Good morrow Re­verend Sir.

I thank Thee honest Countrey-man, a good Morning to Thee likewise, and I pray God bless Thee. But I wou'd know what has brought Thee to my house so early.

I am come to be instructed and to know my Duty.

Thou art to be commended for so doing. Sit down my Friend, I will give Thee my best Instructions concerning what thou shalt inquire of me.

I have heard that some Men, par­ticularly one Dr. Edwards has been endea­vouring to bring into our excellent [...] the Scotch and Dutch Presbyterian Notions concerning Election and Predestination. Now Sir, if I have been rightly inform'd concerning these rigid Doctrines, I shou'd be very sorry they shou'd take place any further in the Minds of Men; because they will take [Page 2] away our Free-will, and transform us into something worse than Brutes, for the Brutes plainly discover a Freedom of Election in their Actions. They will make God the Author of Sin. And his Punishment of the wicked to be meerly arbitrary, to condemn Men to eternal Flames, for those Sins which he had put out of their Power to avoid! Nay to create them on purpose to make them thus miserable! the repeating of it frights me! It seems all Blasphemy to me; to represent the infinit Goodness and Father of Mercies, in the Colours of Cruelty it self, that you cou'd not exceed it in the Description of the Devil!

Therefore the Lutherans have charg'd the Calvinists with Worshipping the Devil. For, say they, we see not the Person of God, or of the Devil. Therefore we describe them by their Qualities. And if we make God more cruel than the Devil, we make Him worse than the Devil. And we Wor­ship the Devil under the Name of God. For it is not the Word GOD that we Wor­ship, but what we mean by it. The Hea­thens did Sacrifice to Devils, & not to God, yet they call'd those Devils by the Name of Gods.

But God is call'd a Consuming Fire, and a terrible God. Is there not something of Cruelty in this?

You easily apprehend the Difference betwixt Justice and Cruelty. God is Justice, but ther is nothing of Cruelty in his Na­ture. Cruelty is delighting in the Misery of another, without any regard to a Fault committed. As Envy is repining at the Prosperity of another, let him deserve it ne­ver so well; for an envious Man cannot en­dure to see any other in a better Conditi­on than Himself. But none of these can be in God.

Now I understand. God punishes in Justice, as He is the Supream Judge of the World. But if He made Creatures on pur­pose to damn them, this has all the Notion we can have of Cruelty. And if He put it out of their Power not to sin, and left them no Free-will to chuse whether they would sin or not, see not how this can be recon­cil'd to Justice. Therefor I think no Crea­ture is capable of sinning but what has free-will. Sin being the Inclining of the Will to Evil, and not to Good. Which if I have no Power to do, I can neither do Good nor Evil. I have no Title to Reward, nor am I lyable to Punishment. And what a Jest wou'd it be in you, if you shou'd pretend to argue with me, to promise or threaten, to perswade me to do such a Thing, if you [Page 4] knew before-hand that it was impossible for me to do it? Suppose you shou'd tye me Hand & Foot, throw me into a Prison, bolt and fetter me down to the Floor, lock the Doors fast upon me, and then set-fire to it,—then preach to me in at the Window, and use most pathetical Exhortations to me to come out, and why wou'd I stay there to be burn'd? And shou'd Swear to me, as I live I don't desire your Death, nor have any Pleasure in it; and shou'd promise me great Rewards if I wou'd come out; wou'd not this be insulting my Misery, and the great­est Aggravation of Cruelty that is possible to be imagin'd? Yet this is the Notion those rigid Calvinists wou'd have us entertain of the Goodness of God, of all his gracious Pro­mises, and of his Threatnings to us, if we forsake not our Iniquities, and deliver our selves out of that Prison and Bondage of Sin into which we had cast our selves, by our habitual wicked Courses. This is the Case, as they put it. And I have made it easie to my self to apprehend it, by this familiar Example I have given, that I see it before my Eyes, and detest and abhor it! But still I have a Question to ask upon this Point. We say in the Collect for the Second Sunday in Lent, That we have no power of our selves [Page 5] to help our selves. Is not this the Case I put of the Prison?

Yes, fully. If we consider our Help as only from our selves. When Man had fal­len by his Rebellion against God; he was no ways able to deliver himself either from the Dominion of Sin, or from the Prison of Death to which it was doom'd. But Christ our blessed Saviour enter'd into that Prison in our Nature, and in our Stead, and made full Satisfaction for all the Sins of that Na­ture, to be apply'd to all who laid hold up­on it, by a true and lively Faith, and a sincere Repentance for their Sins. He open'd the Prison-Doors, and preach'd Deliverance to all who wou'd accept of his Salvation. And to those who are willing, he gives the As­sistance of his Grace, to help their Infir­mities. And this is necessary to all the Actions of our Life. Without this, we can neither do a good Deed, nor think a good Thought. So that all the Glory is still to Him. Yet something is still lest for us to do. We must work with Him, because He works in us both to will, and to do.

Thus then I take it. If I manure my Ground never so well, yet without the Sun it will not bear. On the other [Page 6] Hand, if I do not prepare my Ground, the Sun will not bring a Crop I did not sow. Nay it is the Sun too which, with my Labour, do's prepare the Ground, and fit it to receive the Seed. So that in Effect all is from the Sun, both to prepare the Earth, and enable it to bring forth the Seed. Yet our Labour is ne­cessary, not as what produces any Thing, but only to remove what hinders the Production. Now I compare the Sun to the Grace of God, without which we can do nothing. And our Working, tho' it can produce nothing of it self, yet it prepares the Heart to receive the Influence of the Sun of Righteousness. So that, as St. Paul saith, he that planteth is no­thing, nor he that watereth, but God who giveth the Encrease. And this was the Baptism of Repentance St. John Baptist was sent to preach, to turn the Hearts of the Fathers to the Children, and the Hearts of the Children to their Fathers, to soften the Ground of the Heart, to take out those Stones and Hardness which wou'd hinder it to re­ceive the Seed of the Gospel. For THEY who are proof against even Natural Affecti­on, are deaf to all the Charms of the Gospel. And this was truly preparing the Way to our Saviour, to fit and dispose Men to receive his self-denying Doctrine. This is a prevent­ing [Page 7] and preparing Grace; which whoso resists, nips the Seed in the Bud, and brings no Fruit to Perfection. In vain then do these un­profitable Servants plead their own want of Strength as an Excuse, while they resist that Grace which is offer'd them for an Help. Suppose I was lame, and cou'd not go where my Life depended upon it. But then a Coach was offer'd me with all Convenience to car­ry me; and I shou'd refuse it, cou'd I plead my Lameness as a Defence for me? Or, which is more absurd, cou'd I say, it was not in my Power to accept it? Or that He who of­fer'd it, did not really intend it? All this Banter and Blasphemy these Predestinari­ans put upon the great God.

I have been attack'd, Sir, for the last words, I spoke last Time, saying that the Predestinarians did banter and blaspheme the great God. They say that Predestination is a Scripture-word, and therefore no Man ought to speak against it. And I must have some of your Help to rid me out of this; for I wou'd by no Means say any Thing to the Derogation of the holy Scriptures.

The holy Scriptures often speak to [Page 8] us, after the Manner of Men, which in the Schools is call'd, ad Captum, that is to our Capacities. For otherwise we cou'd not un­derstand them. We have no words that can properly express the infinit Nature of God. He is eternal and dwells in Eternity, but we have no words but of Time. We cannot conceive a Duration without past, present, and to come, yet these cannot be in God. For then He must have a Beginning, and wou'd gain or lose in Process of Time, as we do. All Things are present to Him. Therefor wherever Fore or After is attri­buted to God in holy Scripture, we must take that Word ad Captum, because ther is no Fore or After in God. Such is the Word Pre-Destination, or Fore-Ordaining, or Fore-Knowing. God knows all Things. But He fore-knows nothing, because all Things are Present to Him. So He ordains, but He do's not fore-ordain. Yet we must use these Words, because they are according to our Capacities. But if we argue strictly and properly from them, we shall fall not only into many Absurdities, but even Blasphemies. And so it is as to other Words ad Captum. God is said in Scripture to repent, to be grie­ved, to be angry, &c. Yet we all know God is not subiect to any of these Passions. And [Page 9] if we should argue strictly and properly from such Expressions, we must deny the Being of a God, for such Passions are totally incon­sistent with the Being of a God. Now if I shou'd argue from God's being said to re­pent, that He is changeable, and 20 other Consequences might be drawn from thence, What wou'd Dr. Edwards say to me? Wou'd He not tell me, that I was totally out of the Way, and ought not to draw a­ny such Consequences from a Word that was only ad Captum. The same I say to Him as to Predestination, which is only ad Captum, and no more a Scripture-Word, than God's repenting, &c. And if He will not give me leave to draw Consequences from the one, neither will I give him leave to draw Consequences from the other, both being equally absurd. And let Him shew me a reason more for the one than the other, if He can. Now these Words ad Captum are to be understood comparatively, with an as if. Thus when it is said God repented He had made Man, and it grieved Him at the Heart, it is to express the high Displeasure of God, and the terrible Punishment of the Flood that follow'd, AS IF God had repented, & been grieved at the Heart, &c. And thus when God was willing to express the ex­ceeding [Page 10] Greatness of his Love to us, and the full Assurance we may have in his Promises, He do's it with an as if ther were a Yester­day in God, and that He had then chosen us by Name, and past an ir-reversible Decree for our Salvation, which no Time or Accident shou'd ever alter. In which Scripture-sense, of Predestination it is a Doctrin full of Comfort and Assurance to all good Christians. And ther is nothing hard to be understood in it. But the Perplexities of this Dispute have a­risen from taking the Word in the strict and literal Sense, without any as if, or Comparison in the Case, or any Allowance for a Word ad Captum: But down-right suppo­sing a Time past in God, and the Decree al­ready past, concerning Things to Come with God. Which Absurdity being granted, o­thers follow in-extricable on both sides. For Example, such Decree being suppos'd to be past, it takes away Free-will; else the Will of Man might disappoint the Decree of God. On the other Hand, without Free-will sup­pos'd, it will be impossible to give an Ac­count for all the Promises and Threatnings in the Holy Scriptures, and the Protestations of God that he delighteth not in the Death of a Sinner, and his earnest Invitations to Repentance. And as this is the Perplexity of [Page 11] the Dispute, so remove the first Absurdity, and all clears up on both sides. Let us understand God's Predestination (as his re­penting) to be a Word ad Captum, not to be strictly and Philosophically inquir'd into, and Consequences drawn from it; but to look to the general Import and Meaning of it, & there we understand the Firmness of God's Promises, and of his Covenant made with us in Christ, impossible to be frustrated, AS IF decreed in Time past, even from Eterni­ty. But the Decree of God being only Pre­sent, for that ther is no past or future in Him, we take the Expression only ad Captum, and see no future Infraction upon our Free-will from the Pre-Destination of God. The whole Difficulty being as to Time of 'fore and after, which we are sure are not, nor can be in God.

Sir, I understand. And if others wou'd take notice of what you have said, it would stop our arguing and wrangling a­bout it, while it is plain we set out upon a wrong Foundation, in applying past and future to God, which is only as to us. And it is of God only we speak, when we speak of his eternal Decrees before Man was made. For Man was not then in the Case, other­wise than as all future Things are present [Page 12] with God. But if we will apply this to our­selves, then it will follow, that I was born before I was born, even from Eternity, be­cause my Birth was then present with God. And my Death is now present with Him, therefor I am now Dead! And when I am dead, I am not dead, because all live to Him! Thus we apply to our selves what we call his Fore-Decrees, and say that the Freedom of our Will is now ty'd up by them. Therefor let me make this Experiment. Let us leave the Word Fore out of the Dispute, and say only, that God ordains the Punishment of Wickedness, and the Reward of Vertue; and ther is no Difficulty at all in this. But when we say (in the rigid Cal­vinistical Sense) that God Fore-ordains, there comes in all the Confusion.

And Dr. Edwards, or any Predesti­narian cannot refuse this, since they all al­low that ther is no Fore or After in God. Therefor if they will speak properly of Him, they must use Words only of the present. And will they perplex the World, and make Men run mad, only because they will not speak properly of God? If they pretend to argue Philosophically, and draw just Conse­quences, they must use proper Words, & not dispute from Words that are only ad Captum.

The Account you gave me last Time, Sir, of Predestination has satisfy'd me, that in the Scripture-sense of the Word, and ta­ken only ad Captum, as you express it, it is a most comfortable Doctrin, and full of Assu­rance to all good Christians. But that the rigid Calvinistical Notion of it, and the In­ferences they draw from it, are not only most absurd, but likewise blasphemous against God.

And the Effects of it (some of which I have seen) among the common Presbyte­rians are terrible. For their Heads being perpetually fill'd with the abstruse Notions of Predestination, Election, Reprobation, and Secret Decrees of God; and that they have no Free-will or Choice what to do, but must go on as it is secretly Decreed. This, as it of common Consequence makes Men careless; (for why shou'd they struggle when ther is no remedy, and their Sentence is alrea­dy past, and that ir-revocably?) So it is observable, that more of THESE dye in Despair, than of any other sort of People. I have seen them cry out on their Death-Beds for Assurance! Assurance! Oh! What [Page 14] shall I do for Assurance! And when the Merits and Satisfaction of Christ has been preach'd to them, they wou'd say, alas! What is that to me, if I be not one of the Elect? For Christ dy'd only for the Elect. (This is another of their Doctrines, pursu­ant to their Notion of Predestination, that the Decrees of God may not be frustrated.) And when they were ask'd, why they did doubt of their Election? And bid look into their Lives, which bating humane Infirmi­ties, were good and vertuous, in the common Size of Mankind; and therefor that they might take this as a Mark of their Electi­on: They wou'd answer, that the good Works of the Reprobate were hateful to God, (for so they had been taught) and there­for that this was no sure Mark. Nothing but Election! Election! was in their Minds. The Condition of these poor People is most lamentable. Election is with them a secret Decree, without any respect to our Works. And they can have no other Assurance of it, but that of their own Imagination. They cannot, as the Apostle requires, be always ready to render a Reason of the Hope that is in them. Nay they speak against Rea­son, and think it rather an Hindrance to Faith.

I thank God my Faith (which I have learn'd in the Church of England) is this, That Christ dy'd for all Mankind, and con­sequently for me in particular. And I have his Promise, which is an infallible Assurance; that if I believe and trust in that compleat Satisfaction he has made for all my Sins, and truly repent of them, I shall be Sav'd. And tho' my Faith be weak, that I say, Lord I believe, help mine unbelief; and my Repen­tance is unworthy, and fit to be repented of, and all my Righteousness is as filthy rags, yet I despair not, because the Satisfaction made for my Sins was perform'd by Christ in his own Person, wholly without me, in which I have no Share or Part at all; I paid not, nor cou'd pay one Penny of my Debt, or make any Satisfaction to infinit offended Justice; but my whole Debt was paid by my Surety, and by Him alone full Satisfacti­on was made, who only cou'd make it. And my Faith is the Hand that reaches this Me­dicin to me, and applys it. The Vertue is not in the Hand, but in the Medicin. But the stronger the Faith, the greater the Com­fort. Therefor, Lord increase my Faith, and I pray, that my Faith fail not. They who look'd upon the brasen Serpent were healed, yet some had better Sight than others. E­ven [Page 16] so was the Son of Man lifted up, that who­soever believeth in Him should have eternal Life. Thus my Faith is in Christ, but not in my Faith it self. And if I have but a Grain of it, as big as a Mustard-seed, the Mountain of my Sins will be remov'd & cast into the Sea. If my Faith be well grounded, tho weak, and my Repentance be sincere, tho' unworthy, I am upon Jacob's Ladder, and tho' upon the lowest Step, yet in the Road to Heaven. Some are upon an higher Step, and some upon a lower, but all are safe. This is my Faith, and my Assu­rance, and this is the Reason and the Rock upon which it is built. But what Reason can any Man give for his being elected by a secret Decree, which He knows not? He fancies himself elected! Ther can be no more in it. For, as You have said before, ther can be no sure Mark of it, even by the Principles of the Predestinarians. And what then cou'd the Apostle mean (in their Sense) by bidding us Make our Cal­ling and Election sure? What! Is not the Decree of God sure without us?

I am pleas'd with the Account you have given of your Faith. And you ought to bless God that you have been educated in the Church of England, where you have [Page 17] been instructed in the true Foundations of Christianity, which give all the Assurance that the Word and Promise of God can give. And this is the highest Reason. But the Assurance of the Predestinarians is all Imagination, being built upon Decrees which they confess to be secret and hid­den from us. Therefor it is no Wonder they shou'd cry out for Assurance in their Extremity. And when they say or may think they have it, and boast in it, yet they can give no Reason for it, and therefor it is but Imagination still. Im­pressions upon the Imagination may give great Pleasure and even Raptures of Joy. And if these are built upon the true Foundation, they are Gold and precious Stones; otherwise they are but Hay and Stubble, and will not endure the Fire. They are often the Delusion of Satan, who thus transforms himself into an Angel of Light, and deceives many an unstable Soul. But they must be try'd by the Foundation. Upon which they are not built, if we can give no Reason for them, but are Flashes and Meteors, and give a false Light. We may know them likewise by their Effects. If such Transports leave us more humble in our selves, and with more Love and Cha­rity [Page 18] to others, they come from God. But if they fill us with spiritual Pride, and make us look down upon others as beneath us, they come, no Doubt, from the Spirit of Pride, and tempt us to Pride; tho' some­times without our Knowing it, and while we act Humility. Ther is none so proud as the proud-humble man, who is proud of his Humility! So subtile is our Adversary, that we must watch even over our Vertues. He mixes Poyson with our Meat. So that we often put Darkness for Light, and Light for Darkness. And if the Light that is in us be Darkness, how great is the Darkness! And this must be known by Reason. My Reason tells me, that I can build no Assurance upon Decrees which are hidden and kept secret from me. But whatever those Decrees are, my Reason assures me they cannot be con­trary or against the revea'ld Will of God, which is given us in the holy Scriptures; be­cause that wou'd be for God to contradict Himself. Which is impossible. And there­fore my Reason tells me that I may surely trust in his Promises, and chearfully set a­bout my Duty, without perplexing my self about his secret Decrees.

I Hope Sir, that what you have said of Predestination will satisfie others as well as it has me. First, that the whole Dispute, as manag'd by the Calvinists, is all built upon a wrong Foundation, even by their own Confession, in arguing strictly from Words ad Captum, and which they confess to be so; and will not suffer the like to be done in any other Case. Therefor that they ought to stop their Disputes upon this Point, till they can find proper Words to speak by, if they will speak properly of God. And these Disputes ought to cease for a second Reason you have given, which is, that they are useless, because whatever the secret Decrees of God may be suppos'd to be, yet that they cannot go against or invalidate his Will declar'd openly in the holy Scriptures, for that wou'd be to contradict Himself. Therefor that we may work in Hope, and chear­fully apply our selves to the performing of what He has commanded us; with full Trust and Assurance in what He has pro­mis'd, without perplexing and intangling our selves in these Disputes about his secret [Page 20] Decrees; for they must go according to his reveal'd Will. In this we are sure, and therefor these Disputes are at the best useless to us; but of most pernicious Consequence when taken by the wrong Handle, as you have fully shew'd. But ther is one Thing wherein Dr. Edwards and the Predestinari­ans do very much boast, they say that their Doctrin is agreeable to our 39 Articles; and therefor that our Clergy have apostatiz'd (as Dr. Edwards words it) from the Do­ctrin of the Church of England: and that the Dissenters are the true Church of En­gland, because they hold Predestination, and are against Free-will, as they say our Arti­cles likewise speak. Now tho' this be no Argument as to the Doctrin it self, yet to those of the Church of England it is of very great Consequence, as well to vindicate the Church of England, as to stop the Mouths of Dissenters, which are all open upon us on this Account.

The tenth Article is of Free-will. Which is not at all there deny'd, but ra­ther suppos'd and asserted. But it suppo­ses the Concurrence of the Grace of God by Christ to be necessary to incline and guide our Will, and to work with us, When we have that good Will. Which is exactly agreeable [Page 21] to what I have said before of Grace and our working with it, page 6.

The 17th Article is of Predestination. And keeps to the Scripture-Phrase of God's ordaining before the World began, of calling whom he fore-knew, justifying, sanctifying them, &c. Which is to be understood in the same and no other sense than as these Words are us'd in holy Scripture, which all agree to be ad Captum, as we have dis­cours'd it before. And these Expressions of Scripture are, according to our Capacities and Manner of speaking, as this Article says, full of sweet, pleasant and unspeakable Comfort to godly Persons. But then this Article checks the Curiosities of this Dis­pute (which is what I have been bla­ming) and says, For curious and carnal Per­sons lacking the Spirit of Christ, to have con­tinually before their Eyes the Sentence of God's Predestination, is a most dangerous Down­fal, whereby the Devil doth thrust them ei­ther into Desperation, or into Wretchlesness of most unclean Living, no less Pernicious than Desperation.

This is so exactly what you have said, that yours is but a Comment upon this.

Then the Article ends thus, Fur­thermore, [Page 22] We must receive God's Promises in such wise as they be generally set forth to us in holy Scripture: And in our Doings, that Will of God is to be follow'd, which we have expresly declared unto us in the Word of God.

This is just as you have concluded, That we may safely trust in God's Pro­mises, and perform our Duty chearfully which He has commanded in holy Scrip­ture, without perplexing our selves about his Secret Decrees. Therefore instead of these Articles being against you, or you a­gainst them, you have perfectly follow'd them in your Arguments, and explained them.

Observe further, that ther is not a Word of Reprobation in all this 17th Arti­cle of Predestination, nothing of God's ha­ving Fore-decree'd any to Misery, but it speaks only of those whom He has elect­ed to Salvation. So that the rigid Calvinists against whom we have been disputing can find no Colour of Umbrage in their Fa­vour from this Article. Therefore whate­ver the Opinion of particular Men might have been, this cannot be charg'd upon the Church of England.

There was a Time when some of our Divines ran in too much with the Calvinists. [Page 23] In the Marian Persecution many fled to Geneva and those Parts. And the joint Cause against Popery, together with the Smart of their own Persecution, inclin'd 'em to all the favourable Opinion they cou'd have of their Friends, who gave them Shel­ter. By this Mean some were tinctur'd with these rigid Notions of Predestination. And when they return'd to England in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, their Reputation made this Doctrin go down more easily with some People.

But our English Cyprian, and holy Mar­tyr, the great Arch-Bishop LAUD, set himself to stop the Torrent of this Infecti­on, and when he was Chancellor of Oxford, He turn'd the Bent of their Studies from these modern Polemicks, and Reading the Dutch and German Systems of Divinity, to learn downwards, and from the first Begin­ning of Christianity, to acquaint themselves with the Fathers in the several Ages to our Times: Whereby they wou'd be better a­ble to judge of the novel Disputes of the Remonstrants, Anti-Remonstrants, Supra and Sub-Lapsarians, &c. which then tormented the Reformation in Germany and Holland; and wherein WE likewise took part. And that famous Ʋniversity (together with her [Page 24] Sister of Cambridge, which took the same Method) reap to this Day the Benefit of those pious Instructions of her learned Chancellor, which has given them that de­served Reputation all over Europe for their great Knowledge and Exactness in Antiqui­ty; and the primitive Doctrin and Disci­plin of the Church; and teaching us to derive our Faith from its Fountain and Ori­ginal, and to go higher up than either Lu­ther or Calvin. For want of which the Church of Rome has gain'd great Advantage against her less learned Opposers. For this Cause Dr. Edwards has thought fit to fall foul upon Arch-Bishop Laud, as the Corrup­ter of our Doctrin. But WE bless his Me­mory as the Restorer of it. The Doctor charges Him and us for bringing in what he calls Pelagianism, and Arminianism. But He is too learned not to know this to be a Mistake. For tho' we assert Free-will, yet we teach the Concurrence and even Necessity of Grace, to enable us to bring forth Fruit unto God, as is before explain'd, page 6.

You have made it plain even to me. And now I am frighted to think, that any Divine of the Church of England shou'd make such an Use of the Ʋnion of the two Kingdoms, & to propose it in Print, as to [Page 25] joyn with the rigid Calvinists in Scotland and Holland, and our own Dissenters at Home, against the Church of England, which he (good Man) calls Apostate; and hopes, with this foreign and domestick Aid, to bring us all back again to the rigid and most abhorrent Calvinism of Predestination; to throw Men into Despair, and Wretchless­ness of most unclean Living, as our Article of Predestination speaks. But I hope this will give sufficient Warning to those of our Clergy who yet remain firm to the Church, that they may in Time ward this Blow which is so publickly threaten'd, and alrea­dy attempted!

THer is one Point remaining that follows from that of Predestina­tion we have been upon; in which I wou'd have you, Country-man, to be well ground­ed, and therefor must examin you a little upon it. These Predestinarians placing all upon the eternal Decrees of Election and Reprobation, allow not of Ʋniversal Redemp­tion, or that Christ dy'd for All. Because, say they, if Christ dy'd for the Reprobate, it was totally in vain, and the End of his [Page 26] Sufferings must be frustrated as to them. Besides that he cou'd not intend or design to Save those whom God had Reprobated by an eternal Decree.

Now let me see what you have to say to this.

As to eternal Decrees, enough has been said to that already, that ther is no arguing from it, being only Words ad Cap­tum, and therefor not to be strictly and pro­perly taken. So I dismiss that Point. But now as to universal Redemption, the Scripture is plain, which says, That Christ dy'd for all. And wou'd have none to perish, but all to come to the Knowledge of the Truth. And as in Adam all dye, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. And many other such like Texts.

But all are not made alive, that is, in Christ, so as to be Saved, for many perish.

Yet Christ dy'd even for those who perish. As it is said 1 Cor. 8.11. in the Case of giving Scandal to a weak Brother. And thro' thy Knowledge shall the weak Brother pe­rish, for whom Christ died?

Now I help my self to understand this, by a familiar Example. Suppose you came to a Prison, and taking a List of all the Debtors, shou'd pay all their Debts, Costs, [Page 27] Charges and all. And opening the Prison-Doors, shou'd tell them, they were all at LI­BERTY who wou'd accept of it, and come out in such a Time. After which the Pri­son-Doors shou'd be lock'd again, and they shou'd be kept there, 'till they had paid the uttermost Farthing. Upon this, some thank­fully accept of your Goodness, and come out. But ther are others, who despise your Mercy, or will not believe you, or understand not the pleasure of Liberty, but prefer the sordid Life of a Prison, the Pot and the Pipe, and will not come out. Which is the very Condemnation our Saviour spoke of when He said, that Light was come into the World, but Men loved Darkness rather than Light, because their Deeds were evil. The Light was offer'd to all. But some lov'd Darkness better. It is said that Life and Death are set before us, yet some chuse Death. An Habit of Sinning contracts a Love to it, that we are loth to leave it.

The Application is this. The Debt of those Prisoners who Stay'd in the Prison was pay'd as well as of those who came out. And as the Release of the one is wholly owing to Him who pay'd the Debt; so the Condemnation of the other, lies wholly at his own Door, because, He wou'd not ac­cept [Page 28] of his Liberty. Something was left to the Prisoners to do, to chuse whether they wou'd come out, or stay in. God (tho' a God of infinit Mercy) will not save us a­gainst our Will. This shews Free-will. But ther is no Merit in us, when we ac­cept of his Salvation. We pay not a Pen­ny of the Debt, He pays it all. And all the Thanks and the Glory is to Him. But if He did not pay my Debt, how cou'd I be blam'd for staying in the Prison, when my Debt lay still upon me, that I cou'd not get out? How cou'd I be call'd un­grateful to Him who pay'd nothing for me, nor ever did design it? And how can wicked Men be blam'd for trampling un­der Foot the Blood of the Son of God, for despising and resisting his Grace, if He Shed no Blood for them, nor ever gave them any saving Grace?

I desire Dr. Edwards (or any One of his Opinion) to answer this. But this brings me to another Point which follows in the Train of Consequences of these Mens Notion of Predestination. For from the eternal Decrees, as they put it, they infer that ther can be no failing from Grace, because this might defeat the Decree. And therefor that Men cannot [Page 29] finally resist his Grace, or fall from it. This minds me of a remarkable Passage told by Dr. Bates, who wrote the Elen­chus Motuum nuperorum in Anglia. He as a Physician was call'd upon to assist that Night that Oliver (that Christian Heroe in some Mens Esteem) prov'd a true De­liverer of his Country. The Ʋsurper was in great Agonies of Mind, often start­ed, and ask'd them if they saw any Thing? At length He calls for his Chaplains. And the first Question He ask'd them was, If there was any falling from Grace? To which being answered, NO,— then, said he, I am safe. For He suppos'd that some Time or other in his Life he might have had a little Grace. And then his Ʋsurpation, with the Murder of the King his Royal and Religious Master, and Devastation of three Kingdoms, besides much Blood-shed abroad, and the Overthrow of the establish'd Church, cou'd do him no Hurt! This is a short Way of quieting Conscience! and to lull Men asleep in their Sins! Thus poor Souls are deluded by these Doctrins of Decrees!

In Consequence of which it is a Max­im with them, that God sees no Sin in his Elect. Which is indeed, that the Elect cannot sin. They say that David was nothing out of [Page 30] God's Favour while he continued in his Sin, more than before he committed it, or than after he repented. Nay some of them have wrote expresly against Repentance, as being a Derogation from the Decrees of God, & supposing 'em to be conditional. Whence others have likewise spoke against Good-Works. What! Do we think that any Thing we can do, can reverse or alter the Decrees of God?

And as they think the Elect cannot sin, so they say that others can do nothing else but sin. Thus the same Actions are Sin in One, and Piety in the other. As the Poet said,

I have read in a Book of one of their celebrated Preacher's, a long Comparison betwixt Esau and Jacob, wherein Esau was set forth with all the Advantages of Worth and Honour, and Jacob represented as the wickedest Fellow upon Earth; and this Use was made of it, that God chose Jacob before Esau, to shew that his Decrees were absolute, [Page 31] and had no respect to the Goodness or Wick­edness of the Persons.

Then it is all one whether we are good or wicked! Nay Wickedness has the Advantage in many Cases, as in this of E­sau and Jacob! Sir, these are monstrous Principles! And make me now no longer wonder at what one of their eminent Prea­chers in London said since the Revolution, who being ask'd by some of his Brethren, what progress he had made, He said he had made many Proselytes, and had a full Congregation; but, added he, all the Effect I have found is, That I have preach'd a Congregation of Christians into a Congregation of Devils. Per­haps not knowing the Cause, and that this was the natural Consequence of those Do­ctrines he had preach'd to them.

And are these the Principles to which Dr. Edwards wou'd have us reform'd backwards over, by the Kirk in Scotland and in Hol­land coming into the Aid of our Dissenters at Home? A Blessed Confederacy!

The Doctor has given the On-set him­self, in a large Book, he has lately Printed, call'd Veritas Redux, wherein these Principles are set up to the Height. He heads the Armies of the Philistines, and leads them on against the Camp of Israel.

REverend Sir, before I take my leave of you, I wou'd willingly be infor­med whether what I have heard of the Dissenters be true or not. I have heard that many of them are turn'd Arians and So­cinians. I pray now, is it true?

Yes Country-man, it is too true! Ma­ny of the dissenting Ministers themselves have publickly profess'd themselves Socini­ans; that is, they deny Jesus Christ to be God. These are some of those of whom the Scripture speaks, that in the latter Times Men wou'd arise who wou'd deny the God that bought them. Their woful Apostacy, Country-man, may easily be accounted for. Unhappy Men! They have thrown off the Succession of the Priesthood, by which only the Ministers of Jesus Christ can demonstrate that they are sent by Him. They have likewise thrown off the sacred Festivals & Fasts of the Church, and the comely and decent Ceremonies which have been practi­sed in the Church: Which tho' they are (simply) no Parts of Worship, yet without them, the true Fear of God and his true Worship cannot long be preserved. For these Festivals, &c. are like the Cask to the Wine; The Cask is no Part of the Wine, but if [Page 33] thou breakest the Cask, thou inevitably wilt lose the Wine.

Sir, I make no Wonder now, that those Men who so much incline to this wic­ked Heresie shou'd make such a Noise a­gainst the decent Ceremonies, &c. of our excellent Church.

Your Remark is just, Country-man. This was the chief Reason, that made that Arch-Heretick, that uncircumcis'd Philistine, their infamous Mr. James Peirce, who is one of the chief of these Infidels, I say it was chiefly his Inclination to this Heresie that made him so loudly exclaim against the Festivals and Ceremonies of our excellent Church; particularly against our Bowing, in the publick Assemblies, at the most solemn. and devout Mention of the Name of the e­ver blessed JESUS.

This made him say, in his Vindication of the Dissenters, page 531. ‘But we can see no Reason why we shou'd rather bow at the Name of Jesus, than at the Name God, Je­hovah, Christ, or Saviour, which is the same with Jesus.’

Therefor in Answer to this arrogant and insulting Infidel, and to all other Enemies of our holy Christian Faith, I will instruct Thee my Christian Friend concerning the true [Page 34] Reason of that laudable and truly Pious Custom, I mean that of reverently Bowing in the publick Assemblies of Christians, at the solemn Mention of the Sacred Name of the holy, the ever-blessed and always to be adored JESUS,

The Word JESUS signifies a Saviour, and is the proper Name of OUR blessed Saviour, who had this Name given Him by the Angel, before He was conceiv'd in the Womb. So that this is his Personal Name. The Word Christ denotes only his Office, as He was the anointed of God, which that Word signifies.

Now, there was in the Apostles Time, a Set of Hereticks, as Cerinthus and his Followers, who deny'd This Jesus to be the Christ. They said that Christ, or the Holy Spirit (for they made no Distincti­on) dwelt in Jesus, as in other holy Men. That it descended upon Him at his Baptism, but left Him on the Cross, which made Him cry, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Against these the Apostles wrote. And the Burden of their Arguments was to prove that THIS Jesus is the Christ. As St. Peter said, ( Act. 2.36.) Therefore let all the House of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made [Page 35] that same Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. And St. John says, ( Joh. 20.31.) These Things are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. And 1 Joh. 2.22.) Who is a Liar, but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? Wherefore St. Paul says, ( Phil. 2.10.) That at the Name of JESUS every Knee should bow. This was owning HIM to be the Christ. Which is truly to be a Christian. And the Bowing at any other Name, do's not shew this. To bow at the Name of God do's not distinguish me from a Jew, a Mahometan, or an Heathen, who all acknowledge a God. And to bow at the Name of Christ or the Messiah, do's not shew but that I may be a Jew, for they own a Christ, and expect him yet to come. But they expresly deny that this JESUS is the Christ. And (alas!) we have the same Cause of distinguishing our selves at this Day, where many that shelter them­selves under the Name of Christians, (ay, and good Protestants too) are profess'd Deists, and blaspheme that worthy Name by which we are called, saying, ‘The old Romans did him Justice to punish Him with the Death of a Slave.’ — (Oh! cursed Blasphemy!) This is taken out of a Pam­phlet [Page 36] entit'led, The Growth of Deism, ap­prov'd and recommended by the infamous and execrable Tyndal in his blasphemous Book of the Rights; (which Book of the Rights is highly valued by many of the Dissenters. — Unhappy Men!) And we shall not distinguish our selves from these by Bowing at the Name of God. Then a­gain, the Quakers do expresly deny the Man Jesus to be the Christ, they run in directly with the Heresie of Cerinthus, and say that Christ or the Light dwelt in Jesus, they make Christ and Jesus to be two. There­for Bowing at the Name of Christ will not distinguish us from these. But Bowing at the Sacred Name of Jesus, is owning THAT Person, THAT Man Jesus to be the Christ. And nothing less than this (owning Christ) can denominate a Man to be a Christian.

I don't say it is necessary or an Arti­cle of Faith always to bow at the Name of Jesus. But I hope I may say from the Authorities and Reasons I have offer'd, that ther can be no Harm in it, far less a­ny Superstition. That it is highly decent and a Profession of our Christianity. And that THOSE who refrain from it out of a Principle, give Grounds of Suspicion, that [Page 37] they are not sound in the Faith, and lean more to the Deists, Socinians or Principles of the Quakers, than to the Christian Church. At least they give Countenance to these Ene­mies of Christianity, while they joyn with them in refusing this Publick Attestation which the Church gives of her Faith in the crucify'd JESUS. We bow or uncover our selves at the Name of an Earthly King, when his Grants or Patents are read. And may we not bow at the Name of the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords!

Reverend Sir, I thank Thee for these pious Instructions and Exhortations. And I thank my good God, that I have not so learned Christ, as like these Infi­dels to be asham'd of the crucify'd Je­sus. No, as for me and my House, we will serve the Lord CHRIST. And while the infidel World, and Luke-warm Christians are asham'd to own their God and their Redeemer, I will excite my Christian Neighbours (by my Example) in the Assemblies of Christians for Pub­lick Worship, humbly to bow down, and with godly Reverence adore, at the so­lemn Mention of the Name of our great God, and our holy Redeemer, the Cap­tain [Page 38] of our Salvation; the holy, the a­dorable, and ever blessed JESUS.

Reverend Sir, before I take my leave, I entreat that I may join with Thee in offering up this Hymn to the ever-blessed Trinity, which I have learned by frequent­ing our most excellent Church, the Church of England.