PROPOSITIONS V. & VI.

PROPOSITIONS V. & VI.Concerning theUniversal RedemptionbyChrist, and also theSavingandSpiritual 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 aLight, that whosoever believeth in him shall be saved,Johniii. 16. Who enlightenethEVERYMan that cometh into the World,Johni. 9. And maketh manifest all Things that are reproveable,Ephes.v. 13.And teacheth all Temperance, Righteousness, and Godliness; and thisLightenlighteneth 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 lessUniversalthan the Seed of Sin, being the Purchase of his Death,who tasted Death for every Man. For as inAdamall die, even so inChristall shall be made alive, 1Cor.xv. 22.[54]Ezek. 18. 32. & 33. 11.PROPOSITION VI.According to which Principle, orHypothesis, all the Objections against theUniversalityofChrist’s Deathare 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 ofChrist’s Passionunto such, who, living in Parts of the World where the outward Preaching of the Gospel is unknown, have well improved the first and commonGrace. For as hence it well follows, that some of the OldPhilosophersmight 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 anEvangelicalandSaving Light and Grace in all, the Universality of the Love and Mercy of God towards Mankind, both in the Death of his Beloved Son, theLord Jesus Christ, and in the Manifestation of theLightin 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 forall Kinds of Men,as some vainly talk, but for every Man of allKinds: The Benefit of whose Offering is not only extended to such who have the distinct outward Knowledge of hisDeathandSufferings, 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 hisSeedandLight, 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 learnto do to others as they would be done by,in which Christ himself affirms all to be included. AsTheyhave thenfalselyand erroneously Taught, who have denied Christ to have died for all Men; so neither haveTheysufficiently taught the Truth, who affirming him to have died for all, have added the absolute Necessity of theoutward Knowledge thereof, in order to obtain its saving Effect. Among whom theRemonstrantsofHollandhave been chiefly wanting, and many other Assertors ofUniversal Redemption,in that they have not placed the Extent of this Salvation in thatDivineandEvangelical Principle of Light and LifewherewithChrist 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.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 toEternal Damnationthe 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, ordainedand 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.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.The Rise of it.The first Foundations of it were laid in the later Writings ofAugustine, who, in his Heat againstPelagius, 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 sameAugustine. Afterwards was this Doctrine fomented byDominicusa Friar, and the Monks of his Order; and at last unhappily taken up byJohn Calvin(otherwise a Man in divers Respects to be commended) to the great staining of his Reputation, and Defamation both of theProtestantand Christian Religion; which though it received the Decrees of the Synod ofDortfor its Confirmation, hath since lost Ground, and begins to be exploded by most Men of Learning and Piety in allProtestantChurches. 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 nothighly 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.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 thatoneandtwomakethree. 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 GodAdamfell. 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 areCalvin’s Expressions.[58]God(saithBeza)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(saithZanchius)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(saithParæus)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 Fallof Man was necessary and inevitable, by Accident, because of God’s Decree.[62]God(saithMartyr)doth incline and force the Wills of wicked Men into great Sins.[63]God(saithZuinglius)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(saithPiscator)are absolutely ordained to thistwofoldEnd; to undergo everlasting Punishment, and necessarily to sin, and therefore to sin, that they may be justly punished.[57]Calvinin cap. 3.Gen. Id.1. Inst.c. 18, S. 1. Id.lib. de Præd.Idemlib. de Provid.Id.Inst. c. 23. S. 1.[58]Bezalib. 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]Paræuslib. 3. de Amis. gratiæ c. 2.ibid.c. 1.[62]Martyrin Rom.[63]Zuing.lib. de Prov. c. 5.[64]Resp.adVorst.part. 1. p. 120.If these Sayings do not plainly and evidently import, thatGod 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.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. 1Tim.ii. 3.2Pet.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.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 themiddle Wall, nor yet removed theWrathof 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.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 ofElection; and be his Diligence and Waiting what it can, he shall never attain it, if he belong to the Decree ofReprobation.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 beingonly 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.§. V.6.It renders Mankind in a worse Condition than the Devils—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 sometime in a Capacity to have stood, and do suffer only for their own Guilt; whereas many Millions of Men are for ever tormented, according to them, forAdam’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.—Than theIsraelitesunderPharaoh.It puts him into a far worse Condition thanPharaohput theIsraelites; for though he with-held Straw from them, yet by much Labour and Pains they could have gotten it: But from Men they make God to with-hold all Means of Salvation, so that they can by no Means attain it;Tantalus’s Condition.yea, they place Mankind in that Condition which the Poets feign ofTantalus, 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 Smiting of Conscience, sufficient to convince theHeathensof 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 byChrist, the Use of the Sacraments, of Prayer, and good Works, sufficient to condemn those they accountReprobateswithin 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.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, ThatGod 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 also is again affirmed in the sixth Proposition, in these Words,Christtasted Death for every Man.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 thisuniversal Redemption, I shall be the more brief in it, that I may come to that which may seem more singularly and peculiarly ours.§. VI.Christ’s Redemption universal, contrary to the Doctrine ofAbsolute Reprobation.This Doctrine ofuniversal Redemption, orChrist’s dying for all Men, is of itself so evident from the Scripture-Testimony, that there is scarce 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 theGospel, or anAnnunciation of glad Tidings to all. Thus the Angel declared the Birth and Coming of Christ to the Shepherds to be,Lukeii. 10.Behold, I bring you good Tidings of great Joy, which shall be to all People: He saith not, toa few. Now if this coming of Christ had not brought a Possibility of Salvationto 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 thegreatest Part of Mankind had been necessarily shut out from receiving any Benefit by it. How should Christ have sent out his Servants topreach the Gospel to every Creature, Mark xvi. 15. (a very comprehensive Commission) that is,to every Son and Daughter of Mankind, without all Exception? He commands them to preachSalvation to all, Repentance and Remission of Sins to all; warning every one, and exhorting every one, asPauldid,Col.i. 28. Now how could they have preached the Gospelto 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 theFeet of those that bring the glad Tidings of the Gospel of Peaceare said to bebeautiful, for that they preach thecommon Salvation, Repentance unto all; offering a Door of Mercy and Hope to all, throughJesus Christ, who gave himself a Ransom for all.The Gospel is preached to every Man.The Gospel invites all: And certainly, by the GospelChristintended 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 madeSalvation possibletoall; 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 ChristSalvationis madepossible to all Men, do most blasphemously make God mock the World, in giving his Servants a Commission topreach the Gospel of Salvation unto all, while he hath before decreed that it shall not be possible for them to receive it. Would not this make the Lord to send forth his Servantswith aLie in their Mouth, (which were blasphemous to think) commanding them to bidallandevery onebelieve that Christ died for them, and had purchased Life and Salvation?The Absurdity of that Doctrine ofAbsolute Reprobation.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 preachRepentance,Remission of Sins, andSalvationto all, it is manifest that hedied for all. For He that hath commissionated his Servants thus to preach, is aGod 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 thatno 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 Menrepentorbelieve, to whom it is impossible.§. 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 expresly assert,He did;To pray forall; for Christ died forall—as 1Tim.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 topray 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 shew forth his Justice in them; he obviates, I say, such an Objection, telling them, thatit is good and acceptable in the Sight of God, who will have all Men to be saved.—And will haveallMen to be saved.I desire to know what can be more expresly affirmed? or can any two Propositions be stated in Terms more contradictory than these two?God willeth some not to be saved; andGod willeth all Men to be saved, or Godwill 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 admitted, 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 a 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:Johniii. 16.God so loved the World, that he gave his only begotten Son, thatwhosoeverbelieveth in him should not perish, but have everlasting Life; compared with 1Johniv. 9. This [whosoever] is an indefinite Term, from which no Man is excluded. From all which then I thus argue:Arg. 1.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 theMajor Propositionthus;Arg. 2.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 obtained.I prove also thisPropositionfurther, thus;Arg. 3.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,Arg. 4.That which God willeth is not impossible:But God willeth all Men to be saved:Therefore it is not impossible.And Lastly;Arg. 5.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.§. VIII.Proof 1.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 hetasted 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: Forhe came not to condemn the World, but that the World through him might be saved, John iii. 17.He came not to judge the World, but to save the World, John xii. 47.Our Adversaries false Doctrine of a great Part of Mankind being pre-ordained for Damnation, refuted.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; and as the ApostlePaul, in the Words above cited, doth assert affirmatively,That God willeth the Salvation of all,Proof 2.so doth the ApostlePeterassert 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 ProphetEzekiel, 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 hewas 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 ofIsrael!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 aRomance, or Master of aComedy, 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?Proof 3.Thirdly, This Doctrine is abundantly confirmed by that of the Apostle, 1Johnii. 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.Adversaries comment on the Words thewhole World.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 thisCommentarywe have nothing but their own Assertion, and so while it manifestly destroys the Text, may be justly rejected. For,First, let them shew me, if they can, in all the Scripture, where the [whole World] is taken forBelieversonly; I shall shew 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,Psalmxvii. 14.Isai.xiii. 11.Mat.xviii. 7.Johnvii. 7. and viii. 26. and xii. 19. and xiv. 17. and xv. 18, 19. and xvii. 14. and xviii. 20. 1Cor.i. 21. and ii. 12. and vi. 2.Gal.vi. 14.Jamesi. 27. 2Pet.ii. 20. 1Johnii. 15. and iii. 1. and iv. 4, 5, and many more.Secondly, The Apostle in this very Place contra-distinguished theWorldfrom theSaintsthus;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 shew us wherever there is such a Manner of speaking in all the Scripture, where any of the Penmen first name theBelieversinConcretowith 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 ofBelievers: As ifJohnhad 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 ApostleJohntells 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 thewhole World, let us then hold it for a certain and undoubted Truth, notwithstanding the Cavils of such as oppose.This might also be proved from many more Scripture-Testimonies, if it were at this Season needful. All theFathers, so called, andDoctorsof 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;TheHeathensinvited to Salvation; none predestinated to Damnation.inviting and intreating theHeathensto come and be Partakers of the Benefits of it, shewing them how there was aDooropen for themallto 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 with-holding Power and Grace, necessary to believe, from them. But of many of their Sayings, which might be alleged, I shall only instance a few.Proof 4. The Testimonies of theDoctorsandFathersof the first Church, that Christ died for all.Augustineon the xcvthPsalmsaith, “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 sameProsper, in his Answer toVincentius’s 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; whole 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 Authorde Vocat. Gentium, Lib. 11. 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.”ChrysostomonJohni. “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 they remain in Darkness.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.”TheArelatensianSynod, 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.onPsalmcxviii.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,The Sun-Beams shut out, heat not.even as if one by closing the Windows should hold out the Sun-Beams. The Sun is not therefore not arisen 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 ofCainandAbel, 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.”§. 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.PelagianErrors.ThePelagians, ascribing all to Man’s Will and Nature, denied Man to have any Seed of Sin conveyed to him fromAdam. And theSemi-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.Extremes fallen into by some, making God the Author of Sin.This gaveAugustine,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,Lutherand others, finding among other Errors the strange Expressions used by some of the Popish Scholasticks 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 ofAugustineand others for a Pattern, through the like Mistake run upon the same Extreme: Though afterwards theLutherans, seeing how farCalvinand 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 tosin, 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 ofMelancthon, and theMompelgartensianConference,[65]whereLucas Osiander, one of the Collocutors, terms itImpious; calls it a makingGod the Author of Sin, and anhorrid and horrible Blasphemy. 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 strengthened in their Errors; which I shall illustrate by one singular Example.

Concerning theUniversal RedemptionbyChrist, and also theSavingandSpiritual 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 aLight, that whosoever believeth in him shall be saved,Johniii. 16. Who enlightenethEVERYMan that cometh into the World,Johni. 9. And maketh manifest all Things that are reproveable,Ephes.v. 13.And teacheth all Temperance, Righteousness, and Godliness; and thisLightenlighteneth 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 lessUniversalthan the Seed of Sin, being the Purchase of his Death,who tasted Death for every Man. For as inAdamall die, even so inChristall shall be made alive, 1Cor.xv. 22.

[54]Ezek. 18. 32. & 33. 11.

PROPOSITION VI.

According to which Principle, orHypothesis, all the Objections against theUniversalityofChrist’s Deathare 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 ofChrist’s Passionunto such, who, living in Parts of the World where the outward Preaching of the Gospel is unknown, have well improved the first and commonGrace. For as hence it well follows, that some of the OldPhilosophersmight 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 anEvangelicalandSaving Light and Grace in all, the Universality of the Love and Mercy of God towards Mankind, both in the Death of his Beloved Son, theLord Jesus Christ, and in the Manifestation of theLightin 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 forall Kinds of Men,as some vainly talk, but for every Man of allKinds: The Benefit of whose Offering is not only extended to such who have the distinct outward Knowledge of hisDeathandSufferings, 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 hisSeedandLight, 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 learnto do to others as they would be done by,in which Christ himself affirms all to be included. AsTheyhave thenfalselyand erroneously Taught, who have denied Christ to have died for all Men; so neither haveTheysufficiently taught the Truth, who affirming him to have died for all, have added the absolute Necessity of theoutward Knowledge thereof, in order to obtain its saving Effect. Among whom theRemonstrantsofHollandhave been chiefly wanting, and many other Assertors ofUniversal Redemption,in that they have not placed the Extent of this Salvation in thatDivineandEvangelical Principle of Light and LifewherewithChrist 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.

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 toEternal Damnationthe 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, ordainedand 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.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.The Rise of it.The first Foundations of it were laid in the later Writings ofAugustine, who, in his Heat againstPelagius, 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 sameAugustine. Afterwards was this Doctrine fomented byDominicusa Friar, and the Monks of his Order; and at last unhappily taken up byJohn Calvin(otherwise a Man in divers Respects to be commended) to the great staining of his Reputation, and Defamation both of theProtestantand Christian Religion; which though it received the Decrees of the Synod ofDortfor its Confirmation, hath since lost Ground, and begins to be exploded by most Men of Learning and Piety in allProtestantChurches. 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 nothighly 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.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 thatoneandtwomakethree. 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 GodAdamfell. 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 areCalvin’s Expressions.[58]God(saithBeza)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(saithZanchius)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(saithParæus)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 Fallof Man was necessary and inevitable, by Accident, because of God’s Decree.[62]God(saithMartyr)doth incline and force the Wills of wicked Men into great Sins.[63]God(saithZuinglius)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(saithPiscator)are absolutely ordained to thistwofoldEnd; to undergo everlasting Punishment, and necessarily to sin, and therefore to sin, that they may be justly punished.

[57]Calvinin cap. 3.Gen. Id.1. Inst.c. 18, S. 1. Id.lib. de Præd.Idemlib. de Provid.Id.Inst. c. 23. S. 1.

[58]Bezalib. 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]Paræuslib. 3. de Amis. gratiæ c. 2.ibid.c. 1.

[62]Martyrin Rom.

[63]Zuing.lib. de Prov. c. 5.

[64]Resp.adVorst.part. 1. p. 120.

If these Sayings do not plainly and evidently import, thatGod 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.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. 1Tim.ii. 3.2Pet.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.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 themiddle Wall, nor yet removed theWrathof 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.

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 ofElection; and be his Diligence and Waiting what it can, he shall never attain it, if he belong to the Decree ofReprobation.

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 beingonly 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.

§. V.6.It renders Mankind in a worse Condition than the Devils—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 sometime in a Capacity to have stood, and do suffer only for their own Guilt; whereas many Millions of Men are for ever tormented, according to them, forAdam’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.—Than theIsraelitesunderPharaoh.It puts him into a far worse Condition thanPharaohput theIsraelites; for though he with-held Straw from them, yet by much Labour and Pains they could have gotten it: But from Men they make God to with-hold all Means of Salvation, so that they can by no Means attain it;Tantalus’s Condition.yea, they place Mankind in that Condition which the Poets feign ofTantalus, 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 Smiting of Conscience, sufficient to convince theHeathensof 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 byChrist, the Use of the Sacraments, of Prayer, and good Works, sufficient to condemn those they accountReprobateswithin 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.

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, ThatGod 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 also is again affirmed in the sixth Proposition, in these Words,Christtasted Death for every Man.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 thisuniversal Redemption, I shall be the more brief in it, that I may come to that which may seem more singularly and peculiarly ours.

§. VI.Christ’s Redemption universal, contrary to the Doctrine ofAbsolute Reprobation.This Doctrine ofuniversal Redemption, orChrist’s dying for all Men, is of itself so evident from the Scripture-Testimony, that there is scarce 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 theGospel, or anAnnunciation of glad Tidings to all. Thus the Angel declared the Birth and Coming of Christ to the Shepherds to be,Lukeii. 10.Behold, I bring you good Tidings of great Joy, which shall be to all People: He saith not, toa few. Now if this coming of Christ had not brought a Possibility of Salvationto 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 thegreatest Part of Mankind had been necessarily shut out from receiving any Benefit by it. How should Christ have sent out his Servants topreach the Gospel to every Creature, Mark xvi. 15. (a very comprehensive Commission) that is,to every Son and Daughter of Mankind, without all Exception? He commands them to preachSalvation to all, Repentance and Remission of Sins to all; warning every one, and exhorting every one, asPauldid,Col.i. 28. Now how could they have preached the Gospelto 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 theFeet of those that bring the glad Tidings of the Gospel of Peaceare said to bebeautiful, for that they preach thecommon Salvation, Repentance unto all; offering a Door of Mercy and Hope to all, throughJesus Christ, who gave himself a Ransom for all.The Gospel is preached to every Man.The Gospel invites all: And certainly, by the GospelChristintended 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 madeSalvation possibletoall; 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 ChristSalvationis madepossible to all Men, do most blasphemously make God mock the World, in giving his Servants a Commission topreach the Gospel of Salvation unto all, while he hath before decreed that it shall not be possible for them to receive it. Would not this make the Lord to send forth his Servantswith aLie in their Mouth, (which were blasphemous to think) commanding them to bidallandevery onebelieve that Christ died for them, and had purchased Life and Salvation?The Absurdity of that Doctrine ofAbsolute Reprobation.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 preachRepentance,Remission of Sins, andSalvationto all, it is manifest that hedied for all. For He that hath commissionated his Servants thus to preach, is aGod 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 thatno 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 Menrepentorbelieve, to whom it is impossible.

§. 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 expresly assert,He did;To pray forall; for Christ died forall—as 1Tim.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 topray 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 shew forth his Justice in them; he obviates, I say, such an Objection, telling them, thatit is good and acceptable in the Sight of God, who will have all Men to be saved.—And will haveallMen to be saved.I desire to know what can be more expresly affirmed? or can any two Propositions be stated in Terms more contradictory than these two?God willeth some not to be saved; andGod willeth all Men to be saved, or Godwill 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 admitted, 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 a 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:Johniii. 16.God so loved the World, that he gave his only begotten Son, thatwhosoeverbelieveth in him should not perish, but have everlasting Life; compared with 1Johniv. 9. This [whosoever] is an indefinite Term, from which no Man is excluded. From all which then I thus argue:

Arg. 1.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 theMajor Propositionthus;

Arg. 2.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 obtained.

I prove also thisPropositionfurther, thus;

Arg. 3.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,

Arg. 4.That which God willeth is not impossible:

But God willeth all Men to be saved:

Therefore it is not impossible.

And Lastly;

Arg. 5.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.

§. VIII.Proof 1.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 hetasted 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: Forhe came not to condemn the World, but that the World through him might be saved, John iii. 17.He came not to judge the World, but to save the World, John xii. 47.Our Adversaries false Doctrine of a great Part of Mankind being pre-ordained for Damnation, refuted.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; and as the ApostlePaul, in the Words above cited, doth assert affirmatively,That God willeth the Salvation of all,Proof 2.so doth the ApostlePeterassert 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 ProphetEzekiel, 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 hewas 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 ofIsrael!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 aRomance, or Master of aComedy, 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?

Proof 3.Thirdly, This Doctrine is abundantly confirmed by that of the Apostle, 1Johnii. 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.Adversaries comment on the Words thewhole World.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 thisCommentarywe have nothing but their own Assertion, and so while it manifestly destroys the Text, may be justly rejected. For,First, let them shew me, if they can, in all the Scripture, where the [whole World] is taken forBelieversonly; I shall shew 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,Psalmxvii. 14.Isai.xiii. 11.Mat.xviii. 7.Johnvii. 7. and viii. 26. and xii. 19. and xiv. 17. and xv. 18, 19. and xvii. 14. and xviii. 20. 1Cor.i. 21. and ii. 12. and vi. 2.Gal.vi. 14.Jamesi. 27. 2Pet.ii. 20. 1Johnii. 15. and iii. 1. and iv. 4, 5, and many more.Secondly, The Apostle in this very Place contra-distinguished theWorldfrom theSaintsthus;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 shew us wherever there is such a Manner of speaking in all the Scripture, where any of the Penmen first name theBelieversinConcretowith 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 ofBelievers: As ifJohnhad 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 ApostleJohntells 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 thewhole World, let us then hold it for a certain and undoubted Truth, notwithstanding the Cavils of such as oppose.

This might also be proved from many more Scripture-Testimonies, if it were at this Season needful. All theFathers, so called, andDoctorsof 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;TheHeathensinvited to Salvation; none predestinated to Damnation.inviting and intreating theHeathensto come and be Partakers of the Benefits of it, shewing them how there was aDooropen for themallto 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 with-holding Power and Grace, necessary to believe, from them. But of many of their Sayings, which might be alleged, I shall only instance a few.

Proof 4. The Testimonies of theDoctorsandFathersof the first Church, that Christ died for all.Augustineon the xcvthPsalmsaith, “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 sameProsper, in his Answer toVincentius’s 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; whole 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 Authorde Vocat. Gentium, Lib. 11. 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.”

ChrysostomonJohni. “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 they remain in Darkness.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.”

TheArelatensianSynod, 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.onPsalmcxviii.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,The Sun-Beams shut out, heat not.even as if one by closing the Windows should hold out the Sun-Beams. The Sun is not therefore not arisen 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 ofCainandAbel, 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.”

§. 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.PelagianErrors.ThePelagians, ascribing all to Man’s Will and Nature, denied Man to have any Seed of Sin conveyed to him fromAdam. And theSemi-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.

Extremes fallen into by some, making God the Author of Sin.This gaveAugustine,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,Lutherand others, finding among other Errors the strange Expressions used by some of the Popish Scholasticks 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 ofAugustineand others for a Pattern, through the like Mistake run upon the same Extreme: Though afterwards theLutherans, seeing how farCalvinand 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 tosin, 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 ofMelancthon, and theMompelgartensianConference,[65]whereLucas Osiander, one of the Collocutors, terms itImpious; calls it a makingGod the Author of Sin, and anhorrid and horrible Blasphemy. 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 strengthened in their Errors; which I shall illustrate by one singular Example.

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