yourselves? Why will you choose to be the objects of his wrath, when there is nothing wanting on his part, to make you objects of his everlasting love? If fo, must not our niouths eternally be stopped when God fhall plead in fury with us, or only opened to confefs we have deftroyed ourselves, when of him would have been our fafety?

SECTION XI-Now from these confiderations we shall difcern an easy answer to an objection levelled against the force of them, viz. that after all our quarrelling about this af fair, we seem both at last to say the fame thing; the one that Chrill will fave none but the elect; the other that he will only fave those who perform he conditions of the new covenant. Now these are the fame men both for number

and quality. And the actual falvation of men being not en. larged by this doctrine, it seems not to be much more worthy of God, or to reprefent him more a lover of fouls, or more concerned for their welfare than the other. To this I anfwer,

Anfwer. That though the perfons faved, be eventually the fame, yet the doctrine is by no means the fame; nor is the honor of God as much confulted, or his love to fouls as much demonftrated by the one as by the other. For,

1. Is it the fame thing to fay falvation was by God's gracious promife intended even for them that perish, so that they could not have miffed of it, but by faftidious, contempt of God's rich grace vouchfafed to prevent their ruin, and by acting in plain contradiction to the reason, confcience, and natural delires of mankind; and being deaf to all thofe powerful motives to repent and live, the gofpel offers; and to say that no falvation ever was by God defigned for them, nor any grace afforded which could make it poffible for them not to perish? adly. Is it of the fame import to fay the greateft part of the world cannot be faved, because that God, of whom cometh falvation, defigned no falvation for them, and the Savior of men died not for them; and fo if they are damned for unbelief, they must be damned for what they neither could do, nor were by any law of God obliged to do, that is for no tranf greffion? And to fay they cannot be faved because they would not come to that Jefus who died for them that they might have life; they would not obey the commands of that God, who, out of love to them, fent his Son into the world, that the world by him might be faved? No, not when he condefcended to befeech them to be reconciled to him, and gave them all the neceffary means of falvation, and all the incitements that could be offered to reasonable creatures to improve them to that end.

3dly. Is it all one to fay men are not faved because they want fufficient means on God's part to render their falvation

poffible? And to fay, they only are not faved, becaufe when they have falvation freely tendered to them, and means fuffcient to obtain it, and the most powerful inducements to use. them to that end, they ftubbornly refufe, they willfully defpife and wickedly neglect this great falvation."

4thly. Is it a thing as worthy of God to represent the God of love as an hater of the greatest part of mankind, as to fay he truly loves them, and paffionately defires their falvation ? Or that God, who is rich in goodness, plenteous in mercy, and of great pity to men, as one who had determined, before he made them, to withhold from the greatest part of men, his faving goodness, mercy and compaffion; as it is to reprefent him extending his rich goodnefs, mercy and compaffion to all the fouls that he hath made? Is it all one to reprefent the God: of truth and fincerity, full of guile, deceit, diffimulation and hypocrify; and to reprefent him truly declaring he would have all men to be faved, and fincerely promifing falvation to them upon terms poffible and reasonable, and which can only be refufed by men who wilfully defpife, and wickedly neglect that, falvation which they might obtain? And,

Laftly. Is it the fame thing to advance a doctrine which is, vifibly deftructive of all the acts of piety and virtue, faith and repentance; of all encouragements to pray to God, to praise him for his mercies; to love, to fear, to ferve, to glorify him, and to imitate his exemplary perfections; as to affert a doctrine which plainly doth encourage and lay the higheft obliga.. tions on men to the performance of thefe duties? If not, then though the perfons eventually faved will be the fame, the doctrine which is cloyed with all thefe abfurdities, can never be the fame with that which is entirely free from them.

never be clogged

Objection 2. And whereas it is further faid, that God is no debtor to any man; he was at perfect freedom whether he would fhew mercy to any, or make provifion for the falvation of the fmalleft number; and fo he could not be termed merciful, had he made no provifion for the falvation of any, much lefs in not making provifion for the falvation of all. To this I anfwer,

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ft.. That God is no debtor to the righteous, they being only (k) unprofitable fervants when they have done their beft, and therefore not thankworthy, faith our Lord; but is it. therefore confiftent with his love to righteoufnefs, to call men to the greatest felfdenial and fufferings for his fake, and not reward their conftancy to him? Why then doth the apofile fay (1) it is a righteous thing with God, to recompence to you that are troubled reft with us, fince otherwife they would be

(k) Luke xvii. 10. -(1) 2 Theff. ¡. 6. See the note there,

obliged to perfeverance to the end, and to be faithful to the death without the profpect of a recompence, and fo without. fufficient motive fo to do. Or is it confiftent with his truth. to promise them a reward, and not perform it? Why then doth the apostle fay, his promife gives (m) ftrong confolation, because it is impoffible for God to lie? He doth not owe them that affiftance he affords them under thefe fufferings, and yet the apostle faith, (n, God is faithful, who will not fuffer you to be tempted above what you are able, &c.

Again, God is no debtor to the finner, though he is fo to God; but is he therefore not obliged by his hatred of fin, and by his threats, and by that juftice which inclines him to deal with all men according to their works, to punish the offender? So in like manner God is no debtor to any man; but yet he is moft certainly obliged by the perfection of his own nature to act fuitably to his attributes; his juftice therefore binds him not to command on the fevereft penalties what he knows his fervants were by him made and fent into the world unable to perform; or to forbid, on pain of his eternal wrath, what they were never able to avoid; and his fincerity and truth oblige him not, to encourage them to do that which he knows they cannot do; and yet in all these cafes he is antecedently refolved not to enable them to do, or to avoid. Gods grace they fay is free, and he is not obliged to give it. I answer, this is true, if he doth not require that which cannot be per. formed without it; but to exact what I can never do without it under the moft dreadful penalties, and yet deny that grace, is to act-like thofe Egyptian tafkmafters, who called for brick, when they allowed no ftraw.

Anfwer 2.-2dly. I verily believe, that if a good and gra cious God will give being to any man, he is obliged by his goodness to render that being capable of enjoying the natural defires he hath implanted in it, or at least not to make it fo as that it should be better it had never been; or that it unavoida bly fhould be fubject to fuch miferies as render its condition worfe than not being. And 2dly. That if he would make a creature under an obligation to ferve him, he must prefcribe laws by which he will be ferved, and annex rewards to his obedience, and penalties to his refufal of obedience to them, according to thofe words of the apostle, (o) he that cometh to God muft believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently feek him; for what engagement, what motive can he have to ferve him, who neither can expect advantage by his obedience, or difadvantage by neglecting it? And certain it is, that God never made any man otherwife; God

(m) Heb. vi. 18.() 1 Cor. x. 13.(0) Heb. xi. 6.

therefore is fo much a debtor to his own wifdom, justice and goodness, that we may be fure he never could make any man to be inevitably miferable, or under a worse ftate than nonexiftence; and never made a man to ferve him without ability, or a fufficient motive fo to do. Now the Corollaries, or inferences, which follow neceffarily from this doctrine, are

two.

SECTION XII.-1. That God hath paffed no abfolute decree of reprobation upon the greatest part of mankind; that is, he hath not abfolutely decreed to exclude the greateft part of them from faving mercy; and then by an immediate confequence it follows, that there is no abfolute decree of election of a certain number of particular perfons to falvation: For, as (p) Tertullian truly faith, prælatio unius fine alterius contumelia effe non poteft, nec ulla electio non reprobatione componitur, there can be no election of fome, without the preterition of the reft.

2dly. That he hath not made it abfolutely neceffary to the falvation of all men to do those things which they, without the affiftance of his fpecial grace, can never do, and yet hath peremptorily determined not to vouchfafe that grace to many of them; this being in effect an absolute decree of reprobation, or that which leaves these men under an abfolute exclufion from falvation, and fo under a fad neceffity of fuffering the wrath to come. And can any reasonable man imagine that God fhould be unwilling any man fhould perifh; yea, that he hould fend his Son into the world, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish; and yet himself decree, that they should perish, or be externally excluded from his faving mercy ? That he fhould truly be defirous that all fhould come unto repentance, and not be willing to vouchfafe that grace without which they cannot repent? After those folemn declarations God hath made, that he would not the death of him that dies, but would have all men to be faved; after his facred oath by his own life, that he delights not in the death of finners, but would they should return and live: After all his ferious commands, his frequent calls and invitations of all men to repentance that they may not perish; after his inquiries and expoftulations, (q) why will you die, will you not be made clean, when shall it once be? and his complaints of the impenitent, that they would not turn and feek God; they would not come to him that they might have life; after fuch pathetical defires as thefe, Ok that there were fuch a heart in them that they would fear me always! Oh that they had known the things which did belong to their peace! After he hath declared to all his readiness to

(p) Apol. c. 13. ad Nat. c. 10-(q) Jer. xiii. 27.

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pardon, his delight in fhewing mercy, and that the riches of his goodness and longfuffering is defigned to lead them to repentance; after his frequent declarations that he would have. gathered them who would not be gathered, he would have purged them who were not purged; and that he had done all that could be reasonably expected from him for that end; after his express declaration, that he fent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be faved; I fay, after all these things, to dream of any abfolute decree of God excluding moft of them he fpeaks of, or thus addreffes himfelf to, from a poffibility of repenting that they might be faved, or doubt his willingness to afford them grace fufficient to perform this duty, is to caft an horrible reproach upon the truth and the fincerity of God, and in effect to fay he only tenders falvation to the moft upon impoffible conditions, and only doth delude them with vain hopes.

SECTION XIII.-I fhould now proceed to the confirmation of this doctrine from the fuffrage of all antiquity; but this is fufficiently done by (r) Voffius, in his Hiftoria Pelagia na, where he afferts and proves,

ft. That Veteris hæc ecclefiæ fententia fuit, velle Deum converfionem et falutem omnium; the doctrine of the ancient church was this, that God would have all men to be converted and faved.

2dly. That ( Veteris ecclefiæ judicium fuit, chriftum pro culpa univerfali hominibus providiffe et remedio univerfali, folvendo aúrpov infiniti pretii, ne ejus defectu periret quifquam; this was the judgment of the ancient church, that Chrift had provided for the fault of all men by an univerfal remedy, viz. by paying a price of infinite value, left any one fhould perish through the defect of it.

2dly. This is more copiously done by (t) Mr. Dally, by producing the teftimonies of the ancients from the firft to the twelfth century, and concluding thus, certé qui chriftum pro folis electis mortuum abfolute dixerit octo prioribus chriftianifmi feculis invenio neminem; certainly I find not one man who, during the eight first ages of chriftianity, ever faid exprefsly, that Chrift died only for the elect.

(r) Lib. 7. Thef. 2. from p. 633 to 656.- --(S) E. j. Th. 3. ap. 656. ad p. 670,-(1) Apol, from p. 753. to p. 944.