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? But it is manifest that Man hath invented this Opinion out of
Self-love, and from that bitter Root from which all Errors spring;
[Sidenote: _The absolute Decree of Election springs from Self-love._]
for the most Part of _Protestants_ that hold this, having, as they
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._ [Sidenote: _To Infants there is
no Law so no Transgression._] Than which Testimonies there is nothing
more positive; since to Infants there is no Law, seeing as such they
are utterly uncapable 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 sheweth what is the
Cause of Man’s Eternal Death, which he saith is his _Sinning_; and
then, as if he purposed expresly to shut out such an Opinion, he
assures us, _The Son shall not bear the Father’s Iniquity_. From which
I thus argue:
[Sidenote: _Infants bear not _Adam_’s Transgression._] 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.
§. V. Having thus far shewn how absurd this Opinion is, I shall briefly
examine the Reasons its Authors bring for it.
[Sidenote: Obj. 1.] _First, _They say, Adam_ was a publick 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._
[Sidenote: _Answ._] To this I answer: That _Adam_ is a publick 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 [Greek: eph' ô: εφ ω] may very well relate to [Greek:
thanatos: θανατος], 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_, [Greek: eph' ô: εφ ω] 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 shews 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 cannot be here included.
[Sidenote: Obj. 2.] 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._
[Sidenote: _Answ._]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. [Sidenote: _Conceived in Sin_ answered.]
It is said indeed, _In Sin did my Mother conceive me_; not _my Mother
did conceive me a Sinner_. Besides that, so interpreted, contradicts
expresly 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_.
[Sidenote: Obj. 3.] 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._
[Sidenote: _Answ._] 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.
[Sidenote: _Death the Wages of Sin_ answered.] 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.
[Sidenote: Obj. 4.] 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_.
[Sidenote: _Answ._] 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 refuted 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, [Greek: eph' ô: εφ ω] to wit, [Greek: thanatô: θανατω],
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_; [Sidenote: _Original Sin no Scripture Phrase._] 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.
PROPOSITIONS V. & VI.
Concerning the UNIVERSAL REDEMPTION by CHRIST, and also the SAVING and
SPIRITUAL LIGHT, wherewith every Man is enlightened.
PROPOSITION V.
[54]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, _Ephes._ 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.
[54] Ezek. 18. 32. & 33. 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.
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, _[55]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. Therefore _[56]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 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 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 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 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.
[55] 1 Cor. 12. 7.
[56] Heb. 2. 9.
[Sidenote: Absolute Reprobation, _that horrible and blasphemous
Doctrine, described_.] Hitherto we have considered Man’s fallen, lost,
corrupted, and degenerated Condition. Now it is fit to enquire, _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
with-holding 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 publickly invite them,
yet he justly condemns for Disobedience, albeit he hath with-held 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.
§. I. [Sidenote: _This Doctrine a Novelty._] First, We may safely
call this Doctrine a Novelty, seeing in 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. [Sidenote: _The Rise of it._] The first
Foundations of it were laid in the later 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 Assertors, 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 if his blessed Gospel, and lastly
unto all Mankind_.
§. II. [Sidenote: _Highly injurious to God, in making him the Author
of Sin._] 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 Assertors 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. [57]_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. [58]_God_ (saith
_Beza_) _hath predestinated not only unto Damnation, but also unto the
Causes of it, whomsoever he saw meet_. [59]_The Decree of God cannot
be excluded from the Causes of Corruption._ [60]_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._ [61]_It is the Opinion_ (saith _Paræus_) _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._ [62]_God_ (saith
_Martyr_) _doth incline and force the Wills of wicked Men into great
Sins_. [63]_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._ [64]_Reprobate Persons_ (saith
_Piscator_) _are absolutely ordained to this twofold End; to undergo
everlasting Punishment, and necessarily to sin, and therefore to sin,
that they may be justly punished_.
[57] _Calvin_ in cap. 3. _Gen. Id._ 1. Inst. _c. 18, S. 1. Id._ lib. de
Præd. _Idem_ lib. de Provid. _Id._ Inst. c. 23. S. 1.
[58] _Beza_ lib. de Præd.
[59] _Id._ de Præd. ad Art. 1.
[60] _Zanch._ de Excæcat. q. 5. _Id._ lib. 5. de Nat. Dei cap. 2. de
Præd.
[61] _Paræus_ lib. 3. de Amis. gratiæ c. 2. _ibid._ c. 1.
[62] _Martyr_ in Rom.
[63] _Zuing._ lib. de Prov. c. 5.
[64] _Resp._ ad _Vorst._ part. 1. p. 120.
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 twofold Will they feigned 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 uncapable 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 uncapable 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?
§. III. [Sidenote: _2. It makes God delight in the Death of a Sinner._]
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.
3. 2 _Pet._ iii. 9. For if he hath created Men only for this very End,
that he might shew 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.
§. IV. [Sidenote: _3. It renders Christ’s Mediation Ineffectual._]
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 throughly 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
have saved all Mankind, if in effect its Virtue be not so far extended
as to put all Mankind into a Capacity of Salvation.
[Sidenote: _4. It makes the Gospel a Mock._] 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 benefited 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_.
[Sidenote: _5. It makes the Coming of Christ an Act of Wrath._]
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.