are exposed, are, by this Gentleman, consider'd as so many Arguments
of the Guilt of _Original Sin_. He thinks that, without such a
Supposition, the _Justice_ of God cannot be vindicated. [I wish he
would stick true to that Argument.] We must, he thinks, suppose one
of these two Things: either, _That God punishes them without all
Cause or Reason_, or, _That they are under the Curse and
Condemnation of_ Adam'_s Sin:_ and the latter is, in his Opinion,
the best Sentiment. But I am of a contrary Opinion, and think that
in either Case, the _Injustice_ is the same. He _allows_ it in the
_one Case;_ and I hope it is _proved_ in the other: and really the
Picture which this Gentleman has drawn of our young Innocents, is
very dreadful and terrifying. If all the _Evils_ that befall them in
this Life, and _Eternal Damnation_ afterwards, be no more than a
_just_ Punishment for their _Sins_, our _Saviour_ must surely have
been _greatly out_, in the Encomiums he bestows on their
_Innocence_, as I observed before; or, the Kingdom of Heaven,
instead of being design'd for _upright holy Souls_, may be a
Receptacle for the worst of human Race.
The Brute Creation undergo Pain and Affliction; is _Adam's_ Sin,
therefore, imputed to them? If not, and they sometimes suffer by
Pain and Abuse, why may not Infants do the same? The Miseries of the
human Race, reckon'd up and aggravated thro' so many elaborate
Pages, cannot all of them be supposed to belong to the _Original
Constitution_ of Things, but might be partly owing to the Effect of
Time and Accident, as well as to the Folly and Wickedness of
particular Persons and Nations. This Objection, drawn from the
Sufferings of Brute Animals, the Doctor endeavours to answer: I
wonder _Adam_ is not considered (for the sake of putting an End to
the Difficulty) as their Federal Head. He thinks, however, that
Brutes must be some way or other included in the _Curse;_ and may be
punished, as Man's Property: But has Man, because they are his
Property, a Right to grieve and afflict them? They were bestowed as
a Blessing, for reasonable Service and Delight, not for cruel
Treatment and Abuse. The Doctor's Rule of Faith will tell him, _A
merciful Man will be merciful to his Beast_. If their being Man's
Property will not justify him in abusing or cruelly handling them;
it can be no Reason or Argument, why another should do it, even the
Almighty himself. Consider Beasts, then, as God's own Property; will
that render it a whit more equitable? No: This the Doctor himself,
in the Case of Infants, allows would be cruel, and contrary to the
Divine Justice and Goodness: and the Argument is the same as to
Brutes. But the Doctor, sensible of the Weakness of this Argument,
has recourse to another, which I believe will always be admired as a
standing Mark of _extraordinary Invention_, to get rid of difficult
and perplexing Questions. Brutes may, it seems, contrary to common
Experience, have Sensations _less Quick_ and _Painful_ than ours. I
wonder he allows them any Sensation at all; nay, 'tis doubtful if he
does allow it. Noise, or Crying out, in them, is, it seems, no Mark
of Pain, because some Brutes, under the same Circumstance, remain
quiet and still. But will the Doctor say, they have therefore no
painful Sensations? Are there no Marks of Pain besides those of
crying aloud? Did the Doctor never know a Man sometimes bear a
pretty deal of Pain without crying out at all; and give many
external Tokens of Pain, at another Time? Did he never perceive a
_gaul'd Horse_ wince, upon the most gentle Approach of the Hand; and
discover Signs of the greatest Fear, and most _exquisite Pains?_ Do
not some Brutes take as much Pains to avoid the Discipline of the
Whip, as tho' their Sensations were the same as ours? I am ashamed
to waste Time upon such a Subject; tho' I hope to be pardoned for
following so great a Man in his own Method of arguing. He perhaps
may continue of the same Mind, and there may be no Hopes of
Convincement, till Brutes are taught to speak. By this new Way of
Reasoning, the Ground we tread upon, and every Thing around us,
hitherto thought Inanimate, may be full of Cogitation. If affording
the common Marks of Sensation, be no Proof, that Brutes have it in a
common Degree, Wanting the common Marks of Intelligence, can be no
Proof that a Stock or a Stone has it not. If I mistake not, Bishop
_Berkley_ has furnished the World with something equally instructive
and philosophical, in relation to the Existence of Matter; which, he
endeavours to prove _not_ to be a _real_, but an _ideal_ and
_imaginary Being_. I shall leave others to guess, in what Condition
those must be, who think and reason after this extraordinary Manner.
But the Doctor has yet another Argument in reserve, to vindicate
God's Justice--_Tho' Brutes suffer, yet they may_ it seems _have
upon the whole more Pleasure than Pain_. But do not some Brutes
partake very deeply of the former, in this Life; will the Doctor
therefore suppose a Future State for them, by way of Compensation?
But this Argument ruins the whole Affair, and may be turned against
the Doctor himself, in the Case of Infants, who may be made ample
Amends in a future State, for the Evils sustained here, which Evils
may have other Causes besides _Original Sin;_ for here again, as in
the Case of a Propensity to Evil, Pain in Infants, if inflicted
because of _Adam's Sin_, must in _all_ be _uniform_ and _alike_. But
the Fact being quite otherwise, some of this Pain and Evil must be
resolved into _other Causes;_ and if _some_, why not _all?_ I grant
indeed, that _Adam_ himself might have so far corrupted his Nature,
as to render him more liable to Pain, than in a State of true
Innocence he might have been, and that therefore he might be
instrumental to propagate the Seeds of several Diseases, to his
Posterity: But had he never done this, his Successors might have
done it; and _every Age_ has, perhaps, by Intemperance and
Lasciviousness, been adding to the common Stock of human Diseases
and Calamities: Propensities to Vice might also be propagated in the
same Way, and that, and nothing besides, can (I think) account so
well for their great and infinite Variety. The Doctor, with the rest
of his Brethren, are perpetually urging those common-place
Arguments, drawn from the Practice of Men; which in the general I
have answer'd already: and, had I proper Leisure, it would be no
difficult Matter to give a clear and distinct Answer to every one of
them: And these very Gentlemen would, on other Occasions, had they
no favourite Point to carry, reject such Reasoning with all the
Contempt, and Indignation, it deserves. It is with some Reluctance,
I find myself obliged to disapprove the Sentiments of such wise and
worthy Grey Hairs, to whom the World hath been long and deeply
indebted for his many excellent Services, both from the Pen and the
Pulpit. I have read over Mr. _J--s_'s Book, in Answer to Taylor's
_Free and Candid Examination;_ and tho' I have no personal Knowledge
of that ingenious Gentleman, yet I hope he will permit me to say,
'Tis pity, great pity, that fine Talents (pardon the Expression)
should be prostituted in the Defence of such an unholy and
incongruous System of Religion. Superior Degrees of Learning and
Knowledge are, in themselves, most excellent Things, and eminently
serviceable, when rightly applied to the Honour and Defence of
Truth: But, like a two edged Sword, they cut both ways, and are also
too frequently employed in the Propagation of Error.
While I am thus rendering _human Learning_, its just Tribute of
Praise, _Truth_ requires, that I should be free to detect those
little Arts, so often practised to deceive the Unwary, and misguide
Mankind. As I am fully persuaded, the Generality of those Writers;
who stick by this _Covenant_, and endeavour to vindicate the Honour,
Justice, and Goodness of God therein, do it _only_ for Decency sake,
_and to put_ (as I observed) _a more plausible Outside on their
Doctrines;_ I think it incumbent on me to _detect_ this _equivocal_
Way of Writing, and shew, that while the Doctor is endeavouring to
persuade you he _does not_ believe these Doctrines in their most
_harsh_ and _severe_ Sense, there is Reason to suspect he does
notwithstanding, _secretly_ and _strongly_, believe them in that
_very Sense:_ nay, he seems to resolve _them_ very artfully into the
_Sovereignty_ and _Majesty of God_. Any Man, who reads the Book, may
perceive, how greatly the Doctor is _put to it_ for _Arguments_, to
answer _Objections;_ and he himself knows it to be impossible to
make any tolerable or reasonable Defence, of such unreasonable and
unaccountable Doctrines: and therefore, lest his _own People_
should, from some Expressions, which, at first sight, might look as
though he was arguing merely upon a Principle of _moral Fitness_,
suspect his Sincerity, he has (Second Edition, _Page_ 274) given
strong Intimations of his Faith, as follows:
"The Doctrine of _Reprobation_, in the most _severe_ and _absolute_
Sense of it, stands in such a direct Contradiction to all our
Notions of Kindness and Love to others, in which the _blessed God_
is set forth as our Example, that our Reason cannot tell how to
receive it; yet if it were never so true, and never so plainly
revealed in Scripture, it would only be a Doctrine which would
require our humble Assent, and silent Submission to it; with awful
Reverence of the Majesty and Sovereignty of the great God, &_c_."
This proves, I think clearly, on what Authority the Doctor himself
believes these _Doctrines;_ and whoever knows, how _common_ it is
for Men of _this_ Faith, to make a specious Shew of reasoning with
others on a Principle of moral Fitness, and among themselves,
without Scruple, resolving all into mere _Sovereignty_, will not
think I have been too forward or severe in my Observation. I
_humbly_ presume, what I have offer'd against this Notion of _God's
Sovereignty_, is a plain Confutation of the Doctor; and I here, with
all due Submission, invite _him_, or any of his _Brethren_, to
defend _the Doctrines;_ and _this Quotation_, against me. If they
_do really_ resolve these Doctrines into _God's Sovereignty_, let
them speak it out plainly; if they _do not_ believe them in this
Sense, let them speak that out plainly too; that we may clearly
understand, in what _determinate Sense_, they do believe them.
The Doctor has taken a great deal of Pains to make the World
believe, that Christ died for all Men, when it does not appear, that
he himself believes any such thing. Hear him, _Page_ 89, "And
methinks, when I take my justest Survey of this lower World, with
all the Inhabitants of it, I can look upon it no otherwise, than as
a huge and magnificent Structure in Ruins, and turned into a Prison,
and a Lazar-house, or Hospital; wherein lie Millions of Criminals,
and Rebels against their Creator, under Condemnation to Misery and
Death, who are at the same time sick of a mortal Distemper, and
disorder'd in their Minds, even to Distraction: Hence proceed those
infinite Follies, which are continually practised here; and the
righteous Anger of an offended God is visible in ten thousand
Instances: yet there are Proclamations of Divine Grace, Health, and
Life, sounding amongst them; either with a louder Voice, or in
gentler Whispers, though very few of them take any Notice thereof.
But of this great Prison, this Infirmary, there is here and there
one who is called powerfully, by Divine Grace, and attends to the
Office of Reconciliation, and complies with the Proposals of Peace;
his Sins are pardoned, he is healed of his worst Distemper; and
tho', his Body is appointed to go down to the Dust, for a Season,
yet his Soul is taken upwards to a Region of Blessedness; while the
Bulk of these miserable and guilty Inhabitants, perish in their own
wilful Madness and by the just Executions of Divine Anger."
As I have hitherto troubled the Reader with little Quotation, and it
being now so necessary to let us into the _true Spirit_ of the
Doctor's Belief, notwithstanding any seeming Appearance to the
contrary, I hope to be pardoned. You perceive here, that all are
called, but the _greatest Part_, in such a weak and imperfect
Manner, that is out of _their Power_ to embrace the Call, and so
they perish as _unavoidably_ and _unjustly_, as though no such Call
were extended. The Distinction, which is here made between moral and
natural Necessity, the Doctor thinks sufficient to silence all
Objections, _Page_ 285. I have endeavour'd to shew the contrary, and
I hope with better Success. Again, what the Doctor observes, _Page_
245, is worthy of Notice,--"Though there must be a _very good
Sense_, in which _Christ_ may be said to die for all Men, because
the Scripture uses this Language; yet it does not follow, that the
Doctrine of Universal Redemption is found there: I cannot find that
Scripture once asserts that _Christ_ redeemed all Men, or _died_ to
redeem them all."
This is, I think, manifestly a _Contradiction_, and the Doctor, it
seems, believes it, only because the Scripture, as he thinks,
reveals it. Where is the Difference between _dying to save all Men_,
and, _dying to redeem all Men?_ And yet _Jesus Christ_, it seems,
did the one, but not the other. According to him (the Doctor) the
Scripture assures us, that is, the Word of God assures us, both that
_Christ did_, and that he _did not_ die to redeem all Mankind; which
is a flat Contradiction. In what good Sense, I should be glad to
know, could _Christ_ be said to _die_ for _all Men_, when God
purposely, and peremptorily, _with-holds_ proper Assistances to
restore the _greatest Part?_ If this be to die for _all Men_, it is
certainly not in a good, but in a very bad Sense. But, perhaps, the
_Doctor_ means, _that Man, consider'd in his primitive Rectitude,
has Power sufficient to obey the Gospel as proposed to Sinners, and
that_ Adam's _Posterity, consider'd as fallen in him, are under the
same Obligation to keep the Law, as_ Adam _was_. But of this I have
already taken due Notice, and therefore I need only put the Doctor
in mind of a few Words of his, drop'd _Page_ 340, in his
_Consideration of the State of dying Infants_. He thinks, "it would
be by no Means agreeable, to have them condemned to a wretched
Resurrection and eternal Misery, only because they were born of
_Adam_, the original Transgressor." This is a rational Sentiment,
and I wish it were well improved; for it is better to suppose them
entering on a new State of Trial, or downright Annihilation to be
their Portion: But what Havock does this Concession make with the
Doctor's other Doctrines, of _Christ's dying for all Men in a good
Sense, of considering us in point of Obligation to keep the Law
inviolable, the same as Adam was before his Fall;_ of God's either
granting _no Aids_ to enable us to _do this_, or such _as are too
weak and insufficient to enable us thereto!_ We are, he allows,
_under a moral Incapacity to keep the Law_, but not a _natural_
Incapacity, and therefore God may justly exact our Obedience. But
pray consider, if both a _moral_ and _natural_ Ability be requisite
to keep God's Laws, what signifies which of these is wanting, when
we may as well be without _both_, as without _either_. It signifies
little, what Epithets we bestow on the Word _Necessity_. Wherever it
prevails; and whether it be _moral_ or _natural_, if it is not
_self-caused_, but comes on Man, either by the immediate Decree of
Heaven, or by the _Act of another_, it is _Necessity_, _irresistible
Necessity_, and no Distinction can palliate it.
I allow indeed, when Man is created upright, and furnished with
sufficient Understanding and Ability to please the Almighty; and
yet, _abusing_ his Liberty, becomes at length so enslaved to his
Passions and Appetites, as to fall into this _moral Debility_, the
Law of God is still his Duty to observe: On the other hand, allowing
Mankind to have lost their _moral Ability_ to practise Virtue in the
Fall of _Adam_, and that God, taking Pity upon Man, grants him
sufficient _Light_, to discern his State, and sufficient _Power_, to
obtain Redemption from it, this Man is also under the _same
Obligation_ to keep the Law of God, as though his moral Powers had
never sustained any _Decay_ or _Loss_ in _Adam;_ and I dare affirm,
that in _no_ other Sense, can Man be accountable for the Pravity of
his Will. And let the Doctor observe this,--If it would be
unsuitable to the Mercy of God, in the Case of Infants not
committing actual Sin, to punish them eternally, _only because they
were born of this first Transgressor_, would it not be equally
unkind, to leave such as arrive at mature Age, under the Power of
those _restless_ and _irresistable_ Propensities to Evil, derived
from _Adam_, and to punish _them_ eternally, only because these
Propensities, derived in virtue of being born of the first
Transgressor, constantly, and _in spite_ of any thing we are able,
considered in a moral and natural Sense, to do to the contrary,
produce _Vice_ and _immorality?_ _All_ evil Actions, consequent upon
this Propensity, are, in fact, as necessary and unavoidable to us,
as the Propensity itself, _Where_ then, in point of Innocence, can
the Difference be, _between_ having imputed Guilt and this
Propensity, in Time of Infancy, and living long enough in this
World, to feel, and shew to others, its arbitrary Effects, in
producing Vice and Impiety whether we will or no? and where then is
the Reason, for such very different Treatment of Infants and adult
Persons? I must observe one Thing--The Doctor and his Brethren, as
they make the Work of Salvation, a very easy and agreeable Thing to
the Elect, on the one hand; so they assign the poor Sinner a very
_hard Task_, on the other: _He that offends in one Point is_, they
say, _guilty of breaking the whole Law_. Here is a _plain Instance_
of taking _Scripture_ in a literal Sense, when it can by no Means be
so understood. According to this, a Man, that only _steals_, may be
said to commit Murder, and be _punished_ as a Murderer as well as a
Thief; though we know he has not committed it.
In the main, we may conscientiously observe and keep God's Laws, and
yet in Time of _Temptation_ and _Weakness_ fall into some Evil,
will, God therefore _consider_ and _punish_ us as those who live in
the daily Breach and Contempt of all his Laws? No! For, on the
contrary, God ever waits to be gracious to all such, as through
Inadvertence fall into Sin, and are willing to forsake it. The View
and Intent of our Apostle, in these Words, seems to be of very
_easy_ and _plain_ Signification: There was in those early Times, as
appears from our Saviour's frequently reproving the Hypocrisy of
that Generation, a Sort of People, who appeared zealous in the
Externals of Religion, while at the same Time they neglected Things
of far _greater Moment:_ _Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees, ye pay
Tithe of Mint and Cummin; and have omitted the weightier Matters of
the Law:_ Mat. xxiii. _ver_. 23. They daringly violated God's Laws
in some of the most material and important Instances, and complied
with others in a mere formal ostentatious Way; and were therefore
guilty, in the Divine View, of the Breach of the _whole Law;_ for
_mere Obedience_ upon improper Motives to a _Part_ of the Law, while
at the same Time they allow'd themselves in the _known_ and
_deliberate_ Violation of _more weighty_ Commands, was no true or
proper Obedience at all: and, in this Sense, the _Jewish_ Sacrifices
of the Law, though commanded by the highest Authority, were always
esteemed an Abomination; and the Christian Religion as well as the
Law, is certainly liable to Abuses of the same Kind, from Men of
hypocritical and corrupt Minds, whom therefore this Doctrine of the
Apostle _effectually_ and _peculiarly_ regards and reproves: and I
appeal to all, if this Construction of the Sacred Text be not more
agreeable to Reason and Common Sense, than that which the Doctor has
thought fit and convenient to bestow thereon. I beseech the Doctor
to consider how, according to his Principles, this Covenant could be
proposed to _Adam_, out of a kind and beneficent intention in the
Creator, when God knew, in the first Place, that _Adam_ would not
keep it, and determined, in the second Place, upon the Breach of it,
to leave the Bulk of Mankind to perish everlastingly, without Mercy,
without sufficient or suitable Means of Redemption; and what a
_cruel Joke_, upon the _Calvinistical Scheme_, of God's willing the
_Fall_, was here put upon _Adam_, and all his Posterity!
To talk as some do, of our existing in _Adam_ at the Time of his
Transgression, is very absurd, when, as _intelligent_ and _free
Creatures_, it is evident, we did not exist at all. _Sin is a
Transgression of some Law, which we have at the same time Power to
keep_. God never requires Impossibilities. He that made Man, knows
best what he is capable of and hath undoubtedly taken care to
proportion the _Duties_ he requires of Man, to the _Powers_ he hath
bestowed on him. The contrary would be very hard dealing indeed--If
a Law be dispensed to me, I must in the first Place have
Understanding sufficient to judge of its Authority, and the
Obligations it lays me under; and, in the second Place, I must also
have Power to keep it, otherwise it can never be a Law suitable to
me; and a Man's _Age_, _Complexion_, _Stature_, and _Circumstances_,
are as just Causes for Damnation, as the Breach of a Law which lies
beyond the Reach of his Knowledge and Abilities. But supposing, in
the last Place, that God did make such a Covenant with _Adam_, &_c_.
(though I think I have shewn it to be impossible) let us see how the
Doctrines of _Election_ and _Preterition_ will turn out _then_. I
have already endeavoured to make it appear, that God does not act in
that arbitrary Manner, which these Gentlemen teach; that though he
is indeed governed by no Law without, or accountable to any for what
he is pleased to do, yet his own Rectitude of Mind, is to him an
invariable Rule of Righteousness, equally secure to all Intents and
Purposes of a written Law without: and this argues the adorable and
incomparable Excellency of his Being who, though by Nature he is
infinitely above all Power and Authority whatever, yet his moral
Perfections continually prompt him to promote the Happiness of the
meanest of his Creatures. It was _sovereign Goodness_ (rather than
_sovereign Pleasure_) which prompted the Almighty to create Man, in
order to communicate Happiness to him; and if _Adam's_ Posterity
might be said to fall in him, yet God must at least look on them in
a more favourable Manner, than if they had actually sinned
themselves; and consequently it could never suit with his Goodness
to punish eternally _any one_ under this Circumstance, without
_first giving_ him an Opportunity of recovering from his lapsed
State; nor could he ordain the Means on Purpose to _save some_ by
_electing Grace_, without _saving all_. God does nothing without
sufficient Reason: he could save none under this Circumstance, but
as they were _in themselves_ Objects of his Pity and Mercy; and if
ever there was an Object of Mercy, here it is, an immortal Soul
condemned, for the Fault of _another_, which it could by no Means
hinder or prevent, to suffer eternal Torment. There is something
greatly moving in such an Object as this; and as _all Adam's_
Posterity were equally involved in his Guilt, all are Objects of
Mercy _precisely the same_, and therefore there is not the least
Ground for the Difference which we are told is made by Election;
because 'tis making a _Distinction_ where there is _no Difference_.
Here is the Race of _Adam_, considered as _equally_ fallen in him,
divided into two very unequal Parts (equally in themselves, and
altogether Objects of Mercy, if such an Object can be) by the
Almighty himself. The smaller Number he is at all Events determined
to save, and to destroy the greater Number.