in deed they are far
more exact in taking up the tithes of sheep, geese, swine, and eggs,
&c. and look more narrowly to it than to the members of their flock:
they will not miss the least mite; and the poorest widow cannot escape
their [768] avaricious hands. Twenty lies they will hear unreproved;
and as many oaths a man may swear in their hearing without offending
them; and greater evils than all this they can overlook. But If thou
owest them aught, and refusest to pay it, then nothing but war will
they thunder against thee, and they will stigmatize thee with the
horrible title of sacrilege, and send thee to hell without mercy, as if
thou hadst committed the sin against the Holy Ghost. Of all people we
can [769] best bear witness to this; for God having shown us this
corrupt and antichristian ministry, and called us out from it, and
gathered us unto his own power and life; to be a separate people, so
that we dare not join with; nor hear these antichristian hirelings,
neither yet put into their mouths, or feed them; oh! what malice, envy,
and fury hath this raised in their hearts against us! That though we
get none of their wares, neither will buy them, as knowing them to be
naught, yet will they force us to give them money: and because we
cannot for conscience' sake do it, our sufferings upon that account
have been unutterable. Yea, to give account of their cruelty, and
several sorts of inhumanity used against us, would make no small
history. These avaricious hirelings have come to that degree of malice
and rage, that several poor labouring men have been carried hundreds of
miles from their own dwellings, and shut up in prison, some two, some
three, yea, some seven years together, for the value of one pound
sterling, and less. I know [770] myself a poor widow, that for the
tithes of her geese, which amounted not to five shillings, was about
four years kept in prison, thirty miles from her house. Yea, they by
violence for this cause have plundered of men's goods the hundred-fold,
and prejudiced as muchmore; yea, hundreds have hereby spilt their
innocent blood, by dying in the [771] filthy noisome holes and prisons.
And some of the priests have been so enraged, that goods thus ravished
could not satisfy them; but they must also satisfy their fury by
beating, knocking, and wounding with their hands innocent men and
women, for refusing (for conscience' sake) to put into their mouths.
The only way then soundly to reform and remove all these abuses, and
take away the ground and occasion of them, is, to take away all stinted
[772] and forced maintenance and stipends. And whoever call or appoint
teachers to themselves, let them accordingly entertain them: and for
such as are called and moved to the ministry by the Spirit of God,
those that receive them, and taste of the good of their ministry, will
no doubt provide things needful for them, and there will be no need of
a law to force a hire for them: for he that sends them, will take care
for them; and they also, having food and raiment, will therewith be
content.
[773] S:. XXXIII. The sum then of what is said is, That the ministry
that we have pleaded for, and which also the Lord hath raised up among
us is, in all its parts, like the true ministry of the apostles and
primitive church. Whereas the ministry our adversaries seek to uphold
and plead for, as it doth in all its parts differ from them, so, on the
other hand, it is very like the false prophets and teachers testified
against and condemned in the scripture, as may be thus briefly
illustrated.
[774] I. The ministry and ministers we plead for, are such as are
immediately called and sent forth by Christ and his Spirit unto the
work of the ministry: so were the holy apostles and prophets, as
appears by these places, Mat. x.1, 5. Eph. iv. 11. Heb. v. 4.
1. But the ministry and ministers our opposers plead for, are such as
have no immediate call from Christ, to whom the leading and motion of
the Spirit is not reckoned necessary; but who are called, sent forth,
and ordained by wicked and ungodly men: such were of old the false
prophets and teachers, as appears by, these places, Jer. xiv. 14, 15.
item, chap. xxiii. 21. and xxvii. 15.
II. The ministers we plead for, are such as are [775] actuated and led
by God's spirit, and by the power and operation of his grace in their
hearts, are in some measure converted and regenerate, and so are good,
holy, and gracious men: such were the holy prophets and apostles, as
appears from 1 Tim. iii. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Tit. i. 7, 8, 9.
2. But the ministers our adversaries plead for, are such to whom the
grace of God is no needful qualification; and so may be true ministers,
according to them, though, they be ungodly, unholy, and profligate men:
such were the false prophets and apostles, as appears from Mic. iii. 5,
11. 1 Tim. vi. 5, 6, 7, 8, &c. 2 Tim. iii. 2. 2 Pet. ii. 1, 2, 3.
Ill. The ministers we plead for, are such as act, [776] move, and
labour in the work of the ministry, not from their own mere natural
strength and ability, but as they are actuated, moved, supported,
assisted, and influenced by the Spirit of God, and minister according
to the gift received, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God:
such were the holy prophets and apostles, 1 Pet. iv. 10, 11. 1 Cor. i.
17. ii. 3, 4, 5, 13. Acts ii. 4. Mat. x. 20. Mark xiii. 11. Luke xii.
12. 1 Cor. xiii. 2.
3. But the ministers our adversaries plead for, are such as wait not
for, nor expect, nor need the Spirit of God to actuate and move them in
the work of the ministry; but what they do they do from their own mere
natural strength and ability, and what they have gathered and stolen
from the letter of the scripture, and other books, and so speak it
forth in the strength of their own wisdom and eloquence, and not in the
evidence and demonstration of the Spirit and power: such were the false
prophets arid apostles, as appears, Jer. xxiii. 30, 31, 32, 34, &c. 1
Cor. iv. 18. Jude 16.
[777] IV. The ministers we plead for, are such as, being holy and
humble, contend not for precedency and priority, but rather strive to
prefer one another, and serve one another in love; neither desire to be
distinguished from the rest by their garments and large phylacteries,
nor seek greetings in the market-places, nor the uppermost places at
feasts, nor the chief seats in the synagogues; nor yet to be called of
men master, &c. such were the holy prophets and apostles, as appears
from Mat. xxiii. 8, 9, 10. and xx. 25, 26, 27.
4. But the ministers our adversaries plead for, are such as strive and
contend for superiority, and claim precedency over one another;
affecting and ambitiously seeking after the forementioned things: such
were the false prophets and apostles in time past, Mat. xxiii. 5, 6, 7.
[778] V. The ministers we plead for, are such as having freely
received, freely give; who covet no man's silver, gold, or garments;
who seek no man's goods, but seek them, and the salvation of their
souls: whose hands supply their own necessities, working honestly for
bread to themselves and their families. And, if at any time they be
called of God, so as the work of the Lord hinder them from the use of
their trades, take what is freely given them by such to whom they have
communicated spirituals; and having food and raiment, are therewith
content: such were the holy prophets and apostles, as appears from Mat.
x. 8. Acts xx. 33, 34, 35. 1 Tim. vi. 8.
5. But the ministers our adversaries plead for, are such as not having
freely received, will not freely give; but are covetous, doing that
which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake; as to preach for hire,
and divine for money, and look for their gain from their quarter, and
prepare war against such as put not into their mouths, &c. Greedy dogs,
which can never have enough. Shepherds who feed themselves, and not the
flock; eating the fat, and clothing themselves with the wool; making
merchandise of souls; and following the way of Balaam, that loved the
wages of unrighteousness; such were the false prophets and apostles,
Isai. lvi. 11. Ezek. xxxiv. 2, 3, 8. Mic. iii.. 5, 11. Tit. i. 10, 11.
2 Pet. ii. 1, 2, 3, 14, 15.
And in a word, We are for a holy, spiritual, pure, [779] and living
ministry, where the ministers are both called, qualified, and ordered,
actuated and influenced, in all the steps of their ministry by the
Spirit of God; which being wanting, we judge they cease to be the
ministers of Christ.
But they, judging this life, grace, and Spirit no essential part of
their ministry, are therefore for the upholding of an human, carnal,
dry, barren, fruitless, and dead ministry; of which, alas! we have seen
the fruits in the most part of their churches of whom that saying of
the Lord is certainly verified, Jer. xxiii. 32.---I sent them not, nor
commanded them, therefore they shall not profit this people at all,
saith the LORD.
__________________________________________________________________
[563] The gospel to be preached freely. Mat. x. 8.
[564] The church of God is the spiritual body of Christ
[565] I.
[566] The etymology of the word ekklesia the church and signification
of it.
[567] No salvation without the church.
[568] What the church is.
[569] Turks and Jews may become members of this church.
[570] II.
[571] The definition of the church of God, as gathered into a visible
fellowship.
[572] How to become a member of that church.
[573] The outward profession of the members of the true church.
[574] The members of the Antichristian church in the apostacy their
empty profession.
[575] The decay of the church.
[576] When men became Christians by birth, and not by conversion,
christianity came to be lost.
[577] As were betwixt the bishop of Rome, and the bishop of
Constantinople.
[578] In the church of Rome are no less superstitions and ceremonies
introduced, than were either among Jews or heathens.
[579] Whether and what difference there is betwixt the Protestants and
Papists in superstitions?
[580] i.e. national. The Protestant Church how they become members
thereof.
[581] Christianity chiefly consists in the renewing of the heart.
[582] A Popish corrupt ministry all evils follow.
[583] Like people, like priest. Hos. iv. 9.
[584] Ques. I.
[585] Answ.
[586] The call of a minister & where in it consisteth.
[587] Object.
[588] Arg.
[589] 1. The necessity of an inward call to make a man a Christian.
[590] 2. The ministry of the Spirit requires the operation and
testimony of the Spirit.
[591] 3. Under the law the people needed not to doubt, who should be
priests and ministers.
[592] 4. Christ the door.
[593] John x. 1.
[594] Succession pleaded by the false church from Christ and his
apostles.
[595] Answ.
[596] The call of the Spirit preferred to any other by primitive
Protestants.
[597] * Succession. Modern Protestants denying the call of the Spirit.
[598] Who gives himself out Doctor and Professor of Sacred Theology, at
Franeqaer.
[599] Absurdities Protestants fall into, by deriving their ministry
through the church of Rome.
[600] Luther affirmed, that a woman might be a preacher.
[601] The pretended succession of Papists and Protestants explained.
[602] The Jews' error of Abraham's outward succession.
[603] Mat. xii. 48 &c. Mark iii. 33 &c.
[604] The form of godliness is entailed to the power and substance, and
not the substance to the form.
[605] Succession interrupted.
[606] The living members make the church: life lost, the church is
ceased.
[607] Judas fell from his ministry by transgression.
[608] The lukewarmness of the church of Laodicea.
[609] Object.
[610] Answ.
[611] The Protestants plead for a succession inherent.
[612] An estate void of heirship devolves to the prince, none claims
it, but whom he sees meet to give it; so the heirship of life is
enjoyed from Christ, the true heir.
[613] I. The house of God is no polluted nest; no atheist nor pretender
can rest there.
[614] II.
[615] Christ is the head, his body undefiled.
[616] What fellowship hath Christ with Belial?
[617] 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18.
[618] Priests' frivolous distinction of enemies to God by practice, and
members of his church by office.
[619] The answer of a poor rustic to a proud prelate.
[620] A withered branch can draw no nourishment, so hath no life nor
virtue.
[621] A living head on a lifeless body, what a monster would that be!
[622] In the Life of Benedict 4. of John 16. of Sylvester 3. of
Boniface 8. of Steph. 6. of John 8 Also Onuphriua's Annotations upon
this Papess (or Popess) towards the end.
[623] Object.
[624] Answ.
[625] A difference objected between constituting a church and one as
constituted.
[626] It is a device of Satan for men to put the Spirit's leadings far
off to former times.
[627] Object.
[628] Answ.
[629] Whether miracles be now necessary to confirm the gospel?
[630] John Baptist and divers prophets did none.
[631] The constitution of the independent church.
[632] Gifted brethren.
[633] The Scriptures give no call to persons individual.
[634] True ministers qualifications, call, & title.
[635] Their laying on of hands a mock to God and man; a keeping the
shadow, whilst the substance is wanting.
[636] Ques. 2.
[637] The qualification of a minister.
[638] Philosophy and school divinity will never make a gospel minister.
[639] A poor laic instructed the learned Taulerus.
[640] Proof I.
[641] God's grace alone doth constitute a true and lawful teaoher.
[642] Pr. II.
[643] Arg.
[644] Who first must be a member of the body, and then life is
received, & virtue from the head.
[645] The sheep of Christ neither ought nor will hear the the
stranger's voice.
[646] The ministering must be by the gift and grace received.
[647] Good stewardship of what? Of God's abounding grace, which is the
ability and stewardship received.
[648] Pr. IV.
[649] How can a bishop have these virtues without the grace of God?
[650] Whatsoever is done in the church without the ministry of God's
Spirit is vain & wicked.
[651] Who is Judas Iscariot's vicar?
[652] Franciscus Lambertua Avenionensis, in his book concerning
Prophecy, Learning, Tongues, and the Spirit of Prophecy. Argent. excus.
anno. 1516, de prov. cap. 24.
[653] Obj. 1.
[654] Answ.
[655] Obj. 2.
[656] Answ.
[657] All have God's grace which calls to righteousness, but all are
not so leavened into its nature as to bring forth fruits of a blameless
holy life.
[658] So Nic. Arnoldus Sect. 32. upon Thesis 4.
[659] Obj. 3.
[660] Answ.
[661] The false not the true prophets want the grace of God.
[662] The service under the law was not purely spiritual, but
figurative, for the performance of which, as they behoved to be
purified from their outward pollutions, so the ministers of the gospel
must be inwardly without blemish.
[663] The ministry of the disciples of Christ before the work was
finished was more legal than evangelical.
[664] Judas was immediately called of Christ & preached freely, which
our adversaries will not do; altho' they make him a pattern of their
graceless ministry,saying, he had not the least measure of God's grace
at that time.
[665] Object.
[666] Ibid. Nic Arnoldus.
[667] Answ.
[668] What true learning is.
[669] The good learning which is necessary to a true minister.
[670] Literature is first the knowledge of Latin,
[671] Greek, & Hebrew.
[672] Before the reformation the prayers of the people were in the
Latin tongue.
[673] The zeal & endeavurs of the first reformers commended.
[674] The knowledge of languages commendable, and schools necessary.
[675] The Papists literature and knowledge, especially the Jesuits.
[676] The Spirit is the truest interpreter of the scriptures, whether
from the original languages, or without them.
[677] A poor shoemaker that could not read, refutes a professor of
divinity's false assertions from scripture.
[678] 2. Logic and philosophy not needful to a preacher.
[679] The use of logic is to see its emptiness.
[680] Answ.
[681] An heathen philosopher disputing with the bishops in the council
of Nice, was converted to the Christian faith by an ignorant old man,
when they could not.
[682] LucAE Osiandri Epit. Hist. Eccles. lib. 2. cap. 5. cent. 4.
[683] Natural logic useful.
[684] 3. Ethics, or the manner-rules to Christians not needful.
[685] 4. Physics, and the metaphysics, make no preachers of the truth.
[686] III. The learned school-divinity obnoxious; a monster; a letter
knowledge heathenized.
[687] Its needless questions and endless janglings.
[688] Whereby Arius fell into error and schism.
[689] The apostacy and its dangerous consequences.
[690] Many of the Fathers do not only contradict each other, but
themselves also, and why.
[691] Merchandising with the scriptures, what is. See also 2Pet.ii.2.
[692] And this they call the preaching of the word.
[693] Thus Antichrist is established above the seed of the kingdom.
[694] How the devil may be a minister of the priests' gospel.
[695] The power of God by weak instruments restoring the simplicity of
truth.
[696] The powerful ministry of illiterate men.
[697] The time of the author's first convincement.
[698] Job xxviii. 28.
[699] Ques 3.
[700] The work of a minister.
[701] The Holy Spirit, a Spirit of order, and not of confusion.
[702] Popish orders and offices, &c.
[703] Wars and bloodshed about church government.
[704] The ground & cause thereof.
[705] The work of Antichrist and mystery of iniquity.
[706] Such as the Spirit sets apart to the ministry, their brethren
hear them.
[707] The clergy and laics.
[708] Women may preach.
[709] Object.
[710] Ans. 1.
[711] Diversity of names makes no distinct offices; but which may
coincide, or be together in one person.
[712] Prophecy & prophesying, its two-fold signification.
[713] To prophesy, a privilege of teachers, and of all the saints.
[714] Who are evangelists; and whether any may term themselves so
now-a-days.
[715] Who is an apostle.
[716] They were not limited to such a number.
[717] Whether any man be called an apostle at this day.
[718] Upon what account John Knox was called the apostle of Scotland.
[719] Ans. 2.
[720] Liberty to prophesy all have by the Spirit.
[721] The elders take care for the widows, the poor, and the
fatherless.
[722] The distinction of clergy and laity not to be found in scripture.
[723] Their garb.
[724] The clergy's study out of books, the gift of God neglected.
[725] The marred church compared to Theseus's pieced boat.
[726] The abuse follwwing the distinction of laity & clergy.
[727] Both Protestants & Papists exclude mechanic men from preaching,
who greatly contributed to the reformation.
[728] Women's public preaching & praying asserted.
[729] Acts xxi. 9.
[730] Ques. 4. Ministers' maintenance.
[731] The ministers' food and their maintenance stated.
[732] I. Against constrained maintenance.
[733] Object.
[734] Answ.
[735] Tithes were appointed for the Levites, not for gospel preachers.
[736] Reas. 1.
[737] The gospel freely to be preached without so much a year.
[738] Nic. Arnoldus' answer to Freely ye have received, &c.
[739] Simon Magus
[740] All things are set to sale at Rome, to Franequer applied.
[741] Isa. lvi. 11.
[742] Reas. 2
[743] Mere voluntary deeds no man can stint them.
[744] Object.
[745] Answ.
[746] Paul's labour was that the gospel might be without charge.
[747] Reas. 3.
[748] Paul coveted no body's silver or gold.
[749] Reas.4.
[750] No hireling fitting the gospel of Christ
[751] Mic. iii. 5.
[752] Moderate Protestants and Papists exclaim against the excess of
the clergy's revenues.
[753] II.
[754] The excess of the priests and bishops' revenues.
[755] Object.
[756] Answ.
[757] They wanted nothing whom God sent; they laboured with their
hands.
[758] Object.
[759] Answ.
[760] Mat. x. 14, to expect, yea, nor yet receive, any thing, if they
If they reject thy testimony, shake the dust from off thy feet.
[761] II.
[762] The many abuses priests' maintenance brings.
[763] The Protestants having forsaken the pope, yet would not forsake
the rich popish revenues.
[764] 1 The clergy's covetousness.
[765] The greedy kirk, a proverb.
[766] 2. The clergy's luxury.
[767] 3. The clergy's cruelty.
[768] Poor widow's mite cannot escape the priests' greedyhands.
[769] The work of Antichrist is fury, envy, malice.
[770] A widow for the tithe of geese about four years in prison.
[771] Some lost their Iives in nasty holes, some wounded by the
priests, &c.
[772] Whoso heap teachers to themselves, let them provide their
stipend.
[773] The difference between the ministry of the Quakers and their
adversaries.
[774] The true ministers' call.
[775] True ministers guide.
[776] True ministers work.
[777] True ministers' humility.
[778] True ministers' free gift.
[779] True ministers' life and qualifications.
__________________________________________________________________
PROPOSITION XI.
Concerning Worship.
[780] All true and acceptable worship to God is offered in the inward
and immediate moving and drawing of his own Spirit which is neither
limited to places times, nor persons. For though we are to worship him
always, and continually to fear before him; [781] yet as to the outward
signification thereof, in prayers, praises, or preachings, we ought not
to do it in our own will, where and when we will; but where and when we
are moved thereunto by the stirring and secret inspiration of the
Spirit of God in our hearts; which God heareth and accepteth of, and is
never wanting to move us thereunto, when need is; of which he himself
is the alone proper judge. All other worship then, both praises,
prayers, or preachings, which man sets about in his own will, and at
his own appointment, which he can both begin and end at his pleasure,
do or leave undone as himself seeth meet, whether they be a prescribed
form, as a liturgy, &c. or prayers conceived extempore by the [782]
natural strength and faculty of the mind, they are all but
superstition, will-worship, and abominable idolatry in the sight of
God, which are now to be denied and rejected, and separated from, in
this day of his spiritual arising: however it might have pleased him
(who winked at the times of ignorance, with a respect to the simplicity
and integrity of some, and of his own innocent seed, which lay as it
were buried in the hearts of men under that mass of superstition) to
blow upon the dead and dry bones, and to raise some breathings of his
own, and answer them; and that until the day should more clearly dawn
and break forth.
S:. I. The duty of man towards God lieth chiefly in these two generals.
1. In an holy conformity to the pure law and light of God, so as both
to for sake the evil, and be found in the practice of those perpetual
and moral precepts of righteousness and equity. And 2. In rendering
that reverence, honour, and adoration to God, that he requires and
demands of us; which is comprehended under worship. Of the former we
have already spoken, as also of the different relations of Christians,
as they are distinguished by the several measures of grace received,
and given to every one; and in that respect have their several offices
in the body of Christ, which is the church. Now I come to speak of
worship, or of those acts, whether private or public, general or
particular, whereby man renders to God that part of his duty which
relates immediately to him: and as obedience is better than sacrifice,
so neither is any sacrifice acceptable, but that which is done
according to the will of him to whom it is offered. But men, finding it
easier to sacrifice in their own wills, than obey God's will, [783]
have heaped up sacrifices without obedience; and thinking to deceive
God, as they do one another, give him a show of reverence, honour, and
worship, while they are both inwardly estranged and alienated from his
holy and righteous life, and wholly strangers to the pure breathings of
his Spirit, in which the acceptable sacrifice and worship is only
offered up. Hence it is, that there is not any thing relating to man's
duty towards God, which among all sorts of people hath been more
vitiated, and in which the devil hath more prevailed, than in abusing
man's mind concerning this thing: and as among many others, so among
those called Christians, nothing hath been more out of order, and more
corrupted, as some Papists, and all Protestants, do acknowledge. As I
freely approve whatsoever the Protestants have reformed fiom Papists in
this respect; so I meddle not at this time with their controversies
[784] about it: only it suffices me with them to deny, as no part of
the true worship of God, that abominable superstition and idolatry the
Popish mass, the adoration of saints and angels, the veneration of
relics, the visitation of sepulchres, and all those other superstitious
ceremonies, confraternities, and endless pilgrimages of the Romish
synagogue. Which all may suffice to evince to Protestants, that
Antichrist hath wrought more in this than in any other part of the
Christian [785] religion; and so it concerns them narrowly to consider,
whether herein they have made a clear and perfect reformation; as to
which stands the controversy betwixt them and us. For we find many of
the branches lopt off by them, but the root yet remaining; to wit, a
worship acted in and from man's will and spirit, and not by and from
the Spirit of God: for the true Christian and spiritual worship of God
hath been so early lost, and man's wisdom and will hath so quickly and
thoroughly mixed itself herein, that both the apostacy in this respect
hath been greatest, and the reformation herefrom, as to the evil root,
most difficult. Therefore let not the reader, suddenly stumble at the
account of our proposition in this matter, but patiently hear us
explain ourselves in this respect, & I hope (by the assistance of God)
to make it appear, that though our manner of speaking and doctrine seem
most singular and different from all other sorts of Christians; yet it
is most according to the purest Christian religion, and indeed most
needful to be observed and followed. And that there be no ground of
mistake, (for that I was necessitated to speak in few words, and
therefore more obscurely and dubiously in the proposition itself,) it
is fit in the first place to declare and explain our sense, and clear
the state of the controversy.
[786] S:. Il. And first, let it be considered, that what is [787] here
affirmed, is spoken of the worship of God in these gospel-times, and
not of the worship that was under or before the law: for the particular
commands of God to men then, are not sufficient to authorize us now to
do the same things; else we might be supposed at present acceptably to
offer sacrifice as they did, which all acknowledge to be ceased. So
that what might have been both commendable and acceptable under the
law, may justly now be charged with superstition, yea, and idolatry. So
that impertinently, in this respect, doth Arnoldus rage against this
proposition, [Exercit. Theolog. sect. 44.] saying; That I deny all
public worship, and that according to me, such as in Enoch's time
publicly began to call upon the name of the Lord; and such as at the
command of God went thrice up to Jerusalem to worship; and that Anna,
Simeon, Mary, &c. were idolaters, because they used the public worship
of those times; such a consequence is most impertinent, and no less
foolish and absurd, than if l should infer from Paul's expostulating
with the Galatians for their returning to the Jewish ceremonies, that
he therefore condemned Moses and all the prophets as foolish and
ignorant, because they used those things: the forward man, not heeding
the different dispensation of times, ran into this impertinency. Though
a spiritual [788] worship might have been, and no doubt was practised
by many under the law in great simplicity; yet will it not follow, that
it were no superstition to use all those ceremonies that they used,
which were by God dispensed to the Jews, not as being essential to true
worship, or necessary as of themselves for transmitting and
entertaining an holy fellowship betwixt him and his people; but in
condescension to them, who were inclinable to idolatry. Albeit then in
this, as in most other things, the substance was enjoyed under the law
by such as were spiritual indeed; yet was it veiled and surrounded with
many rites and ceremonies, which it is no ways lawful for us to use now
under the gospel.
S:. III. Secondly; Albeit I say, that this worship [789] is neither
limited to times, places, nor persons; yet [790] I would not be
understood, as if I intended the putting away of all set times and
places to worship: God forbid I should think of such all opinion. Nay,
we are none of those that forsake the assembling of ourselves together;
but have even certain times and places, in which we carefully meet
together (nor can we be driven therefrom by the threats and
persecutions of men) to wait upon God, and worship him. [791] To meet
together we think necessary for the people of God; because, so long as
we are clothed with this outward tabernacle, there is a necessity to
the entertaining of a joint and visible fellowship, and bearing of an
outward testimony for God, and seeing of the faces of one another, that
we concur with our persons as well as spirits: to be accompanied with
that inward love and unity of spirit, doth greatly tend to encourage
and refresh the saints.
[792] But the limitation we condemn is, that whereas the Spirit of God
should be the immediate actor, mover, persuader, and influencer of man
in the particular acts of worship, when the saints are met together,
this Spirit is limited in its operations, by setting up a particular
man or men to preach and pray in man's will; and all the rest are
excluded from so much as believing that they are to wait for God's
Spirit to move them in such things: and so they neglecting that in
themselves which should quicken them, and not waiting to feel the pure
breathings of God's Spirit, so as to obey them, are led merely to
depend upon the preacher, & hear what he will say.
[793] Secondly; In that these peculiar men come not thither to meet
with the Lord and to wait for the inward motions and operations of his
Spirit; and so to pray as they feel the Spirit to breathe through them,
and in them; and to preach, as they find themselves actuated and moved
by God's Spirit, and as he gives utterance, so as to speak a word in
season to refresh weary souls, and as the present condition and state
of the people's hearts require; suffering God by his Spirit both to
prepare people's hearts, and also give the preacher to speak what may
be fit and seasonable for them: but he (viz. the preacher) hath
hammered together in his closet, according to his own will, by his
human wisdom and literature, and by stealing the words of truth from
the letter of the scriptures, and patching together other men's
writings and observations, so much as will hold him speaking an hour,
while the glass runs; and without waiting or feeling the inward
influence of the Spirit [794] of God, he declaims that by hap-hazard,
whether it be fit or seasonable for the people's condition, or not; and
when he has ended his sermon, he saith his prayer also in his own will;
and so there is an end of the business. Which customary worship, as it
is no ways acceptable to God, so how unfruitful it is, and unprofitable
to those that are found in it, the present condition of the nations
doth sufficiently declare. It appears then, that we are not against set
times for worship, as Arnoldus against this proposition, Sect. 45. no
less impertinently allegeth; offering needlessly to prove that which is
not denied: only these times being appointed for outward conveniency,
we may not therefore think with the Papists, that these days are holy,
and lead people into a superstitious observation of them; being
persuaded that all days are alike holy in the sight of God. And
although it be not my present purpose to make a [795] long digression
concerning the debates among Protestants about the first day of the
week, commonly called the Lord's day, yet forasmuch as it comes fitly
in here, I shall briefly signify our sense thereof.
S:. IV. We, not seeing any ground in scripture [796] for it, cannot be
so superstitious as to believe, that either the Jewish sabbath now
continues, or that the first day of the week is the anti-type thereof,
or that the true Christian sabbath; which with Calvin we believe to
have a more spiritual sense: and therefore we know no moral obligation
by the fourth command, or elsewhere, to keep the first day of the week
more than any other, or any holiness inherent in it. But first,
forasmuch as it is necessary that there be some time set apart for the
saints to meet together to wait upon God; and that secondly, it is fit
at some times they be freed from their other outward affairs; and that
thirdly, reason and equity doth allow that servants and beasts have
some time allowed them to be eased from their continual labour; and
that fourthly, it appears that the apostles and primitive Christians
did use the first day of the week for these purposes; we find ourselves
sufficiently moved for these causes to do so also, without
superstitiously straining the scriptures for another reason; which,
that it is not to be there found, many Protestants, yea, Calvin
himself, upon the fourth command, hath abundantly evinced. And though
we therefore meet, and abstain from working upon this day, yet doth not
that hinder us from having meetings also for worship at other times.
S:. V. Thirdly; Though according to the knowledge of God, revealed unto
us by the Spirit, through that more full dispensation of light which we
believe the Lord hath brought about in this day, we judge it our duty
to hold forth that pure and spiritual worship which is acceptable to
God, and answerable to the testimony of Christ and his apostles, and
likewise to testify against and deny not only manifest superstition and
idolatry, but also all formal will-worship, [797] which stands not in
the power of God; yet, I say, we do not deny the whole worship of all
those that have borne the name of Christians even in the apostacy, as
if God had never heard their prayers, nor accepted any of them: God
forbid we should be so void of charity! The latter part of the
proposition showeth the contrary. And as we would not be so absurd on
the one hand to conclude, because of the errors and darkness that many
were covered and surrounded with in Babylon, that none of their prayers
were heard or accepted of God, so will we not be so unwary on the
other, as to conclude, that because God heard and pitied them, so we
ought to continue in these errors and darkness, and not come out of
Babylon, when it is by God discovered unto us. The Popish mass and
vespers I do believe [798] to be, as to the matter of them, abominable
idolatry and superstition, and so also believe the Protestants; yet
will neither I or they affirm, that in the darkness of Popery no
upright-hearted men, though zealous in these abominations, have been
heard of God, or accepted of him: Who can deny, but that both Bernard
[799] and Bonaventure, Taulerus, Thomas a Kempis, and divers others
have both known and tasted of the love of God, and felt the power and
virtue of God's Spirit working with them for their salvation? And yet
ought we not to forsake and deny those superstitions which they were
found in? The Calvinistical Presbyterians do much upbraid (and I say
not without reason), the formality and deadness of the Episcopalian and
Lutheran liturgies; and yet, as [800] they will not deny but there have
been some good men among them, so neither dare they refuse, but that
when that good step was brought in by them, of turning the public
prayers into the vulgar tongues, though continued in a liturgy, it was
acceptable to God, and sometimes accompanied with his power and
presence: yet will not the Presbyterians have it from thence concluded,
that the common prayers should still continue; so likewise, though we
should confess, that, through the mercy and wonderful condescension of
God, there have been upright in heart, both among Papists and
Protestants, yet can we not therefore approve of their way in the
general, or not go on to the upholding of that spiritual worship, which
the Lord is calling all too, and so to the testifying against
whatsoever stands in the way of it.
S:. VI. Fourthly; To come then to the state of [801] the controversy,
as to the public worship, we judge it the duty of all to be diligent in
the assembling of themselves together, (and what we have been, and are,
in this matter, our enemies in Great Britain, who have used all means
to hinder our assembling together to worship God, may bear witness,)
and when assembled, the great work of one and all ought to be to wait
upon God; and returning out of their own thoughts and imaginations, to
feel the Lord's presence, and know a gathering into his name indeed,
where he is in the midst, according to his promise. And as every one is
thus gathered, and so met together inwardly in their spirits, as well
as outwardly in their persons, there the secret power and virtue of
life is known to refresh the soul, and the pure motions and breathings
of God's Spirit are felt to arise; from which, as words of declaration,
prayers, or praises arise, the acceptable worship is known, which
edifies the church, and is well-pleasing to God. And no man here limits
the Spirit of God, nor bringeth forth his own conned and gathered
stuff; but every one puts that forth which the Lord puts into their
hearts: and it is uttered forth not in man's [802] will and wisdom, but
in the evidence and demonstration of the Spirit, and of power. Yea,
though there be not a word spoken, yet is the true spiritual worship
performed, and the body of Christ edified; yea, it may, and hath often
fallen out among us, that divers meetings have passed without one word;
and yet our souls have been greatly edified and refreshed, and our
hearts wonderfully overcome with the secret sense of God's power and
Spirit, which without words hath been ministered from one vessel to
another. This is indeed strange and incredible to the mere natural and
carnally-minded man, who will be apt to judge all time lost where there
is not something spoken that is obvious to the outward senses; and
therefore I shall insist a little upon this subject, as one that can
speak from a certain experience, and not by mere hearsay, of this
wonderful and glorious dispensation; which hath so much the more of the
wisdom and glory of God in it, as it is contrary to the nature of man's
spirit, will, and wisdom.
S:. VII. As there can be nothing more opposite [803] to the natural
will and wisdom of man than this silent waiting, upon God, so neither
can it be obtained, nor rightly comprehended by man, but as he layeth
down his own wisdom and will, so as to be content to be thoroughly
subject to God. And therefore it was not preached, nor can be so
practised, but by such as find no outward ceremony, no observations, no
words, yea, not the best and purest words, even the words of scripture,
able to satisfy their weary and afflicted souls: because where all
these may be, the life, power, and virtue, which make such things
effectual, may be wanting. Such, I say, were necessitated to cease from
all externals, and to be silent before the Lord; and being directed to
that inward principle of life and light in themselves, as the most
excellent teacher, which can never be removed into [804] a corner, came
thereby to be taught to wait upon God in the measure of life and grace
received from him, and to cease from their own forward words and
actings, in the natural willing and comprehension, and feel after this
inward seed of life, that, as it moveth, they may move with it, and be
actuated by its power, and influenced, whether to pray, preach, or
sing. And so from this principle of man's being silent, and not acting
in the things of God of himself, until thus actuated by God's light and
grace in the heart, did naturally spring that manner of sitting silent
together, and waiting together upon the Lord. For, many thus
principled, meeting together in the pure fear of the Lord, did not
apply themselves presently to speak, pray, or sing, &c. being afraid to
be found acting forwardly in their own wills, but each made it their
work to retire inwardly to the measure of grace in themselves, not
being only silent as to words, but even abstaining from all their own
thoughts, imaginations, and desires; so watching in a holy dependence
upon the Lord, and meeting together not only outwardly in one place,
but thus inwardly [805] in one Spirit and in one name of Jesus, which
is his power and virtue, they come thereby to enjoy and feel the
arisings of this life, which, as it prevails in each particular,
becomes as a flood of refreshment, and overspreads the whole meeting:
for man, and man's part and wisdom, being denied and chained down in
every individual, and God exalted, and his grace in dominion in the
heart, thus his name comes to be one in all, and his glory breaks
forth, and covers all; and there is such a holy awe and reverence upon
every soul, that if the natural part should arise in any, or the wise
part, or what is not one with the life, it would presently be chained
down, and judged out. And when any are, through the breaking forth of
this power, constrained to utter a sentence of exhortation or praise,
or to breathe to the Lord in prayer, then all are sensible of [806] it;
for the same life in them answers to it, as in water face answereth to
face. This is that divine and spiritual worship, which the world
neither knoweth nor understandeth, which the vulture's [807] eye seeth
not into. Yet many and great are the advantages which my soul, with
many others, hath tasted of hereby, and which would be found of all
such as would seriously apply themselves hereunto: for, when people are
gathered thus together, not merely to hear men, nor depend upon them,
[808] but all are inwardly taught to stay their minds upon the Lord,
and wait for his appearance in their hearts; thereby the forward
working of the spirit of man is stayed and hindered from mixing itself
with the worship of God; and the form of this worship is so naked and
void of all outward and worldly splendor, that all occasion for man's
wisdom to be exercised in that superstition and idolatry hath no
lodging here; and so there being also an inward quietness and
retiredness of mind, the witness of God ariseth in the heart, and the
light of Christ shineth, whereby the soul cometh to see its own
condition. And there being many joined together in the same work, there
is an inward travail and wrestling; and also, as the measure of grace
is abode in, an overcoming of the power and spirit of darkness; and
thus we are often greatly strengthened and renewed in the spirits of
our minds without a word, and we enjoy and possess the holy fellowship
and communion [809] of the body and blood of Christ, by which our
inward man is nourished and fed; which makes us not to dote upon
outward water, and bread and wine, in our spiritual things. Now as many
thus gathered together grow up in the strength, power, and virtue of
truth, and as truth comes thus to have victory and dominion in their
souls, then they receive an utterance, and speak steadily to the
edification of their [810] brethren, and the pure life hath a free
passage through them, and what is thus spoken edifieth the body indeed.
Such is the evident certainty of that divine strength that is
communicated by thus meeting together, and waiting in silence upon God,
that sometimes when one hath come in that hath been unwatchful and
wandering in his mind, or suddenly out of the hurry of outward
business, and so not inwardly gathered with the rest, so soon as he
retires himself inwardly, this power being in a good measure raised in
the whole meeting, will suddenly lay hold upon his spirit, and
wonderfully help to raise up the good in him, and beget him into the
sense of the same power, to the melting and warming of his heart; even
as the warmth would take hold upon a man that is cold coming in to a
stove, or as a flame will lay hold upon some little combustible matter
being near unto it. Yea, if it fall out that several met together be
straying in their minds, though outwardly silent, and so wandering from
the measure of grace in themselves, (which through the working of the
enemy, and negligence of some, may fall out,) if either one come in, or
may be in, who is watchful, and in whom the life is raised in a great
measure, as that one keeps his place, he will feel a secret travail for
the rest in a sympathy with the seed which is oppressed in the other,
and kept from arising by their thoughts and wanderings; [811] and as
such a faithful one waits in the light and keeps in this divine work
God oftentimes answers the secret travail and breathings of his own
seed through such a one, so that the rest will find themselves secretly
smitten without words, and that one will be as a midwife through the
secret travails of his soul to bring forth the life in them, just as a
little water thrown into a pump brings up the rest, whereby life will
come to be raised in all, and the vain imaginations brought down; and
such a one is felt by the rest to minister life unto them without
words. Yea, sometimes, when there is not a word in the meeting, but all
are silently waiting, if one come in that is rude and wicked, and in
whom the power of darkness prevaileth much, perhaps with an intention
[812] to mock or do mischief, if the whole meeting be gathered into the
life, and it be raised in a good measure, it will strike terror into
such an one, and he will feel himself unable to resist; but by the
secret strength and virtue thereof, the power of darkness in him will
be chained down: and if the day of his visitation be not expired, it
will reach to the measure of grace in him, and raise it up to the
redeeming of his soul. And this we often bear witness of, so that we
have had frequent occasion in this respect, since God hath gathered us
to be a people, to renew this old saying of many, Is Saul also among
the prophets? For not [813] a few have come to be convinced of the
truth after this manner, of which I myself, in part, am a true witness,
who not by strength of arguments, or by a particular disquisition of
each doctrine, and convincement of my understanding thereby, came to
receive and bear witness of the truth, but by being secretly reached by
this life; for when I came into the silent assemblies of [814] God's
people, I felt a secret power among them, which touched my heart, and
as I gave way unto it, I found the evil weakening in me, and the good
raised up, and so I became thus knit and united unto them, hungering
more and more after the increase of this power and life, whereby I
might feel myself perfectly redeemed. And indeed this is the surest way
to become a Christian, to whom afterwards the knowledge and
understanding of principles will not be wanting, but will grow up so
much as is needful, as the natural fruit of this good root, and such a
knowledge will not be barren nor unfruitful. After this manner we
desire therefore all that come among us to be proselyted, knowing that
though thousands should be convinced in their understanding of all the
truths we maintain, yet if they were not sensible of this inward life,
and their souls not changed from unrighteousness to righteousness, they
could add nothing to us. For this is that cement whereby we are joined
as to the Lord, so to one another, 1 Cor. vi. 17. [815] and without
this none can worship with us. Yea, if such should come among us, and
from that understanding and convincement they have of the truth, speak
ever so true things, and utter them forth with ever so much excellency
of speech, if this life were wanting, it would not edify us at all, but
be as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal, 1 Cor. xiii. 1.
[816] S:. VIII. Our work then and worship is, when we meet together,
for every one to watch and wait upon God in themselves, and to be
gathered from all visibles thereunto. And as every one is thus stated,
they come to find the good arise over the evil, and the pure over the
impure, in which God reveals himself, and draweth near to every
individual, and so he is in the midst in the general, whereby each not
only partakes of the particular refreshment and strength which comes
from the good in himself, but is a sharer in the whole body, as being a
living member of the body, having a joint fellowship and communion with
all. And as this worship is stedfastly preached and kept to, it becomes
easy, though it be very hard at first to the natural man, whose roving
imaginations and running worldly desires are not so easily brought to
silence. And therefore the Lord oftentimes, when any turn towards him,
and have true desires thus to wait upon him, and find great difficulty
through the unstaidness of their minds, doth in condescension and
compassion cause his power to break forth in a more strong and powerful
manner. And when the mind sinks down, and waits for the appearance of
life, and that the power of darkness in the soul wrestles and works
against it, then the good seed, as it ariseth, will be found to work as
physic in the soul, especially if such a weak one be in the assembly of
divers others in whom the life is arisen in greater dominion, and
through the contrary workings of the power of darkness there will be
found an inward striving in the soul as [817] really in the mystery as
ever Esau and Jacob strove in Rebecca's womb. And from this inward
travail, while the darkness seeks to obscure the light, and the light
breaks through the darkness, which it always will do, if the soul gives
not its strength to the darkness, there will be such a painful travail
found in the soul, that will even work upon the outward man, so that
oftentimes, through the working thereof, the body will be greatly
shaken, and many groans, and sighs, and tears, even as the pangs of a
woman in travail, will lay hold upon it; yea, and this not only as to
one, but when the enemy, who when the children of God assemble together
is not wanting to be present, to see if he can let their comfort, hath
prevailed in any measure in a whole meeting, and strongly worketh
against it by spreading and propagating his dark power, and by drawing
out the minds of such as are met from the life in them, as they come to
be sensible of this power of his that works against them, and to
wrestle with it by the armour of light, sometimes the power of God will
break forth into a whole meeting, and there will be such an inward
travail, [818] while each is seeking to overcome the evil in
themselves, that by the strong contrary workings of these opposite
powers, like the going of two contrary tides, every individual will be
strongly exercised as in a day of battle, and thereby trembling and a
motion of body will be upon most, if not upon all, which, as the power
of truth prevails, will from pangs and groans end with a sweet sound of
thanksgiving and praise. And from this the name of [819] Quakers, i. e.
Tremblers, was first reproachfully cast upon us; which, though it be
none of our choosing, yet in this respect we are not ashamed of it, but
have rather reason to rejoice therefore, even that we are sensible of
this power that hath oftentimes laid hold of our adversaries, and made
them yield unto us, and join with us, and confess to the truth, before
they had any distinct or discursive knowledge of our doctrines, so that
sometimes many at one meeting have been thus convinced: and this power
would sometimes also reach to and wonderfully work even in little
children, to the admiration and astonishment of many.
[820] S:. IX. Many are the blessed experiences which I could relate of
this silence and manner of worship; yet I do not so much commend and
speak of silence as if we had bound ourselves by any law to exclude
praying or preaching, or tied ourselves thereunto, not at all: for as
our worship consisted not in words, so neither in silence, as silence;
but in an holy dependence of the mind upon God: from which dependence
silence necessarily follows in the first place, until words can be
brought forth, which are from God's Spirit. And God is not wanting to
move in his children to bring forth words of exhortation or prayer,
when it is needful; so that of the many gatherings and meetings of such
as are convinced of the truth, there is scarce any in whom God raiseth
not up some or other to minister to his brethren; and there are few
meetings that are altogether silent. For when many are met together in
this one life and name, it doth most naturally and frequently excite
them to pray to and praise God, and stir up one another by mutual
exhortation and instructions; yet we judge it needful there be in the
first place some time of silence, during which every one may be
gathered inward to the word and gift of grace, from which he that
ministereth may receive strength to bring forth what he ministereth;
and that they that hear may have a sense to discern betwixt the
precious and the vile, and not to hurry into the exercise of these
things so soon as the bell rings, as other Christians do. Yea, and we
doubt not, but assuredly know, that the meeting may be good and
refreshful, though from the sitting down to the rising up thereof there
[821] hath not been a word as outwardly spoken, and yet life may have
been known to abound in each particular, and an inward growing up
therein and thereby, yea, so as words might have been spoken
acceptably, and from the life: yet there being no absolute necessity
laid upon any so to do, all might have chosen rather quietly and
silently to possess and enjoy the Lord in themselves, which is very
sweet and comfortable to the soul that hath thus learned to be gathered
out of all its own thoughts and workings, to feel the Lord to bring
forth both the will and the deed, which many can declare by a blessed
experience: though indeed it cannot but be hard for the natural man to
receive or believe this doctrine, and therefore it must be rather by a
sensible experience, and by coming to make proof of it, than by
arguments, that such can be convinced of this thing, seeing it is not
enough to believe it, if they come not also to enjoy and possess it;
yet in condescension to, and for the sake of, such as may be the more
willing to apply themselves to the practice and experience hereof, if
they found their understandings convinced of it, and that it is founded
upon scripture and reason, I find a freedom of mind to add some few
considerations of this kind, for the confirmation hereof, besides what
is before mentioned of our experience.
S:. X. That to wait upon God, and to watch [822] before him, is a duty
incumbent upon all, I suppose none will deny; and that this also is a
part of worship will not be called in question, since there is scarce
any other so frequently commanded in the holy scriptures, as may appear
from Psalm xxvii. 14. and xxxvii. 7, 34. Prov. xx. 22. Isai. xxx. 18.
Hosea xii. 6. Zech. iii. 8. Mat. xxiv. 42. and xxv. 13. and xxvi. 41.
Mark xiii. 33, 35, 37. Luke xxi. 36. Acts i. 4. and xx. 31. 1 Cor. xvi.
13. Col. iv. 2. 1 Thes. v. 6. 2 Tim. iv. 5. 1 Pet. iv. 7. Also this
duty is often recommended with very great and precious promises, as
Psalm xxv. 3. and xxxvii. 9. and lxix. 6. Isai. xlii. 23. Lam. iii. 25,
26. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. &c. Isai.
xl. 31. Now how is this waiting upon God, or watching before him, but
by this silence of which we have spoken? Which as it is in itself a
great and principal duty, so it necessarily in order both of nature and
time precedeth all other. But that it may be the better and more
perfectly understood, as it is not only an outward silence of the body,
but an inward silence of the mind from all its own imaginations and
self-cogitations, let it be considered according to truth, and to the
principles and doctrines heretofore affirmed and proved, that man is to
be considered in a twofold respect, to wit, in his natural,
unregenerate, and fallen state, and in his spiritual and renewed
condition; from whence ariseth that distinction of the natural and
spiritual man so much used by the apostle, and heretofore spoken of.
Also these two births of the mind proceed from the two seeds in man
respectively, to wit, the good seed and the evil; and from the evil
seed doth not only proceed all manner of gross and abominable
wickedness and profanity, but also hypocrisy, and those wickednesses
[823] which the scripture calls spiritual, because it is the serpent
working in and by the natural man in things that are spiritual, which
having a show and appearance of good, are so much the more hurtful and
dangerous, as it is Satan transformed and transforming himself into an
angel of light; and therefore doth the scripture so pressingly and
frequently, as we have heretofore had occasion to observe, shut out and
exclude the natural man from meddling with the things of God, denying
his endeavours therein, though acted and performed by the most eminent
of his parts, as of wisdom & utterance.
Also this spiritual wickedness is of two sorts, though both one in
kind, as proceeding from one root, yet differing in their degrees, and
in the subjects also sometimes. The one is, when as the natural man,
meddling with and working in the things of religion, doth from his own
conceptions and divinations affirm or propose wrong and erroneous
notions and opinions of God and things spiritual, and invent
superstitions, ceremonies. observations, [824] and rites in worship,
from whence have sprung all the heresies and superstitions that are
among Christians. The other is, when as the natural man, from a mere
conviction of his understanding, doth in the forwardness of his own
will, and by his own natural strength, without the irifluence and
leading of God's Spirit, go about either in his understanding to
imagine, conceive, or think of the things of God, or actually to
perform them by preaching or praying. The first is a missing both in
matter and form; the second is a retaining of the form without the
[825] life and substance of Christianity; because Christian religion
consisteth not in a mere belief of true doctrines, or a mere
performance of acts good in themselves, or else the bare letter of the
scripture, though spoken by a drunkard, or a devil, might be said to be
spirit and life, which I judge none will be so absurd as to affirm; and
also it would follow, that where the form of godliness is, there the
power is also, which is contrary to the express words of the apostle.
For the form of godliness cannot be said to be, where either the
notions and opinions believed are erroneous and ungodly, or the acts
performed evil and wicked; for then it would be the form of
ungodliness, and not of godliness: but of this more hereafter, when we
shall speak particularly of preaching and praying. Now though this last
be not so bad as the former, yet it hath made way for it; for men
having first departed from the life and substance of true religion and
worship, to wit, from the inward power arid virtue of the Spirit, so as
therein to act, and thereby to have all their actions enlivened, have
only retained the form and show, to wit, the true words and appearance;
and so acting in their own natural and unrenewed wills in this form,
the form could not but quickly decay, and be vitiated. For the working
and active spirit of man could not contain itself within the simplicity
and plainness of truth, but giving way to his own numerous inventions
and imaginations, began to vary in the form, and adapt it to his own
inventions, until by degrees the form of godliness for the most part
[826] came to be lost, as well as the power. For this kind of idolatry,
whereby man loveth, idolizeth, and embraceth his own conceptions,
inventions, and product of his own brain, is so incident unto him, and
seated in his fallen nature, that so long as his natural spirit is the
first author and actor of him, and is that by which he only is guided
and moved in his worship towards God, so as not first to wait for
another guide to direct him, he can never perform the pure spiritual
worship, nor bring forth any thing but the fruit of the first, fallen,
natural, and corrupt root. Wherefore the time appointed of God being
come, wherein by Jesus Christ he hath been pleased to restore the true
spiritual worship, and the outward form of worship, which was appointed
by God to the Jews, and whereof the manner and time of its [827]
performance was particularly determined by God himself, being come to
an end, we find that Jesus Christ, the author of the Christian
religion, prescribes no set form of worship to his children, under the
more pure administratlon of the new covenant, [828]
I answer, First, This cannot be objected by any sort of Christians that
I know, because there are none who use not other prayers, or that limit
their worship to this. Secondly, This was commanded to the disciples,
while yet weak, before they had received the dispensation of the
gospel; not that they should only use it in praying, but that he might
show them by one example how that their prayers ought to be short, and
not like the long prayers of the Pharisees. And that this was the use
of it, appears by all their prayers, which divers saints afterwards
made use of, whereof the scripture makes mention; for none made use of
this, neither repeated it, but used otherwords, according as the thing
required, and as the Spirit gave utterance. Thirdly, That this ought to
be so understood, appears from Rom. viii. 26. of which afterwards
mention shall be made at greater length, where the apostle saith, We
know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself
maketh intercession for us, &c. But if this prayer had been such a
prescribed form of prayer to the church, that had not been true,
neither had they been ignorant what to pray, nor should they have
needed the help of the Spirit to teach them. save that he only tells
them, That the worship now to be performed is spiritual, and in the
Spirit. And it is especially to be observed, that in the whole New
Testament there is no order nor command given in this thing, but to
follow the revelation of the Spirit, save only that general one of
meeting together; a thing dearly owned and diligently practised by us,
as shall hereafter more appear. True it is, mention is made of the
duties of praying, preaching, and singing; [829] but what order or
method should be kept in so doing, or that presently they should be set
about so soon as the saints are gathered, there is not one word to be
found: yea, these duties, as shall afterwards be made appear, are
always annexed to the assistance, leadings, and motions of God's
Spirit. Since then man in his natural state is thus excluded from
acting or moving in things spiritual, how or what way shall he exercise
this first and previous duty of waiting upon God but by silence, and by
[830] bringing that natural part to silence? Which is no other ways but
by abstaining from his own thoughts and imaginations, and from all the
self-workings and motions of his own mind, as well in things materially
good as evil; that he being silent, God may speak in him, and the good
seed may arise. This, though hard to the natural man, is so answerable
to reason, and even natural experience in other things, that it cannot
be denied. He that cometh to learn of a master, [831] if he expect to
hear his master and be instructed by him, must not continually be
speaking of the matter to be taught, and never be quiet, otherwise how
shall his master have time to instruct him? Yea, though the scholar
were never so earnest to learn the science, yet would the master have
reason to reprove him, as untoward and indocile, if he would always be
meddling of himself, and still speaking, and not wait in silence
patiently to hear his master instructing and teaching him, who ought
not to open his mouth until by his master he were commanded and allowed
so to do. So also if one [832] were about to attend a great prince, he
would be thought an impertinent and imprudent servant, who, while he
ought patiently and readily to wait, that he might answer the king when
he speaks, and have his eye upon him to observe the least motions and
inclinations of his will, and to do accordingly, would be still
deafening him with discourse, though it were in praises of him; and
running to and fro, without any particular and immediate order, to do
things that perhaps might be good in themselves, or might have been
commanded at other times to others. Would the kings of the earth accept
of such servants or [833] service? Since then we are commanded to wait
upon God diligently, and in so doing it is promised that our strength
shall be renewed, this waiting cannot be performed but by a silence or
cessation of the natural part on our side, since God manifests himself
not to the outward man or senses, so much as to the inward, to wit, to
the soul and spirit. If the soul be still thinking and working [834] in
her own will, and busily exercised in her own imaginations, though the
matters as in themselves may be good concerning God, yet thereby she
incapacitates herself from discerning the still, small voice of the
Spirit, and so hurts herself greatly, in that she neglects her chief
business of waiting upon the Lord: nothing less than if I should busy
myself, crying out and speaking of a business, while in the mean time I
neglect to hear one who is quietly whispering into my ear, and
informing me in those things which are most needful for me to hear and
know concerning that business. Arid since it is the chief work of a
Christian to know the natural will in its own proper motions crucified,
that God may both move in the act and in the will, the Lord chiefly
regards this profound subjection and self-denial. For some men please
themselves as much, and gratify their own sensual wills and humours in
high and curious [835] speculations of religion, affecting a name and
reputation that way, or because those things by custom or otherways are
become pleasant and habitual to them, though not a whit more
regenerated or inwardly sanctified in their spirits, as others gratify
[836] their lusts in acts of sensuality, and therefore both are alike
hurtful to men, and sinful in the sight of God, it being nothing but
the mere fruit and effect of man's natural and unrenewed will and
spirit. Yea, should one, as many no doubt do, from a sense of sin, and
fear of punishment, seek to terrify themselves from sin, by multiplying
thoughts of death, hell, and judgment, [837] and by presenting to their
imaginations the happiness and joys of heaven, and also by multiplying
prayers and other religious performances, as these things could never
deliver him from one iniquity, without the secret and inward power of
God's Spirit and grace, so would they signify no more than the
fig-leaves wherewith Adam thought to cover his nakedness. And seeing it
is only the product of man's own natural will, proceeding from a
self-love, and seeking to save himself, and not arising purely from
that divine seed of righteousness which is given of God to all for
grace and salvation, it is rejected of God, and no ways acceptable unto
him; since the natural rnan, as natural, while he stands in that state,
is, with all his arts, parts, and actings, reprobated by him. This
great duty then of waiting upon God, must needs be exercised in man's
denying self, both [838] inwardly and outwardly, in a still and mere
dependence upon God, in abstracting from all the workings,
imaginations, and speculations of his own mind, that being emptied as
it were of himself, and so thoroughly crucified to the natural products
thereof, he may be fit to receive the Lord, who will have no co-partner
nor co-rival of his glory and power. And man being thus stated, the
little seed of righteousness which God hath planted in his soul, and
christ hath purchased for him, even the measure of grace and life,
which is burdened and crucified by man's natural thoughts [839] and
imaginations, receives a place to arise, and becometh a holy birth and
geniture in man; and is that divine air in and by which man's soul and
spirit comes to be leavened; and by waiting therein he comes to be
accepted in the sight of God. to stand in his presence, hear his voice,
and observe the motions of his holy Spirit. And so man's place is to
wait in this; and as hereby there are any objects presented to his mind
concerning God, or things relating to religion, his soul may be
exercised in them without hurt, and to the great profit both of himself
and others; because those things have their rise not from his own will,
but from God's Spirit: and therefore as in the arisings and movings of
this his mind is still to be exercised in thinking and meditating, so
also in the more obvious acts of preaching and [840] praying. And so it
may hence appear we are not against meditation, as some have sought
falsely to infer frorn our doctrine; but we are against the thoughts
and imaginations of the natural man >From nature's thoughts all
errors rise. in his own will, from which all errors and heresies
concerning the Christian religion in the whole world have proceeded.
But if it please God at any time, when one or more are waiting upon
him, not to present such objects as give them occasion to exercise
their minds in thoughts and imaginations, but purely to keep them in
this holy dependence, and as they persist therein, to cause the secret
refreshment and the pure incomes of his holy life to flow in upon them,
then they have good reason to be content, because by this, as we know
by good and blessed expe rience, the soul is more strengthened,
renewed, and confirmed in the love of God, and armed [841] against the
power of sin, than any way else; this being a fore-taste of that real
and sensible enjoyment [842] of God, which the saints in heaven daily
possess, which God frequently affords to his children here for their
comfort and encouragement, especially when they are assembled together
to wait upon him.
S:. XI. For there are two contrary powers or spirits, [843] to wit, the
power and spirit of this world, in which the prince of darkness bears
rule, and over as many as are acted by it, and work from it; and the
power or Spirit of God, in which God worketh and beareth rule, and over
as many as act in and from it. So whatever be the things that a man
thinketh of, or acteth in, however spiritual or religious as to the
notion or form of them, so long as he acteth and moveth in the natural
and corrupt spirit and will, and not from, in, and by the power of God,
he sinneth in all, and is not accepted of God. For hence both the
ploughing and praying of the wicked is [844] sin; as also whatever a
man acts in and from the Spirit and power of God, having his
understanding and will influenced and moved by it, whether it be
actions religious, civil, or even natural, he is accepted in so doing
in the sight of God, and is blessed in them. From what is said it doth
[845] appear how frivolous and impertinent their objection is, that say
they wait upon God in praying and preaching, since waiting does of
itself imply a passive dependence, rather than an acting. And since it
is, [846] and shall yet be more shown, that preaching and .praying
without the Spirit is an offending of God, not a waiting upon him, and
that praying and preaching by the Spirit pre-supposes necessarily a
silent waiting to feel the motions and influence of the Spirit to lead
thereunto; and lastly, that in several of these places where praying is
command ed, as Mat. xxvi. 41. Mark xiii. 33. Luke xxi. 36. 1 Peter iv.
7. watching is specially prefixed as a previous preparation thereunto;
we do well and certainly conclude, that since waiting and watching are
so particularly commanded and recommended, and cannot be truly
performed but in this inward silence of the mind from men's own
thoughts and imaginations, this silence is and must necessarily be a
special and principal part of God's worship.
[847] S:. XII. But secondly, the excellency of this silent [848]
waiting upon God doth appear, in that it is impossible for the enemy,
viz. the devil, to counterfeit it, so as for any soul to be deceived or
deluded by him in the exercise thereof. Now in all other matters he may
mix himself with the natural mind of man, and so by transforming
himself he may deceive the soul, by busying it about things perhaps
innocent in themselves, while yet he keeps them from beholding the pure
light of Christ, and so from knowing distinctly their duty, and doing
of it. For that envious Spirit of man's eternal happiness knoweth well
how to accommodate himself, and fit his snares for all the several
dispositions and inclinations of men; if he find one not fit to be
engaged with gross sins, or worldly lusts, but rather averse from them,
and religiously inclined, he can fit himself to beguile such a one, by
suffering his thoughts and imaginations to run upon spiritual matters,
and so hurry him to work, act, and meditate in his own will. For he
well knoweth that so long as self bears rule, and the Spirit of God is
not the principal and chief actor, man is not put out of his reach; so
therefore he can [849] accompany the priest to the altar, the preacher
to the pulpit, the zealot to his prayers, yea, the doctor and professor
of divinity to his study, and there he can cheerfully suffer him to
labour and work among his books, yea, and help him to find out and
invent sub tile distinctions and quiddities, by which both his mind,
and others through him, may be kept from heeding God's light in the
conscience, and waiting upon him. There is not any exercise whatsoever,
wherein he cannot enter, and have a chief place, so as the soul many
times cannot discern it, except in this alone: for he can only work in
and by the natural man, and his faculties, by secretly acting upon his
imaginations and desires, &c. and therefore, when he (to wit, the
natural man) is silent, there he must also stand. And therefore, when
the soul comes to this silence, and as it were is brought to
nothingness, as to her own workings, then the devil is shut out; for
the pure presence of God and shining of his Light he cannot abide,
because so long as a man is thinking and meditating as of himself, he
cannot be sure but the devil is influencing him therein; but when he
comes wholly to be silent, as the pure Light of God shines in upon him,
then he is sure that the devil is shut out; for beyond the imaginations
he cannot go, which we often find by sensible experience. For he that
of old is said to have come to the gathering together of the children
of God, is not wanting to come to our assemblies. And indeed he can
well enter and work in a meeting, that is silent only as to words,
either by keeping the minds in various thoughts and imaginations, or by
stupifying them, so as to overwhelm them with a spirit of heaviness and
slothfulness: but when we retire out of all, and are turned in, both by
being diligent and watchful upon the one hand, and also silent and
retired out of all our thoughts upon the other, as we abide in this
sure place, we feel ourselves out of his reach. Yea, oftentimes the
power and glory of God will break forth and appear, just as the bright
sun through many clouds and mists, to the dispelling of that power of
darkness; which will also be sensibly felt, seeking to cloud and darken
the mind, and wholly to keep it from purely waiting upon God.
S:. XIII. Thirdly, The excellency of this worship [850] [851] doth
appear, in that it can neither be stopt nor interrupted by the malice
of men or devils, as all others can. Now interruptions and stoppings of
worship may be understood in a twofold respect, either as we are
hindered from meeting, as being outwardly by violence separated one
from another; or when permitted to meet together, as we are interrupted
by the tumult, noise, and confusion which such as are malicious may use
to molest or distract us. Now in both these respects, this worship doth
greatly overpass all others: for how far soever people be separate or
hindered from coming together, yet as every one is inwardly gathered to
the measure of life in himself, there is a secret unity and fellowship
enjoyed, which the devil and all his instruments can never break or
hinder. But, secondly, It doth as well appear, as to those molestations
which occur, when we are met together, what advantage his true and
spiritual worship gives us beyond all others; seeing in despite of a
thousand interruptions and abuses, one of which were sufficient to have
stopt all other sorts of Christians, we have been able, through the
nature of this worship, to keep it uninterrupted as to God, and also at
the same time to show forth an example of our Christian patience
towards all, even oftentimes to the reaching and convincing of our
opposers. For there is no sort of worship used by others which can
subsist (though they be permitted to meet) unless they be either
authorised and protected by the magistrate, or defend themselves with
the arm of flesh: but we at the same time exercise worship towards God,
and also patiently bear the reproaches and ignominies which Christ
prophesied should be so, incident and frequent to Christians. For how
can the Papists say their mass, if there be any there to disturb and
interrupt [852] them? Do but take away the mass-book, the chalice, the
host, or the priest's garments, yea, do but spill the water, or the
wine, or blow out the candles, (a thing quickly done,) and the whole
business is marred, and no sacrifice can be offered. Take from the
Lutherans or Episcopalians their [853] Liturgy or Common-Prayer-Book,
and no service can be said. Remove from the Calvinists, Arminians,
Sociniaras, Independents, or Anabaptists, the pulpit, the bible, and
the hour-glass, or make but such a noise as the voice of the preacher
cannot be heard, or disturb him but so before he come, or strip him of
his bible or his books, and he must be dumb: for they all think it an
heresy to wait to speak as the Spirit of God giveth utterance; and thus
easily their whole worship may be marred. But when people meet
together, and their worship consisteth not in such outward acts, and
they depend not upon any one's speaking, but merely sit down to wait
upon God, and to be gathered out of all visibles, and to feel the Lord
in Spirit, none of these things can hinder them, of which we may say of
a truth, We are sensible witnesses. For when the magistrates, stirred
up by the malice and envy of our opposers, have used all means possible
(and yet in vain) to deter us from meeting together, and that openly
and publicly in our own hired houses for that purpose, both death,
banishments, imprisonments, [854] finings, beatings, whippings, and
other such devilish inventions, have proved ineffectual to terrify us
from our holy assemblies. And we having, I say, thus oftentimes
purchased our liberty to meet, by deep sufferings, our opposers have
then taken another way, by turning in upon us the worst and wickedest
people, yea, the very off-scourings of men, who by all manner of
inhuman, beastly, and brutish behaviour, have sought to provoke us,
weary us, and molest us, but in vain. It would be almost incredible to
declare, and indeed a shame, that among men pretending to be
Christians, it should be mentioned, what things of this kind men's eyes
have seen, and I myself, with others, have shared of in suffering!
There they have often beaten us, and cast water and dirt upon us; there
they have danced, leaped, sung, and spoken all manner of profane and
ungodly words; offered violence and shameful behaviour to grave women
and virgins; jeered, mocked, and scoffed, asking us, If the Spirit was
not yet come? And much more, which were tedious here to relate: and all
this while we have been seriously and silently sitting together, and
waiting upon the Lord. So that by these things our inward and spiritual
fellowship with God, and one with another, in the pure life of
righteousness, hath not been hindered. But on the contrary, the Lord
knowing our sufferings and reproaches for his testimony's sake, hath
caused. his power and glory more to abound among us, and hath mightily
refreshed us by the sense, of his love, which hath filled our souls;
and so much the rather, as we found ourselves gathered into the name of
the [855] Lord, which is the strong tower of the righteous; whereby we
felt ourselves sheltered from receiving any inward hurt through their
malice and also that he had delivered us from that vain name and
profession of Christianity, under which our opposers were not ashamed
to bring forth those bitter and cursed fruits. Yea, sometimes in the
midst of this tumult and opposition, God would powerfully move some or
other of us by his Spirit, both to testify of that joy, which
notwithstanding their malice we enjoyed, and powerfully to declare, in
the evidence and demonstration of the Spirit, against their folly and
wickedness; so as the power of truth hath brought them to some measure
of quietness and stillness, and stopt the impetuous streams of their
fury and madness: that even as of old Moses by his rod divided the
[856] waves of the Red Sea, that the Israelites might pass; so God hath
thus by his Spirit made a way for us in the midst of this raging
wickedness, peaceably to enjoy and possess him, and accomplish our
worship to him: so that sometimes upon such occasions several of our
opposers and interrupters have hereby been convinced of the truth, and
gathered from being persecutors to be sufferers with us. And let it not
be forgotten, but let it be inscribed and abide for a constant
remembrance of the thing, that in these [857] beastly and brutish
pranks, used to molest us in our spiritual meetings, none have been
more busy than the young students of the universities, who were
learning philosophy and divinity, (so called,) and many of them
preparing themselves for the ministry. Should we commit to writing all
the abominations committed in this respect by the young fry of the
clergy, it would make no small volume; as the churches of Christ,
gathered into his pure worship in Oxford and Cambridge in England, and
Edinburgh and Aberdeen in Scotland, where the universities are, can
well bear witness.
S:. XIV. Moreover, in this we know, that we [858] are partakers of the
new covenant's dispensation, and disciples of Christ indeed, sharing
with him in that spiritual worship, which is performed in the Spirit
and in truth; because as he was, so are we in this world. For the old
covenant-worship had an outward glory, temple, and ceremonies, and was
full of outward splendor and majesty, having an outward tabernacle and
altar, beautified with gold, silver, and precious stones; and their
sacrifices were confined to a particular place, even the outward Mount
Sion; and those that prayed, were to pray with their faces towards that
outward temple and therefore all this was to be protected by an outward
arm. Nor could the Jews peaceably have enjoyed it, but when they were
secured from the violence of their outward enemies: and therefore when
at any time their enemies prevailed over them, their glory was
darkened, and their sacrfices stopt; and the face of their worship
marred: hence they complain, lament, and bewail the destroying of the
[859] temple, as a loss irreparable. But Jesus Christ, the author and
institutor of the new covenant-worship, [860] testifies, that God is
neither to be worshipped in this nor that place, but in the Spirit and
in Truth: and forasmuch as his kingdom is not of this world, neither
doth his worship consist in it, or need either the wisdom, glory,
riches, or splendor of this world to beautify or adorn it; nor yet the
outward power or arm of flesh to maintain, uphold, or protect it; but
it is and may be performed by those that are spiritually- minded,
nothwithstantling all the opposition, violence, and malice of men;
because it being purely spiritual, it is out of the reach of natural
men to interrupt or obstruct it. Even as Jesus Christ, the author
thereof, did enjoy and possess his spiritual kingdom, while oppressed,
persecuted, and rejected of men; and as, [861] in despite of the malice
and rage of the devil, he spoiled principalities and powers, triumphing
over them, and through death destroyed him that had the power of death,
that is, the devil; so also all his followers both can and do worship
him, not only without the arm of flesh to protect them, but even when
oppressed. For their worship being spiritual, is by the [862] power of
the spirit defended and maintained; but such worships as are carnal,
and consist in carnal and outward ceremonies and observations, need a
carnal and outward arm to protect and defend them, else they cannot
stand and subsist. And therefore it appears, that the several worships
of our opposers, both Papists and Protestants, are of this kind, and
not the true spiritual and new covenant-worship of Christ; because, as
hath been observed, they cannot stand without the protection or
countenance of the outward magistrate, neither can be performed, if
there be the least opposition: for they are not in the patience of
Jesus, to serve and worship him with sufferings, ignominies, calumnies,
and reproaches. And from hence have sprung all those wars, fightings,
and bloodshed among Christians, while each by the arm of flesh
endeavoured to defend and protect their own way and worship: and from
this also sprung up that monstrous opinion of persecution; of which we
shall speak more at length hereafter.
S:. XV. But Fourthly; The nature of this worship, [863] which is
performed by the operation of the [864] Spirit, the natural man being
silent, doth appear from these words of Christ, John iv. 23, 24. But
the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship
the Father in Spirit and in Truth: for the Father seeketh such to
worship him. God is a Spirit, and they that worship him, must worship
him in Spirit and in Truth. This testimony is the more specially to be
observed, for that it is both the first, chiefest, and most ample
testimony, which Christ gives us of his Christian worship, as different
and contra-distinguished from that under the law. For first, he showeth
that the season is now come, wherein the worship must be in Spirit and
in Truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship him: so then it is no
more a worship consisting in outward observations, to be performed by
man at set times or opportunities, which he can do in his own will, and
by his own natural strength; for else it would not differ in matter,
but only in some circumstances from that under the law. Next, as for a
reason of this worship, we need not give [865] any other, and indeed
none can give a better than that which Christ giveth, which I think
should be sufficient to satisfy every Christian, to wit, GOD IS A
SPIRIT, and they that worship him, must worship him in Spirit and in
Truth. As this ought to be received, because it is the words of Christ,
so also it is founded upon so clear a demonstration of reason, as
sufficiently evinceth its verity. For Christ excellently argues from
the analogy that ought to be betwixt the object, and the worship
directed thereunto:
[866] God is a Spirit;
Therefore, he must be worshipped in Spirit.
This is so certain, that it can suffer no contradiction; yea, and this
analogy is so necessary to be minded, that under the law, when God
instituted and appointed that ceremonial worship to the Jews, because
that worship was outward, that there might be an analogy, he saw it
necessary to condescend to them as in a special manner, to dwell
betwixt the Cherubims within the tabernacle, and afterwards to make the
temple of Jerusalem in a sort his habitation, and cause something of an
outward glory and majesty to appear, by causing fire from heaven to
consume the sacrifices, and filling [867] the temple with a cloud:
through and by which mediums visible to the outward eye, he manifested
himself proportionably to that outward worship which he had commanded
them to perform. So now under the new covenant, he seeing meet in his
heavenly wisdom to lead his children in a path more heavenly and
spiritual, and in a way more easy and familiar, and also purposing to
disappoint carnal and outward observations, that his may have an eye
more to an inward glory and kingdom than to an outward, he hath given
us for an example hereof the appearance of his beloved [868] Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ, who (as Moses delivered the Israelites out of their
outward bondage, and by outwardly destroying their enemies) hath
delivered and doth deliver us by suffering, and dying by the hands of
his enemies; thereby triumphing over the devil, and his and our inward
enemies, and delivering us therefrom. He hath also instituted an inward
and spiritual worship: so that God now tieth not his people to the
temple of Jerusalem, nor yet unto outward ceremonies and observations;
but taketh the heart of every Christian for a temple to dwell in; and
there immediately appeareth, and giveth him directions how to serve him
in any outward acts. Since, as Christ argueth, God is a Spirit, he will
now be worshipped in the Spirit, where he reveals himself, and dwelleth
with the contrite in heart. Now, since it is the heart of man that now
is become the temple of God, in which he will be worshipped, and no
more in particular outward temples, (since, as blessed Stephen said,
out of the prophet, to the professing Jews of old, The most High
dwelleth not in tempIes made with hands,) as before the glory of the
Lord descended to fill the outward temple, it behoved to be purified
and cleansed, and all polluted stuff removed out of it; yea, and the
place for the tabernacle was overlaid with gold, the most precious and
cleanest of metals; so also before God be worshipped in the inward
temple of the heart, it must also be purged of its own filth, and all
its own thoughts and imaginations, that so it may be fit to receive the
Spirit of God, and to be actuated by it. And doth not this directly
lead us to that inward silence, of which we have spoken, and exactly
pointed out? And further, This worship must be in truth; intimating,
that this spiritual worship, thus actuated, is only and properly a true
worship; as being that which, for the reasons above observed, cannot be
counterfeited by the enemy, nor yet performed by the hypocrite.
S:. XVI. And though this worship be indeed very different from the
divers established invented worships among Christians, and therefore
may seem strange to many, yet hath it been testified of, commended and
practised, by the most pious of all sorts, in all ages, as by many
evident testimonies might be proved. So that from the professing and
practising thereof, the name of Mystics hath [869] arisen, as of a
certain sect, generally commended by all, whose writings are full both
of the explanation and of the commendation of this sort of worship;
where they plentifully assert this inward introversion and abstraction
of the mind, as they call it, from all images and thoughts, and the
prayer of the will: yea, they look upon this as the height of Christian
perfection; so that some of them, though professed Papists, do not
doubt to affirm, That such as have attained this method of worship, or
are aiming at it, (as in a book, called Sancta Sophia, put out [870] by
the English Benedictines, printed at Doway, Anno 1657. Tract. I. Sect.
2. cap. 5.) need not, nor ought to trouble or busy themselves with
frequent and unnecessary confessions, with exercising corporal labours
and austerities, the using of vocal voluntary prayers, the hearing of a
number of masses, or set devotions, or exercises to saints, or prayers
for the dead, or having solicitous and distracting cares to gain
indulgences, by going to such and such churches, or adjoining one's
self to confraternities, or entangling one's self with vows and
promises; because such kind of things hinder the soul from observing
the operations of the Divine Spirit in it, and from having liberty to
follow the Spirit whither it would draw her. And yet who knows not that
in such kind of observations the very substance of the Popish religion
consisteth? Yet nevertheless, it appears by this, and many other
passages, which out of their Mystic writers might be mentioned, how
they look upon this worship as excelling all other; and that such as
arrived hereunto, had no absolute need of the others: yea; (see the
Life of Balthazar Alvares, in the same Sancta Sophia, Tract. III. Sect.
1. cap. 7.) such as tasted of this, quickly confessed, that the other
forms and ceremonies of worship were useless as to them; neither did
they perform them as things necessary, but merely for order or
example's sake. And therefore, though some of them were so overclouded
with the common darkness of their profession, yet could they affirm
that this spiritual worship was still to be retained and sought for,
even though it should be become necessary to omit their outward
ceremonies. Hence Bernard, as in many [871] other places, so in his
Epistle to William, abbot of the same order, saith, Take heed to the
rule of God; the kingdom of God is within you: and afterwards, saying,
that their outward orders and rules should be observed, he adds; But
otherwise, when it shall happen that one of these two must be omitted,
in such a case these are much rather to be omitted than those former:
for by how much the Spirit is more excellent and noble than the body,
by so much are spiritual exercises more profitable than corporal. Is
not that then the best of worships, which the best of men in all ages,
and of all sects, have commended, and which is most suitable to the
doctrine of Christ? I say, Is not that worship to be followed and
performed? And so much the rather, as God hath raised a people to
testify for it, and preach it, to their great refreshment and
strengthening, in the very face of the world, and notwithstanding much
opposition; who do not, as these [872] Mystics, make of it a mystery,
only to be attained by a few men or women in a cloister; or, as their
mistake was after wearying themselves with many outward ceremonies and
observations, as if it were the consequence of such a labour; but who
in the free love of God, (who respects not persons, and was near to
hear and reveal himself, as well to Cornelius, a centurion and a Roman,
as to Simeon and Anna; and who discovered his glory to Mary, a poor
handmaid, and to the poor shepherds, rather than to the high priests
and devout proselytes among the Jews,) in and according to his free
love, finding that God is revealing and establishing this worship, and
making many poor tradesmen, yea, young boys and girls, witnesses of it,
do entreat and beseech all to lay aside their own will-worships, and
voluntary acts, performed in their own wills, and by their own mere
natural strength and power, without retiring out of their vain
imaginations and thoughts, or feeling the pure Spirit of God to move
and stir in them; that they may come to practise this acceptable
worship, which is in Spirit and in Truth. But against this worship they
object;
[873] S:. XVII. First, It seems to be an unprofitable exercise for a
man to be doing or thinking nothing; and that one might be much better
employed, either in meditating upon some good subject, or otherwise
praying to or praising God.
[874] I answer; That is not unprofitable, which is of absolute
necessity before any other duty can be acceptably performed, as we have
shown this waiting to be. Moreover, those have but a carnal and gross
apprehension of God, and of the things of his kingdom, who imagine that
men please him by their own workings and actings: whereas, as hath been
shown, the first step for a man to fear God, is to cease from his own
thoughts and imaginations, [875] and suffer God's Spirit to work in
him. [876] For we must cease to do evil, ere we learn to do well; and
this meddling in things spiritual by man's own natural understanding,
is one of the greatest and most dangerous evils that man is incident
to; being that which occasioned our first parents' fall, to wit, a
forwardness to desire to know things, and a meddling with them, both
without and contrary to the Lord's command.
[877] Secondly; Some object, If your worship merely consist in inwardly
retiring to the Lord, and feeling of his Spirit arise in you, and then
to do outward acts as [878] ye are led by it, what need ye have public
meetings at set times and places, since every one may enjoy this at
home? Or should not every one stay at home, until they be particularly
moved to go to such a place at such a time; since to meet at set times
and places seems to be an outward observation and ceremony, contrary to
what ye at other times assert?
I answer, first; To meet at set times and places [879] is not any
religious act, or part of worship in itself; [880] but only an outward
conveniency, necessary for our seeing one another, so long as we are
clothed with this outward tabernacle; and therefore our meeting at set
times and places is not a part of our worship, but a preparatory
accommodation of our outward man, in order to a public visible worship;
since we set not about the visible acts of worship when we meet
together, until we be led thereunto by the Spirit of God. Secondly, God
hath seen meet, so long as his children are in this world, to make use
of the outward senses, not only as a means to convey spiritual life, as
by speaking, praying, praising, &c. which cannot be done to mutual
edification, but when we hear and see one another; but also to maintain
an outward, visible testimony for his name in the world: he causeth the
inward life (which is also many times not conveyed by the outward
senses) the more to abound, when his children assemble themselves
diligently together to wait upon him; so that as iron sharpeneth iron,
the seeing of the faces [881] one of another, when both are inwardly
gathered unto the life, giveth occasion for the life secretly to rise,
and pass from vessel to vessel. And as many candles lighted, and put in
one place, do greatly augment the light, and make it more to shine
forth, so when many are gathered together into the same life, there is
more of the glory of God, and his power appears, to the refreshment of
each individual; for that he partakes not only of the light and life
raised in himself, but in all the rest. And therefore Christ hath
particularly promised a blessing to such as assemble together in his
name, seeing he will be in the midst of them, Matth. xviii. 20. And the
author to the Hebrews doth precisely prohibit the neglect of this duty,
as being of very dangerous and dreadful consequence, in these words;
Heb. x. 24. And let us consider one another, to provoke unto love, and
to good works; not forsaking [882] the assembling of ourselves
together, as the manner of some is;---For if we sin wilfully, after
that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no
more sacrifice for sins. And therefore the Lord hath shown that he hath
a particular respect to such as thus assemble themselves together,
because that thereby a public testimony for him is upheld in the earth,
and his name is thereby glorified; and therefore such as are right in
their spirits, are naturally drawn to keep the meetings of God's
people, and never want a spiritual influence to lead them thereunto:
and if any do it in a mere customary way, they will no doubt suffer
condemnation for it. Yet cannot the appointing of places and times be
accounted a ceremony and observation, done in man's will, in the
worship of God, seeing none can say that it is an act of worship, but
only a mere presenting of our persons in order to it, as is above said.
Which that it was practised by the primitive church and saints, all our
adversaries do acknowledge.
[883] Lastly, Some object, That this manner of worship in silence is
not to be found in all the scripture:
[884] I answer; We make not silence to be the sole [885] matter of our
worship; since, as I have said above, there are many meetings, which
are seldom altogether silent; some or other are still moved either to
preach, pray, or praise: and so in this our meetings cannot but be like
the meetings of the primitive churches recorded in scripture, since our
adversaries confess that they did preach and pray by the Spirit. And
then what absurdity is it to suppose, that at some times the Spirit did
not move them to these outward acts, and that then they were silent?
Since we may well conclude they did not speak until they were moved;
and so no doubt had sometimes silence. Acts ii. 1. before the Spirit
came upon them, it is said, They were all with one accord in one place;
and then it is said, The Spirit suddenly came upon them; but no mention
is made of any one speaking at that time; and I would willingly know
what absurdity our adversaries can infer, should we conclude they were
a while silent ?
But if it be urged, That a whole silent meeting cannot [886] be found
in scripture;
I answer; Supposing such a thing were not [887] recorded, it will not
therefore follow that it is not lawful; since it naturally followeth
from other [888] scripture precepts, as we have proved this doth. For
seeing the scripture commands to meet together, and when met, the
scripture prohibits prayers or preachings, but as the Spirit moveth
thereunto; if people meet together, and the Spirit move not to such
acts, it will necessarily follow that they must be silent. But further,
there might have been many such things among the saints of old, though
not recorded in scripture; and yet we have enough in scripture,
signifying that such things were. For Job sat silent seven days with
his friends together; here was a long silent meeting: see also Ezra ix.
4. and Ezekiel xiv. 1. and xx. 1. Thus having shown the excellency of
this worship, proving it from scripture and reason, and answering the
objections which are commonly made against it, which, though it may
suffice to the explanation and proof of our proposition, yet I shall
add something more particularly of preaching, praying, and singing, and
so proceed to the following proposition.
[889] S:. XVIII. Preaching, as it is used both among [890] Papists and
Protestants, is for one man to take some place or verse of scripture,
and thereon speak for, an hour or two, what he hath studied and premedi
[891] tated in his closet, and gathered together from his own
inventions, or from the writings and observations of others; and then
having got it by heart, (as a school-boy doth his lesson,) he brings it
forth, and repeats it before the people: and how much the more fertile
and strong a man's invention is, and the more industrious and laborious
he is in collecting such observations, and can utter them with the
excellency of speech and human eloquence, so much the more is he
accounted an able and excellent preacher.
[892] To this we oppose, that when the saints are met together, and
every one gathered to the gift and grace of God in themselves, he that
ministereth, being actuated thereunto by the arising of the grace in
himself, ought to speak forth what the Spirit of God furnisheth him
with; not minding the eloquence and wisdom of words, but the
demonstration of the Spirit and of power: and that either in the
interpreting some part of scripture, in case the Spirit, which is the
good remembrancer, lead him so to do, or otherwise words of
exhortation, advice, reproof, and instruction, or the sense of some
spiritual experiences: all which will still be agreeable to the
scripture, though perhaps not relative to, nor founded upon any
particular chapter or verse, as a text. Now let us examine and consider
which of these two sorts of preaching is most agreeable to the precepts
of Christ and his apostles, and the primitive church, recorded in
scripture? For, first, as to their preaching upon a text, if it were
not merely customary or premeditated, but done by the immediate motion
of the Spirit, we should not blame it; but to do it as they do, there
is neither precept nor practice, that ever I could observe, in the New
Testament, as a part of the instituted worship thereof.
[893] But they allege, That Christ took the book of Isaiah, and read
out of it, and spake therefrom; and that Peter preached from a sentence
of the prophet Joel.
I answer, That Christ and Peter did it not but [894] as immediately
actuated and moved thereunto by [895] the Spirit of God, and that
without premeditation, which I suppose our adversaries will not deny;
in which case we willingly approve of it. But what is this to their
customary conned way, without either waiting for or expecting the
movings or leadings of the Spirit? Moreover, that neither Christ nor
Peter did it as a settled custom or form, to be constantly practised by
all the ministers of the church, appears, in that most of all the
sermons recorded of Christ and his apostles in scripture were without
this, as appears from Christ's sermon upon the mount, Mat. v. 1. &c.
Mark iv. 1. &c. and Paul's preaching to the Athenians, and to the Jews,
&c. As then it appears that this method of preaching is not grounded
upon any scripture precept, so the nature of it is contrary to the
preaching of Christ under the new covenant, as expressed and
recommended in scripture; for Christ, in sending forth his disciples,
expressly mentioneth, that they are not to speak of or from themselves,
or to forecast before hand, but that which the Spirit in the same hour
shall teach them, as is particularly mentioned in the three
evangelists, Mat. x. 20. Mark iii. 11. Luke xii. 12. Now if Christ gave
this order to his disciples before he departed from them, as that which
they were to practise during his abode outwardly with them, much more
were they to do it after his departure, since then they were more
especially to receive the Spirit, to lead them in all things, and to
bring all things to their remembrance, John xiv. 26. And if they were
to do so when they appeared before the magistrates and princes of the
earth, much more in the worship of God, when they stand specially
before him; seeing, as is above shown, his worship is to be performed
in Spirit; and therefore after their receiving of the Holy Ghost, it is
said, Acts ii. 4. They spake as the Spirit gave them utterance, not
what they had studied and gathered from books in their closets in a
premeditated way.
[896] Franciscus Lambertus, before cited, speaketh well and showeth
their hypocrisy, Tract. 5. of Prophecy, chap. iii. saying, Where are
they now that glory in their inventions, who say, a fine invention! a
fine invention! This they call invention, which themselves have made
up; but what have the faithful to do with such kind of invention? It is
not figments, nor yet inventions, that we will have, but things that
are solid, invincible, eternal, and heavenly; not which men have
invented, but which God hath revealed: for if we believe the
scriptures, our invention profiteth nothing, but to provoke God to our
ruin. And afterwards, Beware (saith he) that thou determine not
precisely to speak what before thou hast meditated, whatsoever it be;
for though it be lawful to deter mine the text which thou art to
expound, yet not at all the interpretation; lest if thou so dost, thou
take from the Holy Spirit that which is his, to wit, to direct thy
speech, that thou mayest prophesy in the name of the Lord, void of all
learning, meditation, and experience, and as if thou hadst studied
nothing at all, committing thy heart, thy tongue, and thyself wholly
unto his Spirit, and trusting nothing to thy former studying or
meditation; but saying with thyself, in great confidence of the divine
promise, The Lord will give a word with much power unto those that
preach the gospel. But above all things be careful thou follow not the
manner of hypocrites, who have written almost word for word what they
are to say, as if they were to repeat some verses upon a theatre,
having learned all their preaching as they do that act tragedies. And
afterwards, when they are in the place of prophesying, pray the Lord to
direct their tongue; but in the mean time, shutting up the way of the
Holy Spirit, they determine to say nothing but what they have written.
O unhappy kind of proph ets,yea, and truly cursed, which depend not
upon God's Spirit, but upon their own writing's or meditation! Why
prayest thou to the Lord, thou false prophet, to give thee his holy
Spirit, by which thou mayest speak things profitable, and yet thou
repellest the Spirit? Why preferrest thou thy meditation or study to
the Spirit of God? Otherwise why committest thou not thyself to the
Spirit
S:. XIX. Secondly, This manner of preaching [897] as used by them
(considering that they also affirm that it may be and often is
performed by men who are wicked, or void of true grace) cannot only not
edify the church, beget or nourish true faith, but is destructive to
it, being directly contrary to the nature of the Christian and
apostolic ministry mentioned in the scriptures: for the apostle
preached the gospel not in the wisdom of words, lest the cross of
Christ should be of none effect, 1 Cor. i. 17. But this preaching not
being done by the actings and movings of God's Spirit, but by man's
invention and eloquence, in his own will, and through his natural and
acquired parts and learning, is in the wisdom of words, and therefore
the cross of Christ is thereby made of none effect. The apostle's
speech and preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but
in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that the faith of their
hearers should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God,
1 Cor. ii. 3, 4, 5. But this preaching having nothing of the Spirit and
power in it, both the preachers and hearers confessing they wait for no
such thing, nor yet are oftentimes sensible of it, must needs stand in
the enticing words of man's wisdom, since it is by the mere wisdom of
man it is sought after, and the mere strength of man's eloquence and
enticing words it is uttered; and therefore no wonder if the faith of
such as hear and depend upon such preachers and preachings stand in the
wisdom of men, and not in the power of God. The apostles declared, That
they spake not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the
Holy Ghost teacheth, 1 Cor. ii. 13. But these preachers confess that
they are strangers to the Holy Ghost, his motions and operations,
neither do they wait to feel them, and therefore they speak in the
words which their own natural wisdom and learning teach them, mixing
them in, and adding them to, such words as they steal out of the
scripture and other books, and therefore speak not what the Holy Ghost
teacheth.
[898] Thirdly, This is contrary to the method and order of the
primitive church mentioned by the apostle, 1 Cor. xiv. 30. &c. where in
preaching everyone is to wait for his revelation, and to give place one
unto another, according as things are revealed; but here there is no
waiting for a revelation, but the preacher must speak, and not that
which is revealed unto him, but what he hath prepared and premeditated
before-hand.
[899] Lastly, By this kind of preaching the Spirit of God, which should
be the chief instructer and teacher of God's people, and whose
influence is that only which makes all preaching effectual and
beneficial for the edifying of souls, is shut out, and man's natural
wisdom, learning, and parts set up and exalted; which no doubt is a
great and chief reason why the preaching among the generality of
Christians is so unfruitful and unsuccessful. Yea, according to this
doctrine, the devil may preach, and ought to be heard also, seeing he
both knoweth the truth, and hath as much eloquence as any. But what
avails excellency of speech, if the demonstration and power of the
Spirit be wanting, which toucheth the conscience? We see that when the
devil confessed to the truth, yet Christ would have none of his
testimony. And as these pregnant testimonies of the scripture do prove
this part of preaching to be contrary to the doctrine of Christ, so do
they also prove that of ours before affirmed to be conformable
thereunto.
S:. XX. But if any object after this manner, Have [900] not many been
benefitted, yea, and both converted and edified by the ministry of such
as have premeditated their preaching? Yea, and hath not the Spirit
often concurred by its divine influence with preachings thus
premeditated, so as they have been powerfully borne in upon the souls
of the hearers to their advantage?
[901] I answer, Though that be granted, which I shall not deny, it will
not infer that the thing was good in itself, more than because Paul was
met with by [902] Christ to the converting of his soul riding to
Damascus to persecute the saints, that he did well in so doing. Neither
particular actions, nor yet whole congregations, as we above observed,
are to be measured by the acts of God's condescension in times of
ignorance. But besides, it hath oftentimes fallen out, that God, having
a regard to the simplicity and integrity either of the preacher or
hearers, hath fallen in upon the heart of a preacher by his power and
holy influence, and thereby hath led him to speak things that were not
in his premeditated discourse, and which perhaps he never thought on
before; and those passing ejaculations, and unpremeditated but living
exhortations, have proved more beneficial and refreshing both to
preacher and hearers than all their premeditated sermons. But all that
will not allow them to continue in these things which in themselves are
not approved, but contrary to the practice of the apostles, when God is
raising up a people to serve him, according to the primitive purity and
spirituality; yea, such acts of God's condescension, in times of
darkness and ignorance, should engage all more and more to follow him,
according as he reveals his most perfect and spiritual way.
[903] S:. XXI. Having hitherto spoken of preaching, [904] now it is fit
to speak of praying, concerning which the like controversy ariseth. Our
adversaries, whose religion is all for the most part outside, and such
whose acts are the mere product of man's natural will and abilities, as
they can preach, so can they pray when they please, and therefore have
their set particular prayers. I meddle not with the controversies among
themselves concering this, some of them being for set prayers, as a
liturgy, others for such as are conceived extempore: it suffices me
that all of them agree in this, That the motions and influence of the
Spirit of God are not necessary to be previous thereunto; and therefore
[905] they have set times in their public worship, as before and after
preaching, and in their private devotion, as morning and evening, and
before and after meat, and other such occasions, at which they
precisely set about the performing of their prayers, by speaking words
to God, whether they feel any motion or influence of the Spirit or not;
so that some of the chiefest have confessed that they have thus prayed
without the motions or assistance of the Spirit, acknowledging that
they sinned in so doing; yet they said they looked upon it as their
duty so to do, though to pray without the Spirit be sin. We freely
confess that prayer is both very profitable, and a necessary duty
commanded, and fit to be practised frequently by all Christians; but as
we can do nothing without Christ, so neither can we pray without the
concurrence and assistance of his Spirit. But that the state of the
controversy may be the better understood, let it be considered, first,
that prayer [906] is two-fold, inward and outward. Inward prayer is
that secret turning of the mind towards God, whereby, being secretly
touched and awakened by the light of Christ in the conscience, and so
bowed down under the sense of its iniquities, unworthi ness, and
misery, it looks up to God, and joining with the secret shinings of the
seed of God, it breathes towards him, and is constantly breathing forth
some secret desires and aspirations towards him. It is in this sense
that we are so frequently in scripture commanded to pray continually,
Luke xviii. 1. 1 Thess. v. 17. Eph. vi. 18. Luke xxi. 36. which cannot
be understood of outward prayer, because it were impossible that men
should be always upon their knees, expressing words of prayer; and this
would hinder them from the exercise of those duties no less positively
commanded. Outward [907] prayer is, when as the Spirit, being thus in
the exercise of inward retirement, and feeling the breathing of the
Spirit of God to arise powerfully in the soul, receives strength and
liberty by a superadded motion and influence of the Spirit to bring
forth either audible sighs, groans, or words, and that either in public
assemblies, or in private, or at meat, &c.
[908] As then inward prayer is necessary at all tines, so, so long as
the day of every man's visitation lasteth, he never wants some
influence, less or more, for the practice of it; because he no sooner
retires his mind, and considers himself in God's presence, but he finds
himself in the practice of it.
[909] The outward exercise of prayer, as needing a greater and
superadded influence and motion of the Spirit, as it cannot be
continually practised, so neither can it be so readily, so as to be
effectually performed, until his mind be some time acquainted with the
inward; therefore such as are diligent and watchful in their minds, and
much retired in the exercise of this inward prayer, are more capable to
be frequent in the use of the outward, because that this holy influence
doth more constantly attend them, and they being better acquainted
with, and accustomed to, the motions of God's Spirit, can easily
perceive and discern them. And in deed, as such who are most diligent
have a near access to God, and he taketh most delight to draw them by
his Spirit to approach and call upon him, so when many are gathered
together in this watchful mind, God doth frequently pour forth the
Spirit of prayer among them and stir them thereunto, to the edifying
and building up of one another in love. But because this outward prayer
depends upon the inward, as that which must follow it, and cannot be
acceptably performed but as attended [910] with a superadded influence
and motion of the Spirit, therefore cannot we prefix set times to pray
outwardly, so as to lay a necessity to speak words at such and such
times, whether we feel this heavenly influence and assistance or no;
for that we judge were a tempting of God, and a coming before him
without due preparation. We think it fit for us to present ourselves
before him by this inward retirement of the mind, and so to proceed
further, as his Spirit shall help us and draw us thereunto; and we find
that the Lord accepts of this, yea, and seeth meet sometimes to
exercise us in this silent place for the trial of our patience, without
allowing us to speak further, that he may teach us not to rely upon
outward performances, or satisfy ourselves, as too many do, wit the
saying of our prayers; and that our dependence upon him may be the more
firm and constant, to wait for the holding out of his sceptre, and for
his allowance to draw near unto him, with greater freedom and
enlargement of Spirit upon our hearts towards him. Yet nevertheless we
do not deny but sometimes God, upon particular occasions, very
suddenly, yea, upon the very first turning in of the mind, may give
power and liberty to bring forth words or acts of outward prayer, so as
the soul can scarce discern any previous motion, but the influence and
bringing forth thereof may be as it were simul & semel: nevertheless
that saying of Bernard is true, that all prayer is lukewarm which hath
not an inspiration preceding it. Though we affirm that none ought to go
about prayer without this motion, yet we do not deny but such sin as
neglect [911] prayer; but their sin is in that they come not to that
place where they may feel that which would lead them thereunto. And
therefore we question not but many, through neglect of this inward
watchfulness and retiredness of mind, miss many precious opportunities
to pray, and thereby are guilty in the sight of God; yet would they sin
if they should set about the act until they first felt the influence.
For as he grossly offends his master [912] that lieth in his bed and
sleeps, and neglects to do his master's business; yet if such a one
should suddenly get up, without putting on his clothes, or taking along
with him those necessary tools and instruments, without which he could
not possibly work, and should forwardly fall a doing to no purpose, he
would be so far thereby from repairing his former fault, that he would
justly incur a new censure: and as one that is careless and otherways
busied may miss to hear one speaking unto him, or even not hear the
bell of a clock, though striking hard by him, so may many, through
negligence, miss to hear God oftentimes calling upon them, and giving
them access to pray unto him; yet will not that allow them, without his
liberty, in their own wills to fall to work.
And lastly, Though this be the only true and proper method of prayer,
as that which is alone acceptable to God, yet shall we not deny but he
[913] oftentimes answered the prayers and concurred with the desires of
some, especially in times of darkness, who have greatly erred herein;
so that some that have sat down in formal prayer, though far wrong in
the matter as well as manner, without the assistance or influence of
God's Spirit, yet have found him to take occasion therethrough to break
in upon their souls, and wonderfully tender and refresh them; yet as in
preaching and elsewhere hath afore been observed, that will not prove
any such practices, or be a just let to hinder any from coming to
practice that pure, spiritual, and acceptable prayer, which God is
again restoring and leading his people into, out of all superstitions
and mere empty formalities. The state of the controversy, and our sense
thereof, being thus clearly stated, will both obviate many objections,
and make the [914] answer to others more brief and easy. I shall first
prove this spiritual prayer by some short considerations from
scripture, and then answer the objections of our opposers, which will
also serve to refute their method and manner thereof.
[915] S:. XXII. And First, That there is a necessity [916] of this
inward retirement of the mind as previous to prayer, that the Spirit
may be felt to draw thereunto, appears, for that in most of those
places where prayer is commanded; watching is prefixed thereunto, as
necessary to go before, as Matt. xxiv. 42 Mark xiii. 33. and xiv. 38.
Luke xxi. 36. from which it is evident that this watching was to go
before prayer. Now to what end is this watching, or what is it, but a
waiting to feel God's Spirit to draw unto prayer, that so it may be
done acceptably? [917] for since we are to pray always in the Spirit,
and cannot pray of ourselves without it acceptably, this watching must
be for this end recommended to us, as preceding prayer, that we may
watch and wait for the seasonable time to pray, which is when the
Spirit moves thereunto.
[918] Secondly, This necessity of the Spirit's moving [919] and
concurrence appears abundantly from that of the apostle Paul, Rom.
viii. 26, 27. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infrmities: for we
know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself
maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And
he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit,
because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of
God. Which first holds forth the incapacity of men as of themselves to
pray or call upon God in their own wills, even such as have received
the faith of Christ, and are in measure sanctified by it, as was the
church of Rome, to which the apostle then wrote. Secondly, It holds
forth that which can only help and assist men to pray, to wit, the
Spirit, as that without which they cannot do it acceptably to God, nor
beneficially to their own souls. Thirdly, The manner and way of the
Spirit's intercession, with sighs and groans which are unutterable. And
Fourthly, That God receiveth graciously the prayers of such as are
presented and offered unto himself by the Spirit, knowing it to be
according to his will. Now it cannot be conceived but this order of
prayer thus asserted by the apostle, is most consistent with those
other testimonies of scripture, commending and recommending to us the
use of prayer. From which I thus argue,
If any man know not how to pray, neither can do it [920] . without the
help of the Spirit, then it is to no purpose for him, but altogether
unprofitable, to pray without it.
But the first is true, therefore also the last.
Thirdly, This necessity of the Spirit to true [921] prayer appears from
Eph. vi. 18. and Jude 20. [922] where the apostle commands to pray
always in the Spirit, and watching thereunto; which is as much as if he
had said, that we were never to pray without the Spirit, or watching
thereunto. And Jude showeth that such prayers as are in the Holy Ghost
only, tend to the building up of ourselves in our most holy faith.
[923] Fourthly, The apostle Paul saith expressly, 1 Cor. xii. 3. That
no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by [924] the Holy Ghost: If
then Jesus cannot be thus rightly named but by the Holy Ghost, far less
can he be acceptably called upon. Hence the same apostle declares, 1
Cor. xiv. 15. that he will pray with the Spirit, &c. A clear evidence
that it was none of his method to pray without it.
[925] But Fifthly, All prayer without the Spirit is abomination, [926]
such as are the prayers of the wicked, Prov. xxviii. 9. And the
confidence that the saints have that God will hear them is, if they ask
any thing according to his will, 1 John v. 14. So if the prayer be not
according to his will, there is no ground of confidence that he will
hear. Now our adversaries will acknowledge that prayers without the
Spirit are not according to the will of God, and therefore such as pray
without it have no ground to expect an answer: for indeed to bid a man
pray without the Spirit is all one as to bid one see without eyes, work
without hands, or go without feet. And to desire a man to fall to
prayer ere the Spirit in some measure less or more move him thereunto,
is to desire a man to see before he opens his eyes, or to walk before
he rises up, or to work with his hands before he moves them.
[927] S:. XXlll. But lastly, From this false opinion of [928] praying
without the Spirit, and not it necessary to be waited for, as that
which may be felt to move us thereunto, hath proceeded all the
superstition and idolatry that is among those called Christians, and
those many abominations where with the Lord is provoked, and his Spirit
grieved; so that many deceive themselves now, as the Jews did of old,
thinking it sufficient if they pay their daily sacrifices, and offer
their customary oblations; from thence thinking all is well, and
creating a false peace to themselves, as the whore in the Proverbs,
because they have offered up their sacrifices of morning and evening
prayers. And therefore it is manifest that their constant use of these
things doth not a whit influence their lives and conversations; but
they remain for the most part as bad as ever. Yea, it is frequent both
among Papists and Protestants, for them to leap as it were out of their
vain, light, and profane conversations at their set hours and seasons,
and fall to their customary devotion; and then, when it is scarce
finished, and the words to God scarce out, the former profane talk
comes after it; so that the same wicked profane spirit of this world
actuates them in both. If there be any such thing as vain oblations, or
prayers that are abomination, which God heareth not, (as is certain
there are, and the scripture testifies, Isa. lxvi. 3. Jer. xiv. 12.)
certainly such prayers as are acted in man's will, and by his own
strength, without God's Spirit, must be of that number.
S:. XXIV. Let this suffice for proof. I shall now proceed to answer
their objections, when I have said something concerning joining in
prayer [929] with others. Those that pray together with one accord use
not only to concur in their spirits, but also in the gesture of their
body, which we also willingly approve of. It becometh those who
approach before God to pray, that they do it with bowed knees, and with
their heads uncovered, which is our practice.
But here ariseth a controversy, Whether it be [930] lawful to join with
others by those external signs of reverence, albeit not in heart, who
pray formally, not waiting for the motion of the Spirit, nor judging it
necessary.
We answer, Not at all; and for our testimony [931] in this thing we
have suffered not a little. For when it hath fallen out, that either
accidentally, [932] or to witness against their worship, we have been
present during the same, and have not found it lawful for us to bow
with them thereunto, they have often persecuted us, not only with
reproaches, but also with strokes and cruel beatings. For this cause
they used to accuse us of pride, profanity, and madness, as if we had
no re spect or reverence to the worship of God, and as if we judged
none could pray, or were heard of God, but ourselves. Unto all which,
and many more reproaches of this kind, we answer briefly and modestly,
That it sufficeth us that we are found so doing, neither through pride,
nor madness, nor profanity, but merely lest we should hurt our
consciences; the reason of which is plain and evident: for since our
principle and doctrine oblige us to believe that the prayers of those
who themselves confess they are not actuated by the Spirit are
abominations, how can we with a safe conscience join with them?
[933] If they urge, That this is the height of uncharitableness and
arrogancy, as if we judged ourselves always to pray by the Spirit's
motion, but they never; as if we were never deceived by praying without
the motions of the Spirit, and that they were never actuated by it,
seeing albeit they judge not the motion of the Spirit always necessary,
they confess nevertheless that at is very profitable and comfortable,
and they feel it often influencing them; which that it sometimes falls
out we cannot deny;
[934] To all which I answer distinctly, If it were their known and
avowed doctrine not to pray without the motion of the Spirit, and that,
seriously holding thereunto, they did not bind themselves to pray at
certain prescribed times precisely, at which times they determine to
pray, though without the Spirit, then indeed we might be accused of un
charitableness and pride, if we never joined with [935] them; and if
they so taught and practised, I doubt not but it would be lawful for us
so to do, unless there should appear some manifest and evident
hypocrisy and delusion. But seeing they confess that they pray without
the Spirit, and seeing God hath persuaded us that such prayers are
abominable, how can we with a safe conscience join with an abomination?
That God sometimes conde scends to them, we do not deny; although now,
when the spiritual worship is openly proclaimed, and all are invited
unto it, the case is otherwise than in those old times of apostacy and
darkness; and therefore, albeit any should begin to pray in our
presence, not expecting the motion of the Spirit; yet if it manifestly
appear that God in condescension did concur with such a one; then
according to God's will we should not refuse to join also; but this is
rare, lest thence they should be confirmed in their false principle.
And although this seems hard in our profession, nevertheless it is so
confirmed by the authority both of scripture and right reason, that
many convinced thereof have embraced this part before other truths,
which were easier, and, as they seemed to some, clearer. Among whom is
memorable of late years Alexander Skein, a magistrate of the city of
Aberdeen, a man very modest, and very averse from giving offence to
others, who nevertheless being overcome by the power of Truth in this
matter, behoved for this cause to separate himself from the public
assemblies and prayers, and join himself unto us; who also gave the
reason of his change, and likewise succinctly, but yet substantially,
comprehended this controversy concerning worship in some short
questions, which he offered to the public preachers of the city, and
which I think meet to insert in this place.
1. Whether or not should an act of God's worship [936] be gone about
without the motions, leadings, and actings of the Holy Spirit?
2. If the motions of the Spirit be necessary to every particular duty,
whether should he be waited upon, that all our acts and words may be
according as he gives utterance and assistance?
3. Whether every one that bears the name of a Christian, or professes
to be a Protestant, hath such an unin terrupted measure thereof, that
he may, without waiting, go immediately about the duty?
4. If there be an indisposition and unfitness at some tines for such
exercises, at least as to the spiritual and lively performance thereof,
whether ought they to be performed in that case, and at that time?
5. If any duty be gone about, under pretence that it is in obedience to
the external command, without the spiritual life and motion necessary,
whether such a duty thus performed can in faith be expected to be
accepted of God, and not rather reckoned as a bringing of strange [937]
fire before the Lord, seeing it is performed at best by the strength of
natural and acquired parts, and not by the strength and assistance of
the Holy Ghost, which was typified by the fire that came down from
heaven, which alone behoved to consume the sacrifice and no other?
6. Whether duties gone about in the mere strength of natural and
acquired parts, whether in public or private, be not as really, upon
the matter, an image of man's invention as the popish worship, though
not so gross in the outward appearance ? And therefore whether it be
not as real superstition to countenance any worship of that nature, as
it is to countenance popish worship, though there be a difference in
the degree?
7. Whether it be a ground of offence or just scandal to countenance the
worship of those whose professed principle it is neither to speak for
edification, nor to pray, but as the Holy Ghost shall be pleased to
assist them in some measure less or more; without which they rather
choose to be silent, than to speak without this influence ?
Unto these they answered but very coldly and faintly, whose answers
likewise long ago he refuted.
[938] Seeing then God hath called us to his spiritual worship, and to
testify against the human and voluntary worships of the apostacy, if we
did not this way stand immoveable to the truth re vealed, but should
join with them, both our testimony for God would be weakened and lost,
and it would be impossible steadily to propagate this worship in the
world, whose progress we dare neither retard nor hinder by any act of
ours; though therefore we shall lose not only worldly honour, but even
our lives. And truly many Protestants, through their unsteadiness in
this thing, for politic ends complying with the Popish abominations,
have greatly scandalized their profession, and hurt the reformation; as
appeared in the example of the Elector of Saxony; who, in the
convention at [939] Augsburg, in the year 1530, being commanded by the
Emperor Charles the Fifth to be present at the mass, that he might
carry the sword before him, according to his place; which when he
justly scrupled to perform, his preachers taking more care for their
prince's honour than for his conscience, persuaded him that it was
lawful to do it against his conscience. Which was both a very bad
example, and great scandal to the reformation, [940] and displeased
many; as the author of the History of the Council of Trent, in-his
first book, well observes. But now I hasten to the objections of our
adversaries against this method of praying.
S:. XXV. First; They object, That if such particular, [941] influences
were needful to outward acts of worship, then they should also be
needful to inward acts, to wit, desire and love to God. But this is
absurd; Therefore also that from whence it follows.
I answer; That which was said in the state of [942] the controversy
cleareth this; because, as to those general duties, there never wants
an influence, so long as the day of a man's visitation lasteth; during
which time God is always near to him, and wrestling with him by his
Spirit, to turn him to himself; so that if he do but stand still, and
cease from his evil thoughts, the Lord is near to help him, &c. But as
to the outward acts of prayer, they need a more special motion and
influence, as hath been proved.
[943] Secondly; They object, That it might be also alleged, that men
ought not to do moral duties, as children to honour their parents, men
to do right to their neighbours, except the Spirit move them to it.
[944] I answer; There is a great difference betwixt these general
duties betwixt man and man, and the particular express acts of worship
towards God: the one is merely spiritual, and commanded by God to be
performed by his Spirit; the other answer their end, as to them whom
they are immediately directed to and concern, though done from a mere
natural principle of self-love; even as beasts have natural affections
one to another, and therefore may be thus performed. Though I shall not
deny, but that they are not works accepted of God, or beneficial to the
soul, but as they are done in the fear of God, and in his blessing, in
which his children do all things, and therefore are accepted and
blessed in whatsoever they do.
[945] Thirdly; They object, That if a wicked man ought not to pray
without a motion of the Spirit, because [946] his prayer would be
sinful; neither ought he to plough by the same reason, because the
ploughing of the wicked, as well as his praying, is sin.
[947] This objection is of the same nature with the former, and
therefore may be answered the same
[948] way; seeing there is a great difference betwixt natural acts,
such as eating, drinking, sleeping, and seeking sustenance for the
body, (which things man hath common with beasts,) and spiritual acts.
And it doth not follow, because man ought not to go about spiritual
acts without the Spirit, that therefore he may not go about natural
acts without it. The analogy holds better thus, and that for the proof
of our affirmation, That as man for the going about natural acts needs
his natural spirit; so to perform spiritual acts he needs the Spirit of
God. That the natural acts of the wicked and unregenerate are sinful,
is not denied; though not as in themselves, but in so far as man in
that state is in all things reprobated in the sight of God.
Fourthly; They object, That wicked men may, [949] according to this
doctrine, forbear to pray for years together, alleging, they want a
motion to it.
I answer; The false pretences of wicked men [950] do nothing invalidate
the truth of this doctrine; for at that rate there is no doctrine of
Christ, which men might not set aside. That they ought not to pray
without the Spirit, is granted; but then they ought to come to that
place of watching, [951] where they may be capable to feel the Spirit's
motion. They sin indeed in not praying; but the the cause of this sin
is their not watching: so their neglect proceeds not from this
doctrine, but from their disobedience to it; seeing if they did pray
without this, it would be a double sin, and no fulfilling of the
command to pray: nor yet would their prayer, without this Spirit, be
useful unto them. And this our adversaries are forced to acknowledge in
another case: for they say, It is a duty incumbent on Christians to
frequent the sacrament of the Lord's supper, as they call it; yet they
say, No man ought to take it unworthily: yea, they plead, that such as
find themselves unprepared, must abstain; and therefore do usually
excommunicate them from the table. Now, though according to them it be
necessary to partake of this sacrament; yet it is also necessary that
those that do it, do first examine themselves, lest they eat and drink
their own condemnation: and though they reckon it sinful for them to
forbear, yet they account it more sinful for them to do it without this
examination.
Fifthly; They object Acts viii. 22. where Peter [952] commanded Simon
Magus, that wicked sorcerer, to pray; from thence inferring, That
wicked men may and ought to pray.
[953] I answer; That in the citing of this place, as I have often
observed, they omit the first and chiefest part of the verse, which is
thus, Acts viii. verse 22. [954] Repent therefore of this thy
wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be
forgiven thee: so here he bids him first Repent. Now the least measure
of true repentance cannot be without somewhat of that inward retirement
of the mind which we speak of: and indeed were true repentance goeth
first, we do not doubt but the Spirit of God, will be near to concur
with, and influence such to pray to and call upon God.
[955] And Lastly; They object, That many prayers begun without the
Spirit have proved effectual; and that the prayers of wicked men have
been heard, and found acceptable, as Ahab's.
[956] This objection was before solved. For the acts of God's
compassion and indulgence at some times, and to some persons, upon
singular extraordinary occasions, are not to be a rule of our actions.
For if we should make that the measure of our obedience, great
inconveniences would follow; as is evident, and will be acknowledged by
all. Next, we do not deny, but wicked men are sensible of the motions
and operations of God's Spirit often times, before their day be
expired; from which they may at times pray acceptably; not as remaining
altogether wicked, but as entering into piety, from whence they
afterwards fall away.
[957] S:. XXVI. As to the singing of psalms, there [958] will not be
need of any long discourse; for that the case is just the same as in
the two former of preaching and prayer. We confess this to be a part of
God's worship, and very sweet and refreshing, when it proceeds from a
true sense of God's love in the heart, and arises from the divine
influence of the Spirit, which leads souls to breathe forth either a
sweet harmony, or words [959] suitable to the present condition;
whether they be words formerly used by the saints, and recorded in
scripture, such as the Psalms of David, or other words; as were the
hymns and songs of Zacharias, Simeon, and the blessed Virgin Mary. But
as for the formal customary way of singing, it [960] hath no foundation
in scripture, nor any ground in true Christianity: yea, besides all the
abuses incident to prayer and preaching, it hath this more peculiar,
that oftentimes great and horrid lies are said in the sight of God: for
all manner of [961] wicked profane take upon them to personate the
experiences and conditions of blessed David; which are not only false,
as to them, but also to some of more sobriety, who utter them forth: as
where they will sing sometimes, Psalm xxii. 14. ---My heart is like
wax, it is melted in the midst of my bowels: and verse 15. My strenth
is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and
thou hast brought me into the dust of death: and Psalm vi. 6. I am
weary with my groaning, all the night make I my bed to swim: I water my
couch with my tears: and many more, which those that speak know to be
false, as to them. And sometimes will confess just after, in their
prayers, that they are guilty of the vices opposite to those virtues,
which but just before they have asserted themselves endued with. Who
can suppose that God accepts of such juggling? And indeed such singing
doth more please the carnal ears of men, than the pure ears of the
Lord, who abhors all lying and hypocrisy.
That singing then that pleaseth him must proceed from that which is
PURE in the heart, (even from the Word of Life therein,) in and by
which, richly dwelling in us, spiritual songs and hymns are returned to
the Lord, according to that of the apostle, Col. iii. 16.
[962] But as to their artificial music, either by organs, or other
instruments, or voice, we have neither example nor precept for it in
the New Testament.
S:. XXVII. But Lastly; The great advantage of this true worship of God,
which we profess and practise, is, that it consisteth not in man's
wisdom, [963] arts, or industry; neither needeth the glory, pomp,
riches, nor splendor of this world to beautify it, as being of a
spiritual and heavenly nature; and therefore too simple and
contemptible to the natural mind and will of man, that hath no delight
to abide in it, because he finds no room there for his imaginations and
inventions, and hath not the opportunity to gratify his outward and
carnal senses: so that this form being observed, is not likely to be
long kept pure without the power; for it is of itself so naked without
it, that it hath nothing in it to invite and tempt men to dote up on
it, further than it is accompanied with the power. [964] Whereas the
worship of our adversaries, being performed in their own wills, is self
pleasing, as in which they can largely exercise their natural parts and
invention: and so (as to most of them) having somewhat of an outward
and worldly splendor, delectable to the carnal and worldly senses, they
can pleasantly continue it, and satisfy themselves, though without the
Spirit and power; which they make no ways essential to the performance
of their worship, and therefore neither wait for, nor expect it.
[965] S:. XXVIII. So that to conclude, The worship, preaching, praying,
and singing, which we plead for, is such as proceedeth from the Spirit
of God, and is always accompanied with its influence, being begun by
its motion, and carried on by the power and strength thereof; and so is
a worship purely spiritual: such as the scripture holds forth, John iv.
23, 24. 1 Cor. xiv. 15. Eph. vi. 18. &c.
But the worship, preaching, praying, and singing, [966] which our
adversaries plead for, and which we oppose, is a worship which is both
begun, carried on, and concluded, in man's own natural will and
strength, without the motion or influence of God's Spirit, which they
judge they need not wait for; and therefore may be truly performed,
both as to the matter and manner, by the wickedest of men. Such was the
worship and vain oblations which God always rejected, as appears from
Isai.lxvi. 3. Jer. xiv. 12. &c. Isai. i. 13. Prov. xv. 29. John ix. 31.
__________________________________________________________________
[780] What the true worship is, that is acceptable to God.
[781] How to be performed.
[782] Superstition and will-worship, idolatry.
[783] True worship and duty Godwards corrupted.
[784] The Popish mass (idolatry) denied, with all their trumpery.
[785] If Protestants have made a perfect reformation?
[786] I.
[787] What worship here is spoken of.
[788] Ceremonies under the law were not essential to true worship.
[789] II.
[790] True worship is not limited to place or person.
[791] Necessity of meetings.
[792] 1. Will-worship doth limit the Spirit of God.
[793] 2. True teaching of the word of God.
[794] Priests preach by hap-hazard their studied sermons.
[795] Whether days are holy.
[796] Of the first day of the week commonly called the Lords day.
[797] The worship in the apostacy.
[798] The Popish mass and vespers.
[799] Bernard & Bonaventure, Taulerus, Tho. a Kempis, have tasted of
the love of God.
[800] The bishops liturgy
[801] Assemblies of worship in public described.
[802] Its glorious dispensation.
[803] The silent waiting upon God obtained.
[804] Isa. xxx. 20.
[805] What it is to meet in Jesus' name.
[806] Prov. xxvii. 19.
[807] Advantages of silent meetings.
[808] Isa. x. 20. & xxvi. 3.
[809] Eph. iv. 3.
[810] Speaking to edification.
[811] A secret travail one for another in silent meetings.
[812] The mocker struck with terror when no word is spoken.
[813] I Sam. x. 12.
[814] The true convincement.
[815] The life of righteousness doth join us to the Lord.
[816] Our work and worship in our meetings.
[817] Esau and Jacob strove in Rebecca's womb.
[818] The travail crowned with a victorious song.
[819] The name of Quakers whence it sprung.
[820] Yet silence is no law, but words may follow.
[821] No absolute necessity for words, though from the life at times.
[822] To wait & watch commanded in the scripture.
[823] Whence wickednesses arise that are spiritual.
[824] From whence all heresies did spring.
[825] True Chrisianity, wherein it consists not.
[826] Idolatry does hug its own conceivings.
[827] No form of worship but the Spirit prescribed by Christ.
[828] If any object here, That the Lord's Prayer is a prescribed form
of prayer, and therefore of Worship given by Christ to his children:
[829] Pray, preach, & sing in Spirit.
[830] To wait on God, by what it is performed.
[831] A simile of a master and his scholar.
[832] Of a prince & his servant.
[833] To wait in silence.
[834] The thinking busy soul excludes the voice of God.
[835] Religious speculations.
[836] Sensual recreations.
[837] Thoughts of death and hell to keep out sin are fig-leaves.
[838] Denial of one's self.
[839] The holy birth.
[840] No Quakers are against a meditating mind.
[841] The soul renewed, by what?
[842] The holy life of God.
[843] Whatever man does act without the power of God is not accepted.
[844] Prov. xxi. 4.
[845] Ja. i. 25.
[846] To pray and preach without the Spirit is offence to God.
[847] II.
[848] This silent waiting the devil cannot counterfeit.
[849] Altar, prayers, pulpit, study, cannot shut the devil out.
[850] III.
[851] The worship of the Quakers not stopt or interrupted by men or
devils.
[852] The worship of the Papists soon interrupted.
[853] The Protestants the like, and Anabaptists.
[854] The sufferings of the Quakers for their religious meetings.
[855] Prov. xviii. 10.
[856] The rod of Moses divided the sea; the Spirit maketh way thro' the
raging waves.
[857] What brutish pranks did not that young fry of the clergy commit?
[858] How the old covenant-worship doth differ from the new.
[859] The new covenant worship is inward.
[860] John xviii. 36.
[861] Col. ii. 15.
[862] Carnal worships cannot stand without the arm of flesh.
[863] IV.
[864] True worship in Spirit established by Christ.
[865] The reason Christ gives for a worship in Spirit.
[866] Arg.
[867] The glory of the outward temple.
[868] As Moses did from outward, so Christ delivers his from inward
slavery.
[869] A certain sect of Mystics among the Papists, their inward
exercise. See Sancta Sophia, printed Anno Dom. 1657.
[870] The English Benedictines' testimony for the spiritual worship
against their masses and set devotions.
[871] Bernard preferring the Spirit above Popish orders.
[872] Those Mystics did confine that mystery to a cloister.
[873] Obj. 1.
[874] Answ.
[875] Isa. i. 16, 17.
[876] We must cease to do ill, ere we learn to do well.
[877] Obj. 2.
[878] Set times and places for meetings.
[879] Answ.
[880] Public meetings, their use & reason asserted.
[881] Prov. xxvii. 17.
[882] Assembling of ourselves is not to be neglected.
[883] Obi. 3.
[884] Answ.
[885] In waiting for the Spirit's guidance, silence is supposed.
[886] lnst.
[887] Answ.
[888] Silent meetings are proved from scripture and reason.
[889] I.
[890] What preaching is with the Protestants and Papists.
[891] A studied talk an hour or two.
[892] True preaching by the Spirit.
[893] Object:
[894] Answ.
[895] I Christ & Peter's speaking was not by premeditation.
[896] Franciscus Lambertus's testimony against the priests' studied
inventions and figments.
[897] 2. The words man's wisdom brings beget not faith.
[898] 3. True church's method was to speak by revelation.
[899] 4. The Spirit is shut out by priests from being the teacher.
[900] Object.
[901] Answ.
[902] Paul persecuting was converted, is therefore persecuting good?
[903] II.
[904] Of prayer, how the outward is distinguished from the inward.
[905] The priests set times to preach and pray, deny the Spirit.
[906] What inward prayer is.
[907] What outward prayer is.
[908] Inward prayer necessary at all times.
[909] Outward prayer doth require a superadded influence.
[910] We cannot fix set times to speak and pray.
[911] Such sin as are neglecting prayer.
[912] A forward & a careless servant answers not his duty.
[913] In times of darkness God did often hear their prayers.
[914] First, Spiritual prayer proved from scripture.
[915] I.
[916] God's Spirit must be felt to move the mind to prayer.
[917] Eph.vi.18.
[918] II.
[919] We know not how to pray but as the Spirit helps.
[920] Arg.
[921] III.
[922] Pray always in the Spirit, & watching thereunto.
[923] IV.
[924] Man cannot call Christ Lord but by the Holy Ghost.
[925] V.
[926] God will not hear the prayers of the wicked.
[927] Vl.
[928] All sacrifice is sin, not offered by the Spirit.
[929] Concerning joining in prayer with others.
[930] Obj.1.
[931] Answ.
[932] The reason why we cannot join in prayer.
[933] Obj. 1.
[934] Answ.
[935] Shall we confirm the hypocrites when praying?
[936] Some questions of A. Skein proposed to the preachers in Aberdeen.
[937] Lev. xvi. 1.
[938] We must not lose our witnessing for God.
[939] Elector of Saxony's scandal given to Protestants.
[940] Secondly, Objections against spiritual prayer answered.
[941] Obj. 1.
[942] Answ.
[943] Obj. 2.
[944] Answ.
[945] Obj. 3.
[946] Prov. xxi. 4.
[947] Answ.
[948] How acts of nature differ from the Spirit's.
[949] Obj. 4.
[950] Answ.
[951] That wicked men neglect the motions of the Spirit to pray.
[952] Obj. 5.
[953] Answ.
[954] The sorcerer may pray, but not without repentance.
[955] Obj. 6.
[956] Answ.
[957] III.
[958] Of singing psalms.
[959] A sweet harmonious sound.
[960] But formal singing has no ground in scripture.
[961] Profane singing of David's conditions refuted.
[962] Artificial music.
[963] No splendor of this word attends this inward worship.
[964] The carnal worship pleases self.
[965] The worship of the Quakers.
[966] Our adversaries' worship.
__________________________________________________________________
PROPOSITION XII.
Concerning Baptism.
[967] As there is one Lord, and one faith, so there is one baptism;
which is not the putting away the filth of the flesh, but the answer of
a good conscience before God, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And
this baptism is a pure and spiritual thing, to wit, the baptism of the
Spirit and Fire, by which we are buried with him, that being washed and
purged from our sins, we may walk in newness of life: of which the
baptism of John was a figure, which was commanded for a time, and not
to continue for ever. As to the baptism of infants, it is a mere human
tradition, for which neither precept nor practice is to be found in all
the scripture.
S:. I. I did sufficiently demonstrate, in the explanation and proof of
the former proposition, how greatly the professors of Christianity, as
well Protestants as Papists, were degenerated in the matter of worship,
and how much strangers to, and averse from, that true and acceptable
worship that is performed in the Spirit of Truth, be cause of man's
natural propensity in his fallen state to exalt his own inventions, and
to intermix his own [968] work and product in the service of God: and
from this root sprung all the idle worships, idolatries, and numerous
superstitious inventions among the heathens. For when God, in
condescension to his chosen people the Jews, did prescribe to them by
his servant Moses many ceremonies and observations, as types and
shadows of the substance, which in due time was to be revealed; which
consisted for the most part in washings, outward purifications, and
cleansings, which were to continue until the time of reformation, until
the spiritual worship should be set up; and that God, by the more
plentiful pouring forth of his Spirit, and guiding of that anointing,
should lead his children into all truth, and teach them to worship him
in a way more spiritual and acceptable to him, though less agreeable to
the carnal and outward senses; yet, notwithstanding God's condescension
to the Jews in such things, we see that that part in man, which
delights to follow its own inventions, could not be restrained, nor yet
satisfied with all these observations, but that oftentimes they would
be either declining to the other superstitions of the Gentiles, or
adding some new observations and ceremonies of their own; to which they
were so devoted, that they were still apt to prefer them before the
commands of God, and that under the notion of zeal and piety. This we
see abundantly in the example of [969] the Pharisees, the chiefest sect
among the Jews, whom Christ so frequently reproves for making void the
commandments of God by their traditions, Matth. xv. 6, 9, &c. This
complaint may at this day be no less justly made as to many bearing the
name of Christians, who have introduced many things of this kind,
partly borrowed from the Jews, which they more tenaciously stick to,
and more earnestly contend for, than for the weightier points of
Christianity; because that self, yet alive, and [970] ruling in them,
loves their own inventions better than God's commands. But if they can
by any means stretch any scripture practice, or conditional precept or
permission, fitted to the weakness or capacity of some, or appropriate
to some particular dispensation, to give some colour for any of these
their inventions; they do then so tenaciously stick to them, and so
obstinately and obstreperously plead for them, that they will not
patiently hear the most solid Christian reasons against them. Which
zeal, if they would but seriously examine it, they would find to be but
the prejudice of education, and the love of self, more than that of
God, or his pure worship. This is verified concerning those things
[971] which are called sacraments, about which they are very ignorant
in religious controversies, who understand not how much debate,
contention, jangling, and quarrelling there has been among those called
Christians: so that I may safely say the controversy about them, to
wit, about their number, nature, virtue, efficacy, administration, and
other things, hath been more than about any other doctrine of Christ,
whether as betwixt Papists and Protestants, or among Protestants
betwixt themselves. And how great prejudice these controversies have
brought to Christians is very obvious; whereas the things contended for
among them are for the most part but empty shadows, and mere outside
things: as I hope hereafter to make appear to the patient and
unprejudicate reader.
S:. II. That which comes first under observation, [972] is the name
[sacrament], which it is strange that Christians should stick to and
contend so much for, since it is not to be found in all the scripture;
but was borrowed from the military oaths among the heathens, from whom
the Christians, when they began to apostatize, did borrow many
superstitious terms and observations, that they might thereby
ingratiate themselves, and the more easily gain the heathens to their
religion; which practice, though perhaps intended by them for good,
yet, as being the fruit of human policy, and not according to God's
wisdom, has had very pernicious consequences. I see not how any,
whether Papists or Protestants, especially the latter, can in reason
quarrel with us for denying this term, which it seems the Spirit of God
saw not meet to inspire the penmen of the scriptures to leave unto us.
[973] But if it be said, That it is not the name, but the thing they
contend for;
[974] I answer; Let the name then, as not beingscriptural, be laid
aside, and we shall see at first entrance how much benefit will redound
by laying aside this traditional term, and betaking us to plainness of
scripture-language. For presently the great contest about the number of
them will vanish; seeing there is no term used in scripture that can be
made use of, whether we call them institutions, ordinances, precepts,
commandments, appointments, or laws, &c. that would afford ground for
such a debate; since neither will Papists affirm, that there are only
seven, or Protestants only two, of any of these aforementioned.
[975] If it be said, That this controversy arises from the definition
of the thing, as well as from the name;
[976] It will be found otherwise: for whatever way [977] we take their
definition of a sacrament, whether as an outward visible sign, whereby
inward grace is conferred, or only signified, this definition will
agree to many things, which neither Papists nor Protestants will
acknowledge to be sacraments. If they be expressed under the name of
sealing ordinances, as by some they are, I could never see, either by
reason or scripture, how this title could be [978] appropriate to
there, more than to any other Christian, religious performance: for
that must needs properly be a sealing ordinance, which makes the
persons receiving it infallibly certain of the promise or thing sealed
to them.
If it be said, It is so to them that are faithful; [979]
I answer; So is praying and preaching, and [980] doing of every good
work. Seeing the partaking or performing of the one gives not to any a
more certain title to heaven, yea, in some respect, not so much, there
is no reason to call them so, more than the other.
Besides, we find not any thing called the seal and pledge of our
inheritance, but the Spirit of God. It is by that we are said to be
sealed, Eph. i. 14; iv. 30 which is also termed the earnest of our
inheritance, 2 Cor. i. 22 and not by outward water, or eating and
drinking; which as the wickedest of men may partake of, so many that
do, do, notwithstanding it, go to perdition. For it is not outward
[981] washing with water that maketh the heart clean, by which men are
fitted for heaven: and as that which goeth into the mouth doth not
defile a man, because it is put forth again, and so goeth to the
dunghill; neither doth any thing which man eateth purify him, or fit
him for heaven. What is said here in general may serve for an
introduction, not only to this proposition, but also to the other
concerning the supper. Of these sacraments (so called) baptism is
always first numbered, which is the subject of the present proposition;
in whose explanation I shall first demonstrate and prove our judgment,
and then answer the objections, and refute the sentiments of our
opposers. As to the first part, these things following, which are
briefly [982] comprehended in the proposition, come to be proposed and
proved.
S:. III. First: There is but one baptism, as well as [983] but one
Lord, one faith, &c. Secondly, That this one baptism, which is the
baptism [984] of Christ, is not a washing with, or dipping in water,
but a being baptized by the Spirit.
[985] Thirdly, That the baptism of John was but a figure of this; and
therefore, as the figure, to give place to the substance; which though
it be to continue, yet the other ceaseth.
[986] As for the first, viz. That there is but one baptism, [987] there
needs no other proof than the words of the text, Eph. iv. 5. One Lord,
one faith, one baptism: where the apostle positively and plainly
affirms; that as there is but one body, one Spirit, one faith, one God,
&c. so there is but one baptism.
[988] As to what is commonly alleged by way of explanation upon the
text, That the baptism of water and of the Spirit make up this one
baptism, by virtue of the sacramental union;
[989] I answer; This exposition hath taken place, not because grounded
upon the testimony of the scripture, but because it wrests the
scripture to make it suit to their principle of water-baptism; and so
there needs no other reply, but to deny it, as being repugnant to the
plain words of the text; which [990] saith not, that there are two
baptisms, to wit, one of water, the other of the Spirit, which do make
up one baptism; but plainly, that there is one baptism, as there is one
faith, and one God. Now as there go not two faiths, nor two gods, nor
two spirits, nor two bodies, whereof the one is outward and elementary,
and the other spiritual and pure, to the making up the one faith, the
one God, the one body, and the one Spirit; so neither ought there to go
two baptisms to make up the one baptism.
[991] But secondly, if it be said, The baptism is but one, whereof
water is the one part, to wit, the sign; and the Spirit, the thing
signifed, the other;
[992] I answer; This yet more confirmeth our doctrine: [993] for if
water be only the sign, it is not the matter of the one baptism, (as
shall further hereafter by its definition in scripture appear,) and we
are to take the one baptism for the matter of it, not for the sign, or
figure and type that went before. Even as where Christ is called the
one offering in scripture, though he was typified by many sacrifices
and offerings under the law, we understand only by the one offering,
his offering himself upon the cross; whereof though those many
offerings were signs and types, yet we say not that they go together
with that offering of Christ, to make up the one offering: so neither,
though water-baptism was a sign of Christ's baptism, will it follow,
that it goeth now to make up the baptism of Christ. If any should be so
absurd as to affirm, That this one baptism here was the baptism of
water, and not of the Spirit; that were foolishly to contradict the
positive testimony of the scripture, which saith the contrary; as by
what followeth will more amply appear.
Secondly, That this one baptism, which is the [994] baptism of Christ,
is not a washing with water, appears, first, from the testimony of
John, the proper and [995] peculiar administrator of water-baptism,
Mat. iii. 11. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; but
[996] he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not
worthy to bear; he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with
fire. Here John mentions two manners of baptizing, and two different
baptisms; the one with water, and the other with the Spirit; the one
whereof he was the minister of, the other whereof Christ was the
minister of: and such as were baptized with the first, were not
therefore baptized with the second: I indeed baptize you, but he shall
baptize you. Though in the present time they were baptized with the
baptism of water; yet they were not as yet, but were to be, baptized
with the baptism of Christ. From all which I thus argue:
If those that were baptized with the baptism of [997] water, were not
therefore baptized with the baptism of Christ; then the baptism of
water is not the baptism of Christ:
But the first is true;
Therefore also the last.
And again,
[998] If he, that truly and really administered the baptism of water,
did notwithstanding declare, that he neither could, nor did, baptize
with the baptism of Christ; then the baptism of water is not the
baptism of Christ:
But the first is true;
Therefore, &c.
And indeed to understand it otherwise, would make John's words void of
good sense: for if their baptisms had been all one, why should he have
so precisely contra-distinguished them ? Why should he have said, that
those whom he had already baptized, should yet be baptized with another
baptism?
[999] If it be urged, That baptism with water was the one part, and
that with the Spirit the other part, or effect only of the former;
[1000] I answer; This exposition contradicts the plain words of the
text. For he saith not, I baptize you [1001] with water, and he that
cometh after me shall produce the effects of this my baptism in you by
the Spirit, &c. or he shall accomplish this baptism in you; but, He
shall baptize you. So then, if we understand the words truly and
properly, when he saith, I baptize you, as consenting that thereby is
really signified that he did baptize with the baptism of water; we must
needs, unless we offer violence to the text, understand the other part
of the sentence the same way; viz. where he adds presently, But he
shall baptize you, &c. that he understood it of their being truly to be
baptized with another baptism, than what he did baptize with: else it
had been nonsense for him thus to have contra-distinguished them.
[1002] Secondly, This is further confirmed by the saying of Christ
himself, Acts i. 4, 5 . But wait for the promise of the Father, which,
saith he, ye have heard of me: for John truly baptized with water, but
ye [1003] shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
There can scarce two places of scripture run more parallel than this
doth with the former, a little before mentioned; and therefore
concludeth the same way as did the other. For Christ here grants fully
that John completed his baptism, as to the matter and substance of it:
John, saith he, truly baptized with water; which is as much as if he
had said, John did truly and fully administer the baptism of water; But
ye shall be baptized with, &c. This showeth that they were to be
baptized with some other baptism than the baptism of water; and that
although they were formerly baptized with the baptism of water, yet not
with that of Christ, which they were to be baptized with.
Thirdly, Peter observes the same distinction, [1004] Acts xi. 16. Then
remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed
baptized with water; but [1005] shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.
The apostle makes this application upon the Holy Ghost's falling upon
them; whence he infers, that they were then baptized with the baptism
of the Spirit. As to what is urged from his calling afterwards for
water, it shall be spoken to hereafter. From all which three sentences,
relative one to another, first of John, secondly of Christ, and thirdly
of Peter, it doth evidently follow, that such as were truly and really
baptized with the baptism of water, were notwithstanding not baptized
with the baptism of the Spirit, which is that of Christ; and such as
truly and really did administer the baptisim of water, did, in so
doing, not administer the baptism of Christ. So that if there be now
but one baptism; as we have already proved, we may safely conclude that
it is that of the Spirit, and not of water; else it would follow, that
the one baptism, which now continues, were the baptism of water, i. e.
John's baptism, and not the baptism of the Spirit, i. e. Christ's;
which were most absurd.
[1006] If it be said further, That though the baptism of John, before
Christ's was administered, was different from it, as being the figure
only; yet now, that both it as the figure, and that of the Spirit as
the substance, is necessary to make up the one baptism;
I answer; This urgeth nothing, unless it be granted also that both of
them belong to the essence of baptism; so that baptism is not to be
accounted as truly administered, where both are not; which none of our
adversaries will acknowledge: but on the contrary, account not only all
[1007] those truly baptized with the baptism of Christ, who are
baptized with water, though they be uncertain whether they be baptized
with the Spirit, or not; but they even account such truly baptized with
the baptism of Christ, because sprinkled, or baptized with water,
though it be manifest and most certain that they are not baptized with
the Spirit, as being enemies thereunto in their hearts by wicked works.
So here, by their own confession, baptism with water is without the
Spirit. Wherefore we may far safer conclude, that the baptism of the
Spirit, which is that of Christ, is and may be without that of water;
as appears in that of Acts xi. where Peter testifies of these men, that
they were baptized with the Spirit, though then not baptized with
water. And indeed the controversy in this, as in most other things,
stands betwixt us and our opposers, in that they oftentimes prefer the
form and shadow to the power and substance; by denominating persons as
inheritors and possessors of the thing, from their having the form and
shadow, though really wanting the power and substance; and not
admitting those to be so denominated, who have the power and substance,
if they want the form and shadow. This appears evidently, in that they
account those truly baptized with the one baptism of Christ, who are
not baptized with the Spirit (which in scripture is particularly called
the baptism of Christ) if they be only baptized with water, which
themselves yet confess to be but the shadow or figure. And [1008]
moreover, in that they account not those who are surely baptized with
the baptism of the Spirit baptized, neither will they have them so
denominated, unless they be also sprinkled with, or dipped in, water:
but we, on the contrary, do always prefer the power to the form, the
substance to the shadow; and where the substance and power is, we doubt
not to denominate the person accordingly, though the form be wanting.
And therefore we always seek first, and plead for the substance and
power, as knowing that to be indispensably necessary, though the form
sometimes may be dispensed with, and the figure or type may cease, when
the substance and anti-type come to be enjoyed, as it doth in this
case, which shall hereafter be made appear.
S:. IV. Fourthly, That the one baptism of Christ [1009] is not a
washing with water, appears from 1 Pet. iii. 21. The like figure [1010]
whereunto even baptism doth also now save us: not the putting away of
the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards
God, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So plain a [1011] definition
of baptism is not in all the bible; and therefore, seeing it is so
plain, it may well be preferred to all the coined definitions of the
school-men. The apostle tells us first negatively what it is not, viz.
Not a putting away of the filth of the flesh: then surely it is not a
washing with water, since that is so. Secondly, he tells us
affirmatively what it is, viz. The answer of a good conscience towards
God, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: where he affirmatively
defines it to be the answer (or confession, as the Syriac version hath
it) of a good conscience. Now this answer cannot be but where the
Spirit of God hath purified the soul, and the fire of his judgments
hath burned up the unrighteous nature; and those in whom this work is
wrought may be truly said to be baptized with the baptism of Christ, i.
e. of the Spirit and of fire. Whatever way then we take this definition
of the apostle of Christ's baptism, it confirmeth our sentence: for if
we take the first or negative part, viz. That it is not a putting away
of the filth of the flesh, then it will [1012] follow that water
baptism is not it, because that is a putting away of the filth of the
flesh. If we take the second and affirmative definition, to wit, That
it is the answer or confession of a good conscience, &c. then
water-baptism is not it; since, as our adversaries will not deny,
water-baptism doth not always imply it, neither is it any necessary
consequence thereof. Moreover, the apostle in this place doth seem
especially to guard against those that might esteem water-baptism the
true baptism of Christ; because (lest by the comparison induced by him
in the preceding verse, betwixt the souls that were saved in Noah's
ark, and us that are now saved by baptism; lest, I say, any should have
thence hastily concluded, that because the former were saved by water,
this place must needs be taken to speak of water-baptism,) to prevent
such a mistake, he plainly affirms, that it is not that, but another
thing. He saith not that it is the water, or the putting away of the
filth of the flesh, as accompanied with the answer of a good
conscience, whereof the one, viz. water, is the sacramental element,
administered by the minister; and the other, the grace or thing
signified, conferred by Christ; but plainly, That it is not the putting
away, &c. than which there can be nothing more manifest to men
unprejudicate and judicious. Moreover Peter calls this here which saves
antitupon, the anti-type, or the thing figured; whereas it is usually
translated, as if the like figure did now save us; thereby insinuating
that as they were saved by water in the ark, so arewe now by
water-baptism. But this interpretation crosseth his sense, he presently
after declaring the contrary, as hath above been observed; and likewise
it would contradict the opinion of all our opposers. For Protestants
deny it to be absolutely [1013] necessary to salvation; and though
Papists say, none are saved without it, yet in this they admit an
exception, as of martyrs, &c. and they will not say all that have it
are saved by water-baptism; which they ought to say, if they will
understand by baptism, (by which the apostle saith we are saved,)
water-baptism. For seeing we are saved by this baptism, as all those
that were in the ark were saved by water, it would then follow, that
all those that have this baptism are saved by it. Now this consequence
would be false, if it were understood of water-baptism; because many,
by the confession of all, are baptized with water that are not saved;
but this consequence holds most true, if it be understood, as we do, of
the baptism of the Spirit; since none can have this answer of a good
conscience, and, abiding in it, not be saved by it.
Fifthly, That the one baptism of Christ is not a [1014] washing with
water, as it hath been proved by the definition of the one baptism, so
it is also manifest from the necessary fruits and effects of it, which
[1015] are three times particularly expressed by the apostle Paul; as
first, Rom. vi. 3, 4. where he saith, That so many of them as were
baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death, buried with
him by baptism into death, that they should walk in newness of life.
Secondly, to the Galatians iii. 27. he saith positively, For as many of
you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. And Thirdly,
to the Colossians ii. 12. he saith, That they were buried with him in
baptism, and risen with him through the faith of the operation of God.
It is to be observed here, that the apostle speaks generally, without
any exclusive term, but comprehensive of all. He saith not, some of you
that were baptized into Christ, have put on Christ, but as many of you;
which is as much as if he had said, Every one of you that hath been
baptized into Christ, hath put on Christ. Whereby it is evident that
this is not meant of water-baptism, [1016] but of the baptism of the
Spirit; because else it would follow, that whosoever had been baptized
with water-baptism had put on Christ, and were risen with him, which
all acknowledge to be most absurd. Now supposing all the visible
members of the churches of Rome, Galatia, and Colosse had been
outwardly baptized with water, (I do not say they were, but our
adversaries will not only readily grant it, but also contend for it,)
suppose, I say, the case so, they will not say they had all put on
Christ, since divers expressions in these epistles to them show the
contrary. So that the apostle cannot mean baptism with water; and yet
that he meaneth the baptism of Christ, i. e. of the Spirit, cannot be
denied; or that the baptism wherewith these were baptized (of whom the
apostle here testifies that they had put on Christ) was the one
baptism, I think none will call in question. Now admit, as our
adversaries contend, that many in these churches who had been baptized
with water had not put on Christ, it will follow, that notwithstanding
that water-baptism, they were not baptized into Christ, or with the
baptism of Christ, seeing as many of them as were baptized into Christ
had put on Christ, &c. From all which I thus argue:
[1017] If the baptism with water were the one baptism, i. e. the
baptism of Christ, as many as were baptized with water would have put
on Christ:
But the last is false,
Therefore also the first.
And again: Since as many as are baptized into Christ, i. e. with [1018]
the one baptism, which is the baptism of Christ, have put on Christ,
then water-baptism is not the one baptism, viz. the baptism of Christ.
But the first is true,
Therefore also the last.
S:. V. Thirdly, Since John's baptism was a figure, [1019] and seeing
the figure gives way to the substance, although [1020] the thing
figured remain, to wit, the one baptism of Christ, yet the other
ceaseth, which was the baptism of John.
That John's baptism was a figure of Christ's [1021] baptism, I judge
will not readily be denied; but in case it should, it can easily be
proved from the nature of it. John's baptism was a being baptized with
water, but Christ's is a baptizing with the Spirit; therefore John's
baptism must have been a figure of Christ's. But further, that
water-baptism was John's baptism, will not be denied: that
water-baptism is not Christ's baptism, is already proved. >From
which doth arise the confirmation of our proposition thus:
There is no baptism to continue now, but the one baptism of Christ.
Therefore water-baptism is not to continue now, because it is not the
one baptism of Christ.
That John's baptism is ceased, many of our [1022] adversaries confess;
but if any should allege it is [1023] otherwise, it may be easily
proved by the express words of John, not only as being insinuated there
where he contra-distinguisheth his baptism from that of Christ, but
particularly where he saith, John iii. 30. He [Christ] must increase,
but I [John] must decrease. From whence it clearly follows, that the
increasing or taking place of Christ's baptism is the decreasing or
abolishing of John's baptism; so that if water-baptism was a particular
part of John's ministry, and is no part of Christ's baptism, as we have
already proved, it will necessarily follow that it is not to continue.
[1024] Secondly, If water-baptism had been to continue a perpetual
ordinance of Christ in his church, he would either have practised it
himself, or commanded his apostles so to do.
But that he practised it not, the scripture plainly affirms, John iv.
2. And that he commanded his disciples to baptize with water, I could
never yet read. As for what is alleged, that, Mat. xxviii. 19, &c.
where he bids them baptize, is to be understood of water-baptism, that
is but to beg the question, and the grounds for that shall be hereafter
examined.
Therefore to baptize with water is no perpetual ordinance of Christ to
his church.
This hath had the more weight with me, because I find not any standing
ordinance or appointment of Christ necessary to Christians, for which
we have not either Christ's own practice or command, as to obey all the
commandments which comprehend both our duty towards God and man, &c.
and where the gospel requires more than the law, which is abundantly
signified in the 5th and 6th chapters of Matthew, and elsewhere.
Besides, as to the duties of worship, he exhorts us to meet, promising
his presence; commands to pray, preach, watch, &c. and gives precepts
concerning some temporary things, as the washing of one another's feet,
the breaking of bread, hereafter to be discussed; only for this one
thing of baptizing with water, though so earnestly contended for, we
find not any precept of Christ.
[1025] S:. VI. But to make water-baptism a necessary [1026] institution
of the Christian religion, which is pure and spiritual, and not carnal
and ceremonial, is to derogate from the new covenant dispensation, and
set up the legal rites and ceremonies, of which this of baptism, or
washing with water, was one, as ap pears from Heb. ix. 10. where the
apostle speaking thereof saith, that it stood only in meats and drinks,
and divers baptisms, and carnal ordinances, imposed until the time of
reformation. If then the time of reformation, or the dispensation of
the gospel, which puts an end to the shadows, be come, then such
baptisms and carnal ordinances are no more to be imposed. For how
baptism with water comes now to be a spiritual ordinance, more than
before in the time of the law, doth not appear, seeing it is but water
still, and a washing of the outward man, and a putting away of the
filth of the flesh still: and, as before, those that were so washed,
were not thereby made perfect, as pertaining to the conscience, neither
are they at this day, as our adversaries must needs acknowledge, and
experience abundantly showeth. So that the matter of it, which is a
washing with water, and the effect of it. which is only an outward
cleansing, being still the same, how comes water-baptism to be less a
carnal ordinance now than before?
If it be said, That God confers inward grace upon [1027] some that are
now baptized;
So no doubt he did also upon some that used [1028] those baptisms among
the Jews.
Or if it be said, Because it is commanded by Christ [1029] now, under
the new covenant;
I answer, First, That is to beg the question; of [1030] which
hereafter.
But Secondly, We find that where the matter of ordinances is the same,
and the end the same, they are never accounted more or less spiritual,
because of their different times. Now was not God the author of the
purifications and baptisms under the law? Was not water the matter of
them, which is so now? Was not the end of them to signify an inward
purifying by an outward washing? And is not that alleged to be the end
still? And are the necessary effects or consequences of it any better
now than before, since men are now, [1031] by the virtue of
water-baptism, as a necessary consequence of it, no more than before,
made inwardly clean? And if some by God's grace that are baptized with
water are inwardly purified, so were some also under the law; so that
this is not any necessary consequence or effect, neither of this nor
that baptism. It is then plainly repugnant to right reason, as well as
to the scripture testimony, to affirm that to be a spiritual ordinance
now, which was a carnal ordinance before, if it be still the same, both
as to its author, matter, and end, however made to vary in some small
circumstances. The spirituality of the new covenant, and of its worship
established by Christ, consisted not in such superficial alterations of
circumstances, but after another manner. Therefore let our adversaries
show us, if they can, without begging the question, and building upon
some one or other of their own principles denied by us, where Christ
ever appointed or ordained any institution or observation under the new
covenant, as belonging to the nature of it, or such a necessary part of
its worship as is perpetually to continue; which being one in substance
and effects, (I speak of necessary, not accidental effects,) yet,
because of some small difference in form or circumstance, was before
carnal, notwithstanding it was commanded by God under the law, but now
is become spiritual, because commanded by Christ under the gospel. And
if they cannot do this, then if water-baptism was once a carnal
ordinance, as the apostle positively affirms it to have been, it
remains a carnal ordinance still; and if a carnal ordinance, then no
necessary part of the gospel or new covenant dispensation; and if no
necessary part of it, then not needful to continue, nor to be practised
by such as live and walk under this dispensation. But in this, as in
most other things, ac cording as we have often observed our adversaries
judaize, and renouncing the glorious and spiritual privileges of the
new covenant, are sticking in and cleaving to the rudiments of the old,
both in doctrine and worship, as being more suited and agreeable to
their carnal apprehensions and natural senses. But we, on the contrary,
travail above all to lay hold upon and cleave unto the Light of the
glorious gospel revealed unto us. And the harmony of the truth we
profess in this may [1032] appear, by briefly observing how in all
things we follow the spiritual gospel of Christ, as
contra-distinguished from the carnality of the legal dispensation;
while our adversaries, through rejecting this gospel, are still
labouring under the burden of the law; which neither they nor their
fathers were able to bear.
For the law and rule of the old covenant and Jews [1033] was outward,
written in tables of stone and parchment so also is that of our
adversaries. But the law of the new covenant is inward and perpetual,
written in the heart; so is ours.
The worship of the Jews was outward and carnal, limited to set times,
places, and persons, and performed according to set prescribed forms
and observations; so is that of our adversaries. But the worship of the
new covenant is neither, limited to time, place, nor person, but is
performed in the Spirit and in truth; and it is not acted according to
set forms and prescriptions, but as the Spirit of God immediately
actuates, moves, and leads, whether it be to preach, pray, or sing; and
such is also our worship.
So likewise the Baptism among the Jews under the law was an outward
washing with outward water, only to typify an inward, purification of
the soul, which did not necessarily follow upon those that were thus
baptized; but the baptism of Christ under the gospel is the baptism of
the Spirit and of fire; not the putting away of the filth of the flesh,
but the answer of a good conscience towards God; and such is the
baptism that we labour to be baptized withal, and contend for.
[1034] S:. VII. But again, If water baptism had been an ordinance of
the gospel, then the apostle Paul would have been sent to administer
it; but he declares positively; 1 Cor. i. 17. That Christ sent him not
to baptize, but to preach the gospel. The reason of that consequence is
undeniable, because the [1035] apostle Paul's commission was as large
as that of any of them; and consequently he being in special manner the
apostle of Christ to the Gentiles, if water-baptism, as our adversaries
contend, be to be accounted the badge of Christianity, he had more need
than any of the rest to be sent to baptize with water, that he might
mark the Gentiles converted by him with, that Christian sign. But
indeed the reason holds better thus, that since Paul was the apostle of
the Gentiles; and that in his ministry he doth through all (as by his
epistles appears) labour to wean them from the former Jewish ceremonies
and observations, (though in so doing he was sometimes undeservedly
judged by others of his brethren, who were unwilling to lay aside those
ceremonies,) therefore his commission, though as full as to the
preaching of the gospel and new covenant dispensation as that of the
other apostles, did not require of him that he should lead those
converts into such Jewish observations and baptisms, however that
practice was indulged in and practised by the other apostles among
their [1036] Jewish proselytes, for which cause he thanks God that he
had baptized so few: intimating that what he [1037] did therein he did
not by virtue of his apostolic commission but rather in condescension
to their weakness, even as at another time he circumcised Timothy.
[1038] Our adversaries, to evade the truth of this testimony, usually
allege, That by this is only to be understood, that he was not sent
principally to baptize, not that he was not sent at all.
But this exposition, since it contradicts the positive [1039] words of
the text, and has no better foundation than the affirmation of its
assertors, is justly rejected as spurious, until they bring some better
proof for it. He saith not, I was not sent principally to baptize, but
I was not sent to baptize.
As for what they urge, by way of confirmation, [1040] from other places
of scripture, where [not] is to be so taken, as where it is said, I
will have mercy, [1041] and not sacrifice, which is to be understood
that God requires principally mercy, not excluding sacrifice:
I say this place is abundantly explained by the [1042] following words,
[and the knowledge of God more than burnt oferings]; by which it
clearly appears that burnt-offerings, which are one with sacrifices,
are not excluded; but there is no such word added in that of Paul, and
therefore the parity is not demonstrated to be alike, and consequently
the instance not sufficient, unless they can prove that it ought so to
be admitted here; else we might interpret by the same rule all other
places of scripture the same way, as where the apostle saith, 1 Cor.
ii. 5. That your faith might not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the
power of God, it might be understood, it shall not stand principally
so. How might the gospel, by this liberty of interpretation, be
perverted ?
If it be said, That the abuse of this baptism among [1043] the
Corinthians, in dividing themselves according to the persons by whom
they were baptized, made the apostle speak so; but that the abuse of a
thing doth not abolish it;
I answer, It is true, it doth not, provided the [1044] thing be lawful
and necessary; and that no doubt the abuse abovesaid gave the apostle
occasion so to write. But let it from this be considered how the
apostle excludes baptizing, not preaching, though the abuse [mark]
proceeded from that, no less than from the other. For these Corinthians
did denominate themselves from those different persons by whose
preaching (as well as from those by whom they were baptized) they were
converted, as by the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and, 8th verses of chap. iii.
may [1045] appear: and yet to remove that abuse the apostle doth not
say he was not sent to preach, nor yet doth he rejoice that he had only
preached to a few; because preaching, being a standing ordinance in the
church, is not, because of any abuse that the devil may tempt any to
make of it, to be forborne by such as are called to perform it by the
Spirit of God: wherefore the apostle accordingly, chap. iii. 8, 9.
informs them, as to that, how to remove that abuse. But as to
water-baptism, for that it was no standing ordinance of Christ, but
only practised as in condescension to the Jews, and by some apostles to
some Gentiles also, therefore, so soon as the apostle perceived the
abuse of it, he let the Corinthians understand how little stress was to
be laid upon it, by showing them that he was glad that he had
administered this ceremony to so few of them; and by telling them
plainly that it was no part of his commission, neither that which he
was sent to administer.
[1046] Some ask us, How we know that baptizing here is meant of water,
and not of the Spirit; which if it be, then it will exclude the baptism
of the Spirit, as well as of Water.
[1047] I answer, Such as ask the question, I suppose, speak it not as
doubting that this was said of [1048] water-baptism, which is more than
manifest. For since the apostle Paul's message was, to turn people from
darkness to light, and convert them to God; and that as many as are
thus turned and converted (so as to have the answer of a good
conscience toward God, and to have put on Ghrist, and be risen with him
in newness of life) are baptized with the baptism of the Spirit. But
who will say that only those few mentioned there to be baptized by Paul
were come to this? Or that to turn or bring them to this condition was
not, even admitting our adversaries' interpretation, as principal a
part of Paul's ministry as any other? Since then our adversaries do
take this place for water-baptism, as indeed it is, we may lawfully,
taking it so also, urge it upon them. Why the word baptism and
baptizing is used by the apostle, where that of water and not of the
Spirit is only understood, shall hereafter be spoken to. I come now to
consider the reasons [1049] alleged by such as plead for water-baptism,
which are also the objections used against the discontinuance of it.
S:. VIll. First, Some object, That Christ, who had [1050] the Spirit
above measure, was notwithstanding baptized [1051] with water. As Nic.
Arnoldus against this Thesis, Sect. 46. of his Theological
Exercitation.
I answer, So was he also circumcised; it will not [1052] follow from
thence that circumcision is to continue [1053] for it behoved Christ to
fulfil all righteousness, not only the ministry of John, but the law
also, therefore did he observe the Jewish feasts and rites, and keep
the passover. It will not thence follow that Christians ought to do so
now; and therefore Christ, Mat. iii. 15. gives John this reason of his
being baptized, desiring him to suffer it to be so now; whereby he
sufficiently intimates that he intended not thereby to perpetuate it as
an ordinance to his disciples.
Secondly, They object, Mat. xxviii. 19. Go ye [1054] therefore and
teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
This is the great objection, and upon which they [1055] build the whole
superstructure; whereunto the first general and sound answer is, by
granting the whole; [1056] by those that will have water to be here
understood.
[1057] The First is a maxim yielded to by all, That we ought not to go
from the literal signification of the text, except some urgent
necessity force us thereunto.
But no urgent necessity in this place forceth us thereunto:
Therefore we ought not to go from it.
[1058] Secondly, That baptism which Christ commanded his apostles was
the one baptism, id est, his own baptism:
But the one baptism, which is Christ's baptism, is not with water, as
we have already proved:
Therefore the baptism commanded by Christ to his apostles was not
water-baptism.
[1059] Thirdly, That baptism which Christ commanded his apostles was
such, that as many as were therewith baptized did put on Christ:
But this is not true of water-baptism;
Therefore, &c.
[1060] Fourthly, The baptism commanded by Christ to his apostles was
not John's baptism:
But baptism with water was John's baptism;
Therefore, &c.
[1061] But First, They allege, That Christ's baptism, though a baptism
with water, did difer from John's, because John only baptized with
water unto repentance, but Christ commands his disciples to baptize in
the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; reckoning that in this
form there lieth a great difference betwixt the baptism of John and
that of Christ.
I answer, In that John's baptism was unto repentance, the difference
lieth not there, because so is Christ's also; yea, our adversaries will
not deny but that adult persons that are to be baptized ought, ere they
are admitted to water-baptism, to repent, and confess their sins: and
that infants also, with a respect to and consideration of their
baptism, ought to repent and confess; so that the difference lieth not
here, since this of repentance and confession agrees as well to
Christ's as to John's baptism. But in this our adversaries are divided;
for Calvin will have Christ's and John's to be all one, Inst. lib. 4
cap. 15. sect. 7, 8. yet they do differ, and the difference is, in that
the one is by water, the other not, &c.
Secondly, As to what Christ saith, in commanding them to baptize in the
name of the Father, Son, and Spirit, I confess that states the
difference, and it is great; but that lies not only in admitting
water-baptism in this different form, by a bare expressing of these
words: for as the text says no such thing, neither do I see how it can
be inferred from it. For the Greek is {GREEK TEXT}, that is, [1062] of
theinto the name; now the name of the Lord is often taken in scripture
for something else than a bare sound of words, or literal expression,
even for his virtue and power, as may appear from Psal. liv. 3. Cant.
i. 3. Prov. xviii. 10. and in many more. Now that the apostles were by
their ministry to baptize [1063] the nations into this name, virtue,
and power, and that they did so, is evident by these testimonies of
Paul above-mentioned, where he saith, That as many of them as were
baptized into Christ, have put on Christ; this must have been a
baptizing into the name, i. e. power and virtue, and not a mere formal
expression of words adjoining with water-baptism; because, as hath been
above observed, it doth not follow as a natural or necessary
consequence of it. I would have those who desire to have their faith
built upon no other foundation than the testimony of God's Spirit, and
Scriptures of truth, thoroughly to consider whether there can be any
thing further alleged for this interpretation than what the prejudice
of education and influence of tradition hath imposed. Perhaps it may
stumble the unwary and inconsiderate reader, as if the very character
of Christianity were abolished, to tell him plainly that this scripture
is not to be understood of baptizing with water, and that this form of
baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit, hath no warrant
from Mat. xxviii. &c.
[1064] For which, besides the reason taken from the signification of
[the name] as being the virtue and power above expressed, let it be
considered, that if it had been a form prescribed by Christ to his
apostles, then surely they would have made use of that form in the
administering of water-baptism to such as they baptized with water; but
though particular mention be made, in divers places of the Acts who
were baptized, and how; and though it be particularly expressed that
they baptized such and such, as Acts ii. 41. and viii. 12, 13, 38. and
ix. 18. and x. 48. and xvi. 15, and xviii. 8. yet there is not a word
of this form. And in two places, Acts viii. 16. and xix. 5. it is said
of some that they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus; by which
it yet more appears, that either the author of this history hath been
very defective, who having so often occasion to mention this, yet
omitteth so substantial a part of baptism, (which were to accuse the
Holy Ghost, by whose guidance Luke wrote it) or else that the apostles
did no ways understand that Christ by his commission, Mat. xxviii. did
enjoin them such a form of water-baptism, seeing they did not use it.
And therefore it is safer to conclude, that what they did in
administering water-baptism, they did not by virtue of that commission,
else they would have so used it; for our adversaries I suppose would
judge it a great heresy to administerwater-baptism without that, or
only in the name of Jesus, without mention of Father or Spirit, as it
is expressly said they did, in the two places above-cited.
Secondly, They say, If this were not understood of [1065]
water-baptism, it would be a tautology, and all one with teaching.
I say, Nay: Baptizing with the Spirit is somewhat [1066] further than
teaching, or informing the understanding; for it imports a reaching to,
and melting [1067] the heart, whereby it is turned, as well as the
understanding informed. Besides, we find often in the scripture, that
teaching and instructing are put together, without any absurdity, or
needless tautology; and yet these two have a greater affinity than
teaching and baptizing with the Spirit.
Thirdly, They say, Baptism in this place must be [1068] understood with
water, because it is the action of the apostles; and so cannot be the
baptism of the Spirit, which is the work of Christ, and his grace; not
of man, &c.
I answer; Baptism with the Spirit, though not [1069] wrought without
Christ and his grace, is [1070] instrumentally done by men fitted of
God for that purpose; and therefore no absurdity follows, that baptism
with the Spirit should be expressed as the action of the apostles. For
though it be Christ by his grace that gives spiritual gifts, yet the
apostle, Rom. i. 11. speaks of his imparting to them spiritual gifts;
and he tells the Corinthians, that he had begotten them through the
gospel, 1 Cor. iv. 15. And yet to beget people to the faith, is the
work of Christ and his grace, not of men. To convert the heart, is
properly the work of Christ; and yet the scripture oftentimes ascribes
it to men, as being the instruments: and since Paul's commission was,
To turn people from darkness to light, (though that be not done without
Christ co-operating by his grace,) so may also baptizing with the
Spirit be expressed, as performable by man as the instrument, though
the work of Christ's grace be needful to concur thereunto. So that it
is no absurdity to say, that the apostles did administer the baptism of
the Spirit.
[1071] Lastly, They say, That since Christ saith here, that he will be
with his disciples to the end of the world, therefore water-baptism
must continue so long.
[1072] If he had been speaking here of water-baptism, then that might
have been urged; but seeing that is denied, and proved to be false,
nothing from thence can be gathered; he speaking of the baptism of the
Spirit, which we freely confess doth remain to the end of the world;
yea, so long as Christ's presence abideth with his children.
[1073] S:. IX. Thirdly, They object the constant practice of the
apostles in the primitive church, who, they say, did always administer
water-baptism to such as they converted to the faith of Christ; and
hence also they further urge that of Mat. xxviii. to have been meant of
water; or else the apostles did not understand it, because in baptizing
they used water; or that in so doing they walked without a commission.
[1074] I answer; That it was the constant practice of the apostles, is
denied; for we have shown, in the example of Paul, that it was not so;
since it were most absurd to judge that he converted only those few,
even of the church of Corinth, whom he saith he baptized; nor were it
less absurd to think that that was a constant apostolic practice, which
he, who was not inferior to the chiefest of the apostles, and who
declares he laboured as much as they all, rejoiceth [1075] he was so
little in. But further; the conclusion inferred from the apostles'
practice of baptizing with water, to evince that they understood Mat.
xxviii. of water-baptism, doth not hold: for though they baptize with
water, it will not follow that either they did it by virtue of that
commission, or that they mistook that place; nor can there be any
medium brought, that will infer such a conclusion. As to the other
insinuated absurdity, That they did it without a commission, it is none
at all: for they might have done it by a permission, as being in use
before Christ's death; and because the people, nursed up with outward
ceremonies, could not be weaned wholly from them. And thus they used
other things, as circumcision, and legal purifications, which yet they
had no commission from Christ to do: to which we shall speak more at
length in the following proposition concerning the supper.
But if from the sameness of the word, because [1076] Christ bids them
baptize, and they afterwards in the use of water are said to baptize,
it be judged probable that they did understand that commission, Mat.
xxviii. to authorize them to baptize with water, and accordingly
practised it;
Although it should be granted, that for a season [1077] they did so far
mistake it, as to judge that water belonged to that baptism, (which
however I find no necessity of granting,) yet I see not any great
absurdity would thence follow. For it is plain they did mistake that
commission, as to a main part of it, for a season; as where he bids
them Go, teach all nations; since some time after they judged it
unlawful to teach the Gentiles; yea, Peter [1078] himself scrupled it,
until by a vision constrained thereunto; for which, after he had done
it, he was for a season (until they were better informed) judged by the
rest of his brethren. Now, if the education of the apostles as Jews,
and their propensity to adhere and stick to the Jewish religion, did so
far influence them, that even after Christ's resurrection, and the
pouring forth of the Spirit, they could not receive nor admit of the
teaching of the Gentiles, though Christ, in his commission to them,
commanded them to preach to them; what further absurdity were it to
suppose, that, through the like mistake, the chiefest of them having
been the disciples of John, and his baptism being so much prized there
among the Jews, they also took Christ's baptism, intended by him of the
Spirit, to be that of water, which was John's, and accordingly
practised it for a season? It suffices us, that if they were so
mistaken, (though I say not that they were so,) they did not always
remain under that mistake: else Peter would not have said of the
baptism which now saves, that it is not a putting away of the filth of
the, flesh, which certainly water-baptism is.
But further, They urge much Peter's baptizing Cornelius; in which they
press two things, First, That water-baptism is used, even to those that
had received the Spirit. Secondly, That it is said positively, he
commanded them to be baptized. Acts x. 47, 48.
But neither of these doth necessarily infer water-baptism to belong to
the new covenant dispensation, nor yet to be a perpetual standing
ordinance in the [1079] church. For first, all that this will amount
to, was, that Peter at that time baptized these men; but that he did it
by virtue of that commission, Mat. xxviii. remains yet to be proved.
And how doth the baptizing with water, after the receiving of the Holy
Ghost, prove the case, more than the use of circumcision, and other
legal rites, acknowledged to have been performed by him afterwards?
Also, it is no wonder if Peter, who thought it so strange
(notwithstanding all that had been professed before, and spoken by
Christ) that the Gentiles should be made partakers of the gospel, and
with great difficulty, not without an extraordinary impulse thereunto,
was brought to come to them, and eat with them, was apt to put this
ceremony upon them; which being, as it were, the particular
dispensation of John, the forerunner of Christ, seemed to have greater
affinity with the gospel, than the other Jewish ceremonies then used by
the church; but that will no ways infer our adversaries' conclusion.
Secondly, As to these words, And he commanded them to be baptized, it
declareth matter of fact, not of right, and amounteth to no more, than
that Peter did at that time, pro hic & nune, command those persons to
be baptized with water, which is not denied: but it saith nothing that
Peter commanded water-baptism to be a standing and perpetual ordinance
to the church; neither can any man of sound reason say, if he heed what
he says, that a command in matter of fact to particular persons, doth
infer the thing commanded to be of general obligation to all, if it be
not otherwise bottomed upon some positive precept. Why doth Peter's
commanding Cornelius and his household to be baptized at that time
infer water-baptism to continue, more than his constraining (which is
more than commanding) the Gentiles in general to be circumcised, and
observe the law? We find at that time, when Peter baptized Cornelius,
it was not yet determined whether the Gentiles should not be
circumcised; but on the contrary, it was the most general sense of the
church that they should and therefore no wonder if they thought it
needful at that time that they should be baptized; which had more
affinity with the gospel, and was a burden less grievous.
S:. X. Fourthly, They object from the signication [1080] of the word
[baptize] which is as much as to dip and wash with water; alleging
thence that the very word imports a being baptized with water.
This objection is very weak. For since baptizing [1081] with water was
a rite among the Jews, as Paulus Riccius showeth, even before the
coming of [1082] John; and that the ceremony received that name from
the nature of the practice, as used both by the Jews and by John; yet
we find that Christ and his apostles frequently make use of these terms
to a more spiritual signification. Circumcision was only used and
understood among the Jews to be that of the flesh; but the apostle
tells us of the circumcision of the heart and spirit made without
hands. So that though baptism was used among the Jews only to signify a
washing with water, yet both John, Christ, and his apostles, speak of a
being baptized with the Spirit, and with fire; which they make the
peculiar baptism of Christ, as contra-distinguished from that of water,
which was John's, as is above shown. So that though baptism among the
Jews was only understood of water, yet among Christians it is very well
understood of the Spirit without water: as we see Christ and his
apostles spiritually to understand things, under the terms of what had
been shadows before. Thus Christ, speaking of his body, (though the
Jews mistook him,) said, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will
raise it up; and many more that might be instanced. But if the
etymology of the word should be tenaciously adhered to, it would
militate against most of our adversaries, as well as against us: for
the Greek [1083] {GREEK TEXT HERE} signifies immergo, that is, to
plunge and dip in; and that was the proper use of water-baptism among
the Jews, and also by John, and the primitive Christians, who used it;
whereas our adversaries, for the most part, only sprinkle a little
water upon the forehead, which doth not at all [1084] answer to the
word [baptism]. Yea, those of old among Christians that used
water-baptism, thought this dipping or plunging so needful, that they
thus dipped children: and forasmuch as it was judged that it might
prove hurtful to some weak constitutions, sprinkling, to prevent that
hurt, was introduced; yet then it was likewise appointed, that such as
were only sprinkled, and not dipped, should not be admitted to have any
office in the church, as not being sufficiently baptized. So that if
our adversaries will stick to the word, they must alter their method of
sprinkling.
[1085] Fifthly, They object John iii. 5. Except a man, be born of
water, and of the Spirit, &c. hence inferring the necessity of
water-baptism, as well as of the Spirit.
But if this prove any thing, it will prove water- [1086] baptism to be
of absolute necessity; and therefore Protestants rightly affirm, when
this is urged upon [1087] them by Papists, to evince the absolute
necessity of water-baptism, that [water] is not here understood of
outward water; but mystically, of an inward cleansing and washing. Even
as where Christ speaks of being baptized with fire, it is not to be
understood of outward material fire, but only of purifying, by a
metonymy; because to purify is a proper effect of fire, as to wash and
make clean is of water; where it can as little be so understood, as
where we are said to be saved by the washing of regeneration, Tit. iii.
5. Yea, Peter saith expressly, in the place often cited, as [1088]
Calvin well observes, That the baptism which saves, is not the putting
away of the filth of the flesh. So that, since [water] cannot be
understood of outward water, this can serve nothing to prove
water-baptism.
If it be said, that [water] imports here necessitatem [1089] prAEcepti,
though not medii;
I answer; That is first to take it for granted [1090] that outward
water is here understood; the contrary whereof we have already proved.
Next, water and the Spirit are placed here together, [Except a man be
born of water and the Spirit,] [1091] where the necessity of the one is
urged as much as of the other. Now if the Spirit be absolutely
necessary, so will also water; and then we must either say, that to be
born of the Spirit is not absolutely necessary, which all acknowledge
to be false; or else, that water is absolutely necessary; which, as
Protestants, we affirm, and have proved, is false: else we must
confess, that water is not here understood of outward water. For to say
that when water and the Spirit are placed here just together, and in
the same manner, though there be not any difference or ground for it
visible in the text, or deducible from it, That the necessity of water
is here prAEcepti, but not medii, but the necessity of the Spirit is
both medii and prAEcepti, is indeed confidently to affirm, but not to
prove.
[1092] Sixthly and lastly; They object, That the baptism of water is a
visible sign or badge to distinguish Christians from Infidels, even as
circumcision did the Jews.
[1093] I answer; This saith nothing at all, unless it be proved to be a
necessary precept, or part of the new covenant dispensation; it not
being lawful for us to impose outward ceremonies and rites, and say,
they [1094] will distinguish us from infidels. Circumcision was
positively commanded, and said to be a seal of the first covenant; but
as we have already proved that [1095] there is no such command for
baptism, so there is not any word in all the New Testament, calling it
a badge of Christianity, or seal of the new covenant: and therefore to
conclude it is so, because circumcision was so, (unless some better
proof be alleged [1096] for it,) is miserably to beg the question. The
professing of faith in Christ, and a holy life answering thereunto, is
a far better badge of Christianity than any outward washing; which yet
answers not to that of circumcision, since that affixed a character in
the flesh, which this doth not: so that a Christian is not known to be
a Christian by his being baptized, especially when he was a child,
unless he tell them [1097] so much: and may not the professing of faith
in Christ signify that as well? I know there are divers of those called
the Fathers, that speak much of water-baptism, calling it Characterem
Christianitatis: but so did they also of the sign of the cross, and
other such things, justly rejected by Protestants. [1098] For the
mystery of iniquity, which began to work in the apostles' days, soon
spoiled the simplicity and purity of the Christian worship; insomuch
that not only many Jewish rites were retained, but many heathenish
customs and ceremonies introduced into the Christian worship; as
particularly that word [sacra ment] . So that it is a great folly,
especially for Protestants, to plead any thing of this from tradition
or antiquity; for we find that neither Papists nor Protestants use
those rites exactly as the ancients did; who in such things, not
walking by the most certain rule of God's Spirit, but doting too much
upon externals, were very uncertain. For most of them all, in the
primitive times, did wholly plunge and dip those they baptized, which
neither Papists, nor most Protestants, do: yea, several of the Fathers
accused some as heretics in their days, for holding some principles
common with Protestants concerning it; as particularly Augustine doth
the Pelagians, for saying that infants dying unbaptized may be saved.
And the Manichees were condemned, for denying that grace is universally
given by baptism; and Julian the Pelagian. by Augustine; for denying
exorcism and insufflation in the use of [1099] baptism: all which
things Protestants deny also. So that Protestants do but foolishly to
upbraid us, as if we could not show any among the ancients that denied
water-baptism; seeing they cannot show any, whom they acknowledge not
to have been heretical in several things, that used it; nor yet, who
using it, did not also use the sign of the cross, and [1100] other
things with it, which they deny. There were some nevertheless in the
darkest times of [1101] Popery, who testified against water-baptism.
For one Alanus, pag. 103, 104, 107, speaks of some in his time that
were burnt for the denying of it: waterbaptism, they said, That baptism
had no efficacy, either in children or adult persons; and therefore men
were not obliged to take baptism: particularly ten canonics, so called,
were burnt for that crime, by the order of king Robert of France. And
P. PithAEus mentions it in his fragments of the history of Guienne;
which is also confirmed by one Johannes Floracensis, a monk, who was
famous at that time, in his epistle to Oliva, abbot of the Ausonian
church; I will, saith he, give you to understand concerning the heresy
that [1102] was in the city of Orleans on Childermas day; for it was
true, if ye have heard any thing, that king Robert caused to be burnt
alive near fourteen of that city, of the chief of their clergy, and the
more noble of their laics, who were hateful to God, and abominable to
heaven and earth; for they did stiffly deny the grace of holy baptism,
and also the consecration of the Lord's body and blood. The time of
this deed is noted in these words by Papir. Masson, in his annals of
France, lib. 3. in Hugh and Robert, Actum AureliAE publice anno
Incarnationis Domini 1022. Regni Roberti Regis 28. Indictione 5. quando
Stephanus HAEresiarcha & Complices ejus damnati sunt & exusti Aurelice.
Now for their calling them Heretics and Manichees, we have nothing but
the testimony of their accusers, which will no more invalidate their
testimony for this truth against the use of water-baptism, or give more
ground to charge us, as being one with Manichees, than because some,
called by them Manichees, do agree with Protestants in some things,
that therefore Protestants are ,Manichees or Heretics, which
Protestants can no ways shun. For the question is, Whether, in what
they did, they walked according to the truth testified of by the Spirit
in the holy scriptures? So that the controversy is brought back again
to the scriptures, according to which, I suppose, I have already
discussed it.
[1103] As for the latter part of the thesis, denying the use of
infant-baptism, it necessarily follows from what is above said. For if
water-baptism be ceased, then surely baptizing of infants is not
warrantable. But those that take upon them to oppose us in this matter,
will have more to do as to this latter part: for after they have done
what they can to prove water-baptism, it remains for them to prove that
infants ought to be baptized. For he that proves water-baptism ceased,
proves that infant-baptism is vain: but he that should prove that
water-baptism continues, has not thence proved that infant-baptism is
necessary; that needs something further. And therefore it was a pitiful
subterfuge of Nic. Arnoldus against this, to say, That the denying of
infant-baptism belonged to the gangrene of the Anabaptists, without
adding any further proof.
__________________________________________________________________
[967] Eph. iv. 6. 1 Pet. iii. 21. Rom vi. 4. Gal. iii 27. Col. ii. 12
John iii. 30. 1 Cor. i. 17.
[968] From whence idolatries & heathen superstitions did spring.
[969] The Pharisees the chiefest among the Jews.
[970] Many things in Christendom are borrowed from the Jews and
Gentiles.
[971] Of sacraments so many controversies.
[972] The name of sacrament (not found in scripture) is borrowed from
the
[973] Obj. 1.
[974] Answ.
[975] Obj, 2.
[976] Answ.
[977] The definition of sacrament agrees to many other things.
[978] What sealing ordinance doth mean.
[979] Obj. 3.
[980] Answ.
[981] That outward washing doth not cleanse the heart.
[982] Part 1.
[983] Prop.I.
[984] Pr. II.
[985] Pr. III.
[986] Prop. 1.
[987] One baptism proved.
[988] Obj. 1.
[989] Answ.
[990] Whether two baptisms make up the one.
[991] Obj. 2.
[992] Answ.
[993] If water be the type, the substance must remain.
[994] Pr. II.
[995] Proof 1.
[996] The difference between John's baptism & Christ's.
[997] Arg. 1.
[998] Arg. 2.
[999] Object.
[1000] Answ.
[1001] One baptism is no part, nor effect of the other.
[1002] Pr. II.
[1003] Who were baptized by John were still to wait for Christ's
baptism with the spirit.
[1004] Pr. III.
[1005] The baptism with the Holy Ghost and that with water differ.
[1006] Object.
[1007] Water baptism is not the true baptism of Christ.
[1008] The baptism of the Spirit needeth no sprinkling or dipping in
water.
[1009] Pr. IV.
[1010] Or, as it should be translated, Whose model baptism does also
now save us.
[1011] The plainest definition of the baptism of Christ in all the
bible.
[1012] Water-baptism shut out from the baptism of Christ.
[1013] The Protestants denying water-baptism its absolute necessity to
mens salvation; although the Papists say none can be saved without it,
yet grant exceptions.
[1014] Pr. V.
[1015] The effects & fruits of the baptism of Christ.
[1016] Which effects water baptism wants.
[1017] Arg. 1.
[1018] Arg. 2.
[1019] Pr. III.
[1020] Proved.
[1021] John's baptism was a figure of Christ's.
[1022] II.
[1023] John's baptism is ceased our opposers confess.
[1024] Arg.
[1025] III.
[1026] The gospel puts an end to carnal ordinances.
[1027] Obj. 1.
[1028] Answ.
[1029] Obj. 2.
[1030] Answ.
[1031] Men are no more now than before by water baptism inwardly
cleansed.
[1032] The law distinguished from the gospel.
[1033] The outward baptism, worship, law, distinguished from the
inward.
[1034] Arg.
[1035] IV. That water-baptism is no badge of Christians, like
circumcision of the Jews.
[1036] I Cor. i. 14.
[1037] Paul was not sent to baptize.
[1038] Obj. 1.
[1039] Answ.
[1040] Confir.
[1041] Mat. ix. 15. Hos ix. 16
[1042] Refut.
[1043] Obj. 2.
[1044] Answ.
[1045] That preaching is a standing ordinance, and not to be forborne.
[1046] Query.
[1047] Answ.
[1048] That which converts to Christ is the baptism of the Spirit.
[1049] Part lI.
[1050] Obj. 1.
[1051] John iii. 34.
[1052] Answ.
[1053] Why Christ was baptized by John.
[1054] Obj. 2.
[1055] Answ.
[1056] What baptism Christ doth mean but putting them to prove that
water is here in Mat. meant, since the text is silent of it. And though
in reason it be sufficient upon our part that we concede the whole
expressed in the place, but deny that it is by water, which is an
addition to the text, yet I shall premise some reasons why we do so,
and then consider the reasons alleged
[1057] Arg. 1.
[1058] Arg. 2.
[1059] Arg. 3.
[1060] Arg. 4.
[1061] Alle. 1.
[1062] Of the name of the Lord how taken in scripture.
[1063] The baptism into the name, what it is.
[1064] Whether Christ did prescribe a form of baptism in Mat. xxviii
[1065] Alle. 2.
[1066] Answ.
[1067] How teaching & baptizing differ.
[1068] Alle. 3.
[1069] Answ.
[1070] The baptism with the Spirit ascribed to godly men as
instruments.
[1071] Alle. 4.
[1072] Answ.
[1073] Obj.3.
[1074] Answ.
[1075] How the apostles baptized.
[1076] Object.
[1077] Answ
[1078] The apostles did scruple the teaching the Gentiles.
[1079] Whether Peter's baptizing some with water makes it a standing
ordinance to the church.
[1080] Obj. 4.
[1081] Answ.
[1082] Baptizing signifies dipping or washing with water.
[1083] {GREEK TEXT HERE} immergo, intingo, to plunge and dip in.
[1084] Those that of old used water-baptism were dipped and plunged;
and those that were only sprinkled, were not admitted to any office in
the church--and why.
[1085] Obj. 5.
[1086] Answ.
[1087] The water that regenerates, is mystical & inward.
[1088] In the 4th book Instit. c. 15.
[1089] Object.
[1090] Answ.
[1091] Necessitas prAEcepti and medii urged.
[1092] Obj. 6.
[1093] Answ.
[1094] Circumcision a seal of the first covenant.
[1095] Water-baptism falsely called a badge of Christianity.
[1096] Which is the badge of Christianity.
[1097] What the Fathers say of water-baptism, and of the sign of the
cross.
[1098] Heathenish ceremonies introduced into the Christian worship.
[1099] Exorcism or adjuration.
[1100] The sign of the cross.
[1101] Many in former ages testified against water baptism.
[1102] Ten canonics burnt at Orleans, and why?
[1103] The baptism of infants a human tradition.
__________________________________________________________________
PROPOSITION XIII.
Concerning the Communion, or Participation of the Body and Blood of Christ.
The communion of the body and blood of Christ is [1104] inward and
spiritual, which is the participation of his flesh and blood, by which
the inward man is daily nourished in the hearts of those in whom Christ
dwells. Of which things the breaking of bread by Christ with his
disciples was a figure, which even they who had received the substance
used in the church for a time, for the sake of the weak; even as
abstaining from things strangled, [1105] and from blood, the washing
one another's feet, and the anointing of the sick with oil: all which
are commanded with no less authority and solemnity than the former; yet
seeing they are but shadows of better things, they cease in such as
have obtained the substance.
S:. 1. The communion of the body and blood of Christ is a mystery hid
from all natural men, in their first fallen and degenerate state, which
they cannot understand, reach to, nor comprehend, as they there abide;
neither, as they there are, can they be partakers of it, nor yet are
they able to discern the Lord's body. And forasmuch as the Christian
World (so called) for the most part hath been still labouring, working,
conceiving, and imagining, in their own natural and unrenewed
understandings, about the things of God and religion; therefore hath
this mystery been much hid and sealed up from them, while they have
been contending, quarrelling, and fighting one with another about the
mere shadow, outside, and form, but strangers to the substance, life,
and virtue.
[1106] S:. II. The body then of Christ, which believers partake of, is
spiritual, and not carnal; and his blood, which they drink of, is pure
and heavenly, and not human or elementary, as Augustine also affirms of
the body of Christ, which is eaten, in his Tractat. Psal. xcviii.
Except a man eat my, flesh, he hath not in him life eternal: and he
saith, The words which I speak unto you are Spirit and life; understand
spiritually what I have spoken. Ye shall not eat of this body which ye
see, and drink this blood which they shall spill, which crucify me--I
am the living bread, who have descended from heaven. He calls himself
the bread, who descended from heaven, exhorting that we might believe
in him, &c.
[1107] If it be asked then, What that body, what that flesh and blood
is?
[1108] I answer; It is that heavenly seed, that divine, spiritual,
celestial substance, of which we spake [1109] before in the fifth and
sixth propositions. This is that spiritual body of Christ, whereby and
through which he commumcateth life to men, and salvation to as many as
believe in him, and receive him; and whereby also man comes to have
fellowship and communion with God. This is proved from the sixth of
John, from verse 32, to the end, where Christ speaks more at large of
this matter, than in any other place: and indeed this evangelist and
beloved disciple, who lay in the bosom of our Lord, gives us a more
full account of the spiritual sayings and doctrine of Christ than any
others and it is ob servable, that though he speaks nothing of the
ceremony used by Christ of breaking bread with his disciples, neither
in his evangelical account of Christ's life and sufferings, nor in his
epistles; yet he is more large in this account of the participation of
the body, flesh, and blood of Christ, than any of them all. For Christ,
in this chapter, perceiving that the Jews did follow him for love of
the loaves, desires them (verse 27.) to labour not for the meat which
perisheth, but for that meat which endureth for ever: but forasmuch as
they, being carnal in their apprehensions, and not understanding the
spiritual language and doctrine of Christ, did judge the manna, which
Moses gave their fathers, to be the most excellent bread, as coming
from heaven; Christ, to rectify that mistake, and better inform them;
affirmeth, First, That it is not Moses, but his Father, that giveth the
true bread from heaven, vers. 32 and 48. Secondly, This bread he calls
himself, verse 35. I am the bread of life: and verse 51. I am the
living bread, which came down from heaven. Thirdly, He declares that
this bread is his flesh, verse 51. The bread that l Will [1110] give,
is my flesh; and verse 55. For my flesh, is meat indeed, and my blood
is drink indeed. Fourthly, The necessity of partaking thereof, verse
53. Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood; ye
have no life in you. And Lastly, The blessed fruits and necessary
effects of this communion of the body and blood of Christ. Verse 33.
This bread giveth life to the world. Verse 50. He that eateth thereof,
dieth not. Verse 58. He that eateth of this bread, shall live for ever.
Verse 54. Whaso eateth this flesh, and drinketh this blood, shall live
for ever. Verse 56. And he dwelleth in Christ, and Christ in him. Verse
57. And shall live by Christ. From this large description of the
origin, nature, and effects of this body, flesh, and blood of Christ,
it is apparent that it is spiritual, and to be understood of a
spiritual body, and not of that body, or temple of Jesus Christ, which
was born of the virgin Mary, and in which he walked, lived, and
suffered in the land of Judea; because it is said, that it came down
from Heaven, yea, that it is he that came down, from Heaven. Now all
Christians at present generally acknowledge, that the outward body of
Christ came not down from heaven; neither was it that part of Christ
which came down from heaven. And to put the matter out of doubt, when
the carnal Jews would have been so understanding it, he tells them
plainly, ver. 63. It is the Spirit that quickeneth, but the flesh
profiteth [1111] nothing. This is also founded upon most sound and
solid reason; because it is the soul, not the body, that is to be
nourished by this flesh and blood. Now outward flesh cannot nourish nor
feed the soul; there is no proportion nor analogy betwixt them; neither
is the communion of the saints with God by a conjunction and mutual
participation of flesh, but of the Spirit: He that [1112] is joined to
the Lord is one Spirit, not one flesh. For the flesh (I mean outward
flesh, even such as was that wherein Christ lived and walked when upon
earth; and not flesh, when transformed by a metaphor, to be understood
spiritually) can only partake of flesh, as spirit of spirit: as the
body cannot feed upon spirit, neither can the spirit feed upon flesh.
And that the flesh here spoken of is spiritually to be understood,
appears further, inasmuch as that which feedeth upon it shall never
die: but the bodies of all men once die; yea, it was necessary that the
body of Christ himself should die. That this body, and spiritual flesh
and blood of Christ, is to be understood of that divine and heavenly
seed, before spoken of by us, appears both by the nature and fruits of
it. First, it is said, It is that which cometh down from heaven, and
giveth life unto the world: now this answers to that light and seed,
which is testified of, John i. to be the light of the world, and the
life of men. For that spiritual light [1113] and seed, as it receives
place in men's hearts, and room to spring up there, is as bread to the
hungry and fainting soul, that is (as it were) buried and dead in the
lusts of the world; which receives life again, and revives, as it
tasteth and partaketh of this heavenly bread; and they that partake of
it are said to come to Christ; neither can any have it, but by coming
to him, and believing in the appearance of his light in their hearts;
by receiving which, and believing in it, the participation of this body
and bread is known. And that Christ understands the same thing here by
his body, flesh, and blood, which is understood, John i. by the light
enlightening every man, and the life, &c. appears; for the light and
life, spoken of John i. is said to be Christ; He is the true light: and
the bread and flesh, &c. spoken of in John vi. is called Christ; I am
the bread of life, saith he. Again, They that received that light and
life, John i. 12. obtained power to become the sons of God, by
believing in his name: so also here, John vi. 35. He that cometh unto
this bread of life shall not hunger; and he that believes in him, who
is this bread, shall never thirst. So then, as there was the outward
visible body and [1114] temple of Jesus Christ, which took its origin
from the virgin Mary; there is also the spiritual body of Christ, by
and through which He that was the Word in the beginning with God, and
was and is GOD, did reveal himself to the sons of men in all ages, and
whereby men in all ages come to be made partakers of eternal life, and
to have communion and fellowship with God and Christ. of which body of
Christ, and flesh and blood, if both Adam, and Seth, and Enoch, and
Noah, and [1115] Araham, and Moses, and David; and all the prophets and
holy men of God, had not eaten, they had not had life in them; nor
could their inward man have been nourished. Now as the outward body and
temple was called Christ, so was also his spiritual body, no less
properly, and that long before that outward body was in being. Hence
the apostle saith, 1 Cor. x. 3, 4. that the Fathers did all eat the
same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink: (for
they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was
Christ.) This cannot be understood otherwise than of this spiritual
body of Christ; which spiritual body of Christ, though it was the
saving food of the righteous both before the law and under the law; yet
under the law it was veiled and shadowed, and covered under divers
types, ceremonies, and observations; yea, and not only so, but it was
veiled and hid, in some respect, under the outward temple and body of
Christ, or during the continuance of it; so that the Jews could not
understand Christ's preaching about it while on earth: and not the Jews
only, but many of his disciples, judging it an, [1116] hard saying,
murmured at it; and, many from that time went back from him, and walked
no more with him. I doubt not but that there are many also at this day,
professing to be the disciples of Christ, that do as little understand
this matter as those did, and are as apt to be offended, and stumble at
it, while they are gazing and following after the outward body, and
look not to that by which the saints are daily fed and nourished. For
as Jesus Christ, in obedience to the will of the Father, did by the
eternal Spirit ofer up that body for a [1117] propitiation for the
remission of sins, and finished his testimony upon earth thereby, in a
most perfect example of patience, resignation, and holiness, that all
might be made partakers of the fruit of that sacrifice; so hath he
likewise poured forth into the hearts of all men a measure of that
divine light and seed wherewith he is clothed; that thereby, reaching
unto the consciences of all, he may raise them up out of death and
darkness by his life and light, and they thereby may be made partakers
of his body, and therethrough come to have fellowship with the Father
and with the Son.
S:. III. If it be asked, How and after what manner [1118] man comes to
partake of it, and to be fed by it?
I answer in the plain and express words of [1119] Christ, I am the
bread of life, saith he; he that John vi. 35. and 55. cometh to me
shall never hunger; he that believeth in me shall never thirst. And
again, For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. So
whosoever thou art that askest this question, or readest these lines,
whether thou accountest thyself a believer, or really feelest, by a
certain and sad experience, that thou art yet in the unbelief, and
findest that the outward body and flesh of Christ is so far from thee,
that thou canst not reach it, nor feed upon it; yea, though thou hast
often swallowed down and taken in that which the Papists have persuaded
thee to be the real flesh and blood of Christ, and hast believed it to
be so, though all [1120] thy senses told thee the contrary; or (being a
Lutheran) hast taken that bread, in and with and under which the
Lutherans have assured thee that the flesh and blood of Christ is; or
(being a Calvinist) hast partaken of that which the Calvinists say
(though a figure only of the body) gives them who take it a real
participation of the body, flesh, and blood of Christ, though they
never knew how nor what way; I say, if for all this thou findest thy
soul yet barren, yea, hungry, and ready to starve, for want of
something thou longest for; know that that light that discovers thy
iniquity to thee, that shows thee thy barrenness, thy nakedness, thy
emptiness, is that body which thou must partake of, and feed upon: but
that till by forsaking iniquity thou turnest to it, comest unto it,
receivest it, though thou mayest hunger after it, thou canst not be
satisfied with it; for it hath no communion with darkness, [1121] nor
canst thou drink of the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: and be
partaker of the Lord's table, and the table of devils, 1 Cor. x. 21.
But as thou sufferest that small seed of righteousness to arise in
thee, and to be formed into a birth, that new substantial [1122] birth,
that is brought forth in the soul, supernaturally feeds upon and is
nourished by this spiritual body; yea, as this outward birth lives not
but as it draws in breath by the outward elementary air, so this new
birth lives not in the soul, but as it draws in and breathes by that
spiritual air or vehicle. And as the outward birth cannot subsist
without some outward body to feed upon, some outward flesh, and some
outward drink, so neither can this inward birth, unless it be fed by
this inward flesh and blood of Christ, which answers to it after the
same manner, by way of analogy. And this is most agreeable to the
doctrine of Christ concerning this matter. For as without outward food
the natural body hath not life, so [1123] also saith Christ, Except ye
eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life
in you. And as the outward body, eating outward food, [1124] lives
thereby, so Christ with, that he that eateth him shall live by him. So
it is this inward participation of this inward man, of this inward and
spiritual body, by which man is united to God, and has fellowship and
communion with him. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood,
saith Christ, [1125] dwelleth in me, and I in him. This cannot be
understood of outward eating of outward bread; and as by this the soul
must have fellowship with God, so also, so far as all the saints are
partakers of this one body and one blood, they come also to have a
joint communion. Hence the apostle, 1 Cor. x. 17. in this respect
saith, that they, being many, are one bread, and one body; and to the
wise among [1126] the Corinthians he saith, The bread which we break is
the communion of the body of Christ. This is the true and spiritual
supper of the Lord, which [1127] men come to partake of, by hearing the
voice of Christ, and opening the door of their hearts, and so letting
him in, in the manner abovesaid, according to the plain words of the
scripture, Rev. iii. 20. Behold I stand at the door and knock; if any
man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will
sup with him, and he with me. So that the supper of the Lord, and the
supping with the Lord, and partaking of his flesh and blood, is no ways
limited to the ceremony of breaking, bread and drinking wine at
particular times, but is truly and really enjoyed, as often as the soul
retires into the light of the Lord, and feels and partakes of that
heavenly life by which the inward man is nourished; which may be and is
often witnessed by the faithful at all times, though more particularly
when they are assembled together to wait upon the Lord.
S:. IV. But what confusion the professors of Christianity have run into
concerning this matter, is more than obvious; who, as in most other
things they have done, for want of a true spiritual [1128]
understanding, have sought to tie this supper of the Lord to that
ceremony used by Christ before his death, of breaking bread and
drinking wine with his disciples. And though they for the most part
agree generally in this, yet how do they contend and debate one against
another! How strangely are they pinched, pained, and straitened to make
the spiritual mystery agree to that ceremony! And what monstrous and
wild opinions and conceptions have they invented, to enclose or affix
the body of Christ to their bread and wine ! From which opinion not
only the greatest, and fiercest, and most hurtful contests, both among
the professors of Christianity in general, and among Protestants in
particular, have arisen; but also such absurdities, irrational and
blasphemous consequences have en [1129] sued, as make the Christian
religion odious and hateful to Jews, Turks, and Heathens. The
professors of Christianity do chiefy divide in this rnatter into three
opinions.
[1130] The First is of those that say, The substance of the bread is
transubstantiated into the very substance of that same body, flesh, and
blood of Christ, which was born of the virgin Mary, and crucfied by the
Jews; so that after the words of consecration, as they call them, it is
no more bread, but the body of Christ.
[1131] The Second is of such who say, The substance of the bread
remains, but that also that body is in, and with, and under the bread;
so that both the substance of bread, and of the body, flesh, and blood
of Christ, is there also.
[1132] The Third is of those, that, denying both these, do affirm, That
the body of Christ is not there corporally or substantially, but yet
that it is really and sacramentally received by the faithful in the use
of bread and wine; but how or what way it is there, they know not, nor
can they tell; only we must believe it is there, yet so that it is only
properly in heaven.
It is not my design to enter into a refutation of these several
opinions; for each of their authors and assertors have sufficiently
refuted one another, and are all of them no less strong both from
scripture and reason in refuting each their contrary parties' opinion,
than they are weak in establishing their own. For I often have
seriously observed, in reading their respective writings, and so it may
be have others, that all of them do notably, in so far as they refute
the contrary opinions; but that they are mightily pained, when they
come to confirm and plead for their own. Hence I necessarily must
conclude, that none of them had attained to the truth and substance of
this mystery. Let us see if Calvin [1133] after he had refuted the two
former opinions, be more suc cessful in what he affirms and asserts for
the truth of his opinion, who, after he hath much laboured in
overturning and refuting the two former opinions, plainly confesseth,
that he knows not what to affirm instead of them. For after he has
spoken much, and at last concluded that the body of Christ [1134] is
there, and that the saints must needs partake thereof, at last he lands
in these words, Sect. 32. But if it be asked me how it is? I shall not
be ashamed to confess, that it is a secret too high for me to
comprehend in my spirit, or explain in words. Here he deals very
ingenuously; and yet who would have thought that such a man would have
been brought to this strait in the confirming of his opinion?
considering that a little before, in the same chapter, Sect. 15. he
accuseth the school-men among the [1135] Papists, and I confess truly,
in that they neither understand nor explain to others how Christ is in
the eucharist, which shortly after he confesseth himself he cannot do.
If then the school-men among the Papists do neither understand nor yet
explain to others their doctrine in this matter, nor Calvin can
comprehend it in his spirit, which I judge is as much as not to
understand it, nor express it in words, and then surely he cannot
explain it to others, then no certainty is to be had from either of
them. There have been great endeavours used for reconcilement in this
matter, both betwixt Papists and Lutherans, Lutherans and Calvinists,
yea, and Calvinists and Papists, but all to no purpose; and many forms
and manners of expressions drawn up, to which all might yield; which in
the end proved in vain, seeing every one understood them, and
interpreted them in their own way; and so they did thereby but
equivocate and deceive one another. The reason of all this contention
is, because they had not a clear understanding of the mystery, and were
doting about shadows and externals. For both the ground and matter
oftheir contest lies in things extrinsic from, and [1136] unnecessary
to, the main matter. And this hath been often the policy of Satan, to
busy people, and amuse them with outward signs, shadows, and forms,
making them contend about that, while in the mean time, the substance
is neglected; yea, and in contending for these shadows he stirs them up
to the practice of malice, heat, revenge, and other vices, by which he
establisheth his kingdom of darkness among them, and ruins the life of
Christianity. For there have been more animosities and heats about this
one particular, and more bloodshed and contention, than about any
other. [1137] And surely they are little acquainted with the state of
Protestant affairs, who know not that their contentions about this have
been more hurtful to the reformation than all the opposition they met
with from their common adversaries. Now all those uncertain and absurd
opinions, and the [1138] contentions therefrom arising, have proceeded
from their all agreeing in two general errors concerning this thing;
which being denied and receded from, as they are by us, there would be
an easy way made for reconciliation, and we should all meet in one
spiritual and true understanding of this mystery: and as the
contentions, so would also the absurdities which follow from all the
three fore-mentioned opinions, cease and fall to the ground.
The first of these errors is, in, making the communion or participation
of the body, flesh, and blood of Christ to relate to that outward body,
vessel, or temple, that was born of the virgin Mary, and walked and
suffered in Judea; whereas it should relate to the, spiritual body,
flesh, and blood of Christ, even that heavenly and celestial light and
life, which was the food and nourishment of the regenerate in all ages,
as we have already proved.
The second error is, in tying this participation of the body and blood
of Christ to that ceremony used by him with his disciples in the
breaking of bread, &c. as if it had only a relation thereto, or were
only enjoyed in the use of that ceremony, which it neither hath nor is.
For this is that bread which Christ in his prayer teaches to call for,
terming it ton arton ton epiousion, i. e. the supersubstantial bread,
as the Greek hath it, and which the soul partakes of, without any
relation or necessary respect to this ceremony, as shall be hereafter
proved more at length.
These two errors being thus laid aside, and the contentions arising
therefrom buried, all are agreed in the main positions, viz. First,
that the body, flesh, and blood of Christ is necessary for the
nourishing [1139] of the soul. Secondly, that the souls of believers do
really and truly partake and feed upon the body, flesh, and blood of
Christ. But while men are not content with the spirituality of this
mystery, going in their own wills, and according to their own
inventions, to strain and wrest the scriptures to tie this spiritual
communion of the flesh and blood of Christ to outward bread and wine,
and such like carnal ordinances, no wonder if by their carnal
apprehensions they run into confusion. But because it hath been
generally supposed that the communion of the body and blood of Christ
had some special relation to the ceremony of breaking bread, I shall
first refute that opinion, and then proceed to consider the nature and
use of that ceremony, and whether it be now necessary to continue;
answering the reasons and objections of such as plead its continuance
as a necessary and standing ordinance of Jesus Christ.
S:. V. First, It must be understood that I speak [1140] of a necessary
and peculiar relation otherwise than in a general respect: for inasmuch
as our communion with Christ is and ought to be our great est and
chiefest work, we ought to do all other things with a respect to God,
and our fellowship with him; but a special and necessary respect or
relation is such as where the two things are so tied and united
together either of their own nature or by the command of God, that the
one cannot be enjoyed, or at least is not, except very extraordinarily,
without the other. Thus salvation hath a necessary respect to holiness,
because without holiness no man shall see God; and the eating of the
flesh and blood of Christ hath a necessary respect to our having life,
because if we eat not his flesh, and drink not his blood, we cannot
have life; and our feeling of God's presence hath a necessary respect
to our being found meeting in his name by divine precept, because he
has promised where two or three are met together in his name, he will
be in the midst of them. In like manner our receiving benefits and
blessings from God has a necessary respect to our prayer, because if we
ask, he hath promised we shall receive. Now the communion or
participation of the flesh and blood of Christ hath no such necessary
relation to the breaking of bread and drinking of wine; for if it had
any such necessary relation, it would either be from the nature of the
thing, or from some divine precept; but we shall show it is from
neither; therefore, &c.
First, It is not from the nature of it; because to partake of the flesh
and blood of Christ is a spiritual exercise, and all confess that it is
by the soul and spirit that we become real partakers of it, as it is
the soul, and not the body, that is nourished by it. But to eat bread
and drink wine is a natural act, which in itself adds nothing to the
soul, neither has any thing that is spiritual in it; because the most
carnal man that is can as fully, as perfectly, and as wholly eat bread
and drink wine as the most spiritual. Secondly, Their relation is not
by nature, else they would infer oneanother; but all acknowledge that
many eat of the bread and drink of the wine, even that which they say
is consecrate and transubstantiate into the very body of Christ, who
notwithstanding have not life eternal, have not Christ dwelling in
them, nor do live by him, as all do who truly partake of the flesh and
blood of Christ without the use of this [1148] ceremony, as all the
patriarchs and prophets did before this ordinance, as they account it.
was instituted. Neither was there any thing under the law that had any
direct or necessary relation hereunto; though to partake of the flesh
and blood of Christ in all ages was indispensably necessary to
salvation. For as for the paschal lamb, the whole [1149] end of it is
signified particularly, Exod. xiii. 8, 9. to wit, That the Jews might
thereby be kept in, remembrance of their deliverance out of Egypt.
Secondly, It hath not relation by divine precept; for if it had, it
would be mentioned in that which our adversaries account the
institution of it, or else in the practice of it by the saints recorded
in scripture; but so it is not. For as to the institution, or rather
narration, of Christ's practice in this matter, we have it recorded by
the evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke. In the first two there is only
an account of the matter of fact, to wit, That [1150] Christ brake
bread, and gave it to his disciples to eat, saying, This is my body;
and blessing the cup, he gave it them to drink, saying, This is my
blood; but nothing of any desire to them to do it. In the last, after
[1151] the bread, (but before the blessing, or giving them the wine,)
he bids them do it in remembrance of him. What we are to think of this
practice of Christ shall be spoken of hereafter. But what necessary
relation hath all this to the believers partaking of the flesh and
blood of Christ? The end of this for which they were to do it, if at
all, is to remember Christ; which the apostle yet more particularly
expresses. 1 Cor. xi. 26. to show forththe Lord's death; but to
remember the Lord, or declare his death, which are the special and
particular ends annexed to the use of this ceremony, is not at all to
partake of the flesh and blood of Christ; neither have they any more
necessary relation to it than any other two different spiritual duties.
For though they that partake of the flesh and blood of Christ cannot
but remember him, yet the Lord and his death may be remembered, as none
can deny, where his flesh and blood is not truly partaken of. So that
since the very particular and express end of this ceremony may be
witnessed, to wit, the remembrance of the Lord's death, and yet the
flesh and blood of Christ not partaken of, it cannot have had any
necessary relation to it, else the partaking thereof would have been
the end of it, and could not have been attained without this
participation. But on the contrary, we may well infer hence, that since
the positive end of this ceremony is not the partaking of the flesh and
blood of Christ, and that whoever partakes of the flesh and blood of
Christ cannot but remember him, that therefore such need not this
ceremony to put them in remembrance of him.
[1152] But if it be said, That Jesus Christ calls the bread here his
body, and the wine his blood, therefore he seems to have had a special
relation to his disciples partaking of his flesh and blood in the use
of this thing;
[1153] I answer, His calling the bread his body, and the wine his
blood, would yet infer no such thing; though it is not denied but that
Jesus Christ, in all things he did, yea, and from the use of all
natural things, took occasion to raise the minds of his disciples
[1154] and hearers to spirituals. Hence from the woman of Samaria her
drawing water, he took occasion to tell her of that living water, which
whoso drinketh of shall never thirst; which indeed is all one with his
blood here spoken of; yet it will not follow that that well or water
had any necessary [1155] relation to the living water, or the living
water to it, &c. So Christ takes occasion, from the Jews following him
for the loaves, to tell them of this spiritual bread and flesh of his
body, which was more necessary for them to feed upon; it will not
therefore follow that their following him for the loaves had any
necessary relation thereunto. So also Christ here, being at supper with
his disciples, takes occasion, from the bread and wine which was before
them, to signify unto them, That as that bread which he brake unto
them, and that wine which he blessed and gave unto them, did contribute
to the preserving and nourishing of their bodies, so was he also to
give his body and shed his blood for the salvation of their souls. And
therefore the very end proposed in this ceremony to those that observe
it is, to be a memorial of his death.
But if it be said, That the apostle, 1 Cor. x. 16. calls the bread
which he brake the communion of the body of Christ, and the cup the
communion of his blood;
I do most willingly subscribe unto it; but do deny that this is
understood of the outward bread, neither can it be evinced, but the
contrary is manifest from the context: for the apostle in this chapter
speaks not one word of that ceremony; for having in the beginning of it
shown them how the Jews of old were made partakers of the spiritual
food and water, which was Christ, and how several of them, through
disobedience and idolatry, fell from that good condition, he exhorts
them, by the example of those Jews whom God destroyed of old, to flee
those evils; showing them that they, to wit, the Corinthians, are
likewise partakers of the body and blood of Christ; of which communion
they would rob themselves if they did evil, because they could not
drink of the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils, and partake of the
Lord's table and the table of devils, ver. 21. which shows that he
understands not here the using of outward bread and wine; because those
that do drink the cup of devils, and eat of the table of devils, yea,
the wickedest [1156] of men may partake of the outward bread and
outward wine. For there the apostle calls the bread one, ver. 17. and
he saith, We being many, are one bread, and one body; for we are all
partakers of that one bread. Now if the bread be one, it cannot be the
outward, or the inward would be excluded; whereas it cannot be denied
but that it is the partaking of the inward bread, and not the outward,
that makes the saints truly one body and [1157] one bread. And whereas
they say, that the one bread here comprehendeth both the outward and
inward, by virtue of the sacramental union that indeed is to affirm,
but not to prove. As for that figment of a sacramental union, I find
not such a thing in all the scripture, especially in the New Testament;
nor is there any thing can give a rise for such a thing in this
chapter, where the apostle, as is above observed, is not at all
treating of that ceremony, but only, from the excellency of that
privilege which the Corinthians had, as believing Christians, to
partake of the flesh and blood of Christ, dehorts them from idolatry,
and partaking of the sacrifices offered to idols, so as thereby to
offend or hurt their weak brethren.
[1158] But that which they most of all cry out for in this matter, and
are always urging, is from 1 Cor. xi. where the apostle is particularly
treating of this matter; and therefore, from some words here, they have
the greatest appearance of truth for their assertion, as ver. 27. where
he calls the cup the cup of the Lord; and saith, That they who eat of
it and drink it unworthily, are guilty of the body and blood of the
Lord; and ver. 29. Eat and drink their own damnation; intimating hence,
that this hath an immediate or necessary relation to the body, flesh,
and blood of Christ.
Though this at first view may catch the unwary [1159] reader, yet being
well considered, it doth no ways evince the matter in controversy. As
for the Corinthians being in the use of this ceremony, why they were
so, and how that obliges not Christians now to the same, shall be
spoken of hereafter: it suffices at this time to consider that they
were in the use of it. Secondly, That in the use of it they were guilty
of and committed divers abuses. Thirdly, That the apostle here is
giving them directions how they may do it aright, in showing them the
right and proper use and end of it.
These things being premised, let it be observed, that the very express
and particular use of it, according to the apostle, is to show forth
the Lord's death, &c. But to show forth the Lord's death, and partake
of the flesh and blood of Christ, are different things. He saith not,
As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye partake of the
body and blood of Christ; but, ye show forth the Lord's death. So I
acknowledge that this ceremony, by those that practise it, hath an
immediate relation to the outward body and death of Christ upon the
cross, as being properly a memorial of it; but it doth not thence
follow that it hath any inward or immediate relation to believers
communicating or partaking of the spiritual body and blood of Christ,
or that spiritual supper spoken of Rev. iii. 20. For though in a
general way, as every religious action in some respect hath a common
relation to the spiritual communion of the saints with God, so we shall
not deny but this hath a relation as others. Now for his calling the
cup the cup of the Lord, and saying, They are guilty of the body and
blood of Christ, and eat their own damnation in not discerningthe
Lord's body, &c. I answer, That this infers no more necessary relation
than any other religious act, and amounts to no more than this, That
since the Corinthians were in the use of this ceremony, and so
performed it as a religious act, they ought to do it worthily, or else
they should bring condemnation upon themselves. Now this will not more
infer the thing so practised by them to be a necessary religious act
obligatory upon others, than when the apostle saith, Rom. xiv. 6. He
that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord, it can be thence
inferred that the days that some esteemed and observed did lay an
obligation upon others to do the same. But yet, as he that esteemed a
day, and placed conscience in keeping it, was to regard it to, the
Lord, and so it was to him, in so far as he dedicated it unto the Lord,
the Lord's day, he was to do it worthily; and if he did it unworthily,
he would be guilty of the Lord's day, and so keep it to his own
damnation; so also such as observe this ceremony of bread and wine, it
is to them the bread of the Lord, and the cup of the Lord, because they
use it as a religious act; and forasmuch as their end therein is to
show forth the Lord's death, and remember his body that was crucified
for them, and his blood that was shed for them, if, notwithstanding,
they believe it is their duty to do it, and make it a matter of
conscience to forbear, if they do it without that due preparation and
examination which every religious act ought to be performed in, then,
instead of truly remembering the Lord's death, and his body and his
blood, they render themselves guilty of it, as being in one spirit with
those that crucified him, and shed his blood, though pretending [1160]
with thanksgiving and joy to remember it. Thus the Scribes and
Pharisees of old, though in memory of the prophets they garnished their
sepulchres, yet are said by Christ to be guilty of their blood. And
that no more can be hence inferred, appears from another saying of the
same apostle, Rom. xiv. 23. He that doubteth is damned if he eat, &c.
where he, speaking of those that judged it unlawful to eat flesh, &c.
saith, If they eat doubting, they eat their own damnation. Now it is
manifest from all this, that either the doing or forbearing of this was
to another, that placed no conscience in it, of no moment. So I say, he
that eateth that which in his conscience he is pursuaded it is not
lawful for him to eat, doth eat his own damnation; so he also that
placeth conscience in eating bread and wine as a religious act, if he
do it unprepared, and without that due respect wherein such acts should
be gone about; he eateth and drinketh his own damnation, not discerning
the Lord's body, i. e. not minding what he doth, to wit, with a special
respect to the Lord, and by way of special commemoration of the death
of Christ.
S:, VI. Having now sufficiently shown what the true communion of the
body and blood of Christ is, how it is partaken of, and how it has no
necessary relation to that ceremony of bread and wine used by Christ
with his disciples; it is fit [1161] now to consider the nature and
constitution of that [1162] ceremony, (for as to the proper use of it,
we have had occasion to speak before,) whether it be a necessary part
of the standing ordinance in the church of Christ obligatory upon all,
or indeed whether it be any necessary part of the worship of the new
covenant dispensation, or hath any better or more binding foundation
than several other ceremonies appointed and practised about the same
tune, which the most of our opposers acknowledge to be ceased, and now
no ways binding upon Christians. We find this ceremony only mentioned
in scripture in four places, to wit, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and by
Paul to the Corinthians. If any would infer any thing from the
frequency of the mentioning of it, that will add nothing; for it being
a matter of fact, is therefore mentioned by the evangelists; and there
are other things less memorable as often, [1163] yea, oftener
mentioned. Matthew and Mark give only an account of the matter of fact,
without any precept to do so afterwards; simply declaring, that Jesus
at that time did desire them to eat of the bread and drink of the cup;
to which Luke adds these words, This do in remembrance of me. If we
consider this action of Christ with his apostles, there will appear
nothing singular in it for a foundation to such a strange
superstructure as many in their airy imaginations have sought to build
upon it; for both Matthew and Mark express it as an act done by him as
he was eating. [1164] Matthew saith, And as they were eating; and Mark,
And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, &c. Now this act was no singular
thing, neither any solemn institution of a gospel ordinance; because it
was a constant custom among the Jews, as Paulus Riccius observes at
length in his Celestial Agriculture, that when they did eat the
passover, the master of the family did take bread, and bless it, and
breaking it, gave of it to the rest; and likewise taking wine, did the
same; so that there can nothing further appear in this, than that Jesus
Christ, who fulfilled all righteousness, and also observed the Jewish
feasts and customs, used this also among his disciples only, that as in
most other things he laboured to draw their minds to a further thing,
so in the use of this he takes occasion to put them in mind of his
death and sufferings, which were shortly to be; which he did the
oftener inculcate unto them, for that they were averse from believing
it. And as for [1165] that expression of Luke Do this in remembrance of
me, it will amount to no more than this, that being the last time that
Christ did eat with his disciples, he desired, them, that in their
eating and drinking they might have regard to him, and by the re
membering of that opportunity, be the more stirred up to follow him
diligently through sufferings and death, &c. But what man of reason,
laying aside the prejudice of education, and the influence of
tradition, will say, that this account of the matter of fact given by
Matthew and Mark, or this expression of Luke, to Do that in remembrance
of him, will amount to these consequences, which the generality of
Christians have sought to draw from it; as calling it, Augustissimum
EucharistiAE Sacramentum; venerabile altaris Sacramentum; the principal
seal of the covenant of grace, by which all the benefits of Christ's
death are sealed to believers; and such like things? But to give a
further evidence, how these consequences have not any bottom from the
practice of that ceremony, nor from the words following, Do this, &c.
let us consider another of the like nature, as it is at length
expressed by John, chap. xiii. 3, 4, 8, 13, 14, 15. Jesus riseth from
supper, [1166] and laid aside his garments, and took a towel, and
girded himself: after that, he poureth water into a basin, and began to
wash the disciples' feet; and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he
was girded: Peter said unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet: Jesus
answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. So after
he had washed their feet,---he said. Know ye what I have done to you ?
If I then your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to
wash one another's feet: for I have given you an example, that ye
should do as I have done to you. As to which, let it be observed, that
John relates this passage to have been done at the same time with the
other of breaking bread; both being done the [1167] night of the
passover, after supper. If we regard the narration of this, and the
circumstances attending it, it was done with far more solemnity, and
prescribed far more punctually and particularly than the former. It is
said only, As he was eating, he took bread; so that this would seem to
be but an occasional business: but here he rose up, he laid by his
garments, he girded himself, he poured out the water, he washed their
feet, he wiped them with a towel: he did this to all of them; which are
circumstances surely far more observable than those noted in the other.
The former was a practice common among the Jews, used by all masters of
families upon that occasion; but this, as to the manner, and person
acting it, to wit, for the master to rise up, and wash the feet of his
servants and disciples, was more singular and observable. In the
breaking of bread, and giving of wine, it is not pleaded by our
adversaries, nor yet mentioned in the text, that he particularly put
them into the hands of all; but breaking it, and blessing it, gave it
the nearest, and so they from hand to hand: but here it is mentioned,
that he washed not the feet of one or two, but of many. He saith not in
the former, that if they do not eat of that bread, and drink of that
wine, they shall be prejudiced by it; but here he saith expressly to
Peter, that if he wash him not, he hath no part with him; which being
spoken upon Peter's refusing to let him wash his feet, would seem to
import no less, than not the continuance only, but even the necessity
of this ceremony. In the former he saith, as it were passingly, Do this
in remembrance of me; but here he sitteth down again, he desires them
to consider what he hath done, tells them [1168] positively, that as he
hath done to them, so ought they to do to one another: and yet again he
redoubles that precept, by telling them, he has given them an example,
that they should do so likewise. If we respect the nature of the thing,
it hath as much in it as either baptism or the breaking of bread;
seeing it is an outward element of a cleansing nature, applied to the
outward man, by the command and the example of Christ, to signify an
inward purifying. I would willingly propose this seriously to men, who
will be pleased to make use of that reason and understanding that God
hath given them, and not be imposed upon, nor abused by the custom or
tradition of others; Whether this ceremony, if we respect either the
time that it was appointed in, or the circumstances wherewith it was
performed, or the command enjoining the use of it, hath not as much to
recommend it for a standing ordinance of the gospel, as either
water-baptism, or bread and wine, or any other of that kind? I wonder
then what reason the Papists can give, why they have not numbered it
among their sacraments, except merely Voluntas EcclesiAE; & Traditio
Patrum.
But if they say, That it is used among them, in that [1169] the Pope,
and some other persons among them, use to do it once a year to some
poor people;
I would willingly know what reason they have [1170] why this should
not. be extended to all, as well as that of the eucharist, (as they
term it,) or whence it appears from the text, that [Do this in
remembrance of me] should be interpreted that the bread and wine were
every day to be taken by all priests, or the bread every day, or every
week, by the people; and that that other command of Christ, Ye ought to
do as I have done to you, &c. is only to be understood of the Pope, or
some other persons, to be done only to a few, and that once a year?
Surely there can be no other reason for this difference assigned from
the text. And as to Protestants [1171] who use not this ceremony at
all, if they will but, open their eyes, they may see how that by custom
and tradition they are abused in this matter, as were their fathers in
divers Popish traditions. For if we look into the plain scripture, what
can be thence inferred to urge the one, which may not be likewise
pleaded for the other; or for laying aside the one, which may not be
likewise said against the continuance of the other? If they say, That
the former, of washing the feet, was only a ceremony; what have they,
whence they can show, that this breaking of bread is more? If they say,
That the former was only a sign of humility and, purifying; what have
they to prove that this was more? If they say, That one was only for a
time, and was no evangelical ordinance; what hath this to make it such,
that the other wanted? Surely there is no way of reason to evade this;
neither can any thing be alleged, that the one should cease, and not
the other; or the one continue, and not the other; but the mere opinion
of the affirmers, which by custom, education, and tradition, hath
begotten in the hearts of people a greater reverence for, and esteem of
the one than the other; which if it had fallen out to be as much
recommended to us by tradition, would no doubt have been as tenaciously
pleaded for, as having no less foundation in scripture. But since the
former, to wit, the washing of one another's feet, is justly laid
aside, as not binding upon Christians; so ought also the other for the
same reason.
[1172] S:. VII. But it is strange that those who are so clamorous for
this ceremony, and stick so much to it, take liberty to dispense with
the manner or method that Christ did it in; since none that ever I
could hear of, except some Baptists, who now do it, use it in the same
way that he did: Christ did it at supper, while they were eating; but
the generality of Protestants do it in the morning only by itself. What
rule walk they by in this change?
[1173] If it be said, These are but circumstances, and not the matter;
and if the matter be kept to, the alteration of circumstances is but of
small moment;
[1174] What if it should be said the whole is but a circumstance, which
fell out at that time when Christ eat the passover? For if we have
regard to that which alone can be pleaded for an institution, viz.
these words, Do this in remembrance of me; it doth as properly relate
to the manner as matter. For what may or can they evince in reason,
that these words, Do this, only signify eat bread, and drink wine, but
it is no matter when ye eat, nor how ye eat it; and not as ye have seen
me eat it at supper with you, who take bread, and break it, and give it
you; and take the cup, and bless it, and give it you; so do ye
likewise? And seeing Christ makes no distinction in those words, Do
this, it cannot be judged in reason but to relate to the whole; which
if it do, all those that at present use this ceremony among Christians,
have not yet obeyed this precept, nor fulfilled this institution, for
all their clamours concerning it.
If it be said, That the time and manner of doing [1175] it by Christ
was but accidentally, as being after the Jewish passover, which was at
supper;
Besides that it may be answered, and easily [1176] proved, that the
whole was accidental, as being the practice of a Jewish ceremony, as is
above observed; [1177] may it not the same way be urged, that the
drinking of wine is accidental, as being the natural product of that
country; and so be pleaded, that in those countries where wine doth not
grow, as in our nation of Scotland, we may make use of beer or ale in
the use of this ceremony; or bread made of other grain than that which
Christ used? And yet would not our adversaries judge this an abuse, and
not right performing of this sacrament? Yea, have not scruples of this
kind occasioned no little contention among the professors of
Christianitly? [1178] What great contest and strife hath been betwixt
the Greek and Latin Churches concerning the bread? While the one will
have it unleavened, reckoning, because the Jews made use of unleavened
bread in the passover, that it was such kind of bread that Christ did
break to his disciples; the other leavened: therefore the Lutherans
make use of unleavened bread, the Calvinists of leavened. And this
contest was so hot, when the reformation was beginning at Geneva, that
[1179] Calvin and Farellus were forced to fly for it. But do not
Protestants, by these uncertainties, open a door to Papists for their
excluding the people from the cup? Will not [Do this] infer positively,
that they should do it in the same manner, and at the same time, as
Christ did it; as well as that they should use the cup , and not the
bread only? Or what reason have they to dispense with the one, more
than the Papists have to do with the other? Oh! what strange
absurdities and inconveniencies have Christians brought upon
themselves, by superstitiously adhering to this ceremony! Out of which
difficulties it is impossible for them to extricate themselves, but by
laying it aside, as they [1180] have done others of the like nature.
For besides what is above-mentioned, I would gladly know how from the
words they can be certainly resolved that these words [Do this] must be
understood to the clergy, Take, bless, and break this bread, and give
it to others; but to the laity only, Take and eat, but do not bless &c.
[1181] If it be said, That the clergy were only present;
[1182] Then will not that open a door for the Popish argument against
the administration of the cup to the people'? Or may not another from
thence as easily infer, That the clergy only ought to partake of this
ceremony; because they were the apostles only then present, to whom it
was said, Do this? But if this [Do this] be extended to all, how comes
it all have not liberty to obey it, in both blessing, breaking, and
[1183] distributing, as well as taking and eating? Besides all these,
even the Calvinist Protestants of Great Britain could never yet accord
among themselves about the manner of taking it, whether sitting,
standing or kneeling; whether it should be given to the sick, and those
that are ready to die, or not? Which controversies, though they may be
esteemed of small moment, yet have greatly contributed, with other
things, to be the occasion not only of much con tention, but also of
bloodshed and devastation; so that in this last respect the Prelatic
Calvinists have termed the Presbyterians schismatical and pertinacious;
and they them again superstitious, idolatrous, and papistical. Who
then, that will open their eyes, but may see that the devil hath
stirred up this contention and zeal, to busy men about things of small
moment, that greater matters may be neglected, while he keeps them in
such ado about this ceremony; though they lay aside others of the like
nature, as positively commanded, and as punctually practised; and from
the observation of which half so many difficulties will not follow?
S:. VIll. How then? Have we not reason, not finding the nature of this
practice to be obligatory upon us, more than those others which our
adversaries have laid aside, to avoid this confusion; since those that
use it can never agree, neither concerning the nature, efficacy, nor
manner of doing it? And this proceeds, because they take it not
plainly, as it lies in the scripture; but have so much intermixed their
own inventions. For would they take it as it lies, it would import no
more, than that Jesus Christ at that time did thereby signify unto
them, that his body and blood was to be offered for them; and desired
them, that whensoever they did eat or drink, they might do it in
remembrance of him, or with a regard to him, whose blood was shed for
them. Now that the primitive church, gathered immediately after his
ascension, did so understand it, doth appear from their use and
practice, if we admit those places of the Acts, where breaking of
[1184] bread is spoken of, to have relation hereto; which as our
adversaries do so we shall willingly agree to: as first, Acts ii. 42.
And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship,
and in breaking of bread, &c. This cannot be understood of any other
than of their ordinary eating; for as nothing else appears from the
text, so the context makes it plain; for they had all things in
common:and therefore it is said, verse 46. And they continuing daily
with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house,
did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart. Those who
will not wilfully close their eyes, may see here, that the breaking
being joined with their eating shows, that nothing else is here
expressed, but that having all things in common, and so continuing
together, they also did break their bread, and eat their meat together:
in doing whereof, I cannot doubt but they remembered the Lord; to
follow whom they had, with so much zeal and resignation, betaken
themselves. This is further manifest from Acts vi. 2. for the apostles,
having the care and distribution of that money, which the believers,
having sold their possessions, gave unto them, and finding themselves
overcharged with that burden, appointed deacons for that business,
[1185] that they might give themselves continually to prayer, and to
the ministry of the word; not leaving that, to serve tables. This
cannot be meant of any sacramental eating, or religious act of worship;
seeing our adversaries make the distributing of that the proper act of
ministers, not of deacons: and yet there can be no reason alleged, that
that breaking of bread, which they are said to have continued in and to
have done from house to house, was other than those tables which, the
apostles served; but here gave over, as finding themselves overcharged
with it. Now as the increase of the disciples did incapacitate the
apostles any more to manage this; so it would seem their further
increase, and dispersing in divers places, hindered the continuance of
that practice of having things in common but notwithstanding, so far at
least to remember or continue that ancient community, they did at
certain times come together, and break bread toge ther. Hence it is
said, Acts xx. 7. on Paul's coming to Troas, that upon the first day of
the week, when [1186] the disciples came together to break bread, Paul
preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow, and continued his
speech until midnight. Here is no mention made of any sacramental
eating; but only that Paul took occasion from their being together to
preach unto them. And it seems it was a supper they intended, (not a
morning-bit of bread, and sup of wine,) else it is not very probable
that Paul would from the morning have preached until midnight. But the
11th verse puts the matter out of dispute, which is thus: When he
therefore was come up again, and had, broken bread, and eaten, and
talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed. This
shows, that the breaking of bread was deferred till that time; for
these words [and when he had broken bread, and eaten ] do show, that it
had a relation to the breaking of bread before-mentioned, and that that
was the time he did it. Secondly, These words joined together [and when
he had broken bread, and eaten, and talked] show, it was no religious
act of worship, but only an eating for [1187] bodily refreshment, for
which the Christians used to meet together some time; and doing it in
God's fear, and singleness of heart, doth notwithstanding difference it
from the eating or feasting of profane persons. And this by some is
called a love-feast, [1188] or a being together, not merely to feed
their bellies, or for outward ends; but to take thence occasion to eat
and drink together, in the dread and presence of the Lord, as his
people; which custom we shall not condemn. But let it be observed, that
in all the Acts there is no other nor further mention of this matter.
But if that ceremony had been some solemn sacrifice, as some will have
it, or such a special sacrament as others plead it to be; it is strange
that that history, which in many less things gives a particular account
of the Christians' behav iour, should have been so silent in the
matter: only we find, that they used sometimes to meet [1189] together
to break bread, and eat. Now as the early Christians began by degrees
to depart from that primitive purity and simplicity, so did they also
to accumulate superstitious traditions, and vitiate the primitive
innocent practices of their predecessors by the intermixing either of
Jewish or Heathenish rites; and likewise in the use of this, abuses
began very early to creep in among Christians, so that it was needful
for the apostle Paul to reform them, and reprove [1190] them for it, as
he doth at large, 1 Cor. xi. from [1191] verse 17. to the end: which
place we shall particularly examine, because our adversaries lay the
chief stress of their matter upon it; and we shall see whether it will
infer any more than we have above granted. First, Because they were apt
to use that practice in a superstitious mind beyond the true use of it,
so as to make of it some mystical supper of the Lord, he tells them,
vers. 20. That their corning together into one place, is not to eat the
Lord's supper; he saith not, This is not the right manner to eat; but,
This is not to eat the Lord's supper; because the supper of the Lord is
spiritual, and a mystery. Secondly, He blames them, in that they came
together for the worse, and not for the better; the reason he gives of
this is, vers. 21. For in eating every one hath taken before his own
supper; and one is hungry, and another is drunken. Here it is plain
that the apostle condemns [1192] them in that (because this custom of
supping in general was used among Christians to increase their love,
and as a memorial of Christ's supping with the disciples they had so
vitiated it, as to eat it apart, and to come full, who had abundance;
and hungry, who had little at home; whereby the very use and end of
this practice was lost and perverted: and therefore he blames them,
that they did not either eat this in common at home, or reserve their
eating till they came all together to the public assembly. This appears
plainly by the following ver. 22. Have ye not houses to eat and drink
in? Or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not?
Where he blames them for their irregular practice herein, in that they
despised to eat orderly, or reserve their eating to the public
assembly; and so shaming such as not having houses, nor fulness at
home, came to partake of the common table; who, being hungry, therebv
were ashamed, when they observed others come thither full and drunken.
Those that without prejudice will look to the place, will see this must
have been the case among the Corinthians: for supposing the use of this
to have been then, as now used either by Papists, Lutherans, or
Calvinists, it is hard making sense of the apostle's words, or indeed
to conceive what was the abuse the Corinthians committed in this thing.
Having thus observed what the apostle said above, because this custom
of eating and drinking together some [1193] time had its rise from
Christ's act with the apostles the night he was betrayed; therefore the
apostle proceeds, verse 23. to give them an account of that: For I have
received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the
Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, &c.
Those that understand the difference betwixt a narration of a thing,
and a command, cannot but see, if they will, that there is no command
in this place, but only an account of matter of fact; he saith not, I
received of the Lord, that as he took bread, so I should command it to
you to do so likewise; there is nothing like this in the place: yea, on
the contrary, ver. 25. where he repeats Christ's imperative words to
his apostles, he placeth them so as they import no command; This do ye,
as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me: and then he adds, For as
often [1194] as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the
Lord's death till he come: but these words [as often] import no more a
command, than to say, As often as thou goest to Rome, see the Capitol,
will infer a command to me to go thither.
[1195] But whereas they urge the last words, Ye show forth the Lord's
death till he come; insinuating, That this imports a necessary
continuance of that ceremony, until Christ come at the end of the world
to judgment;
[1196] I answer; They take two of the chief parts of the controversy
here for granted, without proof. First, that [as often] imports a
command; the contrary whereof is shown; neither will they ever be
[1197] able to prove it. Secondly, That this coming is to be understood
of Christ's last outward coming, and not of his inward and spiritual,
that remains to be proved: whereas the apostle might well understand it
of his inward coming and appearance, which perhaps some of those carnal
Corinthians, that used to come drunken together, had not yet known; and
others, being weak among them, and inclinable to dote upon externals,
this might have been indulged to them for a season, and even used by
those who knew Christ's appearance in Spirit, (as other things were, of
which we shall speak here after,) especially by the apostle, who became
weak to the weak, and all to all, that he might save [1198] some. Now
those weak and carnal Corinthians might be permitted the use of this,
to show forth or remember Christ's death, till he came to arise in
them; for though such need those outward things to put them in mind of
Christ's death, yet those who are dead with Christ, and not only dead
with Christ, but buried, and also arisen with him, need not such signs
to remember him: and to such therefore the apostle saith, Col. iii. 1.
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above,
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God: but bread and wine are
not those things that are above, but are things of the earth. But that
this whole matter was a mere act of indulgence and condescension of the
apostle Paul to the weak and carnal Corinthians, appears yet more by
the Syriac [1199] copy, which, vers. 17. in his entering upon this
matter, hath it thus; In that concerning which I am about to command
you, (or instruct you,) I commend you not, because ye have not gone
forward, but are descended unto that which is less, or of less
consequence: clearly importing that the apostle was grieved that such
was their condition, that he was forced to give them instructions
concerning those outward things; and doting upon which, they showed
they were not gone forward in the life of Christianity, but rather
sticking in beggarly elements. And therefore vers. 20. the same version
hath it thus, When then ye meet together, ye do not do it, as it is
just ye should do in the day of the Lord, ye eat and drink it: thereby
showing to them, that to meet together to eat and drink outward bread
and wine, was not the labour and work of that day of the Lord. But
since our adversaries are so zealous for this ceremony, because used by
the church of Corinth, (though with how little ground is already
shown,) how come they to pass over far more positive commands of the
apostles, as matters of no moment ? As first, Acts xv. 29. where the
apostles peremptorily command the Gentiles, as that which [1200] was
the mind of the Holy Ghost, To abstain from things strangled, and from
blood: and James v. 14. where it is expressly commanded, That the sick
be [1201] anointed with oil in the name of the Lord.
If they say, These were only temporary things, but [1202] not to
continue;
What have they more to show for this; there [1203] being no express
repeal of them ?
If they say, The repeal is implied, because the apostle [1204] saith,
We ought not to be judged in meats and drinks;
I admit the answer; but how can it be prevented [1205] from militating
the same, way against the other practice ? Surely not at all: nor can
there be any thing urged for the one more than for the other, but
custom and tradition.
[1206] As for that of James, they say, There followed a miracle upon
it, to wit, The recovery of the sick; but this being ceased, so should
the ceremony.
[1207] Though this might many ways be answered, to wit, That prayer
then might as well be forborne, to which also the saving of the sick is
there ascribed; [1208] yet I shall accept of it, because I judge indeed
that ceremony is ceased; only methinks, since our adversaries, and that
rightly, think a ceremony ought to cease where the virtue fails, they
ought by the [1209] same rule to forbear the laying on of hands, in
imitation of the apostles, since the gift of the Holy Ghost doth not
follow upon it.
S:. IX. But since we find that several testimonies of scripture do
sufficiently show, that such external rites are no necessary part of
the new covenant dispensation, therefore not needful now to continue,
however they were for a season practised of old, I shall instance some
few of them, whereby from the nature of the thing, as well as those
testimonies, [1210] it may appear that the ceremony of bread and wine
is ceased, as well as those other things confessed by our adversaries
to be so. The first is Rom xiv. 17. For the kingdom of God is not meat
and drink, but righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost: here
the apostle evidently shows, that the kingdom of God, or gospel of
Christ, stands not in meats and drinks, and such like things, but in
righteousness, &c. as by the context doth appear, where he is speaking
of the guilt and hazard of judging one anther about meats and drinks.
So then, if the kingdom of God stand not in them, nor the gospel, nor
work of Christ, then the eating of outward bread and wine can be no
necessary part of the gospel-worship, nor any perpetual ordinance of
it. Another of the same apostle is yet more plain, Col. ii. 16. the
apostle throughout this whole second chapter doth clearly plead for us,
and against the formality and superstition of our opposers: for in the
beginning he holds forth the great privileges which Christians have by
Christ, who are indeed come to the life of Christianity; and therefore
he desires them, verse 6. As they have received Christ, so to walk in
him; and to beware, lest they be spoiled through philosophy and vain
deceit, after the rudiments or elements of the world; because that in
Christ, whom they have received, is all fullness: and that they are
circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, (which he calls
the circumcision of Christ) and being buried with him by baptism, are
also arisen with him through the faith of the operation of God. Here
also they did partake of the true baptism of Christ; and being such as
are arisen with him, let us see whether he thinks it needful they
should make use of such meat and drink as bread and wine, to put them
in remembrance of Christ's death; or whether they ought to be judged,
that they did it not; verse 16. Let no man therefore judge you in meat
and drink: Is not bread and wine meat and drink? But why? Which are a
shadow of things to come: but the body is of Christ. Then since our
adversaries confess, that their [1211] bread and wine is a sign or
shadow; therefore, according to the apostle's doctrine, we ought not to
be judged in the non-observation of it. But is it not fit for those
that are dead with Christ to be subject to such ordinances? See what he
saith, verse 20. Wherefore, if ye be dead with Christ from the
rudiments [1212] of the world, why, as though living in the world, are
ye subject to ordinances? (Touch not, taste not, handle not: which all
are to perish with the using) after the commandments and doctrines of
men. What can be more plain? If this serve not to take away the
absolute necessity of the use of bread and wine, what can serve to take
it away? Sure I am, the reason here given is applicable to them, which
all do perish with the using; since bread and wine perish with the
using, as much as other things. But further, if the use of water, and
bread and wine, were that wherein the very seals of the new covenant
stood, and did pertain to the chief sacraments of the gospel and
evangelical ordinances, (so called) then would not the gospel differ
from the law, or be preferable to it. Whereas the apostle shows [1213]
the difference, Heb. ix. 10. in that such kind of observations of the
Jews were as a sign of the gospel for that they stood only in meats and
drinks, and divers washings. But if the gospel-worship and service
stand in the same, where is the difference?
[1214] If it be said, These under the gospel have a spiritual
signification;
[1215] So had those under the law; God was the author of those, as well
as Christ is pretended to be the author of these. But doth not this
contending for the use of water, bread, and wine, as necessary parts of
the gospel-worship, destroy the nature of [1216] it, as if the gospel
were a dispensation of shadows, and not of the substance? Whereas the
apostle, in that of the Colossians above mentioned, argues against the
use of these things, as needful to those that are dead and arisen with
Christ, because they are but shadows. And since, through the whole
Epistle to the Hebrews, he argues with the Jews, to wean them from
their old worship, for this reason, because it was typical and,
figurative; is it agreeable to right reason to bring them to another of
the same nature? What ground from scripture or reason can our
adversaries bring us, to evince that one shadow or figure should point
to another shadow or figure, and not to the substance? And yet they
make the figure of circumcision to point to water-baptism, and the
paschal lamb to bread and wine. But was it ever known that one figure
was the anti-type of the other, especially seeing Protestants make not
these their anti-types to have any more virtue and efficacy than the
type had? For since, as they say, and that truly, That their sacraments
[1217] confer not grace, but that it is conferred according to the
faith of the receiver, it will not be denied but the faithful among the
Jews received also grace in the use of their figurative worship. And
though Papists boast that their sacraments confer grace ex opere
operato, yet experience abundantly proveth the contrary.
S:. X. But supposing the use of water-baptism [1218] and bread and wine
to have been in the primitive church, as was also that of abstaining
from things strangled, and from blood, the use of legal purification,
Acts xxi. 23, 24, 25. and anointing of the sick with oil, for the
reasons and grounds before mentioned; yet it remains for our
adversaries to show us how they come by power or authority to
administer them. It cannot be from the letter of the scripture, else
they ought also to do those other things, which the letter declares
also they did, and which in the letter have as much foundation. Then
their power must be derived from the apostles, either mediately or
immediately; but we have shown before, in the tenth proposition, that
they have no mediate power, because of the interruption made by the
apostacy; and for an immediate power or command by the Spirit of God to
administer these things, none of our adversaries pretend to it. We know
that in this, as in other things, they make a noise of the constant
consent of the church, and of Christians in all ages; but as tradition
is not a sufficient ground [1219] for faith, so in this matter
especially it ought to have but small weight; for that in this point of
ceremonies and superstitious observations the apostacy began very
early, as may appear in the epistle of Paul to the Galatians and
Colossians; and we have no ground to imitate them in those things,
whose entrance the apostle so much withstood, so heavily regretted, and
so sharply reproved. But if we look to antiquity, we find, that in such
kind of observan ces and traditions they were very uncertain and
changeable; so that neither Protestants nor Papists [1220] do observe
this ceremony as they did, both in that they gave it to young boys, and
to little children: and for aught can be learned, the use of this and
infant-baptism are of a like age, though the one be laid aside both by
Papists and Protestants, and the other, to wit, baptism of infants, be
stuck to. And we have so much the less reason to lay weight upon
antiquity, for that if we consider their profession of religion,
especially as to worship, and the ceremonial part of it, we shall not
find any church now, whether Popish or Protestant, who differ not
widely [1221] from them in many things, as DallAEus, in his treatise
concerning the Use of the Fathers, well observeth and demonstrateth.
And why they should obtrude this upon us because of the ancients'
practice, which they themselves follow not, or why we may not reject
this, as well as they do other things no less zealously practised by
the ancients, no sufficient reason can be assigned.
Nevertheless I doubt not but many, whose understandings have been
clouded with these ceremonies, have notwithstanding, by the mercy of
God, had some secret sense of the mystery, which they could not clearly
understand, because it was sealed from them by their sticking to such
outward things; and that, through that secret sense, diving in their
comprehensions they ran themselves into these carnal apprehensions, as
imagining the substance of the bread was changed, or that if the
substance was not changed, yet the body was there, &c. And indeed
[1222] I am inclinable very favourably to judge of Calvin in this
particular, in that he deals so ingenuously to confess he neither
comprehends it, nor can express it in words; but yet by a feeling
experience can say, The Lord is spiritually present. Now as I doubt not
but Calvin sometimes had a sense of his presence without the use of
this ceremony, so as the understanding given him of God made him justly
reject the false notions of transubstantiation and consubstantiation,
though he knew not what to establish instead of [1223] them, if he had
fully waited in the light that makes all things manifest, and had not
laboured in his own comprehension to settle upon that external
ceremony, by affixing the spiritual presence as chiefly or principally,
though not only, as he well knew by experience, there, or especially to
relate to it, he might have further reached unto the knowledge of this
mystery than many that went before him.
S:. XI. Lastly, if any now at this day, from a [1224] true tenderness
of spirit, and with real conscience towards God, did practise this
ceremony in the same way, method, and manner, as did the primitive
Christians recorded in scripture, I should not doubt to affirm but they
might be indulged in it, and the Lord might regard them, and for a
season appear to them in the use of these things, as many of us have
known him to do to us in the time of our ignorance; providing always
they did not seek to obtrude them upon others, nor judge such as found
themselves delivered from them, or that they do not pertinaciously
adhere to them. For [1225] we certainly know that the day is dawned, in
which God hath arisen, and hath dismissed all those ceremonies and
rites, and is only to be worshipped in Spirit, and that he appears to
them who wait upon him; and that to seek God in these things is, with
Mary at the sepulchre, to seek the living among the dead: for we know
that he is risen, and revealed in Spirit, leading his children out of
these rudiments, that they may walk with him in his light: to whom be
glory for ever. Amen.
__________________________________________________________________
[1104] I Cor. x. 16. 17. John vi. 32. 33. 35. I Cor. v. 8.
[1105] Acts xv.20. John xiii. 14. James v. 14.
[1106] The body and blood of Christ is spiritual.
[1107] Object,
[1108] Answ.
[1109] What the heavenly seed is, whereby formerly, and also now, life
and salvation was & is communicated.
[1110] The origin, nature and effects of the body, flesh, and blood of
Christ.
[1111] Solid reasons that it is his spiritual body Christ speaks of.
[1112] Cor. vi. 17
[1113] This spiritual light and seed as bread to the hungry soul.
[1114] Christ's outward & spiritual body distinguished.
[1115] The patriarchs did eat of the body.
[1116] John vi. 60. 66.
[1117] The divine light of Christ doth make the saints partakers of his
body.
[1118] Quest.
[1119] Answ.
[1120] The Lutherans and Calvinists' opinions of the flesh and blood of
Christ in the supper so called.
[1121] 1 Cor. vi. 14.
[1122] How the inward man is nourished.
[1123] John vi. 53.
[1124] John vi. 57.
[1125] John vi. 56.
[1126] Verse 16.
[1127] The true spiritual supper of the Lord.
[1128] Man is not tied to the ceremony of breaking bread and drinking
wine which Christ did use with his disciples; this only was a shadow.
[1129] What makes the Christian religion hateful to Jews, Turks, and
Heathens.
[1130] The Papists' faith of Christ's flesh.
[1131] The Lutherans' faith.
[1132] The Calvinists faith.
[1133] Inst. lib. iv. cap. 17.
[1134] J. Calvin's faith of Christ's flesh and blood uncertain.
[1135] The like the Papists.
[1136] Satan busies people in outward signs, shadows, and forms, whilst
they neglect the substance.
[1137] What hath been hurtful to the reformation.
[1138] Two errors the ground of the contention about the supper.
[1139] Believers' souls do really feed upon the flesh and blood of
Christ.
[1140] I.
[1148] The patriarchs and prophets, without this ceremony's use were
true partakers of Christ's flesh and blood.
[1149] The paschal lamb its end.
[1150] Mat. xxvi. 17. Mark xiv. 22. Luke xxii. 19.
[1151] The institution of the supper, or narration of Christ's practice
therein.
[1152] Object.
[1153] Answ.
[1154] The woman of Samaria, John iv. 14.
[1155] The well, the loaves, the bread and wine, Christ takes occasion
from, to show the inward feeling.
[1156] The wickedest may take the outward bread and wine.
[1157] The sacramental union pretended, a figment.
[1158] Object.
[1159] Answ.
[1160] The Pharisees guilty of the blood of the prophets.
[1161] II.
[1162] Whether this ceremony be a necessary part of the new covenant,
and obligatory.
[1163] Mat. xxvi. 26. Mark xiv. 22. Luke xxii. 19. 1 Cor. xi. 23. &c.
[1164] The breaking of bread was no singular thing, but a custom among
the Jews. P. Riccius.
[1165] What it is to do this in remembrance of Christ.
[1166] Christs washing of feet, & its manner related.
[1167] Compared with the breaking of bread.
[1168] The washing one another's feet was left as an example.
[1169] Object
[1170] Answ.
[1171] The Protestants use not the washing of feet.
[1172] The breaking of bread not used now in the same manner as Christ
did.
[1173] Object.
[1174] Answ.
[1175] Object
[1176] Answ.
[1177] The breaking of bread was a Jewish ceremony.
[1178] Contests between the Greek and Latin churches, concerning the
leavened and unleavened bread in the supper.
[1179] Farellus.
[1180] The clergy taking bread, do bless and give it: the laity must
take and eat, not bless it.
[1181] Object.
[1182] Answ.
[1183] Hot contests about the manner of taking it, and to whom to give
it.
[1184] By breaking bread they had all things in common, remembering the
Lord.
[1185] Deacons appointed for serving tables.
[1186] At Troas the supper deferred till midnight.
[1187] They did eat for refreshing the body.
[1188] By some called a love-feast.
[1189] The Christians began by degrees to depart from the primitive
purity.
[1190] I Cor. xi. 17.
[1191] Concerning the supper of the Lord (so called) explained.
[1192] Why the custom of supping in common was used among Christians.
[1193] The rise of that custom.
[1194] That [as often] imports no command of this supper.
[1195] Object.
[1196] Answ.
[1197] Christ's outward & inward coming.
[1198] To remember Christ's death, till he came to arise in the heart.
[1199] And likewise the other Oriental Versions, as the Arabic and
Ethiopic, have it the same way.
[1200] To abstain from things strangled.
[1201] The annointing with oil.
[1202] Object.
[1203] Answ.
[1204] Object.
[1205] Answ.
[1206] Object.
[1207] Answ.
[1208] A ceremony ought to cease, its virtue failing.
[1209] Thus laying on of hands.
[1210] The ceremony of bread and wine is ceased.
[1211] 'Tis but a sign and shadow they confess.
[1212] And which do perish with the using.
[1213] The law was meats & drinks; not so the gospel.
[1214] Object.
[1215] Answ.
[1216] The law has shadows, the gospel brings the substance.
[1217] Their sacraments confer not grace.
[1218] Opposers claim a power to give their sacraments; from whence do
they derive it?
[1219] Tradition no sufficient ground for faith.
[1220] The supper they gave to young boys and children.
[1221] DallAEus.
[1222] Calvin's ingenuous confession commended.
[1223] Eph. v. 13.
[1224] In tenderness of conscience, God winketh at our ignorance.
[1225] The day is dawned wherein God is risen and worshipped in Spirit.
__________________________________________________________________
PROPOSITION XIV.
Concerning the Power of the Civil Magistrate in Matters purely Religious, and
pertaining to the Conscience.
Since God hath assumed to himself the power and Dominion of the
Conscience, who alone can rightly instruct and govern it, therefore it
is not lawful [1226] for any whosoever, by virtue of any authority or
principality they bear in the government of this world, to force the
consciences of others; and therefore all killing, banishing, fining,
imprisoning, and other such things which are inflicted upon men for the
alone exercise of their conscience, or difference in worship or
opinion, proceedeth from the spirit of Cain the murderer, and is
contrary to the truth; providing always, that no man, under the
pretence of conscience, prejudice his neighbour in his life or estate,
or do anything destructive to, or inconsistent with, human society; in
which case the law is for the transgressor, and justice is to be
administered upon all, without respect of persons.
S:. I. Liberty of conscience from the power of the civil magistrate
hath been of late years so largely and learnedly handled, that I shall
need to be but brief in it; yet it is to be lamented that few have
walked answerably to this principle, each pleading it for themselves,
but scarce allowing it to others, as hereafter I shall have occasion
more at length to observe.
It will be fit in the first place, for clearing of mistakes, to say
something of the state of the controversy, that what follows may be the
more clearly understood.
By conscience then, as in the explanation of the fifth and sixth
propositions I have observed, is to be understood that persuasion of
the mind which arises [1227] from the understanding's being possessed
with the belief of the truth or falsity of any thing; which though it
may be false or evil upon the matter, yet if a man should go against
his persuasion or conscience, he would commit a sin; because what a man
doth contrary to his faith, though his faith be wrong, is no ways
acceptable to God. Hence the apostle saith, Whatsoever is not of faith,
is sin; and he that [1228] doubteth is damned if he eat; though the
thing might have been lawful to another; and that this doubting to eat
some kind of meats (since all the creatures of God are good, and for
the use of man, if received with thanksgiving) might be a superstition,
or at least a weakness, which were better removed. Hence Ames. de Cas.
Cons. saith, The conscience, although erring, doth evermore bind, so as
that he sinneth who doth contrary to his conscience, [1229] because he
doth contrary to the will of God, although not materially and truly,
yet formally and interpretatively.
So the question is First, Whether the civil magistrate hath power to
force men in things religious to do contrary to their conscience; and
if they will not, to punish them in their goods, liberties, and lives?
This we hold in the negative. But Secondly, As we would have the
magistrate to avoid this extreme of encroaching upon men's consciences,
so on the other hand we are far from joining with or strengthening such
libertines as would stretch the liberty of their consciences to the
prejudice of their neighbours, or to the ruin of human society. We
understand therefore by matters of conscience such as immediately
relate betwixt God and man, or men and men, that are under the same
persuasion, as to meet together and worship God in that way which they
judge is most acceptable unto him, and not to encroach upon, or seek to
force their neighbours, otherwise than by reason, or such other means
as Christ and his apostles used, viz. Preaching and instructing such as
will hear and receive it; but not at all for men, under the notion of
conscience, to do any thing contrary to the moral and perpetual
statutes generally acknowledged by all Christians; in which case the
magistrate may very lawfully use his authority; as on those, who, under
a pretence of conscience, make it a principle to kill and destroy all
the wicked, id est, all that differ from them, that they, to wit, the
saints, may rule, and who therefore seek to make all things common, and
would force their neighbours to share their estates with them, and many
such wild notions, as is reported of the Anabaptists of Munster; which
evidently appears to proceed from pride and covetousness, and not from
purity or conscience; and therefore I have sufficiently guarded against
that in the latter part of the proposition. But the liberty we lay
claim to is such as the primitive church justly sought under the
heathen emperors, to wit, for men of sobriety, honesty, and a peaceable
conversation, to enjoy the liberty and exercise of their conscience
towards God and among themselves, and to admit among them such, as, by
their persuasion and influence, come to be convinced of the same truth
with them, without being therefore molested by the civil magistrate.
Thirdly, Though we would not have men hurt in their temporals, nor
robbed of their privileges as men and members of the commonwealth,
because of their inward persuasion; yet we are far from judging that in
the church of God there should not be censures exercised against such
as fall into error, as well as such as commit open evils; and therefore
we believe it may be very lawful for a Christian church, if she find
any of her members fall into any error, after due admonitions and
instructions according to gospel order, if she find them pertinacious,
to cut them off from her fellowship by the sword of the Spirit, and
deprive them of those privileges which they had as fellow-members; but
not to cut them off from the world by the temporal sword, or rob them
of their common privileges as men, seeing they enjoy not these as
Christians, or under such a fellowship, but as men, and members of the
creation. Hence Chrysostom saith well, (de Anath.) We must condemn, and
reprove the evil doctrines that proceed from Heretics; but spare the
men and pray for their salvation.
S:. II. But that no man, by virtue of any power or principality he hath
in the government of this world, hath power over the consciences of
men, is apparent, because the conscience of man is the seat [1230] and
throne of God in him, of which God is the alone proper and infallible
judge, who by his power and Spirit can alone rectify the mistakes of
conscience, and therefore hath reserved to himself the power of
punishing the errors thereof as he seeth meet. Now for the magistrate
to assume this, is to take upon him to meddle with things not within
the compass of his jurisdiction; for if this were within the compass of
his jurisdiction, he should be the proper judge in these things; and
also it were needful to him, as an essential qualification of his being
a magistrate, to be capable to judge in them. But that the magistrate,
as a magistrate, is neither proper judge in these cases, nor yet that
the capacity so to be is requisite in him as a magistrate, our
adversaries cannot deny; or else they must say, That all the heathen
magistrates were either no lawful magistrates, as wanting something
essential to magistracy, and this were contrary to the express doctrine
of the apostle, Rom. xiii. or else (which is more absurd) that those
heathen magistrates were proper judges in matters of conscience among
Christians. As for that evasion that the magistrate ought to punish
according to the church censure and determination, which is indeed no
less than to make the magistrate the church's hangman, we shall have
occasion to speak of it hereafter. But if the chief members of the
church, though ordained to inform, instruct, and reprove, are not to
have dominion over the faith nor consciences of the faithful, as the
apostle expressly affirms, 2 Cor. i. 24. then far less ought they to
usurp this dominion, or stir up the magistrate to persecute and murder
those who cannot yield to them therein.
Secondly, This pretended power of the magistrate is both contrary unto,
and inconsistent with the nature of the gospel, which is a thing
altogether extrinsic to the rule and government of political states, as
Christ expressly signified, saying, His kingdom was not of this world;
and if the propagating of the gospel had had any necessary relation
thereunto, then Christ had not said so. But he abundantly hath shown by
his example, whom we are chiefly to imitate in matters of that nature,
that it is by persuasion and the power of God, not by whips,
imprisonments, banishments, and murderings, that the gospel is to be
propagated; and that those that are the propagators of it are often to
suffer by the wicked, but never to cause the wicked to suffer. When he
sends forth his disciples, he tells them, he sends them forth as lambs
[1231] among wolves, to be willing to be devoured, not to devour: he
tells them of their being whipped, imprisoned, and killed for their
conscience; but never that they shall either whip, imprison, or kill:
and indeed if Christians must be as lambs, it is not the nature of
lambs to destroy or devour any. It serves nothing to allege, that in
Christ's and his apostles' times the magistrates were heathens, and
therefore Christ and his apostles, nor yet any of the believers, being
no magistrates, could not exercise the power; because it cannot be
denied but [1232] Christ being the Son of God, had a true right to all
kingdoms, and was righteous heir of the earth. Next, as to his power,
it cannot be denied but he could, if he had seen meet, have called for
legions of angels to defend him, and have forced the princes and
potentates of the earth to be subject unto him, Mat. xxvi. 53. So that
it was only because it was contrary to the nature of Christ's gospel
and ministry to use any force or violence in the gathering of souls to
him. This he abundantly expressed in his reproof to the two sons of
Zebedee, who would have been calling for fire from heaven to burn those
that refused to receive Christ: it is not to be doubted but this was as
great a crime as now to be in an error concerning the faith and
doctrine of Christ. That there was not power wanting to have punished
those refusers of Christ cannot be doubted; for they that could do
other miracles, might have done this also. And moreover, they wanted
not the precedent of a holy man under the law, as did Elias; yet we see
what Christ saith to them, Ye know not what spirit ye are of, Luke ix.
55. For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save
them. Here Christ shows that such kind of zeal was no ways approved of
him; and such as think to make way for Christ or his gospel by this
means, do not understand what spirit they are of. But if it was not
lawful to call for fire from heaven to destroy such as refused to
receive Christ, it is far less lawful to kindle fire upon earth to
destroy those that believe in Christ, because they will not believe,
nor can believe, as the magistrates do, for conscience' sake. And if it
was not lawful for the apostles, who had so large a measure of the
Spirit, and were so little liable to mistake, to force others to their
judgment, it can be far less lawful now for men, who as experience
declareth, and many of themselves confess, are fallible, and often
mistaken, to kill and destroy all such as cannot. because otherwise
persuaded in their minds, judge and believe in matters of con science
just as they do. And if it was not according to the wisdom of Christ,
who was and is King of kings, by outward force to constrain others to
believe him or receive him, as being a thing inconsistent with the
nature of his ministry and spiritual government, do not they grossly
offend him, who will needs be wiser than he, and think to force men
against their persuasion to conform to their doctrine and worship? The
word of the Lord said, Not by power and by might, but by the Spirit of
the Lord, Zech. iv. 6. But these say, Not by the Spirit of the Lord,
but by might and carnal power. The apostle saith plainly, We wrestle
not with flesh [1233] and blood; and the weapons of our warfare are not
carnal, but spiritual: but these men will needs wrestle with flesh and
blood, when they cannot prevail with the Spirit and the understanding;
and not having spiritual weapons, go about with carnal weapons to
establish Christ's kingdom, which they can never do: and therefore when
the matter is well sifted, it is found to be more out of love to self,
and from a principle of pride in man to have all others to bow to him,
than from the love of God. Christ indeed takes another method; [1234]
for he saith, He will make his people a willing people in the day of
his power; but these men labour against men's wills and consciences,
not by Christ's power, but by the outward sword, to make men the people
of Christ, which they never can do, as shall hereafter be shown.
But Thirdly, Christ fully and plainly declareth to us his sense in this
matter in the parable of the tares, Mat. xiii. of which we have himself
the interpreter, verses 38, 39, 40, 42. where he expounds them to be
the children of the wicked one, and yet he will not have the servants
to meddle with them, lest they pull up the wheat therewith. Now it
cannot be denied but heretics are here included; and although these
servants saw the tares, and had a certain discerning of them; yet
Christ would not they should meddle, lest they should hurt the wheat:
thereby intimating, that that capacity in man to be mistaken, ought to
be a bridle upon him, to make him wary in such matters; and therefore,
to prevent this hurt, he gives a positive prohibition, But he said,
Nay, verse 29. So that they who will notwithstanding be pulling up that
which they judge is tares, do openly declare, that they make no scruple
to break the commands of Christ. Miserable is that evasion which some
of our adversaries use here, in alleging these tares are meant of
hypocrites, and not of heretics! But how to evince that, seeing
heretics, as well as hypocrites, are children of the wicked one, they
have not any thing but their own bare affirmation, which is therefore
justly rejected.
If they say, Because hypocrites cannot be discerned, [1235] but so may
heretics;
This is both false, and a begging of the question. [1236] For those
that have a spiritual discerning, can discern both hypocrites and
heretics; and those that want it, cannot certainly discern either.
Seeing the question will arise, Whether that is a heresy which the
magistrate saith is so? and seeing it is both possible, and confessed
by all to have often fallen out, that some magistrates have judged that
heresy which was not, punishing men accordingly for truth, instead of
error; there can be no argument drawn from the obviousness or evidence
of heresy, unless we should conclude heresy could never be mistaken for
truth, nor truth for heresy; whereof experience shows daily the
contrary, even among Christians. But neither is this shift applicable
to this place; for the servants did discern the tares, and yet were
liable to hurt the wheat, if they had offered to pull them up.
S:. III. But they object against this liberty of conscience, [1237]
Deut. xiii. 5. where false prophets are ap pointed to be put to death;
and accordingly they give example thereof.
[1238] The case no way holds parallel; those particular commands to the
Jews, and practices following upon them, are not a rule for Christians;
else we might by the same rule say, It were lawful for us to borrow of
our neighbours their goods, and so carry them away, because the Jews
did so by God's command; or that it is lawful for Christians to invade
their neighbours' kingdoms, and cut them all off without mercy, because
the Jews did so to the Canaanites, by the command of God.
[1239] If they urge, That these commands ought to stand, except they be
repealed in the gospel;
[1240] I say, the precepts and practices of Christ and his apostles
mentioned are a sufficient repeal: for if we should plead, that every
command given to the Jews is binding upon us, except there be a
particular repeal; then would it follow, that because it was lawful for
the Jews, if any man killed one, for the nearest kindred presently to
kill the murderer, without any order of law, it were lawful for us to
do so likewise. And doth not this command of Deut. xiii. 9. openly
order him who is enticed by another to forsake the Lord, though it were
his brother, his son, his daughter, or his wife, presently to kill him
or her? Thou shalt surely kill him, thy hand shall be first upon him,
to put him to death. If this command were to be followed, there needed
neither inquisition nor magistrate to do the business; and yet there is
no reason why they should shuffle by this part, and not the other; yea,
to argue this way from the practice among the Jews, were to overturn
the very gospel, and to set up again the carnal ordinances among the
Jews, to pull down the spiritual ones of the gospel. Indeed we can far
better argue from the analogy betwixt the figurative and carnal state
of the Jews, and the real and spiritual one under the gospel; that as
Mosesdelivered the Jews out of outward Egypt, by an outward force, and
established them in an outward kingdom, by destroying their outward
enemies. for them; so Christ, not by overcoming outwardly, and killing
others, but by suffering and being killed, doth deliver his chosen
ones, the inward Jews, out of mystical Egypt, destroying their
spiritual enemies before them, and establishing among them his
spiritual kingdom, which is not of this world. And as such as departed
from the fellowship of outward Israel were to be cut of by the outward
sword, so those that depart from the inward Israel are to be cut off by
the sword of the Spirit: For it answers very well, That as the Jews
were to cut off their enemies outwardly, in order to establish their
kingdom and outward worship, so they were to uphold it the same way:
but as the kingdom and gospel of Christ was not to be established or
propagated by cutting off or destroying the Gentiles, but by persuading
them, so neither is it to be upheld otherwise.
But Secondly, they urge Rom. xiii. where the [1241] magistrate is said
not to bear the sword in vain, because he is the minister of God, to
execute wrath upon such as do evil. But heresy, say they, is evil.
Ergo.
But so is hypocrisy also; yet they confess he [1242] ought not to
punish that. Therefore this must be understood of moral evils, relative
to affairs betwixt man and man, not of matters of ,judgement or
worship; or else what great absurdities would follow, considering that
Paul wrote here to the church of Rome, which was under the government
of Nero, an impious heathen, and persecutor of the church? Now if a
power to punish in point of heresy be here included, it will
necessarily follow, that Nero had this power; yea, and that he had it
of God; for because the power was of God, therefore the apostle urges
their obedience. But can there be any thing more absurd, than to say
that Nero had power to judge in such cases ? Surely if Christian
magistrates be not to punish for hypoc risy, because they cannot
outwardly discern it; far less could Nero punish any body for heresy,
which he was uncapable to discern. And if Nero had not power to judge
or punish in point of heresy, then nothing can be urged from this
place; since all that is said here, is spoken as applicable to Nero,
with a particular relation to whom it was written. And if Nero had such
a power, surely he was to exercise it according to his judgment and
conscience, and in doing thereof he was not to be blamed; which is
enough to justify him in his persecuting of the apostles, and murdering
the Christians.
[1243] Thirdly, They object that saying of the apostle to the
Galatians, v. 12. I would they were even cut off which trouble you.
[1244] But how this imports any more than a cutting off from the
church, is not, nor can be shown. Beza upon the place saith, We cannot
understand that otherwise than of excommunication, such as was that of
the incestuous Corinthian. And indeed it is madness to suppose it
otherwise; for Paul would not have these cut off otherwise than he did
HymenAEus and Philetus, who were blasphemers; which was by giving them
over to Satan, not by cutting off their heads.
The same way may be answered that other argument, drawn from Rev. ii.
20. where the church of Thyatira is reproved for suffering the woman
Jezabel: which can be no otherways understood, than that they did not
excommunicate her, or cut her off by a church censure. For as to
corporal punishment, it is known that at that time the Christians had
not power to punish heretics so, if they had had a mind to it.
[1245] Fourthly, They allege, that heresies are numbered among the
works of the flesh, Gal. v. 20. Ergo, &c.
[1246] That magistrates have the power to punish all the works of the
flesh is denied, and not yet proved. Every evil is a work of the flesh,
but every evil comes not under the magistrate's cognizance. Is not
hypocrisy a work of the flesh, which our adversaries confess the
magistrates ought not to punish? Yea, are not hatred and envy there
mentioned as works of the flesh? And yet the magistrate cannot punish
them, as they are in themselves, until they exert themselves in other
acts which come under his power. But so long as heresy doth not exert
itself in any act destructive to human society, or such like things,
but is kept within the sphere of those duties of doctrine or worship
which stand betwixt a man and God, they no ways come within the
magistrate's power.
S:. IV. But Secondly; This forcing of men's consciences is contrary to
sound reason, and the very law of nature. For man's understanding
cannot be forced by all the bodily sufferings another man can inflict
upon him, especially in matters spiritual and supernatural: 'Tis
argument, and evident demonstration of reason, together with the power
of God reaching the heart, that can change a man's mind from one
opinion to another, and not knocks and blows, and such like things,
which may well destroy the body, but never can inform the soul, which
is a free agent, and must, either accept or reject matters of opinion
as are borne in upon it by something proportioned to its own nature. To
seek to force minds in any other manner, is to deal with men as if they
were brutes, void of understanding; and at last is but to lose one's
labour, and as the proverb is, To seek to wash the black-moor white. By
that course indeed men may be made hypocrites, but can never be made
Christians; and surely the products of such compulsion (even where the
end is obtained, to wit, an outward assent or conformity, whether in
doctrine or worship) can be no ways acceptable to God, who desireth not
any sacrifice, except that which cometh thoroughly from the heart, and
will have no constrained ones: so that men, by constraining force, are
so far from being members of the church, that they are made ten times
more the servants of Satan than before; in that to their error is added
hypocrisy, the worst of evils in matters of religion, and that which
above all things the Lord's soul most abhors.
[1247] But if it be said, Their error notwithstanding is thereby
suppressed, and the scandal removed;
[1248] I answer; Besides that this is a method no ways allowed by
Christ, as is above proved, surely the church can be no ways bettered
by the accession of hypocrites, but greatly corrupted and endangered;
for open heresies men may be aware of, and shun such as profess them,
when they are separated from the church by her censures; but secret
hypocrites may putrify the body, and leaven it, ere men be aware. And
if the dissenters prove resolute, and suffer boldly for the opinions
they esteem right, experience showeth that such sufferings often tend
to the commendation of the sufferers, but never of the persecutors. For
such suffering ordinarily breeds compassion, and begets a curiosity in
others to inquire the more diligently into the things for which they
see men suffer such great losses so boldly; and is also able to beget
an opinion, that it is for some good they do so suffer: it being no
ways probable that men will venture all merely to acquire fame; which
may as well be urged to detract from the reputation of all the martyrs,
unless some better arguments be brought against it than a halter or a
faggot. But supposing this principle, That the magistrate hath power to
force the consciences of his subjects, and to punish them if they will
not comply, very great inconveniences and absurdities will follow, and
even such as are inconsistent with the nature of the Christian
religion.
For First, It will naturally follow that the magistrate ought to do it,
and sinneth by omission of hisduty, if he do it not. Will it not then
hence be inferred that Christ was defective to his church, who having
power to force men, and to call for legions of angels so to do, did
notwithstanding not exert that power, but left his church to the mercy
of the wicked, without so necessary a bulwark?
Secondly, Seeing every magistrate is to exercise his power according to
the best understanding he hath, being obliged so to do, for the
promoting of what he in conscience is persuaded to be truth, will not
this justify all the heathen Emperors in their persecutions against
Christians? Will not this justify the Spanish inquisition, which yet is
odious not only to Protestants, but to many moderate Papists? How can
Protestants in reason condemn the Papists for persecuting them, seeing
they do but exercise a lawful power according to their conscience and
best understanding, and do no more to them than the sufferers profess
they would do to them, if they were in the like capacity? Which takes
away all ground of commiseration from the sufferers: whereas that was
the ground which of old gained reputation to the Christians, that they
being innocent, suffered, who neither had, nor by principle could, hurt
any. But there is little reason to pity one that is but dealt by
according as he would deal with others. For to say, They have no reason
to persecute us, because they are in the wrong, and we in the right, is
but miserably to beg the question. Doth not this doctrine strengthen
the hands of the persecutors every where, and that rationally, from a
principle of self-preservation: For who can blame me for destroying him
that I know waits but for an occasion to destroy me, if he could? Yea,
this makes all suffering for religion, which of old was the glory of
Christians, to be but of pure necessity; whereby they are not led as
lambs to the slaughter, as was the captain of their salvation; but
rather as wolves catched in the snare, who only bite not again because
they are not able; but could they get force, would be as ready to lead
those the same way that led them. Where is the faith and patience of
the saints? For indeed it is but a small glory to make a virtue of
necessity, and suffer because I cannot help it. Every thief and
murderer would be a martyr at that rate: experience hath abundantly
proved this in these last centuries; for however each party talk of
passively obeying the magtristrate in such cases, and that the power
resides in him, yet it is apparent, that from this principle it
naturally follows, that any party, supposing themselves right, should,
so soon as they are able, endeavour at any rate to get uppermost, that
they might bring under those of another opinion, and force the
magistrate to uphold their way, to the ruin of all others. What engine
the pope of Rome used to make of his pretended power in this thing,
upon any pretence of dislike to any prince or state, even for very
small heresies in their own account, to depose princes, and set up
their subjects against them, and give their dominions to other princes
to serve his interest, they cannot be ignorant who have read the life
of Hildebrand; and how Protestants have vindicated the liberty of their
consciences, after this same manner is apparent. They suffered much in
France, to the great increase and advantage of their party; but as soon
as they found themselves considerable, and had gotten some princes upon
their side, they began to let the king know, that they must either have
the liberty of their consciences, or else they would purchase it; not
by suffering, but by fighting. And the experience of other Protestant
states shows, that if Henry the 4th, to please the Papists, had not
quitted his religion, to get the crown the more peaceably, and so the
Protestants had prevailed with the sword, they would as well have
taught the Papists with the faggot, and led them to the stake: so that
this principle of persecution on all hands is the ground of all those
miseries and contentions. For so long as any party is persuaded, that
it is both lawful for them, and their duty, if in power, to destroy
those that differ from them, it naturally follows they ought to use all
means possible to get that power, whereby they may secure themselves in
the ruin of their adversaries. And that Papists judge it not unlawful
to compel the magistrate, if they be strong enough to do it, to effect
this, experience shows it to be a known popish principle, That the Pope
may depose an heretic prince, and absolve the people from the oath of
fidelity: And the Pope, as is above-said, hath done so to divers
princes; and this doctrine is defended by Bellarmine against Barclay.
The French refused Henry the Fourth till he quitted his religion. And
as for Protestants, many of them scruple not to affirm, That wicked
kings and magistrates may be deposed, and killed: yea, our Scotch
Presbyterians are as positive in it as any Jesuits, who would not admit
king Charles the Second, though otherwise a Protestant prince, unless
he would swear to renounce episcopacy; a matter of no great difference,
though contrary to his conscience. Now how little proportion these
things bear with the primitive Christians, and the religion propagated
by Christ and his apostles, needs no great demonstration; and it is
observable, that notwithstanding many other superstitions crept into
the church very early, yet this of persecution was so inconsistent with
the nature of the gospel, and liberty of conscience, as we have
asserted it, such an innate and natural part of the Christian religion,
that almost all the Christian writers, for the first three hundred
years, earnestly contended for it, condemning the contrary opinion.
[1249] S:. V. Thus Athanasius; It is the property of piety not to,
force, but to persuade, in imitation of our Lord, who forced no body,
but left it to the will of every one to follow him, &c. But the devil,
because he hath nothing of truth, uses knocks and axes, to break up the
doors of such as receive him not. But our Saviour is meek, teaching the
truth; whosoever will come after me, and whosoever will be my disciple,
&c. but constraining none; coming to us, and knocking rather, and
saying, My sister, my spouse, open to me, &c. And entereth when he is
opened to, and retires if they delay, and will not open unto him;
because it is not with swords, nor darts, nor soldiers, nor armour,
that truth is to be declared, but with persuasion and counsel. And it
is observable, that they were the impious Arians who first of all
brought in this doctrine, to persecute others among Christians, whose
successors both Papists and Protestants are in this matter, whom
Athanasius thus reproveth [1250] further: Where (saith he ) have they
learned to persecute? Certainly they cannot say they have learned it
from the saints; but this hath been given them, and taught them of the
devil. The Lord commanded indeed sometimes to flee, and the saints
sometimes fled; but to persecute is the invention and argument of the
devil, which he seeks against all. And after he saith, In so far as the
Arians banish those that will not subscribe their decrees, they show
that they are contrary to Christians, and friends of the devil.
[1251] But now, O lamentable! (saith Hilarius) they are the suffrages
of the earth that recommend the religion of God, and Christ is found
naked of his virtue, while ambition must give credit to his name. The
church reproves and fights by banishment and prisons, and forceth
herself to be believed, which once was believed because of the
imprisonments and banishments herself suffered. She that once was
consecrated by the terrors of her persecutors, depends now upon the
dignity of those that are in her communion. She that once was
propagated by her banished priests, now banisheth the priests. And she
boasts now, that she is loved of the world, who would not have been
Christ's if she had not been hated of the world.
[1252] The church (saith Hierom) was founded by shedding of blood, and
by suffering, and not in doing of hurt. The church increased by
persecutions, and was crowned by martyrdom.
[1253] Ambrose, speaking of Auxentius, saith thus, Whom he (viz.
Auxentius) could not deceive by discourse, he thinks ought to be killed
with the sword, making bloody laws with his mouth, writing them with
his own hands, and imagining that an edict can command faith.
[1254] And the same Ambrose saith, That going into France, he would not
communicate with those bishops that required that heretics should be
put to death.
[1255] The Emperor Martianus, who assembled the council of Chalcedon,
protests, That he would not force nor constrain anyone to subscribe the
council of Chalcedon against his will.
Hosius , [1256] bishop of Corduba, testifies, That the emperor Constans
would not constrain any to be orthodox.
Hilariust [1257] saith further, That God teacheth, rather than
exacteth, the knowledge of himself, and authorizing his commands by the
miracles of his heavenly works; he wills not that any should confess
him with a forced will, &c. He is the God of the whole universe, he
needs not a forced obedience, nor requires a constrained confession.
Christ [1258] (saith Ambrose) sent his apostles to sow faith; not to
constrain, but to teach; not to exercise coercive power, but to extol
the doctrine of humility.
Hence Cypriun , [1259] comparing the old covenant with the new, saith,
Then were they put to death with the outward sword; but now the proud
and contumacious are cut off with the spiritual sword, by being cast
out of the church. And this answers very well that objection before
observed, taken from the practice of the Jews under the law.
See [1260] (saith Tertullian to the heathens) if it be not to
contribute to the renown of irreligion, to seek to take away the
liberty of religion, and to hinder men their choice of God, that I may
not be admitted to adore whom I will, but must be constrained to serve
him whom I will not. There is none, nay, not a man, that desires to be
[1261] adored by any against their will. And again, It is a thing that
easily appears to be unjust, to constrain and force men to sacrifice
against their wills; seeing to do the service of God there is required
a willing heart. [1262] And again, It is an human right and natural
power that every one worship what he esteems; and one man's religion
doth not profit nor hurt another. Neither is it any piece of religion
to enforce religion; which must be undertaken by consent, and not by
violence, seeing that the sacrifices themselves are not required, but
from a willing mind.
Now how either Papists or Protestants, that boast of antiquity, can get
by these plain testimonies, let any rational man judge. And indeed I
much question if in any one point owned by them, and denied by us, they
can find all the old fathers and writers so exactly unanimous. Which
shows how contrary all of them judged this to be to the nature of
Christianity, and that in the point of persecution lay no small part of
the apostacy; which, from little to more, came to that, that the pope,
upon every small discontent, would excommunicate princes, absolve their
subjects from obeying them, and turn them in and out at his pleasure.
Now if Protestants do justly abhor these things among Papists, is it
not sad that they should do the like themselves? A thing that at their
first appearance, when they were in their primitive innocency, they did
not think on, as appears by that saying of Luther; [1263] Neither pope
nor bishop, nor any other man, hath power to oblige a Christian to one
syllable, except it be by his own consent. And again, I call boldly to
all Christians, that neither man nor angel can impose any law upon
them, but so far as they will; for we are free of all. And when he
appeared at the diet of Spiers, before the emperor, in a particular
conference he had before the archbishop of Triers and Joachim elector
of Brandenburgh, when there seemed no possibility of agreeing with his
opposers, they asking him, What remedy seemed to him most fit? He
[1264] answered, The counsel that Gamaliel proposed to the Jews, to
wit, That if this design was of God, it would stand; if not, it would
vanish; which he said ought to content the pope: he did not say,
because he was in the right he ought to be spared. For this counsel
supposeth that those that are tolerated may be wrong; and yet how soon
did the same Luther, ere he was well secure himself, press the elector
of Saxony to banish poor Carolostadius, because he could not in all
things submit to his judgment? And certainly it is not without ground
reported, that it smote Luther to the heart; so that he needed to be
comforted, when he was informed, that Carolostadius, in his letter to
his congregation, styled himself A man banished for conscience, by the
procurement of Martin Luther. And since both the Lutherans and
Calvinists not admitting one another to worship in those respective
dominions, showeth how little better they are than either Papists or
Arians in this particular. And yet Calvin saith, That the [1265]
conscience is free from the power of all men: if so, why then did he
cause Castellio to be banished because he could not, for conscience'
sake, believe as he did, That God had ordained man to be damned? And
Servetus to be burned for denying the divinity of Christ, if Calvin's
report of him be to be credited? Which opinion, though indeed it was to
be abominated, yet no less was Calvin's practice in causing him to be
burned, and afterwards defending that it was lawful to burn heretics;
by which he encouraged the Papists to lead his followers the more
confidently to the stake, as having for their warrant the doctrine of
their own sect-master; which they omitted not frequently to remind them
of and indeed it was to them unanswerable. Hence, upon this occasion,
the judicious author of the History of the Council of Trent, in his
fifth book, where giving an account of several Protestants that were
burned for their religion, well and wisely observeth it, as a matter of
astonishment, that those of the new reformation did offer to punish in
the case of religion. And afterwards taking notice that Calvin
justifies the punishing of heretics, he adds, But since the name of
heresy may be more or less restricted, yea, or diversely taken, this
doctrine may be likewise taken in divers senses, and may at one time
hurt those, whom at another time it may have benefitted.
[1266] So that this doctrine of persecution cannot be maintained by
Protestants, without strengthening the hands of popish inquisitors; and
indeed in the end lands in direct popery; seeing, if I may not profess
and preach that religion, which I am persuaded in my own conscience is
true, it is to no purpose to search the scriptures, or to seek to
choose my own faith by convictions thence derived; since whatever I
there observe, or am persuaded of, I must either subject to the
judgment of the magistrate and church of that place I am in, or else
resolve to remove, or die. Yea, doth not this heretical and
antichristian doctrine, both of Papists and Protestants, at last
resolve into that cursed policy of Mahomet, who prohibited all reason
or discourse about religion, as occasioning factions and divisions? And
indeed those that press persecution, and deny liberty of conscience, do
thereby show themselves more the disciples of Mahomet than of Christ;
and that they are no ways followers of the apostle's doctrine, who
desired the Thessalonians to prove all things, and hold fast that which
is good, 1 Thess. v. 21. And also saith, Unto such as are otherwise
minded, God shall reveal it, Phil. iii. 15.not that by beatings and
banishments it must be knocked into them.
S:. VI. Now the ground of persecution, as hath [1267] been above shown,
is an unwillingness to suffer; for no man, that will persecute another
for his conscience, would suffer for his own, if he could avoid it,
seeing his principle obliges him, if he had power, by force to
establish that which he judges is the truth, and so to force others to
it. Therefore I judge it meet, for the information of the nations,
briefly to add something in this place concerning the nature of true
Christian sufferings, whereunto a very faithful testimony hath been
borne by God's witnesses, which he hath raised up in this age, beyond
what hath been generally known or practised for these many generations,
yea, since the apostacy took place. Yet it is not my design here in any
wise to derogate from the sufferings of the Protestant martyrs, whom I
believe to have walked in faithfulness towards God, according to the
dispensations of light in that day appearing, and of which many were
utter enemies to persecution, as by their testimonies against it might
be made appear.
But the true, faithful, and Christian suffering is [1268] for men to
profess what they are persuaded is right, and so practise and perform
their worship towards God, as being their true right so to do; and
neither to do more in that, because of outward encouragement from men,
nor any whit less, because of the fear of their laws and acts against
it. Thus for a Christian man to vindicate his just liberty, with so
much boldness, and yet innocency, will in due time, though through
blood, purchase peace, as this age hath in some measure experienced,
and many are witnesses of it; which yet shall be more apparent to the
world, as truth takes place in the earth. But they, greatly sin against
this excellent rule, that in time of persecution do not profess their
own way so much as they would if it were otherwise; and yet, when they
can get the magistrate upon their side, not only stretch their own
liberty to the utmost, but seek to establish the same by denying it to
others.
[1269] But of this excellent patience and sufferings, the witnesses of
God, in scorn called Quakers, have a given a manifest proof: for so
soon as God revealed his truth among them, without regard to any
opposition whatsoever, or what they might meet with, they went up and
down, as they were moved of the Lord, preaching and propagating the
truth in maketplaces, highways, streets, and public temples, though
daily beaten, whipped, bruised, haled, and imprisoned therefor. And
when there was any where a church or assembly gathered, they taught
them to keep their meetings openly, and not to shut the door, nor do it
by stealth, that all might know it, and those who would might enter.
And as hereby all just occasion of fear of plotting against the
government was fully removed, so this their courage and faithfulness in
not giving over their meeting together, (but more especially the
presence and glory of God manifested in the meeting being terrible to
the consciences of the persecutors,) did so weary out the malice of
their adversaries, that oftentimes they were forced to leave their work
undone. For when they came to break up a meeting, they were obliged to
take every individual out by force, they not being free to give up
their liberty by dissolving at their command: and when they were haled
out, unless they were kept forth by violence, they presently returned
peaceably to their place. Yea, when sometimes the magistrates have
pulled down their meeting-houses, they have met the next day openly
upon the rubbish, and so by innocency kept their possession and ground,
being properly their own, and their right to meet and worship God being
not forfeited to any. So that when armed men have come to dissolve
them, it was impossible for them to do it, unless they had killed every
one; for they stood so close together, that no force could move any one
to stir, until violently pulled thence: so that when the malice of
their opposers stirred them to take shovels, and throw the rubbish upon
them, there they stood unmoved, being willing, if the Lord should so
permit, to have been there buried alive, witnessing for him. As this
patient but yet courageous way of suffering made the persecutors' work
very heavy and wearisome unto them, so the courage and patience of the
sufferers, using no resistance, nor bringing any weapons to defend
themselves, nor seeking any ways revenge upon such occasions, did
secretly smite the hearts of the persecutors, and made their chariot
wheels go on heavily. Thus after much and many kind of sufferings thus
patiently borne, which to rehearse would make a volume of itself, which
may in due time be published to the nations, (for we have them upon
record,) a kind of negative liberty has been obtained; so that at
present for the most part we meet together without disturbance from the
magistrate. But on the contrary, most Protestants, when they have not
the allowance and toleration of the magistrate, meet only in secret,
and hide their testimony; and if they be discovered, if there be any
probability of making their escape by force, (or suppose it were by
cutting off those that seek them out,) they will do it; whereby they
lose the glory of their sufferings, by not appearing as the innocent
followers of Christ, nor having a testimony of their harmlessness in
the hearts of their pursuers, their fury, by such resistance, is the
more kindled against them. As to this last part, of resisting such as
persecute them, they can lay claim to no precept from Christ, nor any
example of him or his apostles approved.
[1270] But as to the first part, for fleeing and meeting secretly, and
not openly testifying for the truth, they usually object that saying of
Christ, Mat x. 23 . When they persecute you in this city, flee ye into
another. And Acts ix. 4. That the disciples met secretly for fear of
the Jews. And Acts ix. 25. That Paul was let out of Damascus in a
basket down by the wall.
[1271] To all which I answer, First, As to that saying of Christ, it is
a question if it had any further relation than to that particular
message with which he sent them to the Jews; yea, the latter end of the
words seems expressly to hold forth so much; For ye shall not have gone
over the cities of Israel till the son of man be come. Now a particular
practice or command for a particular time will not serve for a
precedent to any at this day to shun the cross of Christ. But supposing
this precept to reach farther, it must be so understood to be made use
of only according as the Spirit giveth liberty, else no man that could
flee might suffer persecution. How [1272] then did not the apostles
John and Peter flee, when they were the first time persecuted at
Jerusalem? But, on the contrary, went the next day, after they were
discharged by the council, and preached boldly to the people. But
indeed many are but too capable to stretch such sayings as these for
self-preservation, and therefore have great ground to fear, when they
interpret them, that they shun to witness for Christ, for fear of hurt
to themselves, lest they mistake them. As for that private meeting of
the disciples, we have only an account of the matter of fact, but that
suffices not to make of it a precedent for us; and men's aptness to
imitate them in that (which, for aught we know, might have been an act
of weakness) and not in other things of a contrary nature, shows that
it is not a true zeal to be like those disciples, but indeed a desire
to preserve themselves, which moves them so to do. Lastly, as to that
of Paul's being conveyed out of Damascus, the case was singular, and is
not to be doubted but it was done by a special allowance from God, who
having designed him to be a principal minister of his gospel, saw meet
in his wisdom to disappoint the wicked counsel of the Jews. But our
adversaries have no such pretext for fleeing, whose fleeing proceeds
from self-preservation, not from immediate revelation. And that Paul
made not this the method of his procedure, appears, in that at another
time, notwithstanding the persuasion of his friends, and certain
prophecies of his sufferings to come, he would not be dissuaded from
going up to Jerusalem, which according to the forementioned rule he
should have done.
But Lastly, To conclude this matter, glory to God, and our Lord Jesus
Christ, that now these twenty-five years, since we were known to be a
distinct and separate people, hath given us faithfully to suffer for
his name, without shrinking or fleeing the cross; and what liberty we
now enjoy, it is by his mercy, and not by any outward working or
procuring of our own, but it is He has wrought upon the hearts of our
opposers. Nor was it any outward interest hath procured it unto us, but
the testimony of our harmlessness in the hearts of our superiors: for
God hath preserved us hitherto in the patient suffering of Jesus, that
we have not given away our cause by persecuting any, which few if any
Christians that I know can say. Now against our unparallelled yet
innocent and Christian cause our malicious enemies have nothing to say,
but that if we had power, we should do so likewise. This is a piece of
mere unreasonable malice, and a privilege they take to judge of things
to come, which they have not by immediate revelation; and surely it is
the greatest height of harsh judgment to say men would do contrary to
their professed principle if they could, who have from their practice
hitherto given no ground for it, and wherein they only judge others by
themselves: such conjectures cannot militate against us, so long as we
are innocent. And if ever we prove guilty of persecution, by forcing
other men by corporal punishment to our way, then let us be judged the
greatest of hypocrites, and let not any spare to persecute us. Amen,
saith my soul.
__________________________________________________________________
[1226] Luke ix. 55. 56. Mat. vii. 12, 13, 29. Tit. iii. 10.
[1227] What conscience is.
[1228] Rom. xiv. 23.
[1229] i e. As he supposeth.
[1230] Conscience the throne of God.
[1231] Mat. x. 16.
[1232] Mat. xxviii. 18.
[1233] 2Cor. x. 4.
[1234] Psal. cx. 3.
[1235] Object.
[1236] Answ.
[1237] Object.
[1238] Answ.
[1239] Object.
[1240] Answ.
[1241] Object.
[1242] Answ.
[1243] Object.
[1244] Answ.
[1245] Object.
[1246] Answ.
[1247] Object.
[1248] Answ.
[1249] Athan. in episl. ad sort. vit. ag. Ibid.
[1250] Athan. apol 1. de fuga sua, tom. 1.
[1251] Hil. contra Aux.
[1252] Hieron. epist. 62. ad The.
[1253] Amb. epist. 32. tom. 3.
[1254] Amb. epist. 27.
[1255] Mart epist. ad Archimand. &c Mon. Eg. in acta concil. Chalced.
tom. 2. coac. gen.
[1256] Hosi epist. ad-- Constit. apud Atb. in Eph. ad solit. vit. tom.
1
[1257] Hil. 1. 1. ad Const.
[1258] Ambr. comm. in Luc. 1. 7.
[1259] Cypr. epist. 62.
[1260] Tertul. Apol. c. 24.
[1261] Id. Apol. c. 28.
[1262] Idem ad Scapul. c. 2.
[1263] Luth. lib. de captivitate Babylon
[1264] History of the council of Trent.
[1265] Calv. inst. 1. 3. c. 19. sect. 14.
[1266] Protestant persecution strengthens the popish inquisition.
[1267] The ground of persecution.
[1268] What true suffering is.
[1269] The innocent sufferings of the people called Quakers.
[1270] Object.
[1271] Answ.
[1272] Fleeing in time of persecution not allowed.
__________________________________________________________________
PROPOSITION XV.
Concerning Salutations and Recreations, &c.
[1273] Seeing the chief end of all religion is to redeem men from the
spirit and vain conversation of this world and to lead into inward
communion with God, before whom if we fear always we are accounted
happy; therefore all the vain customs and habits thereof, both in word
and deed, are to be rejected and forsaken by those who come to this
fear; such as taking off the hat to a man, the bowings and cringings of
the body, and such other salutations of that kind, with all the foolish
and superstitious formalities attending them; all which man hath
invented in his degenerate state, to feed his pride in the vain pomp
and glory of this world: as also the unprofitable plays, frivolous
recreations, sportings, and gamings, which are invented to pass away
the precious time, and divert the mind from the witness of God in the
heart, and from the living sense of his fear, and from that evangelical
Spirit wherewith Christians ought to be leavened, and which leads into
sobriety, gravity, and godly fear; in which as we abide, the blessing
of the Lord is felt to attend us in those actions in which we are
necessarily engaged, in order to the taking care for the sustenance of
the outward man.
S:. I. Having hitherto treated of the principles of religion, both
relating to doctrine and worship, I am now to speak of some practices
which have been the product of these principles, in those witnesses
whom God hath raised up in this day to testify for his truth. It will
not a little commend them, I suppose, in the judgment of sober and
judicious men, that taking them generally, even by the confession of
their adversaries, they are found to be free of those abominations
which abound among other professors, such as are swearing, drunkenness,
whoredom, riotousness, &c. and that generally the very coming among
this people doth naturally work such a change, so that many vicious and
profane persons have been known, by coming to this truth, to become
sober and virtuous; and many light, vain, and wanton ones to become
grave and serious, as our adversaries dare not deny: [1274] Yet that
they may not want something to detract us for, cease not to accuse us
for those things, which, when found among themselves, they highly
commend; thus our gravity they call sullenness; our seriousness,
melancholy; our silence, sottishness. Such have been vicious and
profane among them, but by coming to us have left off those evils, lest
they should commend the truth of our profession, they say, that whereas
they were profane before, they are become worse, in being hypocritical
and spiritually proud. If any before dissolute and profane among them,
by coming to the truth with us, become frugal and diligent, then they
will charge them with covetousness: and if any eminent among them for
seriousness, piety, and discoveries of God, come unto us,then they will
say, they were always subject to melancholy and to enthusiasm; though
before, when among them, it was esteemed neither melancholy nor
enthusiasm in an evil sense, but Christian gravity and divine
revelation. Our boldness and Christian sufering they call obstinacy and
pertinacy; though half as much, if among themselves, they would account
Christian courage and nobility. And though thus by their envy they
strive to read all relating to us backwards, counting those things
vices in us, which in themselves they would extol as virtues, yet hath
the strength of truth extorted this confession often from them, That we
are generally a pure and clean people, as to the outward conversation.
But this, they say, is but in policy to commend our heresy.
But such policy it is, say I, as Christ and his apostles made use of,
and all good Christians ought to do; yea, so far hath truth prevailed
by the purity of its followers, that if one that is called a Quaker do
but that which is common among them, as to laugh and be wanton, speak
at large, and keep not his word punctually, or be overtaken with
hastiness or anger, they presently say, O this is against your
profession! As if indeed so to do were very consistent with theirs;
wherein though they speak the truth, yet they give away their cause.
But if they can find any under our name in any of those evils common
among themselves, (as who can imagine but among so many thousands there
will be some chaff; since of twelve apostles one was found to be a
devil,) O how will they insult, and make more noise of the escape of
one Quaker, than of an hundred among themselves!
S:. II. But there are some singular things, which most of all our
adversaries plead for the lawfulness of, and allow themselves in, as no
ways inconsistent with the Christian religion, which we have found to
be no ways lawful unto us, and have been commanded of the Lord to lay
them aside; though the doing thereof hath occasioned no small
sufferings and buffetings, and hath procured us much hatred and malice
from the world. And because the nature of these things is such, that
they do upon the very sight distinguish us, and make us known, so that
we cannot hide ourselves from any, without proving unfaithful to our
testimony; our trials and exercises have herethrough proved the more
numerous and difficult, as will after appear. These I have laboured
briefly to comprehend in this proposition; but they may more largely be
exhibited in these six following propositions.
I. That it is not lawful to give to men such flattering [1275] titles,
as Your Holiness, Your Majesty, Your Eminency, Your Excellency, Your
Grace, Your Lordship, Your Honour, &c. nor use those flattering words,
commonly called [Compliments.]
II. That it is not lawful for Christians to kneel, or [1276] prostrate
themselves to any man, or to bow the body, or to uncover the head to
them.
III. That it is not lawful for Christians to use superfluities [1277]
in apparel, as are of no use save for ornament and vanity.
IV. That it is not lawful to use games, sports. plays, [1278] nor among
other things comedies among Christians, under the notion of
recreations, which do not agree with Christian silence, gravity, and
sobriety: for loughing, sporting, gaming, mocking, jesting, vain
talking, &c. is not Christian liberty, nor harmless mirth.
V. That it is not lawful for Christians to swear at [1279] all under
the gospel, not only not vainly, and in their common discourse, which
was also forbidden under the Mosaical law, but even not in judgement
before the magistrate.
VI. That it is not lawful for Christians to resist evil, [1280] or to
war or fight in any case.
[1281] Before I enter upon a particular disquisition of these things, I
shall first premise some general considerations, to prevnt all
mistakes; and next add some general considerations, which equally
respect all of them. I would not have any judge, that hereby we intend
to destroy the mutual relation that either is betwixt prince and
people, master and servants, parents and children; nay, not at all; we
shall evidence, that our principle in these things hath no such
tendency, and that these natural relations are rather better
established, than any ways hurt by it. Next, Let not any judge, that
from our opinion in these things, any necessity of levelling will
follow, or that all men must have things in common. Our principle
leaves every man to enjoy that peaceably, which either his own
industry, or his parents, have purchased to him; only he is thereby
instructed to use it aright, both for his own good, and that of his
brethren; and all to the glory of God: in which also his acts are to be
voluntary, and no ways constrained. And further, we say not hereby,
that no man may use the creation more or less than another: for we
know, that as it hath pleased God to dispense it diversely, giving to
some more, and some less, so they may use it [1282] accordingly. The
several conditions, under which men are diversely stated, together with
their educations answering thereunto, do sufficiently show this: the
servant is not the same way educated as the master; nor the tenant as
the landlord; nor the rich as the poor; nor the prince as the peasant.
Now, though it be not lawful for any, however great abundance they may
have, or whatever their education may be, to use that which is merely
superfluous; yet seeing their education has accustomed them thereunto,
and their capacity enables them so to do, without being profuse or
extravagant, they may use things better in their kind, than such whose
education hath neither accustomed them to such things, nor their
capacity will reach to compass them. For it is beyond question, that
whatever [1283] thing the creation affords is for the use of man, and
the moderate use of them is lawful, yet, per accidens, they may be
unlawful to some, and not to others. As for instance, he that by reason
of his estate and education hath been used to eat flesh and drink wine,
and to be clothed with the finest wool, if his estate will bear it, and
he use it neither in superfluity, nor immoderately, he may do it; and
perhaps, if he should apply himself to feed, or be clothed as are the
peasants, it might prejudice the health of his body, and nothing
advance his soul. But if a man, whose estate and education had
accustomed him to both coarser food and raiment, should stretch himself
beyond what he had, or were used to, to the manifest prejudice of his
family and children, no doubt it would be unlawful to him, even so to
eat or be clothed as another, in whom it is lawful; for that the other
may be as much mortified, and have denied himself as much in coming
down to that, which this aspires to, as he, in willing to be like him,
aspires beyond what he either is able, or hath accustomed to do. The
safe place then is, for such as have fulness, to watch over themselves,
that they use it moderately, and rescind all superfluities; being
willing, as far as [1284] they can, to help the need of those to whom
Providence hath allotted a smaller allowance. Let the brother of high
degree rejoice, in that he is abased; and such as God calls in a low
degree, be content with their condition, not envying those brethren who
have greater abundance, knowing they have received abundance, as to the
inward man; which is chiefly to be regarded. And therefore beware of
such a temptation, as to use their calling as an engine to be richer,
knowing, they have this advantage beyond the rich and and noble that
are called, that the truth doth not any ways abase them, nay, not in
theesteem of the world, as it doth in the other; but that they are
rather exalted thereby, in that as to the inward and spiritual
fellowship of the saints, they become the brethren and companions of
the greatest and richest; and in this respect, Let him of low degree
rejoice that he is exalted.
These things premised, I would seriously propose unto all such, as
choose to be Christians indeed, and that in nature, and not in name
only, whether it were not desirable, and would not greatly contribute
to the commendation of Christianity, and to the increase of the life
and virtue of Christ, if all superfluous titles of honour, profuseness
and prodigality in meat and apparel, gaming, sporting, and playing,
were laid aside and forborne? And whether such as lay them aside, in so
doing, walk not more like the disciples of Christ and his apostles, and
are therein nearer their example, than such as use them? Whether the
laying them aside would hinder any from being good Christians? Or if
Christians might not be better without them, than with them? Certainly
the sober and serious among all sorts will say, Yea. Then surely such
as lay them aside, as reckoning them unsuitable for Christians, are not
to be blamed, but rather commended for so doing: because that in
principle and practice they effectually advance that, which others
acknowledge were desirable, but can never make effectual, so long as
they allow the use of them as lawful. And God hath made it manifest in
this age, that by discovering the evil of such things, and leading his
witnesses out of them, and to testify against them, he hath produced
effectually in many that mortification and abstraction from the love
and cares of this world, who daily are conversing in the world (but
inwardly redeemed out of it) both in wedlock, and in their lawful
employments, which was judged could only be obtained by such as were
shut up in cloisters and monasteries. Thus much in general.
S:. III. As to the first we affirm positively, That it is not lawful
for Christians either to give or receive these titles of honour, as,
Your Holiness, Your Majesty, Your Excellency, Your Eminency, &c.
First, Because these titles are no part of that [1285] obedience which
is due to magistrates or superiors; neither doth the giving them add to
or diminish from that subjection we owe to them, which consists in
obeying their just and lawful commands, not in titles and designations.
Secondly, We find not that in the scripture any [1286] such titles are
used, either under the law or the gospel: but that in the speaking to
kings, princes, or nobles, they used only a simple compellation, as, O
King! and that without any further designation, save perhaps the name
of the person, as, O King Agrippa, &c.
Thirdly, It lays a necessity upon Christians most [1287] frequently to
lie; because the persons obtaining these titles, either by election or
hereditarily, may frequently be found to have nothing really in them
deserving them, or answering to them: as some to whom it is said, Your
Excellency, having nothing of excellency in them; and he who is called
Your Grace, appears to be an enemy to grace; and he who is called Your
Honour, is known to be base and ignoble. I wonder what law of man, or
what patent ought to oblige me to make a lie, in calling [1288] good,
evil; and evil, good? I wonder what law of man can secure me, in so
doing, from the just judgment of God, that will make me account for
every idle word? And to lie is something more. Surely Christians should
be ashamed that such laws, manifestly crossing the law of God, should
be among them.
If it be said, We ought in charity to suppose that they [1289] have
these virtues, because the king has bestowed those titles upon them, or
that they are descended of such as deserved them;
[1290] I answer, Charity destroys not knowledge: I am not obliged by
charity, either to believe or speak a lie. Now it is apparent, and
cannot be denied by any, but that those virtues are not in many of the
persons expressed by the titles they bear; neither will they allow to
speak so to such, in whom these virtues are, unless they be so
dignified by outward princes. So that such as are truly virtuous, must
not be styled by their virtues, because not privileged by the princes
of this world; and such as have them not, must be so called, because
they have obtained a patent so to be: and all this is done by those,
who pretend to be his followers, that commanded his disciples, Not to
be called of men Master; and told them, such could not believe, as
received honour one from another, and sought not the honour which
cometh from God only. This is so plain, to such as will indeed be
Christians, that it needs no consequence.
[1291] Fourthly, As to those titles of Holiness, Eminency, and
Excellency, used among the Papists to the Pope and Cardinals, &c. and
Grace, Lordship, and Worship, used to the Clergy among the Protestants,
it is a most blasphemous usurpation. For if they use Holiness and
Grace, because these things ought to be in a Pope, or in a Bishop, how
come they to usurp that peculiarly to themselves? Ought not holiness
and grace to be in every Christian? And so every Christian should say,
Your Holiness, and Your Grace, one to another. Next, how can they in
reason claim any more titles, than were practised and received by the
apostles and primitive Christians, whose successors they pretend they
are, and as whose successors (and no otherwise) themselves, I judge,
will confess any honour they seek is due to them? Now if they neither
sought, received, nor admitted such honour nor titles, how came these
by them? If they say they did, let them prove it if they can: we find
no such thing in the scripture. The Christians speak to the apostles
without any such denomination, neither saying If it please Your Grace,
Your Holiness, Your Lordship, nor Your Worship; they are neither called
My Lord Peter, nor My Lord Paul; nor yet Master Peter, nor Master Paul;
nor Doctor Peter, nor Doctor Paul; but singly Peter and Paul; and that
not only in the scripture, but for some hundreds of years after: so
that this appears to be a manifest fruit of the apostacy. For if these
titles arise either from the office or worth of the persons, it will
not be denied, but the apostles deserved them better than any now that
call for them. But the case is plain, the apostles had the holiness,
the excellency, the grace; and because they were holy, excellent, and
gracious, they neither used, nor admitted of such titles; but these
having neither holiness, excellency, [1292] nor grace, will needs be so
called, to satisfy their ambitious and ostentatious minds, which is a
manifest token of their hypocrisy.
Fifthly, As to that title of Majesty, usually ascribed to princes, we
do not find it given to any such in the holy scripture; but that it is
specially and peculiarly ascribed unto God, as 1 Chron. xxix. 11. Job.
xxxvii. 22. Psal. xxi. 5. and xxix. 4. and xlv. 3. and cxiii. 1. and
cxvi. 6. Isa. ii. 10. and xxiv. 14. and xxvi. 10. Heb. i. 3. 2 Pet. i.
16. and many more places. Hence saith Jude, ver. 25. To the only wise
God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, &c. not to men. We find in
scripture the proud king Nebuchadnezzar assuming this title to himself,
Dan. iv. 30. who at that time received a sufficient reproof, by a
sudden judgment which came upon him. Therefore in all the compellations
used to princes in the Old Testament, it is not to be found, nor yet in
the New. Paul was very civil to Agrippa, yet he gives him no such
title: neither was this title used among Christians in the primitive
times. Hence the Ecclesiastical History of the Reformation of France,
re lating the speech of the Lord Rochefort, at the assembly of the
estates of France, held under Charles [1293] the Ninth, in the year
1560, saith, That this harangue was well remarked, in that he used not
the [1294] word [Majesty] invented by flatterers of late years. And yet
this author minded not how his master Calvin used this flattering title
to Francis the First, King of France; and not only so, but calls him
Most Christian King, in the epistle to his Institutions; though by his
daily persecuting of the reformers, it was apparent, he was far from
being such, even in Calvin's own esteem. Surely the complying with such
vain titles, imposed and introduced by antichrist, greatly tended to
stain the reformation, and to render it defective in many things.
Lastly, All these titles and styles of honour are to be rejected by
Christians, because they are to seek the honour that comes from above,
and not the honour that is from below: but these honours are not that
honour that comes from above, but are from below. For we know well
enough what industry, and what pains men are at to get these things,
and what part it is that seeks after them, [1295] to wit, the proud,
insolent, haughty, aspiring mind. For judge, Is it the meek and
innocent Spirit of Christ that covets that honour? Is it that Spirit
that must be of no reputation in this world, that has its conversation
in heaven, that comes to have fellowship with [1296] the sons of God?
Is it that Spirit, I say, that loves that honour, that seeks after that
honour, that pleads for the upholding of that honour, that frets, and
rages, and fumes, when it is denied that honour? Or is it not rather
the lordly insulting [1297] spirit of Lucifer, the prince of this
world, he that of old affected and sought after this honour, and loved
not to abide in the submissive low place? And so all his children are
possessed with the same ambitious proud mind, seeking and coveting
titles of honour, which indeed belong not to them. Forlet us examine,
[1298] Who they are that are honourable indeed? Is it not the righteous
man? Is it not the [1299] holy man? Is it not the humble-hearted man,
the meek-spirited man? And are not such those that ought to be honoured
among Christians? Now of these, may there not be poor Men, Labourers,
silly Fishermen? And if so, how comes it that the titles of honour are
not bestowed upon such? But who are they that generally receive and
look for this honour? Are they not the rich ones, such as have
abundance of the earth, as be like the rich glutton, such as are proud
and ambitious, such as are oppressors of the poor, such as swell, with
lust and vanity, and all superfluity of naughtiness, who are the very
abomination and plague of the nations? Are not these they that are
accounted honourable, that require and receive the titles of honour,
proud Hamans? Now whether is this the honour that comes from God, or
the honour from below? Doth God honour such as daily dishonour him, and
disobey him? And if this be not the honour that comes from God, but the
honour of this world, which the children of this world give and receive
one from another; how can the children of God, such as are Christians
indeed, give or receive that honour among themselves, without coming
under the reproof of Christ, who saith, that such as do cannot believe?
But further, if we respect the cause that most frequently procures to
men these titles of honour, there is not one of a thousand that shall
be found to be, because of any Christian virtue; but rather for things
to be discommended among Christians: as by the favour of princes,
procured by flattering, and often by worse means. Yea, the most
frequent, and accounted among men the most honourable, is fighting, or
some great martial exploit, which can add nothing to a Christian's
worth since, sure it is, it were desirable there were no fightings
among Christians at all; and in so far as there are, it shows they are
not right Christians. And James tells us, that fighting proceeds from
the lusts. So that it were fitter for Christians, by the Sword of God's
Spirit, to fight against their lusts, than by the prevalency of their
lusts to destroy one another. Whatever honour any might have attained
of old under the Law this way, we find under the Gospel Christians
commended for suffering, not for fighting; neither did any of Christ's
disciples, save one, offer outward violence by the sword, in cutting
off Malcus's ear; for which he received no title of honour, but a just
reproof. Finally, if we look either to the nature of this honour, the
cause of it, the ways it is conveyed, the terms in which it is
delivered, it cannot be used by such as desire to be Christians in good
earnest.
S:. IV. Now besides these general titles of honour, what gross abuses
are crept in among such as are called Christians in the use of
compliments, wherein not servants to masters, or others, with respect
to any such kind of relations, do say and write to one another at every
turn, Your humble servant, Your most obedient servant, &c. Such wicked
customs have, to the great prejudice of souls, accustomed Christians to
lie; and to use lying is now come to be accounted civility. O horrid
apostacy! for it is notoriously known, that the use of these
compliments imports not any design of service, neither are any such
fools to think so; for if we should put them to it that say so, they
would not doubt to think we abused them; and would let us know they
gave us words in course, and no more. It is strange, that such as
pretend to scripture as their rule, should not be ashamed to use such
things; since Elihu, that had not the scriptures, could by the Light
within him, (which these men think insufficient,) say, Job xxxii. 21,
22. Let me not accept any man's person, neither let me give flattering
titles unto men. For I know not to give flattering titles; in so doing
my Maker would soon take me away. A certain ancient devout man in the
primitive time, subscribed himself to a bishop, Your humble servant;
wherein I doubt not but he was more real than our usual complimenters;
and yet he was sharply reproved for it.
[1300]
But they usually object, to defend themselves, That Luke saith, Most
Excellent Theophilus; and Paul, Most Noble Festus.
I Answer; Since Luke wrote that by the dictates of the Infallible
Spirit of God, I think it will not be doubted but Theophilus did
deserve it, as being really endued with that virtue: in which case we
shall not condemn those that do it by the same rule. But it is not
proved that Luke gave Theophilus this title, as that which was inherent
to him, either by his Father, or by any patent Theophilus had obtained
from any of the princes of the earth; or that he would have given it
him, in case he had not been truly excellent: and without this be
proved (which never can) there can nothing hence be deduced against us.
The like may be said of that of Paul to [1301] Festus, whom he would
not have called such, if he had not been truly noble; as indeed he was,
in that he suffered him to be heard in his own cause, and would not
give way to the fury of the Jews against him; it was not because of any
outward title bestowed upon Festus, that he so called him, else he
would have given the same appellation to his predecessor Felix, who
hall the same office; but being a covetous man, we find he gives him no
such style
[1302] S:. V. It will not be unfit in this place to say something
concerning the using of the singular number to one person; of this
there is no controversy in the Latin. For when we speak to one, we
always use the pronoun [TU,] and he that would do otherwise, would
break the rules of grammar. For what boy, learning his rudiments, is
ignorant that it is incongruous to say [vos amas, vos legis,] that is
[you lovest, you readest,] speaking to one? But the pride of man, that
hath corrupted many things, refuses also to use this simplicity of
speaking in the vulgar languages. For being puffed up with a vain
opinion of themselves, as if the singular number were not sufficient
for them, they will have others to speak to them in the plural. Hence
Luther, in his plays, reproves and mocks this manner of speaking,
saying, Magister, vos es iratus: which corruption Erasmus sufficiently
refutes in his book. of writing epistles: concerning which likewise
James Howel, in his epistle to the nobility of England, before the
French and English Dictionary, takes notice, That both in France, and
in other nations, the word [THOU] was used in speaking to one; but by
succession of time, when the Roman commonwealth grew into an empire,
the courtiers began to magnify the emperor, (as being furnished with
power to confer dignities and [1303] offices,) using the word [You,]
yea, and deifying him with more remarkable titles; concerning which
matter, we read in the epistles of Symmaehus to the emperors Theodosius
and Valentlnianus, where he useth these forms of speaking, Vestra
AEternitas, Your Eternity; Vestrum Numen, Your Godhead; Vestra
Serepitas, Your Serenity; Vestra Clementia, Your Clemency. So that the
word [You] in the plural number, together with the other titles and
compellations of honour, seem to have taken their rise from monarchical
government; which afterwards, by degrees, came to be derived to private
persons.
The same is witnessed by John Maresius, of the French academy, in the
preface of his Clovis: Let none wonder, saith he, that the word [Thou]
is used in this work to Princes and Princesses; for we use the same to
God: and of old the same was used to Alexanders, CAEsars, Queens, and
Empresses. The use of the word [You,] when one person is spoken to, was
only introduced by the base fatteries of men of latter ages, to whom it
seemed good to use the plural number to one person, that he may imagine
himself alone to be equal to many others in dignity and worth; from
whence at last it came to persons of lower quality.
To the same purpose speaketh also M. Godeau, in his preface to the New
Testament translation: I had rather, saith he, faithfully keep to the
express words of Paul, than exactly follow the polished style of our
tongue; therefore I always use that form of calling God in the singular
number, not in the plural; and therefore I say rather [Thou] than
[You.] I confess indeed, that the civility and custom of this world
requires him to be honoured after that manner; but it is likewise on
the contrary true, that the original tongue of the New Testament hath
nothing common with such manners and civility; so that not one of these
many old versions we have doth observe it. Let not men believe, that we
give not respect enough to God, in that we call him by the word [Thou,]
which is nevertheless far [1304] otherwise; for I seem to myself (may
be by the effect of custom) more to honour his Divine Majesty, in
calling him after this manner, than if I should call him after the
manner of men, who are so delicate in their forms of speech.
See how clearly and evidently these men witness, that this form of
speaking, and these profane titles, derive their origin from the base
flattery of these last ages, and from the delicatehaughtiness of
worldly men, who have invented these novelties, that hereby they might
honour one another, under I know not what pretence of civility and
respect. From whence many of the present Christians (so accounted) are
become so perverse, in commending most wicked men, and wicked customs,
that the simplicity of the Gospel is wholly lost; so that the giving of
men and things their own names is not only worn out of custom, but the
doing thereof is accounted absurd and rude by such kind of delicate
parasites, who desire to ascribe to this flattery, and abuse the name
of civility. Moreover, that this way of speaking proceeds from a high
and proud mind, hence appears; because that men commonly use the
singular number to beggars, and to their servants; yea, and in their
prayers to God. Thus the superior will speak to his inferior, who yet
will not bear that the inferior so speak to him, as judging it a kind
of reproach unto him. So hath the pride of men placed God and the
beggar in the same category. I think I need not use arguments to prove
to such as know congruous language, that we ought to use the singular
number speaking to one; which is the common dialect of the whole
scripture, as also the most interpreters do translate it. Seeing
therefore it is manifest to us, that this form of speaking to men in
the plural number doth proceed from pride, as well as that it is in
itself a lie, we found a necessity upon us to testify against this
corruption, by using the singular equally unto all. And although no
reason can be given why we should be persecuted upon this account,
especially [1305] by Christians, who profess to follow the rule of
scripture, whose dialect this is; yet it would perhaps seem incredible
if I should relate how much we have suffered for this thing, and how
these proud ones have fumed, fretted, and gnashed their teeth,
frequently beating and striking us, when we hath spoken to them thus in
the singular number: whereby we are the more confirmed in our judgment,
as seeing that this testimony of truth, which God hath given us to bear
in all things, doth so vex the serpentine nature in the children of
darkness.
S:. Vl. Secondly, Next unto this of titles, the [1306] other part of
honour used among Christians is the kneeling, bowing, and uncovering of
the head to one another. I know nothing our adversaries have to plead
for them in this matter, save some few instances of the Old Testament,
and the custom of the country.
The first are, such as Abraham's bowing himself to the children of
Heth, and Lot to the two angels, &c.
But the practice of these patriarchs, related as matter of fact, are
not to be a rule to Christians now; neither are we to imitate them in
every practice, which has not a particular reproof added to it: for we
find not Abraham reproved for taking Hagar, &c. And indeed to say all
things were lawful for us which they practised, would produce great
inconveniencies obvious enough to all. And as to the customs of the
nations, it is a very ill [1307] argument for a Christian's practice:
we should have a better rule to walk by than the custom of the
Gentiles; the apostles desire us not to be conformed to this world, &c.
We see how little they [1308] have to say for themselves in this
matter. Let it be observed then, whether our reasons for laying aside
these things be not considerable and weighty enough to uphold us in so
doing.
First, We say, That God, who is the Creator of man, and he to whom he
oweth the dedication both of soul and body, is over all to be
worshipped and adored, and that not only by the spirit, but also with
the prostration of the body. Now kneeling, bowing, and uncovering
[1309] of the head, is the alone outward signification of our adoration
towards God, and therefore it is not lawful to give it unto man. He
that kneeleth, or prostrates himself to man, what doth he more to God?
He that boweth, and uncovereth his head to the creature, what hath he
reserved to the Creator? Now the apostle shows us, that the uncovering
of the head is that which God requires of us in our worshipping of him,
1 Cor. xi. 14. But if we make our address to men in the same manner,
where lieth the difference? Not in the outward signification, but
merely in the intention; which opens a door for the Popish veneration
of images, which hereby is necessarily excluded.
Secondly, Men being alike by creation, (though their being stated under
their several relations requires from them mutual services according to
those respective relations,) owe not worship one to another, but all
equally are to return it to God: because it is to him, and his name
alone, that every knee must bow, and before whose throne the four and
twenty elders prostrate themselves. Therefore for men to take this one
from another, is to rob God of his glory: since all the duties of
relation may be performed one to another without these kind of bowings,
which therefore are no essential part of our duty to man, but to God.
All men, by an inward instinct, in all nations have been led to
prostrate and bow themselves to God. And it is plain that this bowing
to men took place from a slavish fear possessing some, which led them
to set up others as gods; when also an ambitious proud spirit got up in
those others, to usurp the place of God over their brethren.
Thirdly, We see that Peter refused it from Cornelius, saying, He was a
man. Are then the popes more, or more excellent than Peter, who suffer
men daily to fall down at their feet, and kiss them? [1310] This
reproof of Peter to Cornelius doth abundantly show, that such manners
were not to be admitted among Christians. Yea, we see, that the angel
twice refused this kind of bowing from John, Rev. xix. 10. and xxii. 9.
for this reason, Because I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren;
abundantly intimating that it is not lawful for fellow-servants thus to
prostrate themselves one to another: and in this respect all men are
fellow-servants.
If it be said, John intended here a religious worship, [1311] and not a
civil:
I answer; This is to say, not to prove: neither [1312] can we suppose
John, at that time of the day, so ill-instructed as not to know it was
unlawful to worship angels; only it should seem, because of those great
and mysterious things revealed to him by that angel, he was willing to
signify some more than ordinary testimony of respect, for which he was
reproved. These things being thus considered, it is remitted to the
judgment of such as are desirous to be found Christians indeed, whether
we are worthy of blame for waving it to men. Let those then that will
blame us consider whether they might not as well accuse Mordecai of
incivility, who was no less singular than we in this matter. And
forasmuch as they accuse us herein [1313] of rudeness and pride, though
the testimony of our consciences in the sight of God be a sufficient
guard against such calumnies, yet there are of us known to be men of
such education, as forbear not these things for want of that they call
good breeding; and we should be very void of reason, to purchase that
pride at so dear a rate, as many have done the exercise of their
conscience in this matter; many of us having been sorely beaten and
buffeted, yea, and several months imprisoned, for no other reason but
because we could not so satisfy the proud unreasonable humours of proud
men, as to uncover our heads, and bow our bodies. Nor doth our innocent
practice, in standing still, though upright, not putting off our hats,
any more than our shoes, the one being the covering of our heads, as
well as the other of our feet, show so much rudeness, as their beating
and knocking us, &c. because we cannot bow to them, contrary to our
consciences: which certainly shows less meekness and humility upon
their part, than it doth of rudeness or pride upon ours. Now suppose it
were our weakness, and we really under a mistake in this thing, since
it is not alleged to be the breach of any Christian precept, are we not
to be indulged, as the apostle commanded should be done to such as
scrupled to eat flesh? And do not persecuting and reviling us upon this
account show them to be more like unto proud Haman, than the disciples
or followers of the meek, self-denying Jesus? And this I can say
boldly, in the sight of God, from my own experience, and that of many
thousands more, that however small or foolish this may seem, yet we
behoved to choose death rather than do it, and that for conscience'
sake: and that in its being so contrary to our natural spirits, there
are many of us, to whom the forsaking of these bowings and ceremonies
was as death itself; which we could never have left, if we could have
enjoyed our peace with God in the use of them. Though it be far from us
to judge all those to whom God hath not shown the evil of them, under
the like hazard; yet nevertheless we doubt not but to such as would
prove faithful witnesses to Christ's divine light in their consciences,
God will also show the evil of these things.
[1314] S:. VII. The third thing to be treated of; is the vanity and
superfuity of apparel. In which, first, two things are to be
considered, the condition of the person, and the country he lives in.
We shall not say that all persons are to be clothed alike, because it
will perhaps neither suit their bodies nor their estates. And if a man
be clothed soberly, and without superfluity, though they may be finer
than that which his servant is clothed with, we shall not blame him for
it: the abstaining from superfluities, which his condition and
education have accustomed him to, may be in him a greater act of
mortification than the abstaining from finer clothes in the servant,
who never was accustomed to them. As to the country, what it naturally
produces may be no vanity to the inhabitants to use, or what is
commonly imparted to them by way of exchange, seeing it is without
doubt that the creation is for the use of man. So where silk abounds,
it may be worn as well as wool; and were we in those countries, or near
unto then, where gold or silver were as common as iron or brass, the
one might be used as well as the other. The iniquity lies then here,
First, When from a lust of vanity, and a desire to adorn themselves,
men and women, not content with what their condition can bear, or their
country easily affords, do stretch to have things, that from their
rarity, and the price that is put upon them, seem to be precious, and
so feed their lust the more; and this all sober men of all sorts will
readily grant to be evil.
Secondly, When men are not content to make a true use of the creation,
whether the things be fine or coarse, and do not satisfy themselves
with what need and conveniency call for, but add thereunto things
merely superfluous, such as is the use of ribbons and lace, and much
more of that kind of stuff; as painting the face, and plaiting the
hair, which are the fruits of the fallen, lustful, and corrupt nature,
and not of the new creation, as all will acknowledge. And though sober
men among all sorts will say, that it were better these things were
not, yet will they not reckon them unlawful, and therefore do admit the
use of them among their church-members: but we do account them
altogether unlawful, and unsuitable to Christians, and that for these
reasons:
[1315] First, The use of clothes came originally from the fall. If man
had not fallen, it appears he would not have needed them; but this
miserable state made them necessary in two respects: 1. To cover his
nakedness; 2. To keep him from the cold; which are both the proper and
principal use of' them. Now for man to delight himself in that which is
the fruit of his iniquity, and the consequence of his sin, can be no
ways lawful for him: so to extend things beyond their real use, or to
superadd things wholly superfluous, is a manifest abuse of the
creation, and therefore not lawful to Christians.
Secondly, Those that will needs so adorn themselves in the use of their
clothes, as to beset them with things having no real use or necessity,
but merely for ornament's sake, do openly declare, that [1316] the end
of it is either to please their lusts, (for which end these things are
chiefly invented and contrived,) or otherwise to gratify a vain, proud,
and ostentatious mind; and it is obvious these are their general ends
in so doing. Yea, we see how easily men are puffed up with their
garments, and how proud and vain they are, when adorned to their mind.
Now how far these things are below a true Christian, and how
unsuitable, needs very little proof. Hereby those who love to be gaudy
and superfluous in their clothes, show they concern themselves little
with mortification and self-denial, and that they study to beautify
their bodies more than their souls; which proves they think little upon
mortality, and so certainly are more nominal than real Christians.
[1317] Thirdly, The scripture severely reproves such practices, both
commending and commanding the contrary; as Isa. iii. how severely doth
the prophet reprove the daughters of Israel for their tinkling
ornaments, their cauls, and their round tires, their chains and
bracelets, &c. and yet is it not strange to see Christians allow
themselves in these things, from whom a more strict and exemplary
conversation is required? Christ desires us not to be anxious about our
clothing, Mat. vi. 25. and to show the vanity of such as glory in the
splendour of their clothing, tells them, That even Solomon, in all his
glory, was not to be compared to the lily of the field, which to-day
is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven. But surely they make small
reckoning of Christ's words and doctrine that are so curious in their
clothing, and so industrious to deck themselves, and so earnest to
justify it, and so enraged when they are reproved for it. The apostle
Paul is very positive in this respect, 1 Tim. ii. 9, 10. I will
therefore in like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest
apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety, and not with broidered hair,
or gold, or pearls, or costly array, but (which becometh women
professing godliness) with good works. To the same purpose saith Peter,
1 Pet. iii. 3, 4. Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of
plaiting the hair, and wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;
but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not
corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, &c. Here
both the apostles do very positively and expressly assert two things.
First, That the adorning of Christian women (of whom it is particularly
spoken, I judge, because this sex is most naturally inclined to that
vanity, and that it seems that Christian men in those days deserved not
in this respect so much to be reproved) ought not to be outward, nor
consist in the apparel. Secondly, That they ought not to [1318] use the
plaiting of the hair, or ornaments, &c. which was at that time the
custom of the nations. But is it not strange, that such as make the
scripture their rule, and pretend they are guided by it, should not
only be so generally in the use of these things, which the scripture so
plainly condemns, but also should attempt to justify themselves in so
doing ? For the apostles not only commend the forbearance of these
things, as an attainment commendable in Christians, but condemn the use
of them as unlawful; and yet may it not seem more strange, that in
contradiction to the apostles' doctrine, as if they had resolved to
slight their testimony, they should condemn those that out of
conscience apply themselves seriously to follow it, as if in so doing
they were singular, proud, or superstitious? This certainly betokens a
sad apostacy in those that will be accounted Christians, that they are
so offended with those who love to follow Christ and his apostles, in
denying of, and departing from, the lying vanities of this perishing
world; and so doth much evidence their affinity with those who hate to
be reproved, and neither will enter themselves, nor suffer those that
would.
[1319] S:. VIII. Fourthly, Let us consider the use of games, sports,
comedies, and other such things, commonly and indifferently used by all
the several sorts of Christians, under the notion of divertisement and
recreation, and see whether these things can consist with the
seriousness, gravity, and Godly fear, which the gospel calls for. Let
us but view and look over the notions of them that call themselves
Christians, whether Papists or Protestants, and see if generally there
be any difference, save in mere name and profession, from the heathen?
Doth not the same folly, the same vanity, the same abuse of precious
and irrevocable time abound? The same gaming, sporting, playing, and
from thence quarrelling, fighting, swearing, ranting, revelling? Now
how can these things be remedied, so long as the preachers and
professors, and those who are the leaders of the people, do allow these
things, and account them not inconsistent with the profession of
Christianity? And it is strange to see that these things are tolerated
every where; the inquisition lays no hold on them, neither at Rome, nor
in Spain, where in their masquerades all manner of obscenity, folly,
yea, and Atheism is generally practised in the face of the world, to
the great scandal of the Christian name: but if any man reprove them in
these things, and forsake their superstitions, and come seriously to
serve God, and worship him in the Spirit, he becomes their prey, and is
immediately exposed to cruel sufferings. Doth this bear any relation to
Christianity? Do these things look any thing like the churches of the
primitive Christians? Surely not at all. I shall first cite some few
scripture testimonies, being very positive precepts to Christians, and
then see whether such as obey them can admit of these forementioned
things. The apostle commands us, That whether we eat or drink, or
whatever we do, we do it all to the glory of God. But I judge none will
be so impudent as to affirm, That in the use of these sports and games
[1320] God is glorified: if any should so say, they would declare they
neither knew God nor his glory. And experience abundantly proves, that
in the practice of these things men mind nothing less than the glory of
God, and nothing more than the satisfaction of their own carnal lusts,
wills, and appetites. The apostle desires us, I Cor. vii. 29. 31.
Because the time is short, that they that buy should be as though they
possessed not; and they that use this world, as not abusing it, &c. But
how can they be found in the obedience of this precept that plead for
the use of these games and sports, who, it seems, think the time so
long, that they cannot find occasion enough to employ it, neither in
taking care for their souls, nor yet in the necessary care for their
bodies; but invent these games and sports to pass it away, as if they
wanted other work to serve God in, or be useful to the creation? The
apostle Peter desires us, To pass the time of our sojourning here in
fear, 1 Pet. i. 17. But will any say, That such as use dancing and
comedies, carding and. dicing, do so much as mind this precept in the
use of these things? Where there is nothing to be seen but lightness
and vanity, wantonness and obscenity, contrived to draw men from fear
or being serious, and therefore no doubt calculated for the service of
the devil. There is no duty more frequently commanded, nor more
incumbent upon Christians, than the fear of the Lord, to stand in awe
before him, to walk as in his presence; but if such as use these games
and sports will speak from their consciences, they can, I doubt not,
experimentally declare, that this fear is forgotten in their gaming:
and if God by his light secretly touch them, or mind them of the vanity
of their way, they strive to shut it out, and use their gaming as an
engine to put away from them that troublesome guest; and thus make
merry over the Just One, whom they have slain and crucified in
themselves. But further, if Christ's reasoning be to be heeded, who
saith, Mat. xii. 35, 36. That the good man, out of the good treasure of
the heart; bringeth forth good things; and an evil man, out of the evil
treasure, bringeth forth evil things, and that of every idle, word we
shall give an account in the day of judgment, it may be easily gathered
from what treasure these inventions come; and it may be easily proved,
that it is from the evil, and not the good. How many idle words do they
necessarily produce? [1321] Yea, what are comedies but a studied
complex of idle and lying words? Let men that believe their souls are
immortal, and that there will be a day of judgrnent, in which these
words of Christ will be accomplished, answer me, how all these will
make account in that great and terrible day, of all these idle words
that are necessarily made use of about dancing, gaming, carding, and
comedies acting? And yet how is it that by Christians not condemning
these things, but allowing of them, many that are accounted Christians
take up their whole time inthem, yea, make it their trade and
employment? Such as the dancing-masters and comedians, &c. whose
hellish conversations do sufficiently declare what master they serve,
and to what end these things contribute. And it cannot be denied, as
being obviously manifest by experience, that such as are masters of
these occupations, and are most delighted in them, if they be not open
Atheists and profligates, are such at best as make religion or the care
of their souls their least business. Now if these things were
discountenanced by Christians, as inconsistent with their profession,
it would remove these things; for these wretches would be necessitated
then to betake themselves to some honest livelihood, if they were not
fed and upholden, by these. And as hereby a great scandal and
stumbling-block would be removed from off the Christian name, so also
would that in part be taken out of the way which provokes the Lord to
withhold his blessing, and by occasion of which things the minds of
many remain chained in darkness, and drowned in lust, sensuality, and
worldly pleasures, without any sense of God's fear, or their own soul's
salvation. Many of those called fathers of the church, and other
serious persons, have signified their regret for these things, and
their desires they might be remedied; of whom many citations might be
alleged, which for brevity's sake I have omitted.
S:. IX. But they object, That men's spirits could [1322] not subsist,
if they were always intent upon serious and spiritual matters, and that
therefore there is need of some divertisement to recreate the mind a
little, whereby it being refreshed, is able with greater vigour to
apply itself to these things.
I answer; Though all this were granted, it would [1323] no ways
militate against us, neither plead the use of these things, which we
would have wholly laid aside. For that men should be always in the same
intentiveness of mind, we do not plead, knowing how impossible it is,
so long as we are clothed with this tabernacle of clay. But this will
not allow us at any time so to recede from the remembrance of God, and
of our soul's chief concern, as not still to retain a certain sense of
his fear; which [1324] cannot be so much as rationally supposed to be
in the use of these things which we condemn. Now the necessary
occasions in which all are involved, in order to the care and
sustentation of the outward man, are a relaxation of the mind from the
more serious duties; and those are performed in the blessing, as the
mind is so leavened with the love of God, and the sense of his
presence, that even in doing these things the soul carrieth with it
that divine influence and spiritual habit, whereby though these acts,
as of eating, drinking, sleeping, working, be upon the matter one with
what the wicked do, yet they are done in another Spirit; and in doing
of them we please the Lord, serve him, and answer our end in the
creation, and so feel and are sensible of his blessing: whereas the
wicked and profane, being not come to this place, are in whatsoever
they do cursed, and their ploughing as well as praying is sin. Now if
any will plead, that for relaxation of mind, there may be a liberty
allowed beyond these things, which are of absolute need to the
sustenance of the outward man, I shall not much contend against it;
provided these things be not such as are wholly superfluous, or in
their proper nature and tendency lead the mind into lust, vanity, and
wantonness, as being chiefly contrived and framed for that end, or
generally experienced to produce these effects, or being the common
engines of such as are so minded to feed one another therein, and to
propagate their wickedness, to the impoisoning of others: seeing there
are other innocent divertisements which may sufficiently serve for
relaxation of the mind, such as for friends to visit one another; to
hear or read history; to speak soberly of the present [1325] or past
transactions; to follow after gardening; to use geometrical and
mathematical experiments, and such other things of this nature. In all
which things we are not so to forget God, in whom we both live, and are
moved, Acts xvii. 28. as not to have always some secret reserve to him,
and sense of his fear and presence, which also frequently exerts itself
in the midst of these things by some short aspiration and breathings.
And that this may neither seem strange nor troublesome, I shall clear
it by one manifest instance, answerable to the experience of all men.
It will not be denied but that men ought to be more in the love of God
than of any other thing; for we ought to love God above all things. Now
it is plain, that men that are taken with love, whether it be of women,
or of any other thing, if it hath taken a deep place in the heart, and
possess the mind, it will be hard for the man so in love to drive out
of his mind the person or thing so loved; yea, in his eating, drinking,
and sleeping, his mind will always have a tendency that way; and in
business or recreations, however intent he be in it, there will but a
very short time be permitted to pass, but the mind will let some
ejaculation forth towards its beloved. And albeit such a one must
[1326] be conversant in those things that the care of this body and
such like things call for; yet will he avoid as death itself to do
those things that may offend the party so beloved, or cross his design
in obtaining the thing so earnestly desired: though there may be some
small use in them, the great design, which is chiefly in his eye, will
so balance him, that he will easily look over and dispense with such
petty necessities, rather than endanger the loss of the greater by
them. Now that men ought to be thus in love with God, and the life to
come, none will deny; and the thing is apparent from these scriptures,
Mat. vi. 20. But lay up, f'oryourselves treasures in heaven. Col. iii.
2. Set your affection on things above, &c. And that this hath been the
experience and attainment of some, the scripture also declares, Psalm
lxiii. 1. 8. 2 Cor. v. 4.
[1327] And again, That these games, sports, plays, dancing, comedies,
&c. do naturally tend to draw men from God's fear, to make them forget
heaven, death, and judgment, to foster lust, vanity, and wantonness,
and therefore are most loved, as well as used, by such kind of persons,
experience abundantly shows, and the most serious and conscientious
among all will scarcely deny; which if it be so, the application is
easy.
S:. X. Fifthly, The use of swearing is to be considered, which is so
frequently practised almost among all Christians; not only profane
oaths among the profane, in their common discourses, whereby the Most
HOLY NAME of GOD is in a horrible manner daily blasphemed; but also
solemn oaths, with those that have some show of piety, whereof the most
part do defend swearing before the magistrate with so great zeal, that
not only they are ready themselves to do it upon every occasion, but
also have stirred up the magistrates to persecute those, who, out of
obedience to Christ, their Lord and master, judge it unlawful to swear;
upon which account not a few have sufered imprisonment, and the
spoiling of their goods.
[1328] But considering these clear words of our Saviour, Mat. v. 33,
34. Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time,
Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine
oaths. But I say unto you, Swear not at all, neither by heaven, &c. But
let your communication be yea, yea; nay, nay; for whatsoever is more
than these cometh of evil. As also the words of the apostle James, v.
12. But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven,
neither by the earth, neither by any other oath; but let your yea be
yea, and your nay, nay, lest ye fall into condemnation. I say,
considering these clear words, it is admirable how any one that
professeth the name of Christ can pronounce any oath with a quiet
conscience, far less to persecute other Christians, that dare not
swear, because of their master Christ's authority. For did any one
purpose seriously, and in the most rigid manner, to forbid any thing
comprehended under any general, can they use a more full and general
prohibition, and that without any exception? I think not. For Christ,
First, proposeth it to us negatively, Swear not at all, neither by
heaven, nor by the earth, nor by Jerusalem, nor by thy head, &c. And
again, Swear not by heaven, nor by earth, nor by any other oath.
Secondly, he presseth it affirmatively, But let your communication be
yea, yea, and nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than these, cometh of
evil. And saith James, Lest ye fall into condemnation.
Which words both all and every one of them [1329] do make such a full
prohibition, and so free of all exception, that it is strange how men
that boast the scripture is the rule of their faith and life, can
counterfeit any exception! Certainly reason ought to teach every one,
that it is not lawful to make void a general prohibition coming from
God by such opposition, unless the exception be as clearly and
evidently expressed as the prohibition: neither is it enough to
endeavour to confirm it by consequences and probabilities, which are
obscure and uncertain, and not sufficient to bring quiet to the
conscience. For if they say, that there is therefore an exception and
limitation in the words, because there are found exceptions in the
other general prohibition of this fifth chapter, as in the forbidding
of divorcement, where Christ saith, It hath been said, Whosoever shall
put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: but I say
unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause
of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery; if, I say, they plead
this, they not only labour in vain, but also fight against themselves,
because they can produce no exception of this general command of not
swearing, expressed by God to any under the new covenant, after Christ
gave this prohibition so clear as that which is made in the [1330]
prohibition itself. Moreover, if Christ would have excepted oaths made
before magistrates, certainly he had then expressed, adding, except in
judgment, before the magistrate, or the like; as he did in that of
divorcement by these words, saving for the cause of fornication: which
being so, it is not lawful for us to except or distinguish, or, which
is all one, make void this general prohibition of Christ; it would be
far less agreeable to Christian holiness to bring upon our heads the
crimes of so many oaths, which by reason of this corruption and
exception are so frequent among Christians.
[1331] Neither is it to be omitted that without doubt the most learned
doctors of each sect know, that these fore-mentioned words were
understood by the ancient fathers of the first three hundred years
after Christ to be a prohibition of all sorts of oaths. It is not then
without reason that we wonder that the Popish doctors and priests bind
themselves by an oath to interpret the holy scriptures according to the
universal exposition of the holy fathers; who nevertheless understood
those controverted texts quite contrary to what these modern doctors
do. And from thence also do clearly appear the vanity and foolish
certainty (so to speak) of Popish traditions; for if by the writings of
the fathers, so called, the faith of the church of those ages may be
demonstrated, it is clear they have departed from the faith of the
church of the first three ages in the point of swearing. Moreover,
because not only Papists but also Lutherans and Calvinists, and some
others, do restrict the words of Christ and James, I think it needful
to make manifest the vain foundation upon which that presumption in
this matter is built.
S:. XI. First, They object, That Christ only forbids [1332] these oaths
that are made by creatures, and things created; and they prove it
thence, because he numbers some of these things.
Secondly, All rash and vain oaths in familiar discourses; because he
saith, Let your communication be yea, yea, and nay, nay.
To which I answer, First, That the law did forbid [1333] all oaths made
by the creatures, as also all vain and rash oaths in our common
discourses, commanding, That men should only swear by the name of God,
and that neither falsely nor rashly; for that is to take his name in
vain.
Secondly, It is most evident that Christ forbids [1334] somewhat that
was permitted under the law, to wit, to swear by the name of God,
because it was not lawful [1335] for any man to swear but by God
himself. And because he saith, Neither by heaven, because it is the
throne of God; therefore he excludes all other oaths, even those which
are made by God; for he saith, chap. xxiii. 22. He that shall swear by
heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon:
which is also to be understood of the rest.
Lastly, That he might put the matter beyond all [1336] controversy, he
adds, Neither by any other oath: therefore seeing to swear before the
magistrate by God is an oath, it is here without doubt forbidden.
Secondly, They object, That by these words oaths [1337] by God's name
cannot beforbidden, because the Heavenly Father hath commanded them;
for the Father and the Son are one, which could not be, if the Son had
forbid that which the Father commanded.
[1338] I answer, They are indeed one, and cannot contradict one
another: nevertheless the Father gave many things to the Jews for a
time, because [1339] of their infirmity under the old covenant, which
had only a shadow of good things to come, not the very substance of
things, until Christ should come, who was the substance, and by whose
coming all these things vanished, to wit, sabbaths, circumcision, the
paschal lamb: men used then sacrifices, who lived in controversies with
God, and one with an other, which all are abrogated in the coming of
the Son, who is the Substance, Eternal Word, and Essential Oath and
Amen, in whom the promises of God are Yea and Amen: who came that men
might be redeemed out of strife, and might make an end of controversy.
[1340] Thirdly, They object, But all oaths are not ceremonies, nor any
part of the ceremonial law.
[1341] I answer, Except it be shown to be an eternal, immutable, and
moral precept, it withstands not; [1342] neither are they of so old an
origin as tithes, and the offering of the first fruits of the ground,
which by Abel and Cain were offered long before the ceremonial law, or
the use of oaths; which, whatever may be alleged against it, were no
doubt ceremonious, and therefore no doubt unlawful now to be practised.
[1343] Fourthly, They object, That to swear by the name of God is a
moral precept of continual duration, because it is marked with his
essential and moral worship, Deut. vi. 13. and x. 20. Thou shalt fear
the Lord thy God, and serve him alone: thou shalt cleave to him, and
swear by his name.
[1344] I answer, This proves not that it is a moral and eternal
precept; for Moses adds that to all the precepts and ceremonies in
several places; as Deut. x. 12, 13. saying, And now, Israel, what doth
the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk
in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with
all thy heart, and with all thy soul; to keep the commandments of the
Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day? And chap. xiv.
23. the fear of the Lord is mentioned together with the tithes. And so
also Levit. xix. 2, 3, 6. the sabbaths and regard to parents are
mentioned with swearing.
Fifthly, They object, That solemn oaths, which [1345] God commanded,
cannot be here forbidden by Christ; for he saith, that they come from
evil: but these did not come from evil; for God never commanded any
thing that was evil, or came from evil.
I answer, There are things which are good [1346] because commanded, and
evil because forbidden; other things are commanded because good, and
forbidden because evil. As circumcision and oaths, [1347] which were
good, when and because they were commanded, and in no other respect;
and again, when and because prohibited under the gospel, they are evil.
And in all these Jewish constitutions, however ceremonial, there was
something of good, to wit, in their season, as prefiguring some good:
as by circumcision, the purifications, and other things, the holiness
of God was typified, and that the Israelites ought to be holy, as their
God was holy. In the like manner oaths, under the shadows and
ceremonies, signified the verity of God, his faithfulness and
certainty; and therefore that we ought in all things to speak and
witness the truth. But the [1348] witness of truth was before oaths,
and remains when all oaths are abolished; and this is the morality of
all oaths; and so long as men abide therein, there is no necessity nor
place for oaths, as Polybius witnessed, who said, The use of oaths in
judgment was rare among the ancients; but by the growing of
perfidiousness, so grew also the use of oaths. To which agreeth
Grotius, saying, An oath is only to be used as a medicine, in case of
necessity: a solemn [1349] oath is not used but to supply defect. The
lightness of men, and their inconstancy, begot diffidence; for which
swearing was sought out as a remedy. Basil the Great saith, That
Swearing is the effect of sin. And Ambrose, That oaths are only a
condescendency for defect. Chrysostom saith, That an oath entered when
evil grew, when men exercised their frauds, when all foundations were
overturned: that oaths took their beginning from the want of truth.
These and the like are witnessed by many others with the fore-mentioned
authors. But what need of testimonies, where the evidence of things
speaks itself? For who will force another to swear, of whom he is
certainly persuaded that he abhors to lie in his words? And again, as
Chrysostom and others say, For what end wilt thou force him to swear,
whom thou believest not that he will speak the truth?
S:. XII. That then which was not from the beginning, which was of no
use in the beginning, which had not its beginning first from the will
of Good, but from the work of the devil, occasioned from evil, to wit,
from unfaithfulness, lying, deceit; and which was at first only
invented by man, as a mutual remedy of this evil, in which they called
upon the names of their idols; yea, that which, as Hierom, Chrysostom,
and others testify, was given to the Israelites by God, as unto
children, that they might abstain from the idolatrous oaths of the
heathens, Jer. xii. 16. whatsoever is so, is far from being a moral and
eternal precept. And lastly, whatsoever by its profanation and abuse is
polluted with sin, such as are abundantly the oaths of these times, by
so often swearing and forswearing, far differs from any necessary and
perpetual duty of a Christian: but oaths are so; therefore, &c.
Sixthly, They object, That God swore, therefore to swear is good.
I answer with Athanasius; Seeing it is certain it [1350] is proper in
swearing to swear by another, thence it [1351] appears, that God, to
speak properly, did never swear but only improperly: whence, speaking
to men, he is said to swear, because those things which he speaks,
because of the certainty and immutability of his will, are to be
esteemed for oaths. Compare Psalm cx. 4. where it is said, The Lord did
swear, and it did not repent him, &c. And I swore (saith he) by myself:
and this is not an oath; for he did not swear by [1352] another, which
is the property of an oath, but by himself. Therefore God swears not
according to the manner of men, neither can we be induced from thence
to swear. But let us so do and say, and show ourselves such by speaking
and acting, that we need not an oath with those who hear us; and let
our words of themselves have the testimony of truth: for so we shall
plainly imitate God.
Seventhly, They object, Christ did swear, and we [1353] ought to
imitate him.
I answer, That Christ did not swear; and albeit [1354] he had sworn,
being yet under the law, this would no ways oblige us under the gospel;
as neither circumcision, or the celebration of the paschal lamb.
Concerning which Hierom saith, All things agree [1355] not unto us, who
are servants, that agreed unto our Lord, &c. The Lord swore as Lord,
whom no man did forbid to swear; but unto us, that are servants, it is
not lawful to swear, because we are forbidden by the law of our Lord.
Yet, lest, we should sufer scandal by his example, he hath not sworn,
since he commanded us not to swear.
Eighthly, They object, That Paul swore, and that [1356] often, Rom. i.
9. Phil. i. 8. saying; For God is my record. 2 Cor. xi. 10. As the
truth of Christ is in me. 2 Cor. i. 23. I call God for a record upon my
soul. I speak the truth in Christ, I lie not, Rom. ix. 1. Behold,
before God I lie not, Gal. i. 20. and so re [1357] quires oaths of
others. I obtest thee (saith he) before God and our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thess. v. 27. I charge you by the Lord, that this epistle be read to
all the brethren. But Paul would not have done so, if all manner of
oaths had been forbidden by Christ, whose apostle he was.
[1358] To all which I answer, First, That the using of such forms of
speaking is neither swearing, nor so esteemed by our adversaries. For
when upon occasion, in matters of great moment, we have said, We speak
the truth in the fear of God, and before him, who is our witness, and
the searcher of our hearts, adding such kind of serious attestations,
which we never refused in matters of consequence; [1359] nevertheless
an oath hath moreover been required of us, with the ceremony of putting
our hands upon the book, the kissing of it, the lifting up of the hand
or fingers, together with this common form of imprecation, So help me
God; or, so truly let the Lord God Almighty help me. Secondly, This
contradicts the opinion of our adversaries, because that Paul was
neither before a magistrate that was requiring an oath of him, nor did
he himself administer the office of a magistrate, as offering an oath
to any other. Thirdly, The question is not what Paul or Peter did, but
what their and our Master taught to be done; and if Paul did swear,
(which we believe not,) he had sinned against the command of Christ,
even according to their own opinion, because he swore not before a
magistrate, but in an epistle to his brethren.
[1360] Ninthly, They object, Isa. lxv. 16. where, speaking of the
evangelical times, he saith, That he who blesseth himself in the earth,
shall bless himself in the God of truth; and, he that sweareth in the
earth, shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are
forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes. For behold I create
new heavens, and a new earth. Therefore in these times we ought to
swear by the name of the Lord.
I answer, It is ordinary for the prophets to [1361] express the
greatest duties of evangelical times in mosaical terms, as appears
among others from Jer. xxxi. 38, 39, 40. Ezek. xxxvi. 25, and 40. and
Isa. xlv. 23. I have sworn by myself, that unto me every knee shall
bow, every tongue shall swear. Where the righteousness of the new
Jerusalem, the purity of the gospel, with its spiritual worship, and
the profession of the name of Christ, are expressed under forms of
speaking used to the old Jerusalem under the washings of the law, under
the names of ceremonies, the temple, services, sacrifices, oaths, &c.
Yea, that which the prophet [1362] speaks here of swearing, the apostle
Paul interprets expressly of confessing, saying, Rom. xiv. 11. For it
is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and
every tongue shall confess to God: which being rightly considered, none
can be ignorant but these words which the prophet writes under the law,
when the ceremonial oaths were in use, to wit, Every tongue shall
swear, were by the apostle, being under the gospel, when those oaths
became abolished, expressed by Every tongue shall confess.
Tenthly, They object, But the apostle Paul [1363] approves oaths used
among men, when he writes, Heb. vi. 16. For men verily swear by the
greater, and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all, strife.
But there are as many contests, fallacies, and differences at this time
as there ever were; therefore the necessity of oaths doth yet remain.
I answer; The apostle tells indeed in this [1364] place what men at
that time did, who lived in controversies and incredulity; not what
they ought to have done, nor what the saints did, who were redeemed
from strife and incredulity and had come to Christ, the Truth and Amen
of God. Moreover, he only alludes to a certain custom usual among men,
that he might express the firmness of the divine promise, in order to
excite in the saints so much the more confidence in God promising to
them; not that he might instigate them to swear against the law of God,
or confirm them in that; no, not at all: for neither doth 1 Cor. ix.
24. teach Christians the vain races, whereby men oftentimes, even to
the destruction of their bodies, are wearied to obtain a corruptible
prize; so neither doth Christ, who is the Prince of Peace, teach his
disciples to fight, albeit he takes notice, Luke xiv. 31. what it
behoveth such kings to do who are accustomed to fight, as prudent
warriors therein. Secondly, as to what pertains to contests, perfidies,
and diffidences among men, which our adversaries affirm to have grown
to such a height, that swearing is at present as [1365] necessary as
ever, that we deny not at all: for we see, and daily experience
teacheth us; that all manner of deceit and malice doth increase among
worldly men and false Christians; but not among true Christians. But
because men cannot trust one another, and therefore require oaths one
of another, it will not therefore follow that true Christians ought to
do so, whom Christ has brought to faithfulness and honesty, as well
towards God as one towards another, and therefore has delivered them
from contests, perfidies, and consequently from oaths.
Object. Eleventhly, They object, We grant, that among true Christians
there is not need of oaths; but by what means shall we infallibly know
them? It will follow then that oaths are at present needful, and that
it is lawful for Christians to swear; to wit, that such may be
satisfied who will not acknowledge this and the other man to be a
Christian.
I answer, It is no ways lawful for a Christian [1366] to swear, whom
Christ has called to his essential truth, which was before all oaths,
forbidding [1367] him to swear; and on the contrary, commanding him to
speak the truth in all things, to the honour of Christ who called him;
that it may appear that the words of his disciples may be as truly
believed as the oaths of all the worldly men. Neither is it lawful for
them to, be unfaithful in this, that they may please others, or that
they may avoid their hurt: for thus the primitive Christians for some
ages remained faithful who being required to swear, did unanimously
answer, I am a Christian, I do not swear. What shall I say of the
heathens, some of whom arrived to that degree? For Diodorus Siculus
[1368] relates, lib. 16. That the giving of the Right-hand was, among
the Persians, a sign of speaking the truth. And the Scythians, as Qu.
Curtius relates, said in their conferences with Alexander the Great,
Think not that the Scythians confirm their friendship by swearing; they
swear by keeping their promises. StobAEus, Serm. 3. relates, That Solon
said, A good man ought to be in that estimation that he need not an
oath; because it is to be reputed a lessening of his honour if he be
forced to swear. Pythagoras, in his oration, among other things hath
this maxim, as that which concerns the administration of the
commonwealth: Let no man call God to witness by an oath, no not in
judgment; but let every man so accustom himself to speak, that he many
become worthy to be trusted even without an oath. Basil the Great
commends Clinias a heathen, That he had rather pay three talents, which
are about three thousand pounds, than swear. Socrates, as StobAEus
relates, Serm. 14. had this sentence, The duty of good men requires
that they show to the world that their manners and actions are more
firm than oaths: The same was the judgment of Isocrates. Plato also
stood against oaths in his judgment de Leg.12. Quintilianus takes
notice, That it was of old a kind of infamy, if any was desired to
swear; but to require an oath of a nobleman, was like an examining him
by the hangman. The Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus saith, in his
description of a good man, Such is his integrity, that he needs not an
oath. So also some Jews did witness, as Grotius relates out of
Maimonides, It is best for a man to abstain from all oaths. The
Essenes, as Philo JudAEus relates, did esteem their words more firm
than oaths; and oaths were esteemed among them as needless things. And
Philo himself, speaking of the third commandment, explains his mind
thus, viz. It were better altogether not to swear, but to be accustomed
always to speak the truth, that naked words might have the strength of
an oath. And elsewhere he saith, It is more agreeable to natural reason
altogether to abstain from swearing; persuading, That whatsoever a good
man saith may be equivalent with an oath.
[1369] Who then needs further to doubt, but that since Christ would
have his disciples attain the highest pitch of perfection, he abrogated
oaths, as a rudiment of infirmity, and in place thereof established the
use of truth? Who can now any more think that the holy martyrs and
ancient fathers of the first three hundred years, and many others since
that time, have so opposed themselves to oaths, that they might only
rebuke vain and rash oaths by the creatures, or heathen idols, which
were also prohibited under the mosaical law; and not also swearing by
the true God, in truth and righteousness, which was there commanded? as
Polycarpus, Justin Martyr, Apolog. 2. and many martyrs, as Eusebius
relates. Tertullian, in his Apol. cap. 32. ad Scap. cap. 1. of
Idolatry, cap. 11. Clem. Alexandrinus, Strom. lib. 7. Origen, in Mat.
Tract. 25. Cyprianus, lib. 3. Athanasius, [1370] in pass. & cruc.
Domini Christi. Hilarius in Mat. v. 34. Basilius Magn, in Psalm xiv.
Greg. Nyssenus in Cant. Orat. 13. Greg. Nazianzenus in dialog. contra
juramenta. Epiphanius adversus heres. lib. 1. Ambros. de. Virg. lib. 3.
Idem in Mat. v. Crysostom in Genes. homil. 15. Idem homil. in Act.
Apost. cap. 3. Hieronimus Epistol. lib. part 3. Ep. 2. Idem in Zech.
lib. 2. cap. 8. Idem in Mat. lib. 1. cap. 5. Augustinus de serm. Dom.
serm. 28. Cyrillus in Jer. iv. Theodoretus in Deut. vi. Isidorus
Pelusiota Ep. lib. 1. Epist. 155. Chromatius in Mat. v. Johannes
Damascenus, lib. 3. cap. 16. Cassiodorus in Psalm xciv. Isidorus
Hispalensis, cap. 31. Antiochus in Pandect. script. hom. 62. Beda in
Jac. v. Haimo in Apoc. Ambrosius Ansbertus in Apoc. Theophylactus in
Mat. v. Paschasius Radbertus in Mat. v. Otho Brunsfelsius in Mat. v.
Druthmarus in Mat. v. Euthymius Eugubinus Bibliotheca vet. patr. in
Mat. v. AEcumenius in Jac. cap. v. ver. 12. Anselmus in Mat. v. the
Waldenses, Wickliff, Erasmus, in Mat. v. and in Jac. v. Who can read
these places and doubt of their sense in this matter? And who,
believing that they were against all oaths, can bring so great an
indignity to the name of Christ, as to seek to subject again his
followers to so great., an inidignity? Is it not rather time that all
good men should labour to remove this abuse and infamy from Christians?
Lastly, They object, This will bring in fraud and [1371] confusion; for
impostors will counterfeit probity, and under the benefit of this
dispensation will lie without fear of punishment.
I answer, There are two things which oblige [1372] a man to speak the
truth: First, Either the fear of God in his heart, and love of truth;
for where this is, there is no need of oaths to speak the truth; or,
Secondly, The fear of punishment from the judge.
[1373] Therefore let there be the same, or rather greater punishment
appointed to those who pretend so great truth in words, and so great
simplicity in heart that they cannot lie, and so great reverence
towards the law of Christ, that for conscience' sake they deny to swear
in any wise, if they fail; and so there shall be the same good order,
yea, greater security against deceivers, as if oaths were continued;
and also, by that more severe punishment, to which these false
dissemblers shall be liable. Hence wicked men shall be more terrified,
and good men delivered from all oppression, both in their liberty and
goods: for which respect to tender consciences, God hath often a regard
to magistrates and their state, as a thing most acceptable to him. But
if any can further doubt of this thing, to wit, if without confusion it
can be practised in the commonwealth, let him [1374] consider the state
of the United Netherlands, and he shall see the good effect of it: for
there because of the great number of merchants more than in any other
place, there is most frequent occasion for this thing; and though the
number of those that are of this mind be considerable, to whom the
states these hundred years have condescended, and yet daily condescend,
yet nevertheless there has nothing of prejudice followed thereupon to
the commonwealth, government, or good order; but rather great advantage
to trade, and so to the commonwealth.
S:. XIII. Sixthly, The last thing to be considered, is revenge and war,
an evil as opposite and contrary to the Spirit and doctrine of Christ
as light to darkness. For, as is manifest by what is said, through
contempt of Christ's law the whole world is filled with various oaths,
cursings, blasphemous profanations, and horrid perjuries; so likewise,
through contempt of the same law, the world is filled with violence,
oppression, murders, ravishing of [1375] women and virgins, spoilings,
depredations, burnings, devastations, and all manner of lasciviousness
and cruelty: so that it is strange that men, made after the image of
God, should have so much degenerated, that they rather bear the image
and nature of roaring lions, tearing tigers, devouring wolves, and
raging boars, than of rational creatures endued with reason. And is it
not yet much more admirable, that this horrid monster should find
place, and be fomented, among those men that profess themselves
disciples of our peaceable Lord and master Jesus Christ, who by
excellency is called the Prince of Peace, and hath expressly prohibited
his children all violence; and on the contrary, commanded them, that,
according to his example, they should follow patience, charity,
forbearance; and other virtues worthy of a Christian?
Hear then what this great prophet saith, whom every soul is commanded
to hear, under the pain of being cut off; Mat. v. from verse 38. to the
end of the chapter. For thus he saith: Ye have heard [1376] that it
hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say
unto you, That ye resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on
thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue
thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.
And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give
to him that asketh thee; and from him that would borrow of thee, turn
not thou away. Ye have heard that it has been said, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour, and hate thine enemy: but I say unto you, Love your enemies,
bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for
them which despitefully use you, and persecute you, that ye may be the
children of your Father which is in heaven. For he maketh his sun to
rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on
the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do
not even the Publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only,
what do you more than others? Do not even the Publicans so? Be ye
therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
[1377] These words, with respect to revenge, as the former in the case
of swearing, do forbid some things, which in time past were lawful to
the Jews, considering their condition and dispensation; and command
unto such as will be the disciples of Christ, a more perfect, eminent,
and full signification of charity, as also patience and suffering, than
was required of them in that time, state, and dispensation by the law
of Moses. This is not only the judgment of most, if not all, the
ancient fathers, so called, of the first three hundred years after
Christ, but also of many others, and in general of all those who have
rightly understood and propagated the law of Christ concerning
swearing, as appears from Justin Martyr in Dialog. cum Tryph.
ejusdemque Apolog. 2. Item ad Zenam. [1378] Tertul. de Corona Militis.
It. Apolog. cap. 21, and 37. It. lib. de Idolol. cap. 17, 18, 19. It.
ad Scapulam. cap. 1. It. adversus Jud. cap. 7, and 9. It. adv. Gnost.
cap. 13. It. ad Marc. cap. 4. It. lib. de Patientia c. 6, 10. Orig.
cont. Celsum, lib. 3, 5, 8. It. in Josuam hom. 12. cap. 9. It. in Mat.
cap. 26. Tract. 35. Cyp. Epist. 56. It. ad Cornel. Lactan. de just.
lib. 5. c. 18. lib. 6. c. 20. Ambr. in Luc. xxii. Chrysost. in Mat. v.
hom. 18. It. in Mat. xxvi. hom. 85. It. lib. 2. de Sacerdotio. It. in I
Cor. xiii. Chromat. in Mat. v. Hierom. ad Ocean. It. lib. Epist. p. 3.
Tom. 1. Ep. 2. Athan. de Inc. Verb. Dei. Cyrill. Alex. lib. 11. in
Johan. cap. xxv. 26. Yea, Augustine, although he vary much in this
matter, notwithstanding in these places he did condemn fighting, Epist.
158, 159, 160. It. ad Judices, Epist. 203. It. ad Darium, & lib. 21.
It. ad Faustum. cap. 76. lib. 22. de Civit. ad Marc. cap. 6. as
Sylburgius relates. Euthym. in Mat. xxvi. and many others of this age.
Erasmus in Luc. cap. 3. & 22. Ludov. Vives in Introduc. ad Sap. J.
Ferus, lib. 4. Comment. in Mat. vii. & Luc. xxii.
From hence it appears, that there is so great a [1379] connexion
betwixt these two precepts of Christ, that as they were uttered and
commanded by him at one and the same time, so the same way they were
received by men of all ages, not only in the first promulgation by the
little number of the disciples, but also after the Christians increased
in the first three hundred years. Even so in the apostacy, the one was
not left and rejected without the other; and now again in the
restitution, and renewed preaching of the eternal gospel, they are
acknowledged as eternal and unchangeable laws, properly belonging to
the evangelical state and perfection thereof; from which if any
withdraw, he falls short of the perfection of a Christian man.
And truly the words are so clear in themselves, that, in my judgment,
they need no illustration to explain their sense: for it is as easy to
reconcile the greatest contradictions, as these laws of our Lord Jesus
Christ with the wicked practices of wars; for they are plainly
inconsistent. Whoever can reconcile this, Resist not evil, with resist
violence by force; again, Give also thy other cheek, with strike again;
also Love thine enemies, with spoil them, make a prey of them, pursue
them with fire and sword; or, Pray for those that persecute you, and
those that calumniate you, with persecute them by fines, imprisonments,
and death itself; and not only such as do not persecute you, but who
heartily seek and desire your eternal and temporal welfare: whoever, I
say, can find a means to reconcile these things, may be supposed also
to have found a way to reconcile God with the devil, Christ with
Antichrist, light with darkness, and good with evil. But if this be
impossible, as indeed it is, so will also the other be impossible; and
men do but deceive themselves and others, while they boldly adventure
to establish such absurd and impossible things.
S:. XIV. Nevertheless because some, perhaps through inadvertency, and
by the force of custom and tradition, do transgress this command of
Christ, I shall briefly show how much war doth contradict this precept,
and how much they are inconsistent with one another; and consequently,
that war is no ways lawful to such as will be the disciples of Christ.
For,
[1380] First, Christ commands, That we should love our enemies; but
war, on the contrary, teacheth us to hate and destroy them.
[1381] Secondly, The apostle saith, That we war not after the flesh,
and that we fight not with flesh and blood; but outward war is
according to the flesh, and against flesh and blood; for the shedding
of the one, and destroying of the other.
[1382] Thirdly, The apostle saith, That the weapons of our warfare are
not carnal, but spiritual; but the weapons of outward warfare are
carnal, such as cannon, muskets, spears, swords, &c. of which there is
no mention in the armour described by Paul.
[1383]
[1384] Fourthly, Because James testifies, That wars and strifes come
from the lusts, which war in the members of carnal men; but Christians,
that is, those that are truly saints, have crucified the flesh, with
its affections and lusts; therefore they cannot indulge them by waging
war.
[1385]
[1386] Fifthly, Because the prophets Isaiah and Micah have expressly
prophesied, That in the mountain of the house of the Lord, Christ shall
judge the nations, and then they shall beat their swords into plough
shares, &c. And the ancient fathers of the first three [1387] hundred
years after Christ did affirm these prophecies to be fulfilled in the
Christians of their times, who were most averse from war; concerning
which Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and others may be seen: which need not
seem strange to any, since Philo JudAEus abundantly testifies of the
Essenes, That there was none found among them that would make
instruments of war. But how much more did Jesus come, that he might
keep his followers from fighting, and might bring them to patience and
charity?
Sixthly, Because the prophet foretold, That [1388] there should none
hurt nor kill in all the holy mountain of the Lord; but outward war is
appointed for killing and destroying.
Seventhly, Because Christ said, That his kingdom [1389] is not of this
world, and therefore that his servants shall not fight; therefore those
that fight are not his disciples nor servants.
Eighthly, Because he reproved Peter for the [1390] use of the sword
saying, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take
the sword, shall perish with the sword. Concerning which Tertullian
speaks well, lib. de Idol. How shall he fight in peace without a sword,
which the Lord did take away? For although soldiers came to John, and
received a form of observation; if also the centurion believed
afterwards, he disarmed every soldier in disarming of Peter. Idem. de
Coron. Mil. asketh, Shall it be lawful to use the sword, the Lord
saying, That he that useth the sword, shall perish by the sword?
Ninthly, Because the apostle admonisheth Christians, [1391] That they
defend not themselves, neither revenge by rendering evil for evil; but
give place unto wrath, because vengeance is the Lord's. Be not overcome
of evil, but overcome evil with good. If thine enemy hunger, feed him;
if he thirst, give him drink. But war throughout teacheth and enjoineth
the quite contrary.
Tenthly, Because Christ calls his children to bear [1392] his cross,
not to crucify or kill others; to patience, not to revenge; to truth
and simplicity, not to fraudulent stratagems of war, or to play the
sycophant, which John himself forbids; to flee the glory of this world,
not to acquire it by warlike endeavours; therefore war is altogether
contrary unto the law and Spirit of Christ.
[1393] S:. XV. But they object, That it is lawful to war, because
Abraham did war before the giving of the law, and the Israelites after
the giving of the law.
[1394] I answer as before, 1. That Abraham offered sacrifices at that
time, and circumcised the males; which nevertheless are not lawful for
us under the gospel.
[1395] 2. That neither defensive nor offensive war was lawful to the
Israelites of their own will, or by their own counsel or conduct; but
they were obliged at all times, if they would be successful, first to
inquire of the oracle of God.
3. That their wars against the wicked nations were a figure of the
inward war of the true Christians against their spiritual enemies, in
which we overcome the devil, the world, and the flesh.
4. Something is expressly forbidden by Christ, Mat. v. 38, &c. which
was granted to the Jews in their time, because of their hardness; and
on the [1396] contrary, we are commanded that singular patience and
exercise of love which Moses commanded not to his disciples. From
whence Tertullian saith well against Marc. Christ truly teacheth a new
patience, even forbidding the revenge of an injury, which was permitted
by the Creator. And lib. de patien. The law finds more than it lost, by
Christ's saying, Love your enemies. And in the time of Clem. Alex.
Christians were so far from wars, that he testified that they had no
marks or signs of violence among them, saying, Neither are the faces of
idols to be painted, to which so much as to regard is forbidden:
neither sword nor bow to them that follow peace; nor cups to them who
are moderate and temperate, as Sylvius Disc. de Rev. Belg.
Secondly, They object, That defence is of natural [1397] right, and
that religion destroys not nature.
I answer, Be it so; but to obey God, and commend [1398] ourselves to
him in faith and patience, is not to destroy nature, but to exalt and
perfect it; to wit, to elevate it from the natural to the supernatural
life, by Christ living therein, and comforting it, that it may do all
things, and be rendered more than conqueror.
Thirdly, They object, That John did not abrogate [1399] or condemn war,
when the soldiers came unto him.
I answer, What then? The question is not concerning [1400] John's
doctrine, but Christ's, whose disciples we are, not John's: for Christ,
and not John, is that prophet whom we ought all to hear. And although
Christ said, That a greater than John the [1401] baptist was not among
men born of women, yet he adds, That the least in the kingdom of God is
greater than he. But what was John's answer, that we may see if it can
justify the soldiers of this time? For if it be narrowly observed, it
will appear, that what he proposeth to soldiers doth manifestly forbid
them that employment; for he commands them not to do [1402] violence to
any man. nor to defraud any man; but that they be content with their
wages. Consider then what he dischargeth to soldiers. viz. Not to use
violence or deceit against any; which being removed, let any tell how
soldiers can war? For are not craft, violence, and injustice, three
properties of war, and the natural consequences of battles?
Fourthly, They object, That Cornelius, and that [1403] centurion of
whom there is mention made Mat. viii. 5.were soldiers, and there is no
mention that they laid down their military employments.
[1404] I answer, Neither read we that they continued in them. But it is
most probable that if they continued in the doctrine of Christ, (and we
read not any where of their falling from the faith,) that they did not
continue in them; especially if we consider, that two or three ages
afterwards Christians altogether rejected war, or at least a long while
after that time, if the emperor Marc. Aurel. Anton. be to be credited,
who writes thus:-I prayed to my country gods; but when I was neglected
by them, and observed myself pressed by the enemy, considering the
fewness of my forces, I called to one, and entreated those who with us
are called Christians, and I found a great number of them; and I forced
them with threats, which ought not to have been, because afterwards I
knew their strength and force: therefore they betook themselves neither
to the use of darts nor trumpets, for they use not so to do, for the
cause and name of their God, which they bear in their consciences: and
this was done about an hundred and sixty years after Christ. To this
add those words, which in Justin Martyr the Christians answer, ou
polemoumen tois echthrois, that is, We fight not with our enemies. And
moreover the answer of Martin to Julian the apostate, related by
Sulpitius Severus, I am a soldier of Christ, therefore I cannot fight;
which was three hundred years after Christ. It is not therefore
probable that they continued in warlike employments. How then are
Vincentius Lyrinensis and the Papists consistent with their maxim, That
which always, every where, and by all was received, &c. And what
becomes of the priests, with their oath, That they neither ought nor
will interpret the scripture but according to the universal consent of
the fathers, so called? For it is as easy to obscure the sun at
mid-day, as to deny that the primitive Christians renounced all revenge
and war.
And although this thing be so much known, yet it is as well known that
almost all the modern sects live in the neglect and contempt of this
law of Christ, and likewise oppress others, who in this agree not with
them for conscience' sake towards God: even as we have suffered much in
our country, [1405] because we neither could ourselves bear arms, nor
send others in our place, nor give our money for the buying of drums,
standards, and other military attire. And lastly, Because we could not
hold our doors, windows, and shops close, for conscience' sake, upon
such days as fasts and prayers were appointed, to desire a blessing
upon, and success for, the arms of the kingdom or commonwealth under
which we live; neither give thanks for the victories acquired by the
effusion of much blood. By which forcing of the conscience, they would
have constrained our brethren, living in divers kingdoms at war
together, to have implored our God for contrary and contradictory
things, and consequently impossible; for it is impossible that two
parties fighting together, should both obtain the victory. And because
we cannot concur with them in this confusion, therefore we are subject
to persecution. Yea, and others, who with us do witness that the use of
arms is unlawful to Christians, do look asquint upon us: but which of
us two do most faithfully observe this testimony against arms? Either
they, who at certain times, at the magistrate's order, do close up
their shops and houses, and meet in their assembly, praying for the
prosperity of their arms, or giving thanks for some victory or other,
whereby they make themselves like to those that approve wars and
fighting; or we, who cannot do these things for the same cause of
conscience, lest we should de stroy, by our works, what we establish in
words, we shall leave to the judgment of all prudent men.
[1406] Fifthly, They object, That Christ, Luke xxii. 36. speaking to
his disciples, commands them, That he that then had not a sword, should
sell his coat, and buy a sword; therefore, say they, arms are lawful.
[1407] I answer, Some indeed understand this of the outward sword,
nevertheless regarding only that occasion; otherwise judging, that
Christians are prohibited wars under the gospel. Among which is
Ambrose, who upon this place speaks thus: O Lord! why commandest thou
me to buy a sword, who forbiddest me to smite with it? Why commandest
thou me to have it, whom thou prohibitest to draw it? Unless perhaps a
defence be prepared, not a necessary revenge; and [1408] that I may
seem to have been able to revenge, but that I would not. For the law
forbids me to smite again; and therefore perhaps he said to Peter,
offering two swords, [It is enough,] as if it had been lawful until the
gospel-times, that in the law there might be a learning of equity, but
in the gospel a perfection of goodness. Others judge Christ to have
spoken here mystically, and not according to the letter; as Origen upon
Mat. xix. saying, If any looking to the letter and not understanding
the will of the words, shall sell his bodily garment, and buy a sword,
taking the words of Christ contrary to his will, he shall perish; but
concerning which sword he speaks, is not proper here to mention. And
truly when we consider the answer of the disciples, Master, behold here
are two swords; understanding it of outward swords; and again Christ's
answer, It is enough; it seems that Christ would not that the rest, who
had not swords; (for they had only two swords,) should sell their
coats, and buy an outward sword. Who can think that, matters standing
thus, he should have said, Two were enough? But however, it is
sufficient that the use of arms is unlawful under the gospel.
[1409] Sixthly, They object, That the scriptures and old fathers, so
called, did only prohibit private revenge, not the use of arms for the
defence of our country, body, wives, children, and goods, when the
magistrate commands it, seeing the magistrate ought to be obeyed;
therefore although it be not lawful for private men to do it of
themselves, nevertheless they are bound to do it by the command of the
magistrate.
I answer, If the magistrate be truly a Christian, [1410] or desires to
be so, he ought himself, in the first [1411] place, to obey the command
of his master, saying, Love your enemies, &c. and then he could not
command us to kill them; but if he be not a true Christian, then ought
we to obey our Lord and King, Jesus Christ, whom he ought also to obey:
for in the kingdom of Christ all ought to submit to his laws, from the
highest to the lowest, that is, from the king to the beggar, and from
Caesar to the Clown. But alas! where shall we find such an obedience? O
desperate fall! concerning which Ludov. Viv. [1412] writes well, lib.
de con. vit. Christ. sub. Turc. by relation of Fredericus Sylvius,
Disc. de Revol. Belg. p. 85. The prince entered into the church, not as
a true and plain Christian, which had indeed been most happy and
desirable; but he brought in with him his nobility, his honours, his
ARMS, his ensigns, his triumphs, his haughtiness, his pride, his
superciliousness; that is, he came into the house of Christ,
accompanied with the devil; and which could no ways be done, he would
have joined two houses and two cities together, God's and the devil's,
which could no more be done than Rome and Constantinople, which are
distant by so long a tract both of sea and land. (What communion, saith
Paul, is there betwixt Christ and Belial?) Their zeal cooled by
degrees, their faith decreased, their whole piety degenerated; instead
whereof we make now use of shadows and images, and, as he saith, I
would we could but retain these. Thus far Vives. But lastly, as to what
relates to this thing, since nothing seems more contrary to man's
nature, and seeing of all things the defence of one's self seems most
tolerable, as it is most hard to men, so it is the most perfect part of
the Christian religion, as that wherein the denial of self and entire
confidence in God doth most appear; and therefore Christ and his
apostles left [1413] us hereof a most perfect example. As to what
relates to the present magistrates of the Christian world, albeit we
deny them not altogether the name of Christians, because of the public
profession they make of Christ's name, yet we may boldly affirm, that
they are far from the perfection of the Christian religion; because in
the state in which they are, (as in many places before I have largely
observed,) they have not come to the pure dispensation of the gospel.
And therefore, while they are in that condition, we shall not say, That
war, undertaken upon a just occasion, is altogether unlawful to them.
For even as circumcision and the other ceremonies were for a season
permitted to the Jews, not because they were either necessary of
themselves, or lawful at that time, after the resurrection of Christ,
but because that Spirit was riot yet raised up in them, whereby they
could be delivered from such rudiments; so the present confessors of
the Christian name, who are yet in the mixture, and not in the patient
suffering spirit, are not yet fitted for this form of Christianity, and
therefore cannot be undefending themselves until they attain that
perfection. But for such whom Christ has brought hither, it is not
lawful to defend themselves by arms, but they ought over all to trust
to the Lord.
[1414] S:. XVI. But Lastly, to conclude, If to give and receive
flattering titles, which are not used because of the virtues inherent
in the persons, but are for the most part bestowed by wicked men upon
such as themselves: if to bow, scrape, and cringe to one another; if at
every time to call themselves each other's humble servant, and that
most frequently without any design of real service; if this be the
honour that comes from God, and not the honour that is from below, then
indeed our adversaries may be said to be believers, and we condemned as
proud and stubborn, in denying all these things.
But if with Mordecai, to refuse to bow to proud Est. iii. 5 Haman, and
with Elihu not to give flattering titles [1415] to men, lest we should
be reproved of our Maker; and if, according to Peter's example and the
angel's advice, to bow only to God, and not to our fellow servants; and
if to call no man lord nor master, except under particular relations,
according to Christ's command; I say, if these things are not to be
reproved, then are we not blameworthy in so doing.
If to be vain and gaudy in apparel; if to paint the face and plait the
hair; if to be clothed with gold and silver, and precious stones; and
if to be filled with ribbons and lace be to be clothed in modest
apparel; and if these be the ornaments of Christians; and if that be to
be humble, meek, and mortified, then are our adversaries good
Christians indeed, and we proud, singular, and conceited, in contenting
ourselves with what need and conveniency calls for, and condemning what
is more as superfluous; but not otherwise.
If to use games, sports, plays; if to card, dice, and dance; if to
sing, fiddle, and pipe; if to use stage-plays and comedies, and to lie,
counterfeit, and dissemble, be to fear always; and if that be to do all
things to the glory of God; and if that be to pass our sojourning here
in fear; and if that be to use this world as if we did not use it; and
if that be not to fashion ourselves according to our former lusts; to
be not conformable to the spirit and vain conversation of this world;
then are our adversaries, notwithstanding they use these things, and
plead for them, very good, sober, mortified, and self-denying
Christians, and we justly to be blamed for judging them; but not
otherwise.
If the profanation of the holy name of God; if to exact oaths one from
another upon every light occasion; if to call God to witness in things
of such a nature, in which no earthly king would think himself lawfully
and honourably to be a witness, be the duties of a Christian man, I
shall confess that our adversaries are excellent good Christians, and
we wanting in our duty: but if the contrary be true, of necessity our
obedience to God in this thing must be acceptable.
If to revenge ourselves, or to render injury, evil for evil, wound for
wound, to take eye for eye, tooth for tooth; if to fight for outward
and perishing things, to go a warring one against another, whom we
never saw, nor with whom we never had any contest, nor any thing to do;
being moreover altogether ignorant of the cause of the war, but only
that the magistrates of the nations foment quarrels one against
another, the causes whereof are for the most part unknown to the
soldiers that fight, as well as upon whose side the right or wrong is;
and yet to be so furious, and rage one against another, to destroy and
spoil all, that this or the other worship may be received or abolished;
if to do this, and much more of this kind, be to fulfil the law of
Christ, then are our adversaries indeed true Christians, and we
miserable Heretics, that suffer ourselves to be spoiled, taken,
imprisoned, banished, beaten, and evilly entreated, without any
resistance, placing our trust only in GOD, that he may defend us, and
lead us by the way of the Cross unto his kingdom. But if it be
otherways, we shall certainly receive the reward which the Lord hath
promised to those that cleave to him, and, in denying themselves,
confide in him.
And to sum up all, if to use all these things, and many more that might
be instanced, be to walk in the straight way that leads to life, be to
take up the Cross of Christ, be to die with him to the lusts and
perishing vanities of this world, and to arise with him in newness of
life, and sit down wath him in the heavenly places, then our
adversaries may be accounted such, and they need not fear they are in
the broad way that leads to destruction, and we are greatly mistaken,
that have laid aside all these things for Christ's sake, to the
crucifying of our own lusts, and to the procuring to ourselves shame,
reproach, hatred, and ill-will from the men of this world: not as if by
so doing we judged to merit heaven, but as knowing they are contrary to
the will of Him who redeems his children from the love of this world,
and its lusts, and leads them in the ways of truth and holiness, in
which they take delight to walk.
THE CONCLUSION.
If in God's fear, candid reader, thou appliest thyself to consider this
system of religion here delivered, with its consistency and harmony, as
well in itself as with the scriptures of truth, I doubt not but thou
wilt say with me and many more, that this is the spiritual day of
Christ's appearance, wherein he is again revealing the ancient paths of
truth and righteousness. For thou mayest observe here the Christian
religion in all its parts truly established and vindicated, as it is a
living, inward, spiritual, pure and substantial thing, and not a mere
form, show, shadow, notion, and opinion, as too many have hitherto held
it, whose fruits declare they wanted that which they bear the name of;
and yet many of those are so in love with their empty forms and
shadows, that they cease not to calumniate us for commending and
calling them to the substance, as if we therefore denied or neglected
the true form and outward part of Christianity, which indeed is, as God
the searcher of hearts knows, a very great slander. Thus, because we
have desired people earnestly to feel after God near and in themselves,
telling them that their notions of God, as he is beyond the clouds,
will little avail them, if they do not feel him near; hence they have
sought maliciously to infer that we deny any God except that which is
within us. Because we tell people, that it is the light and law within,
and not the letter without, that can truly tell them their condition,
and lead them out of all evil; hence they say, we vilify the
scriptures, and set up our own imaginations above them. Because we tell
them, that it is not their talking or believing of Christ's outward
life, sufferings, death, and resurrection, no more than the Jews
crying, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, that will serve
their turn, or justify them in the sight of God; but that they must
know Christ in them, whom they have crucified, to be raised, and to
justify them, and redeem them from their iniquities: hence they say, we
deny the life, death, and sufferings of Christ, justification by his
blood, and remission of sins through him. Because we tell them, while
they are talking and determining about the resurrection, that they have
more need to know the Just One, whom they have slain, raised in
themselves, and to be sure they are partakers of the first
resurrection; and that if this be, they will be the more capable to
judge of the second: hence they say, that we deny the resurrection of
the body. Because when we hear them talk foolishly of heaven and hell,
and the last judgment, we exhort them to come out of the hellish
condition they are in, and come down to the judgment of Christ in their
own hearts, and believe in the light, and follow it, that so they may
come to sit in the heavenly places that are in Christ Jesus: hence they
maliciously say, that we deny any heaven or hell but that which is
within us, and that we deny any general judgment; which slanders the
Lord knows are foully cast upon us, whom God hath raised for this end,
and gathered us, that by us he might confound the wisdom of the wise,
and bring to nought the understanding of the prudent; and might, in and
by his own Spirit and power in a despised people, (that no flesh might
glory in his presence,) pull down that dead, dark, corrupt image, and
mere shadow and shell of Christianity wherewith Antichrist hath
deceived the nations: for which end he hath called us to be a
first-fruits of those that serve him, and worship him no more in the
oldness of the letter, but in the newness of the Spirit. And though we
be few in number, in respect of others, and weak as to outward
strength, which we also altogether reject, and foolish if compared with
the wise ones of this world; yet as God hath prospered us,
notwithstanding much opposition, so will he yet do, that neither the
art, wisdom, nor violence of men or devils shall be able to quench that
little spark that hath appeared; but it shall grow to the consuming of
whatsoever shall stand up to oppose it. The mouth of the Lord hath
spoken it! yea, he that hath arisen in a small remnant shall arise and
go on by the same arm of power in his spiritual manifestation, until he
hath conquered all his enemies, until all the kingdoms of the earth
become the kingdom of Christ Jesus.
Unto Him that hath begun this work, not among the rich and great ones,
but among the poor and small, and hath revealed it not to the wise and
learned, but unto the poor, unto babes and sucklings; even to him, the
Only-wise and Omnipotent GOD, be Honour, Glory, Thanksgiving, and
Renown, front henceforth and for ever. Amen. Hallelu-JAH.
__________________________________________________________________
[1273] Eph. v. 11. 1. Pet. i. 14. John v. 44. Jer. x. 3. Acts x. 26
Mat. xv. 13. Col. ii. 8.
[1274] After this manner the Papists used to disapprove the sobriety of
the Waldenses, of whom Reinerus, a Popish author, so writeth. But this
Sect of the Leonists hath a great show of truth; for that they live
righteously before men, and believe all things well of God, and all the
articles which are contained in the Creed; only they blaspheme and hate
the church of Rome."
[1275] Flattering titles.
[1276] Hat and knee.
[1277] Apparel.
[1278] Gaming.
[1279] Swearing.
[1280] Fighting.
[1281] Degrees of dignity & precedency allowed.
[1282] Education differs accordingly.
[1283] The lawful or unlawful use of the creation.
[1284] The rich to help the poor.
[1285] Titles.
[1286] Under the law and gospel.
[1287] Lying titles.
[1288] Patents do not oblige to a lie.
[1289] Object.
[1290] Answ.
[1291] Your Holiness, Your Grace, &c.
[1292] Hypocrites want titles.
[1293] Eccles. Hist. 1. 4. p. 445.
[1294] Your Majesty not used; how taken notice of in 1560.
[1295] The proud mind loves titles.
[1296] Phil. iii. 20.
[1297] Lucifer's spirit.
[1298] Hierom, in his epistle to Celant, admonisheth her, That she was
to be preferred to none for her nobility, for the Christian religion
admits not of respect of persons; neither are men to be esteemed
because of their outward condition, but accorling to the disposition of
the mind to be esteemed either noble or base; he that obeyeth not sin,
is free; who is strong in virtue, is noble. Let the Epistle of James be
read.
[1299] 1 Sam. ii. 30.
[1300] This history is reported by Casaubonus, in his book of Manners
and Customs, p. 160. In this last age he is esteemed an uncivil man,
who will not either to his inferior or equal subscribe himself Servant.
But Sulpitius Severus was heretofore sharply reproved by Paulinus,
bishop of Nola, because in his espistle he had subscribed himself his
Servant, saying, Beware thou subscribe not thyself his Servant, who is
thy Brother; for flattery is sinful, not a testimony of humility to
give those honours to men, which are only due to the One Lord., Master,
and GOD.
[1301] Concerning the title Paul gave to Festus.
[1302] The singelar number to one person used in the Latin.
[1303] How the word You came to be used to a single person.
[1304] The word thou a greater honor to One than You.
[1305] Scripture dialect the plain language.
[1306] Bowing to men, &c.
[1307] The custom of the nations no rule to Christians.
[1308] Rom. xii. 2.
[1309] Bowing is adoring & only due to God.
[1310] Peter and the angel refused bowing.
[1311] Object,
[1312] Answ.
[1313] To forbear bowing to man is no incivility. nor pride, nor
rudeness.
[1314] Apparel in its vanity and superfluity disallowed.
[1315] The proper use of clothes.
[1316] Not to please their lusts.
[1317] Contrary to scripture.
[1318] Plaiting the hair, &c.
[1319] Sports, &c. inconsistent with the gospel.
[1320] By sports & games God is not glorified.
[1321] Comedies a studied complex of idle lying words.
[1322] Object.
[1323] Answ.
[1324] The fear of God the best recreation in the world.
[1325] Lawful divertisements.
[1326] The love towards its beloved shuns its offence.
[1327] Sports and plays draw men from the fear of God.
[1328] All swearing is forbidden---
[1329] Without exception.
[1330] Also oaths before a magistrate.
[1331] The concurrence of the ancient fathers therein.
[1332] Object.
[1333] Ans. 1.
[1334] Ans. 2.
[1335] To swear by God himself forbidden by Christ.
[1336] Ans. 3.
[1337] Object.
[1338] Answ.
[1339] Oaths under the old covenant.
[1340] Object.
[1341] Answ.
[1342] Tithes, &c. unlawful now.
[1343] Object.
[1344] Answ.
[1345] Object.
[1346] Answ.
[1347] Oaths are evil because forbidden.
[1348] Truth was before all oaths.
[1349] Oaths supply presupposed defects of men's inconstancy.
[1350] Answ.
[1351] Athan. in pass & cruc.Dom.
[1352] God swears not by another but by himself.
[1353] Object.
[1354] Answ,
[1355] Hier. lib. Ep. part. 3. tract. 1. Ep. 2.
[1356] Object.
[1357] The ceremonies of an oath.
[1358] Answ.
[1359] The ceremonies of an oath.
[1360] Object.
[1361] Answ.
[1362] Swearing is expressed by confessing under the gospel.
[1363] Object.
[1364] Answ.
[1365] Deceit among the false, not the true Christians.
[1366] Answ.
[1367] Truth was before oaths.
[1368] Heathen testimonies against oaths.
[1369] Oaths abrogated by Christ.
[1370] The testimonies of the fathers against oaths and swearing.
[1371] Object;
[1372] Answ.
[1373] The punishment of liars.
[1374] The United Netherlands instanced.
[1375] Revenge and war contrary to Christ.
[1376] Revenge forbidden by Christ.
[1377] The law of Christ more perfect than that of Moses.
[1378] Testimonies of the fathers against fighting.
[1379] The laws of Christ in the New Testament are irreconcileable to
persecution, wars, & fighting.
[1380] Mat. v. 43.
[1381] Eph. vi. 12
[1382] 1 Cor. x. 4.
[1383] James iv. 1.
[1384] Gal. v. 24.
[1385] Isa. ii. 4.
[1386] Mic. iv. 3.
[1387] Primitive Christians most adverse from war.
[1388] Isa. lxv. 24.
[1389] John xviii. 46.
[1390] Mat. xxvi. 52.
[1391] Rom. xii. 19.
[1392] Mark viii. 54.
[1393] Obj. 4.
[1394] Answ.
[1395] Israelites going to war inquired of the oracle of God.
[1396] Some things permitted in the Old Testament because of hardness
of heart.
[1397] Object.
[1398] Answ.
[1399] Object.
[1400] Answ.
[1401] Luke vii. 28.
[1402] Luke iii. 14
[1403] Object.
[1404] Answ. Christians instanced that did not war.
[1405] Persecution for not bearing arms, and not fasting & praying
[1406] Object.
[1407] Answ.
[1408] Peter offered two swords.
[1409] Object.
[1410] Answ.
[1411] Christian magistrates ought to obey the command of their master
Christ.
[1412] Lud. Vives against arms.
[1413] Concerning the present magistrates of the Christian world.
[1414] The conclusion.
[1415] Job xxxii. 21, 22.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
A TABLE OF THE AUTHORS CITED IN THIS BOOK.
A.
ALANUS [1]443
Amandus Polanus [2]238
Ambrosius Ansbertus [3]555
Ambrosius Mediolanensis [4]127, [5]503, [6]555, [7]558
Amesius [8]238, [9]487
Anselmus Bishop of Canterbury [10]555
Antiochus [11]ibid.
Apollinarius [12]139
Athanasius [13]22, [14]502, [15]549, [16]555, [17]558
Augustinus Bakerus [18]558
Augustinus [19]21, [20]50, [21]82, [22]96, [23]149, [24]193, [25]194,
[26]223, [27]256, [28]262, [29]443, [30]446, [31]555, [32]558
Author de vocat. Gentium [33]126
B.
Basil the Great [34]549, [35]555
Baxter Richard [36]228
Beda [37]555
Bellarmine [38]206, [39]501
Bernard [40]22, [41]381, [42]395
Bertius [43]236
Beza [44]113, [45]220, [46]496
BorhAEus [47]221, [48]227
Bucerus [49]221
Buchanan [50]195
Bullinger [51]220
C.
Calvin [52]44, [53]45, [54]46, [55]69, [56]78, [57]113, [58]223,
[59]236, [60]323, [61]350, [62]433, [63]451, [64]454, [65]455, [66]472,
[67]484, [68]505, [69]522
Carolostadius [70]505
Casaubonus [71]525
Cassiodorus [72]555
Castellio [73]505
Catechism of Westminster [74]242
Chamierus [75]220
Chemnitius [76]223
Christianus Druthmarus [77]555
Chromatius [78]555, [79]558
Chrysostom [80]126, [81]489, [82]548, [83]555, [84]558
Cicero [85]191
Claudius Albertus Inuncanus [86]228
Clemens Alexandrinus [87]21, [88]172, [89]173, [90]193, [91]554,
[92]562
Conference of Oldenb. El. D. [93]240
Confession of Ausburgh [94]239, [95]265
------------- the French Churches [96]69
Conscience [97]144, [98]145, [99]146, [100]147
Confession of Faith of the Churches of Holland [101]69
------------ the Divines at Westminster [102]70, [103]78, [104]201
Council of Aszansic [105]262
--------- Carthage [106]70
--------- Florence [107]56
--------- Laodicea [108]70
--------- Trent [109]107, [110]238, [111]505
Cyprian [112]503, [113]555, [114]558
Cyrillus Alexandrinus [115]22, [116]159, [117]164, [118]165, [119]166,
[120]555, [121]558
D.
DallAEus [122]484
Diodorus Siculus [123]553
E.
Epictetus [124]17
Epiphanius [125]81, [126]555
Erasmus [127]526, [128]555, [129]559
Estius [130]228
Eusebius [131]56
Euthymius [132]555, [133]559
Eutyches [134]139
F.
Forbes [135]222, [136]223
Franciscus Lambertus [137]304, [138]388
Fredericus Sylvius [139]563, [140]567
G.
Gelasius [141]262
Gentiletus [142]238
Gerardus Vossius [143]167, [144]240, [145]265
Godeau [146]527
Gregory the Great [147]22
Gregorius Nazianzenus [148]555
Gregorius Nyssenus [149]ibid.
H.
Haymo [150]555
Hierom [151]21, [152]80, [153]81, [154]85, [155]261, [156]503,
[157]523, [158]549, [159]555, [160]558
Hilarius [161]502, [162]503, [163]555
Hildebrand [164]500
Himelius [165]228
History of the Council of Trent [166]505
------------- Reformation of France [167]521, [168]522
Hosius [169]503
Hugo Grotius [170]547, [171]548, [172]555
I.
Isidorus Hispalensis [173]555
------- Pelusiota [174]ibid.
J.
James Coret [175]236
James Howel [176]526
Johannes Damascenus [177]555
Johannes Ferus [178]558
Johannes Floracensis [179]443, [180]444
John Hus [181]94
Johannes Maresius [182]547
Justin Martyr [183]173, [184]192, [185]193, [186]555, [187]558,
[188]561, [189]564
L.
Lactantius [190]191, [191]192
Lucas Osiander [192]128, [193]312
Ludovicus Vives [194]193, [195]559, [196]567
Luther [197]22, [198]128, [199]197, [200]198, [201]200, [202]284,
[203]504, [204]505, [205]526
M.
Martianus [206]503
Martyr [207]113
Melancthon [208]23, [209]221, [210]265
Musculus [211]236
N.
Nicholaus Arnoldus of Franequer [212]283, [213]305, [214]307, [215]330,
[216]346, [217]347, [218]349, [219]431, [220]445
O.
Oecumenius [221]555
Origen [222]24, [223]314, [224]554, [225]558, [226]567
Otho Brunsfelsius [227]555
P.
Papirius Masson [228]444
ParAEus [229]113, [230]217
Paschasius Radbertus [231]555
Paulus Riccius [232]439, [233]466
Philo JudAEus [234]554, [235]561
Phocylides [236]192
Piscator [237]113
PithAEus [238]443
Platina [239]294
Plato [240]191, [241]554
Plotinus [242]191, [243]192
Polybius [244]547
Polycarpus [245]56, [246]555
Prosper [247]125, [248]126
Pythagoras [249]191, [250]553
Q.
Quintilianus [251]554
Quintus Curtius [252]553
R.
Reinerius [253]513
Richard Baxter [254]228, [255]238
S.
Seneca [256]191
Smith, Doctor in Cambridge [257]23
StobAEus [258]553
Sulpitius Severus [259]564
Synod Arelatensian [260]126, [261]127
------ of Dort [262]69, [263]112
T.
Tertullian [264]21, [265]504, [266]555, [267]558, [268]561, [269]562
Theophylactus [270]555
Thomas Aquinas [271]50
Thysius [272]219
V.
Victor Antiochenus [273]167
Vincentius Lyrinensis [274]564
W.
Waldenses [275]555
Wickliff [276]ibid.
Z.
Zanchius [277]113, [278]219, [279]223, [280]238
Zuinglius [281]107, [282]113, [283]228
__________________________________________________________________
A TABLE OF
THE CHIEF THINGS.
A.
ABRAHAM's Faith, [284]34.
Adam; see Man, Sin, Redemption.-- What happiness he lost by the fall,
[285]96. What death he died, [286]97. He retained in his nature no will
or light capable of itself to manifest spiritual things, [287]ibid.
Whether there be any relics of the heavenly image left in him,
[288]101, [289]144.
Alexander Skein's queries proposed to the preachers, [290]401,
[291]402.
Anabaptists of Great Britain, [292]57, [293]373.
Anabaptists of Munster, how their mischievous actings nothing touch the
Quakers, [294]54 to [295]58.
Anicetus, [296]56.
Anointing, the anointing teacheth all things; it is and abideth for
ever a common privilege, and sure rule to all saints, [297]52, [298]53.
Antichrist is exalted when the seed of God is pressed, [299]145. His
work, [300]318, [301]319, [302]320, [303]325, [304]326.
Antinomians, their opinion concerning justification, [305]209.
Apostacy, [306]263, [307]315.
Apostle, who he is, their number was not limited, and whether any may
be now-a-days so called, [308]320, [309]321, [310]322, [311]323.
Appearances; see Faith.
Arians, they first brought in the doctrine of Persecution upon the
account of religion, [312]502.
Arius, by what he fell into error, [313]314, [314]315.
Arminians; see Remonstrants.
Assemblings are needful, and what sort, [315]347, [316]348, &c. see
Worship, they are not to be forsaken, [317]364.
Astrologer, [318]64.
Aurelia, there ten Canonics were burnt, and why, [319]443, [320]444.
Atonement, [321]141.
B.
Baptism is one, its definition, [322]409, [323]412 to [324]419. It is
the Baptism of Christ, and of the Spirit, not of water, [325]419 to
[326]423. The Baptism of water, which was John's Baptism, was a figure
of this Baptism, and is not to be continued, [327]423 to [328]445.
Baptism with water doth not cleanse the heart, [329]413, [330]425. Nor
is it a badge of Christianity, as was circumcision to the Jews,
[331]428, [332]442. That Paul was not sent to baptize is explained,
[333]428 to [334]431. Concerning what Baptism Christ speaks, Mat.
xxviii. 20. it is explained, [335]432. How the apostles baptized with
water is explained, [336]435 to [337]439. To baptise signifies to
plunge, and how sprinkling was brought in, [338]439, [339]440. Those of
old that used water-baptism were plunged, and they that were only
sprinkled were not admitted to an ecclesiastical function, and why,
[340]440. Against the Use of water-baptism many heretofore have
testified, [341]443.
Infant-Baptism is a mere human tradition, [342]409, [343]444.
Bible, the last translations always find fault with the first, [344]80.
Birth, the spiritual birth, [345]66. Holy birth, [346]368, [347]369,
see Justification.
Bishop of Rome, concerning his primacy, [348]56. How he abused his
authority, and by what he deposed princes, and absolveth the people
from the oath of fidelity, [349]500, [350]504.
Blood, to abstain from blood and things strangled, [351]479, [352]481.
It hath been shed, [353]456.
Blood of Christ; see Communion.
Body, to bow the body; see Head.
Books Canonical and Apocryphal; see Canon, Scripture.
Bonaventure, [354]351.
Bow, to bow the knee; see Uncover the head.
Bread, the Breaking of bread among the Jews was no singular thing,
[355]466, [356]471. It is now otherways performed than it was by
Christ, [357]470. Whether unleavened or leavened bread is to be used;
also it is hotly disputed about the manner of taking it, and to whom it
is to be given, [358]471, [359]472. See Communion.
C.
Calvinists; see Protestants. They deny consubstantiation, [360]56. They
maintain absolute reprobation, ibid. They think grace is a certain
irresistible power, and what sort of a Saviour they would have,
[361]177, [362]178. Of the flesh and blood of Christ, [363]451,
[364]454, [365]455. They use leavened bread in the supper, [366]471.
Canon, whether the Scripture be a filled up canon, [367]92. Whether it
can be proved by scripture that any book is canonical, [368]92,
[369]93.
Castellio banished, [370]505.
Ceremonies; see Superstition.
Christ; see Communion, Justification, Redemption, Word. He showeth
himself daily, revealing the knowledge of the Father, [371]22. Without
his school there is nothing learned but busy talking, [372]23. He is
the Eternal Word, [373]26. No creature hath access to God but by him,
[374]26, [375]27, [376]28. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life,
[377]28. He is the Mediator between God and man, [378]27, [379]203. He
is God, and in time he was made partaker of man's nature, [380]27.
Yesterday, to-day the same, and for ever, [381]38. The fathers believed
in him, and how, ibid. His sheep hear his voice, and contemn the voice
of a stranger, [382]70, [383]301, [384]304. It is the fruit of his
ascension to send pastors, [385]84. He dwelleth in the saints, and how,
[386]138, [387]139. His coming was necessary, [388]141. By his
sacrifice we have remission of sins, [389]141, [390]183, [391]184,
[392]203. Whether he be, and how he is in all men, is explained,
[393]142. Being formed within, he is the formal cause of justification,
[394]196, [395]224. By his life, death, &c. he hath opened a way for
reconciliation, [396]226, [397]227, [398]228. His obedience,
righteousness, death and sufferings are ours; and it is explained that
Paul said, He filled up that which was behind of the afflictions of
Christ in his flesh, [399]206. How we are partakers of his sufferings,
[400]252, [401]253, [402]254. For what end he was manifested, [403]247,
[404]248. He delivers his own by suffering, [405]248. Concerning his
outward and spiritual body, [406]448, [407]449. Concerning his outward
and inward coming, [408]478.
Christian, how he is a Christian, and when he ceaseth so to be,
[409]19, [410]25, [411]42, [412]43 to [413]48, [414]254, [415]286,
[416]287, [417]288, [418]289, [419]300, [420]301. The foundation of his
faith, [421]64. His privilege, [422]66. When men are made Christians by
birth, and not by coming together, [423]276, [424]277. They have
borrowed many things from Jews and Gentiles, [425]411, [426]412. They
recoil by little and little from their first purity, [427]476,
[428]568. The primitive Christians for some ages said, We are
Christians, we swear not, [429]553. And, We are the soldiers of Christ,
it is not lawful for us to fight, [430]565.
Christianity is made as an art, [431]25. It is not Christianity without
the Spirit, [432]40 to [433]44, [434]69, [435]70. It would be turned
into Scepticism, [436]311. It is placed chiefly in the renewing of the
heart, [437]279. Wherein it consists not, [438]363. What is and is not
the mark thereof, [439]428, [440]429, [441]442. Why it is odious to
Jews, Turks, and Heathens, [442]454. What would contribute to its
Comrnendation, [443]518.
Church, without which there is no salvation; what she is; concerning
her members, visibility, profession, degeneration, succession, [444]272
to [445]298. Whatsoever is done in the church without the instinct of
the Holy Spirit is vain and impious, [446]304. The same may be said of
her as was in the schools of Theseus's boat, [447]326. In her
corrections ought to be exercised, and against whom [448]488, [449]489.
She is more corrupted by the accession of hypocrites, [450]498. The
contentions of the Greek and Latin churches about unleavened or
leavened bread in the supper, [451]471. The lukewarmness of the church
of Laodicea, [452]287. There are introduced into the Roman church no
less superstitions and ceremonies than among Heathens and Jews,
[453]277.
Circumcision, a seal of the old covenant, [454]439.
Clergy, [455]320, [456]322, [457]325, [458]336, [459]337, [460]472.
Clothes, that it is not lawful for Christians to use things superfluous
in clothes, [461]532 to [462]536, [463]569.
Comforter, for what end he was sent, [464]22, [465]23.
Commission, the commission of the disciples of Christ before the work
was finished was more legal than evangelical, [466]306.
Communion, the communion of the body and blood of Christ is a spiritual
and inward thing, [467]445. That body, that blood is a spiritual thing,
and that it is that heavenly seed whereby life and salvation was of
old, and is now, communicated, [468]446, [469]447. How any becomes
partaker thereof, [470]451 to [471]453. It is not tied to the ceremony
of breaking bread and drinking wine, which Christ used with his
disciples, this was only a figure, [472]446, [473]453 to [474]465.
Whether that ceremony be a necessary part of the new covenant, and
whether it is to be continued, [475]465 to [476]485. Spiritual
communion with God through Christ is obtained, [477]97
Community of goods is not brought in by the Quakers, [478]488,
[479]516, [480]517.
Compliments: see Titles.
Conscience; see Magistrate. Its definition, what it is; it is
distinguished from the saving light, [481]144 to [482]148, [483]487.
The good conscience and the hypocritical, [484]266. He that acteth
contrary to his conscience sinneth; and concerning an erring
conscience, [485]487. What things appertain to conscience, [486]488.
What sort of liberty of conscience is defended, ibid. It is the throne
of God [487]489. It is free from the power of all men, [488]505.
Conversion, what is man's therein, is rather a passion than an action,
[489]149. Augustine's saying, ibid. This is cleared by two examples,
[490]149, [491]150.
Correction, how and against whom it ought to be exercised, [492]488,
[493]489.
Covenant, the difference betwixt the new and old covenant worship,
[494]50, [495]346, [496]347, [497]375 to [498]378, [499]425 to
[500]427. See, also, Law, Gospel.
Cross, the sign of the cross, [501]442.
D.
Dancing; see Plays.
Days, whether any be holy, and concerning the day commonly called the
Lord's day, [502]349, [503]464.
Deacons, [504]474.
Death; see Adam, Redemption. It entered into the world by sin,
[505]105, [506]106. In the saints it is rather a passing from death to
life, [507]107.
Devil, he cares not at all how much God be acknowledged with the mouth,
provided himself be worshipped in the heart, [508]24, [509]25,
[510]180. He haunts among the wicked, [511]248. How he may seem to be a
minister of the gospel, [512]316 to [513]318. When he can work nothing,
[514]370, [515]371. He keeps men in outward signs, shadows, and forms,
while they neglect the substance, [516]456, [517]457
Dispute, the dispute of the shoemaker with a certain professor,
[518]310, [519]311. Of a heathen philosopher with a bishop in the
council of Nice, and of the unlettered clown, [520]312.
Divinity, school-divinity, [521]299. How pernicious it is, [522]313 to
[523]317.
Dreams; see Faith, Miracles.
E.
Ear, There is a spiritual and a bodily ear, [524]23, [525]36.
Easter is celebrated otherways in the Latin church than in the Eastern,
[526]55. The celebration of it is grounded upon tradition, [527]ibid.
Elders, [528]33, [529]324.
Elector of Saxony, the scandal given by him, [530]403.
Eminency, your eminency; see Titles.
Enoch walked with God, [531]255.
Epistle; see James, John, Peter.
Esau, [532]358.
Ethics, or books of moral philosophy, are not needful to Christians,
[533]312.
Evangelist, who he is, and whether any now-a-days may be so called,
[534]323.
Excellency, your excellency; see Titles.
Exorcism, [535]443.
F.
Faith, its definition, and what its object is, [536]33 to [537]37. How
far, and how appearances, outward voices, and dreams were the objects
of the saints' faith, [538]35. That faith is one, and that the object
of faith is one, [539]37. Its foundation, [540]64. See Revelation,
Scripture.
Farellus, [541]472
Father; see Knowledge, Revelation, [542]33.
Fathers, so called, they did not agree about some books of the
scripture, [543]70, [544]81. They affirm that there are whole verses
taken out of Mark and Luke, [545]81. Concerning the Septuagint
interpretation, and the Hebrew copy, [546]81. They preached universal
redemption for the first four centuries, [547]125. They frequently used
the word merit in their doctrine, [548]237, [549]239. Concerning the
possibility of not sinning, [550]261, [551]262. The possibility of
falling from grace, [552]265. Many of them did not only contradict one
another, but themselves also, [553]315. Concerning baptism, and the
sign of the cross, [554]442. Concerning an oath, [555]544.
Feet, concerning the washing of one another's feet, [556]467 to
[557]470.
Franequer, [558]331.
Freely, The gospel ought to be preached freely, [559]330, [560]331.
G.
Games; see Sports.
Gifted brethren, [561]297.
GOD, how he hath always manifested himself, [562]18. Unless he speak
within, the preacher makes a rustling to no purpose, [563]22, [564]23.
None can know him aright, unless he receive it of the Holy Ghost, ibid.
God is to be sought within, [565]23. He is known by sensation, and not
by mere speculation, and syllogistic demonstrations, [566]23. He is the
fountain, root, and beginning of all good works, and he hath made all
things by his eternal word, [567]27. God speaking is the object of
faith, [568]34. Among all, he hath his own chosen ones, [569]20. He
delights not in the death of the wicked; see Redemption. He hath
manifested his love in sending his Son, [570]203, [571]226, [572]227.
see Justification. He rewards the good works of his children, [573]238,
[574]239. Whether it be possible to keep his commandments, [575]242,
[576]243. He is the Lord, and the only judge of the conscience,
[577]486, [578]489. He will have a free exercise, [579]497.
Gospel; see Redemption. The truths of it are as lies in the mouths of
profane and carnal men, [580]30, [581]45, [582]46. The nature of it is
explained, [583]49, [584]50. It is distinguished from the law, and is
more excellent than it, [585]50, [586]73. see Covenant, Law. Whether
any ought to preach it in this or that place, is not found in
scripture, [587]297, 298. Its works are distinguished from the works of
the law, [588]231. How it is to be propagated, and of its propagation,
[589]490. The worship of it is inward, [590]427. It is an inward power,
[591]167, [592]168.
Grace, the grace of God can be lost through disobedience, [593]263, &c.
Saving grace (see Redemption) which is required in the calling and
qualifying of a minister; see Minister. In some it worketh in a special
and prevalent manner, that they necessarily obtain salvation, [594]150,
[595]151. Your grace; see Titles.
H.
Hands, laying on of hands, [596]298, [597]480.
Head,of uncovering the head in salutations, [598]512, [599]515,
[600]529 to [601]532, [602]568, [603]569.
Heart, the heart is deceitful and wicked, [604]77, [605]97, [606]98.
Heathens, albeit they were ignorant of the history, yet they were
sensible of the loss by the fall, [607]191. Some heathens would not
swear, [608]553. Heathenish ceremonies were brought into the Christian
religion, [609]442.
Henry IV. king of France, [610]500.
Heresies, whence they proceeded, [611]363.
Heretics, [612]493.
High; see Priest.
History of Christ; see Quakers, Redemption.
Holy of Holies, the high priest entered into it once a year, [613]32.
But now all of us at all times have access unto God, [614]51.
Holiness, your holiness; see Titles.
Honour; see Titles.
Hypocrite, [615]493, [616]497, [617]498.
I.
Idolatry, [618]345, [619]364. Whence it proceeded, [620]410.
Illiterate; see Mechanics.
Indulgences, [621]199.
Infants; see Sin.
Iniquities, spiritual iniquities, or wickedness, [622]362.
Inquisition, [623]499.
Inspiration, where that doth not teach, words without do make a noise
to no purpose, [624]21, [625]22.
J.
Jacob, [626]358.
James the apostle, there were of old divers opinions concerning his
epistle, [627]70.
Jesting; see Plays, Games.
Jesuits: see Sect, Ignatian.
Jesus; see Christ. What it is to be saved, and to be assembled in his
name, [628]184, [629]201, [630]354.
Jews, among them there may be members of the church, [631]273,
[632]274. Their error concerning the outward succession of Abraham,
[633]285. Their worship is outward, [634]427.
John the apostle, concerning his second and third epistles, and the
revelation, there were sometimes divers opinions, [635]70.
John the baptist did not miracles, [636]296.
John Hus is said to have prophesied, [637]94.
John Knox, in what respect he was called the apostle of Scotland,
[638]324.
Judas fell from his apostleship, [639]287. Who was his vicar, [640]304.
His ministry was not purely evangelical, [641]306. He was called
immediately of Christ, and who are far inferior to him, and plead for
him, as a pattern of their ministry, [642]307.
Justification, the doctrine thereof is, and hath been, greatly vitiated
among the Papists, and wherein they place it, [643]197, [644]199,
[645]200, [646]226. Luther and the Protestants with good reason opposed
this doctrine, though many of them ran soon into another extreme, and
wherein they place it, and that they agree in one, [647]200, [648]201,
[649]207. It comes from the love of God, [650]203, [651]226. To
justify, signifies to make really just, not to repute just, which many
Protestants are forced to acknowledge, [652]215, [653]216, [654]219 to
[655]223. The revelation of Christ formed in the heart is the formal
cause of justification, not works, (to speak properly,) which are only
an effect, and so also many Protestants have said, [656]196, [657]199
to [658]202, [659]215 to [660]237. We are justified in works, and how,
[661]196, [662]206, [663]207, [664]208, [665]229 to [666]237. This is
so far from being a Popish doctrine, that Bellarmine and others opposed
it, [667]205, [668]206, [669]237, [670]239.
K.
Kingdom of God, [671]381, [672]480, [673]490.
Knowledge, the height of man's happiness is placed in the true
knowledge of God, [674]3. Error in the entrance of this knowledge is
dangerous, [675]15. Superstition, idolatry, and thence atheism, have
proceeded from the false and feigned opinions concerning God, and the
knowledge of him, [676]17. The uncertain knowledge of God is divers
ways attained, but the true and certain only by the inward and
immediate revelation of the Holy Spirit, [677]20. It hath been brought
out of use, and by what devices, [678]24, [679]25. There is no
knowledge of the Father but by the Son, nor of the Son but by the
Spirit, [680]18, [681]26, [682]27, [683]28, [684]29, [685]30, [686]31,
[687]32. The knowledge of Christ, which is not by the revelation of his
Spirit in the heart, is no more the knowledge of Christ, than the
prattling of a parrot, which hath been taught a few words, may be said
to be the voice of a man, [688]31.
L.
Laics, [689]320, [690]322.
Laity, [691]325, [692]327.
Lake of Bethesda, [693]147.
Law, the law is distinguished from the gospel, [694]50, [695]427. The
difference thereof, [696]50, [697]252, [698]253. See Gospel. Under the
law the people were not in any doubt who should be priests and
ministers, [699]281. See Minister of the law; Worship.
Learning, what true learning is, [700]307, [701]308.
Letter, the letter killeth, quickeneth not, [702]253.
Light, the innate light is explained by Cicero, [703]191, [704]192.
Light of nature, the errors of the Socinians and Pelagians, who exalt
this light, are rejected, [705]95. Saving light; see Redemption. Is
universal; it is in all, [706]132. It is a spiritual and heavenly
principle, [707]138. It is a substance, not an accident, [708]139,
[709]140. It is supernatural and sufficient, [710]160, [711]166. It is
the gospel preached in every creature, [712]167. It is the word nigh in
the mouth and in the heart, [713]170, [714]171. It is the ingrafted
word, able to save the soul, [715]176. Testimonies of Augustine and
Buchanan concerning this light, [716]194, [717]195. It is not any part
of nature or relics of the light remaining in Adam after the fall,
[718]144. It is distinguished from the conscience, [719]145. It is not
a common gift, as the heat of the fire, and outward light of the sun,
as a certain preacher said, [720]182. It may be resisted, [721]133,
[722]137, [723]147, [724]148, [725]262, [726]263. By this light or
seed, grace and word of God, he invites all, and calls them to
salvation, [727]172, [728]173, [729]174. None of those to whom the
history of Christ is preached are saved, but by the inward operation of
this light, [730]175 to [731]181. It is small in the first
manifestation, but it groweth, [732]176. It is slighted by the
Calvinists, Papists, Socinians, and Arminians, and why, [733]177. None
can put it to silence, [734]178. There are and may be saved by the
operation thereof, who are ignorant of the history of Christ [735]109,
[736]110, [737]134, [738]141, [739]142, [740]173, [741]181 to [742]191.
An answer to the objection, That none can be saved but in the name of
Jesus Christ, [743]184, [744]185.
Literature, human literature is not at all needful, [745]308, &c.
Liturgy, [746]351, [747]373.
Logic, [748]312.
Lord, there is one Lord, [749]38, [750]39.
Love, of a love-feast, [751]475, [752]477.
Lutherans; see Protestants. They affirm consubstantiation, [753]56. Of
the flesh and blood of Christ, [754]454. They use unleavened bread in
the supper, [755]471.
M.
Magistrate, concerning his power in things purely religious, and that
be hath no authority over the conscience, [756]486 to [757]512. Nor
ought he to punish according to church censure, [758]489, [759]490.
Concerning the present magistrates of the Christian world, [760]568,
[761]569.
Mahomet prohibited all discourse and reasoning about religion,
[762]506. He was an impostor, [763]146.
Majesty, your majesty; see Titles.
Man; see Knowledge. His spirit knoweth the things of a man, and not the
things of God, [764]29. The carnal man esteemeth the gospel truths as
lies, [765]30. And in that state he cannot please God, [766]42. The new
man and the old, [767]66, [768]139. The natural man cannot discern
spiritual things; as to the first Adam, he is fallen and degenerate,
[769]66, [770]94, [771]95, [772]108. His thoughts of God and divine
things in the corrupt state are evil and unprofitable, [773]94,
[774]95. Nothing of Adam's sin is imputed to him, until by evil doing
he commit his own, [775]97, [776]105. In the corrupt state he hath no
will or light capable of itself to manifest spiritual things, [777]97
to [778]103, [779]202. He cannot when he will procure to himself
tenderness of heart, [780]147. Whatsoever he doth, while he doth it not
by, in, and through the power of God, he is not approved of God,
[781]369. How the inward man is nourished, [782]448 to [783]453. How
his understanding cannot be forced by sufferings, and how his
understanding is changed, [784]497, [785]498.
Merchandise, what it is to make merchandise with the Scriptures,
[786]315.
Mass, [787]345, [788]351, [789]373, [790]403.
Mathematician, [791]64.
Mechanics, [792]327. They contributed much to the reformation, ibid.
Merit; see Justification.
Metaphysics, [793]312.
Minister of the gospel, it is not found in scripture if any be called,
[794]74, [795]75, [796]298. Teachers are not to go before the teaching
of the Spirit, [797]84. The Popish and Protestant errors concerning the
grace of a minister are rejected, [798]95, [799]103, [800]104. They are
given for the perfecting of the saints, &c. [801]249. Concerning their
call, and wherein it is placed, [802]271, [803]280 to [804]298.
Qualities, [805]272, [806]299 to [807]317. Orders and distinction of
laity and clergy, [808]320 to [809]325. Of separating men for the
ministry, [810]ibid. Concerning the sustentation and maintenance of
ministers, and their abuse; of the idleness, riot, and cruelty of
ministers, [811]327 to [812]340. What kind of ministry and ministers
the Quakers are for, and what sort their adversaries are for, [813]341
to [814]343.
Minister of the law, there was no doubtfulness concerning them under
the law, [815]281, [816]305, [817]306. Their ministry was not purely
spiritual; and while they performed it, they behoved to be purified
from their outward pollutions, as now those under the gospel from their
inward, [818]280, [819]281, [820]306.
Miracles, whether they be needful to those who place their faith in
objective revelation, [821]35, [822]36, [823]296.
Moses, [824]190, [825]375, [826]378, [827]410, [828]447.
Munster; see Anabaptists, their mischievous actings, [829]54.
Music, [830]408.
Mystery of iniquity, [831]320, [832]380, [833]381.
N.
Name of the Lord, [834]433. To anoint in the name of the Lord,
[835]479.
Nero, [836]495, [837]496.
Noah's faith had neither the scripture nor the prophecy of those going
before him, [838]34. It is said of him, that he was a perfect man,
[839]255.
Number, of using the singular number to one person, [840]526.
O.
Oath, that it is not lawful to swear, [841]515, [842]542 to [843]556.
Obedience is better than sacrifice, [844]75.
Object of faith; see Faith.
Oil, to anoint with oil, [845]445, [846]479, [847]483.
Ordinance, sealing ordinance, [848]412.
P.
Papists, the rule of their faith, [849]55. They are forced ultimately
to recur unto the immediate and inward revelations of the Holy Spirit,
[850]65. What difference there is betwixt the cursed deeds of those of
Munster and theirs, [851]57 to [852]61. They have taken away the second
commandment in their catechism, [853]80. They make philosophy the
hand-maid of divinity, [854]85. They exalt too much the natural power,
and what they think of the saving light, [855]177. Their doctrine
concerning justification is greatly vitiated, [856]197. Concerning
their manners and ceremonies, [857]276, [858]277, [859]290, [860]291,
[861]294, [862]295. Their literature and studies, [863]308 Of the
modern apostles and evangelists, [864]323. Whom they exclude from the
ministry, [865]327. They must be sure of so much a year before they
preach, [866]330. They do not labour, [867]338. The more moderate and
sober of them exclaim against the excessive revenues of the clergy,
[868]333. Their worship can easily be stopped, [869]373. Albeit they
say, None are saved without water-baptism, yet they allow an exception,
[870]421. Of baptism, [871]442, [872]443. Of the flesh and blood of
Christ, [873]454, [874]455. Of an oath, [875]544.
Parable of the talents, [876]158, [877]167. Of the vineyard intrusted,
[878]156, [879]157. Of the sower, [880]166, [881]170. Of the tares,
[882]492, [883]493.
Paschal Lamb, the end thereof, [884]459.
Patriarchs, [885]449, [886]459.
Pelagians, [887]95. How we differ from them, [888]148, [889]443. See
Light of Nature.
Pelagius denied that man gets an evil seed from Adam, and ascribes all
to the will and nature of men: he said, that man could attain unto a
state of not sinning by his mere natural strength, without the grace of
God, [890]261, [891]262.
Persecution upon the account of religion, [892]502 to [893]509. See
Magistrate.
Perseverance, the grace of God may be lost through disobedience,
[894]241, [895]263, [896]266. Yet such a stability may in this life be
attained, from which there cannot be a total apostacy, [897]267 to
[898]270.
Peter, whether be was at Rome, [899]56. He was ignorant of Aristotle's
logic, [900]85. There were of old divers opinions concerning his second
epistle, [901]70.
Pharisees, [902]410, [903]464.
Philosopher, the heathen philosopher was brought to the Christian faith
by an illiterate rustic, [904]312.
Philosophy, [905]299, [906]312.
Physics, ibid.
Plays, whether it be lawful to use them, [907]512,[908] 515, [909]536
to [910]542, [911]569.
Polycarpus, the disciple of John, [912]56.
Pray, to pray for remission of sins, [913]260. Concerning the Lord's
Prayer, [914]364. To pray without the Spirit is to offend God,
[915]369, [916]540. Concerning the prayer of the the will in silence,
[917]380. See Worship.
Prayer, the prayers of the people were in the Latin tongue, [918]309.
Preacher; see Minister.
Preaching, what is termed the preaching of the word, [919]316,
[920]325, [921]347, [922]348. To preach without the Spirit is to offend
God, [923]369. See Worship. It is a permanent institution, [924]430. It
is learned as an other trade, [925]325.
Predestinated, God hath after a special manner predestinated some to
salvation; of whom, if the places of scripture which some abuse be
understood, their objections are easily solved, [926]152, [927]153.
Priest, under the law God spake immediately to the high priest,
[928]32, [929]51.
Priests; see Minister of the law, [930]279, [931]281, [932]284,
[933]306, [934]349.
Profession, an outward profession is necessary that any be a member of
a particular Christian church, [935]275.
Prophecy, and to prophesy, what it signifies, [936]321, [937]322. Of
the liberty of prophesying, ibid.
Prophets, some prophets did not miracles, [938]296.
Protestants, the rule of their faith, [939]55. They are forced
ultimately to recur unto the immediate and inward revelation of the
Holy Spirit, [940]65. What difference betwixt the execrable deeds of
those of Munster and theirs, [941]57 to [942]61. They make philosophy
the handmaid of divinity, [943]85. They affirm John Hus prophesied of
the reformation that was to be, [944]94. Whether they did not throw
themselves into many errors while they were expecting a greater light,
[945]131. They opposed the Papists not without good cause, in the
doctrine of justification; but they soon ran into another extreme,
[946]200, [947]201. They say, that the best works of the saints are
defiled, [948]207. Whether there be any difference between them and the
Papists in superstitions and manners, and what it is, [949]278,
[950]279, [951]294, [952]295. What they think of the call of a
minister, [953]282 to [954]288, [955]294 to [956]299. It is lamentable
that they betake them to Judas for a pattern to their ministers and
ministry, [957]307. Their zeal and endeavours are praised, [958]309. Of
their school divinity, [959]313, [960]314. Of the apostles and
evangelists of this time, [961]323. Whom they exclude from the
ministry, [962]325. That they preach to none until they be first sure
of so much a year, [963]330. The more moderate of them exclaim against
the excessive revenues of the clergy, [964]333. Though they had
forsaken the bishop of Rome, yet they would not part with old
benefices, [965]337. They will not labour, [966]338. Whether they have
made a perfect reformation in worship, [967]345, [968]346. Their
worship can easily be stopped, [969]373. They have given great scandal
to the reformation, [970]403. They deny water-baptism to be absolutely
necessary to salvation, [971]421. Of water-baptism, [972]441 to
[973]443. Of the flesh and blood of Christ. [974]452 to [975]455. They
use not washing of feet, [976]469. How they did vindicate liberty of
conscience, [977]499 Some affirm, that wicked kings and magistrates
ought to be deposed, yea, killed, [978]501. How they meet, when they
have not the consent of the magistrate, [979]509. Of oaths and
swearing, [980]544, [981]545.
Psalms, singing of psalms, [982]406.
Q.
Quakers, i. e. Tremblers, and why so called. [983]181, [984]359. They
are not contemners of the scriptures, and what they think of them,
[985]67, [986]71, [987]72, [988]82, [989]83, [990]84, [991]85. Nor of
reason, and what they think of it, [992]144, [993]145. They do not say,
that all other secondary means of knowledge are of no service, [994]26.
They do not compare themselves to Jesus Christ, as they are falsely
accused, [995]138. Nor do they deny those things that are written in
the holy scriptures concerning Christ, his conception, &c. [996]139,
[997]215. They were raised up of God to show forth the truth, [998]131,
[999]132, [1000]179, [1001]194, [1002]316, [1003]317, [1004]360. Their
doctrine of justification is not popish, [1005]197, [1006]206,
[1007]228, [1008]239. They are not against meditation, [1009]368. Their
worship cannot be interrupted, [1010]372. And what they have suffered,
[1011]372 to [1012]375. How they vindicate liberty of conscience,
[1013]507, [1014]508. They do not persecute others, [1015]511,
[1016]512. Their adversaries confess, that they are found for the most
part free from the abominations which abound among others; yet they
count those things vices in them, which in themselves they extol as
notable virtues, and make more noise about the escape of one Quaker,
than of an hundred among themselves, [1017]514. They destroy not the
mutual relation that is betwixt prince and people, master and servant,
father and son, nor do they introduce community of goods, [1018]516.
Nor say that one man may not use the creation more or less than
another, [1019]517.
R.
Ranters, the blasphemy of the Ranters or Libertines, saying, that there
is no difference betwixt good and evil, [1020]251.
Reason, what need we set up corrupt reason, [1021]46. Concerning
reason, [1022]57, [1023]144, [1024]145.
Rebekah, [1025]358.
Reconciliation, how reconciliation with God is made, [1026]208 to
[1027]215.
Recreations; see Plays.
Redemption is considered in a two-fold respect; first, performed by
Christ without us; and secondly, wrought in us, [1028]204, [1029]205.
It is universal: God gave his only begotten son Jesus Christ for a
light, that whosoever believeth in him maybe saved [1030]109,
[1031]160, [1032]161. The benefit of his death is not less universal
than the seed of sin, [1033]108, [1034]109. There is scarce found any
article of the Christian religion that is so expressly confirmed in the
holy scriptures, [1035]118 to [1036]125. This doctrine was preached by
the fathers (so called) of the first six hundred years, and is proved
by the sayings of some, [1037]125, [1038]126, [1039]127. Those that
since the time of the reformation have affirmed it, have not given a
clear testimony how that benefit is communicated to all, nor have
sufficiently taught the truth, because they have added the absolute
necessity of the outward knowledge of the history of Christ; yea, they
have thereby given the contrary party a stronger argument to defend
their precise decree of reprobation, among whom were the Remonstrants
of Holland, [1040]110, [1041]127 to [1042]130. God hath now raised up a
few illiterate men to be dispensers of this truth, [1043]131,
[1044]132, [1045]180, [1046]181. This doctrine showeth forth the mercy
and justice of God, [1047]133, [1048]151, [1049]152. It is the
foundation of salvation, [1050]133. It answers to the whole tenor of
the gospel promises and threats, ibid. It magnifies and commends the
merits and death of Christ, ibid. It exalts above all the grace of God,
ibid. It overturns the false doctrine of the Pelagians, Semi-pelagians,
and others, who exalt the light of nature, and the freedom of man's
will, [1051]134. It makes the salvation of man solely to depend upon
God, and his condemnation wholly and in every respect to be of himself,
ibid. It takes away all ground of despair, and feeds none in security,
ibid. It commends the Christian religion among infidels, ibid. It
showeth the wisdom of God, [1052]135. And it is established, though not
in words, yet by deeds, even by those ministers that oppose this
doctrine, ibid. It derogates not from the atonement and sacrifice of
Jesus Christ, but doth magnify and exalt it, [1053]141. There is given
to every one (none excepted) a certain day, and time of visitation, in
which it is possible for them to be saved. [1054]132, [1055]153 to
[1056]160. The testimony of Cyrillus concerning this thing, [1057]159.
It is explained what is understood and not understood by this day,
[1058]136, [1059]137. To some it may be longer, to others shorter,
ibid. Many may outlive their day of visitation, after which there is no
possibility of salvation to them, ibid. Some examples are alleged,
ibid. The objections and those places of scripture which others abuse,
to prove that God incites men necessarily to sin, are easily solved, if
they be applied to these men, after the time of their visitation is
past, [1060]137, [1061]152, [1062]153. There is given to every one a
measure of the light, seed, grace, and word of God, whereby they can be
saved, [1063]132, [1064]133, [1065]152, [1066]153, [1067]166 to
[1068]174. Which is also confirmed by the testimonies of Cyrill. and
others, [1069]164 to [1070]173. What that light is; see Light.--;
Many, though ignorant of the outward history, yet have been sensible of
the loss that came by Adam, which is confirmed by the testimonies of
Plato and others, [1071]191, [1072]192. Many have known Christ within,
as a remedy to redeem them, though not under that denomination, witness
Seneca, Cicero, and others, [1073]191, [1074]192, [1075]193. Yet all
are obliged to believe the outward history of Christ, to whom God
bringeth the knowledge of it, [1076]142
Reformation, wherein it is not placed, [1077]282, [1078]283. Mechanic
men have contributed much to it, [1079]327. What hath been pernicious
to it, [1080]456.
Relation; see Quakers.
Religion, the Christian religion; see Christianity. How it is made
odious to Jews, Turks, and Heathens, [1081]454.
Remonstrants of Holland; see Arminians, Redemption. They deny absolute
reprobation, [1082]56. How we differ from them, [1083]148. They exalt
too much the natural power and free will of man, and what they think of
the saving light, [1084]177. Their worship can easily be stopped,
[1085]373.
Reprobation; see also Redemption.--; What absolute reprobation is, is
described, [1086]110, [1087]111. Its doctrine is horrible, impious, and
blasphemous, [1088]111 to [1089]116. It is also so called by Lucas
Osiander, [1090]128. It is a new doctrine, and Augustine laid the first
foundation thereof, which Dominicus, Calvin, and the synod of Dort
maintained, [1091]112, [1092]128, [1093]129. Also Luther, whom
notwithstanding Lutherans afterwards deserted, [1094]ibid. It is
injurious to God, and makes him the author of sin; proved by the
sayings of Calvin, Beza, Zanchius, ParAEus, Martyr, Zwinglius, and
Piscator, [1095]113. It makes the preaching of the gospel a mere mock
and illusion, [1096]115. It makes the coming of Christ, and his
propitiatory sacrifice to have been a testimony of God's wrath,
[1097]ibid. It is injurious to mankind, and makes his condition worse
than the condition of devils, beasts, Jews under Pharaoh, and the same
which the poets applied to Tantalus, [1098]116.
Revelation, God always manifested himself by the revelations of the
Spirit, [1099]4, [1100]29, [1101]30, [1102]62. They are made several
ways, [1103]4. They have been always the formal object of faith, and so
remain, [1104]ibid. [1105]32 to [1106]48. And that not only
subjectively, but also objectively, [1107]48, [1108]49, [1109]50. They
are simply necessary unto true faith. [1110]4, [1111]18, [1112]54,
[1113]64. They are not uncertain, [1114]52, [1115]53, [1116]54. Yea, it
is horrible sacrilege to accuse them of uncertainty, [1117]44,
[1118]45. The examples of the Anabaptists of Munster do not a whit
weaken this doctrine, [1119]54, [1120]57, [1121]58, [1122]61. They can
never contradict the holy scripture, nor sound reason, [1123]4,
[1124]62, [1125]86. They are evident and clear of themselves; nor need
they another's testimony, [1126]4, [1127]62, [1128]63. They are the
only, sure, certain, and unmoveable foundation of all Christian faith,
[1129]64. Carnal Christians judge them nothing necessary; yea, they are
hissed out by the most part of men, [1130]19. Of old none were esteemed
Christians save those that had the Spirit of Christ; but now-a-days he
is termed a heretic who affirms that he is led by it, [1131]45. The
testimonies of some concerning the necessity of these revelations,
[1132]21 to [1133]24, [1134]44, [1135]45. By whose and what devices
they have been brought out of use, [1136]131.
Revenge; see War, [1137]556, [1138]557, [1139]558.
Rule of faith and manners; see Scripture.
Rustic, the poor rustic's answer given to the proud prelate, [1140]293.
He brought a philosopher unto the Christian faith, [1141]312.
S.
Sabbath, [1142]349, [1143]350.
Sacraments, of their number, nature, &c how much contention there hath
been, and that the word sacrament is not found in scripture, but
borrowed from the heathens, [1144]411, [1145]442. Its definition will
agree to many other things, [1146]412. Whether they confer grace,
[1147]483.
Salvation, without the church there is no salvation, [1148]273.
Samaria, the woman of Samaria, [1149]460.
Sanctification; see Justification.
Saxony, the elector of Saxony, of the scandal he gave to the
Reformation, by being present at the mass, [1150]403.
Sceptic, [1151]311.
School, without the school of Christ nothing is learned but mere talk,
and a shadow of knowledge, [1152]21, [1153]22, [1154]23 Whether public
schools be necessary, [1155]309.
Scriptures of truth, whence they proceeded, and what they contain,
[1156]67, [1157]68. They are a declaration of the fountain, and not the
fountain itself, [1158]ibid. They are not to be esteemed the adequate
primary rule of faith and manners, but a secondary, and subordinate to
tho Spirit, and why, [1159]67 to [1160]94, [1161]297. Their certainty
is only known by the Spirit, [1162]67, [1163]68, [1164]275. They
testify that the Spirit is given to the saints for a guide, [1165]67,
[1166]81, [1167]82, [1168]87 to [1169]93. Their authority depends not
upon the church, or council, nor upon their intrinsic virtue, but upon
the Spirit; nor is it subjected to the corrupt reason of men, but to
the Spirit, [1170]67, [1171]84. The testimonies of Calvin, the French
churches, the synod of Dort, and the divines of Great Britain at
Westminster concerning this thing, [1172]69, [1173]70. The contentions
of those that seek the certainty of the scriptures from something else
than the Spirit, [1174]ibid. Divers opinions of the fathers (so called)
concerning some books, [1175]ibid. Concerning the taking away, and the
corruption of some places; the translation, transcription, and various
lections of the Hebrew character, and of the Greek books, the
interpretation of the Septuagint, concerning the Hebrew books, and of
admitting or rejecting some books, [1176]80, [1177]81, [1178]82. Of the
difficulty in their explanation, [1179]85, [1180]86. Augustine's
judgment concerning the authors of the canonical books, and concerning
the transcription and interpretation, [1181]82, [1182]83. The use of
them is very profitable and comfortable, [1183]71, [1184]85. The
unlearned and unstable abuse them, [1185]85. There is no necessity of
believing the scripture to be a filled up canon, [1186]92. Many canonic
books, through the injury of time, lost, [1187]ibid. Whether it can be
proved by scripture that any book is canonical, [1188]92, [1189]93.
They were some time as a sealed book, [1190]309. To understand them
there is need of the help and revelation of the Holy Spirit, [1191]21,
[1192]22, [1193]23. No man can, make himself a doctor of them, but the
Holy Spirit, [1194]ibid.
Sect, the lgnatian Sect loveth literature, [1195]310. They call those
that are sent unto India apostles, [1196]324.
Seed of righteousness, [1197]367. The seed of sin; see Sin, Redemption.
Self-denial, [1198]366.
Semi-pelagians, their axiom, Facienti quod in se est Deus nou denegat
gratiam, [1199]127.
Servant, whether it be lawful to say I am your hurnble servant,
[1200]524,
Servelus, [1201]505.
Shoe-maker, he disputes with the professor, [1202]310, [1203]311.
Silence; see Worship.
Simon Magus, [1204]331.
Sin; see Adam, Justification.--;It shall not have dominion over the
saints, [1205]73. The seed of Sin is transmitted from Adam unto all
men, but it is imputed to none, no not to infants, except they actually
join with it by sinning, [1206]94, [1207]95, [1208]103 to [1209]106.
And this seed is often called Death, [1210]108. Original sin, of this
phrase the scripture makes no mention, [1211]ibid. By virtue of the
sacrifice of Christ we have remission of sins, [1212]141, [1213]203.
Forgiveness of sin among the Papists, [1214]199. A freedom from actual
sin is obtained, both when and how, and that many have attained unto
it, [1215]241 to [1216]262. Every sin weakens a man in his spiritual
condition, but doth not destroy him altogether, [1217]243. It is one
thing not to sin, another thing not to have sin, [1218]256, [1219]257.
Whatsoever is not done through the Power of God is sin, [1220]369.
Singing of Psalms, [1221]406.
Socinians; see Natural Light.--;their rashness is reproved, [1222]41.
They think reason is the chief rule and guide of faith, [1223]ibid.
[1224]55. Albeit many have abused reason, yet they do not say, that any
ought not to use it; and how ill they argue against the inward and
immediate revelations of the Holy Spirit, [1225]54 to [1226]57. Yet
they are forced ultimately to recur unto them; [1227]65 They exalt too
much their natural power, and what they think of the Saving Light,
[1228]177. Their worship can easily be stopped, [1229]373.
Son of God; see Christ, Knowledge, Revelation.
Soul, the soul hath its senses, as well as the body, [1230]23. By what
it is strengthened and fed, [1231]369, [1232]457.
Spirit, the Holy Spirit; see Knowledge, Communion, Revelation,
Scriptures. Unless the Spirit sit upon the Heart of the hearer, in vain
is the discourse of the doctor, [1233]22, [1234]36. The Spirit of God
knoweth the things of God, [1235]29. Without the Spirit none can say
that Jesus is the Lord, [1236]22, [1237]29, [1238]30. He rested upon
the seventy elders and others, [1239]33. He abideth with us for ever,
[1240]38, [1241]39. He teacheth and bringeth all things to remembrance,
and leads into all truth, [1242]40, [1243]41,[1244] 47, [1245]48,
[1246]49, [1247]67, [1248]68. He differs from the scriptures, [1249]40,
[1250]41 He is God, [1251]ibid. He dwelleth in the saints, [1252]41 to
[1253]47. Without the Spirit Christianity is no Christianity, [1254]42,
[1255]55, [1256]70. Whatsoever is to be desired in the Christian faith,
is ascribed to him, [1257]43. By this Spirit we are turned unto God,
and we triumph in the midst of persecutions, [1258]43. He quickens, &c.
[1259]43. An observable testirnony of Calvin concerning the Spirit,
[1260]44, [1261]45, [1262]46, [1263]69. It is the fountain and origin
of all truth and right reason, [1264]62. It gives the belief of the
scriptures, which may satisfy our consciences, [1265]69. His testimony
is more excellent than all reason, [1266]69. He is the chief and
principal guide, [1267]79. He reasoneth with and striveth in men,
[1268]154. Those that are led by the Spirit love the Scriptures,
[1269]83, [1270]275. He is as it were the soul of the church, and what
is done without him is vain and impious, [1271]310. He is the Spirit of
order, and not of disorder, [1272]318. Such as the Spirit sets apart to
the ministry are heard of the brethren, [1273]320 It is the earnest of
our inheritance, [1274]78.
Spiritual iniquities, [1275]362. Spiritual discerning, [1276]493.
Stephen spake by the Spirit, [1277]43.
Sufering, how Paul filled up that which was behind of the afflictions
of Christ; how any are made partakers of the sufferings of Christ, and
conformable to his death, [1278]254.
Superstition, [1279]344, [1280]345. Whence superstitions sprung,
[1281]363, [1282]410, [1283]442.
Supper; see Communion, Bread. It was of old administered even to little
children and infants, [1284]484.
T.
Tables, [1285]474.
Talents, one talent is not at all insufficient of itself; the parable
of the talents, [1286]158, [1287]167. Those that improve their talents
well, are called good and faithful servants, [1288]230. He that
improved well his two talents, was nothing less accepted than he that
improved his five, [1289]243.
Talk; see Plays.
Taulerus was instructed by the poor laic, [1290]300. He tasted of the
love of God, [1291]351.
Testimony; see Spirit.
Theseus, his boat, [1292]326.
Thomas of Kempis, [1293]351.
Tithes were assigned to the Levites, but not to the ministers of this
day, [1294]329.
Titles, it is not at all lawful for Christians to use those titles of
honour, majesty, &c. [1295]515, [1296]519 to [1297]529.
Tongue, the knowledge of tongues is laudable, [1298]308, [1299]309.
Tradition, how insufficient it is to decide, [1300]56. It is not a
sufficient ground for faith, [1301]483.
Translations; see Bible.
Truth, there is a difference betwixt what one saith of the truth, and
that which the truth itself, interpreting itself, saith, [1302]21.
Truth is not hard to be arrived at, but is most nigh, [1303]21.
Turks, among them there may be members of the church, [1304]273,
[1305]274.
V.
Vespers, [1306]351.
Voices, outward voices; see Faith, Miracles.
W.
War, that it is not lawful for Christians to resist evil, nor wage war,
[1307]515, [1308]556 to [1309]569.
Washing of feet, [1310]468, [1311]469.
William Barclay, [1312]501.
Woman, a woman may preach, [1313]320, [1314]328. Luther also,
[1315]284.
Word; the Eternal Word is the Son: it was in the beginning with God,
and was God: it is Jesus Christ, by whom God created all things,
[1316]27, [1317]139. What Augustine read in the writings of the
Platonists concerning this Word, [1318]193.
Works are either of the law, or of the gospel, [1319]231; see
Justification.
Worship, what the true and acceptable worship to God is, and how it is
offered, and what the superstitious and abominable is, [1320]343, &c.
The true worship was soon corrupted and lost, [1321]345. Concerning the
worship done in the time of the apostacy, [1322]350, [1323]395. Of what
worship is here handled, and of the difference of the worship of the
old and new covenant, [1324]346, [1325]347, [1326]375, [1327]376,
[1328]377. The true worship is neither limited to times, places, nor
persons, and it is explained how this is to be understood, [1329]347,
[1330]348, [1331]382, [1332]383, [1333]384, [1334]393, [1335]394,
[1336]395, [1337]426, [1338]427. Concerning the Lord's day, and the
days upon which worship is performed, [1339]349, [1340]350. Of the
public and silent worship, and its excellency, [1341]351 to [1342]385.
Of preaching, [1343]385 to [1344]392. Of prayer, [1345]392 to
[1346]406. Of singing of psalms, and music, [1347]406, [1348]408. What
sort of worship the Quakers are for, and what sort their adversaries,
[1349]408, [1350]409.
__________________________________________________________________
Indexes
__________________________________________________________________
Index of Scripture References
Genesis
[1351]1:2 [1352]2:17 [1353]3:24 [1354]4:6-7 [1355]4:7
[1356]5:22 [1357]5:24 [1358]6:3 [1359]6:3 [1360]6:3
[1361]6:3 [1362]6:5 [1363]6:9 [1364]15 [1365]1516
Exodus
[1366]13:8-9 [1367]23:7 [1368]34:6
Leviticus
[1369]16:1 [1370]19:2-3 [1371]19:6
Numbers
[1372]11:25 [1373]14:18
Deuteronomy
[1374]4:2 [1375]6 [1376]6:13 [1377]10:12-13 [1378]13:5
[1379]13:9 [1380]30:14 [1381]30:14
1 Samuel
[1382]2:30 [1383]10:12
1 Kings
[1384]8:46 [1385]19:18
1 Chronicles
[1386]29:11
Ezra
[1387]9:4
Nehemiah
[1388]9
Esther
[1389]3:5
Job
[1390]1:8 [1391]3 [1392]8:13 [1393]9:20 [1394]27:5
[1395]28:28 [1396]32:21-22 [1397]32:21-22 [1398]37:22
Psalms
[1399]6:6 [1400]8 [1401]10:3 [1402]10:4 [1403]14 [1404]14:3
[1405]17:14 [1406]18:22 [1407]19:11 [1408]21:5 [1409]22:14
[1410]25:3 [1411]27:14 [1412]37:7 [1413]37:9 [1414]37:34
[1415]39:7 [1416]51:5 [1417]51:11-12 [1418]53:2 [1419]54:3
[1420]63:1 [1421]69:6 [1422]84 [1423]86:15 [1424]94 [1425]98
Proverbs
[1426]1:20 [1427]1:24-25 [1428]1:24-25 [1429]1:26 [1430]1:26
[1431]5 [1432]8:9 [1433]15:29 [1434]17:15 [1435]17:15
[1436]18:10 [1437]18:10 [1438]20:22 [1439]21:4 [1440]21:4
[1441]27:17 [1442]27:19 [1443]28:9 [1444]30:6 [1445]34
Ecclesiastes
[1446]7:20 [1447]163
Song of Solomon
[1448]1:3 [1449]3:9
Isaiah
[1450]1:13 [1451]1:16-17 [1452]2:4 [1453]2:10 [1454]3
[1455]5:23 [1456]6:9 [1457]8:20 [1458]10:20 [1459]13:11
[1460]26:3 [1461]26:3 [1462]30:18 [1463]30:18 [1464]30:20
[1465]40:31 [1466]42:23 [1467]45:23 [1468]49:6 [1469]49:6
[1470]55:4 [1471]56:11 [1472]56:11 [1473]59:2 [1474]59:2
[1475]59:21 [1476]64:6 [1477]64:6 [1478]65:16 [1479]65:24
[1480]66:3 [1481]66:3
Jeremiah
[1482]2:13 [1483]3:11 [1484]3:14 [1485]4 [1486]7:4
[1487]10:3 [1488]10:3 [1489]12:16 [1490]14:12 [1491]14:12
[1492]14:14-15 [1493]15:15 [1494]17:9 [1495]18:9-10
[1496]23:6 [1497]23:29 [1498]23:30-34 [1499]23:32 [1500]31:33
[1501]31:38-39 [1502]31:40
Lamentations
[1503]3:25-26
Ezekiel
[1504]13 [1505]14:1 [1506]16:6 [1507]16:51-52 [1508]18:20
[1509]18:23 [1510]18:32 [1511]20:1 [1512]33:11 [1513]33:11
[1514]33:11 [1515]33:12-18 [1516]34:2-3 [1517]34:8
[1518]36:25 [1519]36:40
Daniel
[1520]4:30
Hosea
[1521]4:9 [1522]9:16 [1523]12:6
Amos
[1524]2:13 [1525]5:18
Micah
[1526]3 [1527]3:5 [1528]3:5 [1529]3:11 [1530]4:3 [1531]5
[1532]6:8 [1533]11
Habakkuk
[1534]1:13
Zechariah
[1535]3:8 [1536]4:6
Matthew
[1537]3:8 [1538]3:11 [1539]3:15 [1540]5 [1541]5 [1542]5
[1543]5 [1544]5 [1545]5 [1546]5 [1547]5 [1548]5 [1549]5
[1550]5 [1551]5 [1552]5:1 [1553]5:33-34 [1554]5:34
[1555]5:38 [1556]5:38 [1557]5:43 [1558]5:48 [1559]6:20
[1560]6:25 [1561]7 [1562]7:12 [1563]7:12-13 [1564]7:16
[1565]7:21 [1566]7:21 [1567]7:21 [1568]7:29 [1569]7:29
[1570]8:5 [1571]9:15 [1572]10:1 [1573]10:5 [1574]10:5-6
[1575]10:8 [1576]10:8 [1577]10:8 [1578]10:8 [1579]10:14
[1580]10:16 [1581]10:20 [1582]10:20 [1583]10:20 [1584]10:23
[1585]11:27 [1586]11:27 [1587]11:27 [1588]11:30
[1589]12:35-36 [1590]12:48 [1591]13 [1592]13:14 [1593]13:18
[1594]13:18-19 [1595]13:31-32 [1596]13:33 [1597]15:6
[1598]15:9 [1599]15:13 [1600]15:13 [1601]16:27 [1602]18
[1603]18:7 [1604]18:32-33 [1605]18:34 [1606]19 [1607]20:25-26
[1608]20:27 [1609]21:33 [1610]21:42 [1611]23:5-6 [1612]23:7
[1613]23:8-9 [1614]23:10 [1615]23:37 [1616]24:27 [1617]24:42
[1618]24:42 [1619]25 [1620]25:13 [1621]25:15 [1622]25:21
[1623]25:23 [1624]25:26 [1625]26 [1626]26 [1627]26:17
[1628]26:26 [1629]26:41 [1630]26:41 [1631]26:52 [1632]26:53
[1633]28 [1634]28 [1635]28 [1636]28 [1637]28 [1638]28
[1639]28 [1640]28:18 [1641]28:19 [1642]28:19 [1643]28:20
Mark
[1644]3:11 [1645]3:33 [1646]4 [1647]4 [1648]4:1 [1649]4:12
[1650]8:54 [1651]12:1 [1652]12:10 [1653]13:11 [1654]13:33
[1655]13:33 [1656]13:33 [1657]13:35 [1658]13:37 [1659]14:22
[1660]14:22 [1661]14:38 [1662]16:15
Luke
[1663]1:6 [1664]2:10 [1665]2:52 [1666]3:14 [1667]7:28
[1668]8:10 [1669]8:11 [1670]9:55 [1671]9:55 [1672]9:55-56
[1673]10:22 [1674]10:29 [1675]12:12 [1676]12:12 [1677]12:48
[1678]13:3 [1679]13:34 [1680]14:31 [1681]16:15 [1682]17:10
[1683]17:20-21 [1684]18:1 [1685]19:41-42 [1686]19:42
[1687]20:9 [1688]20:17 [1689]21:36 [1690]21:36 [1691]21:36
[1692]21:36 [1693]22 [1694]22:19 [1695]22:19 [1696]22:36
[1697]56
John
[1698]1 [1699]1 [1700]1 [1701]1 [1702]1:1-3 [1703]1:7
[1704]1:7-8 [1705]1:7-9 [1706]1:9 [1707]1:9 [1708]1:9
[1709]1:12 [1710]1:12 [1711]1:16 [1712]3:3 [1713]3:5
[1714]3:6 [1715]3:8 [1716]3:16 [1717]3:16 [1718]3:16
[1719]3:17 [1720]3:18 [1721]3:18-19 [1722]3:19 [1723]3:20
[1724]3:30 [1725]3:30 [1726]3:30 [1727]3:34 [1728]4:2
[1729]4:14 [1730]4:21 [1731]4:23-24 [1732]4:23-24 [1733]5:39
[1734]5:44 [1735]5:44 [1736]6 [1737]6 [1738]6:32
[1739]6:32-35 [1740]6:35 [1741]6:35 [1742]6:45 [1743]6:53
[1744]6:56 [1745]6:57 [1746]6:60 [1747]6:63 [1748]7:7
[1749]7:48-49 [1750]8:26 [1751]9:31 [1752]10:1 [1753]12:19
[1754]12:36 [1755]12:40 [1756]12:47 [1757]13:3-4 [1758]13:7
[1759]13:8 [1760]13:13-15 [1761]13:14 [1762]13:14 [1763]13:17
[1764]14 [1765]14:6 [1766]14:16 [1767]14:17 [1768]14:26
[1769]14:26 [1770]15:1-2 [1771]15:3 [1772]15:4 [1773]15:5
[1774]15:5 [1775]15:6 [1776]15:18-19 [1777]16:8 [1778]16:13
[1779]16:13 [1780]16:13 [1781]17:3 [1782]17:3 [1783]17:14
[1784]18:20 [1785]18:36 [1786]18:46 [1787]33:35 [1788]55
[1789]66
Acts
[1790]1:4 [1791]1:4-5 [1792]1:25 [1793]2:1 [1794]2:4
[1795]2:4 [1796]2:4 [1797]2:17 [1798]2:41 [1799]2:42
[1800]3:17 [1801]4:11 [1802]6 [1803]6 [1804]6:2 [1805]6:10
[1806]7:51 [1807]8 [1808]8:16 [1809]8:22 [1810]8:22
[1811]9:4 [1812]9:25 [1813]10:26 [1814]10:26 [1815]10:34
[1816]10:47-48 [1817]11 [1818]11:16 [1819]13:46 [1820]13:46
[1821]14:17 [1822]15:20 [1823]15:20 [1824]15:29 [1825]17:11
[1826]17:23 [1827]17:28 [1828]18:5 [1829]20:7 [1830]20:31
[1831]20:32 [1832]20:33-34 [1833]20:33-34 [1834]20:35
[1835]20:35 [1836]21:9 [1837]21:23-24 [1838]21:25 [1839]26:18
[1840]28:26
Romans
[1841]1 [1842]1:9 [1843]1:11 [1844]1:16 [1845]1:16
[1846]1:17-28 [1847]1:18 [1848]2 [1849]2:4 [1850]2:6-7
[1851]2:10 [1852]3:10 [1853]3:20 [1854]3:24 [1855]3:25
[1856]4 [1857]4:14 [1858]4:15 [1859]4:25 [1860]5 [1861]5:10
[1862]5:12 [1863]5:12 [1864]5:12 [1865]5:15 [1866]5:15
[1867]5:18 [1868]6 [1869]6 [1870]6:1-2 [1871]6:2
[1872]6:3-4 [1873]6:4 [1874]6:4 [1875]6:14 [1876]6:14
[1877]6:16 [1878]6:18 [1879]7:14 [1880]7:19 [1881]8
[1882]8:1 [1883]8:2 [1884]8:3 [1885]8:9 [1886]8:9
[1887]8:13 [1888]8:13 [1889]8:13 [1890]8:14 [1891]8:16
[1892]8:16 [1893]8:26 [1894]8:26-27 [1895]8:30 [1896]8:30
[1897]8:30 [1898]8:38 [1899]9 [1900]9:1 [1901]10 [1902]10:8
[1903]10:8 [1904]10:8 [1905]10:8 [1906]10:17 [1907]11
[1908]12:2 [1909]12:6 [1910]12:6-7 [1911]12:8 [1912]12:19
[1913]13 [1914]13 [1915]14:6 [1916]14:11 [1917]14:17
[1918]14:23 [1919]14:23 [1920]15:4
1 Corinthians
[1921]1:2 [1922]1:14 [1923]1:17 [1924]1:17 [1925]1:17
[1926]1:17 [1927]1:17 [1928]1:21 [1929]2 [1930]2:2
[1931]2:3-4 [1932]2:3-4 [1933]2:5 [1934]2:5 [1935]2:5
[1936]2:8 [1937]2:9-10 [1938]2:9-10 [1939]2:11-12 [1940]2:12
[1941]2:13 [1942]2:13 [1943]3:16 [1944]3:16 [1945]4:15
[1946]4:18 [1947]4:22 [1948]5:8 [1949]5:8 [1950]6 [1951]6:2
[1952]6:11 [1953]6:11 [1954]6:11 [1955]6:11 [1956]6:11
[1957]6:11 [1958]6:11 [1959]6:14 [1960]6:17 [1961]6:17
[1962]6:19 [1963]7:19 [1964]7:19 [1965]7:29 [1966]9:11-12
[1967]9:13 [1968]9:14 [1969]9:15-16 [1970]9:17 [1971]9:18
[1972]9:24 [1973]9:27 [1974]10:3-4 [1975]10:4 [1976]10:16
[1977]10:16 [1978]10:16-17 [1979]10:17 [1980]10:21 [1981]11
[1982]11:14 [1983]11:17 [1984]11:23 [1985]11:26 [1986]12
[1987]12 [1988]12:3 [1989]12:3 [1990]12:4 [1991]12:4-5
[1992]12:6 [1993]12:7 [1994]12:7 [1995]12:8-9 [1996]12:9-10
[1997]12:10 [1998]12:11 [1999]12:29 [2000]13 [2001]13:1
[2002]13:2 [2003]13:7 [2004]14 [2005]14:15 [2006]14:15
[2007]14:30 [2008]14:34 [2009]15:22 [2010]16:13 [2011]17
[2012]31
2 Corinthians
[2013]1:22 [2014]1:22 [2015]1:23 [2016]1:24 [2017]3:6
[2018]4:4 [2019]4:10 [2020]5:4 [2021]5:10 [2022]5:11
[2023]5:16-17 [2024]5:18-19 [2025]5:19 [2026]6:14 [2027]6:14
[2028]6:16 [2029]6:17-18 [2030]10:4 [2031]11:10 [2032]13:3
[2033]13:5 [2034]13:5 [2035]13:5 [2036]13:11
Galatians
[2037]1 [2038]1:8 [2039]1:16 [2040]1:16 [2041]1:20 [2042]2
[2043]2:8 [2044]2:20 [2045]2:20 [2046]3 [2047]3:27
[2048]3:27 [2049]3:27 [2050]3:27 [2051]4 [2052]4 [2053]4:19
[2054]5:12 [2055]5:20 [2056]5:24 [2057]6:6 [2058]6:14
Ephesians
[2059]1:13 [2060]1:14 [2061]2 [2062]2 [2063]2:1 [2064]2:4-5
[2065]2:5 [2066]2:6 [2067]2:8 [2068]2:15 [2069]3:9
[2070]4:3 [2071]4:5 [2072]4:5 [2073]4:5 [2074]4:6
[2075]4:11 [2076]4:11 [2077]4:11 [2078]4:16 [2079]4:23-24
[2080]4:24 [2081]4:30 [2082]5:4 [2083]5:8 [2084]5:11
[2085]5:11 [2086]5:13 [2087]5:13 [2088]5:13 [2089]5:13
[2090]5:13 [2091]5:13 [2092]5:25-26 [2093]5:27 [2094]6:12
[2095]6:18 [2096]6:18 [2097]6:18 [2098]6:18
Philippians
[2099]1:6 [2100]1:8 [2101]1:21 [2102]2:13 [2103]3:10
[2104]3:14 [2105]3:15 [2106]3:20
Colossians
[2107]1:3 [2108]1:15 [2109]1:16 [2110]1:23 [2111]1:23
[2112]1:27-28 [2113]1:28 [2114]2:8 [2115]2:8 [2116]2:12
[2117]2:12 [2118]2:12 [2119]2:15 [2120]2:16 [2121]2:19
[2122]3:1 [2123]3:2 [2124]3:16 [2125]4:2 [2126]4:12
1 Thessalonians
[2127]1:5 [2128]2:12 [2129]3:13 [2130]5:5 [2131]5:6
[2132]5:12-13 [2133]5:17 [2134]5:19-20 [2135]5:21 [2136]5:23
[2137]5:27 [2138]30
2 Thessalonians
[2139]1:5 [2140]1:11 [2141]2:11-12
1 Timothy
[2142]1:6 [2143]1:19 [2144]1:19 [2145]2:1 [2146]2:3
[2147]2:4 [2148]2:4 [2149]2:6 [2150]2:9-10 [2151]2:11-12
[2152]3:2 [2153]3:2-3 [2154]3:4 [2155]3:5 [2156]3:6
[2157]3:15 [2158]5:16 [2159]5:17 [2160]6:5-8 [2161]6:7-8
[2162]6:8 [2163]6:9 [2164]6:10 [2165]6:16
2 Timothy
[2166]3:2 [2167]3:15-17 [2168]3:17 [2169]4:5 [2170]4:7
Titus
[2171]1 [2172]1:7-8 [2173]1:9 [2174]1:10-11 [2175]1:15
[2176]2:11 [2177]2:11 [2178]2:11 [2179]2:11 [2180]2:11
[2181]2:11 [2182]2:14 [2183]2:14 [2184]3:5 [2185]3:5
[2186]3:5 [2187]3:5 [2188]3:5 [2189]3:7 [2190]3:7
[2191]3:10 [2192]3:10
Hebrews
[2193]1:3 [2194]2:9 [2195]2:9 [2196]2:9 [2197]2:9
[2198]3:14 [2199]3:22-23 [2200]4:12-13 [2201]5:4 [2202]5:4
[2203]6:4-5 [2204]6:4-6 [2205]6:6 [2206]6:16 [2207]7:26
[2208]8:10-11 [2209]8:11 [2210]9:9 [2211]9:10 [2212]9:10
[2213]10:24 [2214]10:35 [2215]11 [2216]11 [2217]11:6
[2218]12:14 [2219]12:16-17 [2220]13:7-8 [2221]13:17
James
[2222]1:21 [2223]1:25 [2224]1:25 [2225]1:27 [2226]2:24
[2227]3:9-10 [2228]4:1 [2229]5:6 [2230]5:14 [2231]5:14
[2232]5:14
1 Peter
[2233]1:4 [2234]1:5 [2235]1:14 [2236]1:14 [2237]1:17
[2238]1:17 [2239]1:23 [2240]2:5 [2241]2:21 [2242]2:22
[2243]2:22 [2244]2:24 [2245]3:3-4 [2246]3:18 [2247]3:20
[2248]3:21 [2249]3:21 [2250]3:21 [2251]4:7 [2252]4:7
[2253]4:10-11 [2254]4:10-11 [2255]5:5
2 Peter
[2256]1:4 [2257]1:10 [2258]1:10 [2259]1:12-13 [2260]1:16
[2261]2:1-2 [2262]2:1-2 [2263]2:2 [2264]2:3 [2265]2:3
[2266]2:14 [2267]2:15 [2268]2:20 [2269]3:9 [2270]3:9
[2271]3:15
1 John
[2272]1:1 [2273]1:7 [2274]1:8 [2275]2:1-2 [2276]2:3-4
[2277]2:5 [2278]2:6 [2279]2:15 [2280]2:27 [2281]3:1
[2282]3:2-3 [2283]3:4 [2284]3:4 [2285]3:5 [2286]3:5
[2287]3:6 [2288]3:6 [2289]3:7 [2290]3:7 [2291]3:8 [2292]3:8
[2293]3:9 [2294]3:9 [2295]3:10 [2296]3:20 [2297]4:4-5
[2298]4:9 [2299]4:10 [2300]4:13 [2301]4:13 [2302]5:3
[2303]5:6 [2304]5:14
Jude
[2305]1:4 [2306]1:16 [2307]1:19 [2308]1:20 [2309]1:25
Revelation
[2310]2:5 [2311]2:9 [2312]2:20 [2313]3:12 [2314]3:12
[2315]3:16 [2316]3:20 [2317]3:20 [2318]3:20 [2319]14:1-5
[2320]19:10 [2321]22:11 [2322]22:12 [2323]22:14 [2324]22:18
Wisdom of Solomon
[2325]2
__________________________________________________________________
Index of Pages of the Print Edition
[2326]ia [2327]iia [2328]1a [2329]2a [2330]3a [2331]4a [2332]5a
[2333]6a [2334]7a [2335]8a [2336]i [2337]ii [2338]iii [2339]iv
[2340]v [2341]vi [2342]vii [2343]viii [2344]ix [2345]x [2346]xi
[2347]xii [2348]1 [2349]2 [2350]3 [2351]4 [2352]5 [2353]6
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This document is from the Christian Classics Ethereal
Library at Calvin College, http://www.ccel.org,
generated on demand from ThML source.
References
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1455. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Isa&scrCh=5&scrV=23#vii.vi-p30.7
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1457. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Isa&scrCh=8&scrV=20#vii.iii-p70.2
1458. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Isa&scrCh=10&scrV=20#vii.x-p10.9
1459. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Isa&scrCh=13&scrV=11#vii.v.ii-p32.5
1460. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Isa&scrCh=26&scrV=3#vii.x-p10.9
1461. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Isa&scrCh=26&scrV=3#vii.x-p10.10
1462. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Isa&scrCh=30&scrV=18#vii.v.ii-p86.6
1463. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Isa&scrCh=30&scrV=18#vii.x-p13.4
1464. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Isa&scrCh=30&scrV=20#vii.x-p10.3
1465. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Isa&scrCh=40&scrV=31#vii.x-p13.19
1466. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Isa&scrCh=42&scrV=23#vii.x-p13.17
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1468. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Isa&scrCh=49&scrV=6#vi.v.i-p1.3
1469. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Isa&scrCh=49&scrV=6#vii.v.ii-p128.2
1470. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Isa&scrCh=55&scrV=4#vii.v.ii-p114.15
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1472. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Isa&scrCh=56&scrV=11#vii.ix-p109.1
1473. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Isa&scrCh=59&scrV=2#vii.vi-p20.3
1474. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Isa&scrCh=59&scrV=2#vii.vii-p12.4
1475. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Isa&scrCh=59&scrV=21#vii.ii-p116.2
1476. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Isa&scrCh=64&scrV=6#vii.vi-p52.2
1477. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Isa&scrCh=64&scrV=6#vii.vi-p53.4
1478. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Isa&scrCh=65&scrV=16#vii.xiv-p72.2
1479. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Isa&scrCh=65&scrV=24#vii.xiv-p93.2
1480. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Isa&scrCh=66&scrV=3#vii.x-p54.3
1481. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Isa&scrCh=66&scrV=3#vii.x-p87.2
1482. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Jer&scrCh=2&scrV=13#vii.ii-p94.4
1483. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Jer&scrCh=3&scrV=11#vii.vi-p30.8
1484. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Jer&scrCh=3&scrV=14#vii.ix-p4.12
1485. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Jer&scrCh=4&scrV=0#vii.xiv-p78.7
1486. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Jer&scrCh=7&scrV=4#vii.ix-p27.4
1487. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Jer&scrCh=10&scrV=3#vi.xiv-p2.5
1488. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Jer&scrCh=10&scrV=3#vii.xiv-p1.8
1489. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Jer&scrCh=12&scrV=16#vii.xiv-p65.1
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1491. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Jer&scrCh=14&scrV=12#vii.x-p87.3
1492. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Jer&scrCh=14&scrV=14#vii.ix-p101.1
1493. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Jer&scrCh=15&scrV=15#vii.v.ii-p86.10
1494. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Jer&scrCh=17&scrV=9#vii.iv-p16.2
1495. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Jer&scrCh=18&scrV=9#vii.v.ii-p89.6
1496. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Jer&scrCh=23&scrV=6#vii.vi-p14.3
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1499. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Jer&scrCh=23&scrV=32#vii.ix-p111.1
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1502. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Jer&scrCh=31&scrV=40#vii.xiv-p73.2
1503. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Lam&scrCh=3&scrV=25#vii.x-p13.18
1504. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Ezek&scrCh=13&scrV=0#vi.x-p2.2
1505. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Ezek&scrCh=14&scrV=1#vii.x-p32.4
1506. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Ezek&scrCh=16&scrV=6#vii.vi-p12.7
1507. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Ezek&scrCh=16&scrV=51#vii.vi-p30.9
1508. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Ezek&scrCh=18&scrV=20#vii.iv-p38.1
1509. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Ezek&scrCh=18&scrV=23#vi.v.i-p1.2
1510. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Ezek&scrCh=18&scrV=32#vii.v.i-p1.2
1511. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Ezek&scrCh=20&scrV=1#vii.x-p32.4
1512. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Ezek&scrCh=33&scrV=11#vii.v.ii-p8.2
1513. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Ezek&scrCh=33&scrV=11#vii.v.ii-p31.8
1514. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Ezek&scrCh=33&scrV=11#vii.v.i-p1.3
1515. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Ezek&scrCh=33&scrV=12#vii.vii-p28.2
1516. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Ezek&scrCh=34&scrV=2#vii.ix-p109.2
1517. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Ezek&scrCh=34&scrV=8#vii.ix-p109.2
1518. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Ezek&scrCh=36&scrV=25#vii.xiv-p73.3
1519. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Ezek&scrCh=36&scrV=40#vii.xiv-p73.3
1520. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Dan&scrCh=4&scrV=30#vii.xiv-p21.8
1521. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Hos&scrCh=4&scrV=9#vii.ix-p12.3
1522. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Hos&scrCh=9&scrV=16#vii.xi-p60.4
1523. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Hos&scrCh=12&scrV=6#vii.x-p13.5
1524. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Amos&scrCh=2&scrV=13#vii.v.ii-p73.3
1525. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Amos&scrCh=5&scrV=18#vii.v.ii-p109.3
1526. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Mic&scrCh=3&scrV=0#vii.ix-p109.3
1527. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Mic&scrCh=3&scrV=5#vii.ix-p86.4
1528. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Mic&scrCh=3&scrV=5#vii.ix-p103.1
1529. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Mic&scrCh=3&scrV=11#vii.ix-p103.1
1530. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Mic&scrCh=4&scrV=3#vii.xiv-p92.5
1531. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Mic&scrCh=5&scrV=0#vii.ix-p109.3
1532. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Mic&scrCh=6&scrV=8#vii.v.ii-p114.7
1533. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Mic&scrCh=11&scrV=0#vii.ix-p109.3
1534. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Hab&scrCh=1&scrV=13#vii.vii-p12.3
1535. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Zech&scrCh=3&scrV=8#vii.x-p13.6
1536. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Zech&scrCh=4&scrV=6#vii.xiii-p7.7
1537. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=3&scrV=8#vii.vi-p55.2
1538. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=3&scrV=11#vii.xi-p18.3
1539. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=3&scrV=15#vii.xi-p67.3
1540. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=5&scrV=0#vii.vi-p46.2
1541. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=5&scrV=0#vii.xiv-p78.5
1542. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=5&scrV=0#vii.xiv-p78.9
1543. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=5&scrV=0#vii.xiv-p78.11
1544. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=5&scrV=0#vii.xiv-p78.12
1545. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=5&scrV=0#vii.xiv-p78.13
1546. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=5&scrV=0#vii.xiv-p78.14
1547. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=5&scrV=0#vii.xiv-p78.15
1548. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=5&scrV=0#vii.xiv-p78.16
1549. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=5&scrV=0#vii.xiv-p78.17
1550. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=5&scrV=0#vii.xiv-p84.3
1551. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=5&scrV=0#vii.xiv-p84.6
1552. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=5&scrV=1#vii.x-p36.3
1553. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=5&scrV=33#vii.xiv-p49.2
1554. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=5&scrV=34#vii.xiv-p78.3
1555. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=5&scrV=38#vii.xiv-p83.1
1556. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=5&scrV=38#vii.xiv-p102.1
1557. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=5&scrV=43#vii.xiv-p88.2
1558. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=5&scrV=48#vii.vii-p18.2
1559. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=6&scrV=20#vii.xiv-p46.6
1560. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=6&scrV=25#vii.xiv-p43.3
1561. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=7&scrV=0#vii.xiv-p84.9
1562. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=7&scrV=12#vi.xiii-p2.3
1563. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=7&scrV=12#vii.xiii-p1.4
1564. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=7&scrV=16#vii.iv-p24.3
1565. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=7&scrV=21#vii.vi-p34.12
1566. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=7&scrV=21#vii.vi-p41.3
1567. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=7&scrV=21#vii.vii-p18.2
1568. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=7&scrV=29#vi.xiii-p2.3
1569. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=7&scrV=29#vii.xiii-p1.4
1570. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=8&scrV=5#vii.xiv-p107.2
1571. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=9&scrV=15#vii.xi-p60.3
1572. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=10&scrV=1#vii.ix-p100.2
1573. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=10&scrV=5#vii.ix-p100.2
1574. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=10&scrV=5#vii.ix-p57.6
1575. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=10&scrV=8#vi.ix-p2.2
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1577. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=10&scrV=8#vii.ix-p83.5
1578. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=10&scrV=8#vii.ix-p108.2
1579. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=10&scrV=14#vii.ix-p92.3
1580. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=10&scrV=16#vii.xiii-p7.2
1581. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=10&scrV=20#vi.x-p2.3
1582. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=10&scrV=20#vii.ix-p104.5
1583. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=10&scrV=20#vii.x-p36.5
1584. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=10&scrV=23#vii.xiii-p43.2
1585. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=11&scrV=27#vi.ii-p1.2
1586. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=11&scrV=27#vii.ii-p3.2
1587. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=11&scrV=27#vii.ii-p33.7
1588. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=11&scrV=30#vii.vii-p19.13
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1590. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=12&scrV=48#vii.ix-p23.4
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1593. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=13&scrV=18#vii.v.ii-p112.2
1594. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=13&scrV=18#vii.v.ii-p49.2
1595. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=13&scrV=31#vii.v.ii-p120.7
1596. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=13&scrV=33#vii.v.ii-p49.7
1597. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=15&scrV=6#vii.xi-p2.4
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1602. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=18&scrV=0#vii.x-p28.5
1603. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=18&scrV=7#vii.v.ii-p32.6
1604. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=18&scrV=32#vii.v.ii-p89.7
1605. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=18&scrV=34#vii.v.ii-p89.7
1606. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=19&scrV=0#vii.xiv-p111.3
1607. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=20&scrV=25#vii.ix-p106.2
1608. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=20&scrV=27#vii.ix-p106.2
1609. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=21&scrV=33#vii.v.ii-p89.2
1610. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=21&scrV=42#vii.v.ii-p120.15
1611. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=23&scrV=5#vii.ix-p107.1
1612. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=23&scrV=7#vii.ix-p107.1
1613. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=23&scrV=8#vii.ix-p106.2
1614. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=23&scrV=10#vii.ix-p106.2
1615. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=23&scrV=37#vii.v.ii-p90.2
1616. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=24&scrV=27#vii.v.ii-p76.3
1617. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=24&scrV=42#vii.x-p13.7
1618. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=24&scrV=42#vii.x-p47.3
1619. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=25&scrV=0#vii.v.ii-p113.2
1620. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=25&scrV=13#vii.x-p13.7
1621. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=25&scrV=15#vii.v.ii-p49.6
1622. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=25&scrV=21#vii.vi-p46.3
1623. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=25&scrV=23#vii.vi-p46.3
1624. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=25&scrV=26#vii.v.ii-p91.2
1625. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=26&scrV=0#vii.xiv-p84.4
1626. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=26&scrV=0#vii.xiv-p84.8
1627. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=26&scrV=17#vii.xii-p18.2
1628. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=26&scrV=26#vii.xii-p26.4
1629. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=26&scrV=41#vii.x-p13.7
1630. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=26&scrV=41#vii.x-p16.7
1631. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=26&scrV=52#vii.xiv-p95.2
1632. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=26&scrV=53#vii.xiii-p7.5
1633. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=28&scrV=0#vii.xi-p84.6
1634. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=28&scrV=0#vii.xi-p85.2
1635. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=28&scrV=0#vii.xi-p85.5
1636. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=28&scrV=0#vii.xi-p92.2
1637. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=28&scrV=0#vii.xi-p93.3
1638. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=28&scrV=0#vii.xi-p94.2
1639. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=28&scrV=0#vii.xi-p97.2
1640. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=28&scrV=18#vii.xiii-p7.4
1641. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=28&scrV=19#vii.xi-p45.2
1642. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=28&scrV=19#vii.xi-p68.1
1643. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=28&scrV=20#ix-p23.7
1644. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Mark&scrCh=3&scrV=11#vii.x-p36.6
1645. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Mark&scrCh=3&scrV=33#vii.ix-p23.5
1646. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Mark&scrCh=4&scrV=0#vii.v.ii-p112.3
1647. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Mark&scrCh=4&scrV=0#vii.v.ii-p113.1
1648. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Mark&scrCh=4&scrV=1#vii.x-p36.4
1649. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Mark&scrCh=4&scrV=12#vii.v.ii-p91.5
1650. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Mark&scrCh=8&scrV=54#vii.xiv-p97.2
1651. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Mark&scrCh=12&scrV=1#vii.v.ii-p89.3
1652. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Mark&scrCh=12&scrV=10#vii.v.ii-p120.16
1653. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Mark&scrCh=13&scrV=11#vii.ix-p104.6
1654. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Mark&scrCh=13&scrV=33#vii.x-p13.8
1655. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Mark&scrCh=13&scrV=33#vii.x-p16.8
1656. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Mark&scrCh=13&scrV=33#vii.x-p47.4
1657. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Mark&scrCh=13&scrV=35#vii.x-p13.8
1658. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Mark&scrCh=13&scrV=37#vii.x-p13.8
1659. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Mark&scrCh=14&scrV=22#vii.xii-p18.4
1660. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Mark&scrCh=14&scrV=22#vii.xii-p26.6
1661. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Mark&scrCh=14&scrV=38#vii.x-p47.4
1662. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Mark&scrCh=16&scrV=15#vii.v.ii-p14.3
1663. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=1&scrV=6#vii.vii-p20.5
1664. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=2&scrV=10#vii.v.ii-p14.2
1665. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=2&scrV=52#vii.vii-p6.3
1666. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=3&scrV=14#vii.xiv-p106.5
1667. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=7&scrV=28#vii.xiv-p106.3
1668. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=8&scrV=10#vii.v.ii-p91.6
1669. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=8&scrV=11#vii.v.ii-p112.4
1670. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=9&scrV=55#vii.xiii-p1.2
1671. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=9&scrV=55#vii.xiii-p7.6
1672. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=9&scrV=55#vi.xiii-p2.2
1673. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=10&scrV=22#vii.ii-p33.8
1674. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=10&scrV=29#vii.vi-p30.10
1675. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=12&scrV=12#vii.ix-p104.7
1676. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=12&scrV=12#vii.x-p36.7
1677. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=12&scrV=48#vii.v.ii-p113.3
1678. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=13&scrV=3#vii.vi-p21.7
1679. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=13&scrV=34#vii.v.ii-p90.3
1680. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=14&scrV=31#vii.xiv-p75.3
1681. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=16&scrV=15#vii.vi-p30.11
1682. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=17&scrV=10#vii.vi-p45.2
1683. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=17&scrV=20#vii.v.ii-p120.9
1684. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=18&scrV=1#vii.x-p43.5
1685. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=19&scrV=41#vii.v.ii-p90.3
1686. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=19&scrV=42#vii.v.ii-p67.5
1687. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=20&scrV=9#vii.v.ii-p89.4
1688. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=20&scrV=17#vii.v.ii-p120.17
1689. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=21&scrV=36#vii.x-p13.9
1690. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=21&scrV=36#vii.x-p16.9
1691. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=21&scrV=36#vii.x-p43.8
1692. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=21&scrV=36#vii.x-p47.5
1693. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=22&scrV=0#vii.xiv-p84.10
1694. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=22&scrV=19#vii.xii-p18.6
1695. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=22&scrV=19#vii.xii-p26.8
1696. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=22&scrV=36#vii.xiv-p110.2
1697. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=56&scrV=0#vii.xiii-p1.2
1698. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=1&scrV=0#vii.v.ii-p156.2
1699. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=1&scrV=0#vii.xii-p5.7
1700. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=1&scrV=0#vii.xii-p5.9
1701. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=1&scrV=0#vii.xii-p5.10
1702. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=1&scrV=1#vii.ii-p33.2
1703. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=1&scrV=7#vii.v.ii-p114.17
1704. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=1&scrV=7#vii.v.ii-p1.9
1705. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=1&scrV=7#vi.v.ii-p1.9
1706. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=1&scrV=9#vii.v.i-p1.5
1707. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=1&scrV=9#vii.v.ii-p1.9
1708. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=1&scrV=9#vii.v.ii-p96.2
1709. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=1&scrV=12#vii.v.ii-p80.2
1710. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=1&scrV=12#vii.xii-p5.12
1711. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=1&scrV=16#vii.v.ii-p1.9
1712. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=3&scrV=3#vii.v.ii-p120.2
1713. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=3&scrV=5#vii.xi-p100.2
1714. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=3&scrV=6#vi.x-p2.6
1715. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=3&scrV=8#vii.v.ii-p76.5
1716. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=3&scrV=16#vi.v.i-p1.4
1717. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=3&scrV=16#vii.v.ii-p15.3
1718. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=3&scrV=16#vii.v.i-p1.4
1719. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=3&scrV=17#vii.v.ii-p31.3
1720. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=3&scrV=18#vii.vi-p21.5
1721. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=3&scrV=18#vii.viii-p3.2
1722. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=3&scrV=19#vii.v.ii-p80.3
1723. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=3&scrV=20#vii.v.ii-p120.13
1724. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=3&scrV=30#vi.xi-p2.7
1725. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=3&scrV=30#vii.xi-p1.12
1726. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=3&scrV=30#vii.xi-p43.3
1727. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=3&scrV=34#vii.xi-p66.3
1728. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=4&scrV=2#vii.xi-p45.1
1729. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=4&scrV=14#vii.xii-p20.3
1730. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=4&scrV=21#vi.x-p2.7
1731. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=4&scrV=23#vii.x-p20.3
1732. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=4&scrV=23#vii.x-p86.2
1733. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=5&scrV=39#vii.iii-p73.2
1734. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=5&scrV=44#vi.xiv-p2.4
1735. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=5&scrV=44#vii.xiv-p1.6
1736. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=6&scrV=0#vii.ii-p18.2
1737. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=6&scrV=0#vii.xii-p5.11
1738. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=6&scrV=32#vii.xii-p1.3
1739. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=6&scrV=32#vi.xii-p2.4
1740. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=6&scrV=35#vii.xii-p5.13
1741. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=6&scrV=35#vii.xii-p7.2
1742. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=6&scrV=45#vii.iii-p57.2
1743. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=6&scrV=53#vii.xii-p7.9
1744. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=6&scrV=56#vii.xii-p7.13
1745. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=6&scrV=57#vii.xii-p7.11
1746. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=6&scrV=60#vii.xii-p5.18
1747. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=6&scrV=63#vii.ii-p91.7
1748. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=7&scrV=7#vii.v.ii-p32.7
1749. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=7&scrV=48#vii.i-p6.3
1750. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=8&scrV=26#vii.v.ii-p32.7
1751. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=9&scrV=31#vii.x-p87.6
1752. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=10&scrV=1#vii.ix-p19.3
1753. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=12&scrV=19#vii.v.ii-p32.7
1754. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=12&scrV=36#vii.v.ii-p107.1
1755. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=12&scrV=40#vii.v.ii-p91.7
1756. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=12&scrV=47#vii.v.ii-p31.5
1757. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=13&scrV=3#vii.xii-p26.14
1758. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=13&scrV=7#vii.vi-p41.4
1759. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=13&scrV=8#vii.xii-p26.14
1760. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=13&scrV=13#vii.xii-p26.14
1761. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=13&scrV=14#vi.xii-p2.8
1762. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=13&scrV=14#vii.xii-p1.7
1763. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=13&scrV=17#vii.vii-p18.3
1764. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=14&scrV=0#vii.v.ii-p32.7
1765. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=14&scrV=6#vii.ii-p33.9
1766. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=14&scrV=16#vii.ii-p89.2
1767. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=14&scrV=17#vii.v.ii-p32.7
1768. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=14&scrV=26#vii.ii-p94.2
1769. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=14&scrV=26#vii.x-p36.8
1770. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=15&scrV=1#vii.ix-p28.10
1771. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=15&scrV=3#vii.ix-p28.10
1772. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=15&scrV=4#vii.ix-p28.10
1773. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=15&scrV=5#vii.ix-p28.10
1774. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=15&scrV=5#vii.ix-p42.5
1775. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=15&scrV=6#vii.ix-p28.10
1776. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=15&scrV=18#vii.v.ii-p32.7
1777. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=16&scrV=8#vii.ii-p185.1
1778. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=16&scrV=13#vi.iii-p1.2
1779. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=16&scrV=13#vii.ii-p94.2
1780. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=16&scrV=13#vii.iii-p5.2
1781. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=17&scrV=3#vi.i-p1.2
1782. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=17&scrV=3#vii.i-p3.2
1783. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=17&scrV=14#vii.v.ii-p32.7
1784. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=18&scrV=20#vii.v.ii-p32.7
1785. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=18&scrV=36#vii.x-p19.4
1786. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=18&scrV=46#vii.xiv-p94.2
1787. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=33&scrV=35#vii.xii-p1.3
1788. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=55&scrV=0#vii.xii-p7.2
1789. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=66&scrV=0#vii.xii-p5.18
1790. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=1&scrV=4#vii.x-p13.10
1791. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=1&scrV=4#vii.xi-p28.2
1792. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=1&scrV=25#vii.ix-p23.9
1793. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=2&scrV=1#vii.x-p30.3
1794. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=2&scrV=4#vi.x-p2.4
1795. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=2&scrV=4#vii.ii-p91.8
1796. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=2&scrV=4#vii.ix-p104.4
1797. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=2&scrV=17#vii.ix-p79.4
1798. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=2&scrV=41#vii.xi-p85.3
1799. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=2&scrV=42#vii.xii-p37.2
1800. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=3&scrV=17#vii.v.ii-p150.4
1801. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=4&scrV=11#vii.v.ii-p120.18
1802. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=6&scrV=0#vii.ii-p158.2
1803. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=6&scrV=0#vii.ix-p75.8
1804. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=6&scrV=2#vii.xii-p37.3
1805. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=6&scrV=10#vii.ii-p91.9
1806. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=7&scrV=51#vii.viii-p3.4
1807. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=8&scrV=0#vii.x-p79.2
1808. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=8&scrV=16#vii.xi-p85.4
1809. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=8&scrV=22#vii.x-p78.1
1810. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=8&scrV=22#vii.x-p79.2
1811. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=9&scrV=4#vii.xiii-p43.3
1812. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=9&scrV=25#vii.xiii-p43.4
1813. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=10&scrV=26#vi.xiv-p2.6
1814. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=10&scrV=26#vii.xiv-p1.10
1815. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=10&scrV=34#vii.v.ii-p139.2
1816. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=10&scrV=47#vii.xi-p96.1
1817. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=11&scrV=0#vii.xi-p31.2
1818. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=11&scrV=16#vii.xi-p29.2
1819. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=13&scrV=46#vii.v.ii-p89.8
1820. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=13&scrV=46#vii.viii-p3.5
1821. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=14&scrV=17#vii.v.ii-p114.14
1822. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=15&scrV=20#vi.xii-p2.7
1823. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=15&scrV=20#vii.xii-p1.6
1824. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=15&scrV=29#vii.xii-p39.6
1825. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=17&scrV=11#vii.iii-p75.2
1826. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=17&scrV=23#vi.x-p2.9
1827. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=17&scrV=28#vii.xiv-p46.4
1828. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=18&scrV=5#vi.x-p2.5
1829. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=20&scrV=7#vii.xii-p37.5
1830. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=20&scrV=31#vii.x-p13.10
1831. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=20&scrV=32#vii.iii-p28.4
1832. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=20&scrV=33#vii.ix-p85.8
1833. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=20&scrV=33#vii.ix-p108.3
1834. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=20&scrV=35#vii.ix-p85.8
1835. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=20&scrV=35#vii.ix-p108.3
1836. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=21&scrV=9#vii.ix-p79.6
1837. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=21&scrV=23#vii.xii-p49.2
1838. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=21&scrV=25#vii.xii-p49.2
1839. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=26&scrV=18#vii.v.ii-p98.3
1840. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=28&scrV=26#vii.v.ii-p91.8
1841. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=1&scrV=0#vii.v.ii-p114.5
1842. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=1&scrV=9#vii.xiv-p70.2
1843. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=1&scrV=11#vii.xi-p89.3
1844. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=1&scrV=16#iv-p12.1
1845. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=1&scrV=16#vii.v.ii-p114.4
1846. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=1&scrV=17#vii.v.ii-p67.3
1847. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=1&scrV=18#vii.viii-p3.6
1848. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=2&scrV=0#vii.v.ii-p139.6
1849. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=2&scrV=4#vii.v.ii-p86.17
1850. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=2&scrV=6#vii.vi-p57.3
1851. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=2&scrV=10#vii.vi-p57.3
1852. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=3&scrV=10#vii.iv-p20.2
1853. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=3&scrV=20#vii.vi-p47.2
1854. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=3&scrV=24#vii.vi-p34.8
1855. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=3&scrV=25#vii.vi-p19.2
1856. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=4&scrV=0#vii.vi-p31.6
1857. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=4&scrV=14#vii.vii-p19.2
1858. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=4&scrV=15#vii.iv-p30.2
1859. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=4&scrV=25#vii.vi-p31.8
1860. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=5&scrV=0#vii.iv-p52.1
1861. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=5&scrV=10#vii.vi-p32.3
1862. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=5&scrV=12#vi.iv-p1.2
1863. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=5&scrV=12#vii.iv-p1.2
1864. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=5&scrV=12#vii.iv-p43.2
1865. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=5&scrV=15#vi.iv-p1.3
1866. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=5&scrV=15#vii.iv-p1.2
1867. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=5&scrV=18#vii.v.ii-p125.5
1868. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=6&scrV=0#vii.v.ii-p6.3
1869. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=6&scrV=0#vii.vii-p19.5
1870. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=6&scrV=1#vii.vii-p30.3
1871. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=6&scrV=2#vi.vii-p2.4
1872. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=6&scrV=3#vii.xi-p33.3
1873. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=6&scrV=4#vi.xi-p2.4
1874. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=6&scrV=4#vii.xi-p1.6
1875. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=6&scrV=14#vi.vii-p2.2
1876. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=6&scrV=14#vii.iii-p28.3
1877. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=6&scrV=16#vii.vii-p12.9
1878. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=6&scrV=18#vi.vii-p2.4
1879. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=7&scrV=14#vii.iii-p5.4
1880. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=7&scrV=19#vii.vii-p25.2
1881. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=8&scrV=0#vii.vii-p26.2
1882. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=8&scrV=1#vii.ii-p91.10
1883. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=8&scrV=2#vii.iii-p28.5
1884. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=8&scrV=3#vii.vii-p19.3
1885. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=8&scrV=9#vii.ii-p4.2
1886. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=8&scrV=9#vii.ii-p91.2
1887. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=8&scrV=13#vi.vii-p2.3
1888. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=8&scrV=13#vii.vi-p21.9
1889. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=8&scrV=13#vii.viii-p15.2
1890. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=8&scrV=14#vi.iii-p1.3
1891. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=8&scrV=16#vii.ii-p71.2
1892. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=8&scrV=16#vii.iii-p56.1
1893. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=8&scrV=26#vii.x-p15.1
1894. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=8&scrV=26#vii.x-p48.3
1895. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=8&scrV=30#vii.vi-p30.17
1896. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=8&scrV=30#vii.vi-p31.2
1897. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=8&scrV=30#vii.vi-p31.7
1898. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=8&scrV=38#vii.viii-p17.4
1899. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=9&scrV=0#vii.v.ii-p86.16
1900. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=9&scrV=1#vii.xiv-p70.6
1901. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=10&scrV=0#vii.v.ii-p114.8
1902. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=10&scrV=8#vi.v.ii-p1.11
1903. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=10&scrV=8#vii.v.ii-p1.11
1904. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=10&scrV=8#vii.iii-p28.6
1905. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=10&scrV=8#vii.v.ii-p112.5
1906. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=10&scrV=17#vii.v.ii-p49.4
1907. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=11&scrV=0#vii.ix-p4.14
1908. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=12&scrV=2#vii.xiv-p33.3
1909. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=12&scrV=6#vii.ix-p71.3
1910. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=12&scrV=6#vii.iii-p41.2
1911. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=12&scrV=8#vii.iii-p41.2
1912. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=12&scrV=19#vii.xiv-p96.2
1913. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=13&scrV=0#vii.xiii-p6.2
1914. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=13&scrV=0#vii.xiii-p15.1
1915. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=14&scrV=6#vii.xii-p25.2
1916. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=14&scrV=11#vii.xiv-p73.6
1917. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=14&scrV=17#vii.xii-p46.2
1918. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=14&scrV=23#vii.xii-p25.4
1919. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=14&scrV=23#vii.xiii-p4.3
1920. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=15&scrV=4#vii.iii-p62.2
1921. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=1&scrV=2#vii.ix-p28.13
1922. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=1&scrV=14#vii.xi-p57.5
1923. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=1&scrV=17#vi.xi-p2.9
1924. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=1&scrV=17#vii.ix-p104.3
1925. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=1&scrV=17#vii.x-p38.2
1926. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=1&scrV=17#vii.xi-p1.14
1927. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=1&scrV=17#vii.xi-p57.2
1928. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=1&scrV=21#vii.v.ii-p32.8
1929. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=2&scrV=0#vii.iv-p25.2
1930. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=2&scrV=2#vii.v.ii-p73.5
1931. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=2&scrV=3#vii.ix-p104.3
1932. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=2&scrV=3#vii.x-p38.3
1933. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=2&scrV=5#vii.ix-p104.3
1934. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=2&scrV=5#vii.x-p38.3
1935. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=2&scrV=5#vii.xi-p61.2
1936. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=2&scrV=8#vii.v.ii-p150.5
1937. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=2&scrV=9#vii.ii-p44.6
1938. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=2&scrV=9#vii.ii-p91.11
1939. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=2&scrV=11#vii.ii-p44.3
1940. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=2&scrV=12#vii.v.ii-p32.8
1941. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=2&scrV=13#vii.ix-p104.3
1942. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=2&scrV=13#vii.x-p38.4
1943. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=3&scrV=16#vii.v.ii-p74.3
1944. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=3&scrV=16#vii.ii-p91.4
1945. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=4&scrV=15#vii.xi-p89.6
1946. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=4&scrV=18#vii.ix-p105.2
1947. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=4&scrV=22#vi.v.i-p1.10
1948. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=5&scrV=8#vi.xii-p2.5
1949. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=5&scrV=8#vii.xii-p1.4
1950. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=6&scrV=0#vii.vi-p30.22
1951. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=6&scrV=2#vii.v.ii-p32.8
1952. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=6&scrV=11#vi.vi-p2.2
1953. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=6&scrV=11#vii.vi-p1.1
1954. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=6&scrV=11#vii.vi-p29.2
1955. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=6&scrV=11#vii.vi-p30.14
1956. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=6&scrV=11#vii.vi-p30.19
1957. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=6&scrV=11#vii.vi-p34.9
1958. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=6&scrV=11#vii.vi-p35.4
1959. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=6&scrV=14#vii.xii-p7.5
1960. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=6&scrV=17#vii.vii-p12.6
1961. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=6&scrV=17#vii.x-p10.19
1962. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=6&scrV=19#vii.ii-p91.3
1963. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=7&scrV=19#vii.vi-p41.5
1964. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=7&scrV=19#vii.vii-p18.4
1965. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=7&scrV=29#vii.xiv-p44.3
1966. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=9&scrV=11#vii.ix-p80.3
1967. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=9&scrV=13#vii.ix-p80.3
1968. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=9&scrV=14#vii.ix-p80.3
1969. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=9&scrV=15#vii.ix-p85.6
1970. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=9&scrV=17#vii.ix-p85.6
1971. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=9&scrV=18#vii.ix-p85.6
1972. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=9&scrV=24#vii.xiv-p75.2
1973. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=9&scrV=27#vii.viii-p17.3
1974. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=10&scrV=3#vii.xii-p5.16
1975. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=10&scrV=4#vii.xiv-p90.2
1976. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=10&scrV=16#vii.xii-p1.2
1977. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=10&scrV=16#vii.xii-p21.1
1978. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=10&scrV=16#vi.xii-p2.2
1979. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=10&scrV=17#vii.xii-p7.14
1980. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=10&scrV=21#vii.xii-p7.6
1981. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=11&scrV=0#vii.xii-p23.2
1982. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=11&scrV=14#vii.xiv-p34.2
1983. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=11&scrV=17#vii.xii-p37.11
1984. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=11&scrV=23#vii.xii-p26.10
1985. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=11&scrV=26#vii.xii-p18.8
1986. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=12&scrV=0#vii.iii-p40.2
1987. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=12&scrV=0#vii.ix-p46.3
1988. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=12&scrV=3#vii.ii-p51.2
1989. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=12&scrV=3#vii.x-p52.2
1990. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=12&scrV=4#vii.ix-p69.6
1991. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=12&scrV=4#vii.ii-p83.2
1992. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=12&scrV=6#vii.ii-p83.2
1993. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=12&scrV=7#vii.v.ii-p49.5
1994. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=12&scrV=7#vii.v.ii-p1.2
1995. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=12&scrV=8#vii.ii-p91.12
1996. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=12&scrV=9#vii.ii-p90.3
1997. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=12&scrV=10#vii.ii-p91.12
1998. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=12&scrV=11#vii.ii-p90.3
1999. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=12&scrV=29#vii.ix-p70.2
2000. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=13&scrV=0#vii.xiv-p84.5
2001. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=13&scrV=1#vii.x-p10.21
2002. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=13&scrV=2#vii.ix-p104.8
2003. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=13&scrV=7#vi.v.ii-p1.2
2004. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=14&scrV=0#vii.ix-p72.3
2005. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=14&scrV=15#vii.x-p52.4
2006. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=14&scrV=15#vii.x-p86.3
2007. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=14&scrV=30#vii.x-p39.2
2008. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=14&scrV=34#vii.ix-p79.2
2009. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=15&scrV=22#vii.v.i-p1.7
2010. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=16&scrV=13#vii.x-p13.11
2011. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=17&scrV=0#vii.xii-p1.2
2012. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Cor&scrCh=31&scrV=0#vii.xiv-p44.3
2013. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Cor&scrCh=1&scrV=22#vii.viii-p19.4
2014. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Cor&scrCh=1&scrV=22#vii.xi-p10.3
2015. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Cor&scrCh=1&scrV=23#vii.xiv-p70.5
2016. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Cor&scrCh=1&scrV=24#vii.xiii-p6.3
2017. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Cor&scrCh=3&scrV=6#vii.ix-p17.2
2018. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Cor&scrCh=4&scrV=4#vii.v.ii-p110.3
2019. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Cor&scrCh=4&scrV=10#vii.vi-p32.5
2020. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Cor&scrCh=5&scrV=4#vii.xiv-p46.9
2021. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Cor&scrCh=5&scrV=10#vii.vi-p57.4
2022. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Cor&scrCh=5&scrV=11#vii.ix-p13.4
2023. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Cor&scrCh=5&scrV=16#vii.v.ii-p120.4
2024. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Cor&scrCh=5&scrV=18#vii.vi-p23.1
2025. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Cor&scrCh=5&scrV=19#vii.vi-p9.4
2026. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Cor&scrCh=6&scrV=14#vii.ix-p28.4
2027. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Cor&scrCh=6&scrV=14#vii.vii-p12.7
2028. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Cor&scrCh=6&scrV=16#vii.v.ii-p73.2
2029. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Cor&scrCh=6&scrV=17#vii.ix-p28.7
2030. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Cor&scrCh=10&scrV=4#vii.xiii-p7.9
2031. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Cor&scrCh=11&scrV=10#vii.xiv-p70.4
2032. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Cor&scrCh=13&scrV=3#vii.ix-p39.2
2033. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Cor&scrCh=13&scrV=5#vii.iii-p42.2
2034. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Cor&scrCh=13&scrV=5#vii.v.ii-p120.24
2035. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Cor&scrCh=13&scrV=5#vii.vi-p34.2
2036. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Cor&scrCh=13&scrV=11#vii.vii-p18.5
2037. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Gal&scrCh=1&scrV=0#vii.vi-p48.3
2038. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Gal&scrCh=1&scrV=8#vii.iii-p85.3
2039. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Gal&scrCh=1&scrV=16#vii.ii-p44.2
2040. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Gal&scrCh=1&scrV=16#vii.ii-p81.3
2041. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Gal&scrCh=1&scrV=20#vii.xiv-p70.7
2042. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Gal&scrCh=2&scrV=0#vii.vi-p48.3
2043. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Gal&scrCh=2&scrV=8#vii.vi-p51.4
2044. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Gal&scrCh=2&scrV=20#vii.vi-p51.3
2045. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Gal&scrCh=2&scrV=20#vii.vii-p19.10
2046. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Gal&scrCh=3&scrV=0#vii.vi-p48.3
2047. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Gal&scrCh=3&scrV=27#vi.xi-p2.5
2048. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Gal&scrCh=3&scrV=27#vii.vi-p34.7
2049. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Gal&scrCh=3&scrV=27#vii.xi-p1.8
2050. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Gal&scrCh=3&scrV=27#vii.xi-p33.4
2051. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Gal&scrCh=4&scrV=0#vii.vi-p48.3
2052. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Gal&scrCh=4&scrV=0#vii.vi-p53.2
2053. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Gal&scrCh=4&scrV=19#vii.vi-p34.3
2054. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Gal&scrCh=5&scrV=12#vii.xiii-p17.2
2055. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Gal&scrCh=5&scrV=20#vii.xiii-p20.2
2056. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Gal&scrCh=5&scrV=24#vii.xiv-p91.5
2057. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Gal&scrCh=6&scrV=6#vii.ix-p80.2
2058. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Gal&scrCh=6&scrV=14#vii.v.ii-p32.9
2059. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=1&scrV=13#vii.viii-p19.5
2060. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=1&scrV=14#vii.xi-p10.1
2061. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=2&scrV=0#vii.iv-p1.4
2062. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=2&scrV=0#vii.iv-p29.2
2063. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=2&scrV=1#vi.iv-p1.5
2064. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=2&scrV=4#vii.vii-p20.6
2065. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=2&scrV=5#vii.vi-p32.4
2066. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=2&scrV=6#vii.vii-p20.6
2067. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=2&scrV=8#vii.ix-p42.2
2068. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=2&scrV=15#vii.vi-p12.3
2069. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=3&scrV=9#vii.ii-p33.4
2070. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=4&scrV=3#vii.x-p10.12
2071. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=4&scrV=5#vi.xi-p2.2
2072. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=4&scrV=5#vii.ii-p80.1
2073. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=4&scrV=5#vii.xi-p13.3
2074. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=4&scrV=6#vii.xi-p1.2
2075. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=4&scrV=11#vii.vii-p16.2
2076. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=4&scrV=11#vii.ix-p69.7
2077. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=4&scrV=11#vii.ix-p100.3
2078. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=4&scrV=16#vii.ix-p46.1
2079. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=4&scrV=23#vii.vi-p34.6
2080. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=4&scrV=24#vii.vii-p19.11
2081. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=4&scrV=30#vii.xi-p10.2
2082. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=5&scrV=4#vii.vi-p30.16
2083. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=5&scrV=8#vii.v.ii-p98.2
2084. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=5&scrV=11#vi.xiv-p2.2
2085. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=5&scrV=11#vii.xiv-p1.2
2086. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=5&scrV=13#vi.v.i-p1.6
2087. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=5&scrV=13#vii.v.ii-p74.7
2088. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=5&scrV=13#vii.v.ii-p49.3
2089. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=5&scrV=13#vii.v.i-p1.6
2090. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=5&scrV=13#vii.v.ii-p120.19
2091. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=5&scrV=13#vii.xii-p50.3
2092. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=5&scrV=25#vii.vii-p15.6
2093. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=5&scrV=27#vii.vii-p15.6
2094. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=6&scrV=12#vii.xiv-p89.2
2095. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=6&scrV=18#vii.x-p43.7
2096. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=6&scrV=18#vii.x-p47.7
2097. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=6&scrV=18#vii.x-p51.2
2098. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=6&scrV=18#vii.x-p86.4
2099. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Phil&scrCh=1&scrV=6#vii.viii-p14.2
2100. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Phil&scrCh=1&scrV=8#vii.xiv-p70.3
2101. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Phil&scrCh=1&scrV=21#vii.iv-p49.1
2102. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Phil&scrCh=2&scrV=13#vii.vi-p51.5
2103. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Phil&scrCh=3&scrV=10#vii.vi-p13.4
2104. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Phil&scrCh=3&scrV=14#vii.vii-p33.2
2105. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Phil&scrCh=3&scrV=15#vii.xiii-p39.3
2106. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Phil&scrCh=3&scrV=20#vii.xiv-p22.3
2107. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Col&scrCh=1&scrV=3#vii.v.ii-p98.4
2108. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Col&scrCh=1&scrV=15#vii.ii-p33.6
2109. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Col&scrCh=1&scrV=16#vii.ii-p33.5
2110. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Col&scrCh=1&scrV=23#vii.v.ii-p49.8
2111. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Col&scrCh=1&scrV=23#vii.v.ii-p114.2
2112. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Col&scrCh=1&scrV=27#vii.vi-p34.4
2113. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Col&scrCh=1&scrV=28#vii.v.ii-p14.5
2114. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Col&scrCh=2&scrV=8#vi.xiv-p2.8
2115. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Col&scrCh=2&scrV=8#vii.xiv-p1.14
2116. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Col&scrCh=2&scrV=12#vi.xi-p2.6
2117. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Col&scrCh=2&scrV=12#vii.xi-p1.10
2118. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Col&scrCh=2&scrV=12#vii.xi-p33.5
2119. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Col&scrCh=2&scrV=15#vii.x-p19.6
2120. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Col&scrCh=2&scrV=16#vii.xii-p46.3
2121. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Col&scrCh=2&scrV=19#vii.ix-p28.3
2122. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Col&scrCh=3&scrV=1#vii.xii-p39.4
2123. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Col&scrCh=3&scrV=2#vii.xiv-p46.7
2124. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Col&scrCh=3&scrV=16#vii.x-p83.1
2125. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Col&scrCh=4&scrV=2#vii.x-p13.12
2126. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Col&scrCh=4&scrV=12#vii.vii-p16.4
2127. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Thess&scrCh=1&scrV=5#vii.ix-p69.12
2128. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Thess&scrCh=2&scrV=12#vii.vi-p55.3
2129. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Thess&scrCh=3&scrV=13#vii.vii-p16.5
2130. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Thess&scrCh=5&scrV=5#vii.v.ii-p98.5
2131. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Thess&scrCh=5&scrV=6#vii.x-p13.13
2132. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Thess&scrCh=5&scrV=12#vii.ix-p75.4
2133. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Thess&scrCh=5&scrV=17#vii.x-p43.6
2134. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Thess&scrCh=5&scrV=19#vii.ix-p77.4
2135. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Thess&scrCh=5&scrV=21#vii.xiii-p39.2
2136. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Thess&scrCh=5&scrV=23#vii.vii-p16.5
2137. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Thess&scrCh=5&scrV=27#vii.xiv-p70.9
2138. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Thess&scrCh=30&scrV=0#vii.vi-p54.5
2139. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Thess&scrCh=1&scrV=5#vii.vi-p55.4
2140. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Thess&scrCh=1&scrV=11#vii.vi-p55.4
2141. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Thess&scrCh=2&scrV=11#vii.viii-p3.3
2142. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Tim&scrCh=1&scrV=6#vi.viii-p2.2
2143. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Tim&scrCh=1&scrV=19#vii.viii-p2.2
2144. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Tim&scrCh=1&scrV=19#vii.viii-p13.2
2145. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Tim&scrCh=2&scrV=1#vii.v.ii-p15.2
2146. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Tim&scrCh=2&scrV=3#vii.v.ii-p15.2
2147. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Tim&scrCh=2&scrV=4#vii.v.ii-p8.3
2148. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Tim&scrCh=2&scrV=4#vii.v.ii-p15.2
2149. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Tim&scrCh=2&scrV=6#vii.v.ii-p15.2
2150. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Tim&scrCh=2&scrV=9#vii.xiv-p43.4
2151. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Tim&scrCh=2&scrV=11#vii.ix-p79.3
2152. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Tim&scrCh=3&scrV=2#vii.ix-p48.2
2153. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Tim&scrCh=3&scrV=2#vii.ix-p102.2
2154. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Tim&scrCh=3&scrV=4#vii.ix-p102.2
2155. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Tim&scrCh=3&scrV=5#vii.ix-p102.2
2156. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Tim&scrCh=3&scrV=6#vii.ix-p102.2
2157. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Tim&scrCh=3&scrV=15#vii.ix-p27.1
2158. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Tim&scrCh=5&scrV=16#vii.ix-p80.4
2159. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Tim&scrCh=5&scrV=17#vii.ix-p75.5
2160. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Tim&scrCh=6&scrV=5#vii.ix-p103.2
2161. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Tim&scrCh=6&scrV=7#vii.ix-p87.2
2162. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Tim&scrCh=6&scrV=8#vii.ix-p108.4
2163. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Tim&scrCh=6&scrV=9#vii.ix-p87.2
2164. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Tim&scrCh=6&scrV=10#vii.ix-p87.2
2165. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=1Tim&scrCh=6&scrV=16#vii.v.ii-p68.5
2166. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Tim&scrCh=3&scrV=2#vii.ix-p103.3
2167. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Tim&scrCh=3&scrV=15#vii.iii-p62.3
2168. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Tim&scrCh=3&scrV=17#vii.vii-p16.3
2169. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Tim&scrCh=4&scrV=5#vii.x-p13.14
2170. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=2Tim&scrCh=4&scrV=7#vii.viii-p19.6
2171. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Titus&scrCh=1&scrV=0#vii.ix-p48.3
2172. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Titus&scrCh=1&scrV=7#vii.ix-p102.3
2173. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Titus&scrCh=1&scrV=9#vii.ix-p102.3
2174. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Titus&scrCh=1&scrV=10#vii.ix-p109.4
2175. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Titus&scrCh=1&scrV=15#vii.v.ii-p74.6
2176. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Titus&scrCh=2&scrV=11#vi.v.i-p1.5
2177. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Titus&scrCh=2&scrV=11#vi.v.ii-p1.13
2178. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Titus&scrCh=2&scrV=11#vii.v.ii-p1.13
2179. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Titus&scrCh=2&scrV=11#vii.ix-p42.4
2180. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Titus&scrCh=2&scrV=11#vii.v.ii-p125.1
2181. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Titus&scrCh=2&scrV=11#vii.v.ii-p125.4
2182. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Titus&scrCh=2&scrV=14#vii.vi-p13.2
2183. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Titus&scrCh=2&scrV=14#vii.vii-p15.2
2184. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Titus&scrCh=3&scrV=5#vi.vi-p2.4
2185. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Titus&scrCh=3&scrV=5#vii.vi-p1.2
2186. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Titus&scrCh=3&scrV=5#vii.vi-p33.2
2187. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Titus&scrCh=3&scrV=5#vii.vi-p49.2
2188. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Titus&scrCh=3&scrV=5#vii.xi-p101.3
2189. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Titus&scrCh=3&scrV=7#vii.vi-p30.18
2190. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Titus&scrCh=3&scrV=7#vii.vi-p34.10
2191. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Titus&scrCh=3&scrV=10#vi.xiii-p2.4
2192. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Titus&scrCh=3&scrV=10#vii.xiii-p1.6
2193. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Heb&scrCh=1&scrV=3#vii.xiv-p21.5
2194. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Heb&scrCh=2&scrV=9#vi.v.i-p1.7
2195. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Heb&scrCh=2&scrV=9#vi.v.ii-p1.4
2196. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Heb&scrCh=2&scrV=9#vii.v.ii-p31.2
2197. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Heb&scrCh=2&scrV=9#vii.v.ii-p1.4
2198. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Heb&scrCh=3&scrV=14#vii.viii-p15.3
2199. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Heb&scrCh=3&scrV=22#vii.vii-p20.7
2200. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Heb&scrCh=4&scrV=12#vii.v.ii-p114.10
2201. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Heb&scrCh=5&scrV=4#vii.ix-p55.2
2202. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Heb&scrCh=5&scrV=4#vii.ix-p100.4
2203. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Heb&scrCh=6&scrV=4#vii.viii-p2.3
2204. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Heb&scrCh=6&scrV=4#vi.viii-p2.4
2205. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Heb&scrCh=6&scrV=6#vii.viii-p2.3
2206. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Heb&scrCh=6&scrV=16#vii.xiv-p74.2
2207. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Heb&scrCh=7&scrV=26#vii.vi-p27.2
2208. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Heb&scrCh=8&scrV=10#vii.ii-p122.3
2209. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Heb&scrCh=8&scrV=11#vii.iii-p57.3
2210. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Heb&scrCh=9&scrV=9#vii.vii-p19.8
2211. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Heb&scrCh=9&scrV=10#vii.xi-p48.3
2212. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Heb&scrCh=9&scrV=10#vii.xii-p46.7
2213. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Heb&scrCh=10&scrV=24#vii.x-p28.6
2214. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Heb&scrCh=10&scrV=35#vii.vi-p57.6
2215. file://localhost/ccel/b/barclay/quakers/cache/quakers.html3?scrBook=Heb&scrCh=11&scrV=0#vii.ii-p65.2
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