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126
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LL KR
E
THE
RUIN and RECOVERY
O F
MANKIND:
OR
An ATTEMPT to vindicate the SCRIPTURAL
ACCOUNT of theſe great Events upon the
plain Principles of REASON.
With an ANSWER to
VARIOUS DIFFICULTIES,
Relating to ORIGINAL SIN,
The Univerfal DEPRAVATION of NATURE;
And the Overfpreading CURSE of DEATHS
General OFFERS of GRACE to all Men,
And the CERTAIN SALVATION of fome
The CASE of the HEATHEN NATIONS,
And the State of DYING INFANT S.
Whereto are fubjoin'd,
THREE SHORT ESSAYS, viz.
The Proof of MAN's Fall by his Mifery;
The Imputation of Sin and Righteousness; and
The Guilt and Defilement of Sin.
With a POSTSCRIPT.
ร
The SECOND EDITION, Defended and Improved.
M
LONDON:
Printed for JAMES BRACKSTONE, at the Globe in
Gornhill. M. DCC. XLII.
& you, was vocity when da novozisitz__
A
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56363
7
THE
PREFACE.
MIDST the Darkness of our de-
generate State, God has been pleas'd
to furnish us with two Springs of
Light, to lead us into the Knowledge of
our own Mifery, and to direct us in the
way to his Favour and our Happiness. Thefe
are well known by the Names of Reafon and
Revelation, i. e. the Reason of Man and
the Revelation of God.
Right Reaſon is ever uniform and con-
fiftent with itself, and is the fame in all
Ages. 'Twas given to Man at first to teach
him all that we call natural Religion; and
even now, in its diminish'd Glory, it gives
fufficient Evidence of our Ruin, and affures
as feelingly of our univerfal Degeneracy, our
loft Innocency and Peace: It affords us alfo
many Hints of the favourable Condefcen-
fions of Divine Mercy, the Neceffity of our
Repentance of Sin and our Trust in Divine
Grace, in order to our Recovery.
It is granted that the Dictates of Reason
among the various Tribes and Generations
of fallen Mankind, have been mingled with a
thou-
A 2
iv
The PREFACE.
thoufand Prejudices, Weakneffes and Wan-
derings, with the Mistakes of Fancy, and
the Follies of Superftition; and at beft it has
not been found of itself practically fufficient
to inftruct us in all things that relate to our
Salvation: Tet ftill Reaſon is a Light given
us by God himself, and it has very much to
do in our Direction towards our prefent Du-
ty and our final Felicity.
But fince our Reafon is fo defective both
in its Discovery of our Ruin and our Refto-
ration, God has been pleased to teach us in a
more immediate manner by the Light of Re-
velation, and has given to Mankind early
Difcoveries of his Mind and Will before
Scripture was written, and then by Moſes
and other holy Writers he has furniſhed them
with Knowledge of their original Apoftacy
from God, their Guilt and Wretchedness;
and he has been ever fince leading them on-
wards by different Steps or Degrees to-
wards the full Discovery of his Will and
their Salvation by Jefus Chrift the Mediator.
And fince the Revelations of God to Men
have been fo very early and various, and
have been delivered to us by different Per-
fons and in different Ages, there may be
fome Difficulties arifing from this Variety:
there may be fome feeming Inconfiftencies
between the feveral Parts of it, and fome
Suppofed Oppofitions to the Light of Reason:
Yet it is certain that the two only Lights
which
The PREFAC E.
V
which God has favoured us with in order
to learn his Will and our Duty, can never
contradict themselves nor each other. There
is not any one Part of Divine Revelation
which is really inconfiftent with Reaſon, or
with any other Parts of Revelation itself.
There is certainly a glorious Connexion and
divine Harmony between them all, and all
join together to make up one compleat
Scheme, gradually advancing to Perfection,
and terminating and centering at last in our
full Recovery to the Favour and Image of
God by the promifed Mefliah or Saviour.
Now as the Revelation of God in an illu-
Strious manner fupplies the Deficiencies of
our Reafon, and enlightens our natural
Darkness in the Knowledge of Divine
Things, fo the Exercife of our Reasoning
Powers is very necessary to affift us not only
in the understanding of the feveral Parts of
Revelation, but in reconciling them to each
other, as well as to the Dictates of right Rea-
fon. 'Tis our Reafon which shews us this
bleſſed Harmony.
If it should be found that in my Sentiments
on this Subject I have followed no human
Scheme, no establish'd Syftem, no Hypothefis of
any contending Party, let it be known that my
Studies have been more engaged in Medita-
tion than in reading Controverfies; Reaſon
and the Bible were the only Springs whence
I deriv'd my Sentiments, and the only Tefts
A 3
by
vi
The PREFACE.
by which Itried them, and not the Authority
of any great Name or any Sect or Party a-
mong Men. Therefore if any Reader is deter-
mined already to believe nothing but what is
perfectly conformable to fome favourite Sy-
ftem or the Opinions of the Party which he
has chofen for his Teft of Truth and Error,!
fhall not court his Favour, nor be greatly
moved by his Cenfure.
But if I have been fo happy as to fet theſe
Truths, which Scripture has revealea con-
cerning our Mifery and Divine Mercy, in fo
favourable a light, as to make it evident to
well-difpofed impartial Readers, how far they
are fupported by Reafon it felf, and to discover
and maintain this Agreement between thefe
two different Manifeftations of God to Men,
I have attained my End: If I have been
inabled in any Meafure to render thefe facred
Truths more intelligible and more credible to
the fincere Enquirers after Truth, and to re-
lieve the Divine Revelations of Scripture
against the Cavils of an Age which greatly
pretends to Reafon, I shall account my La-
bour well employ'd.
The Deift will have no longer Caufe to tri-
umph in the Affſurance of his Attacks against
Scripture, nor shall the Chriftian want mat-
ter for his Satisfaction and Joy, when he
fees his divine Religion vindicated by the
Powers of Reafon.
M
The PREFACE.
vii
My chief Defign, and that which has re-
gulated all my Meditations and Reasonings,
is to establish and confirm what appears to
me to be plain Matter of Fact in the fin-
ful and miferable Circumftances of all the
Children of Adam by Nature, and their
Hopes of Recovery by divine Grace, fo far
as either the Light of Nature or Scripture
would affift me, and to vindicate the moral
Perfections of God, his Holiness, Juſtice,
and Goodness in his Works of Providence
and Grace, or in his whole Government of
the World.
The Ground-work of my Scheme is laid in
the original Rectitude of Man, and his early
Degeneracy into Sin and Mifery; and I have
drawn from the meer Light of Nature, fuffi-
cient Proof and Evidence of both thefe.
If what has been faid in answer to the
firſt Queſtion does not fufficiently prove the
Doctrine of Original Sin from the univerfal
Sinfulness and Mifery of Mankind, I hope
the Firſt Effay in the Appendix will do it; the
first Part whereof reprefents that Subject
more largely as it relates to the Mifery of Man,
and the latter end of it briefly inforces the
Argument from his univerfal Sinfulneſs, both
by Reafon and Scripture. The Reader is de-
fired to forgive the Repetition of a few Senti-
ments which are fet in various Lights, efpe-
cially confidering that this Elay was firft de-
figned only for a Philofophical Enquiry or
A 4
Amuſe-
viii
The PREFAC E.
Amuſement, and not to take its place in
this Book.
It would have been needlefs Labour to en-
ter into any Examination of the learned Dr.
Whitby's Scheme publish'd in his Writings,
and to anfwer all his Objections about Origi-
nal Sin, imputed or inherent: for if the Facts
which I recite concerning the finful Nature
and wretched Circumstances of Mankind,
even from their Infancy, are found by con-
ſtant Experience and Obfervation to be true,
then a great part of his Scheme vanishes and
dies as a matter of meer Mistake in Fact:
And if my Scheme or Hypothefis for the So-
lution of the Difficulties which attend this
Doctrine, is fupported by Reafon and Scrip-
ture, then his Objections against it must fall
of courfe. No Objection against a certain
Truth can ever be valid or ſtrong, thơ at firſt
View it may appear never fo plausible. And I
thought this to be the plainest and ſhorteſt
way of Writing and Reasoning, and not to
embarrass my Readers more than was necef-
fary with the Perplexities of controverfial
Writings on fo difficult a Subject *.
Befides all this I add, that tho a confi-
derable Part of that Writer's Objections a-
gainſt Original Sin may lie heavy on fome De-
fenders of it, yet thofe Difficulties are utter-
by
★ Yet I must confeſs in the 2d Edition of this Book, I have
found this intermixture of Objections and Answers more necef
fary than I imagin'd; and that meerly to keep Errors from
Triumph, and honeft Readers from Miſtake.
The PREFAC E.
1x
3.
ly precluded by the Hypothefis which I have
propoſed.
What that very Learned Author has
drawn out of the Fathers with muc hLa-
bour and Criticism, let it fall on either fide
of the Controversy, will have but Small
Force to move any Man who confiders thefe
two things.
1. How little we can fuppofe to learn of
the certain Doctrines of Chrift and his A-
poftles with any Exactness and Accuracy
from the meer Tradition of Perfons wo
lived for the most part 150, 200, 300 Years
after them? for we have the original Sa-
cred Writings as well as they; the rest is
all but Tradition and Uncertainty.
3. When he confiders that the early Fa-
thers, who wrote before thefe Controver-
fies arofe and were debated in the Church,
reprefented their Sentiments on thefe Sub-
jects in very loofe and indeterminate Lan-
guage, as Dr. Whitby himself will easily
allow, and they were indeed hardly confiftent
with themselves or with one another, in this
as well as in many other Points of Opinion
or Doctrine. This Uncertainty of their
Senfe is the Spring of many Debates between
Dr. Whitby and G. Vollius.
I know fome Opinions will be found here
which are fuppofed to be borrowed from the
common Schemes of Orthodox Writers, but
let them not be at once renounced with Con-
temps
X
The PREFACE.
tempt and Difdain*, by an Age which is
fond of Novelty and Reasoning. Perhaps
there may be fome Reafonings here brought
to fupport them which have not been fet in a
clear and full Light by former Writers;
and notwithſtanding their old-fashion'd Ap-
pearances, thefe may be found to be Divine
Truths.
If the Fader fhall meet with any new
Thoughts here, let not the Book be at once
rejected on that account: This Preface in-
treats the Author may be forgiven, who has
enter'd into an untrodden Path fometimes,
not willingly, but he has been constrained to
it, in order to folve fuch Difficulties as we
have never yet feen relieved to the general
Satisfaction of Men, by all the ufual and
common Tracks of Argument. Every Scribe
who is inftructed unto the Kingdom of Hea-
ven, fhould bring forth out of his Treaſure
things new and old. Mat. xiii.
If
'Tis too frequent a Cuftom of many Readers to applaud
or cenfure a Book very highly, according to the Opinion it
favours, not according to the Reason or Argument it produces.
If the Opinion be agreeable to the Sentiments and Language
of any particular Party which the Reader has chofen, the
Arguments, tho' never fo common or trifling, are pronounc'd
ftrong and cogent. On the other hand, if the Opinion happen
to be near akin to thofe of a contrary Sect," then the Argu-
ments brought to fupport it are all trifling: The Author is a
"Heretick, and therefore his Reaſonings muſt needs be all
"weak and infufficient, if not dangerous and deftructive.” May
divine Providence deliver all that I write on deep and difficult
Subjects from the hand of fuch Readers, till they are become
more fincere and impartial in the Search of Truth !
The PREFAC E.
xi
If every Perfon who is pleafed to peruse
thefe Leaves, pays but the fame high Vene-
ration to what Scripture has revealed, has
the fame juft Regards to the plain Dictates
of right Reason, the fame deep Senfe of the
Difficulties which attend thefe Enquiries,
and fuch a constant Zeal to abolish the Con-
troverfies of Christianity, and to reconcile
contending Chriftians, as the Writer defires
to have; I perfuade myself there will not be
many rash and fudden or fevere Cenfures pro-
nounced upon the Arguments here ufed, tho
they may not happen to convince the Reader:
nor will there be many angry Adverfaries or
many disdainful Oppofers of the reconciling
Sentiments of this Book, whether they may
carry in them the Appearance of being old or
new.
Neither Novelty nor Antiquity of Opinion
can make any certain Pretences to Truth, nor
can they be esteemed juft Prejudices againſt it :
As there are many divine Truths which have
been known and acknowledged from all An-
tiquity, so I am perfuaded there are some o-
thers which have never been seen in their
full Force and Perfpicuity fince the Days of
our Saviour and the Apostles; there are
Some facred Verities which have had much
Darkness diffufed around them by early Cor-
ruptions of the Faith, and by the Contro-
verfies of fucceeding Ages; and theſe ſtand
in need of fome further Light to diffipate
that
xii
The PREFAC E.
that Darkness, and restore them to their
Primitive Perfpicuity. Whether any of my
Attempts or Labours here fhall be fuccefs-
ful for this end, must be entrusted with
the Judgment of the Reader, and the Pro-
vidence of God.
And now I have propofed thefe Thoughts to
the World in hope to clear up fome Difficulties
in our holy Religion, and to fhew how far our
own Reafon may fupport what Scripture re-
veals; I leave all with the Publick, and
fhall not be follicitous to fupport all thefe Sen-
timents, or to vindicate thefe Propoſals.
If any Perfon can derive any Degree of
Light toward his Satisfaction from thefe
Papers, I shall rejoice with him. Let every
one chufe what he likes, and neglect the reft.
I will not perfuade any Man to be of my Opi-
nions till he fees Reafon for it; and whenfo-
ever I fee Reafon, Ifball change them myself.
Our best-concerted Schemes have their Im-
perfections, and therefore I dare not affume
Certainty in Matters of doubtful Difputa-
tion: Nor do I poſitively aſſert or affirm ſe-
veral things which I have here written;
for I know myself a weak fallible Creature,
and it is no wonder if I should fall into Mif
takes.
I ſhould be glad to fee a fafer and more con-
fiftent Scheme on these Subjects propoſed to
the World, which may rectify all the Errors
of this Book with convincing Evidence, and
Scatter
The PREFACE.
xiii
fcatter our Darkneſſes like a rifing Sun. To
cavil at particular Thoughts or Phrafes is
much easier than to form a perfect Hypothe-
fis. But 'tis the Prerogative of the Great
God only to pierce thro' all his own infinite
Schemes with an unerring Eye, to furround
them with an all-comprehenfive View, to
grafp them all in one fingle Survey, and to
Spread a reconciling Light over all their im-
menfe Varieties. Man must yet grapple with
Difficulties in this dusky Twilight; but
God in his Time will irradiate the Earth
more plentifully with his Light and Truth;
then Darkness and Contentions fhall fly a-
way for ever. Haften, O Lord, the happy
Day. Amen.
It
It is earnestly defired by the Author, that
whofoever would form the trueft Judgment
of each fingle Part or Queſtion in this Book,
and of the Anfwers which are given to it,
would pleaſe to read the whole Book over,
without Prejudice, and not pronounce a
hafty Judgment upon any fingle Queftion,
because the feveral Parts ftand in Connexion
with each other, and fome things are faid
under the foregoing or following Queſtions,
which may folve or relieve any appearing
Difficulty, and illuftrate the Argument.
( xv)
ADVERTISEMENT
CONCERNING
THIS SECOND EDITION.
IS no little Pains that I have taken
to review this Book fince it was
printed, as well as many Years be-
fore I have read alfo what has been pub-
lifh'd in Oppofition to it, and I would ever
keep my Mind in fuch a Temper, as is ready
to receive the Truth from every Quarter,
and learn my Miſtakes in order to amend
them.
But I am not yet convinced of any Errors
in the great Doctrines here maintain'd; nor
does my Heart tell me, that my Reprefenta-
tion of the wretched State of Mankind in its
preſent degenerate Circumſtances exceeds the
Truth. 'Tis by no means true, which fome
have imagined, that a Retirement from the
World, and dwelling much among my own
folitary Thoughts and old Authors, have
led me into theſe melancholy and diſmal
Apprehenfions of Mankind: But it is my
free and publick Converſe with the World
in
xvi
ADVERTISEMENT
in my earlier and more fprightly Parts of
Life, hath given me thefe juft and diftreſsful
Views of all the Race of Adam. Daily
Obfervation in riper Years continues to af
fure me, that there is much more Folly, Sin
and Mifery among Men, than I have defcrib'd:
Hereby my Proof and Evidence of fome Ori-
ginal and Criminal Degeneracy of the Crea-
ture grows brighter and ftronger, fince theſe
Mifchiefs could not arife meerly from the
immediate Hand of God, as a Righteous and
Merciful Creator.
This Scriptural Doctrine of Original Sin
has ingaged my Pen, becauſe in my Opi-
nion, it has a moft extenfive and powerful
Influence on feveral Parts of Practical God-
lineſs: I think a deep Senſe of it lays the
beft Foundation for our Submiflion to thoſe
Bleffed Doctrines of Grace, which make up
fo great a part of the Gospel of Chrift. 'Tis
this Article which humbles and abaſes the
Pride of Man, and brings him to diſclaim
all Self-fufficiency, and to lie at the Foot of
God. 'Tis this makes him poor in Spirit,
and renders him conftantly a Dependant and
Supplicant for Divine Grace. This leads him
out of himſelf to Chrift for Righteoufnefs,
Wiſdom, and Strength, as well as excites him
to a more fervent Gratitude for every Blef-
fing of Soul and Body. 'Tis this Doctrine
that powerfully forbids thofe vicious Paf-
fions of Self-admiration, and Scorn of our
Neigh
concerning this Second Edition. xvii
Neighbour, and as ftrongly inclines us to
Chriſtian Compaffion. It foftens our Hearts
to pity and relieve each other in the va-
rious Diftreffes of Flefh or Spirit, fince we
are all by nature under the fame Condem-
nation and Mifery.
Whenfocver I fee this Doctrine of Ori-
ginal Sin rejected and renounced, there is
fufficient Reaſon from many Obfervations
to expect the Glories of the Goſpel will in
the fame proportion be depreciated, ne-
glected and defpifed: If we are all born ftill
in our original State of Nature and Inno-
cency, the abounding Grace and Salvation
of Christ Jefus does not ſeem ſo very ne-
ceffary for us; if it was but a little Bruife
we fuffer'd by the Fall of Adam, a little
Grace may heal us. Nor fhall I wonder to
fee any Man by degrees run intirely into
Deifm, who fcornfully abandons this Truth.
I confess I take this Article to be of ſuch
eminent Importance in our Holy Profeffion,
as befpeaks our follicitous Regards; tho' a
late Author, with whom I have now to do,
calls it one of the greatest Abfurdities in
all the System of corrupt Religion.
I have endeavour'd throughout this whole
Compoſure to relieve and foften all the
harfher, and more obnoxious Parts of this
Doctrine of Original Sin, and ſeveral other
Articles of our Religion dependent upon
it; and this I did attempt here and there
a
by
i
xviii
ADVERTISEMENT
by fome new Sentiments, which I was fen-
fible muft run the risk of fevere Trial, and
bear the Teft of ancient Prejudice. But this
freedom of Thought feemed to be neceffary
where former Solutions fail'd, as I faid before.
I have alfo ventured to preclude, or to cut
off fome of the harder and more offenfive
Confequences that have been often drawn
or forced from thefe Articles. 'Tis evident
that theſe Points have been fometimes car-
ried into Extremes, and the Explication of
them has not always been well limited and
guarded. To effect this Work and to fe-
cure due Honour to the moral Perfections
of God, under all the finful and wretched
Scenes of human Life, was one great End
of my Writing: My Intentions were per-
fectly Pacific and not Contentious, and it
is with great Reluctance I am drawn into
any Debate.
It was my Defign alfo to leave theſe my
Sentiments to the World, without any further
Vindication or Defence; and yet I would not
have it faid or thought, that I utterly difregard
all Opinions and Arguments different from
my own. I am therefore almoft conſtrain'd
in this fecond Edition to make fome Re-
marks upon the only Attempt to answer
this Treatife which I have heard of, and that
is the Supplement to a Book very unjuftly
called The Scripture-Doctrine of Original
Sin, propofed to free and candid Exa-nina-
tion.
'Tis
F
{
concerning this Second Edition. xix
'Tis acknowledged that in this Supplement
the fame Writer ufes more Candor and fofter
Language, than he has done in the Book it felf,
and deals for the moſt part in fuch a Style as
becomes a Chriftian Controverfy: Yet I would
humbly ask, whether he does not fometimes
let a fharper Arrow fly off? But this may be
cafily imputed to a fudden Effort of warmer
Zeal against the Doctrine which he utterly
denies. I would ask alfo, whether he does not
fometimes advance a meer popular Objection,
and purſue it in fuch an overbearing man-
ner, as might intimidate common Readers,
and affright them from thefe Sacred Truths,
tho' they appear plain in feveral Places of
Scripture, and are fupported by the daily Ob-
ſervation of Men, both Heathens and Chri-
ftians? I would ask yet again, Whether he
does not now and then indulge a bold and
fublime Expreſſion to break out, which might
be taken for a Flourish of Glory rifing from
a Contempt of all that is or can be offer'd
in defence of our Doctrines? But the Rea-
der need not be afraid of fuch Triumphant
Language, for I trust that whofoever will
furvey this whole Debate without prejudice,
will find that the Author frequently triumphs
without a Victory, and tho' he has de-
moliſhed many Pages of mine in his own
eſteem, 'tis with meer Shadows of Argument.
'Tis true indeed, that the Bulk of Mankind
are often carried quite away into flattering
Errors
a 2
XX
ADVERTISEMENT
1
Errors by pofitive Affertions and ftrong Af
furances; they dare not oppofe a Writer who
with a fovereign Scorn defies all Oppofition,
and defpifes every thing that can be propos'd
againſt his darling Opinions. Upon this View
of Things, I have faid within my felf, "Sure-
ly I will begin to learn this manner of
Writing too, that I may gain more Suc-
"cefs for the great Truths of the Gofpel in
<<
the Minds of Men." But, alas, I fear I
am very much unqualify'd to aim at this Ta-
lent: David might better wear Saul's Ar-
mour than I could attempt this Piece of He-
roifm, or enter into this manner of Difpute.
Nor fhould I be perfectly fatisfied with my
felf, to gain the Affent of my Readers, with-
out more fubftantial and convincing Evi-
dence. The World indeed are ready to ima-
gine, that where there is fuch Confidence,
and fuch Triumph, there must be abundant
Proofs to fupport them; but they little con-
fider how far this fonorous Language will
ſerve inſtead of Reafon and Argument, and
what numerous Profelytes have been gain'd
hereby to the feveral Sects, Parties and Pro-
feffions of Human or Divine Science.
I must acknowledge, I once hoped that
the very Anfwers which I had given to va-
rious Objections in the firft Edition of this
Treatife, would have refolved moft of the
Difficulties which have been fince objected:
But many of thefe Anfwers have been ut-
terly
I
concerning this Second Edition. xxi
terly diſregarded, and thoſe very Objections
again repeated. Now that fuch a Solution
of the Difficulties may not be overlooked
again, I have greatly enlarged the Index, or
Table of Contents, ſo that it reaches to
almoſt every Page, and points even an un-
willing Eye directly to thoſe Difficulties, and
the Solution of them.
Yet to make the Subject of this Treatife
ftill more Plain and Eafy and Defenfible, I
have in this Edition here and there inter-
ſperſed a few needful Obfervations and Re-
marks on this Subject, either in the Book it
felf, or in the Margin; which I hope may
be fufficient Hints to folve any old or new
Objections, which are or may be propoſed,
and to guard the Reader more effectually
from Error and Miftake in theſe important
Points.
'Tis true, I have mention'd no Names, I
have cited no Pages, nor in all places have
I uſed the very Words of the Objectors, be-
caufe I would not turn this pacific Treatife
into a Stage of Controverfy: Yet I hope I
have given the full Strength of the Objec-
tion, as well as anfwer'd it with Succefs.
But the Index is fo large, and particular, as
will fufficiently direct an Enquirer to every
Objection and Anfwer.
Upon a Review I have written much more
than I defign'd, and am heartily forry that I
cannot ſo diſtinguiſh the Additions made to
this
xxii
ADVERTISEMENT
this Second Edition, as to have printed them
apart, for the Service of thofe who are pof-
fefs'd of the Firft: But fince they lie fo much
fcatter'd thro' many Pages, I humbly hope
my Friends will forgive this Wrong, and per-
mit a Book which hath been affaulted, to
receive a few Explications and Defences for
the Satisfaction of the World, tho' they may
not find their own particular Intereft con-
fulted therein.
I don't pretend to have touch'd upon every
Oppofition which is made in this Supple-
ment against the Doctrine which I have main-
tain'd, tho' I am not confcious that I have
omitted any one Difficulty or Objection of
weight and moment which I have met with in
that Book, and which has not been answered
before. All leffer matters I am content to leave
to the unbiafs'd Judgment of Perfons of
Common Underftanding and Picty. Souls
impreft with a due Veneration for Scripture,
and with a deep Senfe of their own Sin and
Mifery, Guilt and Weakness in the fight of
God, will not eafily be perfuaded to twiſt
and turn the Exprions of the Sacred Wri-
ters from their moft obvious and natural
Scnfc; nor will they hearken readily to thofe
Errors, which are contrary to their own juſt
Experience, as well as to the Dictates of the
Word of God.
But if any thing further be required for
the Confirmation and Defence of the Truth,
I
}
concerning this Second Edition. xxiii
I heartily recommend my Reader to a late
excellent Vindication of the Scripture Doc-
trine of Original Sin. I confefs indeed it
hath received the Shew of a Reply; but all
the World fees how very few of the Argu-
ments there uſed, have been ever Anfwered
or Regarded, fo that most of them ſtand in
their full force ftill: And I chearfully leave
this Cauſe with that learned and ingenious
Friend of mine who wrote it.
I hope he will think it worth his while
publickly to take further Notice of this Con-
troverfy I am well affured he is able to fup-
port this Doctrine with folid Force of Ar-
gument; and he can do it with Candor toe,
where he is not irritated by any unreason-
able Airs of Infallibility and Affurance, by
fharp Reproaches of Sacred and Important
Truth, and by feeble Shadows and Colours
of Argument, which have been often baffled
and confounded. Theſe are the things which
(as he exprefly informed me) gave him fo
juſt a Refentment, and provoked his Pen to
Tome Severities against the Book which he
oppofed, and he profeffes alfo, this was done
in imitation of the Author of it. I with
with all my Soul that no Chriftian Contro-
verfy might ever give occafion for fuch Ex-
cuſes on either fide.
For my part, I pray for the Blefling which
this Author fuppofes we have always injoy'd;
I wiſh heartily that Original Sin may be
By
de-
3
xxiv ADVERTISEMENT.
demolish'd in us all, and have no more Exi-
ftence: But fo long as this real and dreadful
Malady continues to rage thro' the World,
and goes on to deftroy Mankind in Multi-
tudes, I hope in every Age fome wife and
happy Pens will arife to declare the painful
Truth, and convince the World of this Ar-
ticle, which Reaſon, Scripture, and univerfal
Experience join to fupport. If all Senfe of
our native Sin and Wretchedneſs be baniſhed
from among Men, the rifing Ages may be
tempted to neglect the only Sovereign Re-
medy of the Grace of Chrift, the Second
Adam, upon a miſtaken Preſumption, that
our Natures have received no Infection from
the firſt.
ERRATA.
Pag. 23. lin. 26. blot out for. P. 32. marg. 1. 22. fuffer'd
this Curfe for us. P. 175. /. 3. or in a State. P. 188. I. F4.
Chriſtian is requir'd.
เน
¿
THE
RUIN and RECOVERY
of MANKIND, &c.
INTRODUCTIO N.
M
God made Man upright.
AN is a Creature made up of two
diftinct Ingredients, an animal Body
and a rational Mind, fo united as
to act in a mutual Correfpondence according
to certain Laws and Conditions appointed
by his Creator. Now fuppofe the great and
bleſſed God, who is perfect in Wiſdom and
Power, in Juſtice and Goodneſs, were to
form fuch a new Creature as Man is, and
any of us fhould fit down and confider, ac-
cording to the beft Exercife of our Reafon,
what Qualifications would be due to this
new-made Creature, as proceeding from a
Being of fuch Wiſdom, Juftice and Good-
nefs, we fhould probably trace out theſe ſe-
veral Particulars.
B
I. We
2
INTRODUCTION.
I. We reaſonably fuppofe he muſt have a
Perfection of natural Powers, both of Body
and Spirit, confider'd as in a State of Union,
and fuited to his prefent Circumftances.
Not that we have any Reaſon to ſuppoſe
Man fhould be made fo perfect a Being as
God could make him; for the Wiſdom of
God plainly deſign'd to diſplay its unbounded
Varieties of Contrivance in different Ranks
and Orders of his Creation: And befides,
we cannot reaſonably imagine this Creature
Man fhould be made with fuch fublime Per-
fections at firſt, as he himſelf might afterwards
arrive at by a wife Improvement of his Pow-
ers; For God would not preclude either the
Diligence or the Pleaſure of his intelligent
Creature, from advancing it felf to fuperior
Excellencies. But ftill that Creature which
was defign'd to bear his Maker's neareſt Like-
neſs and Authority in this lower World, muſt
have Powers perfectly fufficient for his pre-
fent well-being and acting in that Station
wherein God his Creator placed him.
It has been indeed the vain Fancy of fome
Writers, that theEye of Man in his firſt Cre-
ation was fo acute and penetrating, that it
could diſcover thoſe diſtant Stars and Planets
of Heaven, or thoſe minute Atoms in the
Contexture of earthly Bodies round about us,
which are now only to be feen by the Help
of Optick Glaffes: And they have been to
weak
3
God made Man upright.
3
weak as to imagine that his Ear could take
in the moſt diſtant and feebleft Sounds, and
was equal in its own original Powers, to the
Advantages which we now receive from
ſpeaking and hearing Trumpets: And that
his Feeling and his Smelling had ſuch pro-
portionable Superiorities in his State of In-
nocence beyond all that we now experience.
But it has been fufficiently made evident, that
animal Powers exalted to this degree would
have been a Burden, and a perpetual Incon-
venience to us in the prefent State; they
would have been Calamities inftead of Com-
forts, and as an ingenious Author ſays, a Man
endued with fuch exquifite Senfes
Would be ſo tremblingly alive all o'er,
To smart and agonize at every Pore:
Or (quick Effluvia darting thro' his Brain)
Die of a Rofe in aromatick Pain.
Nature would thunder in his opening Ears,
And ſtun him with the Music of the Spheres.
POPE.
But all the Senfes of this Creature, though
not fo exquifitely fine, yet they must be clear
and ftrong, his Limbs vigorous and active,
his Body healthy in all the inward and out-
ward Parts of it, and every natural Power in
its proper Order.
Surely God would form fuch a Creature in a
State of perfect Eafe, without any original Ma-
B 2
lady
4
INTRODUCTION.
lady of Nature to give him Pain or Sorrow.
I cannot think there would be any natural
Tendency in his animal Body to Pains, Dif
eafes, or Death, while he remain'd innocent
and without Sin or Blame. And if there was
any fuch Thing as Pain admitted into his firſt
Conftitution, his Pleaſures muft at leaſt be
equal to his Pains, and his Advantages alfo
equal to his Dangers: the very Justice of
God the Creator feems to require this.
I add further, that if we confider the Good-
nefs of God, furely we muſt ſay the Pleaſure
of his innocent Creature fhould be fuperior
to a State of mere Eafe or Balance to his
Pains, and his Advantages fhould be fuperior
to his Dangers: Divine Goodness feems to re-
quire this, as antecedent in Nature to any
State of Trial.
And as the Powers of his Body muſt be
perfect in theſe Reſpects, fo the Faculties of
his Soul must have their Perfection too.
His Mind or Understanding muſt have all
that Knowledge both of God and Creatures.
which was needful for his Happinefs. Not
that we ſuppoſe God ſhould give his Creature
Man, when he firft formed him, all manner
of Knowledge in Arts and Sciences, in Phi-
lofophy and Divinity; but he must know at
his firſt Creation what was neceffary for his
preſent Peace and Welfare; his Reaſon muſt
be clear, his Judgment uncorrupted, his Con-
fcience
I
God made Man upright.
5
熱
​fcience upright and fenfible, and his Mind
furniſhed with all neceffary Truths.
This leads me to fpeak alfo of his Moral
Perfection. A rational Creature thus made
muſt be not only innocent as a Tree or
a Brute is, but muſt be formed Holy; i. c.
he muſt have a Principle of Holinefs con-
created with him: his Will muft have an
inward Biafs and Propensity to Holineſs
and Virtue; he must have an inward Incli-
nation to pleaſe and honour that God who
made him, a fupreme Love to his Creator,
and a Zeal and Defire to ferve him, a holy
Fear of offending him, with a Readineſs to do
all his Will.
In fhort, either the new-created Man loved
God fupremely, or not: If he did not, he was
not innocent, fince the Law and Light of
Nature requires fuch a fupreme Love to God.
If he did love God fupremely, then he ftood
difpofed and ready for every Act of Adora-
tion and Obedience; and this is true Holi-
nefs of Heart. And, indeed, without this
how could a God of Holiness love the Work
of his own Hands?
There muft alfo in this Creature be found
a regular Subjection of the inferior Powers to
the fuperior; Senfe and Appetite and Pallion
must be fubject to Reaſon, i. e. the Mind and
Confcience muft have a Power and Readi-
nefs to govern thefe lower Faculties, and
keep them in due Obedience, that he might
B 3
not
6
INTRODUCTION.
not offend againſt the Law of his Creation,
and his Will muſt be inclined to it *.
He muſt alſo have his Heart inlaid with
Love and Good-will to the Creatures, and e-
fpecially thoſe of his own Species if he ſhould
be placed among them; and he muſt be en-
dued with a Principle of Honefty and Truth
in dealing with them. And if many of theſe
Creatures were made at once, there fhould
be no domineering Pride, no Malice, no
Envy, no Falfhood, no Brawls or Conten-
tions among them; but all Harmony and
Love, each ſeeking the Welfare and Happi-
nefs of his Fellow-Creatures as well as his
own.
This Principle of univerfal Righteousness
and Holiness I take to be the nobleft Part of
that Image of God, i. e. his Moral Image, in
which Mofes the Jewish Hiftorian repreſents
Man to be at firft created, and which I think
was due to his Nature from a God of Equity
and Goodneſs. And the fame Writer affures
us, when God furvey'd all his Works at the
end of his Creation he pronounced them all
very good. And Solomon, the wifeft of Men,
in
*Surely if the Soul orWill of this new-made Creature had not
a real Proper fity to love and obey God who is a Spirit, but was
meerly formed with a natural Capacity or Power to do ſo, in
a Sate of indifference to Good or Evil; then his being put into
fuch a Union with Flesh and Blood among a thouſand ani-
mal Temptations, would have been an Over balance on the
fide of Senfuality and Vice: But our Reafon can never fup-
pofe that God the Wife, Juft and Good, would have placed
a new-made Creature in fuch an original Situation.
1
{
God made Man upright.
in his Book of Ecclefiaftes, affures us, that
God made Man upright.
'Tis granted, that the natural Image of
God in which Man was created, confifted
partly in his ſpiritual, intelligent and immortal
Nature, and the various Faculties thereof;
and his political Image (if I may fo expreſs it)
confifted in his being made Lord and Go-
vernor over all the lower Creation: but
when we ſpeak of this part of the Divine
Image which is Moral, we are affured by
Paul, that it was the Rectitude of his Na-
ture, or his Conformity to the Will and
Law of God. Paul was once a Jewish Pha-
rifee, and well underſtood the Senfe of Mofes,
and in his Epiſtle to the Ephefians, iv. 24. he
fays, That the Image of God, into which
Man is to be renewed, and confequently in
which he was at first made, confifts in Righ-
teousness and true Holiness, as well as in
Knowledge, Col. iii. 10.
II. From the Justice and Goodness of God
we may alſo reaſonably infer, that tho' Man
might be made with a perfect Freedom of
Will,
B4
*Notwithstanding all the Cavils which have been raiſed
againſt theſe Words, yet if thefe two Texts are confider'd to-
gether, their most obvious Meaning and the plainest Senſe of
them abides ſtill confirmed, and will ſtrike an honeſt and un-
biafs'd Reader The New Man, or the Principle of true Re-
ligion in the Heart, is created by God after his Moral Image,
wherein he created Man at firft, i. e. with an holy Temper
of Mind and Difpofition to the ready Practice of all Righ-
teouſneſs as faſt as Occaſions and Opportunities ariſe.
8
INTRODUCTION.
Will, and with a Power to chufe Evil as well
as Good, that he might be put into a State of
Probation; yet it feems neceffary that he
ſhould not only have a fuperior Propenfity
to what was Good wrought at firſt into his
Nature, but he muſt alſo have a full Sufficiency
of Power to preferve himſelf in this State of
Obedience and Love to his Creator, and to
guard himſelf from every Temptation and
Sin, if his Faculties were rightly employ'd.
He must therefore have a fufficient Know-
ledge of God and himſelf and his Duty, ſo far
as was neceffary to practiſe it: he must have
his Maker's Law written in his Heart, i. e. he
muſt have fuch Light of Reafon and Con-
Science as, if carefully employed, would al-
ways lead him to judge aright concerning
his Duty; and he muſt have a ready and proxi-
mate Ability to practife and fulfil it. Surely
he must be furnifhed with Powers of Self-
preſervation in his State of Innocency, and
fufficient to guard him from offending his
Creator, and lofing his Happineſs. This the
Juſtice and the Goodness of God ſeem to re-
quire. His Natural Powers in themſelves
muſt have a full Sufficiency for his own Se-
curity from Sin, if he ufed thoſe Natural
Powers in the beft manner he was capable
of; otherwiſe he would be expoſed to un-
avoidable Sin and Mifery, and certainly fall
into it, if he were not able to preſerve his In-
nocence and Virtue : He would as it were be
made
God made Man upright.
9
made for his Maker's Anger, if he were not
able to preſerve himſelf in his Love.
III. It is highly probable from the Good-
ness of God that fuch a Creature would be
made immortal, i. e. he would have had no
Principles of Decay or Death in him. It is
true, the great God, confidered meerly as an
Abfolute Lord and Sovereign of his Creatures,
might take away all that he had given him at
pleaſure; but 'tis hardly to be fuppofed, that
if his Creature ftood obedient to all his
Maker's Will, his Wifdom and Goodnefs
would have deſtroyed an intelligent Creature
who had continued to ferve and pleaſe him.
Whatſoever had been done to his Body, yet
ftill we would fuppofe, God would not diveft
his Soul of his natural Immortality, but rather
have advanced it to ſome better Vehicle, or
Dwelling-Place in fome upper World.
'Tis likely alſo that God would have en-
dowed his Soul with Powers to arrive at
higher degrees of Excellency and Happiness,
than thoſe in which he was at firft formed:
and hereby there was great Encouragement
given both to his Watchfulneſs againſt every
Danger of finning againſt God, and hurting
himself, as well as to his Zeal and Diligence
both in improving his Natural Powers, and in
performing eminent Services for his Maker
and Converſe with him. This would be the
way for him to improve in the Likeneſs, and
in
10
INTRODUCTION.
in the Love of that Almighty Being who
made him, as well as more firmly to fecure
his own Immortality and Happineſs.
IV. I think we may be able to add alſo,
that the Habitation, in which a God of infi-
nite Goodneſs would place fuch a holy and
innocent Creature, fhould be a very beautiful
and magnificent Building, furnished with
all manner of Neceffaries and Conveniencies
of Life, and prepared not only for his Safety
and Support, but also for his Delight. Our
Reaſon feems to fay this: And Mofes writing
concerning the first created Pair of Mankind,
tells us, that when they were brought into
this World they were placed in Eden, or a Gar-
den of Pleaſure, and had a Right given them
to all the excellent Fruits and Delights of fuch
a Garden, and were made Lords of all the
Creatures round about them, both in the ve-
getative and animal World.
And as the Dwelling of fuch an innocent
and holy Creature fhould be delightful and
convenient, ſo neither fhould there be any
thing noxious or deftructive found in this
Habitation, but what this excellent Creature
Man fhould have fufficient Notice of, and
fhould be endow'd with fufficient Power to
oppoſe it or to avoid it.
Or if we ſhould fuppofe that this Creature
was placed in fuch a State of Trial by his
Maker, as that he fhould be capable of re-
ceiving
God made Man upright.
II
ceiving fome unavoidable Injuries from any
noxious thing that was near him, it ſeems rea-
ſonable that he fhould have a proximate and
immediate Ability, by the right Ufe of his
Underſtanding and his Will, and his other
Powers, to relieve himſelf, and to turn every
fuch Injury to his own fuperior Advantage,
and to balance every Pain by equal or fuperior
Pleaſure.
V. And if this Creature had Power to pro-
pagate its own Kind, the Child ſhould be in-
nocent and holy, and capable of maintaining
its Duty and Happineſs as well as the Parent.
Now if theſe are the Qualifications with
which fuch a new-made Creature fhould be
endued, and theſe the Circumſtances in which
our Reaſon would judge from the Wiſdom,
Juftice, and Goodneſs of God that he ought
to be fituated; then by a careful Survey of
what Mankind now is, and a Compariſon
thereof with what Reafon would tell us he
ought to be, we may be able to arrive at ſome
Determination, whether Mankind is at pre-
ſent ſuch a Creature as the great and bleſſed
God made him at firft: which is the Subject
of the enſuing Enquiry.
QUES-
I 2
Queft. I. Is Mankind
QUESTION I.
Is Man in his prefent Circumstances fuch a
Creature as he came out of the hands of
God his Creator? Or, is he depraved and
ruined by fome univerfal Degeneracy of
his Nature?
I
Hope we may derive fome evident and
complcat Anſwer to this Enquiry from
the following Confiderations.
I. This Earth, which was defign'd for the
Habitation of Man, carries with it fome evi-
dent Tokens of Ruin and Defolation, and
does not ſeem to be ordain'd, in its prefent
Form and Circumftances, for the Habitation
of innocent Beings; but is more apparently
fitted for the Dwelling-place of Creatures
who are degenerate and fallen from God.
It is granted that the Beauty and Order of
this lower World, even in its preſent Confti-
tution, and the wonderful Texture, Compo-
fition and Harmony of the feveral Parts of
it, both in Air, Earth and Sea, are moſt
happily fuited to the various Purpoſes of that
Almighty
a Degenerate Creature?
13
Almighty Being who made it: they give a
conſtant and illuftrious Diſplay of the Power,
Wiſdom and Goodness of their Creator.
Yet it must be confeſs'd alſo, there are ſome
glaring and uncontefted Proofs of the Terrors
of his Juſtice, and the Executions of his
Vengeance both paſt and future.
Is not the Form or Shape of our Earth in
the prefent Divifions and Boundaries of Seas
and Shores, Continents and Iſlands, very rude
and irregular, abrupt and horrid? Does it
look like the regular and beautiful Product of
a God of Wiſdom and Order? Survey a Map
of the World, and fay, Does the Form of it
ftrike our Eyes with any natural Beauty or
Harmony? Has it the Appearance of a lovely
and well-adjuſted Piece of Workmanſhip?
Or rather, Does it not bear ſtrongly on our
Sight the Ideas of Ruin and Confufion?
Travel over the Countries of this Globe, or
vifit fome of the wilder Parts of our own
British Islands, and make juft Remarks on
them all. What various Appearances of a
ruin'd World? What vaft broken Mountains
hang frightfully over the Heads of Travellers?
What ftupendous Cliffs and Promontories
rife high and hideous to behold? What
dreadful Precipices, which make our Nature
giddy to look down, and are ready to betray
our Feet into Downfalls and Deftructions?
What immenfe Extents of wafte and barren
Ground in fome Countries? What hideous
and
14.
Queft. I. Is Mankind
and unpaffable Deferts? What broad and
faithleſs Moraffes, which are made at once
both Deaths and Graves to Travellers who
venture upon them? What huge ruinous
Caverns of frightful afpect, deep and wide,
big enough to bury whole Cities?
Notwithſtanding all thefe Appearances of
Ruin and Defolation on this Earth, yet it
is granted, that the Great God may have made
uſe of theſe ragged Clifts and Promonto-
ries, theſe diſmal Caverns, Deſerts and Mo-
raffes, &c. to ferve various Purpoſes of his
Providence for the Good of Mankind, while
they dwell here, as well as fometimes for
their Puniſhment. His Wiſdom can bring
Good out of Evil, and extract Convenien-
cies and Comforts out of the moft hideous
and defolate Afpect of Things. And thus
his Wiſdom and Goodnefs are glorify'd in
the midſt of theſe formidable Scenes. And
there remain ftill fufficient Evidences of the
Perfections and Glory of the Creator in this
Earth, notwithſtanding the many Appear-
ances of Judgment and Ruin which are found
here, as in Rom. i. 20.
But let us proceed in this melancholy Spec-
tacle. What refiftlefs Deluges of Water in a
Seafon of great Rains come rolling down
the Hills, bear down all Things in their
Courſe, and threaten fpacious Defolation?
What roaring and tremendous Water-falls in
fome Parts of the Globe? What burning
Mountains
a Degenerate Creature?
15
Mountains in whofe Caverns are Lakes of
glowing Metal, or of liquid Fire, ready to
overflow and burſt upon the lower Lands;
or their Bowels are confumed within, and
they are turned into a meer Shell of Earth,
covering prodigious Cavities of Smoke, and
Furnaces of Flame? and they feem to wait
only for a Divine Command to break in-
ward, and bury Towns and Provinces in fiery
Ruin.
What unknown and active Treaſures of
Air or Wind are pent up in the Bowels of
the Earth by the Rarefactions produced from
fubterraneous Ferments and Fires, all prepar-
ed to break out into wide and ſurprizing Miſ-
chief? What huge Torrents of Water rufh
and roar thro' the Hollows of the Globe we
tread? What dreadful Sounds and threatning
Appearances from the Region of Meteors in
the Air? What Clouds charged with Flame
and Thunder, which are ready to burft on the
Earth, and diſcompofe and terrify all Nature
for many Miles round, and to make dreadful
havock of Mankind?
When I ſeriouſly take a Survey of fome
fuch Scenes as thefe, I am very ready to fay
within myſelf, "Surely this Earth of ours,
"in thefe rude and broken Appearances,
"this unfettled and dangerous State of it,
"was defigned as a Dwelling for fome un-
re
happy Inhabitants who did or would tranf
"grefs the Laws of their Maker, and deeply
" merit
16
Queft. I. Is Mankind
"merit Defolation from his hand, and he
"has here ftored up his Magazines of Di-
vine Artillery and Death againſt the Day
"of Puniſhment."
But to take one Step further, How often
have the terrible Occurrences of Nature in
the Air, Earth and Sea, and the calamitous
Incidents in Divine Providence in feveral
Countries, how often have they given an
actual Confirmation to this Sentiment?
What fweeping and deftructive Storms have
we and our Fathers feen by Land and Sea,
even in this temperate Iſland of Great Bri-
tain? What particular Floods of Water and
violent Exploſions of Fire do we read of in
the Hiftories of the World? What ſhocking
Convulfions of the Globe ftretching far and
wide under the affrighted Nations for three
or four thousand Miles, and fpreading Ter-
ror thro' every Heart? What fudden and
huge Diruptions of the Caverns of the Earth
with tremendous Bellowings, which have
filled its Inhabitants with Horror and Afto-
niſhment, which have deformed its blooming
Surface, and have made wide Devaftations?
What Storms and Thunders have ſpread
abroad fatal Mifchiefs? Do not theſe ſeem
to be evident Tokens of the actual Difplea-
fure of a God againſt the Inhabitants of this
Globe? Can we ever fuppofe that an infi-
nitely good and gracious Being would have
originally fo formed and governed the inani-
mate
a Degenerate Creature?
17
mate Parts of this lower World, as to pro-
duce fuch deadly Concuflions and fuch defo-
lating Appearances, if he had not defigned it
to be the Habitation of fuch Creatures, as he
forefaw would become Rebels againſt their
Creator, and deferve theſe Strokes of his In-
dignation?
The Remarks which the late ingenious Dr.
Woodward has made in his Effay toward a
Natural History of the Earth, may ſuffi-
ciently convince any reafonable and atten-
tive Reader, that this Globe of ours hath fuf-
fered fuch dreadful and defolating Convul-
fions as we speak of, which must have been at-
tended with horrible Ruin, Calamity and
Deftruction to the Men who were then In-
habitants of it. He hath found the ſeveral
Strata or Layers of the upper Cruft of the
Earth, whether Marl, Marble, Clay, Chalk,
or Sand, &c. to have been broken to pieces
and diffolved, in America as well as Europe,
Afia and Africa; and that huge Trees and
the Bones of Animals, together with infinite
Shells of Sea-Fiſhes and other Productions of
the Sea, have been found inclofed in thefe
Strata, or Beds of Marl, Clay, Chalk, &c.
and that at vaſt Depths of Earth, as well as
at long Diſtances from the Sea: And who-
foever fhall perufe that Author will fee
plainly, that the upper Part of this Globe has
been ruin'd almoſt into a Chaos, fince it was
made; and he imputes it with great Reaſon
C
and
18
Queft. I. Is Mankind
and Juſtice to the general Deſtruction of the
World, and the wicked Race of Men who
peopled it, by that Flood, of which Mofes
the ancient Jewish Writer gives us fo parti-
cular an Account. And what further dread-
ful Convulfions of Nature, and what un-
known Defolations fhall break out hereafter,
to puniſh or to deftroy the Inhabitants of this
Globe, lies beyond the reach of our Reafon
to foretell.
Known unto God are all our Hearts and
our Works, and all his own Ways from the
beginning, and thofe Ways of his are ma-
naged and conducted towards us, as becomes.
a wife and righteous Governor; fometimes
for our Trial and Warning, and fometimes
for our Correction and Puniſhment. Can we
ever ſuppoſe that the bleffed God, who loves
all the innocent Creatures that he has made,
would place them in fuch a dangerous Habi-
tation, where many of them muft ncceffarily
be expoſed to fo many horrible Accidents
and mortal Devaftations, even while they
continued in their own Innocence and in his
Favour?
If we confult the Writings of Mofes the
Jewish Prophet and Peter the Chriftian A-
poftle, we fhall find that they fuppofed the
great Creator to have laid up Stores and Ma-
gazines of Ruin and Deftruction within the
Bowels of this Earth, which he forefaw
would be inhabited by a criminal Race of
Beings and he fore-ordained to break open
his
a Degenerate Creature?
19
his dreadful Treafures of Flood and Fire at
proper Seaſons, to drown and to burn the
World together with the Inhabitants thereof.
When all Flesh had corrupted its Way before
God, as Mofes fpeaks, he appointed to de-
Stroy Man whom he had created: he opened
the Windows or Flood-gates of Heaven,
pour'd down Rain inceffantly upon the Earth
for forty Days and forty Nights; and the
Same Day were all the Fountains of the
great Deep broken up, and all in whofe
Noftrils was the Breath of Life upon the
dry Land died, except eight Perfons, Gen.vii.
And the Chriftian Writer tells us, that the
World which at that time was overflowed
with Water perished, but that the Heavens
and the Earth which are now, by the fame
divine Word and Providence are kept in
Store, referved unto Fire against the Day
of Judgment and Perdition of ungodly Men.
Then the Elements fhall melt with fervent
Heat, the Heavens ſhall be diſſolved with a
great Noife, and the Earth and the Works
that are therein ſhall be burnt up, 2 Pet. iii.
Now the great God, who appointed ſuch
prodigious Quantities both of Water and Fire
to be referved in the Bowels of the Earth,
and among the Clouds of Heaven, for ſuch a
foreſeen Day of general Deftruction, when
the Sins of the Inhabitants fhould come to
their full Meaſure, did alfo doubtlefs prepare
his Materials, and appoint the Days when all
C 2
the
20
Queft. I. Is Mankind
the leffer Storms and Hurricanes, Earthquakes
and Floods, Lightenings and Thunders, and
Convulfions of Nature, fhould break out
and anſwer thoſe particular Seaſons, when he
intended to manifeft his Terrors to Mankind,
and to fhew his Wrath in their Wretched-
nefs and Deſtruction: and he treaſured up his
Magazines of Wind, and Flood, and Fire in
the Air and Earth for thefe Purpoſes. Is this
an Habitation which God has made for the
Refidence of pure and holy Beings? Is this
fuch a peaceful Place as a kind Creator
would have form'd and built for innocent
Creatures? Or does he manage theſe ſeveral
Scenes of our Globe,
as tho' thoſe who
dwell upon it maintained their primitive Pu-
rity and his original Favour? 'Tis abfurd to
imagine fuch a Conduct of a God fo wife,
fo righteous and fo merciful.
II. Let us take a Survey of the Herbs and
Plants and Trees, and all the Vegetable Be-
ings which grow out of this Earth, together
with the brute Animals which are found on
the Surface of it, and we fhall find more
Reaſons to conclude that MAN the chief In-
habitant is by no means fuch a Creature, fo
innocent, and fo much a Favourite of Hea-
ven, as he muft needs be when he came firſt
out of his Maker's hand.
It must be granted here again, that the
Wiſdom and Goodness of the Creator have
diſplay'd
a Degenerate Creature?
21
diſplay'd themſelves in a divine and aſtoniſh-
ing manner in the Animal and the Vegetable
World, beyond the utmoſt reach of our
Thoughts or our Praiſes: but ftill we may
have leave to enquire, whether among the
numerous Herbs and Flowers, which are
fitted for the Support and Delight of Man,
there would have been any noxious Plants or
Fruits of mortal and malignant Juice, ap-
pointed to grow out of the Earth, without
fome plain ſignal Mark or Caution ſet upon
them, if Man had continued in his innocent
State? Can we fuppofe that amongſt the
Roots, the Herbs, and the Trees which are
good for Food, the great God would have
fuffered Miſchief, Malady and deadly Poiſon
to ſpring up here and there, without any
fufficient Diſtinction that Man might know
how to avoid them? This is the cafe in our
prefent World; and Difeafe, Anguiſh and
Death have entered into the Bowels and
Veins of Multitudes by an innocent and fa-
tal Miſtake of thefe pernicious Things for
proper Food.
'Tis granted indeed, that when Moſes had
dreffed and furniſhed his Garden in Paradiſe
with all manner of vegetable Fruits and Plea-
fures for the new and holy Creature MAN,
he tells us of a Tree in that Garden which
was called the Tree of Knowledge, and it
was certain Death to tafte it. But then Man
had exprefs Warning given him to avoid the
Danger:
C 3
22
Queſt. I. Is Mankind
Danger: DEATH was, as it were, infcribed
upon that Tree in plain Characters, and 'twas
wilful Iniquity for him to make ſo dange-
rous an Experiment. Nor would there have
been any poisonous or hurtful Plant fuffered
to grow upon this Earth, if the Inhabitants
of it had continued in their primitive Holi-
neſs, without fome natural Mark fer upon it,
or fome divine Caution to avoid it. God
loves the pure and innocent Works of his
Hands better than to expofe them to fuch
unavoidable Perils and Miferies, and fuch
mortal Dangers and Deaths, if they continue
in their original Innocence.
Again, let me enquire whether this Earth
in almoft every Soil would have produced
fuch a Quantity of Briars, Thorns, and
Thiſtles, and various Weeds, which are fo
deftructive to Corn the Food of Man, and
create fo much Vexation to the painful Til-
lers of the Field, if Man had been innocent,
and the Earth his Habitation had never been
accurfed for any Crime of the Inhabitant?
Mofes the famous Jewish Writer mentions
this very Thing as a Divine Curfe for the Sin
of Man.
Let us arife to the Animal or Brutal World,
There are many Creatures indeed made for
the Service and Pleafure of Mankind, and
they are cafily governed to anfwer his Pur-
pofes in human Life. But are there not
many other forts of Animals alfo that weak
Man
a Degenerate Creature?
23
Man can neither govern nor refift, and by
which all his Race are expofed to miſerable
Wounds and Anguifh, and Death, whenfo-
ever they meet them?
Would there have been any fuch Creatures
in our World as Bears and Tygers, Wolves
and Lions, animated with fuch Fierceneſs
and Rage, and armed with fuch deftructive
and bloody Teeth and Talons, if Man the fu-
preme Creature in it had not finned and fallen
out of his Maker's kindeft Care? Or would
theſe murderous Animals ever have been let
into a Paradife made for the Habitation of in-
nocent Beings; and that without Power given
to thoſe Innocents to govern and reftrain
them, or without fufficient Art or Speed to
elcape them? Would the Children of Men,
innocent and holy, have ever been formed to
be the living Prey of theſe Devourers? Were
the Life and Limbs of fuch holy Creatures
made to become Heaps of agonizing Carnage?
Or would their Fleſh and Bones have been
given up to be crufh'd and churn'd between
the Jaws of Panthers and Leopards, Sharks
and Crocodiles, by Land and Sea? Are fenfi-
ble, rational and innocent Beings fit for Mor-
fels for Savages of the Brutal Kind, and were
they first made for this Purpoſe by a God of
Wiſdom and Goodneſs? Let Brutes be con-
tented to prey upon their Fellow brutes, but
let Man be their Lord and Ruler, and free
from their Affaults: And fo he was (fays the
Jewish
C 4
24 Queft. Is Mankind
Jewish Lawgiver) in his firft and innocent
Eftatc.
Give me leave to proceed in thefe Enqui-
rics. If Man were not a fallen finful Crea-
ture fit for Puniſhment, would there have
been fo many Tribes of the Serpent and Vi-
per kind armed with deadly Venom to bite
and kill Man? Would fuch fubtile and active
Mifchiefs have been made and ſent to dwell
in a World which was all holy and happy?
And would the Race of all theſe murderous
and deftructive Brutes of every Kind have
been propagated for fix thouſand Years in any
Province of God's Dominion, unleſs he had
foreſeen at firft that his intellectual Crea-
tures there would have rebelled againſt him,
and deferved to be given up to their Power
and Rage?
What are the immenfe Flights of Locusts
which darken the Sky, and lay the Fields de-
folate? What are the winged Armies of Hor-
nets and Muſcatoes, that make a pleaſant
Land almoſt intolerable by the inceffant and
reſtleſs Attacks they make on Mankind with
their painful Stings? If they are found in the
fcorching Climates of Africa, and in the ful-
try Parts of the East and West-Indies, yet
one would think fuch noifome and venemous
Flics ſhould not fwarm upon the Hills of
Ruffia, and infeft the Polar Regions, if the
Creator had not defigned them for the Vexa-
tion of the Nations on all fides of the Globe.
What
a Degenerate Creature?
25
What are the innumerable Hofts of Cater-
pillars which in a Night or two turn a Garden
into a Defart, but fo many Meffengers of the
Anger of God againſt a ſinful Race of Beings
that dwell upon this Earth? And fince we are
neither able to refift or fubdue their Power,
nor avoid their Plunder, we may certainly
infer, that we are not ſuch Favourites of Hea-
ven as God at firſt had made us, while we are
expoſed to the endleſs Attacks, Infults and
Triumphs of fuch little'defpicable Infects, and
yet deadly and deftructive Enemies. The
troubleſome and pernicious Tribes of Animal
Nature both of larger and leffer Size, which
are Fellow-Commoners with us upon this
great Globe, together with our Impotence to
prevent or eſcape their Miſchiefs, is a fuffi-
cient Proof that we are not finleſs Creatures,
nor in the full Favour and Love of the God
that made us, and that he has quarter'd his
Armies, his Legions among us as Princes do
in a rebellions Province.
Perhaps it will be replied here, that theſe
Miſchiefs of the animal and vegetable World,
theſe poiſonous Plants and Vipers, and fa-
vage Beaſts of Prey may be permitted to dwell
in our Earth, for the Trial of its Inhabitants in
a State of Probation, even tho' they were in-
nocent; eſpecially fince 'tis certain that their
fatal Effects do ſometimes now fall upon good
and pious Men, during their Situation here,
which is a State of Trial: but God can reward
the
i
26
Queft. I. Is Mankind
the Sufferers in a future State, and thus ab-
folve or vindicate his Juftice, Wiſdom and
Goodneſs in permitting them to be thus
expofed in the prefent Life.
To this I anfwer two ways.
(1.) There is a great difference to be made
between innocent Creatures in a State of Pro-
bation and finful degenerate Creatures in the
fame State. Theſe miſchievous and painful
Events which now fall upon finful Mankind,
would have been all righteous whether they
had been in a State of Trial or no; but moſt
of them plainly declare the puniſhing Hand
of God as well as the Probation of Creatures,
and therefore it fuppofes them not to be in-
nocent. Whereas if thefe Plagues had a-
bounded in a World of Innocence, many of
the wife and holy Inhabitants who had fuf-
fered theſe Miſchiefs, even if they were ſent
for their Trial, would fcarcely have found
ſufficient Reaſon to rejoice in their Situation,
and to give Thanks to their Maker, as every
innocent Being would furely have occafion
and reaſon to do. Serpents and Bears, Stings
and Poiſons are terrible Trials for pure Inno-
cents.
(2.) The State of Probation for innocent
Creatures would not have included Death in
it, a violent and bloody, or a lingering and
painful Death, fuch as flows from fome of
thefe Plagues and Miſchiefs upon the Earth.
The Deſtruction of our Nature, our dying
and
3
a Degenerate Creature?
27
I
and returning to Duft, is ſuppoſed by the an-
cient Hebrew Hiftorian to be a Curfe of God
for the Sin of Man: and when once Life is
forfeited among the whole Race of Mankind,
and they are all fubject and devoted to Death
by fome univerfal Degeneracy, then a painful
Death may properly become a part of the
further Trial of fuch Creatures who are to
riſe again and any who are pious Sufferers
among them, and who behave well in dying,
may be rewarded by a happy Refurrection.
This may be appointed with much more Pro-
priety, than that a painful Death ſhould be
made a Part of the Trial of innocent Crea-
tures, who had never forfeited Life, nor
were ever legally fubjected to Death. In the
Cafe of dying Infants, this appears with
greater Evidence, as I fhall fhew afterward.
Upon the whole therefore, fuch fort of
noxious and deftructive Plants and Animals
do not ſeem to be made for a World of in-
nocent, fenfible and intellectual Beings, to
vex, and diſturb, to poifon and deftroy
them *
Object. But did not God renew to Noah
the Dominion over the brute Creatures?
Anfw.
*As there happened an intire Revolution in the Complexion
and Qualities of the Minds of the firft Pair (of Mankind) fo
to me, there appear to be evident Indications of a deſigned
Change and Alteration of the material World, and the Na-
ture of the Animals and Vegetables which fubfift on this Globe,
from what they were when God pronounced every thing good
that he had made. Dr. Cheyne in his Effay of Health and Long
Life.
1.
28
Queft. I.
Is Mankind
Anfw. Not in fuch an ample manner as
he firit poffeffed it; but only the Fear of Man
was to fall upon the Brutes: Now this does
not fufficiently preferve Man from their Out-
rage and Miſchief; whereas in the innocent
State, no Man would have been poifon'd or
torn by Serpents or Lions as now. See
Queft. VIII. §. 6.
III. The Manner of the Introduction of
the Race of Man into Life and Being in this
World, is another Proof that we are not the
innocent Favourites of Heaven.
Can we
ever imagine the great and good God would
have appointed intellectual Animals to be pro-
pagated in fuch a Way as fhould neceffarily
give fuch exquifite Pain and Anguiſh to the
Mothers who produce them, if we had been
all accounted in his Eyes a Race of holy and
finlefs Beings? And if the Contagion or
Crime had not been univerfal, why fhould
fuch acute Pangs attend almost every Female
Parent in bringing their Offspring into the
Light of Life? Are not the multiply'd Sor-
rows with which the Daughters of Eve con-
tinually bring forth their young, a pretty
evident Token that they are not in their ori-
ginal State of Favour with that God who
created them, and pronounced a Bleffing
upon them in their Propagation * ?
The
* The Author has been cenfured here for not dropping a
Tear over the Fair Sex under their Sorrows and acute Pains :
But
a Degenerate Creature?
29
The Jewish Lawgiver in the beginning of
his Hiſtory tells us, that God bleffed the firft
Man and Woman that he made, and bid
them be fruitful, and multiply, and reple-
nish the Earth, and fubdue it; and the fame
ancient Writer within a Page or two tells us,
that theſe multiply'd Sorrows in the Bearing
and Birth of Children are pronounced as a
Curfe from an offended God. Surely the
Curfe is not as old as the Bleffing: But Sin
and Sorrow came in together, and ſpread a
wide Curſe over the Birth of Man, which
before ſtood only under a Divine Benedic-
tion: nor is the Bleffing on human Propa-
gation quite taken away, the Pains of Child-
bearing are added to it. Daily Obfervation
and Experience prove that the Bleffing of
Propagation repeated to Noah, Gen. ix. 6.
did not take away that Curfe. See Queſt.
VIII. at the End.
IV. Let us confider in the next place how
the Generality of Mankind are preferved in
Life. Some few there are indeed whom Di-
vine Providence has raiſed to Riches and Plen-
ty, and their Food is daily provided for them
without Care or Toil; but the Millions of
human Creatures in all the Nations of the
Earth are forced to fupport a wretched Life
by
But he imagines he has been dropping Tears in every Page,
and that over every Part of Mankind, and on them in par-
ticular in feveral Paragraphs of this Book.
3
30
Queſt. I. Is Mankind
by hard Labour of the Body, and intenſe and
grievous Fatigue of their Joints and Limbs,
and all their natural Powers. What dreadful
Rifques both of Life and Limbs do Multitudes
run thro' in order to purchaſe their own ne-
ceffary Food, and to ſupport their young
helpleſs Families at home? What waſte of the
Hours of ſweet Repoſe at Midnight, as well
as long and flaviſh and painful Toils of the
Day, do Multitudes fuftain, in order to pro-
cure daily Nouriſhment? 'Tis by the Sweat of
their Brows they obtain their Bread; 'tis by
a continual exhaufting their vital Spirits, that
many of them are forced to relieve their own
Hunger, and to keep off Death, as well as to
feed their young Offfpring that otherwiſe
would be born meerly to perifh.
If we furvey the lower Tribes of Mankind,
even in Great-Britain, in a Land of Freedom
and Plenty, a Climate temperate and fruitful,
a Country which abounds with Corn and
Fruits, and is ftored with Beaſts and Fowl,
and Fiſh, in rich Variety for Food, what a
hard Shift do ten thouſand Families make to
keep out Famine and fupport Life? Their
whole Time is devoured with the Labours of
the Fleſh, and their Souls ever befet and al-
moſt eaten up with gnawing Carcs and An-
xieties to anſwer this important Queftion,
What shall I eat, and what shall I drink
even in the pooreft and the coarſeft manner?
But if we ſend our Thoughts to the fultry
Regions
a Degenerate Creature?
31
Regions of Africa, or the Froft and Snows
of Norway, to the Rocks and Defarts of Lap-
land and Northern Tartary, what a hideous
and frightful Thing is human Life in thoſe
Climates? How is the rational Nature of Man
almoſt loft between their Slavery, their Bru-
tality, and their inceffant Toils and Hardſhips?
They are treated like Brutes by their Lords,
and they live like Dogs and Affes among La-
bours, and Wants, Hunger and Wearinefs,
Blows and Burdens without end. Did God
appoint this for Innocents?
Perhaps you will fay, There is a Pleaſure
in eating and drinking, which anſwers to
the Pain of procuring our Food: But alas!
can this fhort Pleaſure of a few Minutes, in
trolling a few Morfels down our Throats, or
waſhing the Gullet with plenty of Liquids,
be ſuppoſed to give a full Recompenfe for
the inceffant Labours of Life? Does it bear
any Proportion to the length of Toil, Pain
and Hazard, and the tireſome Fatigues of
our Spirits and our Limbs, wherewith the
Provifions of Life are procured? Mofes ac-
quaints us indeed, that Man even in his in-
nocent and bleffed State was placed in a noble
and lovely Garden, and was appointed to
drefs it: This was no Curſe, but a wife Ap-
pointment of the God of Nature by inter-
mingled Labour and Exerciſe to preſerve our
Health and Vigour. But when the fame Wri-
ter comes to introduce the Toil and Fatigues
We
3 2
Queft. I. Is Mankind
we are forced to fuftain, in order to fecure
us from ſtarving, when he speaks of eating
our Bread in the Sweat of our Brows, he ac-
knowledges this to be another of the Curfes
of God for the Sin of Man, and 'tis fcattered
all round the Globe. *
V. Confider the Character, Temper and
Quality of Mankind in general, even the
Multi-
* 'Tis ftrange that any Man ſhould ſay, In this Sentence of
God, Gen. iii. 15—19. no Curfe is pronounced upon either Adam's
Body, Soul or Pofterity; That the Sorrow of Child-bearing is not
inflicted as a Curfe; That the Labours of Life were increased, but
not as a Curfe; and that this Death was not a Curfe, &c. I would
fain ask, What is a Curfe, if fome natural Evil pronounced
and executed upon a Perfon, or Thing, be not fo, eſpecially
when it is pronounced upon the Account of Sin, and comes
from God himfelf as Supreme Governor and Judge? and
even the Curfe on the Ground falls properly on the Man
who tills it.
It is granted, that all theſe may be fanctify'd by the Cove-
nant of Grace to good People, and turned to their Advan-
tage. The Wifdom of God can turn Curfes into Bleffings. Gen.
1. 20. Deut. xxiii. 5. Yet the Original Pronunciation and
Infliction of theſe Evils was defigned as a Curfe, or Puniſh-
ment for Sin, as it is written, Gal. iii. 10. Curfed is every one
who continueth not in all Things, &c. And I think it will ap-
pear evidently to every one who with common Senfe and
without Prejudice reads the Hiftory of the Fall of Man in
Gen. iii. 16, 17, 18, 19. And that Death was defigned as a
Curfe on Man for Sin, is evident; for Chriſt ſuffered for us.
Gal. iii. 13.
'Tis granted alfo, that God might in Noah's time take off,
perhaps, fome part of the Carfe from the Ground, Gen. v.
29. and blefs it with greater Fruitfulness; he might re-
new his Bleffing on Propagation, Gen. ix. 1. and many other
Bleffings may be added: But ftill the Curfes of hard Toil and
Sweating, of painful Child-bearing, and of Death, may be, and
are actually continued thro' all Generations, tho' fome Blef
fings may be mingled with them: And this is fufficient to
anfwer all thefe Objections. See more, Queft. VIII. at the
End.
a Degenerate Creature?
33
Multitudes and Millions of Mankind in all
Nations, with regard to Religion and Virtue,
and then 'twill be hard to perfuade ourſelves
that theſe are Creatures who enjoy the Fa-
vour of their Maker as his Children, or bear
the Image of their common Father in Know-
ledge and Goodncfs, as his original and na-
tive Offspring ought to do.
I grant there are here and there fome few
Perfons who are reftored to fome Degrees of
Conformity to him that made them; they
are become his Children by Repentance and
Return to God, by a divine Change paffed
upon their Natures, and they enjoy a Share
of his fpecial Love: But the Bulk of the
World are of another Stamp and Character,
and fufficiently fhew there is fome finful and
fatal Contagion fpread thro' the Inhabitants.
of this Province of God's Dominion. John
the Apoſtle, in one of his Letters, tells us,
that there are few who are born of God, as
new Creatures, but the whole World lies in
Wickedness. I John v. 19.
Would the bleffed God make a World of
intelligent Creatures fo ignorant and thought-
lefs of himſelf, and fo infolent and rebellious.
against him as Man now is? Can we think
of that grofs and ftupid Ignorance of the true
God which reigns thro' valt Tracts of Land
in Aſia, Africa, and America, and the thick
Darkneſs as well as Toil and Slavery which
D
buries
34
}
Queft. I. Is Mankind
buries all the Heathen Countries, and reduces
them yet further almoft to Brutes and Savages;
can we think of the abominable Idolatries, the
lewd and the cruel Rites of Worſhip, which
have been ſpread thro' fome whole Nations;
the impious, the wicked and ridiculous Super-
fſtitions which are practifed among the greateſt
part of the World, and yet believe the bleffed
God would put fuch wretched and polluted
Workmanſhip out of his pure Hands?
Can we furvey the bold and defperate Im-
piety and Prophanenefs, the Swearing and
Curfing, and wild Blafphemy that is practiſed
and pronounced daily and nightly among vaft
Multitudes in thofe Countries which know
and profefs the true God; can we behold
that almost univerfal Neglect of God, his Fear,
and his Worſhip, and of the Obedience due
to him, which is found even among thoſe In-
habitants of this our World, who fay they
believe in God, and yet imagine that thofe
Wretches love their Maker, that they wear
his Image, and are conformable to his Will,
as his original Creatures muft and ought
to be?
Nor are Mankind only negligent of their
Duty to God, but they feem to have aban-
doned their Duties to their Fellow-Creatures
alfo. Can we think of the perpetual Prac
tices of Fraud and Villany in the Commerce
of Mankind, the innumerable Inftances of
Oppreffion and Cruelty which run thro' the
World;
a Degenerate Creature?
35
World; the Pride and Humour of the Great,
the Wrath and Ambition of moſt Princes,
their wild and mad Extravagances of Crime
and Folly, as well as their boundleſs Infolence
and Tyranny over their Subjects, and the end-
lefs Iniquities and Mifchiefs that arife from
Envy, Malice and Revenge practiſed among
lower People; and yet fuppofe that Man was
ever made with theſe Vices in him, and theſe
Diſorders around him, by that Wiſdom and
Goodneſs that created him? If we take a Sur-
vey of the impure Scenes of Luft and Intem-
perance and drunken Madnefs which defy the
Day-light, and pollute the Darknefs; if we
think of the monstrous Barbarities which are
continually committed by Men in the Chri-
ftian Inquifitions of Spain, Portugal and
Italy, and among all the brutal and wicked
Tribes of Heathenifm, the African Savages,
and the American Cannibals, who kill and
roaft their Fellow-Creatures, and eat up Men
as they eat Bread; can we ftill imagine that
Mankind is a Race of Beings, who abide in
their own native and original State, fuch as
they came from the Hands of their Maker?
Shall it be faid in Oppofition to this View
of Things, That 'tis not the greateſt part of
Mankind that are fo fhamefully ignorant and
fo abominably vile? I anfwer, That in Mat-
ters of Religion the greateſt part of the World
arc grofs Idolaters; they adore the Souls of
the Dead for Gods, or they worſhip the Sun
D 2
and
36
Queſt. I. Is Mankind
and Moon, or Beafts, Birds, Images, Names,
fabled Gods, Stocks and Stones, or any Thing
but the true God: They neither know their
Maker, nor love, nor worship him. There
are many whole Nations that practiſe abomi-
nable Vices by general Cuftom and Confent,
by the Approbation of their wife Men, and
by long Tradition, if not by the Authority
of their Laws. This has been abundantly de-
monftrated by learned Writers of the preſent
Age, both from the modern Travels of the
Inquifitive and from ancient Hiſtories, when
they would fhew in what need Mankind
ftood of a Divine Revelation.
And in Matters of Morality, tho' the Bulk
of Mankind are not guilty of the very vileft.
Crimes with regard to their Fellow-Crea-
tures, yet if we confider the numerous cor-
rupt Inclinations and finful Paflions that fway
all the World, the leffer Vices and Irregula-
rities that work and run thro' the Hearts and
Lives even of the beſt and moſt civilized Paits
of the Univerſe; if we obferve the ſtrange
Blindness of the Underſtandings of Men in
divine Things, the Unfaithfulneſs of Con-
fcience, the Unwillingneſs to know any mor-
tifying and ſelf-denying Truths and Duties,
the general Prevalence of Appetite and fin-
ful Defires over the Powers and the Rules of
Reaſon, and that not only among the un-
thinking Multitude, but even where Reafon
is confulted and makes its feeble Remon-
frances;
3
a Degenerate Creature?
37
frances; if we confider the univerfal Difor-
der among the Faculties of Mankind; and the
Violation of that Harmony and Order where-
in confifts Innocence, Virtue and Peace: If
we add to all this Heap of Confuſion, their
general Thoughtleffnefs and Difregard of
God, and their grofs Defects in Benevolence
to their Neighbours, it will appear plain e-
nough that there is not one upon Earth that
is truly righteous and without Sin; and it is
more abundantly evident, that Mankind are
far from a State of Innocence and perfect
Virtue: They are fallen from God, and have
loft that Likeneſs to their Maker, and that
Love of him, and thofe Principles of univer-
fal Virtue which doubtlefs were implanted
in them by fo wife, fo righteous, ſo kind,
and benevolent a Creator.
That far the greatest Number of Men are
evil, or greatly criminal, was a known Sen-
timent of the Ancients. The wifer and more
confiderate Heathens faw and bewailed it,
tho' they knew not how to account for it.
Oi #reioves xxxoi, moft Men are wicked, was the
Sentence of a Greek Philofopher, and the
common Opinion of the moſt intelligent
Obfervers of Mankind. The Poets were
generally looſe enough themſelves, but they
were wife enough to obferve the univerfal
Wickedness of Mankind, and agree intirely
in this obvious and general Truth. Virgil
tells us, that few are virtuous enough to
efcape
D 3
38
}
Queft. I. Is Mankind
}
efcape the Puniſhments of the other World:
He brings in a Ghoft telling his Son,
Pauci læta arva tenemus.
And in this Life the Character of Human
Nature among the Poets is this:
Nitimur in vetitum femper, cupimuſque
negata.
Gens humana ruit per vetitum nefas,
Audax omnia perpeti.
HOR.
And that Vice is early and univerſal he
fays,
Nam vitiis nemo fine nafcitur.
And when this Author ſpeaks of young
Men in general, he gives them this Cha-
racter;
Cereus in vitium flecti, monitoribus afper.
Seneca fays juft the fame,
Pejora Juvenes facilè præcepta audiunt.
And Juvenal abounds in this Account of
Human Nature
3
Rari quippe boni: Numero vix funt toti-
dem quot
Thebarum porte, vel divitis oftia Nili.
Qua tam fefta dies ut ceffet prodere fu
rem ?
Ad mores Natura recurrit
Damnatos, fixa & mutari nefcia.-
Quifnam
you
a Degenerate Creature?
39
Quifnam hominum eft quem tu contentum
videris uno
Flagitio?
Dociles imitandis
Turpibus & pravis omnes fumus. Juv.
They own indeed there was once a golden
Age, or a State of Innocence at firſt. Their
Reaſon told them, that the great God muſt
and did make Man upright and good; but
they imagined that Mankind did degenerate
by degrees in fucceffive Ages, and at laft grew
univerfally wicked. This is afferted not only
by fatyrical Writers, but by thofe of a gentler
Difpofition and a fofter Pen. Ovid and Ma-
nilius were no Satyrifts, yet they ſpeak the
very fame Language :
Protinus erupit venæ pejoris in ævum
Omne nefas: fugere Pudor, Verumque
Fidefque.
In quorum fubiere locum Fraudefque Do-
lique
Infidiæque, & Vis, & Amor fceleratus
habendi :
Victa jacet Pietas, terras Aftræa reli-
quit.
OVID.
Perque tot atates hominum, tot tempora
& annos,
Tot bella, & varios etiam fub pace la-
bores,
Cum fortuna fidem quærat, vix invenit
ufquam.
At quanta eft fcelerum moles per facula
cuncta?
D 4
In
40
Queft. I. Is Mankind
}
In populo fcelus eft: & abundant cuncta
furore,
Et fas atque nefas mitum, legefque per
ipfas
Savit nequities.
MANIL.
The Senſe of all which is thus reprefented
in English:
There are very few who die that go
go to
Heaven, or a State of Happiness. We are
always defiring and pursuing forbidden
Things. Mankind is bold to rush into for-
bidden Wickedness; nor is any Man born
without Vices: Young Men most readily
hearken to evil Counfels; they are foft as
Wax to be moulded into Vice, but rough and
rugged to their heft Monitors. Good Men
are very few, Scarce as many as the Gates
of the City Thebes, or the Mouths of the
Nile. What Day is there that does not
There us some new Malefactors? Nature
recurs to its own wicked Manners, is fixt
in it, and know's not how to change.
How few Perfons will you find conten-
ted with one Sort of Wickedness? We
are all very forward to learn and imitate
whatever is bafe or wicked. After the
Golden Age, and fome few following
Seafons, all manner of Iniquity broke
out: Modefty, Truth, and Faithfulness are
quite fled away, in whofe place came De-
ceit, Mifchief, Violence and wicked Cove-
toufness.
a Degenerate Creature?
41
toufness. Piety lay fubdued, and Justice
left the Earth. And through fo many
Ages of Men, fo many murtherous Wars,
and Labours, and Toils, in Time of Peace,
there is fcarce fuch a Thing as Honesty to
be found; but through all Ages there is
an abundant Load of Crimes: Wickedness
runs through the People: Madness rages,
fills andover-whelms all Things. Right and
Wrong are all mingled, and Iniquity reigns
even through the very Laws of Men.
This was the common Complaint of the
moft obferving Heathens in their Age, as
it is ours in the preſent Day.
VI. Not only thoſe who are grown up to
mature Age, but even Mankind in its youn-
ger Years, before it is capable of proper mo-
ral Actions, difcovers the Principles of Ini-
quity and the Seeds of Sin. What young
Ferments of Spite and Envy, what native
Wrath and Rage fometimes are found in the
little Hearts of Infants, and fufficiently dif
covered by their little Hands, and their Eyes,
and their watchful Countenances, even be-
fore they have learned to ſpeak, or to know
Good and Evil? What additional Crimes of
Lying and Deceit, what Obftinacy and Per-
verfenefs proceed to blemish their younger
Years? *
How
Here our Difcourfe is at once confronted by bringing
in the Words of our Saviour, Matth. xviii. 3. Except ye be con-
verted,
42
Queft. I. Is Mankind
How little Knowledge or Thought of God,
their Creator and Governor, is found among
Children even when they begin to diſtinguiſh
between Good and Evil, Right and Wrong?
What an utter Difregard of him that made
them, and of the Duties they owe to him?
How hard is it to teach them to know their
Maker, and to obey him? And no wonder
it is fo in Children, fince Men and Women
are juſt the ſame.
Yet,
verted, and become as little Children, ye shall not enter into the
Kingdom of Heaven. Little Children, fay they, are here made the
Patterns of Humility, Meekness, and Innocence; and in feveral
other Places of Scripture a State of Childhood is repreſented
as innocent, meek and humble; and therefore they have no
fuch native Vices.
I answer this Objection by granting, that Children appear
to be of a much meeker and milder Temper than grown Per-
fons, becauſe they have much fewer Temptations to Vices of
various kinds than grown Perfons meet with: their inward
Vices are ſeldom awakened and provoked fo much as they
are in advancing Years.
Let it be further obferved, that this Humility of Children
which is recommended in this Text, is their Freedom from
that Ambition which poffeffed the Difciples, when they fought
who ſhould be greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
I grant allo, that young Children in general are really
meek and innocent, in comparifon with Perfons grown up,
who have increaſed in Pride and Malice; and this is enough
for fuch Repreſentations in Scripture.
But after all, I ask, Are not thefe fad Deſcriptions which
I have given of the vicious Tempers of many Children, juſt
and true? Does not daily Obfervation diſcover them? and
if fo, whence does this evil Temper arife, which at any
time difcovers itſelf in any of thefe little Creatures? What
is the Root that brings forth fuch early bitter Fruit? I
fay, Whence can it proceed, or what is it, but fome in-
nate evil Difpofition that they bring into the World with
them? This will appear more evidently in the following
Pages, wherein other pretended Caufes are excluded and re-
fured.
a Degenerate Creature?
43
Yet, farther, how little prevailing Senfe
or Practice of what is morally right and
good is feen among them when they begin
to act agreeably to their own childiſh and
youthful Age? How contrary is their Con-
duct to the Laws of Reafon, which are the
Laws of their Maker? How do the evil Paf-
fions of Nature, and irregular Appetites and
Vices of the Will prevail in them, and over
them betimes? Even from their firft Capa-
city of acting as moral Creatures in the
World; how are they led away to practiſe
Falfhood and Injury to their Play Fellows,
and that fometimes with Infolence, Cruelty
and Revenge? How often are they engaged
in bold Inſtances of Difobedience to Parents
or Teachers, and in Acts of ſhameful Intem-
perance? They do Evil with Greediness both
to themſelves and to their Fellow-Creatures:
Nor do I think there is one Youth in the
World who has not, on particular Occafions,
manifefted fome early Inclinations to one
Vice or another. Would this have been the
Cafe if Mankind had been juft fuch Crea-
tures as they came from their Maker's hand?
Nor can theſe vicious Propenfities be im-
puted to any ill Influences of Cuftom, or E-
ducation, or Example; for many of theſe
Things appear in Children before they can
take any notice of any fuch Examples fet
before them, or are capable of fuch Imita-
tion. And it might be added, that even in
the
44 Queft. I. Is Mankind
the best of Families, where good Examples
ftand round them, where Children from their
youngeſt Years are inftructed in their Du-
ty, and encouraged and excited to practiſe
Virtue and Religion, and perfuaded to it
by all the Motives of Authority and Love,
and led by many Examples as well as by Pre-
cepts, yet their Hearts naturally run aftray
from God. The greatest part of them in
their Childhood vifibly follow the corrupt
Influences of Senfe, Appetite and Paffion,
and in very early Years they manifeſt the in-
ward evil Principles of Pride, Obftinacy and
Difobedience: And Multitudes, even in
fuch Families, grow up to practiſe many
Vices, and to publifh the Iniquity and Shame
of their Nature, in oppofition to all the In-
fluences of Inftruction and Advice, Example
and Authority. And if all Children were
utterly untaught and unreftrained, even in
the Years of Childhood, theſe Iniquities
would break out and diſcover themſelves
with much more Evidence and Shame : This
appears in particular Families, even in fuch
Countries and fuch Towns which are civi-
lized by Learning and Politeness. There
are a thouſand Inftances wherein this is evi-
dent in Fact; that where the Education of
Children is neglected, the whole Generation
becomes vicious: So among the Heathens
there are whole Nations wicked, perhaps
without an Exception.
VII
1
1
f
Į
a Degenerate Creature?
45
VII. To give yet a fuller Confirmation of
this Truth, that Mankind have a finful and
corrupt Nature in them, let it be obſerved,
that where Perfons have not only been edu-
cated from their youngeſt Years in all the
Practices of Piety, Virtue and Goodneſs, as
far as Parents could influence them, but
where young Perfons themſelves have taken
fomething of a Religious Turn betimes, and
have fought after true Wiſdom and Piety,
what wretched and perpetual Hindrances do
they find within themfelves? What inward
Oppofitions are working in the Heart, and
too often interrupt this holy Courſe of Life ?
What Vanity of Mind, what finful Appetites,
what Senfuality and Forgetfulneſs of God,
what evil Affections, what vicious Thoughts
and Wiſhes, and Tendencies of Heart rife
up in Contradiction to their honeft and pro-
fcft Purpoſes of Virtue and Holincfs, and
lead them aftray too often from their Duty
both to God and Man?
Even fome of the beft of Men who have ob-
ferved their own Hearts, are forced to cry out,
Oh, wretched Creature that I am! What
vicious Principles do I find in my Members
warring against Reafon and the Law of my
Mind, and bringing me too often into Cap-
tivity to Sin? Whether St. Paul complain'd
thus concerning himſelf or no in his Letter
to the Romans, or whether he ſpoke it in the
Name of meer Pretenders to Religion, yet
as
46
Queft. I. Is Mankind
!
as there is not a just Man upon Earth,
that doth good, and never fins; ſo I'm per-
fuaded, there is not a Man who cannot in
fome meaſure take up this Complaint, that
he is fometimes led aftray by Senfe, Appetite
or Paffion, in greater or leffer Inftances, a-
gainſt the better Dictates of his Mind and Con-
ſcience: There is not a Man who may not
mourn over himſelf in this Language, O,
wretched Creature indeed! who shall deii-
ver me from this native Diſorder, this in-
ward Plague, thefe evil Propenfities of my
Nature? There is none perfectly righteous;
no, not one.
I may
fum up
the Argument contained in
the three laft Confiderations in this man-
ner, viz.
If great Multitudes of Mankind are groflly
finful, and if every Individual, without Ex-
ception, is actually a Sinner againſt the Law
of his Creator; if finful Propenfities and In-
clinations appear even in youngest Years, and
every Child becomes an actual Sinner almoſt
fo foon as it is capable of moral or immoral
Actions; we have juft reafon to conclude,
there is fome original and univerfal Dege-
neracy spread over the whole Race of Men
from their Birth: for it is not to be fuppofed
that the Wiſdom, Equity and Goodness of
God would ever have produced ſuch a World,
wherein every fingle Creature coming out
of their Maker's hands in their Original State
a Degenerate Creature?
47
of Innocence and full Power to obey, fhould
be thus defiled by their own wilful and cho-
fen Difobedience.
It has been faid indeed, in oppoſition to
this Argument, that if the firſt Man, even
Adam, did fall into Sin, tho' he was made
innocent and perfect, then among a Million
of Creatures, every one might fin, tho' he
was made as innocent and as perfectas Adam;
and that this is a better Account of ſo uni-
verſal an Apoftacy.
To which I answer, there is indeed a bare
Poffibility of this Event: But the Improbabi-
lity that every Creature fhould fall into Sin,
is in the proportion of a Million to One.
And I prove it thus.
If a Million of Creatures were made but
in an equal Probability to ftand or fall; and
if all the Numbers from One to one Million
inclufively, were fet in a Rank, it is plain that
'tis a Million to One that juſt any fingle pro-
pofed and determined Number of all this
Multitude fhould fall by Sin: Now the total
Sum is one of theſe Numbers, that is, the
laft of them, and confequently, in this way
of Calculation, it is a Million to One againſt
the Suppofition, that the whole Number of
Men fhould fall.
And yet further, if they were all made in
a far greater Probability of ftanding than fal-
ling, which the Juftice and Goodneſs of God
feem to require, then it is much more than a
3
Million
48 Queſt. I. Is Mankind
Million to One, that all fhould fin againſt
their Creator without Exception. See there-
fore the Weakness of this Objection; tho'
I have read ſeveral Triumphs, in a few Pages,
fupported only by this Argument, which has
the Proportion of more than a whole Mil-
lion to One against it. And yet this Argu-
ment will grow ftill ten thouſand times
ftronger, if we fuppofe ten thoufand Mil-
lions to have lived fince the Creation.
It has been faid again, If the Nature of
our first Parents was not originally corrupt,
who committed the firft Sin, and occafioned
the Suffering, neither is my Nature originally
corrupt, who am no ways concerned in the
Commiffion of that Sin, but only am there-
by ſubjected to Suffering.
I answer, But if the Sin of our firft Parent
laid him under Guilt, tainted and defiled
his own Nature, both Soul and Body, and
I am derived from him as my Spring and
Head, I may be thus defiled alſo, receiving
a Taint both in Soul and Body, from the
firſt Criminal, as I have fhewn afterwards.
VIII. It may be further argued, that Man
is a Creature fallen from his original State,
becauſe he is fo far infeebled or corrupted,
that he has not a ready and practical Power *
to
* Obſerve, I do not affert here, that Man has not a re-
mote, fpeculative and natural Power to obey the Law of God;
bur
a Degenerate Creature?
49
to perform the Law of his Maker, which yet
continues to be written in his Heart by Na-
ture. Does not this Law of Reaſon, and
Nature, and Confcience, require us to love
God with all our Heart and Soul, to deal
with our Neighbour as we think it proper he
fhould deal with us, and to govern our own
Appetites and Paffions by Rules of Reaſon?
Does it not require alfo, that theſe Things
muſt be done in Perfection, and without De-
fect, whether they regard God, our Neigh-
bour,
but 'tis abundantly evident he has not an immediate, proximate
and moral or practical Power to do it, fince not one of all Man-
kind have ever done it. And let it be obſerved, that 'tis the
Want of this moral Difpofition, this practical Power of perfect
Obedience to the Law of God, which I call Infufficience, In-
bility and Impotence, as is fhewn at large under Queft. XIII.
and Scripture ufes the fame Language.
And here I defire it may be cbferved alfo, that this Diftinc-
tion of fufficient Power into natural and moral will folve the
Objections derived from a Pretence, that God would never con-
tinue Mankind under fuch a Law which they have not prefent fuf-
ficient Power to obey. This is certain Matter of Fact, that there
is a Law written in the Heart or Confcience of Man, Rom. ii.
15. which requires greater Perfection of Obedience than Man
has a practical or moral Power to fuifil, tho' he may have
natural Powers equal to the Command.
I add yet further, that tho' many Men, by the ufual Aids
of Divine Grace may obey this Law of God, ſo far as is ne-
ceffary, according to the new Covenant, and may obtain the
Favour of God, yet they cannot fulfil it, fo far as to obtain
Juftification or Acceptance according to this Law, which re-
quires perfect Obedience, and curfes every one that fails in
ir. Rom. ii. 9. and iii. 19, 20. Gal. iii. 10. And this Hope of
Divine Aid, and Divine Acceptance is richly fufficient to
encourage our utmot Diligence in all the Duties of Obe-
dience, and fecure Men from Defpair, and from the Neglect
of Religion and Virtue. Thus it appears, that this Impo-
tence of Men to fulfil the Law perfectly, is no Difcourage-
ment from the utmost Diligence in Religion.
E
7
50
Queft. I. Is Mankind
bour, or ourselves? Doth it not demand that
we ſhould adore and honour, fear and truft
in the Great God that made us, and obey all
that we know to be his Will, in a perfect
manner? Docs it not preſcribe conſtant Ju-
ftice, Truth and Goodnefs toward our Neigh-
bour, without one evil Thought, one cove-
tous With, onc envious, or malicious Ac
of the Will, or the Tongue, or the Hand,
towards him? Does it not demand that our
Self-Government, or our Temperance fhould
not indulge one irregular Paffion, or Appetite?
And does it not require, that every one of
theſe lower Powers fhould be perfectly fub-
ject to Reafon and Confcience? Now is there
any Man on Earth can fay, that he has a
ready and practical Power to perform all
theſe Laws which his Maker has written in
his Heart, without any finful Irregularity in
Thought, Word or Deed?
Perhaps, you will infift on it still, that
Man has ſtill within him thofe Faculties of
Underſtanding, and Will, and Affection,
which have a natural Power to perform
theſe Duties; and perhaps you will prove it
too, becauſe whenfoever, according to any
Scheme of Religion, a Man is made holy,
he has no new Faculties given him, and
therefore thefe natural Faculties which he
has, are fufficient.
I answer, If any Man be made holy, tho'
he has no new Faculties given him, yet their
vicious
a Degenerate Creature?
51
vicious Propenfities are fo far fubdued or ta-
ken away, and the finful Tendencies of all
his Powers are ſo far changed into that which
is virtuous and holy: But it is evident in our
preſent State in this World, that the Propen-
fities of the Will and Affections to that which
is evil, are fo much fuperior and prevalent,
that I believe there is no Man lives one Day
without breaking this perfect Law of his
Maker, in Thought, Word, or Deed: and
therefore, tho' by reafon of his natural Fa-
culties he may have a remote and Specula-
tive Sufficiency of natural Power to obey his
Maker's Law, yet he has no proximate and
practical, or moral Sufficiency to perform
it, by reafon of the perverfe and finful Biafs
of his Will and Affections, and the weak In-
fluences of Underſtanding, Reaſon and Con-
ſcience, which are fo cafily and continually
overcome by finful Appetites and Inclina-
tions.
It ſhould be confider'd further, that the
outward Temptations to which Mankind are
expofed all around them in the prefent State,
eſpecially in the Vigour and Perfection of
animal Life, are evidently too ftrong to be
effectually and conftantly refifted and over-
come by theſe enfeebled Faculties of Reafon
and Conſcience, while at the fame time his
Will and Affections, as well as his Appetites
and Paffions, have a powerful Biafs and Pro-
E 2
penfity
!
52 Queft. I. Is Mankind
penfity to yield to the Temptation, and com-
mit Sin.
So that if we take a full Survey of all
theſe Circumſtances in which Mankind are
now fituated, if we confider their ftrong
Propenfities to Evil within their own Nature,
the powerful Temptations to Evil that fur-
round them without, and the feeble Efforts
of their Guardian Powers, Reafon and Con-
ſcience, to refift all theſe Oppofitions, and
to break thro' all theſe Impediments; and if
we add here to the conftant and daily Evi-
dence of all this, by the conſtant and daily
Sins of Mankind, we must be forced to
acknowledge, that his moral and practical
Powers in the prefent State, are by no means
proportionate to the Law of God, and to his
Duties, but vaftly inferior to them.
Now would a wife, a juft and a merciful
God, who is abundant in Goodnefs, have
formed fuch fenfible and intellectual Creatures
originally by his own Hand, in fucha wretched
Eftate, that their Powers and Capacities
fhould be fo much below their Duties, that
they break his Law daily and continually, and
it may be faid, that whatſoever natural Fa-
culties they have, yet they have not a ready
and practical Sufficiency of Power to per-
form it?
Shall it be objected further, that God can-
not require more of Man than he has given
him Power to perform, and therefore his
Law
a Degenerate Creature?
53
Law cannot require Perfection, if he has not
power perfectly to obey it; for the Demands
of a Law muſt be limited by the Powers of
the Subject, and cannot exceed it.
To this I might answer, that the Demands
of a Law muft not exceed the Powers of an
innocent and new-made Creature, juft as he
comes from the Hand of God; but when he
has fome way or other ruin'd and infeebled,
perverted or broken his original Powers, or
brought an evil biafs into them, may not the
Law of God ftill continue to demand fuch
Obedience, which he has not a preſent Suffi-
ciency of Power to yield or perform?
Or I might perhaps better anfwer thus,
that the Law of our Maker in its Demands
muſt be limited by the original, abſolute and
natural Power of the Creature to perform
it, which was then alfo morally and practi-
cally fufficient for the Purpofe; but when a
Race of Beings, by their own Folly, have fo
perverted and difcompofed thefe natural Fa-
culties, that they have not an immediate,
proximate and practical Power to perform
the Law of God, this does not deftroy nor a-
bate the Commands of the Law of our Maker:
but they fland in full Perfection of Authority
and Dernand, fince the natural Powers are
ftill continued, tho' our perverfe Inclinations
(which is indeed our moral Impotence) are
continually carrying us to difobey thefe Com-
mands.
E 3
Shall
54
Queft. I. Is Mankind
Shall it be faid again, though we break
the Laws of our Maker fo frequently, yet
he knows the Weakneſs of our Frame, and
he pities and pardons infirm and feeble Crea-
tures, where there is any Defire to pleaſe
him, though their Difobedience be very fre-
quent.
But in answer to this, I would fay, First,
It is the New Covenant, or Covenant of
Grace, which holds forth God as pitying and
pardoning his finful Creatures; not the Law
of Creation or Innocence, by which all Men
are condemned for Sin.
Secondly, I would enquire, Did God
make fuch Creatures fo infirm and feeble in
their original State, as that they fhould fo
frequently and continually offend their Maker,
and want Forgivencís? Did he give them
fuch a Law to govern their Actions, as fhould
never, never be fulfilled by any one of them,
but ſhould be daily and conftantly broken by
them; and that the new-made Creature fhould
want daily and continual Pardon? Would
a God, who adjusts the Proportions of all
Things in infinite Wifdom, give a Law to
his Creatures which is fo difproportionate to
their original Powers, that even in the State
of their Creation they are almoſt under fome
fort of Neceflity of breaking it, and ftand in
need of daily and repeated Forgiveness? Does
not all this View of Things give us abundant
Conviction that Mankind is now a degene-
rate
a Degenerate Creature?
55
rate Being, and not fuch as it was firft created
by that wife, that righteous, and that merci-
ful God who made it?
If thoſe who are moft unwilling to acknow-
ledge this univerfal and early Depravation of
Man, would look into themſelves daily, and
obferve all the finful and irregular Turns of
their own Heart, how ready and propenſe
they are to Sin and Folly in greater or leffer
Inſtances, how foon Appetite and Paffion
ſtart up in oppofition to Reaſon and Con-
fcience, how often they prevail over their
better Sentiments, how frequently the per-
fect Demands of the Law of God are broken
by them, how thoughtless and forgetful they
are of their divine Maker and Governor, how
cold and languifhing their Affections to what
is religions and holy, how little Love they
have to Truth, how little delight in Virtue
by Nature,how averfe to commune with God,
while they are fond and violent in purſuit of
Trifles and Follies; could any of them think
that they are fuch innocent and holy Crea-
tures as God at firft had created us, and that
they have been fuch from their Childhood or
their Entrance into the Life and State of Man?
Surely a little more frequent and accurate
Obfervations of their own Heart would lead
them into a better Acquaintance with them-
ſelves, and convince them feelingly that there
was fome early Degeneracy from the firſt
Recitude of Human Nature.
E 4
IX.
56
Queſt. I. Is Mankind
IX. Another Proof of the Degeneracy and
Fall of Mankind is this, that they have not
only loft their Innocence and the Image of
their Maker, and their original Sufficiency
of Power to fulfill the Demands of his Law,
but they alfo lie evidently under his actual
Diſpleaſure, which could not be their primæ-
val State.
As we have taken a fhort View of
the Sins of Men, let us alfo briefly furvey the
Miferies of Mankind, and fee whether they
look like a Race of Beings fuch as their Cre-
ator made them, or are Partakers of his origi-
nal Favour.
Think of the Thousands of rational Crea-
tures defcending hourly to Death and the
Grave. Among theſe a few are deftroy'd by
fome fudden Stroke; but far the greater Part
go thither by painful and flow Approaches?
Death and the Grave, a fore Punishment! a
dark and fhameful Prifon! which would ne-
ver have been made for a Race of intellectual
Creatures, perfifting in the Beauty and Honour
of their Innocence and Virtue, and abiding
in the original Favour of him that gave them
Life and Being. Death is the Wages of
Sin; and from this Puniſhment of Sin there
is none of the Race of Men can plead a Free-
dom, or claim a Diſcharge.
If Mankind had ftood in their original fin-
lefs State, can we ever fuppofe that any of
them ſhould have been made Sacrifices to
Death?
a Degenerate Creature?
57
:
Death Much lefs that every one of them
fhould be bound to certain Deftruction? and
eſpecially that half their Race fhould have
been doom'd to die before feven Years old,
i. e. before they reach a tenth Part of the
preſent Age of Man, or have done any thing
in Life worth living for? Did God make
rational Creatures to deftroy them by Mil-
lions? Were Men at firft made for Death?
Methinks every Hillock of Mortality in a
Church-yard, and every Grave-ftone there
affures us that Mankind have loft their Inno-
cence.
But let us proceed to other Miſeries that
attend us in Life-time, many of which end in
Death and Diffolution, and all haften us down
to the Grave.
Think next of the Multitudes that are
rack'd Day and Night on their Couches, with
extreme Torture, by the Gout and Stone,
the Cholick and Rheumatism, and all man-
ner of acute and painful Diſeaſes; and then
fay, Are theſe the Torments which a merci-
ful God could ever contrive for a finlefs Crea-
ture? Think of the difmal and deftructive
Scenes of Warfare and Bloodshed, that have
one time or another over-fpread all Na-
tions. Does not Nature furnifh this World
with Woes enough, or does not Mankind
die faft enough, but they muft wound and
flaughter each other? Caft your Thoughts
over a Field of Battle, where thouſands of
fuch
58
Queft. I. Is Mankind
fuch noble Creatures as Man are deſtroy'd
like Brutes, are flain by mutual Hatred, and
periſh by ſharp and bloody Strokes, and the
fatal Engines of Death; and many thouſands
more lie on the cold Ground, with their
Fleſh and Limbs battered and torn, wounded
and panting in extreme Anguiſh, and die by
degrees: Are theſe fuch Scenes of Innocence
and Peace as Mankind were made for? Are
theſe the Signals of their Maker's Love, or of
their own original Virtue ?
Yet again, Let us fend our Thoughts thro'
the long Ranks and Files of War. What un-
known Multitudes are bred up to this bloody
Trade, and fell their Lives daily for the Price
of a few Pence, or for a Morfel of Meat and
Suftenance. Multitudes are driven by their
Princes against their will into the Wars, or
dragg'd on by their Leaders to Deftruction
and Death. What Millions are conftrained
to ſtand the Volley of fmall Shot in the Field
of Battle, or to venture up to the Mouths
of Cannon in the Siege of a Town or City?
They are forced to hazard their Limbs and
their Lives, and even their eternal Interefts,
by fighting againſt they know not who, and
deftroying Men they know not why. They
are put under a Neceffity of killing their Fel-
low-Creatures, or being killed by them, be-
cauſe wild and vicious Princes quarrel about
the Bounds of their Dominion, or about fome
Trifles of State and Impertinencies of Honour.
Some
a Degenerate Creature?
59
Some of them who have any Remains of
Confcience, are forced to fight againſt their
own beft Interefts of Liberty and Property,
as well as againſt the Intereft of God and
Goodneſs. Whole Nations are thus appointed
to Slaughter by the tyrannical Laws of thofe
that rule over them in various Parts of the
World; and fometimes there are but very
few in a whole Country that are excuſed from
bearing Arms and entering into theſe diſmal
and deathful Circumftances, when their Em-
perors fhall tell them that their Humour or
Pleaſure requires it. Would this have been
the Fate of Mankind if they had ftood in per-
fect Innocence, or if all Nations were now
born in their original Purity?
Think of the vaft Numbers that are fwal-
lowed up in the mighty Waters by the Rage
of ſtormy Winds and Seas, which are rouzed
to deſtroy Mortals, and pronounce aloud the
Wrath of Heaven. Review a little what im-
menfe Multitudes have been fwept away by
the Peftilence, or have had their Nature and
Life worn out by the long and tedious Ago-
nies of Famine? Would Famine and Pefti-
lence, with all the diſmal Train of lingring
Horrors which attend them, have been ever
made for innocent Creatures, to have thus
ſwept away whole Nations of them, of every
Age and Sex, Men, Women, and Children,
without diſtinction ?
Think
60
Queft. I. Is Mankind
ki Think yet again, what Numbers of Man-
nd have been crufh'd into Mifery and Death,
in their own Dwellings, and buried there by
Earthquakes, or have had all their Bones
bruiſed, their Limbs disjointed and broken,
and their Fleſh painfully batter'd by the Fall
of Houſes, and been buried alive in the Ruins
of whole Towns and Villages, while their
Neighbours have been burnt or drown'd in
multitudes, by the difmal Eruptions of Fire
and Water, or deftroyed terribly by Deluges
of liquid Fire, breaking out of the Earth?
Survey thefe Scenes of Horror, and then ſay,
Would a God of Goodneſs and Juſtice treat
innocent Creatures at this rate, or expoſe
them to theſe formidable Miſchiefs?
Carry your Thoughts over the Seas to the
Country of Cannibals and other Savages,
where by the Cuſtom of Nations, thouſands
of their conquered Enemies, or Prifoners of
War, are ſometimes cruelly put to death, to
pave the Road to their own Palaces with their
Sculls, or they are offered in Sacrifice to their
Idols; fometimes they are roaſted in flow
Fires, as I before hinted, and tortur'd and
eaten by their barbarous Conquerors: add
this to all the former Miferies, and then fay,
whether this World does not look like a
Province half-forfaken of its gracious Go-
vernor, or almoft given up to Miſchief and
Mifery.
Some
a Degenerate Creature?
61
Some perhaps will fay here, It is eaſy to
account for a multitude of thefe Miferies,
without any univerfal Degeneracy or Corrup-
tion of human Nature. It is but a fmall Part
of Mankind who are overwhelm'd by Earth-
quakes, who are drown'd in the Seas, who
are deſtroy'd by War or Famine, who are
rack'd with long and terrible Diftempers, who
are caten by Savages, or put to death by the
hands of Violence and Cruelty; and per-
haps theſe who ſuffer peculiar Afflictions are
puniſhed for their own perfonal Iniquities.
Anfw. Take a juft Survey of all the Per-
fons who have fallen under thefe Miſeries,
and there is not the leaft Reaſon to conclude
they have all been Sinners above others. Do
not the Calamities of War, and Famine, and
Peftilence, and Earthquakes, and Inunda-
tions, &c. fpread promifcuouſly without
Diftinction thro' a whole Country at once,
and involve the beft and the worft of Men in
the fame Mifery and Ruin? And is there any
Ground to imagine, that thofe fpreading
Devaſtations make any Diftinction between
greater and leffer Sinners? No, by no means.
It is fufficiently evident that all Perfons arc
liable to them, and whole Nations at once
fuffer by them. Such is the univerfal Dege-
neracy of human Nature, that wherefocver
thefe Calamities come, they find none inno-
cent; and it is the general Situation of dege-
nerate Mankind under juft Diſpleaſure of the
God
1
62
Queft. I. Is Mankind
God that made them which expoſes them all
to theſe Deſtructions.
But to proceed in a Survey of the Miſeries
of Mankind. Think of the innumerable
common Misfortunes which attend human
Life; look into the Bills of Mortality, ob-
ferve what Multitudes perifh by theſe Acci-
dents in one City every Week, and infer
what a much larger Number of theſe Acci-
dents injure the Health, the Eaſe, the Limbs
of Mankind, and fill their Lives with Pain,
tho' they are not brought immediately to the
Grave. Think of the Miſchiefs which are
continually plotting and contriving in all the
Towns and Villages of the World, whereby
perhaps one half of the Race of Men try to
defraud, circumvent, and do injury and mif-
chief to their Neighbours; and the Bad and the
Good ſuffer promifcoufly in this World in
their Poffeffions and Properties, in their
Comforts of Life, in their Peace, in their
Health, and in all that is dear to them. Take
a View of thefe extenfive and reigning Vices.
and Miferies, and then fay, whether this
World be not a Part of the Creation of God,
which bears plain and fignal Tokens of the
Frowns and Difpleafure of its Maker.
It would add much to the Heap of human
Mifery, if we fhould confider the cutting
Sorrows which arife from the daily Lofs of
our dearest Comforts. What Groans and
Heart-aches and Wailings of the Living fur-
3
round
a Degenerate Creature? 63
round the Pillows of dying Friends and dearer
Children? What Symptoms of piercing and
painful Diftrefs attend their Remains when
they are conveyed to the Grave? And by ſuch
Loffes all the Comforts of future Life become
difreliſhing, and every new Scene of Sorrow
is imbittered with double Gall.
Let it be obſerved, that in the Sorrows,
Miferies and Deaths of Mankind round the
World, especially in the more civilized Part
of it, there is fcarce one Perfon fick, or in
pain, miſerable, or dying, but ſeveral others
ſuſtain a confiderable fhare of Mifery by the
ftrong Tyes of Nature, or of Intereft, the
dear Bonds of Friendſhip, and the tender and
ſympathizing Powers which are mingled in
our Compoſition. This diffufes a perfonal
Calamity thro' whole Families, this multi-
plies human Sorrows and Miferics into a new
and endleſs Number, and makes us juftly en-
quire, can all this be contrived to torment
Innocence and Holinefs, or to punifh Crea-
tures who continue fuch as God made them
at firft?
It would ftill fwell the Load, if we bring
in the many teizing Vexations and cutting
Diſappointments which arife from the Falf-
hood of pretended Friends, and from the
Cruelty of Kindred, from whom we expected
nothing but Benevolence and Love, together
with the everlafting Difquietudes that are
rifing in fome Families hourly from little
croffing
64
Queft. I. Is Mankind
croffing Occurrences of Life.
Can this be a
State of Happineſs, where we meet with per-
petual Contradiction to our Opinions and to
our Wills, which awaken the Soul too often
into Rage and Impatience, and ruffle the Spi-
rits of moft Men ?
Add to all this the inward Anguifh that
fprings from all our own uneafy and unruly
Paflions of every kind: And where is the
Breaft that has not fome of theſe uneafy Paf-
fions born with it, and reigning in it, or at
leaft frequently making their Affaults upon
our Peace? Bring in here all the Wrath and
Resentment kindled in the Hearts of Men, all
the Envy and Malice that burns within, all
the imaginary Fears and the real Terrors of
future Diftrefs coming upon us, all the Rage
and Defpair of loft Bleffings that were put
within our Hopes, and all the vicious and
ungovernable Ferments of Animal Nature
which torment the Spirit all the Day, and for-
bid our nightly Repofe. Would theſe things
ever have happened if Man had continued
in favour with his Maker, and had not been
almoft abandoned to his own Folly, and in a
great meaſure given up to Mifery?
Suppoſe it ſhould be objected here againſt
all this Reaſoning, in fome fuch manner as
this: It is granted that Men may make Sor-
rows for themſelves, and may be punifhed
by their Follies, if they chufe to create their
own Miferies: But let us compare together
all
a Degenerate Creature?
65
all the real neceffary Sorrows which any Man
fuffers, and the Comforts which he enjoys,
and when we have put them into the Balance,
let us remember, that fo far as thefe Com-
forts reach, they will anſwer for an equal
fhare of Sorrows and Calamities, and abfolve
the Juftice of God from treating his innocent
Creatures amifs. Then all the over-balancing
Sorrows may be efteemed but neceffary even
for an innocent Race of Beings to ſuſtain, in
a State of Trial, in order to future Rewards
or Punithments: And the Great God well
knows how to reward all that Over-balance
of Sufferings hereafter, which every Man fu-
ftains here beyond the Proportion of his
Comforts.
In answer to this, I would furvey the fin-
ful and wretched Inhabitants of this World
round the Globe, and then humbly inquire,
Doth one quarter of Mankind behave fo well
in this World in their State of Trial, as to
give any obferving Perſon reaſon to expect,
that they fhall ever partake of Rewards here-
after? Is there found among Mankind fuch a
dutiful and obedient Conduct towards God,
ör fuch a Life of ftrict Virtue and Goodneſs
towards their Neighbour, as to entitle one
fourth Part of Men to the Rewards of Futu-
rity, and conſequently to any equal Recom-
pence hereafter for the former Over-balance
of their Sorrows here? And if not, how
then ſhall this fame Over-balance of Cala-
mities
F
66
Is Mankind
Queſt. I.
mities and Miferies be accounted for? It is
'confeft that it was inflicted on them as inno-
cent Creatures in a State of Trial, and there-
fore Juftice requires that they fhould have a
Recompence for theſe over-balancing Sor-
rows, which yet they are never likely to
receive.
Upon the whole therefore we cannot well
impute the fuperior Sorrows of Mankind
meerly to fuch a State of Probation; but they
are rather to be accounted for as the Effects
of fome univerfal Degeneracy, and the juft
Diſpleaſure of the righteous Creator and Go-
vernor of this World.
But to make this appear yet plainer, I
proceed to the next Confideration.
in
X. Not only thoſe who are grown up
the Practice of Iniquity, who may be fup-
poſed to be puniſhed for their own Sins and
Follies, but even all Mankind in their earlieſt
Infancy are under fome Tokens of the Dif
pleaſure of their Maker, before they become
actual and perfonal Tranfgreffors, before they
know any thing of moral Good or Evil, or
can come into a State of Trial.
In the very youngeſt Hours of Life, be-
fore Children can be faid to perform rational
Actions, or to commit actual Sins, they are
fubject to a thouſand Miſeries; which fhews
them to be a Race of Beings out of Favour
with their Maker, and under his Diſpleaſure
even
a Degenerate Creature?
6ry
ཨ་
even from their Birth: For can we think a
God of perfect Goodneſs, Wiſdom and Equi-
ty, would bring fuch Infant-Beings into Exi-
ſtence to feel fuch Calamities in the complete
Innocence of ſpotleſs Nature?
What Anguiſh and Pain are Infants fome-
times expofed to, even as they are coming
into the World, and as foon as they are en-
tered into it? What Agonies await their
Birth? what numerous and acute Maladies,
what deplorable Diſeaſes are ready to attack
them? What Gripes, what Convulfions of
Nature, what cutting Anguifh, what Pangs
and inward Torments, which bring fome of
them down to Death, as foon as they have
feen the Light of this World a few Hours or
Days? And if they furvive the first three or
four Months of Danger, what unknown Tor-
ture do they find in the breeding of their
Teeth, and other Maladies of Infancy, which
can be told only by Shrieks and Tears, and
that for whole Days and Nights together,
while they are lingering on the very Borders
of Death? What additional Pains and Sorrows
do they fuftain fometimes by the Negligence
or Poverty of their Mothers, and by the
Cruelty of Nurſes? What fore Bruifes and
unhappy Injuries, whereby many of them are
brought down to the Grave, either on a fud-
den, or by flow and painful Degrees?
Do we not fhudder with a fort of Sym-
pathy and Compaffion, when we read of
F 2
Chil-
68
Queft. I. Is Mankind
Children falling into the Fire, and lying there
in helpleſs Screams 'till their Limbs are burnt
off, or their Lives expire in the Flames? Or
when they drop into fcalding Veffels of fome
boiling Liquid, whereby they refign their
Souls in extreme Anguiſh? Are not all our
tendereſt Powers ſhock'd and pained when
we hear of Infants left on their Couches, or
in their Cradles, by poor Parents for an Hour
or two, while Dogs or Hogs have gnawed off
their Fleſh from their Bones, and they have
been found in dying Agonies and Blood?
And what fhall we fay of whole Nations in
elder Times, or the Hottentots in our Age,
who expoſe their Children in the Woods
when they cannot or will not maintain them,
to be torn and devoured by any Savage Beaft
that paffes by? Are theſe little young Crea-
tures counted perfectly innocent and guiltless
in the Eyes of that God, who by his Provi-
dence leaves them to be expoſed to ſo diſmal
a Fate ?
Add to all this the common Calamities in
which theſe Infants are involved, when Fires,
or Earthquakes, or Peftilences rage thro' a
whole Town or City, and Multitudes of them
being helpleſs perifh with extreme Pain. And
there are a thouſand other Accidents that at-
tend theſe little Creatures, whereby their
Members or their natural Powers receive
difmal Injuries, and perhaps they drag on
Life with Blindneſs, Deafnefs, Lameness, or
Diftor-
a Degenerate Creature?
69
Diſtortion of Body or Limbs; fometimes
they languiſh on to Manhood, and fome-
times Old Age, under Miferies and fore Ca-
lamities, which began almoſt as foon as their
Being, and which are only ended by Death.
Now as theſe Sorrows and Death cannot
be ſent upon them in a way of Correction for
their perſonal and actual Sins (for they have
none) fo neither are they fent for the Trial
of their Virtue, or as any part of a moral
State of Probation; for they have no Reaſon
in Exerciſe, no Knowledge of Good and
Evil, and are uncapable of Virtue as well
as Vice, or any moral Probation in their
early Infancy and State of Ignorance; yet
we ſee Multitudes of thefe little miferable
Beings; and are they treated as the innocent
harmleſs Creatures of a God of Love and
Compaffion? Amidst all theſe ſurrounding
Scenes of Danger and Diſtreſs do they look
like young Favourites of Heaven? Or rather
do they not ſeem to be a little fort of Cri-
minals under fame general Curfe and Pu-
niſhment?
If Mankind had ftood in their original In-
nocence, furely their Infant Offspring would
have entered into the World under fome ge-
neral Word of Bleffing. The God who
made the firſt Parents of Mankind muft cer-
tainly have bleffed them, in feveral other re-
ſpects, as well as in faying, Be fruitful, and
multiply, and replenish the Earth: And
F 3
their
70
Queft. I. Is Mankind
their Infants would have been born like little
young Angels, ever eafy and fmiling in a Per-
fection of Innocence, and in Circumſtances
of Pleaſure and they would have grown up
by many little Efforts of Goodnefs to the ful-
ler Knowledge and Love of their Maker, and
the Practice of every Virtue, furrounded
with the Comforts and Satisfactions of an
Infant State, and guarded from every Mif-
chief by a kind and watchful Providence.
But alas, the Cafe of Children is quite the
Reverſe of this Purity and Peace. Survey
the Dangers and Miſeries juft mentioned, and
fay, Are theſe provided to receive young An-
gels juft entering into Being? Were thefe
Maladies and Griefs and Groans prepared to
feize a Race of little Angels coming into our
World? If Seraphs and Cherubs had been
made to propagate in our Manner, would
the great and good God have provided fuch
Scenes of Pain and Peril, Diſeaſe and Death,
to have met their young blooming Offspring
at the very Gates of Life, and to have at-
tended them all their way, or would he
have fent them fo foon, and in fuch vaſt
Multitudes, to Death and Darkness? Would
God have ever appointed a Race of Infant-
Angels to have entered into Being in the
midſt of fuch Infelicities, and have fent more
than half of them to Deftruction again, be-
fore they arrived at the Exerciſe of their in-
tellectual Powers, or had feen or done, or
enjoyed
3
זי
a Degenerate Creature?
71
enjoyed any thing worth living for? Yet this
is the wretched Cafe of the Offspring of
Mankind in every Generation.
It has been Objected here, that theſe Suf-
ferings of Children may be for the Correc-
tion and Puniſhmenr of the Sins of their
Parents.
But the Answer is evident, (viz.) Can
a God of Equity and Juftice inflict fuch Suf-
ferings on Children without any fuch Con-
ftitution whereby the Sins of Parents may
be as it were tranflated, or imputed to the
Children, as I have fhewn in the following
Parts of this Book?
Befides, many of the Parents of theſe fuf-
fering Children may be dead, or abfent, fo
as never to know it: How can it then be a
Correction or Puniſhment for their Parents
Sin, any other ways than as it is a general
Puniſhment for the Sin of their firft Parent?
I know fome have pretended to account
for all thefe Calamities of the Infant Race of
Mankind by ſaying roundly, that God re-
wards them fufficiently in another World for
a few Years Pain here, when he takes them
to Heaven.
But I answer, Are all Children which die
fecured of Heaven either by Reaſon or Scrip-
ture? If the Infant Seed of Abraham and his
pious Followers are taken to dwell with God
as their God, are the Children of wicked
Parents as happy too? Are you fure they are
F 4
not
72 Queft. I. Is Mankind
not ſubject to any Pains hereafter? or that
their Souls are not annihilated at Death?
And upon either of theſe Suppofitions there
is no Recompence for the Pains they fuffer.
Befides, a Multitude of thefe grow up to
mature Years, and if they fhould prove wicked
at laft and be ſent to Hell, what Recompence
have they for their Infant-Sufferings? Or will
you fay, that God actually puniſhed them be-
fore they had finned, and while they were in-
nocent, becauſe he knew before-hand they
would fin? Is this God's way of dealing
with his Creatures? Doth Reafon, or doth
Scripture give us any Hint of this kind?
And yet further, how can any Creature
know what they are puniſhed for? And what
wife or good Defign can this their Punifh-
ment obtain, when no Creature can know
what they are puniſhed for in their Infancy,
if it be not for fome univerfal Degeneracy
of all the Race?
But becauſe I would answer all the Ob
jections I can think of which have the Ap-
pearance of Reaſon, I would proceed in this
Work.
Againſt all theſe Reprefentations of human
Infelicity and Mifery, in elder or younger
Years, perhaps fome Perfons may make this
Remonftrance: Is not the Great God infinite
in Goodneſs? Do not his tender Mercies
fpread over all his Works? Does not that
Mofes, the Jewish Lawgiver, who has been
cited
a Degenerate Creature ? 73
cited and called to atteft the Miſeries of Man,
does he not reprefent God as merciful and
gracious, abundant in Goodness? How is
this confiftent with fuch Miferies reigning
among his Creatures?
I answer, If we confider Mankind as a fin-
ful degenerate Part of God's Creation, 'tis
moſt abundant Goodneſs that they have any
Comforts left, and that their Miſeries are not
doubled: Now Mofes and the Jewish Writers
do confider Mankind as fallen from God,
and fo his Goodneſs is evident in a thouſand
Inftances tho' it muſt be confeft there are
alfo thouſands of Inftances of his juft Hatred
of Sin, and his righteous Puniſhments ſcat-
tered all round this World among all Nations
and all Ages of Men.
¿
Some have been ſo weak as to reckon up
a large Catalogue of the Inftances of Divine
Bounty and Goodneſs in this lower World,
and add thereto the Revelation and Propoſal
of his Saving Grace; and they would make
this as evident a Proof that Mankind ftands
in the Favour of God, as all the other Inftan-
ces of the Miſeries of Human Life can be any
Proof of an univerfal Degeneracy of Men,
and the Anger of God againſt them.
But it is very eafy to reply, that the Good-
neſs of God may incline him to beſtow a
thouſand Bounties and Graces upon Crimi-
nals and their whole Race; but I think his
Justice and Goodneſs will not fuffer him to
inflict
74
Queft. I Is Mankind
inflict Miſeries in fuch a univerfal Manner,
where there has been no Sin to deſerve them,
either in Parents or Children, in Head or
Members, in themſelves or their Reprefenta-
tive, as will appear in what follows hereaf
ter; but I would not anticipate my Deſign,
and bring in this before its time.
XI. If we collect and put together all theſe
Scenes of Iniquity, Folly, and Wretchedness,
even among the better Sort of Men as well
as the worſt, and that even in younger Years,
as well as in more advanced Age, and take a
Survey of them in their total Sum, it is fuf-
ficiently evident that Creatures lying in fuch
finful and miferable Circumftances, difobe-
dient to God and under his Diſpleaſure, are
not fuch as they came out of the Hands of
their Creator, who is wife and righteous,
holy and good. His Wifdom, which is all
Harmony and Order, would never fuffer him
to frame ſuch a vaſt Multitude, fuch a whole
Species of Beings under fuch wild and innu-
merable Diſorders both natural and moral:
His Holiness would never permit him to
create Beings with fuch innate and powerful
Principles of Iniquity; nor would his infinite
Goodness allow him to produce a whole Rank
and Order of Creatures in fuch Circumftan-
ces of Pain, Agony, Torment and Death, if
they were to be efteem'd his pure, innocent
and
a Degenerate Creature?
75
and holy Workmanſhip, juft come out of his
facred Hands.
Can we ever reaſonably fuppofe, that the
holy and bleſſed God would originally defign
and frame a whole World of intelligent and
rational Creatures in fuch Circumſtances, as
that every one of them coming into Being,
according to the Laws of Nature, in long
fucceffive Ages, in different Climates, of dif-
ferent Tempers and Conftitutions, under
different Influences, having greater or leffer
Advantages for Wiſdom, Virtue, and Hap-
pineſs; and in ten thouſand thouſand diffe-
rent Stations and Conditions of Life: I fay,
can we fuppofe that they ſhould all break the
Laws of their Reaſon, and defile themſelves
with Sin in greater or lefs Degrees, fhould
all feel their Appetites and Paſſions ſo often
contrary to Reaſon, and yet prevailing over it,
that they ſhould all fo far offend againſt their
Maker, all become guilty in his Sight, and
be all expofed more or lefs to his Diſpleaſure,
to Pain and Miſery, and Mortality, without
one fingle Inftance or Exception that we
know of to the contrary? If Mankind were
fuch Creatures as God at firft made them,
can we fuppofe that not one Man among fo
many Millions fhould make fo right and pro-
per a Ufe of his Reafon and Confcience as to
avoid Sin and Death? Can we think, that
this ſhould be the univerfal Confequent of
their original State and Conftitution, as they
are
76
Queſt. I. Is Mankind
are fram'd by the Hand of a wife, and holy,
and merciful God? This, I fay, is fuch an
abfurd Thing, as no reaſonable Man can
fuppofe. Surely God made Man upright and
happy, and all thefe Mifchiefs could never
come directly from our Creator's hand.
Perhaps here it may be objected again,
That this univerfal Condemnation of Man-
kind as it were by wholeſale, and laying them
all under fuch a Charge of Guilt and Wretch-
edneſs without Exception, is more than our
Experience or Obfervation will allow. 'Tis
acknowledged that many are now guilty, and
many are miſerable, though they were born
innocent, and not degenerate; but ftill a far
greater part of Men have more moral Good
than Evil in them, and have more Pleaſure
than they have Pain; and therefore upon the
whole, Mankind must not be pronounced
a finful and a miferable Being: And if God
has appointed ſuch a Conſtitution as is beſt in
the whole View of Things, and is favourable
to the Majority of the Human Race, or the
Bulk of the World; this is fufficient to vin-
dicate the Juftice of God; and then the few
Sufferers have no Reaſon to complain. Do
we not find it thus under the beſt of human
Laws and Conftitutions, that fome Perfons
who were once innocent will grow wicked?
And that even fome innocent Perfons may be
laid under unavoidable Hardſhips or Suffer-
ings? Yet all Law-givers account thofe to be
juſt
a Degenerate Creature?
77
juft Conſtitutions, which provide for the
Welfare of the Bulk of the Subjects, though
here and there will be an unhappy Inſtance
of Guilt and Miſery.
To this Objection I would offer theſe three
Anfwers.
Anf. 1. In order to pronounce a Man mi-
ferable, it is granted he muſt have more Pain
than Pleafure; but in order to pronounce a
Man a Sinner, there is no Neceflity that his
moral Evil fhould exceed his Good, or his
Vices tranfcend his Virtues. If a Man had
a hundred Virtues, one Vice in the fight of
God would pronounce him a Criminal; one
evil Action would break the Law of his
Maker, and lay him under his Maker's juſt
Diſpleaſure. He that keeps almoſt all the
Law of God, and offends in one Point, af-
fronts that Authority which requires all Obe-
dience: So that all the Race of Man are cer-
tainly under this Condemnation, That they
are Sinners every one of them; and, confe-
quently, expofed to the Anger of him that
made them. And thus with regard to their
Sinfulness my Argument ftands in full force.
As for Mifery, let it be allowed for the
preſent (though it is by no means granted,)
That there are many Perfons whofe Plea-
fures exceed their Uneafineffes; yet 'tis cer-
tain that there are great Numbers alfo of
Man-
78
Queft. I. Is Mankind
Mankind whoſe Pains or Uneafineffes, wifely
and justly compared with their Pleaſures, will
appear far to exceed them; and it is hard to
ſay how this ſhould come to paſs, if Mankind“
were all innocent and happy by Nature, as
they are now born into the World. Their
univerfal Sinfulness therefore, and the Mifery
of Multitudes, muft conclude them all under
fome ſpreading Degeneracy.
Anf. 2. What though the Makers of hu-
man Laws are not able to frame fuch Confti-
tutions in every Cafe, which fhall certainly
fecure Happiness to all the Innocent? This is
becauſe their narrow Views of Things and
their fhort Forefight of future Events, will
not enable them in making Laws to provide
againſt all future Inconveniences, nor to fe-
cure the Innocent always from Injury: But
we muſt not think nor ſpeak thus of the Di-
vine Law-giver, the Creator and the Gover-
nor of all Things: He grafps at once all Pof-
fibles as well as all Futures in his preſent
View, and therefore he can guard againſt
any Injury that might befall innocent Be-
ings; nor will divine Juftice, in my Opi-
nion, fuffer any Miſchief to light upon any
individual Innocent without equal Recom-
pence, for the Judge of all the Earth will
do right.
Ans.
a Degenerate Creature?
79
Anf. 3. Tho' the Bulk of Mankind in the
prefent Conftitution of Things could be
prov'd to be happy, by their Pleaſures exceed-
ing their Pains, yet this gives no manner of
Satisfaction to any one Individual, who fuf-
fers Mifery under the fame Conftitution with-
out any Demerit. Every intelligent and in-
nocent Individual has the fame Right to his
Maker's Regard in point of Juftice, as if there
were no other Creature but He: And the
Advantage or Happineſs of the Majority is no
Reaſon at all why any one innocent Indivi-
dual ſhould ſuffer any Injury or Injuſtice by
the Conftitution which God has made.
And therefore if God had conftituted any
thing in his Creation or Providence, which
would bring the leaft Injury, or unjuſt Pain or
Lofs on any individual, fenfible, or intelli-
gent Being entirely innocent, I think his Ju-
ftice would oblige him to interpoſe, and to
prevent that Injury, or to compenfate it with
fome fuperior Good. If any one therefore
whether Man or Child, among the Race
of Mortals, and eſpecially if a confiderable
Number of them, have more Pain than
Pleaſure, they muſt be fuppofed to be in-
volved in fome Guilt, or fome fatal Degene-
racy, which may give juft Occafion to their
Mifery.
XI.
80
Queſt. I. Is Mankind
XII. To give a little further Force to this
Argument, after the Survey of all theſe Pains,
Sorrows, and Miferies, let us confider what
poor, low, forry Pleaſures the Bulk of Man-
kind are in purſuit of, to relieve them under
this Train of Wretchedness, and then ask,
Whether theſe are ſuited to a Race of intelli-
gent and innocent Creatures? Let us ſtoop
down a Moment and caft a Glance at the
Sports of Children, from five to fifteen Years
of Age; what have all thefe little Toys and
Fooleries in them that would be fit for young
Angels dreft in Flesh and Blood? Would fo
many Years of early Life have been wafted in
fuch mean and trifling Diverfions by a Race
of holy and rational Beings? And how much
early Iniquity and Miſchief in Thought, Word
and Action, is mingled with thefe Sportings
among the younger Tribes of Mankind, God
only knows.
As for the manly Tears of Life, what are
the greateſt Parts of the Delights of Men, but
either fooliſh and irrational Satisfactions, or
down-right finful? What are the Pleaſures of
the Rich and the Great, to relieve them un-
der the common Sorrows of Life? If it be
not profufe Luxury and Intemperance, which
is often the Cafe, yet is it not Grandeur and
Magnificence, Furniture and Equipage, Fine-
ry of Dreſs and gay Appearances, whereby
they take a pride to fhew themſelves ſuperior
to
a Degenerate Creature?
81
to the reſt of their Species? And when they
fhine in Silks of various Dye, and blaze amidſt
the Splendor of Gold and Jewels; this is the
vain Satisfaction of moft of them, to look
down upon their Fellow-Creatures with Airs
of Vanity and Contempt, and build up a
fwelling Idea of themſelves, as though their
outward Clothing and Appearance added reál
Excellency to their Character. Would inno
ccnt and rational Creatures have made this
a Matter of their Boat and Pleaſure, My Goat
is gayer than yours, and I have more foining
Things round about me than you have?
Others, again, in the midst of the common
Calamities of Life, divert themfelves with
Gaming and with Childish Sports. Whether
Cards and Dice be the Utenfils of their Chil-
diſh Play, to divert their Troubles and pafs
away Time, or whether thefe Implements be
the Engines of Covetousness, to deprive their
Neighbour of what he poffeffes; yet under
both theſe Aſpects they are but a förry Relief
for a Race of holy and innocent Beings,
fhould they fall under fome unhappy Acci-
dents. How trifling are thefe Sports where
mere Delight and Diverfion are fought? But
if the Deſign be Lucre, how is the Game
mingled with covetous Hopes and Wifhes,
with uneafy Fears, with the working of
wretched inward Paffions, which fometimes
break out into Wrath and Fury, and Vexa-
tions under Loffes and Difappointments?
G
Again,
82 Queft. I. Is Mankind
Again, What Multitudes are there that
drench themſelves in grofs Senfualities as
their chief Delight? They make a God of
their Belly, they indulge their Appetite in
every nicer Difh, till they have over-loaded
Nature, and make hafte to Difeafe and Death.
They drink and fwill till they have loſt their
Reaſon, and lay themſelves lower than the
Brutes that periſh. They drown their Cares
in Wine or in coarfer Liquors, or they bury
them in all manner of fenfual Impurities.
Are theſe the Delights that would have been
choſen and fought by Mankind, had they con-
tinued a Race of holy and innocent Beings,
as their God at firft made them?
Others there are that releaſe themſelves
from the Toils and Sorrows of Life, by gad-
ding abroad and mixing with trifling and im-
pertinent Company. Some delight in low
or wanton Jefts, and their Satisfaction lies
in fooliſh Merriment, in mean and trifling
Converſation, a little above the Chattering
of Monkeys in a Wood, or the Chirping of
Crickets upon a Hearth, but not always fo
innocent.
And there is another Set of the Sons and
Daughters of Adam, who are never fo well
fatisfy'd as when they are railing at their
Neighbours, and toffing Scandal abroad they
take every one's Character to pieces, and ſet
it in a hateful Light. From Principles of
mingled Pride and Envy they are hurried on
with
a Degenerate Creature?
83
with pleaſure to murder the Reputation of
their Fellows they caft abroad Firebrands
and Arrows tipt with Slander and Poiſon;
and fay, Am I not in Sport? They delight to
tear their Neighbour's good Name without
mercy. This is their Mirth and Recreation,
this their Satisfaction and Joy; theſe are their
Reliefs againſt the common Miſeries of hu-
man Nature, and their chofen Methods to
paſs away the tireſome Hours of Life.
But would a Race of innocent Beings, if
they ever happen'd to meet with any Acci-
dent of Pain or Sorrow, fly to fuch fort of
mean and fooliſh, or criminal, Refuges as
thefe are? Would they purfue fuch glutton-
ous and drunken Pleaſures, fuch vain or vile
Delights? Would they become Rivals for
Happineſs with the four-footed Beafts of the
Earth, and aim at no higher Felicities? Or
would they ſport themſelves as Devils do, in
accufing their Fellow-Creatures? Surely, if
we take a due Survey of the very Pleasures
of the Bulk of Mankind, as well as of their
Sorrows, we may learn from thence, that we
are by no means fuch Creatures as our pri-
mitive Creation made us, but there is fome
great and univerfal Degeneracy spread over
all the Genarations of Men.
XIII. If I were to add one more Proof of
the general Ruin and Degenerate State of
human Nature, I would obferve, how we
G 3
are
84
Queft. I. Is Mankind
are all poſting to Death and the Grave, and
every one of us are fucceeding our Neigh-
bours in our proper turns into fome un-
known State, fome invifible and future
World, and we profefs to believe this too;
and yet how exceeding few are there amongſt
Mankind who are folicitous about this great
and awful Futurity? Tho' we are expoſed to
ſo many Miſeries, Sins and Follies in the
preſent Life, and are haftening viſibly and
hourly to the End of it, yet how few are
there that make any careful Preparation for
a better State than this, or that feek to ac-
quire a Temper fit for the fuperior Pleaſures
of a World of Spirits, even tho' they believe
this better World? What Multitudes are
running down daily and directly to Death
and Darkneſs, and ſpeeding to an endleſs
Duration in fome unknown Country, with-
out any earneſt Enquiries and Solicitudes of
Soul about their manner of Exiſtence there,
and their final Fate and Doom when this Life
is at an end? They walk over the bufy Stage
of Life, their Souls are filled with the Con-
cerns of Mortality, they toil and labour, or
they play and trifle a while here, fo far as the
Burdens and Calamities of Life will permit
them, and then they plunge with Reluctance
into an unſeen and ftrange World, where
they will meet with a juft and a holy God,
whoſe Wiſdom will affign them a Place and
Portion ſuited to their own Character: But
I
we
a Degenerate Creature?
85
we have reafon to fear by their finful Beha-
viour among Men, that that Portion and that
Place to which the Bulk of Mankind are haften-
ing, is far diftant from the Favour of the
God that made them, and from other holy
and happy Creatures whom he has framed for
the Inhabitants of thoſe Regions. Thus far
our Fears of their future Mifery are but too
juftly awakened.
Now is it poffible, if we were a Race of
pure and innocent Beings made for Immor-
tality, in ſome other World, that God fhould
fuffer the Bulk of Mankind to remain fo ig-
norant and thoughtless of that future State
into which we are all haftening? Would a
good and gracious God leave a Race of fuch
Creatures as he made them, in ſuch a ſtupid
Infenfibility of their eternal Interefts, fo un-
fuited to the Felicities of an immortal Spi-
rit, and fo negligent of all Preparations for
them?
Should fome bleffed Angel of Heaven who
had never known any thing of our Earth,
come down amongst us, or fome Inhabitant
of an innocent Globe, fome Stranger to our
World, defcend from one of God's holy Do-
minions on high, and ſpend a Month or
two in a Survey of all the Iniquities and Mi-
ſeries of the Tribes of Mankind, can we
imagine he would pronounce us holy or
happy? Could he ever believe the holy and
wife, the righteous and the gracious God
G 3
ever
86
Queft. I. Is Mankind
ever put fuch Workmanſhip as we are out of
his Hands for new-made Creatures? Would
he not immediately conclude, there are fo
many Signs of Guilt and Wretchedneſs among
us, as conſtrain him to confefs fome univerfal
Degeneracy and Defolation fallen upon us,
which is utterly unknown to the holy and
happy Provinces of the Empire of the blef
fed God?
A
Upon this whole Survey I think our own
Reaſon muſt needs join in the fame mourn-
ful Confeffion, that fome univerfal Apoftacy
from the Laws of our Creation, fome crimi-
nal Diſorder and Wretchedneſs has fome way
or other come upon the whole Race of Man
kind, fince they firft came out of the Hands
of their Maker: There must be fome ſpread-
ing Poiſon which has tainted our Nature,
which renders us fo prone to Sin, and ſo la-
mentably guilty, fo miferable in the prefent
State, fo thoughtless of the future, and fo
unprepared for it. There must be ſome ge-
neral Revolt of the Race of Man from their
Creator, whereby they have diſturbed, dif
ordered, and broken their original Natures
and Powers, whereby they have ruined their
Innocence and their Peace, and raiſed a moft
unhappy Empire of tyrannical and vexing
Paffions upon the Ruin of them; whereby
they have provoked the Anger of their kind,
wife and holy Maker, and their righteous
Governor, and whereby they become expofed
to
1
a Degenerate Creature?
87
to fuch wretched Circumftances, even in their
Infancy and Childhood, as well as when they
grow to Years of greater Underſtanding: I
think it is evident that a righteous and wife
Governor (even tho' we ſhould not confider his
infinite Goodness) would not ſuffer Creatures
to come into fuch deplorable Circumſtances,
if they were not regarded by him in fome
fort as Criminals: He would not inflict fo
much natural Evil, i. e. Pain and Miſery,
and ſpread it thro' fuch a vaſt Province of
his Dominion, fo univerfally without excep-
tion, nor fuffer it to be inflicted in the
Courſe of his Providence, if it were not
with a Regard to fome general moral Evil,
i. e. Sin.
Will fome Perfons again complain, that in
repreſenting the Sorrows and Miferies of
Mankind, I have here acted the part of a
Satyrift rather than of a Philofopher, and
have fummed together all the Pains, Mif-
chiefs and Diftreffes of human Life without
giving a due Place to the Pleaſures and De-
lights of it, or bringing them into the Ac-
count?
I confeſs that the Great God hath furniſhed
this World, which is the Habitation of Man,
with Multitudes of grateful and pleafing Ob-
jects, to regale his Senſes, to feaſt his Appc-
tites, and to excite his moft agreeable Paf-
fions, which might have been Part of his
Happineſs in a State of Innocence. But now
G 4
the
88
Queft. I. Is Mankind
the unreaſonable Strength and violent Efforts
of theſe Appetites, the finful Bent and Biafs
of his Will, together with the weak Refi-
ſtance againſt vicious Exceffes which is made
by his Reaſon and Confcience, turn every
one of theſe Pleaſures into real Dangers and
Snares. There are but few who indulge
theſe Delights without difhonouring their
Nature, defiling their Souls with Sin, and
breaking the Laws of God; and in the midft
of fo degenerate a State their moſt tempting
Satisfactions and Delights do in a great mea-
fure loſe the Nature of Good or Benefit, be-
caufe of their conftant Danger of plunging
Men into Guilt and Mifery.
Shall I be told again, that there are Mul-
titudes of Men, whofe eafy and peaceful
Circumſtances are much fuperior to their
Troubles and Sorrows, and theſe would upon
the whole be pronounced happy, even if there
were no future State?
Tho' I have anfwered this already, by
fhewing that the Happineſs of the major part
does not vindicate that Conſtitution which
leaves any Individuals under Miſery without
fome original Demerit, yet I will anſwer here
more directly, that if the greateſt part of
Men could ſee Things in their true Light, as
God and Angels regard them, furely the
Bulk of the World would be found on the
miferable Side, whatever particular Excep-
tions might be found among Individuals:
}
and
a Degenerate Creature?
89
and this in general would teach us that the
Inhabitants of this World are not a Race of
happy Beings, fuch as they would have been,
if they had been innocent, or fuch as they
were when they came firft out of the Hands
of their Maker.
But the Inference of our Wretchedness or
Ruin may be pronounced with much more
Strength and Univerfality concerning this
World, if we join the Sins and the Miferies
of Mankind together. If we unite in one
View all the Criminal as well as the Pain-
ful Circumftances which I have repreſented
in theſe foregoing Propofitions, I think it
must be granted, that there is fome univerfal
Ruin and Degeneracy fpread all over human
Nature, and every Individual helps to com-
plete this mournful Sentence and confirm the
Truth of it, that Man is a finful and un
happy Being.
And methinks when I take my jufteft Sur-
vey of this lower World, with all the Inha-
bitants of it, I can look upon it no otherwiſe
than as a huge and magnificent Structure in
Ruins, and turn'd into a Prifon and a Lazar-
houſe or Hoſpital, wherein lie Millions of
Criminals and Rebels against their Creator,
under Condemnation to Miſery and Death;
who are at the fame time fick of a mortal
Distemper, and difordered in their Minds,
even to Diſtraction: Hence proceed thoſe in-
finite Follies and Vices which are continually
practifed
90 Queft. I. Is Mankind
practifed here, and the righteous Anger of an
offended God is vifible in ten thouſand In-
ftances. Yet there are Proclamations of di-
vine Grace, Health, and Life founding a-
mongſt them, either with a louder Voice or in
gentler Whiſpers, though very few of them
take any Notice thereof. But out of this great
Priſon, this Infirmary, there is here and there
one who is called powerfully by Divine Grace,
and attends to the Offers of Reconciliation,
and complies with the Propofals of Peace:
his Sins are pardoned, he is healed of his worft
Diftemper; and tho' his Body is appointed
to go down to the Duft for a Seaſon, yet his
Soul is taken upwards to a Region of Blef
fedneſs, while the Bulk of theſe miſerable and
guilty Inhabitants perish in their own wilful
Madnefs, and by the juft Executions of Di-
vine Anger.
Before I finiſh this general Head I would
ask leave to make one Remark, and that is,
What an unreafonable Thing is it to deny
this Doctrine of the univerfal Depravity and
Corruption of Mankind, and renounce it in
every degree, when it appears fo evident to
our Eyes, and to our Ears, and to our daily
and conftant Obfervation and Experience in
fo many thouſand Inftances? Is it not almoſt
like winking againſt the Light, fince the Pre-
mifes are fo ftrong and glaring, and the In-
ference fo powerfully demands our Affent?
I
1
a Degenerate Creature?
91
I muſt profeſs, that with all the Diligence
and Impartiality with which I am capable of
reviewing what I have written on this uni-
verfal Degeneracy of Mankind, I am not con-
fcious that I have made a falfe Repreſentation
of this Matter, or aggravated it beyond Truth.
The innumerable Miferies, Follies and Mad-
nefs of Mankind, which in various Forms
ftrike our Eyes, our Ears, and our Thoughts
from Day to Day, confirm my Sentiments of
the Doctrine of fome original and univerfal
Fall of Man from the Purity and Glory of his
Creation.
And what is the chief Temptation that
leads fome Men to deny this Doctrine? Is it
not becauſe they cannot give a fatisfactory Ac-
count how to folve fome of the Difficulties
that attend it? Many of the Heathen Philo-
fophers believed it from their own Experience,
and their daily Survey of Mankind, though
they were utterly at a lofs how to account
for it: And what if we could never affign
any fufficient and fatisfactory Reaſon and
Caufe for it, or fhew how this ſpreading De-
gencracy begun, or how it came to take place
fo univerfally amongst Men? What if we
are perplexed and ſtill at a lofs to fatisfy our
own Inquiries, how all this Guilt and Mif
chief came upon us; muft we therefore deny
what we fee, and hear, and feel daily?
.*
Can we account for all the ſecret Things in
the Creation of God, in the World of Me-
teors
92 Queſt. I.
Is Mankind
teors and Minerals, the Vegetables of the Field,
or the Brutes of the Earth, or the Animal Bo-
dy of Man? Does any Man refuſe to believe
that the infinite Variety of Plants and Flowers
in all their beauteous Colours and Forms grow
up out of the fame dark and dirty Soil, be-
cauſe he doth not know all the fecret Springs
of their Vegetation? Do Men doubt of the
Truth of a Loadftone's drawing Iron to it-
ſelf, and making a Needle point to the North,
becauſe they cannot find out the Way of its
Operation? Are we not fure that our Food
nouriſhes our Bodies, and Medicines relieve
our Pains, tho' we are utterly at a lofs to
tell all the Ferments and Motions of thoſe
Atoms by which our Nouriſhment is perfor
med, or our Diſeaſes healed? Can we account
for all the Darkneffes, and appearing Difficul-
ties and Confufions among the Events of Pro-
vidence? Can we diſcover all the Reaſons of
the wife Conduct of God among his Creatures?
No furely, we cannot pretend to it: And yet
fince theſe Matters of Fact, and thefe Events
are obvious to all our Senfes, do we deny and
refuſe to believe thefe Things which are evi-
dent in Creation and Providence, and which
are communicated to us by fo many Springs
and Mediums of Knowledge, merely becauſe
we can't account for the original and fecret
Caufes or Reaſons of them? or becauſe we
cannot reconcile fome croffing Appearances,
and fome jarring Apprehenfions that attend
them?
a Degenerate Creature?
93
them? Why then fhould this univerfal De-
generacy and Ruin of human Nature be de-
ny'd, tho' we cannot remove every Objection
that attends it?
And yet if we will fearch faithfully into
the Cauſes and Springs of this Matter, ſo far
as our natural Reaſon, affifted by the Light
of Revelation, will enable us, we may hope
to find fome Solution of thoſe hard Queſtions,
which may give a degree of Satisfaction to
humble and modeft Minds, tho' perhaps not
fufficient to filence every curious and unrea-
fonable Cavil.
QUESTION
94 Queft. II. Whence came this
GATRES
QUESTION II.
How came this general Degeneracy, Vice,
and Mifery, to overspread Mankind in all
Nations and in all Ages?
T
O find a complete and fatisfactory An-
fwer to this Inquiry is not a very eaſy
Thing. 'Twas a vexing Queſtion among the
ancient Schools of the Heathen Philofophers,
Whence Evil came first among Mankind?
And tho' they had many Gheffes and loofe
Conjectures, yet none of them could give an
account of this Matter to fatisfy the Minds
of ftudious Men. And if we ſhould not hit
upon fuch a Solution of this Difficulty now,
as may on every fide make all things lie quite
ftrait and eaſy, yet if we can but propofe a
way to folve it, which may maintain the Ho-
nour of God, and juftify his Conduct in a
good degree, we may expect the Reader fhould
be candid in his Cenfures, where the matter
of fact is fo evident, and yet the manner of
accounting for it is fo difficult that it has
employed the Wiſdom of great and learned
Men in all Ages with fo doubtful a Succeſs.
To
univerfal Degeneracy?
95
To find an Anſwer to this Queſtion we
fhall not immediately run into Revelation and
Scripture; tho' doubtless we have the moſt
certain and fatisfactory Account of it given
us there; yet fince what the Scripture fays
of this Matter is fo fhort, and is to be de-
rived chiefly from the third Chapter of the
Book of Genefis, and the fifth Chapter to the
Romans, and from fome few other general
Hints that are ſcattered up and down in the
Bible, let us try whether we cannot by a
Train of Reaſonings, with a little Help from
Scripture, find out fome Clew that will lead
us into the Spring and Original of this finful
and miferable State; and afterward we will
inquire whether or no this very Clew of
Reaſoning, this Track of Guilt and Mifery, be
not the fame which Scripture more directly
points out to us, and ftrongly confirms by
all its Sacred and Divine Difcoveries on this
Subject.
In order to trace out this Matter by Rea-
foning, let us begin according to the follow-
ing Propofitions.
Prop. I. This general Degeneracy of Man-
kind (fo far as I can judge) can come upon
them but by one of these three ways; Ei-
ther, (1.) That the Souls of all Men exifted
in a former State, and finned againſt their
Maker there, and are fent to dwell in Bodies
in this World, attended with fuch unhappy
Cir-
96 Queft. II. Whence came this
Circumftances of Sin and Mifery, either as a
natural Confequent of, or as a Puniſhment
for their former Sins in fome other World.
Or, (2.) That one original Parent of them
all finned againſt his Maker, and fuftained the
Miferies confequent upon it in his own Per-
fon firſt, and when he became a Father, he
ſpread a finful aud miferable Nature thro' all
his Race and Offspring by meer natural Pro-
pagation. Or, (3.) Some original Perfon
ftood before God as a common Federal Head
and Repreſentative of Mankind, upon Con-
dition of bringing Happinefs or Mifery on all
the Race according as he behaved, well or ill;
and thro' his Difobedience, Sin and Mifery
came upon all whofe Head he was, or whom
he repreſented. If the two firft will not ſolve
the Difficulty, we fhall be conftrained to take
in the laft. Let us fee how far each will go.
Prop. II. This prefent wretched State of
Things could not arife from the particular
perfonal Sin of all fingle Souls in a former
State before they came into this World: This
prefent univerfal Mifery and Wretchedneſs
could never be appointed as a Puniſhment to
us for our former perfonal Offences againſt
our Maker, for we know nothing of any
fuch former State or former Offences; we
have not the leaft Idea or Remembrance of
it: Now perfonal Guilt cannot be properly
puniſhed by the All-knowing and Juſt God,
where
univerfal Degeneracy?
97
where the Sinner has no Conſciouſneſs nor
Remembrance of the Crime. There muſt be
the fame Mind, the fame Spirit, the fame In-
telligent Self or Perfon, confcious both of the
paſt perſonal Sin, and of the prefent Punifh-
ment, to make it appear to be a proper In-
ftance of the Anger of God for their Sin;
otherwiſe the Ends of perfonal Puniſhment
cannot be anſwered, finning Creatures will
not be made to ſee the Juſtice of their Pu-
niſher, nor can they condemn themſelves as
justly deferving fuch Mifery. Without this
Conſciouſneſs and Remembrance, all our Mi-
feries would be nothing but afflictive Evils
brought on us by our Creator, not as perſonal
Criminals, but as meer Creatures, and confe-
quently not agreeable to the Goodneſs and
Equity of a God.
Prop. III. If this finful and miſerable Con-
dition of Men cannot be fuppoſed to ariſe
from their own perſonal Sins in a pre-exiſtent
State, we may inquire then in the next place
whether it may not be derived from fome ori-
ginal Parent of our Race, who finning againſt
God loft his own Innocence, and therewith
loft his Habit or Principles of Virtue and
Goodnefs; he was expofed to the Diſplea
fure of his Maker, and fell under juft and
grievous Miferies.
Such a primitive Sinner, if he proceeded
to propagate his Offspring according to the
H
com-
98 Queft. II. Whence came this
common Rules or Laws of Nature, muft coni-
municate to them fuch a finful Nature as he
had himſelf, and they will ftand expoſed to
the natural Effects of his Sin, as well as to
all following penal Miferies for their own
Sins. The fame irregular Ferments of Fleſh
and Blood, and fuch corrupt Appetites and
vicious Paflions, will be found in them alfo ;
which ftill grew ftronger before the young
Creatures grew up, fo far as to exerciſe their
Reaſon. And when by degrees they came
to know Good and Evil, and to be capable
of actual Sin, theſe vicious Propenſities did
generally, if not always, overcome their ra-
tional Faculties, did prevail upon their Wills
to a frequent actual Compliance, and led
them away effectually to fin againſt their Ma-
ker, and fo to expofe themfelves more and
more to his Diſpleaſure, and to confirm their
own Habits of Sin.
And thus every one of the Race of Man,
in their fucceffive Seafons of Life, might be-
come perfonally vicious, or deprived of the
holy Image of God, by their defcending
from vicious Parents, and were deprived of
the Favour of God by their own actual Com-
pliances with theſe vicious Propenfities of
Nature, i. e. by actual Iniquities. I think it
may be granted, that this Suppofition will
folve the Difficulty in fome meaſure, and
will go a great way toward an Anfwer to the
prefent Inquiry,
Prop.
univerfal Degeneracy ?
99
Prop. IV. But ftill this in my Opinion
feems hardly fufficient to account for the
Miferics which come upon Children from
their very Birth, for the Pains and Agonies,
and dying Groans, and Death itfelf in their
Infant State, before they are capable of know-
ing or doing Good and Evil, or of commit-
ting actual Sins: And the Reaſon I give for
my Opinion is this; Theſe firſt Tendencies
or Propenfities towards Evil in the Infant
State, even tho' the Soul or Will complies
with them, while there is no poffible Know-
ledge of a Law or Duty, can hardly be called
actual Sins: Nor can Children, while unca-
pable of proper Virtue or Vice, merit fuch
Pains and Agonies of themſelves as they often
fuffer. And I can ſcarce ſuppoſe they would
be thus puniſhed or tormented by a righteous
or wife Governor in their Infant Age, (when
they cannot poffibly commit actual Sin, nor
have any Knowledge of Good or Evil)
meerly upon the account of the neceffary Pro-
pagation of a finful Nature to them from
their Parents, fince they come into this State
by that original Law of Creation and Propa-
gation, which a kind and wife Creator ap-
pointed to his innocent Creatures. I can-
not account for their being treated as Sin-
ners, unless they were fome way involved
in Guilt or Sin, as foon as they are born:
And I do not fee how this can be, unleſs
H 2
they
100 Queſt. II. Whence comes this
they have * Sin fome way imputed to them
by their Intereft in, and Communion with
fome common Federal Head, Surety or Re-
preſentative, who hath actually finned.
Prop. V. I might add alſo, that this natu-
ral Propagation of finful Inclinations from a
common Parent by a Law of Creation feems
difficult to be reconciled with the Juftice and
Goodness of God, unless we fuppoſe that
fome fuch Legal or Federal Guilt and Con-
demnation came upon the Race of Man by
the Misbehaviour of a common Surety or
Head. It feems exceeding hard to fuppofe
that ſuch a righteous and holy God the Cre-
ator, who is alſo a Being of ſuch infinite
Goodneſs, ſhould by a powerful Law and
*
Order
By Sin or Guilt imputed, I do not mean that any Thing or
Action really faulty is charged by way of Accufation on the
Perfons of Infants, as though they hereby became perfonally
faulty or blameable, or that the very Acts of Sin are transfer-
red fo as to make them proper Sinners or Criminals; but I
mean that the Children of ſome firit Man may be by a righ-
teous Covenant fo far efteemed one with their Parent when
he finned, as to be in fome Senfe involved with him in his
State of Condemnation, and liable to the Miferies that pro-
ceed from it. This I have made to appear at large in the
plaineft Light, in a fhort Appendix or Differtation on Imputed
Sin and Righteousness; and I defire all my Expreffions in this
Book may be conftrued in a Confiftency with this Remark,
and with that Differtation at the End of the Book.
The Arguments therefore which are brought againſt this
Doctrine from the Impoffibility or the Injuftice of imputing
the very Actions of one Man to another, have no force, fince
I have fo often declared in that Effay, that Actions are not
properly transferred by Imputation, but the Legal Refult of
thoſe Actions.
univerfal Degeneracy?
ΙΟΙ
Order of Creation, which is now called Na-
ture, appoint young intelligent Creatures to
come into Being in fuch unhappy and dege-
nerate Circumſtances, liable to fuch intenfe
Pains and Miſeries, and under fuch power-
ful Tendencies and Propenfities to Evil by the
meer Law of Propagation, as ſhould almoſt
unavoidably expofe them to ten thousand
actual Sins as they grow up, if they were not
born under fome judicial Sentence of God as
a Governor on the account of moral Evil or
Sin; which moral Evil muft be before com-
mitted either by themſelves or by fome Repre-
fentative.
'Tis hard to fuppofe that the creating
Power and Decree of God, or his Law of
Nature for Propagation, ſhould place Man-
kind in fuch a Situation as to render them
unavoidably finful and miferable in a degree,
before they have any perſonal Sin or Guilt to
deſerve it, unleſs you fuppofe them to be
fome way intereſted or involved in ſomething
of Guilt or Sin which was derived from a
common Head, Surety or Reprefentative,
who might be appointed by fome wife and
righteous Conſtitution to act for them *.
H 3
Prop.
* If it could be well made out, that the whole Race of
Mankind are Partakers of finful Inclinations and evil Paffions
and Byafles to Vice, and alfo are expofed to many fharp actual
Sufferings, and to Death, meerly and only by the original Di-
vine Law of their Propagation from their Parents who had
finned; and if the Juftice and Goodness of God could be vin-
dicated
ز
102 Queſt. II. Whence came this
Prop. VI. Upon the whole View of Things
therefore, I know not how to refolve this
Difficulty, but by fuppofing this univerfal
Sinfulness and Mifery of our whole Species
to ariſe from the Sin and Guilt of fome Per-
fon who was both a primitive Parent or na-
tural Fountain of our Race, and who was
alfo fet up as a common Head or legal Repre-
fentative of all Mankind: And that he by
finning against his Maker loft his own Prin-
ciples of Virtue and Goodneſs, expoſed him-
felf and his Pofterity (whom he naturally pro-
duced, and whom he legally repreſented)
to the Diſpleaſure of his Maker, and fo
brought Sin and Mifery into the very Nature
of Man, and fpread or convey'd this Sin or
Mifery thro' all his Offspring.
I must confefs I am not fond of fuch a
Scheme or Hypotheſis of deriving fome fort
of Guilt from a Surety or Reprefentative,
tho' I know it has been embraced by a confi-
rable Party of Chriſtians ancient and modern.
No; I would gladly renounce it, becaufe of
fome great Difficulties attending it, if I could
find any other way to relieve the much
! greater
dicated in making and maintaining fuch a dreadful Law or
Order of Propagation thro' 6000 Years; we have no need
of further Enquiries, but might here be at reft. But if fuch a
Scheme be fo injurious to the Goodness and Equity of God, as
it feems to be, then we are conftrained to feek a little further
for a fatisfactory Account of this univerfal Degeneracy and
Mifery.of Mankind.
1
univerfal Degeneracy?
103
greater Difficulties and harder Imputations
upon the Conduct of Divine Providence,
which will attend this Enquiry, if we follow
any other Track of Sentiments. Nor do
I ſee any way how to avoid or eſcape theſe
Perplexities, if we abandon this Suppofition
of a common Head or Reprefentative of Man-
kind, who may be fuppofed according to a
juſt Conſtitution to involve his Pofterity to-
gether with himſelf in a State of Guilt and
Mifery.
Is it not much eaſier to ſuppoſe that God
looks upon theſe young Creatures not as in-
nocent or guiltlefs, but as fome way involved
or intereſted in Sin or Guilt, when in the
very original Courfe of Nature which he ap-
pointed, he brings them into Being in fuch
miferable Circumftances, and fo expofed to
Sin as well as Pain? I fay, is it not much.
cafier to fuppofe, that they are looked on as
fome way under Guilt and Condemnation,
than that the Appointment and Providence
of a good and holy God fhould bring them
hourly into Being in the midst of fuch finful
and miferable Circumftances, and punith
them with fuch early Pains and Sorrows,
while he looks upon them as perfectly inno-
cent and guiltless?
The Fact is evident. The Great God, who
is both Juft and Good, has appointed and
continues fuch a Law of Propagation, where-
by Millions of Infants without any perfonal
H 4
Sin
104 Queft. II. Whence came this
Sin or Fault of their own are brought into
Being under thefe wretched Circumftances,
inclined to Sin, and liable to a thouſand Sor-
rows and Pains, and Death. This is plain
and certain Fact beyond all reaſonable Doubt
or Conteft: Now will not the Equity or
Juftice, and the Goodness of God be much
better vindicated by fuppofing fome original
and righteous Conftitution *, whereby theſe
young Creatures are fome way involved in
the Guilt or Sin of their original Parent and
Repreſentative, and fo made liable to Mifery,
than by fuppofing them to be intirely inno-
cent without any Charge of imputed Sin, and
yet brought into Being daily by the God of
Nature in a Condition of fuch Proneness to
Şin, and expofed to fuch Miferies?
And as the glorious and holy Nature and
Actions of God are beſt vindicated by ſuch a
Suppofition, fo without it I cannot well ex-
plain the Scriptural Account of this matter in
that one fhort Sentence, Rom. v. 12. By
one Man Sin entered into the World, and
Death by Sin, and fo Death paffed upon all
Men, for that all have finned; i. e. Sin is
imputed, or, which is much one in St. Paul's
Language, Death the Penalty of Sin has
paſſed on all, or has reigned over all, and
therefore all are efteemed in fome fort as
guilty and condemned in the fight of God,
tho
*The Righteouſneſs of this Conftitution appears plain in
Prop. 5 and 6, under Queft. III. and §. 2d, in Quest IV.
་
univerfal Degeneracy?
105
tho' they did not fin after the Similitude of
Adam's Tranfgreſſion, i. e. they did not com-
mit actual perſonal Sin againſt a known Law
as Adam did *. But I give but a ſingle Hint
in this place, becauſe I have reſerved the Scrip-
tural Account for another part of the Dif
courfe.
I confess that 'tis from Scripture I derive my Sentiments
on this Subject, and I firmly believe this Doctrine of the
Imputation of Sin from Adam to all his Offspring, according
to the Senfe in which 'tis explained in the 2d Effay at the End
of this Book; yet I have endeavoured to fhew here that a care-
ful Obfervation of the World, and the Exercife of our rea-
foning Powers, with a very little help from Revelation, will
lead us into theſe Sentiments, and difcover to us the Juſtice of
them.
In fhort, as I have faid before, thefe Events muſt ariſe from
fuch a Conftitution or Covenant formed and executed by God
as the righteous and fupreme Governor of the World, or from
the fovereign and arbitrary Appointment of God as a Creator
and abfolute Lord; and I think the Execution of this Sove-
reignty brings a harder Impeachment of God's Conduct than
this Act of Government.
QUESTION
106 Queſt. III. Could a wife God
i
QUESTION III.
How could a holy, a wife, and righteous
God, who is also a Being of infinite Good-
nefs, eſtabliſh fuch a Conftitution, that all
Mankind fhould derive their Being from
fuch a natural Parent and legal Repre-
fentative, whereby fuch univerfal Sin-
fulness and Mifery fhould in the Event
be fpread thro' all human Nature in all
following Ages?
Anfw.
IF
F this Conftitution was not only
in itſelfa wife and righteous Thing
in the univerſal Creator and Governor of the
World, but if it was alfo the Effect of Good-
nefs in God as a univerfal Father of his intel-
ligent Creatures, then furcly we fhall filence
all our Cenfures of it at once.
If it was a
more probable way, fo far as we can ſee, to
fecure the Continuance of Man and his whole
Race in the Image and Favour of his Maker,
(tho' it happened to have a contrary Event by
the Negligence and faulty Conduct of the first
Man) yet I fay, if it was a more proper and
pro-
admit of fuch a Conftitution? 107
probable Means to fecure Man in his Happi-
nefs, then all muft confeſs that this original
Conftitution doth not impeach the Holiness,
Juftice or Goodneſs of God. Now let us cn
ter into particulars, and inquire whether this
Conſtitution be not only juft and holy, but
alſo good and kind, and moſt proper and like-
ly to fecure innocent Man: Perhaps this
will appear in the following Propofitions.
of
Prop. I. God created Man an intelligent
and holy Creature, but capable of Miſtake
and Sin; a compound Being made up
Fleſh and Spirit, or an Animal and a Mind,
with Power alfo to propagate his Kind in
long fucceffive Generations. Now that this
could not be unjuft, will appear by Particu-
lars.
1. There is no Injuftice in God in creat-
ing fuch a Being as Man, a Creature capable
of miſtaking and capable of finning. What
if Man was formed with intellectual Powers
inferior to thofe of an Angel? Let him re-
member that even an Angel is capable of
Miſtake and Sin alfo: Nor has Man any
Reafon to complain that he was not made an
Angel; for by the fame Reafon an Angel
might complain that he was not made an
Archangel: And this fort of unreaſonable
Complaint might upon the fame Foot have
run thro' all lower Orders of Being, and
would have laid a Reftraint upon God the
Creator
108 Queft. III. Could a wife God
Creator from making any lower Ranks of
intelligent Creatures whatſoever. Accord-
ing to this way of arguing, God would never
have manifefted the rich Variety of his Wif-
dom in the various Ranks and Degrees of
Creatures; for no Rank of Beings but the
uppermoft could ever have been formed. Nay,
it may be doubted, according to this way of
arguing, whether any Creature at all could
have been formed: For perhaps the higheſt
Creature confidered meerly in his own natu-
ral Powers might be capable of Miſtake and
Defect in Duty.
But if it be not an unfit or improper
thing for an Almighty God to make any
Creature, it is not unfit for him to make a
fallible Creature, and capable of fome Defect,
tho' he was originally perfect. And fince he
is a God of infinite Wiſdom, he thought it
very becoming his Character to manifeft
this infinitely various Wiſdom in the Forma-
tion of a vaft Variety of Ranks of Beings,
fome of which fhould have higher and nobler
intellectual Powers, and fhould be further
out of the reach of Temptation and Miſtake,
and others of them of lower or meaner
intellectual Powers, and more within the
Danger of Miſtake and Temptation. Now
this carries no Injuftice with it, provided
that every Rank of Beings has a fufficient
Power to guard againſt its Dangers of mif
taking,
admit of fuch a Conftitution? 109
taking, and againſt the Aſſaults of the Temp-
tations to which it might be expofed.
2. Nor was it unjuft in God to unite an
Animal Body to this Rational Mind; for by
this Union there is a rich Variety of new
Powers arifing in that Creature, fuch as Senſe,
Appetite, Paffion, together with all the fen-
fible Qualities of Colours, Sounds, Taſtes,
Smells, &c. and the Government of Animal
Engines by a Mind, all which manifeſt the
various and aſtoniſhing Riches of divine Wif-
dom in the contriving of fuch a wondrous
Creature as Man.
And if it ſhould be objected, that the Mind
or Spirit is expoſed to ſome Temptations by
reafon of this Union with animal Nature, let
it be remembred, that the innocent Spirit or
rational Principle was formed in a State of
Power and Dominion over all the Appetites
and Paffions that arife from Fleſh and Blood;
and had abundant Capacity to reſiſt all theſe
Temptations, while Reafon maintained its
fuperior Poft in which it was created, and it
did govern Senfe, Appetite and Paffion.
And befides, if there are fome fuppofed
Inconveniencies attending a Spirit united to
an Animal Body, fo there are many certain
Advantages arifing from it in the innocent
State. The Spirit is hereby made capable of
taſting all the Pleaſures of Senſe, and of the
more boundleſs Power of Imagination, and
making uſe of the additional Powers or Organs
of
110 Queft. III. Could a wife God
of the Animal (viz.) Eyes, Ears, Tongue,
Hands, &c. and all the vigorous Efforts of
the better Paffions for the Diſcharge of its
Duty, for the Honour of its God, for the
Benefit of its Fellow-Creatures, and for the
Happineſs of its felf.
3. There could be no Injuftice in appoint-
ing fuch a Creature to propagate its own Kind
by Marriage, and to furnish it with all pro-
per Powers for that purpoſe: For if Man
continued in Innocence, he would then en-
joy all the innocent Pleaſures of numerous. '
Society, and fome of thofe too fpringing
from himſelf in every Age, together with all
the tender and indeared Sentiments and De-
lights of Sons and Daughters, and as Milton
expreffes it,
Relations dear, and all the Charities
Of Father, Son and Brother,
which would greatly add to the Happiness
of his earthly State.
Prop. II. Tho' Man was created with
Powers inferior to fome other intellectual
Beings, yet he was formed in the Image of
his Maker, and in his Maker's favour; in a
State of perfect Innocence, Holiness and
Peace, with fufficient Knowledge to defend
and fecure him from fatal Miſtakes, and with
fufficient Power to refift Temptation and to
maintain
admit of fuch a Conftitution? 11i
1
maintain himſelf in this holy and happy
State: But at the fame time he was furniſhed
with a Liberty of Will, i. e. with a Power to
chufe Good or Evil, to difobey his Maker,
as well as obey him, to uſe his Underſtand-
ing well in governing his Senfe, Appetite and
Paffion, or to abuſe his Underſtanding, and
darken and weaken it by giving the Reins to
Senfuality and his meaner Powers: He had a
Liberty or Free-will to watch againſt Temp-
tation or to be negligent, to refift it or to
comply with it, to abide in the Favour and
Image of his Maker, or to fall from his Ma-
ker's Image and Favour, according as he
fhould uſe his Liberty well or ill.
Now here is no Injustice, nor any want of
Goodness in making Man a free Creature:
For 'tis by this Freedom that he becomes ca-
pable of moral Government: 'Tis this that
renders him a proper Subject of Rewards, if
he maintains his Virtue and obeys his Ma-
ker; and it gives him a Power of advancing
himſelf by his Obedience in his Maker's
Love And 'tis this Liberty alfo that renders
him a proper Subject of Puniſhment if he
neglect his Watch, and turn aſide to the Paths
of Vice and Difobedience.
Prop. III. Innocent Man had probably
fome Privileges given him by Divine Favour
above what were neceffary and due to the
meer State of his Creation, (viz.) He might
be
112 Queft. III. Could a wife God
be indulged to converfe with his Maker, per-
haps in a viſible manner, and to receive fpe-
cial and peculiar Communications from him:
He might be fituated in a Place of very great
Pleaſure, with all Varieties of tafteful Food
and other Inftruments and Objects for his
Refreſhment and Delight, and with Encou-
ragements to hope and Affurances to expect
that if he continued always humbly depen-
dant upon God, and ever watchful againſt
Temptation and attentive to his Duty, he
fhould have ftrong divine Aids in cafe of
Danger upon his Application to his Maker for
them. This is a very reaſonable Suppofition
derived from the Weakneſs of Man, the Fal-
libility of his Nature, and from the abounding
Goodness of his Maker.
Prop. IV. Man was not only by the Con-
ftitution of his Nature put under a Law of
Obedience to God his Maker in whatſoever
he fhould require of him, but alſo he might
have that Law fet before him in fome more
expreſs Manner, together with the Penalty or
Threat'ning annexed to it, (viz.) If thou
obeyeft not thy God in the Duty which Rea-
fon requires, thou shalt furely lofe thy prefent
Privileges and Life itſelf. Now this ought
to have been a conftant and powerful Guard to
him againſt all Temptations, if he had the
Command and the Threat'ning fo exprefsly
fet before him.
Prop.
admit of fuch a Conftitution? 113
Prop. V. There is alfo abundant Reaſon
to believe that he had not only a Law given
him with a Penalty threat'ned for the Breach
of it, but alſo a Covenant made with him,
and a Promiſe given to him, not only of con-
tinuing in his prefent Happineſs, but of being
immutably confirm'd and eftablifh'd in Im-
mortality; and, perhaps, of enjoying ſome
greater Happineſs if he continued to obey
God and abstain from Sin.
This Covenant indeed feems to be a Mat-
ter of pure divine Favour, above and beyond
what was due to him as a Creature: for af-
ter he had fulfill'd his Obedience to the Law
for many Years, and continued in the Poffef-
fion of his prefent Comforts, God confidered
as an abfolute Sovereign might have annihi-
lated him, and have done him no wrong, fo
far as I can judge. The Great God is abfo-
lute Lord of all, and if we confider only his
Sovereignty and his Juftice, he might (I
think) have taken away from a Creature what
he had given him without any Injuftice at all?
So that this Covenant of Life or Promiſe of
Immortality, and efpecially of fuperior Hap-
pineſs as a Reward of his Obedience, was the
meer Effect of Divine Goodneſs.
And yet we cannot but fuppofe there was
fuch a Covenant made with innocent Man,
and fuch a Promife of Life, and even of fu-
perior Happiness given him upon condition
I
of
1
114 Queſt. III. Could a wife God
of Obedience during his State of Trial, if we
confider the following Things.
9, 10.
1. I might in the firft place argue thus.
The great Goodneſs of God, fo far as it has
been manifefted in his Conduct towards his
Creatures, feems to plead for it, that Man
ſhould have fome Reward of his Obedience,
fome additional Gratifications and Bleffings
above the meer Continuance of his prefent
Life and Peace: for it hath not been the
way of God in any of his Diſpenſations with
the Children of Men (fo far as we can learn
from Obfervation or Scripture) to fet his
Creatures at work for nothing. 1 Cor. ix.
God will have the Ox rewarded that
treads out the Corn by forbidding to muzzle
him, and permitting him to cat; and fo he
will have his Minifters rewarded with a Main-
tenance. Ezek. xxix. 19, 20. God beftows
all the Riches and the Spoil of Egypt to re-
ward Nebuchadnezzar and his Army for the
Service which they ferved against Tyrus, for
they wrought for me, faith the Lord. "Tis
defcribed as the known Character of God,
and what every Man is called to believe,
that he is a Rewarder of them that diligently
Seek him, Heb. xi. 6. And it has been his
conftant Courfe of Tranfaction with his
Creatures, to encourage them to Duty by the
Promife of fome Reward above their prefent
State and Circumftances: and if 'tis thus in
Our
admit of fuch a Conftitution? 115
{
our fallen State, why fhould it not be fo much
rather in the State of Innocence?
2. I argue thus: God made the Soul of
Man in its own Nature immortal: Now if
Man had continued innocent, and honoured
the Law of God with Obedience during all
his State of Trial, Man would have acquired
fome Advances in the Knowledge of God,
fome Improvement of his Nature, and greater
Refemblance to God, by a more intimate Ac-
quaintance and Converfe with God in his
various Perfections and Works, and fome
ftronger Byafs to the Love of God and to all
Holiness, which in itſelf would have been a
natural Increaſe of his Happineſs. Nor is
it to be fuppofed, that the bleffed God would
have preſently contradicted the Nature of
Things, and that Connexion of Caufes and
Effects which his own Wiſdom had juſt eſta-
bliſhed, i. e. the Connexion of Holiness and
Happineſs nor can we imagine that he would
have forbid the Soul of Man to be immor-
tal, contrary to its very Nature, in order
to have put an end to the Life and Happineſs
of fo holy and fo obedient a Creature; God
always loves Holinefs fo much, that he will
reward it where he finds it. And if Man
with this Improvement of his Nature had
continued Immortal, his Happineſs had been
ftill greater, and that without End.
:
3. God hath wrought into the Nature of
Man an carneft Defire after Life or I nmor-
I 2
tality,
116 Queſt. III. Could a wife God
tality, and alfo a Defire of a perpetual Change
or Novelty of Pleafures, and that without
the Diminution of them. The Nature of
Man would be tired with one everlafting
Round of the meer Repetition of fenfible De-
lights, of cating, drinking, fleeping, work-
ing, &c. or even of the more refined Delights
of the Mind, if there were no Novelty, no
freſh Scenes of Pleaſure to open upon him;
and yet Man could never defire his new Plea-
fures fhould be less than thofe he enjoy'd be-
fore. Now fince God hath wrought this
Appetite or Defire of Immortality and of frefh
Delights into the very Nature of Man, it is
highly probable that God who makes nothing
in vain, would have raiſed or tranſlated him to
fome Scenes of higher Felicity, and thus gra-
tified this Defire which himfelf had wrought
in his innocent Creature, after Man had paid
him fo much actual Honour and Obedience
in his State of Trial.
4- Imight borrow another Argument from
Scripture and the Tree of Life, which in the
New Teftament is made a Figure of the ad-
vanced Happineſs of Heaven, and the Joys
which the Saints fhall poffefs there. Now
tho' it be not exprefsly revealed at large in fo
very ſhort a Hiftory as the third of Genefis,
that a bleſſed Immortality fhould be the Re-
ward of Adam's Obedience, yet there is
much Reaſon to fuppofe that the Tree of
Life could not properly have been any Em-
bicm
admit of fuch a Conftitution? 117
blem or Figure of eternal Life under the Co-
venant of Grace, if it had not been an Em-
blem, Sign, Seal, or Pledge of this Covenant/
of Works, and of this Promife which fhould
have made Adam immortal, and unchange-
ably happy; and that probably in the fame.
way as the Tree of Knowledge of Good and
Evil was made a Sign and Pledge of the Evil
that ſhould come upon him, if he diſobey'd
his Maker.
Upon the whole therefore 'tis highly ra-
tional to conclude, that if Man had continued
innocent, his Pleafures would have been en-
creaſed and his Life immortal.
Prop. VI. This Covenant is juftly fuppofed
to reach to his Pofterity, and include his Off-
fpring as well as himſelf in this manner,
(viz.) If Man continued in his State of Obe-
dience, and thereby confirmed or advanced
himſelf in the Image and Favour of his Ma-
ker, and fecured immortal Life to himself
by his Obedience during the appointed Time
of his Trial, he fhould alfo propagate his
Offspring perhaps in that eſtabliſhed or ad-
vanced Degree of the Divine Image and Fa-
vour, or at leaft in the Security of immortal
Life and Happineſs to them: but if Man
fhould bring a finful Taint and vicious Dif
order upon his Nature, and Difeafes and
Death upon his Animal Body, by tafting
fome forbidden Pleature, and finning against
God,
I 3
'
118 Queft. III. Could a wife God
God, that he ſhould not only loſe this Image
and Favour of God himſelf with all his Pri-
vileges, but that he ſhould beget his Offspring
in his own finful Likeneſs, and in his own
unhappy Circumftances, defpoiled of the
Image and Favour of God, and of the Privi-
leges which their Father enjoy'd during his In-
nocency.
Now there is no Injuftice in this Appoint-
ment: becaufe Life as well as Death was con-
tained in the Covenant; and the Advantages
which were to be enjoy'd by the Obedience
of the firft Man, and his Pofterity, were as
great or greater than the Diſadvantages which
fhould attend his Difobedience.
And as there was no Injuftice in it, ſo it
may be proved that it was an Inftance of Di-
vine Goodneſs to Mankind: for when one
Man was fet up as a common Head of Multi-
tudes, he muſt be fuppofed to have fo much
the ftronger Obligations upon his Mind to
Obedience, in order to preferve and ſecure
the Happineſs of thofe Multitades which fhould
fpring from him as well as his own, and which
would be involved in his Mifery, in cafe he
difobey'd. No fingle Perfon ſtanding the
Teft of Obedience to obtain his own fingle
Happineſs can be fuppofed to have an equal
Motive to Diligence and Watchfulneſs, and
Duty, with that Man who was intrufted both
with his own Welfare and with the Welfare
of Millions.
And
admit of fuch a Conftitution? 119
:
.
And befides, it was a further Inftance of
Divine Goodneſs as well as Wiſdom, to in-
truſt that very Man with the Fate of Mankind,
who was to be the Father and Fountain of all
their Race for all the kind and endearing
Thoughts that arife from the Relation of a
Father, muft add abundant Weight to the
Obligations and the Sollicitude which lay
upon him to continue in his State of Inno-
cence and Qbedience. If he had meerly been
appointed to be the Repreſentative of Mil-
lions who were no way a-kin to him, it muſt
have lain with much Concern upon the Heart
of a good and innocent Man, as the firft Man
was, to oblige him to Watchfulneſs in his
Duty; but when every one of thefe Millions
is his own Offspring, the Obligation is in-
hanced by all the Tenderness of a Father, and
all the Sollicitude that an innocent and be-
nevolent Father muſt be ſuppoſed to have for
the Welfare of thoſe who ſhould ſpring from
him.
And it is poffible alfo that all this might be
fet before the firſt Man in a very ſtrong Light
by God his Creator; he might be informed
that he ſhould have a large Pofterity, and
that they ſhould all ftand and be happy, or
fall and be miferable together, with himſelf.
Prop. VII. Man being furnished with all
thefe Principles and Powers to enable him to
ſtand his ground againft Temptation, with
I 4
all
120 Queſt. III. Could a wife God
all theſe ftrong and tender Obligations to fc-
cure his own Happineſs and the Happineſs of
his Offspring, was put into a State of Trial,
that he might acquire the Rewards promifed
to Obedience, and do honour to the go-
verning Juſtice and Authority of God, while
he was procuring Happiness to himſelf and
his Offspring.
Prop. VIII. Unhappy Man, tho' placed
in thefe advantageous Circumftances, yet gave
way to the Allurements of Senfe or Appetite
or Paffion, by neglecting his Watch, he grew
unattentive to the Command, the Promife,
and the threatened Penalty, he hearkened per-
haps to the Temptations of fome evil Spirit,
he rafhly determined on the fide of Senfe and
Appetite, he ventured to break his Maker's
Law, loft his Innocence and Happineſs, his
Maker's Image and his Favour.
'Tis no wonder that he loft his Maker's Fa-
vour, for that depended upon the Condition
of obeying his Maker's Command: When
Man had failed of his Duty in the Day of
Trial, God the Governor and the Judge docs
not and will not treat him with the Favour
which he fhewed him in the Days of his Inno-
cence and Obedience. And we may reafon-
ably fuppofe, that God who made Himſelf
and his Goodnefs known to his innocent
Creature, and converfed with him in a friend-
ly manner, forfook his difobedient Creature
and
admit of fuch a Conftitution? 121
and departed from him, and gave him none
of thofe kind Vifits or Comforts which perhaps
he might enjoy before, nor had he fufficient
Encouragement to expect Divine Afiiftances in
cafe of any future Dangers or Temptations *.
Nor is it ſtrange that Man fhould loſe his
Maker's Image by indulging one Sin; for
his Nature itſelf became vitiated by this one
finful Action, which may be accounted for
feveral ways.
1. By
*Objection. But whatever Suppofitions may be made by
our Fancy or Reaſoning, yet this could not be the real Con-
dition of Man after his Sin, to be thus forfaken of God, &c.
becauſe God, as a tender Father of our firft Parents, was
careful to guard and cherish their Bodies by cloathing them,
and he gave them a promiſe of Mercy and a Saviour immedi-
ately, Gen. iii. and the fpecial Aids of his Grace on many Oc-
cafions were vouchfafed to Men. He revealed a Goſpel to
them, or a way of Salvation, and has been ever fince multi-
plying Inftances of Goodneſs and Grace towards them: This
appears throughout the whole Bible, fo that our only holding
up the Bible refutes this Opinion.
wer The Great God confider'd as a righteous Governor
of the World, and upon the foot of his broken Law, which
pronounces Tribulation and Wrath against every Soul that d'th
amifs, may be well faid to forfake his difobedient Creature,
and that without Encouragement to expect Divine Afif
tances, &c. Thefe are the Reprefentations of the Bible con-
cerning God's dealing with finful Men, as lying under the
Guilt of the broken Law. Rom. iii. Eph ii. And in this view
even the Elect themſelves are called Children of Wrath by Nature
even as others; notwithſtanding that God had provided a Cove-
nant of Grace, whereby Multitudes of fallen Mankind ſhould
be recover'd and faved: And he manifefted it to our first
Parents and their Defcendants in various Degrees and on
feveral Occaſions, even foon after their Fall.
All this Provifion therefore for the Good of Man in this
Life, or for the Salvation of him hereafter, does not hinder
the Scripture from reprefenting Men in their fallen Eſtate
under the broken Law of Works, as miferable and deftitute
of God's Favour, and without Hope.
122 Queft. III. Could a wife God
1. By acting contrary to the Principle or
Habit of Holinefs which was in his Soul, he
violated and weakened this Habit or Principle
of Holiness: 'Twas a bold venture for him to
allow fo much as a Debate within himſelf,
whether he ſhould difobey his Maker or no:
But by actually cheating or contradicting his
Confcience, and by finning againſt the Light
of his innocent State, and his own Mind,
and Reaſon, he broke the inward Spring of
Confcience and Virtue (if I may fo exprefs
it) which gave him before a conftant Bent
and Propenfity to Holinefs and Obedience:
as we find at this Day, when Perfons of a re-
ligious Education once violate the Reſtraints
of their own Mind, and break the Bars of
Confcience, they render its Force much
weaker for time to come, and go on to act
contrary to it with ftill greater Eafe and
Freedom.
2. When Man had once finned againſt his
Maker, his Heart muft neceffarily miſgive him,
and his guilty Fears continually arife: His
Reaſon and Confcience muſt tell him, that he
was an Offender, a Rebel-Creature, and that
his Maker had a right to refent his Crime;
and how terrible that Refentment might be,
he knew not. Thenceforward he looked
upon God with an Eye of Fear and Dread
rather than with an Eye of Love: He might
probably deſpair of Mercy when he came fo-
berly to bethink himself, how great was his
Crime
1
admit of fuch a Conftitution? 123
Crime againſt a Cod of fuch Majefty and fuch
Goodnefs, who was the Spring of his Being
and Comforts, as well as his righteous Co
vernor and his Judge: And then he could no
longer love that God of whofe Mercy he de-
fpaired. And thus by lofing the Senfe of the
Love of God to him, and by impairing or de-
ftroying the Principle of Love to God in his
own Soul, he loft, impaired or deftroyed the
trucſt and the beft Principles of all Holineſs
and Obedience. He could look upon God no
longer as a Friend whom he was wont to
approach with Comfort and Delight, but he
rather avoided his Company, and feared or
hated all converfe with him, as an almighty
Enemy; and the further he departed from
God, the more did the Power of Sin increaſe
in him, and the Love of God died.
3. By Indulgence of fome finful Appetite
or Paffion contrary to the Dictates of Reafon
and Judgment, he weakened his reafoning
Powers, and gave fuch a loofe to Paflion and
Senfe after this Victory, that it more cafily
prevailed over him in all following Inftances,
as is common in his Pofterity even to this
Day: Reaſon oppofed and beclouded by
ftrong Paffion lofes its Clearness of Judg-
ment; and when 'tis abufed and diſobey'd,
and counteracted by fenfual Powers, it grows
weaker in all its Exercifes about Truth and
Duty, and its natural and original Influence
to govern our Actions is greatly diminiſhed.
The
124 Queſt. III. Could a wife God
The more frequently we indulge an Act of
Sin, the more arc we blinded in our true
Judgment concerning the Rule of Duty and
our Violation of it, and the more fenfible
Power does Sin gain over us: Then every
new Temptation works with greater Efficacy,
and repeats its Affaults with more Succefs:
and theſe Victories of Sin over the fallen
Creature muſt be ftill more cafy and fre-
quent, when he hath loft all juft Grounds
to expect any manner of divine Aids or In-
fluences.
Thus it is eaſy to conceive how Man by
committing one Sin againſt his Confcience,
and by cheating or violating his own Rea-
fon, by indulging his Appetites or Paffions
to prevail over his Underſtanding, and lofing
his Senfe of his Maker's Favour, was quickly
deprived both of his Holineſs and his Peace,
his Virtue and his Happincfs. His Judgment
and Reafon being weakened by his Abuſe of
them, are more cafily impofed upon for ever
after, and more liable to be deceived in Mat-
ters of Sin and Duty, and the Reſtraints of
Reaſon and Confcience being enfeebled,
Temptation prevails upon him continually.
Prop. IX. Then finful and miferable Man
going on to propagate his Kind, according
to the Law of Creation in his own Image,
and according to the Conftitution and Cove-
nant between God and Man, produced all his
Race
تا۔
admit of fuch a Conflitution? 125
Race in the fame degenerate, finful and mi-
ferable State, and Circumſtances, whereinto
he had plunged himſelf.
Thus Mankind are born with evil Inclina-
tions, and in the Ruin and Difhonour of
their Nature without the Divine Favour, and
without the Divine Image, caft out of his
Covenant of Love, thoughtleſs of God, or
averſe to him, vain and fenfual in their De-
fires, expoſed to Temptations from within
and from without, and without any Claim
or juft Pretence to Divine Aid or Protection.
They are led away by the Principles of Fleſh
and Senfe from early Years in oppofition to
the Principles of Reaſon, and to the Law of
Holiness: Their Judgment is blinded and
byafs'd on the fide of Appetite and Paffion,
they are often deceived, and they take delight
in their Delufions: Truth and Duty become
lefs natural to them, and lefs inviting: They
wander in queft of Happineſs among fenfible
Things, and immerfe themſelves in Vice and
Folly; they grow up in Sin, they rebel againſt
their Maker, they throw themſelves ftill more,
and further out of the Favour of God, by
freſh Difobedience, and thence arife the Ini-
quities and the Miferies of the Inhabitants of
this World, even from their youngeſt Ycars,
to Death and the Grave.
the
Prop. X. To make it yet farther appear,
Mnkind from their Infancy and early
Years
126 Queſt. III. Could a wife God
Years are under Tokens of the Diſpleaſure of
God on the account of Sin, let it be confi-
dered here, that the first Man who finned
might be juftly deprived of fome of his for-
mer Bleſſings by God himſelf, as a direct Pu-
nifhment of his own Sin, as well as by na-
tural Confequence he loft others of them:
This is evident from what is faid before. Now
except the meer Confcioufnefs of Sin, the
Shame and Pain of Self-reflection, or Anguiſh
of Conſcience (which is the natural Effect
of perfonal Guilt, and belongs only to the
perfonal Tranfgreffor) what is there of all
the Bleffings which the firſt Man is fuppofed
to loſe either by natural Confequence, or
to be deprived of, as forfeited to his Maker's
Juftice, which his Children do not alſo loſe ?
They ſeem plainly to be deprived of them by
reafon of this Sin of their Parent, becauſe
they are Bleffings which they would have
been poffefs'd of, if their Parent had ftood in-
nocent.
Let us inquire into Particulars: Are they
not weaken'd in their Underſtanding as well
as he? Hath not their Appetite and Paffion
too often a fuperior and prevailing Power
over their Reafon as well as his? Are not
their Thoughts and Inclinations early immo-
ral, carnal and fenfual, and averte from God
and things ſpiritual? Are not their Wills per-
verfe and corrupt? Are not the evil Prin-
ciples of Pride, Malice, Revenge, Envy,
3.
working
;
admit of fuch a Conftitution? 127
working in them by Nature? Are they not
fubject to powerful Temptations on all fides,
which are generally too ftrong for them?
Are they not liable to Diſeaſes, to Injuries
from other Creatures, to Wounds, Pains and
Poverty, to Hunger, Thirft and Nakedneſs,
to Miſeries of every kind, and to Death itſelf,
as well as their firft Parent? If therefore
all the natural Evils, which fall upon, or are
inflicted on the firſt Sinner, on account of his
moral Evil, fall alfo on his Pofterity, (always
excepting Anguifh of Confcience and Self-
Reflection) is it not evident that they are
join'd with him in his Fall, and that they are
fallen from their Maker's Image and Favour
together with him? For we can never fup-
pofe they all would have been naturally, or
from their Nativity, ſo vicious, and ſubject
to ſo many Miferies, and fo deftitute of Blef-
fings, had they been propagated by a Parent
who had continued in the perfect Favour and
Image of his Maker.
Prop. XI. Nor is it ftrange to ſuppoſe, nor
is it hard to conceive, that this univerfal
Taint or Infection, this general Degeneracy
and Defolation of human Nature, both with
regard to Sin and Mifery, fhould be convey'd
according to an original, wife and holy Con-
ftitution of God by the means of natural Ge-
neration from one Man to all his Pofterity;
for we fee the very fame thing actually done
con-
128 Queſt. III. Could a wife God
continually, in God's wife and holy Provi
dence. Do we not find the fame fort of Vice
and Iniquity of Difeafe and Death, tranſmit-
ted from Parents to Children, and that fome-
times for many fucceffive Generations? As
for Inftance :
(1ft.) In Sins. How often do we find a
proud, a paffionate, a falſe, a malicious Tem-
per, a lewd or a fottifh Inclination, tranf-
mitted from Parents to Children; fo, that
the Features of their Faces are ſcarcely fo much
copy'd out in the Offspring as the Vices of
their Nature? And in fome Houfes from Age
to Age, there is a Race of Drunkards or
Adulterers, of Cheats or Thieves, of cruel,
proud and malicious Wretches continued in
the World.
( 2ly.) In Miferies. How common a thing
is it alfo to have the Gout, the Scurvey, the
Stone conveyed down from one Generation
to another? How does the King's-Evil defcend
to diſtant Pofterity? How often does Frenzy
or Madneſs run in the Blood, and taint whole
Families? How frequently do the Diſeaſes
of an infamous Name, derived from the Lewd-
nefs of Predeceffors, make the Lives of their
Offspring fhort and miſerable? And how
many Inſtances are there of a great Part of
a Houfhold that from one Generatian to ano-
ther die of the Small-Pox, or a Confumption
of the Lungs, in their Youth, or in the midft
of their Days?
Now
admit of fuch a Conftitution? 129
Now theſe are evident and unquestionable
Matters of Fact with regard to particular
Sins and Miſeries, Difeafes and Death; theſe
Things are certain beyond all Conteſt, and
why may we not caſily ſuppoſe the fame Mat-
ter of Fact to be true with regard to the ge-
neral Depravation, Mifery and Mortality of
Human Nature? Tho' the Evidences of this
general Contagion may not appear quite fo
plain and ſo obvious, and within the Graſp of
our Survey, yet perhaps Reafon may have as
forcible Arguments for it, and by this parallel
Inftance may more eafily folve the Conduct
of Providence in this univerfal Depravation
of Nature.
And indeed I think fuch parallel Inftances
never would have been found among Man-
kind, were it not for the firft and general
Condemnation which came on all Men by
the Sin of fome firft Parent, and the general
Depravation of all in that one Head of our
Race; on which the next Question proceeds.
K
QUES-
3 30 Queſt. IV. Is it just that Millions
QUESTION IV.
But has it not an Appearance of Injustice in
the Creator and Governor of the World,
to make so many Millions fuffer for the
Sin of one?
Anf.
T
HIS Appearance of Injuftice is in
fome meaſure relieved, if you
confider this one Man to be the natural Head
and Fountain of all the reft; even as a fickly
and weakly Animal among the Brute Crea-
tures propagates a Race of feeble and fickly
Animals, according to the common Law of
Creation and Propagation, (viz.) that every
Creature fhould produce its own Likeneſs in
Nature and Quality: and the Offspring are
expofed to the miferable Confequences of
thofe Diſeaſes or fickly Qualities which the
Parent Animal communicates to them toge-
ther with their Natures.
And if it ſhould be thought hard or unjuſt
that a Race of intelligent Beings fhould be
naturally fubject to thefe Laws of Animal Pro-
pagation, together with all the finful and mi-
ferable Confequences of it, yet the Suppofi-
tion of the firſt Man being fet up as a Repre-
fentative,
fuffer for the Sin of one? 131
Fentative, a Surety, or Federal Head of his
Pofterity, as well as he was their natural Fa-
ther, will do much toward the Removal of
all remaining Appearances of Injuftice in this
part of the Providence and Government of
God.
And indeed I must confefs, it is my pre-
fent Opinion that the meer Do&trine of the
Animal Propagation of Man, according to
the natural Law of Creation, is not a fuffi-
cient Relief to this Difficulty, without fup-
pofing the firſt Father of Mankind to be a
common Federal Head and Repreſentative
of his Pofterity, as well as the natural Spring
and Fountain of them.
And the Rcafon is this: Becauſe if this
Scene of Mifery arife meerly from the firft
Parent being the natural Spring of his Race.
it ſeems to impeach the Goodness and Equity
of God, who has conftituted this Nature by
a meer arbitrary Act of his Will: But if it
arife from this Federal Headship, then it is
owing to Man's Sin and God's rectoral Juftice
and Wiſdom, puniſhing that Sin according
to this Covenant *. But thefe two Suppofi-
tions put together (I think) do beft abfolve
and
K 2
* If it fhould be objected, that this Federal Headſhip is an A&
of God's arbitrary Will as well as the Natural Headship, and fo
both Cafes are alike; I aufwer, that the Federal Headship is
a moft eligible thing to all their Pofterity, if all had been pre-
fent to give their Confent to it; and for that Reason I call it
Federal but a meer arbitrary Act of the God of Nature feems
to carry a harder Imputation on God.
132 Queft. IV. Is it just that Millions
and clear the Conduct of Providence and the
Divine Government from all Imputations of
Injuftice; efpecially if we confider and remem-
ber the following Things.
1. Happineſs might have been fecured to
all Mankind by this Conftitution, as well as
forfeited and loft. If there was on one fide
fo great a Risk as the Innocence, Welfare
and Happineſs of Mankind entruſted with one
Perfon, fo that Sin and Mifery would be
brought upon Millions if he finned and loft
the Image of God and his Favour, there was
as great an Advantage allowed on the other
fide to all Mankind, even the everlaſting Se-
curity of their Innocence, Welfare and Hap-
pineſs, if this one Perfon continued in his
Obedience, and preferved himſelf in the I-
mage and Favour of his Maker: and there
appears (fo far as we can judge) to be fo
much Equity in this Conftitution, that if we
had no Intimation of this account of things
from Scripture, yet the Reafon of the thing
inclines us to believe, that this might pro-
bably be the original Appointment of God,
the righteous Governor of the World.
To inforce this Sentiment, let us confider,
that if the firft Man, who ftood the Surety of
his Pofterity, had fulfilled the Obedience re-
quired during all his Time of Trial, it would
have appeared as an Hardſhip upon all his Poft-
erity to have had each of them a fingle State
of
Suffer for the Sin of one? 133
of dangerous Trial * impofed upon them
too, which might have expofed them to
Temptation, Guilt and Miſery: For fince it
is plain upon fuch a Conftitution, that they
were to be involved in the Guilt and Mifery
of the firſt Man if he did not go thro' his Trial
well, and maintain his Innocence and Obe-
dience; it ſeems reaſonable alfo, that if he
did finiſh his State of Trial well, the Advan-
tage of it fhould have redounded to all thoſe
who ſtood repreſented in and by him, and
confirmed their Happineſs.
You will fay, What then would have be-
come of all the Millions of Mankind in fuc-
ceeding Generations? I answer, they might
have been ſeized as Enoch was, and tranflated
to the Upper World after fome appointed
time of Obedience here on Earth.
K 3
You
*Doth that Man write the fincere Senfe of his own Mind
and Confcience, who charges thefe Expreffions about a dan-
gerous Trial for Adam's Pofterity if Adam had stood, with this
Suppofition or Inference, that we are none of us upon a State of
Trial now, and that Adam alone was upon Trial for us all? and yet
to fhew that he means this unjuft Cenfure, he spends almoft
two Pages to prove, that we are in a State of Trial now, be-
caufe there is a Day of Judgment coming, when every fingle
Perfon fhall be rewarded according to his Works.
But let fuch a Man know, that we have ever own'd and
granted, that we are in a State of perfonal Trial at preſent,
and that the Day of Judgement is defign'd to decide that im-
portant Event. But let it be remember'd alfo, that this is upon
the foot of a new Covenant propoſed to the World fince the Fall
of Adam, not that old Covenant whereby Adam was tried, and
having broken it by Sin, was condemned and forfeited his Im-
mortality, and his other Bleflings both for himfelf and his
Pofterity,
134 Queſt. IV. Is it just that Millions
You will query then, Would not this
Time of Obedience have been a Seafon of
Trial to them? I answer, Not a State of
dangerous Trial, whether they fhould be
happy or miſerable; but a Seaſon of proper
Trial and Exercife of Obedience to prepare
them for different Degrees of Advancement
in heavenly Places, according to their Fidelity
and Diligence.
And by the way let it be obferved, that if
the firſt Man had maintained his Innocence,
and his Pofterity been eſtabliſh'd therein, no
Man would have complain'd of it, but with
Thankfulneſs all would have accepted it as a
Divine Favour and a happy Covenant.
2. Remember what was before hinted, that
this was the moſt probable and the ſafeſt way
to fecure Happineſs to Mankind by one Man's
having this vaft and important Truft commit-
ted to him, (viz.) The Innocence and Happi-
nefs of all his Pofterity; for he was thereby
laid under much ftronger Obligations to watch
and guard againſt every Temptation, and to
ufe more vigorous Endeavours to maintain
his Maker's Image and Favour, than any fingle
Perfon could be, who had only his own Hap-
pineſs to take care of. By this means all the
Springs of Benevolence and Compaffion to
Fellow-Creatures, and all the Tendernefs of
Paternal Love and Pity to a numerous Off-
fpring (both which Principles doubtless were
very ſtrong in innocent Man) were awaken'ḍ
and
Suffer for the Sin of one? 135
and fet at work to guard againſt Sin, as well
as the Powers and Motives of Self-Love, and
all the Principles of Self-Prefervation: So
that this Conſtitution of God had not only
Juftice and Equity in it, but Goodneſs and
Kindneſs.
3. Let it be confidered alſo, that this is a
common thing among Men for one Perfon to
be a natural Reprefentative, and as it were,
to become a Truſtee or a Surety for his Pofte-
rity thereby; by which means they enjoy
or fuftain the Honours or the Dishonours,
the Riches or the Poverty, which the Merit
or Crime of their Forefather hath procured.
If a Subject receive from his Prince the Ho-
nour of Nobility, and be made an Earl upon
the account of his Merit, together with the
Royal Endowment of a large Eftate to fup-
port the Honour, this Eftate and this Honour
will defcend together to the lateſt Pofterity,
and the eldeſt Male of his Family in all Ages
is an Earl, and enjoys the Eftate which is
annexed to the Title. But on the other hand,
if a Nobleman rebel againſt his King, and is
attainted of High Treafon, or proved guilty
and condemned, he lofes his Eſtate and
his Honour together, he lofes the Favour
of his Prince at Court, and that Nobility
which is the Image of his Prince; and toge-
ther with him all his Pofterity are cut off
from their Pretenfions to the Honour and the
nor is this ever counted unrighteous
Eftate
K A
dealing
136 Queſt. IV. Is it juft that Millions
dealing among the Governors of the World,
why then ſhould it be imputed as unrighteous
to the Great God who is the Supreme Gover-
nor of all Worlds?
4. I might add alſo in the laſt Place, that
even where a Perfon is not the natural Head
or Fountain of Life to others, yet he may
be made their common legal or federal Head,
their Repreſentative or Surety to act for
them, fo that they fhall enjoy the Benefits of
his Loyalty and Prudence, if he behave and
act well, or fhall fuffer many Miſeries if he
be guilty of Rebellion or Folly. Is not a
Member of Parliament made the Reprefenta-
tive of the whole County or Town, and in-
trufted with the Liberties of thoſe whom he
repreſents? If he aſſiſt in making good Laws,
the Town or County enjoys the Benefit of
them; but if he join with others to give up
his own and their Liberties to the hand of a
Tyrant, they alſo become Slaves together
with himſelf. So a Plenipotentiary is fent
from a Republick, fuppofe from Holland or
Venice, to tranfact Affairs of War or Peace,
and the whole Community which made him
their Repreſentative, either obtain great Ad-
vantages, or are expofed to many Miferies,
according as this Plenipotentiary manages his
own and their Affairs with Prudence and
Faithfulneſs, or fuffers himſelf to be governed
by rafh and foolish Principles, by Negligence
or Falfhood? Now if any Perſon who is not
na-
Suffer for the Sin of one?
Sin of one? 137
may
naturally the Head and Fountain of others
be made their Federal Head or Repre-
fentative, much more may a natural Head
be appointed to reprefent them.
And if thefe Things are fo far from being
charged with Injuftice in the common Af-
fairs of Men, that they ſeem as it were necef-
fary in fome Cafes from the Nature of Things,
why ſhould it be reckoned unjuſt with God
to deal with Man in the fame manner? And
why may not all Mankind with the fame
reafon be faid to fall into Condemnation and
Ruin in their Natural and Federal Head, and
yet the Great God be juſt and righteous? *
* See an Objection anſwered at the End of the VIIIth
Queſtion.
?
QUES-
138 Queft. V. Did Mankind chufe one
QUESTION V.
Tho' the Justice of thefe Tranfactions may be
granted in fome measure where the Repre-
fentative is chofen by the actual and free
Confent of all those whom he reprefents,
yet fince this was not the Cafe between the
firft Man and all his Pofterity, fince they
never confented that he should act for
them, nor ever intrufted him to pass the
Trial in their ftead, therefore why should
they fall under the Penalty and Mifery
due to his Folly and Guilt?
то
10 which I answer theſe feveral ways.
1. In one of the Cafes amongſt
Men which was defcribed before, (viz.)
Where a Nobleman by his Treafon expofes
his lateſt Poſterity to Difgrace and Poverty,
he was not choſen the Repreſentative of his
Offspring, and yet the Diſadvantages that
come upon them thro' his Treafon are not
reckoned unjustly inflicted, tho' the Crime
was committed fome Years or Ages before
they were born: And indeed, as I have in-
timated before, how can ahy Perſon be ſup-
pofed
for their Reprefentative? 139
pofed to be a more proper Surety and Repre-
fentative of a large Multitude than the com-
mon Father of them all, who has the Obli-
gation of Paternal Love to take care of his
Offspring, and who may juftly be ſuppoſed to
be moft worthy of that Poft of Truft and Ho-
nour.
2. There are a great many Inſtances in
Scripture, in the common Tranfactions of
Providence, and the Government of God
among Men, where the Children have been
ſo far eſteemed as Parts of their Parents, or
as one with them, that they have been re-
warded with confiderable Bleffings, and that
thro' ſeveral Generations, upon the account of
their Fathers Piety or Virtue; and they have
been alfo deprived of very great Privileges,
afflicted with fore Difeafes and Calamities,
and even puniſhed with Death itſelf, on the
Account of fome Criminal Head of their Fa-
mily. So much has it been the way of God's
dealing with Men in many Cafes, that there
ſeems to be fomething of a Law of Nature in
it, that a Parent fhould be a Surety for his
Offspring, eſpecially while Children are not
capable of acting for themſelves.
And doubtless there is a Juſtice in this
manner of proceeding which is well known
to God, tho' not always fo vifible to us, for
the Fudge of all the Earth must do what is
right, he cannot, he will not do any wrong,
The Seed of Abraham were rewarded for the
Obe-
140 Queſt.V. Did Mankind chufe one
Obedience of their Father. Gen. xxii. 16, &c.
The Rechabites in their fucceffive Genera-
tions have a Promife of a long Entail of
Bleffings, becauſe of the Honour and Obedi-
ence which they paid to their Father Jonadab.
Jer. xxxv. 2, &c. The Throne of Judah was
continued in David's Houfe for many Gene-
rations, becauſe of David's Picty and Zeal.
2 Sam. vii. 16. Phineas had the Promife of
a long Priesthood in his Family, becauſe of
his Zeal for God. Numb. xxv. 12.
And as Bleflings were thus convey'd, fo
were Puniſhments. The Seed of Ham were
curfed with Slavery for their Father's Crime.
Gen. ix. 25. All the Children were fwallow-
ed up by an Earthquake for the Rebellion of
Corah, Dathan and Abiram their Fathers.
Numb. xvi. 31.* Achan's Family were ftoned
and perifh'd with him for his Theft and Sacri-
lege. Joh. vii. 24. The Children of the Ca-
naanites were deftroy'd together with their
Parents for their abounding Iniquities. Deut.
xx. 16, 18. The Leprofy was tranſmitted to
the Seed of Gehazi for his Sin of Covetouf-
nefs and Lying, 2 Kings v. 26, 27. Fathers
in this cafe are made as it were the Sureties
and Repreſentatives or Truſtees for their
Children, tho' the Children do not actually
and
*The Scripture leads us to believe that most of their Chil-
dren periſhed with them, Numb. xvi. 27 tho' fome or all of
Corah's Sons might be abfent and efcape, chap. xxvi 11. Heb. Be-
nei, Sons.
for their Reprefentative? 141
and formally agree to it; yet furely God is
righteous in all his Ways, and holy in all his
Works.
And we ſee theſe Events frequently in Pro-
vidence now-a-days. Some Families have as
it were a manifeft Entail of Bleffings upon
them, and fome an Entail of Difeafes and
Miſeries, Poverty and Difgrace, on the ac-
count of their Parents Conduct. And I think
this is not to be attributed meerly to their
natural Deſcent from fuch Parents, but in
the Government of God Parents are made
and eſteemed a fort of Truſtees for their
Children in the Good or Evil Things of this
Life, which renders a Succeffion of Bleffings
or Curfes in their Families more juſt and
equitable.
3. Tho' all Mankind were not actually
prefent to confent that their Father fhould
be their Repreſentative, yet the Appointment
is fo juft and fo equitable in the Governor of
the World, and alfo there is fo much Good-
nefs in it, confidering that they were to have
injoy'd Immortality and Happineſs if he had
kept his Innocence, that none of the Race of
Adam could reaſonably have refuſed this
Propofal. For this Father of Mankind, as I
have ſhown, is ſuppoſed to have as much Wif
dom and Holinefs, and Love to himſelf and Re-
folution to maintain his own Innocence and
Happineſs, as any fingle Perfon among them
could have; and he would have the ftronger
Mo-
3
142 Queſt.V. Did Mankind chufe one
Motives of Benevolence and fatherly Pity
to make him watch over his Conduct, and to
guard him from Sin, having the whole Con-
cern of the Happineſs or Mifery of his Off-
fpring devolved upon him. The Care of
Thouſands, dear to him as his Children, and
whofe Peace or Pain, whofe Life or Death
depend on his Conduct, would naturally a-
waken all his Watchfulneſs beyond the meer
Care of his fingle Self.
And if we fuppofe all his Pofterity to have
been endowed with the clear Reaſon and
Wiſdom, the Sagacity and folid Judgment,
of innocent Man, and to have had this Que-
ftion propoſed to them, Whether they would
each act for themselves in a dangerous State
of Trial, or have their common Father ap-
pointed as a Repreſentative to act for them;
furely they must have chofen their common
Father to have been their Repreſentative: for
their Reaſon and Wiſdom would have aſſured
them that their Innocence and Happineſs were
fafer in his hands than in their own, in as
much as the Obligations that lay on him to
fecure it both for himfelf and for them were.
much ſtronger than could lie on every fingle
Perfon acting only for himſelf.
CONFIRMATION of this SCHEME.
To conclude: I think we may venture to
fay, That this univerfal Mortality and Death,
which
for their Reprefentative? 143
which even our Adverfaries allow to be de-
rived from Adam's Sin, and all that long
Train of Sorrows and Miferies, which are
come upon all Mankind (young and old) muft
arife originally from fome federal Tranfaction
of the Great God, as a Governour, with their
firft Parent, or Parents; and fome Cove-
nant made with him for their Pofterity, either
expreſs'd or imply'd, whereby they all juftly
fall under thefe Evils and Difadvantages: Or
elſe it muſt ariſe from the fovereign arbitrary
Will and Appointment of God himself, that
upon our firſt Parents Sin, all their Pofterity
fhould become thus mortal and miſerable as
well as themſelves.
Now thoſe who deny this our Scheme or fe-
deral Reprefentation of Things, are generally
very tender and fearful of allowing any fuch
Hardſhips to come upon Creatures by the meer
arbitrary Will and Appointment of the Cre-
ator, left they caft a Blemiſh on the divine
Goodneſs and Equity. And yet I cannot find
any poffible way to avoid this Imputation on
the Equity and Goodneſs of God, unleſs the
univerfal Mifery and Death of Mankind be
derived from fome fuch Covenant or federal
Conftitution, whereby they were all as it were
included in one Head, and he as their great mo-
ral Reprefentative acted for them all, and by
his Sin involved them all in one Ruin:
Whereas if this Ruin be derived from their
firſt Parent, confider'd meerly as their natural
Head,
144 Queſt. V. Did Mankind, &c.
ነ
Head, the Charge or Imputation will fall
plainly upon the abfolute and arbitrary Will
and Sovereignty of God as Creator, who thus
appointed it.
And let it be obſerved, that this would be
fuch an inftance of Sovereignty too, which
the Pofterity of this firſt Man could never have
wifely choſen nor conſented to, as a Thing
beneficial to them; whereas this cannot be
faid concerning the original federal Conftitu-
tion of the firſt Man to be Repreſentative of
his Pofterity, which was eligible by the wifeft
Creature, as well as kindly, wifely, and e-
quitably appointed by the Creator.
QUES-
145
QUESTION VI.
Man is a Creature made up of two distinct
Parts, Soul and Body: Now if both
thefe were derived from the Parents by
a natural Propagation, then all Mankind
may be faid to derive their vicious Appe-
tites and Paffions, and finful Inclinations
from their first Parent, which had cor-
rupted and spoiled his own Nature by Sin:
But fince it is generally agreed, that the
Body only is propagated from the Parents,
but the Soul of every Infant is immedi-
ately form'd by God himself, and united to
the Infant-Body, how is it poffible that
the Soul ſhould be defiled with finful Prin
ciples, and partake of vicious Inclina-
tions,when'tis only the Body that properly
comes into the World by Generation?
Anf.1. A finning against God, injured
S the Soul of the firſt Man, by
and violated the Habits or Principles of Virtue
L
and
* Let it be obferved here, that not the Calvinists only, who
fuppole the first Man to be the legal Reprefentative of his
Pofterity, are obliged to anfwer this Queftion, and to folve
this Difficulty; but almott every Sect and Party of Chriſtians,
who allow any thing of Original Sin or Degeneracy, are un-
der equal obligations to remove it.
146 Queſt.VI. Could the Soul be defiled
and Holiness that were in his Nature, by
boldly venturing to act contrary to them; fo
the vicious Motions, or irregular Appetites of
the Fleſh, grew ftronger in him daily, and
prevailed more and more againſt his Reaſon
and his better Powers; and thefe finful Fer-
ments of animal Nature, thefe irregular Paf
fions and Appetites to unlawful Objecs, or
exceflive Appetites or Inclinations to things
that were lawful, grew fo ftrong in this firſt
Man, that the Soul frequently complied with
them, and committed new Sins againſt the
Laws of his Maker.
2. Theſe finful Ferments of the Fleſh, thefe
irregular Appetites, thefe Motions of corrupt
Pailion, ſo far as they are feated in the Fleſh
and Blood, are conveyed down from the ori-
ginal Sinner, in greater or lefs degrees *, to
all
* Tho' Original Sin, fo far as 'tis imputed, is equal in all
the Race of Adam, for it is the Imputation of Adam's Sin, or
Condemnation by it to fuffer Sorrow and Death; yet Original
Sin inherent, or the Corruption of Nature, which is propagated
from the first Man to all his Offspring, has various Degrees
in different Perfons. The very animal Juices and Ferments, in
the Formation of particular human Bodies, may have more or
ief of the vicious Tinture in them. And this may be partly
owing to the Virtues or Vices of immediate Parents, or other
Ancestors, or the particular Tempers, Humours and Confti.
tutions of the Father or Mother. Hence we fay of fome
Perfons, they have more natural Virtues than others; i. e. Good-
Temper, Compaffion, Moderation, Temperance, &c. And
others have more natural Vices, fuch as, Cruelty, Envy, Pride,
Drunkenness, Wantonnefs,
c.
The Reafon of this feems to be founded in the prefent Na-
ture of things, tho' we may not always defcry the immediate
and particular Caufes. But the general Caufe and Ground of
the
with evil Ferments of the Body? 147
all his Offspring in continual Succeffion; and
the Soul, in its Infant-State, is perpetually
impreft and allured by theſe vicious Motions,
Appetites and Paffions of the Fleſh; and it as
readily complies with thofe that are accounted
criminal, as with thofe that are innocent.
It is true indeed, in the mere Infant-State,
the Soul has no knowledge of God, or his
Law, of Virtue or Vice, of its own Duty or
Sin; and therefore, in its mere Infant-State,
the Actions are not properly humane or moral ;
nor can they be actually criminal in the fight
of God, ſo as to contract actual Guilt, till
Years of Knowledge and Underſtanding, and
till the Mind and Will are capable of know-
ing, chufing and refufing moral Good and
Evil; and at what time this is to be deter-
min'd the Great God only knows: But when
it is capable of exerting any Actions of the
Will with Underſtanding, and ſuch as are pro-
perly humane and moral, it contracts actual
and perfonal Guilt, by theſe finful Com-
pliances
L 2
the Propagation of particular Vices to Children, must be re-
ferr'd originally to their common Intereft in the Guilt or Con-
demnation of Adam's firft Sin. Without this I cannot vindi-
cate the Providence of God in the Propagation of any particu
lar Vices by the appointed Laws of Nature.
And if it be inquired, why fome have more native Vices
than others, fince the Ground or Demerit of all, is one and the
fame: I aufwer, That 'tis owing to the meer Mercy of God
that every Child has not as vile and corrupt and vicious a Na-
ture or Temper, as the worft; and if every one were equally
vicious in their animal Temper, the Government of God
would be justified in the Permiffion of it.
148 Queſt. VI. Could the Soul, &c.
pliances with the Flefh or animal Nature. Thus
Original Sin, efpecially that Part of it which
confifls in the Corruption of our Nature, is
evidently conveyed and communicated by the
Fleſh; and thence it comes to pass, that the
Principles of Sin in Mankind, and the evil
Habits both in the Soul and in the Body, are
fo often called the Flesh in Scripture, becauſe
the Fleſh is the Means of the Propagation of
Sin, and becauſe the vicious Motions and Fer-
ments which are in the Flefh, lead the Soul
aftray to forbidden Actions.
It is granted, the Soul has reaſoning and
reflecting Powers, and is furnifh'd with Judg
ment and Confcience, yet thefe are very
young and feeble in Childhood, and the Soul
feldom calls them into Counfel to enquire or
adviſe; for it finds it much cafier to comply
with every animal Appetite and Paffion. Thus
it practiſes Vice, tho' in lefs degrees, as it paffes
from Infancy to Childhood; thus it grows
up to tafte, to indulge, and to delight in for-
bidden Enjoyments. Then as its Knowledge
incrcafes, it fins against the plainer Dictates
of Confcience, and with a more criminal
Confent of the Will; thus it increaſes its
Guilt, and ftrengthens the Habits of Sin, both
in the Body and in the Mind, and grows up
towards Perfection in Iniquity, unleſs reftrain-
ing or recovering Grace prevent.
QUES
149
QUESTION VII.
But if we allow that it is poſſible the new-
created Soul ſhould be thus corrupted, yet
is it agreeable to the Justice or Wifdom,
or Goodness of God, to create so many
Millions of Souls, pure, innocent and holy,
as they must be in their own Naturës,
coming from the Hands of God, and to u-
nite them immediately to fuch Bodies, de-
rived from finful Parents, and infected
with vicious Ferments and Appetites,
whereby they are fo early, and almoſt un-
avoidably led into finful Practices and de-
filed thereby?
And, to make this Queſtion ſtill more
difficult, it might be added,
Is it not contrary to the Justice and Goodness
of God to create innocent Souls, and un'te
them to fuch Bodies derived from finful
Parents, whereby they are fubject to many
painful Senfations, fuch Anguish and Ago-
nies, and early Mifery, before they can
know any thing of Good or Evil, or have
committed any actual Tranfgreffion?
Anf. Pfic
ERHAPS this is the greatest Dif-
ficulty in the whole Dottrine of
Original
L 3
1.50 Queſt. VII. Would God unite
Original Sin*, and therefore I fhall offer at
an humble Endeavour to anſwer it in a more
particular and diftinct manner, by the fol-
lowing Steps or Degrees of Reaſoning.
1. Tho' the Soul of Man be created by
God himſelf, without depraved or finful Qua-
lities in it, yet it never exifts or comes into
Being, but as a Part of human Nature; and
that not as a Picce of new Workmanſhip
from God's hand, but as a Part of Mankind
who are propagated from the first Parent, by
the continued Power of God's first creating
Word, Be fruitful and multiply: And thus,
tho' the Soul really comes from God rather
than from the Parent, yet Man is to be con-
fidered as propagating his Kind, much in the
fame manner as Brute Creatures and all Ani-
mals propagate their Kind: and their Defcen-
dants or Offspring are tainted with any Poi-
fon, Difcafe or painful Infirmity, which is
mingled with the Blood or animal Juices of
their Sires or their Dams. And this is accord-
ing to the Law of Creation, and it can hardly
be otherwife in the nature of things.
You will fay, Man docs not propagate his
Kind by the meer Mechaniſm of Fleſh and
Blood, and animal Ferments; for it is the
original and conftant creative Decree of God.
that produces a new Subftance, a human Soul,
and
*As abftrufe and difficult as this Question is, yet almoſt
all Parties of Chriftians, who acknowledge any thing of Ori-
ginal Degeneracy, are obliged to anfwer it, as well as thoſe
who are called Calvin fts.
innocent Souls to defiled Bodies? 151
and joins it to this Body; whereas the Off-
fpring of Brutes are propagated, and come
into Exiſtence, by the meer mechanical Agen-
cy of Fleſh and Blood, without any other par-
ticular A&t of the Divine Will or Power, or
any Creation of a new Subſtance.
To this I answer, That perhaps few or
none of the common Appearances of Nature,
or the conftant daily Events in the corporeal
World, come to paſs by meer * Mechanifm,
or the Impulfe and neceflary Effects of the
Motions of the Particles of Matter without
the Influence of fome fuperadded Laws of
Nature, befide and beyond the neceffary Pro-
perties of Matter; which Laws proceed from
God's conftant uniform Agency upon Mat-
ter, fuch as the Law of Gravitation, or the
mutual Tendency of all the Parts of Matter
towards each other, which is a Law of Na-
ture, or Decree of Creation, and is in reality
the conftant uniform Agency of God on the
inanimate World: and fome fuppofe Ela-
fticity, Electricity, Magnetism, &c. to be of
the fame kind, as well as all Vitality in the
vegetable and animal Creatures.
L 4
And
By the Words Mechanifm and Mechanical, in this place,
I mean only the meer Effects arising from the natural and
effential Properties of Motion and Matter, confidered only as
a Piece of folid Extenfion moved: Sometimes the Word Me-
chanifm is taken in a larger Senfe, fo as to include all the
fuperadded Laws of Nature or Motion, which are impreft
and maintain'd, thro' all the material Creation, by the Di-
vine Will; fuch as Gravitation, mutual Attraction and Re-
pulfe, &c.
152 Queſt. VII. Would God unite
And in this fenfe Brutes propagate their
Kind, not meerly by the mechanical Motions
of Flesh and Blood, but by fome original
creative Decree of God, or conftant Law of
Nature, whereby Matter is impelled into fuch
particular vital Motions and Forms, and kin-
dled into Life in a Succeffion of Generations,
by a conftant uniform Act or Agency of the
Divine Will.
Let me add alfo, that 'tis by this univerfal
Divine Agency, all Animals borrow their
Breath of Life from the Air, which is an ex-
traneous Subſtance, which yet is then coun-
ted a Part of themfelves, and is called their
Breath, and their Life.
In like manner, when the Infant-Body of
Man is ſo far formed as to become fit for
Union with a rational Soul, the Soul then
comes into Exiftence, in Union with the
Body, by an original creative Decree of God,
or a fettled Law of Nature; and thus, the
Man and the Brute, in their long Succeffions,
are both formed by the Power of that ancient
Law of Creation, this Almighty Creative
Word, Be fruitful and multiply.
I add alſo, that the Soul, tho' it be a di-
ftinct Subſtance coming from God, yet com-
ing into Exiſtence in this manner by a Law
of Nature, becomes a Part of the Man as
much as the Breath of Life, which is an ex-
traneous Subſtance borrowed from the Air,
or
innocent Souls to defiled Bodies? 153
or as the Blood of the Child, which is hourly
made out of the Food of the Mother.
2. In this view of things, the Soul of the
Infant is not to be confider'd or judged of as a
fingle feparate Being, but as always in union
with the Infant's Fleſh and Blood, and as
making up a compound Creature of the hu-
man Species, propagated from the Parents as
effectually to all Intents and Purpoſes, as tho'
the Soul itſelf proceeded directly from Ge-
neration as well as the Body.
3. If Adam had maintained his Innocency,
the univerfal and original Law of Propagation
would have been juft the fame as now it is;
and the Soul had been brought into Exiſtence
and Union in the fame manner, and would
have kept its original and native Biafs and In-
clination to Holineſs; for the animal Body
would then have promoted it rather than led
it aftray as now it does. And according to the
firft Covenant, the Soul of the Child might
have alſo hoped, or perhaps by Prayer and
Dependance have humbly claimed fanctifying
Influences, to preferve it from Temptation
and to keep it innocent.
4. But fince the Soul, in the firſt moment
of its Being, belongs to a human Body de-
rived from the firſt Man who finned, and that
according to the Rules or Laws of Creation
and Providence, it becomes hereby a Son or
a Daughter of fallen Man, and according to
the Law of Creation it is naturally involved
in
154 Queſt. VII. Would God unite
in the fame Circumftances of Ruin with its
Parent as the Buds and Branches that grow
out of a rotten Tree fallen to the Ground,
partake of the Corruption and Ruin, and
Speedy Death of the Stock; or as a fecble and
diſeaſed young brute Animal partakes of the
Infirmities and Diſeaſes of its Sire or Dam ;
or as the Child of a Traitor is born a Beg-
gar, tho' his Father were once a Lord; or as
the Son of a lewd and difeafed Perfon derives
perhaps both a lewd and a diſeaſed Conſtitu-
tion from his Parent.
5. Then being one of the Race of finful
Man, the young Creature comes into the
World under the common Eftrangement of
the whole Race from God by Sin, according
to the original Law of Creation, and the Co-
venant made with its Forefather, whereby the
Defcendants or Offspring come under the
fame Circumftances with the Parent, whether
good or bad: and thus the Child has no juſt
Claim to preferving or fecuring Grace, and
amidſt all the Temptations of the Fleſh has
no Right to any good Influences or divine
Aids, but is left meerly to the Faculties of
its intelligent Nature. It is eftcemed in the
fight of God, as a Part of the Race that is
fallen from their Allegiance and from his Pro-
tection, have loft his Image and his Favour,
and have no hope but in and by the Methods
of recovering Grace reveal'd in the Goſpel.
And
innocent Souls to defiled Bodies? 155
And by the fame Suppofition of the Formation
and Union of the human Soul, by fome con-
ſtant original Law of Creation or Nature, and
acting as uniformly as Gravitation on Matter,
we anſwer the Difficulty of the Soul's becom-
ing fubject to the Senſations of Pain and An-
guiſh: At its Creation and Union to the Body,
it becomes a Child of Adam, and is expos'd to
the Pains of Nature, as a Part of the Curfe
coming on the firft Sinner, and on all his na-
tural Pofterity, whofe Reprefentative he both
ſtood and fell. But there is Hope of Delive-
rance in the Gospel from the Pains as well as the
Sins which came into human Nature from our
firft Parents; Bleffed be God for this Relief.
To conclude; As I have acknowledged this
to be the very chief Point of Difficulty in all
the Controverfies about Original Sin, ſo I am
doubtful whether this Solution fets the Matter
in ſuch a ſufficient Light, as to take away all
remaining Scruples from a curious and inqui-
fitive Mind. I confefs 'tis the most probable
Hypothefis I can think of, and fhall be glad to
fee this perplexing Enquiry more happily an-
fwer'd. But if the Cafe itſelf be Matter of Fact,
that Souls are defiled, and expofed to Pain, by
being united to human Bodies fo vitiated, we
are fure it muſt be juft and equitable, becauſe
God has thus ordered it, tho' we fhould not
find out a happier Solution of the Difficulties
that attend it in this dark and imperfect State.
QUES-
3
156 Q. VIII. Does the Word of God
QUESTION VIII.
Suppose it were granted, that this Repre-
fentation of things, if it were true, would
in a great measure account for that uni-
verfal Deluge of Sin and Mifery which
has overspread Mankind, yet what Rea-
fon have we to believe it to be true?
Does the Word of God, which is our
trueft and ſafeſt Guide, give us the fame
Reprefentation of things, or ſupport this
Scheme?
Anf. 1.
T
HE Difficulties and Dark-
neffes which attend this im-
portant Queſtion, How came Sin and Mifery
into the World? are fo many and great, that
if, by reaſoning on thefe Subjects, we can but
find any Hypothefis, or fuppofed Scheme of
Tranfactions between God and Man, which
will give a tolerable Solution of thefe Difficul-
tics, and lead us thro' this dark Scene of Pro-
vidence, without any just Imputation or Re-
flection upon the Wiſdom, Juſtice and Good-
nefs of our Creator, it ought to have confi-
derable weight with every reafoning and in-
quiring Mind, if it be not contrary to Scrip-
ture, tho' it fhould not be afferted, and ex-
prefly
*
3*
give this Account of Things? 157
prefly maintained in Scripture. It was this
fame perplexing Enquiry that led ſeveral of
the Heathens and Greek Philofophers into
many vain Imaginations, and betrayed fome
of thofe Profeffors of Wiſdom into various
wild Fooleries and atheiſtical Impieties.
Some of them thought that all Things
were produced by meer Chance, others a-
fcribed it to a neceffary Fatality and irrefiftible
Connection of Cauſes and Effects; ſome of
theſe allowed a firft Caufe or fome Divine
Being to fet things in motion at firft, but
without any fubfequent Interpofure or Go-
vernment of a wife, a righteous, or a merci-
ful Being. The best of them, that is the
Platonicks, fell into the Doctrine of the Pre-
exiſtence of all human Souls, and thought
that all of them had finned in a former State,
and were thruſt down into theſe Bodies, fub.
ject to fuch perverfe Appetites, unruly Paf-
fions, and huge Miferies, as a Punishment
for thoſe former Sins. Others indulged a
Fancy that there were two Supreme Beings,
one the Spring of all Good, and the other
the Spring of all Evil: The Perfians alſo took
up with this Opinion, and even a Sect of
Chriftians was deluded with this Doctrine,
who were called Manichees. So great were
the Darkneffes that furrounded this Enquiry,
How came Sin and Mifery, i. c. Evil both
natural and moral, to be fo univerfal among
Men?
'Tis
158 Q. VIII. Does the Word of God
Y
'Tis evident that this general Corruption
and Calamity which has overspread all the
Race of Man carries in it at first fight fuch a
hard or doubtful Idea of the Conduct of God
their Maker, and has raifed in many a thought-
ful Perfon fuch Reflections upon the Good-
nefs and Juſtice of God, and fuch hard
Thoughts of the Almighty Being who formed
them, that it ought to be efteemed a great
Happineſs if we can but by way of Conjecture
and humble Reaſoning find a probable Me-
thod whereby thefe Difficulties may be re-
lieved, and the Objection againſt the Good-
nefs and Juſtice of our Maker refuted or
filenced *
Anf.
* Thoſe who oppofe the Doctrine of Original Sin will nei-
ther allow our arguing from Reafon or Revelation.
Our Fathers, as well as fome prefent Writers, have abun-
dantly proved this Doctrine from feveral Places of Scripture;
and our Adverfaries have endeavour'd to fhew from the Light
of Reason, that it does not agree with the Reason and Nature of
Things, and therefore, fay they, Scripture must be otherwise ex-
plained; and they are forced to labour hard to give ſome ſtrain'd
and perverfe Interpretations of it to fupport their Scheme: and
yet when we come in our turn to fearch what the Reason of
Things will fay on this Subject, as is done in the prefent Trea-
tife, then it is replied, Why do we not immediately take our Ac-
count from Scripture? And we are upbraided that we fèt a Candle
before the Noon day Sun, that we weaken the Evidence of a certain
Rule by bringing over it what is doubtful and fallacious.
Whereas all that I have attempted to do here, is to fhew,
that Reafon goes a great way to teach and prove what Scripture
afferts, and that Reason and Scripture agree (as far as Reaſon
goes) in one and the fame Account of this Matter. And thus
we confirm our Belief of this great Article of Original Sin,
which we learn both from Obfervation and Reaſon, as well as
Revelation. Sometimes indeed we introduce one firſt in order,
and
give this Account of Things? 159
Anf. 2. Tho' God hath not thought fit
to reveal to us at large in his Word all theſe
particular Tranſactions between himſelf and
the firft Man whom he created, yet there
might be all this and more revealed to the firft
Man; and it might be fet before him in full
Light, to fecure his Obedience and deter him
from finning.
But if we collect together all that is re-
vealed concerning this Subject, we fhall find
that the Word of God leads us into many of
the fame Solutions of theſe Difficulties which
our Reaſoning Powers have propofed. Scrip-
ture gives us much the fame Repreſentation
of the Entrance of Sin and Miſery into the
World, as we have already heard, if we will
attend with diligence to the Revelation which
God has made, and this appears in the fol-
lowing Particulars.
Prop. I. It is plainly taught us in Scripture
that God introduced Mankind into the World
by the Formation of one fingle Pair, one Man
and Woman, whom he called Adam and
Eve. Gen. ii. 7. The Lord God formed Man
out of the Duft of the Ground, and breathed
into his Noftrils the Breath of Life, and
Man became a living Soul. Ver. 18. And
the Lord God faid, It is not good that Man
Should
and fometimes the other, and we place this Subject in every
Light, both of Scripture and Reafon, while we are reprefent-
ing their mutual Agreement: And what is there in this Con-
duct that is worthy of Accufation, Reproach or Blame ?
160 Q. VIII. Does the Word of God
1
Should be alone: I will make him an help
meet for him. Ver. 22. The Lord made a
Woman out of the Rib which he had taken
from the Man, and brought her unto the
Man. Gen. i. 27, 28. So God created Man,
Male and Female created he them; and God
bleſſed them, and faid to them, Be fruitful
and multiply, and replenish the Earth. Gen.
iii. 20. And Adam called his Wife's Name
Eve, becauſe ſhe was the Mother of all Liv
ing. Acts xvii. 26. He hath made of one
Blood all Nations of Men to dwell on all
the Face of the Earth.
Prop. II. God created Man at firſt in a
holy and happy State, in his own Likeneſs and
in his own Favour, Gen. i. 26. And God faid,
Let us make Man in our Image, after our
Likeness; and that none of the Brute Crea-
tures might moleft or injure him, but all of
them might be for his Service, he faid, Let
them have Dominion over the Fish, and
the Fowls, and the Cattle, &c. fo God cre-
ated Man in his own Image: And what this
Image confifted in, befides in his fpiritual Na-
ture, and his immortal State, and his Domi-
nion over other Creatures, we are told by St.
Paul, Eph. iv. 24. where the Apoftle ſpeaks
of the New Man, or the Reftoration of Fal-
len Man to his primitive Temper, which, fays
he, after God, i. e. after the Likeneſs of God,
is created in Righteouſneſs and true Holi-
nefs.
give this Account of Things? 161
nefs.[See more, pag. 7, 8.] Eccleſ. vii. 29. Solo-
mon affures us, God hath made Man upright.
And Mofes fays, when God had finished all his
Creation, he furvey'd it, and found it all agree-
able to his Mind. Gen. i. 31. God faw every
thing that he had made, and behold it was
very good: it was all according to his Idea and
his Will, and well-pleafing in his fight. Man
the laft of his Creatures, as well as all the reft,
was very good, was holy and happy.
Prop. III. God originally appointed, that
Adam when innocent fhould produce an Off-
fpring in his own holy Image, or in the fame
Circumftances of Holinefs and Happiness in
which he himself was created: and appointed
alfo on the other hand, that if he finned and
fell from his innocent State, he fhould propa-
gate his kind in his own finful Image, which
may probably be implied in thofe Words,
Gen. i. 26. God faid, Let us make Man in
our Image, and let them have dominion over
Fish and Fowl, &c. And God created Man
Male and Female, and bleſſed them, and
faid, Be fruitful and multiply, and have
dominion over the Fish and the Fowl, &c.
i. e. when you are multiply'd, let your Seed
maintain this Sovereignty, this Dominion,
which is a Part of my Image, in your feveral
fucceeding Generations.
And Gen. v. 1, 2, 3. In the Day that
God created Man, in the Likeness of God
M
he
162 Q. VIII. Does the Word of God
be made him; Male and Female created he
them, and bleed them, and called their
Name Adam or Man. And Adam lived 130
Tears, i. e. after his Sin and his Lofs of the
holy Image of God, * and begat a Son in his
qwn Likeness, after his Image. ver. 5. i. e. his
own finful and mortal Image, and called his
Name Seth. And Adam died. ver. 6, 7, 8.
And Seth alfo lived, and begat Sons and
Daughters in this mortal and finful State,
and he died alfo as Adam his Father did be-
fore him, and his Children after him.
It is not to be fuppofed that Mofes in this
brief History of the firft Generations of Men
fhould make fuch a particular Repetition of
the Image or Likeness of God in which A-
dam was created, in this place, unleſs he had
defigned to ſet the Compariſon in a fair Light
between Adam's begetting his Son in his own
finful and mortal Image or Likeness, whercas
he himſelf was created in God's holy and im-
mortal Image : And more eſpecially when the
Defign of the Chapter is to fhew how every
Generation of the Sons of Adam died, it is
obvious that Mofes defigned alfo to fhew how
this Courfe and Cuftom of dying came into
the World, i. e. by Adam's bringing his Poft-
crity into the World, in his own Image, as
fallen from God and liable to Death.
Prop.
* That Adam loft this moral Image of God bySin, is plainly
imply'd, Eph. iv. 24 where we are faid to be renew'd after this
moral Image, (viz.) Holiness.
give this Account of Things? 163
..
Prop. IV. God was pleaſed to put the Man
whom he had made upon a Trial of his Obe-
dience for a Seaſon, he placed him in a Gar-
den of Eden or Pleaſure, he gave him a free
Ufe of the Creatures for his Comfort, but for-
bid him to cat of the Fruit of one Tree, even
the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and
Evil; for faid he, In the Day that thou
cateft of it, thou shalt furely die, Gen. ii. 17.
i. e. thou fhalt from that time be liable to
Death in which Threatning were doubtless
included all the Infirmities, Pains and Miſeries
of this Life which tend toward Death and De-
ftruction, together with Death and Deftruc-
tion at the end of them.
And it is not at all improbable that God
fhould reveal to Adam, that he fhould be the
Reprefentative of his Pofterity, and that the
Confequences of his Obedience, or of his Sin,
ſhould fall upon them as well as upon himſelf.
All that appears as narrative and real Fact in
the Bible, might be reprefented in the Springs
and Caufes thereof to Adam, fo far as God
pleafed.
Prop. V. As Adam was under a Law
whofe Sanction threatened Mortality and
Death upon Difobedience, and there was
a Symbol or Scal of it, (viz.) the Tree
of Knowledge of Good and Evil; fo it is
moft highly probable, or rather certain, that
M 2
God
164 Q. VIII. Does the Word of God
God favoured him with a Covenant of Life,
and a Promiſe of Life and Immortality upon
his Obedience, becaufe there was another
Tree appointed to be a Symbol or Scal of this
Covenant and Promife, i. e. the Tree of
Life: So that if he had not finned againſt
God, he fhould have cat of that Tree, and
been cftabliſhed in Immortality. Gen. ii. 9.
Out of the Ground the Lord God made to
grow every Tree, &c. the Tree of Life alfo
in the midst of the Garden, and the Tree of
Knowledge of Good and Evil; the one to be
a Seal of the Promife of Life upon his Obc-
dience, the other a Seal of the Threatening
of Death on his Difobedience: And there-
fore after his Sin God would not fuffer him
to taſte of the Tree of Life. Gen. iii. 22, 24.
Now left he put forth his Hand and take of
the Tree of Life, and live for ever, God
drove out the Man from the Garden.
And we may ſuppoſe this Tree of Life did
not meerly fignify the Confirmation of Adam
in Life and Immortality if he had continued
obedient, but that it alfo included fome Ad-
vance of Happincfs, fince the Fruits of this
very Tree are made uſe of in the New Teſta-
ment, particularly Rev. xxii. to fignify the
advanced Delights and Satisfactions which
truc Chriftians fhall enjoy in Heaven by the
Grace and Salvation of Jefus Chrift.
It may also be obferv'd here, that fome in-
genious and rational Divines have fuppofed,
}
that
give this Account of Things? 165
that each of theſe two Trees, (viz.) that of
Knowledge and that of Life, bore Fruits na-
turally ſuited to their Federal or Sacramental
Defign: That the Fruit of the Tree of Know-
ledge being poisonous, would convey into
the Blood of the Eater fuch Juices as fhould
irritate irregular Appetites and Paffions,
fhould raiſe them to an immoderate Degree,
and ſhould alſo vitiate the vital Powers of
Man with Diſeaſes, and by degrees bring him
down to Death. And that the Fruit of the
Tree of Life being fuited to maintain the vi-
tal Principles of Animal Nature, fhould keep
the Flesh and Blood in a temperate State of
Health, and preferve the Appetites and Paf-
fions in that Moderation, as to be always fub-
ject to Reaſon and within the Rules of Innc-
cence: And that it had alfo fome latent Vir-
tue to heal all manner of Diſorders which
could poflibly come upon human Nature (if
any could come) in a State of Innocence and
Virtue. It is defcribed as a Plant both of
Healing and of Immortality. Rev. xxii. 2.
And God would not fuffer Adam, who was
guilty of Death, to tafte of it after his Fall,
left he fhould raife fome falfe Hope thereby
to have healed himfelf of all the poisonous Ef-
fects of the forbidden Tree of Knowledge,
and fhould neglect the Salvation of the pro-
mifed Meffiah.
But the chief Reaſon for which I mention
thefe two Trees here, is to fhew, that as
M 3
there
166 Q. VIII. Does the Word of God
there was an appointed Figure, Seal or Sym-
bol of immortal Life and Happineſs, as well
as of Evil and Death, both growing in this
Garden of Paradife: fo there was a real Co-
venant or Promiſe of Life made to perfever-
ing Obedience, as well as a Law that threat-
ned Mifery and Death to Man, if he were
difobedient to his Maker.
Perhaps alfo we might farther prove, that
there was a Covenant of Life and Promiſe of
Immortality and advanced Happineſs upon
Condition of perfect Obedience, from many
Texts of Scripture.
The firft is Rom. ii. 7. Where the Apoftle
is rather reprefenting the Terms of the Co-
venant of Works, than the Terms of the Co-
venant of Grace, and fays, God will render
Indignation and Wrath, Tribulation and
Anguish upon every Soul of Man that doth
Evil; but eternal Life, with Glory and
Honour to them who by patient Continuance
in well-doing feek for Glory and Honour,
and Immortality. And ver. 10. Glory, Ho-
nour, and Peace to every Man that worketh
Good. Here let it be obferved, that the A-
poftle, from the 18th Verfe of the firſt Chap-
ter to the 21ft Verfe of the third, is evidently
laying all Mankind under Condemnation by
the Law, and not defcribing the Salvation
which comes by the Covenant of Grace; and
therefore he ufes the Words Glory, Honour,
Peace, Immortality, eternal Life, which
are
give this Account of Things? 167
εν
are the Promiſes of a Covenant of Works,
but not a Word of Pardon, Grace, or Sal-
vation, which are the Promifes of a better
Covenant and he reprefents the Means of
attaining theſe original Bleflings to be work-
ing of Good, and patient Continuance in well-
doing, Sπoμovn ev epyw dyadu, i. c. Continuance
in one good Work without interruption or
imperfection; but not a word of Repentance
and Faith, as the Means of obtaining theſe
Bleflings. Theſe are therefore the proper
Terms of the Law of Innocency and Cove-
nant of Works, and this is the Promife made.
to perfect Obedience, by which no Man now
fince the Fall can be juſtify'd, as is expreff-
ly afferted, Rom. iii. 20. though innocent
Adam might have attained Immortality, eter-
nal Life, Honour, and Glory by it.
(2.) 'Tis the Covenant of Works with the
Terms of it, as expreft in the Books of Mo-
fes, which is cited by St. Paul, Gal. iii. 12.
The Man that doeth the Commands fhall
live in or by them: and Rom. x. 5. This is
call'd the Righteousness of the Law, i. c.
that which intitles a Man to the Promiſe of
Life. And Rom. vii. 10. The Commandment
of the Law which was ordained to Life,
fhews that Life and Immortality would have
been the Reward of Obedience to it.
(3.) 'Twill add perhaps fome Force to this
Argument, in order to prove a Promiſe of
Glory and Immortality made to Adam, if we
M 4
con
168 Q. VIII. Does the Word of God
confider, that when the Apoftle expreffes the
fallen State of Man, he fays, Rom. iii. 23.
All have finned, and come fhort of the Glory
of God, i. e. have loft all Hope of that Glory
of God, that glorious State in Immortality
which God promifed, and to which Man
would have been entitled by his Obedience,
as chap. ii. ver. 7. before cited.
(4.) There is another Text alfo which has
been used to prove, that Adam was not merc-
ly under a Law with a Threat'ning, but alſo
under a Covenant with a Promife; and
that is Hofea vi. 7. They like Men have
tranfgreffed the Covenant: but in the Ori-
ginal it is, they have tranfgreffed the Cove-
nant like Adam; which imports that Adam
was under a Covenant of Life, as well as a
Law that threat'ned Death: For there muſt be
a Promiſe of Life as well as Threat'ning of
Death to make a Law become a Covenant.
But I proceed to the next Propofition.
Prop. VI. Adam broke the Law of his
Maker, loft his Image and his Favour, for-
feited the Hopes of Immortality, and expofed
himſelf to the Threat'ning of God, to many
Sorrows in Life, and at laft to Death, Gen. iii.
17. And God faid to Adam, because thou
kaft eaten of the Tree which I commanded
thee, faying, Thou shalt not eat of it ; Curfed
is the Ground for thy fake; in Sorrow fhalt
thou eat of it all the Days of thy Life: in
the
1
1
give this Account of Things? 169
}
the Sweat of thy Face shalt thou eat thy
Bread, till thou return unto the Ground;
for Duft thou art, and unto Duft shalt thou
return.
Now that Adam loft the Image of God,
i. e. broke his Habit of Holiness, or deftroy'd
the inward Principle of Virtue and Piety, is
evident from the Nature of Things, as I
have fhewn under the III Quest. Prop. 8.
By making ſuch an Inroad upon Confcience,
by finning againſt fo much Light, by giving
fuch a Looſe to finful Appetite, by lofing
both his own delightful Senfe of the Favour
and Love of God, and thereby lofing his own
Love to God; his Reafon and Confcience
grew weak to fubdue or reftrain his Inclina-
tions to evil Things, his corrupt Appetites
ftill prevail'd further upon him, for he was
forfaken of God, and had not any peculiar
Aids from Heaven to refift Temptation.
And that he loft alfo the Favour of God
and fome peculiar Privileges of the State of
Innocence, is plain; for he who uſed to con-
verfe with God with pleaſure, and was well
acquainted with the Voice of the Lord God
in the Garden, by former delightful Con-
verſe with him, Gen. iii. 8. now heard the
Voice of the Lord in the Garden, and Adam
and his Wife hid themselves from the Pre-
fence of the Lord: and when God call'd af
ter him, Ver. 9. Adam faid, I heard thy
Voice in the Garden, and I was afraid, becaufe
I was naked, and hid my felf.
Here
1
1
170 Q. VIII. Does the Word of God
Here it may be noted, that 'tis very pro-
bable tho' Adam and Eve had no Garments
in their State of Innocency, yet they were
not intirely naked, but were cover'd with a
bright fhining Light or Glory, as a Token of
their own Innocence, and the divine Favour
and Preſence; fuch Glory as Angels fome-
times appear'd in, and fuch as Chrift wore
on the holy Mount, fuch as array'd him like
a bright Cloud at his Afcent to Heaven, and
fuch as Saints fhall put on at the Refurrection,
when they fhall be raiſed in Power and Glory.
But God may be juſtly ſuppoſed to take away
his Clothing of Glory from them upon their
Sin, as a Token of his withdrawing his Fa-
vour and Preſence for without this Suppo-
fition how could they be faid to be more
naked after their Sin than they were before?
And how cou'd our firft Parents be painfully
fenfible of any Nakedneſs, if they had not
loft fomething which clothed them?
:
God alfo further manifefted his Diſpleaſure
by curfing the Ground for their fakes, and
pronouncing upon Adam and Eve many
Sorrows, Pains and Labours in this Life, and
their returning to Duft in Death. Ver. 16,
17, 18, 19.
Prop. VII. Adam after his Sin propagated
his Kind, or produced his Offspring accord-
ing to the Law of Nature; not in the moral
Likeneſs or Image of God, not in Righteouf-
nefs and true Holiness, but in his own finful
Like-
;
1
give this Account of Things? 171
Likenefs, as one fallen from God, with irre-
gular Paffions, Appetites to Evil, corrupt In-
clinations, and a finful Nature. See Gen. v. 1,
2, 3. cited under Prop. III. Thoſe Expref-
fions in Job feem alfo to refer to the fame
Degeneracy. What is Man that he should
be clean, or the Son of Man that he ſhould
be righteous? Who can bring a clean Thing
out of an unclean? Not one. Job xv. 14.
and Job xiv. 4. David alfo fays the fame
thing, Pfal. li. 5. Behold I was ſhapen in
Iniquity, and in Sin did my Mother con-
ceive me.
Some Perfons would perfuade us, that
thefe Words are only an hyperbolical Aggra-
vation of David's carly Sins, and Propenfity
to Evil from his Childhood: But the Text
is ftrong and plain in afferting Sin fome way
to belong to his very Conception, and to be
convey'd from his natural Parents, which is
a different Idea from his actual Sins, or even
from his early Propenfity to Sin in his Infan-
cy: it afferts and fhews the Cauſe or Spring
both of this evil Propenfity and of his actual
finning which operated before he was born:
fo that theſe Expreffions cannot be an Hy-
perbole, or figurative Exaggeration of what
is, but it feems to be a downright Fiction of
what is not, if original Pravity be not thus
convey'd and derived.
If we look into the Beginning of the Bible,
we fhall find Mofes defcribing the univerfal
Cor-
C
172 Q. VIII. Does the Word of God
+
Corruption of Mankind. Gen. vi. 5. Every
Imagination of the Thoughts of the Heart
of Man was only Evil continually. And
ver. 12. All Flesh had corrupted its way
on the Earth. And viii. 21. The Imagi-
nation of Man's Heart is evil from his
Youth. So univerfal and ſo early a Corrup-
tion must be, fuppofed to fpring from a uni-
verfal and early Caufe, i. e. their Propagation
from a finful Original.
That the ancient Jews were acquainted
with this Doctrine, and that this was the Sen-
timent which they had derived from their
reading the Old Teftament, will fufficiently
appear to any one from the Apocryphal Wri-
tings, which were the Product of fome wife
and knowing Men among them. See 2 Efdr.
iii. 21. For the first Adam bearing a wicked
Heart, tranfgreffed and was overcome, and
fo be all they that be born of him. Thus In-
firmity was made permanent, and the Law
alfo in the Heart of the People, with the
Malignity of the Root, fo that the Good
departed away and the Evil abode ftill.
2 Efdr. iv. 30. For the Grain of evil Seed
hath been fown in the Heart of Adam from
the
The Meaning feems to be this, Tho' the Law or Rule
of Duty till remain written in the Hearts of Men, yet there
is fuch a Malignity, or finful Tendency derived from Adam
our Root, that the Principle of Obedience is departed and the
Principle of Tranfgreffion abides, while the Confcience pre-
ferves the Rule of Dury in Man's Heart or Soul, and yet he
has a Propenfity or Inclination to disobey it.
!
give this Account of Things? 173
II.
the beginning, (i. e. by the Devil;) and how
much Ungodliness hath it brought up unto
this Time? and how much ſhall it yet bring
forth till the time of Threshing shall come
2 Efdr. vii. 11. When Adam tranfgreffed
my Statutes, then was decreed what is now
done then were the Entrances of this
World made narrow, i. e. full of Pain as the
Hebrew imports, (in which Language pro-
bably this was firft written:) they are but
few, and evil, full of peril and very pain-
ful: for the Entrances of the elder World
were wide and fure, and brought immortal
Fruit; i. e. in the World of Innocency, Men
would have been born without Pain and
lived to Immortality. Ver. 46. It had been
better, (i. e. happier for Man) not to have
given the Earth to Adam, or else when it
was given him, to have restrained him from
finning: for what profit is it for Men now
in this prefent time to live in Heaviness,
and after Death to look for Punishment?
O thou, Adam, what hast thou done? for
though it was thou that finned, thou art
not fallen alone, but we all that come of
thee. Ecclus. xl. 1. Great Travail is cre-
ated for every Man, and a heavy Yoke is
upon the Sons of Adam, from the day that
they go out of their Mother's Womb till
the day that they return to the Mother of
all things, i. e. to Earth. Theſe were the
Sentiments of the ancient Jews.
St.
1
4
174 Q. VIII. Does the Word of God
St. Paul mentions his Sentiments on this
Subject in his Epistle to Rome and Corinth,
which fhall be cited immediately; for he had
well learnt this Doctrine. Nor do I think
that Text, Ephef. ii. 1, 2, 3, 4. can be well
difmifs'd from the Service of this Argument,
where the Apoſtle tells the Ephefians, you
Gentiles were dead in Trefpaffes and Sins,
wherein you walked according to the Courfe
of this World, and the Spirit that worketh
in the Children of Disobedience: among
whom also we, i. e. Jews, who were the
peculiar People of God, or we Chriftians
who are now fanctified, even we also had
our Converfation in time paſt, in the Lufts
of our Flesh, fulfilling the Defires of the
Flesh and of the Mind; and were by Na-
ture the Children of Wrath even as others,
i. e. as Heathens. Even we were dead in Sin,
Ver. 5. This is the plain Deſcription of all
Mankind, both Jews and Gentiles. Surely
they were not born alive by Nature in a State
of Righteouſneſs, and afterwards made them-
felves dead in Sin; but they were dead-born,
i. e. born in Sin by Nature, or thro' a cor-
rupted Nature derived from their Parents,
and were Children of Wrath by Nature, or
expoſed to the Anger of God. But this be-
longs rather to the next Propofition.
Prop. VIII. As Adam produced his Off-
fpring like himſelf, deftitute of the Image of
God,
give this Account of Things? 175
God, or defiled with finful Inclinations, ſo he
alfo produced them deftitute of the Favour
of God, or a State of Disfavour with their
Maker, becaufe under the fame Sentence of
Condemnation, Mifery and Death together
with himſelf. As I have proved this before,
by fhewing that Pains and Agonies, and often
Death itſelf, which is the appointed Puniſh-
ment of Sin, feizes upon Children imme-
diately from their Birth, before they are ca-
pable of committing actual Sin, ſo there are
fome Scriptures which lead us into the fame
Sentiment, as Job xiv. 1. Man that is born
of a Woman is of few Days and full of
Trouble. i. e. his fhort Life, and his Troubles
or Miferies proceed from his very Birth, or
his Propagation from his finful and mortal
Parents: Otherwife God would not have ap-
pointed his nobleft Creature in this World to
have been born to Trouble. Yet this is the
Cafe: Man is born to Trouble as the Sparks
fly upwards, Job v. 7. i. e. naturally, for it
is owing to his Birth and his natural Deriva-
tion from a finful Stock: We are a miferable
Race of Beings, fpringing from a corrupted
and dying Root, prone to Sin and liable to
Sorrows and Sufferings.
Yet let it be obferved here concerning one
Man, even Jefus Chrift, that tho' he be the
Son of Adam in a large Senſe, yet by this
Propagation he falls not under that Guilt and
Condemnation, nor that Degeneracy of Na-
3
ture
176 Q. VIII. Does the Word of God
ture and thoſe finful Propenfities which are
convey'd to the reft of Adam's Pofterity:
And the Reaſon is plain, (viz.) becauſe he
was not the Son of Adam by natural Gene-
ration or Propagation, but by a miraculous
Operation of God and his Spirit, taking part
of the Body, or Fleſh, and Blood of the Vir-
gin Mary, and making a Man-child of it:
as Luke i. 34, 35. Now this Part of the Body
of the Virgin which was affumed by Chrift,
being not a human Perfon, but meer animal
Matter, came not under the general condem-
ning Sentence of Adam, and of all thoſe
which are naturally derived from him; and it
was alfo purify'd from any inherent vicious
Ferments, which might refide in the Animal
Nature of the Virgin and thus Chrift had
no original Sin inherent; nor even imputed
by the fame Conſtitution, and on the ſame
account as other Children have; but was per-
fectly innocent; and confequently he had
not been expofed to fuffer Sickness and
Death which other Children are expofed to,
nor ſubject to any of our Sorrows, if he had
not been a voluntary Undertaker to reſcue
and redeem fallen Man, by having all our
Sins imputed to him and fuffered in our
ftead. But this is only a Thought by the
way.
Let us proceed farther in the Proof of this
Sentence of Condemnation and Death, com-
ing upon all Mankind for the Sin of Adam,
and
give this Account of Things? 177
and let St. Paul in the fifth Chapter of the
Epiftle to the Romans be brought as a confi-
derable Witneſs. I think this Chapter cannot
be fairly conftrued to any other Senfe. See
Ver. 12, 13, 14. On theſe and the follow-
ing Verſes I defire to make theſe plain and
eafy Remarks.
(1.) Here Adam and Christ are ſet up as
two diſtinct Heads or Repreſentatives of their
feveral Families: Adam was the Head of all
Mankind who became finful and mortal by
the Corruption of our Nature, and Chrift
was the Head of the new Creation, or of
the Saints who obtain Righteouſneſs and Life
by divine Grace. Ver. 12, &c. the Apoſtle
fays, As by one Man Sin enter'd into the
World, and Death by Sin, fo Death past.
upon all Men, for that all have finned; or,
as fome render it, in whom all have finned:
and that with full as much or more Juftice
than Levi was faid to pay Tithes in Abra-
ham, his great Grandfather. Heb. vii. 9. And
then the Apoſtle gives this Reaſon to prove
this Headſhip of Adam: for, faith he, until
the Law, i. e. from the Creation of Man
till the Law of Mofes, Sin was in the World,
but Sin is not imputed where there is no
Law: This cannot mean, where there is no
explicite and pofitive Law, for the Hea-
thens have Sin imputed to them who had no
fuch explicite pofitive plain Law given them;
but his Meaning is, that Sin is never imputed
N
where
178 Q. VIII. Does the Word of God
where there is no Law or Conftitution of
Duty and Penalty at all. Yet, faith he, Death
reigned from Adam to Mofes, i. e. yet Sin
was imputed and punished by Death, even
upon all Mankind both great and ſmall, be-
fore Mofes's Law: and the Inference is, there-
fore there was fome Law or Conftitution du-
ring all the time from Adam to Mofes, by and
according to which Sin was imputed to Man-
kind; and Death was executed upon them
according to this Law. Now what Law
could that be befides the Law or Conftitu-
tion, which faid to Adam as a Reprefenta-
tive, and Surety for all his Pofterity, In the
Day thou finnest thou shalt die?
(2.) Obferve that the Apoſtle carries his
Argument yet farther. Sin was imputed,
and Death reigned or was executed even
upon those that had not finned after the Si-
militude of Adam's Tranfgreffion; i. e. who
had not finned perfonally againſt an expreſs
and poſitive Command given to themſelves
as Adam had done. Now this must include
Children or Infants, if it does not chiefly re-
fer to them; for Death reigned over them,
Death was executed upon them; and this
muſt be by fome Law or Conſtitution by
which Sin was in fome refpect imputed to
them who had not committed actual Sin; for
without fome fuch Law or Conftitution Sin
would never have been imputed, nor Death
executed on Children.
Yet
give this Account of Things? 179
* Yet further, (3.) let us confider that Death
does not come upon thofe who had not finned
actually and perfonally as a meer Affliction,
or as a neceſſary and natural Effect or meer
Confequent of their Father Adam's Sin and
Death; but 'twas at firft the Threat'ning of
the Law, and now 'tis a proper and legal Pu-
niſhment of Sin: for 'tis faid, that this Sin
brought Condemnation upon all Men. Ver.
18. Now this is a legal Term, and fhews us
that Death is not only a natural but a penal
Evil, and comes upon Infants confidered as
accounted guilty and condemn'd; not for
their own Sins, for they had none; but for
the Sin of Adam their legal Head, or Repre-
fentative, and Surety, according to this Con-
ftitution, or Law, or Covenant *.
'Tis true,
In this 18th Verfe the Expreflion is very
ftrong: By the Offence of one Judgment came
upon all Men to Condemnation.
the Words Judgment came are not in the
Original; but if theſe Words be not ſupply'd,
you muſt neceffarily fupply fome other Word
of equal Importance to make Senfe, or you
N 2
muft
* The Author has read what Oppofition has been made to
this natural and obvious Expofition of this Argument as hand-
led by the Apoſtle in this Epistle, and he finds fuch perverfe
Diſtortions of the Scriptures from their plain Senfe, and ſuch
abfurd Confequences rifing from this Oppofition, that he
leaves what he has here faid as fufficient to justify his Expofi-
tion to the Underſtanding of a fincere and honeſt Reader, not-
withſtanding all the boafting Pretences to Scripture and folemn
Exhortations to attend to it, which are introduced on the other
fide.
180 Q. VIII. Does the Word of God
muſt repeat the word Offence, or Sin, or
Guilt; and fay, By the Öffence or Sin of one
Man Sin came upon all Men (who are the
Seed of Adam,) or it was imputed to them
to Condemnation. And 'tis poffible this may
be the moſt proper way of ſupplying that
Elliptical Way of fpeaking, (viz.) by re-
peating the Word Sin, or Offence. And fo
in the following Part of the Verfe, By the
Righteousness of one (not the free Gift, but
perhaps it fhould be) Righteousness came
upon all thofe (who are the Seed of Christ)
to fuftification of Life*.
And it may be yet farther remarked,
(4thly) that in the original Greek it is not
faid, By the Offence of one, but By one Of
fence, i. e. by the fingle Offence of Adam
when he flood as the Head or Surety of all
his Offspring, and brought Sin and Death
upon them by his Difobedience, as Ver. 19.
By one Man's Difobedience many were made
or conftituted Sinners, nalesátnoav, i. e. be-
came fubject to Guilt and Death by a righ-
teous Conftitution: and the 16th Verfe feems
to have the fame Meaning, where one fingle
Offence is reprefented as condemning us thro'
Adam, and itands in a way of Antithefis or
Oppofition to the many Offences which are
pardon'd thro' Jefus Chrift.
(5.)
* Or if the word (all) in this place ſhould be conſtrued to
mean all Mankind, 'tis ftill the Righteoufnefs of Chrift which
has provided this Way of Juftification for all Men, or this Offer
of Juftification to all Men, tho' all do not actually accept of it.
give this Account of Things? 181
-
(5.) There is yet a farther Reafon imply'd
in this Chapter to prove that Adam convey'd
Sin and Death to his Pofterity, not mecrly
as the natural Spring or Parent of their Race
by Propagation, but as a federal Head and Re-
prefentative of all his Offspring, and involv
ed them in his own Guilt, or Liableness to
Mifery and Death by his own Act of Difo-
bedience. Take it thus. As Adam and Chrift
are here repreſented by the Apoſtle as the two
Springs of Sin and Righteoufnefs, of Death
and Life to Mankind, (which is agreed by all
in their Expofitions of the laſt half of Rom.
v. and I Cor. xv.) fo the one is repreſented as
a Type and Figure of the other. Adam was
a Figure or Type of Christ in this very re-
ſpect, Ver. 14. And Christ is called the fe-
cond Man, and the laft Adam, for this very
Reafon. 1 Cor. xiv. 45, 47, 49. As one was
the Spring of Life, ſo the other was the Spring
of Death to all their particular Seed or Off-
fpring, 1 Cor. xv. 22, 23.
Now Chrift is not only a Spring of Life,
as he conveys a new Nature and a Principle
of Holiness to his Seed, but he is reprefented
as the Spring of juſtifying Righteoufnefs, or
of Juftification, and of eternal Life and Hap-
pinefs; as procuring it for them by his own
perfonal Actions, by his own Obedience and
Sufferings: So Adam is not only a Spring
of Sin and Death to all Mankind who are
his Seed, as he conveys a finful Nature to
them,
N 3
182 Q. VIII. Does the Word of God
i
them, but as he brings Sin and Guilt, Con-
demnation and Death upon them by his own
perfonal Difobedience. And indeed this is
what the Apoftic, Rom. v. from the 15th
Verte to the end, chiefly infifts upon, (viz.)
it is by one Man's Righteoufnefs the free
Gift (or rather Righteoufnefs) came upon all
Men, i. e. all his Seed unto Juftification of
Life; and 'tis by the Offence of one Man
all Men, who are the Seed of Adam, are
laid under Condemnation, Ver. 18. As 'tis
by the Obedience of one Man many were
made righteous, or juftified, fo by one Man's
Difobedience many were made Sinners, or
ftood as guilty and condemn'd before God *.
It is true indeed, that Chrift trains up and
prepares his Children for eternal Life, by ma-
king them his Children, by renewing them
after the Image of God his Father, or after
his own Likeness, or by giving them a holy
Nature, a Principle of Divine Life, without
which it is impoffible they fhould be made
actual Partakers of Happineſs; and fo he is
typified by Adam, who conveyed a finful
Nature or his own finful Image to his Chil-
dren: But the chief Thing which the Apoſtle
ſeems to have in his eye, in this Chapter, is
the Conveyance of Condemnation and Death
to the Seed of Adam, and a juſtifying Righ-
teouſneſs
*All the Texts cited under this Queſtion are explain'd and
vindicated more at large by many Writers on this Subject,
elder and later.
give this Account of Things? 183
tcoufness and eternal Life to the Seed of
Christ, by their being the common Heads or
Repreſentatives, as well as the Fathers or
Fountains, of their diftinct Houfe-holds or Off-
fprings; the one involving his Offspring whom
he repreſented in his own Sin and Death, and
the other acquiring for his Offspring whom
he reprefented, Righteouſneſs, i. e. a Right
to Life and eternal Happineſs.
I. Objection. Some Perfons have fuppofed,
that it confuſes and perplexes our Ideas, to
treat of Mankind thus as one Collective Body,
or to ſuppoſe that the Race of Man have
ruin'd themſelves in Adam their Head; where-
as, fay they, the Scripture often tells us, that
God will judge every Man perfonally and par-
ticularly according to his own Works.
I answer; It takes away all this fuppofed
Confufion, and makes our Ideas very diſtinct
and plain, if we confider that in the general
Sentence of Ruin and Condemnation for the
firft Sin of Adam, Mankind may be reckon'd
as one Collective Body, under one Head, fall-
ing under this univerfal Condemnation by
the Original Law of Creation, and the Con-
ſtitution of the Covenant of Works, fince
'tis evidently reprefented in this manner in
feveral Verſes in Romans 5. Whereas in the
laft Judgment every one will be perfonally
judged and acquitted or condemned according
to their perſonal Behaviour under the ſeveral
par-
N 4
184 Q. VIII. Does the Word of God
particular Conftitutions or Difpenfations both
of Law or Grace which they have enjoy'd.
II. Objection. We are informed by the
Word of God, that there have been two ge-
neral Fathers of Mankind, (viz.) Adam and
Noah: Now there are three Particulars that
do fummarily and diftinctly contain the Blef
fings, Endowments and Pre-eminence confer-
red upon Adam in his innocent State, viz.
1st, The Bleſſing of Propagation. 2dly, The
Dominion over the Brutes. 3dly, The Image
of God in which he was made: All which
are contained in Gen. i. 27, 28. Now the
very fame Bleffings and Marks of Excellency
are by God himſelf declared and pronounced
more expreffly and emphatically at the Refto-
ration of the World by Noah and his Sons,
and for the moſt part in the fame Words.
Gen. ix. 1. God bleſſed Noah and his Sons,
and ſaid to them, Be fruitful and multiply,
and replenish the Earth. Ver. 2. The Fear
of you, and the Dread of you, ſhall be upon
every Beaft, and Fowl, and Fish, &c. They
are delivered into your Hand; every mov-
ing thing that liveth fhall be meat for you,
i. e. you have Licence to kill and eat them.
And again it is faid, Gen. ix. 9. Whofo fhed-
deth Man's Blood, by Man fhall his Blood
be shed, for in the Image of God made he
Man.
Now fay the Objectors, This is a clear
and undoubted Demonſtration that the Judg-
ment
give this Account of Things? 185
ment which came on all Men to Condemna-
tion, and the Expulfion of Man out of Para-
dife, did no way alter the primary Relation
in which God ſtood to Man, and Man to
God. The Love, Regard and Providence of
God towards Mankind in general were ftill
the fame as they were to Man at his firft For-
mation; and our Nature as derived from
Noah is attended with the fame Bleflings,
Endowments and Pre-eminence, both natural
and moral, which were pronounced or con-
ferred on Adam, our firft natural Head as
foon as he was created: And we no more
derived a corrupt Nature from our fecond
natural Head, than we fhould have done from
the first, if he had never finned: and what-
foever came upon us in confequence of the
Judgment to Condemnation, viz. Death,
hard Toil or Labour, and Sorrow, came upon
us no farther, nor in any Senſe or Degree,
than what is perfectly conſiſtent with the ori-
ginal Bleffing pronounced on Adam at his
firft Creation.
Anfwer. This Objection as formidable as
it ſeems, may have complete and effectual
Anſwers given to it in this manner. 'Tis
readily granted that all that is contained in
the Bleſſing given to Noah is very conſiſtent
with that Curfe of God which came upon
all Men by the firft Sin; but that Curfe is
not confiftent with the original Bleffing that
was given to Adam: and tho' the Words
are
186 Q. VIII. Does the Word of God
are in the main much the fame, yet if we re-
view the Hiſtory and Context, we fhall find the
Blefling of Adam and Noah differ greatly
from each other in all the three Particulars
mentioned.
I. 'Tis evident that the Bleffing firft men-
tion'd relates chiefly to Propagation, and the
Continuance and Support of Man on the
Earth; but Adam's Bleffing was without
thoſe multiply'd Pains and Sorrows, which
after the firſt Sin, fell upon Women in Child-
birth: 'Twas a Bleffing of Suftentation, or
Nouriſhment of Man on the Earth, without
hard Toil and Sweat of the Brows: 'Twas a
Bleffing without a Curfe on the Ground to
hinder or deſtroy the Fruitfulneſs thereof :
'Twas a Blefling without Death and return-
ing to our Duſt, which hinders the repleniſh-
ing of the Earth: Whereas the Blessing of
Noah did not take away the Pains of Child-
bearing from Women, nor the hard Toil
and Sweat of Men, nor that threatned
Death, which difpeoples the Earth conti-
nually.
Let it be obferved alfo, that this Bleffing
on Noah fcems directly to refer to that
vaft Defolation which was brought on the
Earth, and the Lives of Men by the Flood,
as the Context plainly fhews; and that God
would not repeat this Stroke, nor fuffer the
Earth to be depopulated by Beafts or Men.
Gen. ix. 1-7.
4
And
give this Account of Things? 187
And I add farther, Tho' Lamech feemed
to have the Spirit of Prophecy when he call-
ed his Son Noah, faying, This fame ſhall
comfort us concerning our Work and Toil
of our Hand, because of the Ground which
the Lord hath curfed. Gen. v. 29. Yet the
Curfe coming upon the Ground abides ftill
in a great meaſure from Adam to this Day,
for it brings forth Thorns and Thiſtles in
abundance. Now Noah might well be faid
to comfort his Fellow-Labourers on the
Ground, fince he began to be an Husband
man and planted a Vineyard, Gen. ix. 20.
that is, he invented, or rather greatly im
proved the Art of Husbandry and Cultiva-
tion of the Earth, and thereby lighten'd much
of the Toil of Man and the Curſe.
2. To Adam was given Dominion over
the Brutes, which carries in it more than
mcerly the Bleffing of Noah, (viz.) That
the Fear of you and the Dread of you ſhall
be upon every Beast, &c. For notwithſtanding
this Fear and Dread of the human Form
and Stature, which in many Inftances appears
amongſt the Brutal Creation, yet ſometimes,
even fince Noah's Bleffing, they now bite or
fting Men to Death, and fometimes tear them
to pieces, which calamitous Difafters would
never have befallen innocent Adam, or his
innocent Seed; for 'twas Sin only that
brought Death into the World.
1
And
188 Q. VIII. Does the Word of God
22
And if Noah and his Sons had licence to
kill and eat Birds and Beafts, which was not
given to Adam, a very ingenious Writer,
Dr. Cheyne the Phyfician, fuppofes that this
was defign'd in the Providence of God to
fhorten the Lives of Men after the Flood,
thereby to diminiſh or limit their great Wic-
kedneſs and probably it had this Effect to
fhorten Life, which vegetable Food would
have prolonged.
3. The Image of God in which Adam was
made at firft confifted eminently, if we will
believe St Paul, in Righteousness and true
Holiness. Eph. iv. 24. for the Chriftians to
put off the old Man, i. e. the finful Temper
which he brought into the World with him,
which is corrupt, and to be renewed in the
Spirit of their Mind, to put on the new
Man, or holy Temper, which after God, i. c.
in Refemblance of God, is created in Righ-
teousness and true Holiness. Whereas that
Part of the Image of God, which remained
after the Fall was the natural Image of God,
viz. the fpiritual Faculties and Immortality
of the Soul, or the political Image of God
in a degree of Dominion over the Creatures;
fo the Image of God fignifies. 1 Cor. ii. 7.
Or perhaps in the corporeal Image, or Form,
i. e. in that Majefty of Stature and Counte
nance wherein God himſelf appear'd and con-
verfed with Adam in the Garden; but the
moral
give this Account of Things? 189
moral Image was loſt or defaced, or elſe it
could not be faid to be renewed.
I think it is fufficiently evident that the
Bleffing given to Adam in Innocency, and
that given to Noah after the Fall, differ'd in
fuch very important Things, that the one
was confiftent with the Condemnation and
Curſe for Sin, and the other was not: and
confequently the Race of Man is far from
ſtanding in the Love and Favour of God in
the fame Manner as Adam ſtood while he
was innocent.
Thus in a few Pages I think I have made
it appear, that the Holy Scripture both in the
Old and New Teftament, and the Jewish
Church in the intermediate Time, feem to give
us the fame Sentiments of the Conveyance
of Sin, Mifery, and Death from the firſt Man
Adam to all his Offspring, and encourage
us to receive, as Divine Truth, that fame
Doctrine of Original Sin, which human Rea-
fon approves as moft probable.
QUES
190 Q. IX. What does Reafon teach
QUESTION IX.
What can the Light of Nature difcover
concerning the proper Penalty due to the
Sin of Man, or the proper Punishment in-
flicted on Man for Sin?
First,
L
ET it be obſerved here, that we
muſt diſtinguiſh between the na-
tural Confequences of Sin, and the legal Pe-
nalty appointed for it by God as a Governor.
The Queſtion therefore is not, What can the
Light of Nature difcover of the dreadful
Confequences of Sin among Mankind? But
what can it difcover to be the proper Pe-
nalty for Sin appointed or inflicted by the
Maker and Governor of the World*. After
this Diſtinction we may proceed to anſwer
theſe
* I know it has been faid upon fome Occafions, that God
as the wife Creator and Governor of the World has appointed
fuch a Connexion between Sin and Sorrow, that the natural
Effects or Confequents of Sin may be reckon'd the appointed or
legal Penalties of it. And no doubt there is fo far a Truth in
it, as that on fome Occafions it may be proper to fet Things
in this Light, to fhew the Wiſdom of Providence. But ftill
it muſt be acknowledged there is a real Difference between
the natural Connexion of Things by God as Creator, and the
establish'd or appointed Laws and Rules of Government,
made by the fame God as a Ruler of the World: and this
will plainly appear in what follows.
of the Penalty due to Sin? 191
thefe Enquiries according to the following
Propofitions.
I. The Remorse or Anguifh of Confcience
is not ſo properly a Punishment inflicted of
God upon Man for Sin; but 'tis rather a na-
tural Confequent or Effect of Guilt. 'Tis an
inward Vexation of Mind that arifes when
the Sinner ferioufly confiders and reflects on
the Provocation he has given to his Almighty
Maker by his own Folly and Rebellion, and
a painful Fear and Expectation of the Ven-
geance due to fuch perfonal Crimes. This
can neither be transferr'd nor convey'd to any
other Perfon whatſoever, but is confin'd to
the Heart or Confcience of the Criminal: it
flows from his own Confcioufnefs of his
own perfonal Offence, which Confcioufnefs
can belong only to himſelf, and can raiſe
thoſe ſharp inward Self-Reproaches in none
but himſelf,
II. Man's Continuance in Sin after his firſt
Crime, and the finful Inclinations and grow-
ing Depravity of his Heart, whether they be
confider'd as in himſelf, or as communicated
to his Offspring, cannot properly be inflicted
by the hand of God as a penal Evil, or as a
legal Puniſhment for his firft Sin: for tho'
Man be a Sinner, God remains eternally
Holy, and he cannot infufe any Degree of
Unholiness into the Nature of his Creatures,
Į
nor
192 Q. IX. What does Reafon teach
nor conſtrain them by any pofitive Influence
to continue in their Difobedience, tho' they
have begun to diſobey him.
It follows therefore, that the Continuance
of Man in a Courſe of Sin, his vicious Incli-
nations and the Depravity of his Nature, whe-
ther abiding and encreafing in himſelf, or
tranfmitted to his Offspring, muſt be con-
ceiv'd rather as the natural Effect and Confe-
quence of his firſt Diſobedience to God, con-
trary to the Laws of his Reafon and Con-
ſcience, as I have fhewn under Quest. III.
Prop. 8, 9. Theſe are not to be eſteemed
as a proper Penalty or Puniſhment inflicted by
the hand of God, his Maker or his Governor.
Yet it muſt be acknowledged too, that had
there not been fuch a federal Repreſentation
of all the Race of Men in or by their firft
Parent as their Surety, whereby the Children
were fallen under the general Sentence of
Condemnation together with their Parents;
furely I think a juft and gracious God would
never have ſuffered the innocent Children of
a criminal Parent to be infected and tainted
with the vicious Ferments of Flesh and Blood,
and thofe corrupt Appetites and Paffions
which are now tranfmitted to Children from
that firft Parent; but he would have found
a Way to prevent that finful Contagion. See
Queft. II. Prop. 4, 5, 6.
But now it may be fairly allowed, fince
Children are involv'd in this general and ori-
ginal
of the Penalty due to Sin? 193
ginal Condemnation by the Sin of their Pa-
rent, the Great God, as an offended Gover-
nor, lets his appointed Courſe of Nature take
its way, and communicate the natural Ef-
fects of one Man's Sin to his Offspring in the
Depravation of their Temper, and vitious
Inclinations. *
And it may be farther allowed, that Man
having provoked his Maker by Sin, and he
with his Offspring lying under Condemna-
tion, they may be all left under the Affaults
of numerous Temptations, and they have for-
feited all manner of Affiftances that they
might otherwiſe have hoped for from their
Maker againſt new Temptations and new
Dangers of finning; fo that God may leave
Man to his own evil Appetites, and the In-
clinations of his corrupt Heart; and then he
has only the natural Powers of his Under-
ftanding and Confcience left him to refift
Temptations from within and without, which
Powers are naturally darken'd and weaken'd
by his Fall.
起
​III. Man having once broke the Law of
his Maker and violated his Allegiance to the
univerfal Governor of the World, hath for
ever deprived himself of all hope of obtaining
or recovering any fpecial Favours from his
Maker by perfect Obedience; for he can
never undo the Evil that he hath done: He
who
O
* See the Objections and Anfwers at the End of the fir,t
Esar
194 Q. IX. What does Reafon teach
who hath finned but once, can never more
plead Innocence, or acquire a Right to any
Bleffing which he might hope for if he had
continued innocent and obedient. Whether
this may be eſteem'd only as a natural Con-
Sequent of Sin, I will not now difpute; but
it rather feems a penal Forfeiture of all his
Hopes, and of his Maker's further Favours.
And this Hope of Favour from his Maker
and his God, to be obtained by perfect Obe-
dience, is ftill put further out of the reach
of Man, when 'tis evident he continues to
practiſe Diſobedience, and multiplies his Of-
fences againſt God, his Maker, in the Courſe
of Life.
IV. Man having finned againſt a Being ſo
greatly fuperior to himſelf in Worth and
Excellency, as well as in Authority, he could
never do or ſuffer any thing by way of Re-
compence or Penalty that would make full
Atonement or Satisfaction to God for his
Offence.
(1.) All that he could do, in a way of Obe-
dience or Service for time to come, would
be no more than his Duty which he owes to
his Maker by the Law of Nature; and if he
had not finned, God has a Right to all his
Duty; and therefore future Obedience could
never atone for a paft Sin.
(2.) All that Man could fuffer would make
no Satisfaction for the Offence: For if Of-
fences
of the Penalty due to Sin? 195
fences amongſt our Fellow-Creatures of dif
ferent Characters, fuch as a Neighbour, a
Brother, a Father, a King, are aggravated
according to the Character and Dignity of the
Perſon offended, then the Offence againſt
God is as highly aggravated above all Of-
fences of Fellow-Creatures, as the Nature of
God is fuperior to the Nature of Creatures :
And if this be fo, then every Offence againſt
an infinite God, carries a fort of Infinity in
the Nature of it: And divine Wiſdom only
can fix the proper Puniſhment for ſuch Of-
fences, tho' divine Goodnefs may join with
Wiſdom, to fet the actual Limits of it.
V. But thus much we may infer by our
own Reaſon, with more Evidence and Cer-
tainty, that Man, by his Sin againſt his Ma-
ker, has forfeited all his Maker's Benefits.
The Great God having given Man all that he
has (viz.) his Nature and Exiſtence, the Life
of his Body and Soul, all his Powers, his
Comforts and his Hopes, and this God being
offended and provoked by the Sin of his
Creature Man, who has by wilful Rebellion
renounced his Allegiance; this God, I fay,
has a juft Right to refume all that he has given
him, he may take away all his own Favours
from a Rebel, he may annihilate and deftroy
him utterly, both Soul and Body: And by
this utter Deſtruction, Man is puniſhed with
the everlafting Lofs of his Being and Con-
O z
ſciouſneſs,
196 Q. IX. What does Reafon teach
ſciouſneſs, his Soul and Body, and all their
Comforts; which Deſtruction, as it is due to
every Sin againſt God, fo perhaps it is a Pu-
niſhment not improper to be inflicted for the
leaft Sin; and yet it is in fome fort com-
menfurate to the infinite Evil contained in
Sin, as it is a Lofs of all Bleffings for an in-
finite Duration, i. e. for ever and ever.
But fince, in actual Tranfgreffions, there
are different Degrees of Aggravation, God in
his Wiſdom and Juftice may fuit the Degree
of Puniſhment exactly to the Degree of every
Man's Offences; and yet, by making any
part of it eternal, may anſwer the infinite
Demerit of Sin. According to the different
Aggravations of Sin, God may deprive the
Sinner of fome of his Powers, and of all his
Comforts, and leave him only an Exiſtence
in Mifery for a thouſand Years, or for ever:
He may take away his bodily Life, and leave
his Spirit according to its own immortal Na-
ture, to exiſt for ever in Sorrow and Anguiſh
of Mind, as a natural Confequence of Sin ;
He may deal with him as he pleaſes, and re-
affume as many of his Gifts and Bleffings
as he will, limiting the Exerciſes of his own
Goodness, or his puniſhing Juftice, as his
Wiſdom fees fit; and he may alſo puniſh him
with a moft painful Senfe of new-inflicted E-
vil, as well as with the Lofs of all Good.
This feems to me to be the moſt natural No-
tion that Man could arrive at by the meer
Light
1
of the Penalty due to Sin? 197
Light of Reaſon, (viz.) that Sin againſt God
forfeits all that Man has received from God,
and gives God, as a righteous Governor, a
Right to refume it all, or as much of it as he
pleaſes; and perhaps this is what is eminently
fignified by the word Death, which Scripture
threatens as due to Sin. See more pag. feqq.
Marg. and Queft. XI. §. 1. This therefore
I fhall treat of more largely and particularly.
VI. But firft, I would take notice of that
Remark which Mr. Locke makes on the laft
Verſe of the firft Chapter of the Epiftle to
the Romans, where the Apoftle expreffèth
himſelf thus concerning the wicked Hea-
thens, in our common Reading, (viz.) Who
knowing the Judgment of God, that they
which commit fuch things are worthy of
Death. But Mr. Locke endeavours to correct
this Reading by a direct Contradiction of it,
and that borrowed from one Manufcript
only; (viz.) Who knowing not the Judg.
ment of God, that they which commit fuch
things are worthy of Death: i. e as he ex-
plains it, they knew not that God had pro-
nounced Death to be the Wages of Sin.
I grant indeed the Heathens knew it not
to be a Divine Revelation; but their own
Reaſon could and might tell them, that if
they had offended God the Original and So-
vereign Giver of Life, they had forfeited this
Life, and that God might deprive them of
03
it,
198 Q. IX. What does Reafon teach
it, that is, put them to death; and as he had
given them Health as well as Life, fo he
might lead them down to the Grave by many
and long Sickneffes and Sorrows, depriving
them of Health and Eafe *
Here then is a very natural and evident
Account whence all the Maladies, Sufferings,
Miſeries and Death that attend Mankind may
arife. Reafon teaches us that they are all the
natural or penal Effects of Sin, and of
the Anger of our Maker for Sin: For Man
being a rational and intelligent Creature,
must come out of the Hands of a God per-
fectly holy and perfectly good, in a State of
Innocence, Virtue, Health and Peace; this
the Goodneſs of God feems to require: And
whatever Pains or Miferies attend him, can-
not be the neceffary Confequences of his Na-
ture as a Creature, becauſe as fuch he muſt
be made innocent and undeferving of Pain;
but it muſt be therefore the Fruit of fome
volun-
* Here note, that as human Life often includes not only
Exiſtence, but all the Bleffings that attend it, and all poffible
Enjoyments whatſoever, more eſpecially fuch as are viſible and
fenfible; fo the word Death in the general Notion of it, and
in the moſt obvious and common Senfe of Mankind, may rea-
fonably include a Lofs of every Thing which Man poffeffed,
i. e. Exiſtence itſelf together with all the Bleffings of it: and
confequently when Death was threatned for Sin, it more ob-
viously appeared to fignify, that by Sin Man forfeited every
Thing that he had received from his Maker. This, I fay,
might be the firſt and moſt obvious Signification of the Word
Death, when it was confidered as reaching only to Things
viſible, tho' afterward its Senfe might be enlarged or limited
on particular Occafions, as the invifible World came further
into the notice of Men.
BAR =
J
K
of the Penalty due to Sin? 199
voluntary Choice of Evil, or ſome early and
univerfal Offence againſt his Maker. How
can we fuppofe that a juft and merciful God
would inflict on every Man fo much natural
Evil, or Pain and Death, where there was
no moral Evil to deferve it, no Sin to pro-
cure it?
VII. Reaſon or the Light of Nature would
further inform us, that fince all Mankind are
Sinners, and fince God the righteous Gover-
nor of the World fees fit to puniſh them for
their Sins, and not to deal with them as tho'
they were innocent, the fame righteous God
(as I hinted before) would think it
proper to
puniſh greater iniquitics with greater Mife-
ries, and to deal more gently with thofe
whofe Sins were of a leffer kind; or that
fuch who have ſome degrees of Virtue found
among them, or lefs degrees of Guilt, fhould
feel a leffer and eaſier Puniſhment.
VIII. Now the common Obfervation that
every Man makes of the Affairs of this
World may fufficiently inform him, that
there is almoſt an infinite Difference in the
moral Characters and Practices of Men, and
in their Deferts of Puniſhment. 'Tis plain as
the Sun-beams that all Men in the World
may be divided into thefe three Sorts of
Perfons.
1.) There are fome Perfons of an aban-
doned and profligate Character, whoſe whole
04
Life
200 Q. IX. What does Reafon teach
Life is a continued Affront to their Maker;
they have no Regard to God as their Lord
and Ruler, they are perpetually guilty not
only of wilful Neglects of God, but of vile
Impieties and Blafphemies againſt him, as well
as falfe or malicious, cruel or bloody Practices
against their Fellow-Creatures.
(2.) There are many others that have much
lefs degrees of Vice or Impiety than the firſt
Sort, and feem to be led into Sin, not from
fuch impious Principles as the former, and
practiſe it no farther than the common Gra-
tifications of Senfe and Appetite, Eafe and
Indulgence ftrongly allure them: they have
feveral natural Virtues, as Temperance and
Good-humour, and Compaffion, they do
fome Good and but little Mifchicf in the
World, fo that if Man were to be their
Judge, he would not know whether to pro-
nounce them good or bad, or perhaps rather
would juftify them.
(3.) There are a few whofe Lives for the
mot part are filled up with outward Prac-
tices of Virtue with regard to themſelves and
Their Neighbours, as well as Religion to-
wards God, and there feems to be fincere
Love in their Hearts towards God their Ma-
ker as far as Man can fee; there are all the
Signs of true Piety in them, tho' it is granted
there is no Man innocent, not one of all Man-
kind perfectly Righteous, who doth good
and finneth not. Thefe three diftin&t Cha-
racters
of the Penalty due to Sin? 201
racters plainly appear to every Obferver,
(viz.) the very Good, the very Bad, and
the Indifferent, which we cannot certainly
determine whether they be good or bad.
IX. The fame common Obfervation will
alſo inform us, that there are no ſuch actual
Diftinctions in the Providence and Conduct
of God as a Governor, made amongft Man-
kind, by the Comforts or Sorrows which are
allotted to them here in this World, as do
in any meaſure answer to or correfpond with
theſe three diftinct moral Characters of Men
according to their vifible Virtues or their
Vices *. Sometimes it falls out in the Courfe
of Providence, that the beft Men, and thoſe
that have leaſt of Sin in them, are made very
unhappy even till Death, by many Calami-
ties or Oppreflions: And the worst of Mcn
abound in the Comforts and Pleafures of the
preſent State, with very few Uneafineffes:
And we find among the middle fort of Men,
fome a thouſand times more unhappy than
others. We fometimes fee, that Men are
rendered more miferable in this Life, even
by their Virtue, which will not fuffer them
to
* Tho' I mention three Characters of Men here, I do not
fuppofe there are three different States of Men now, or will
be hereafter; for all the Indifferent are really good or bad,
they do really love God, or they do not love him. But this
Life is a State of fuch Difguife and Darkneſs, that we Mortals
cannot judge who are inwardly good, and who are inwardly
bad, among thoſe who obtain the middle or mixed Charac
ter; and therefore I call them Indifferent.
1
202 Q. IX. What does Reafon teach
to practife Iniquity, in order to procure their
Pleaſure or Peace. The Strictnefs of their
Piety expoſes them to many Perfecutions
from the wicked World. In fhort, in this
World, all things come fo much alike to all,
that the Love or Hatred of God is not to
be known by the Courſe of his daily Pro-
vidences, as Solomon and David his Father
have both obſerved and complained, Ecclef.
ix. and Pfalm lxxiii. if David wrote that
Pfalm.
X. From this View of things, every con-
fidering Perfon muft infer, what fome of
the Ancients did infer from the fame View,
(viz.) That the Death of the Body muſt not
make an entire End of Man, but that there
will be a future State after Death, wherein
the righteous Governor of the World will
call Men to account for their Behaviour here,
and will manifeft the Wiſdom and Equity of
his Government, by rendering to every one
according to their Works; He is a God who
knows the inward real Characters of thoſe
whom we call Indifferent, and fees all the
alleviating or aggravating Circumftances of
every Sin: And he will measure out the Sor-
rows of evil and impenitent Perfons in a juft
Proportion to their Sins, and will make his
final Retributions exactly answerable to their
prefent Characters.
This
of the Penalty due to Sin? 203
This Argument affures us that Sins, eſpe-
cially of greater Aggravation, will be punish'd
in a World to come after the Death of the
Body. And fince the Soul is in its own
Nature immortal, God the great Governor
of the World may puniſh Sin by not feiz-
ing the forfeited Soul into Death, i. e. by
letting it live in Anguiſh of Conſcience, or
other inflicted Pains from his own Hand:
for where every thing is forfeited, the Go-
vernor may refume as much or as little as
he pleaſes.
XI. Whether the Great God, the Gover-
nor of the World, will only continue the
Souls of Men in their State of natural Im-
mortality after the Death of the Body, and
judge and recompenfe them hereafter only
in that feparate State, according to their Be-
haviour here; or whether he will raife their
Bodies up from the dead, that Men may be
treated according to their moral Character,
and recompenfed hereafter both in Body and
Soul, this Enquiry cannot be refolved and de-
termined by the Light of Nature. The meer
Reaſon of Man can never prove certainly the
Doctrine of the Refurrection, tho' it may
look fomething probable that thofe Spirits
who have actually obeyed or finned in their
Union with animal Bodies, may be again
united to Bodies, which may become Inftr-
ment.
204 Q. IX. What does Reafon teach
ments of their Recompence, whether of Plea-
fure or Puniſhment.
XII. And tho', I think, it can never be
fully proved by the Light of Nature, that
an offended God will certainly forgive the
Sins of the beft of Men, fo as to demand ·
no Puniſhment of them in the other World,
(and for this Reafon many of the ancient
Heathens thought there would be a State of
Penance or Purgation, even for Men of mo-
derate Virtue,) yet it may be certainly con-
cluded, that from the Equity and Holiness
of God, the Punifhment of the Wicked and
Profligate amongſt Mankind, fhall be vaftly
greater than the Punishment of thoſe who
had much more Virtue, and better Senti-
ments and Practices of Piety. Nature teaches
us to fay with Abraham, Gen. xviii. 25.
Shall the Righteous be as the Wicked?
That be far from the Lord: Shall not the
Judge of all the Earth do right? And
therefore fome of thefe Heathens fuppos'd
the Souls of thefe very vicious Perfons after
Death, to be fent into fharper Torments, and
that for a longer Duration, if not for all
the length of their natural Immortality.
XIII. And I think it may be alfo inferr'd,
with fome probability, from the moft abun-
dant Goodness of God, that if he does not
entirely pardon the Penitent, and if there be
any
of the Penalty due to Sin? 205
any Puniſhments neceffary in the other
World, for more virtuous Perfons by way of
Purgation, (becauſe even the beſt have fin-
ned) not only thefe Puniſhments fhall be
much lighter than the Miſeries of thofe vi-
cious Creatures who have lived a long Life
of conftant Impiety; but it ſeems probable
alfo from the fame infinite Goodness, that
there will be fome Rewards for thofe that
have fincerely repented of their Sins, in the
Faith or Hope of his Mercy, have asked For-
giveness of their Maker, and have endea-
voured to honour him, tho' with many Im-
perfections, and to ferve their Fellow Crea-
tures from a right Principle of Love to God,
and Love to Man, if any fuch fhall be found
among Mankind. But this leads directly to
the next Question.
L
QUES-
206 Q. X. What Hope of Recovery
:
QUESTION X.
What can the Reaſon of Man, or the Light
of Nature find out concerning the Reco-
very of Man to the Favour of God? Or
what Hope of Pardon and Happineſs can
finful Mankind ever obtain by the mere
Exercifes of their own Reaſon?
Anfw. H
UMAN Reaſon, exercifing it
felf on this Subject, might
probably fall into fuch a Train of Thoughts
as this.
• I. 'Tis certain that a Sinner's Repentance
of paſt Crimes, and asking forgiveneſs for
them, together with fincere Promifes of
better Obedience, are no Satisfaction to a
Governor for the Diſhonour done to his Law
by any capital Offence: Nor is it ever counted
in human Governments a Compenſation for
the Injury done by the Criminal to the Au-
thority of the Governor, or to the publick
Welfare and therefore the Criminal among
Men muſt be punifh'd by the Law, to guard
the Honour of the Government, and ſe-
cure
can our Reaſon give us? 207
cure Obedience to the Law, and he muſt
yield his Life for his Offence, notwithſtand-
ing all his Repentings. Nor is the Governor
thought too ſevere or cruel who requires it,
nor is his Goodneſs blemiſh'd by it. And in
the ſame way of Reaſoning we may ſuppoſe
that Repentance, and asking Forgivenefs, and
better Obedience for time to come, are by no
means a Satisfaction to the Great God, the
Lawgiver and the Governor of the World, for
the Injury done to his divine Authority and
his Government by former Sins: nor can his
Goodness be justly reproached if he infift on
the Puniſhment of the Offender. If Lenity
fhould be always practifed, and Sinners fhould
come off always without Puniſhment, there
would be no fufficient Guard and Defence to
maintain the Authority of the Lawgiver a-
mongſt his Subjects, and to deter them from
new Offences.
I add further alfo, that it is not poflible
that any future Virtues of a former Offender,
or any future Inftances of Obedience, can
make Atonement to God, and give a Recom-
pence to him for paſt Iniquities, or repair the
Honours of the broken Law, becauſe the
Creature owes his higheſt and beſt Services to
God his Maker, according to the Law of Cre-
ation, and he can never do more than was his
Duty.
II. Yet
208 Q. X. What hope of Recovery
II. Yet when we confider God not only as
a Righteous Governor, that will vindicate
his own Honour and Authority, but alſo as a
God who is holy, and loves Holiness in every
degree, and is alſo the most beneficent and
merciful Father of his miſerable Creatures,we
may reaſonably fuppofe he will encourage and
reward every little Appearance of Goodneſs
that he fees amongſt them, where he can do
it with a Salvo to his Honour and Govern-
ment. And when we further obſerve, there
will be wicked Creatures in abundance for him
to make the Objects of his Vengeance, and to
teſtify his fevere Diſpleaſure againſt Sin, and
vindicate the Honour of his broken Law;
furely we may ſuppoſe it very probable by the
Light of Nature, that where any Perfon of
the Race of Men does repent of Sin, does re-
turn to his Obedience to his Maker, and prac-
tife Piety towards God, and fingle and ſocial
Virtues, fo far as he has any Powers, Oppor-
tunities or Advantages to find out and perform
his Duty, we may probably ſuppoſe, Ifay, and
hope, that God will favourably pafs by the
Tranfgreffion of fuch Creatures; and efpe-
cially when we confider, that the Prevalence of
corrupt Nature fometimes is almoſt unavoida-
ble in the prefent State of Sin and Temptation
in which they are born, we may reaſonably hope
that the bleffed God will put all thele Conf-
deracions into the Balance, and will muhe
میں
gracious
can our Reafon give us?
209
gracious Allowances for them: Upon this
account we may have fome Reaſon to think,
that virtuous and pious Men, tho' their Hearts
or Lives are blemiſh'd with fome Sins and
Frailties, will not go without ſome ſort of
Reward. It is probable that God will make
it appear in a future State, that his Goodneſs
has fome regard even for imperfect Virtue,
in repenting Sinners, as well as his Juftice
demands its due Honours in the Puniſhment
of Criminals, who continue in their Rebel-
lion without remorſe.
III. It might be added yet further, to en-
force this Confideration, that fince God pre-
ferves Mankind notwithſtanding their daily
Offences, and affords them fo many Circum-
ſtances of Eafe and Pleaſure, giving them Sun
and Rain, and Food and Delight in this
World, together with the long Forbearance
of Puniſhment; fince he continues their na-
tural Powers, and the Operations of the Rea-
fon and Confcience of Men, dictating their
Duty to them, approving their good Actions,
and reproving them for their Vices, in order
to excite and encourage them to the Pracice
of Virtue, we may probably infer that he is
now ftanding upon fome Terms of Mercy
with them, that they are upon their good
Behaviour, and are placed in a State of Trial
or Probation, for future Rewards or Pu-
niſhments, and that they are not utterly aban-
P
don'd
210 Q. X. What Hope of Recovery
don'd as condemn'd
condemn'd Criminals, without
Hope, and merely waiting for the time of
Execution.
IV. From all thefe Confiderations the
Light of Nature may probably infer, that
God has defigned fome way of Salvation or
Recovery for poor finful wretched Mankind:
And that if there be any fuch thing as an A-
tonement neceffary to anſwer for the Sins
or Failings of virtuous Perfons, fo that God
may forgive them with more Honour to his
Law; 'tis probable that God will provide this
Atonement for them, fince 'tis impoffible that
the guilty Creature Man can find out or pro-
duce any fuch Atonement for himſelf, he
having forfeited all that he has by Sin, and no-
thing that he can do can anſwer the prefent
and future Demands of Obedience; much
leſs can he make a Recompence for a paſt Dif-
obedience.
Tho' Reaſon is utterly at a lofs to find out
the Secrets of Divine Government, and the
Methods that God has taken to honour his
Law, and vindicate his Authority by the Suf-
ferings of his Son Jefus Chrift, which are
revealed to us in the Goſpel, yet the Reaſon
of Man may hope, that repenting Sinners,
and Men who practiſe Virtue and Piety, fo
far as the Light of Nature can affilt them,
fhall be made Partakers of this Mercy and this
Salvation, tho' they know not the particular
Methods
*
{
can our Reafon give us? 211
Methods whereby it is brought about; for if
the continued Forbearance and Goodneſs of
God invites and calls them to Repentance,
which St. Paul confeffes, we hope it will
alfo invite and incline him to forgive, where
this Goodneſs has attained its proper Defign
on his Creatures, and brought them to re-
pent.
V. Reafon alfo will give us this further In-
formation, that if God has provided any Way
or Method of Recovery for finful and mifera-
ble Man to his Image and to his Favour, he has
taken effectual Care that fome part of Man-
kind ſhall be certainly recovered and faved by
it and that he has not left it merely and ut-
terly to the uncertain Profpect of what the
Free-will of Men would do toward their own
Recovery, under all the Difadvantages of a
tempting World without, and finful Appe-
tites and Paflions within, left all the provided
Methods of Recovery be neglected, and none
receive it, and be faved. Surely the All-wife
God would take care that fuch a glorious Sal-
vation fhould not be provided and propofed in
vain.
VI. It is probable therefore that the Grace
or Goodneſs of God, in conjunction with his
Wifdom, would or did fix upon fome Perfons
among degenerate Mankind, to whom he re-
folved this way of Salvation which he has pro-
P 2
vided
2*
212 Q. X. What Hope of Recovery
vided fhould be effectual: And for this end,
either did or would place them in Circum-
ftances of lefs Temptation, or give them greater
Advantages for the Improvement of their
Minds, and by proper Providences would
awaken their natural Confciences, or fet be-
fore them the Differences of Virtue and Vice,
with all their Confequences in a future State,
in a ſtronger Light, and with more powerful
Conviction; and that all thefe perfuafive Me-
thods might not mifcarry, it is probable that
he would give fome Divine Touch to their
Spirits, if it were neceffary, and would cauſe
them to point toward himſelf, and a future
Happineſs.
VII. Nor is there juft Reafon for any Cri-
minals to complain against the Goodness of
God, for effectually leading fome of their
Fellows into a certain and fecure Method of
Salvation, fince they fuftain no Injury thereby.
Why fhould their Eye be evil, becaufe God is
good?
Let this Matter be examined and fcann'd as
far as it will by the Powers of Reaſon and pre-
fent Obſervation, and we fhall find no fuch
terrible Confequences from the Doctrine of
God's Choice, or Appointment of particular
Perfons to obtain this eternal Salvation, as
fome learned Men have imagined, provided
that none of the reft are thereby prevented
and hindred by any Act of God.
VIII.
can our Reaſon give us?
213
VIII. Our Eyes fee plainly, and our con-
ftant Obfervation of Mankind affures us, that
far the greateſt part of them are not pious and
holy, but finful and rebellious againſt their
Maker, and are wilfully running on in the
Paths of Sin and Madneſs, to Condemnation
and Puniſhment; we muſt be convinced daily,
that the Bulk of Mankind are by no means fit
to be admitted into a Heaven of Happineſs,
which confifts in the Knowledge, Love and
Enjoyment of God; nor are they at all in-
clin'd to repent and return to God; but that
they are rather rendering themſelves daily
fitter Objects of Divine Diſpleaſure; and, to
all appearance, the greateſt part of them are
like to be punish'd in another World, for Sins
committed in this.
Now when the great and bleffed God had
provided a Means of Recovery fufficient for
all theſe Sinners, and yet forefaw them dif
inclin❜d to accept of it, would it be unjuſt in
him to refolve that fome fhould certainly be
recover'd by it? Might he not, in confiftence
with Equity and Juftice, form a Decree that
all theſe vicious and wretched Creatures fhould
not be utterly miferable; but that he would
take certain and effectual Care to fave fome
of them from this Madneſs and Mifery? When
he had provided fuch a way of Recovery as
might fecure the Honours of his own Govern-
ment, might he not refolve to fpare and fave
P 3
2
214 Q. X. What Hope of Recovery
a confiderable Number of them? And, in
purſuit of this Refolution, might he not fet
things neceffary to their Salvation in fuch a
light before their Eyes, as that they fhould fee.
their Danger and their only Hope, and be
powerfully perfuaded to repent of Sin, and
truft in the Divine Methods of Mercy? Might
he not thus engage and incline them to lead
new Lives, that their Souls might be fit for
Happiness after Death, in another State?
Would not fuch a Conduct be a Manifeſta-
tion of great Grace and Favour in God to
Men, even tho' he did not extend this Favour
to all the Race of Mankind? What Injury
doth he do to the reft on whom he doth not
beſtow this Favour? May he not, as a wife
and righteous Governor, fee fit to let many
rebellious Subjects go on in their own Impe-
nitence and Folly, till they receive the juft
Demerit, as well as neceffary Confequence
of their own Rebellions? What poffible Rea-
fon of Cavil can be raiſed againſt a ſovereign
Creator, Lord and Benefactor, if he fhould
act thus with his finful Creatures, fince his
Goodness to fome doth not in the leaft hin-
der others from obtaining the Salvation which
is offer'd to all?
IX. As for the reft of degenerate Mankind,
does not their actual Continuance in their Re-
bellion and Sinfulnefs fhew us, that tho' the
way
of Salvation provided has a Sufficiency
in
can our Reafon give us? 215
in it to fave them all, yet their Salvation is
not ſecured? But they are continued under
many Mercies, and the common Operations
of Reaſon and Confcience, with various De-
grees of Advantage for Virtue and Piety,
with hopeful Encouragements to exeite them
to repent of Sin and return to God, and very
probable Hopes of Acceptance, if they fin-
cerely repent of paſt Sins, and practiſe the
Duties of Love which they owe to God and
Man, and betake themſelves to the free Mer-
cy of God, fo far as 'tis revealed, and fo far
as Reaſon and Confcience can guide and en-
able them in this imperfect State. And can
our Reaſon fay, that the Great God is bound
to go farther than this toward the Recovery
of finful Man?
X. Theſe are ſome of the Reafonings of
the Light of Nature on this Divine Subject.
It must be granted indeed, that if we had no
Affiftances from Revelation, the wiſeſt and
moſt thoughtful of Men, by the meer Light
of Nature, would hardly draw out their In-
ferences to this Degree of Evidence and juſt
Hope: For if they could, why had not So.
crates and Plato, thofe excellent Philo-
fophers, faid the fame things long ago? Are
we fo much better furniſhed with Genius and
the Powers of Reaſoning than they were?
Why fhould we be fo vain and conceited of
ourſelves? 'Tis certainly divine Revelation
P 4
and
216 Q. X. What Hope of Recovery
and the Advantage which we have from the
Word of God among us, that enables us to
carry our Reaſonings to fuch a length.
Yet when we have many noble Hints and
Lifts given us by the Bible, to ſpread thefe
Scenes and Ideas before us, and to carry us
into this Train of Confequences; we may
then make it appear, that theſe Propofitions
are either certainly or probably connected
with each other, and that thefe Confequences
may
be eſteemed the Refult of fair and free
Reaſoning on this Subject.
XI. This might be illuftrated by a plain
and obvious Similitude, or rather a Compa-
rifon between the Sciences of Geometry and
Religion, as the one is affifted by Euclid,
and the other by Mofes and the other Holy
Writers.
Euclid has drawn out his Reaſonings upon
Lines and Circles, Angles and Numbers, into
a noble Set of Propofitions in his Books of
Geometry, and filled the World with moft
ufeful Pieces of Knowledge built upon unde-
niable Demonftrations. Every Man has the
natural Powers of Reafoning as well as Eu-
clid, and by the Advantage of fome Acquain-
tance with his Propofitions and Reaſonings,
for the Works of fome other great Geome-
trician, a multitude of Men have made a rich
Progress in this Science, and can draw up a
Scheme of Geometry, in a Chain of juft Con-
fequences:
can our Reaſon give us?
217
fequences
but without thefe Advantages
there is not one Man in ten thouſand would
carry on their Reaſonings half fo far as Eu-
clid has done, or find out one quarter of his
Propofitions, or the Arguments whereby he
proves them. The fame thing may be juftly
faid concerning our drawing out Doctrines
and Inferences upon the Affairs of God and
Religion, by the Light of Nature, with the
Bible in our hands, which not one Man in
ten thouſand would be able to do, or at
leaft would ever do in Fact, without this
Advantage.
XII. Let us here ftand ftill and recapitulate
fome of the things we have mentioned. Let
us confider the preſent wretched degenerate
State of all Mankind, the Giddinefs and
Darkneſs of their Underſtandings, the Power
of their Prejudices, the vicious Inclination
of their Hearts, the Influence of evil Ex-
amples round them, and the univerfal Stream
of Impiety or Idolatry, Folly or Vice, that
has carried away all Nations; let us confider
how very poor and low, how wretched and
ridiculous were the Sentiments of Men on
divine Subjects, and the Affairs of Religion
in the Days and Nations of Heathenifm;
let us reflect how wild are the Notions, and
how weak the Reaſonings of Men, who are
left entirely to the mere Light of Nature, or
who have no Revelation but fuch feeble
Glimpfes
218 Q. X. What Hopeof Recovery
Glimpses and broken Hints as they have de-
rived down by long Tradition, from the far
diſtant Heads of their Families, Shem, Ham,
or Japheth; let us think with ourſelves how
exceeding few of the Heathens, without
fome Communications with the Jews, or
fome traditional Hints of ancient Revelation,
have been ever led to repent of Sin, to make
Supplication to the true God for Forgive-
neſs, to practiſe Piety towards God, or Vir-
tue towards Men, from a fincere Defign to
honour and obey their Maker; let us confider
the beſt Schemes of Religion and Morality
that were ever given by the Heathen Philo-
fophers, and obferve how groffly defective
they are, and how little they themſelves or
their Diſciples ever practiſed them. Again,
let us think of the wifeft and beft of them,
whofe Virtues made fuch a Blaze in the Hea-
then World, how univerfally they neglected
the Love of God, as the Principle of their
Virtues, and the Glory of God, as their End
of them; (for tho' they knew God by the
Light of Nature, they glorified him not as
God, Rom. i. 21.) And let us farther review
the wretched Character that the Apoſtle Paul
gives of the Gentile World, in Rom. i. Eph.
. Col.i. &c. into what abominable Iniqui-
ties they were plunged, even whole Tribes
and Nations of Men; and if we then reflect
how well theſe Accounts of St. Paul agree.
with the Reports of modern Travellers, I fear
3
we
can our Reaſon give us?
219
1
Déve
we ſhall find but exceeding few who can make
any Claim or Pretence to the future reward-
ing Grace of their Creator. And perhaps,
upon a View of theſe Matters of Fact, the
fureft thing that Reafon can determine is
this, That when all fhall ftand before the
Judgment-Seat of God, the better fort of
Heathens can arife no higher in their utmoſt
Claims or Pretences, than to be treated with
fome lighter Puniſhments; and that the more
impious and abominable Wretches will be
diſtinguiſhed by more fevere and durable In-
flictions of Mifery; for the very beft cannot
lay a juft and fure Claim to any Reward. I
will not dare to ſay this is the utmoſt Favour
God will fhew them, but this ſeems to be the
utmoſt certain Claim or Pretence to Favour,
which, by the Light of Nature, they can
justly make for themſelves.
QUES
220 Q. XI. What means that Death
QUESTION XI.
What does Scripture reveal to us concerning
the Punishment due to Sin? Or, What
are we to understand by that Death which
the Scripture tells us was threatned to
Man, as the Penalty due to the firſt Of
fence, or as 'tis inflicted on Mankind on
the account of Sin?
"T
IS evident from the fecond Chapter
of Genefis, and from many other
Places in Scripture, that Death is the Pe-
nalty threatned for the Sin of Man, Gen.
ii. 17. In the Day thou eatest thereof
thou shalt furely die. Now under this Term
Dying, mentioned in the original Law of
Innocency, many of our Chriftian Writers
have generally fuppofed every thing to be
included which has been ever fince called
Death, in the Old or New Teftament; (viz.)
Natural Death, or the Death of the Body;
Spiritual Death, or the Lofs of God's Fa-
vour and Image in the Soul; and Eternal
Death, or Torment both of Soul and Body
in another World. Let us confider how far
the
which Scripture threatens for Sin? 221
:
the word Death ought reaſonably to be ex-
tended to each of theſe.
I. Natural Death, or the Death of the
Body, is one thing plainly defigned in the
firft Threatning, beyond all controverfy. The
natural Life of the Sinner is forfeited to him
who gave it, when he has once broken his
Allegiance to his Creator and fupreme Lord.
That this is the firſt and moſt obvious Idea
of the Puniſhment threatned, may be plainly
proved, becauſe this is the univerfal, com-
mon, and literal Meaning of the word Death,
in all human Languages.
This alfo is the very Senfe of the fame
Writer Mofes, when he uſes the fame Words
in all other Parts of his Writings, (viz.)
Thou shalt furely die; or, in dying thou shalt
die. In thofe Places it means evidently tem-
poral Death, as might be proved eaſily if we
confult all thofe places.
And let it be obſerved, that in thoſe early
Ages the future and invifible World being
very little brought into view, the word Death
might naturally include in it the Forfeiture of
all Being and all Comforts what foever, fince
it evidently means the lofs and forfeiture of
all visible Being, Life and Comforts; for all
theſe appear to vanifh at Death.
And this Notion of Death will not be
ftrange, if we can agree to the learned and in-
genious Mr. Warburton's Sentiment in his
Divine
222 Q. XI. What means that Death
Divine Legation of Mofes, (viz.) that the
Doctrine of a future State of Rewards and
Puniſhments is not to be found in the Mofaic
Difpenfation, nor did it make any Part of
it ; tho' I dare not fo univerfally pronounce
this Opinion true.x
Befides, this Death of the Body was poſt-
tively foretold to Adam, and was the Sen-
tence pronounced upon him when he had ac-
tually finned Duft thou art, and unto Duft
fhalt thou return. And accordingly we find,
that when Adam is faid to get a Son in his
own Likeness, that is, in his own mortal
Likeness, in contradiftinction to the glorious
and immortal Likeneſs of God, in which the
foregoing Verſes tell us he was firſt made,
Gen. v. 1, 2, 3, &c. Then the Scripture
goes on to prove it, by fhewing how this
Death was executed : There is a plain Ac-
count follows of the natural Death of A-
dam, and a long Succeffion of the Deaths of
his Pofterity, as being made mortal in the
Image of Adam, their natural Head.
And as I have fhewn before, that not only
Life, but Health and Eaſe, and the Comforts
of Life being the free Gifts of God our Cre-
ator, they are all forfeited by the Offence of
his Creature againſt him and all the Pains,
and Sorrows, and Sickneffes of this Life,
which by degrees tend to wear out Nature,
and to bring Man down to the Duft, may be
6
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300
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​juftly
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3.
6.8.opsis 182.
which Scripture threatens for Sin? 223
justly fuppofed to be implied in this Threat-
ning of Death.
And as this Natural Death of the Body
is plainly implied in the firſt Threatning as a
Penalty for Sin, to come upon Adam and his
Pofterity; fo not only all the Books of Mo-
fes, but perhaps all the Old Teftament, do
fcarce afford us any Inftances wherein the
word Death, properly and without a Figure,
is taken to fignify any thing elſe plainly
but the Sorrows and Miſeries of this Life,
and the final Deprivation of Life itſelf; tho'
in the first Threatning tacitly it may include
the Forfeiture of every thing God had before
given, ſo far as God pleaſe to reſume it. See
Note, Queft. ix. §. 6.
II. The next thing our Divines have uſually
included in the word Dying, is Spiritual
Death, which has been generally extended
to fignify the Anguiſh of a guilty Conſcience,
the Lofs of the Divine Image in Holineſs, with
the Loss of the Divine Favour, and the In-
fliction of new Sorrows on the Soul. Let
us confider each of theſe apart, and ſee how
far they may be included in the firft Threat-
ning.
(1.) The Anguiſh of Confcience can never
belong to any but the perfonal Tranfgreffor
himſelf, becauſe it confifts in the uncafy and
painful Reflections of the Mind of him that
has finned, charging himſelf with his own
A&
}
224 Q. XI. What means that Death
Act of Folly and Diſobedience. This is the
natural Effect or Confequent of perfonal
Sin, and not ſo properly the threatned Pe-
nalty of the Law. This Anguifh does not
come upon the Offspring of Adam by Impu-
tation on the account of the firft Sin; for it
can never be imputed to another Perſon by
any Repreſentation or Suretifhip: nor can it
ever be convey'd or tranfmitted by any na-
tural Propagation or Deſcent; for in the Na-
ture of things, Anguifh of Confcience can
only belong to the very Perſon who is con-
fcious of his own actual Folly and Rebellion,
which another Perfon can never be confcious
of *. But tho' this cannot be communicated
to the Offspring of Adam, on account of
his Sin; yet when they become perfonal
Sinners, they feel this Anguifh of Confcience
alfo arifing from their own actual Tranfgref
fions, as the natural Confequence of a guilty
Mind.
(2.) The
* By the way we may take notice here, that tho' Infants
have the Sin of Adam fo far imputed to them, as to fall under
the Sentence of Death; and tho' the Sins of the World were
fo far imputed to Chrift the fecond Adam, as to expofe him to
Sufferings of Soul and Body, and to the accurfed Death, yet
neither Infants nor our bleffed Lord ever had, nor can have,
any Anguish of Confcience, becaufe this arifes only from the
actual and perfonal Sin ftriking the Mind of the actual and
perfonal Tranfgreflor with fharp Reflections and inward Re-
morfe, as confcious of his own Fault. We may all be grieved
and forry that Adam our Father finned, but we cannot have
painful inward Remorfe, Reproaches or Self-Reflections, on
the account of the Sin or Sins which we our felves never com-
mitted.
which Scripture threatens for Sin? 225
}
(2.) The Lofs of the Image of God in
Holiness, is another thing contain'd in Spi-
ritual Death, and in the New Teftament
this is termed by St. Paul, a Death in Tref
paffes and Sins, Eph. ii. i. It confiſts in the
Corruption of human Nature, and a Biaſs of
Propensity toward Evil. But this cannot be
fo properly threatned as the Penalty of the
Law to be inflicted for the Sin of Adam 3 for
the holy and righteous God cannot be the
Author of Sin in his Creatures; he cannot
infuſe Sin into the Nature of Man, nor take
away his Virtues by any Divine Act, or make
him vicious* This must therefore be only
eſteemed as a natural Effect or Confequent
of Man's firft Sin, as I have fhewn under
Quest. III. and IX.
(3.) The Soul's Lofs of the Favour of God
is another Part of Spiritual Death: the Lofs
of the Manifeftations of God's Love, of
friendly Converſe with him, and any peculiar
Inftances of his Grace, may be included in the
word Spiritual Death, 1 John iii. 14. He
that loveth not his Brother abideth in
Death: And perhaps this may be alſo in-
cluded in that Scriptural Expreflion, Eph. ii.
1, 2, &c. becauſe they who are dead in Tref
paffes and Sins are faid to be Children of
Wrath, or obnoxious to the Divine Anger.
The words Indignation and Irath, &c.
in Rom. ii. 8. where the Terms of the Co-
venant
* See Queft. IX. Sect. 25
Q
226 Q. XI. What means that Death
、
1
venant of Works are recited,ſeem to intimate
that this may poffibly be included in the
word Death, as a threatned part of the Pu-
niſhment, and reaches to the Soul as well as
the Body, and that even after its Separation
from the Body as well as before.
The Favour of God was certainly forfeited
in a legal manner, by the Sin of the firſt
Man; this is a proper Puniſhment for Sin:
for we cannot fuppofe that God, the righteous
Governor of the World, will always treat a
Criminal as he does an innocent Perfon; but
will both threaten and manifeft fome Tokens
of his Difpleaſure against him, in order to
maintain his Authority and Government.
(4.) And not merely the Punishment of
Lofs, or the withdrawing of the Senſe of
Divine Love, but the Punishment of Senfe,
(as the Schools call it) i. e. actual Pain, Sor-
row, fignified by the words Tribulation and
Anguish, may be impreft upon the Soul by
God himſelf, or by good or evil Angels, as
his Miniſters; and this is a proper legal Pe-
nalty due to Sin, and may be included in this
Spiritual Death. In this fenfe the Devil may
be called the Angel of Death, or he who
has the Power of Death, Heb. ii. 14. as
well as that he has Power fometimes to kill
the Body. Under this Head we may partly
include the Fear or Dread of all thefe Evils,
or of any of them.
Theſe four things then may be included in
Spi-
:
which Scripture threatens for Sin? 227
Spiritual Death; the two firſt of them as
the natural Confequences or Effects of Sin
foretold, and the two laft as proper Punish-
ments threatned: and the Dread of them is
partly anaturalEffect as well as a Punishment.
Let us proceed now to the third Diſtinction
of Death, as 'tis explain'd by our chief Au-
thors who treat on Divine things.
III. Eternal Death confifts in the Mifery
both of Soul and Body, in the inviſible World,
and in a future State: Thus it is generally
explained by our Writers, and has been often
faid to be included in the Penalty due to the
firſt Sin. Let us here enquire into it.
First, Let us confider it as it relates to the
Soul of Man. The Soul is an immaterial and
thinking Being, it has in it felf no natural
Principles of Diffolution; and therefore, fo
far as we can judge, it muſt be immortal in
its own Nature: but who can fay, whether
the Word DEATH might not be fairly
conftrued to extend to the utter Deſtruction
of the Life of the Soul as well as the Body,
if God the righteous Governor fhould pleaſe
to feize the Forfeiture For Man by Sin had
forfeited all that God had given him, i. e.
the Life and Existence of his Soul, as well as
his Body all is forfeited by Sin into the
hands of God; and why might
Threatning declare the Right that
Q 2
* See Nute, p. 198.
not the
even a
God
5
228 Q. XI. What means that Death
}
God of Goodness had to refume all back
again, and utterly deftroy and annihilate his
Creatures for ever*?
There is not one Place of Scripture that
Occurs to me, where the word Death, as it
was first threatned in the Law of Innocency,
neceflarily fignifics a certain miferable Im-
mortality of the Soul, either to Adam the
actual Sinner, or to his Poftcrity. I fay, I
do not remember any fuch Text, but will
not pofitively affert there is none.
But fuppofe this Death mean the utter
Deſtruction of Soul as well as of the Body, to
be a Penalty due to every Sin, (for the Wages
of Sin is Death) even the leaft Sin or Of
fence againſt God; yet where the Sin of Man
hath any Degrees of Aggravation, perhaps
the Divine Juftice would not deftroy the Soul,
but would continue the Soul in its natural
Immortality and Conſcioufnefs after the Death
of the Body, to fuftain farther Puniſhments
anfwerable to thefe Aggravations: God may
refume more or lefs of what Man has for-
feited by Sin. And 'tis a Point determined
by our Saviour, that Continuance in Life and
Mifery is a greater Punishment than Annihi-
lation; for he fays, 'Tis better never to have
been born, than to be punifhed as Judas the
Traitor fhall be puniſhed, Matth. xxvi. 24.
And
* It is granted that God, confidered merely as Sovereign and
as Just, might refume all from his Creature, tho' he be without
Sin; but we can hardly think a God of Goodness would do it,
till Sin had made a Forfeiture.
5
which Scripture threatens for Sin? 229
And fince there is fearce any actual Sin but
what has fome Aggravations, cither greater
or leſs, perhaps there is no actual Sinner, but
has deferv'd fome Continuance of his Soul in
its Exiſtence, Confcioufnefs and Mifery. And
on this account the Death threatned by the
Covenant of Works, efpecially to the actual
and perfonal Tranfgreffor, may perhaps in-
clude in it that Indignation and Irath, Tri-
bulation and Anguilh, which is due to every
immortal Soul that actually doth amiss, πžœ×ν
ψυχὴν ἀνθρώπε κατεργαζομένω τὸ κάκου, every Soul
that worketh Eyil, Rom. ii. 8, 9. For as I
fhew'd before, the Apoftle fecms to fpcak
there of Juftification and Condemnation, by
a Law or Covenant of Works.
TLTXV
But whether the Great God would have
actually continued the Soul of Adam, the
first Sinner, in a State of Existence after
Death, and in a long Immortality, to puniſh
his actual Offence, if he had not given him
a new Covenant, i. e. a Covenant of Grace
and Salvation, this is not plainly reveal'd nor
determined in Scripture. Tis certain that
the Wages, or due Recompence, of Sin is
Death, whether it mean an utter Deſtruction
of Soul and Body, or elfe Bodily Death with
a State of Miſery for the Soul after the Body
is dead. The whole of our Life and Being
and Comfort in Soul and Body, is forfeited
by Sin, and God may refume more or lets,
as his Wifdom fhall direct, in order to punifh
Q 3
the
f
230 Q. XI. What means that Death
the Guilty according to the greater or less
Aggravations or Demerits of their Crimes *.
Secondly, The other Part of Eternal
Death, or Eternal Mifery, confifts in the
raifing the Body up again from the Dead,
and rejoining it to the Soul, in order to be
made eternally miferable together with the
Soul, or rather to be an everlafting Inftru-
ment of the Soul's Mifery and Torment. But
that this Refurrection of the Body to a State
of Mifery, is threatned in the Bible for the
Puniſhment of Adam's firft Sin, is what I
cannot prove, nor do I know in what Text
of Scripture to find it. The Law of Inno-
cency threatens Death; but as the Promife of
Life made to Innocency was Immortality and
eternal Life without need of a Refurrection,
Rom. ii. 7. fo the Threatning of Death to Sin
did not (that I can find) imply a Refurrection.
It was not faid in Gen. ii. Thou shalt furely
die, and ſhalt rife again to new Sorrows.
There are ſeveral Places of Scripture where-
in the Refurrection is rather attributed to
Chrift, and to his Undertaking in a Cove-
nant of Grace, befides that remarkable one,
I Cor.
* It is granted, that the first Man ftanding under fuch a
Law and Covenant as is before explain'd, hath by Sin for-
feired all that he had, both Life and Being with all the
Bleffings of it, for himſelf and his Pofterity into the hands of
his Maker, fo far as the rectoral Wiſdom or Juftice of God
pleaſe to reſume them; yet it is juſtly doubted whether the
Great God would inflict any Penalties beyond Death, or any
Puniſhment in a future World, on thoſe who have no perfonal
Sin, but lie only under that Sentence of Adam's imputed Sin,
This will be debated in the 16th Queſtion.
J
which Scripture threatens for Sin? 231
1 Cor. xv. 21. As by Man came Death, fo
by Man came the Refurrection of the Dead:
but I know not of any one Line in the Word
of God that provides a miſerable Reſurrection
as the Puniſhment threatned to the Offence
of Adam. 'Tis very probable therefore, that
the Refurrection of the Body was introduced
by Christ the fecond Adam upon another
foot, namely, upon the Gospel-Propofal of
Mercy to all Mankind in the Promiſe made
to Adam after his Fall, which has been ufu-
ally called the First Gospel, or an Epitome of
the Gospel of Chrift: And whofoever fhould
refuſe this Grace, or abuſe it by actual Impe-
nitence and Indulgence of Sin, fhould fuffer
Puniſhment in Soul and Body for ever. This
is called the ſecond Death, Rev. xxi. 8.
So that as the Goſpel or Covenant of Grace
has provided Hope and Salvation by Jefus
the Mediator, for all that would accept of it,
whether under the Patriarchal, Jewish, or
Chriftian Difpenfation; fo thofe who con-
tinue impenitent, and will not return to God
according to this new Covenant, are expofed
to double Puniſhment under the Government
of the Mediator; and he will raiſe them from
the Dead to receive the Reward of their Ob-
ftinacy and Impenitence, their Violation of
the Law of God, and their Neglect of all the
Means and Hopes of Grace,
Q.4
QUES-
2 3 2 Q. XII. What does Scripture reveal
QUESTION XII.
What doth the Holy Scripture reveal con-
cerning the Recovery of Mankind from
the Sin and Mifery of that Eftate into
which they were brought by the Difobe-
dience of Adam? And how far does this
Recovery reach, both with regard to the
Perfons recover'd, and with regard to the
Degrees of their Recovery ?
PE
ERHAPS this great and important En-
quiry may be anſwer'd by the following
Propofitions and Reaſonings.
Adam the first Man having finned againſt
God, and brought fuch a Difhonour on the
Law and Authority of his Maker, and tainted
his Seed with Sin, he has thereby expoſed
himſelf and his Pofterity, that is, the whole
Race of Mankind, to Death: But God, who
is rich in Mercy, gave him a Promiſe of a
Redeemer or Saviour, Gen. iii. 15. who fhould
be the Seed of the Woman, and ſhould break
the Head of the Serpent; i. e. deftroy the
Works of the Devil, and deliver Men from
that Miſchief and Mifery into which Sin had
plunged
of the Recovery of Man? 233
plunged them, thro' the Temptation of the
Devil, who lay hid in the Serpent.
and was God,
Father to be-
that all thofe
God's own and only begotten Son Jefus
Chrift, who before the World was with God,
who was one with the Father,
was himſelf appointed by the
come the Saviour of Mankind,
might be recover'd by pardoning Grace to the
Favour of God, and raiſed at laft to eternal
Life, who fhould repent of Sin, and truſt in
the Mercy of God, according to the feveral
Degrees of the Diſcovery of it, which fhould
be made in different Nations and Ages of the
World, from the days of Adam to the days
of Christianity.
For this end God appointed this his Son,
at a certain Period of time to take Flesh and
Blood upon him, and to become a Man, and
to be born of a Woman, that he might become
the Seed of the Woman, according to his early
Promiſe made to fallen Man, Gen. iii. 15.
God ordained and fent his Son to preach
this Goſpel of Repentance, Faith and Par-
don, more clearly than ever before, and ap-
pointed him to obey his Law perfectly, and
to fuffer the Sorrows of Life and Death it-
ſelf, inſtead of finful Man who broke his
Law, that by his perfect Obedience and by
his ſharp Sufferings, he might fhew how
greatly God hated Sin, and might vindicate
that Honour of the Law and Majesty of God,
which the Sin of Man had violated, and pro-
cure
!
234 Q. XII. What does Scripture reveal
cure for Men a Diſcharge from thoſe Evils
which he ſuſtained, and obtain full Salvation
for finful Men. The Great God, the Lord
of Heaven and Earth, did not think it be-
coming his Dignity and his Majeſty, to paſs
by fuch grievous Offences, without fome
glorious and terrible Demonftration of his
own Holineſs, and his Abhorrence of Sin,
even while he defigned to fave the Sinners:
His Juſtice, that is, his Rectoral Wiſdom,
did not fee it proper to exerciſe his Mercy
toward Criminals, without ſome Vindication
of the Wiſdom and Holineſs of his broken
Law, fome Reparation of his Honour, and
fome Recompence to the Authority of his
Government, which had been injured by our
Sins nor would he receive the offending
Creature into his Favour without fuch a Me-
diator, as could not only plead for the Of-
fender, but could make Atonement for his
Offence. It would be too tedious to enter
into the Proof of this Atonement here. Many
* and fufficient Defences of it are written, and
the Epiſtles of St. Paul, Peter, and John,
are fo expreſs in this Doctrine, that one would
think it needs no farther Proof. This is fet
in a convincing Light in two Treatiſes, (viz.)
Of Jefus the Mediator; and, The Re-
deemer and Sanctifier.
Nor is it at all improper, or unbecoming
the Dignity or Juftice of God, or the State
of Man, that God fhould fet up one Man,
even
of the Recovery of Man? 235
+
even his own Son, to be the fecond Adam,
or a Head of Life and Salvation for multi-
tudes, fince 'tis evident that one Man, or the
firft Adam, was the Head or Spring of Sin,
Mifery and Death to multitudes. Both under
the Covenant of Works and under the Co-
venant of Grace, the bleffed God is pleaſed
to tranſact his Affairs with Men in and by a
fingle Perfon, who was appointed a Head
and Repreſentative of many thoufands. And
doubtless there were most important Reaſons
for this Conduct of God.
But fince this Appointment of Salvation
by Jefus Chrift, was the mere Effect of God's
free Mercy and fovereign Good-will, there-
fore he was at liberty to appoint the Exerciſe
of his own Grace, and the Gift of this Sal-
vation to fallen Man, in fuch Ways and Man-
ners, under fuch Limitations, with fuch
Terms or Conditions, and in fuch Degrees,
as he pleaſed.
Now, to fet this Matter in the cleareft Light
I can, I would fhew what were the Meaſures
or Limitations of this Grace or Salvation pro-
vided for fallen Man.
1. This Grace or Salvation did not extend
fo far as to aboliſh or deſtroy the general
Terms, Commands or Sanctions of the Law
of Innocence, or the Law of Works, as it is
called, under which Adam the firft Man
was conſtituted*. This general Law is a Law
of
* I ſay, the Covenant of Grace does not aboliſh the Law of
Works, in the general Terms of it, (viz.) He that fins fhall die;
tho
236 Q.XII. What does Scripture reveal
of Nature and Creation: 'tis founded in the
very Nature of things, and the Relation be-
tween God and a Creature, which requires
all the Creatures of God to yield perfect O-
bedience to the whole Will of their Maker,
whether manifeſted by Reaſon or Revelation:
And the Penalty of this Law abides ftill in
force, in that it threatens the Curfe, or
Death to every one that continues not in
all things contained in this Law, Gal. iii. 10.
and Rom. i. 32. The Judgment of God, or
the dixaipa, the righteous Sentence of the
Law, is, That they who commit fuch things
are worthy of Death, Rom. vi. 23. The
Wages, or Reward, of Sin is Death.
This Death in general implies a Forfei-
ture of Life and Being, and all the Bleffings
of it, both in Soul and Body, as far as God
is pleaſed to reſume them, as I have fhewn
under Quest. IX and XI.
2. As the Law with its Penalty, which
threatens Death to Diſobedience, is not abro-
gated, fo the Promiſe of Eternal Life to per-
fect Obedience, (which was fuperadded to
the Law, and turned it into a Covenant) was
not formerly abrogated or abolish'd; tho' in-
deed it became unable to procure eternal Life
for any Son or Daughter of Adam, becauſe
they all were Sinners: and there are fome
Scrip-
tho' indeed the particular Prohibition of eating of the Tree of
Knowledge grows ufelefs entirely upon Adam's Expulfion from
the Garden, and his everlaſting Abſence from all the Fruit
there, which was no more in his power to cat.
of the Recovery of Man? 237
Scriptures which feem to fhew that this Pro-
mife and Covenant ſtand ſtill in force, Gal.
iii. 12. The Man that doth them fall live
in them. Rom. ii. 7. To them who by pa
tient Continuance in well-doing, feek for
Glory, Honour, and Immortality, the Law
promiſes eternal Life. Rom. viii. 3. What
the Law could not do, in that it was weak
thro' the Flesh, &c. Obferve, It was not weak
in itſelf to give Life; the Law ftill remain'd
capable of giving Life to any Man who could
produce and fhew a perfect Obedience to it:
but it is weak only thro' the Flesh, or the
Sinfulneſs of human Nature, and our Impo-
tence to fulfil the Conditions of it.
3. Neither did this Grace and Salvation of
Chriſt extend ſo far as to provide an imme-
diate and preſent Releaſe of fallen Mankind,
nor of any part of them, from all that Sin
and Mifery which the Diſobedience of Adam
had introduced into the World. The very
Repreſentation of thofe Scenes of Iniquity
and Miſchief, Sorrow and Death, which at-
tend all Mankind, and which have been be-
fore exhibited, is a fufficient Proof of the
Continuance and Power of original Sin all
over the World, and the dreadful Effects and
Puniſhments of it; and fhews that Mankind
in general is not releaſed from it, nor is any
part of 'em immediately and totally deliver'd.
If therefore fome of our Divines, when
they have been expounding the 5th Chapter
to
238 Q. XI. What does Scripture reveal
to the Romans, have been heard to fay, that
the Obedience, the Atonement and Death of
Chriſt have put an end to the Effects of the
Sin of Adam, and brought in as extenſive a
Bleffing as Adam did a Curſe, they muſt not
be ſuppoſed to mean that Original Sin, with
all the finful, painful and mortal Effects of
it in Men, Women and Children, is as en-
tirely done away as tho' they had never been,
or as tho Adam had not finned: for this is
contrary to the Witneſs of our Senfes, and
the Obfervation of our Minds, every day of
our Lives.
4. Nor did this Grace of God provide an
abfolute, certain and effectual Salvation for
all Mankind from the Penalties and Effects
of the broken Law of Innocence, for 'tis
evident enough that all Men will not be
faved. But left this Method of Grace ſhould
be utterly ineffectual to all Men, the Bleſſed
God, who faw the univerfal Degeneracy and
corrupt Principles of Mankind, would not
leave it to fuch an Uncertainty, whether any
Men fhould be finally faved or no. "Twas
not fit fo glorious a Provifion for our Salva-
tion fhould be left in fo doubtful a manner.
And 'tis highly reaſonable to think, that
God forefaw, no Man would repent and
accept of this Grace, if they were all entirely
left to their own choice and their own
Follies.
豐
​There-
of the Recovery of Man? 239
Therefore he refolved a Number ſhould
effectually accept of it.
Now had it been poffible that ſuch a num-
ber could be fecur'd in an indefinite manner,
without appointing and naming every parti-
cular Perfon, perhaps God might have left it
in fuch an indefinite manner. But fince that
could not be done, therefore he ſaw it neceffa-
ry to provide an effectual Security for fome
certain and determined Perfons, which in
Scripture are called the Sheep of Chrift, whom
he must bring into his Fold, and they fhall
hear his Voice; the Children given him, his
Church, the Elect of God, chofen before the
Foundation of the World; those who were
given to Chrift by the Father, thoſe whoſe
Names were written in the Lamb's Book of
Life; thofe which were predeftinated or
ordained to Eternal Life, who were re-
deemed from the Earth, chofen to be holy,&c.
John x. 11, 14, 16. Rom. viii. 33. Eph. i. 4.
John x. 29. Rom. viii. 30. Heb. ii. 14.
Acts xiii. 48. and many other Places, as Rev.
xiv. 3, 4. and v. 9.
And I cannot but make this Obfervation
in my reading of the New Teftament, that
tho' there are fome Scriptures which ſeem fa-
vourable to both fides of the Queſtion about
the Election of Perfons, yet the Texts which
ſupport this Doctrine are more in number,
and more plain, and exprefs, and unan-
fwerable, than thoſe others which may ſeem
to
240 Q.XII. What does Scripture reveal
to oppofe this particular Election of Perfons
unto Faith, Holinefs and Salvation *.
5. And even theſe very Perfons for whom
Salvation was thus certainly and effectually
provided, were not to be reſcued in this
World from all the Miferies of the Fall, but
only from fome of them: they were fecured
firft from thofe Evils which were moſt dread-
ful, and deliver'd from others by degrees.
The Effects of the Fall or Sin of Man,
under which theſe Favourites or Elect of God
continue, are fuch as thefe, (viz.) God fuf-
fers them to come into the World with a fin-
ful Nature, uncured, unfanctified, and to
continue under fome evil Operations and
Influences of this finful Nature all their Lives,
that they might conflict with it, and over-
come it by his Affiftances: he appoints
them alſo to continue during all this mortal
Life,
* I defire the friendly Reader to obferve, that I am not
here difcuffing the Controverfy about the Proof of particular
Election, &c. That has been done to much better purpoſe,
and the Doctrine it felf effectually proved by many confider-
able Writers, fuch as Mr. Calvin, Bp. Usher, Dr. Owen,
Dr. Goodwin, and others, among whom I name Mr. Baxter
himſelf. But I am only endeavouring to try, whether I can-
not repreſent a plain and defenfible Scheme, wherein this
Doctrine will fit eafy on the Minds of Men, without ftrain-
ing or torturing any Text of Scripture, and without pro-
nouncing Damnation on all the reſt of Mankind, by a certain
and unavoidable Sentence of Death, for want of a Saviour.
If it be enquired, Why the all-wife and bleffed God ſhould
fuffer Mankind to revolt from him at firft by an univerſal A-
poftacy, and why he fhould fecure the Recovery of ſo few out
of all Mankind from their State of Sin and Mifery; there are
ſome reaſonable Solutions given to this Difficulty, by the
Writer of the Strength and Weakness of Human Reafon, in the
4th Conference.
of the Recovery of Man? 241
Life, fubject to many Pains, Afflictions,
Sorrows, Miferies, for wife Ends and Pur-
poſes, in his Oeconomy of Grace; and at laft
that their Bodies fhould die, and turn to
Duft, according to the original Threatning
of Death.
The Deliverance or Salvation which God
provided for them, was, that they ſhould be
reftored to the Favour and Image of God a-
gain, and brought at laft to eternal Life and
Happineſs in this manner, (viz.) that they
fhould have a moft lively Senfe or Perception
of their own Guilt and Mifery, and of the
Hope of Mercy fo far as to encourage their
Repentance for paft Sins, and their Return
to God by new Obedience and fo far as the
Gospel of Chrift came within their Notice,
they ſhould learn the faving Methods of Grace
by Christ Jesus: And to this end, all theſe
things fhould be fet before their Minds by Di-
vine Impreffions on their Underſtanding, as
well as by the Word; this is called, Enlight-
ning their Minds in the Knowledge of their
Sin and Miſery; and of the Way of Salvation
by Christ. And yet further, that they fhould
have their finful Natures in fome meaſure
fanctified or made holy here on Earth, by a
great Change wrought upon them by God's
Holy Spirit, which is called Regeneration,
or being born again; that they fhould be er
abled by the Spirit of God to comply with all
the Propofals or neceffary Terms of this Co-
R
venant
242 Q.XII.What does Scripture reveal
venant of Grace or Salvation, which fhould
be appointed them by God himſelf as Go-
vernor of the World, or by Jefus Chrift his
Son, as his great Vicegerent, and Lord of all:
that their Sins fhould be pardoned, both
Original and Actual, fo far as never to be
ſhut out of the Favour of God, and the Pro-
miſe of eternal Life on the account of them;
yet that they ſhould fuftain fuch Sorrows and
Sufferings in their way to eternal Happineſs,
as might teach them the evil Nature and the
bitter Fruits of Sin, and by degrees wean
them from it: that they fhould have many
Affiftances, Reliefs and Comforts, under
the Difficulties and Trials, Sorrows and Mi-
feries, which they fhould fuftain in this Life:
that their Souls fhould be received into a
holy and peaceful State, in the preſence of
Chrift in Heaven, at the Death of their Bodies:
and that their Bodies fhould be raiſed again
at the laſt Day, and be rejoined to their Souls,
at which time they fhould be publickly ac-
quitted, and acknowledged as the Sons of
God, and be freed from all the unhappy
Effects and Penalties of the Fall of Adam,
and be thenceforth made for ever happy in
the prefence of God. It would be too tedious
to cite all the Scriptures which prove this;
for they are ſcatter'd up and down every
where in the New Teftament.
6. It ſeems alfo to be agreeable to the
Laws of Nature and Creation, that young
Chil-
of the Recovery of Man? 243
Children or Infants, who are utterly unca-
pable of knowing either the Laws of God, or
the Diſcoveries and Propofals of his Mercy,
and of complying with either of them in their
own Perſons, ſhould be efteemed as a Part of
their Parents, or as one with their Parents,
as to all the Purpoſes of this Diſpenſation of
Grace, and the Bleflings which flow from it;
and therefore God is called, The God of A-
braham, and the God of his Seed, in their
fucceffive Generations, Gen. xvii. There
fore the Gentiles, when converted to God,
are faid to be the Seed of the bleed of the
Lord, and their Offspring with them, Eſa.
lxv. 23. I do not ftand now to give any
longer Proof of this matter, which has been
fo much controverted; but only add, It is
not at all ſtrange that God fhould make his
Covenant of Grace fo favourable and exten-
five to thoſe Children of pious Perfons, who
never live to be capable of knowing or
tranfacting thefe facred Affairs for them-
felves, fince he has evidently fo conftituted
it, in a great meaſure, in the Kingdom of
Nature, and in the Kingdom of Providence;
for in theſe 'tis evident, that Children often
inherit the Gout or the Stone, a healthy and
robuft Conſtitution, or Sickneſs and Pain,
Poverty or Riches, Difgrace or Honour, ac-
cording to the Condition and Circumſtances
of their Parents. And fince it was fo con-
ftituted in the Law of Innocency, or the
R 2
Covenant
244 Q.XII. What does Scripture reveal
Covenant of Works, whereby all the Chil-
dren of Men fhould have been eſtabliſhed in
Happiness, if Adam their Father had con-
tinued in his Obedience, and whereby all
the Pofterity of Adam are now born in Sin
and Mifery, and involved in his Fall, when
he became a Rebel againſt his Maker; Why
may we not reaſonably fuppofe, the Mercy
of God would extend as far as his Juftice?
And why may not the Happineſs of the New
Covenant of Grace be convey'd to the Infant-
Offspring of thoſe who have accepted it,
which die in their Infancy, and can have no
ftate of Trial in their own Perfons?
7. Since the Son of God, Jefus Christ,
was fo very glorious a Perfon in his own Na-
ture, one who was with God, and was God,
one who had all the Fulness of the Godhead
dwelling in him bodily, there was ſuch an
abounding Merit in his perfect Obedience to
the Law of God for four and thirty Years
together, his voluntary Submiſſion to ſo
many Sorrows and Sufferings in his Life,
and afterwards his enduring Death it felf,
which was the exprefs Penalty threatned for
Sin; I fay, there was fuch a fuperabundant
Value and Merit in thefe Undertakings, a-
rifing from the Dignity of his Perfon and
Character, that thefe Labours, and thefe
Sufferings, did not only procure abfolute
and certain Salvation for the Elect, accord-
ing to the Will and Appointment of the Fa-
ther,
of the Recovery of Man?
245
ther, but they may juftly be called fufficient
in their own Nature, to have obtain'd actual
Salvation for all Mankind.
And tho' God did not think fit to appoint
all Mankind to be certainly and effectually
faved thereby, yet this Redundancy of the
Merit of Christ, this overflowing Influence
of his great Undertaking, his Obedience and
his Death, might be actually appointed and
accepted by God the Father, to obtain the
following Benefits for Men; and as far as
common Benefits reach, Chrift may be faid
to die for all, or to taste Death for every
Man, in the Language of Scripture
I. We may ſuppoſe it is owing to the exu-
berant Merits of Chrift, that this Earth con-
tinues to be the Habitation for Mankind, and
that the Life of Adam and Eve were pre-
ferved
AUTOIN,
R 3
X
*Tho' there must be a very good Senfe in which Chriſt
may be faid to die for all Men, becauſe Scripture ufes this Lan-
guage, yet it does not follow that the Doctrine of univerfal
Redemption is found there; I cannot find that Scripture once
afferts, that Chrift redeem'd all Men, or died to redeem them all.
In the New Teſtament, however the word ayogaw, to buy, may
poffibly be uſed and applied in a large Senfe, yet yoçα (α,
to redeem, or autρe, I think, is never applied particularly
to any but the Ifrael of God, or to thoſe who do or ſhall actu-
ally receive the Gospel, and partake of the Salvation of
Christ, as the Purchaſe of his Blood. None but thofe are
plainly and expressly faid to be redeem'd by Chrift, in any
Text of the New-Teftament that I can find. Hyogaσe, he
bought (or paid a fufficient Price for) thoſe who fell into damnable
Errors and Herefies, 2 Pet. ii. 1. But 'tis never faid, He re-
deered them. He bought them as Part of Thofè All Things
whofe Dominion he obtained by his Sufferings, Phil. ii. 9, 10.
but not as his own People.
246Q. XII. What does Scripture reveal
ſerved fome hundreds of Years after the Day
in which they firft finned, fince the expreſs
Word or Threatning configned them over to
Death immediately, In the day thou eatest
thereof thou shalt die.
It is true, fuch a Reprieve as this was ne-
ceffary in order to the Peopling ofthe World,
and the Propagation of Mankind in their fuc-
ceffive Generations; for had Adam and Eve
died in the Day when they finned, the Hu-
man Nature would have been at an end, and
have perifhed from this Earth for ever: but
'tis moſt probably owing to the Scheme of
Mercy, and the New Covenant built upon
the Merit of Christ, that Adam and Eve
were not deſtroy'd that very Day, and that
God permitted a Race of Men to cover the
Face of the Earth. So that every Son and
Daughter of Adam, who is born into this
World, is fome Proof that the extenfive Me-
rit of the Death of Chrift reaches to them for
fome purpoſes.
II. 'Tis owing to the fuperabundant Merit
of the Obedience and Sufferings of Chrift,
that the Earth is appointed ſtill and order'd to
produce fuch a Variety of Supports and Com-
forts for Mankind in their fucceffive Gene-
rations, and that all the vegetable and animal
Powers on this Earth, are not univerfally
blafted by the Curfe: All the Bleffings of
Nature and Providence that ſpring up from
the
of the Recovery of Man? 247
the Earth, that defcend from the Heavens,
that are brought forth or difpers'd by the
Sun and the Moon and the Clouds, that are
enjoyed and tafted by the Sons and Daugh-
ters of Men in this World, are probably de-
rived from this Fountain of the Blood of
Christ; and in this Senfe perhaps he may be
faid to tafte Death for every Man.
And let it be obſerved that theſe Bleffings
reach to whole Nations where we have but
little reaſon to believe God has any choſen
Favourites, any of his own beloved Children,
any that are actually regenerated, adopted
and fanctified to himſelf by fpecial Grace.
Yet methinks every thing round about us
ſeems to ſpeak, that God has not utterly and
abfolutely abandon'd all Mankind to certain
and neceffary Guilt and Mifery, befides the
few whom he has chofen and fecured to be the
certain Subjects of his Son's Kingdom: every
Divine Monument and Inftance of Bounty
and Bleffing round about us, feems to teach
us that God is upon Terms of Grace and Re-
conciliation with all the Rebel Race of his
Creature Man.
III. That Mankind have the common
Faculties of Nature continued to them, is to
be ascribed to the Undertaking of Chrift:
that they have the ufe of their Senfes and their
Limbs in any meaſures of Health, Eaſe, Vi-
gour, and Activity; for theſe were all for-
feited
R 4
248Q.XII.What does Scripture reveal
feited by Sin, and included in the word
Death. All this is owing probably to Chrift.
And that they have any Exercife of Reaſon,
that they have any Meaſures of Wiſdom or
Prudence amongst them in the Conduct of
their Affairs, may be aſcribed alſo to the fame
Spring, and perhaps this was defigned in that
Text, John i. wherein we are told that the
Word was the Light, and Life of Men, and
he was that Light that lighteth every Man
who comes into this World.
IV. That there are any Sparks of natural
Virtue, any Remains of Benevolence, Good-
nefs or Compaffion towards one another in
the Hearts of Men, is probably the Fruit of
the Mediation of Chrift: that there are any
focial Virtues among them, that there is any
Confcience of Probity, Equity and Juftice,
that Mankind relieves and helps one another,
that there is any fuch thing as Government
among Men, and that all the Sons and
Daughters of Adam, in all Nations, are not
mere Savages, are not like Wolves and Bears
to each other; and in fhort, that this Earth
is not a mere Wilderneſs, or a Hell of Mif-
chief and Mifery, is owing to reſtraining
Grace, and the redundant Merit of the Suf-
ferings and Death of Chrift; or at least it
may probably be fo, nor can we give a better
Account of it,
V. That
of the Recovery of Man? 249
V. That all Mankind have had a Goſpel
revealed to them, or a Covenant of Grace
propoſed to their Acceptance, at firſt in and
by Adam their Father, and convey'd by way
of Tradition to his Pofterity; ſurely this muſt
be acknowledged to proceed from the gene-
rous Undertaking of Chrift. I fpeak here
concerning thoſe who are not elected, as well
as thoſe who are; for it has been defignedly
manifefted to thofe who refufe, as well as
thoſe who accept. It ſeems to me to be ow-
ing to the overflowing Merit of Chrift, that
all Mankind are not buried in the fame groſs
and brutal Ignorance of God and of them-
felves, as the darkeſt and vileft Corners of the
World are,
'Tis owing probably to this Spring that all
Mankind ever had Pardon, Grace and Salva-
tion propoſed to them in the firſt Promiſe.
made to Adam, in the Covenant made to
Noah, and in the Gospel or Hope of Salva-
tion which he, who was a Preacher of Righ
teousness, doubtlefs communicated to his Po-
fterity, i. e. to all the World.
'Tis owing to the fame Grace and Purchaſe
of Chrift, that ever this Promife fhould be a-
gain repeated to Abraham, and in fome fenfe
to all the Nations of the Earth by him; for
-in him all the Nations of the Earth are blef
fed. 'Tis an Effect of the Merit of Christ,
that ever there fhould be fo many further Dif-
coveries
1
250 Q.XII. What does Scripture reveal
coveries of Grace to the Jewish Nation, even
to the Profane as well as to the Pious among
them, and that not only by Mofes and the
Prophets, but by Chrift himſelf; and that
ever this Goſpel fhould be publish'd to the
Nations of the World, in the brighteft Edi-
tion of it, by the Apoftles of Christ, and the
glad Tidings of Salvation proclaimed to the
Heathens, who fat in thick Darkneſs, and
lay under the Shadow of Death, and even to
thofe among them who never accepted it.
'Tis owing to this Redundancy of Merit
in his Death, that fo many whole Nations.
are called to repent, and to truſt in the Mer-
cy of a God thro' a Saviour; even the Non-
Elect, as well as thofe that are elected: and
that to this day the Gofpel fhould be conti-
nued to the Nations who have fo many Years
and Ages abuſed it; that the Miniftry of the
Word fhould call whole Kingdoms to be re-
conciled to God by a Mediator, to truſt in
the Merit of Christ, to receive Jefus as their
Saviour and their Lord, to accept of Pardon
of Sin and eternal Happineſs, upon the Terms
which the Goſpel reveals.
VI. 'Tis probably owing to the fame Un-
dertaking of Chrift, and the overflowing
Value of his Righteouſneſs and Death, that
there are ſo many Means of Grace and Di-
vine Affiftances, both outward and inward,
afforded to whole Nations where the Goſpel
comes
i
of the Recovery of Man?
251
پایه
comes; that even thoſe who are not elected,
have fo many awakening Providences, fo ma-
ny peculiar Opportunities of Mercy, fo many
excellent Sermons preached to them, fo many
fuitable Words ſpoken both from the Law
and the Gospel, as it were to their own Souls.
It is furely from this Mediation of Christ,
that they have their Confciences at any time
impreft with Divine Things, and excited to re-
prove them for Sin, and to feek after Sal-
vation; that they have fo many common
Workings of the Holy Spirit, and his Bleſſed
Influences upon their Hearts, to make them
bethink themſelves about their eternal Con-
cernments, to give them fome Knowledge of
Christ the Saviour, and to ftir them up to
the Duties of Faith and Repentance, and new
Obedience; and that they are not only ex-
horted outwardly by the Word, but inwardly
by fome common and general Operations of
the Holy Spirit, to receive this Salvation.
Could all theſe Bleffings be really beſtowed
upon finful Men by the faithful and merciful
God, if the original, and eternal, and only
Deſign of them were merely to render them
fo much the more heinously criminal, and
the more extremely miferable, without any
Poffibility of Hope or Recovery ever inclu-
ded in theſe Bleffings, or intimated by them?
VII. In the last place, 'tis owing to the
moſt redundant Merit of Christ our Lord, that
fuch
I
252 Q.XII. What does Scripture, &c.
آگے
fuch a conditional Pardon and Salvation,
or fuch conditional Propofitions of Peace as
the Goſpel expreffes, were ever provided for
them who were not elected; theſe are ſet
forth in fuch general Propoſals and Offers as
we read in the Bible: Whosoever believeth
fhall be faved: Whofoever will, let him come
and take the Water of Life freely: Ho, every
one that thirfteth, &c. Look unto me and be
faved, all ye Ends of the Earth, &c. If there
were no fuch Bleffing provided for them, fo
much as in a conditional manner, furely it
could never be really and actually, and exprefly
offer'd to them. Surely the righteous, the
gracious, and the holy God does not tantalize
his perifhing and miferable Creatures, nor
fend his Goſpel and his Minifters to offer
them a mere Nullity inſtead of a Benefit?
Chrift does not call them in his Goſpel to re-
ceive an empty Nothing, when his Words
propofe to them a folid Bleffing. He does not
invite them to truft in a Saviour for fome-
thing which this Saviour was never intruſted
with to be bestowed upon them, even if they
did repent; or to hope in him for a verbal
Salvation which has nothing real in it; that is,
for a mere Word or Name without a Mean-
ing, or a Promife without a Bleffing in it.
But becauſe this is a Queſtion of great Im-
portance, I fhall treat it more diftinctly.
QUES-
253
QUESTION XIII.
How far has the glorious Undertaking of
our Lord Jefus Chrift provided any Hope
of Salvation for those who were not eter-
nally chofen, and given into the hands of
Chrift, to be redeemed and faved?
T
HE Enquiry here is not, whether any
of them who are not originally cho-
fen of God, fhall be finally faved. The E-
vent, tho' it be known to God, yet it is left
to be determined by their own Choice or Re-
fufal of this Salvation. God himſelf has put
no effectual and unfurmountable Bar, or ra-
ther no Bar at all, in their way, to prevent
their Acceptance of his Grace.
of his Grace. His chufing
other Perfons who were Fellow-Sinners, to
make them certain Partakers of this Grace,
is no hindrance to thoſe who were not cho-
fen, from accepting the fame. 'Tis my Opi-
nion that there is fuch a thing as a general
Sufficiency of Pardon, Grace and Happiness,
provided for all Mankind by Jefus Chrift:
And 'tis left to their own natural Powers,
under common Helps, to accept or refuſe it.
That
254Q.XIII. Does this Hope of Salvation
That there is fuch a conditional Salvation,
and fuch real Offers of eternal Life procured
by the overflowing Merit of Christ, I think
may be proved by thefe following Confide-
rations.
• Confid. I. It is very hard to vindicate the
Sincerity of the Bleſſed God, or his Son, in
their univerfal Offers of Grace and Salvation
to Men, and their fending Miniſters with
fuch Meffages and Invitations to accept of
Mercy, if there be not fuch a conditional.
Pardon and Salvation provided for them.
It is granted, that the Minifters who are
fent to preach this Goſpel, and offer this
Grace of Salvation to the Non-Elect, may
be very fincere in their Miniftry, for they
know not whom God has chofen, and for
whom he has provided this fpecial Grace;
and therefore they offer it to all Perfons,
according to their general Commiffion,
Mark xvi. 15. Go ye into all the World, and
preach the Gospel to every Creature, &c.
But how can God, or Chrift, be fincere in
fending their Minifters with this Commiffion,
to offer this Grace to all Men, if they know
that God has never provided fuch Grace or
Salvation for any but the Elect, no, not fo
much as conditionally?
'Tis hard to fuppofe that the Great God,
who is Truth itſelf, and fincere and faithful
in all his Dealings, fhould call upon dying
Men
1
extend to all Men?
255
Men to trust in a Saviour for eternal Life,
when this Saviour has not eternal Life en-
trufted with him to give them, if they do re-
pent: 'Tis hard to conceive how the great
Governor of the World can be fincere in in-
viting and requiring Sinners who are on the
brink of Hell, to caft themselves upon an
empty Word of Invitation, a mere Shadow
and Appearance of Support, if there be no-
thing real to bear them up from thoſe Deeps
of Deſtruction, nothing but mere Words and
empty Invitations. Can we think that the
righteous and holy God would encourage his
Minifters to call them to lean and reſt the
weight of their immortal Concerns and Hap-
pineſs upon a Goſpel, a Covenant of Grace,
a Mediator, and his Merit and Righteouf-
nefs, &c. all which are a mere Nothing
with regard to them, a Heap of empty
Names, an unfupporting Void which cannot
uphold them? When our bleffed Redeemer
charges the Jews with aggravated Guilt for
refufing his Grace, can we fuppofe he had no
fuch Grace in his hand to offer them? Or
when he, as it were, configns them over to
Death, becauſe (fays he) ye will not come un-
to me that ye may have Life, can we ſuppoſe
he has no eternal Life, not fo much as a con-
ditional Grant ofit in his hands for them?
By the way, I cannot but take notice here,
that in order to avoid thefe hard and abfurd
Conſequences of the Calls of Grace and Of-
fers
256 Q.XIII. Does this Hope of Salvation
fers of Salvation where none is really prỏ-
vided, fome Perfons chufe rather roundly to
affert, There are no Calls of Grace, no Of-
fers of Pardon or Salvation at all in the
Word of God, to any but to the Elect: And
I think of the two it is the more defenfible or
confiftent Doctrine, tho' it feems to run coun-
ter to a great many plain Scriptures in the
Old Teftament and the New; for there are
many Texts wherein Pardon and Salvation
are propoſed to all Sinners whatfoever, with-
out any regard whether they are chofen of
God or no: And it is the Defign and Voice
of the whole Current of Scripture, to call
Sinners to Repentance by Promiſes of Mer-
cy, and to inforce that which Efaiah. fpeaks,
Chap. lv. 6, 7. Seek ye the Lord while he
may be found: Call ye upon him while he is
near: Let the Wicked forfake his Way,
and the unrighteous Man his Thoughts;
let him return unto the Lord, and he will
have Mercy upon him, and to our God, for
he will abundantly pardon. And what our
Lord himſelf pronounces in his perfonal Mi-
niftry has the fame Defign, when he calls to
all the Sinners in Galilee, Repent and be-
lieve the Gospel, for I came not to call the
Righteous but Sinners to Repentance. And
St. Peter and St. Paul, his two chief Mcffen-
gers or Apoftles, call all the Crucifiers of
Chrift in general, and the Heathen Nations,
to repent and be converted, that their Sins
might
extend to all Men?
257
might be blotted out; and to believe in the
Name of the Lord Jefus, that they may be
faved, Acts iii. 19. and xiii. 38. and xvii.
30. He commands all men every where to
repent. Rom. x. II, 13. while our Saviour
moft expreffly informs us, Matth. xxii. 14.
that many are called, but few are chofen.
Yet, I think, we muft cancel all thefe Scrip-
tures, and deny all Offers of Grace and Sal-
vation made to Sinners in general if Chrift
procured and provided nothing for them; or
we muſt grant that there is a conditional Sal-
vation provided for all Mankind, in order to
juſtify the Sincerity of God and his Son in the
publick Call and general Invitations given
to Sinners to repent and accept of this Sal-
vation.
Confid. II. It is very hard to defend the
Sincerity of the Spirit of God, in awakening
the Confciences of thefe Perfons fometimes,
who are not elected, and ftirring them up
to think of receiving the Salvation of Chrift
upon the Terms of the Gospel, if there be
no fuch a Salvation conditionally provided
for them to receive: It is hard to fuppofe
that God fhould fend his own Spirit to ex-
cite the Confciences of fuch Sinners in any
common Degrees to any Repentings for Sin,
even in the most legal Senfe, and to bring
them near to the Kingdom of Heaven, in
the beginnings of Conviction and Sorrow, if
there
S
258Q.XIII. Does this Hope of Salvation
there was no Pardon provided in any fenfet
for thoſe who are not chofen, whether they
repent or no; or that the Spirit ſhould give
them any, even the weakest Excitations, to
truft in the Merit of a Saviour, if that Merit
has obtain'd no Bleffing for them, not fo
much as conditional.
Shall it be ever faid, That God the Father,
and his Son and Spirit have each done their
parts to encourage and excite non-elect Sin-
ners to truft in the Goſpel for Salvation, or
the leaſt Grace or Salvation in a conditio-
nal Senſe provided for them to truſt in or to
accept of?
Confid. III. It is equally difficult to vindi-
cate the Equity of God, as the Judge of all
Men, in condemning Unbelievers, and pu-
niſhing them eternally for not accepting the
Offers of Pardon, if there was not fo much
as a conditional Pardon provided for them;
and for not refting upon the Merit of Chrift,
and receiving his Salvation, when there was
no fuch, Merit appointed for them to reft up-
on, nor any fuch Salvation for them to re-
ceive. Surely it will appear in the day of
Judgment, that the final Condemnation of
Sinners, and their eternal Mifery, was mere-
ly the Fruit of their own Negligence and
Difobedience to the Voice of the Gospel, and
refufing the offer'd Grace, and not to any real
want of fufficient Provifion made for them by
him
extend to all Men?
259
him who calls them to receive it. The Lan-
guage of Christ, in his Miniftry to Sinners, is,
Come to this Feaſt of the Goſpel, for all
things are ready, Matth. xxii. 4. This is the
Condemnation, that when Light came into
the World, they loved Darkness rather than
Light, John iii. 18, 19. Men are exprefly
condemn'd becauſe they would not believe in
Christ, nor come unto him that they might
have Life, and therefore they die in their
Sins, as the Apoftle John often reprefents.
Surely the Lord Jefus would never be ſent
in flaming Fire to render Vengeance on tửém
that obey not the Gospel in the Commands of
it, nor receive this Salvation, if there was no
fufficient Salvation provided in that Goſpel
which commands them to receive it.
It will render this Confideration much more
forcible, when we obferve, that there is a
much feverer Condemnation and more dread-
ful Puniſhment threatned to thoſe who have
heard of this Grace and never laid hold of
it, in proportion to the Degree of Light in
which this Grace was fet before them. It is
faid, It ſhall be less tolerable for the Cities
which refuſed to receive the Gospel that
Chrift preached, than for Sodom and Go-
morrah in the Day of Judgment; and they
that defpife the Goſpel of Christ, of how much
forer Punijhment fuppofe ye shall they be
thought worthy, than those who defpifed the
Law of Mofs: Heb. x. 28. So that their
$ 2
enjoying
260 Q.XIII. Does this Hope of Salvation
enjoying the Propofals of this Grace and this
Gospel, makes their Cafe much worſe than if
they had never enjoyed it; and can we think
that the righteous Judge of the World will
merely fend Words of Grace and Salvation
amongst them, on purpoſe to make his Crea-
tures ſo much the more miferable, when there
is no real Grace or Salvation contain'd in thoſe
Words, for them who refufe to receive it?
'Tis very hard indeed to vindicate the Righ-
teouſneſs of the Sentence of their double Con-
demnation and Puniſhment, for the Refuſal
of Pardon and Salvation, if there was not fo
much as a conditional Pardon, and a condi-
tional Salvation provided for them.
Confid. IV. It is very hard to ſuppoſe, that
when the Word of God, by the general Com-
mands, Promiſes, Threatnings, given to all
Men whatſoever, and often repeated therein,
reprefents Mankind as in a State of Proba-
tion *, and in the way towards eternal Re-
wards
દી
★ I know it has been the Opinion of fome Perfons, that
this Life is not properly called a State of Probation or Trial
of Men for Eternity, becauſe the final Event is not uncertain,
fince it is known to God already, and partly determined by
him: And yet thefe very Perfons will fay, that a Seaſon of
Affliction or Temptation is a Seafon of Trial to the People of
God; for fo 'tis often call'd in Scripture, 2 Cor. viii. 2. Heb.
xi. 36. aud 1 Pet. iv. 12. and 1 Pet. i. 7. 'tis called, The Trial
of our Faith, &c. Now I would fain know, whether the E-
vent of every Seafon of Trial of every kind of Men, whether
of Saints or Sinners, be not known to God, and in this fenfe
'tis not uncertain; and yet Scripture, with much Propriety,
calls
extend to all Men?
261
2
wards or eternal Puniſhments, according to
their Behaviour in this Life: I ſay, 'tis hard
to fuppofe all this ſhould be no real and juſt
Repreſentation, but a mere Amuſement:
That all theſe Propofals of Mercy, and Dif
plays of the gracious Dealings of God, fhould
be an empty Shew with regard to all the Mil-
lions of Mankind, befides the few that are
chofen to Happineſs; and that they ſhould
really be fo fixed in a wretched, hopeleſs, and
deplorable State under the firft Sin of the firft
Man, that they are utterly irrecoverable from
the Ruins of it; and that even as unalterably
fo as Devils are, without any Hope of Re-
covery from their State of Guilt and Mifery,
for whom there was no Saviour provided,
and whom God has not treated in this way of
Precept, Promife and Threatning. Is there
not a plain Difference made in Scripture, be-
tween the Angels who finned, whom God
Spared not, but caft them down from Hea-
ven into Chains of Darkness, and Mankind
who finned, to whom God gives Time and
Space for Repentance, Means of Grace, Of-
fers of Pardon, conditional Promifes of Sal-
vation, with a Command to all Men to ac-
cept it? What can manifeft the bleffed God
S 3
to
calls the one a Seaſon of Trial; and I fee no Reafon to ex-
clude the other from the fame Name, especially fince the fa-
cred Writers ufe it for wicked Men alfo. Rev. iii. 10. I
will keep thee from the Hour of Temptation (or Trial) which ſhall
come upon all the World, to try them which dwell upon the Earth,
:
262 Q.XIII. Does this Hope of Salvation
to be upon Terms of Mercy with them, if
this does not?
Confid. V. This feems to be a fair and eaſy
Way to anfwer feveral of thoſe Texts of
Scripture, which reprefent God as the Savi
our of all Men, efpecially of them who be-
lieve, 1 Tim. iv. 10. and affert, That God
calls and commands all Men every where to
repent, Acts xvii. 30. That Christ tasted
Death for every Man, Heb. ii. 9. That he
gave himself a ransom for all Men, to be
teftified in due time, 1 Tim. ii. 6. That he
died for all, 2 Cor. v. 14. That he gave him-
ſelf to be the Propitiation for the Sins of the
whole World, 1 John ii. 2. and the Father
fent the Son to be the Saviour of the World,
ch. iv. 14. and that God fo loved the World
of Mankind, that he fent his Son, not to con-
demn the World, but that thro' him the
World might be faved; and that whosoever
believes in his Son Jefus, should not perish
but should have eternal Life. John iii. 16.
I grant indeed, that many of theſe Scrip-
tures may have a pretty fufficient Anſwer gi
ven to them by the Art of Criticifm, even
upon the Suppofition that Salvation is pro-
vided only for the Elcct; but there are fome
few of thofe Scriptures, and of their parallel
Places, which can never be fo well explain'd,
but by fuppofing that the Death of Chrift
has fuch an all-fufficient and overflowing
Me-
extend to all Men?
263
Merit in it, as to provide a fufficient condi-
tional Pardon and conditional Salvation for
the Non-elect, while it alfo provides abfo-
lute, effectual and certain Pardon and Salva-
tion for thoſe whom God has elected.
It ſeems evident to me from ſeveral Texts
of the Word of God, that Chrift did not
die with an equal Deſign for all Men; but
that there is a fpecial Number whom the
Father chofe and gave to the Son, whoſe
Salvation is abfolutely fecured by the Death
and Interceffion of Chrift, John xvii. 6, 9, 10,
but why ſhould this hinder our Interpreta-
tion of fome other Texts in a more General
and Catholick Senſe, where the Love of God
and Christ to Mankind are expreffed in more
univerfal Firafes and Terms? Why fhould
we affect to limit that Grace which is ex-
preft in an unlimited Form of Speech? Why
may not we fuppofe conditional Pardon and
conditional Salvation, and the Offers of the
Goſpel, and the Means of Grace which are
neceffary to it, to be the Purchaſe of the
Death of Chrift, fince the Death of fo glori-
ous a Perfon has fuch an exuberant Value in
it, and fuch all-fufficient Merit; and efpc-
cially fince 'tis allowed to fuperabound fo
far as to purchaſe the Continuance of the
World and common Bleffings of Life for
Mankind?
Here let it be obferved, that when the Re-
monftrants affert that Chrift died for all Man-
S 4
kind,
264 Q.XIII. Does this Hope of Salvation
kind, merely to purchaſe conditional Salva-
tion for them, and when thoſe who profeſs
to be the strictest Calvinists* affert Chrift
died only and merely to procure abſolute and
effectual Pardon and Salvation for the Elect,
'tis not becaufe the whole Scripture every
where exprefly or plainly reveals or afferts
the particular Sentiments of either of theſe
Sects with an excluſion of the other; but the
Reafon of thefe different Affertions of Men
is this, that the holy Writers, in different
Texts, purſuing different Subjects, and
ſpeaking to different Perfons, fometimes
feem to favour cach of theſe two Opinions †,
and Men being at a lofs to reconcile them by
any Medium, run into different Extremes,
and entirely follow one of thefe Tracks of
Thought, and neglect the other.
But furely if there can be a way found to
reconcile theſe two Doctrines of the abfo-
lute Salvation of the Elect, by the Obedi-
ence, Righteoufnefs and Death of Christ
procuring it for them, with all things necef-
fary
*Ifay, those who profefs to be the ftrifieft Calvinists; not that
they do really come nearest to Calvin's Sentiments and Lan-
guage; for Calvin himself has frequently intimated in his
Comments on Scripture, that Chrift did in fome fenfe die for
all Men. See the End of this fifth Confideration.
This is a moft evident Truth, that Scripture, in different
Parts of it, feems by its Expreffions to favour each of theſe
Opinions; otherwife it could never be, that the Writers of
the different Parties fhould each of them bring fo many
Texts to fupport and vindicate their own Sentiments, and
which plainly give fo much Difficulty and Perplexity to the
Writers of the oppofite fide to answer them.
extend to all Men?
265
fary to the Poffeffion of it, and alſo of the
conditional Salvation provided for all Man-
kind, and offer'd to them in the Goſpel, thro'
the all-fufficient and overflowing Value of
the Obedience and Sufferings of Chrift; this
will be the moſt fair, natural and eafy Way
of reconciling theſe different Texts of Scrip-
ture, without any Strain or Torture put upon
any of them.
Nor indeed can I conceive why the Re-
monftrant fhould be uneafy to have Pardon
and Salvation abfolutely provided for the E-
lect, fince all the reft of Mankind, eſpecially
fuch as hear the Gospel, have the fame con-
ditional Salvation which they contend for,
fincerely propoſed to their Acceptance; nor
can I ſee any Reaſon why the ftricteft Calvi-
niſt ſhould be angry, that the all-fufficient
Merit of Christ fhould overflow fo far in its
Influence, as to provide conditional Salva-
tion for all Mankind, fince the Elect of God
have that certain and abfolute Salvation which
they contend for, fecured to them by the
fame Merit; and efpecially fince that great
and admirable Reformer, John Calvin,
whoſe Name they affect to wear, and to
whofe Authority they pay fo great a regard,
has fo plainly declared in his Writings, that
there is a Senfe in which Chrift died for the
Sins of the whole World or all Mankind;
and he ſometimes goes fo far as to call this
the
266Q.XIII.Does this Hope of Salvation
the Redemption of all. See his Comments
on the following Scriptures *.
Matth. xxvi. 8. This is my Blood of the
New Teftament, which was fhed for many
for the Remiffion of Sins. Sub Multorum
nomine non partem mundi tantum defignat,
ſed totum humanum genus. Under the Name
of Many, he fignifies not a part of the
World only, but all Mankind.
Rom. v. 18. As by the Offence of one,
Judgment came upon all to Condemnation,
fo by the Righteousness of one the free Gift
came upon all Men to Juftification of Life.
Communem omnium gratiam facit quia om-
nibus expofita eft, non quod ad omnes exten-
datur re ipsâ: Nam etfi paffus eft Chriftus pro
peccatis totius mundi, atque omnibus indif
ferenter Dei benignitate offertur, non tamen
omnes apprehendunt. He makes this Grace
common to all, becauſe it is fet before all,
thơ not really and in fact reached out to all.
For tho' Chrift fuffered for the Sins of the
whole World, and he is offered indifferently
to all by the Bounty of God, yet all do not
receive him.
1 Cor. viii. 11, 12. Thro' thy Knowledge
Shall the weak Brother perish for whom
Chrift died? On which Calvin remarks thus:
If the Soul of every weak Perfon was the
Purchase
* It
It may be proper to obſerve here, that fome of the moſt
rigid and narrow Limitations of Grace to Men are found
chiefly in his Inftitutions, which were written in his Youth.
But his Comments on Scripture were the Labours of his rifer
Years and maturer Judgment.
extend to all Men?
267
Purchaſe of the Blood of Chrift, he that
for the fake of a little Meat, plunges his
Brother again into Death who was re-
deemed by Chrift, fhews at how mean a rate
be efteems the Blood of Chrift.
1 John ii. 2. He is the Propitiation for
our Sins; and not for ours only, but also for
the Sins of the whole World. Hic movetur
quæftio, Quomodo mundi totius peccata ex-
pientur ? aliqui dixerunt-Sufficien-
ter pro toto mundo paffum effe Chriftum, fed
pro Electis tantum efficaciter. Vulgo hæc
folutio in fcholis obtinuit: Ego quanquam
verum effe illud dictum fateor, nego tamen
præfenti loco quadrare. Here a Queſtion is
raifed, How can the Sins of the whole World
be expiated? Some have faid, Chrift fuf-
fered fufficiently for the whole World, but
effectually for the Elect alone. This is the
common Solution of the Schools: And tho
I confess this is a Truth, yet I don't think
it agrees to this Place.
2 Pet. ii. 1. There shall be falfe Teachers
among you, who privily fhall bring in damna-
ble Herefies, even denying the Lord that
bought them, and bring upon themfelves
fwift Destruction. Tametfi variis modis ab-
negatur Chriftus, eum tamen hîc, meo judicio,
attingit Petrus, qui exprimitur apud Judam:
nempe, dum gratia Dei in lafciviam conver-
titur. Redemit cnim nos Chriftus, ut po-
pulum haberet fegregatum ab omnibus mundi
inqui-
}
268 Q.XIII. Does this Hope of Salvation
inquinamentis, addictum fanctitati & inno-
centiæ. Qui igitur excuffo fræno, in omnem
licentiam fe projiciunt, non immeritò dicun-
tur Chriftum abnegare, à quo redempti funt.
i.e. Tho' Chrift is denied many ways, yet in
my Opinion Peter means the fame thing here
which Jude expreſſes, viz. That the Grace
of God is turn'd into Wantonnefs: for Chrift
hath redeemed us, that he might have a
People free from all the Defilements of the
World, and devoted to Holiness and In-
nocence: Whosoever therefore shake off the
Toke, and throw themselves into all Licen-
tioufness, are justly faid to deny Chrift by
whom they were redeemed.
Jude ver. 4. Turning the Grace of our God
into Wantonness, and denying the only Lord
God, and Jefus Christ our Lord. Chriftum
verò abnegari intelligit, quum hi qui fangui
ne illius redempti fuerant, diabolo ſe rurfus
mancipantes, incomparabile illud pretium
quantum in fe irritum faciunt. The Apoftle
here means that Chrift is denied, when these
who were redeemed with his Blood, again
inflave themſelves to the Devil, and as far
as in them lies make that incomparable
Price vain and ineffectual.
Thus it appears, that Calvin himself thought
that Chrift and his Salvation are offer'd to all,
and that in fome fenfe he died for all.
But I proceed to the laft Confideration.
Confider.
extend to all Men?
269
Confider. VI. That all Mankind have fome
conditional Salvation provided for them, and
fome real Grace and Pardon offer'd to them
by a new Covenant, appears from this, that
all Men, both wicked and righteous, or just
and unjust, ſhall be raifed from the Dead,
to give an account of things done in the
Body, whether good or evil, and to receive
Rewards or Puniſhments in their Body, as
well as in their Souls, according to their
Improvement or Mifimprovement of the Dif
penſations under which they have lived. This
feems to be the Senfe of feveral Scriptures,
John. v. 28, 29. 2 Cor. v. 10, &c. Now
a Reſurrection is by no means provided by
the Law of Innocency or the Covenant of
Works that only threatens Death for Sin,
without the leaft Hint or Thought of the
Body's rifing again. This Doctrine of the
Refurrection therefore ſeems to be the Effect
of the overflowing Merit of Chrift, and
perhaps that Expreffion of the Apoſtle may
have fome reference to it, I Cor. xv. 21, 22.
Since by Man came Death, by Man came
alfo the Refurrection of the Dead; for as
in Adam all die, fo in Chrift fhall all be made
alive: tho' I confefs it may be alſo conſtrued
and confined only to the Refurrection of the
Saints. But 'tis evident that Jefus Chrift has
this Power to raiſe the Dead, even Sinners as
well as Saints, and Authority to judge all the
World
I
270 Q.XIII. Does this Hope of Salvation
World given him of the Father as a Media-
tor, or because he is the Son of Man, John v.
25, 26, 27. And all that are in the Graves
Shall come forth; they who have done good to
the Refurrection of Life, and they that have
done evil to the Refurrection of Damnation:
They who have believed in Chrift, and obey-
ed him, fhall be raifed up at laft to Happi-
nefs; but thofe who have difobeyed the Go-
fpel, fhall be raiſed in order to be punished
with everlasting Deftruction from the Pre-
fence of the Lord.
Now furely this Reſurrection of all Man-
kind must be built upon the foot of a new.
Covenant given or offer'd to all Mankind,
fince the old Covenant of Innocency, or the
Law of Works, appoints eternal Life with-
out dying for the Obedient, and Death with-
out a Refurrection for the Difobedient. Such
a Covenant therefore as admits natural Death
to ſeize even upon thoſe who are obedient to
it, and provides a Refurrection even for thoſe
who are diſobedient, muft needs be a different
Covenant from the Law of Works, which
admits no Death for the one, nor provides
any Refurrection for the other.
There was therefore doubtless a general
Proclamation of Pardon and Salvation to all
Mankind, who were fallen in Adam, con-
tain'd in the firft Promife, or the Gospel
that was preach'd to Adam, the firft Father
of Mankind, by God himself, in the Garden
after
$.
extend to all Men?
271
!
寶
​after his Fall And this was again preached
to all the World by Noah the ſecond Father
of Mankind, and a Preacher of Righteouf-
nefs; otherwife I think the Refurrection
would not reach to every Man and Woman
in the World.
Let it be confidered alfo, that this very Re-
furrection of the Bodies of finful Mankind,
brings with it an additional Penalty and Mi-
fery, beyond what the Law of Innocency
threatned, even the everlaſting Puniſhment
of the new-raiſed Body, and the Soul as
united to it: Now this cannot, with fuch
evident Juſtice, be inflicted upon the Non-
elect, if they are under no other Covenant but
that of Innocency, or the Law of Works,
becauſe no fuch Puniſhment is threaten'd or
implied in that Law, as far as I can read it.
Nor would there have been any fuch thing
as Sinners arifing from the Dead, that we can
find in the Bible, if Christ Jefus had not ta-
ken upon him to be a Mediator between God
and fallen Man, fo far as to fet Mankind up-
on ſome new foot of Hope; and thus Unbe-
lievers and impenitent Perfons are puniſhed
in their new-raiſed Bodies, for rejecting this
Hope. For fince the broken Law or Cove-
nant of Works leaves the Body under the
power of Death for ever, we can hardly fup-
pofe that the Son of God, the chief Minifter
of his Father's Grace, would provide a Re-
ſurrection of the Body for Breakers of that
S original
272Q.XIII. Does this Hope of Salvation
L
original Law, merely to put them to ſeverer
Puniſhments and more intenfe Torments,
than that broken Law threatned, if there
were not fome Advantage in the nature of
things, derived to them from his Mediation,
to balance it: Now what equal Advantage is
there to balance this feverer Puniſhment, if
there be not ſome conditional Hope of their
Recovery from the Mifery of their fallen
State, upon fuppofition that they fincerely
endeavour to perform all the Duties of this
new Covenant, as far as the Revelation of
them comes within their Notice; i. e. that
they repent of their Sins, and truſt in the
Divine Grace and Forgiveness, in order to
their acceptance.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, the righteous and
appointed Judge, will never give occafion
for any of all the miferable Multitude to ſay,
that they are condemned to an endleſs Pu-
nishment in their new-raifed Bodies, for
breaking God's original Law of Innocency,
which Puniſhment was never threatned in
that Law. He will never give them reaſon
to complain, that, with regard to them, he
came not to be a Mediator or a Saviour, but
merely to add to their Mifery by a Refur-
rection to eternal Pain, without any Equi-
valent of Hope: Or that he came to expofe
them to double Damnation for refufing his
Grace, when he had none for them to accept.
The Goodneſs and Equity of God and his
A
Son
extend to all Men?
273
¡
Son will never fuffer fuch an Imputation to
fall upon any part of their Tranfactions:
And as they have both agreed in pronouncing
thefe Words, John iii. 15, 17. God fent not
his Son into the World to condemn the
World, but that the World thro' him might
be faved *; they will both agree alfo in fuch
a Conduct, as fhall not fo much as appear to
run counter to ſuch a folemn Expreffion of
Grace, or to the common Notions and Rules
of Justice.
Since therefore it appears pretty evident,
that Jesus the righteous Judge will not con-
demn Sinners for refufing that Grace and that
Salvation, which had no reality in things,
and which was never really offer'd to their
Acceptance, nor fo much as provided; and
fince he will never puniſh Sinners by the mere
Law or Covenant of Works, with the Pu-
niſhment of a Refurrection of the Body, which
were never threatned nor included in that Law
or Covenant; we must conclude, according to
the Repreſentation of Scripture, according
to the Rules of Juftice, and the Reaſon of
things, that there must be fome other Cove-
nant, fome Covenant of Grace and Salvation,
under which all Men are fituated, and which
has really been offer'd to all Mankind, either
T
in
* If the word World in the two or three firft Places, fig-
nifies Mankind without diftinction, why fhould the World
in the laſt place fignify only the Ele? Is not a conditional
or indefinite Salvation here intimated to be provided for
Mankind, whether they be Jews or Gentiles?
5
274 Q.XIII. Does this Hope of Salvation
in clearer or in more obfcure Notices there-
of; fuch a Covenant, whereby the Refur
rection of the Body to eternal Happineſs,
is the appointed Reward of thoſe who receive
this offer'd Salvation; and whereby the Re-
furrection of the Body to cternal Mifery,
is the appointed Puniſhment of thoſe who
refuſe to comply with the Grace of that Dif
penfation under which they are placed, and
neglect to receive this Salvation.
Thus I think I have proved it pretty clear-
ly, at leaſt to my own Satisfaction, that the
Non-elect among Men are not predeftinated
to eternal Mifery by any abfolute Act of Re-
probation, nor are they left in the State of
fallen Angels or Devils, for whom there is
no Saviour appointed, and who cannot have
any reaſonable Hope; but that there is a con-
ditional Salvation provided for all Men, and
offer'd to them in the Gofpel, by the glori-
ous All-fufficience and Redundance of the
Merit of Christ.
The Doctrine of Reprobation, in the moſt
fevere and abſolute Senſe of it, ſtands in ſuch
a direct Contradiction to all our Notions of
Kindneſs and Love to others, in which the
bleffed God is fet forth as our Example, that
our Reafon cannot tell how to receive it.
Yet, if it were never fo true, and never fo
plainly revealed in Scripture, it would only
be a Doctrine which might require our hum-
ble Affent, and our filent Submiffion to it,
with
extend to all Men?
275
Majefty and
with awful Reverence of the
Sovereignty of the Great God. But it is by
no means a Doctrine, in which we, as Men
could or fhould rejoice and glory, or take
pleaſure in it; becauſe it hath ſo dreadful an
Afpect on far the greateſt part of our Fellow-
Creatures, confider'd as mere Creatures. Nor
do I think the Bleffed God would require us
fo far to diveft our felves of Humanity, as to
take a fecret Satisfaction in the abfolute and
eternal Appointment of fuch numbers of our
Kindred in Flesh and Blood, to everlasting
Perdition: Much lefs fhould we make this
awful and terrible Article a Matter of our
publick Boaft and Triumph, even if we could
prove it to be revealed, but rather mourn
for it.
And fince there are fo many Expreffions
of Scripture, that give us reafon to think that
Chrift lived and died in fome refpects as a
common Mediator of Mankind, tho' with a
peculiar Regard to the Elect, methinks this
Doctrine of the extenfive Goodneſs of God,
is a much more defirable Opinion, and ſhould
be more cheerfully received by us, as it is fo
agreeable to our Duty of Charity to all Men,
and feems fo neceflary to us at prefent, for
vindicating the Juftice, Goodness and Since-
rity of the bleffed God, in his Tranfactions
with Mankind.
T 2
When
276 Q.XIII.Does this Hope of Salvation
3
When therefore I hear Men talk of the
Doctrine of Reprobation, with a ſpecial Guſt
and Relifh, as a favourite Article, I can-
not but ſuſpect their Good-Temper, and
question whether they love their Neighbour
as they do themfelves. The Cafe is very dif
ferent, when Saints are called in Scripture to
rejoice in the publick Judgments of God, ex-
ercifed upon the antichriftian State, or upon
the wicked Oppreffors, and incorrigible Sin-
ners of the World: for that is the Effect of
God's Equity and Righteouſneſs, as a wife
and faithful Governor; but this would be an
Inftance merely of his dreadful Sovereignty
and Terror, and hardly confiftent with Good-
nefs.
I would ask leave alſo in this place to en-
quire, what great Advantages can be derived
to Religion or Chriſtianity, by endeavouring
to limit the Extent of the Death of Christ,
and to take away all manner of Hopes, and
Prayers and Endeavours from the Non-elect.
Does the Doctrine of Election of Perſons ob-
tain any further Confirmation by it? No, by
no means. Their Salvation is fecur'd, what-
foever becomes of the reft of Mankind, whe-
ther they have any hopes or no. Does the
Goodneſs and ſpecial Grace of God acquire
any further Honours by this Limitation? No
certainly. Divine Grace is perfectly the ſame
toward the Elect, as tho' there were no other
Perfon in the World. Are the Elect any
way
extend to all Men?
277
way difcouraged by it? Not in the leaft:
But many Perfons who are awakened to a
Senfe of Sin, and are feeking after Chrift
for Salvation, by this narrow Doctrine may
be terribly difcouraged from receiving his
Offers of Grace, when they are taught to
doubt whether there be any Grace pro-
vided for them, or whether Jesus be ap-
pointed to act as their Saviour. It may be a
means to drive fome poor Souls to deſpair,
when they hear that unleſs they are elected,
they may ſeek after Salvation by Chrift in
vain, for there is none purchas'd for them,
not ſo much as conditionally: and it may
tempt them to begin at the wrong end, and
ſeek to pry into the Counfels of God, and
enquire after what they can never know,
i. e. their Election of God, before they dare
truſt in Grace, or fubmit to the Goſpel of
Chrift.
Now if many Inconveniences may ariſe
from this Limitation of the whole Virtue of
the Blood of Christ only to the Elect, and
utterly fecluding all the rest of Mankind;
and if no valuable End or Advantage to Reli-
gion can be obtain'd by this narrow Opi-
nion, what ſhould make Men fo zealous to
get the greateſt part of the World excluded
utterly from all Hopes, and all Salvation?
I know there have been many Objections
rais'd againſt this charitable Opinion of the
Extent of Christ's Death in Bocks of Con-
troversy;
T 3
་
278Q.XIII. Does this Hope of Salvation
troverfy; but the two chief and moſt plau-
fible are thefe, which I will endeavour
chiefly to anſwer, and by theſe Anſwers lead
the way for folving the reft.
Object. I. But may it not be ſaid here, If
there be only an outward Sufficiency of Sal-
vation provided for the Non-elect, by a con-
ditional Pardon procured thro' the Death of
Chrift if they fhould repent and believe, but
no inward Sufficiency of Grace provided to
inlighten their Minds, to change their Hearts,
and enable them to exercife this Faith and
Repentance, the Event will be infallibly and
neceffarily the fame, and their Damnation
as neceffary and certain, as if there were no
outward Salvation provided; fince they
of themſelves cannot repent, they cannot
believe; for by the Fall all Men are be-
come blind in Spiritual things, and dead in
Sin.
Anfwer. It is granted, that no Sinner will
truly and fincerely repent and believe inChrift,
without the powerful and effectual Influences
of converting Grace; and therefore they are
called Blind and Dead in Sin, becauſe God
knows the final Event will be the fame as if
they were under a natural Impoffibility, or ut-
ter natural Impotence. And for this reafon
the Converfion of a Sinner is called, A New
Creation
extend to all Men?
279
4
Creation; Being born again; Giving Sight
to the Blind; or, a Refurrection from the
Dead: And the Neceffity of Divine Power
to effect this Change, is held forth in many
Places of Scripture.
Yet we muſt fay ftill, that Sinners are not
under fuch a real natural Impoflibility of re-
penting and believing, as tho' they were na-
turally Blind or Dead. Tis true, the Blind
and the Dead have loft their natural Powers
of Seeing and Moving; but when Scripture
repreſents the Inability of Sinners to repent,
or believe in Chrift, by fuch Figures and
Metaphors as Death or Blindness, it must be
remember'd theſe are but Metaphors and Fi-
gures, fuch as the holy Writers and all the
Eaftern Nations frequently ufe; and they
muft not be understood in their literal
Powers or Faculties of Underſtanding, Will,
and Affections, which are the only natural
Powers neceffary to believe and repent.
Now 'tis plain that thefe natural Faculties,
Powers, or Capacities, are not loft by the
Fall; for if they were, there would be no
manner of need or ufe of any moral Means
or Motives, fuch as Commands, Threat
nings, Promifes, Exhortations; thefe would
all be impertinent and abfurd, for they could
have no more Influence on Sinners, than if
we command or exhort a blind Perſon to
fee, or a dead Body to rife or move; which
Commands and Exhortations would appear
T 4
ridi-
280 Q.XIII. Does this Hope of Salvation
ridiculous and uſeleſs. And ſince the bleſſed
God, in his Word, ufes thefe moral Means
and Motives to call Sinners to Repentance
and Faith, it is certain that they have natural
Powers and Faculties fufficient to under-
ſtand and practiſe theſe Duties; and there-
fore they are not under a Neceffity of Sin-
ning, and of being deftroyed, fince there is
nothing more wanted in a way of fufficient
natural Powers, Faculties, or Abilities, than
what they have.
All the other Impotence and Inability
therefore in Sinners to repent or believe, pro-
perly ſpeaking, is but moral, or feated chief-
ly in their Wills. 'Tis a great Difinclination
or Averfion in thefe natural Faculties, to at-
tend to, learn, or practiſe the things of God
and Religion *; and this holds them faft in
their finful State in a fimilar way, as if they
were blind and dead, and I faid the final E-
vent will be the fame, i. e. they will never
repent
I
grant this Inability to repent has been fometimes called
by our Divines a Natural Impotence, becauſe it arifes from the
original Corruption of our Nature fince the Fall of Adam
and in this Senfe I fully believe it. But this Spring of it is
much better fignify'd and exprefs'd by the Name of Native
Impotence, to fhew that it comes from our Birth; and the
Quality of this Impotence is beft called Moral, being feated
chiefly in the Will and Affections, and not in any want of
Natural Powers or Faculties to perform what God requires:
And the Reaſon is plain, (viz.) That no new natural Powers
are given by converting Grace, but only a Change of the
moral Bent or Inclination of the Soul, a happier Turn given
to our natural Faculties by the fovereign Grace of God and
his Spirit.
extend to all Men?
281
repent without Almighty Grace. And upon
this account that ftrong and ſettled Inclina-
tion to Sin, and Averfion to God, which is
in the Will or Affections, is reprefented in
our own Language, as well as in the Eaftern
Countries, by Impotence or Inability to for-
fake or fubdue Sin: As when a Drunkard
fhall fay, I had fuch a strong Defire to the
Liquor, that I could not but drink to excess,
I could not with-hold the Cup from my
Mouth: Or when a Murderer fhall fay, I
hated my Neighbour fo much, that having
a fair Opportunity, I could not help killing
him: Or when we fay to a Man of Fury in
his Paffion, You are fo warmat preſent, that
you cannot fee things in a true Light, you can-
not hearken to Reafon, you cannot judge a-
right, you are not capable of acting regularly.
And that this is the Manner of ſpeaking in the
Eastern Countries, is evident from the Bi-
ble, Gen. xxxvii. 4. Jofeph's Brethren hated
him, and could not speak peaceably to him:
Yet you will grant all this is but moral Impo-
tence, i. e. a very ftrong Inclination to Ex-
cefs of Drink, or Murder, or Paffion, or a
ftrong Averfion to the contrary Virtues. E-
ven in the things of common Life the Can-
not ſometimes fignifies nothing but the Will-
not, Luke xi. 7. Trouble me not, my Door
is fhut, my Children are with me in Bed, I
cannot rife to give thee; i. e. I will not.
And with regard to Faith or believing in
Chriſt,
I
282Q.XIII. Does this Hope of Salvation
:
ye
Chriſt, our Saviour explains his own Lan-
guage in this manner. In one place he faith,
No Man can come unto me except my Father
draw him, John vi. 44. And in another
Place he charges the Jews with this as their
Fault Te will not come unto me, that
may have Life, John v. 40. So in the Pa-
rable one Excufe is, Luke xiv. 20. I have
married a Wife, and I cannot come.
theſe Citations intend the fame thing: their
Can-not is their Will-not, i. e. 'tis the Strength
of their Averfion to Chrift, which is a moral
Impotence or Inability to believe in him, and
the Fault lies in the Will.
All
St. Paul ſpeaks to the fame purpoſe Rom.
viii. 7. where he fhews, that 'tis the Aver-
fion or Enmity of the Carnal Mind to God,
which hinders it from obeying the Law of
God, and at last he fays, it cannot be fubject
to it. The Carnal Mind is Enmity againſt
God, for it is not fubject to the Law of
God, neither indeed can be: So then they
who are in the Flesh cannot pleafe God. The
Fault ſtill lies in the Will of finful Man; and
'tis this makes it criminal, while it is not
naturally impoffible to be avoided or over-
come.
And upon this account God is pleaſed to
ufe moral Means and Motives, (viz.) Pro-
mifes, Threatnings, Commands, &c. toward
all Men, fuch as are fuited to awaken their
Hearts, and excite and perfuade their Will to
ufe
extend to all Men?
283
uſe all their natural Abilities, to ſet their na-
tural Powers or Faculties to work, to attend
to, and learn, and practiſe Faith and Repen-
tance; and 'tis by theſe very means God per-
fuades his Elect powerfully to repent and be-
lieve. But when Perfons will not hear, nor
be influenced by thefe Motives, becauſe of
their ſtrong and wilful Averfion to God and
Godliness, their Crime is entirely their own,
and their Condemnation is juft. They have
natural Powers or Faculties in them, which,
if well tried, might overcome their native
Propenfity to Vice, tho' they never will do
it.
If the great God, in a way of fovereign
Mercy, gives fome Perfons fuperior Aids of
Grace to overcome this moral Impotence,
and conquer this Averfion to God and Good-
neſs *; if he effectually leads, inclines, or per-
fuades them by his Spirit to repent and believe
in Chrift, this does not at all hinder the
others from exerciſing their natural Powers
of Underſtanding, and Will in believing and
repenting,
Nor
* Whether the Spirit of God effectually perfuade theWill
to repent and believe in Chrift, by immediate Influence upon
the Will it felf, or by fetting the Things of the Gofpel before
the Mind in ſo ſtrong a Light, and perfuading the Soul ſo to
attend to them, as fhall effectually influence the Will, this
fhall not be any Matter of my preſent Debate or Determina-
tion; for in both theſe the Event and Confequences are much
the fame: There is no new natural Power or Faculty given to
the Soul in order to Faith and Repentance, but a divine In-
fluence upon the old natural Powers, giving them a new and
better Turn.
284Q. XIII. Does this Hope of Salvation
Nor can any thing of their Guilt and wil-
ful Impenitence be imputed to the bleſſed
God, who is Lord of his own Favours, and
gives or with-holds where he pleaſes, and
who ſhall ſay to him, what doft thou? Why
fhould mine Eye be evil toward my Neigh-
bour, becauſe the Eye of God is good? Or
what Pretence have I to charge God with In-
juftice, when he does more for me than he
is bound to do, tho' he does more for my
Neighbour than he has done for me?
Let this then be conſtantly maintain'd, there
is a natural, inward Sufficiency of Powers and
Faculties given to every Sinner to hearken to
the Calls and Offers of Grace and the Goſpel,
tho' they lie under a moral Impotence; and
there is an outward Sufficiency of Proviſion
of Pardon in the Death of Chrift, for every
one who repents and accepts the Gospel,
tho' Pardon is not actually procured for all
Men, nor fecured to them. And thus much
is fufficient to maintain the Sincerity of God
in his univerfal Offers of Grace thro' Jefus
Chrift, and his prefent Commands to all
Men to repent and truft in his Mercy; as
well as to vindicate his Equity in the laft
great Day, when the Impenitent and Unbe-
lievers fhall be condemn'd. Their Death
lies at their own doors, for fince there was
both an outward and inward Sufficiency for
their Recovery, the Fault muft lie in their
own Free-will, in their wilful Averfion to
God
extend to all Men?
285
God and Chriſt, and his Salvation. I think
this Diftinction of natural and moral Power
and Impotence, will reconcile all the various
Expreffions of Scripture on this Subject, both
to one another, as well as to the Reaſon of
things, which can hardly be reconciled any
other way.
Object. II. Suppoſe the Non-elect are not
debarr'd from this Salvation, by the want of
natural Powers fufficient to receive and ac-
cept it, yet fince the great God forefees this
their Averfion to Repentance and Holineſs,
and foreknows they will never accept the
Salvation of Chriſt, and that as certainly as if
they had already renounced it; does not this
future Certainty of the Event lay an effectual
Bar against their believing and accepting it?
For if they ſhould repent and accept, it would
contradict the Foreknowledge of God.
We enquire alfo further, Can his Offers of
Grace be fincere to Perfons whom he fore-
fees will certainly reject it? What are theſe
Offers but Delufions of their Hope, and ap-
pointed Aggravations to increaſe their Guilt;
fince God certainly knows thefe Offers of
Grace will be abuſed only to finful Purpoſes?
Anfw. 1. As for the firft Part of this En-
quiry, if we will give our felves leave to
think impartially upon the Cafe, we muſt a-
gree, that the mere Knowledge of any Event,
without
286 Q.XIII. Does this Hope of Salvation
!
without any real Influence from the Power
that knows, does not make the Event neceffa-
ry,
whether it be foreknown or after-known.
If I foreknow the Sun will rife to-morrow,
that has no more Influence on the Sun's ri-
fing than my After-knowledge that it roſe
Yeſterday.
Now the great God, among his unfearch-
able Powers and Perfections, has a Know-
ledge of the Agency of free Caufes, as we
have of neceffary Caufes: And as he has a
full View of all concomitant Circumftances,
he hath a way to foreſee Events in their con-
tingent Cauſes, (fuch as the Free-will of
Man is) as well as we have a way by Rea-
fon to foreſee many things in their neceſſary
Cauſes. It is certain he does foreknow the
future contingent Actions of Men, even their
wicked Actions, becauſe he has foretold a
multitude of them in the Bible; and 'tis
granted, that from his Foreknowledge of
any future Event, we may infer the confe-
quential Certainty of it, becauſe his Fore-
knowledge cannot be deceived; yet this does
not at all prove his antecedent Determination
of it by any Decree, nor his Influence upon
it: Neither can we infer from God's mere
Foreknowledge, that there is any natural
Neceffity of the Event, fince the Cauſes are
but contingent, fuch as Man's Free-will.
The Diſtinction between the Certainty of a
future Event, with the confequent Neceffity of
5
it,
extend to all Men?
287
it, derived from God's Foreknowledge, and the
Antecedent Neceffity of it derived from the
Nature of things, or from God's actual Pre-
determination of it, fufficiently folves this Dif-
ficulty. The firft may be where the fecond
is not.
Anfw. 2. We have reaſon to believe, that
the Goſpel is never fent, nor the Propoſals of
Salvation made to any People, City, or Na-
tion, where God forefces there are none at
all that will accept of it: Now in the way
of God's Government of this World, he deals
with Mankind as a Number of free and mo-
ral Agents, and publiſhes and offers fincerely
his Benefits to Men in general, promifcuoufly
to the Elect and the Non-elect: And while
by theſe fame Propofals, Means, and Motives
he effectually and powerfully gathers his Elect
out of the World, he gives fufficient En-
couragement to all Sinners to accept the fame
Grace. God's fecret Foreknowledge of thoſe
who will not accept it, is by no means a ſuf-
ficient Reaſon to prevent or forbid the gene-
ral Offers of his Grace to them, becauſe the
Defign of his Government is to treat Man-
kind as reaſonable and moral Agents.
Anfw. 3. There may be valuable and un-
known Ends and Purpoſes in the Govern-
ment of God, attain'd by his fincere forbid-
ding Sin to Creatures, whom he knows re-
folved
288 Q.XIII.Does this Hope of Salvation
folved to practiſe it; and by his fincere Com-
mands of Duty to Creatures whom he knows
refolved to neglect it; and that without any
real Injury or Injuftice done to the Sinner.
The Wiſdom, Holineſs and Dignity of his
Government must be maintained in all the
juft Appearances of it, tho' Sinners will rebel
against it for the Honour of Divine Go-
vernment in the Authority, Wiſdom and
Holiness of it, is of much more Importance
than the Welfare of ten thouſand of his
Creatures, Let God be true, faith the Scrip-
ture, tho' every Man be a Lyar. Let God
appear fincere and wife, glorious and holy,
tho' every Man fhould turn Rebel. God may
wifely and fincerely publifh the Doctrines of
Salvation with fufficient Light and Evidence
about them, to thoſe who he knows will not
believe them: He may wifely and fincerely
offer Grace and Salvation to thoſe who he
forefees will refufe it.
Would it be an Act of Folly or of Inju-
ftice, or of Untruth or Infincerity, in a wife
and good Man, to give forth his Commands
to ten Children, tho' by all preſent Appear-
ances, his great Wiſdom and Sagacity fore-
fees that ſeven of them will diſobey him, and
only three comply? Should he not approve
himſelf to the World in doing what is wife.
and good, and in maintaining his Parental
Character with Honour, tho' fome of his
Sons neglect their filial Duty? Hereby alfo
he
extend to all Men?
289
!
he gives his three obedient Children an Op-
portunity to fhew their Duty and Love, tho' the
other feven will take occafion thence to dif
cover their Rebellion. The great God, in
his Government of the World, conducts his
unſearchable Affairs by fuch general Laws and
Rules, as is moſt for his Honour; and nei-
ther his Holiness nor his Goodneſs make it
neceffary for him to change this his wife
Conduct, tho' he forefees many of his Crea-
tures will grow worſe inſtead of better by it.
Anfw.4. Whether or no we can gueſs at
any of the Reaſons of God's Government or
Conduct in this thing, yet the matter of Fact
is certain, and beyond all difpute. God has
acted in this manner, and does act thus in
many inftances: He fent his Goſpel to the
Jews by his Son Jefus, tho' he foreknew,
and even foretold by his Prophets, that the
Jews would reject the Gospel, and murder
the Divine Meffenger. He gave his Word
of Warning, his Call to Repentance and
Righteoufnefs, to be preached by Noah to a
wicked World, for one hundred and twen-
ty Years, tho' he foreknew that very few
would be reform'd by Noah's Preaching; and
he told Noah, that at the end of thofe Years
he would bring a Flood over the World to
deſtroy the wicked Inhabitants of it, who
would not be reformed. Again, when he
put Adam and Eve into Paradife under the
U
Law
290 Q.XIII. Does this Hope of Salvation
Law of Innocency, and forbid them to eat of
the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, we alfo
believe he foreknew that Adam and Eve
would eat this Fruit, and difobey their Cre-
ator; and yet he wifely forbid them to eat it.
Now fince we know that a juft God hath in
fact done theſe things, we muſt confeſs there
cannot be the leaft Injustice in them.
Nay, we may go a Step farther in theſe
matters of Fact. God has actually fent his
Son and his Goſpel with Miracles and Di-
vine Evidence, where he knew they would
not be received, or at moft by a very few,
that is, to Chorazin, Capernaum, and Beth-
faida in Galilee; and yet he never fent this
Gofpel, with fuch Evidence, to Tyre and Si-
don, to Sodom and Gomorrah, where Chrift
tells us, it would have been received, and the
Inhabitants would have repented in Sackcloth
and Ashes, Matth. xi. 21. we are ſure there
is nothing unjuft in all this Tranfaction, be-
cauſe we know God has done it, who is righ-
teous in all his Works, and holy in all his
Ways.
Let us then content our felves with know-
ing the things that make for our own Peace,
and humbly ſubmit to the wife and gracious
Government of God, for our own eternal
Happiness, tho' we cannot enter into the
impenetrable Secrets of his Counſel, nor folve
all Difficulties therein, becauſe our ſhort and
narrow View of things cannot comprehend
them :
extend to all Men?
291
them: And yet, at the fame time, if we can,
by our Reasonings according to Scripture,
caft any happy Gleam of Light into theſe
Darkneffes of Providence, whereby any Ho-
nour may be done to God, any Imputation
of Injustice taken off from his Conduct, any
Scruples of Mankind ſatisfied, and any angry
Contentions removed; it is neither unlaw-
ful nor improper to attempt and feek after
fuch Advantages: And with this View and
Hope I would propofe the three following
Questions.
U 2
QUES
292 Q. XIV. Can the Different
QUESTION XIV.
Can the different Opinions of Chriftians,
concerning the Operations of Divine
Grace on the Souls of Men,be reconciled?
T
HE Corruption and Degeneracy of
Mankind, by the Fall of Adam, is
generally and truly ſuppoſed by our Prote-
ftant Divines, to be fo great and univerfal,
and their Weaknefs or Impotence to change
their own finful Naturcs into Holincfs, is fo
evident, both in the Difcourfes of the facred
Writers, and in the Experience of Men, that
it is agreed among moft or all of them, there
is a Neceflity of fome Aids of Divine Grace
towards our Recovery; and that not only to
provide, by proper outward Means, fuch a
Salvation as may be anfwerable to the Mife-
ries we labour under, and to propoſe it out-
wardly and plainly in the Goſpel, but the beſt
of us ftand in need, in our fallen State, alſo
of ſome further Favour from Heaven, fome
inward Affiftances and Influences of the
Grace God and his Spirit, in order to re-
ftore us from the Ruins of our Fall by Re-
pentance,
Opinions of Grace be reconciled? 293
pentance, and to enable us to accept of the
Salvation which is procured by our Lord Je-
fus Chrift the Mediator.
There have been fome Writers indeed,
who profefs Chriftianity, who ſuppoſe no-
thing elſe is neceflary, in order to the Re-
covery of fallen Man, where the Gospel is
preached, but the mere outward Propofal of
this Gofpel, and the Reprefentation of the
Readiness of God to pardon the Sins of thofe
that repent and believe, together with all the
Motives of Hope and Fear, &c. which are
made ufe of in the Bible, to awaken and ex-
cite Sinners to return unto God. They ima-
gine, that the Providential Difpofal of the
outward Circumſtances of Men, by their en-
joying the Benefit of a pious Education, or
their fitting under a uſeful Miniftry, or the
Advantage of having good Company fre-
quently to converfe with, and religious Books
brought in their way, with Opportunity and
Leifure for Reading, &c. are abundantly fuf-
ficient to turn them from Darkness to Light,
and from the Power of Satan unto God, to
renew them unto Holiness, and to make new
Creatures of them, fit for the Bufinefs and
Bleffedneſs of Heaven. Now thefe kind Pro-
vidences are what they call the Grace of God,
and the only Grace they will allow to be ne-
ceflary to our Salvation.
U 3
This
294 Q. XIV. Can the different
This was the moſt common Sentiment of
the ancient Pelagians*, who gave fo much.
trouble to the Churches of Christ in early
times, and which occafion'd the Labours of
St. Auguftine to be much employ'd in the
Refutation of their Errors: Afterward they
allow'd fome Illumination of the Under-
ftanding by Divine Grace.
But I fear thoſe who embrace the old Pela-
gian Doctrines, have too little regard to the
exprefs
* It is pity the profefs'd Diſciples and Followers of the Re-
ligion of Chrift fhould have been divided into fo many diffe-
rent Opinions, and thereby given occafion to diſtinguiſh them
by fo many different Names, which are chiefly derived either
from their feveral Tenets, or fome Practice of their Forefa-
thers, or from fome fignal Writers who efpoufed, defended or
propagated thofe different Sentiments. I could wish with all my
Soul that they were all of one Opinion, and all confined only
to the fingle Name of Chriftians, which was given them first at
Antioch, to diftinguifh them from Heathens, Jews and Infidels
of every kind. But fince there are fuch Multitudes of diffe-
rent Sentiments among them, and in writing Controverfies
one cannot conveniently uſe a long Periphrafis to deſcribe
each of them, fufficient to diftinguish them from the reft, we
are conftrain'd to make uſe of thoſe Names by which they have
either diftinguish'd themfelves, or the World hath diftinguiſh'd
them, fuch as Pelagians, Strict Cal-vinifts, Arminians or Remon-
ftrants, and Moderate Calvinifts or Reconcilers.
But here let it be obferv'd, that the moſt rigid Calvinists,
who pretend to carry the Doctrines of Divine Grace to the
greateft height of refiftlefs and fovereign Efficiency, and
the Pelagians, who generally reduce it to the lowelt degree,
i. e. to mere favourable outward Providences, are counted
the two Extremes in this Controverfy about Divine Grace ;
And between theſe two there are almoft as many Degrees and
Claffes of different Sentiments, as there are Writers. Some
of them approach a little nearer to the one fide, and fome to
the other: And it is not fit that any Perfons fhould be com-
prehended under any of thefe Names, but which they them-
felves allow or chufe, according as they come neareſt to the
Opinions of this or the other Party.
Opinions of Grace be reconciled? 295
exprefs Language of Scripture, and to its moſt
obvious Senfe, when it ſpeaks ſo much about
the Power or Grace of God, and the Opera-
tions of the Spirit of God, in giving us a
new Heart, creating a clean Heart in us,
enlightning our Minds, converting our
Souls, or turning us to God, and creating
us a-new after the Image of God, work-
ing in us both to Will and to Do, &c.
whereby fome inward and effectual Opera-
tions of Divine Grace, upon the Minds or
Hearts of Men, are ſo plainly expreſs'd, that
even the Remonftrants or Arminians them-
felves, I think, in all their Ranks and Claf-
fes have fuppofed fome fuch inward Work-
ings of the Grace of God upon the Heart;
becauſe ſo many plain Texts of Scripture
could never be otherwife interpreted, with-
out an unreaſonable Force put upon them.
Yet I think it muſt be acknowledged, that
theſe laſt named Writers do expreflly allow
theſe inward Operations of God, to go no
farther than to render Men falvable, and to
leave the Powers of Men in a State of Indif-
ference, to convert and turn themſelves to
God, but not effectually to determine and
fecure their Salvation; of which I ſhall ſpeak
more immediately.
Among thoſe who admit of Divine Grace
to operate inwardly on the Minds and Hearts
of Men, there have been ſeveral different O-
pinions what this Grace is, how far is
reaches
U 4
296 Q. XIV. Can the different
reaches, and how much of it is neceffary
towards the Recovery of Man.
But before I reprefent theſe ſeveral Opi-
nions, I would lay down fome general Pro-
pojitions, which I think may be affented to
by most or all of them, and exhibit them as
a Medium of Reconciliation to one another:
and I fhall rejoice, if I may be fo far favour'd
of Providence, as to convince them how
their feveral different Sentiments may all be
tolerably reconciled to thefe general Propo-
fitions, and thereby take away a great deal
of that noify Controverfy which has unhap-
pily perplexed the Church of Christ upon
this Subject.
ap-
Prop. I. God has provided a glorious Sal-
vation for fallen Men by Jefus Christ,
which is fufficient for all Men in its own
Nature, and fhall be certainly effectual to all
that are willing to accept
of it upon
upon his
pointed Terms, or in his own appointed
Way, i. e. in a Way of Repentance for Sin,
Renewal unto Holinefs, and Faith or Depen-
dence on the Mercy of God thro' Jefus
Chriſt.
Prop. II. Since God has made ſo glorious
a Provifion for the Recovery of Mankind,
he will not leave it to mere Chance and Un-
certainty, whether any Perfon fhall repent
and accept of this offer'd Salvation or no;
Left,
Opinions of Grace be reconciled? 297
:
left, thro' the univerfal Depravation and
wretched Obftinacy of Men, his own gra-
cious Counfels for our Salvation fhould be
fruftrated, and the important Labours and
Sufferings of his Son be fuftain'd to no faving
Purpoſe, and render'd almoſt ufelefs to the
World.
Prop. III. There is no way, which I can
conceive of, how God fhould fecure or af
certain the Salvation of any in general, or
make it fure even to his own Foreknow-
ledge, unless it be fome way or other aſcer-
tain'd, which particular Perſons ſhall accept
of this Grace and Salvation.
Obferve, I do not here go fo far as to fay,
the Salvation of thofe particular Perfons
ſhould be made necessary by any ſuch abſo-
lute Decree, or fuch irreſiſtible Influences as
ſome have afferted; but it muſt ſome way or
other be made certain to the Forcknowledge
of God, that fuch particular Perfons fhall be
faved; for if it be left at utter Uncertainty
as to every Individual, how can it poffibly be
known that any Individuals at all fhall be fi-
nally Partakers of it?
Prop. IV. God will magnify his Grace in
the Salvation of all thofe who are faved in
fuch a manner, that every one ſhall acknow-
ledge his own Salvation perfectly owing to
the Divine Mercy; and that none ſhall have
5
any
298 Q. XIV. Can the different
any Caufe or Occafion to glory in himſelf,
but fhall confefs to the Glory of Divine Grace,
that it is Grace that is the fupreme and the
chief Caufe that has made him to differ from
others. Without this there could not be an
holy Harmony and Concert among all the
faved Number, in their Songs of Praiſe to God
and their Saviour; Not unto us, O Lord, not
unto us, but to thy Grace be all the Glory:
Nor indeed could any tolerable Interpretation
be givento many Scriptures, which humble
the Pride of Man, by afcribing all to God.
Prop. V. How much foever the bleffed
God may defign to manifeft and magnify his
free and fovereign Grace towards finful Men,
yet in every Step of his Proceedure he will
maintain, fuch an invariable Regard to his
Equity, as Governor of the World, that he
will never exerciſe his Grace in fuch a man-
ner as to take away the neceffary Regards and
Honours due to his governing Juftice. The
Great God has given Man an underſtanding
Mind to diftinguish between Good and Evil,
and a Freedom of Will to chufe one or the
other, and ordain'd him to be always, and
in all Circumſtances, a proper Subject of his
moral Government. And he has determined
and refolved in Righteoufnefs to manifeft
himſelf at laſt as a Judge, and render to every
one according to their Works: And there-
fore he will maintain this righteous Deſign
of
Opinions of Grace be reconciled? 299
of his Government, to make the eternal Re-
wards and Puniſhments of Men to depend
on what they themselves have freely choſen,
whether it be good or evil : Nor will he ever
do any thing inconfiftent with this his glo-
rious and univerfal Defign, as a righteous Go-
vernor and Judge of his Intelligent Creatures.
Prop. VI. Therefore when Divine Grace
operates upon the Minds or Wills of Men,
in order to their Converfion and Salvation, it
is generally done in fuch a foft, gentle and
connatural manner, that does not put any
Violence upon the Faculties of the Soul: But
for the moſt part, the Grace of God, and his
Holy Spirit, feem to operate infenfibly, as
tho' our own Faculties wrought this of them-
felves, and without any ſtrong, certain, and
evident Notice, that it is the Operation of
any Spirit fuperior to our own: And yet, by
the bleffed Effects of our Converfion and Sanc-
tification, compar'd with the Records of
Scripture, we certainly infer it must be by
virtue of fome Divine Influence received from
above, that the Glory may be given unto
God and his Grace, as the fupreme Caufe of
our Salvation.
Now if all the particular Opinions of Par-
ties, about the Methods and Degrees of the
Exerciſe of this inward Grace towards the
Salvation of Men, may be pretty well recon-
ciled to theſe Propofitions, I do not fee any
fuffi-
300 Q. XIV. Can the different
fufficient Occafion for fuch very noiſy and
angry Conteſts as have been found in the
Chriftian Church upon this Subject; fince
they agree in theſe moſt neceffary and moſt
important things which relate to the Honour
of Divine Juſtice, and Divine Grace, as they
are reprefented in Scripture; tho' perhaps
there may remain fome particular Texts and
Expreffions of Scripture, to which it may
be hard to reconcile the Contenders on either
fide.
However, fince I think thefe Propofitions
contain the most important Senfe and Deſign
of the Revelations of Scripture on this Sub-
ject, and I am perfuaded they may be folidly
maintain'd and defended by Scripture, and
Reaſon, and Experience, I hope we fhall be
able to fhew, that all the different Schemes
are confiftent, in fome meaſure, with theſe
Propofitions.
Let us now recount the three chief Senti-
ments of Men under the feveral Letters of the
Alphabet, A, C, and R, for the fake of
better Diſtinction.
* Cimagines Mankind to be ſo entirely and
univerfally corrupted by the Fall, and impo-
tent to all that is good, the Mind to be fo
blind, the Will fo perverfe, and the Affecti-
ons fet upon carnal Objects with fuch Obfti
nacy, that there muſt be an immediate Ope-
ration of God, by his Grace, in a phyſical
or fupernatural Manner, on all the feveral
Powers
¡
Opinions of Grace be reconciled? 301
Powers of our Nature, to rectify them, and
make them capable, willing and fit to be
Partakers of this Salvation. He fuppofes
there muſt be ſpecial, efficacious, and irre-
fiftible Influences of the Holy Spirit on the
Mind or Underſtanding to enlighten it, to
fee and difcern Divine Things in their Beauty
and Excellency, which they can never fee
without this ſovereign Influence; there muſt
be an immediate, effectual, and irreſiſtible
Operation on the Will and Affections, to
give them a new Bent or Biafs, and an ef
fectual Turn from Sin and the Creature, to
God and Holineſs: And that this Habit or
Principle of Divine Grace muft not only be
wrought into the Soul as a new Habit or
Principle, but it must be maintain'd every
moment by the fame effectual Influences of
Grace, and it muſt be entirely awaken'd and
excited into Exercife in this manner, in every
good Thought, Word or Deed: For he
thinks fuch Scriptures as theſe require it,
(viz.) We are not fufficient of our felves
to think any thing, but our Sufficiency is
of God. We are dead in Trefpaffes and
Šins. We are alienated from the Life
of God thro' the Blindness of our Hearts.
That which is born of the Flesh is Fleſh, and
the
*Tho' fome of this Clafs of Writers ufe the word Irrefifti-
ble, yet others of them diflike it, becauſe the Subjects of this
Grace may and fometimes do refift the Operations of this
Grace and Spirit for a confiderable time, but at laſt it muſt o-
vercome; and therefore they rather chuſe to call it Infuperable
302 Q. XIV. Can the different
the Works of the Flesh they do: They that
are in the Flesh cannot pleafe God: We must
be born of the Spirit, or we cannot fee the
Kingdom of God. Without Chrift we can
do nothing. No Man can come unto Chrift
unless it be given him of the Father, or un-
lefs the Father draw him. Faith is the Gift
of God. Our good Works must be wrought
in God, or Thou, O Lord, haft wrought all
our Works in us. We must be born again. We
muſt be new created unto good Works. We
muſt be quickened or raised from the Dead.
'Tis God that worketh in us both to Will and
to Do, of his own good Pleafure, &c. And
many other fuch Scriptures which exprefs
the Infufficiency of Man, and the all-fuffici-
ent and fovereign Grace of God, in the higheſt
and moft exalted Language.
A renounces and difclaims utterly this O-
pinion of C, becauſe he fuppofes it to be in-
confiftent with the Fifth Propofition, or
God's moral Government of the World:
For, faith he, If Mankind be fo utterly de-
ftitute of all Power whatfoever, to repent and
accept of Divine Grace; and if it is God him-
felf, who, by immediate Phyfical or Super-
natural Influences, does irrefiftibly work in
every good Chriftian, a Principle of Repen-
tance and Holiness, by a fovereign and effec-
tual Turn and Biafs given to their Wills,
and moves them to every Act of Duty, by
Sovereign, Phyfical, or Supernatural Impref-
fions;
Opinions of Grace be reconciled? 303
fions; then Men are no longer moral Agents,
and the Freedom of their Wills is loft in a
kind of neceffary Mechanifm. They are acted
and moved like fo many Puppets, thro' the
feveral Services and Stages of human Life, and
carried on to their own Happineſs in Hea-
ven, with fuch a Force or Power, and Ne-
ceflity, as takes away the very Nature of
Virtue or Piety, or any moral Goodneſs, and
does not leave fo much as any Act of Obe-
dience in their own free choice. This feems,
fays he, to diſappoint the Bleffed God of the
Glory of his righteous Government, and of
the Honour due to his rectoral Juftice, in the
Diftribution of Rewards and Puniſhments.
This infuperable and over-fwaying Grace,
fays he, feems alſo to run counter to many of
thofe Scriptures which reprefent this moral
Government of God, as carried on by ratio-
nal Means, Arguments and Motives, drawn
from the Excellency of Religion, and from
the Fear and Hope of Rewards and Puniſh-
ments, by which the Holy Scriptures are per-
petually addrefling the Confciences of Men:
For if this be indeed the Cafe, (ſaith A)Men
have no more real Freedom than ſo many
wooden Images, actuated, impelled, and
moved onward to the ſeveral Ends which
the Maker of them defign'd. Now it can
be no Pleaſure nor Glory to the All-wife,
All-righteous, and Almighty Being, who
governs all things, to reward fuch Creatures
of
304 Q. XIV. Can the different
of Mechanifm with Happiness in another
World: Nor will the Honour of his wife and
righteous Judgment be manifeſted by ſuch a
Conduct.
On the other hand C, who perfifts in the
Truth of this Fifth Propofition, and of God's
moral Government, ftill pretends that the
Wills of Men, tho' fway'd by irreſiſtible
Grace, are yet truly free in every good Work,
becauſe they ftill feel in themſelves, a Spon-
taneity or Willingness to repent or obey,
when God works thus powerfully upon them;
tho' they confeſs they have not the Freedom
or Liberty of chufing and refufing, becauſe
the Grace is, and muſt be, irreſiſtible or in-
fuperable, and efficacious. Thus 'tis plain C
is defirous to maintain all the Six foregoing
Propofitions, and thinks his Scheme is con-
fiftent with them; and perhaps it might be
fo deemed, as he thus defends and explains
himſelf.
But A is by no means fatisfied with this
fort of Solution of the Difficulty, this fort of
Freedom which admits not the Will of Man
to chuſe or refufe Compliance with the Ope-
rations of Grace: For 'tis plain, faith he, in
this Cafe, the Perfons who are fo irrefiftibly
moved to Repentance and good Works, may
have a fort of fuppofed Conſciouſneſs of their
Freedom all the way, becauſe they feel them-
felves made willing; but 'tis a mere miſtaken
Suppofition, for they are no longer free
Creatures,
Opinions of Grace be reconciled? 305
Creatures, becauſe this very Willingness is
powerfully impoſed upon them, and they
cannot withſtand it.
Therefore A is refolved to avoid all thefe
Inconveniencies, and on this account he fup-
pofes, that both in the firft Converfion of
the Soul, and in all future good Actions,God
has no farther hand than this, (viz.) Firft,
that he forms the Nature and Temper of every
Man, with all his Intellectual and Animal
Powers, a knowing Mind and Free-will; that
then he, by his Providence, brings them to
the Hearing and Knowledge of their own
miferable State by Nature, and the way of
Salvation, by hearing or reading of the Go-
fpel of Christ; that he fecretly and gently, by
particular Occurrences of Life, and by the in-
fenfible Motions of his own Spirit, fcts be-
fore Men the things of Goa, and Chrift, and
Eternity, with all Motives proper to affect
and perfuade them; that he ftrikes fome fu-
pernatural Light into their Underſtandings,
and he allows fome fuafive or moral Influen-
ces or Touches of the Grace of God, upon
the Will of Men, fo far as may relieve them
againſt the too powerful Oppofition of cor-
rupt Nature, and render Repentance and
Converfion cafier, and more practicable:
And he maintains alfo, that without thefe
Affiftances fallen Man would not repent and
be converted; and 'tis found among his Ex-
preflions, that Grace is abfolutely necessary
X
to
1
306 Q. XIV. Can the different
to our having fufficient Power to do good,
and to perform every Act of Piety *
But after all this Grace, A leaves Men in
a State of indcterminate Doubt and Indiffe-
rence, whether they fhall be finally perfuaded
to Repentance or no: And this is the Point
of Controverfy between the Difputants on
this Subject. This A maintains, that Grace
leaves the Heart of Man ftill in a fort of Equi-
librium, or wavering Balance and Uncertainty,
to determine cntirely for it felf, whether it
will receive the Gospel or not, except perhaps
in fome very extraordinary Cafe, as Paul, and
fome of the Apoftles, &c. who ſeem to be
converted at once. And in fhort this is the
chief Centre or Hinge whereon the Debate
between A and C turns.
And yet A ſuppoſes ſtill his Doctrine is ve-
ry confiftent with all the Six Propofitions,
and particularly with the Fourth, which
afcribes the Converfion and Salvation of Men
fo entirely to Divine Grace, as the fupreme
Caufe: For, faith he, all the Scriptures which
afcribe our Repentance and Converfion to
Grace, are always fuppofed to ſpeak in a
Confiftence with God's moral Government
over free Creatures, which many other Texts
affert
* See the Remonftrances made by thofe who oppofed the
Synod of Dort, whereby they plainly diftinguifh their Opi-
nions from the Pelagians, and ufe this Language which I
have here reprefented. I wish all thofe Chriftians in our
Age and Nation, who profefs to follow the Opinions of the
Remonftrants, did but come fo near to the Doctrines of Scrip
ture, as the Phrafes and Expreffions of thefe Men import.
Opinions of Grace be reconciled? 307
affert and maintain: And therefore thofe
Expreffions of Grace must be interpreted
with fome Limitation.
A thinks fit to add alſo, that he gives a
fair Expofition of the Scriptures, which af
cribe our Salvation to the Operations of
Grace, becaufe Grace has the chief hand
therein; and without thefe various and ne-
ceffary Operations of Grace, finful Man ne-
ver would be converted and faved. Some of
the profefs'd Partifans of A have thus ex-
preſs'd themſelves *.
The First Way of Reconciliation.
R, who cannot intirely approve of the
Opinion of C, for the Reaſons which has
given, yet is as much diſpleaſed with A's O-
pinion, notwithstanding all the Excufes he
has made; becaufe he fears, it ſeems, to con-
tradict many of thoſe expreſs Scriptures which
afcribe the Converfion, Sanctification, and
Salvation of Men, fo powerfully, and plain-
ly,
X 2
* In reprefenting the Calvinist and the Arminian Schemes
here, I am not fenfible that I have afcribed any one Opinion
to either of them, but what I am fupported in by 7. Calvin
and F. Turretine on one fide, and by Ph. Limborch and the Re-
monftrauts at the Synod of Dort, on the other fide.
I
grant it has been too often the Practice of Controverſial
Writers on the Calvinist fide, to reprefent the Arminians in
the Pelagian Form; and the Writers of the Arminian Party
have again reprefented all the Calvinifts in the Form of Supra
Lupfarians and Antinomians: But this is the way to widen the
Divifions of the Chriflim World, and inflame the Spirits of
Men against their Brethren, and not to reconcile them, which
R has here attempted to do.
308 Q.XIV. Can the different
ly, and certainly, to God, and his Spirit,
and his Grace: And therefore he chufes ano-
ther Sentiment, which he thinks may recon-
cile all thefe Difficulties; for he fuppofes
his Opinion to be more obviouſly and
evidently confiftent with the Six Propofi
tions before laid down, and to be much
more agreeable to all the Expreflions of
Scripture, which are urged both on the fide
of A and C: And on this account it is more
happily fuited, faith he, to afſcribe to free
Grace its full Glory, as well as maintain the
Henours of God's moral Government.
R's Opinion therefore is this: He ſuppoſes
that the Fall of Man has fo perverted his na-
tural Powers, that inward effectual Grace is
neceffary to fave him; but that the Will of
Man, both in its firſt and general Turn from
Sin to Repentance and Holinefs, as well as in
all future Acts of Obedience, maintains its
own Liberty, as a Power free to act, or not
to act: And that it fhall never be thus fove-
reignly, entirely, and irrefiftibly moved by
God, the all-wife Governor of Mankind, as
Cimagines. But that, tho' there are ſome
powerful Divine Influences, both toward
the Mind and the Will, without which the
Man would never repent and be ſaved, yet
the Will is ftill a free Faculty, and as fuch is
the only proper Subject of moral Govern-
ment; and therefore its Freedom to chufe
Good or Evil, muſt be always finally left to
its
Opinions of Grace be reconciled? 309
its own Determination, without which there
would be no Vice or Virtue, nothing proper
for Reward or Puniſhment, nor for any
moral Subjection to a wife and rightcous
Creator and Governor.
But fince R believes the Doctrine of par-
ticular Perfons elected to Salvation, he goes
a middle way to fecure the Salvation of
Christ to the particular Perfons defigned,
viz. R fuppofes, that Divine Grace ftrikes
fuch a new and perfpicuous Light into the
Mind or Underſtanding by fupernatural In-
fluence, and fets the great things of the
Goſpel and Eternity in fuch a powerful and
bright View before the Soul, as fully con-
vinces the Judgment, and fuch as God knows
will effectually and certainly perfuade the
Will, and all the following Powers, to com-
ply with the Propofals of Grace, both in
the first actual Turn of the Heart or Con-
verfion, as well as in all future good Actions:
And as he knows it will have this certain
Effect, fo he deſigns it fhall.
Thus, fays he, the Will of Man is left to
enjoy its own natural Freedom, and to chufe
or refufe Picty and Happiness. God, by a
Knowledge and Forefight of all the Natures
and Tempers of Men, and all the Events of
things, and by concurring thus far by the
Operations of his Spirit of Grace, he does
that by his Grace which he is certain will iſſue
in the Accompliſhment of his own gracious.
De-
X 3
310 Q. XIV. Can the different
Не
Defigns; and yet he does not make it necef
fary by any abfolute Phyfical Influence. He
chufes fome Men to Repentance and Salva-
tion from the beginning, he forms their na-
tural Powers, and he difpoſes of their provi-
dential Circumſtances in Life, ſo as he fore-
knows will anfwer his gracious and eternal
Purpoſes; he enlightens their Underftand-
ings fo powerfully by his Grace and Spirit,
that he who knows their Frame is certain
will finally perfuade their Wills to comply
with the Propoſals and Demands of his Go-
fpel. And thus his electing Grace obtains its
original Deſign, without conftraining the
Will of Man, or intrenching upon the Ho-
nour of God's moral Government.
And to speak yet further in a Philofophi-
cal Senfe, R fuppofes the Will of Man to
be fo free and undeterminable by his other
Powers, that he does not fuppofe it to be
naturally and neceffarily moved in this
Compliance, even by the Light of the
Mind; but that it feels it felf perfuaded and
overcome in a moral way, by the powerful
Motives and Arguments which are fet be-
fore the Mind, and freely determines it felf,
and makes choice of the Grace of God and
Salvation *.
And he adds further, that all theſe Scrip-
tures before-mentioned, which C has al-
ledged,
* See this Matter explained more at large, in an Effay on the
Frecdom of Will both in God and Man, publiſhed a few Years ago,
Sect. 5th.
Opinions of Grace be reconciled? 311
ledged, may be fufficiently and happily ex-
plain'd to maintain our own original Sinful-
nefs and Impotence to all that is good, and
to fecure the Neceflity of Divine Grace;
fince he acknowledges that without this Di-
vine Sovereign Influence or Illumination of
the Mind, the Will of Man would never be
changed; and that God beftows this Light
or powerful Illumination on the Soul, on
purpoſe to produce this Divine Change on
the Will; and he foreknows certainly, and
defigns that it fhall produce it, though he
does not make it neceffary and irrefiftible.
The great God may properly be faid to con-
vert the Soul, to change the Heart or the
Will, to regenerate the Man, to create a
new Nature within, and to fave a Sinner,
when he ftrikes fuch a fupernatural Light in-
to the Mind, as he certainly knows and in-
tends fhall finally prevail over the Will by
moral Influence or Perfuafion, tho' not by
Phyfical Neceflity, or any overpowering
Force, and abfolute Determination *
Thus, fays he, Divine Grace has its com-
pleat Honour, for it is the firſt and ſupreme
Mover in Converfion, and without it no Man
X 4
would
*Whereas fome call this Grace irresistible, and fome pre-
fer the word infuperable; R rather chutes to call it effectual,
which is a Scriptural Term; and victorious, which is favour'd
by Matth. xii. 21. Christ hall bring forth Judgment unto
Vory; which is interpreted, that he shall bring forth the
Knowledge of his Gospel unto Fictory over the Nations: Or it may
te explain'd, He shall bring forth the judgment of the Mind fi-
sally to a Victory over the Will and Affections, which is a very
near Allufion, if not the true Interpretation of the Place.
I
312 Q. XIV. Can the different
would repent or turn to God; and hereby
alfo, God has all the Honours of his own
Government, in a moral way, over Creatures
that are endued with Freedom of Will to
chufe or refuſe their own Happineſs.
If I were to give my Sentiments in the
matter, I muſt confefs I fhould like the Opi-
nion of R beft, in as much as it happily fe-
cures and confirms the Salvation of fuch par-
ticular Perfons as God has chofen, without
making Machines of them; for tho' R al-
lows the Grace of God to enlighten the
Mind, fo far as fhall certainly gain a Victory
over the Will, and perfuade it to repent, be-
lieve, and obey God, yet he ſuppoſes the
Will is left ftill in its native Freedom, which
cannot be conſtrain'd, or abfolutely and ne-
ceffarily determined in its A&ts or Volitions,
even by any Ideas or Perceptions of the Mind,
and he allows them only the moral Force of
Motives to perfuade the Will: Thus the full
Honour of Divine Government, in all the
moral Views of it, is fufficiently maintain'd,
as well as the proper Freedom or Liberty of
the Will of Man; and God beftows Salvation
finally on thoſe only who are perfuaded to
repent and accept of it. And herein lies the
Glory of God's moral Government, that
diftributes Rewards or Puniſhments, ac-
cording as Men chufe or refufe Good or
Evil.
But I think there might be a little Improve-
ment
Opinions of Grace be reconciled? 313
ment made to the Sentiments of R thus. Is
there not a great Diftinction to be made be-
tween the Habit or the Principle of Holineſs
in the Heart, and the Acts or Exerciſes of it
in the Life? It is certain, there are, or may
bc, infufed Habits or Principles, as well as
acquired ones: As for inftance; The Apoſtles
had a Habit of talking Hebrew or Syro-chal-
daic as their Native Language, which was ac-
quired by Learning from their Childhood;
but they had an infufed Habit or Principle
of ſpeaking other ftrange Languages, given
them by the fupernatural Power of God or
his Spirit, at the Day of Pentecoft, which
they exerciſed immediately with great Free-
dom, as related in Acts ii.
Now fince there may be Habits or Princi-
ples of Faith, Repentance and Holinefs, in-
fufed or inwrought immediately by Divine
Power and Grace, prior to all Acts or Exer-
cifes thereof; why may we not fuppofe, that
befides the Principles of Light infuſed into the
Mind, whereby the Judgment is convinced,
there is an infuſed Principle of Holinefs alfo
form'd or inwrought in the Soul, in a Phy-
fical or Supernatural manner, by the Spirit or
Grace of God, which may excite and influence
the Will toward its Acts or Volitions, but
not conſtrain it? I mean, why may not the
Divine Power, which formed the Soul, give
it a Propenfity or habitual Inclination to what
is good, like that which Adam had the firſt
moment
314 Q. XIV. Can the different
moment of his Creation, tho' in a lower De-
gree? This is part of the Image of God which
he had at firft, and which is now to be re-
newed in Man: And as this Principle was an
infuſed Habit in Adam, why may it not be
fo in every true Convert now? And further,
as this did not neceffitate the Acts of the Will
to Obedience, even in the day of Innocence,
fo neither doth it now; but only gives it a
Difpofition toward actual Repentance and
Obedience, Faith and Holineſs, at proper
Occafions: And I think this may very well
be called new Creation, Regeneration, or
Refurrection from the Dead, in the Scrip-
tural Senfe.
I do not fee that this Conceflion deftroys
the moral Government of Gedover Man now,
any more than it did over Adam in his Inno-
cence, and eſpecially fince all moral Govern-
ment hath its fpccial Regard to the Actions
wrought by the Soul, rather than to the Ha
bits or Principles which are in it; Principles
and Habits neither are nor can be directly un-
der the Command of the Will, as all actual
Volitions or Actions are, which are there-
fore moft properly fubjc&t to moral Regula-
tions.
1
I think all the reſt of R's Sentiments may
ftand juft as he has propofed them.
I acknowledge, that there are feveral Texts
of Scripture, which, in their literal Senfe,
feem to ſpeak the Language of C, wherein
the
Opinions of Grace be reconciled? 315
the Ruin of our Nature, and its Impotence
to all that is good, is ſet forth in its ſtrongeſt
Light, by the Metaphors of Blindness and
Death in Trefpaffes and Sins: And the Sove-
reignty of Divine Grace is deſcribed in its
brighteſt, and moft fovereign and infupera-
ble Influences. But ftill I cannot help que-
rying, as both A and R do, whether this li-
teral Senfe of thofe Words, this abfolute and
neceſſary Determination both of the Mind
and Will, and all the Powers of Man in its
firſt Converſion, and in all future good
Actions, does not detract too much from
God's moral Government of the World?
And whether all theſe Metaphors and Em-
blems, and bright Reprefentations of Scrip-
ture, may not be fufficiently interpreted in
plain Language, and their proper Senfe, ac-
cording to the Explication of the Grace of
God, and its efficacious Influences, which R
has made; efpecially if we take in the al-
mighty Infufion of a fupernatural Habit of
Holiness; always remembring that R allows
the Divine Influences on the Mind to be fo
great, as he knows will certainly perfuade
the Will to repent and accept of Grace, and
defigns that it fhall have this Effect, tho' not
in a way of refiftlefs Force and Neceffity.
And why may not this fufficiently anfwer
thofe Scriptures which affert God's working
in us both to will and to do of his good plea-
fure?
On
316 Q. XIV. Can the different
On the other hand, I queftion whether
the Opinions of A have ever been cafily and
plainly reconciled with fuch a multitude of
Scriptures, which the Followers of C pro-
duce in the Defence of their Opinions con-
cerning Divine Grace.
However it be, I think the Sentiments
both of A, C, and R, may, in fome tole-
rable meaſure, be reconciled to all the Six
Propofitions I laid down at firſt; at leaſt they
all declare they defign them to be fo; tho'
perhaps fome of them are more cafily and
happily fuited to fome of thefe Propofitions,
and others do beft confift with the reſt of
them. Thus much for the firft Part of this
Difcourfe.
The Second Way of Reconciliation.
A further Principle of Reconciliation be-
tween A, C, and R, is now in my thoughts,
and 'tis this:
Let us enquire whether the Sentiments of
A, as well as of R and C, do not imply and
fuppofe the certain Deſignation of certain
Perfons to a final Salvation; and confequent-
ly whether A has any reafon to caft any Re-
proaches upon the Doctrine of particular E-
lection and Special Grace, fince his own Scn-
timents will lead very nearly to the fame Doc-
trine. This will appear by the following
Steps of Enquiry.
1. Doth not A fuppofe, that the Providen-
tial
Opinions of Grace be reconciled? 317
tial Tranfactions of Divine Power and Grace,
in the Formation of the Natural Powers of
every Man, and the Difpofal of the Circum-
ftances of any Man's Life, under pious Parents,
or a uſeful Miniftry, or occafional Conver-
fation, &c. were defign'd by the great God,
as Helps and Mediums towards the Repen-
tance and Salvation of thofe that are faved?
2. Does not A allow of fuch Operations
of Grace, by Illumination and Suafion of the
Mind and Will, as the Great God fees to be
not only fufficient, but neceffary under the
preſent dreadful Degeneracy of Man, toward
the Converfion and Salvation of thoſe who
arc faved, even tho' they proceed no farther
than to leave the Will of Man in a State of
balancing Indifference, to accept or refufe
the offer'd Grace?
3. Does not A likewiſe admit thefe Ope-
rations of Grace to be exerted with a friend-
ly Defign towards thefe Men, to facilitate
their Faith and Repentance, and make the
way plainer and eafier towards their Salva-
tion? And does he not grant that God is beſt
pleafed, when fuch a Perfon repents and ac-
ccpts of his Gofpel, according to his kind
Defigns?
4. Does he not alfo believe, that the bleffed
God forefees and foreknows that thefe Men,
by the free Uſe of their natural Powers, thus
far affifted by Divine Grace, will be finally
and effectually perfuaded to believe, and re-
pent, and be faved?
5. Has
:
318 Q. XIV. Can the different
5. Has not the bleffed God, who knows all
his own Works from the beginning, deſigned
from Eternity to beftow all thefe Advantages
on thoſe particular Perfons, and to carry them
on fo far, that he forefees their Repentance
and Salvation will be the certain Confequences
of this his Grace, tho' not the necessary
Effects of it?
6. I would ask, Whether, if the bleffed
God gives fo much outward and inward
Grace to certain Men, as he foreſees and
knows will be certainly improved by them to
their Salvation, and without which they
could not repent and be faved, may it not
be properly faid, that God defigns the Sal
vation of these particular Perfons, that
he elects or chufes them unto eternal Life*,
that he converts and brings them to Repen-
tance by his Grace, and that he ſtands juſt-
ly intitled to their everlaſting Praiſes, as the
fupreme and certain Author of their Faith
and Repentance, and Salvation?
In the laſt place then, May I not enquire,
whether or no it be not confiftent with A's
own Opinions in the main, to allow thoſe
Expreffions of Scripture their proper. Force
and Meaning, which fpeak of God's Elec-
tion of Men to Salvation, of his chufing
them in Christ Jefus, of his giving them
to Chrift, of his bestowing Faith and Re-
pentance
May not theWords of St. Paul, Rom. viii. 29. be per-
fectly apply'd to this Scheme, Whom he foreknew he also did
predeftinate, &c.
Opinions of Grace be reconciled? 319
pentance upon them, preferving or keeping
them by his Power unto Salvation, and
conducting them fafely onward to Happi-
nefs? And whether it will not be much
more natural and eafy, to interpret ſuch
Scriptures concerning the Election, Con-
verfion and Salvation of particular Perfons,
than to put a ſtrain and force upon ſome of
them, and to interpret them only concer-
ning his giving the outward Means of Grace
to a Nation or a People, or chufing the
Heathen Nations in general to be acquain-
ted with his Salvation, without the Applica-
tion of it to any particular Perfon whatfo-
ever?
I would fain enquire, Whether or no, if
ferious Chriftians are but defirous and in-
clined to come as near to each other as they
can, in their Sentiments of Divine Things,
if they are but willing to be reconciled to
one another, as far as the prefent Darkneffes
and Difficulties will allow of; I fay, whether
they may not embrace one another heartily,
and unite fo far in their Sentiments as I
have reprefented? This will take away a
thouſand Cavils and Contentions, and a
thouſand unchriftian Reproaches, from the
Lips and Pens of thoſe who worship the
fame God, believe in the fame Saviour,
hope for the Operations of the fame bleffed
Spirit, and defire to afcribe their Salvation
to the fame Grace of God, who is bleffed
for evermore? Amen,
QUES-
320 Q. XV. What is the Cafe of
QUESTION XV.
What is the State and Condition of the
Heathens who have never heard of the
Gospel, or have utterly forgot and loft
all Notices of it?
IS not to be doubted that the Go-
"T ſpel has been twice preached to all
Mankind; firft by Adam to his Family,
which came from the Mouth of God, who
promiſed the Seed of the Woman to be-
come a Saviour; and then by Noah, who
was a Preacher of Righteousness, and
doubtless of Grace alfo, to his three Sons,
Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Now Adam
and Noah were the Fathers of all Mankind,
before and fince the Flood: And in the
Early Ages 'tis cvident, that the Knowledge
of the true God and Religion, in fome de-
grees of it, did continue in feveral Families
of Noah's Sons for a confiderable time;
fuch as the Families of Melchizedek King
of Salem, Abimelech King of Gerar, Job
I
in
the Heathen World?
321
in the Land of Uz and his four Friends,
and many others. And whofoever in fol-
lowing Ages retain'd fo much Knowledge
of God and his promifed Mercy, as to en-
gage them in Repentance of all their Sins,
in Faith or Dependance on Divine Grace,
and in new Obedience to the Will of God,
might obtain Salvation.
How many or how few theſe were, and
what favourable Allowances God might
make, and other Enquiries relating to this
Subject, may be found more largely dif
courfed of in a Treatife entitled, A Caveat
against Infidelity, and in a Book called,
The Strength and Weakness of human Rea-
fon, both publifh'd a few years ago. Nor
do I know how to explain and determine the
Queſtions relating to this Subject, in a more
perfpicuous manner, than thofe two Wri-
tings have done it; fo that I chufe to ask
the Favour of my Readers to feek their
Satisfaction in thofe Difcourfes.
However concerning the Heathens I may
venture to deliver one plain and certain
Truth, becauſe it is manifeftly founded upon
Scripture; and that is, fince the Corruption
of Nature thro' all Mankind is fo great and
deplorable, fince the Hope of Recovery by
the Covenant of Grace hath only thoſe
faint and feeble Difcoveries of it made to
the Heathens, which the general Goodneſs
and Long-fuffering of God might afford
Y
them,
322 Q. XV. What is the Cafe of
them, and fince they have no outward Call
from the Word to Repentance and Hope, it
is evident that the Righteous God will in-
flict but ſmall Puniſhment upon fuch Hea-
then Sinners, in compariſon of thoſe who
fhall fall under the exprefs Sentence of Dam-
nation, for having neglected or refifted the
Grace of the Gofpel, which has been pub-
lifh'd to them by Jefus Christ or the Apoſtles,
or by any Diſcoveries of the Things of the
New Teftament, in the Nations or Ages
where they have lived. And thus our Lord
himſelf declares, when he denounces his
heavy Woes againſt Chorazin, Bethfaida,
and Capernaum; and afferts, that the Puniſh-
ments of Tyre and Sidon, Sodom and Go-
morrah, fhall be tolerable in compariſon
of thoſe who ſhall be found Sinners againſt
the Clear and Exprefs Publication of the
Gospel, in the Great Judgment-day.
The Teftimony of St. Paul, Acts xvii. 30.
feems alfo to fupport the fame Opinion,
where he tells us, that God winked at thofe
Times of this Ignorance, wherein the Hea-
then and Idolatrous Nations lived before the
Manifeſtation of the Gofpel. The word
vrεpid wv doth not mean that he let them go
without Puniſhment, for, Rom ii. 9, 12.
Tribulation and Anguish will fall upon
every Soul that doth evil, whether few or
Gentile. Those who have finned without
Law, fhall perish without Law: But God
3
took
the Heathen World?
323
took but little notice of them with an Eye
of puniſhing Justice, in compariſon of thoſe
who fhall hear of thofe folemn Calls to
Repentance which are now given to Men
by the Goſpel of Chrift, and the Preaching
of the Judgment of the World by him.
Thus every Sinner's Puniſhment in the other
World, fhall ftand in an exact Proportion
to the Aggravation of the Sins they have
committed, confider'd together with the
different Degrees of Light and Knowledge
they have received. Divine Juftice will mea-
fure out to every one their righteous Propor-
tions, with perfect Exactness.
Y 2
QUES-
324 Q. XVI. What will be the State
QUESTION XVI.
What will be the State and Condition of
that large part of Mankind who die in
Infancy, under any of the Difpenfations
of the Covenant of Grace?
Anf. "T
IS a very large part of Man-
kind indeed that dies in the In-
fant State, before they arrive at any Capa-
city to know God or their Duty, Virtue or
Vice, and therefore they cannot be charged
with actual Sin, or rewarded for actual Obe-
dience. If we may judge by the yearly
Bills of Mortality, we find more than a
third part of the Race of Man dying before.
they arrive at two years old, and about half
before
* Perhaps it will be faid, that the Bills of Mortality in or
near London, are no fufficient Rule to judge of the Deaths of
Mankind in general, becauſe Multitudes of young Creatures
die there for want of Air and Conveniencies of Life. But let
it be remember'd alſo, that in the favage Nations of Afia,
Africa and America, there are more of thofe young Creatures
die for want of due Care, and for want alfo of the Methods
of human Skill to relieve the Difeafes of Children, and by
this means fome of the favage Countries are almoft depopu-
lated, and the Nations deſtroy'd, as Travellers inform us. "So
that take all Mankind together, and I'm ready to think the
Bills of Mortality, in and near London, may pretty nearly
field us a juſt Calculation as to this matter,
of dying Infants?
325
before five: A dreadful Devaftation of Na-
ture! a wide Spectacle of Ruin, diffufed
over all Nations and Ages, by the Sin of
their common Father!
It is true we cannot tell at what Age of
Life, or at what Degrees of growing Reafon,
the Great God will appoint Children to ftand
upon their own foot, and will deal with
them as rational Creatures, as intelligent
and free Agents, according to their own
perfonal Actions and Behaviour.
Some per-
haps fhall fooner be adjudged capable and
fufficient to act for themſelves, and fhall be
dealt with according to their own Moral
Conduct, and fome much later; and both
according to their Degrees of Capacity to
know, to chuſe, and to refufe Good or Evil.
But this Seaſon is known only to God him-
felf, and the Judge of all the Earth will
do right.
In the mean time, while they are deem'd
Infants, and have no perfonal Sin or Obc-
dience of their own, but only lie under the
Sentence of Death for the Sin of Adam, fo
far as it is imputed to them, let us not fend
any of their Little Souls into a feparate State
of Torment, as foon as Death has feized
their Bodies, without an exprefs Divine War-
rant: Nor let us raife up their Bodies again
from the Dead, and then doom them, Soul
and Body, to intenfe Anguifh and everlaſt-
ing Fire and Sorrow, merely for Adam's Sin,
unlcis
Y 3
326 Q. XVI. What will be the State
unless we can find fome very evident Sentence
of this kind paſt upon them in the Word of
God. The Equity and the Compaffion of a
God, ſo far as we can judge of it by the
Light of Reaſon, would not inflict fo fevere
and eternal a Puniſhment on thefe little Crea-
tures, who are perfonally innocent or free
from Actual Sin: And unless we can find
fome Divine Revelation that pronounces it
with great Strength and Evidence, let us not
fo far contradict the gentler Dictates of Na-
ture and Reaſon, as to affert this Opinion
for Truth, nor impofe it on our own Belief,
nor on the Belief of others.
Let us try then, whether we cannot find
out fome milder Puniſhment for their Share
of the Guilt of Adam, in the Bible. May
we not humbly fuppofe, that a moft Wife,
moft Righteous, and moft Merciful God,
will deal with them according to the follow-
ing Principles, derived partly from the Scrip-
tures, and partly from the Reafon of Things?
I. As the Children of Men had all been
born innocent and happy, and had worn out
their Infant-State in Innocence and Happi-
nefs, if Adam their Father and Surety had
ftood firm in his Obedience; fo by his Fall
and Difobedience to God, we have already
proved that they are all involved with him in
fo much of his Guilt and Mifery, as that
they come into the World with Natures cor-
rupted
of dying Infants?
327
rupted and viciated, both with the Principles
of Sin and Seeds of Death. This we have
fhewn before: And they are expofed hereby
to Death, i. e. to the common and everlaft-
ing Forfeiture of all thofe Bleffings, and all
that Life and Existence, both of Soul and
Body, which God had freely given them:
See Quest. xi. Sect. 3. of Eternal Death.
And as for the Execution of this general
Sentence, we find it fo far executed on
Children, that they fuffer the Pains and
Agonics of Mortality, and at laft Bodily
Death; tho' they have not finned, i. e.
perfonally and actually, after the Similitude
of Adam's Tranfgreffion, as in Rom. v. 14.
and there the Scripture leaves them, i. e. in
Death and the Grave.
II. It has been granted, that the actual
and perfonal Sin of Adam might provoke
his Maker fo far, as to continue his Soul in
its natural Immortality after his bodily Life
was forfeited and finifh'd; and this is bc-
cauſe he was a perfonal and a&ual Sinner.
And God may fee it Divinely proper that he
fhould fuffer long Anguifh of Confcience,
Tribulation and Wrath after Death, accord-
ing to the Aggravation of his perfonal
Crime, (i. e. upon Suppofition that he ac-
cepted not the Covenant of Grace:) Yet it
does not follow, that the Great God will
punifh the mere imputed Guilt of his Infant-
Pofterity
Y 4
15
328 Q. XVI, What will be the State
Pofterity in fo fevere a manner; or that he
will continue their Souls in Being, whofe
whole Life and Being is forfeited by Adam's
Sin, and that he will give them their Being
and Life again and fix them in an immortal
State, merely to make them fuffer long
Anguiſh and endlefs Mifery for the Sin
of Adam. Nor is this Severity any where
taught us in the Word of God; and I am
well affur'd, that our Reaſonings from the
Goodness and Equity of God will incline us
to judge more favourably of his Sentence
upon Infants, and will lead us to the milder
and fofter fide of the Queftion, as I intima-
ted before.
III. There is one very good Reaſon to ſup-
poſe that the Great God will reſume the for-
feited Life and Existence of the Souls of Chil-
dren, as well as of their Bodies, and will not
continue their immortal Spirits to fuffer tor-
menting Puniſhment for ever; becauſe having
no perfonal Sin, they can have no Anguiſh
of Confcience, nor inward Vexation: they
cannot fuffer any Self-reproaches for Sin, for
they have committed none: nor can this be
convey'd to them by any imputed Guilt of
Adam, tho' it is a very great Part of the Pu-
nifhment of Souls for actual Sin, as being the
natural Effect of perfonal Tranfgreffion and
Guilt. If therefore they are punifh'd for
Adam's Sin in another World, it must pro-
bably
of dying Infants?
329
bably be by actual Pains and Torments in-
flicted on them by God himſelf, fince the
moſt natural Effects of Sin, i. e. Guilt and
Anguiſh of Confcience, cannot reach them:
And is it agreeable to the Nature and Mercy
of a God to inflict fuch pofitive and endleſs
Pains or Torments with his own hand, on
fuch little Creatures, who are free from all
perfonal Iniquity, and have no other Crime
but that they were born of Adam?
IV. If you ſhould imagine that the mere
Senfe of the Lofs of God's Favour, without
any actual Inflictions of Pain, is all the Pu-
nifhment that Children fhall fuffer in their
Souls; Tell me how that can be without
fome pofitive and actual Agency of God in
it? For unleſs God, fome way or other, give
them a Senſe what his Favour is, and what
is the Lofs of it, how can they have this
Knowledge? And fince they have not lived
in this World long enough to acquire any
Ideas of a God, a Creature, a Law, Obe-
dience and Tranfgreffion, Sin and Duty,
the Favour of God, the Lofs of his Favour,
Puniſhment, &c. it is hardly to be ſuppoſed,
that the Bleſſed God will furniſh them with
thefe Ideas in a future State of Immortality,
merely and for no other Reaſon but to make
them feel their Mifery in their eternal Lofs
of the Divine Favour; and that on no other
Account, but for having been once born
into
330 Q. XVI. What will be the State
into this World in an unhappy relation to
Adam the actual Sinner. Thoſe ſhort
Miferies which end with Life, are much more
eafy to be accounted for upon the foot of
Divine Refentment for Adam's Sin, than
any everlaſting Pains.
The late learned Dr. Ridgeley indeed, in
his Diſcourſes of Original Sin, with Modeſty
and Ingenuity has reprefented this Sentiment
to the World: and I cannot but declare my
felf fo far of his Opinion, that the Bleffed
God will not impreſs on them theſe Ideas of
Divine Things, nor fhew the Souls of Infants
in the other World what are thofe Powers
and Pleaſures which they have loft by Adam's
Sin, on purpoſe only to torment thoſe little
Creatures, who never knew what Sin was,
nor ever finned againſt God in their Wills,
by actual perfonal Difobedience.
But whereas Dr. Ridgeley fuppofes the im-
mortal Exiſtence of fuch Infant-Souls in a
fort of ftupid Ignorance or Infenfibility,
which the Scripture no where intimates, I
think it is much more natural and reaſonable
to fuppoſe, that God will deprive both Body
and Soul of Life which Adam had forfeited
for himſelf and for them, according to the
firft Threat'ning of Death: And fince the
Book of Scripture has not revealed it, I can-
not find it in the Book of Reafon, nor can
I conceive what End it can attain in Divine
Providence, to continue fo many Millions.
of
of dying Infants?
331
of Infant-Souls in an eternal State of Stu-
por: Is it agreeable to the Conduct of in-
finite Wiſdom, and the Government of a
God, to maintain fuch an innumerable Mul-
titude of Ideots, equal in number to almoft
all the reſt of the Human Race, in a long
endleſs Duration, and to reign over ſuch an
immenfe Nation of fenfelefs and thoughtleſs
Immortals?
I add yet further, 'Tis very hard to under-
ftand how a human Soul, which I cannot
conceive of but as a thinking Being, fhould
exift without any Ideas at all, and that for
eternal Ages. Upon the whole therefore, the
State of Non-exiſtence, to which we here
fuppofe them to be reduced after Death, is
much more probable, being the leaft Demerit
of imputed Sin, or an everlafting Forfeiture
of Life, and a fort of endlefs Puniſhment
without Pain.
V. Neither have we any Intimations from
Scripture, that all the Bodies of Infants will
be raiſed again at the Great Day, in order to
come into Judgment: And if we will fuffer
ourſelves to think and judge without Preju-
dice, we may find it highly probable, that
there are many Thouſands of Infant-Bodies,
which will never be reſtor❜d to Life, nor their
Perfons be fummon'd to Judgment in the
laſt Great Day; and that for thefe two
Reaſons.
1. We
332 Q. XVI. What will be the State
1. We have before fhewn, that as Bodily
Death was threat'ned by the Law of Inno-
cency or Covenant of Works to Adam, as
the Head of a numerous Race, fo this is evi-
dently executed upon all his Infant-Seed; for
Death has reign'd over them in every Age,
as the Puniſhment of Adam's Sin, being fo
far imputed to them; as Rom. v. 12, 13, 14.
But there is no Refurrection of the Body in-
cluded in that Threat'ning; nor can we rea-
fonably fuppofe, that the moft gracious God,
who has never threat'ned it, will raife thefe
Infant Bodies into an endless Life, merely to
fuffer everlaſting Anguifh and Pain in the
Body, for the imputed Sin of their firft Fa-
ther, fince they have no actual or perfonal
Guilt of their own. Mere imputed Sin,
without actual Tranfgreffion, is the leaft and
lowest fort of Guilt that can be; and there-
fore it is highly probable, a righteous and
merciful God will inflict on them the leaft
and lowest fort of Punishment threat'ned to
Sin, i. e. Death in the mildeft fenſe of it,
or an univerfal and eternal Deftruction of
Soul and Body, which are forfeited by Sin.
2. When the Refurrection of Sinners is
mention'd in Scripture, 'tis always that they
may be judged expreffly according to their
Works, according to what they have done in
the Body, whether Good or Evil. Now
Infants have done no Works of Sin or Righ-
teouſneſs: they are not moral Agents in the
Infant-
of dying Infants?
333
Infant-State; and it is not faid in Scripture,
that ſuch ſhall be brought into Judgment. The
Inquiries and Decifions of a Judgment-Seat
are only appointed for actual Sinners. See
the Words of Scripture on this Subject, Joh. v.
28, 29. The hour is coming, when all that
are in their Graves fhall hear his Voice, and
ſhall come forth; they who have done Good to
the Refurrection of Life, and they who have
done Evil to the Refurrection of Damna-
tion. Rev. xx. 12, 13. And I faw the Dead,
Small and great, ftand before God, (i. e. the
high and low, rich and poor) and they were
judged out of thofe Things which were writ-
ten in the Books, according to their Works.
And the Sea gave up its Dead, and Death
and Hell (or the Grave, or the feparate State)
gave up their Dead, and they were judged,
every Man according to their Works. Ob-
ferve here, that the words fmall and great
muft fignify Perfons of high and low De-
gree, who can be judged according to their
Works; but the word Small cannot fignify
Infants, becauſe they have no moral Works
for which they might be judged *.
VI. And indeed, where any future Pu-
niſhments of the otherWorld are reprefented
in
* And to confirm this Senfe of the words fmall and great,
let it be confider'd, that in another Text of the fame Writer,
theſe words cannor mean Infants and Adult, but muft fignify
Poor and Rich, or Mean and Honourable, Rev. xi. 18 becaufe
the are both faid to fear the Name of the Lord, which cannot
be a ribed to Infants.
* $34 Q. XVI. What will be the State
in Scripture, it is always for the actual Tranf
greffions of Perfons who are capable of
knowing, chuſing and refuſing Good or Evil,
which Infants are not capable of doing; for
the Word of God gives us this very Cha-
racter of an Infant, Efa. vii. 16. viz. that
he knows not to refufe the Evil and chufe
the Good. Let us look into the Texts where
future Judgment and future Puniſhments are
defcribed. Ecclef. xi. 9. Rejoice, O young
Man, in thy Youth, and walk in the ways
of thy heart, &c. but know that for all
thefe things God will bring thee into Judg-
ment. and xii. 14. 'Tis only visible Works
of the Life, or fecret Workings of the
Thoughts, i. e. Moral Actions, that God
will bring into Judgment, whether they be
good or evil. Matth. xii. 36. Every idle
Word that Men fhall ſpeak, they ſhall give
account thereof in the Day of Judgment.
Mat. xxv. 41, 42. Depart from me, ye curfed,
into everlasting Fire, for I was an hungred
and ye gave me no meat; I was naked and
ye clothed me not, &c. Rom. ii. Thinkeſt
thou, O Man, who judgeft them which do
Such Things, and doft the fame, that thou
fhalt efcape the Judgment of God? Thou
treasurest up to thy felf Wrath against the
Day of Wrath and Revelation of the righ-
teous Fudgment of God, who will render to
every Man according to his Deeds. 2 Cor.
v. 10. We must all appear before the Judg-
ment-
of dying Infants?
335
ment-Seat of Christ, that every one may re-
ceive the Things done in the Body, accord-
ing to that which he hath done, whether it
be Good or Evil. All this refers only to the
actual Works of Men. Nor can I find in the
whole Book of God, any one Syllable of the
Puniſhment of Infants, either in their Souls
or Bodies after this Life; all that the Scrip-
ture reveals of Puniſhment in a World to
come, whether it be in the feparate State
or at the Reſurrection, falls upon thofe only
who have been guilty of actual perſonal
Tranfgreffions, and are proper Objects of a
Judgment.
VII. You will ask here,
"Is there no Re-
"furrection then for the Bodies of the In-
"fants of good and pious Perfons, who have
c repented of their Sins, returned to God,
"and accepted of the Covenant of Grace in
"all its Extent, for Time and Eternity? Is
cr
<c
there no happy Rifing-day for the dying
"Children of thoſe Parents, who have laid a
"humble Claim to God as their God and
"the God of their Seed, and have devoted
"themſelves to him according to the Lan-
tr
guage of God's Covenant with Abraham?
Do not theſe Bleffings come upon the Gen-
"tiles through Jefus Chrift? Gal. iii. 14.
"You will ask, whether I myſelf have not
"explain'd the Covenant of Grace, with the
"Bleffings of it, to extend to the Children
"of
336 Q. XVI. What will be the State
"of Believers, or good Men, under Queft.
ર
xii. §. 6 and muſt all theſe Children lie
"in the Grave, and under the Power of
"Death for ever? Doth not God's being their
"God imply their Refurrection? Doth not
"Chrift himself prove the Reſurrection of
.
the Dead from this very Principle, that
"God is the God of Abraham, and Ifaac,
"&c. Luke xx. 37, 38 and muft not fuch
"Children therefore be raiſed from the
"Dead?"
To this I answer, I have allow'd this un-
der the xiith Question, and I confirm it all
here for whatever I have faid under this laſt
Queſtion concerning Infants, relates to thoſe
only who ſtand upon the Foot of Adam's
broken Covenant of Works, and have no
Intereſt in a better Covenant; i.e. it belongs
only to the Children of wicked Men who
died in Adam, and who have not received or
accepted of the Covenant of Mercy and Life
thro' Jefus Chrift: But the Infant-Offspring
of those who have repented of Sin, and ac-
cepted of the Covenant of Grace, are, in
my Opinion, included in the Bleflings of the
Covenant of Abraham, which come upon
Gentile Believers and their Seed, as well as
on the Jews thro' Jefus Christ, in the fpiri-
tual and eternal Extent of them; for Chrift
was the Minifter of the Circumcifion, or
fent to the Jewish Nation, to confirm the
Promifes of God inade unto the Fathers, i. c.
Abraham,
of dying Infants?
337
Abraham, and Ifaac, and Jacob, and that
the Gentiles might glorify God for his Mer-
cy. See Gal. iii. 14. Rom. xv. 8. And there-
fore there is much Reaſon to believe from
many places of Scripture, that as they have
a Share in this Covenant of Grace and the
Bleffings thereof thro' the Faith and Piety of
their Parents, being incapable to put forth an
Act of Faith or Piety themfelves, fo they
fhall be raiſed again to an eternal Life of Ho-
linefs and Happinefs together with their Pa-
rents, as the Sons and Daughters of Abra-
ham who have God for their God.
VIII. As there are ſeveral Texts of Scrip-
ture from which I fuppofe fuch Inferences
may be made, ſo if I miſtake not, there are
one or two Speeches of the Prophets which
feem to intend and mean the Refurrection and
Happineſs of the Children of true Chriftians.
If we look into Ifai. lxv. 23. God is there
ſpeaking concerning the Blefling which fhall
come upon his People in the Chriftian Church,
when thofe Jews who had refuſed the Mef-
fiah were cut off, and God calls his own
People by another Name, i. e. Chriſtians.
The Promiſe is this, They shall not labour in
vain, nor bring forth for Trouble, for they
are the Seed of the Bleſſed of the Lord and
their Offspring with them. Now we find
by experience in all Ages of the Chriftian
Church, that Infants die as well as they did
before;
Z
338 Q. XVI. What will be the State
before; and yet it is faid, Their Parents fhall
not labour in vain, nor bring forth for
Trouble: how can this be fulfilled, but by
the Right of their Children to the extenfive
Bleffings of the Covenant of Grace, i. e. a
Refurrection to eternal Life? and it is put
upon this Foot, that they are the Seed of the
Bleffed of the Lord, they enjoy the Blefling
of their Father Abraham in whom all Nati-
ons are bleffed, that God is their God and the
God of their Offspring together with them.
The other Text is Jer. xxxi. 15. compared
with Matth. ii. 17. where the Prophet Je-
remy is cited; A Voice was heard in Rama,
Lamentation and bitter Weeping; Rachel
weeping for her Children refuſed to be com-
forted, because they were not. Thus faith
the Lord, Refrain thy Voice from Weeping
and thine Eyes from Tears: thy Work fhall
be rewarded, faith the Lord, and they shall
come again from the Land of the Enemy;
and there is hope in thine End, faith the
Lord, that thy Children fhall come again
to their own Border. Tho' this Prophecy
might have fome fort of accompliſhment at
the Captivity of the Children of Benjamin
the Son of Rachel by Nebuchadnezzar, and
the Reſtoration of their Pofterity by Cyrus,
yet it ſeems more litterally, plainly and ex-·
prefly to be fulfilled by the flaughter of the
Infants in Bethlehem near Rama, as St. Mat-
thew explains it, and by their return from
3
the
of dying Infants?
339
the Land of the laft Enemy, Death, and
their ſtanding in their own Border, i. e. in
the Heavenly Canaan, where their Parents
confidered in Prophecy as true Ifraelites,
have obtained the promiſed Inheritance: and
thus the Mother's Travel, in bearing the
Children, as well as her Work of Faith and
Prayer for her Children, fhall be rewarded
by beholding them return from the Land of
Death their common Enemy, and placed to-
gether with themſelves in the heavenly Para-
dife, which is their Border or Portion.
It is therefore only the Children of wicked
Parents concerning whom I fuppofe the Wif
dom, Juftice and Mercy of God will join to
deftroy them intirely by Death, or to reſume
the forfeited Life of Soul and Body.
It ſeems evident to me, that tho' there are
fome hints and reaſonable hopes of the hap-
py Refurrection of the Offspring of good
Men to be derived from Scripture, yet all
other Children in this World are alfo brought
down to Death for the Sin of Adam by the
Word of God, and they are left in Death : Eut
neither Reaſon nor Scripture, fo far as I can
find, provides any Happineſs or Unhappineſs,
any Reward or Punishment for them in a
World to come; and how can we go fur-
ther than Reafon or Scripture will lead us?
And if I may freely ſpeak my own Sen-
timents here, I would fay, fince neither
Reaſon nor Scripture, certainly and plainly
Z 2
teach
340 Q. XVI. What will be the State
teach us any thing concerning the Souls
of the Infants of wicked Men after Death; and
if I must not leave them in a ftate of Non-
exiſtence, I would much rather chufe to fup-
pole them at the Death of the Body entered
into a new and perfonal ftate of Trial, than
I would condemn them to a wretched Re-
furrection and eternal Mifery for nothing
elfe, but becauſe they were born of Adam
the original Tranfgreffor.
This is only a comparative Thought by the
way. But to purfue and fupport my prefent
Scheme of their Annihilation at Death, I muſt
anfwer two or three Objections following.
IX. Againſt this Hypothefis it will be per-
haps objected, First, Of what ufe can it be for
the Great God to bring fo many thouſand
Souls of the Children of wicked Parents into
Being, to deftroy them fo foon?
Anfw. 1. Who can tell me of what Uſe it
can be for God to create fo many Millions of
animated Beings in the Sea, or in the Woods
and Defarts for fo fhort a Continuance? Who
can tell why he fhould exert his almighty
Power to produce fo many Myriads of Fiſhes
which Man never fecs, and Infects, Engines
of curious and divine Artifice, of which Mil-
lions are brought forth in one Day, which
are never ſeen of Men, and which in a few
Weeks or Months perifh again, and are loft
for ever? It is as cafy with Omnipotence to
create Souls as Bodics, or to make Men as
Worms:
of dying Infants?
341
Worms: And it is the illuftrious and uncon-
ceivable Magnificence of his Government,
that he can produce Worlds of fuch wonder-
ful Creatures and deſtroy them without any
lofs, tho' he ſhould never acquaint us with
any of his Reaſons or Purpoſes for this Con-
duct. Why muft fuch forry Creatures as
Men are, be acquainted with the Defigns and
Reaſons of every thing that a God thinks fit
to do?
Anfw. 2. Tho' the Purpoſes and Ends of
the Great God are far above our Reach; yet
we may ſuppoſe God to have this wife Defign
in the Creation and Deftruction of fo many
Children, viz. to let thoſe wicked Parents,
as well as their Neighbours, fee the conftant
Evil of Sin in the Effects or Puniſhment
thereof, even of the Sin of Adam in the
Weakneſſes and Pains and Death of their
Children; and to keep a lively Image of theſe
Things always before the Eyes of Men, in the
continual fucceffion of fo many vifible Ago-
nics and dying Groans and Deaths of Man-
kind in their youngeſt Hours of Life. This
fame Deſign and Effect is attained alſo by the
Mortality and Deaths of all Children, even
thoſe of pious Parents, whofe Souls are carried
to Heaven by the Covenant of Grace and the
Faith of their Parents. God will have a con-
tinual Senſe of the Evil of this original Sin
maintained in all the Families of Mankind,
and this is a fufficient Reafon for his Condut.
X. Let
Z 3
342 Q. XVI. What will be the State
X. Let me now mention a fecond Objection
againſt this Set of Thoughts concerning In-
fants; and that is, If the Children of wicked
Parents do not rife from the Dead, but are
deftroyed Soul and Body as lying under the
original Sentence of Death, will not this Opi-
nion tempt Parents to be negligent of the
Lives of their Infants and fome perhaps
might be tempted to put them to death, that
they may not grow up to Sin, and thereby
expoſe themselves to cternal Mifery.
I anfwer, that good Perfons cannot be
guilty of this Crime; for fuch wilful and in-
human Murder would be a plain Proof they
had no true Religion nor Goodneſs nor In-
tereſt in the Covenant of Grace: nor can they
have any fuch Temptation if they walk ac-
cording to this Covenant, becauſe the Bleflings
of the Covenant of Grace are fecured to their
Seed. As for wicked Parents, they have fo
much natural Love and Concern for the wel-
fare of their Children in this Life, and fo lit-
tle Regard to any thing of a future World,
that there is no great Danger of this Event.
The Tyes of Nature and parental Affection in
the Men of the World are generally much
ftronger than any thing elſe that relates to
another World. There are many of the wic-
ked among Men, who actually believe that
Children have no future State, and yet we do
not find this Temptation prevail.
But
of dying Infants?
343
But further, Can we fuppofe any Perfon
can be fo mad and inconfiftent as to fear the
future uncertain danger of God's Wrath for a
Child, if he has no fear of it for himſelf? or
will he run himſelf into certain prefent Dam-
nation if he die under fuch an impious and
inhuman Sin of wilful Murder, in order to
fecure a Child from the future uncertain dan-
ger of Impenitence and Damnation, i. e. if it
live to Man's Eftate and grow wicked? This
is fo unnatural a Temptation, eſpecially to
wicked Parents who have little regard to future
and eternal Things, that if the Reprefentation
which I have made of the Cafe of Infants be
agreeable to Reafon and Scripture, I think the
Danger of fuch a fuppofed poffible Inconve-
nience is ſo ſmall as is by no means fuffici-
ent to refute this Scheme of Thoughts, or to
forbid the Publication of it.
XI. I fhould here alfo take notice, that
there is a third Objection against my Hypo-
thefis; and that is, there have been fome
Perfons who ſuppoſe we have no need of this
annihilating Scheme concerning the Cafe of
Infants, to mollify the Severity of it, fince
in their Opinion, one half of the fifth Chap-
ter to the Romans reprefents our Lord Jefus
Christ as removing intirely all the Guilt of the
Sin of Adam from Mankind, and that the
Mifery and Deſtruction that was brought on
the Race of Mankind by the Fall of their firſt
Parents
Z 4
344 Q. XVI. What will be the State
Parents is effectually cancelled and abolifhed
by the Obedience and Death of the Son of
God, excepting only their Sickneſs and natu-
ral Death of their Bodies, which Infants are
fubject to as well as grown Perfons.
But to this I anfwer, The Deſign of that
Chapter is to fhew, that God has laid as fuf-
ficient and folid a Foundation in the Obedi-
ence and Death of Christ for the recovery of
Men from the Ruins of their Nature, their
Guilt and Mifery, in and by the Covenant of
Grace, as Adam had laid for the Ruin and
Deſtruction of his Pofterity according to the
Covenant of Works: but as none but the Po-
fterity of Adam are involved in his Curſe, ſo
the Blefling is only apply'd there to thoſe
who become the Seed and Pofterity of Chriſt
by Faith and Repentance, and by accepting
the Covenant of Grace: for it is fufficiently
evident from conftant Experience and Obfer-
vation in oppofition to this Opinion, that Sin
and Pain and Death, which were brought in
by the Fall of Adam, ſtill infect human Na-
ture in every Son and Daughter of Man which
comes into the World: and how can theſe
evident Confequents and legal Penalties of Sin
continue among Infants, if all the Guilt and
confequent Effects of Adam's Sin be taken a-
way from them by the Undertaking of Chriſt?
Our daily and conftant Experience abundant-
ly proves that this Opinion of the univerfal
and actual Abolition of Sin, and the Curfe
brought
of dying Infants?
345
brought in by Adam on his Infaht Race muſt
be a mere Miſtake.
XII. And if it fhould be faid ftill, that this
recovery of Mankind from the Curſe by
Jefus Chrift, fo far as it belongs to Infants,
chiefly refers to their future State after Death,
and that it enfures Salvation univerfally to all
who die in Infancy;
I might very well answer, (1.) That nei-
ther do the Words of that place of Scripture,
nor does its Connexion with the Context dif-
cover this Doctrine there; and I think it would
be very hard to prove it without fome clearer
Teftimony of Scripture.
If
Befides (2.) If we confult the Word of God
from one end to the other of it, we fhall find
no Bleffing or Curfe coming upon Children
in their very Infancy, but by the Covenant or
Conduct or Character of their Parents.
the Children of Adam die, they are doom'd
to Death together with him. Rom. v. If A-
braham's Seed are bleffed, 'tis together with
their Father. Gen. xvii. If the unbelieving
Jews are the Branches broken off from the
good Olive-tree, their little Buds are broken off
together with them; and if the believing Gen-
tiles are grafted into it, their Buds or tender
Offspring are grafted in together with them
alfo. Rom. xi. The Scripture gives us no ac-
count of God's dealing with Children in their
Infancy but as a part of their Parents, and
con-
346 Q. XVI. What will be the State
confidered as one with them. Now how fhall
the Children of wicked Men according to the
Current of Scripture be brought into this Sal-
vation by Chriſt, if their Parents do not ac-
cept nor fhare in this Salvation?
In the (3d) place, I would enquire whether
this Opinion that all Infants are faved, doth
not much more directly and abundantly expoſe
Children to the inconvenience of the fore-
going Objection, (viz.) by tempting wicked
Parents to fend them to Heaven, either by neg-
lecting or deftroying their Lives upon Earth,
in order to convey them to certain Happineſs.
A wicked Man, or Woman, who has never fo
many Children, will be tempted upon this Foot
to fay, Why fhould I take any Care of theſe
Children, let 'em come into the World as faft
as they will, and let them die as faft they come;
there are ſo many more Inhabitants of Heaven
and why fhould I nurſe them
up in-Life mere-
ly to bring them into the Danger of Hell? Is
not this a Temptation much greater than that
of fending them into Non-existence?
(4.) I add in the laſt place, that if all Chil-
dren dying in Infancy are certainly faved,
what are the ſpecial Privileges which are ſo
often afferted in Scripture to belong to the
Children of pious Parents and the Seed of A-
braham, in having God to be their God?
Does not this fufficiently intimate fome fupe-
rior Favour to the Children of good Men,who
have accepted the Covenant of Grace in
Christ
of dying Infants?
347
Christ Jefus, above what is promiſed to the
Children of the wicked, who have broken the
Covenant of Works, and who have no fhare
in the Bleffings of the Covenant of Grace for
themſelves or their Pofterity, becauſe they
have not accepted of it? Has the Offspring of
the Righteous no advantage of the wicked
after all theſe gracious Words of Promife? I
fcar fuch an Opinion does not bear a kind af
pect on the Faithfulneſs of God in his Word,
to repreſent and promiſe that as a peculiar
Kindness and Grace to the Children of good
Men, which equally belongs to all, even the
moſt impious and wicked.
Upon the whole, the Opinion of the Sal-
vation of all Children, as it has no Counté-
nance from the Bible, fo it has no Foundation
in the Reaſon of Things; and the Scheme
of the Tranfactions of God with Men as re-
prefented in Scripture appears much more
confiftent and uniform according to the Hy-
pothefis I have here propofed.
Yet if any of my Readers are utterly averfe
to theſe Sentiments, let them find out wherein
I have run counter to the Word of God. The
Scripture brings down the Infants of wicked
Parents to the Grave, and leaves them there,
and fo do I: The Scripture has not provided
any
Refurrection for them, neither can I do
it. And, in Matters of pure Revelation, tho'
we may propoſe an Expedient to ſolve great
Difficulties, yet I would be always cautious
of afferting what God has not revealed.
CON
348
CONCLUSION; or the ADVANTAGES
of this whole SCHEME.
TH
HUSI have endeavoured to trace out,
fo far as my Reaſon would aflift me,
what Relief may be given to fome of thoſe
Doctrines of Revelation which feem to have a
harſh Sound or a painful and difagreeable Ap-
pearance in them, and which might feem to
lay any Imputation upon the Conduct of
God and Providence. It is and must be con-
fefs'd there are fome Difficulties which attend
the Doctrine of Original Sin and Mifery
fpreading over all the Race of Man, and the
Doctrine of the faving Grace of God in Chrift
Jefus providing a way of Recovery for a loſt
World, even for all that are willing to accept
it, and yet at the fame time fecuring fome
certain Succefs to the Undertaking of Chriſt
in the Salvation of thofe whom the Father
hath given him. And yet all theſe feem to
be Doctrines pretty plainly taught in the
Holy Scriptures: Nor are they meer Opini-
ons for Speculation, but they have a great
and important Influence upon our Practice.
If we are well perfuaded of Original Sin,
and that our Natures are fo corrupt and de-
generate,
The CONCLUSION.
349
generate, we fhall learn to lie humble before
a God of Majefty and Holiness, which is the
very firſt part
part of all our Religion. We fhall
alfo be candid and meek and compaflionate
towards each other without Pride or Scorn,
being all liable to the fame Miftakes and In-
firmities, the fame Paffions and Miferies, and
being all involved in the fame Condemnation
and Degeneracy.
And if we ſhall find that the Doctrine of the
imputed Sin of Adam is ſo far from being a
Difficulty or Hardſhip in this Article, that
it is the only effectual Way to folve the Pro-
pagation of the univerfal Corruption and
Mifery of our Natures, and to abfolve the
Conduct of God from all Blame, we fhall
raiſe no more murmuring Cavils againſt the
Providence of God herein, but receive it in
the Light in which the Scripture feems to
have repreſented it with all Submiffion and
Silence. God is juft, tho' Man be finful and
miferable.
If we are made deeply fenfible of our Uni-
verſal Guilt and Degeneracy in Adam, we ſhall
thankfully rejoice in every Diſcovery of Di-
vine Mercy, and eſpecially in the Goſpel of
Jefus Christ who is the fecond Adam and the
only appointed way of our Salvation: we
fhall be more prepared to receive it with great-
er Humility, Gratitude and Joy when we fee
our Souls fo utterly loft and undone in a ſtate
of Nature and we fhall depend more in-
tirely
550
The CONCLUSION.
tirely upon the Grace of God the Father and
his Son Jefus, and the Influences of the
Bleffed Spirit, for every part of our Reſtora-
tion and Recovery.
All the Doctrines of the special Grace of
God, of the Redemption of Chrift and of the
Sanctifying Spirit lie much more eafy and ob-
vious before the Eye, when we are made deep-
ly fenfible of our univerfal Ruin and Mifery.
That humble Temper of Soul which this
Doctrine requires, will more readily fubdue
all the rifing Cavils of the Mind againſt the
Methods of faving Mercy.
If we believe that the Undertaking of Chrift
is fecur'd of Success, and that Multitudes of
Souls fhall certainly obtain this Salvation, this
is Matter of Thankfulneſs and Hope, fince all
Mankind lay in one common Ruin: and we
have Encouragement to all Diligence in the
Duties of Repentance, Faith and new Obedi-
ence, fince he that feeks ſhall find, and to him
that knocks it ſhall be opened, and fince this is
the only way for us to obtain our fhare in
the Succefs of the Labours and Sufferings of
Chriſt, and the Bleffings that are derived from
them. And when we have found our own
Hearts fincerely and effectually turn'd to God
by the Gospel, and our Naturcs and our Lives
form'd unto Holiness, we have then high En-
couragement to believe the Security of our In-
tereft in the Mediation of Chrift and the Sal-
vation of the Goſpel, and to rejoice in Hope.
And
The CONCLUSION.
351
1
And if we take with us alfo this compre-
henfive and compaffionate Doctrine of the
fincere and extenfive Offers of Mercy to
every Sinner, according to the Degree of the
Diſcoveries of the Grace of God in the Age
and Nation wherein he lives, we fhall acquire
a more large, more generous and diffuſive Be-
nevolence to all our Fellow-Creatures of the
Race of Adam: we ſhall give a large Founda-
tion for Hope to every guilty Creature among
Mankind, affuring them that the great God
hath debarred none from this Mercy but
thoſe who debar themſelves by Impenitence
and Unbelief. We fhall vindicate the Good-
nefs and Juſtice of God in his Difpenfations
towards Men, and leave the final Condem-
nation of wilful Impenitents and of all the
Wicked of the Earth intirely upon their own
heads.
If it be enquired, what farther Advanta-
ges can be derived from fo peculiar a Doc-
trine as this laſt Section contains, (viz.) that
the Children of unregenerate or unholy Pa-
rents who never liv'd to do good or evil, and
died only under the Guilt of Adam's Sin,
have ſuſtain'd their whole penalty at Death,
and will never be raised to Life again? I
anfwer, in theſe three particulars.
1. Hereby the Conduct of Divine Provi-
dence with regard to the Millions of Infant-
Creatures in all the numerous Nations of the
Earth, will be juftify'd from the fevere Cen-
fures
2
352 The CONCLUSION.
fures which have been caft upon it by Men
in accufing the Doctrine of Original Sin: for
if they ſuffer nothing but temporal Death, as
being fallen in Adam their Head, all theſe
Terrors of pretended Cruelty and Severity
will vaniſh, while it appears that eternal Dam-
nation belongs only to thoſe who have been
guilty of actual Tranfgreffion in their own
Perfons; for there is not one Word in all the
Scripture concerning eternal Mifery inflicted
upon any Perfon meerly for the Sin of Adam.
2dly, This Hypothefis not only abfolves
the Providence of God from fuppofed Cruel-
ty, but perhaps it reprefents it as good and
gracious towards far the greateſt Part of thoſe
that are born of Adam; while they are not
fuffer'd to live and grow up amidst the Temp-
tations of this World and under their preſent
corrupt Principles of Nature, but are precluded
from rendring themſelves more miſerable, by
being cut off in Infancy and never having it
in their power to do Good or Evil themselves.
3dly, This Scheme relieves the Difficulties
which fometimes have been caft upon the
Laws or Orders of God given the Jewish Na-
tion, to cut off fo many thouſand Children
of the Canaanites when they enter'd into the
promiſed Land: For hereby thefe Children
are ſubjected only to temporal Death as the
Confequent and Penalty of Adam's Sin, and
are (if I may fo exprefs it) fecured from Eternal
Mifery by being prevented from growing
up
་
The CONCLUSION.
353
up to imitate the Iniquities of their Fathers,
and to expoſe themselves to God's Eternal
Judgment and Damnation.
If fome Perfon fhould again object, Why
then may not Men flay their own Infants or
any other Children out of Kindneſs, to pre-
vent their growing up to commit actual Sins,
and expofing themſelves to a Refurrection and
Judgment and Everlaſting Mifery? I answer,
thefe two Ways.
1.) Becauſe this is directly contrary to the
Moral Law whereby God hath appointed to
govern Man, viz. Thou shalt not kill; and the
Laws of Men, as well as the Law of God,
almoſt univerſally forbid all Murther of the
human Race, and require Blood for Blood.
It is God's Prerogative to cut off by Death
whom he pleaſes, but he hath not given this
Prerogative to Man, nor will he break in
upon the Grand Rule of his Government of
this World, ſo far as to give this piece of Sove-
reignty out of his own hand.
(2.) Becauſe if Men might flay any Chil-
dren at their own pleafure, they might flay
fome who would have grown up to Virtue
and Religion, and then this Infant-Murder
would cut thefe Children off from future and
eternal Happineſs, which would have been
very unjuft, and which God will never per-
mit.
Upon the whole it is evident, that the
Scripture having never in any Text that I can
A a
find
354
The CONCLUSION.
find foretold the Refurrection or Judgment
of the Infants of finful Parents, and having
pronounced the word Death only, as the
Penalty of Adam's Sin or their Intereft in it,
and denounced the final Judgment and E-
ternal Mifery only against actual Sinners
there is abundant Reafon to believe that God
has knowingly and wifely appointed and or-
der'd all theſe things, fo that his Providence
might be fecure from all Charges of Cruelty
and Injuftice: And perhaps this Hypothefis
which I have here propofed, is nothing elſe
but theſe very Appointments and Tranfactions
of God fet in their proper Scriptural Light to
guard his Providence from Cenfure.
If I have fail'd in theſe Attempts, let it be
remember'd that all the new or peculiar Sen-
timents which are found here, are meerly of-
fer'd to the World as probable Conjectures
drawn from Reafon and Scripture, to relieve
the Difficulties which feem to hang on re-
vealed Truths. If the Method propofed is
not fufficient for this Purpoſe, I fhall rejoice
to fee better Solutions of them given, and to
behold them fet in a fairer Light. Where
I have labour'd to follow the Track of Rea-
fon, it hath only been in order to do more
abundant Honour to Divine Revelation, to
which I intirely fubmit my Faith and Prac-
tice; and I folemnly renounce whatſoever is
inconfiftent with it, for that cannot be Right
Reafon
And
+
The CONCLUSION. 355
And let us remember alfo, that if all our
Attempts of this kind ſhould fail, yet we may
reft affur'd of this, that God is ever Wife and
Righteous and Good, that all his Tranfacti-
ons with Men, how intricate and repugnant
foever they may feem to us, are highly con-
fiftent in his own View, and harmonize with
all his own Perfections: We may be affur'd
that we are finful and unhappy Creatures in
our felves, that there is an all-fufficient Salva-
tion provided thro' Jefus Christ the Son of
God, and that every one fhall certainly be a
joyful Partaker of it who follows the ap-
pointed Methods of Divine Grace. True Re-
pentance and a fincere Return to God, with
Faith in his Mercy, fo far as it is diſcover'd
to Men under every Diſpenſation, and a per-
fevering Life of Holiness in the Love of God
and our Neighbour, fhall not fail of being
crown'd at laft with the Favour of God and
Eternal Life thro' the Mediation of Jefus
Christ our Lord: And whatfoever Clouds of
Ignorance and Darknefs may continue to fur-
round us here while we are ftudying the My-
fteries of Grace or Providence, yet we fhall
fee things hereafter in a Divine Light, where
all Difficulties and Darknefs fhall vaniſh for
ever.
A a 2
THREE
THREE
ESSAYS
Added by way of
APPENDIX:
Wherein are contain'd
Some Plain REPRESENTATIONS of
Important Points relating to the
foregoing QUESTIONS.
I. A Debate, Whether the prefent Miferies
of Man, when confidered alone, and diſtinct
from his Sins, will prove his early Apo-
ftacy from GOD?
II. A plain and eaſy Explication of the Doc-
trine of Imputed Sin and imputed Righ-
teouſneſs.
III. On the Guilt and Defilement of Sin, and
how far they may be transferred to others.
A a 3
359
FIRST
THE
ESSAY.
A Debate, Whether the preſent Mi-
Series of Man alone will
Apoftacy from God?
prove his
SECT. I.
The Follies and Miferics of Mankind in a
general Survey.
T
HE Miferies and Follies of the Crea-
ture Man have been an ancient and
endleſs Subject of Declamation a-
mong the Writers of the Heathen World,
as well as among Chriftians. A juft Survey
of human Nature, from its Entrance into
Life, till its Retirement from this vifible
World behind the Curtain of Death, would
furnish us with abundant Matter of Sorrow
and Complaint; and we fhould be ready to
fay concerning Man,
"Is this the Creature
"that is fo fuperiour to the reft of the In-
A a 4
"habitants
2.
360 Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
"habitants of this Globe, as to require fuch
et
(c
peculiar Care of the Creator in forming
him? Is this the Animal furnifhed with
"fuch tranfcendent Powers of Thought and
..
Rcafon, whereby he is faid to be exalted
"above Brute-Animals? Docs he deferve
"fuch an illuftrious Defcription as Ovid
"gives of him, after he had defcribed the
"Formation of Beafts, Birds and Fiſhes?".
Sanctius his animal, mentifque capacius alte
Deerat adhuc, & quod dominari in cætera
poffet,
Natus Homo eft. Sive hunc divino femine
cretum
Ille opifex rerum, mundi melioris origo,
Finxit in effigiem moderantûm cuncta Deo-
rum:
Pronaque cum Spectent animalia cætera
terram
Os homini fublime dedit, cœlumque tueri
Fuffit, & erectos ad fidera tollere vultus.
Thus in English.
A Creature of a more exalted kind,
Was wanting yet, and then was Man defign'd;
Confcious of Thought, of more capacious
Breaſt,
For Empire form'd, and fit to rule the Reft.
Whether with Particles of heavenly Fire
The God of Nature did his Soul inſpire,
And
prove his Degeneracy? 361
And borrowing from our Earth, on that
bleft Day,
(Our new-made Earth) a better fort of Clay,
And moulding up the Mafs in fhape like ours,
Form'd a bright Image of th' all-ruling
Powers.
Whilft all the mute Creation downwards bend
Their Sight, and to their Earthy Mother tend,
Man looks aloft; and with erected Eyes
Beholds his own Hereditary Skies.
One would almoſt imagine this Heathen
Poet had read the Account which Moſes the
Jewish Hiftorian gives of the original Forma-
tion of Man, Gen. i. 26. And God faid, Let
us make Man in our Image, after our Like-
ness; and let them have Dominion over
the Fish, and the Fowl, and the Cattle.
And Chap. ii. 7. And the Lord God formed
Man of the Duft of the Ground, and
breathed into his Noftrils the Breath of
Life, and Man became a living Soul.
If Man was formed in the Image of God,
certainly he was a holy and à happy Being;
but what is there like Holiness or Happi-
nefs now found running thro' the Rank of
Creatures that is called by the Name of Man?
Are there any of the Brutal Kind that do not
more regularly anfwer the Defign of their
Creation, and act more agreeably to their
Nature, than this illuftrious thing MAN, that
was made to govern them all? Are there
any
362 Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
any of the Brutes of the Land, the Water or
the Air, that we ever find acting fo much be-
low their original Character as Mankind does?
And are there any Tribes amongſt them, thro'
which Pain, Vexation and Miſery are fo plen-
tifully diſtributed as among the Sons and
Daughters of the firft Man?
This Globe of Earth, if it were to be fur-
vey'd by fome Spirit, fome immortal Being
of the fuperiour Regions, and ranfack'd thro'
all the Dimenfions and Corners of it which
are inhabited by our Species of Creatures, it
would be found fuch a Theatre of Folly and
Madneſs, fuch a Maze of mingled Vice and
Mifery, as would move the Compaffion of
his refined Nature to a painful Degree, and
almoſt fink it into Sympathy and Sorrow, if
it were not temper'd and reftrain'd by a clear
Sight of the juft and wife Conduct of Pro-
vidence, in permitting all this Miſchief. But
if all theſe wide and difmal Scenes could be
grafp'd in one View, by any Mortal of a ten-
der and compaffionate Make, perhaps it would
agonize his better Powers into Confufion and
Phrenzy. Should the Poets or Philofophers,
form a juft Idea of it, as far as our common
Capacities extend, there would be criminal
and abfurd Matter enough to furnish a Horace
or a Juvenal with a thouſand Jefts and Sar-
cafms on their own Species, or rather with
a thoufand full Satires. There would be Fol-
lies enough to fhake the Lungs of a thoufand
De-
prove his Degeneracy?
363
Democritus's with endleſs Laughter, and
there would be Miſeries enough to raiſe a
Fountain of Tears for each fingle Heracli-
tus, if fuch a one had lived in every City
of the Univerſe, and in every Age of Man
fince the firft Creation.
SECT. II.
A particular View of the Miseries of Man.
UT we will lay afide the Sins and Fol-
Bo
lies of Mankind, and only take his Mi-
ſeries into our prefent View; let us fee whe-
ther from them alone we cannot infer, that
we are a very degenerate Race of Beings, with
moſt evident Marks of the Diſpleaſure of our
Maker upon us, and under the Puniſhment
of the wife and righteous Governor of all
things. *
Let us take a turn amongst the Hiftorians
of the World; and what is almoſt all History
but a Deſcription of the Wretchedneſs of
Mankind, under the Miſchiefs they bring
upon themſelves, and the Judgments of the
great God? The Scenes of Happineſs and
Peace are very thin fet among all the Na-
tions,
*I hope the Reader will forgive a fhort Repetition of fome
of the fame Thoughts which may be found under the firft
Question in this Book; for 'twas hardly poffible to avoid 'em ;
eſpecially confidering, that thefe two Difcourfes were written
with a diſtinct View, and were not at firft defigned to be
publiſhed in the fame Book.
364 Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
tions, and they have had rather a tranfient
Glimpſe of theſe bright Scenes here and there
appearing and vaniſhing, than any Preten-
ces to durable Felicity. Let us ſpread our
Thoughts over the Univerſe, what publick
Defolations by Plague and Famine, by Storms
and Earthquakes, by Wars and Peftilence,
which ftrike and affect our Ears continually:
even the Report is terrible. What fecret Mif-
chiefs reign among Men, which pierce into
the Soul, and corrode the Vitals of Nature?
What ſmarting Wounds and Bruiſes, what
lingering Diſeaſes attack and torment the
animal Frame ?
Surely thoſe who fuftain thefe Maladies
would not fuppofe our great Poet had exag-
gerated Matters when he defcribes them thus,
as fet before Adam our Forefather by the
Angel Raphael:
A Lazar-Houſe it ſeem'd wherein were laid
Numbers of all difeas'd, all Maladies
Of ghastly Spafm,or racking Torture, Qualms
Of Heart-fick Agony, all feverous kinds,
Convulfions, Epilepfies, fierce Catarrhs,
Inteftine Stone and Ulcer, Colic Pangs,
Damoniac Phrenzie, moaping Melancholie,
And Moonftruck Madness, pining Atrophie,
Confumption and wide-wafting Pestilence,
Dropfies, and Afthmas, and Joint-racking
Rheums.
Dire was the Toffing, deep the Groans, De-
Spair
Tended
prove his Degeneracy? 365.
1
Tended the Sick, bufy from Couch to Couch;
And over them triumphant Death his Dart
Shook, but delay'd to ſtrike, tho' oft invok'd.
But Lazar-Houfes are not the only Places
whereby we may judge of the Numbers of the
Wretched. Where is the Family, if there
are ſeven or eight Perfons in it, wherein there
is not one or other of them afflicted with
ſome troubleſome Malady, or ſome tireſome
Weakneſs or Inconvenience? Theſe indeed
are often-times wifely concealed by the Per-
fons who ſuffer them, and by the Families
where they dwell. But theſe are the Miſeries
which are diſcover'd, in a glaring Light, in the
Hofpitals, the Infirmaries, and the Bed-
lams, which are provided by the Publick
for the Poor: And if we were to walk round
a Nation, we ſhould find perhaps that in every
twenty or thirty Houfholds, there were fome
afflicted and miferable Creatures, that would
be fit Company for theſe publick Monuments
of Unhappineſs, if their private Circumftan-
ces did not extend to make Provifion for their
Support and Relief; and in the whole, they
would be enough to make half a Province in
a Nation, rather than a Town or a Village.
Let us proceed a little in this Enquiry.
What Toils and Hardſhips, what Dangers and
Deaths, what inward Anxieties and Sorrows,
Diſappointments and Calamities, are diffuſed
and ſcatter'd thro' every Age and Country of
Man-
366 Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
Mankind? Do not the Rich feel them as well
as the Poor, and the Prince together with the
Peaſant? Are they not all teized with their
own reſtleſs and tormenting Appetites which
are never fatisfied, but are ftill returning upon
them, and their impetuous Paffions give them
no Reft? What keen Anguifh of Mind arifes
from Pride, and Envy, and Refentment?
What Tortures and racking Difquietudes do
Diſappointments in Ambition, or Love, and
wild Jealoufy, infufe into the Bofoms of the
Rich, while the Poor, together with thefe
fame inward Vexations and corroding Mala-
dies of the Mind, fuftain alfo endleſs Drud-
geries in procuring their daily and common
Subfiftence? And how are many of them half-
ftarved in their forry Cottages, or fed and
nouriſhed at a miferable rate?
Let us furvey this forry Creature MAN
thro' every Stage: First, mark what a wretch-
ed Figure he makes at his entrance into Life.
This Animal (fays Pliny) who is to govern
the rest of the Creatures round him, how he
lies bound hand and foot, all in Tears, and
begins his Life in Mifery and Puniſhment ;
and for this only Reafon, because he is born.
Thus, that Roman Author, in his Preface to
one of his Writings.
If we trace the Education of the human
Race, from the Cradle to the State of mature
Age, and especially among the Poor, which
are the bulk of all Nations, the Wretchedneſs
I
of
prove bis Degenaracy? 367
1
of Mankind will appear ſtill in a mournful
Light. How are they dragged up in their
tender Age in Europe, Asia, Africa, and A-
merica, thro' a long Train of Nonſenſe, Mad-
neſs, and Miſeries? What Millions of uneafy
Senfations doth their Infancy and Childhood
endure by reaſon of thoſe Pains and preffing
Neceffities which in their youngest Years
they can tell only in Cries and Groans, and
which their Parents in extreme Poverty can-
not relieve, or they are fo brutiſh and favage
that they will not do it? How wretchedly
are theſe young Generations hurried onward
thro' the Folly and Weakness of Childhood,
under theſe Miſeries, till the Addition of new
Calamities, from their own Crimes and Mad-
neffes, their ungovern'd Appetites and Paf-
fions, fwells the Load to a huge and painful
Degree? They practiſe what they have feen
with their Fathers, and are plunged into early
Miſchief.
As Youth advances, the Ferments of the
Blood riſe higher, and the Appetites and the
Paffions become much ftronger, and give
more abundant Vexation to the Race of Man-
kind, than they do to any of the young Bru-
tal Creation, whether in Air, Earth or Sea.
Their natural Appetites are abundantly re-
lieved and ſatisfied without thofe vexing
Cares, Anxieties and Inconveniencies, which
befet Mankind of both Sexes in the fame part
of Life. The fame Defires and Inclinations
which
368 Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
N
which belong to the reft of the animal kind,
attack the human Race alfo, but with greater
Rage and Violence, and feem to demand their
preſent Gratification: And that, as has been
obferved by Moralifts, not at one Seafon of
the Year only, but at all Seafons, with more
Conftancy than in other Creatures, and give
the younger Crouds of Mankind many more
Difturbances.
The All-wife God the Creator, for juſt and
kind Deſigns and Reaſons, has limited the
Gratification of theſe Appetites by Rules of
Virtue and Piety: But perhaps theſe very
Rules and Confinements, however holy, just
and good, have ferved very much through
the Corruption of our Nature, to irritate and
provoke Mankind to greater Exceffes, and
purſue their vitiated animal Inclinations with
warmer Violence than ever Man would have
been expoſed to in the days of Innocence. So
the Heathen Writers confefs:
Nitimur in vetitum femper, cupimufque
negata.
We are ever defiring forbidden things, and
prefs after unlawful Delights. So St. Paul
acknowledges, Rom. vii. 8. Sin, taking occa-
fion by the Commandment, wrought in me
all manner of Concupifcence. So a wild
young Bull or a Lion would beat themſelves
againſt the Grates and reftraining Bars of their
Priſon,
prove his Degeneracy?
369
Priſon, and make more furious Affaults there
togain their full Freedom. And in the midft
of theſe diſtracting Circumſtances of Man-
kind, between the Law of God and their
own Appetites, they lead fometimes but a
miferable and moſt unquiet Life.
If their Inclinations are gratify'd in an un-
lawful manner, what Anguifh of Confcience,
what inward Vexations and keen Reflections
of Mind perpetually haunt and torment them!
What terrible and prefling Temptations af-
fault them to conceal their Shame, by the
Murder of themſelves, or the harmleſs Babes
to whom they gave Birth and Life! How
fhameful and hateful are the Scenes of Life
into which they bring their wretched Off-
fpring? How innumerable and grievous the
Inconveniencies which they entail upon their
young spurious Defcendants? What lafting
Reproach and Diftrefs, with Beggary and long
Sorrow?
Or, if they purſue their Defires in a law-
ful manner, how unhappy are the Bulk of
the extreme Poor? And yet how many thou-
fands are there that are but juft capable of
providing Food and Raiment for themfelves
in the World, who, after fome Conflict with
theſe reſtleſs Inclinations, ruſh into the Con→
nubial State and Mifery at once? How un-
able are they to provide the fame Neceffarics
for a young Nurſery of Mortals, a new in-
creafing Generation? What endlefs Sollici
B b
tudes,
370 Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
tudes, night and day, afflict them in their
Contrivances to fupport themſelves and their
Infant-Brood? And what a length of Years
is it before thefe young helpleſs Creatures
can poffibly releafe their Parents from this
Care and Anxiety, and are capable of pro-
viding Food and Raiment for themſelves?
Would the Affairs of human Life in Infancy,
Childhood, and Youth, have ever been con-
ftituted in ſuch a fore and painful Situation, if
Man had been fuch a Being as God at firſt
made him; and if he had always ftood obe-
dient to his Maker, and continued in his Fa-
vour? Could Divine Wiſdom and Goodneſs
admit of thefe Scenes, if there had not been
fome great and univerfal Degeneracy ſpread
over all the Race, which, by the wife and
righteous Permiffion of God, exerts it felf
fome way or other in every Stage of Life?
•
If we follow this Track which Mankind
treads to the Perfection of Manhood, the
Age of publick Appearance and Activity upon
the Stage of the World, what fhall we find
there but infinite Cares, Labours and Toil,
attended with fond Hopes, almoſt always
fruftrated, warm Wiſhes fcarce ever fulfill'd,
endleſs Croffes and Difappointmens, thro'
ten thouſand Accidents that are every moment
flying acroſs this mortal Stage; and whatever
their Purſuits be, whether Honour or Wealth,
Eaſe or Pleaſure, fome intervening Incidents
or Oppofitions blaft all their Defigns, and
plunge
prove his Degeneracy?
371
plunge them into long Vexation. As for the
Poor, who have no fuch Purfuits, but feek
their Bread from day to day, how does the
fultry Toil exhauft their Lives in Summer,
and what pinching ftarving Wretchedness do
they feel among wintry Snows and Storms?
How is a miferable and diftreffed Life fuftain'd
among all the Fatigues and Pains of Nature,
the Oppreffion, Cruelty and Scorn of the
Rich, and their own inbred Maladies both
of Body and Mind, as I faid before?
Let us follow on the Track of this forry
Life, and enter into the Scenes of old and
decrepit Age; How innumerable and how
inexpreffible are the Difafters and Sorrows,
the Groans and Aches, the Pains and Wretch-
edneffes that fpring up every where to meet
this poor long-liv'd Animal on the Borders of
the Grave, before they plunge him into it?
And indeed is there any Perfon upon Earth,
high or low, without fuch Diftreffes and Dif-
ficulties, fuch crolling Accidents and per-
plexing Cares, fuch Troubles, fuch painful
Infirmities, fuch difquicting Fears, Anxictics
and Sorrows, in fome or other Stage of Life,
as muft pronounce Mankind upon the whole
a miferable Being? Whatſoever Scenes of
Happineſs feem to attend him in any fhining
Hour, there is a dark Cloud that fuddenly
cafts a Gloom over them, and the pleafing
Viſion vanilhes as a Dream.
Bb 2
And
372 Effay I. Can Man's Miſery
And after all thefe Sufferings of real Sor-
row, and theic painted Deluſions of Joy,
how conſtant is the Tyranny of Death in its
Ravages, thro' our whole Race? How for-
midable and painful are the Avenues to his
dark Dominion? How full of Terror and
Darkness, of Thorns and Briars, and of ex-
treme Anguiſh, is our Defcent to the Grave?
The Diftreffes and Miſeries of our Courfe
thro' this Life, as well as the Entrance into
it, and the Departure out of it, are fo nume-
rous and fo mournful among all our Race,
that we can only fay, He is the happiest of
Men who has the fewest of them: But even
the feweſt Miſeries that any Man has, if put
into an equal Balance, perhaps would out-
weigh all the real and folid Comforts of his
prefent Life put together, if it were utterly
abftracted from all future Hopes. And does
Mankind now look like a Creature in favour
with his Maker? Or has he not rather evident
Marks upon him of the great Diſpleaſure of
the God that created him?
Perhaps fome will cry out here, in direct
Oppofition to this Sentiment, that notwith-
ſtanding all thefe Scenes of Mifery which are
open'd and ſpread abroad in the World, yet
ftill the greatest part of Men live comfortably
enough, and with tolerable Satisfaction, ac-
cording to the Condition and Rank of their
Natures on this Globe of Earth. Are there
not a thouſand Delights and Satisfactions ftill
found
f
prove his Degeneracy?
373
found among Mankind in every Age and Na-
tion? How ſweet and relifhing are the Plea-
fures of daily Food to fatisfy Appetite, and
to repair Nature, and all the rich Variety of
Fruits to refreſh us, and of Drinks to quench
our Thirst? Is it not fweet Sicep that renews
our Vigour, and gives cafe to our weary
Limbs and Spirits? What is the delightful
Converſation of Friends, and the mutual
Bleflings of Love and Friendfhip, of Advice,
Comfort and Affiftance from our natural
Kindred and our Neighbours? Do not thefe
render human Life among the Bulk of Man-
kind tolerable and cafy, if not a chofen and
a defirable Good?
In Anſwer to this: Let us enquire a little,
What are theſe boafted Pleafures which are
fuppofed to recompence the Sorrows of Life,
and give the Balance to Happiness in this pre-
fent State? Are they not most of them owing
to fome previous Pain or Uncafinefs? 'Tis
the Pain of Hunger and Thirſt that makes
Food and Drink fo relishing: 'Tis the Pain of
Weariness or Grief that renders Sleep fo re-
freshing. And as for the Bleflings of Love
and Friendship, among Neighbours and Kin-
dred, &c. Do they not very often, and for
the most part, produce as much or more vcx-
ing Difquietude than they do Satisfaction and
Peace? I mean, they produce thefe Evils, not
in and of themſelves, and by the original Na-
ture of things, but by reafon of the endlefs
Humours
Bb 3
374 Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
Humours and Follies, the Errors and Paffions
of finful fallen Mankind, who enjoy and
abufe thefe Bleflings.
Again, are not a very great part of theſe
Pleaſures owing to fuch an Indulgence of Ap-
petites and fenfible Satisfactions, which by the
corrupt and evil Biafs of our Natures become
dangerous and fatal Temptations to draw us
into Guilt and Folly, into Intemperance and
Shame, into painful Anguifh of Confcience
and bitter Self-Reflection? And do not theſe
very Pleaſures of the Body prove the Ruin of
ten thouſand Souls? Thefe Pleatures might
be uſed indeed with Innocence and Wifdom;
but the unruly and vicious Appetites and Paf-
fions of Men turn theſe fenfual Delights more
frequently into a Curfe, which God in his
original Creation defign'd for Bleflings: I
fay, God the Creator at first defign'd them fo;
but if you take them now with all theſe un-
happy Temptations, thefe powerful and mif
chievous Influences, which by the Folly and
Guilt of Man are attached to them, they do
not much look like the Pleafures provided by
a God for his innocent Creature Man : Scarce
can they be called abfolutely Bleffings, unleſs
our Natures were better fuited to make use of
them without fuch perpetual and prevailing
Danger and Guilt.
Think again, how fhort and tranfient are
the Pleafures of Life in compariſon of the
Pains of it? How vanishing the ſweeteſt Sen-
fations
prove his Degeneracy?
375
༢
}
fations of Delight? And in many Families
and Perfons, how long and durable the Days,
the Months, the Years of Fatigue or Pain,
or bitter Sorrow? How ſmall is the Propor-
tion of fenfible Pleaſure to that of Trouble,
or Pain, or Uneafinefs? And how far is it
over-balanced by the Maladies, or Miſeries,
the Fears or Sorrows of Life, among the
greatest part of Mankind?
And as for Intellectual Pleafures, how very
few are there in this World who take Satif
faction in them? And among thoſe few how
many Contentions and Quarrels? How many
croffing Objections, bewilder'd Enquiries,
unhappy Miſtakes and Errors, as well as Fa-
tigues and Vexations, are mingled even with
intellectual Enjoyments here on Earth? He
that increaſeth Knowledge increaſeth Sor-
row, faith the wifeft of Men; and upon the
whole Computation he calls it, Vanity and
Vexation of Spirit.
in
And if we ſhould add to all thefe Evils,
this moſt unhappy Circumftance which be-
longs to every natural Man who grows up
this World, (viz.) The great Hazard of his
living in Sin and Rebellion againſt his Maker
in the World, and of being fent down to
long Mifery, as a juft Punishment for it in an-
other; this feems to increaſe the wretched
Condition of Mankind in this prefent State
to fuch a degree, that Words cannot exprefs
it, nor Heart conceive. Say now, Does
B b 4
Man-
376 Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
Mankind, coming into the World in this
view, look like an innocent Tribe of Crea-
tures, or in the original State of Favour with
their Maker?
* To talk of folid Comfort and Satisfaction,
and real Happineſs to be enjoy'd in this Life,
is contrary to all the common Senfe and Ex-
perience of almoft every thoughtful Man who
has taken a juft Survey of thefe numerous
Scenes of Evil. Sorry Satisfaction indeed,
and poor Comfort in the midst of fuch fupc-
rior Miferics!
If a Man were placed in fome upper Re-
gion, and had the Wifdom of an Angel, with
all that juft Knowledge and Experience what
true Happiness is, and could look down
from above, and take a complete Survey of hu-
man Life, even in its beft Circumftances, as
things now ftand, and as it is fuppofed to be
enjoy'd by fome of the happieſt Men on Earth,
without the hopes of a better Life afterwards,
he would be very loth to accept of it; nor
indeed would it be worth his acceptance.
Is there an Angel in Heaven who would
not rather chufe to lofe his Existence at once,
than to be ſent into our World, and trace the
Round of twenty or thirty, or threefcore
Years of human Life, without any Hereafter?
And indeed, were it not from a Principle of
Obedience to God, and from the Hopes of a
happy Futurity, after we have pioufly and
honourably fuftain'd the Labours, Miferics
and
prove his Degeneracy?
377
and Trials of this Life, I know not what
wife Man would willingly come into thefe
tirefome Scenes of Mortality, or go through
them with any Patience.
What? To be train'd up from Infancy,
under fo many neceffary Follies, unavoidable
Prejudices, and wretched Delufions, through
the Power of Fleſh and Senfe? To be funk
into fuch grofs Ignorance both of our Souls,
our better Selves, and of the glorious Being
that made us? To lie under fuch heavy Shades
of Darkneſs, fuch a world of Miftakes and
Errors as are mingled with our little faint
Glimpfes, and low Notices of God our Cre-
ator? What? To be fo far diftant from God,
and endure fuch a long Eftrangement and
utter Abfence from the wifeft and beft of Be-
ings, in this foolish and flcfhly State, with
fo few and flender Communications with or
from him?
What? To be in Bondage to ſo many
powerful and difquieting Appetites, fo many
reſtleſs andunruly Paffions, which want the
perpetual Guard of a jealous Eye, and a ſtrong
Restraint over them, and which will be
ever breaking out into fome new Mif-
chief, notwithſtanding our everlafting Watch-
fulness?
What? To be ever furrounded with fuch
fort of dangerous Delights of Senfe, which
tho' they were much fafer in the innocent
State, yet are now conftant and ftrong Temp-
tations
I
378 Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
Effay I.
tations to Folly, Guilt, and Mifery? To have
fcarce any Joys but what are cloſely attended
with huge Dangers? To have no Satisfactions
but what we are liable to pay dear for by ex-
ceffive or irregular Indulgence, and which
are most likely to become the Means of
Tranfgreffion and lafting Anguifh, either to
the Mind, or the Body, or both? Can this be
a defirable State for any wife or angelic Be-
ing, who knows what Happineſs is, to be
join'd to fuch a Body as ours, to be united to
fuch a diforderly Machine of Flesh and Blood,
with all its uneafy and unruly Ferments?
Thefe which I have now mentioned are in-
dwelling Miſchiefs, which teize and defile the
Soul: But there's another Train of inbred
Miferics which affect this fenfible Nature of
ours, this animal Frame, with huge Agonies
and Diftreffes. What wife Spirit would
willingly put on fuch Fleſh and Blood as ours
is, with all the Springs of Malady and Pain,
Anguiſh and Diſeaſe in it? What? To be in
danger continually of the racking Difquietudes
of Gout and Stone, and all the Distempers I
cited from Milton's Poem? What? To have
Nature worn out by flow and long Aches
and Infirmities, and lie lingring for many
Years on the Borders of Death before we can
find a Grave?
And, befides all theſe inbred Evils, to be
ever expoſed to thofe innumerable Grievan-
ces which come from abroad? What? to be
ever
1
prove his Degenaracy?
379
:
ever fubject to the common Dangers, to the
numberleſs Caſualties and Injuries of Nature,
to the infinite Bruifes of the Fleſh, and Mif
chiefs which attend and afflict this mortal
Life, and to bear the endleſs Inconveniencies.
of the changing Seafons, Frofts and Storms,
and fultry Sun-beams in this elementary World,
and which more than half of Mankind are ex-
poſed to, even with little or no Relief? What?
To be ſubject to the frequent Infults of In-
juftice, to the Frauds of the Crafty, the Vio-
lence of the Great, and the Reproaches and
Oppreffions of evil Neighbours, to endure
the private Bickerings and domeftick Quar-
rels of Families, the Feuds and Refentments,
and teizing Vexations of Kindred, with tor-
menting Jealoufies and Uncafineffes among
neareſt Friends? To be ever disturbed with
the Hurry, Buzz, and Confufion of real or
pretended Men of Bufinefs, and to lie open
to the Follies, Weakneffes, and Impertinen-
ccs of thoſe we muft daily converfe with? Add
to this the Terrors and Tears of Infancy, the
ridiculous Humours, the filly Vexations, and
the real Sorrows of Childhood, with all the
Snares and Mifchiefs that attend our Youth,
the laborious and uneafy Toils of acquiring
any Knowledge, and fulfilling the neceffary
Employments of Life in our young and vigo-
rous Years, and the rubbing thro' long Suc-
ceffions of Cares, both perfonal and publick,
with all the private teizing Uneafineffes which
arife
380 Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
arife from Family and Domeftick Concerns
in a manly State.
Go on with thefe Trains of Wretchedness,
the grievous Occurrences and Difafters, the
Intemperance and fucceeding Indifpofitions to
which at all Ages we are continually liable, the
Rifques and Hazards we muft fometimes run,
both of Health, and Eafe and Safety, in pro-
curing the Neceffaries of Life, the conftant
Decays of manly Vigour, amidſt the Infirmi-
ties and the Aches of old Age, the Pangs of
diffolving Nature, and the Agonies of Death;
I fay, upon a complete Survey of all theſe
Hardſhips which the wifeft and beſt of Men
cannot eſcape, I hardly think there is onc
Spirit in Heaven, or one Man of equal Wif
dom, if fuch were found on Earth, that would
accept of this Life in its common Circum-
ſtances, or even its moſt favourable Appear-
ances, if his Existence were to terminate at
Death, and he had no Refpect or Reference.
to a better Life to come.
Solomon, that wife Prince and Philoſopher,
feems to be much of this mind, when, after
a Survey of the whole Scheme of human
Life in its Variety of Scenes, without the
Views of Hereafter, he declares that he praised
the Dead which were already dead more
than the living which are yet alive: Tea,
faith he, better is he than both they, even
he who hath not been, and hath not feen
the
prove his Degeneracy? 381
the evil Work that is done under the Sun.
Ecclef. iv. 2, 3.
* And upon the Compariſon
of things, I must confefs my felf of Solomon's
mind; for it appears to me, that the Cala-
mities and Miſeries of Life are fo numerous,
as to over-balance all its real Comforts, and
fufficiently fhew that Mankind, in its pre-
fent State, is not its Maker's Favourite, but
lies under evident Marks of his Difpleaſure,
on the account of fome great and univerfal
Degeneracy from the Innocence of that State
wherein Man was firft created.
Having drawn this Inference from all the
foregoing Views of human Life and Circum-
ftances, I would propofe here, in their fulleft
Light, the three strongest Objections I ever
met with, or that I could ever think of, a-
gainſt all theſe Reafonings, and then endea
vour to answer them.
SECT. III.
Anfwers to Objections against this Argu-
I.
T
ment.
HE First Objection is this: Can
Mankind in general be called mi-
ferable Creatures, when there is not one
in
That great Man of Antiquity Cicero, is much of Solomon's
opinion, when he afferts Humanam Conditionem fatis per fe mi-
feram effe, in his Difcourfe of Confolation; and in the fame
he adds alfo, Non nafci longe optimum, nec in hos fcopulos vitæ
incidere.
382 Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
C
in a hundred of them but ufes all his Art
and Skill to preferve himſelf in this Life, and
continue his Situation? Do not all Mankind
ftrive to fecure their Lives, and maintain their
abode in this State, with all the fuppofed
Miſeries of it? Now, muft not every Man
judge for himſelf, whether he is happy or no?
Surely he would not feek to continue his
Exiſtence in Mifery: And therefore if the real
Sorrows of Life were greater than the Plea-
fures and Satisfactions of it, every Man would
be glad to be rid of his Life, which makes
him capable of thefe Sorrows?
I answer, in the first place, that wherefo-
ever any thing of a future State of Rewards
and Puniſhments is known and believed, it is
no wonder Men are unwilling to die; for they
being generally confcious of fo much Sin and
Guilt, cannot think themſelves to have a cer-
tain Claim to future Happinefs; and therefore
when they die, they know or fear they muſt
be expoſed to the Puniſhment which is pre-
par'd for Criminals in another World. Their
Averfion therefore to Death, and the Fear of
it, even tho' they are in a miferable State, ari-
fes not ſo much from any Senſe of preſent
Happineſs, which they are loth to loſe, as
from a Fear or Sufpicion of taking a dreadful
Leap in the dark into greater Mifery.
There are ſome of our English Poets who
have faid very pertinent things on this occa-
fion, and I have read the Citations of them
on this Subject.
Diftruft
prove his Degeneracy?
383
Diftruft and Darkness of a future State
Make poor Mankind fo fearful of their Fate.
Death in it felf is nothing: But we fear
Tobe we know not what, we know not where.
And another thus:
Aye; but to die, and go we know not whither :
-for this warm Body to become
A kneaded Clod, and the delighted Spirit
To bathe in fiery Floods, or to refide
In thrilling Ice :* or to be worse than worst
Of those we fancy howling in long Torment;
This is too horrible.
The wearieft and moft loathed worldly Life
That Pain, Age, Penury and Imprisonment
Can lay on Nature, 'tis a Paradife
To what we fear of Death.
Again, in another place, the fame Writer fays,
If by the Sleep of Death we could but end
The Heart ache, and the thouſand natural
Shocks
That Flesh is Heir to; 'tis a Confummation
Devoutly to be wish'd.
Oh! who could bear the Whips and Scorns
of Time,
Th Oppreffors Wrongs, the poor Man's Con-
tumely,
The Infolence of Office, and the Spurns
That
*The Poct fuppofes thefe Torments in the future State.
384 Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
That patient Merit of th Unworthy takes,
With all the long Calamities of Life,
When he himself might his Quietus make
With a bare Bodkin? Who would bear fuch
Burdens,
And groan and fweat under a weary Life,
But that the Dread of fomething after
Death,
That undifcover'd Country from whofe Bor-
der
No Traveller returns, puzzles the Will,
And makes us rather bear thofe Ills we have,
Than fly to others which are all unknown ? *
And 'tis very evident daily that Multitudes
would put an end to their own Life at once,
if they were fure they could put an end to
their Souls and all their Nature, and fend
themſelves into Annihilation and Nothing-
nefs. 'Tis this wife and dreadful Guard which
the Bleffed God has fet againſt Self-Murder,
this terrible and eternal Curfe of Hell and
Damnation, which conſtrains many miſearble
Creatures to endure the Sorrows of this Life,
and powerfully with holds them from the
Deſtruction of themſelves. Their many and
wilful Crimes and innumerable Sins of which
they are confcious, forbid their hopes of a
happy Hereafter, and therefore they rather
chufe
* This Author, as we are told by the Criticks, was as well
skilled in defcribing human Nature as any Writer whatfo-
ever; and 'tis only in this View that I have cited his Lings.
prove his Degeneracy?
385
chufe to wear out Life under their preſent and
painful Burdens than plunge into an Eternity
of unknown Miferics. 'Tis one of theſe the
Poct introduces, crying out pathetically,
O that the Everlasting had not fixt
His Canon'gainst Self-Murder!
If you ſhould tell me, the Heathens have no
Knowledge of this Heaven or this Hell which
Chriſtianity and the Bible acquaints us with,
and yet they thro' many Generations are
fond of living, and ftrive to continue long
in this Life, notwithstanding all the pretended
Miferics of it; I would cite fome of the
Ancients, as well as modern Travellers, to
make a Reply for me: They would tell us
that there is fcarce any part of the Heathen
World, where they have not fome Notions
and Fears of Punishment in a future State for
the Sins committed in this Life, and particu
larly in the more polite Nations of Heathe-
nifm, they tell us, how unhappy Self-Mur-
derers are made in that unfeen and future
World. When Virgil has brought his Hero
into the World of Ghofts, he particularly
opens the Scene before him,
Where Minos dooms the guilty Sculs.
The next in Place and Punishment are they,
Who prodigally throw their Souls away.
C c
Fools,
386 Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
Fools, who repining at their wretched State,
And loathing anxious Life have hurried on
their Fate:
With late Repentance, now they would re-
trieve
The Bodies they for fook, and wish to live;
Their Pains and Poverty defire to bear,
To view the Light of Heav'n, and breathe
the vital Air:
But Fate forbids: The Stygian Floods oppofe;
And, with nine circling Streams, the captive
Souls inclofe.
Thus you fee the Heathen Writer makes
this Life miferable enough, tho' he fhews their
greater Wretchedneſs and Mifery, who plunge
themſelves at their own pleaſure into the other
world in order to aboliſh and fly from the
Diftreffes of the preſent Life.
But in the fecond place, I anfwer: Suppoſe
this Averfion to Death, and this Love of Life
to be very univerfal over all the World, and
that without regard to any future State; fup-
poſe that all Mankind had rather continue in
Exiſtence, in the midſt of all their Calamities
and Plagues, than venture into Non-ex-
iftence, and ceafe to be; this will not prove
that Mankind is happy: for the God of Na-
ture, for wife Ends, hath wrought this Love
of Life into our Flefh and Blood originally,
and mingled it with all animal Natures what-
foever, in order to preferve the Works of
his
prove his Degeneracy?
389
his Hands; fo that the Love of Life, or Re-
luctance againſt dying, is owing to the ſtrong
mechanick and animal Principles of Self-pre-
fervation, without any formed and fedate
Judgment of Reaſon, whether it be beft to
continue in Life or no, or whether this Life
has more Happineſs or Mifery.
I answer yet in the third place, that far
the greateſt Part of Mankind do not paſs a
true and juft Judgment on Things, nor wife-
ly balance the right Value of them: All their
Faculties are ingroffed, and their Spirits, as
it were, intoxicated with prefent fenfible
Things they enjoy, and fo they march onward
in the Rounds of human Life, without think-
ing; and therefore as painful, and as mife-
rable as this ſtate is, yet they cannot tell how
to think of parting with it. They bear a
thousand Calamities rather than venture into
Non-exiſtence. A Club of drunken Fellows
in a Priſon, and in Chains, who are to be
fcourged once a day, yet they are fill drink-
ing, and dancing, and indulging their Sport
and Merriment, thoughtless of the Scourge ;
but can thefe Men be called happy? Or will
any wife Man affent to their Judgment of
their own fate?
Perhaps it may be objected flill, that in or-
der to make up the Quantity of Happineſs,
and to judge aright of it; we must take in the
Temper of the Perfon, as well as his Cir-
cumftances of Pain and Pleafure. An indolent
Man
Cc 2
388 Effay
Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
Man may be happy with half the Quantity of
Delights and relifhing Joys, which his gay
and fprightly Neighbour requires to his Hap-
pincts. A Hero may be happy under fuch
Loads of Calamity, as would render a weak
Mind miferable. A vulgar and ignorant Crea-
ture may be happy in the midft of fuch low
and fooliſh Delights, which would difguft the
Wife, and give them Pain. The Glutton and
the Drunkard rejoice in fuch a Happineſs as
would be fcorned and defpifed by a Man of
Virtue and Philofophy. Now if we confider
the Bulk of Mankind of fuch Tempers and
Taftes as they have, they must be faid to be
happy, if they enjoy the Good which they
defire, tho' it be but a forry Good, or rather
an Evil in the Opinion of the Wife and Ra-
tional: And on this account Men generally
do and will prefer Life to Death, and their
Existence here, fuch as it is, to Non-cxiftence,
even tho' there fhould be no Hereafter.
In answer to this Reply, I muft grant it in
a great degree but then I fay that the com-
mon Satisfactions and Delights of this Life,
which the Bulk of Mankind call their Happi-
ness, are most of them of fo low and degene-
rate a nature, and many of them fo criminal,
that it is a fad Sign that the intelligent Crea-
ture Man must be fallen from the original
Excellence of his Nature, from his beft Prin-
ciples of Wisdom, and from the Favour of
his God, before he can make himſelf happy
in
!
prove his Degeneracy?
389
}
in fuch Enjoyments. Let it be called his Hap-
piness, if you will have it fo, fince he chufes
it, and is loth to part with it; yet it is fuch a
paultry Happiness as no Creature of Reaſon
would chufe, if he ftood in the compleat ori-
ginal Rectitude of his Nature, in the Image
and the Love of his Creator, and in the true
Exercife and Vigor of his intellectual and rea-
foning Powers. He must have loft thefe ori-
ginal Glories before he can think himſelf hap-
py in fuch Toys and Follies, amidſt all the Evils
and Calamities that attend this mortal State.
II. The Second Objection is this: If Brutes
fuffer the fame Miferics, and yet they have
never finned, how can theſe Miſeries prove
that Man is an apoftate or degenerate Being?
Do not all Brute-Creatures, the Beafts and Birds,
and the Infects of the Earth, lie continually
fubject to the fame Pains, Calamities, Acci-
dents, Diſeaſes and Death, which attend up-
on Mankind? And did their Progenitors fin
and offend God, or have they themselves of-
fended him? Do not the Cow and the Hind,
and most of the four-footed Mothers bring
forth their Young with extreme Pain? Do not
the Bear and the Lion, and the Wolf, howl
and roar for want of Food, hunt and toil
for their Prey, and live fometimes in ftarving
Circumſtances, pinched with keen Hunger
for whole days together? Is not the Horfe
expoſed to almost as many Maladies as the
Cc 3
Man
390 Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
Man that rides it? And are not the Crea-
tures of this Species extremely miferable un-
der the wild and mad Paffions of their Dri-
vers Survey the Bcafts of Draught or of Bur-
den, under the furious Scourges of the Men
that uſe them. What endlefs Lafhes they
are expofed to, and what rude and pernicious.
Strokes do they bear from any Inftrument
within the Reach of their enraged Rulers,
even while the laborious Creatures are ftrain-
ing all their Sinews, and even burſt their
Nerves and their Eyc-balls in tugging at their
unreaſonable Loads at the Brow of a Hill?
And after a little Food, whereby Nature is
refreſhed, and a little Sleep, wherein Life is
forgotten, thefe wretched Animals are called
again to the Team and Harneſs to undergo
their daily Round of Hardſhips and Miſeries?
And have any of thefe Creatures, or their An-
ceftors, finned againſt God? Are not the Race
of Dogs ever ſnarling, quarrelling and fighting?
And ſurely everlaſting Brawls and Battles are
Mifery enough.
Again, are not the feebler Creatures, both
wild and tame, fubject to the cruel and per-
petual Ravage of Birds and Beaſts of Prey? Da
not theſe Animals live by devouring one ano-
ther, and tearing their Fleſh from their Bones,
cre they are quite dead, and this according to
the very Conftitution of their Natures? And
even the milder Fowls, who feem fo inno-
cent and harmless, the Partridge and the Red-
breaſt,
1
prove his Degeneracy?
391
breaſt, and the Chicken, do they not devour
Millions of Infects, as their conftant and ap-
pointed Food? Are not the mangled Bodies
and Limbs of the Hare and the Sheep, the
Dove and the Thrufh, fubject to extreme
Pain, when they are torn and bruifed, and
half eaten by the Tyger and the Wolf, the
Eagle and the Hawk? And do not all thofe
milder and gentler Creatures occafion Milli-
ons of painful Senfations to the living Infects
which they prey upon, (viz.) the Ants, and
the Flies, and the Worms? And have any of
theſe finned againſt their Maker, or de-
generated from the firft Laws of their Crea-
tion?
Again, I would enquire, Are not harm.
ful and bloody Accidents much more com-
mon among many of the Brutes than they
are amongſt Mankind? A Horfe ftalking over
an Ant-hill fhall cruſh a hundred of the buſy
Inhabitants with his broad and heavy foot, lay
a whole Kingdom in Defolation at once, and
leave Multitudes of their little Members bruis'd
and broken, and the tiny Creatures expiring in
Anguiſh? And if their Organs were ftrong e-
nough to form a Sound which could reach our
Ears, what ſhrill Outcries and Screams, what dy-
ing Groans, what innumerable Accents of Mi
fery would arise from this little mangled Nation,
and pierce the Heart of a compaflionate Tra-
veller on every fuch Accident? And let me ask
now, Did thefe diminutive Animals, thefe
C 6 4.
tiny
392 Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
tiny Atoms of Being ever offend the Hand that
form'd them? Or are they in a worſe State or
Condition than they were at firft formed;
or are they liable to any new Accidents which
their original Nature and Conftitution does
not expoſe them to?
Yet further let us ask, Do not fweeping
Storms and Famine and Peftilence fometimes
make wretched havock among whole Na-
tions of the Brutal Kind, and fpread the Fields
and the Woods with Diftrefs and Defolation?
And in fine, do not the Diftempers of Nature
which are found amongst them, or the length
of Years bring them all down to Death, and
fometimes with tedious Agonics and convul-
five Pangs? And yet can we fay that God is
angry with them, or that they are under any
worfe Circumftances of Life than what God
at firft formed them for?
But let us purfue the Detail of their Mife-
ries yet further. Doth not Man deftroy
thoufands of them continually for his own
Food, and that by divine Appointment? Are
not Birds fnared by the Fowler in a mortal
Net, or fhot in Flocks with murdering Gun-
powder and Engines of fpreading Deftructi-
on? And the reft which efcape by Flight, how
painfully do many of them drag on a lin-
gering Life among Wounds and Bruifes?
Are not Oyfters churned alive between our
Teeth? Are not Millions of living Shell fish
boil'd to death in Caldrons, and finny Ani-
mals
prove his Degeneracy? 393
mals in Shoals taken out of the Sea and Ri-
vers, and while leaping with Life, they are
fry'd in burning Oil, or other fcalding Li-
quids? How many painful Circumſtances muſt
fome of theſe Creatures neceffarily pafs thro',
even if we would catch and fit them for our
Food in the eaficft manner? but generally their
manner of dying is more painful Mifery, and
Death is brought upon Multitudes of the
Brute-Creation, merely as they are the ap-
pointed Support of Men and other Animals,
befides all the other Accidents, Pains and
Difeafes that attend them.
Now notwithſtanding all thefe Miferics
which are ſpread amongſt the various brutal
Tribes in Earth, Air and Water, yet we fup-
poſe them ſtill to paſs all the days of their
Exiſtence according to the Rank of their Be-
ings and the Condition of Nature which the
wife and righteous Governor has affigned
them. We look upon them all as innocent
Beings, for they are capable of no Sin nor
Guilt, and therefore all theſe Tortures and A-
gonies which they fuftain are no Punifhments;
they having never done any thing to give Of
fence to their Maker: and yet, fays the Ob-
jector, you muft either allow thefe Brutes to
have finned against their Creator, fince he ap-
points or fuffers fo many Calamities to attend
them in the very Courſe of Nature, or elſe
you must confefs that Mankind may ſuſtain all
the Scenes of Mifery which are before de-
fcrib'd,
394 Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
fcrib'd, without being under any peculiar
Diſpleaſure of their Maker; and Man at leaft
in his Infancy and Childhood may be ſuch a
Creature ftill as he came out of the hands of
God, notwithſtanding the Vices he learns to
practiſe as he grows up, and all theſe Shapes
of Wretchedneſs which he is expofed to, and
which are dreffed up in this Difcourfe into fo
formidable a Spectacle.
I think I have ſpread out this Objection in
its compleat force; and in order to anſwer it,
I ask leave to propofe the following Confide-
rations.
Confid. 1. It has been the Opinion of ma-
ny Divines that all theſe Varieties of Wretch-
edneſs came upon the brutal Creation, as a
general Curfe for the Sin of Man, who was
the chief Inhabitant and Lord of this lower
World; and therefore thefe Brute-Creatures
which were, as it were, his Slaves, are pu-
niſhed together with him; fo that they ſup-
poſe the Sin of Man brought Mifery into all
the Ranks of this lower Creation, as well as
into his own Kind.
But I muſt confefs I never well approved
of this Solution of the Difficulty; for tho' I
know Men may oftentimes, by their perverſe
Wills, abuſe theſe Creatures of God, yet the
continual Calamities that they fall into by be-
ing the natural and appointed Food of Men
and of one another, as well as by unhappy
Accidents, by injuring, wounding, or killing
Cafualties,
t
prove his Degeneracy?
395
Caſualties, by Diſeaſes, Old Age and Death,
are all ordain'd of God their Creator, as the
God of Nature, and in the common Courſe
of things, without any ſpecial Reference to the
Sins of Men, as the moral and procuring
Cauſe. I can hardly perfuade myſelf that
God made ſo many Millions of fenfible Crea-
tures fo miferable, or would permit them to
be fo, who are in themſelves perfectly finless
and innocent, and have no manner of proper
Relation to any finful Head or Stock, fuch as
the firſt Man is juftly fuppofed to be to his
own Species; of which we have difcourfed
elſewhere. I proceed therefore to the ſecond
Confideration.
• Confid. 2. The Scripture on one hand gives
us a plain Account, that Man originally was
not made to die, and that the Death of Man-
kind was brought in only by Sin, Rom. v. 12.
and all the Evils that attend human Nature
are derived from the fame Spring; becaufe
Man was wholly at his firft Formation in the
Likeneſs of God, who made him in the Image
of his Holiness and his Happineſs, and defign'd
him to live for ever, if he continued innocent.
Gen. i. 26. and ii. 17. But on the other hand,
the Scripture teaches us that Brutes originally
are made to die, and wild Beasts made to be
taken and deftroyed, partly for the natural
Food of Man, and partly for his Safety and
Eafe. Gen. ix. 3. 2 Pet. ii. 12. X
Be-
396 Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
Beſides, it is evident to Reafon, and con-
ftant Obſervation, that Brutes are appointed
for Food for each other, as flying Infects for
the Spider, fmall Birds for the Hawk, and Sheep
for Wolves and Lions. Now this cannot be
without Wounds and Bruifes, and mortal
Convulfions, and Death. 'Tis manifeft there-
fore, that we may infer Guilt from the end-
lefs Pains, Calamities, and Death of Men,
becauſe Scripture reveals it, as the original
Caufe; but we cannot infer the fame from
the Sickneffes, Wounds, and Deaths of Brute-
Creatures, which are made by the God of Na-
ture for Food to others, nor from all the Ap-
pearances of Pain and Anguifh which are
found among the brutal Creation: Thefe
must be folved therefore, and explained fome
other way.
Confid. 3. The Objection here ſuppoſes,
that all the brutal Creation have really the fame
acute Senſations of Anguiſh and Pain as Man-
kind, becauſe many of them make uſe of the
fame fort of Sounds and Motions, Groan-
ings and Howlings, and Diſtortion of Limbs,
as we do when we are under acute Pain. But
'tis hard to ſuppoſe that a righteous and mer-
ciful God fhould inflict fuch keen and extreme
Anguifh upon Millions of Creatures whofe
Race and Generations are finleſs, and per-
fectly innocent, and entirely fuch as they
came out of his own hands; or that he fhould,
in the Courſe of Nature, permit it to be in-
flicted,
prove bis Degeneracy?
397
flicted, without any Degree of Sin or moral
Evil in any of them to deferve it.
And I think therefore it would be much
more eligible and rational with ſome modern
Philofophers to fuppofe that Brutes being
made of meer Matter, have no proper Senfa-
tions of Pleaſure or Pain; or at leaſt that all
their Senfations of Pain are but feeble and
dull, and very imperfect, notwithſtanding all
their hideous Outcries and Convulfions of
their Fleſh; I fay, it is more rational to think
fo, than it is to fuppofe that there is any fuch
fharp agonizing Anguifh and keen Torment
as finful Men indure, provided by the bleffed
God for Creatures which are perfectly inno-
cent, and which have no Relation to any
Guilt or Crime *. Will a God of infinite
Equity and Goodneſs inflict fo much natural
Evil where there is no moral Evil?
'Tis
* If we were to confult Reafon and Scripture jointly on
this head, would they not both incline us to believe, that
brutal Senfations are not quite the fame, nor near fo intenſe as
the Senfations of Mankind? for Scripture, as well as Reaſon,
teach us, that the very Soul and Life and fupreme Principle
of Action in Brutes is their Blood, which goes downward to
Earth when the Brute dies. Solomon and Moſes ſeem to agree
in this Sentiment with fome later Philofophers, Lev. xvii. II,
14. Ecclef. xii. 7. But the Soul of Man is of a noble Origi-
nal, a thinking Spirit proceeding immediately from God, and
at Death afcending upward, or returning to God who gave it.
Now can we fuppofe that meer Blood and Fleſh have any Sen-
fations or Perceptions above the Capacity of Matter? Can they
poffibly have fuch intenfe and keen Senfations as a Spirit, a
Mind, a thinking immaterial Power, akin to Angels, but u-
nited to Flesh and Blood? Would the all-wife and righteous
Creator form Creatures capable of fuch intenfe Torments, who
are not, nor ever were, capable of offending him in the leaſt
Infance?
398 Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
'Tis probable that the Sheep when he re-
ceives the mortal Wound in his Throat, feels
as much Pain as the Swine, tho' the one is
mute and filent, and the other founds out his
Death with grievous Shrieks and Outcries:
and perhaps if we had never feen nor heard
any Creature wounded or dying but a Sheep
or a Fiſh, or an Infect, who are mute, we
fhould never have thought that the brutal
Senfations of Pain were fo keen, as thoſe
which human Nature feels: Therefore if we
judge merely by Groans and Clamours, we
muſt ſuppoſe ſome Creatures feel very little
or no Pain from their Wounds and Death;
and yet why ſhould the Bleffed God appoint
fo much leſs Pain for the Sheep than for the
Swine? Nor are the moft grievous Outcries
and Contortions of the Flefh in other noify
Animals a fufficient Proof to our Reaſon that
they feel fuch fort of Pain, or fo intenſe as
Man does; and confequently we cannot make
the fame Inference from their Sufferings as
we do from thoſe of Mankind.
•
Confid. 4. But fuppofing Brutes have Sen-
fations of Pain as fharp as ours, yet if they
have a proportionable and equal Quantity of
Senfations of Pleaſure thro' the Courſe of their
low Life, then put theſe Pains and Pleaſures
of the brutal Life into the Balance, and the
Amount of them in the whole makes neither
Happineſs nor Mifery; or perhaps their pleaf-
ing Senfations exceed the painful; then they
are
5
prove his Degeneracy?
399
:
.
are happy for Mifery is only found where
the Pain exceeds the Pleaſure in Degree, or
Duration, or both; and that State is Happi-
nefs, where, upon the whole Survey, the
Pleaſure exceeds the Pain.
But in Mankind it is pretty certain that
their natural Maladies, as well as the painful
and afflictive Accidents that attend moſt or alk
of them in this fooliſh and finful World; far
exceed the natural Maladies or painful Acci-
dents which attend Brute-Creatures: for a-
mongst them there is little or no Intempe-
rance to diſorder their own Natures; noWars
to deſtroy Millions of their Fellows; no En-
gines of Cruelty and Death among them to
multiply the Miſeries of their own Species;
and upon the whole it is evident enough that
the Pains and Sorrows and Evils in almoſt
every human Life greatly exceed the Joys or
Pleaſures of it, and conſequently render Man
in this World but a miferable Creature.
!
Confid. 5. Let us remember alfo that Brutes
have no proper Reflection on things paſt, but
only a Senſation of the preſent: Now Man
befides all the Pains of Senſe, has alſo the
long and grievous Uneafineffes that arife from
Remorfe and Anguifh of Mind, reflecting
upon his own evil Conduct in time paſt, and
diſmal Prefages and terrifying Agonies arifing
from the conſtant Fear and Expectation of
what may come; fo that as Mankind is gene-
rally ſubject to more Pains and Weakneffes,
more
400 Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
more Diſeaſes and Uneafineffes in the Body
than Brute-Creatures; fo the Addition of
Uneafinefs of Mind, which ariſes from a long
Remembrance of or Reflection on paft Sor-
rows, are, as it were, a new Senfation of
them; and Agonies of Confcience for paft
Sins, are new Mifery: befides the terrible
Forethought and Expectation of future Evils,
whether in this Life, or in the World to
come, do very much increafe the Miferics of
human Nature beyond that of the brutal
World, fince they are fuppofed to have no
Reflection, no Forethought. And 'tis not
only the long and keen Paffion of Remorfe
or Sorrow ariſing from paſt Sins or moral E-
vils, and of Fear and Dread from the Proſpect
of future Miferies, which makes Mankind
more unhappy than Brutes, who have no fuch
Retrofpects nor Forefights to torment them;
but every uneafy Paffion of human Nature,
even Grief and Sorrow for natural Evils,
Wrath, Envy, Malice, Rage, Jealouſy, Dif-
appointment and Deſpair, with all their dread-
ful Train, are more keen and intenfe in the
Breaft of Man, make much deeper Impreffions
on his Heart, and fharper Incifions into all
the tender Powers of his Nature than Brutes
ever know or feel: they laft alfo much lon-
ger; they dwell upon the Spirit for days and
months, and years; they mingle with the
Soul, and imbitter every Sweet of Life.
Brutal
}
3
prove his Degeneracy?
401
Brutal Paffions, fhould we allow them to
be as ftrong, yet they are much fewer and
more tranfient: The common Calls of Na-
ture to cat or fleep, to Sport or daily Toil,
aboliſhes the painful Paffion, the ill Ferment
fubfides, the Uneafinefs vanishes, the Caufe
of it is forgotten, and the Creature is ſoon
eafy and happy again. But fome of theſe
uneafy Paffions of human Nature cleave ſo
cloſe to the Soul, that Men cannot get rid of
them; they fting like an Adder, and prey
upon the Heart like a Vulture, they teize the
Spirit Day and Night, they take away all Ap-
petite to Food, and all the fweet Relief and
Power of Sleep. Was there ever an Inftance
of a Brute-Animal whofe Paffions ever
wrought out fuch a Scene of Miferies for him
as the unruly Powers of Mankind are daily
working, and that not in one or two, but in
Multitudes of the Human Kind?
Upon all theſe Views I think it muſt be
acknowledged, that the Evils which Mankind
fuffer in the prefent State, are much fuperior
to thofe of Brutes, and confequently as they
furmount all the Pleaſures of human Life;
fo Man muſt be pronounced miferable upon
the Balance of the whole; and therefore we
muft infer, that we of the human Race can-
not be in our Maker's Eſteem a Race of guilt-
lefs Beings, fince our Portion in general in
this Life is fuperior Pain and Wretchedneſs;
and efpecially fince we find both by Reafon
D d
and
402 Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
and Scripture, that whatfoever Calamities
and Death attend Brutes, thefe, for wife Pur-
pofes, are appointed by the God of Nature,
tho' they are without Sin, while the Calami-
ties and Death of Mankind are exprefly at-
tributed to Sin in the Word of God.
Object. III. If the Miſeries of all Mankind,
or even of the biggeft Part of them in this
Life, are fo great as to over-balance all their
Comforts, fo that a wife Spirit would never
willingly confent to be drefs'd in our Fleſh
and Blood, and be born into our preſent
World; then we can have no Reaſon to give
God our Creator any Thanks for our Exif-
tence or Life, fince this is no Bleffing, and it
would have been far better for us never to
have been born. Now is it poffible that the
Great God fhould make a Creature who has
not Reaſon or juft Caufe to thank him for his
Being?
Anfwer. If any Creature who comes into
our World, hath more Probability of being
happy than of being miferable in this Life
he has Reaſon to bleſs God for his Exiſtence
in proportion to the Probability of his Happi-
nefs: but if a Creature has more Probability
of Mifery than Happineſs in Life, I cannot
fee that Life is any Bleffing or Privilege; nor
can I ſee how he can rationally bleſs or give
Thanks to the Great God for it, confider'd in
itſelf, and abſtracted from a future State.
And I add yet further, if any Creature
who
I
prove his Degeneracy? 403
who comes into this World has a greater Pro-
bability of being foolifh and finful here, and
miferable hereafter, than he has of being wife
and holy here, and happy in the other World;
neither then can he with Reafon bleſs God,
or give Thanks to the Author of his Being
meerly for his Exiſtence, or coming into Life
in fuch a finful wretched World.
Now fince this is the Cafe, that the Bulk of
Mankind are born to Trouble and Mifery
here, as Job v. 7. and as we have fufficiently
fhewn before; and if they are alſo moſt like-
ly to run into Sin and Folly in this World,
and Mifery in another, (for almoſt the whole
World lies in Wickedness, 1 John v. 19. and
there are few who shall be faved, Matt. vii.
14.) this Proſpect certainly forbids our meer
Exiſtence or Entrance into fuch a Life to be
called a Bleſſing and confequently we can-
not reaſonably give Thanks meerly on that
account to the Almighty Being that made us.
There has been indeed a bold and fevere
Charge brought againſt this Opinion, (viz.)
That it is a very high degree of Ungodli-
nefs; that it greatly diminishes, if not to-
tally excludes the Goodness and Mercy of
God, and confequently forbids our Grati-
tude, and difcourages our Hope and Truſt.
Anfw. 'Tis a bold and grievous Accufation
indeed, but it wants all Proof. Our Saviour
himſelf has fhewn us that it is certain, the
bulk of Mankind walk in the broad Way to
D d 2
De
404 Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
Destruction, and but few find the Gate of
Life, Matt. vii. 13, 14. This alone is fuffi-
cient Ground to maintain a Probability of
Perfons in general, who come into this
World, being miferable rather than happy:
and in this View how can Mankind with Rea-
fon give Thanks to their Maker for meer Ex-
iſtence, which in the prefent fallen State, ex-
poſes us rather to Mifery than Happineſs? And
the Arguments which are uſed to oppoſe this
Opinion are ſo weak and ill-grounded, that
I chearfully leave them to the Senſe, Reaſon
and Confcience of every fincere Reader to
anfwer and refute them, tho' they are made a
Foundation for ſeveral unjuft Triumphs.
But if the Cafe be fo, whence comes this
dreadful Scene, this difmal Situation of
things, that an intelligent Creature cannot
thank God for creating him? Not from God
the Creator, whofe Juftice and Goodneſs
would never have fuffered him to have created
original Beings as they came from his hands in
fuch a Situation as this: There must have been
fome dreadful ancient Apoftacy from God
their Creator, fome general Degeneracy and
Curfe of a broken Law or Covenant, under
the spreading Defolation whereof Mankind
come into this World; nor is there any other
Way that I can imagine or guefs at, whereby
the Juftice and Goodnefs of God the Creator
can be fecured and vindicated from fuch hard
Imputations.
And
prove his Degeneracy?
405
And tho' it is the Bleffed God that creates
or forms fallen Mankind from day to day,
who come into fuch a Situation and fuch
wretched Circumftances, yet it is all accord-
ing to fuch an original Law of Nature or di-
vine Conſtitution made for innocent Man,
which was holy, juft and good in itſelf. 'Tis
true the Great God foreſees that Millions will
now be miferable; and notwithſtanding all
this, his Wiſdom does not ſee fit to alter this
Conftitution of things, for Reaſons which are
unknown and unfearchable to us, and which
will perhaps continue to be a Secret until the
Great Day of Judgment. 'Till that time
comes we can but form probable Conjec-
tures*. But that Great Day fhall reveal all
the
* Suppoſe the Great God had placed a Man and Woman
in a certain inacceffible Island, wherein there were Herbs and
Roots of many Kinds, but no fort of Fruit, Grain or Corn in
it: and ſuppoſe he had given them a Sufficiency of Fruits and
Corn to fupport them for a Year or two, and more, with a fe-
cial Command to fow fome of it, and plant immediately, for
the Support of themſelves and their Pofterity hereafter; and
affured them alſo they ſhould have many Children. If this
Man and Woman ſhould eat up all their Corn and Fruit intire-
ly, even that which they fhould have fown or planted for their
future Support; then they and their Children in all following
Years would have been hard put to it to live upon coarſe Roots
dug out of the Ground, a poor and feanty Supply, and that
with much Toil and Labour: Now would it have been unjust
with God to have left them and their Children to their conſtant
hard Labour and hard Fare, without giving them any new
Corn or Fruit to plant or fow, or without providing better
Food for them? And fuppofe their Children alfo neglected to
cultivate and multiply the beft Roots they could find, and fe-
veral of them in every Age fell into Diſeaſes and died by the
Badneſs or Scarcity of their Proviſions, would the Creator lie
Dd3
under
406 Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
}
the Tranſactions of God with Men, and fere
them in a glorious Light, to the juft Vindi-
cation of all his own Perfections, and the Si-
lence of all our Cavils.
But obferve, there are these three Confide-
rations which may ferve to alleviate and mo-
derate this difmal Afpect and Situation of
things at prefent.
1. Confideration. All Mankind are juftly
required to adore and worship the Great and
Glorious Being, whofe Wiſdom and Good-
nefs, as well as his Power, fhine bright in
the Creation of this World, and in the For-
mation of Mankind, as well as all other Ani-
mals who dwell upon the Earth; they ought
to admire and praise him on this Account,
tho' no reaſonable Creature can properly give
Thanks but for fome real Benefit.
3. Confid
under an Imputation of Injustice for continuing their Exiſtence
under thefe Difadvantages, and thus punishing their original,
Rebellion and their daily Negligence?
And fuppofe further, that this folitary and inacceffible Iſland
lay in the midst of many other Iflands in the Sea, whoſe In-
habitants are continually informed by fome Revelation or di-
vine Meffenger of the original State and the prefent Circum-
ſtances of this unhappy Country, in order to reftrain the reſt
from Disobedience to their Maker and Lord in fimilar Inftan-
ces of any kind; might we not fay, Here is a juft and valuable
Reafon for which God fhould continue this Ifland of Rebels
under their Puniſhment? This may be apply'd in fome mea-
fure to the forlorn Cafe of Mankind on this Globe of Earth,
when compared with the many other Planetary Worlds, who
may be preferved in their Duty by being inform'd of our fad
Circumftances, tho we know little of theirs. But as I hinted
before, thefe are but meer conjectural Thoughts: 'tis only
God himſelf in the Great Day of Judgment can answer every
Difficulty, and Scatter every Darkness from all his Works of
Providence.
9
prove his Degeneracy?
407
2. Confid. Every Man who comes into this
World, as confider'd in our common Head
and Repreſentative Adam, in his State of In-
nocence and Trial, with full Power to obey
his Maker's Law, and with far fuperior Mo-
tives to Obedience, hath good Reaſon (even
as Adam our Father had) to thank God for
his Exiſtence; for he was made in fuch Cir-
cumſtances (under Adam his Head) which
carried in them a much greater Probability of
ſtanding and being Happy, than of falling
and being Miferable.
3. Confid. Tho' the greateft Part of Man-
kind may not have fufficient Reaſon to give
Thanks to God for their mere Existence in
this fallen State, yet all the Sons and Daugh-
ters of Adam have reafon to praiſe the Divine
Goodneſs for many Favours they receive,
(viz.) that they are not fo miferable as they
might have been by reaſon of their Sins and
Follies, that they have any fpecial Satisfactions
or Comforts in Life, and any leffer Degrees
of Pain or Sorrow than others fuftain, or any
Relief for their own Maladies and Troubles:
and eſpecially if they are born and educated
in a Nation where the Light of the Gofpel
fhines, they have further Reaſon to acknow-
ledge and bleſs the diftinguiſhing Goodneſs
of their Creator, who has placed them within
the nearer and cafier Reach of Happinefs, if
their own evil Inclinations and Obftinacy
D d 4
do
408 Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
do not with-hold them from ſeeking after it.
And,
4. Confid. When any of the Race of Man-
kind are made fenfible of their Sins and Mi-
fery, and by Repentance and Faith in the
Grace of God, ſo far as it is revealed to them,
have arrived at any tolerable hopes of their
Intereſt in his Favour, and their Acceptance
unto Life and Happineſs in another World,,
then they are called aloud to bleſs their Divine
Creator, as well as their Saviour, and to give
Thanks to the God of Nature and Grace to-
gether. And I think there is not one Place
in Scripture where Man is required to give
Thanks to the Lord but on one or other of
thefe Accounts which I have here mention'd*.
Upon the whole, the Refult of things is
this, that if any of us cannot upon rational
Grounds give Thanks to God as our Creator
for our Exiſtence, it is owing meerly to our
original Apoftacy from God in and by our
firft Parents; for otherwife God would never
have made intelligent Creatures, who could
not reaſonably thank him for making them.
And then further I add, if we cannot ratio-
nally thank God for our Creation here, until
we have fome Hope of his Favour and Grace
hereafter, this fhould awaken us all with ut-
moſt
* There is no plain Text that I can find where Mankind is
commanded or invited to thank God meerly for their Exiſtence;
and in thofe Places where all Nations, or all the Earth are cal
led upon to bless the Lord, and give thanks to him, 'tis ftill in
view of their having the Knowledge and Grace or Salvation
of God manifefted in them.
prove his Degeneracy? 409
able to bleſs
moft Diligence in the midst of our Miferies to
enquire after the way of Salvation, and pur-
fue every appointed Duty that is neceffary for
this end for then we ſhall be
God for bringing us into Being, and we fhall
no longer lie under fuch a fad and difmal Re-
proach of Nature, as not to give Thanks for
our Exiſtence to the Hand that form'd us.
Thus far I have endeavoured to prove, that
by the Miſeries of Mankind we may have
fufficient Evidence that they are in a fallen
and degenerate State.
SECT. IV.
A full Proof of Man's Apoftacy by Scrip-
ture and Reafon, derived from their Sin-
fulness.
UT after all, if it fhould be found up-
BUT
on the juſteſt Survey and Balance of
things, that the Miferies of Human Nature
confider'd alone, are not a fufficient and fa-
tisfactory Evidence of the Apoftacy and Fall
of Mankind from their Maker's Favour, and
of fome remarkable Diſpleaſure of the Hand
that created them; yet I am well affured that
the early corrupt Inclinations, the endless
Iniquities and Crimes of Men from their
Childhood, and that univerfal Propensity to
Sin which is found among all the Inhabi-
tants of our World, joined with the Loads
of
410 Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
of Mifery they ſuſtain, are both together an
effectual and convincing Argument that we
are a degenerate and fallen Race of Creatures.
Now that we are fuch a fort of criminal,
guilty, finful, and degenerate Beings, and
wretchedly forfaken of God who made us,
or fallen under his heavy Difpleafure even
from the beginning of Life, will evidently
appear both from the exprefs Witnefs of
Scripture concerning our Sinfulness, from
the Neceffity of Renewing Grace, and from
the Light of Nature furveying the Hea-
then World.
Firſt, there are many Reprefentations in
Scripture of fome univerfal Degeneracy and
Corruption that has come upon all the Sons
and Daughters of Adam, and which have
been largely ſupported by many Writers who
have explain'd theſe Texts, (viz.) Gen. vi. 5.
Every Imagination of the Thoughts of the
Heart of Man is only Evil continually ; and
Chap, viii. v. 21. it is added, that 'tis Evil
from his Youth. Pfal. xiv. 3. The Lord looked
down from Heaven upon the Children of
Men, to fee if there were any that did un-
derstand and feek God: They are all gone
afide; there is none that doth Good; no,
not one. Eccleſ. vii. 20. There is not a just
Man upon the Earth who doth Good and
finneth not. Ifai. liii. 6. All we like Sheep
have gone aftray, we have turned every one
to his own way. Different Wanderings, but
all
prove his Degeneracy?
411
¡
all are Wanderers. Rom. iii. 10, 12. There
is none righteous; no, not one: there is
none that doth Good; no, not one. ver. 19.
Every Mouth is stopped, and all the World
become guilty before God. And v. 23. All
are fallen fort of the Glory of God, be-
caufe all have finned. 2 Cor. v. 14. We
thus
* If St. Paul had not uſed ſuch ſtrong Expreffions here, as
plainly include every Individual of Mankind, yet his Argu-
ment requires this Senfe; for otherwife there would be fome
who would not want the Salvation of Chrift; whereas 'tis
his great Defign to prove, that all Men are condemned by
the Law, and ftand in need of this Salvation, without any
exception at all.
Objection. Some have afferted this Law, which requires per-
fect Obedience, and which condemns the Sinner to Death,
to have been abrogated as foon as Adam finned, and that
another Covenant, even the Covenant of Grace was fubftitu-
ted and introduced, even before the Sentence of Death was
pronounced upon Adam.
Anſwer. This Objection has been often and effectually re-
futed; and it is very eaſy to fhew, that that Law by which all
Mankind are bound under Condemnation, can never be faid to
be abrogated, while it holds Men, or binds them under Guilt
and Death; 'tis that Law which now brings Indignation_and
Wrath upon every Soul that does amifs. Rom. ii. 9. That Law
which is written in the Heart of Man by Nature. v. 15. The
fame Law which whosoever offends in one Point, is guilty of all.
Jam. ii. 1o. That Law by which is the Knowledge of Sin, and
by which no Flesh shall be justified, for all have broken it. Rom.
iii. 19, 20, 23, It is that Law which carseth every one who con-
tinueth nog in all things there required, and from whofe Curfe
Chriſt hath redeemed the Gentiles as well as the Jews. Gal, iii.
10, 11, 13. This is the Original Law of Works.
And tho' all Mankind may be faid perhaps to be under
the Covenant of Grace in thofe general Propoſals of Repen-
tance and Truſt in the Divine Mercy, which are made to fallen
Men by their own Reafonings, or by Divine Revelation,
yet none are freed from the Curfe and Condemnation of the
original broken Law, but thoſe who have accepted of this
Covenant of Grace by fincere Repentance and Faith or
Truft in the Mercy of God. Now this is but a very ſmall
part of Mankind, for there are few that shall be faved; and
tilk
412 Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
thus judge, that if one died for all, then
were all dead, i. e. fpiritually dead in Tref
paſſes and Sins.
Now can we fuppofe that God would cre-
ate fuch a World of Beings, that every one
of them coming out of his own hands in their
original Purity and Innocence, ſhould ſo uni-
verſally break his Law, run into Sin and fpi-
ritual Death, and naturally incline to Practi-
ces which tend to defile and deftroy them-
felves, and that without any one Exception,
if it had not arifen from fome Root of Bitter-
neſs, ſome original Iniquity, which diffuſed it-
felf thro' all of them from their very Birth or
Entrance into this World? Surely this uni-
verfal Corruption would incline any Perfon to
believe, either that God had not given to each
of his Creatures in their original Formation
a full and practical Sufficiency to anſwer the
Demands of his Law, and to preſerve them-
felves from Iniquity and Guilt, or that 'twas
loft in fome hand or other. 'Tis a ftrange
and incredible thing to fuppofe that every
fingle Perfon among the Millions of Man-
kind fhould be born innocent and pure, with
fufficient and practical Powers of all Kinds
to fulfil the Law of God and their Duty, and
that they ſhould yet, by free and voluntary
Choice,
till this Covenant of Grace is thus accepted, every Son and
Daughter of Adam, of mature Years, are condemned as ac-
tual Sinners by this Law. This Law therefore ſtands in
full force against all, befides fincere Penitents, and fuch as
are juftified by the Gofpel,
prove his Degeneracy?
413
Choice, every one for himſelf, for near fix
thouſand Years together, break his holy Law,
and rebel against him that made them, if
there were not fome original and univerfal
Contagion ſpread thro' them all at their En-
trance into Life. See Quest. I. §.7. at the end.
Secondly, I argue the fame Point from the
Scriptural Doctrine of our Recovery by di-
vine Grace. Let us confider in what manner
the Scripture reprefents the Neceffity of a
great and divine Change to be made
upon the
Souls of all Men, in order to their Recovery
from the Ruins of their Nature, and to ob-
tain the Favour and Image of God and future
Happineſs. John iii. 3. Except a Man be
born again he cannot fee the Kingdom of God:
and in other Scriptures it is repreſented that
they must be born of the Spirit, v. 6, 8. They
muſt be born of God. John i. 13. They muſt
be created anew in Chrift Jefus unto good
Works. Ephef. ii. 10. They muſt be quicken-
ed, or be raiſed again from their Death in
Trefpaffes and Sins. Ephef. ii. 5. They muſt
be renewed in their Spirit, or created after
the Image of God in Righteousness and true
Holiness. Ephef. iv. 23, 24. They must be
reconciled to God by Jefus Chrift. 2 Cor. v.
18, 19. They must be washed from their
Sins in his Blood. 1 Cor. vi. 11. Rev. i. 5.
And fince all have finn'd and come ſhort of the
Glory of God, therefore if ever they are faved,
they must be justified freely by his Grace thro
the
414 Efay I. Can Man's Mifery
the Redemption that is in Christ Jefus,
whom God has ſet forth to be a Propitia
tion thro' Faith in his Blood. Rom. iii. 24.
Now can any one fuppofe that God has made
fuch a World of Creatures as have come into
Being from Adam's time to ours, which have
all enter'd into this World, pure, holy, and
innocent in their original State, and yet that
there fhould not one of them retain his Image
in Holineſs, nor be fit for his Favour and the
Bleſſings of his Love, without being born a-
gain, being new-created, being raised from
the Dead, being redeemed by the Blood of
his own Son, and being washed in fo preci-
ous and divine a Layer? Do not all theſe Re-
preſentations make it appear highly reaſona-
ble to conclude, that every Man is born into
this World with fome original Contagion
about him, or under fome early Degeneracy
and Guilt, and criminal Imputation in the
fight of God? Is it not a moft incredible thing
that not one among all the Millions of thefe
Creatures fhould be fit to be made Partakers
of his Favour, without fuch amazing Purifi-
cations as require the Blood of the Son of
God, and the Almighty Operations of his
bleffed Spirit to redeem, and to new-create
them, if they were born in their original
Purity? Do not all theſe things effectually
teach us that Mankind in their prefent Gene-
rations even from their Birth are not fuch
Creatures as God first made them?
But
prove his Degeneracy?
415
But without entering into thefe Arguments
from Scripture which repreſent the Wretch-
edneſs of all Mankind; I think we may evi-
dently prove, in the third place, that far the
greateſt Part of the World are born under
fome fort of degenerate and guilty Circum-
ſtances by a meer Survey of the Heathen Na-
tions with the Eye of Reaſon, and by the
Light of Nature.
A few days ago I was taking a View of the
Map of the World, and meaſuring with my
Eye the Breadth and Extent of the Nations.
I took a ſpreading Survey of the vaſt Afiatic
Empires of Tartary and China, and a great
Part of the Kingdom of Mogul, with the
Multitude of Iſlands in the East-Indies; I went
on to furvey the large brutal Countries of all
the Southern Part of Africa, with the Savage
Nations of the American World. I obſerved
the Thouſands or rather Millions of Mankind
who dwell on this Globe, and walk and trifle,
and live and die there under the heaviest
Cloud of Ignorance and Darkneſs, who know
not the true God, nor the way to his Favour,
who are drenched in grofs Impieties and Su-
perftitions, who are continually guilty of na-
tional Immoralities, and practiſe Idolatry,
Malice and Lewdnefs, Fraud and Falfhood,
with fcarce any Regret or Reftraint.
Then fighing within myſelf I ſaid, 'Tis not
many years fince theſe were all Infants, wret-
ched helpleſs Infants, without any Knowledge
of
416 Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
The Inhabi-
of the things of God or Man.
tants of whole Regions have been born and
brought up under Parents who know not the
true God, nor are acquainted with the Path
that leads to Life and Happineſs. Are not
theſe unhappy Children, faid I, formed and
born under Difficulties almoft unfurmounta-
ble? Are they not laid almoſt under a moral
Impoffibility of breaking their way of them-
felves, thro' ſo much thick Darkneſs and Er-
ror, to the Knowledge, the Fear and the Love
of him who made them? Dreadful Truth in-
deed; but fo far as I can fee, it feems to be
certain and unconteftable! Such, I fear, is the
Cafe of thoſe of human Race, who at preſent
cover a great Part of this earthly Globe, with
very few Exceptions.
Then I ran back in my Thoughts four or
five thousand Years, and faid within myſelf,
What Multitudes in every Age of the World
have been born in thefe deplorable Circum-
ftances in the midſt of Idolatry and Profane-
neſs, Sin and Death? They are inured from
their Birth to barbarous Cuftoms and impious
Practices they have an Image of the Life of
Brutes and Devils wrought in them by their
early Education: they have had the Seeds of
many Immoralities and wretched Wicked-
neſs ſown and planted, and cultivated in
them by the rude and favage Inftructions of
thoſe who went before them; and their own
Imitation of fuch horrible Examples has con-
firmed
3
prove his Degeneracy? 417
i
firmed this Miſchief long before they knew
or heard of the Being of the true God, or the
Diſcoveries of his Will, or their Duty and
perhaps they have never heard it to this day.
Scarce any of them have admitted of one
thoughtful Inquiry, whether they follow the
Rules of Reaſon, or whether they are in the
way of Happineſs and Peace, any more than
their Parents before them; and as they are
born in this grofs Darkness, they grow up
thro' all the Stages of Life to practiſe theſe
vile Idolatries, and all the fhameful Abomi-
nations of their Country, and they go on to
Death in the fame Courſe: Nor have they
Light enough from without to make them
plainly fee their own Folly and Danger, nor
have they had any probable Workings of Judg-
ment or Conſcience within them ftrong e-
nough to awaken them effectually to ask, Is
there not a Lye in my Right Hand? Am I
not in the way of Sin and Destruction?
Then after a length of years in fuch Impie-
ties and Madneſs, fuch Ignorance of the true
God and univerfal Wickedness, they are
plunged into the Inviſible World at Death,
without any evident or reaſonable Hope of
Divine Favour in t'other World, or at leaſt
at the utmoſt Peril of his Difpleaſure, and a
dark and diſinal Uncertainty of the Circum-
ftances of that State into which they are de-
liver'd at the Hour of Death or the Refurrec
tion.
E e
St.
13
418 Effay I. Can Man's Miſery
St. Paul confirms all that I have faid, who,
by his long and frequent Vifits and Sojourn-
ings among the Heathen Nations, well knew
their Temper and State, and he repreſents
them to us, as a moft abominable Herd of
Creatures, in feveral of his Epiftles. Rom. i.
Even the Wife and the Learned among them,
the Greeks and the Romans, changed the
Glory of the incorruptible God into the Image
of Birds, Beasts, and Creeping Things, and
worshipped the Creature more than the Cre-
ator. Their foolish Heart was darken'd :
they were justly abandon'd of God, and given
up to work all Uncleanness with Greediness:
they were filled with all Unrighteousness,
Fornication, Malice, &c. They were Back-
biters, Haters of God, without Underftand-
ing, without natural Affection, implacable,
unmerciful. In Eph. iv. they were alienated
from the Life of God thro' the Ignorance
that is in them, because of the Blindness of
their Hearts. In Colof. i. They were alie-
nated from God, and Enemies in their
Minds by wicked Works.
It is true, we are told that there was fo much
of the Law of God written in their Hearts,
that their Confciences bore witness to it, in
fome Inftances, and their Thoughts excufed
or accufed them, Rom. ii. 14, 15. But we fel-
dom read of the Return of any of them to
fincere Repentance of their Wickedness, by
the Reproofs of Confcience. St. John tells
i
his
prove his Degeneracy?
419
his Diſciples, that tho they are of God, yet
the whole World lies in Wickedness, 1 John v.
19. And St. Paul again affures us, that thoſe
who have finned without any expreſs Know-
ledge or Revelation of a Law fhall perish
without Law. Doubtless their Confciences,
in the great Day of Judgment, will accuse
them abundantly, and join with the Sentence
of God the Judge in condemning them, and
will hardly be able to make juft Excufes for
any of them; and therefore they are repre-
fented as without God, without Chriſt, and
without Hope in the World. Eph. ii. A dif
mal and deplorable State!
St. Peter fays indeed, that God is no Re-
Specter of Perfons, i.c. whether Jews or Gen-
tiles; but, in every Nation he that feareth
God, and worketh Righteoufnefs, fhall be
accepted of him: But if there were very few
among the Jews, who fear'd God, and wrought
Righteouſneſs, very few that ſhall be faved,
as our Saviour faith, Matth. vii. 14. If there
are very few in thefe learned Nations of the
Gentiles, that feared God or loved him, how
much fewer may we fuppofe to find in the
more barbarous Countries, which have no
Knowledge of God nor Godliness?
E e 2
What
*Tho' the Cafe ftands thus with the Heathen World, ver
there are, and there must be fome Grounds of a fufficient Vin-
dication of the Equity and Goodneſs of God, notwithſtanding
thefe Scenes of Wickedness and Deſtruction among Men:
This has been made to appear, in fome meaſure, by feveral
Writers, and particularly in the 3d and 4th Conferences of a
Book,
420 Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
:
What kind and gracious Allowances the
bleffed God will make at laft for fuch unhap
py Creatures, he has not revealed to us in his
Word.
Now, upon this Survey of things, I can-
not but enquire, Would this have been the
Cafe of Mankind in thefe wide and unhappy
Nations? Would thefe have been the wretched
Circumſtances both of their young Offspring
and their advancing Years, in a hundred long
Succeffions, if they had been fuch a Race of
Creatures as they came out of the Hand of
their Creator, harmleſs and innocent? If the
Children had been efteemed, in the Eye of
God, as fuch undefiled, holy, and guiltless Be-
ings as fome Men are ready to imagine, could
this have been their Portion? In fhort, can
we fuppofe, that the wife and righteous, and
merciful Creator of the World, would have
eſtabliſhed and continued fuch a Conftitution
for the Propagation of Mankind, which fhould
naturally have led fo many Millions of them
fo early into fuch difmal Circumſtances and
Temptations of almoſt unavoidable Iniquity?
Or would the Bleffed God have ever thus
treated whole Nations of Infants, who are
the Work of his Hands, if there had not been
fome dreadful and univerfal Degeneracy
ſpread
Book, intituled, the Strength and Weakness of Human Reaſon :
And what the Reafonings of Men cannot fully folve and vin-
dicate now, the Great God will fully explain hereafter, and
maintain the Equity of his own Conduct, to the Conviction of
all his Intelligent Creatures, Men and Angels. Amen.
prove his Degeneracy?
421
fpread over them and their Fathers, by fome
original Crime, and which even met and
feized them at their entrance into mortal Life,
according to fome juſt and ancient Conftitu-
tion? And what Conflitution can this be, but
the original Covenant with Adam in Inno-
cence, and the ſpreading Confequences of his
Sin?
But as I have infifted upon feveral of thefe
things at large, under fome of the first Que-
ftions in this Treatife, I chufe not to repeat
them here; but I will only ftay to anfwer
three or four general Objections,
Objection I. It is a moft unreaſonable and
unrighteous thing, to impute the Sin of one
Perſon to another, and to make the Chil-
dren and Pofterity of a Sinner fuffer any of
the Puniſhments which were due to the Fa-
ther's Sin; therefore the Righteous and Holy
God has never appointed any fuch Conftitu-
tion, nor can he do it.
Anfwer. It is evident that Death was the
Puniſhment threaten'd to Man for Sin, while
he ftood in Innocence, to deter him from
it: It is evident again from other Scriptures,
that Death is the actual Wages or Punish-
ment of Sin: It is plain alfo from univerfal
Experience, that Death paſſes upon all Men,
even upon Children, and a thouſand other
Miſeries of Life attend them; and it is granted
by many of thofe Writers who oppote our
Doctrine,
Ee 3
422 Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
Doctrine, that thefe Miferies and Death come
upon Children by the means of the Sin of
their first Father. Now I could never yet
learn any fair and juftifiable Account, how
fuch Sickneſs and Pain, Mifery and Death
fhould come upon all Mankind by means of
the Sin of Adam, if it be not in ſome ſenſe
imputed to them, even in the Senfe in which
I have explain'd it in the fecond Effay. Let
thoſe Writers give a fair and rational Ac-
count, how this can come to paſs but by
fuch a Conftitution as I have repreſented.
It is not enough to fay, That the Juft and
Righteous God appointed or even permitted
it, in order to bring about greater Glory to
himſelf, and greater Bleſſedneſs to Mankind
by the Goſpel of Christ, unless every one of
thoſe who ſuffer on the Account of Adam's
Sin are made Partakers of this greater Blef
fedneſs, the contrary whereof is fufficiently
evident.
Objection II. The common Doctrine of
Original Sin inherent, which fuppofes every
Man and Woman to be born with finful
Qualities, vilifies and pours great Contempt
on Human Nature, &c. If we act upon this
Principle, we shall rather hate than love
one another.
Anfw. 1. A Depreffion of Human Nature
under a due and deep Senfe of fuch univer-
fal Sin and Mifery, is the firft Step towards
our
Į
|
prove his Degeneracy?
423
our Recovery by the Grace of God and the
Goſpel. Matth. v. 3. Bleſſed are the Poor
in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of
Heaven, or the Bleffednefs of the Gospel.
Rev. iii. 17. There were many who pro-
feſſed Chriſtianity in Laodicea, knew not
that they were wretched and miferable,
and poor, and blind, and naked, therefore
they did not ſeriouſly apply to Chrift to be
made partakers of his Bleflings. 'Tis from
a Knowledge of our Sin and Mifery by the
Law, that we come to feck after the Salva-
tion of Grace, Rom. iii. 19, 24. And I am
perfuaded that it is the Pride and Self-fuffi-
ciency of Men not acknowledging their Folẽ
ly, Wretchedneſs and Ruin, that is one of the
chief Hindrances to the Acceptance of the
Grace of Chrift.
Anfw. 2. It is yet more unreafonable to
ſuppoſe, that the Acknowledgment of this
univerfal Wretchedness of Mankind ſhould
incline us to hate one another; are we not
rather led hereby to pity each other under
our common Frailties and Miferies? And is
not this Pity the firſt proper Expreſſion of
Love to the Miferable?
Objection III. There can be no Man born
with Principles of Sin or finful Qualities, un-
lefs God be made the Author of Sin, be-
cauſe God who makes the Nature of every
Man, makes all his Qualities alſo.
Ee 4
Nor
could
+
+
Y
424 Effay I. C
Effay I. Can Man's Mifery
}
could fuch a Conftitution of Nature be
righteous Conftitution, which continues the
Propagation of every Child with finful Prin-
ciples in him, for 'tis the fame thing as if
God infufed Sin into them, and therefore
there is no fuch Conftitution.
Anfwer. Hath not a wife and good God,
confider'd as Creator, ordain'd fuch a Con-
ftitution of Nature, whereby the most mon-
ftrous Births are brought into the World by
finful Mixtures, if Mankind abuſe themſelves
with Brutes? And may not the Great God
be Good and Wife even in this Conftitu-
tion? Cannot a God of Equity and Good-
nefs appoint ſuch a Courſe of Nature among
fallen Mankind, whereby a Drunkard or a
lewd Perfon may produce a Child bearing
the vicious Qualities of the Parent, or the
miferable Effects of the Parents Sins? And
yet the Order of Nature may be Wife and
Righteous. Is not Madness propagated thro'
whole Families, and fometimes in feveral
Succeffions, by the fixed Conftitution of the
God of Nature, without God's own infufing
Madness into the Brain or Blood? Has not
God appointed a Seed to bring forth a Plant?
But if the Seed be any way corrupted, it
may by the Divine Appointment of the
Courſe of Nature bring forth a corrupt Tree.
Is it God that infufes all thefe evil and cor-
rupt Qualities into Men or Plants, becauſe
his appointed Order of Nature, or his ſove-
reign
}
prove his Degeneracy?
425
reign interpofing Will, does not hinder and
prevent them?
It is a very needlefs thing to tell us that
known Truth, that the Courfe of Nature
Separate from the Agency of God, is no
Caufe, or is nothing; for this Piece of In-
ſtruction in Metaphyfical Science, abates not
the Force of my Argument.
Objection IV. The Notion of deriving
a finful Nature from Adam, runs foul up-
on this Rock, that God doth not make or
create the Nature of every Man who cometh
into the World, because God cannot make a
thing that is finful?
Anfwer. Suppofe, God is conftantly pro-
ducing by the Sun, Air, and Rain, the Har-
veft of the Field according to his great Law
of Vegetation; but if fome Perfon fhould
fprinkle the Seed-Corn with a poiſonous
Juice which might infect every Grain, the
Seed might produce Corn of a mortal Qua-
lity. Now if it be asked, Did God make
this Harvest of Corn? the Anfwer is, Tes:
But did he make this Corn poisonous ? No,
by no means. Now in thefe Conceptions
there is no Difficulty or Danger of Miſtake.
But if Men have a mind to be captious, they
may ſpend whole Pages in cavilling. The
plain Cafe is this, God the Creator makes.
the Nature of every Man by his Original
and Almighty Order of Creation or Propa-
gation:
426 Effay I. Can Man's Mifery, &c.
gation but it was Adam brought Sin into
the Nature, and made it finful.
There are fome other Objections which
have been raiſed againſt this Doctrine, viz.
If Original Sin be natural, it is unavoid-
able, then it is necessary, then it cannot
be culpable, &c. But all of this kind, with
many others, are fufficiently anfwer'd, not
only in the late Vindication of the Scrip-
ture Doctrine of Original Sin, but in many
fmaller Papers which Mr. Hebden of Suffolk
has lately publiſhed on this Occafion, as well
as in many other excellent Writers Ancient
and Modern. Yet it is evident that fome
of the Oppoſers of Truth find it a more
eafy and a more pleaſant thing to repeat with
Affurance what they have faid themſelves,
than to take due Notice of what their Fa-
thers or their Neighbours have anſwer'd.
THE
427
THE
SECOND ESSAY.
OR,
A Plain EXPLICATION of the
DOCTRINE of Imputed Sin
and Imputed Righteousness.
T
HE Doctrine of the Imputation of Sin
and Righteousness hath been attended
with many noiſy Controverfies in the Chri-
ftian World: And tho' theſe things may be
frequently met with in common Life, and
that without any Controverfy, yet they ſeem
to have created fuch Difficulties in Religion,
as are hard to be compromiſed. Let us make
one more Attempt and try, whether theſe
Notions and Expreflions may not be fet in
fo fair and eaſy a Light, by tracing out the
plaineft Ideas of them in the common Affairs
of Mankind, that when they are applied to
Religious Subjects and Texts of Scripture, it
may vanquish thefe Difficulties, and reconcile
the Sentiments of feveral contefting Parties in
Christianity.
When
428 Effay II. Of Imputed Sin
When a Man has broken any of the Laws
of his Country, and is actually fined or im-
priſoned, or put to publick Shame or Death,
or is condemn'd to Fines or Impriſonments,
to the Pillory or the Gallows, 'tis plain that
Sin is imputed to him, his Wickedness is
upon him, and he bears his Iniquity; that
is, he is accounted or reputed a Criminal by
the Court of Juftice, and he is condemned
or dealt with as an Offender, he is made lia-
ble to, or obliged to bear the Puniſhment, or
he is actually puniſhed.
On the other hand, if a righteous or inno-
cent Man is falfely accuſed of any Crime, and
he is acquitted by the Court, then Sin is not
imputed to him by that Court, or he is not
condemned, but Righteousness is imputed
to him, or he is reputed and pronounced
righteous, and dealt with as an innocent or
as a righteous Man; or, in another Scripture-
Phraſe, his Righteousness is upon him.
Or if a Reward be either affign'd or actu-
ally given to a Man according to the Law up-
on the account of any righteous or good Ac-
tion he has done, this Act of Virtue or Good-
nefs is imputed to him, and his Righteouf
nefs is upon him, he is dealt with as a righ-
teous and deſerving Perfon, the Reward of
Righteouſneſs is given him.
If a Man has been guilty of a Crime
which deferves capital Punishment, but the
Puniſhment is remitted by the Mercy of the
Prince
and Righteousness.
429
Prince upon his Repentance, at the Intercef
fion of fome Nobleman, and he is entirely
pardon'd, then Sin is not imputed to him,
he is justified from that Crime, and Righ-
teousness is imputed to him by the free Fa-
vour of the Prince, i. e. he is not condemn'd
but abfolved; he is not liable to Puniſhment
now, but he has a Right to Impunity and Life,
or he is dealt with as a righteous Perfon, or
as tho' he had not tranfgreffed.
Or fuppofe a Man has been guilty of Trea-
fon, and his Eftate is taken away from him,
and from his Children for ever, then the Sin
of the Father is not imputed to the Father
only, but to the Children alfo, i. e. they
bear the Iniquity of their Father, his Pú-
nishment is laid upon them, they fuffer for
their Father's Sin or Crime, and that in their
following Generations even to late Pofteri-
ty; they are expofed to Poverty and Hard-
ſhips for the Treafon of their Anceſtor, and
his Sin is imputed to them as well as to him.
If the Crime of which a Man is guilty be
Murder of the Innocent, and the Criminal
forfeits his Life and Eftate by the Sentence of
the Law, and his Children become Beggars
and Vagabonds, then the Blood of the inno-
cent Man is faid to be upon the Murderer, and
upon his Children, becauſe they alſo ſuffer for
their Father's Crime. When the Jews im-
precate the Guilt of the Blood of Chrift which
they fhed, to be imputed to them, and pu-
niſhed
430 Effay II. Of Imputed Sin
niſhed on them and their Children, this is
their Language, Matth. xxvii. 25. His Blood
be on us and on our Children.
Or if we ſhould ſuppoſe ſome Criminal to
have incurr'd the Penalty of Impriſonment,
Baniſhment, or Scourging, and the Laws of
the State ſhould permit a Friend of his to be-
come his Surety, and to fuffer thefe Penalties
in his room, then the Crime is faid to be im-
puted to the Surety, or to be laid upon him,
he bears the Iniquity of the Criminal, he
ftands liable to the Penalty, and actually fuf-
fers for the Sin of another Man: And thus
the Crime is not imputed to the Original
Offender, but upon his Submiſſion to his
Prince, and trufting in his Mercy, he is en-
tirely acquitted, and dealt with as an inno-
cent or righteous Man: then Righteousness
is imputed to him, tho' his Crime was im-
puted to his kind Surety, when he fuffered
for it; and the Sufferings of the Surety are
imputed to the Criminal, when he is ab-
folved or acquitted on that account.
And if we ſhould ſuppoſe the Prince, or
the Laws of the Land, to permit this kind
Friend or Surety to exert himſelf in fome e-
minent Act of Obedience or Service to which
a Reward is promifed; and all this to pro-
cure fome further Favour for the Criminal,
and to intitle him to the promiſed Reward,
then this Act of eminent Service may be faid
to be imputed to the original Criminal, i. e.
he
5
and Righteouſneſs.
431
he is rewarded on the account of it: fo that
upon the whole, the Criminal comes to have
not only a Freedom from Guilt, and a Right
to Impunity, but a Right alfo to the Reward,
in virtue of what his kind Friend and Surety
has ſuffered and done for him. The Crimi-
nal is both pardon'd, juftified and rewarded
for the fake of what his Friend has done or
fuffer'd, and his Friend's Doings as well as his
Sufferings may be faid to be imputed to him.
Or if any Man practife Obedience and
Righteouſneſs in an eminent or illuftrious
manner, and he together with his Pofterity
are dignified and rewarded on the account of
that eminent Obedience, then this Obedience
and Righteouſneſs of the Father is imputed
to the Children, his Righteousness is upon
them; that is, they are dignified and dealt
with as tho' they had been eminently righ-
teous and obedient, upon the account of what
their Father was and did.
Now, if among the Hiftories of the Na-
tions we have any Tranfactions of this kind
recorded by ancient Writers, do we not eafily
underſtand what thefe Writers fay? Is not
their Meaning very plain and intelligible?
Should we ftand debating with long Chicane-
ry and Cavilling, by Rules of Grammar, Lo-
gick and Politicks, whether fuch things were
poffible or no? Is not the Senſe eaſy to a com-
mon Reader? Then why fhould, we think
theſe ſame ſort of Things and Phraſes, in
Matters
+
4
432 Effay II. Of Imputed S'in
Matters of Religion, are fo dark and fo dif-
ficult, as to need huge Comments and quar
relfome Folio's to explain them? Why fhould
we not agree in the plain Meaning of them,
when we meet with any fuch Phraſes among
the facred Writers? And when we find fuch
Repreſentations made to us in the things that
relate to God and Man, Sin and Righteouf-
nefs, in the Books that teach us the Way of
Salvation, why fhould we not receive them
in their plain common Senfe, without con-
tending about them?
The chief Difficulty in adjuſting our com-
mon Ideas in any of theſe Cafes feems to me
to be this: How can the particular Acts of
the Treaſon of the Parent be imputed to a
Child, especially in its Infancy, tho' 'tis grant-
ed that he ſuffers Baniſhment and Poverty for
the fake of his Father's Treafon; I fay, How
can theſe particular criminal Actions be im-
puted to him, fince this Infant was never ca-
pable of committing theſe Acts of Treaſon,
they being quite out of the reach of a Child,
and impoffible for him to commit?
Or how can thoſe eminent and illuftrious
Acts of Obedience or Righteouſneſs which
were perform'd by a Father, be imputed to a
Child, if that Child never ſtood either under
à direct Obligation, nor had any Capacity to
perform thoſe very Actions and Services?
To theſe Enquiries, I make theſe two plain
Anſwers.
Anfw
:
}
{
L
{
and Righteousness.
433
Anfw. 1. Thoſe A&s of Treaſon, or Acts
of Service, by very plain and common Forms
and Figures of Speech, are faid to be imputed
to the Children, or to be upon them, when
they fuffer or enjoy the obvious and legal
Confequences of their Father's Treaſons, or of
their eminent Services taken in the groſs and
comprehenſive View of them, as they are
criminal or meritorious; tho' the particular
Actions and Circumftances of thoſe Treaſons,
or of thoſe Services, could never have been
practiſed by the Children, at leaſt in their
Minority. This would give no difficulty at
all to the Reader, who fhould peruſe theſe
human Hiſtories, and read fuch Narratives in
them: And why fhould it give us any diffi-
culty when we read this Divine Account of
Things in the Holy Writings, or in human
Difcourfes on Divine Subjects?
Anfw. 2. I answer alfo in the fecond place,
the words Sin and Righteousness may be taken
in common Authors, as I fhall fhew prefent-
ly they are often taken in Scripture, in theſe
two Senſes.
Sin or Iniquity fignifies either the particu-
lar Acts of Difobedience to a Law, or it fig-
nifies the legal Refult of thoſe diſobedient
A&s, i. e. the Guilt or the Liableness to Con-
demnation, and Obligation to bear Punish-
ment which arifes from thofe Acts of Difobe-
dience according to the Law.
And thus when we fay the Sin or Iniquity
Ff
of
434 Efay II. Of Imputed Sin
of the Father is imputed to the Children of
a Traitor, who never were nor could be
precifely in their Father's Situation or Cir-
cumftances, we do not mean that every fin-
gle evil Act of the Father is charged upon the
Child, as if the Child had done it; but that
the Guilt or Liableness to Punishment which
arifes from thofe Acts of the Father is fo far
transferred or imputed to the Child, that the
Child fuffers Banifhment or Poverty for the
fake of it and this according to the Law
and Cuſtom of Nations is cfteem'd juft and
righteous.
In like manner Righteousness has two Sen-
fes: It either fignifies the particular Acts of O-
bedience to any Law or Command of a Supe-
rior, or it fignifies the Refult of thofe Actions,
i. e. à Right to Impunity, a Freedom from
Puniſhment, and a Right to Life, or Liberty,
or Honour, or any Reward which belonged
by the Law to fuch Acts of Obedience.
And fo when we fay The Righteousness of
the Father is imputed to the Child of a Per-
fon who has performed fome eminent Act of
Service or Obedience, we do not mean that
all thoſe ſpecial Acts and Circumftances of the
Father's Service or Obedience are minutely
and particularly imputed to the Child; but
the general Reſult of thoſe Acts, i. e. the
Recitude in Court, or the Right to Impuni-
ty and Reward, which is the Refult of the
Father's Performances, is imputed to the
Child.
Now
and Righteousness.
435
Now if we would but try to explain every
Text of Scripture wherein either imputed Sin
or imputed Righteoufnefs are mentioned in
the Word of God, either in exprefs Words,
or in the plain Senfe and Meaning of them,
I am perfuaded we fhould find them all eafy
and intelligible, and free from Cavils and
Controverfies.
If we met with fuch Narratives in common
Hiftory as I have fuggefted, furely we ſhould
not expect that the Writer ſhould expreſs him-
felf in fuch a nice Accuracy of Learned and
Scholaftic Language, as Men of modern Con-
troverfy are almoft conftrained to ufe, in or-
der to guard their Expreffions againſt all-pof-
fible Cavil and Objection. Nor fhould we
enter into fuch a Detail of critical and
per
plexing Debates about every Puncilio both
of Word and Senſe in this Hiſtory, as is too
often done when we read theſe things in
Scripture, as relating to Adam and Chrift.
And fince the Holy Scriptures were written
for the common Uſe of Mankind, and their
general Meaning is obvious and plain, why
fhould we rack every Syllable, and put every
Expreffion to the torture to make it confefs
what we have a mind to have it ſpeak accord-
ing to the different Parties under which we
lift ourſelves.
1
If we confider that Account which Scrip-
ture gives us of all Mankind falling under
Sin, and the legal or penal Confequence there-
F f 2
of
436 Effay II. Of Imputed Sin
of by the Sin of Adam; or if we confider
Chrift's taking upon him the Sins of Men,
bearing their Sins, and ſuffering for them as
a Surety or Sacrifice; or if we confider Righ-
tcoufness imputed to thoſe that believe, or
even
e Righteoufnefs or Obedience of Chrift
imputed to Penitents and Believers; I think
we fhould find no great difficulty to adjuft our
Ideas of theſe things, if we would but ſuffer
ourſelves to form our Sentiments of theſe
Matters by the plain, natural and common
Expreffions and Ideas of Men about theſe
Subjects, and in a candid manner receive the
obvious Meaning of fuch Language.
In order to confirm what I have faid, I de-
fire to make theſe three Remarks.
1. Rem. That there are feveral fuch Hifto-
ries in the Bible, wherein Inftances of the like
kinds among the Tranfactions of Men are de-
livered down to us in fuch fort of Expreflions
or Words of the fame Import.
Abraham's eminent Obedience to God in
bringing his Son Ifaac to the Altar, was rc-
warded, not only in Bleffings to Abraham
himſelf, but to his Seed. Gen. xxii. 16, &c.
Thy Seed ſhall poffefs the Gate of his Ene-
mies, and in thy Seed fhall all the Nations
of the Earth be bleſſed, becauſe thou hast
obey'd my Voice. Here it may be faid, that
Abraham's Obedience, at least in the Refult
and Confequences of it, is imputed to his
Seed.
This
and Righteousness.
437
This fame Promife is repeated again to
Ifaac, and affigned to his Pofterity, for the
fake of Abraham's eminent Piety and Obedi-
ence. Gen. xxvi. 4, 5. I will perform the
Oath that I fware unto Abraham thy Fa-
ther, and I will make thy Seed to multiply
as the Stars of Heaven, and I will give unto
thy Seed all thefe Countries, becauſe that A-
braham obeyed my Voice, and kept my Charge,
my Statutes and my Laws. Abraham's
Righteouſneſs was thus imputed to Ifaac and
bis Seed.
Phinehas the Son of Eleazar was zealous
for the Lord among the Children of Ifrael,
and God gave him and his Seed after him
the Covenant of an everlasting Priesthood,
becauſe he was zealous for his God, and
flew the Criminals in Ifrael. Numb. xxv. 11.
This eminent Act of Righteoufnefs was fo far
imputed to his Children, as that they receiv'd
the Reward of it as well as himſelf.
Achan who had ftolen the Silver and the
rich Garment and the Wedge of Gold from a-
mong the Spoils of Jericho, provoked the
Lord to Anger; and his Crime, by the Ap-
pointment of God, was fo far imputed to his
Children, that they were all ftoned for the
fake of his Crime. The Guilt or Puniſhment
of it was imputed to the Children together
with the Father, Joh. vii. 24.
The Falfhood and Covetoufnefs of Gehazi
were imputed to his Pofterity. 2 Kings v.25.
F f 3
When
438 Effay II. Of Imputed Sin
When God by the Mouth of his Prophet
pronounced that Leprofy should cleave unto
him, and to his Seed for ever.
Many other Inftances of this kind might be
collected from the facred Writings, to fhew
us how Perfons may not only have their
own Sin, or their own Righteousness imputed
to them in the Puniſhments or the Rewards
they receive; but other Perfons alſo may have
that Sin or Righteoufnefs imputed to them;
that is, they may fall under Condemnation
and Puniſhment, or have a Right to Impu-
nity and Reward by a wife and holy Confti-
tution of God, upon the account of the Crime
or Obedience of their Forefathers.
Note, It is not my Bufinefs and Defign in
this place to juftify at large the Conduct of
Providence in thefe Inftances, but only to
repreſent the actual Facts or Matter of Hifto-
ry, and fhew how very eafy and intelligible
theſe fort of Reprefentations are, and that
they would afford no Difficulty to a Reader,
nor occafion any Controverfy about the Senfe
of them, if we came with honeft Minds to
read them, and not under any former Preju-
dices or Biafs.
2. Remark. It is pretty evident that the
Scriptures of the Old and New Teftament ufe
the Words Sin and Iniquity, UT or MAEN
and and Apapria both in the Hebrew and
Greek Languages, to fignify nor only the cri-
minal Actions themselves, but alſo fometimes
3
they
and Righteousness.
439
they fignify the legal Reſult and Confequen-
ces of theſe Actions, i. e. the Guilt or Lia-
bleness to Punishment, and fometimes the
Punishment itself, whether it fall upon the
original Criminal, or upon others for his
fake, and on his account.
In the fame manner the Scripture ufes
the Word Righteousness, PT or PT and
Axaiorum, to fignify, that Right to Impunity,
that Rectitude in Court, that Juftification,
or being pronounced righteous, or that Right
to Reward, which is the Refult of thofe par-
ticular Acts of Piety and Obedience, as well
as to fignify the particular Acts of Obedience
or Piety themselves. If this has not been fuf-
ficiently fhewn already by Writers in this
Controverfy, a moderate Study of fome of
thoſe Texts where theſe Words are uſed, will
convince us of it.
I might give a fhort Specimen of it in a
few Scriptures. Job xxxiii. 26. God will ren-
der to a Man his Righteoufnefs, that is, not
the very righteous Actions, but the proper
Reſult of them, or thoſe Bleflings which are
the Fruits of Righteouſneſs. Pfal. xxiv. 5.
He shall receive the Bleſſing from the Lord,
and Righteousness from the God of his Sal-
vation, i. e. the Reward of Righteoufnefs.
Hofea x. 12. Sow to your felves in Rigk-
teousness, i. c. in and by Actions of Piety and
Goodnefs; 'Till the Lord come and rain
Righteousness upon you, i. e. till he pour
F f 4
down
440 Effay II. Of Imputed Sin
}
down on you the Rewards or Fruits of
Picty.
I might add here, that in feveral Places of
St. Paul's Epiftles, the word Righteousness
is uſed to fignify Juftification in the paflive
Senfe of the Word, or a juftified State, a
Rectitude in Court, or a Right to Impunity
and Life. Rom. x. 3. Chrift is the End of
the Law for Righteousness to every one that
believeth; which muft mean that Chrift is the
great Defign or Accomplishment of the Law
of God, in order to the Juftification of Be-
lievers, or to their obtaining a right to Life.
Rom. x. 10. With the Heart Man believeth
unto Righteousness, i. e. to obtain Juftifica-
tion, or a justify'd State. Gal. ii. 23. If
Righteoufnefs come by the Law, then Chrift
is dead in vain; i. e. if a juftify'd State, or
a Right to Life came by the Law, &c. And
particularly where the Word AyıÇqua, or Im-
pute, is join'd with Righteousness, as Rom.
iv. 3. Gal. iii. 6. Abraham believed God, and
it was counted or imputed to him for Righ-
teousness. Rom. iv. 5. His Faith is counted
for Righteousness; it is not a or úπep, i. c.
for and instead of righteous Works, but is
dixa:ocuvav, i. c. in order to Juftification, or
δικαιοσυνην,
Acceptance with God.
And fo in other Places of Scripture, a
Work whether good or evil, is put for the Re-
ward of it. Job xxxiv. 11. The Work of a
Man will be render unto him; i. e. the Re-
compen ce
and Righteoufnefs.
441
compence or Fruit of his Work: So the word
Iniquity is uſed to fignify the Puniſhment of
it. Hof. xii. 13. Te have plowed Wickedness,
ye have reaped Iniquity; i. e. the Puniſhment
that it deferves. So Paul defires Philemon
to impute any wrong he had received from
Onefimus to himſelf, Phil. v. 18. not the
evil Action, but the Damage he fuftained.
And upon this account when Sin or Righ-
teouſneſs are ſaid to be imputed to any Man
upon the account of the Works of Righte-
ouſneſs or Sin which he himſelf has done;
then theſe Words perhaps may ſometimes
denote the Good or Evil Actions themſelves,
together with the legal Refult of them in
Guilt and Condemnation, or the legal Recti-
tude in Abfolution and Juftification. But
when the finful or righteous Actions of one
Perfon are fo imputed to another as to bring
Puniſhments or Rewards upon that other,
then generally the words imputed Sin and
Righteousness fignify the legal and forenfic
Refult of theſe finful or righteous Actions,,
i. e. an Obligation or a Liablenefs to Punifh-
ment on one fide, or a Right to Impunity
and the Reward on the other.
It may be granted indeed, if one Man
commit Murder, and three or four other
Men contrived or encouraged, aided or
abetted the Murderer in the Commiffion of
the Crime, perhaps the Action of Murder,
as well as the legal Penalties of it, may be
in
442 Effay II. Of Imputed Sin
in a Senfe imputed to all theſe Men, becauſe
they are all actual Sharers in the Fact: But
this is not the Cafe in thefe Scriptural Impu-
tations we are fpeaking of, therefore it is
only Guilt or Penalty that is imputed or tranf
ferred.
Some Perfon may be ready to enquire, first,
How can the Guilt of Sin or the Condemna-
tion for it be justly imputed or transferred
from one Man to another, without the Impu-
tation of the finful Actions themſelves? Or
how can the legal Rectitude, i. e. the Right
to Impunity and Life, or the Righteouſneſs
of one be imputed to another, without the
righteous Actions themſelves being imputed?
I answer, The very fame juft Conftitution
or Law, whether human or divine, by which
the Actions themselves, whether Good or
Evil, could be fuppofed to be imputed, is
fufficient for the Imputation of the legal Re-
fult of thofe Actions, and that with as much
Juftice. Nay, I might add, with much more
Juftice in many Cafes, may the legal Reſult
or Puniſhment of finful Actions be imputed
to others, or transferred to them than the
Actions themſelves: for the Imputation of
the evil Actions to an innocent Perfon, if it
could be done, would carry more of Crime
and Blame, and Shame, and of perfonal De-
filement and Demerit in it, than the mcer
Imputation of their Guilt, i. e. a Liableness to
Condemnation and Puniſhment. And in-
deed
and Righteousness.
443
deed when the Puniſhment is transferred to
others, then the Sin or Guilt is faid to be im-
puted to them, as I have fhewn before.
Secondly, it will be objected, May not the
very fame finful Actions of the Father be im-
puted to the Pofterity, fince the Children
were in the Father naturally when he com-
mitted thoſe Sins? Is not Levi faid to pay
Tithes in Abraham, Heb. vii. 9. becauſe he
was yet in the Loins of his Great Grandfa
father, when he paid Tithes to Melchifedek?
Anfw. 1. The Apoftle expreffes it not as
a Matter of ftrict Reaſoning, becauſe he adds
the Words, as I may fay fo, to intimate, 'tis
rather an Allufion or Emblem, than ftrict Rea-
foning.
Anfw. 2. If there could be fuppofed any
Advantage by this natural Inbeing of all Men
in Adam to fupport the Imputation of his Sin
to them, yet there can be no Neceflity of it,
for Christ was not naturally in us, tho' our
Sins were imputed to him. This Imputation
of Sin therefore to the one or the other figni-
fics only the transferring the Guilt, Condem-
nation or Puniſhment, and not the Imputation
of the fame evil Actions, or the transferring
them from Adam to us, or from us to our
bleffed Saviour.
A third Argument to prove the good or
evil Actions themfelves imputed, as fome fup-
pofe, may arise from the ftrong Expreflions
of Scripture, eſpecially in Rom. v. where there
is
444 Effay II. Of Imputed Sin
is fo particular a Compariſon between our be-
ing made or conftituted Sinners by the Dif
obedience of Adam, and our being made or
conftituted righteous by the Obedience of
Chrift.
To this I answer, that the Jewiſh and all
the Eastern Writers deal in very strong Fi-
gures and Expreffions to fignify plain and ob-
vious things; and therefore there is fome Al-
lowance to be made in the Explication of
them, or when we reduce them to plain Lan-
guage. And befides, as Adam was the Head
and Spring not only of our Guilt and Death
by Imputation, but of our inherent Sin by
natural Propagation alfo; fo Christ was the
Head and Spring not only of our Juftification
and Life by his imputed Righteoufnefs, but
of our inherent Holinefs or Righteouſneſs by
Sanctification and perhaps the Strength of
the Expreflions might be ufed to intimate all
this to us.
But if only the Refult of their Good or
evil Actions were imputed to us, thofe ftrong
Expreſſions might be uſed. I am fure when
all the Iniquities of the Children of Ifrael,
and all their Tranfgreffions in all their Sins,
are confeffed over the Head of the Goat,
while Aaron lays both his Hands
upon
it, and he is faid to put or transfer them
all upon the Head of the Goat, and that
the Goat should bear upon him all their
Iniquities into the Wilderness, or a Land
of
and Righteousness.
445
of Separation, Lev. xvi. 21. all thefe Words
can fignify nothing more than transferring
to the Goat the Guilt or Condemnation or
Liableness to Puniſhment, Mifery and Death,
which theſe Sins deſerved, and to which the
Goat might be expoſed; for a Brute-Creature
cannot have human Sins any otherwife im-
puted or transferred to it: the particular fin-
ful Actions of Man cannot be transferred to
the Brutal Sacrifice in any other Senſe: nor
do I ſee a neceffity of any other Senſe in
which the Sin of Adam was imputed to his
Pofterity, or the Sins of Men to the Son of
God *.
If one would keep our Ideas of theſe things
as clear and diftinct as poffible, I think we
may do it by virtue of this Diftinction or this
two-fold Senfe of the words Sin and Righ-
teousness.
'Tis poffible fome may in the fourth place
object that it cannot properly be called im-
puted Righteousness, if the righteous Actions
themſelves are not imputed; for in proper
Speech the Reſult of Christ's Righteousness,
i. e.
* Let what will be faid to confine the Senſe of this Im-
putation of Sin or Righteoufiefs to the legal or forenfic Reſult
of good or evil Actions; let what will be faid to excude and
deny the Imputation of the Actions themselves to others; yet
thofe who oppofe this Doctrine will and do level almoít all
their Arguments against the Imputation of the Actions them-
felves, and then triumph in having demolish'd what we never
built, and in refuting what we never afferted or maintain’d.
Nor do I know any other Reafon for this their Conduct, but
that while they put fuch Senfes upon our Words as we dif
claim, they can glory in their own fancy'd Victories; but
where the Truth or Integrity of it lies, I know not.
446 Effay II. Of Imputed Sin
i. c. the Right to Impunity and eternal Life
which he procured for us, is given to us ra-
ther than imputed.
To this I answer and grant, that this is
the very Language of Scripture: it is called
the Gift of Righteousness, Rom. v. 17. and
Eternal Life, (which is the Refult of Chrift's
Righteoufnéfs) is the Gift of God thro' Jefus
Chrift. Rom. vi. 23. And the Forgiveness of
Sins is given to Iſrael. Acts v. 31. Yet let
it be obferved alfo, that the very Reward it-
ſelf is ſometimes faid to be reckon'd or im-
puted in Scripture. Rom. iv. 4: The Word
is ora, which our Tranflators have con-
ftrued imputed in the next Verfe. But this
leads me to the next Remark.
3. Rem. The Scripture does not, as I re-
member, any where in expreſs Words affert,
that the Sin of Adam is imputed to his Chil-
dren, or that the Sins of Mankind or of Belie-
vers were imputed to Chrift, or that the Righ-
teousness of Chrift is imputed to Believers ;
yet ftill I think the Senfe and true Meaning of
all thefe Expreffions is fufficiently found in
feveral Places of Scripture.
If we confult the Language of the Pro-
phets Ifaiah, and Jeremy, and Daniel, and
the Apoftles John, and Paul, and Peter, in
their Reprctcntation of fome of thefe Sub-
jects, Ifa. liii. and Jer. xxiii. 6. and xxxiii. 16.
Dan: ix. 24. Rom. v. 12-19. 1 Cor. xv. 3,
21, 22. Gal. iii. 13. 2 Cor. v. ult. Ephef. i. 7.
1
1
L
¿
7
1
:
!
{
and
and Righteousness.
447
and ii. 5, 13. Phil. iii. 9. Col. i. 14, 20.
Heb. ix. 14, 26. 1 Pet. ii. 24. and iii. 18.
1 John i. 7. and ii. 2. and iv. 10. and Revel.
i. 5. and v. 9. and many other Scriptures, we
fhall find the Subftance and true Senſe of
theſe Phraſes as I have explain'd them.
Yet fince theſe expreſs Words and Phrafes
of the Imputation of Adam's Sin to us, of
our Sins to Chrift, or of Chrift's Righteouf
ness to us, are not plainly written in Scrip-
ture, we ſhould not impoſe theſe very Expref-
fions on every. Chriftian; let every one take
their Liberty in manifefting their Senfe of
theſe plain Scriptural Doctrines in fuch Words
and Phrafes of their own, as are modeſt and
fecure from Offence and Danger, or confine.
themſelves to Scripture-Language.
But if theſe Words were exprefly written
in the Bible, they could not reaſonably be in-
terpreted to any other Senfe, than that which
I have explained in and by fo many Examples,
both in the Scripture-Hiftory and in common
Life. Let us make this appear in a few In-
ftances.
When we ſay, The Sin of Adam is im-
puted to all his Pofterity, can we poffibly
mean that every evil Motion of Adam's Eye
or his Heart towards the forbidden Fruit, with
every Thought of Unbelief of the Threat-
ning, or every working of Ingratitude toward
God in his Mind, or Pride in his Heart, togc-
ther with the Action of eating this Fruit at
his
448 Effay II. Of Imputed Sin
his Wife's requeſt, is minutely and particularly
imputed to all his Infant-Seed? Can thefe cri-
minal Thoughts be imputed to them who ne-
ver were under any Temptation nor Capacity
of taſting that Fruit, or of breaking that par-
ticular Law of God? Muft we not neceffarily
therefore mean, that it is the Guilt of Adam
in that Sin, or his Liableness to Condemna-
tion and Puniſhment, to Mifery and Death, is
imputed or transferred to his Pofterity? Im-
putation of Sin in this Cafe fignifies the Im-
putation or transferring of the legal or penal
Confequences of Sin ; i. e. Mifery and Death.
When the Sins of David and of Mary
Magdalen and Rahab, and of all the Adulte-
rers, the Harlots, and the Murderers that ever
repented and believed on Chrift, are faid in ge-
neral to be imputed to Chrift, is it proper to
explain it by faying all the particular luftful
Thoughts, with every adulterous Wifh, and
every impious and bloody Purpoſe in their
Hearts, together with all the lewd and vile
Actions both of Men and Women, are in
themselves imputed, reckoned, or transferred
to the pure and holy Jefus, when he was
made a Sacrifice for their Sins? Can Chrift be
counted or reputed as the lewd or bloody
Tranfgreffor? Can any thing elfe therefore
be meant by fuch an Expreffion of Magda-
len's or of David's Sins imputed to Chrift,
than that the Guilt or Liableneſs to Puniſh-
ment, which is the legal Refult of their Crimes,
was
}
L
and Righteouſneſs.
449
was laid upon Chrift when he bore all their
Sins in his Body on the curfed Tree?
Let it be confidered, that if all their finful
Actions could be and were imputed to Chrift,
which are only and properly perſonal, I can-
not well ſee how to avoid the Imputation of
the Vitiofity and Sinfulneſs and dreadful De-
merit of all theſe Actions to Chrift, together
with the Actions themſelves, and thus the De-
filement of their Sins in every bad Senſe of it,
will be transferred and imputed to the bleſſed
Jefus, the Holy one of God, which I fear
would too nearly border upon the Language
of Blafphemy.
'Tis evident indeed in many places of Scrip
ture, that our Sins were imputed to our blef-
fed Saviour, when Chrift bore the Sins of ma-
ny, when he was made Sin for us; i. e. a
Sin-offering, when the Lord laid on him the
Iniquities of us all, when the Lord pleafed
to bruife him, and put him to Grief, and made
his Soul an Offering for Sin: But I think
it can never mean any more than this, that
he was made a proper Sacrifice of Atone-
ment or Expiation for thofe Sins, by bearing
Sorrows and Puniſhments, and Death upon
that account, which were the legal Refult
of our Sins, in order to deliver us from
them. *
G g
So
* If any one will doubt whether in Scripture the Sins of
one Perfon are ever imputed to another, or born by another,
in the Senſe declared, let him read even Whitby himſelf in
bis
450 Effay II. Of Imputed Sin
1
So when we fay, the Righteousness of
Chriſt is imputed to Believers, I think it can
never mean that every particular righteous
Action of Christ, as he was a holy Obferver
of the Jewish Law, a Preacher of the Goſpel,
a Maſter of a Family, or a Worker of Mira-
cles, can be imputed to Women or Children,
who were never called to any fuch Office, or
to perform thefe Actions; nor can his Suf-
fering of Circumcifion, or his Celebration of
Jewish Festivals in the Temple, among the
Males of the Houfe of Ifrael, be minutely
and particularly imputed to Gentile Chri-
ftians, both male and female, who never were
under the Command of Circumcifion, or
who would have finned in practising Jewish
Ceremonies: And therefore the Righteouf
ness of Christ, when it is ſaid to be imputed
to Believers, can mean no more than that
the legal Refult of his righteous Acts, or Acts
of Obedience to God, is imputed to them,
or beſtowed upon them. This Gift of Righ-
teousness therefore, is a Right to Impunity,
a legal Rectitude in the Court of God, an Ab-
folution from Sin and Puniſhment, a Pardon
of Sin and Juftification in the fight of God,
and a Right to eternal Life, which are con-
ferred upon them for the fake of what Chrift
has done and fuffered.
And
Man may
his Expofition on 2 Pet.ii. 24, 25. where I think any
find Satisfaction in this Point, how Chrif bore our Sins in his
own Body on the Tree.
and Righteouſneſs.
45
:
And indeed for this Reafon I have fome
times fcrupled to uſe this Language, tho' fome
very good Writers have uſed it, (viz.) that
the Merits of Chrift, or his Satisfaction, are
imputed to us. The Satisfaction of Chrift is
the Recompenfe which he made to God for
our Breach of his Law: His Merit in its
moſt natural Senfe fignifies his proper Defert
and Worthinefs of all thofe divine Honours
and Bleffings which were his own Perfonal
Rewards, as well as of that Pardon of Sin and
eternal Life which he obtained for us: And
this Merit and Satisfaction ariſes from the
tranſcendent Value and Dignity of the Per-
fon of Christ. Surely this Satisfaction can-
not be imputed to us properly, left we ſhould
be faid to have fatisfied, and made God a Re-
compenfe for our Sins. His Merit cannot be
imputed to us in a ſtrict Senſe, for that would
make us Meritors, either of fuch peculiar
Glories as he had, or at leaft of our own Par-
don of Sin and eternal Life.
But if we fink the Senfe of the Word Me-
rit ſo as to mean nothing but thofe Bleffings
of Pardon, Grace, and eternal Life which
Chrift has merited for us, or rather the legal
Right of true Believers to thoſe Bleffings, ac-
cording to the Covenant of Grace; then the
Phraſe of his Merits imputed, may be uſed
without Offence or Error.
Here let me make thefe two Reflections.
C
G g 2
I.
452 Effay II. Of Imputed Sin
1. It is the explaining this Doctrine of im-
puted Sin and imputed Righteoufnefs, ſo as
to include all the particular A&s of Sin and
Righteoufneſs, with their proper Merit or
Demerit, &c. that has tempted fo many Per-
fons to deny the Doctrine itſelf.
2. If it fhould be allowed that the very
A&t of Adam's Difobedience was imputed to
all his Pofterity; if the very fame finful Ac-
tions of Men could be imputed to Chrift; if
the very Actions of Chrift's Obedience and
Righteoufnefs could be imputed to Believers,
what greater Puniſhments could the one juftly
and reaſonably fuffer? or what Bleflings could
the other reaſonably be intitled to, or enjoy,
according to Scriptural Repreſentations of
things, beyond what Scripture has affigned,
either to Mankind as the Refult of the Sin of
Adam, or to Chrift as the Refult of the Sins
of Men, or to Believers as the Reſult of the
Righteousness of Chrift?
Upon the whole, I conclude, the Imputa-
tion of Adam's firſt Sin to his Offspring, the
Imputation of our Sins to Chrift, and Im-
putation of his Righteouſneſs to us, which
are ſo often uſed by our Proteftant Divines,
may be very well understood in a Scriptural
Senſe, or a Senſe much favour'd by Scripture,
according to the common Ideas and Notions
which People have of one Perſon's ſuffering
for the Sins or Crimes of another, or one Per-
fon's receiving fpecial Benefits for the good
Deeds
and Righteoufnefs.
453
Deeds of another, as appears in the beginning
of this Eſſay, without running into needlefs
Cavils or Controverfics, into improper Lan-
guage, and dangerous Extremes.
And in general, I may make this juſt Infe-
rence: If we would but allow the Expref-
fions of Scripture, or the plain and obvious
Senfe and Meaning of thofe Expreffions the
fame Candour of Interprctation as we allow
to all Men who write of Civil or Hiftorical
Subjects in the like Caſes, and not cavil aț
them in common Writings, we might fuffi-
ciently enter into the Senſe and Meaning of
God in his Word, and find a greater Unifor-
mity in our Sentiments: And we ſhould alſo
abound more in Charity and Love towards
each other, if any leffer difficulties and dark-
neſs ſhould remain upon our Minds, and
fhould lead us to fome differences of Opinion
and Expreffion about theſe Subjects.
#
Gg 3
THE
t
454
THE
THIRD ESSAY.
VIZ.
On the Guilt and Defilement of SIN,
and how far they may be tranf-
ferr'd to others.
I
N order to clear the Doctrine of Imputed
Sin from all further Difficulties, it may
be proper to enter into a Difquifition of the
true Senſe of thoſe words, (viz.) Sin, Guilt,
and Defilement *, which are frequently made
ufe of in Scripture, and in the common Lan-
guage of Chriftians: Let us try to clear the
from all Ambiguity, by fetting the feveral
diſtinct Senſes in which they are uſed in a
perfpicuous Light.
Sin is the most general Name for all man-
ner of moral Evil, and in its general or ab-
ftract
* Tho' the abſtract Subftantives Guilt and Defilement are
not much used in Scripture in our Tranflation, yet I prefume
none will be fo weak as to object against my Reprefentation
of them as Scripture-Language, fince their Conjugates or
Derivatives, Guilty, Guiltinefs, Guiltless, Defile, Defiled, &c. are
frequently uſed.
Of the Defilement of Sin.
455
ftract Nature, or rather the Sinfulneſs of it,
is Want of Conformity to the Law of God
in the things which that Law requires, or
the Tranfgreffion of that Law in those
things which it forbids; and thus it in-
cludes both the Sins of Omiſſion and Sins of
Commiffion.
Again, Sin is to be confidered as it is a
Principle or Habit in the Mind, which in-
clines us to break the Law of God ; or as it ap-
pears in the Actions of Life, which are ac-
tual Tranfgreffions or Violations of this Law.
Yet further, there are two things to be
confider'd in Sin, (viz.) the real and the re-
lative Evil of it.
First, The real Evil of Sin conſiſts in its
hurtful Nature and evil Qualitics, whether it
be confidered in the Habits of the Mind, or
in the Actions of Life. Let us furvey them
both briefly.
The real Evil of Sin is that Disorder in the
Habits,or Principles, or Powers of the Soul,
which inclines it to act contrary to the Holy
Nature, Perfections and Image of God, as
well as againſt his Law. 'Tis a Diforder
alſo in theſe very Actions, as they are con-
trary to the Nature of God, defacing his
Image, fpoiling the Soul's original Rectitude,
breaking the true Order of things, and de-
ftroying the trueft Happineſs of Man *
Gg 4
This
* As Virtue and Holiness are the true Rectitude and Order of
the human Soul, when all its Powers are in proper Subjection
10
456 Effay III. Of the Guilt
This Diſorder in the Soul, or its Principles
of Action, is called in Scripture, Luft, Con-
cupifcence, Corruption, Sin that dwells in
us, the Body of Death, the Flesh, the car-
nal Mind, the Law of Sin, and the Law in
the Members. The fame Diſorder in the Ac-
tions of Life makes them be called Sins, A-
bominations, Iniquity, Wickedness, evil
Works or Ways, &c.
I add yet further, Sin confider'd as a real
Evil, and a Diſorder of Heart and Life, hath
its natural Effects and Confequences fol-
lowing it, fuch as Pain or Anguifh of Con-
fcience, Self-Vexation, Shame, &c.
Secondly, Let us confider the relative E-
vil of Sin. This confifts more particularly in
its respect to the governing Authority and
Law of God; it is a Contrariety to the Pre-
cepts of that Law, partly in the very Prin-
ciples and Habits of the Soul, as well as in
the Actions of Life *.
But as this relative Evil chiefly belongs
to finful Actions, it is more properly an ac-
tual Oppofition to, or Violation of God's
righteous Law, and fo it fubjects the Sinner
to
to God, and Harmony with each other; fo Sin is properly the
Diſorder of it, when the inferior Powers of Appetite and Af
fection rebel against the fuperior and guiding Powers of Rea-
fon and Confcience, and the Will and Paffions are not kept
in their due Obedience to their Creator.
* The Apoſtle John deſcribes it thus, 1 Ep. 3, 4 aµag-
Tia 6 dvouía, Sin is Unlawfulness, which our Tranflators
have called the Tranfgreffion of the Law.
and Defilement of Sin.
457
to the Puniſhment which that Law threa-
tens *.
The Terms of Unrighteousness, Difobe-
dience, Trefpafs and Tranfgreffion are fome-
times applied to this relative Evil of Sin in
the Actions of Life in Scripture, or more pro-
perly it is called Guilt, or Guiltinefs before
God, and it fignifies our Liableneſs to Pu-
niſhment becauſe of Sin.
As the real Evil of Sin hath its natural
Effects and Confequences on the Sinner; fo
the Puniſhment which the Law threatens may
be called the legal Confequence of Sin, and
includes Pain, Mifery, or Death inflicted upon
Sinners.
Again, as the relative Evil of Sin is re-
moved by Pardon thro' the Atonement of
Chrift, fo the real Evil of it is removed by
Sanctification by the Holy Spirit. The firf
changes our condemned State into Reconci-
liation with God; the laſt changes our finful
Nature and Temper into the Image of God
and Holiness.
Perhaps fome Perfon may object against
this Scheme, and fay, all the Evil that is in
Sin is relative, for the meer natural Action
ab-
* I fay, the relative Evil of Sin belongs chiefly to finful
Actions, rather than to the Habits and Principles of Sin in the
Soul, becauſe I take the evil Inclinations of the Heart prompt-
ing us to act contrary to the Law of God, to be part of the
real Evil of Sin: And befides, I do not remember the word
Guilt, which is the proper relative Evil of Sin, is ever in
Scripture afcribed to the Habit or Principle of Sin without the
A&t.
458 Effay III. Of the Guilt
abſtracted from all its Relations hath no real
Evil in it; therefore this Diftribution of the
relative and real Evil of Sin is not juſt and
proper.
I anfwer, Sin confidered as a bad Princi-
ple in the Soul, or as a bad Action in Life,
is indeed a real Evil, for it hath many pofi-
tive evil Qualities and natural evil Effects,
which all Mankind know and feel, and which
are too many to be reckoned up; but the ab-
ftract Idea of Sin, or rather the Sinfulness of
any Action, is granted to be relative, be-
cauſe it confifts in a want of Conformity to
the Law of God.
I grant alſo that Sin may in fome ſenſe be
called a relative Evil, becauſe it bears a Con-
trariety to the Image of God, as well as it
confiſts in a Contrariety to the Law of God.
Yet fince Sin in the Heart or in the Life, in
Habit or in Act, is a real bad Quality, and is
contrary to the Image of God, and naturally
tends to ruin a Soul by deftroying its good
Qualities, its holy Rectitude or Holiness, its
Peace and Happineſs, as well as legally by
fubjecting it to Puniſhment; I chufe to call
that Diſorder which hath ſuch a real and na-
tural Tendency to fpoil God's Image and our
Happineſs, the real Evil of Sin: and I would
call its Demerit or Defert of Death, or its
legal Subjection of us to Puniſhment, the re-
lative Evil: and I defire Leave to do ſo at
preſent, that I may not admit Confufion into
this
and Defilement of Sin.
459
this Difcourfe, and may prevent all Conten-
tion about Words.
The general Term Sin in Scripture is fre-
quently uſed to fignify fometimes the rela-
tive, and fometimes the real Evil of it. 'Tis
ufed promiscuously and indifferently in the
Old Teſtament and in the New, both for the
Sinful Disorder of our Hearts and Lives, and
alfo for the Demerit or Punishment of fome
finful Action. 'Tis uſed for the Oppofition
that is in Sin to the holy Nature of God, and
to the Soul's real Happineſs, as well as for
the Oppofition of it to the Law of God, and
its fubjecting us to the legal Penalty.
Now let us confider what is the Guilt of
Sin, and what is its Defilement, and diftin-
guifh them as far as Scripture and common
Speech admits.
First, we will enquire into the meaning of
the Guilt of Sin; and this will afford us the
following Obfervations.
1. The words Guilt and Guilty, in their
original and moft proper fenfe, denote the
Relation of a finful Action or Perfon to fome
Law, and the Obligation which the Sinner
lies under to make Satisfaction to the Law, by
fuffering fome Penalty. The English word
is fuppofed to be derived from the Saxon
word Gild, a Tax or Fine; and Gildan is a
Perfon obliged, or liable to make amends, or
pay for a Fault committed.
In
460 Effay III. Of the Guilt
ενοχη
In the learned Languages it hath the ſame
Senfe. Reus and Reatus in Latin, and EvoXO
and Ex in the Greek, feem to be intirely con-
fined in their Significations to the Relation
or Situation in which the Sinner ftands with
regard to the Law, and repreſent a Perſon
bound to anſwer for a Fault or Tranfgreffion
of the Law.
So our Guilt or Guiltinefs before God,
originally and properly denotes the relative
Evil of Sin, or its Tranfgreflion of the Law,
and the Sinner's Obligation to make amends.
for it by fuffering fome Penalty.
2. It must be granted that the word Guilt
by fome Writers has been diftinguiſh'd into
theſe two Senſes, (viz.) there is a Guilt of
the Fault, which is called Reatus Culpa,
and there is a Guilt of the Punishment, which
is uſually term'd Reatus Pana: And thus
the Term Guilt, or Guiltinefs, is applied to a
Perſon three Ways. Sometimes it fignifies his
having done the Crime, or the finful Action,
as when we ſay a Man is guilty of Blafphe-
my, i. e. he blafphemed: Sometimes it de-
notes his Demerit or Defert of the Puniſh-
ment threat'ned, and at other times it means
only the legal Subjection of a Perfon to Pu-
niſhment thereby ; as when we fay the Blaf
phemer is guilty of Death, we mean, he has
deferved it, or at leaſt he is liable to it.
3. Obſerve alſo, that by uſing this Word
in theſe three diſtinct Senfes, we are led fome-
times
Į
and Defilement of Sin. 461
times to mingle and unite all theſe Senſes in
one; and fo in the word Guilt we fometimes
include fome Idea of the actual Fault or
Crime, and the perfonal Demerit of the Sin-
ner, as well as its legal Subjection of him to
Punishment; yet 'tis not always uſed in all
theſe Senfes, but always in one or other of
them.
4. Obferve further, that we never fay a
Man is guilty of the Fault, but when he is
the actual perfonal Sinner, and has deferved
the Puniſhment: but he may be faid to bear
the Guilt of Sin, or have the Guilt laid on
him, when he is made liable or fubject to the
Puniſhment by the Imputation of Sin to him,
according to any righteous Compact or Con-
ftitution, tho' he be not the perfonal or actual
Sinner, nor has merited Puniſhment himſelf.
5. When we ſpeak of the Guilt of Con-
Science, or a guilty Confcience, it means that
fenfible Grief, or Anguifh of Soul, which a-
riſes from a painful Conſciouſneſs or Re-
membrance of our having committed Sin a-
gainſt God and his Law; and fo it includes
in it not only the Fear and Terror of the
puniſhing Juftice of God, which is a legal
Confequent of Sin, but alſo the Shame that
arifes from our having done amifs, and from
our Unfitneſs to appear before a God of Ho-
lineſs under that finful Diſorder, which is a
natural Confequent or Effect of Sin. This
Guilt of Confcience belongs only to the per-
fonal
462 Effay III. Of the Guilt
fonal Offender, and can never be transferred
by Imputation to another.
But in the main, I think we may deter
mine, that this Word, the Guilt of Sin, or
of a finful Action, as it was originally de-
figned, fo is much more frequently, and more
obviouſly uſed and underſtood concerning the
legal Confequent of that Sin, or its juft Sub-
jection of the Sinner to Puniſhment, which is
its relative Evil, than it is concerning the
Diſorder of the finful Action, or the real
Evil of it. And indeed this is the only thing
in Sin which can be transferred and imputed
to any other Perfon, that is, the Obligation
to fuffer the Penalty, or to make amends for
the Violation of the Law.
In the following Part of this Difcourfe
therefore, when I ufe the word Guilt, I de-
fire to be understood chiefly, or only, con-
cerning that Liableneſs, Obligation, or Sub-
jection to Puniſhment under which Sin may
bring any Man, whether it be actually and
perfonally committed by himſelf, or whether
it be transferred to him only by Imputation.
The Ufe of Words in different Senfes, and as
including different Ideas, has been often an
unhappy Spring of Confufion and Miſtake,
which we fhould avoid as much as we can, by
confining Words to a particular Senfe *.
Now
*Here let it be obferved, that Languages are at firſt form'd
by the Bulk of Mankind, who have not any great Solicitude
to fecure the Senfe of each Word, and confine it to one proper
Idea:
and Defilement of Sin.
463
Now let us confider what is the Filth or
Defilement of Sin.
The
Idea: and when different Ideas approach near to one another,
the fame Word is often uſed by them for two or three Ideas,
especially fince Mankind hath many more Ideas than there are
Words in any Language whatfoever to reprefent or fignify
them. And hereby it happens, that Ideas running into one
another by fo near an Approximation, the Words that fignify
them, tho' they might be at firſt different, yet by degrees they
run into one another's Meaning, and bring much Confufion
into our Conception of things. The Words Guilt, Sin, De-
merit, are Inftances of this.
Let it be added alfo, that the figurative and metaphorical
way of ſpeaking is introduced into any Language, by endea-
vouring to defcribe ſpiritual Ideas by fome Refemblance
to fenfible and corporeal things: and tho' this may give a
Brightneſs and Force, Beauty and Senfibility to the Expref-
fion, where the Ideas are perfectly known, yet it is too often
in danger of introducing fome Miftake and Error into the
Minds of those who afterward heard and read it. The Words
Filth and Pollution, &c. will evidence this.
If you ask, Why this fort of Language, with its various
Defects and Dangers of Miſtake, is made ufe of by the Sa-
cred Writers in Scripture, the Answer is obvious: The Scrip-
ture was written for the Bulk of Mankind, who are not called
to enter into Accuracies and nice Punctilio's, and therefore it
muſt ſpeak their Language, that it may be the better under-
ftood by them, how imperfect and ambiguous foever it may
happen to be. And befides, as the ufe of Figures and Meta-
phors brightens and aggrandizes the Things they reprefent,
fo the Holy Writers faw it neceffary to reprefent their im-
portant Ideas in the brighteſt and ftrongeft Images, and Fi
gures, and Senfibilities, to ftrike the Minds of the People
with their great Importance. And this was the Cuſtom alfo
of Eaſtern Writers.
Therefore in explaining the Scriptures, as well as other
Writings, in a clear and diſtinct manner, if we would ſpeak
more exactly and accurately concerning things, and guard
againſt every Miſtake in a critical and diftinct Explication of
them, we ſhould endeavour to keep the fame Ideas to the
fame Words as far as ever we can; and having diſtinguiſh'd
the different Senfes in which a Word hath been ufed, we
fhould confine, as far as poffible, one Word to one Meaning
or Idea only.
464 Effay III. Of the Guilt
The Filthiness, Pollution, or Defilement
of Sin, which is fo frequently mentioned in
Scripture, is not any third Thing really dif
tinct from the two foremention'd Evils of
Sin, (viz.) the Guilt of it, and the diforderly
Nature of it, i. e. the relative and the real
Evil: Defilement is only a Metaphor uſed by
the Spirit of God fometimes to express one
of theſe, (viz.) the legal Guilt, but much
more frequently to fignify the other, (viz.)
the criminal Disorder; even as the word Sin
itſelf is uſed to denote both the relative and
the real Evil of it, (viz.) the legal Guilt, and
the moral or criminal Diſorder.
The words Defilement and Pollution, are
mere Figures borrowed from things of the
Body, and applied to the Soul, which is a
Spirit, and which in a ftrict and proper ſenſe
cannot be defil'd. A Body is faid to be de-
fil'd, when it has ſomething of a baſer Nature
mingled with it or caft upon it, or when a
Body is ſo tainted and corrupted, that it be-
comes offenfive to our Senfes: and this bo-
dily Filth many times is removed by paſſing
thro' the Water, or thro' the Fire, whereby
the Body attains its primitive Purity either in
whole or in part. Now becauſe there are
fome things in Sin which are its proper
F-
vils, that bear a Reſemblance to bodily De-
filements, therefore the fame Word is meta-
phorically applied to the Sins of the Soul.
But
and Defilement of Sin. 465
But fince it is but a Metaphor, a Figure, of
Impropriety of Speech, it muſt have ſome-
thing literal and proper which is fignified
thereby Now all that I know of, that can
be called the proper Evil of Sin, is either re-
lative or real, and confifts either in the Guilt
or in the Diſorder of it. I have no Idea or
Conception of any thing different from theſe
two, when I uſe the word Defilement or
Pollution: And we muſt not abuſe our
felves with Scripture-Metaphors and figurative
Words, inſtead of real Ideas, nor perfuade
ourfelves into a Fancy of more Realities
than there are or can be in Nature. This
would be to difhonour Scripture inſtead of
explaining of it.
If I were to prove that theſe are the two
only Ideas in which we find the Terms of
Filthiness, Defilement, or Pollution, uſed
in Scripture, or in our beſt Writers on ſacred
Subjects, I might confirm it theſe three Ways.
I. If we confider the Effects which are
repreſented to flow from the Defilement of
Sin, they are all fuch as may be attributed
either to the Guilt or to the Diſorder of it.
(1.) The Holy Scripture and our Divines
repreſent the Filth or Defilement of Sin, as
that which makes us offenfive to God, as any
corporeal defiled thing is offenfive to our-
felves. Now 'tis the Guilt of Sin that makes
us offenfive to the Divine Justice, for that's
the Attribute that vindicates the Honour of
Hh
his
466 Effay III. Of the Guilt
his Law, and executes the Penalty upon thoſe
that have broken it, and are become guilty.
And 'tis the diforderly Nature of Sin, whe-
ther in our Hearts or in our Actions, that
makes us offenfive to the Divine Holiness;
for Sin in this fenfe is a Contrariety to his
holy Nature, to all his moral Perfections, his
compleat Rectitude, his Goodneſs, and his
Truth: 'Tis in this fenfe, God is of purer
Eyes than to behold Iniquity, Hab. i. 13. He
will not let thofe come into his Prefence with
Approbation, whofe Hearts or Lives are de-
filed (that is) under finful Diſorders. This
was typified by the Levitical Pollutions of
old, when fome bodily Defilements excluded
the Ifraelites from the Camp, and the Ta-
bernacle where God dwelt: he dwelt there
in his Majesty and Justice, and threaten'd
Death to defiled Perfons that came near his
Altar, to reprefent his Puniſhment of the
Guilt of Sin; he dwelt there in his Holinefs,
and commanded them to ftand at a diſtance,
to fhew that the diforderly Nature of Sin
made Perfons unfit to converſe with God.
Thus all the ceremonial Pollutions of the
Jews typified one of theſe two, either the
Guilt of Sin, or its Diſorder and Vitiofity.
(2.) The Defilement of Sin is reprefented
as producing Shame and Fear in the Sinner
in the prefence of God. A Perfon in for-
bidden and defiled Garments, or befmeared
with Mire and Naftineſs, is afraid to come in-
to the prefence of his Prince, a wife and juft
Gover-
3
and Defilement of Sin.
467
Governor, as well as afham'd to appear be-
fore him as a Perfon of high Dignity. Now
one of theſe is the Effect of the Guilt of Sin.
the other of its Diſorder. A Sinner fears
the Justice and Majefty of God becauſe of
his Guilt, and the Injury he has done to the
Divine Law; he knows he is liable to Death,
he fees his own Defilement and God's Juftice,
and is afraid and trembles. A Sinner, in his
finful Diſorder of Soul, is alfo afhamed in the
prefence of a holy God, feeing every thing
in the Divine Nature fo contrary to his own
Heart and his own Actions, being defiled,
i. e. diforder'd by Sin. Thus the Guilt of
Sin produces Fear, and the Diſorder of Sin
produces Shame.
A Parallel might be drawn in this Inftance
alfo between the Levitical Defilements of
the Fleſh and the more fpiritual Evils of Sin.
The meer Suggeftion of this Thought is fuf-
ficient for thoſe who are acquainted with the
Mofaical Ceremonies, and the Reprefenta-
tions of God, as dwelling in the Holy of Ho-
lies, in the Glories of his Juftice and Holi-
ness.
(3.) The Defilement of Sin fometimes is
reprefented as debafing the Nature of the Soul,
and rendering it vile. Pfal. xlix. 20. A Man
without Understanding (that is) without the
Fear or Love of God, or true Holiness, is
mean and vile as the Beasts that perish:
This arifes from the inward Pravity or real
Hh 2
Evil
468 Effay III. Of the Guilt
Evil that is in it. Vitious Diſorders cither in
Heart or Life, debafe the Character of a
Creature; but under this Idea the Guilt of
Sin, or relative Evil of it, is not contain'd,
but only the Disorder, or the real Evil: But
ftill 'tis plain that this Reprefentation always
means the one or the other.
II. Another Way to prove that the De-
filement of Sin is no third thing diſtinct from
the Guilt and the Disorder of it, may be this.
The Methods or Means of removing the
Defilement of Sin are fuch as are fuited to
remove either the Guilt or the Diſorder of it.
(1.) Washing is the moft general Means to
remove bodily Defilements; and this is a Me-
taphor which the Scripture abounds in fome-
times to exprefs the Removal of Guilt by A-
tonement and Pardon, and fometimes the
Removal of the Diſorder of Sin in our Souls
by Sanctification. When we are faid to be
washed by the Blood of Chriſt from our Sins,
Rev. i. 5. there the Defilement imply'd muſt
fignify Guilt: But when we are faid to be
washed and cleanſed from a finful Nature, by
having the Spirit of God poured upon us, or
by being sprinkled with clean Water, Ifa. xliv.
3. Ezek. xxxvi. 25. which is done in Bap-
tifm and Regeneration; or when we are bid
to wash us and to make us clean, Ifa. i. 16. in
thele Places the Defilement which is imply'd
muft
and Defilement of Sin?
469
muſt fignify the finful Disorders of our Na-
tures and Lives.
This alfo is very evident in the Levitical
Methods of cleanſing the Typical Defilements
of old fometimes the Blood of the Sacrifice
was to be put on Perfons defiled, to fignify
the Removal of Guilt by the Death of Chriſt
the great Sacrifice: fometimes they were to
be waſhed in clean Water, to fignify the Re-
moval of the inward moral Diſorder of Sin
by the fanctifying Spirit.
(2.) Another Method of removing bodily
Defilements is by Fire; fo Silver and Gold
pafling thro' the Fire loſe their Droſs and Im-
purity, and are refined and made pure: Now
when the Defilement of Sin is reprefented as
removed by Fire, fometimes it fignifies the
removing the diförderly Temper and Quali-
ties of Mind, by the Spirit of God, or by af-
flictive Providences; fee Mal. iii. 2. He is
like a Refiner's Fire: he shall purify the
Sons of Levi, and purge them as Gold and
Silver, that they may offer to the Lord an
Offering in Righteousness. Zech.xiii.9. And
I will bring a third Part of them thro' the
Fire, and refine them as Silver is refined.
This was typified by the Levitical Purifi-
cations: The Gold and other Metals that
were under legal or typical Defilements, by
having been abufed to Idolatry by Heathens,
muſt paſs thro' the Fire to be cleanſed and fit-
ted for the Uſe of God's holy People, and his
Hh 3
holy
470 Effay III. Of the Guilt.
holy Temple. Numb. xxxi. 23. whereas thofe
Materials which could not bear the Fire were.
to be purified by Water for the fame Service.
In the 6th Chap. of the Prophecy of Ifaiah;
where he gives an account of his Complaint
in the Preſence of the Lord, I am a Man of
unclean Lips: Woe is me, for I am undone,
mine Eyes have ſeen the King, the Lord of
Hofts, a Seraph took a live Coal from the
Altar of Burnt Offering, and laid it upon
his Mouth, and faid, Lo this hath touched
thy Lips, and thine Iniquity is taken away;
thy Sin is purged. 'Tis hard to fay whether
this chiefly refers to a Pardon of the Guilt of
paft Sins of the Tongue, or a Purification of
his Lips and Heart from finful Disorders.
But 'tis certainly one or both thefe.
In the last place I might add another Proof
that the Defilement of Sin is not any thing
different both from the Guilt and the Difor
der of Sin, if we confider, that when the
Guilt of Sin is removed by Pardon and Juſti-
fication, and the Diſorder or evil Qualities of
Sin are removed perfectly by Sanctification,
what is there remaining that can be hurtful
to Man or offenfive to God? It is poffible
in the Nature of things that the Guilt of Sin
and all Obligations to Puniſhment may be
taken away from a Perfon by pardoning Grace,
and yet the Impurity or finful Diforder of
the Soul may remain. It is poffible alſo that
the Sinfulness or the moral Diſorder and evil
Qua
and Defilement of Sin.
471
Qualitics of the Soul may be removed by
fanctifying Grace, and yet the Guilt of paſt
Sins may remain but where divine Grace
hath both pardon'd and fanctified the Soul
compleatly, there remains no more moral
Defilement, no finful Pollution, nothing,
more that can give us either Fear or Shame,
whether we appear before God in the Justice
of his Government, or in the Holiness of his
Nature. This Defilement therefore appears
cvidently to be nothing but a Figure of Speech
borrowed from material things, whereby ei-
ther the Guilt or the Diſorder of Sin, the
relative or real Evil of it are repreſented.
Now tho' this Metaphor of the Defilement
of Sin may fometimes fignify the Guilt, fome-
times the diforderly Nature of it, yet let it be
noted that the Scripture, in its common Forms
of Speech, does, I think, more frequently ufe
or imply the Metaphor of Filth or Pollu-
tion * to fignify the inherent Diſorder or real
Evil that is in Sin, than the Guilt or relative
Evil of it; and I believe we may fo under-
ſtand it in moft Places where fuch kind of
Metaphors are ufed: and confequently when
we uſe this Metaphor of Defilement, Pollu-
tion, &c. we fhould rather apply it to the
Pravity and Disorder of Sin than to the
Guilt of it.
H h 4
And
Note, I think theſe expreſs Words or Subftantives, Pollution,
&c. are ſcarce ever ufed in Scripture, or in human Writings,
to fignify meerly the Guilt of Sin, or the Obligation to Punjh
ment, without carrying in them the Idea of the real Evil or
Diſorder, or culpable Demerit of Sin.
472 Effay III. Of the Guilt
And particularly let it be obferved, that
wherefoever the Guilt of Sin and the Defile-
ment of Sin are mention'd together in the
Writings of our Divines, and repreſented as
diftinct and different things, there the Guilt
evidently fignifies that Offence againſt the Di-
vine Law which fubjects us to Puniſhment;
and the Defilement muft mean only that evil
Quality in Sin which is contrary to the Di-
vine Nature or Holinefs, which makes us un-
like to God, and unfit for his Prefence, Ser-
vice or Enjoyment.
If this Explication of the Filth or Defile-
ment of Sin be admitted, that it fometimes
may fignify the relative Evil, but more fre-
quently and properly the real Evil of Sin, it
will be cafy to anſwer thofe perplexing Que-
ftions which fome Perfons have raiſed about
this Subject, (viz.)
Queft. I. Can the Defilement of Adam's
first Sin be transferred to his Offspring by
Imputation?
Anfw. If we will ſpeak of the Defilement
of Sin to exprefs the Guilt of it, or its rela-
tive Evil, which expoles us to the juft Anger
of God and to Puniſhment, according to the
Threat'nings of his Law; it is evident by the
foregoing Difcourfes in this Book, that it
may be imputed to us, for we fuffer a thou-
fand painful Evils and Death at the End of
them for the Sin of Adam.
But
44
st
F
and Defilement of Sin.
473
But if by the Defilement of Sin we mean
(as we rather ought to do in accurate Speech)
the real Evil of it, or its diforderly Nature
and Contrariety to the Image of God in the
Soul, and as ſpoiling the beſt Powers of Man,
unfitting us for Converſe with God, and na-
turally tending to our Deftruction and Miſe-
ry, this is not properly imputed to us from
Adam; but this finful Nature is really tranf
ferred or derived from Adam to us by the
Laws of Generation or Propagation which
were given at firft to Man, as in Question 6,
and 7.
And thence it comes to paſs that Original
Sin is divided by our Divines into Imputed
and Inherent: the one is relative, and fub-
jects us to the Mifery threatned, the other is
real, and makes us actually finful.
Queft. II. How far was our Lord Jefus
Chriſt our great Surety concern'd in the Filth
or Defilement of our Sins?
Some pronounce it boldly that he took
upon him the Filth and Pollution of our Sins,
tho' at the ſame time they miſtake and fup-
poſe it to mean fomething really diftinct
from the Guilt. Others again renounce and
abominate that Thought, left Chrift fhould
be repreſented as defiled with Sin; but at the
fame time they give no fair account or intel-
ligible Notion of the Filth of Sin, diſtinct
from the Guilt of it, that Guilt which was
certainly imputed to Chrift, when he was
made
474 Effay III. Of the Guilt
made Sin for us, and when he bore our Sins
in his Body on the curfed Tree.
I think 'tis evident from many Scriptures*,
that our legal Subjection to Puniſhment and
Mifery by the Guilt of Sin, which is the re-
lative Evil of it, was imputed or transferred
to Chrift, and he took it away by offering.
himſelf a Sacrifice of Atonement or Expia-
tion, which hath procured pardoning Mercy
for us but neither Scripture nor Reaſon
will allow that the moral Disorder of Sin,
the vicious Impurity or criminal Pollution, or
real Evil of it, was transferred any way to
our bleffed Saviour, the Holy One of God,
who knew no Sin. While Men of Contro-
verfy deal much in Metaphors they fight in
the dark; but if we could perfuade them to
turn theſe Metaphors into proper Expreffions,
and bring the Difputants into clear and
Light, they would contend no more.
open
If we would fpeak more diftinctly and ac-
curately, and without a Figure on this Sub-
ject, I think we fhould not indulge ourſelves
to fay the Guilt of Sin cannot be transferred
by
* Several Scriptures tells us that Chrift bore our Sins in his
wn Body on the Tiee, that he was made Sin for us, that all our
Iniquities were laid upon him, that he bare the Sins of many, that
his Soul was made an Offering for Sin, &c. Now what is it in
or of Sin that he bare or took upon him, if not the Guilt of it,
or our Obligation to Punishment; or fuffering thereby, when
he willingly became our Surety? There is nothing elſe of
Sin that he could be charged or burdened with, or that could
be imputed to him, or reckoned, to his account, and for which
he actually made Atonement by his Sufferings, and ſo took
away this Guilt of Sin.
and Defilement of Sin, 47.5
:
by Imputation, or that the Defilement of Sin
may be imputed to another, for either of thefe
will be ready to lead thofe who hear us into
fome Miftake; fince, in my Opinion, it is
evident that the Guilt of Adam's Sin, or its.
Subjection of the Sinner to Puniſhment, was
imputed to us, and thereby we are born in
Sufferings. It is alfo evident that the Guilt
of our Sins was imputed to Chrift, for which
he fuffered and obtained our Pardon: but the
Diſorder or evil Nature and Qualities of Sin,
which are tranfmitted to us from Adam by
natural Propagation, can never be imputed
to our bleffed Saviour, nor transferred to him
any way whatſoever.
.
Yet to express my Charity for all fincere
Enquirers after Truth, I would lay down this
Conclufion, that if fuch a fincere, humble
and diligent Enquirer will neither acknow-
ledge the Guilt of Sin capable of being tranf
ferred to another by Imputation, nor the De-
filement or Sinfulneſs of Nature to be con-
veyed by Propagation, I will not be angry
with him, while he allows what I think the
Senfe of Scripture inconteftably reveals and
maintains, (viz.) that we juftly fuffer for the
Sin of Adam in the Providence and righteous
Government of God, that hereby the Chil-
dren of Adam are born with Inclinations to
Sin, and that Jefus Chrift the Son of God
was juſtly made an Offering for our Sins,
being
•
476 Effay III. Of the Guilt, &c.
being with his own Confent devoted to
Death for us Sinners by God the Father.
If Chriſtians will but acknowledge the first
Adam was our Head, who fome way con-
veyed unto us natural Life, finful Inclina-
tions, Diſeaſes and Death, according to fome
righteous Divine Conſtitution or Covenant,
and that Jefus Chrift, the Second Adam, was
alfo our better Head, who conveys to us Spi-
ritual Life, Pardon and Juftification, Refur-
rection from the Dead, and Immortality by
a new and better Covenants and if they
practiſe the Faith, Repentance and new Obe-
dience of the Gospel, Peace be with them all,
and everlaſting Grace in my fincereft Wiſhes,
tho' they do not fubfcribe to all my Words,
nor ſpeak preciſely the fame Language with
me. Grace and Peace be with all thofe for
ever that honeſtly feek the Truths of God, and
love our Lord Jefus Chrift in Sincerity.
Amen.
POST-
(477)
POSTSCRIPT
To theſe ESSAYS.
OME of the Doctrines maintain'd in
this Book depend upon a right Notion
So
of imputed Sin, or a Tranflation of
Guilt and Punishment from one Perfon to
another, which I have explain'd at large in
the ſecond and third Eſſay: But there are
fome Writers in the prefent Age who have
afferted, that as Guilt is intirely Perfonal,
and can never be transferred, fo Innocence
and Punishment are inconfiftent Ideas: and
confequently no Sin of Adam can be pu-
nifhed upon his Pofterity, nor can they be
juſtly laid under mifery for any Sins of their
Father: Nor can the Sins of any part of
Mankind be puniſhed upon Jefus Chrift the
Mediator.
Thoſe great and eminent Writers the learn-
ed Grotius and Dr. Stilling fleet, in their De-
fences of the Satisfaction of Chrift, fuppofe
the actual Deſert of Puniſhment to be per-
fonal and infeparable from the Agent or
actual Sinner; but they ſuppoſe ſtill that the
Guilt
478
:
POSTSCRIPT
1
Guilt or Obligation to Punishment may be
transferred from one Perfon to another;
that is to fay, Sin may be imputed as to the
Puniſhment thereof to Perfons who did not
actually commit that Sin. I fuppofe all Men
will allow thofe Authors were very well ac-
quainted with the Civil Law, as well as
with the Light of Nature, and the Reason
of Things; and I muſt acknowledge I fall
in with their Sentiments as moft confiftent
'with Reafon and Scripture.
•
J
But a certain learned and ingenious Wri-
"ter, who oppoſes them in theſe Sentiments,
'maintains, that there is no fuch thing as an
Obligation to Punishment, but what confifts
in a real Defert of Punishment; nor is
there any real Guilt but what is Perfonal;
and that the Punishment of an innocent
Perfon, whether with or without his Con-
fent, is not only a Violation of Truth, but
is a moral Contradiction, for he is no Sub-
ject of Puniſhment in any Refpect. No
Right can be in the Univerſe to punish the
Innocent, unless there can be a Right to
violate Truth and Equity. To puniſh an
innocent Perfon, would be treating him di-
rectly contrary to what he is, which is as
manifeſt a Violation of Truth as can well be
conceived. Therefore fome infer that the
Pofterity of Adam can never be puniſhed
for his Sin, nor could our Saviour be pu-
niſhed for the Sins of Mankind.
Ec
to theſe ESSAYS.
479
}
He grants indeed, that the Scripture uſes
thefe Terms of Chrift's bearing our Sins,
that he was wounded for our Tranfgreffions,
and the Iniquity of us all was laid upon
him, with many other Expreffions of the
like Nature: But thefe Expreffions, he fays,
are meerly Figurative, for ftrictly ſpeaking, he
could no more bear our Puniſhment, than
he could bear our Iniquity, or become Sin
for us, being both alike effentially repug-
nant in a literal Senfe to the Truth and
Nature of Things.
Thus I have fet this Objection in the
ftrongeft Light, and almoſt in the Author's
own Words; and yet I think it may be ef-
fectually answer'd in this manner.
Anfw. 1. This ingenious Author's Affer-
tions concerning Guilt, Obligation to Pu-
nishment, and Tranflation of this Obligation,
and vicarious Punishment of one for the
Sins of another, &c. are plainly contrary
to the common Senfe and Practice of Man-
kind, who often punifh the Crimes of Pa-
rents on the Children, and of Offenders on
their Sureties. This is known more efpe-
cially by thoſe who are converfant with the
Civil Law on thefe Subjects; I think there-
fore fuch Affertions ought not to influence
our Affent, without moſt evident Proof, any
more than the Affertions of Dr. Stilling-
fleet and Grotius, and many other Writers
upon this Theme, who exprefs themſelves
in
480
POSTSCRIPT
in direct Contradiction to what this Author
maintains.
Is it not a thing very commonly practifed
amongſt Men, that the Children are baniſh'd
or difinherited of their Father's Eftate, and
become poor and miferable for the fake of
their Father's Treafon, or other Crimes? Is
not fomething of this kind done in almoſt
every Nation, without any complaint of In-
juftice, and without any cenfure upon the
Magiſtrate on this account? And why ſhould
it be eſteem'd utterly unjuſt in Things Sacred,
that the great God fhould impute Sin to the
Pofterity of Adam, by binging Mifery and
Death upon them? Or that he ſhould impute
the Sins of Mankind to his Son Jesus Christ,
who was a voluntary Surety, and puniſh
them upon him, which is acknowledged to
be the plain natural and literal Senfe of the
Expreffions of Scripture? But we are told,
Thefe must be Figures and Metaphors, be-
cauſe this Author does not allow the literal
Senſe to be conſiſtent with Truth and Ju-
ftice.
Anfw. 2. This Argument for the fame
Reaſon would forbid any Rewards to be
given to Families and Pofterity, upon the
account of great and worthy Actions per-
form'd by the Anceſtors: for when the Son
or Grandfon of fome eminent Patriot, or De-
liverer of his Country, has the Honours of
Nobility paid him, which were firſt given to
his
to theſe ESSAY s.
481
his Father upon his perfonal Merit, this is as
much contrary to Truth, and as much a Falfe-
hood in fact, as if the Treaſons of a Father
were puniſhed upon a Son. This Son or
Grandfon did never perform theſe glorious
and honourable Services himſelf, which is
evidently known to the World, and yet the
Rewards being continued to them, ſeem to
ſay, that this Son or Grandſon did perform
them, in the ſame Senſe as this Author fup-
poſes fufficient to contradict Truth, and to
deſtroy all Imputation of Guilt to another.
The Tranflation of Rewards in this manner,
is as contrary to Truth in fact as a Tranfla
tion of Penalties.
Anfw. 3. The Force of this Argument
feems to be all taken from the late Mr. Wool-
lafton's fuppofed Foundation of Moral Ver-
tue and Religion, which is built entirely
upon Natural or Logical Truth, in his
Book of the Religion of Nature delineated.
Truth, as he fuppofes, may be exprefs'd in
Actions as well as in Words; and confe-
quently, that all fuch Actions as do not re-
preſent things exactly in their Natural or
Logical Truth, are Falfehoods in Fact, or a
fort of Lyes, and therefore unlawful and un
juft; being contrary to Truth, they are con-
trary to Morality, Religion and Juftice. But
this Notion of Mr. Woollafton has never yet
been proved to be true, tho' there are many
excellent Sentiments found in that Treatife.
I i
"Tis
482
POSTSCRIPT
'Tis not evident, that God has any where,
either by the Light of Reafon or Revelation,
told us, that Actions have the fame Power
to diftinguiſh and determine Veracity and
Falfehood as Words have. It has always been
granted by our beft Cafuifts, that Simulation
in Action, i. e. a Feint, or Difguife, or a meer
Appearance, or Counterfeit of things, may
be often good and vertuous, where Diffi-
mulation, (however it be explain'd) or Falfe-
hood in Words, is never lawful or virtuous.
But this Notion of Mr. Woollafton tends to
bring in much Superftition, i. e. to make
more Sins than God hath forbidden, and
more Duties than God hath prefcribed, by
making all Simulation in Action to be unlaw-
ful. And if ever that general Doctrine fhould
obtain, it ftands in need of many Cautions
and Limitations to guard our Confciences
from endleſs Scruples, or from intrenching
upon Morality and Truth at every turn.
I fay yet further, This Doctrine feems to
forbid all the common Conduct even of wife
and good Men, in covering or difguifing any
Action or Defign in the civil Life, even tho'
the fame was practifed by our Saviour or his
Apoftles: It renders all Stratagems in War
immoral and unlawful, even tho' appointed
by God himſelf. Let us furvey this Matter
a little.
When God order'd Joshua and all Ifrael
to lay an Ambuth behind the City of Ai,
and when by Joshua's Command they fled
from
{
1
L
>
to theſe ESSAYS.
483
from the Battle, and made as if they were
beaten, Jofh. viii. 2, 15. were they guilty
of fuch a Falfhood in fact, by their flying
when they were not afraid, as turns this Ac-
tion into Immorality, or made it unlawful?
When Gideon with three hundred Men,
whom God had chofen for this purpoſe,
broke their Pitchers, diſcover'd their Lamps,
and founded their Trumpets, Judg. vii. 16.
whereby the Hoft of Midian were led to be-
lieve that there were three hundred Troops
or Companies rather than three hundred
Men; was Gideon guilty of fuch a Falfhood
in fact, as fhould turn this Stratagem into
Iniquity?
When our Bleffed Saviour, Luke xxiv. 28.
walking with ſome of his Diſciples toward
a Village, made as tho he would have gone
further, did he exert any Action by this Si-
mulation, which was inconfiftent with Truth
or Righteouſneſs? And yet I know not how
it can be defended by Mr. Woollafton's Prin-
ciples.
When St. Paul became as a Jew among
the Jews, and as a Gentile among the Gen-
tiles, 1 Cor. ix. 20, 21.
When he took a
Vow upon him, and purify'd himſelf, Act.
xxi. 23. When he circumcifed Timothy,
Act. xvi. 3. Did he falfify Truth fo as to be-
come criminal ?
But to come nearer to the prefent Con-
troversy: When the Prophet Elisha pro-
Ii 2
nounced
484
POSTSCRIPT
nounced a Leprofy upon Gehazi and his
Seed, for the grofs Crime of his Lying and
Covetousness, 2 Kings v. 27. and when this
Curfe was inflicted upon any of his Pofteri-
ty; Did this Event fay to the World, that
thefe Children of Gehazi were guilty of
fuch Covetoufnefs and Lying too? Or was
it not confiftent with divine Veracity to in-
flict fuch a Curfe?
When Phinehas had executed Judgement
by flaying two Idolaters, and God gave him
and his Seed the Covenant of an everlaſting
Priesthood, Num. xxv. 11, 13. and his Chil-
dren were fucceffively made Prieſts, was here
any criminal Falfhood in fact, as tho' each
of theſe Children had performed that glo-
rious Execution againſt Idolatry?
When the Seed of Abraham and Jacob
met with many fucceffive Bleffings from
God, upon the Account of the ſpecial Acts
of their Faith and Obedience, which were
promiſed to be thus rewarded; did thefe nu-
merous Bleffings on the Ifraelites declare to
the World, that each of theſe private Perſons
fo bleffed were actual Performers of thoſe
Acts of Faith and Obedience? Or was there
any criminal Falfhood that belonged to theſe
Providences?
In fhort, a Number of fuch Inftances
might be cited, wherein it is fufficiently e-
vident, that the Doctrine of imputed Sin and
mputed Righteousness is by no means to
be
to thefe ESSAY S. 485
be charged with thoſe Confequences, which
learned Men who follow this Scheme would
caſt upon them.
It may be queried alfo, whether this learned
Author doth not allow, that we are par-
don'd and made happy on the account of
what Christ hath done and ſuffer'd, ſo that
the Benefit is transferr'd to us who have ne-
ver done the meritorious Actions? Is this
perfectly confiftent with the Truth of Things?
He will fay indeed, That all our Bleflings
are properly a Reward to Chrift: But fince
the Reward terminates upon us, may it not
juſtly occafion a doubt, whether this be en-
tirely agreeable to the Sentiment of Truth
and Falfhood in Actions as the Teft of all
Morality and Juftice?
It must be acknowledged to the Honour
of this Reverend Author, who has efpoufed
this Notion of Mr. Woollafton's, that he hath
argued with juft Reaſon and unanfwerable
Force against the Deifts of the Age, and in
Vindication of the Divine Rectitude in
Creation and Providence; and he hath very
ingeniouſly and happily proved in this fame
Treatife, that mere Repentance and new O-
bedience are not a fufficient Ground for Sin-
ners to claim Pardon and Acceptance with
God, the univerfal Governour of the World:
But if any fuch Writers fhould proceed upon
theſe Sentiments of Mr. Woollafton, to de-
moliſh
Ii 3
486
POSTSCRIPT.
moliſh the Divine Doctrines of the Tranfla-
tion of Guilt, and of vicarious Punishment;
of our fuffering Mifery and Death on the
Account of the Sin of Adam ; and of Christ's
being a proper Sacrifice for the Sins of Men
in his Death, and bearing their Sins ſo as
to make Atonement for them; I ask leave,
with all the Respect I bear to their Charac-
ter, to yield up neither my Faith nor my
Reaſon to their Affertions.
A
:
A LARGE
INDE X,
OR,
TABLE of CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION.
OD made Man upright.
GOD
1. Endowed with a Perfection of Natural Powers,
ſo far as was ſuited to his prefent State.
With fome Degree of Happineſs.
Page I
2
3
4
With a Perfection of Mind, i. e. all neceffary Know-
ledge.
With a Perfection of Will, or Moral Perfection, i. e.
a Principle of Holiness.
5
A meer Natural Capacity of Holiness with Indiffe-
rence to Good or Evil, cannot be fufficient. 6
What is the Natural, Moral and Political Image of
God.
7
2. Freedom of Will, and Sufficiency of Power to pre-
ferve himſelf.
7,8
3. Immortality and Power to arrive at higher Degrees
of Excellency and Happinefs.
9
4. Furnish'd with proper Conveniencies of Habitation. 10
With Ability to guard off Injuries, or to relieve
them all.
ΙΟ
5. Power to propagate his Kind in Innocence and Holi-
nefs.
ΙΙ
QUEST. I. Is Man in his prefent Circumftances fuch a
Creature as he came first out of the Hands of God his
Creator? Or, Is he depraved and ruined by fome
Univerfal Degeneracy of Nature?
Several Confiderations to prove this Degeneracy.
I i 4
12
12
I.
TABLE of CONTENTS.
1. Confid. This Earth, the Habitation of Man, carries
in it tokens of Ruin.
Page 12
Yet there are fufficient Demonftrations of Divine
Power, Wiſdom and Goodneſs remaining even a-
midft this Ruin.
14
Actual Calamities which have attended feveral Parts of
the Earth, further Evidences of this Ruin and De-
generacy.
14
2
All foreknown and defign'd by the Great God. I
15, 18
2. Confid. Poiſonous and deadly Plants and Fruits mingled
with wholeſome Vegetables, without Diftinction. 20
'Twas not fo in Paradiſe.
21
Briars and Thorns now abounding thro' the Earth. 22
Savage, voracious, and venomous Animals, with im-
menfe Swarms of pernicious Infects in all Parts of
the Globe.
22
25
Obje. May not thefe be for a State of Trial? An-
jwered.
Object. Was not Man's Dominion over the Brutes
renew'd after the Flood? Answered.
3. Confid. Pains of Child-bearing.
27
28
Nor did the Bleffing of Propagation repeated to Noah
take away the Curfe.
29
4. Confid. The wretched Toil of Man to fupport Life. 29
Object. Do not the Pleafures of Eating and Drinking
balance that Toil? Answered.
31
There was an early Curfe come upon the Ground for
Man's fake.
32
5. Confid. The general Character and Temper of Man-
kind averfe to Religion and Vertue.
Object. Perhaps the greatest part are not fo bad? AĂn-
fwered.
32
35
The Senfe of the ancient Heathens on this Subject.
See How's Living Temple, Part. II. Chap. 4. 37
6. Confid. The vicious Propenfities of Infancy and Child-
hood.
Object. Children are made Patterns of Innocence in
Scripture, Anfvered.
4I
4I
All this Vice comes not from Cuftom and Example. 43
7. Confid. Even under the beft Education and Examples,
this vicious Propenfity difcovers itſelf,
45
[
F
L
F
}
Good
TABLE of CONTENTS.
Good Men feel it, and complain of it.
Every individual Perfon a Sinner.
Page 45
46
Object. Every one might have finned, if they had not
fprung from one Head: Anfwered.
47
48
49
8. Confid. That Man has no ready and practical Power
to perform the Law of God.
And this is Moral Impotence.
Object. Has he not the fame Natural Powers as be-
fore? Anfwered.
50
52
Object. Can God give a Law that the Creature has
not Power to fulfil? Anfwered.
Object. God is ready to pardon our Frailties if we
offend. Anfwered.
54
An Appeal to the Confcience of thofe who oppofe
this Doctrine.
55
9. Confid. Mankind lies evidently under the Diſpleaſure
of God, as appears in their univerfal Miſeries,
Maladies and Death.
56
Object. Theſe Miſeries are not abfolutely univerſal.
Anfwered.
61
A Proceedure in the Survey of Human Miſeries. 62
Object. Thefe Miferies are fit for a State of Trial,
and a Future State may compenfate them. An-
fwered.
64, 65
10. Confid. The Mifery of Infants before Actual Sin in
innumerable Inftances.
66
Object. Are not the Sufferings of Children for the
Correction of Parents? Answered.
71
Object. May not Infants be rewarded in another
World? Answered.
71
Object. Is this wretched Cafe of Man confiftent with
God's infinite Goodnefs? Answered.
72
74
II. Confid. A fhort collective View of all the Iniqui-
ties, Follies, and Miſeries of Mankind.
The Univerſality of fome Sins and Miferies without
exception.
75
Object. May not this Situation of things, bad as it is,
be beft in the whole View, tho' there are ſome
unavoidable Hardfhips, Follies and Sufferings in it?
Anſwered three Ways.
12. Confid. What forry Pleaſures the Bulk of Mankind
purfue, for their Relief under all this Miſery. 80
76
13.
TABLE of CONTENTS.
13. Confid. The almoft univerfal Thoughtleffneſs of a
Future State, to which we are haft'ning. Page 83
Object. Some Men are happy, tho' there should be no
Future State. Anfwered.
88
A juſt Survey of this World in a Recapitulation. 89
The Concluding Remark. What can poffibly tempt
Men to deny this Univerfal Degeneracy. 90
Tho' we could not perfectly account for it, yet ſuffi-
cient Evidence of our Senſe and Obfervation con-
ftrains us to believe it, as we do many other Things
we cannot account for.
91
QUEST. II. How came this general Degeneracy, Vice
and Mifery to overspread Mankind in all Nations and
in all Ages?
94
This was a vexing Queftion among Philofophers. 94
The Scripture-Account of the Cauſes of it, is but
fhort, except in Genefis iii. and Rom. v.
95
Reafon might attempt to folve it in this manner, viz.
Prop. I. It must come one of thefe three ways, &c. 95
Prop. 2. (Firſt way) May it arife from the Perfonal
Pre-exiſtence and Sin of all Souls?
96
Prop. 3. (Second way) Or can it come from meer na-
tural Propagation from fome Original Man? 97
Prop. 4. (Third way) If it cannot proceed from the
two firft, it muſt then be derived from fome com-
mon Surety or Reprefentative, from whom Sin was
imputed to them.
What is the Meaning of Sin or Guilt imputed. 100
Prop. 5. A further Refutation of the Second Way, and
Confirmation of the Third.
Prop. 6. If the primitive Parent was alfo the common
Repreſentative, it folves this Difficulty more eafily. 102
A Hint of Scripture to confirm it.
99
ΙΟΟ
104
QUEST III. How could a Holy, a Wife, and Righteous
God, who is alfo a Being of infinite Goodness, establish
fuch a Conftitution, that all Mankind fhould derive their
Being from fuch a Natural Parent, and Legal Repre-
fentative, whereby fuch univerfal Sinfulness and Mifery
Should in the Event be spread thro' all Human Nature
in all following Ages?
106
That
TABLE of CONTENTS.
That this Conftitution is both wife and righteous,
proved by feveral Propofitions.
Prop. I. It cannot be unjuſt in God to create Man ca-
pable of finning.
107
Nor was it unjuſt to unite an Animal Body to a rea-
fonable Mind.
Nor could there be injuftice in appointing a Propaga-
tion of fuch Creatures.
109
IIO
Prop. 2. Man was formed perfectly Holy, and with
fufficient Power to preferve himſelf.
ΙΙΟ
Prop. 3. Innocent Man had probably fome fupernatural
Privileges given him.
III
Prop. 4. Man might have this his Maker's Law, ex-
prefly fet before him.
Prop. 5. He might have alfo a Conditional Promife of
112
his preſent Happineſs, confirm'd and increaſed. 113
The Goodneſs of God makes this probable. 114
Man continuing innocent, would have acquired grea-
ter Happineſs.
115
116
116
The natural Defire of Immortality in an innocent
Creature, feems to prove this alſo.
Revelation confirms this by the Tree of Life.
Prop. 6. Such a Covenant or Conditional Promiſe will
probably include his Offspring as well as himſelf,
(viz.) that it fhould fare with them according to
the Behaviour of their Repreſentative, and there
would be both Juftice and Goodnefs in this Ap-
pointment.
•
117
Prop. 7. Man thus furniſh'd, was put into a State of
Trial.
119
Prop. 8. But he difobey'd his Maker, and loft his Inno-
cence and his Happineſs.
I 20
Object. Yet Man did not lofe all the Favour of God
by this Sin. Anfwered.
How the first Man loft Holiness by one Sin.
121
122
Prop. 9. And his Offspring loft Holiness and Happineſs
together with him.
Prop. 10. And that from their Infancy.
124
125
Prop. 11. Many Inftances of this kind appear in the
Courfe of Providence.
127
QUEST.
TABLE of CONTENTS.
QUEST. IV. But has it not an Appearance of Injustice
in the Creator and Governor of the World, to make
fo many Millions fuffer for the Sin of one? Page 130
If one Man be the natural Head of all the reft, it
partly relieves the Difficulty.
130
But much more if he be a Repreſentative, or Federal
Head.
131
Object. This Federal Headfhip is an Act of God's
Sovereign Will, as well as the Natural Headſhip.
Answered.
131
Several Confiderations yet farther to relieve the Diffi-
culty.
An-
1. Confid. Happineſs might have been fecured to all
Mankind by this Conftitution, as well as loft. 132
Object. Did Adam ftand Trial for us all, and is there
no Perfonal State of Trial for each of us?
fwered.
Would there have been any Perſonal State of Trial
for us, if Adam had ſtood ?
133
134
2. Confid. This was the moft probable and fafeft way
to fecure Happineſs to all Mankind.
ib.
3. Confid. Such Conſtitutions of a Man's acting for his
Pofterity, are common among Men.
135
4. Confid. Especially if he be made a Repreſentative for
them.
136
QUEST. V. Tho' the Justice of thefe Tranfactions may
be granted in fome meafure, where the Reprefentative
is chofen by the actual and free Confent of all those whom
he reprefents, yet fince this was not the Cafe between
the first Man and all his Pofterity, fince they never con-
Sented that he should act for them, nor ever intruſted
him to pass the Trial in their ftead; therefore why
Should they fall under the Penalty and Mifery due to his
Folly and Guilt?
138
1. There are Inftances of this kind in the Civil Life. 138
2. And many Inſtances of this kind in Scripture-Hiftory.
139
3. There was fo much Goodneſs as well as Juftice of
God in this Federal Conftitution, that a wife and
good Man would have chofen it.
141
This
TABLE of CONTENTS.
This Scheme confirmed by confidering that the pre-
fent fallen State of Man muft arife either from
God's Arbitrary Will as Creator, or his Juftice as
a Governor; now the laſt is much more eligible,
and moſt vindicates the Honor of God. Page 142
QUEST. VI. Man is a Creature made up of two di-
ftinet parts, Soul and Body: Now if both these were de-
rived from the Parents by a Natural Propagation, then
all Mankind may be faid to derive their vicious Appe-
tites and Paffions and finful Inclinations from their first
Parent, which had corrupted and spoil'd his own Na-
ture by Sin: But fince it is generally agreed that the
Body is only propagated from the Parents, but the Soul
of every Infant is immediately formed by God himself,
and united to the Infant Body, how is it poffible that
the Soul ſhould be defil'd with finful Principles, and
partake of vicious Inclinations, when 'tis only the Body
that properly comes into the World by Generation.
125
1. The Principles of Holinefs are vindicated by Man's
firft Sin.
145
2. And evil Principles are convey'd down by Fleſh and
Blood from the firft Sinner.
146
Original Sin imputed may be equal in all, but inherent
has various Degrees.
ib.
146
The general ground of all is imputed Sin.
The Soul as foon as it acts with Knowledge, by the
Influence of this viciated Nature contracts actual
Guilt.
I 47
And the Principle of Sin grows by degrees into ſtrong
Habits.
148
QUEST. VII. But if we allow that it is poſſible the
new created Soul fhould be thus corrupted, yet is it agree-
able to the Juſtice, or Wiſdom, or Goodness of God to create
Jo many Millions of Souls, pure, innocent and holy, as
they must be in their own Natures coming from the Hands
of God, and to unite them immediately to fuch Bodies de-
rived from finful Parents, and infected with vicious
Ferments and Appetites, whereby they are ſo early, and
almoſt unavoidably led into finful Practices, and defiled
thereby.
149
An-
1
TABLE of CONTENTS.
Anſwer'd by Degrees.
The Soul comes into the World as a Part of human
Nature.
How far this is meerly mechanical.
150
150, 151
Therefore the Soul is to be confider'd here as in Union
with Flesh and Blood.
153
Which Law of Propagation had been juſt the fame if
Adam had ftood innocent.
Every Son or Daughter of Adam would have partaken
of the Qualities of the Root or Head.
And of its Circumſtances too, whether good or bad. ib.
Some Difficulties may yet remain for further Enquiry.
153
154
155
QUEST. VIII. Suppose it were granted that this Re-
prefentation of Things would in a great measure account
for that univerfal Deluge of Sin and Mifery, which has
overfpread Mankind, yet what Reafon have we to believe
it to be true? Does the Word of God, which is our trueſt
and fafeft Guide, give us the fame Repreſentation of
Things, or fupport this Scheme?
156
156
'Tis a Happineſs if we can find any Hypothefis fairly
to folve thefe Difficulties.
And Scripture gives us the fame Clue as our Reafon
does.
159
'Tis hard when our Adverfaries will ſcarce allow us
to argue from Reaſon or from Revelation. 158
Scriptural Propofitions to folve this Event.
Prop. 1. All Mankind proceeded from one fingle Pair.
159
Prop. 2. They were made in the Likeneſs of God. 160
Prop. 3. Man, whether innocent or fallen, was to pro-
duce his Offspring in his own Image and Circumftan-
ces.
161
Prop. 4. Man was put upon his Trial of Obedience. 163
Prop. 5. This Conſtitution had a Symbol or Seal both of
Life and Death
163
Several Texts to prove this Conftitution was a proper
Covenant.
166
Prop. 6. Adam, or our firft Parents, broke this Cove-
nant and loſt the divine Image and Favour.
168
And
*
TABLE of CONTENTS.
1
And perhaps alſo they loft a Veftment of Glory, when
they became naked.
170
Prop. 7. Adam propagated his Offspring in his own fin-
ful and miferable Image.
170
The ancient Jews were acquainted with this Doctrine.
St. Paul is very clear in it.
172
174
Prop. 8. Thence Sins and Miſeries became univerfal. 174
How the Man Christ Jefus comes to be free from this
Sin.
175
Rom. v. 12, 13, 14. Explain'd in Vindication of this
Doctrine.
177
1. Object. If God will judge every Man according to
his Works, then he does not judge Mankind in
Adam as one collective Body. Anfwered. 183
2. Object. If Adam's Bleffing, Gen. i. and Noah's
Bleffing, Gen. ix. be the fame, then in Noah's time
Mankind flood in the fame Favour of God as Adam
did? Answered, by fhewing the Difference between
Adam's and Noah's Bleffing.
190
QUEST. IX. What can the Light of Nature difcover
concerning the proper Penalty due to the Sin of Man, or
the proper Punishment inflicted on Man for Sin?
Diftinguish between the natural Confequences of Sin
and its legal Penalties.
ib.
1. Remorse of Conſcience a natural Confequent rather
than a Puniſhment.
191
2. Continuance in Sin and Depravity of Heart, ra-
ther a Confequent than a Puniſhment.
ib.
3. Man by one Sin has utterly ruin'd his Hope from
perfect Obedience.
193
4. Nor can he make any Atonement or Satisfaction.
5. And hath forfeited both his Being and his Bleffings.
194
195
6. This included in the Word Death, with an Anſwer
to Mr. Locke's Alteration of the Text, Rom. i. laſt.
197
7. Great Sinners must have greater Punishment. 199
8. Three Characters of Men, viz. wicked, indifferent,
and good.
ib.
9. Di-
3
TABLE of CONTENTS.
9.
Divine Providence in this Life does not recom-
pence Men according to theſe three Characters. 201
10. Therefore there muſt be a future State,
II. Reaſon cannot prove a Reſurrection.
202
203
12. Nor will Reafon prove certain forgiveneſs for Pe-
nitents, tho' it may be probable.
204
QUEST. X. What can the Reason of Man or the Light
of Nature find out concerning the Recovery of Man to the
Favour of God? Or what Hope of Pardon and Hap-
piness can finful Man ever obtain by the meer Exercifes
of their own Reaſon?
A Sinner cannot compenfate for his Sins.
206
ib.
Yet 'tis probable God will forgive the Penitent. 208
Mankind not utterly abandon'd, but in the reach of
Hope.
209
God only can find out a proper Atonement or way of
Salvation.
210
And will make this effectual to fome Perfons, that it
may not be all loft.
Nor does this give others juft Ground of Complaint.
21I
212
Becauſe there is a Sufficiency of Salvation provided for
all.
Recapitulation of this Chapter.
214
217
QUEST. XI. What does Scripture reveal to us concern-
ing the Punishment due to Sin? Or what are we to un-
derſtand by that DEATH which the Scripture tells us
was threaten'd to Man as the Penalty due to the first
Offence, or as it is inflicted on Mankind on the Ac-
count of Sin?
220
22I
1. Natural Death, or the Death of the Body.
2. Spiritual Death including the Anguifh of Confci-
ence, the Lofs of God's Image in Holiness, the Lofs
of God's Favour, and the Infliction of new Sorrows
on the Soul.
223
3. Eternal Death, or the Mifery of the Soul for ever.
227
And the Mifery of the Body in a Refurrection, and
ſo far all theſe are the threaten'd Puniſhment for
Sin.
2:30
QUES T.
TABLE of CONTENTS.
QUEST. XII. What does the holy Scripture reveal con-
cerning the Recovery of Mankind from the Sin and Mi-
Sery of that Eftate into which they were brought by the
Difobedience of A DAM? And how far does this Re-
covery reach, both with regard to the Perfons recovered,
and with regard to the Degrees of their Recovery. 232
God promiſed and ſent his Son Jefus to be a Mediator
or fecond Adam, and to bring in Salvation for fallen
Man.
232
And that under thefe Limitations, (viz.)
This Salvation did not deftroy the Law of Works. 235
Neither as to its Penalty or Promiſes.
236
Neither did this Salvation provide a prefent Releaſe
from Sin and Miſery.
Nor does it fave all Mankind.
237
238
Nor yet was the faved Number left at random. 239
Nor were the Perfons who were chofen to this Salva-
tion, reſcued at once from Sin and Miſery.
But by Degrees.
240
-241
242
Infants may be ſaved by divine Favour thro' the Cove-
nant of Grace made with their Parents and ac-
cepted by them
The fuperabundant Merit of Christ prevailed, tho'
not to redeem all Men yet to the following Bene-
fits, (viz.)
245
That the Earth is ftill a comfortable Habitation for
Men.
245,6
That Mankind have their natural Powers, Health
and Eaſe.
247
That there are any Remains of natural Vertue in
Mankind.
248
That all Mankind have had the Gospel in fome fenfe
propofed to them.
249
That there are fo many means of Grace afforded. 250
That there is any conditional Salvation for all Man-
kind.
251,2
QUEST. XIII. How far has the glorious Undertaking
of our Lord Jefus Chrift provided any Hope of Salve-
tion for those who were not eternally chofen, and given
into the hands of Chrift to be redeemed and faved: 453
K k
L
God
TABLE of CONTENTS.
God has put no effectual Bar in the way of Sinners,
to prevent their Acceptance of his Grace, but of-
fer'd it to them all.
Page 253
Confid. 1. The Sincerity of God, or his Son, can hard-
ly be vindicated without fuch a conditional Sálva-
tion provided.
254
Some Perfons, to avoid this Inconvenience, chufe to
affert, there are no Offers of Salvation befides to
the Elect.
255
But Scripture does not allow this Relief, becauſe it
reveals the Offers of Grace to all Men.
256
Confid. 2. Without this conditional Salvation, it is
hard to defend the Sincerity of the Spirit of God
in his awakening Work on the Confcience of Non-
elect Perfons.
257
Confid. 3. It is hard to vindicate the Equity of God
in condemning Unbelievers.
258
Especially when their Condemnation is much more
fevere and dreadful than others.
259
Confid. 4. The general Commands, Promifes and
Threat'nings reprefent Man in a State of Trial.260
Confid. 5. This the faireft and eafieft Expofition of
the Scriptures, which reprefent God's Love to
Mankind in Chrift Fefus.
3
262
All the Moderate Calvinists, and even Calvin him-
. felf allows fuch a conditional Salvation provided
for all Men.
264, 5, 6
270
The univerfal Refurrection of all Men to greater Re-
wards or greater Punishments, confirms this uni-
verfal Propofal of Grace.
269
Confid. 6. Chrift as Mediator, by providing a Refur-
rection where the Law of Innocency provided none,
proves this general Propofal of Grace.
The additional Penalty for refufing this Grace,
proves it to have been offered to all.
The Judge will not condemn Sinners for refufing
what was never offered them.
The Doctrine of Reprobation in its fevere and abfo-
lute Senfe, contradicts cur natural Notion of God's
Love to Men.
271
272
274
No great Advantage can be derived from this terrible
Doctrine.
276
Two
TABLE of CONTENT S.
Two general Objections against this univerfal Hope.
1. Object. The outward Sufficiency of Salvation for
the Non-elect is all in vain, if there be no inward
Sufficiency of Grace provided for them. Anfwered.
Page 278
279
280
Of natural and moral Impotence.
Native Impotence a better Mode of Expreffion.
Moral Impotence exprefs'd by cannot, as well as by
will not.
Grace may influence the Will two ways.
281
283
2. Object. Since God forefees the Non-elect will ne-
ver accept this Grace, can the Offers of it be fin-
cere? Anſwered four ways.
285, &c.
QUEST. XIV. Can the different Opinions of Chriſtians
concerning the Operations of Divine Grace on the Souls
of Men be reconciled?
The common Sentiment of Proteftants.
The Senfe of the ancient Pelagians.
The intermediate Sects.
292
292
293
294
The Remonftrants allow fome Divine Influences. 295
Six Propofitions in which all moderate Parties feem
to agree.
Reconciliation propoſed upon this foot.
The Sentiments of C. or Calvinists.
The Sentiments of A. or Arminians.
The Differences of A. and C.
296
299
300
302
304, &c.
The first way of Reconciliation by R.
The Will of Man left free.
307
308
310, &c.
The Honour of Divine Grace preferved.
Of the Terms Irreſiſtible, Infuperable, Effectual and
Victorious.
311`
Of infufed and acquired Habits or Principles. 313
An infufed Habit or Principle of Grace, does not
contradict the Freedom of the Will.
Grace may certainly yet not neceffarily turn, or per-
fuade the Will.
The fecond way of Reconciliation.
313
315
316
Since the Sentiments of A. and C. do both imply cer-
tain Salvation for particular Perfons, why may
not the Doctrine of Election be allowed on both
fides ?
Kk 2
316
And
TABLE of CONTENTS.
And the other Scriptural Terms maintain their na-
tural and compleat Senfe.
318
QUE.ST. XV. What is the State and Condition of the
Heathens, who have never heard of the Gospel, or
have utterly forgot and loft all Notices of it?
Anſwer'd by referring to two other Books.
321
Puniſhment of Heathens lefs than of Chriftians. 322
QUEST. XVI. What will be the future State and
Condition of that large Part of Mankind who die in
Infancy, under any of the Difpenfations of the Cove-
nant of Grace.
The great Number of Infants who die,
324
324
Can they be doom'd to eternal Death for Adam's Sin,
who are not actual Sinners, &c.
Propofitions to anfwer this Queftion.
325
1. By Adam's Sin they are expofed to the Death of
the Body.
326
2. But Puniſhment after Death belongs only to ac-
tual Sinners.
327
3. Thoſe who have no Perfonal Sin, can have no
Anguiſh of Confcience.
328
4. Nor can they feel the Pain or Puniſhment of Lofs,
without God's giving them actual Ideas of it. 329
Dr. Ridgeley's Opinion examined, whether Children
muſt be everlaſting Stupids in the other World. •330
5. Nor does Scripture tell us of the Refurrection of
all Infants, nor of the Judgment of any but actual
Sinners.
331
6. Nor of the future Puniſhment of any Infants. 333
Yet the Infants of pious Parents may be raiſed to
Happineſs.
7.
335
337
8. Some Scriptures feem to intimate this.
Neither Reafon nor Scripture teach us any thing of
the Infants of wicked Men after Death.
339
9. An Objection against this Hypothefis. Why fhould
God create ſo many thouſands to deftroy them fo
foon? Answered.
10. Objection 2. Will not this Doctrine tempt Pa-
rents to neglect, or to caft away the Lives of their
Infants? Answered.
340
342
11,
TABLE of CONTENTS.
11, 12. Object. 3. May not all Infants be ſaved? An-
fwered.
Conclufion, or the feveral Advantages of this whole
Scheme.
343, 4, 5
348
The ſpecial Advantages of this Anſwer to the laft Que-
ftion.
Three ESSAYS added by way of APPENDIX. 357
ESSAY I. A Debate whether the prefent Miſeries of Man
alone will prove his Apoftacy from God.
359
SECT. I. The Follies and Miſeries of Mankind in a
general Survey.
359
SECT. 2. A more particular View of the Miſeries of
Man.
His Entrance into the World.
His Childhood and Youth.
His violent Appetites.
363
366
367
367
370
His State of Manhood.
And Old Age.
And Death.
Object. Has not Mankind many Pleafures left?
fwered.
371
372
An-
372
The dreadful Hazard of living and dying in Sin. 375
Would any Angel accept of this Mortal State, with-
out a Future; or would not he rather lofe all
Exiſtence?
A large Expoftulation on this Subject.
376
The wife Men of Scripture and Heathenifm think
fuch a Life undeſirable.
377
380
SECT. 3. Objections againſt this Argument.
381
I. Can this Doctrine be true, (viz.) that this Life is
not worth having, when almoft every Man pre-
ferves his Life to the utmoſt?
382
Anſwered three ways, 382. The Objection carried on
and refuted.
387
II. Object. If Brutes fuffer the fame Miferies, and yet
never finned, nor became degenerate, why may
not Man?
389
Anfwered by 5 Confiderations.
394
III. Object. If Men are born in ſo bad a State, we
have no reaſon to give God thanks for our Exif-
tence in this World? Answered.
402
The
TABLE of CONTENTS.
The Objection carried on, (viz.) that this totally ex-
cludes the Mercy of God, and difcourages our
Hope and Truft? Answered.
Whence came this difmal State of Men.
Illuftrated by a large Similitude.
Page 403
404
405
Four Confiderations which alleviate this unhappy
Cafe.
406
SECT. 4. A fuller Proof of Man's Apoftacy derived
from their Sinfulneſs.
409
1. Proof. From the expreſs Witnefs of Scripture. 410
Object. This Law which requires perfect Obedience,
is abrogated upon Adam's Sin? Answered.
411
2. Proof. That our Nature must be changed, in or-
der to Happineſs.
413
3. Proof. From a meer Survey of the Heathen Na-
tions thro' many Ages, from their Birth to their
Death.
This alfo confirm'd by St. Paul.
Some General Objections againſt Original Sin
anfwered.
415
418
Object. 1. 'Tis a moſt unrighteous thing to impute
the Sin of one Perſon to another? Answered. 421
Object. 2. The Doctrine of Original Sin inherent, vi-
lifies Human Nature, and teaches us to hate one
another, Anfwered two ways.
422
Object. 3. God cannot make fuch a finful Nature, be-
caufe he cannot be the Author of Sin, Anſwered.
423
This Objection thrown into another Form, (viz.) if
our Natures be finful, God did not create them.
Answered.
Other Objections anſwer'd by ancient as well as mo-
dern Authors.
425
426
The SECOND ESSAY.
A plain Explication of the Doctrine of imputed Sin, and
imputed Righteousness.
427
An Inquiry what is the Senfe of thefe Phraſes in
common Life and Hiſtory.
428
Object. How can the Actions or Circumſtances of one
Man be imputed to another? Anfwered by two
Confiderations.
432
Sin
4
TABLE of CONTENTS.
Sin and Righteoufnefs fignify either the Actions, or the
legal Result of them.
Page 433
Thefe Notions of imputed Sin and Righteoufnefs are
eafily underſtood in common Hiftory.
435
Three Remarks. 1ft Rem. Several fuch Hiftories are
found in the Bible of imputed Sin and Righteousness.
436
2. Rem. The Greek and Hebrew Words for Sin and
Righteoufness admit of the fame various Senfes. 438
Query 1. Can Guilt be imputed without the Imputa-
tion of the finful Actions? Answered.
442
Query 2. Is it neceffary in thefe Cafes, to look up-
on the Children as naturally in the Parents? An-
fwered.
Query 3. Do not the ftrong Expreffions of Scripture
imply the Imputation of the Actions themfelves?
Anſwered.
ib.
Query 4. Is imputed a proper Word, where the Ac-
tions themſelves are not imputed?
443
445
3. Rem. Scripture expreffes the Senfe and true Mean-
ing of imputed Sin, and imputed Righteoufnefs in ma-
ny places, where the Words are not expreffed. 446
The Imputation of the Merit or Satisfaction of Christ,
not fo proper Expreffions.
451
The Imputation of the Actions themselves could ob-
tain no better End, &c.
The THIRD ESSAY.
452
454
Of the Guilt and Defilement of Sin, and how far they
may be transferred to others.
Sin, what it is, in the Principle, or in the Actions;
the real Evil of it, and the relative Evil, i. e. the
Guilt and the Diſorder.
455, &c.
What is the Difference between Guilt and Defile-
ment.
459 and 464
How the words Guilt and Defilement may fome-
times be uſed in Scripture promiscuouſly. 462
Why Scripture does not always ufe the niceft Accu-
racies of Speech. marg.
Defilement always fignifies either the Guilt or the Dif-
order of Sin.
462
468, 470
L
Query
TABLE of CONTENT S.
Query 1. Can the Defilement of Adam's firft Sin be
imputed to his Offspring?
Page 472
Query 2. How far was our Lord Jesus concerned in
the Defilement of our Sins.
A Charitable Conclufion.
POSTSCRIPT to the ESSAYS.
473
475
On the transferring of Sin or Righteoufnefs, Penalties or
Rewards.
Some have afferted Guilt is intirely Perfonal, and
cannot be transferred.
477
Grotius and Stillingfleet are of quite another mind.477
The transferring of Guilt, &c. is frequently prac-
tiſed and well underſtood in the World.
Rewards can be no more transferred than Penalties:
If
you exclude one, on the fame Reaſon you ex-
480
clude the other.
481
Mr. Woollafton's Suppofition of all Morality and Re-
ligion, being founded in a meer Conformity to the
natural or logical Truth of things, Refuted. 481
Scripture difapproves of all Falfhood in Words, but
not all Simulation in Actions.
482
Many Scriptural Inftances of this kind repreſented.
482, 3, 4
Neither the Tranflation of the Sin of Adam to his
Pofterity, nor of the Righteouſneſs of Christ to his
People, can be refuted by thefe Sentiments of Mr.
Woollafon.
485
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