tihvavy of t:he trheological ^tmimvy PRINCETON . NEW JERSEY PRESENTED BY Samuel Agnew BX 9339 .G6 J32 1822 Jackson, Thomas, 1783-1873. The life of John Goodwin, aI M. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2009 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library http://www.archive.org/details/lifeofjohngoodwiOOjack LIFE JOHN GOODWIN, A. M. SOME TIME FELLOW'.OF queen's COLLEGEj&JfMBRIDGE, AND VICAK OF SAINT STEPHEN'S, COLEMAN-STRBET, LONDON. COMPRISING AiV ACCOUNT OF HIS OPINIONS AND JVRlTlNtlS, AND OF THE CONTROVERSIES IN WHICH HE WAS ENGAGED ., IN DEFENCE OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY AND OF GENERAL REDEMPTION WITH A REVIEW OF SEVERAI, ISJBLIC TRANSACTIONS IN GREAT IiniTAIN, DURIM. nil, UML WARS AND. THE INTnU-RECJU'M . V ■ / liY THOMAS JACKSON. He had a clear bead, a flucivt/.tcngue, a penetrating spirit, and ^.iinarvcl- lous faculty in descanting on Scripture ; and, with all his faalts, must be owned to have been a considerable man. •- ' . t?ALAMy. This was all thy care, To stand approv'd in sight of God, though worlds Judg'd thee perverse. milton. LONDOJST: 3RME^!l) PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME AND BROWN, PATERNOSTER- ROW . ^ 1822. M ■-^•-v ^^^^i^i|^. ^F*' James Nichols, Printer, 22, TVanvkk-Square, Patcrnostcr-row, London- ilr PREFACE. '^^ The eminent man, a delineation of whose Life, is attempted in the following pages, is generally allowed, by those who are conversant with his learned works, to have been one of the most able and successful advocates of that system of religious doctrine, which, for the sake of distinc- tion, is usually denominated Arminiamsm. The singular ingenuity and talent displayed in his writings on this and other topics, and his mag- nanimity when assailed by numerous and power- ful opponents, and exposed to the most irritating provocations and unjust treatment, have often been the subjects of admiration and panegyric. It is also highly honourable to him, though the fact is little known, that he was the first of our countrymen w^ho excited general attention by writing distinctly and explicitly in defence of universal liberty of conscience, as one of the most sacred rights of human nature. He had published several admirable tracts against all co- ercive interference in matters purely religious, before either Locke, or Milton, or even Dr. Owen, wrote a single line on the subject. It is therefore somewhat remarkable, that no previous attempt has been made to furnish an authentic a2 IV PREFACE. and comprehensive record of his life and cha- racter : especially as he was associated in poli- tical delinquency with the immortal author of Paradise Lost, and his name has so often been mentioned in connection with that of our great epic bard. In attempting to supply this desideratum, the author has three distinct objects in view. First : He wishes to do justice to the memory of a man, whose character has long been greatly injured : a man who, with all his faults, was possessed of various excellencies of a high order. His powerful and successful struggle in the righteous cause of religious liberty, and the sufferings he endured on this account, justly en- title him to the gratitude of British Christians; and yet, (such is the power of prejudice !) while some modern writers are in the habit of exhaust- ing all their powers of rhetoric in eulogizing others who have distinguished themselves in the same cause, though with far inferior ability and effect, his noble and disinterested exertions have been hitherto ungenerously buried in oblivion, and not deemed worthy of the slight- est notice ! Secondly : The author wishes, in some hum- ble degree, to draw the attention of professing Christians to certain theological principles, which he believes to be perfectly scriptural, and admi- rably adapted to secure the honour of Divine Grace on the one hand, and to cut the sinews of Antinomianism on the other. To propagate PREFACE. V such principles he conceives to be always im- portant, and especially in an age like the pre- sent, when the great Protestant doctrine of Justification by Faith is by many openly im- pugned, and when others sedulously inculcate such views of the divine decrees, and of the mediatorial work of Jesus Christy as sap the foundations of moral duty. Thirdly : The author is desirous of shewing the injury done to religion, and to religious cha- racters, by the want of conscientious respect for the persons and authority of civil governors; and of enforcing the apostolical injunction, " Be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake." The zealous labours of the Puritan minis- ters were rendered ultimately abortive, by being connected with revolutionary strife and insubor- dination ; and a result equally disastrous to religion may at present be anticipated, should its professors be at any time unhappily led to join in the unhallowed cry of disaffection to the constitution and government of this country. Christianity " cannot be more deeply wounded and disgraced, than by appearing in monstrous and unnatural connection with plans of civil disorganization." While tracing the political aberrations into which Mr. Goodwin wasdrawn, justice required that the extenuating circumstances connected with them should be fully stated. The author however wishes it to be distinctly understood, that the mention of those circumstances is not VI PKEFACE. designed to justify Mr. Goodwin, or to express any approval of his political principles. No man more cordially dislikes democracy than the writer of this volume. With the Bible in his hands, he can never believe that Almighty God designs either his church or the world to be governed by popular suffrage. He therefore deems it a high privilege to live in an age, when an ardent love of rational freedom is perfectly consistent with the purest loyalty ; in neither of which will he yield to any subject in the British empire. It is a common observation, that the life of a learned and studious man is usually barren of those surprising events which afford striking, illustrations of character, and constitute one of the principal charms of biography; and that therefore the personal history of such a one is only interesting and important so far as it con- tains a disclosure of his peculiar sentiments, and of his intellectual habits and labours. Under this impression, it has been deemed advisable to in- sert in the following memoirs, several copious extracts from Mr. Goodwin's writings. Nothing, it was thought, which might have been substi- tuted in their place, would give so accurate and instructive a representation of his principles and temper. The greater part of these extracts however, being taken from such of his publica- tions as are at present scarcely known, will, it is presumed, possess all the attractions and excite all the interest of novelty. Most of the quotations from Mr. Goodwin are given in PREFACE. VU an abridged form ; but in no other respect has any attempt been made to modernize his lan- guage. It was presumed, that readers in general Would be much better pleased to be introduced to the venerable author with his silvery beard and antique costume, than dressed in the garb of a modern gentleman. And should any of " our sparkful youth laugh at their great-grand- fathers' English ;" they will do well to remem- ber, that those renowned men " had more care to do well, than to speak minion-like." -f The author is not insensible of the disadvan- tages under which this work has been compiled. None of Mr. Goodwin's contemporaries have furnished any account of his life ; and more than a century and a half have elapsed since he termin- ated his mortal career. The notices concerning him, therefore, which have been spared by the wasting hand of time, are scattered through a vast number of volumes, many of which are at present extremely rare in their occurrence. To William Yates, Esquire, of Manchester, the author wishes to record his special obligations. This Gentleman kindly furnished him with several scarce and curious tracts, which he had long laboured in vain to procure. He has also availed himself of that rich collection of pam- phlets published in the seventeenth century, and presented to the British Museum by his late Majesty, King George the Third. Having col- lected information from every quarter within his t Camden. Vlll PREFACE, reach, it has been the author's endeavour fairly and honestly to represent the leading events of Mr. Goodwin's life; and though he offers the result of his enquiries to the world with consider- able diffidence, he indulges a hope, that his work will not be altogether uninteresting to the can- did and intelligent reader. Fidelity is the prin- cipal object to which his attention has been directed ; and in reference to the whole he trusts it may be said, •* These things are true, though facts of distant times." London, April m, 1822. CON TEN 'm^iV* ^.:" »v Pago. PREFACE iii CHAPTER I. Goodwin's birth — Education — Entrance upon the ministry — Settlement inLondon— State of pulpit-eloquence--Good win's ministerial qualifications — Clerical conduct — State of religion in Eng-laud — Puritans — Episcopal clergy — Doctrine of the Church of England — Mountagu — Book of Sports — Archbishop Laud — Good win's citation before his Diocesan — Sermons of Henry Ramsden — Goodwin's " Saints' Interest in God" — Address to his parishicmers — His *' God a Good Master," and " Return of Mercies" — Cauons of the Convocation — Opposition to them — Charles the First — Long Parliament — Commencement of the civil wars — Goodwin's concurrence with the Parliament — His " Anti-Cavalierism," " Butcher's Blessing," and " Bonefor a Bishop" — Reasons why the Puritans joined the Parli- ament 1 CHAPTER II. Doctrine of Justification — Views entertained on that subject during the middle ages — Sentiments of the Protestant Reformers — Mr. Goodwin's opinions concerning Justification — Clamour raised against him by some of the London Clergy — Silence imposed upon both parties by the Bishop of London — Generous attachment of his parishioners to him — Conversion of William Allen from Antinomianism — Mr. Goodwin's interview and disputation with Mr. George Walker — Letter addressed to him — Their tracts against each other — Goodwin's " Treatise of Justification" — Ques- tion discussed in that work — Account of that volume — Abridgment of it by Mr. Wesley — Truly Christian temper in which it was written — Ex- tracts from the Preface, &c 27 CHAPTER III. Abolition ofEpiscopacy in England—"Apologetical Narration"of the In - dependents--Mr. Goodwin's defence of the principles contained in that tract — Motives by which he was induced to embrace the Independent scheme — His pamphlet on "Fighting against God" — Attack made upon him by Prynne — Some account of that ungenerous polemic — Mr. Goodwin's tracts in vindication of himself — Letter of John Vicars to him — The reply of Daniel Taylor — Committee for plundered ministers — The Ever-Memor- able Hales of Eton — Citation of Mr. Goodwin before the Committee— X CONTEXTS. Page. Charges preferred ajainst him— His defence— Petition presented on hsi behalf— Pamphlet of Samuel Lane charging him with heterodoxy-- Ex- pulsion from his vicarage — Iniquity of that measure — Mr. Goodwin's meekness under this injurious treatment — Exercise of his ministry in a private Meeting-House — Address to the members of his church — Death of two of his children — Infamous attack upon him by Edwards in his Gangraena — His sermons on the Holy Spirit, and on the Divine Authority of the Scriptures 55 CHAPTER IV. Doctrine of Religious Liberty — Popish and Protestant persecutions — Cal- vin— Melancthon— Luther— Cranmer- -Latimer— QueenElizabeth— James the First — Charles the First — Intolerance of the English Presbyterians — Persecuting principles of Bastwick — Prynne — Edwards — Commissioners of Scotland — London Ministers — Assembly of Divines — Tyrannical Or- dinances of the Long Parliament — Praises lavished upon Dr. Owen as an advocate of Religious Liberty — His merits greatly over-rated — Correct views on this subject entertained by Mr. Goodwin — His manly avowal and defence of his sentiments — Extracts from his reply to A.S. published in the year 1(544 — His "Twelve Serious Cautions" — "Modest and Humble Queries" — " Scourge of the Saints displayed" — Conspiracy formed to expose him to the vengeance of the Parliament — False accusa- tion preferred against him — Defence of himself — Vindication of him by the Members of his Church — Reflections 102 CHAPTER V. Mr. Goodwin's Calvinistical education — Doctrines of Calvin as stated by himself — Mr. Goodwin's abandonment of them, and adoption of the Arminian scheme — Principles by which he was guided in this procedure — ^The magnanimity displayed on this occasion — Circumstances which led to this change in his theological opinions — Samuel Lane's " Vindi- cation of Free-Grace". — Mr. Goodwin's defence of himself against the charge of culpable instability — His " Divine Authority of the Scriptures Asserted" — Extracts from that work — Charges preferred against him by Fifty-two of the London Clergy, in their " Testimony to the Truth of Jesus Christ" — Inaccuracy of Mr. Neal — Mr. Goodwin's " Sion College Visited" — Extracts from that pamphlet — Dr. Hammond's Defence of himself against the accusations of the London Clergy — William Jen- kyns's attack upon Mr. Goodwin — Mr. Goodwin's " Novice-Presbyter Instructed" — Infamous publication of John Vicars... 141 CHAPTER VL Termination of the Civil Wars — Ineffectual attempts to settle the government by negociation with the King — Interference of the Army — Restraint put upon the Parliament — The High Court of Justice— Puritan Ministers sent to pray with the King — His Decapitation — Causes which led to this catastrophe — The faults of the King — Of the Parliament— Of the Army— Sentiments of Baxter coucerning the case of Charles— Pam- CONTENTS. XI Page, phlet of Eutactus Philodemius— Extract from Dr. Owen— Canne's De- fence of the Army— Political tracts of Milton— Mr. Goodwin's " Rif^ht and Might"—" Unrighteous Judge"—" Obstructors of Justice"— His motives in writing these works— The Fifth Monarchy-men— Vindication of Mr. Goodwin from the charge of Bishop Burnet— Calumnies of Mr. Toplady— British Constitution— Mr. Goodwin's restoration to his vicar- age — Proposal of a political speculator 183 CHAPTER VII. Mr. Goodwin's puhllc disputations with Vavasor Powell and John Simpson— Publication of" Truth's Conflict with Error"— Mr. Goodwin's "Remedy of Unreasonableness"- Extract from that pamphlet— His " Redemption Redeemed"— Extracts from the Dedication— View of the subjects discussed in that great work— Sense in which the author held General Redemption— His remarks on the doctrine of Perseverance — Plan of the Second Part of " Redemption Redeemed" — Testimonies iu favour of that publication— Mr. Goodwin's method of ascertaining the meaning of Scripture— His ingenuous avowal of his whole creed— Per- suasion that all the doctrines of Scripture are perfectly harmonious with each other — His views of the Divine Sovereignty— Anti-Calvinistical works by other authors, which accompanied the publication of "Redemp- tion Redeemed." 216 CHAPTER VIII. Attack upon Mr. Goodwin by Dr. Hill in a sermon at St. Paul's Church — Mr. Goodwin's Letter to the Doctor — His letter to Mr. Caryl— Caryl's Reply— Dr. Barlow's Letter to Mr. Goodwin—" The Pagan's Debt and Dowry" — Reply of Obadiah Howe — Bailie's " Scotch Antidote" — Attack upon Mr Goodwin by Richard Resbury — Mr. Goodwin's "Con- fidence Dismounted"— Resbury's Rejoinder— Works written against Mr. Goodwin by Mr. Henry Jeans— Mr. John Pawson— Dr. Owen— Mr. George Kendall— Mr. Thomas Lamb — Christopher Salter's Letter to Mr. Goodwin — Mr. Goodwin's " Agreement and Distance of Brethren" — Extract from the Dedication — Mr. Goodwin's Exposition of the Ninth Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans — Extract concerning Esau 251 CHAPTER IX. Proposal of Cromwell's friends for a limited Toleration — Appointment ofaCommittee of Divines to determine what doctrines of Christianity are fundamental — Mr. Goodwin's " Thirty Queries"— Extracts from that ^ork — Publication of two anonymous replies — Mr. Goodwin's defence, in his " Apologist Condemned" — His " Dissatisfaction Satisfied" — Re- joinder by some of the Fifth Monarchy-Men — His " Peace Protected"— 1 Charge of Blasphemy preferred against him to Cromwell and the Parlia- ixient — His " Fresh Discovery of the High Presbyterian Spirit" — Extract from that work — Defence of the liberty of the Press — Secession in Mr. Goodwin's church— His " Philadelphia" and " Water-Dipping"— His " Cata-Baptism"— Account of William Allen— Mr. Goodwin's sermon Xll CONTENTS. Page, on the deatli of Daniel Taylor, Esq. — Character of that excellent man — Mr, Goodwin Is- Pastoral address to his church 307 CHAPTER X. Appointment of the Triers and Ejectors of Ministers — Case of Anthony Sadler — Dr. Womack's " Examination of Tilenus," and other works — Case of Doctor Edward Pocock — Mr. Goodwin's " Triers Tried and Cast" --Extracts from that work— Marchamont Nedham's defence of the Triers- Anonymous " Letter of Address to the Protector" — Mr. Good win's citation before Cromwell's council — His "Triumviri" — Extracts from that work — The Restoration — Royal Proclamation for the apprehension of Milton and Mr. Goodwin — Their political tracts suppressed, and publicly burned at the Old Bailey — Act of Indemnity — Progress of Arminianism during the Commonwealth — Dr. Thomas Pierce — Tobias Conyers — John Home — George Lawson — Mr. Goodwin's second ejectment — His " Prelatic Preachers" — His death — His " Being Filled with the Spirit" — Decree of the University of Oxford for burning several political publications — Re- flections 355 CHAPTER XI, View of Mr, Goodwin's character — Diligence and fidelity as a Christian Minister — Moderation and firmness as an enlightened arlvocate of reli- gious liberty — Patience of contradiction — Style and manner as a writer — Strong resemblance to Milton in the leading features of his character — Mischief done by the political meddling of the Puritans — Mr. Goodwin's political errors — His great disinterestedness — Causes of the obliquity of his mind in regard to Charles the First — His views of Divine Grace — Of Predestination — Of Election — Motives by which he was actuated in his several controversies — His natural modesty — Submission to the Scrip- tures on all theological questions — His views of the criminality of volun- tary ignorance of divine thiugs — Of the necessity of divine illumination in the study of Scripture — His ardent love of truth — Ingenuousness and courage in the profession of it — His great mental powers — Command of temper — Generosity of mind — Magnanimity under all his persecutions. , 393 Chronological List of Mr. Goodwin's Publications 431 Appendix 433 .I'HJSOLOGlf THE LIFF^ OF JOHN GOODWIN. CHAPTER I. Goodwin's birth — Education — Entrance upon the ministry — Settlement in Lmidmi — State of pn/pit-elot/uence — Goodwin's ministerial qiiaiifuutions — Clirical conduct — State of religion in England — Puritans— Episcopal clergy — Doctrine of the Church tfEng'and—Mountagn— Boole rf Sports Archbishop Laud — Goodwin's citation before his Diocesan — Sermons of Henry Ramsden — Goodwin's " Saints' Interest in God" — Address to his parishioners— His " God a Good Master," and " Return of Mercies" — Canons of the Convocation — Opposition to them — Charles the Eirst — Long Pnrliame7it— Commencement of the ciril icars— Goodwin's concurrence with the Parliament — His " Anti-Cavalierism," and " Bone for a Bishop" — Reasom why the Puritans joined the Parliament. The time of the civil wars and of the commonwealth, is one of the most interesting periods of British history. The very extraordinary occurrences of that age brought into public view a number of individuals, who would otherwise, in all probability, have lived and died unnoticed and un- known, except by the narrow circle of their own immediate connections. The peculiar circumstances under which they were placed, not only called into exercise their great intel- lectual powers, but gave birth to a series of actions by which their characters were fully developed, and the influence of their religious principles distinctly exhibited. Among the personages thus distinguished, the celebrated John Goodwi.v is entitled to no small share of attention. B 2 LIFE OF His abilities were of a high order, and his integrity unim- peachable : but, unhappily, his sentiments and conduct have been ill understood for the last century and a half, and therefore subject to gross misrepresentation. This learned man was born in the year 1593. He was a native of Norfolk ; but of what particular place in that extensive county, we are not informed. In a local history, recently published, it is stated, on the testimony of a de- scendant from ]Mr. Goodwin, that he was born at Newcastle- imder-Lyme, in Staffordshire : * but this is manifestly a mistake ; since Granger mentions a manuscript in the library at Lambeth, in which he is denominated, " Johannes Good- win, Norfolc ;'""f* and he himself, after a residence in London of twenty-six years, speaking of Norfolk, calls it " my country."" | Concerning the family of Mr. Goodwin I have not been able to obtain the slightest information. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth a clergyman named Vincent Goodwin, residing in or near the city of Norwich, was suspended for nonconformity to the rites of the Church. § Doctor Thomas Goodwin also, the noted champion of Independency and of high Calvinism, was born at Rolesby, in Norfolk ; || but whether any relationship subsisted between them and the subject of these memoirs, remains to be decided. Young Goodwin received his academical education at Cambridge, where he took his degree as Master of Arts, and was elected Fellow of Queen's College, Nov. 10th 1617, in the twenty-fourth year of his age. ^ On his admission into holy orders, his sermons are said to have displayed an elegance and an erudition which excited admiration. ** One of the most censorious and quarrelsome men that ever lived, accused him of holding his Fellowship after his mar- riage, ff What truth there might be in the allegation, I * PiU's Hist, of Staffordshire, p. 367, Edit. 1817. f Biog. Hist, of En^. Vol. Ill, p. 42. Edit. 1«04. + Goodwin's Triimiviri, p. 247, Edit. 16'r)«. § liiook's Lives ofthe Puritans, Vol. I, p. 3!). || Dr. Goodwin's Works, Vol. V. p. .T, Edit. 1704. ^ Rennet's Register and Chrou. p. 935, Edit. 1728. Non- conformists' Memorial, Vol. I, p. 196, Edit. 1802. ** Aikin's General Biog. Art. Goodwin, ft Edwards's Gaugraua, Part II, p. B4, Edit. 1646. JOHX GOODWIN'. 3 have no means of knowing. Mr. Goodwin treated the charge with indifference, as unworthy of a direct reply. * After his removal from the University, having preached occasionally for some time at Raynum, Lynn, Yarmouth and Norwich, he went to London in the year 1632; and on the 18th of December, 1633, was presented to the Vicarage of St. Stephen's, Coleman-street, upon the choice of the parishioners, •f' This living was vacant through the volun- tary resignation of Mr. John Davenport, who, from consci- entious motives, had declined all further connection with the Ecclesiastical Establishment ; and who, to escape the ven- geance of Archbishop Laud, soon after left his native coun- try, and spent the greater part of his remaining days in exile. I When Mr. Goodwin commenced hia career of ministerial labour, examples of clerical delinquency abounded on every side. Not a few of those who held livings in the church never attempted to preach, were scandalously immoral in their lives, and destitute of every qualification for their office, except that of ability to read. Of those who had learning and talents, some employed their strength in the support of ceremonial observances, which, to say the least, are not essential to true religion ; and others, in contending for the simplicity of christian ordinances, manifested as much zeal against the use of the ring in marriage, the sign of the cross in baptism, and other things of a similar descrip- tion, as if they were actually defending the most important doctrines of revelation, or guarding the church against the sin *' which hath never forgiveness." Comparatively few seemed so to enter into the spirit of theirwork, as to employ their time and energies in one laborious and prayerful eflPort to turn men from darkness unto light, and from the power of satan unto God. While these evils were extensively prevalent, the style of preaching which wai generally adopted, was far from being judicious. In fact, the eloquence of the pulpit was vicious and * Inexcusableness of that Grand Accusation, Preface. f Newcourt's Repertorium, Vol. I, p..'')37,E(lit. 1708. Edwards' C.angrtena, Part II, p. 84. Kennel's Register, v. 454. I Brook's Lives of the Puritans^ Vol. Ill, p. 447. b2 4 LIFE OF corrupt. Several of the most popularpreachers, though men of deep piety and of extensive Hterary acquirements, were notori- ous punsters ; their sermons were plentifully interlarded with scraps of Hebrew, Greek and Latin, and disfigured by an almost incalculable number of doctrinal propositions, divi- sions, sub-divisions, objections, solutions, inferences, uses of instruction, of comfort, of reproof, of exhortation, and so forth. Such discourses, how admirably soever tliey might be calculated to exliibit the learning and display the logical dexterity of the preacher, were ill adapted to the mental habits of the great mass of mankind. The " shrewd and severe animadversion of a Scottish lord"" upon bishop An- drews, addressed to King James the First, was applicable to many a " painful preacher'' in those times : " He was learned, but he did play with his text as a Jack-an-apes does ; who takes up a thing and tosses and plays with it ; and then he takes up another and plays a little with it : here's a pretty thing, and there's a pretty thing." * Scarcely any of Mr. Goodwin's discourses were committed to the press as they had been delivered from the pulpit : it is therefore difficult to ascertain how far they were conform- able to the prevailing practice. But if a judgment may be formed from his practical writings, nearly all of which consist of sermons melted down into treatises, he rose as a preacher above the pedantic and unedifying fashion of his age. In the life of one who had been a regular attendant upon his ministry, his public discourses are designated as " elegant and learned." f Indeed his intellectual and moral qualifi- cations as a Christian pastor, were far above the common standard. His deep and comprehensive knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, which must have been the result of inces- sant and unwearied application, enabled him to produce in the course of his ministry an endless variety of the most interesting and useful matter. He bore no resemblance to those theologians, whom a distinguished prelate has charac- terised as the "apes of Epictetus." Deeply impressed with ♦Letters from the Bodleian Library, Vol. 11, p. 207, Edit. 1813. f Life of Thomas Firmin, p. (>, Edit. IGDH. JOIIX GOODWIN'. O the paramount importance of the pecuHar doctrines of Christianity, to the latest period of his hfe he never lost sight either of the atoning Saviour, or of the quickening and sanctifying Spirit: fully persuaded, that when they are either systematically discarded, or practically forgotten, the teacher of religion is not only guilty of a flagrant breach of trust, as a steward of the mysteries of God ; but is spending his strength as uselessly as those philosophical speculatists, whom the poet describes as dropping buckets into'empty[wells, And growing old in drawing nothing up. ]\Ir. Goodwin''s mode of preaching was never loose and declamatory. With the laws of reasoning he was well acquainted ; and by the practised habit of his mind he ap- pears to have been rendered incapable of expatiating upon any subject except in an argumentative manner. In the establishment of his various positions, his arguments are all deduced from pertinent texts of Holy Scripture ; and the simple, natural, and striking manner in which the meaning of those texts is unfolded, affords as fine an illustration, as the whole compass of English theological literature can furnish, of the just and beautiful remark of Lord Bacon ; that, " As wines which at first pressing, run gently, and yield a more pleasant taste than those where the wine-press is hard wrought; (because these somewhat relish of the stone and skin of the grape ;) so those observations are the most wholesome and sweet, which flow from scriptures gently expressed, and naturally expounded, and are not wrested and drawn aside to common-places of contro- versies. * In expressing his own views of the peculiar business of a Christian preacher, Mr. Goodwin says, " Aristotle, in setting out the work of a rhetorician, asserting it to be. Not to persuade^ hut to speak thinffs pertinent and proper to persuade^ — drew with the same stroke of his pencil a happy character of the proper work of a minister of the gos- pel. To overrule the judgments and consciences of men, * Advaucemcul of Leaniiiig, Lib. IX. b3 LIFE OF in the great tilings of eternity, appertaineth to Him that rideth upon the heavens : they v^ho dwell in houses of clay quit themselves to the utmost point of their line, l)y propos- ing and pressing such things upon them, [as] have a suffi- cient potency of reason and argument to persuade, where there is no bar of wilful neglect, frowardness, or resistance in the way." * As a clergyman Mr. Goodwin did not eat the bread of idleness : but giving himself wholly to the duties of his office, he laboured night and day to promote the salvation of the people committed to his care. After he had been resident in London fifteen years, a contemporary writer, speaking of him, says, he is a man " whose innocency and integrity in the cause of Christ, and great work and labour of love to Christ and his churches, I doubt not but in due time will be cleared and rewarded abundantly." -|- In con- sequence of his personal virtues, and ministerial abilities and fidelity, he lived in the affections and esteem of all who were able to appreciate his worth ; many of whom acknow- ledged with gratitude, that they regarded their attendance upon his ministry as one of the highest privileges of their lives. I When Mr. Goodwin officiated at the altars of the national church, Christianity as taught by the Inspired Writers, and revived by the pious and intrepid Reformers, was far from being in a prosperous condition in Great Britain. The Roman Catholics were somewhat numerous, and were very active in making proselytes. Though laid under severe restrictions by existing laws, yet, the Queen being of their community, by her influence they obtained considerable in- dulgence. This circumstance excited great alarm in the minds of many, who regarded Popery not only as a perver- sion of revealed truth, but as exceedingly inimical to the liberty of mankind. The Puritans also abounded in differ- ent parts of the kingdom ; and though they held discordant * Divine Authority of the Scriptures, p. 377, Edit. 1648. f Bartlet's Model of the Congregational Way, p. 126, Edit. 1647. I Apologetical Account of some Brethreu of the Church, whereof Mr. John Goodwin is Pastor, 1647. JOHN COODWIX. 7 sentiments among themselves on various subjects, they all agreed in decided hostility to the government of the church, and to its mode of public worship. The Brownists contended, that the system of ecclesiastical polity, which was sanctioned by law, was Antichristian; and conformity to its injunctions, a violation of religious duty. The Presbyterians, though less violent, meditated the complete subversion of diocesan episcopacy, and the substitution of the " Genevan platform," as the national establishment. Both these classes of religion- ists were immoderately attached to the peculiar doctrines of Calvinism, and not unfrequently spoke and wrote against the sacerdotal vestments, the authority of the bishops, and the ceremonies of the hierarchy with the utmost bitterness of zeal. While some valid objections may be made both to the sentiments entertained by these parties, and to the spirit in which they were too often defended, some of the clergy manifested a considerable defection from the principles of genuine Protestantism. Many of them have been accused of departing from the authorized creed of the national church, by a partiality for the doctrinal sentiments of Arminius. But the justice of this charge is not very apparent. There is nothing in any of the standard writings of the Church of England, that can be considered, with the least semblance of plausibility, as favouring the pea^Zian^/^* of Calvinism, except the Seventeenth Article of Religion ; and even that article is silent on the precise question at issue between the followers of Calvin and those of Arminius. That question is not, Whether there is any such doctrine taught in tlie Holy Scriptures, as God's predestination of some men to eternal life, and of others to eternal death "^ for this is acknow- ledged on both hands ; but. Whether such predestination is absolute or conditional ? AVhcther it is a predestination of individuals ^jt'r,$o;iaZ/7/ considered, or of individuals regarded as believei's in Jesus Christ, or as obstinate and voluntary unbelievers? The former opinion was held by Calvin; the latter by Arminius ; and by several eminent men before bim ; and on which side the truth lies, tlie compilers of the 8 LIFE OF Seventeentli Article took not upon themselves in that document to determine. At the same time it is worthy of remark, that the Formularies of the Church contain various passages which no ingenuity can ever reconcile to the principles of pure Calvinism. According to the general complexion of the Liturgy, redemption is universal, the mercy of God unlimited, and ihe actual bestowment of sal- vation suspended upon the performance of certain specified conditions on the part of man. Of the truth of this remark, the following sentences afford ample proof. They are only a small specimen of what might be adduced on the same subjects from that incomparable and truly evangelical manual of devotion : " Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who dcsircth not the death (rf a sinner, but rather that he may turn from his wickedness and live.'"* — " Almighty and everlasting God, who, of thy tender love towards manMnd, hast sent thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, to take upon him our flesh, and to suffer death upon the cross, that all mankind should follow the example of his great humility ."j- — " O merciful God, who hast made all men, and hatest nothing that thou hast made, nor zcoiddest the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live ; have mercy upon all Jews, Turks, Infidels, and Heretics ; and so fetch them home, blessed Lord, to thy flock, that they may be saved among the remnant of thy true Israelites." \ — " Almighty God, our heavenly Father, Avho of thy tender mercy didst give thine only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the Cross for our redemption ; who made there (by his one oblation of himself once offered) a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation and satisfaction j/?jr the sins of the whole xoorld.''''^ In the Cate- chism every child is taught to say, " I learn to believe in God the Son, who hath redeemed me and all manlcind.'''' The Thirty-first Article states, that " the offering of Christ once made, is that perfect redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction, for all the sins of the whole world, both original and actual.'''' And to every communicant who approaches * Absohuiou. f Collect for Sunday before Easter. J Collect for Good Friday. § Prayer of Consecration. JGIiy GOODWIX. 9 the table of the Lord, tlie officiating minister is required, on presenting the sacramental elements, solemnly to declare, " The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ was given for THEE ;" and " the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ was SHED for THEE :" a practice which it is difficult to justify upon the principles of particular redemption, and of Calvin- ian reprobation. An Arminian member of the Church of England, therefore, to say the least, has as just ground of complaint against his Calvinistic brother, as the latter can possibly have against the former. One of the most learned of the episcopal divines of that age, against whom this charge had been unjustly pre- ferred, expresses himself in the following dignified language : " I disavow the name and title of Arminian. For my faith was never taught by the doctrine of men. I will not pin my belief unto any man's sleeve, carry he his head never so liigh. A Christian I am, and so glory to be ; only denomi- nated of Christ Jesus, my Lord and Master ; by whom I was never as yet so wronged, that I could relinquish willing- ly that royal title, and exchange it for any of his menial servants. — I protest, before God and his angels, the time is yet to come that I ever read word in Arminius. The course of my studies was never addressed to modern epito- mizers : but from my first entrance to the study of divinity, I balked the ordinary and accustomed by-paths, and betook myself to scripture, the rule of faith, interpreted by Antiquity, the best expositor of faith, and apply er of that rule : holding it a point of discretion, to draw water as near as I could to the well-head, and to spare labour in vain in running off to cisterns and lakes. I went to enquire, when doubt was, of the days of old, as God himself directed me; and hitherto I have not repented. If Arminius in tenets agreeth unto Scripture, plain and express : if he hath agree- ing unto his opinions the practice, tradition, and consent of the ancient Church, I embrace his opinions ; let his private ends, if he had any, alone. If Calvin, so far in account and estimation before Arminius, dissenteth from antiquity, and the universal ancient Church, I follow him not. No private 10 LIFE OF man, or peculiar spirit, ever did or ever shall tyrannize upon my belief. I yield only unto God and the Church."" -}* On other points, however, the characters of these eccle- siastical dignitaries were far from being invulnerable. Though decidedly opposed to several of the peculiarities of Popery, yet, apparently desirous of effecting a union be- tween the Churclies of England and Rome,;}: and hoping to induce the Englioh Catholics to conform to the ecclesiastical Establishment, they contended for the lawfulness of images in places of religious worship, for the real presence of Christ in the consecrated elements of the Lord's Supper, and spoke of the monstrous doctrine of transubstantiation as a nicety of the schools. They also pleaded for auricular con- fession, and for priestly absolution ; and not only denied the morality of the Christian Sabbath, but peremptorily required the inferior clergy publicly to read the King'^s Book of Sports, encouraging the common people, on the Lord"'s Day, after the celebration of divine worship in theu* respec- tive churches, to amuse themselves with dancing, archery, leapijig, vaulting, morrice-dances, and other sports of a similar nature. § An excellent man, who had himself been a spectator of those scenes of profane and noisy riot, thus excited, says, *' I cannot forget, that, in my youth, in those late times when we lost the labours of some of our conformable godly teachers, for not reading publicly the Book for Sports and dancing on the Lord''s Days, one of my father''s own tenants was the town-piper, hired by the year, for many years toge- ther, and the place of the dancing assembly was not a hundred yards from our door ; and we could not, on the Lord's Day, either read a chapter, or pray, or sing a psalm, or cathechise or instruct a servant, but with the noise of the pipe and taber, and the whootings in the street continually in our cars. And, even among a tractable people, we Avere the common scorn of all the rabble in the streets, and called f Mountagu's Appello Ceesarem, pp. 10 — 12. Edit. 1625. ^ Heylin's Life of Archbishop Laud, p. 390. Edit. 1671. § Neal'sHist. Purit. Vol. II, pp. 123, 247, 249. Edit. 1733. JOHN GOODWiy. 11 Puritans, Precisians, and Hypocrites, because we chose but to read the Scriptures, than to do as they did ; tliougli there was no savour of non-conformity in our family. And when the people by the Book were allowed to play and dance out of public service-time, they could so hardly break off their sports, that many times the reader was fain to stay till the piper and player would give over : and sometimes the morrice-dancers would come into the church, in all their lineal and scarfs and antic dresses, with the morrice- bells jingling at the legs : and as soon as the Common Prayer was read, did haste out presently to their play again."-}* The conduct of some of the Bishops was particularly cruel and unchristian towards the Puritans, many of whom were pious and conscientious men, though of narrow and illiberal principles. Goaded by persecution, multitudes of these obnoxious people left their native land, and fled, some to Holland, and others to the wilds of America, that they might enjoy that common right of human nature, liberty of conscience. Irritated also by the restraints which were arbitrarily imposed upon them, the Puritans, in de- fending their own sentiments and in exposing their oppres- sors, not unfrequently overstepped the boundaries of decorum, and expressed themselves in language highly insulting and inflammatory. In such cases the offenders were sentenced in ecclesiastical courts to endure the most painful and degrading personal mutilations, to stand as objects of public infamy on the pillory, were reduced to absolute beggary by heavy fines, and doomed to spend their days immured in the horrors of a prison. J Mr. Goodwin had not been long settled in his living be- fore he was called to endure a portion of those troubles which awaited such clergymen as could not satisfy them- selves with a rigorous conformity. At this time Archbishop Laud enjoyed the See of Canterbury, and ruled the King"'s subjects with a rod of iron. As a munificent patron of t Baxter's Divine Appointment of the Lord's Day, p. 116. Edit. 1671, J Chandler's Hist, of Persecution, p. 364. Edit. 1736. Clarendon, Vol. I. p. 94. Edit. 1707 12 LIFE OF sacred literature and of jlearned men, this celebrated metro- politan is entitled to the highest praise. But he was inor- dinate in his attachment to religious ceremony and parade ; and his vindictive spirit towards such as were Puritanically inclined, prompted him to acts of deliberate cruelty, the bare recital of which inspires terror and disgust. With him it appears to have been a favourite maxim, that eccle- siastical discipline should be felt as well as spoken of ; and hence, in the enforcement of canonical obedience, many useful ministers, who scrupled at the observance of all the ceremonies which he introduced, were, at his pleasure, ad- monished, suspended, or deprived of their livings.'!' Ac- cording to the Archbishop, IMr. Goodwin's clerical conduct, at one period, was not perfectly regular. In the account Avhich his Grace presented to the King, concerning the state of his province, after his visitation in the summer of 1637, among other ministers who had been " convented" before their diocesan for " breach of the canons of the church, in sermons, or practice, or both,"" mention is made of " Mr. John Goodwin, vicar of St. Stephen's, Coleman- strect." But as he and his fellow-delinquents, "promised amendment for the future, and submission to the church in all things ;" it is stated, that " my lord very moderately for- bore farther proceedings against them." J In the year 1639 IMr. Goodwin published, with a recom- mendatory preface, a small volume of posthumous sermons, under the title of " A Gleaning of God's Harvest." These discourses were written by Mr. Henry Ramsden, who, in the latter part of his life, was vicar of Halifax, in York- shire ; but who had formerly been a minister of consider- able repute in London. This very excellent man was born at Greetland in the parish of Halifax, and admitted a com- moner of Magdalen Hall in Oxford, in year 1610. At the University he was greatly celebrated for his proficiency in theological learning, and after he became a preacher in f Wilson's Hist, and Antiq. of Dissenting Churches, Vol. II. p. 404. Edit. 1808. Clarendon, Book First. X Hist, of the Troubles and Trial of Archbishop Laud, Vol. I. p. 536. Edit. I()'J5. JOHN r.OODWIX. 13 the metropolis, "was much resorted to, for hi& edifying and Puritanical sermons."'''^ In this elegant and well-written preface, Mr. Goodwin says, " The author of these sermons having fallen asleep before their time came to do service in the world, I con- ceived it might bear the construction of some light cliarity, to lead them out, in their orphan-like condition, by the hand of a recommendatory epistle. Men for the most part desire in books to know first what is said of them, before they care to know what they say : and sometimes an author, worthy of prime inspection, for want of an agent to make his worth his harbinger, may lie as long neglected and un- read, as the cripple at the pool of Bethesda lay uncured, for want of one to cast him into the water." Having presented to the world the sermons of Ramsden, Mr. Goodwin assumed the character of an author liimself. The first work which he appears to have committed to the press, was a small volume entitled, " The Saints' Interest in God opened, in several Sermons preached anniversarily upon the Fifth of November," and bearing the date of 1640. The feelings with which this eminent man com- menced his career of authorship are not unworthy of notice: they form a perfect contrast to the hardihood of those who presumptuously palm their indigested lucubrations upon mankind, and the false modesty of such as withhold from the world that fruit of their genius and industry, which would add to the general stock of knowledge, or contribute to the mental gratification and improvement of society. " I am not conscious," says he, " either of forwardness or back- wardness of being made public. The judgments of men, if they could agree, may easily overrule me either way. It argues some distemper of spirit, to be importune upon the world with a man''s private conceptions : neither is it the best posture to put the world upon importunity with us, to purchase them, if they have a mind to them." X Wood's Athenae Oxonieuses, Vol. 1. col. 013. Edit. 1721 . Watson's Hist. and Antiq. of Halifax, p. 500. Edit. 1775. 14 LIFE OF Mr. Goodwin thought, that the signal interjDOsitlon of Divine Providence, in the discovery of the Gunpowder- Plot, was worthy of special attention ; and that the people of England were not sufficiently observant of its annual commemoration. The occasion upon wliich the discourses contained in this book were delivered, he remarks, " was the anniversary remembrance of that great battle fought between Hell and Heaven, about the peace and safety of our nation, on Nov. 5th, 1605 ; when Hell was overthrovvn, and Heaven and we rejoiced together. I have not, to my present remembrance, met with any thing published of late, of any special influence or tendency, to maintain the life and spirit of the solemnity and joy of that day and deliverance. And pity it is, that such a plant of Paradise should wither or languish for want of watering." This very pious and instructive manual is dedicated to " Mr. Isaac Pennington, Alderman of the City of London,"" together with the rest of the author's " loving parishioners, and dear friends, the inhabitants of St. Stephen's, Coleman- street." The address to these persons, which is of consi- derable length, appears to have flowed from the fulness of a generous heart. It shews the high esteem in which he author was held, and displays that ardent love to the souls of men, which is essential to the character of every " good minister of Jesus Christ.'" One or two paragraphs of this animated composition will be read with interest. " Though I have no ground of confidence," says he, '• to put any such question to you, as Paul did to the Galatians: What hath your felicity been since my coming and preach- ing the gospel to you ? Yet this I cannot but testify, to the praise of the grace that hath been given to you, by my dispensation of the gospel towards you, (let the tree of interpretation fall which way it will, it shall neither hurt you nor me by the fall,) that you have rejoiced in my light, and have been ready, many of you, in the best way of christian expression, to signify the truth, life, and power, which you have seen, tasted, and felt, in my ministry. lOHN GOODWIX. 15 " My confidence is, concerning you that are spiritual, tliat you, by the light, partly of my labours amongst you, (having served you near seven years,) partly by my man- ner of life, can read it in my heart, how dear you are to me, and how high my comforts are in such amongst you, whose faces are set towards heaven, and are resolved to take nothing in exchange for your souls. I will not be impor- tunate with you, in pleading the cause of my endearments to you upon this occasion : I had rather give you an ac- count of my heart towards you, in deeds than in words. Neither shall I ever be troublesome to you, for any greater measure of esteem, than my carriage shall be reasonably valued at, between a pastor and his people. If you will please to interpret this dedication as a testimony of mine especial love and respects to you, the burden shall not need to lie more upon your affections than your judgments : and those actions ever come off with best satisfaction to sober men, that are so divided. *' The great and mighty God of heaven and earth, make these meditations as the cloud of the latter rain to you, to drop fatness upon your souls, that they may be felt by yourselves, in renewing and strengthening your inner man ; be seen upon you by others, in an unstained excellence of life and conversation ; and found also in your accounts at the "great day, as having contributed their share towards that joy, which is the promised reward of all those that know God to be the true God, and him whom he hath sent, Jesus Christ. Which crown of blessedness, there is not a man of you but shall most assuredly obtain, if you will run for yourselves with as much faithfulness, as he is ready to run for you night and day, who here, in the presence of heaven and earth, giveth it under his hand, that he is your loving and truly affectionate pastor." Mr. Goodwin's " Saints' Interest in God"" appears to have been well received by the religious world ; and hence, in the following year, he published two other small volumes of a similar description. One of these is entitled, " God a Good Master and Protector ;" and the other, " The Return 16 T.IFK OF of Mercies ; or, the Saints' Advantage by Losses/'' The latter of these publications is dedicated to " Lady Clark, of Reading;" and the former to "Mrs. Elizabeth Hampden, of Westminster," the mother of the celebrated patriot of that name. From the dedicatory address to Mrs. Hampden, it should seem that our author had been under considerable personal obligations to that distinguished female. " I ac- knowledge myself," says he, " a debtor to you for many expressions of love, Avhich very slender engagements on my part have draAvn from you. Sed faciles molus mens generosa capit. I have nothing wherewith to recompense your kindness, but my prayers, and the travail of my soul for your"'s. A minister's thankfulness to his friends, is to shew them the way to heaven ; and to enable them, if he can, to walk from strength to strength, that they faint not till they come there." Lady Clark also appears to have had a high respect for Mr. Goodwin, and to have commanded his gratitude by her generous defence of his character. " Your ladyship," says he, " by many expressions of love and kindness, hath drawn me into bonds of thankfulness above my svibstance, and before I was aware : especially that noble charity of yours, in so constant a relieving of my reputation, with the adventure and exposal of your own, is a courtesy of entire and universal obligement alone. But I know it is more easy for you to shew kindness, than to hear of it again : therefore I spare you and your praises together ; and will tender my respects in that which I know you love and will approve : I mean, in prayer for you." The three small volumes just mentioned, are all Avritten in a strain of pure and exalted piety ; and are distinguished by a depth and originality of thought, as well as by a deli- cacy and elegance of manner, very uncomm.on in the theo- logical productions of that period. They also contain many graceful allusions to scriptural facts and phraseology, together with many happy illustrations of different passages JOKX cooDwry. 17 of Holy Writ, which render the reading of tliem highly edifying and dehghtful. When these works were in a course of preparation for the press, Mr. Goodwin was called to oppose the proceedings of some of his ecclesiastical superiors, and to evince his regard for civil and religious hberty. The promptitude and deci- sion which he and others his co-adjutors displayed on this occasion, were highly honourable to themselves, and have laid posterity under great obligations. When British freedom had received a thousand wounds from the sacrile- gious hands of guilty statesmen and divines, and was actually bleeding at every pore, anxious to perpetuate her existence they marshalled themselves around her lovely form, and presented their shields to her numerous and inveterate assailants. The King having allowed the Convocation to continue its sittings after the dissolution of parliament, that reverend assembly passed several resolutions, the substance of which was afterwards published under the title of " Constitutions and Canons Ecclesiastical, treated upon by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, Presidents of the Convocation for their respective Provinces, and the rest of the Bishops and Clergy of those Provinces, agreed upon with the King's Majesty's License, 1640." In this official document the divine rig-ht of kings, and the absolute unlawfulness of resist- ance, under any circumstances, are strongly asserted, in opposition to those principles of constitutional liberty which at that time were prevailing in different directions. Threat- enings also, of a mo&t alarming nature, are held out, not only against " Po})ish recusants, who came not to church,'''' but against " All Anabaptists, Brownists, Separatists, and other Sectaries;"" concerning whom it is determined, that if they should persist in their non-attendance upon the religious services of the establishment, they should be ex- communicated : and if neither persuasions nor censures could avail to remove their scruples, the " Reverend Justices of Assize" are solemnly adjured, in the name of Almighty God, to execute the laws against them. At the same time, C 18 LIFE OF all Schoolmasters, Lawyers, Physicians, and the Clergy in general, are peremptorily required to declare upon oath, their entire approbation of the doctrines and government of the church as by law established, and their determination never to consent to any alteration in either. *' When these injimctions were made public, they excited great dissatisfaction ; many pamphlets were therefore written against them, and dispersed through the kingdom. " The exception of exceptions against these Canons, is," says Fuller, " because they were generally condemned as illegally passed, to the prejudice of the fundamental liberty of the subject, Mean time some bishops were very forward in pressing this oath, even before the time thereof. For, whereas a liberty was allowed to all, to deli- berate thereon, vintil the feast of Michael the Archangel, some presently pressed the ministers of their dioceses, for the taking thereof; and, to my knowledge, enjoined them to take tlie oath kneeling : a ceremony, to my best remem- brance, never exacted or observed in taking the oath of supremacy or allegiance ; which some accounted an essay of their activity, if providence had not prevented them.""-)- Mr. Goodwin was neither a timid nor an indifferent spec- tator of these intemperate and impolitic proceedings. He did not oppose them by the publication of anonymous and Hbellous tracts ; but, in conjunction with some of his brethren, the London clergy, he drew up a petition against them to the privy council ; and, to render it the more effectual, they procured a large number of signature?. The ministers, schoolmasters, and physicians, in most of the counties of England, followed their example ; and so great was the outcry against the conduct of the bishops, that the king deemed it requisite to issue an order to his Grace of Canterbury to relax his severity. ;|: It was Mr. Goodwin's misfortune to witness the preva- lence of confusion and disorder in the State, as well as in the Church. His sovereign, Charles the Fu'st, was educated * Sparrow's Collection of Articles, &c. p. 345. Edit. 1G84. t Church History, Cent. XVII. Book XI. J Wilson's Dissenting Churches, Vol. II, p. 405. .TOHX GOODWIX. 19 in very high and extravagant notions concerning the regal power. He was tauglit to believe, that monarchy and lineal succession are of divine institution, and consequently sacred and inviolable — that all the privileges and liberties of the subject are so many concessions or extortions from the crown — that the king is not bound to his people by his coronation-oath, but only to God — that his subjects ought either actively to obey his commands, or passively to submit to his will ; and have no other refuge left, under the most cruel tyranny, but prayers and tears. * He had unhappily received these principles, not as subjects of abstract specu- lation, but as maxims of government : and hence, under his reign, the most alarming encroachments were made upon the liberty of the subject. "Within the space of one year, two parliaments were summoned and dissolved in displeasure, for presuming to complain of grievances, and to investigate the conduct of his majesty ''s ministers. In the fourth year of his reign, another parliament was dismissed for the same reasons with a reproachful and threatening speech ; and such members as had given offence were imprisoned and fined. After this, the king governed nearly twelve years without a parliament : during which time, the bulwark of national freedom, the power of raising money, was not only assumed and vigorously exercised by the crown ; but methods used for this end were pronounced legal by the judges, and declared to be obligatory on the subject"'s con- science by some of the dignified clergy. In consequence of these reprehensible proceedings, and especially of the king''s tacit renunciation of the constitution by the disuse of parlia- ments, jealousy and discontent spread among all classes ; and while manv, who had suffered in their persons or their families, no doubt meditated the deepest revenge, all who were alive to the interests of the nation anxiously waited for the period at which these grievances should be redressed. This at length appeared, and they exulted at its aiTival. An attempt having been made to impose Bishops and a Liturgy upon the Scottish Church, the people of that coun- * TindaVs Continuation of Rapiu, Introduction. c 2 !S0 LIFE OF try appeared in arms to defend their ancient ecclesiastical visages, and actually drove the English army back again into the heart of their native land. The king's embarrass- ments, at this crisis of his affairs, were insupportable. Defeated by the Scots, in consequence of the disaffection of the English, and in the midst of political gloom which was hourly condensing and growing darker, he was compelled, averse as he might be from the measure, to have recourse in earnest to a parliament ; the assembling of which constitutes a new era in British history. * Several of the leading members of the House of Com- mons " were greatly versed in ancient as well as modern learning, and were enthusiastically attached to the great names of antiquity; but they never conceived the wild project of assimilating the government of England to that of Athens, of Sparta, or of Rome. They were content with applying to the English constitution and to the English laws, the spirit of liberty which had animated and rendered illustrious the ancient republics. Their first object was to obtain a redress of past grievances with a proper regard to the indi- viduals who had suffered ; the next, to prevent the recur- rence of such grievances, by the abolition of tyrannical tribunals, acting upon arbitrary maxims in criminal pro- ceedings, and most improperly denominated courts of justice. They then proceeded to establish that fundamental principle of all free government, the preserving of the purse to the people and their representatives." j- The king inadvertently resigned a large portion of that power which is essential to monarchy, but which he had unhappily abused in former instances, by consenting that this parliament should never be dissolved withovit the con- currence of its members ; and thus rendered them little less than absolute. Having also, in other respects, complied with their wishes, he became indignant at their proceedings, and expressed his resolution to maintain the royal prerogative in opposition to their further demands, * gymmons's Life of Milton, p. 178, Edit. 1806. f Fox's History of the Early Part of the Rei^n of James the Second, p. 9, Edit. 1808. JOHN GOODWIN. 2l which he contended were exorbitant and unconstitutional. Exposed at the same time to popular insult in the metropolis, his Majesty retired to York, and prepared for war ; while the Queen pledged the jewels of the crown in Holland, and Avith the money thence arising furnished him with arms and ammunition. Mean time the parliament, resolved to defend what they regarded as the rights of the subject, prepared for resistance. * Thus was the country involved in civil discord, and witnessed through a series of years a lamentable effusion of human blood. Mr. Goodwin, who seems never to have espoused a cause except from principle, and M^ho was therefore always in earnest, expressed a decided predilection for the parliamentary interest, and threw the whole weight of his influence into that scale. To maintain any thing like neutrality in his public situation, had he been so disposed, was utterly im- possible ; and he espoused the side which his judgment and conscience reconmiended : the side which was avowedly that of practical godliness, and of civil and religious freedom. Milton, who was just returned from his travels on the continent, is said to have been the first who availed himself of the change of the times to plead, through the medium of the press, the cause of general liberty, -f- Mr. Goodwin appears to have been the first clergyman who, on this occa- sion, followed the example of our great epic bard. To stimulate the inhabitants of London and its vicinity to co- operate with the parliament in heart and hand, he wrote a small pamphlet, which he entitled, " The Butcher^s Bless- ing : or. The Bloody Intentions of Romish Cavahers, against the City of London, demonstrated by Five Arguments, to the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, the Sheriffs and other tiie religious and worthy inhabitants of the said city, 1642:" And, during the same year, to affbrd satisfaction to the consciences of the scrupulous and the doubtful, he pid)lished anothei' tract under the title of " Anti-Cavalierism : or, * Ludlow's Memoirs, Vol. 1. p. 26, &c. Edit. 1722. — Clarendon, IjDok Fifth. — Husband's Exact C'uUccticii, })asslm. f Svuiuions's Lifeof Milton^ p. 180. c3 S2 LIFE OF Truth pleading as well the necessity as the lawfulness of the present Avar." Whether the parliament might not have reduced the power of the crown within its just limits, with- out having recourse to the sword, is a question which must be referred to the general historian. Many persons, how- ever, thought, that, after the actual commencement of the war, every tiling that Avas dear to the friends of liberty depended upon its vigorous prosecution. Should the king be ultimately successful in this momentous struggle, holding tlie sentiments which he did concerning the extent of the regal authority, and surrounded as he was by men Avho were actuated by the same principles, they feared, according to all human probabilities, that the yoke of national slavery must be perpetual, and all hope of general freedom in matters of religious opinion and v/orship abandoned for ever. Mr. Goodwin appears to have felt the full force of this impres- sion, in writing the tracts before us. They contain an animated and powerful appeal to the judgment and feel- ings of those who were able duly to appreciate what he calls " the benefit and sweetness of this blessing of liberty." Several passages in the latter of these publications, Avere Avarmly controA^crted by Williams, bishop of Ossory, in a tract Avhich he entitled, " Vindiciae Regum : or. The Grand Rebellion : that is, A Looking Glass for Rebels, 1643.*" In this Avork, the Right Reverend author contends, that " a king hath power and authority to do Avhat he pleaseth ;" and that, while the parliament were opposing the Avill of Charles, they Avere involved in the gviilt of a " grand rebel- lion."" In reply to his lordship, Mr. GoodAvin published another pamphlet, the title of which pro\'es that, like many of his contem.poraries, he Avas not unacquainted Avith the art of punning : " Os Ossorianum : or, A Bone for a Bishop to Pick, IG^S."" In these tracts our author expresses conscientious respect for the person of the king — ^laments that he Avas in the hands of evil counsellors — and pleads for nothing but just and equal liberty founded upon the basis of law. His political creed, at this period, appears tq have been in perfect unison Avith that of our great patriotic JOHN GOODWIN. 23 statesmen, who, under the auspices of Divme Providence, effected the glorious and far-famed Revokition of 1688. The following beautiful passage will be read with appro- bation by every genuine Protestant. Happy Avould it have been for Mr. Goodwin, and for the cause of true religion, had he and his contemporaries always adhered to the prin- ciples which are here expressed with such elegance and force. " As for offering violence to the person of a King, or attempting to take away his life, we leave the proof of the lawfulness of this, to those profound disputers the Jesuits, who stand engaged by the tenor of their professed doctrine and practice, either to make good the lawfulness thereof, or else to leave themselves and their religion an abhorring and hissing unto the world. As for us, who never travailed with any desires or thoughts that way, but abhor both mother and daughter, doctrine and practice together, we conceive it to be a just prerogative of the per- sons of Kings, in what case soever, to be secure from the violence of men, and their lives to be as consecrated corn, meet to be reaped and gathered only by the hand of God himself. David's conscience smote him, when he came but so near the life of a King, as the cutting off of the lap of his garment."" -f- In active and zealous co-operation with the parliament Mr. GoodAvin followed the example of the great body of the Puritan clergy ; the reasons of whose conduct are thus represented by the celebrated Richard Baxter, who lived in those unhappy times : — " Many were much set against the bishops by observing men of parts and piety silenced, while insufficient and vicious men were preferred among the clergy, and many thousands of the people were perishing in ignorance and sin. And it not a little disturbed them to see fasting and praying, and other religious exercises, so strictly looked after, and punished in the High Commission and Bishops'* Courts : as if more perilous than common swearing and drunkenness. And it added to their dis- turbance, to have a Book published for recreations on the t Auti-Cavalierism, pp. 7, 8. 34? LIFE OF LorcFs Day, witli the Bishops"' approbation, as if thej con- curred Avith the profane — that afternoon sermons and lectures, though carried on by conformable men, were put down in divers counties — that so great a number of con- formable ministers were suspended or punished, for not reading the Book of Sports, or about altars, &c., and so many thousand families, and many worthy ministers, driven out of the land — that bowing towards altars, and other innovations, Avere daily brought in by the hyper-conform- ists, none knowing Avhere they Avould end — and finally, that the Bishops proceeded so far as to swear men to their Avhole government by the Et Catei'a Oath, and that they approved of ship-money, and other such encroachments on their civil interests. These were the causes Avhy so many of those who Avere counted most religious, fell in Avith the parliament." * Under the influence of these views Baxter himself entered into the army as a chaplain, and was equally distinguished by his religious zeal and his efforts for the success of those poli- tical measures in the prosecution of Avhich his masters Avere professedly engaged. On a calm revicAv of this part of his conduct, several years after the termination of the civil Avars, this upright and conscientious man expressed himself on tiiat subject in the folloAving manner : — " The hatred of strife and war, and love of peace, and observation of tlie lamentable miscarriages since, have called me oft to search my heart, and try my Avays by the AVord of God, whether I did laAvfully engage in that Avar or not ? — which I was confident then was the greatest outAvard service that ever I performed to God — and Avhether I laAvfully encouraged so many thousands to it ? — and the issue of all my search is this, and never Avas any other but this : The case of blood being so dreadful, and some Avise and good iiien being against me, and many of their arguments being plausible, and my understanding being weak, I shall continue Avitli self-suspicion to search, and be glad of any information that may con>i ice me if I have been mistaken ; and I make it my daily earnest prayer to God, that he Avill not suffer me * Calamy's AbiidgmcDtuf BaUcr'sLife, p. 48, Edit. 1713. JOIIX GOODWIN. S5 to live and die impenitently, or without the discovery of my sin, if I have sinned in this matter ; and could I be con- vinced of it, I would as gladly make a public recantation as I would eat or drink : and I think I can say that I am truly willing to know the truth. But yet I cannot see that I was mistaken in the main cause ; nor dare I repent of it, nor forbear the same, if it were to do again. In the same state of things, I should do all I could to prevent such a war ; but, if it could not be prevented, I must take the same side as I then did : And my judgment tells me that if I should do otherwise, I should be guilty of treason, or disloyalty against the sovereign poAver of the land, and of perfldiousness to the commonwealth, and of preferring the offending subjects before the laws and justice ; and the will of the king above the safety of the commonwealth, and conse- quently above his own welfare ; and that I should be guilty of giving up the land to blood, (as Ireland was,) or to much worse, under pretence of avoiding blood, in a necessary defence of all that is dear to us."" * Such were the views of the great body of the Puritan ministers of that age, and the motives by which they were actuated in supporting the parliamentary interest. Their conduct has often subjected them to the severest censures, as a race of unprincipled incendiaries. Far be it from the writer of this work to attempt a defence of their proceedings, or a reconciliation of their principles and spirit with the example of Jesus Christ, and the precepts of his word. They were anxious to gain ecclesiastical dominion, and to introduce the most serious innovations in the church; and many of them, no doubt, were prompted by revenge occa- sioned by the Avrongs they had previously suffered. At the same time it must be confessed, that the Episcopal clergy, Avho adhered to their royal master, were equally culpable for their warlike character, and the absence of kind and conciliatory dispositions. It is difficult to say Avhich party was more deeply involved in " blood-guiltiness."" These * Holv CoimuuiiwcLiUh, p. ia6, Edit. lGo9. 26 LIFE OF general remarks will of course admit of many exceptions. Several pious and excellent men, on both sides, should rather be viewed as objects of commiseration than of blame. The legislature was divided ; and two powers, both claim- ing the supremacy for the time, were engaged in actual conflict. To join the parliament was to countenance that which many considered to be " rebellion ;"" and to be iden- tified with the royalists, was to support a party, many of whom had sanctioned the systematic profanation of the Sabbath, had persecuted some of the best men in the nation, and were hostile to the interests of practical godliness. — " Say not that the former days were better than these ;"" but rather be thankful to Divine Providence, that in the the present age of civil and religious freedom, the con- sciences of British subjects are not liable to be entangled in snares so destructive of all peace and tranquilHty. JOIIX GOODWiX. 27 CHAPTER II. Doctrine of Jmt'ijicathn — Vietvs entertained on that suhjret during the middle ages — Sentiments of' the Protestant Riformirs — Mr. Goodwin^ s ojnniom concerning Justification — Clamour raised against him ly some of the London Clergy — Silence imposed upon loth parties by the Bishop of London — Genei'ous attachment (f his parishioners to him — Conversion of Wdliam Allen from Anlinmnianism — Mr. Gocdnin's interview and disputation with Mr. George JJ'alker — Letter addressed to him — Their tracts agaifist each other — Goodwin's " Treatise ofJustfication" — Ques- tion discussed in that work — Account (f that volume — Abridgment of it by Mr. JTesley — Truly Christian temper in which it was written — iix- tractsfrom the Preface, ^c. In political speculations Mr. Goodwin never excelled. Not because lie was deficient in learning, or in acuteness and penetration, but because he always viewed the subject of government through the medium of passing occurrences, which in that age of revolution and violence, were eminently imposing and delusive. In tracing his personal history, therefore, it is with pleasure that the mind turns from his pamphlets on secular politics, to survey his pastoral la- bovu's, his patient sufferings, and his theological discussions. His writings on the subject of Justification, had he pub- lished nothing more, would have been sufficient to immor- talize his name, and to command the unceasintj ffratitude of all real lovers of sound argument and of evangelical truth. Nothing can be more deeply interesting to the human mind, when awakened to a discovery of its fallen condition, than the method of a sinner''s acceptance with God, as laid down in the gracious counsels of the Divine mind, and revealed in the gospel of Jesus Christ. This method, so simple in itself, so worthy of the God of wisdom and love, and fco admirably adapted to the circumstances of mankind, 28 LIFE OF was lamentably obscured by religiovis teachers in the times which preceded the important era of the Reformation. In those days of mental darkness, when the sinner enquired of his spiritual guides, where he was to find the expiation of his crimes, and deliverance from their dreadful conse- quences ; the answer he generally received, was, " In the merit of penitence, a merit capable of annihilating guilt, and of appeasing the the anger of incensed Omnipotence."" The abettors of this doctrine argued, " He who, having disobeyed the laws of heaven, is desirous of being restored to the favour of God, must not expect free Jbrgivcness ; but previously by unfeigned sorrow of heart must deserve the restoration of grace, and with it the obliteration of his offences. In order to this, he is bound strictly to survey and detest his former evil conduct, accurately to enumerate liis transgressions, and deeply to feel them ; and, impressed with a due sense of their magnitude, impurity, and conse- qviences, to condemn his folly, and deplore those faults Avhich have made him an outcast of heaven, and exposed him to eternal misery. " So far,*" said they, " he can pro- ceed by that operation of the mind which is denominated ATTRITION ;"" and which, being within the sphere of his natural powers, they regarded as congruous piety, meri- torious of justification; as a preparation of soul, more or less necessary to receive and merit justifying grace. When he has arrived at this point, attrition ceases, and contrition commences ; the habit of sin is expelled, while that of holi- ness Is infused in its stead, and with the infusion of charity, which is the plastic principle of a new obedience, justifica- tion becomes complete. * In opposition to these mysterious refinements, the Pro- testant Reformers, with the immortal Luther at their head, holding the Apostolical Epistles in their hands, maintained,- that " We are justified freely by his grace, through the REDEMPTION wliich there is in Christ Jesus : whom God liath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his * Lawrence's Baiuj)luii Lectures, i>. 1-0. Edit. 1805, ; JOHN GOODWIN. 29 BLOOD." This point they regarded as a vital article in Christianity : and, however they might differ on minor subjects, they were careful to embody this in all their public confessions of faith : nor can any one justly claim alliance in theological opinion with that illustrious body of men, Avho holds that a sinner can be justified from personal guilt by the merit of good works, or by any other means than that of Faith in Christ crucified. Among those, however, who consider themselves close copyists of the Reformers, a diversity of opinion has ob- tained on a point intimately connected with this important subject : some avowing their belief, that in the justilication of a sinner there is an imputation made of the active right- eousness of Christ, (using the term imputation in the sense of transfer ;) while others contend that the apostle is to be literally understood, when he says, " faith is imputed for righteousness ;" understanding the word imputed as sig- nifying reckoned or accounted. The former of these opinions, which contradicts the very letter of Sacred Writ, and is the soul of the Antinomian delusion, has been contended for with as much eagerness and animosity as if the salvation of the world depended upon its establishment and reception. Mr. Goodwin's life was devoted to the study of the Holy Scriptures, and in his conscientious endeavours to form a deep and extensive acquaintance with " the truth as it is in Jesus," he was led, almost immediately after his settlement in the metropolis, to entertain and advance sentiments con- cerning the doctrine of justification, different from those which were held by some of his Puritanical brethren : men who neither understood the right of private judgment, nor seem to have been at all aware that the exercise of candour and forbearance is a Christian duty. Considerable animosity was therefore manifested towards Mr. Goodwin, both by ministers and laymen, in London and its vicinity. He was nevertheless well able to defend himself, both from the pul- pit and the press : but alas, in those days of ecclesiastical tyranny, all freedom of public discussion was strictly pro- liibited, and a silence imposed upon persons of opposite JO LIFE OF sentiments, somewhat resembling that oppressive stillness in the atmosphere, occasioned by an excess of electric matter, and which usually precedes the terrors of a thunder-storm. ]Mr. Goodwin and his opponents were cited to appear before their diocesan in the year 1638; and charged, on pain of episcopal censure, to desist from all further discus- sions, in the pulpit, of the points at issue between them. Concerning this business Archbishop Laud presented the follov/infj account to the Kino; : " In the diocese and city of London, there was like to be some distraction, both among the ministers and the people ; occasioned at first by some over-nice curiosities, preached by one Mr. Goodwin, vicar of St. Stephen*'s, Coleman- street, concerning the imputation of Christ's righteousness in the jvistification of a sinner. But the differences arising about it, were timely prevented by convention of the par- ties dissenting. And so, God be thanked, that business is at peace."" * How degraded must the nation have been, when a few theologians were not at liberty to enquire, whether faith, or the active righteousness of Christ, is imputed to behevers for their justification ; and when it was deemed necessary to make a formal representation of such a dispute to his Majesty, as an affair of State ! While Mr. Goodwin had reason to complain of the hos- tility of several contemporary ministers and private Chris- tians, he was happy in the testimony of a good conscience, and in the undeviating friendship and encouragement of the pious among his own parishioners. They had volun- tarily chosen him as their pastor, and were too Avell acquainted with the various excellencies of his character, to suffer their attachment to be weakened by the unmeaning noise of popular clamour. Then- conduct, in this respect, made a deep impression upon his heart, and drew from him the following grateful acknowledgment : " That which I know not how to draw aside to any other construction, but only to make a demonstration of the * Hist, of the Troubles and Trial of Archbishop Laud, Vol. I. p. 5.')3. JOHN GOODWIN. 31 naturalness of your affection towards me, and towards the truth itself delivered by me, though the iniquity of many hath abounded against both, is, that your love to neither hath waxed cold. Which crown of praise I could willingly enrich yet seven times more, and set it upon your heads, if I knew how to work upon it, without seeming at least to soil others by way of complaint, and to make men offenders for personal wrongs : which is a strain of too much effem- inateness in a Christian, and little less than an acknowledg- ment of the strength of other men's weakness, or of the weakness of a man's own strength. Howsoever, my silence will be found no treason either against the life or the dig- nity of your Christian and worthy deportment therein : there is one greater than all the world besides, that will see that righteousness of your's fully rendered to you in due time. Truth is honest in her deepest poverty and distress, and whatsoever she borroweth or taketh from any man for her support in prison, she will pay double and treble when she recovers her liberty, and entereth into her glory. And fear not : He that would not leave the soul of his Son in hell, nor suffer his Holy One to see corruption, will be as tender over his daughter Truth, and will give her beauty for ashes in due season." * The satisfaction arising from obedience to the dictates of conscience, and from the approbation of wise and good men, was not the only consolation which Mr. Goodwin enjoyed, while he was the object of popular resentment and anunos- ity, and of the clamorous invectives of his Puritanical contemporaries from the pulpit, in consequence of the open avowal of his sentiments concerning the imputation of faith for righteousness. He had the high gratification of finding, that what he advanced on this subject was a means of cor- recting dangerous and destructive error. One remarkable instance of this kind, related by Mr, William Allen, the individual concerned, is still upon record. This gentleman, who was well known to Mr. Baxter, and whom that excel- * Saints' Interest in God, Dedication. 32 LIFE OF lent man has cliaractcrized as a person '^ of extraordinary sincerity and understanding,"'"' * says, " I was taken in the snare of Antinomianism, about thirty-seven or thirty-eight years ago, not being able to withstand the insinuations of it, and yet to retain the opinion of the imputation of Christ's righteousness, in that notion of it in which I had been instructed ; and never recovered myself till I heard Mr. John Goodwin. The experience of what I suffered myself, and occasioned others to suffer, by my running into those errors, hath put me upon doing more to warn others against them, or recover them out of them than otherwise I should have thought fit for me to have done."" -f* This statement is given in a letter which bears the date of 1672 : Thus, it appears that Allen was convinced of his mistake, and deli- vered out of the snare of speculative Antinomianism, by the preaching of Mr. Goodwin, soon after this able minister had entered upon his vicarage in London. None of Mr. Goodwin"'s contemporaries distinguished themselves more by their opposition to him on this occasion, than Mr. George Walker, rector of St. John the Evangelist, Watling-street, London. Prior to this contest, that theolo- gian and some of his friends had charged Mr. Anthony Wotton, " a very learned and godly divine of London," with Socinianism, heresy, and blasphemy, on account of his sentiments concerning justification. This charge was investigated by several London ministers, at two separate meetings ; and a verdict was given in favour of Wotton. | " This very eminent man,"" says Baxter, " wrote a Latin treatise De Reconc'iliatione, one of the learnedest that hath ever been written on that subject ; in which he labouretli to disprove the rigid imputation of Christ"'s holiness and obedience to man, and sheweth that he is righteous to whom all sin of omission and commission is forgiven, and confuteth these three assertions : (1.) That a sinner is reputed to have , fulfilled the law in and by Christ : (2.) And being reputed to have fulfilled the law, is taken for formally just * Reliquiae Baxterianse, p. 181, Part First. Edit. \iW). + Ibid. p. 98. Appendix. J Brook's Lives of the Puritans, Vol. II. p. 347. JOHN GOODWIN. 33 as a fulfiller of it : (3.) And being formally just as a fulfiller of the law, eternal life is due to him by that cove- nant that saith, Do this and live.'''' * To prefer a charge of " Socinianism, heresy, and blas- phemy," in a serious and formal manner, against a person of AVotton's elevated character, sliews a lamentable want of Christian meekness and moderation. With the bold man who advanced and attempted to sup- port this accusaticm, Mr. Goodwin was involved in a con- troversy, the occasion of which is thus stated by himself: *' Upon the clamorous, uncessant, and insulting impor- tunity of some, who were confident it seems of finding shelter under Mr. Walker's wing, for some opinions they held and loved dearly, (though they little deserved it,) and would not trust so bad a cause in the hand of any other champion, (their own word and style they gave him ;) I was much pressed, from time to time, by some of my acquaintance, that if I could spare a day, I would go over to Mr. W. to consider and reason some points depending in sharp dispute among themselves. Why Mr. W., amongst all the divines in city or country, should have been so importunely pitched upon by those men, I leave to those that know him to consider: only thus far they discovered themselves, that they little thought I either would or durst look such a champion in the face. In which conceit of my unwillingness and fearfulness to appear before him, Mr. W. himself was partaker vnth them, and lost a wager of five shillings, as himself confessed, upon it. Whereby it ap- pears these men had an opinion that there was some pro- perty in him, which should make men of few words afraid to come near him in a way of disputation ; which, whether it be the depth of his learning, the sharpness of his wit, acuteness in disputing, or some other thing, I will not divine ; but had rather that others should conjecture, than I determine. At last, not without much gainsaying from my other employments, I sacrificed a day upon the service * Treatise of Justifying Righteousness, p. ly. Edit. IVS D 34 LIFE OF of Mr. Walker"'s reputation, and went to confer with him; about the points in question between his friends and mine, and to receive further information from him therein, if he had any of this commodity in his hand. But my going to him was with the hke success that Christ went to the fig- tree ; who found no fruit thereon, but leaves only. The conference between us beino; managed in a tumultuous and issueless manner, the one of us still carrying aside the state of the question, and hiding it in a thicket of words, I was desired at last by Mr. Walker's own brother, (the minister of the place in whose house we were,) and by divers others unknown to me, (well-wishers as I conceived to peace and truth,) to leave something in writing, whereby the state of the question might be more distinctly known. The day being far spent, and opportunity otherwise wanting for setting down what I judged necessary for such a purpose, and having casually about me a paper of some collections I had formerly made concerning such passages in the fourth chapter to the Romans as concerned the business between Sis ; this I left behind me, Avith a promise, that if either Mr. W,, or any other, could give me a clear account how those passages might, with any tolerable congruity of reason, and consistence with other scriptures of hke argument, be carried in their interpretation to comply with the opinion held against me, I would willingly acknowledge such satis- faction, and let my present opinion fall."''' Walker had not long been in possession of the papers which Mr. Goodwin had left in his hands, before he produced a reply ; and as the press was then under severe restrictions, manuscript copies of this rejoinder were put into circulation among religious people in the metropolis. Mr. Walker has been highly praised, not only as a man " well skilled in the Oriental tongues,"" and as " an excellent logician and divine ;"" but also, as a "man of a holy life, and humble spirit.''* These qualifications, however, are not at all discoverable in his tract against Mr. Goodwin. His mode of writing is so » Fuller's Worthies of Lancashire, p. ll^i, Eilit. 1662, JOHN GOODWIN. 35 confused and Incoherent, at to render it extremely doubtful whether he really understood the question at issue between his opponent and himself ; and the temper which he dis- played is truly execrable. The following are some of the epithets which he applies to the man whose sentiments he deemed it his duty to oppose: — Socinian — liar — lying sophister — impudent fellow — heretic — blasphemer — man of a satanical spirit," &c. &c. &c. On the receipt of this scan- dalous production, Mr. Goodwin addressed the following epistle to its angry author : « Sir, " A few days since, there was sent to me, from a gentleman, a friend and neighbour of mine, a manuscript of about twenty-one leaves in quarto, which, though I have not yet had time fully to peruse, yet, casting my eye here and there, I conjecture to be yours. Wherein also I am further confirmed, by the common rumour abroad in the city, and which came to my ears several weeks before I received the writing, that your answer to my reasons was in the hands of many. Yet two things there are, that make me at some stand, whether the discourse be yours or no ; at least whether it be come to me as it came from you ; or whether it be not some libel, wherein both you and myself may be abused together. The one is, there is no name of any author put to it ; which, you know, is libel-like. The other is, the many veins of unsavoury and foul language which run through the body of the discourse. If the piece be yours I cannot but suspect that the scribe to whom you committed it, hath wronged you, by mingling your milk with blood, and defacing your intellectuals with his pathe- ticals. It will not readily enter into me, that so uneven and coarse a thread should be of Mr. Walker's spinning. Wherefore my request in love to you is, that you will please to signify, either by writing or otherwise, whether the dis- course be yours or no, whole and entire, good and bad together, as it came to my hands ; or whether only that which is somewhat rational and Christian in it, be yours ; d2 36 LIFE OF but for the rough Turkey dialect, as Soclnian, Arminian, liar, lying sophister, impudent fellow, heretic, blasphemer, a man of a satanical spirit, cum id genus monstris^ you are willing to disavow ? Because, if there be a necessity, that for the truth's sake, I must have wars with yovi, I desire they may be Christian and fair ; such as may tend to settle the truth in peace, with as little blood-shed of the names and reputations of the combatants as may be. Thus desir- ing you to send me back the paper I left in your hands, with the tender of my respects and love to you, I recom- mend you to the grace and love of God in his Christ : Your loving brother. In the work of Jesus Christ, JOHN GOODWIN;- This letter was conveyed, by some of Mr. Goodwin''s friends, to his antagonist. " But," says Mr. Goodwin, *' when I was for peace, he was for war ; and entertained the messengers that were sent to him, with such magnificent presents of further railing, reviling, and horrid imputations against me, as if he had been newly returned from the slaughter of Rabshakeh." As Mr. Walker"'s manuscript excited considerable atten- tion, Mr. Goodwin deemed it his duty to write a reply, which he put into the hands of his friends, for the purpose of being transcribed and circulated. Both these tracts, with an account of the circumstances which had led to their production, were published in the year 1641, by a person who denominates himself " a lover of the truth and peace." In this controversy Mr. Goodwin appears to great advan- tage. His comprehensive knowledge of the subject in dispute, his singular acuteness in argument, and his calm unruffled temper, enabled him to defend his own thesis, and to expose the mistakes of his antagonist with very superior effect. " If Mr. Walker had an intent,"" says he, " to have gained ground upon me, or led me away in triumph, he was quite mistaken in the method of his war. Five sober JOHN GOODWIX, 37 words, well balanced with reason and understanding, would have Wounded me deeper than a thousand crackers. If any man speaks reason, I am ready to tremble and do him reverence. Therefore Mr. Walker might have kept his earthquake, and whirlwinds, and fires, and sold them for bugbears to scare children ; his small still voice would soon have laid me at his feet. I dare not indeed deal with him at his own weapon, I mean railing, however provoked. The yoke that Christ hath put about my neck, to keep me in compass this way, I dare not break nor cast from me : neither do I know of any example in all the history of heaven, that would bear me out in such a practice. And therefore I here promise him, that in all my reply I will neither call him Socinian, nor Arminian, nor heretic^ nor blasphemer, nor liar, nor lying sophister, nor impudent fel- low, or the like. It may be I may now and then administer the infusion of some of these simples, but will never give him the gross substance. I hope that, having taken a liberty, injblio, to speak evil of me undeservedly, he will not be a man of so hard a conscience, as not to give me leave, in decimo sexto, to make merry with him. If he gives me gall and vinegar, and I requite him with pleasant wine, I trust he shall haVe no cause, in the judgment of any rea- sonable man, to complain. Though I cannot meet with any faithful servant of God, in all that long road that lieth be- tween Genesis the first and the first, and Revelation the last and the last, in a reviling posture ; (but only Shimeis, Rabsh'akehs, and such like sons of Belial ;) yet I find that holy propliet Elijah in pleasant discourse with the sleepy Baal, and his zealous and slashing priests. And David, we know, had many troubles, trials, difliculties, dangers, pressures, Doegs, Achltophels, tongues as sharp as razors, and that cut like swords, upon him from time to time, yet he contrived all into matter of music and song, and played them off upon his harp. — The great God, by whom I must be judged, as well concerning my carriage in this business, as the other acts of my life, ki^oweth that I stand clear and d3 LIFE OF free in my spirit to the man, notwithstanding his seven- fold provocation, wishing him no more evil than I do to myself, and am ready at an hour, upon the acknowledgment ©f his oversight, to give him the right hand of fellowship." Walker soon prepared another tract against Mr. Goodwin, which he published under the title of " Socinianism in the fundamental point of Justification, Discovered and Con- futed."" To this piece Mr. Goodwin wrote no direct reply ; having pledged himself, at the conclusion of his former tract, " never more to anti-pamphlet" with Mr. Walker, nor to " envy him the glory and privilege of a scold." Nevertheless, in a succeeding treatise, of which we shall now proceed to give a circumstantial account, he answers every thing which the publication of his antagonist contained in the shape of argument, though without making any mention of his name, except in the preface. On the assembling of the Long Parliament, the press was freed from its " horrid silence ;" and as a natural conse- quence, the nation was inundated with numerous books on politics and religion. Availing himself of the liberty then granted, Mr. Goodwin published, early in the year 1642, one of his most important and valuable theological works : *' Imputatio Fidei : or, A Treatise of Justification ; ■wherein the imputation of faith for righteousness (mentioned Rom. iv, 3 — 5.) is explained, and also the great question largely handled, Whether the active obedience of Christ, performed to the moral Law, be imputed in Justification, or no, or how it is imputed : wherein, likewise, many other difficulties and questions, touching the great business of Justification, viz. the matter and form thereof, &c., are opened and cleared ; together with the explication of divers Scriptures, which partly speak, partly seem to speak, to the matter herein discussed." In this inestimable work, the learned aiithor largely explains and defends those principlss which had excited so much attention when they were ad- vanced from the pulpit and partially argued in the tract against Walker. JOHN OOODWIN. 39 This is a small quarto volume, the title-page of which is an elegant copper-plate engraving, executed by Glover, and containing some ingenious devices illustrative of the doctrine contained in the work. In one compartment is a person elevated above the earth by an angelic figure, and stretching himself, to the utmost limit of his power, to lay hold upon a circle ; the well-known emblem of im- mortality. On the opposite side some enormous masses of metal or of stone are suspended by an attenuated thread ; while a man appears gazing upon them in an attitude of astonishment and alarm. Undemeath these figures are the following expressive lines : — " Small wires, sometimes, massy weights do carry j And on poor faith hangs great eternity." As no man was more perfectly acquainted with the subject of Justification, and with every question connected with it, than Mr. Goodwin, so no man has written upon it with greater command of temper or force of argument. Indeed, his logical acumen, his critical and familiar acquaint- ance with the Holy Scriptures, and his vast reading, all of which he has brought to bear upon this subject, qualified him to write upon it with such accuracy and depth of thought, as have seldom been equalled and perhaps never surpassed. At the commencement of this most elaborate and instructive treatise, the author premises : " First : That the terms justifying, justification, &c., are not to be taken in this question, nor in any other usually moved about the justification of a sinner, (1) in a physical sense ; as if to justify, signified to make just, with any habi- tual or inherent righteousness. Nor (2) in a judiciary sense, properly so called, where the judge hath only a subordinate power, and is bound to give sentence according to the strict rule of the law ; as if to justify, were to pronounce a man just, or to absolve him from punishment, according to the precise rule of that law, whereof he was accused as a transgressor. But (3) in a judiciary sense, less propei'ly so called ; when he that sitteth judge, being the supreme ma- 40 LIFE OF gistrate, hath a sovereignty of power to dispense with the law, as reason or equity may require. So that to justify, in this question, imports the discharging or absolving of a man from the guilt, blame, and punishment of those things whereof he either is, or justly might be accused : not because he is clear of such things, or justifiable according to the letter of the law ; but because the j udge is willing, upon weighty considerations, to remit the penalty of the law, and to discharge him as if he were a righteous man. "As for the sense of making just by inherent right- eousness, though Bellarmine and his angels earnestly contend for it ; yet, till Scriptures be brought low, and etymologies exalted above them ; till use and custom of speaking deliver up their kingdom into the Cardinal's hands, that sense must no ways be acknowledged in this dispute. Yet it is true, that God, upon a man's justification, begins to infuse inherent righteousness into him. But here the Scriptures and the Cardinal are as far out in terms, as in a thousand things they are in substance. That which he will needs call justification, the scriptures will as peremp- torily call sanctification. " Concerning the other sense of a judiciary justification, usually and strictly so called, wherein the justifier proceeds upon legal grounds to absolve the party accused, neither can this be taken in the question propounded, except the scriptures be forsaken; because the scriptures constantly speak of this act of God, not as an act whereby he will pronounce him legally just, or declare him not to have offended, and hereupon justify him; but as of an act whereby He freely forgives him all that he had done against the law, and acquits him from all blame and punishment due by the law unto such offences. So that in that very act of God whereby he justifies a sinner, as there is a discharge from all punishment due to him, so there is a profession withal of the guiltiness of the person, and that he is not discharged upon any consideration that can be pleaded for him according to the law; but that consideration upon JOHN GOODWiy. 41 which God proceeds to justify him is of another order ; the consideration of somewhat done for him in this case, to relieve him out of the course or appointment of the law. He whose justification stands, whether in whole or in part, in the forsriveness of sin, can in no construction be said to be justified according to the law ; because the law knows no forgiveness of sins, neither is there any rule for any such thing there. The law speaks of the curse, death, and con- demnation of a sinner ; but for the justification of a sinner it neither takes knowledge nor gives any hope thereof. " Secondly : That Jesus Christ, the natural Son of God, and the supernatural Son of the virgin, ran a race of obedi- ence with the law, and held out with every jot and tittle of it, as far as it any way concerned him, during the whole continu- ance of his life in the flesh, no man's thoughts ever rose up to deny, but those that denied him his Godhead. ' Which of you convinceth me of sin T was his challenge to the na- tion of the Jews, whilst he was upon earth, and remains throuffh all asres as a challenoje to the world. He that can cast the least imputation of sin upon Christ, shall shake the foundations of the peace and safety of the world. " Thirdly : That Christ offered up himself as a Lamb without spot, in sacrifice upon the cross, to make an atone- ment for the world, and to purge the sin of it, I know no spirit at this day abroad in the Christian world that denies, but that which wrought in Socinus formerly, and still works in those that are baptized into the same spirit of error with him. " Fourthly : I can conceive it to be a truth of greater authority amongst us, than to meet with contradiction from any man, that Jesus Christ is the sole meritorious cause of every man's justification that is justified by God ; or that that righteousness or absolution from sin and condemnation, which is given to every man in his justification, is a part of that great purchase which Christ hath made for the world. Justification is for Christ s salce. He is worthy to be honoured by God with the justification of those that believe in him, whatsoever he is worthy of more. 42 LIFE OF " Fifthly : It is a truth that hath every man''s judgment concurring with it, that Faith is the condition appointed by God, and required on man"'s part, to bring him into com- munion and fellowship of tliat justification which Christ' hath purchased ; and that, without believing, no man can have part in that great and blessed business. " Sixthly : It is evident from the Scriptures, that God, in the act of every man"'s justification, doth impute or ac- count righteousness to him ; or rather, somewhat for or instead of a rigliteousness ; by means of which imputation the person passeth In account as a righteous man, and is invested accordingly with those great privileges of a man perfectly righteous, — deliverance from death and condemn- ation, and acceptance into the favour of God. The reason of which imputation, or why God is pleased to use such an ex- pression, seems to be, the better to satisfy the scruple of the weak consciences of men, who can hardly conceive of being justified by God, without an express, literal, perfect, legal righteousness. Now the purpose of God in the gospel being, to justify men without any such righteousness, (being a right- eousness whereof any man in his lapsed condition is wholly incapable,) the better to salve the fears of the conscience touching such a defect, and prevent all troublesome thoughts that might arise in the minds of men, who, when they hear of being justified, are ready to ask, But where is the right- eousness ? conceiving a legal righteousness to be necessary to justification, — God is graciously pleased so far to condes- cend to men in scripture-treaty with them about the weighty business of justification, as in effect to say to them. That though he finds not any proper righteousness in them, yet if they truly Believe in Him, as Abraham did, this Believing shall, in the consequences of it, be as good as a perfect right- eousness to them; or, that He will impute righteousness to them upon their believing. " So that the question is not, (1) Whether faith without an object, or as separated from Christ, be imputed for righteousness .'' For such a faith, in the point of jvistification, was never dreamed of by any man that kept his wits com- JOHN GOODWIN. v6 pany. Men may as well fancy a living man without a soul, or a wise man without his wits, as faith without an object. Neither, (2) is it any part of the question, Whether faith be the meritorious cause of justification ? For both they that affirm and they that deny the imputation of faith for right- eousness, deny the meritoriousness of faith every way. Neither, (3) is it the question. Whether faith be the formal cause of justification? that is. Whether God doth justify a man with his faith, as a painter makes a wall white with whiteness, or a master makes his scholar learned with know- ledge ? For both parties make the form of justification to be somewhat differing from faith. Nor yet, (4) Whether Christ be the sole meritorious cause of justification ^ For both they that go on the right hand of the question, and they that go on the left, are knit together in the same mind concerning tliis. Neither, (5) doth the question intend to dispute at all, Whether the active obedience of Christ, falling in with the passive, and considered in conjunction with it, contributeth any thing towards the justification of sinners ? This also is acknowledged on both sides. " But the question is this, Whether the faith of him that truly believes in Christ, or the righteousness of Christ, (that is, the obedience which Christ performed to the moral law, consisting partly of the righteous dispositions of his soul, partly of those several acts wherein he obeyed,) be, in the letter and propriety of it, that which God imputes to a believer for righteousness, in his justification? so that he that believes is not righteous only by account, or by God''s gracious reputing and accepting of him for such ; but as rigidly, literally, and peremptorily righteous, — con- stituted as perfectly, as completely, as legally righteous as Christ himself, no difference at all between them quoad veritatem, but only quoad modum, both righteous with the self-same righteousness, only the justified wears it as put upon him by another, the Justifier as put upon him by himself. That the scriptures no where countenance any such imputation of the righteousness of Christ as this, I trust, the Spirit of truth assisting, to make manifest in the 44) LIFE OF sequel of this discourse ; and to give good measure of this truth to the reader, heaped up by testimonies from the Scriptures, pressed down by the weight of many arguments and demonstrations, running over with the clear approbation of many authors, learned and sound, and every way greater than exception. *' When we affirm, that faith is imputed for righteousness, our meaning is simply this : That as God, in the covenant of works, required absolute obedience to the whole law, for every man's justification ; Avhich obedience, had it been performed, had been a perfect righteousness to the performer, and would have justified him ; so now, in the covenant of grace, God requires nothing of any man for his justification, but Faith in his Son : which faith shall be as available to him, for his justification, as a perfect righteousness should have been under the first covenant. " That which we deny is this : That God should look upon a believing sinner as one that had himself done all that Christ did in obedience to the moral law, and hereupon pronounce him righteous. Or, which is the same, that God should impute to him those particular acts of obedience which Christ performed, in the nature and propriety of them, so that he should stand as righteous before God as Christ himself; and God make himself accountable to him for such obedience imputed, in matters of reward, as he would have been for the like obedience personally per- formed. " In a word, this is that which we deny, and which we affirm, concerning the righteousness of Christ in the justifi- cation of a sinner : That God clothes no man with the letter of it, but every man that believes with the spirit of it : that this righteousness of Christ is not that which is imputed to any man for righteousness, but that^^r which righteousness is imputed to every man that believeth. A justified person may, in such a sense, be said to be clothed with Christ's righteousness, as Paul's necessities were supplied by his own hands. ' These hands,'' says he ' have ministered to mif necessities.'' Paul neither ate his fingers, nor spun the flesh JOHN GOODWIN. 45 of his hands into clothing ; and yet, was both fed and clothed with them. So may a believer be said to be clothed with the righteousness of Christ, and yet the righteousness of Christ itself, not be his clothing, but only that which procured his clothing to him. So Calvin calls the clothing of righteousness wherewith a believer is clad in his justifi- cation, Justitiam raorte et resurrect'ione Christi acquisitam : A righteousness procured by the death and resurrection of Christ." Our author has answered every objection against this view of imputed righteousness, that had come under his notice, and has confirmed it not only by an almost incredible number of scriptural arguments, but also by apposite and striking testimonies from the writings of the following eminent men : Tertullian, Origen, Justin Martyr, Chry- sostom, Augustine, CEcumenius, Ambrose, Primasius, Beda, Haymo, Anselm, Luther, Bucer, Peter Martyr, Calvin, Musculus, Beza, Olevian, Ursine, Zanchius, Pis- cator, Paraeus, Melancthon, Zuinglius, CEcolampadius, Bullinger, Hyperius, Gualter, Aretius, Pelicanus, Illyri- cus, Ilunnius, Junius, Tremellius, Preston, Forbes, Bishop Abbott, &c. &c. That any man professing to derive his creed from the Bible, should have imbibed the notion of the imputation of Christ''s personal righteousness in the justification of a sin- ner, is a singular circumstance, and affords a striking proof of the liability of even good and upright minds to erroneous impressions. It is repeatedly said by the sacred writers, that faith is imputed for righteousness ; but it is never said, that Christ's obedience to the moral law is imputed to any man. In the language of scripture, the terms justification, forgiveness of sin, the non-imputation of sin, and the impu- tation of righteousness, are manifestly employed to express substantially the same blessing ; and that blessing is uni- formly represented not as the fruit of Christ's obedience to the moral law, but of his meritorious Death. " To him that worketh not, but believeth on him thatjiisij/icth the ungodly, his Jaith is counted for righteousness. Even as 46 LIFE OF David also descrlbeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose imquities are forg'wen^ and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute shiy (Rom. iv, 5 — 8.) " Through this man is I preached unto you the forgiveness of sins : and by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses."" (Acts xlii, 38, 89.) " Being noy^ justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him." (Rom. v, 9.) It should also be observed, that there are several moral duties imposed upon mankind in their relative situations, as husbands and wives, parents, masters and servants : relations these in which Jesus Christ never stood, and the duties of which therefore cannot be placed to the account of any people as having been performed by him in their stead. To say nothing of the violence offered to the apostolic term ^koyj^opcaj, when understood as signifying any such imputation as that in question ; and of the absurdity of supposing that when it is so peremptorily asserted, that " by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified"" in the sight of God, (Rom. iii, 20,) in every instance men are actually justified by an imputation or transfer to them of those very " deeds,"" performed by the Lord Jesus ! Upon this subject a very learned and accurate divine has made the following pertinent observations : Abraham believed ; that is, as the Chaldee Paraphrase turns it, in the Word of Jehovah : in that Word which, being in the beginning with God, was God ; by which the world was created, who was made flesh, and to whom the Jjord said. Sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy foot-stool. It was reckoned to him for righteousness : that is, his faith, or in that he believed in that eternal Word, Christ Jesus, to be incarnate. The plain meaning is, that He judged him, believing in Christ, to be righteous by Christ. To him that worketh, that is, to him that so worketh or obeyeth, as not to disobey or sin at all, the reward of right- JOHN GOODWIN. 4^ eousness is adjudged to him, as perfectly righteous ; as of debt by the law of works, not of grace by the law of redemption. God justifieth the ungodly, the sinner, the guilty person ; not as such, but as believing on Him that justifieth the guilty ; yet as penitent and believing. The imputation of righteousness, is the forgiveness of sin : for to have faith counted or imputed for righteousness, is explained by David, to have sin forgiven, covered, or not imputed. The state of the party justified, even in this life is blessed, and very happy. That the party to whom righteousness is imputed, is he that believeth on Him that raised up Christ from the dead ; not he who believeth that Christ performed perfect obedi- ence active to the law in his person. For though he per- fectly obeyed the law, as without which he could not have offered himself an unspotted sacrifice for us ; yet he did it not that that active personal righteousness should be imputed to us. Though God in his absolute power might have done so ; yet his wisdom did not think good to do it. The thing to be specially noted is, that Romans iv is the principal, if not the only place, that speaks of the imputation of right- eousness ; and this imputation consists in the remission of sins by a sentence of the Supreme Judge. Remission of sin, justification, and eternal life, are ascribed to the sacrifice of Christ's Death, as their meritorious cause, in many places. Christ is said, by one offering, to have perfected, thatis, consecrated, the sanctified, for ever. To be consecrated for ever, is to be made a complete priest, to serve the living God in the temple of heaven, and to be eternally glorified. And this is ascribed to the Death and Offering of Christ.* To his views of justification Mr. Goodwin attached con- siderable importance ; but he had too much charity and good sense to consider them essential to salvation. " Though « Lawsoii'sTheo-Politica, p. 432. Edit. 1705. 48 LIFE OF I have no commission from heaven," says he, *' to judge that opinion touching the imputation of Christ"'s active obedience, which I oppose, to l)e inconsistent with the favour of God ; yet I liumbly beseech those that build their peace upon that foundation, seriously to consider, that the bridge of justification, by which men must be conveyed over from death unto life, is very narrow, so that a careless step may be the loss of their precious souls for ever : — That to promise ourselves justification upon any other terms, than the express Word and Will of God revealed, is to build upon the sand, and ought to be trembled at by us as the first-born of presumptions: — That to seek justification by the law, is, by the determination of Scripture itself, no less than a rendering of Christ of none effect to salvation : — And that the distinction you commonly make, between the works of the law as performed by yourselves and as per- formed by another, to salve the danger as you conceive of being justified by the law, is but a device of human wisdom, and no where warranted by the Scriptures ; and therefore must be a dangerous principle to hazard the everlasting state cf your souls upon." * Past experience had fully convinced Mr, Goodwin, that to write strongly and explicitly against the imputation of Christ's righteousness to believers, whatever might be the clearness and force of his arguments, or the mildness of his temper, would rouse the zealous indignation of his Puritan- ical brethren, many of whom could ill bear the slightest contradiction. In reference therefore to this work, he says, " I can expect no better, than to see it vexed from all quarters; with a spirit of zeal in some, of learning in others, of wisdom in a third, and of indiscretion in a fourth sort of men. The first will cry out against it, ' Heresy ! Blasphemy ! Socinianism ! Arminianism ! What need we any more witnesses .?' The verdict of the second, it is like, will be, ' Error and Novelty !' The profound and sage lemark of the third, ' Uselessness, and non-necessity.'' The sober and soft expression of the last, < Unseasonable- * Preface. JOHX GOODwi:Nr. 4S^ ness : and, better at another time."' ""* To each of these objections the author gives an ingenious and satisfactory reply in his introduction. It would be difficult, in the whole range of didactic and controversial theology, to find a piece of more dispassionate, acute, and convincing argumentation than this treatise- It contains not a single sentence that appears to have been written under the influence of an improper spirit, or that is at all calculated to excite an unholy passion. At the same time, the cogency of reasoning by which the author has endeavoured to establish his position, reflects the highest honour upon his talents, and can only be duly appreciated by those readers whose minds are free from prejudice, habituated to close thinking, and familiar \\ath the science of logic. The attempt which has since been made by the affected author of " Theron and Aspasio,"" to recommend the contrary opinion, will bear no more comparison with the learned and argumentative work of Mr. Goodwin, than the pretty " Reflections in a Flower Garden,'' with the profound disquisitions of Butler in his " Analogy of lieligion Natural and Revealed." Violent are the outcries which have been raised against this work, but nothing like a refutation of its arguments has ever been presented to the Avorld. In the year 1643 a weak and inefficient tract was published by Mr. Henry Roborough, under the title of " Justification cleared, by Animadversions on Mr. John Goodwin's Animadver- sions upon Mr. George Walker's Defence, &c. Together with an Examination of both parts of his Treatise of Justifi- cation ;" but Mr. Baxter, than whom perhaps no man was more competent to judge, says, " John Goodwin, not yet turned Arminian, preached and wrote with great diligence about justification, against the rigid sense of imputation; who being answered by Mr. Walker and Mr. Roborough, with far inferior strength, his book had the greater success for such answerers." * After his opponents had tried their powers, both in rail- ing and argument, and had actually accused him of Socini,- * Treatise of Justifying- Ricrliteousncss, p. 21. Edit. 1676. E 50 LIFE OF anism, Mr. Goodwin was emboldened to express himself in the following confident and decisive tone : " I may say, without offence, that I challenge all the Presbyterians, one after another, assembled or not assembled, in England, Scotland, France and Ireland, to prove by the scriptures, or by dint of argument, either that Faith is not imputed in a proper sense, or that the Active Obedience of Christ is, in the formality of it, imputed in Justification." * This challenge was extorted by the unmeasured calumnies which were heaped upon our author ; and since it was first given, though several writers have attempted to establish that doc- trine, every one of them appears to have thought it advisable to take little or no notice of Mr. Goodwin's book. Indeed, if any man were able to refute the objections urged by Mr. Goodwin against the imputation of Christ''s personal right- eousness, it was the celebrated Dr. Owen : but this task he declined, although Mr. Goodwin's treatise had been in cir- culation upwards of thirty years, when the Doctor published his defence of " Justification by Faith, through the Impu- tation of the Righteousness of Christ." Mr. Goodwin's admirable work was abridged by the late Rev. John Wesley, and published in the year 1763, for the benefit of the religious societies under his care. In the preface to his abridgment, that eminent man says, " Per- haps I should not have submitted, at least not so soon, to the importunity of my friends, who have long been solicit- ing me to abridge and publish the ensuing treatise, had not some warm people published a tract entitled, ' The Scrip- ture Doctrine of Imputed Righteousness Defended.' I then judged it absolutely incumbent upon me, to publish the real Scripture Doctrine. And this I believed I could not either draw up or defend, better than I found it done to my hands, by one who, at the time he wrote this book, was a firm and zealous Calvinist. This enabled him to confirm what he advanced by such authorities, as well from Mr. Calvin himself, as from his most eminent followers, as I could not have done, nor any who had not been long and critically versed in their Avritings." * Brief Answer to an Ulcerous Treatise, p. 11, Edit. 1646. JOHN GOODWIN. SI Speaking also of this work, in his " Remarks" on one of Dr. Erskine's pubhcations, Mr. Wesley says, " I desire no one will condemn that treatise before he has read it over ; and that seriously and carefully, for it can hardly be under- stood by a slight and cursory reading. And let whoever has read it declare, whether the author has not proved every article he asserts, not only by plain express scripture, but by the authority of the most eminent Reformers. If Dr. E. thinks otherwise, let him confute him ; bnt let no man con-' demn what he cannot answer." * Mr. Wesley's abridgment, which was evidently intended to be placed within the reach of the poor, contains about one-third of the origmal work. The abridgment is an in- valuable treasure ; but, if possible, the whole treatise should not only be read, but carefully studied, by every man who wishes thoroughly to understand the evangelical method of the justification of a sinner before God. This work is useful in another respect : It shews upon what slight grounds even wise and good men will sometimes tenaciously adhere to favourite doctrines; and the consequent neces- sity, in all our religious enquiries, of a constant reference to the Records of Inspiration, rather than to mere human compositions. When men professing godliness, consider it their duty to correct what they conceive to be the mistakes of their breth- ren, they ought conscientiously to abstain from all sarcastic and provoking language ; recollecting that " the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God," and that the purest orthodoxy forms but an inadequate compensation for the loss of Christian meekness and love. In his " Trea- tise of Justification" Mr. Goodwin has conformed to this rule beyond almost every other controversial writer, and has therefore with an admirable grace recommended its adop- tion to others. " If any man shall please," says he, " to write against what is here published, I have two requests to make to him: First, that he will bend the main body of his discourse against the main of mine, and not * Wesley's Works, Vol. XIII. p. 115. Edit. 1812. V 9 52 LIFE OF - browse or nibble upon twigs or outward branches; but Istrike at the root or main body of the tree ; or at least, at some of the principal arms and limbs. A tree may stand firm and be choice timber, and yet the smaller boughs, being tender, easily broken. It is no prejudice to a discourse, though some sentences may be picked out here and there, which, being separated from the stem, seem weak and capable of opposition. " My other request to such a man is, that he will please to interdict his pen of all passionate language and expres- sion, and return no worse measure in this kind, than is here measured unto him. Truth is not to be drawn out of the pit where she lieth hid, by a long line of calumnies, reproaches, and aspersions upon him who is supposed to oppose her ; but by the golden chain of solid demonstra- tions, and close inferences from the Scriptures. The rea- diest way to overtake her, is to follow her in love. When men are fierce and fiery in their disputes, it is much to be feared that they want the truth ; or at least, the clear and comprehensive knowledge of the truth, to cool and qualify them.'' * In a dedicatoiy address to his " dear brethren, the rever- end and faithful ministers of the gospel, in and about the city of London," prefixed to this work, Mr. Goodwin says, " I presume you have all taken special knowledge of a book not long since presented to you by a Levitical hand, entitled, * Socinianism Discovered and Confuted.** What quarter the divinity of the said discourse hath in your approbation, I do not yet so well understand as I desire I might ; but for the morality of it, I make no question but you have done justice upon it, as well to mine, as to other men's satisfaction. Ixavov rco roiovrco n srotriptja; a.uTn f) vTio rcov ^rXsiovwv.. *|* I do not here offer to you any formal answer to that piece; because if I could do the truth and myself right otherwise, I would willingly decline all personal contention. I only lay down more fully and at large, mine own judgment concerning * Introduction. f Sufficient to such a man is this punishment which was inflicted of many. 2 Cor. 11,6. JOHK GOODWIN. 53 those things about which the question is still depending between my antagonist and me; conceiving it a special duty lying upon me, to give an ingenuous and fair account to yourselves especially, and from you to all men, of what I hold therein ; as well by making known what scriptures, reasons, and grounds otherwise, have commanded my judg- ment to that point whereat it now stands, as wherefore I judge those scriptures and arguments impertinent, and insufficient to prove the contrary, which have been pro- duced for that purpose, either by my adversary in the mentioned discourse, or any other I can meet with. Nor do I make the least question, but that when you have examined the particulars of my account, you will give me your gui~ etus est. Or in case you deny me this, that you will give me in the stead, that which Mill be of superior considera- tion, better reasons for the contrary opinion than I here deliver for mine. It is sweet and comfortable to be acom- panied in the way of a man's judgment by those that are learned and religious; yet it is much more desirable to b-e turned aside out of a way of error, by a high hand of evi- dence and truth. " Since God engaged me in these and some other contro-. versies, and the oppositions of men grew strong and thick upon me, I have bestowed some time to possess myself thoroughly of such considerations as might make me rejoic- ingly willing to exchange error for truth. And if God hath not given me darkness for vision herein, I apprehend a marvellous beauty and blessing in such a frame of spirit as makes a man willing and joyful to cast away even loncp_ endeared opinions, when once the light of truth hath dis- covered them to be but darkness. I look upon io-norance and error in the things of God, as that region in the soul wherein only doleful creatures, as owls, and satyrs, and dragons, — spiritual tumults, storms, and tempests are engendered. Therefore, to me it is no more grievous to abandon any opinion whatsoever, being once clearly and substantially evicted for an error, than to be delivered out of the hand of an enemy, or to take hold of life and peace e3 hit LIFE or But, on the other hand, it argues childishness of under- standing, and folly bound up in the heart, to be baffled out of a man''s judgment with any light and loose pretence.'' With the same sentiment our author concludes this justly- celebrated treatise : " We have at last," says he, " fully answered all those arguments which, to my knowledge, have been insisted upon for the up-bearing of the imputa- tion of Christ's righteousness, in the letter and formality of it. If any man, yet unsatisfied, will vouchsafe, in the spirit of meekness and love, either to discover the insuffi- ciency of these answers, or further to object what he con- ceives to be of greater weight than the arguments already answered, I shall willingly and unpartially consider of either : and if I find any thing of pregnant and solid con- viction, shall soon turn proselyte, and be glad to be delivered of an error. I had much rather be employed in cancelling mine CA:n errors, than other men's ; and desire to make it my daily occupation to exchange darkness for light, crooked things for straight, errors for truths." The cultivation of this ingenuous temper prepared Mr. uch a way." * . Mr. Goodwin's reasonable and liberal proposals made to the Committee, were seconded by the interference of one of its members, who pleaded, on his behalf, his great zeal and success in promoting the parliamentary interest, -f- And at the same time forty-five of his parishioners, who were well known to be religious persons, and strongly attached to the parliament, presented a petition in his favour ; in which they attested his conscientious discharg-e of the duties of his office, and earnestly prayed that he might be continued among them as their spiritual pastor. + After repeated examinations before this Committee, Mr. Goodwin remained in possession of his vicarage several months, during which he received no official information that his expulsion was intended. When Prynne, therefore, intimated to him in the spirit of malignant triumph, that such an event was contemplated, Mr. Goodwin replied with all the frankness of conscious integrity, " It will not enter into me to con- ceive a thought so dishonourable to that Committee, as that they should suspend or sequester a minister of Jesus Christ, * I imoccncy's Triumph. -f- Caliimnv Arraijjticd, p. 2L X limucenry'b Triumph, p. 15. (I 9. 84 LIFE OF who hatli in all things approved himself faithful to them, and to that cause wherein they are engaged, for preaching his judgment and conscience in a point of doctrine, having such substantial grounds (v/hich I in part accounted to them, and am ready to perfect the account if called to it,) to conceive it none other but the very truth of God." * The " point of doctrine" here referred to by Mr. Goodwin, as having been preached by him, and which Prynne stated to be the ground of his meditated expulsion, was. That civil governors have no legitimate authority either from God or man, to use coercion in the affairs of private conscience. " Besides,"" continues he, "a friend of mine enquiring of some that are members of the Committee, concerning that sequestration Mr. Prynne speaks of, received this answer, * That they knew no such thing."* I suppose it is not ordi- nary, that a sentence should pass in a court of justice against any man, and he not have any knowledge of it for several months together : but if it be so, God's will and Mr. Prynne"'s wish are fulfilled together."" -f While Mr. Goodwin"'s cause wias still pending before the Committee, Samuel Lane, a young man who was under considerable obligations to him, made an attack upon his orthodoxy, in a pamphlet which he entitled, " A Vindication of Free Grace."" In this publication, which was mightily praised by the Presbyterians, Mr. Goodwin is charged with having repeatedly advanced an "Arminian position"" in the course of his ministry in the parish church. The ap- pearance of this production, though insignificant in itself, formed an important era in the life of Mr. Goodwin. He wrote a reply to it, which he circulated in manuscript among his friends ; and was thus led into such a train of thought on the Quinquarticular Controversy, as afterwards gave birth to those distinguished defences of Arminianism for which his name has been so deservedly celebrated. Of Lane"'s book a more particular account will be given in a eubsequent part of these memoirs. * Calumny Arraigned, i>. 40. f Ibid. p. 6. JOHN GOODWIX. "^85 In the mean time Mr. Goodwin's incredulity concerning the design of the Committee was effectually removed. No means could avail to secure his continuance in his living^. He was in the hands of men who deemed it their interest to ejffect his ruin ; and therefore, though destitute of property, in May, 1645, he was expelled from his vicarage with a wife and seven children dependent upon him. Nor was this the only hardship he was called to endure. A part of the salary due to him for his faithful labours, was fraudulently withheld. * No formal reason was ever assigned by the Committee for this sentence : f for many of the boasted champions of Hberty in that age, like several of their successors in the present, when invested " with a little brief authority," were consummate tyrants. That Mr. Goodwin had done nothing to merit such a sentence, is abundantly manifest. No malig- nancy in regard to the parliament could be proved against him, even by the eager and disingenuous Prynne. And though several tracts were published after his ejectment, for the avowed purpose of destroying his good name, the most watchful and bitter of his enemies could not fix a stain upon his moral character. It is not difficult, however, to account for his sequestration. The Presbyterians had gained the ascendancy in the management of both civil and ecclesias- tical affairs, and were loud and incessant in their clamours for the suppression of every other sect. Mr. Goodwin had confuted their favourite notion concerning the imputation of Christ's righteousness, and was understood to have advanced principles favourable to the theological system of Arminius. He had written against their plan of church- government ; and, above all, had defended universal liberty of conscience, by arguments which not one of them could refute. He was also a man of deep learning, of ready wit, of invincible courage, of great diligence, and of extraordi- nary polemical talents ; so that to crush such a mighty opponent, was a desirable object. Professing the deepest * Goodwin's Postscript to the Scourge of the Saints Displayed. — Edwards'a Gangrasua, Part First, p. 194, Second Edition. f Goodwin's Peace Protected, Preface. g3 86 LIFE OF abhorrence of the tenet, " that no faith is to be kept with heretics," Mr. Goodwin's oppressors appear to have thought, that those whom they deemed heretical, were not entitled to either justice or mercy. The conduct of the persons then in power, towards Mr. Goodwin, was the more iniquitous, as many of the Puritan ministers of that age, having obtained parliamentary patron- age, held a plurality of ecclesiastical benefices : a circum- stance which they had strongly censured in the Episcopalians, and had represented as a scandalous offence. Speaking of the Assembly of Divines, Milton says, " The most part of them were such as had preached and cried down, with great shew of zeal, the avarice and pluralities of bishops and prelates ; thai one Cure of souls w^as a full employment for one spiritual pastor how able soever, if not a charge rather above human strength. Yet these conscientious men (ere any part of the work done for which they came together, and that on the public salary,) wanted not boldness, to the ignaminy and scandal of their pastor-like profession, to seize into their hands, or not unwillingly accept, (besides one, sometimes two or more of the best livings,) collegiate masterships in the Universities, rich lectures in the City, setting sail to all winds that might blow gain into their covetous bosoms : by which means these great rebukers of non-residence, among so many distant Cures, were not ashamed to be seen so quickly pluralists and non-residents themselves, to a fearful condemnation doubtless by tlieir own mouths."" ^ The same practice appears to have been carried on during the Commonwealth. According to Doctor Pierce, Mr. Hickman, a writer and divine of the Calvinian school, held the fellowship of a college, the vicarage of Brackley, and the parsonage of St. Towles : and Mr. Tombs, the celebrated Baptist, was parson of Ross, vicar of Lempster, preacher of Bewdley, and master of the Hospital at Led- bury, t * Prose Works, Vol. IV, p. 84. Edit. 1806. f Impartial Inquiry into the Nature of Sin, p. 220, Edit. 1C60. joir:< cooDwix. 87 Ordinary men, when treated as Mr. Goodwin then was, lose all control over their passions, and stun the world with the noise of their complaints. But the magnanimity of his mind was eminently conspicuous upon this trying occasion. Conscious of the purity of those motives by which his con- duct had been governed, he submitted to the sentence which was pronounced against him with the dignified firmness and meekness of a Christian. And though the parliament, unmindfvd of his services, or rather, desirous of gratifying a party to whom he was obnoxious, permitted their own servants to reduce him to poverty and want ; yet he declares, tliat his attachment to them, and to that cause in which they were engaged, suffered no diminution on this account : a convincing proof that his political conduct was not the result of secular considerations, but proceeded from principle. In an address to the " Lords and Commons," two years after his expulsion, he says, " It is a memorable saying of an ancient heathen, ' He is the bravest man that best knows how to be injiu'ed.' The slightest working of the spirit towards revenge, though upon the sharpest provo- cation, being discovered, sufFereth not a man to be seen in his glory. In the mean time, it is a crown of glory upon tlie head of men in power, and of divine parallel, to suffer such men to be least injured who best know how to suffer. The anointed ones of God know how to suffer, far above the wisdom or patience of other men ; and yet these must not be put to suffer : ' Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets 7io harm.'' — To me, I speak the truth and lie not, it is more easy to suffer than to complain. I am not conscious of the least wrong I have ever done, either to man, woman, or child ; nor of any refusal of subjection to any just law or imposition of men. If my memory or con- science herein deceive me, I stand forth and humbly offer myself before your Honours and all the world, to make satisfaction with the best of my substance or otherwise, as far as I am or ever shall be able. — I reverence the great concernments of the kingdom in yoiu" hands, wherein I have served you with all faithfulness and simplicity of heart. LIFE OF The great and blessed God, whose is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, fill your assemblies from day to day, with the presence of his glory ; that so the whole nation may rise up before you and call you blessed ; and your name be ' The repairers of the great breach, and the restorers of paths to dwell in,' through many generations." * AVhile Mr. Goodwin was in possession of his vicarage, as has been already stated, several pious persons residing in different parts of London,, formed themselves into a church, and voluntarily placed themselves under his pastoral care, after the manner of the Independents. These people had long esteemed and loved him, as a minister of no ordinary talents and worth ; and his expulsion from his living, to- gether with his behaviour on that occasion, only tended to strengthen their attachment to him, and to enhance their admiration of his virtues. When they saw him driven from his pulpit, they were unwilling either that their relation to him as their pastor should be dissolved, or that they should be deprived of his ministry : With their approbation and concurrence, therefore, he rented some buildings in Cole- man-street, which he converted into a Meeting-House, and opened for public worship and evangelical instruction ^ It is worthy of remark, that Mr. Goodwin was not so thorough-paced an Independent, as to divest himself of the ministerial character, for the purpose of receiving it from the people.^ Nor had he at any time much intercourse with the great body of the Independents, either when they were few and despised, or after they had gained the ascen- dancy in the nation under the patronage of Cromwell. *' They that have any competent knowledge of my spirit," says he, " and of the course I have steered in the world all the days of my vanity hitherto, will testify on my behalf, that vmdue compliance with any faction or party, hath been none of my visible sins. It is well known, not only to my friends and acquaintance, but to thousands more, how faint * Divine Authority of the Scriptures, Dedication. f Brief Answer, p. 37. J Reliquiae Baxterianae, Appendix, p. 65. JOHN GOODWIN. 89 a correspondency I have with the faction which dogmatizeth with me about matters of church-government. My interest with these men, though it was never much considerable, yet was it much more whilst they were the tail, and the high Presbyterian faction the head, than it hath been since the turning of the wheel." "f Between Mr. Goodwin and his church a union of the closest kind, a union founded upon mutual esteem and love subsisted, and was expressed on both sides in language highly interesting and impressive. Addressing them as his *' Beloved flock, the sons and daughters of God, who first gave up themselves unto the Lord, and then imto us by the will of God,""* he says, " The days of mine abiding with you in the flesh, neither you nor myself can expect should be many. The law of mortality established in heaven, and daily put in vigorous execution on earth, cutteth off this hope. But the comfort is, the hole of this pit is not only levelled, but a mount is raised upon it, by the law of life in Christ Jesus our Lord. If our forlorn of ministerial accom- modations be scattered and defeated by the hand of death or otherwise, our Reserve in Heaven will advance and bring us off with honour and peace. The great and pre- cious promises of life and salvation to those who believe, for the making good whereof Jesus Christ himself, with all his glory, are given in pledge, are not suspended upon the presence of a mortal man, but glory in the truth and power of Him who hath made them, and are ready to swallow up in victory whatsoever shall oppose their performance. "God is able, without his earthen vessels, to convey his vessels of honour into their blessedness and glory, yet he graciously accepteth the faithful service of his earthen ves- sels in making one shoulder with him to carrv on his great design. And for you, though I am abundantly confident, at least of many of you, that your anointing is such, that you stand in as little need of any mane's teaching as any other people ; yet I know that no people whatever will more t Obstructors of Justice, p. 102. 90 LIFE OF thankfully accept the labour of any man for their edifica- tion or establishment. Upon these considerations, in con- junction with the longing desire of my soul, that your whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ ; I shall endeavour whilst I remain with you, to prevent, as much as may be, any supposed inexpediency in my departure. This I shall attempt, by seeking to leave as much of my spirit with you as I know how, when my bodily presence shall be disposed of otherwise. In order hereunto, not knowing how near the laying aside of this earthly tabernacle may be, I have thought it meet not only to leave the ensuing treatise "j* for your perusal, but also to incorporate with it the express mention, and that dear remembrance of you which I have in my soul ; that so in one and the same monument the entire spirit of your pastor may be preserved for your converse, and to make company for your minds when you please. " You are my present joy, and will be, I hope, my future crown. For neither hath your faith, hitherto, presumed to ascend into heaven, to bring down some other Jesus, besides him whom Paul preached ; nor have you suffered your minds to be corrupted from the simplicity of the Gospel ; nor yourselves to be baptized into any other spirit, than that which speaketh pnrais, expresslu in the Scriptures. You have neither presumed to be wise above, nor been satisfied to be ignorant beneath, what is written. Whilst many professors have compassed themselves with sparks of their own kindling, you have warmed your hearts with faith and love at that fire which Jesus Christ came from heaven to kindle on the earth ; and so have kept yourselves out of that sore judgment which the Scripture calls, a delivering up to an injudicious mind. " I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which speaketh in the Scriptures, and v/hich is able (so you pervert it not with mystical interpretations, making it to f Divine Authority of the Scriptures. JOHN GOODWrX. 91 become your own instead of His,) to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among them that are sanctified ; and implore, with all humble and unfeigned ardency of soul, that great Shepherd of the sheep, so to prosper you in the hand of that poor under shepherd, whom he hath set over you, that you may be found in Him at the last great day.^'t Such was the language in which this Christian pastor expressed his attachment to his flock, the estimate which he formed of their religious character, and his affectionate solicitude for their spiritual and eternal welfare. Nor were they less ardent in their love to him. " We cannot," say they, " but bless the hand of that Providence, which planted us by the waters of his ministry, thestreams whereof refresh our souls with the refreshings of the Almighty. As for his life, we have seen ' Holiness unto the Lord"' written in fair and convincing characters upon the forehead of it. Verily the signs of a true minister of Christ, and of an elder indeed of his Church, hath he wrought among us, in all wisdom, temperance, gravity, humbleness, patience, faith- fulness and love. In the presence of angels and men, we call God for a record upon our souls, that we know no- thing by him which deserves the lightest censure of a church ; all his deportments among us, calling for love, reverence, honour, and imitation. And our prayer to God is, that He would, by the influence of his doctrine and example, make us so abundantly fruitful in well-doing; that, as he is our glory and rejoicing for the present, so we may be his glory and the crown of his rejoicing in the day of the Lord Jesus." | Mr. Goodwin's ejectment from his vicarage was quickly succeeded by the death of two of his children, who were torn from his embraces by an epidemical disease then pre- valent in Liondon. About the same period he was also assailed in one of the most scandalous publications that ever f Ibid. Dedication. I Apologetical Account of some Brethren of the Church whereof Mr. John Goodwin is Pastor, 92 LIFE OF disgraced die Christian Church : " Gangrena : or, A Catalogue and Discovery of many of the Errors, Heresies. Blasphemies, and pernicious Practices of the Sectaries oi this time, 1646.'"' The author of this work was Thomas Edwards, who calls himself a " Minister of the Gospel ;'" but who was apparently as destitute of its spirit as any man that ever lived. He was indeed rather a personification oi bigotry, than a human being ; and ought, for his own benefit, and for the public good, to have been put into some place of confinement. Before the wars he appears to have officiated as a lecturer at Hertford, and at some places in London and its vicinity ; and to have incurred the rebukes of his ecclesiastical superiors by his Puritanical style of preaching, and by offences against the rules and orders of the church. When the parliament declared against the king, he became a zealous advocate for the changes which were then introduced, and supported with all his influence the ruling party. He defended the Presbyterian discipline with equal zeal, when the Independents began to gain ground ; and in several tracts expressed himself in language bitter and intemperate almost beyond example. -I* His avowed design in " Gangragna" was, to cover with odium all classes of Christians who differed from the Calvinistic Pres- byterians, and to stimulate the civil power to suppress them. In the prosecution of his purpose, he not only furnished Ions catalogues of what he calls " errors and heresies ;*" but ransacked the whole kingdom for scandal, and published a vast number of idle tales respecting individuals. While he was violating every principle of justice and charity, and bel- lowing against religious toleration with all the fierceness of a Dominic, he was encouraged by his Presbyterian breth- ren in almost every part of the land, and weakly imagined that he Avas doing God service. Pie therefore gravely requests his readers to unite in prayer for him, that, being favoured with supernatural assistance in his lucubrations, his labours might be rendered extensively beneficial to the cause of Christianity ! t Wilson's Dissenting Churches, "Vol. II. p. 407. JOHN GOODWIN. 9^ In the first part of " Gangrasna," the unprincipled author attacks Mr. Goodwin without ceremony, and without pro- vocation. " If such things," says he, " had befallen some of us, which have to many of the Sectaries, (which I name not to upbraid them with, but to shew them their own folly,) as that, b}^ the plague of pestilence, our children, two at a time, had been taken away ; as Mr. Goodwin''s was upon his making his house a meeting for the Sectaries, &c., we might have expected as bad books written against us, as were written by the Papists against Luther and Calvin,"" * He also accuses " Mr. John Goodwin and several of his church," of going " to bowls and other sports, on days of public thanksgiving ;" -j- and is mightily offended, that Mr. Goodwin had called Henry Burton his " brother," and that Burton had neither " made a sermon," nor " writ a book," to " wipe off the aspersion." | To a few passages in the first part of this infamous pub- lication Mr. Goodwin wrote a reply, which he entitled, " A brief Answer to an ulcerous Treatise, 1646." In this pam- phlet Edwards's mode of supporting Presbyterianism is animadverted upon with just severity ; and, in a few in- stances, his folly exposed by merited ridicule. " I crave leave," says Mr. Goodwin, " to say, or at least to think, that it is a most insufferable presumption, for a poor weak thimble-full of dust, that knows not how to put the nomin- ative case and verb together regularly in English, nor how to frame a period according to the common rules of gram- mar, to advance himself into a paper throne ; and from thence, with confidence enough for an Emperor, pronounce the sentence of ' Error and Heresy'' against all opinions which will not comport with his fancy as the standard of truth." II " Touching the providence about my children," conti- nues Mr. Goodwin, " whether I should look upon it as having more of mercy or of judgment I am not satisfied. Though the children were dear to me, and their lives very ♦Page 70. t Page 73. J Page 1(J0. 1| Brief Answer, p. 10. 94f LIl'E OF desirable ; yet considering diat the best part of that liveli- hood which I had, was, by a strong hand, taken from me ;' I could not so much look upon the taking of them away by God, as a taking them away from me, as from that misery, whereunto the injustice of my Presbyterian neigh- bours had exposed them. Men took away my means; and God made up the breach in part, by diminishing my charge. Neither were they taken away alone : there was a greater number of children taken away out of a Presbyterian family near to them, where there was no ' meeting-place for Sec- taries.' Besides, I could soon be out of Mr. Edwards's debt, by telling him of three grave men, and two of them great, who were principal actors in my ejection, taken away by death, since that transaction. God hath cut off those adversaries : but I leave Mr. Edwards to make reflections ; I make none.*" -|- The first part of Edwards''s work was speedily followed by a second and a third ; and the whole forms a thick quarto volume : the most singular farrago of intolerance and defamation that ever issued from the British press. Never was a half-famished vulture more eager for his prey, than Edwards for the ruin of Goodwin's character. If his own salvation had depended vipon this object, he could not have pursued it with greater assiduity and perseverance. Passing by whole pages of unmixed slander, the following paragraphs will afford a sufficient specimen of his mode of writing : *' As for Cretensis the Cretian, alias Master Goodwin, he is a man who expresses so much pride, arrogancy, malice, wrath, jeering, and scoffing, not only at me and my books, and some few faithful ministers and servants of God, but against all Presbyterians, assembled or not assembled, in England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, coming forth just like Goliah, railing and defying the armies of the living God, that I have much ado to keep myself from answering him according to his folly, and beating him with his own wea- pon : Difficile est satyravi 7ion scribere : and my indignation f Ibid. p. 37. . JOHN GOODWIN. 95 to see the unworthiness and insolency of the man, much provokes me. But I consider what becomes me as a minister of the Gospel, to do in such a case, rather than what he hath deserved ; and therefore shall pass by his railings and scoffs, not rendering evil for evil, nor railing for railing, but contrariwise blessing, knowing that I am thereunto called : and instead of railing and vilifying Mr. Goodwin, I will a little expostulate with him. Mr. Goodwin, will you never leave your scoffing and scorning, your reviling and reproaching of all men, stuffing your pages with great swelling words, and filling whole leaves with nothing but jeers and multitude of six-footed words, instead of reasons and arguments ? Will you, by all your writings and preachings, make good that title, which, by way of re- proach, was first given to you, namely. The great red Dragon of Coleman-street ? Will you still speak as a dra^ gon, and, dragon-like, fly fiercely in the faces of all ; spitting your poison and venom against all ? casting fire- brands every where ? For my part, instead of reproach- ing and scoffing you, (though not for want of matter, Cretensis being a very fruitful subject for a man to exercise his wit upon,) all I will do, either in this brief, or in my full and large reply, shall be to draw to one head all the errors and strange ways Cretensis holds, and hath walked in ; by which, if God will, he may be ashamed and truly humbled, and his spirit saved in the day of Christ : or, however, that godly weak Christians may know him as a dangerous erroneous man, and avoid him. All I will say now, shall be this : That Cretensis hath an heretical wit, and holds many wicked opinions; being an and a compound of an Arminian, Socinian, Libertine, Anabap- tist, &c." + " The Christian reader may observe Cretensis, in all his preachings and ways, to have all the characters and marks of false prophets and false teachers, not only in his hands but upon his forehead; so that, if I would here I Part Second, pp. 30, 31. 96 LIFE OP enlarge, I might clearly shew all that Christ and the Apos- tles spake of false prophets, are to be found in Cretensis :- but I will only instance in a few, laid down by Peter and- Jude in their Epistles ; and upon the propounding of them^ I know the reader will say, As face answereth face in glass,; so doth Cretensis answer these scriptures I do appeal to any man, who knows Cretensis, whether he be not a man that speaks great swelling words of vanity ? whether he doth not promise his followers liberty, yea a universal liberty ? whether he be not a cloud without water ? flourishes and shews without substance ? Whether he be not a raging wave of the sea, foaming out his own shame ? witness his Answer : a wandering star, wandering from one opinion and religion to another ? And lastly, whether he be not a sepa- ratist, and sensual person, without the spirit of love, meekness humility, zeal for God's truth, and of a sound mind ? In one word, I do not think there is any man in the king- dom hath a more heretical head and heart than Cretensis ; and unless God give him repentance, and recover him out of those snares of death wherein he walks, I fear if the man lives but one seven years, he will prove as arch an heretic, and as dangerous a man, as England ever bred ; and that he will be another David George, Francken, Socinus, and be canonized for a saint amongst those of Munster, Rac- conia, &c." * *' There is Cretensis, alias Master John Goodwin, a monstrous Sectary, a compound of Socinianism, Arminiaism, Libertinism, Antinomianism, Independency, Popery, yea and Scepticism ; as holding some opinions proper to each of these. — As some men discover a natural inclination and a disposition to one evil more than another ; some to theft, being given more to stealing ; some to lying ; so is Master Goodwin to heresy and error : [he] seems made for a Here- tic. — I have not done with Cretensis : and I have no doubt but that, as I have now, by God's assistance, made a good beginning, both defensive and offensive ; so by the same ^ood hand upon me, I shall give so good an account, that * Tart Second, p. 44. JOHN GOODWIN. 97 I shall deal with this daring enemy as little David with Gcliah ; stand upon him, and triumph over him, and give you his head upon the top of my sword. I intend to dress him up, and set him out, in all his ornaments and flowers ; in his practices and opinions, and ways of promoting them : in all which I shall render him and his name an abhorring to this and the following generations." * After the most insulting provocation from Edwards, of which only a very small sample is here given, Mr. Goodwin says, " I am not conscious of the least ill-will towards the man, but am perfectly free in my spirit to hck the dust of his feet for his good. I had rather meet with an opportu- nity of shewing Christian love and respects to him, than of very good accommodation to myself. Yea, I can Millino-ly seek a favour at his hand, and be beholden to him for my gratification in it. Of the reality of this disposition I think I shall ere long give an account, in desiring him to procure me an Imprimatur for a small treatise, which I have drawn up by way of answer to those aspersives which were lately published by Samuel Lane against me." Before the publication of his " Gangrsena," Edwards had written an inflammatory pamphlet entitled, " Antapaloo-ia : or, A Full Answer to the Apologetical Narration, &c., 1644 ;" the design of which was to disprove the principles of Independency, and to convince the parliament that the men who held them ought not to be tolerated in a Christian country. As this was not only an attack upon Mr. Good- win and many others, but was intended to expose them to the severities of persecution ; he drew up a reply, under the title of, " The Inexcusableness of that grand Accusation of the Brethren called Antapalogia, 1646." In regard to the charges of his persecutor, Mr. Goodwin says, " There is never a stain that Mr. Edwards hath made in my reputation, but will be found a precious gem in that crown of righteousness, which the Lord shall give me in that * Part Second, p. UG. Part Third, 114. H 98 LIFE OF day. And for those opinions, which he tlireatens to dress up to my perpetual infamy ; the very mention of them as to my disgrace, is to me, Hke the salutation of Mary to Eliza- beth. I am very jealous lest many tenets which I hold, should deceive me; but this jealousy chiefly lies in relation to opinions wherein I accord with Mr. Edwards in the beaten road of unsuspected divinity. But for those wherein I differ from Mr. Edwards, I have bestowed 30 much labour of soul to satisfy myself in the truth of them, and have received such abundant satisfaction from God for what I hold, that if light be light, reason reason, scripture scripture, I suppose I shall never be unsettled in them though the world should rise up to oppose me. For it hath always been a commanding principle with me, never to dissent openly from the united judgments of sober, pious, and learned men, but upon the most irrefragable demonstrations whereof I am capable. I never declare myself opposite in judgment to any received doctrine, except the reasons that war against it are like armed men, against which no reasonable resist- ance can be made. — I say to Mr. Edwards, and I say it upon good grounds, that for those very opinions by which he thinks to render me ' an abhorring to the present and future generations,** shall I be had in honour. For when the madness of error shall be made known unto all men, it shall prevail no longer ; and truth only shall be exalted in that day : and those that stood by her and fought her bat- tles, when she had many enemies and few friends, shall partake with her in her triumphs. The breath in my nos- trils, I conceive, is as a cloud before the eyes of many, which keeps them for the present from seeing the brightness of those truths which are held in dissent from them. But when God shall have disposed of this breath otherwise, and scattered the mist of it by the hand of death, (which yet a little while and it will be done,) there will be a way opened for a more free intercourse between the truths now contested with, and the understandings of men. JOHN fiOODWIN. 99 Pascitur in vivis livor ; post fata, quie&cit. Yea I should forbear to give testimony to the grace and providence of God, if I should not say, that the regions already begin to look white towards the harvest ; and that many godly and enquiring men, Presbyterians as well as others, begin to acknowledge truth in those opinions for which Mr. Edwards threatens to make me an abhorring to this and the following generations."" * Edwards completely failed in his endeavour to fix a stain upon Mr. Goodwin's character ; and of course all his re- proaches recoiled upon himself. The sum total of the charges which he could at all substantiate against the object of his hatred, was, A predilection for the doctrinal senti- ments of Arminius — the adoption of the Independent mode of church-government — and avowed hostility to all coercive interference in the affairs of private conscience. One cannot contemplate this part of Mr. Goodwin's his- tory without sympathizing with him under the complicated trials by which he was exercised. Expulsion from the pulpit which he had long occupied, and around which thousands had listened to him with deference, respect, and delight, was immediately succeeded by an afflicting domestic be- reavement ; while the press was teeming with pamphlets, replete with misrepresentation and calumny, threatening to overwhelm him with obloquy and reproach. In his situa- tion, to take away his good name, was to prevent the success of his ministry, and to expose his children to that over- whelming calamity — the want of bread. Under the pressure of these circumstances, no doubt, " some natural tears were dropt" by him ; but, supported by the consolations of reli- gion, and by the testimony of his own conscience, he " \Aip\l them soon," and resumed an equanimity of temper which was highly exemplary. " I am able,"" says he, " through Christ strengthening me, to be abased in name and credit, * lucxcHsalilencss of AntnpalDgia, Preface. H a 100 LIFE OF as well as otherwise. Dishonour, disparagements, defama- tion, are the element wherein I have lived, and my soul prospered through the goodness of God, these many years. The yoke is little or no offence to me, my neck having been so long accustomed to it. I look upon sufferings for right- eousness"* sake, (and sufferings from men upon any other terms I fear none,) as the best earnings I can make of mor- tality. My name is better able to bear the burden of my reproaches, than my soul to want the benefit and blessing of them." t With Mr. Goodwin it was not unusual, in the course of his ministry, to deliver a series of discourses in defence of some particular doctrine of religion, the truth of which happened to be called in question. He defended at large the Godhead and Personality of the Holy Ghost, and proved the reality of his operations upon the human mind, in oppo- sition to the notions of Socinus, which some of his contem- poraries endeavoured to propagate in this country. He also delivered several sermons on the Divine Authority of the Holy Scriptures, which were made a signal blessing to multitudes. This " labour of love" appears to have been performed soon after his ejectment, and was regarded by him as the most useful act of his life. " If I have done any service," says he, " for the world, since my entrance into it, or if the souls of men have any cause at all to bless me, it is because I have clothed them with confidence of the royal parentage of the Scriptures, and have subdued their fears and jealousies in that kind ; or rather, that I have attempted with all my heart and soul to do them." :|: The members of his church express themselves to the same effect : " He hath," say they, " engaged more thoughts, spent more hours, preached more sermons for the vindication of the Divine Original of the Scriptures, than any of his profession that we know. And were his labours in this kind trans- mitted to public view, if we may judge of the fruits of it by + Divine Authority of the Scriptures, p. 30. + Scourge of the Saints Displayed, Appendix. JOHN GOODWIN 101 what we have found in ourselves, it would bless the world, and be the establishment of the hearts of thousands in this great truth." -f- The person who succeeded Mr. Goodwin in the vicar- age of St. Stephen's, was William Taylor, a minister of the Presbyterian denomination : a man who was not at all inclined to moderate counsels. His name is ap- pended to most of the violent documents published by his brethren against a general toleration. Some time after he had obtained possession of Mr. Goodwin"'s living, he joined several of his brethren in a public testimony against him as a heretic, and one that denied the inspiration of the Scrip- tures : thus adding insult to injury. t Apologetical Accouut. H o 102 Lli-E OF CHAPTER IV. Doctrine of Religwtis Liherty — Popish mid Protestant pcrseadiom — Calvin — Melunclhon — Luther — Cranmcr — Latimer — Queen Elizabeth — James the First — Charles the I'lrsf — Intolerance of the English Presbyterians — Persecuting principles of Basfirick — Prynne — Edwards — Commissioners (if Scotland — London Ministers — Assembly of Divines — Tyrannical Ordinances of the Long Parliament — Praises lavished upon Dr. Given as an advocate of Religious Liberty — His merits greatly over-rated — Correct vicivs on this snbject entertained by Mr. Goodwin — His manly avoival and defence of his sentiments — Extracts from his reply to A. S. prdlished in the year l644 — His "Twelve Serious Cautions" — "Modest and Humble Queries'" — " Scourge cf the Saints Displayed" — Conspiracy formed to expose him to the vengeance of the Parliament — False accusa- tion pr if erred against him — Defence of himself — Vindication of him by the Members of his Church — Refections. During the civil troubles which agitated this country, one of the principal subjects of dispvite among ecclesiastical men, was the doctrine of Religious Liberty, or of Toleration, as it was then usually designated. " Nothing makes more stir amongst us at this day," said a theologian of that age, " than the principle of absolute liberty in matters of reli- gion." f In this contest, so interesting to every upright and conscientious man, and the results of which have been so important, Mr. Goodwin took a very decided part, and was more eminently distinguished than any of his contem- poraries. Religious liberty is, liberty to choose our own religion, to worship God according to our conscience, guided by the best light we have. Every man has a right to this, because he is a rational creature, whom the Creator has placed under moral govermnent, and made responsible for his personal t Burroughs's Heart-Divisions, p. 18. Edit. 1646. JOHN GOODWIN. lOS conduct : for nothing can be more clear, than that every man ought to judge for himself, because every man must give an account of himself to God. This is therefore an inde- feasible right, and not one of those which we have even the power to surrender when we enter a, state of society. This right was clearly implied, when our Lord said, " Search the Scriptures," and when an inspired Apostle declared, ^' Every man shall bear his own burden." What a melan- choly reflection therefore it is, that the civil and ecclesiastical governors of almost every nation, and in almost every age, should have assumed authority to rob all under their power of this liberty ! -f* The flames of Smithfield and of the Inquisition, which were kindled by Popish bigotry, and consumed so many friends of God and of the Bible, can never be forgotten. Protes- tants also have stained their hands with blood, in their attempts to realize uniformity in religion. Calvin, who. secured the banishment of Bolsec, and endeavoured to ruin the character and take the life of the learned and virtuous Castellio, actually brought Servetus to the stake, and in cool blood pviblished a defence of the horrid act, both in the Latin and French languages. Melancthon, proverbial for his moderation, expressed his approbation of this murderous deed. Luther contended that any punishment, short of death, might be inflicted upon those whom he denominated " obstinate heretics." Cranmer had his victims among the Baptists ; and the generous heart of honest Latimer could bear the contemplation of their fate without a sigh. " The Anabaptists," says he, " that were burnt heere in many townes in England, (as I heard of credible men, I sawe them not myselfe,) went to their death even intrepide, as ye will say, without any fear in the world, cheerfully. Well, let them go." I During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, British subjects were condemned to die at Tyburn, and to suffer in various other Avays, because they presumed, contrary to t Wesley's Works, Vol. XV, p. 281. Octavo Edit. X Sermons, fol. b6, Edit. 1570. lO-i LIIK OF her royal pleasure aiid the counsel of her advisers, to follow the convictions of their own consciences in the worship of Almighty God. James the First twice rekindled the fires for the suppres- sion of reputed heresy, and, in effect, left it in charge to his son and successor, to persecute the non-conformists. " Take heede therefore, (my Sonne,)" says he, " to such Puritanes, verie pestes in the Church and Common-weale, whom no deserts can oblige, neither oathes or promises binde; breath- ing nothing but sedition and calumnies ; aspersing without measure, railing without reason, and making their own ima- ginations, (without any warrant from the word,) the square of their conscience. I protest before the great God, and since I am here as upon my Testament, it is no place for me to lie in, that ye shall never finde with any Hie land or Boarder thieves greater ingratitude, and moe lies and vile periuries, then with these phanaticke spirits : And suffer not the principals of them to brooke your land, if ye like to sit at rest ; except ye would keepe them for trying your patience, as Soci-ates did an euil wife." "f Entering into tlie spirit of this charge, Charles the First sanctioned the arbitrary and cruel proceedings of Laud and his associates, in the Star-Chamber and High Commission- Court, till the nation was convulsed to its centre, and many thousand families left the kingdom for ever. In conse- quence of these measures, the unhappy primate was brought to the scaffold, and the venerable Episcopal Church of England, which had been reared by the labours, and ce- mented by the tears and blood of the Reformers, and which had long stood as a noble barrier against Popery, and an asylum of learned men, was delivered into the hands of implacable enemies, who exulted in its demolition. The Presbyterians, who had long groaned under the rod of oppression, and sighed for power, had the high gratifica- tion at length of seeing their system of ecclesiastical polity receive parliamentary sanction, and adopted as the national t Works of the Most High and Mighty Prince James, p. 160, Edit, 1616. JOHN GOODWIX. 105 establishment. But instead of " remembering the worm- wood and the gall," which they and their forefathers had been made to drink, and of treating with lenity their breth- ren who differed from them in religious opinion, these men rivalled the greatest tyrants, in systematic opposition to the rights of conscience. Had not these sons of intolerance been restrained from the execution of their purpose by the army of the parliament, they would unquestionably have left their names written in characters of blood. They contended for the divine right of Presbyterianism, and protested, in the genuine spirit of fanaticism, against the toleration of " sec- taries." The inflammatory prayers, sermons, and tracts of their clergy, not unfrequently excited popular tumults in London, and stimulated their frantic admirers to assemble in mobs, and annoy other congregations of Christians by showers of stones.-|- They imagined that the sacred truths of revelation would soon become extinct, unless guarded by penal statutes ; and that the ministers of Christ, even with the inspired volume in their hands, could do little in the defence and propagation of Christianity, unless, in the enforcement of their arguments, they could command the services of constables, and Justices of the Peace. Their determined opposition to that liberty of conscience which others claimed, after their own example, proves them un- worthy of the deference paid to them by the Long Parlia- ment, and has left an indelible stain upon their memory. It would be easy to produce some hundreds of extracts from their printed works, in which they not only avow the prin- ciples, but also display the spirit, of persecution. In this place, however, a few must suffice. " The Magistrates should remember," says Dr. Bastwick, " that they are called pastors : now no godly and faithful pastors will suffer wolves to come into their folds, and worry and destroy their sheep. How diligent ought they likewise to be, to keep out these ravenous wolves, though they come in sheep's clothing, out of their several pastures, t Bates's Elenchus Motuum Nuperorum in Auglia, p. 58, Edit. 1685, 106 I.TFE OF that would destroy the souls of all their sheep ? All these things, I say, all Magistrates should lay to heart and duly consider ; for their place it is, to whom God hath committed the SwoBD, and who ought to watch over the people for good, and whose neglecting of their duty will be laid to their charge, and who are to answer for it before God, if through their connivance or negligence, any evil happen to the people. But if they should wilfully suffer the corrup- tion of the true religion, and allow of a Toleration of all religions, how would this provoke the Lord to anger against the nation ?"" -f In defence of these principles the notorious Prynne wrote several books, one of which is entitled, " The Sword of Christian Magistracy Supported : or, A Full Vindication of Christian Kings' and Magistrates'* Authority under the Gospel, to punish Idolatry, Apostasy, Heresy, Blasphemy, and obstinate Schism, with Corporeal, and, in some cases, with Capital Pukishments, 1647." In this work, which was dedicated to the British House of Commons, and in- tended to stimulate them to shed blood in favour of Pres- byterianism, the author produces arguments, authorities, custom, decisions of Doctors, confessions of faith, &c., to prove that the " sword" should be employed in the suppres- sion of mental error ; by which was meant any opinion contrary to Prynne's own Presbyterian and Calvinistic notions. This work was so highly esteemed by the author's own party, that scarcely had it been in circulation two years, before it was translated into Latin by Wolfgang Meyer, a Protestant Minister of Switzerland, and published in that language for the general benefit of the Christian world. And when Lewis the Fourteenth, having repealed the Edict of Nantz, was banishing and murdering his Pro- testant subjects with the cool malignity of a fiend, in answer to their complaints, Father De Sainte Marthe contended that such proceedings were perfectly orthodox ; and, in proof of this, appealed to the " Vindication" of Prynne, which t Utter Routing of the Independents and Sectaries, p. 5S6, Edit. 1646. JOHN GOODWIN. 107 had been received with approbation by the Presbyterians themselves, both in England and on the continent of Europe.-f" Thomas Edwards published a treatise expressly against religious toleration. The following extract from another of his books, explains his views on.,this subject with sufficient clearness : " A toleration is the grand design of the Devil, his master-piece, and chief engine he works by at this time to uphold his tottering kingdom. It is the most compen- dious, ready, and sure way to destroy all religion, lay all waste, and bring in all evils : it is a most transcendent, catholic, and fundamental evil for this kingdom, of any that can be imagined. As original sin is the most fundamental sin of all sin, having the seed and spawn of all sin in it ; so a toleration hath all errors in it, and all evils : it is against the whole stream and current of Scripture, both in the Old and New Testament, both in matters of faith and manners, both general and particular commands : it overthrows all relations, both political, ecclesiastical, and economical. And whereas other evils, whether errors of judgment or practice, be but against some one or few places of Scripture or rela- tion, this is against all : this is the Abaddon, Apollyon, the Destroyer of all religion, the Abomination of Desolation and Astonishment, the Liberty of Perdition ; and therefore the Devil follows it night and day ; working mightily in many by writing books for it, and other ways : all the Devils in hell, and their instruments, being at work to promote a toleration." j The Commissioners of the Kingdom of Scotland, who were deputed to give advice on ecclesiastical subjects to the British Parliament, were equally hostile to religious liberty. " We do,*" say they, " from our very souls, abhor such a general toleration. And if the Houses (which God forbid !) shall adhere thereunto, and insist that it may be established, we do protest against it ; as that which is expressly contrary to the Word of God, [utterly repugnant to the Solemn t General Dictionary, Article Prynne. J Grangraena, Part First, p. 153. 108 LIFE OF League and Covenant, destructive to Reformation and uni- formity in religion, altogether inconsistent with the declara- tions and professions of the Houses, against the treaty between the Kingdoms, directly opposite to the example and practice of the best Reformed Churches, and as that which will unavoidably subvert all order and government, and introduce a world of confusion. Our minds are astonied and our bowels are moved within us, when we think of the bitter fruits and sad consequences of such a toleration." -f- Sentiments similar to these were avowed by the whole body of the Presbyterian clergy residing in the metropolis, in a tract entitled, " A Letter of the Ministers of the City of London, presented, the first of January, 1645, to the Rever- end Assembly of Divines sitting at Westminster by authority of Parliament, against Toleration." After assigning a considerable number of what they call reasons, to prove that " the desires and endeavours of Independents for a toleration," were " extremely unseasonable and preposter- ous ;" they add, " These are some of the many consider- ations which make deep impression upon our spirits, against- that great Diana of Independents and all Sectaries, so much cried up by them in these distracted times, viz. A Tolera- tion ! a Toleration ! — We detest and abhor the much- endeavoured toleration. Our bowels, our bowels are stirred within us, and we could even drown ourselves in tears, when we call to mind how long and sharp a travail this kingdom hath been in for many years together, to bring forth that blessed fruit of a pure and perfect Reformation ; and now at last, after all our pangs and dolors and expectations, this real and thorough Reformation is in dan- ger of being strangled in the birth by a lawless toleration, that strives to be brought forth before it." I Nor were the generality of the Assembly of Divines at Westminster, who were convened at the public expense as the counsellors of the Parliament on subjects relating to the f Answer of the Commissioners of the Kingdom of Scotland, to both Houses of Parliament, upon the newPropositions for Peace, p. 17. London, 1647. J Page 6. JOHN GOODVVIK. 109 cliUTch ar.d religion, less intolerant in their principles and spirit. " The main doctrine," says Milton, " for which they took their pay, and insisted upon with more vehemence than Gospel, was but to tell us in effect, that their doctrine was worth nothing, and the spiritual power of their ministry less available than bodily compulsion ; persuading the Magi- strate to use it, as a stronger means to bring in conscience, than evangelical persuasion : distrusting the virtue of their own spiritual weapons, which were given them, if they be rightly called, with full warrant of sufficiency to pull down all thoughts and imaginations that exalt themselves against God. They taught compulsion without conviction, which not long before they complained of as executed unchristianly against themselves. They endeavoured to set up a spiri- tual tyranny by a secular power, for the purpose of advanc- ing their own authority above the Magistrate, whom they would have made their executioner to punish church- delinquencies." I The following indignant lines from the same pen, were addressed to these " new forcers of conscience under the Long Parliament :" "Because you have thrown off your Prelate Lord, And with stiff vows renounc'd his Liturgy, To seize the widow'd whore PluraHty From those whose sin ye envied, not abhorr'd. Dare ye for this adjure the civil sword To force our consciences that Christ set free. And ride us with a classic hierarchy Taught ye by mere A. S. and Rotherford ? Men whose life, learning, faith and pure intent Would have been held in high esteem with Paul, Must now be nam'd and printed Heretics By shallow Edwards and Scotch what d'ye call j But we do hope to find out all your tricks. Your plots and packing worse than those of Trent, That so the Parliament : Prose Works, Vol. IV. p. 84. Edit. 180fi. 110 LIFE OF May with iheir wholesome and preventive shears Clip your phylacteries, tho' batik your ears, And succour our just fears. When they shall read this clearly in your charge. New Presbyter is but Old Priest writ large." The hope here expressed, that the Parliament would dis- cover the real character of the Presbyterians, and withstand their exhorbltant claims, was never realized. This renowned Parliament, while professing to execrate the persecuting spirit of the prelates, whose property they had seized, in their Ordinance for putting the Directory in execution, not only prohibited the use of the Book of Common Prayer in all places of public worship ; but also subjected those who should use it in their families or in secret, to the penalty of five pounds for the first offence, of ten pounds for the second, and, for the third, to one whole year's imprison- ment, without bail or malnprlze. f This Parliament also issued an Ordinance for " Punishing Blasphemies and Heresies ;" in which it is determined that the " maintaining and publishing" of certain specified opinions, such as Deism, Socinianlsm, &c., shall be " adjudged felony ;" and in case the delinquent should refuse to abjure his errors, he was to " suffer the pains of death, without benefit of clergy."" In regard to errors of a less atrocious character, such as, " that man by nature hath free will to turn to God, — that the soul of man sleepeth when the body is dead, — that the baptizing of Infants is unlawful, Sjc.,"" the Ordinance requires the reputed heretic to recant his sentiments before a public congregation ; and in case of refusal, directs that he shall be committed to prison, and remain there till he can pro- duce two sufficient sureties, that he will not divulge his error more.^ On this subject it would be easy to enlarge : but enough has been said to display the bigotry and intolerance of the Puritanical Presbyterians, after they had subverted the t Scobell's Collection, Part First, p. !)7, Edit. 1C58. + Ibid. p. 149. JOHN GOODWIX. Ill Episcopal Church, and were attempting to establish their own upon its ruins. If the men who expose themselves in the field, and suc- ceed in guarding their country against invasion, are entitled to public gratitude : if those who have taught mankind the arts of agriculture and of commerce, are regarded as the benefactors of their species : then are those persons entitled to high and general esteem who, disregarding the clamours of aspiring ecclesiastics, and rising above the fears of weak though good men, first brought the doctrine of religious liberty fairly before the world, and established it upon scriptural and rational principles. The honour of having done this, has been challenged on behalf of three distinct classes of religious people : the Baptists,* the Dutch Armi- nians,-f- and the English Independents. | The claim of the Dutch Arminians appears to be the best fiounded ; but the Independents have been the most loud and urgent in de- manding their meed of praise for their services in this cause. The erection of a " statue of gold" to their memory, it has been suggested, would be but an imperfect payment of the debt which is due to them from this country. || Among their eminent men who have distinguished themselves by writing in its defence, the preference has usually been given to Dr. Owen ; of whom it has been said, that he was " one of the first of our countrymen who entertained just and liberal notions of the right of private judgment and of toleration ; which he was honest enough to maintain in his writings, when the times were the least encouraging; for he not only published two Pleas for Indulgence and Toleration in 1677, when the Dissenters were suiFering persecution under Charles II. ; but took the same side much earlier, pleading very cogently against intolerance, in an Essay for the practice of Church-government, and a Discourse on Toleration, both of which are printed in the Collection of his Sermons and Tracts ; and clearly appear to have been * Ivimey's Hist, of the Baptists, p. 6, Edit. 1811. f Tucker's Letters , to Kippis, p. 32, Edit. 1773, + Bogue and BenncU's Hist, of the Dissenters, Vol. I. p. 138, Edit. 1808. t| Ibid. 112 LIFE OF written, and probably were first published, about the begin- ning of 1647, when the parliament had arrived at full power and he was in much repute." * The late Rev. David Simpson has also observed, when speaking of religious toleration : "Dr. Owen was the first I am acquainted with, who wrote in favour of it in the year 1648 ; Milton followed him about the year 1658, in his Treatise of the Civil Power in Ecclesiastical Causes. And the immortal Locke followed them both with his golden Treatise on Toleration in 1689." t With all deference, however, to the admirers of Dr. Owen, we presume that his merits as a friend and advocate of religious liberty have been somewhat over-rated. It does not appear that he renounced the narrow and intoler- ant views of the Presbyterians on this subject, till about the year 1645, | and for a considerable time after that period, his principles, compared with those which had been avowed by many of his contemporaries, were not at all remarkable for liberality and Catholicism. While he held the Vice- Chancellorship of the University of Oxford, he was con- cerned in condemning two Quaker women to be publicly whipped for addressing a congregation in one of the chvu-ches, after the celebration of divine service ; notwith- standing they had been already treated with more than brutal violence by some of the students, in consequence of which one of them died soon afterwards. || The conduct of these misguided females, however, may be considered as a civil offence : they certainly had no right to occupy the church for any such purpose, and they may have cast unwarrant- able reflections upon the officiating minister ; a case which was not uncommon in those times. Yet, considering their sex, their conscientious motives, and the treatment they had just received, it would have required no very singular stretch of forbearance in the Doctor, to have been satisfied with the infliction of a punishment less severe ; especially * Palmer's Nonconformists* Memorial, Vol. I, p. 204. f Plea for Religion, p. 202, Edit. 181.5. X Orme's Memoirs of Dr. Owen, p. 51, Edit. 1820. II Cough's History of the Quakers, Vol. J, p. 147, Edit. 1789. JOHN GOOCWIK. 113 as the Mayor absolutely refused to interfere, expressing his conviction that the women, though mistaken, were sincerely religious, and had no evil intention. Besides, the execution of such a sentence was illegal, when unsanctioned by the chief magistrate of the city. But waiving this circumstance, the Doctor did not publish any thing expressly on the sub- ject of toleration till the latter end of the year 1648, when the licentious army had dispersed the parliament, and murdered the King ; and when every man was at liberty to write what he pleased against religious persecution with perfect impunity. But even then, speaking of what he con- ceived to be the duty of the civil magistrate, he says, " Out- ward monuments, ways of declaring and holding out false and idolatrous worship, he is to remove : as the Papists' images, altars, pictures, and the like; Prelates' Service Book :""* that is, the Book of Common Prayei*. In another publication, which bears the date of 1655, though he expresses his disapprobation of capital punishments in cases of heresy, he intimates that the burning of Servetus was an exception, and coolly thinks that " the zeale of them that put Mm to death may 6£? acquitted.'" -f- Now if Dr. Owen's views of religious freedom were so liberal and correct as his friends have often represented them, how is it that he should have expressed himself in language so highly objectionable ? If liberty of conscience is one of the most sacred rights of human nature, it is a universal right. A Protestant magistrate therefore can have no legitimate authority to interfere with the peculiarities of Catholic worship, any moi*e than a Catho- lic has to interfere with those of a Protestant. And on what ground could Dr. Owen justify an Independent or a Pres- byterian magistrate in wresting from an Episcopalian the Book of Common Prayer, which would not equally justify an Episcopalian in the prohibition of extemporaneous wor- ship .f* And if the unhallowed " zeal*" of those men who burnt Servetus alive may be " acquitted,*" upon what prin- ciple shall the " zeal"" of Gardiner and Bonner be con- * Collcctionof Sermons,' p. 309, Edit. 1721. f Viiidicia: EvaiigcJica; Preface, p. 11, Edit. 1655. I 114 LIFE OF demned? The sentiments of Servetus could not be more revoltino; to Calvin, than those of a Protestant are to a zealous and consistent member of the Church of Rome. These remarks are not introduced for the purpose of detraction, but to illustrate a matter of fact : and surely- historic truth ought not to be either violated or sup- pressed, to raise the honour of any man, whatever may be the elevation of his rank or the splendour of his talents. To Dr. Owen the Christian Church is under some obligation for his Avritings on the subject of religious liberty, but he cer- tainly was not " one of the first of our countrymen who entertained just and liberal notions of the right of private judgment and of toleration;" much less can he be ranked among the first of those by whom they were openly avowed and consistently defended. What would be thought in the present age, if the principles of Dr. Owen Avere reduced to practice ? If the officers of the civil power were to enter every Catholic place of worship for the purpose of desti'oy- ing all the images, altars, and pictures ? and to remove by violence the Book of Common Prayer out of every Protes- tant Church and Chapel in the land ? Would the projector of such measures be entitled to the highest eulogies for the liberality of his spirit, and for enlightened views concerning " the right of private judgment ?" The doctrine of religious liberty became a subject of public discussion early in 1644, and several very able tracts in its defence issued from the British press, during that and the three succeeding years. In this important contest Mr. Goodwin appeared in the front rank, and had this merit, — that, while most of his co-adjutors, as if ashamed of their cause or afraid of consequences, concealed their names and fought under a mask, he was so impressed with the truth and importance of his principles, as to risk his reputa- tion, his property and his life for their advancement : he therefore fairly and openly met his antagonists on the great (question then at issue. An Ecclesiastical EstabUshment which furnishes the people with the pure Scriptures in the vernacular tongue ; which supplies them with every requi- JOHN GOODWIN. 115 site help for the exercise of public worship ; which makes provision for the evangelical instruction of all classes of society, and at the same time allows a liberal toleration of such as conscientiously prefer a different mode of worship and of church-government, does not appear liable to any serious objection, and is unquestionably a blessing to any nation. To such an Establishment Mr. Goodwin manifested no hostility ; but he justly thought that a system of eccle- siastical polity, especially one of doubtful origin, enforced by the civil Magistrate, and unaccompanied by toleration, was an enormous and insupportable tyranny. This was the high claim of the Presbyterian party : he therefore em- ployed all his energies in demonstrating its impolicy and injustice. Liberty of conscience, he contended, is a natural right, both antecedent and superior to all human lav/s and institutions whatever : a right which laws never gave, and which laws can never take away. His tracts and sermons on this subject, more than those of any other man, annoyed his intolerant contemporaries of the Presbyterian denomination, and, like the touch of IthurieFs spear, led to a complete discovery of their real character. Most of his brethren, the Independents, pleaded for a toleration on be- half of all who held what they called " the fundamental doctrines of Christianity ;" whereas he maintained that all coercion in matters purely religious, was antichristian ; and that to attempt to frighten men into orthodoxy by fines, pri- sons, or the gallows, was but to make them hypocrites, and expose them to deeper misery for ever. Hence, many of those who hated both him and his doctrine, with a perver- sity of mind, that cannot be too strongly condemned, repre- sented him as the great patron of error in all its diversified forms ; and declared that he especially ought to feel the weight of the secular arm. As if a man were an enemy to truth, because he protests against the use of unlawful means for its support. " If good Nehemiah were now living," says Dr. Bastwick, " and should hear not only the language of Ashdod, but see the abominable prac- tices of the sectaries of our times, how would he i2 IK) LllK OF bestir himself in cudo-ellinoj these fellows into the true reli- gion ? Without all controversy, good Nehemiah would baste them to the purpose, and all such as should side with them ; and especially he would belabour all such well, as should write books in defence of such I say I am most confident, were good Nehemiah in our times, and had he the authority he had in Jerusalem, he would baste them all to some purpose ; and make and force them, by cud- gelling of them, to be conformable to wholesome words. And I am most assured, he would pluck off Cretensis's blue beard, and knock him soundly about his hairy scalp." -|- In his reply to Dr. Adam Stewart, a second edition of which was published in the year 1644, Mr. Goodwin explains his sentiments concerning religious liberty, and argues in their defence in a manner worthy of his talents and learning. *' The grand pillar of this coercive power in Magistrates," says he, " is this angry argument : ' What, would you have ^11 religions. Sects, and Schisms, tolerated in Christian Churches ? Should Jews, Turks, and Papists be suffered in their religions, what confusion must this needs breed both in Church and State !*' I answer, " If, by a toleration, the argument means either an ap- probation, or such a connivance which takes no knowledge of, or no ways opposeth such religions, sects, or schisms as are unwarrantable, they are not to be tolerated : but ortho- dox and able Ministers ought, in a grave, sober and inoffen- sive manner, soundly from the Scriptures to evince the folly, vanity, and falseh:od of all such ways. Others also, that have an anointing of light and knowledge from God, are bound to contribute occasionally the best of their endea- vours towards the same end. In case the Minister be negligent, or forgetful of his duty, the Magistrate may and ought to admonish him that he fulfil his ministry. If a person, one or more, being members of a particular church, be infected with any heretical or dangerous opinion, and t Utter Routing, p. r)!;9. JOHK GOODWIN'. Jl? after two or three admonitions, with means of conviction used to regain him, shall continue obstinate, he ought to be cast out from amongst them by that church. If it be a whole church that is so corrupted, the neighbour-churches, in case it hath any, ought to admonish it, and to endeavour the reclaiming of it. If it be refractory, after competent admonition, and means used for the reducing of it, they may and ought to renounce communion with it, and so set a mark or brand of heresy upon the forehead of it. " If by a toleration, the argument means, A non-suppres- sion of such religions, sects, and schisms, by fining, impri- soning, disfranchising, banishment, death, or the like, my answer is. That they ought to be tolerated : onlif upon this supposition. That the pkofessoks of them be OTHEllWISE peaceable IN THE StATE, AND EVERY WAY subject to THE LAWS AND LAWFUL POWER OF THE MAGI- STRATE." * In proof of this position our author proceeds to urge ten powerful and unanswerable arguments. From this extract it will be seen, that Mr. Goodwin does not contend for the absolute innocence of mental error, as some latitudinarian theologians have done. He wai> aware that some religious errors originate in human depravity, and, so far as their influence extends, are injurious to the spiritual interests of men ; and that a denial of the distin- guishing truths of the Christian Revelation, amidst ample means of instruction, involves a high degree of criminahty in the sight of God, and therefore ought to be visited by marked animadversion. The obstinate abettors of dano-er- ous opinions, however, he would not deliver up to the ven- geance of the civil poMx^r, but would subject them to the more appropriate punishment of ecclesiastical censure. Solemn exclusion from a Christian Chureli on account of heretical pravity, he considered to be much better adapted to secure the religious and moral improvement of the indi- vidual concerned, and to operate as a salutary warnino- to others, than civil pains and penalties; and, in cases of this * Reply of two of the Bretliren to A. S. p. 55, 118 LIFE OF nature, the only punitive infliction warranted by the New Testament Scriptures. " God's design,"" says he, " as well as oiu's, is Unity amongst the saints in matters of faith and knowledge. But by what means hath he projected the ob- taining of this desire .'' Mark, he doth not say, that he gave some Kings, and some Princes, and some Judges, and Justices of the Peace, some Pursuevants, and some Jailors, to bring men into the unity of the faith ; but ' He gave some Apostles, and some Prophets, and some Evangelists, and some Pastors and Teachers,' to bring this desirable end to pass. And if we would make more use of theee instru- ments of God, oi Apostles, Frophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers, and less of those other, which are our own, for quenching those divisions that are amongst us; we might, in all likelihood, see our desires in this, many years sooner than by any other course we are like to do. The word of God, especially in the hand of an able minister, is given for the conviction and stopping of the mouths of gain- sayers ; and therefore will do it, when a thousand other means, not having this anointing oil upon them, though never so promising in the eye of human wisdom, will rather open them wider. " External compulsion in matters of religion, is of a direct tendency to make men two-fold more the children of sin and wrath than they were before, or would be otherwise. Suppose the State-religion, and manner of worshipping God the Magistrate professeth, be agreeable to the truth ; yet if I, having no such faith of either, but judging in my con- science, that both State and Magistrate are polluted in both, should make profession of either, I should be a noto- rious hypocrite and dissembler before God, wounding my conscience, and condemning myself in what I allow. And yet such a profession as this, is that which the compulsive power of the Magistrate seeks to extort from me. In which case I must suffer, because I will not sin to the ruin of my soul. " If the civil magistrate hath an actual coercive power to suppress heresies, &c., because he is truly Christian, which JOHX GOODWIN'. IJgi he had not before, then CJiristianity alters the property and tenor of Magistracy, and that for the Avorse, in respect of those that are in subjection to it ; yea, and possibly in respect of the best of those that are in such subjection. Before he was truly Christian, he had, say the Presbyteri- ans generally, no power to punisli, fine, in^.prison, banish any of his subjects for the exercise of their conscience towards God : but by virtue of that great mercy vouchsafed to him by God, in giving him fellowship with the saints in Jesus Christ, he is invested with a new power to persecute the saints, to make them pay dearly for having consciences, it may be, better than his own ; at least, better than to com- ply outwardly with what they cannot inwardly digest and approve. If this be the case between a Christian and the civil Magistrate, under whom he lives, he hath small encou- ragement to pray for the conversion of such a Magistrate to the truth, in case he were heterodox or Pagan : it beino- far better for him to live under such a magistracy, which hath no power to misuse him for his conscience-sake, than under that which hath, and is made to believe that it ought to use it accordingly. " That power which was never attributed to the civil Magistrate, by any Christians, but those that had good assurance that it should be used on their side, is not likely to be a power by divine right, or conferred bv God. It is no ways credible, that within the compass of so many ages, no man of that conscientious generation of saints, which hath been wont to deny itself even unto death, should ac- knowledge such a power in the civil Magistrate, as did by divine right belong to him, only because such an acknow- ledgment was likely to make against himself. That co- ercive power in matters of religion, for suppressing errors, heresies, &c., Avas never attributed to the civil Magistrate by any Christian, but only by those that were very confi- dent, that it would be used for their turns, and to effect their desires. A. S. himself is wary and tender above measure, in conferring it upon him ; distinguishing once, and again, and a third time also upon it, before lie dares let him have 120 LIFE OF it ; and in the close dotli as much as tell him, that except he be Presbyterian right down, and will accommodate him and his party with it, he ought not to claim it. " That power which, in the exercise of it, directly tends to hinder or suppress the increase of the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ, in a Church or State, and the reformation of such tilings in doctrine or discipline, as are unwarrantable therein, is not questionless of any divine right or institution. Such a power in the civil Magistrate as we speak of, directly tends to all the mischief and inconvenience mentioned. When men are obnoxious to the stroke of the civil power, for any thing they hold or practise in religion contrary to him, it must needs be a great discouragement upon them, from searching and enquiring into the Scriptures, after a more exact knowledge of the good and holy and perfect will of God. Because, in case he should discover any thing con- trary to what the Magistrate professeth, he must run the hazard, either of withholding the truth in unrighteousness, and so of having God and his own conscience his enemy, or of having his bones broken by the iron rod of the civil Magistrate, for making profession of any thing contrary to that which he professeth. " That power which directly tends to defile the conscien- ces of nien, by destroying the tenderness of them, or by disturbing the lawful peace and comfort of them, is a power from beneath, not from above. Such is the coercive power in matters of religion, wherewith A. S. would fain befriend himself in the civil Magistrate. When the conscience of a man hath once broken the bands of its own light, and prostituted itself to the pleasures of men, against its own judgment and inclination, (whereunto it is sorely tempted and urged, when the man is threatened deep, in case he shall not comply with the State in religion, his judgment and conscience being wholly averse to it,) one of these two great evils commonly befalls him : Either God takes no more pleasure in such a conscience, but, Avithdrawing him- self, leaves it unto itself ; whereupon secretl}^, as it were, resenting the departure of God, it falls upon a course of JOIIX GOODWIX, 121 hardening itself, and contracts a boldness and desperateness in sinning : Or, by reflecting upon what it hath done, and feeding night and day upon the sad thoughts of its own act, and casting it up between God and itself, how grievous a sin it is, to trample upon its own light, for any man's sake; it brings itself into grievous agonies of perplexity and hor- ror, out of which it never recovers." * Mr. Goodwin resumed the same subject in his sermons on " Fighting against God," which he published within the same year ; and further illustrated and confirmed his opinions in two of his tracts in answer to Prynne. In defence of the same correct and liberal principles he also made an appeal to the good sense of the nation, in an admirable pamphlet which he entitled " Twelve Serious Cautions, very necessary to be observed in a Reformation according to the Word of God, 1646." To make arrangements for such a Reformation in the national Church, was the professed design of the Par- liament in calling the Assembly of Divines at West- minster. The result of their grave and long-continued deliberations was, that the Parliament should establish Presbyterian Uniformity, by the suppression of every other sect. In pointing out the inconsistency of such a project with the Word of God, our author, in the tract before us, has given a happy delineation of what ought to be the cha- racter of every Church which is patronized by the State> *' That Reformation," says he, " which is froward, peremp- tory, imperious ; will gather where it hath not strewed, and reap where it hath not sown ; exact obedience and subjec- tion from those whom it hath not effectually taught or persuaded ; nor give any tolerable accoiuit to conscientious and disinterested men, why it should be submitted unto ; ■ but rather obstruct its access to the judgments and con- sciences of such men, by advancing itself by practices that savour more of the subtlety of the serpent than the simpli- city of Christ : — A Reformation which commends itself to the world upon no better terras than these, cannot be judged * Reply to A. S. pi». 5G— 63, Edit. 1641. 12S LIFE OF a Reformation according to the Word of God, by any, except those wlio eith.er suppose gain to be godhness, or the resolutions of a Synod the Word of God."" " Reformers who say unto men excellently gifted and inclined by God, and ardently desired of men, for the work of the ministry, ' Preach not in that name, except you will preach in our name also, except you will acknowledge in us a power to give you leave to preach, and a power to restrain you, and be. willing to receive neither you nor we can tell what, by our imposition of hands T — Reformers that model their reformation upon such terms, that either the souls of thousands must starve, or the consciences of those that should feed them, be brought into a snare ; well may they reform by some other rule, but their according to the Word of God they leave for others."''' " The Apostle Pavil, by commission from heaven, saith, ' I will that men pray every v/here, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting.' So then God having sanc- tified the whole world, and every corner of it, for his saints to worship him in ; they that by a strong hand seek to bring them back again, either to this mountain or to Jerusalem, to worship ; that will allow the saints no other places as lawful to worship God in publicly, but those only concerning which the greatest question is, whether they be sanctified or no ; these without all controversy shape their reformation rather secundum usum Sarum than according to the Word of God. " A reformation that would not be flattered, and yet be styled ' a reformation according to the Word of God,' must give leave to the wind to blow where it listeth ; give liberty to the Spirit of God to do v,dth his own what he pleaseth ; to make what discovery of truth, and to what persons, and when, and where he pleaseth ; and not compel him to traffic only with Councils and Synods for his heavenly commodi- ties. That reformation which asserts the authority of Councils, Synods, Assemblies, as infallible ; that restrains the ministers of the gospel from declaring to men the whole counsel of God concerning their salvation ; that condemns JOHX GOODWIN. 123 as heretical the tenets of sober, learned, pious, and conscien- tious men, only because an inconsiderable number of men imagine (it may be only dream) them to be inconsistent with tlie Scriptures ; that shall subject the world to such hard terms, that men shall not publicly taste of the precious fruit of the gifts which God hath bestowed upon thousands in a nation, but only according to discretion, and at the allowance of a small parcel of men, and those (it may be) not of the greatest abilities for discerning : when the Alco- ran of the Turks or the Missal of the Papists, shall appear to be ' according to the Word of God,"* then may such a reformation as this hope to partake of the same honour." When the " Ordinance for the Punishing of Heresies and Blasphemies," was drawn up for the purpose of receiving parliamentary sanction, Mr. Goodwin published a tract under the title of " Some Modest and Humble Queries con- cerning a late printed Paper, &c. 1646.'' There are few publications in the whole compass of English literatvire better adapted to expose intolerance, and to recommend universal liberty of conscience, than these Queries. They never received a satisfactory answer, and the principles upon which they are grounded can never be refuted. The fol- lowing are a sample : " Whetlier it be agreeable to the Spirit of Christ, who came into the world not to destroy men's lives but to save them, to make snares of any of his doctrines, for the destruc- tion of the lives of men ? '"• Whether it is Christian, to maintain that religion by putting others to death, which, as Lactantius saith, 'ought to be defended, not by slaying others, but by dying our- selves for it T " Whether it is not evident from ancient and authentic writers, that the Heathen sought to maintain their idol- atrous religion by the same methods which the Ordinance proposeth for maintaining the religion of Christ ? " Whether our best records of later times do not clearly shew, that the Papacy and Antichristian party have gone 124 LIFE OF about to uphold that false religion which they profess, by the very props wherewith the Ordinance seeks to support the religion of Christ ? " Whether are errors and heresies any other things than some of those strong-holds and imaginations in men, which, as the apostle saith, exalt themselves against the knowledge of God ? Or can they be better thrown down, than by those weapons which are ' mighty through God' for that purpose ? And are those weapons carnal or spiritual ? " Whether to enjoin ministers and others, upon pain of death, imprisonment, &c., not to teach any thing in religion, contrary to the present apprehensions of the said enjoiners, be not in effect to say to the Holy Ghost, ' Reveal nothing more to others than thou hast revealed to us ? Or if thou hast not revealed the truth to us, reveal it not unto any other men ?"* " Whether a mistake in judgment, joined to a public pro- fession, be more sinful, or more deserving of imprisonment, death, &c., than an open and manifest denial in works of such truths as men profess in words ? " Whether ministers, truly faithful and conscientious, being fully persuaded that many of the opinions asserted in the Ordinance for truths, are errors, (of which persuasion there are many in England,) shall do well to comply with the Ordinance against their judgments, and publicly hold those things for truths, which they are absolutely persuaded are nothing less ? Or whether the Ordinance, threatening them with imprisonment or death in case they declare them- selves otherwise, be not a dangerous temptation upon them to draw their foot into that snare of death ? " Whether twelve simple countrymen, such as our juries usually consist of at country Assizes, (who, alas, are far from being versed in the profound questions in divinity, and who are generally incapable of such proprieties and differ- ences of words, upon the understanding whereof, the inno- cency or guiltiness of the person is likely to depend,) be of any competent faculty to pass upon the life or liberty of a JOHN GOODWIN. 125 studious, learned, and conscientious man, in cases where the ablest professors of divinity are not able, with any com- petent satisfaction to the scrupulous, many times to deter- mine ? " Whether an ordinary Judge of Assize, who either doth not pretend, or in most cases doth hut pretend, to any thoroughness of search into the deep things of God, in the abstruse points of religion, be a competent judge in such questions over such men, (to the bereaving them of life or liberty,) who are known to be men of able parts, and to have made the study of divinity their sole employment all their days ; being grave, sober, and conscientious men in all their ways ? " Whether did God ever give any authority to civil Magistrates, or others, either in the Old Testament or the New, to make any controverted exposition of any clause in the Law ; controverted between priest and priest, scribe and scribe ; or any matter of doubtful disputation between learned, pious, and conscientious men ; punishable either with imprisonment or death ? And are not many points, condemned by the Ordinance, matters of this nature ? con- trovertible, and actually controverted, between persons of equal worth, parts, learning, judgment, conscience, on both sides ?" The publication of these Queries, and of others of a simi- lar kind, to the number of thirty-eight, though pacific in their nature and design, and proposed in this modest and humble manner, like the application of fire to inflammable matter, produced such an explosion among the Presbyterian advocates of persecution as would have terrified any man of less mental energy than Mr. Goodwin. The ebullitions of passion and intolerance of which they were the innocent occasion, resembled a volcanic eruption of fiery lava. Puz- zled, confounded, and mortified by this seasonable produc- tion, poor Edwards of waspish memory, was thrown into a state bordering upon distraction ; and expressed the feelings of his disordered mind in the following manner : " Concerning the author of these Queries, I may say, as 126 LIFE OF the Holy Ghost doth of Herod's imprisoning John ; He hath added yet this above all ! to write such a wicked pam- phlet, and at such a time ! there being not a more desperate, imgodly, atheistical piece written by any man since the Reformation. I have had occasion to read many discourses and tractates of Libertines and Sceptics, that have been writ within the last hundred years ; and have seen much wickedness in them, both in those of other countries and our own ; especially those written and newly printed within five years last past : but in none of them do I find such a spirit of libertinism, atheism, profaneness, and laying waste of all religion, breathing, as in those Queries. For beside those other evil spirits of error, scoffing, disorder, confusion, irreligion, that works in all the other Queries, there is a legion of wicked and unclean spirits, seven-fold worse than those which have been cast out, in that second Quere. " How hath the Lord left him to himself, to write such Queries ! I remember that in my Second Part of Gangraena I write thus : ' That I feared, if he lived but one seven years, he would prove as Arch an Heretic, and as dangerous a man, as ever England bred ; and that he would be another David George, Francken, Socinus.' And behold, within a few months, not giving God glory to repent of his evil deeds, but going on to write, he hath by these Queries made good what I prophesied of him, and hath filled up the mea- svire of his iniquities : so that I believe he hath justified Cornhert, Sebastian Franck, Francken, Socinus, David George, with all the rest of that rabble : and I do not think it lawful for Christians to receive such a one into their house, or to bid him God-speed ; but rather, if they come where he is, to fly from him."" * Scarcely had Edwards poured forth these effusions of unhallowed zeal, when he published his tract against reli- gious toleration. He then stood pledged to prepare a large work against Mr. Goodwin, in Avhich he hoped to present to his readers the " head" of his antagonist " on the top of his * Gangraena, Part Third, p. 117. JOHN GOODWIN. l2T sword," and render " his name an abhorring to future generations." " Alas,"" said Mr. Goodwin, " the top of the sword he speaks of, I beheve will be broken off, before his time comes of doing the execution. Nescia mens hominis J'at% sortisque J'uUiree.'''' * Such was the fact. The power of the Presbyterians began to decline ; and Edwards, to escape the vengeance of the Sectaries, against whose toler- ation he had written M'ith such unmeasured violence, fled to Holland, where he died soon after his arrival, in the year 1647. t Edwards was not the only advocate of religious coercion, whose indignation Avas roused by the Queries of our author. An anonymous writer of similar principles and spirit, under- took the defence of that Ordinance concerning which Mr. Goodwin had instituted so many pertinent enqumes, in a tract entitled, " A Vindication of a printed Paper, &c., against the Irreligious and Presumptuous Exceptions called, Some Humble and Modest Queries." This brave advocate of Christianity contended that its doctrines were insecure, unless guarded by penal statutes ; and that the civil Magi- strate was bound to inflict the punishment of death upon the abettors of what he called " heresy." This book drew from the pen of Mr. Goodwin another excellent defence of religious liberty entitled " Hagiomastix : or, the Scourge of the Saints Displayed in his colours of Ignorance and Blood, 1646." On the publication of this very able book, a number of Presbyterians, both ministers and laymen, united in an urgent application to the Parliament, that it might be burned by the hands of the common hangman, and that a prosecution of the author might be immediately instituted, in order that some exemplary punishment might be inflicted upon the man who dared to plead for a universal toleration. Disregard of truth is a general characteristic of Informers ; and these officious men wickedly perverted Mr. Goodwin''s * Inexcusableness of Antapalogia, Preface. -)- Wilson's History of Dissenting Churches, Vol. II, p. 407. 128 Lit'i: OF words, and represented him to the Parliament as one who denied the Inspiration of the Sacred Vohime.* In the Parliamentary Ordinance for the suppression of Heresy, the denial that the Holy Scriptures are the Word of God, is made a capital offence, and rendered punishable with Death. The apologists of this edict attempted to justify that severe sentence, by saying, that an error of such magnitude should be thus visited, because it overthrows the foundation of the Christian Religion. In his reply Mr. Goodwin enquires. What was meant by " the Holy Scrip- tures ;" whether " an English translation,"" or " the original Greek and Hebrew ?" " If the former, which of the several English translations was intended .? If the latter, what judgment unlettered men could form on the subject ? And where was the equity of putting men to death for a denial of that with which they were totally unacquainted ? By " the Word of God," which is the foundation of Christianity, Mr. Goodwin thought, should rather be understood " the distin- guishing Doctrines of Divine Revelation ;" which are indeed embodied in the Holy Scriptures, but may be held by per- sons who entertain doubts concerning the inspiration of some of the Sacred Books; and mentions, as instances, those ancient Christian churches who at first refused to acknowledge the <;anonical authority of the Revelation of St. John, and Luther, who at one time rejected the Epistle of St. James. These remarks occasioned a mighty clamour against him, * Postscript to the Scourge of the Saints, Preface. *' Nowhereupon Mr. Goodwin having been by divers godly Christians, with divines and others, niucii reproved for it, and as diligent endeavours as could be made by some faithful and zealous Christians in London, and particularly by one Mr. Thomas Underbill, an honest and religious Citi- zen andJStationer, who endeavoured to have him and his blasphemous book to be called in question, and him severely to be punished, as he justly deserved by the Parliament ; but all in vain : such potent props have these irreligious and rotten builders procured in Parliament, both against God's and man's laws, and all justice, both, divine and civil. Hereupon Mr. Goodwin begins to sweat and swagger ; and being rubbed upon his galled back, to kick and winch most notoricHisly in print." Vicars's Coleman- street Conclave Visited. JOHN GOODWIN. 129 as a man who attempted to subvert the faith of the unwary. To vindicate himself from so foul a charge, he drew up a short piece of four pages, under the title of " A Candle to see the Sun ;" in which he says, " Understanding that offence had been taken at some passages in the twenty- eighth section of a treatise lately published, as if the author intended to deny the Scriptures to be the Word of God, or at least, to scruple others about believing them so to be ; (both which are the great abominations of his soul) though he be fully assured, that there is no word or syllable in the said section which is capable of such a sense, yet it being the first- born desire of his soul to give no offence either to Jew or Gentile, or to the meanest member of any of the churches of God, he is willing to light up this candle to that sun ; that such who understand not language of a more scholastic im- port, may be made apprehensive of the truth delivered therein by more plain and familiar terms. His intent there- fore in the said section is none other, his words bearing him witness, than to require of his adversaries a distinct expli- cation, what they mean by the word Scriptures, when they assert the denying of them to be the Word of God, as worthy of death. Of this demand he gives this double rea- son : first, because he supposeth it no foundation of Christian Religion to believe that the English translation of the Scrip- tures is the Word of God : that is, that God spake to his prophets or apostles in the English tongue ; or that our English translation doth agree in all things, with the origi- nals : neither of which he presumes will be affirmed by any person of competent understanding. Secondly, because concerning the original Hebrew and Greek copies, the far greatest part of men in the kingdom being ignorant of the said languages, he conceives it very unreasonable, that it should be required of them under pain of death, to believe these copies, the contents whereof they no ways understand, to be the Word of God. This is the entire sum of the whole section contested against. He is not able to conceive, what expression there is throughout the section that minis- K 130 Lll'E OF ters the least occasion of offence to any. Nevertheless, if any such shall be made known to him, no man shall be found more ready than he, to make his pen do penance for any error or delinquency in this kind. Meantime, what construction soever, either weakness or a worse principle in men, may make of his words, he conceives this to be an abundant purgation from the guilt of unsettling any man in his behef about the Divine Authority of the Scriptures ; that there are many hundreds of persons, in and about the city, who have known the course of his ministry for the space of thirteen years, who can testify on his behalf, that the main bent and tendency of his ministerial engagements all this while, have been the confirmation of the Testimony of Christ, as the apostle calls the Gospel, in the hearts and consciences of men ; together with the building up of the Divine Original of the Scriptures with both hands. With what integrity he hath laboured in this vineyard of the Lord, God and his own soul are conscious : with what fruit in the souls of men, he leaveth to the testimony of others. He only craveth leave to say, without the least touch of vanity, or self-assuming, that in the said argument, he hath laboured more than all his brethren in the ministry in or about the city ; and that he is at this very time in a serious prosecution of the same in the ordinary process of his minis- try.^' With respect to the charge of scepticisrri, preferred against him to the civil authorities, Mr. Goodwin declares his readi- ness to die rather than deny the Scriptures or the momen- tous truths they contain ; and in reference to his unprinci- pled accusers, he exclaims, " Miserable men ! who know not how to refrain from making themselves more miserable than they are, by making sin of innocency in other men, and innocency of sin in themselves. I am so far from deny- ing the Divine Authority of the Scriptures in the said book, that I assert the same as demonstrable by many grounds and arguments. But I remember, that He that glorified. Gad more than all the world besides, was charged with JOHN GOODWIN. 131 blasp^iemy by those who thought they knew what blasphemy was, and judged themselves as holy, just, and zealous men, as far from the abomination of condemning the innocent, as were to be found among all the living ; yea, He Avas at last, notwithstanding his faithfulness to both worlds, sen- tenced by such men as worthy of death, as a blasphemer. I cannot but comfort myself with these words." * The anonymous writer who attempted to answer Mr. Goodwin's Queries, and to vindicate the Parliamentary Ordinance, in the true spirit of his undertaking, solemnly adjured Mr. Goodwin's church, in the name of the Holy Trinity, to deliver their pastor up to the Devil, as having not only pleaded for universal liberty of conscience, but published the following Query, which according to his ap- prehension contained a " complication of blasphemy :" " Whether it be agreeable to the mind of Christ, for men to inflict the heavy censure of Death upon their brethren, for holding forth such doctrines or opinions in religion, sup- pose contrary to admonition, which, for ought the said inflictors know, unless they make themselves infallible, may be the sacred truths of God ?'''' This outrageous charge induced twenty persons in reli- gious connection with Mr. Goodwin, on their own behalf and that of their brethren, to publish a defence of their minister's character. This piece is entitled, " An Apolo- getical Account of some Brethren of the Church whereof Mr. John Goodwin is Pastor, why they cannot execute that passionate and unchristian Charge of delivering up their Pastor to Satan, which is imposed upon them in a late printed Book, 1647." A copious extract from this very rare and interesting document, which is equally honourable to Mr. Goodwin and to his friends, cannot be unacceptable to the intelligent reader of these memoirs. " It was a general observation,"" say they, " among the Heathen, that envy was an inseparable companion to virtue. And truly, if Christians would but consult the experience of * Appendix to the Scourge of the Saiuts, Preface. k2 132 LIFE OF all ages, they would find that holiness hath been always haunted with a like or worse spirit : the former being but a slight provocation to flesh and blood, in comparison of the latter. Our blessed Lord and Saviour, who spake as never man spake, and acted for the glory of his Father at a higher rate than the angels themselves can attain to, was stigma- tized by the rulers of the Jewish Church with those odious titles of blasphemer, devil, friend of publicans and sinners. And such as have followed him closely in the regeneration, hath the world forced to drink deep with him of this bitter cup. The apostle Paul, who drew the most perfect resem- blance of his heavenly pattern, had much ado to uphold the honour of his name, even in the Churches of Christ, against the suggestions of false teachers. We conceive it a work of no great difficulty, to produce out of every century since the coming of our Lord, variety of examples of this nature, and to shew how, in all times, such as have been the most richly furnished from heaven to do service to the God that dwells therein, have deeply suffered in this kind, and that from those who have been zealous pretenders to the same sacred employment with themselves. *' But is not the counsel of God and the hand of satan in all this ? Yea, doubtless, though the one be founded in wisdom and love, the other stretched forth in hatred and revenge. The devil, through the enmity which is in him ta the glory of the Creator, and the everlasting peace of the creature, burns with jealousy against all those who are best appointed with courage and skill to practise upon his vassals, and to make the widest breaches upon his territories ; and because he knows there is no way more likely to render their attempts fruitless, and to lay their highest achieve- ments in the dust, than to cast dead flies into the pot of their ointment, he provokes the tongues and hearts of men to wound their names ; that, if it be possible, the credit and re- putation of them might bleed even to death. But wherein this * Accuser of the Brethren' thinks he deals wisely, God is above him, and compels this stratagem against his servants to become contributory to his own ends and to their good. JOHN GOODWIN. 133 Knowledge and abundance of revelations are apt, through the weakness of the flesh, to puff up even the best of men ; yet bufFetings by these messengers of satan, prove excellent corrections of such swellings, and are proper means to keep their hearts in a humble posture ; which posture, as it rend- ers them capable of the largest effusions of grace, so doth it quahfy them to become instruments for God's hand. Wliereas if they wanted this qualification, though accom- modated in all other respects for his service, he would soon lay them by as useless. For in the election of means for his own ends, he passes by proud and high persons, with as much neglect as high things. *' The consideration hereof, amongst other things, as it had, we doubt not, a sovereign influence upon our dearly beloved Pastor, for strengthening him against the assaults of the powers of darkness and this world ; so had it a like operation upon us also, who otherwise could not have borne the cruel and malicious dealings of men towards him, with that equanimity of spirit we have done. To see a beautiful visage causelessly deformed by the talons of cruelty, is a sight which cannot but afflict nature : but to see innocency suffer for the truth's sake, O how grievous is it to an inge- nuous spirit ! This was our case in respect of him. Our strict observation of him for some years together, filled us to the very brim with assurance of his integrity both to God and man ; and this made us so tender in our affections to him, that the loud and furious outcries against him, were as a sword which pierced our bowels through and through. Nevertheless it came not into our thoughts to move for his vindication beyond the sphere of those companies whither our private occasions led us. Yet ignorant we were not what advantage his accusers had of us in this respect. We knew full well, that the line of our opportunities was too short to traverse the circumference of the press ; and conse- quently, that it was impossible for us to gather up by our apologies and defence, what they had scattered in the minds of men. Our hope indeed was, that thro\igh our private testimonies, and his public vindications of himself, and the k3 134 LIFE OF blessing of God upon both, the wise and sober part of the world might have been antidoted against the poison of their informations. However we persuaded ourselves that the day was not far off, when those wa3'^s and truths for which he suffered, would rise out of their graves, ascend their throne, and draw his name out of its dust, to partake in their glory. Under this expectation we possessed our souls in patience : only we could not but weep in secret over the astonishing wickedness and folly of this age, which spits its venom in the faces of such as most industriously promote the peace and welfare of it. " But the breaking forth of a late treatise, or rather, the breakings out of an unchristian spirit in that treatise, have forced the pen into our hands, and laid a necessity upon us to let the world know why we cannot obey the voice of this spirit, speaking in blackness, smoke, and fire. We cannot but j udge concerning the author or authors of that ' Vindi- cation,"' that when they imposed upon us that direful charge, they were under the same inspiration with the Jews, when they cried, Crucify him ! Crucify him ! And doubtless Pilate had as much reason to gratify the bloody desires of this people, as we have to deliver up to satan him whom we know to be a most faithful minister of Jesus Christ : there being no reason for either one or the other. That blas- phemy for which we are commanded to throw the thunder- bolt of excommunication against him, being enquired into, will be found to be of the same nature with that for which this Just One was put to death ; that is, no blasphemy at all. If to vindicate the truths of God, from the false im- aginations of men — to maintain the royalties of Christ, and the privileges of his subjects, against the encroachments and tyranny of the world — to stand in the gap, and endeavour to keep out the horned beast of persecvition from the societies of the saints — if this be blasphemy, we confess him to be one of the greatest blasphemers under heaven. But though such practices as these are arraigned and condemned under the names of heresy, blasphemy, and the like, in the consistories of men, where carnal interests sit as judges, the jonx GOODWIN. 135 sentence shall be reversed in the court of heaven, and all engagements of this nature shall be rewarded as loyalty to the King that rules there. " We have fully known his doctrine, life, and conversa- tion ; and as far as we are able to judge of them, they are according to truth, and as becomes the gospel of the Lord Jesus. Those streams of light which have run throuffh his mmistry, have been as pure and unmixed as the vessel whence they issued could well permit. The doctrines of the Father and of the Son, the involving whereof in clouds of uncertainty, the said ' Vindication' most falsely chargeth upon him, hath he brought into so clear and open view, that we have seen the peace and everlasting salvation of our souls in them. Every one of those fundamental principles of Christian Religion, which this gangraened pen would per- suade the world he denies or doubts of, hath he not only asserted in our hearing again and again, but proved them with such evidence and demonstration of the Spirit, that our consciences were forced to fall before them, and confess that of a truth God was in them. Sure we are, he hath laid amongst us that true and everlasting foundation Jesus Christ, other than which no man can lay without extreme peril of himself and his disciples. It is possible, that the structure he hath set upon this foundation, is not all of *gold, silver, and precious stones;' perhaps somewhat of ' wood, hay, and stubble,' will be found in it : yet of this we are strongly possessed, and that not upon light grounds, that his ' works' in this kind, shall suffer as little loss by fire in the day of purgation, as the ' works' of any of his fellow- labourers. " Whether the publishing of ' some modest and humble queries,' or in particular that query upon which these men fall so foul, v/ill amount to wickedness and blasphemy, we presume all intelligent men may receive satisfaction from a pen far more able, and in some respects more interested than ours. We have looked upon this query ; we have searched into it with all possible exactness and impartiality, and can- 136 LIFE OF not find that cursed treasure in it over which they insultr ingly rejoice. Certainly they had never found a ' compUcar- tion of blasphemy' in a query so innocent and inoffensive, had they ploughed with the fair heifer of Love ; which, as the apostle speaks, ' thinketh no evil, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things.' And yet, we are persuaded, that they triumph in face more than in heart ; and are conscious that those great spoils which they boast, like emperors, to have taken from the Querist's name, are but cockles — mere flourishes and bubbles. Had they been able to make good their charge of blasphemy, in all like.- lihood he had felt the heat of their zeal, and been con.- vented before rulers and magistrates long ere this. To think otherwise, were to conceive that they are less zealous for truths than for tythes — for the cause and glory of God, than for their own greatness and domination. " But is it not a sad thing, and of portentous conse-r quence, that such great pretenders not to the office only, but also to the qualifications of an Elder, should act so diame^ trically opposite thereunto .? should become public brawlers and revilers ; smite their fellow-servant in a place more tender than his eye — in his name and honour ; arraign, judge, condemn him to hell, for no other crime than the publishing of a naked query .'' — the nature whereof, every body knows, is neither to assert any thing nor deny : nay, should conjure a whole church to be co-partners with them in their sin, and help them to pour the dregs of unrighteous wrath upon their own Pastor ! What temper shall we call this .? If they Avill call it zeal, we will call it so too ; but it is a zeal from beneath, and symbolizeth with that wisdom which comes from the same place. If he had dropped any sentence, the face whereof might have been forced to look towards the borders of blasphemy, it became Elders to take that to be the meaning which it gave out freely and without torture : a Christian method, from which others have like- wise deviated, in perverting his sayings, and thereupon reporting that he denies the Scriptures to be the Word of God. JOHN GOODWIX, 137 " Suppose he had pubhshed something which struck point blank at a main principle of the gospel, it had been their office, if they would needs intermeddle, to have advised us to admonish him, and endeavour in love and patience, to convince him, before we proceeded any further ; but to command us, in such peremptory terms, at the very first dash, to excommunicate him, without trial, admonition, or means of conviction ; what does this argue, but that they have more of Christ's spirit, mind, and government in their lips, than in their hearts and ways ? Such overtures of their great sufficiency to rule, we think are sufficient cautions to the State, to deny them that royal crown which they so earnestly desire. Were they accommodated in all things to their heart''s content, they would soon make the best to feel, what most do fear, that the little finger of their Discipline would be thicker than their predecessors"' loins. The sound- est Christians in the land could not escape their rods and scorpions, had they as good authority to punish heresies and blasphemies how they please, as they have a faculty to make heresies and blasphemies of xohat they please. " One thing further we desire the reader to notice : They press us with the most prevailing motives, to do that which they judge to be unlawful for us to do. The power of tlie keys by divine rights is a chief royalty of that sacred empire for which they, with others of their order, contend so stre- nuously as to make the foundations of the land to tremble under them. For any to intermeddle herein, with uncon- secrated hands, is the abomination of their souls. And yet, though they cannot but know that not one drop of their consecrated oil hath touched our heads, they charge us, as we regard the honour of God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the authority of the Spirit, to execute the highest cen- sure not only against the consent, but upon the person of our only Elder. Whether they have not hereby insinuated, that they can speak any thing, do any thing, command any thing, to serve a turn, we leave themselves to determine. They can find in their hearts to shake a main pillar of 138 I^T^E 07 their Babel, or sufFer their jus divimm to fall to the o-round, so the man of their hatred might fall with it. " We have turned their injunction upside down ; we have viewed it oti all sides ; and find it in every respect abhorrent to all principles of ingenuity, civility, reason, and religion. To perpetrate such a deed of darkness against him whom God hath made more precious to us than our lives, is far more grievous than to cut off our right hands, and to pluck out our right eyes. We could open our mouths yet seven times wider on his behalf, but are unwilling to provoke his enemies any further, in reflecting shame upon their weak- ness and folly, by the light of his life and conversation." * Such was the manly ardour of Mr. Goodwin in the sacred cause of Rehgious Liberty, the formidable opposition he had to encounter, and the generous promptitude of his friends to shield him from those poisoned arrows which intolerance discharged by a thousand hands. It is to the operation of the principles which he inculcated and de- fended with such disinterestedness, perseverance, and abihty, that we are indebted for the abolition of those persecutions that were formerly practised in this country under the sanction of law, arid were so immensely injurious to com- merce, morals and religion. To the same cause must be attributed those legislative enactments, by which the rights of conscience are guarded, and in consequence of which the nation has gradually risen to an unprecedented elevation of wealth and power. Under the protection of toleration laws, this country has been the theatre of a revival of vital Chris- tianity, such as the Church has not witnessed since the earhest ages : a revival that has given birth to pious and charitable Institutions unexampled in the history of man, and which bid fair to introduce the universal reign of righteousness and peace. * This important document bears the following signatures : Robert Smith, Mark Hildesley, Robert Saunders, Thomas Davenish, William Mountague, William Allen, Joseph Gallant, Thomas Lamb, William Godfrey" John Dye, Daniel Taylor, James Paris, Thomas Norman, Bai-- iholomew Lavender, Richard Priece, Thomas Morris, John Price, Richard Arnald, Henry Overton, Philip Webberley. JOHN GOODWIN'. 139 'Tis liberty alone, that gives the flower Of fleeting life its lustre and perfume ; And we are weeds without it. All constraint. Except what wisdom lays on evil men. Is evil : hurts the faculties, impedes Their progress in the road of science ; blinds The eyesight of discovery; and begets In those that sufi'er it a sordid mind Bestial, a meagre intellect, unfit To be the tenant of man's noble form. While British Christians therefore are happy in the en- joyment of rehgious liberty, and in the delightful anticipa- tion of its final results ; and while they justly cherish the memory of the Miltons and the Lockes, who have demon- strated this blessing to be the birth-right of every human being, let them not forget to pay a small tribute of respect to the name of John Goodwin: He not only belonged to the same honourable fraternity, but was an elder brother. Nor would it be easy to produce any English writer, who understood the doctrine of religious freedom better than he, or who has argued in its defence with greater consistency and zeal. The grand principles contained even in Locke's far-famed Letter concerning Toleration, are clearly deve- loped and ably supported in the writings of Mr. Goodwin. It is also a fact, that he had published at least six tracts in which he had defended universal liberty of conscience, two years before Dr. Owen sent into the world his first piece on Toleration, for which he has been so highly praised. " The persecution of saints ;" says he, " the rough hand- ling of tender consciences ; the lifting up of religion upon a sword's point; violenced conformities; uniformities enforced; quenching of proceedings in the knowledge of truth ; bind- ing up of judgments in synodical decrees; standing upon ceremonies to the prejudice of the substance, as when the gospel must not be preached because such and such hands have not been imposed ; the lording over the hcritao-e of Christ ; these have been the abhorrencies of my former years as well as of my latter." -f- t Inexcusableness of Antapalogia, Preface. 140 LIFE OF Wlicn Mr. Goodwin first published his views on these topics, and found the world up in arms against him on this account, commiserating their folly and sin, he remarked, " It is matter of sad contemplation, to see what commotions, tumults, and combustions are presently raised in the minds of men upon the birth of any truth into the world, concern- ing which there is the least jealousy that, in case it should reign, it would rack them from off' their old customs : to see what hurryings up and down ; what engaging of par- ties ; what enquiring after parts and abilities ; what ramb- ling over authors old and new ; what incensing of Autho- rity ; what straining of wits and consciences ; what slighting of solid arguments ; what evading of substantial and clear interpretations of Scripture ; what magnifying of those that are strained and far-fetched ; what casting abroad of calum- nies and reproaches ; what misrepresentations of opinions, sayings, actions ; what shiftings, what blendings, what colourings, what disgracings, what persecutions ; what appealings to fire, sword, prisons, banishment, confiscations; and all to turn a beam of light and glory into darkness and shame — to keep a new-born truth from ruling over them. As soon as Herod the King heard that Christ was born, and that wise men from the East were come to worship him, enquiring after him as a King, he was troubled and alt Jerusalem with him."" * * Innocency and Truth, Preface. JOHN GOODWIN. 141 CHAPTER V. Mr. Goodwin^s Calvinist'ical education — Doctrines of Cah'in as slated lij him- self- — Mr. Goodwin's abandonment of them, and adoption of the Arminian scheme — Principles by which he was guided in this procedure — The mag~ nanimitij displayed on this occasion — Circumstances which led to this change in his theological opinions — Samuel Lane's " Vindication of Free Grace" — Mr. Goodwin's defence (f himself against the charge of culpable instability — His " Divine Authority of the bcriptures Asserted" — £.1- trctctsfrom that work — Charges preferred against him by Fifty-tivo of the London Clergy, in their " Testiinony to the Truth of Jesus Christ" — Inaccuracif of' Mr. Neal — Mr. Goodwin's " Sion-College Visited" — Extracts J rom that pamphlet — Dr. Hammond's difence of himself against the accusations of the London Clergy — William Jenkyns's attack upon Mr. Goodwin — Mr. Goodwin's " Novice- Presbyter Instructed" — Infa- mous publication of John Vicars. The circumstances in which men are individually placed are so greatly diversified, and so variously are their minds constituted, that on almost every subject upon which their reasoning faculties can be exercised, they have enter- tained opposite and conflicting opinions. In the most enlightened state of society, both in ancient and in modern times, discordant sects of philosophers have existed, and contended with each other ; and in the Christian Church, men of equal learning, talents and piety, have differed in their views concerning several of the doctrines of divine Revelation : nor are the instances few in which men of supe- rior mental endowments have been compelled by the power of conviction, to retract sentiments to which they had yielded their cordial assent, and to embrace a creed to which they were once strongly averse. If a judgment may be formed from the past, there is no reason to believe that Chris- tians will ever be brought to think alike on all subjects, during their present imperfect state of existence. The wisest and be«t of men " know but in part," and " see 142 LllE OF through a glass darkly." These facts, so humiliating to the human intellect, are replete with instruction, especially to those religionists of every class, who, although they pos- sess no requisite qualifications for a calm and profound investigation of any branch of knowledge, either human or divine, weakly imagine that truth is confided to them alone, and that wisdom will become extinct when they cease to dogmatize. Of all the controversies which have agitated the Christian Church, there is not one which is more deeply interesting in itself, or in whose range greater difficulties are compre- hended, than that which respects the nature and order of the Divine Decrees. In the discussion of these topics several of the greatest theologians in Europe have spent a consider- able part of their lives, without bringing their respective parties nearer to each other in their modes of thinking. Among the English divmes who have taken an active part in this controversy, Mr. Goodwin is eminently distinguished. In command of temper, depth of learning, comprehension of thought, and cogency of reasoning, he is scarcely inferior to any polemical writer whatever ; and in all these respects is vastly superior to a large majority of literary and theologi- cal combatants. It has been already observed, that, in the early part of his life, he held the doctrine of the absolute predestination of some men, personally considered, to eternal life, and of others to endless misery ; as taught in the voluminous writ- ings of Calvin, and especially in his " Institutes of the Christian Religion." This celebrated reformer and learned man says, " Predestination we call the eternal decree of God, by which he hath determined in himself, what he would have to become of every individual of mankind. For tliey are not all created with a similar destiny ; but eternal life is fore-ordained to some, and eternal damnation for others. Every man therefore, being created for one or the other of these ends, we say, he is predestinated either to life or to death." * * Institulcsj Lib. iii. cap. 21. Allen's Translation. JOHN GOODVVIX. 143 " Many indeed, as if they wished to avert odium from God, admit election in such a way as to deny that any one is reprobated. But this is puerile and absurd, because elec- tion itself could not exist without being opposed to reproba- tion. God is said to separate those whom he adopts to salvation. To say, that others obtain by chance, or acquire by their own efforts, that which election alone confers on a few, will be worse than absurd. Whom God passes by therefore he reprobates, and from no other cause than his determination to exclude them from the inheritance which he predestines for his children.'''' "j* " Foolish mortals enter into many contentions with God, as though they could arraign him to plead to their accusa- tions. In the first place they enquire, by what right the Lord is angry with his creatures who had not provoked him by any previous offence ; for that to devote to destruction whom he pleases, is more like the caprice of a tyrant, than the lawful sentence of a judge ; that men have reason, there- fore, to expostulate with God, if they are predestinated to eternal death without any demerit of their own, merely by his sovereio-n will. If such thoughts ever enter the minds of pious men, they will be sufficiently able to break their violence by this one consideration, how exceedingly pre- sumptuous it is only to enquire into the causes of the divine will ; which is in fact, and is j ustly entitled to be, the cause of every thing that exists.*''';]: " If, therefore, we can assign no reason why he grants mercy to his people but such is his pleasure, neither shall we find any other cause but his will for the reprobation of others. For when God is said to harden or shew mercy to whom he pleases, men are taught by this declaration to seek no other cause beside his will." || " That the reprobate obey not the word of God, when made known to them, is justly imputed to the wickedness and depravity of their hearts, provided it be at the same time t Ibid. Lib. iii. cap. 23. % Ibid. 1| Ibid. Lib. iii. cap. 22. 144 LIFK OF Stated, that they are abandoned to this depravity, because they have been raised up by a just but inscrutable judgment of God to display his glory in their condemnation.*" * " When the impious hear these things, they loudly com- plain that God, by a wanton exercise of power, abuses his wretched creatures for the sport of his cruelty. But we, who know that all men are liable to many charges at the Divine tribunal, that of a thousand questions they would be unable to give a satisfactory answer to one, confess that the reprobate suffer nothing but what is consistent with the most righteous judgment of God. Though we cannot compre- hend the reason of this, let us be content with some degree of ignorance where the wisdom of God soars into its own sublimity."" -f- Various attempts have been made by the disciples of Calvin, to modify their master''s doctrine, so as to render it less revolting to the minds of those who have not been initi- ated into its mysteries, and whom he was accustomed to denominate " dogs" and " swine :" but such was the frank and ingenuous manner in which he expressed his sentiments on the awful subject of predestination. It was the full conviction of his mind, that Almighty God has from eter- nity appointed the endless destiny^of every human being, by an absolute and irrespective decree. Such an appointment, he contended, was perfectly compatible with the moral attributes of the blessed God ; though he confessed his inability to reconcile the decree of reprobation with the divine equity and mercy, and therefore resolved the whole into the sovereign and inscrutable Will of God. Calvin's system of theology, which was the orthodoxy of Mn Goodwin's Puritanical contemporaries, gained such an ascendency over his mind, through the influence of educa- tion, that, like many others of the same school, he applied the doctrine of absolute reprobation not only to adult persons, but even to children who die in their * Ibid. Lib. iii. cap. 24. f Ibid. JOHN GOODWIN. V4i5 infancy. * There are men, says he, " who teach, that there are some reprobates, and these not a few neither, towards whom God sheweth no patience or long-sufferance at all ; imagining that many infants of days, yea and many imme- diately from the womb, are sent to the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone for evermore. My soul hath once been in the secret of these men, but let it never enter there- into more." -j- Having been taught to regard the Calvinian doctrine as a part of the intellectual bread provided by the God of hea- ven for the spiritual nourishment of his intelligent oflPspring, Mr. Goodwin endeavoured so to feed upon it as to " grow thereby" in personal rehgion. " But the truth is," says he, " I found it ever and anon gravellish in my mouth, and cor- roding and fretting to my bowels. Notwithstanding, the high esteem I had of many of those who prepared it, and fed upon it themselves, together with a raw and ill-digested conceit that there was no better bread to be had, prevailed upon me to content myself therewith for a long time, though not without some regret of discontentment." | It is not therefore surprising, that, as he advanced in years and knowledge, and his judgment became more matured, like several of the greatest divines in Europe, he abandoned those opinions concerning predestination in which he had been educated, and which he had inculcated in the early years of his public ministry. Considering every Christian preacher as a steward, to whom the doctrines of salvation are committed in trust for the benefit of his hearers, and taking the Apostle of the Gentiles as an example of ministerial fidelity, Mr. Goodwin resolved to " declare the whole counsel of God," so far as he was acquainted with it, and to " keep back" from the people * "Many, from the guilt and depravity with which infants are born, have hastily inferred the certaintv of their future misery. An attempt has lately been made to revive this uncomfortable notion, to the no small distress of some individuals, particularly of parents bleeding with recent bereavements." Infant Salvation : An Essay, Preface, 1793. f Exposition of the Ninth Chapter to the Romans, p. 265, Edit. 1653. X Redemption Redeemed, Preface. L 146 Lll'li OF committed to his charge nothing that was profitable. All the doctrines of Christianity he regarded as designed and adapted to promote the moral improvement as well as the personal happiness of mankind ; and he was too deeply impressed with the awful responsibility attached to his office, to imagine himself at liberty to conceal any branch of revealed truth, either in compliance with the wishes of his friends, or on any account whatever. His faithfulness in this respect was highly exemplary, and worthy of universal imitation. Among other rules by which he was guided in the interpretation of the Sacred Oracles, and in the conse- quent formation of his creed, there is one which is worthy of deep attention, and is thus stated by himself: " I shall make my reader so far of my council, as to give him t6 know, that when the letter of Scripture hath for a time left me in a strait between contrary opinions, (a condition that bath more than once befallen me,) that brief periphrasis or description of the Gospel, which the apostle delivers, calling it aX-xiS-sias- rny aacr svas^siav, the truth ich'ich is accoj'ding to godliness; hath upon serious consideration, oft delivered me, and brought me to such a clear under- standing of the letter itself, wherein before I was entangled, that I evidently, and with the greatest satisfaction I could desire, discerned the mind of God therein; and that with full consonancy to the ordinary manner of speaking in the Scripture upon a like occasion. Having this touchstone by an unerring hand given unto me, that the gospel is a truth according to godliness, that is, a body of truth calculated and framed by God, in all the veins and parts of it, for the exaltation of Godliness in the world, I was directed hereby, in the case of doctrines incompatible between themselves, to own tliat as the truth the face whereof was in the clearest and directest manner set for the promotion of godliness amongst men, and to refuse that which stood in opposition hereunto. Nor did I find it any matter of much difficulty, especially in such cases wherein I most desired satisfaction, to determine which of the opinions, competitors for my con- sent, was the greater friend to godliness. That knowledge JOHN GOODWIN. 147 which God hath given me of the Scriptures, — the experi- mental knowledge I had of mine own heart, — that long observation I had made of the spirits, principles, and ways of men, — their ebbings and flowings, risings and fallings, advancings and retreats, in matters of religion, — in conjunc- tion with that light of reason and understanding which I liave in common with other men ; these were sufficient to teach me, and that with a plenary satisfaction in most cases, what doctrines are of the most cordial sympathy and com- pliance with godliness ; and what, on the other hand, are but faint and loose in their correspondency with her, or secret enemies to her." * In the application of this principle, and in the study of the Holy Scriptures, Mr. Goodwin proceeded with the utmost caution; but still with a fixed determination to follow the light of truth in whatever direction it might lead him. " I learned this Christian principle," says he, " from a Heathen philosopher : ^ix tny ay^n'bsicx.v Isi y.a.i rx oiKctx svxipeiv : A man must be content to sacrifice even his oxen sayings and opinions npon the service of the truth.'''' ^ When therefore it had become the full conviction of his mind, that the Calvinian doctrine of election and reproba- tion, was not only destitute of scriptural authority, but, when received as a principle of action and applied to prac- tical purposes, was unfriendly in its influence upon personal religion ; he did not hesitate to renounce it, and to maintain with Arminius, That whatever partiality the blessed God may display in the gratuitous distribution of talents amongst men, and in the bestowment of religious advantages, during their probationship in this world ; his Decrees, according to wlrich thew Eternal States will be appointed, though absolute and unchangeable in themselves, are Respective of Character^ and therefore conditional in their application to individuals. According to his apprehension, God has immutably decreed to elect or choose to eternal life all that believe in Jesus Christ, and to reprobate or abandon to endless misery all that neg- * Redemption Redeemed, p. 208, Edit. 1G51. X Water-Dipping, p. 68. 148 Ml'E OF lect or refuse to believe in him : graciously affording them at the same time, every requisite assistance for the acquisi- tion and continued exercise of that faith upon which their everlasting happiness is suspended. In the open avowal of these sentiments he repeatedly declares, that nothing but a solemn conviction of duty could possibly induce him to con- tradict opinions which so many of his brethren regarded as the sacred truths of revelation. " My love to the souls of men," says he, " is such, that I cannot knowingly suffer any suspicious doctrine, or loose opinion in the things of God, to pass through the world near to me, unexamined ; especially when any considerable number of men are like to suffer : which, though it be a thankless engagement, and very obnoxious to those who love ease or honour more than clearness of judgment and pureness of mind, is a proper and effectual course to preserve the gospel from that inter- mixture of error, which commonly issueth from supine incogitancy and sloth in those who are entrusted with the ministry of it." * It is scarcely possible for British Christians in the present age to form an adequate conception of the magnanimity displayed by Mr. Goodwin in the open renunciation of the Calvinistic system, and in the avowed adoption of Armini- anism. To divest the mind of principles which were imbibed in early life as incontrovertible truths, and have been asso- ciated with the feelings of the heart during a series of years, is at all times a difficult task. Such a procedure generally excites a suspicion of mental imbecility and a want of deci- sion, and thus raises " the world's dread laugh," the magic of which not every one is able to withstand. The antici- pation of this must be extremely revolting to the mind of a minister whose labours are confined to one congregation : for how strong soever may be his conviction in his study, that some of his theological principles are untenable ; yet as they have been identified with evangelical truth in the con- stant tenor of his ministry, frequently applied to the pur- * Divine Authority of the Scriptures, Dedication. .Tons: GoonwTN' 149 poses of personal godliness, and enforced by the paramount authority of Scripture ; how can he bear the thought of retracting and opposing them in the pulpit ? especially when the probability is, tliat his j udgment will thus be brought into disrepute among his hearers, and the tone of his minis- terial authority considerably lowered. In reference to this subject, the peculiarity of Mr. Goodwin''s circumstances should also be taken into the account. He was twenty-five years of age when the Dutch Arminians were condemned as heretics by men reputed orthodox, who constituted the Synod of Dort ; when the clergy of that denomination in Holland, Avho refused to abjure their creed or to renounce their office, were sent into banishment, as unworthy of a place in civil society ; when those of them who returned to their native land were condemned to perpetual imprison- ment, and such as were found attending their ministry, though but in a private house or in a forest, were plundered of their property, and in many cases put to death. Such was the representation given of the dangerous tendency of Arminianism, by the predestinarians of that age, that neither the piety of the venerable Uitenbogaert, nor the talents and integrity of Corvinus and Episcopius, could secure those excellent men and their associates from the vengeance of the ecclesiastical and the civil power. Mr. Goodwin had indeed seen some of the Arminian doctrines patronized by dignita- ries of the English Church ; but the character of those men had covered their religious sentiments with odium. Those dignitaries had been distinguished as the friends of arbi- trary power, had treated the Puritans witli great severity and injustice, and were vehemently accused of a design to subvert the Protestant religion, and to introduce a system of refined Popery in its stead. After the subversion of the hierarchy, there were also several divines of great learning and talents, who held most of the distinguishing tenets of Arminianism ; but as they were linflexible loyalists, they were stigmatized as " malignants," and driven into obscu- rity by the scourge of persecution. The great body of Mr. Goodwin's Puritanical friends and connections viewed l3 150 LIFE OF Arminianism, at the period when he adopted that system, as a deadly east-wind, which, when permitted by angry heaven to blow upon the garden of the church, withers every flower, and produces a general blight. Or rather, they regarded it as a region Where all life dies, death lives, and nature breeds. Perverse, all monstrous, all prodigious things. Abominable, imutterable, and worse Than fables yet have feign'd or fear conceiv'd, Gorgons, and Hydras, and Chimaeras dire. Hence in the cant of several of the old Puritans, Prelacy and Arminianism are not unusually associated with blasphemy, profaneness, and Atheism ! Such however was the power of conviction in the mind of Mr. Goodwin that, with all these difficulties and discouragements before him, at the advanced age of fifty years, he abandoned the school of Calvinian theology, and boldly preached Christ as the infi- nitely gracious Redeemer of All Mankind. The manner in which Mr. Goodwin was led to the adop- tion of the Arminian system is not unworthy of attention. While he was in possession of his vicarage, he delivered a series of discourses from the pulpit in defence of the pecu- liar doctrines of Calvinism. These discourses were numer- ously attended, and excited considerable interest in London. In the last of them, which was delivered on the 12th of April, 1644, he was understood to have advanced a principle favourable to those tenets, which it was his avowed object to confute. This circumstance roused the feelings of one of his auditors, a warm young man, recently returned from the army, of the name of Samuel Lane ; who attacked him in a pamphlet, entitled, " A Vindication of Free Grace, in Op- position to this Arminian position : Natural men may do such thing's as whereunto God hath hy tcay of promise, an- nexed Grace and Acceptation ; first preached, and after asserted, at Stephen's, Coleman-street." This tract which bears the date of 1645, is dedicated to the members of Mr. Goodwin's church, who are represented as having made a remarkable proficiency in christian knowledge. joiix GOODwrx. 151 Lane appears, before his entrance into the army, to have been a regular attendant upon Mr. Goodwin''s ministry, and a passionate admirer of him in every respect. Having how- ever become, as it should seem, more zealous in his attach- ment to the peculiarities of Calvinism, by attending the ministry of military chaplains and officers, he imagined on bis return, that he was wiser than his teacher, whom he considered now as not quite orthodox. Deeming himself also qualified to handle a pen as well as a musket, and able to decide the quinquarticular controversy, he assumed the character of a theological combatant, and entered the lists with his vicar. His conduct was the more reprehensible, considering; that he had derived his relio-ious knowledge and impressions from Mr. Goodwin's preaching, and had re- ceived from him many tokens of " respect,*" which he acknowledges to have been " utterly undeserved."" The publication of his incoherent rhapsody against his spiritual pastor, his friend, and the guide of his youth, he neverthe- less deemed to be amply justified by three considerations: " First," says he, " because his disputings upon this matter have been highly approved of by many ; whereof divers give this testimony, that lie hath cut the hair between other divines and Arminians. Yea, l\Ir. Goodwin told me, he was much desired to print his disputes against the Armini- ans, so highly are they esteemed ; in the last of which disputes, the ensuing error was pleaded for. " But secondly, and specially, there are, as it is con- ceived, thousands now amongst us, who hold that grand error. That God hath jjrojnised grace upon mail's doing. Two of that sect, discoursing with a reverend divine of this city, told him, that in holding this tenet, they held but that which Master John Goodwin maintains; in whom they greatly glory. Now it is not easy to conceive how great mischief the preaching and arguing of so eminent a person for that error may do, to the confirming of men therein ; especially if we consider how highly he hath gratified the maintainers thereof in another way also, as namely, by his earnest pleading for a toleration of any sect whatsoever. 152 LIFE OF " Thirdly, I might add the consideration of his so often pressing that error, not only three several Lord's-Days, but also in some of his last exei'cises against the Arminians Yea further, it hath been often acknow- ledged, by a known member of Mr. Goodwin's church, that about seven years ago, he preached the same matter ; and that then divers able divines of this city did affirm to Mr. Goodwin, that he preached Arminianism. Seeing then this error, together with its defensive arguments, have been with great zeal so often inculcated, for a more sure and thorough distilling the same into the minds of the hearers, hence it is necessary not only to declaim against it, but tanquam digito monstrare, so distinctly and directly to point it out, as that all such hearers may have peculiar admonishment hereof, and that by mentioning the publisher of it." Summoned to the bar of the public, to ar»swer for an imputed error, Mr. Goodwin was prompted to a more mi- nute investigation of the controversy concerning " the five points;" the deliberate and conscientious study of which gradually led to that revolution of sentiment in his mind which has been already stated. To these facts he alludes in the following passage : " That which first turned to a sharp engagement upon me, to search more thoroughly than I had done, into [these] controversies was, a pamphlet pub- lished by a young man about five or six years since, under the title of ' A Vindication of Free Grace ;' which, though libellous enough, and full of broad untruths ; yet, being fiercely set against me, and my doctrine, it was lifted up as near to heaven as Herod's oration, by the applause of per- sons in and about the city, whose ways in matters of discip- line, and thoughts in more weighty points of religion, my understanding would never serve me to make mine. Being for a time under a conscientious resentment of a necessity lying upon me, to publish some answer to the said pamphlet, as well the person as the doctrine therein stigmatized being innocent of the crimes charged upon them ; I drew up a competent answer as I supposed, with the perusal whereof I was willing, upon request, to gratify some private friends. JOHN r.ooDwix, 153 amongst whom it lay dormant for a time. In the interim, perceiving that the noise which the pamphlet had made, was like the crackling of thorns under a pot, and the heat of the tumultuary rejoicings occasioned by it had exhaled and spent itself, I began to consider, that the answer I had prepared (a good part of it being taken up in proving the pamphleteer tardy in several reports made by him in matters of fact, the knowledge whereof I conceived of slender edifi- cation, and the detection of him in such unworthy practices might be offensive to some of his friends whom I respected,) might in some respects rather cumber than benefit the world, in case it were published. And considering further, that the matters of real weight and consequence insisted upon in the answer, being handled only according to the exigency of the particulars of my charge, might with more advantage be discoursed in an entire treatise, I changed my intention of publishing the answer, into a resolution of declaring my judgment about the doctrinal imputations spccifiei against me, more at large. This resolution continuing, seconded and strengthened with further light shining into my heart daily, from the Father of Lights, hath given life to the ensuing treatise." This account is given by Mr. Goodwin in the preface to his " Redemption Redeemed," which bears the date of February 12th, 1650 ; and ascertains with sufficient ex- actness the time of his conversion to the Arminian system. Though our author declined to publish a formal answer to Lane's book, he was not silent on the subject of which it treats. In regard to the accusation preferred against him, as having asserted " That natural men may do things whereunto God hath, by way of promise, annexed grace and acceptation ;" he says, " A most dangerous error ! and of as sad consequence as that which was charged upon Paul, when his adversaries accused him for teaching. That they were no gods, which were made with hands. For doubtless men are natural before they are spiritual ; and spiritual they cannot be made, but by Believing ; and to Believing, we all confess, God hath promised grace and acceptation. But 154< LIFE OF till I have an opportunity to give a more full account to tlie world of my judgment about the freedom, or bondage rather, of the will, and power of nature in order to salva- tion ; I desire to publish this as my belief in the point : That no man,, since thejxdl, ever did, or ever icill Believe unto salvation, hut only htj the assistance of the special grace of God. If this be an opinion heterodox, I confess I am not orthodox in the point." * The generality of people, being almost constantly em- ployed in the management of secular business, and there- fore unaccustomed to deep and long-continued attention to subjects of abstract speculation, have little conception either of the difficulties connected with many theological questions, or of the mental exercises of learned and studious men. Having formed their own religious opinions rather from catechisms and the dogmas of their teachers, than from a minute and critical study of the Holy Scriptures, and sel- dom or never enquiring into the reasons of things, they naturally imagine that a change of religious sentiment im- plies a reprehensible instability of character. Such an assumption, however, is a mere vulgar error ; since it sup- poses that those who are entrusted with the edu cation of youth, never inculcate erroneous principles, and that no man can be wiser in advanced age than he was in his boyish days. Besides, Avhat, in all human probability, wovdd have been the present state of the Christian world, had Luther, and Melancthon, and Cranmer, and Knox, and Calvin, together with their noble co-adjutors, resolved through the whole period of their lives, to entertain the same religious opinions ? Convinced of the importance of Divine truth, and of their liability to error, these eminent men made a solemn appeal from the dogmas of Popery in which they had been nurtured, to the Inspired Writings ; in consequence of which they openly renoimced many of their former prin-, ciples, and laboured to establish the faith they had •• endea-. voured to destroy. The benefits arising to the cause of * Divine Authority of the Scriptures, p. 26, Edit. 1648. JOHN GOODAVIX. 155 Christianity, and to society at large, from such a procedure in them, are important beyond conception, and have in- vested their names with unfading glory. The bare circum- stance, therefore, of a man's renunciation of his former sentiments, implies no just reflection upon his character. When a man indeed neglects the Holy Scriptures, and is therefore " tossed about with every wind of doctrine," or when he changes his creed for temporal emolument or the gratification of his vanity, he sinks into merited disrespect : but when a minister, considering himself accountable to the Head of the Church for every position he advances in the pulpit, abandons any particular system of doctrine through a patient and conscientious study of the Bible, and this with the certain prospect of suffering the " loss of all things ;" whatever may be thought of his creed, his integrity entitles him to general esteem. Such, precisely, was the case of Mr. Goodwin. Had he forsaken the doctrines of Calvin when Laud patronized the Arminian tenets, a suspicion might have existed, that he had changed sides for the sake of preferment. But he made no avowal of the Arminian system, till its adherents were left without a patron, and those of them who had enjoyed benefices in the church were driven from their pulpits, and persecuted with relentless severity. Free from every bias of secular interest, his con- version to Arminianism can be viewed in no other light, than as the result of deliberate enquiry, and an act of obe- dience to the high authority of conscience. Instead however of paying him that respect which is due to every honest man, several of his contemporaries endea- voured to excite popular feeling against him, by an incessant repetition of the charge of instability ; intimating that as he had been educated in the school of Calvinian theology, and had yielded to its doctrines the assent of his understanding, his arguments in favour of General Redemption were unworthy of serious regard. In reference to this subject, he says, " I crave leave to add a few words concerning the change of my judgment in the great controversy about the Death of Christ, (with the rest depending hereon,) by way of answer 15G LIFE OF to those who represent my present judgment as httle vakia- ble, because it sometimes stood in a contrary way. Though I know nothing in the allegation subservient to the purpose mentioned, but rather much against it, yet let me say, (1.) That however sin and an evil conversation are just matter of shame, repentance and amendment are truly lionourable. Nor do I know why it should be of any more a disparaging interpretation against any man, to reform his judgment than his life ; neither of which can be done with- out a change. Nor (2.) can I resent any such conformity with my adored Saviour, which consists in an increase of zdsdojn, any matter of disparagement either to myself or any other man. Though He indeed was never prevented •with error, yet was he post-enriched with many things. A man can hardly ' grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord," without out-growing himself in judgment and understanding ; without making straight many things in his mind, which were crooked before. (3.) That chosen vessel Paul never quitted himself like a man, never consulted peace and glory to himself, till he built up again that faith which he had destroyed. Nor was his authority in the Gospel a whit lighter upon the balance, because he had once been a Pharisee. (4.) I desire to ask the men who make the change of my judgment a spot of weakness or vileness in it. Whether themselves were always in the same mind touching all things with themselves at present ? If so, it plainly argues, that their thoughts and apprehensions now that they are men, are but such which are incident to children. And if, since their coming to riper years, they have always stood, and are resolved always to stand, by their first thoughts and apprehensions in all things, it is a sign that their judgments reside more in their wills, than their wills in their judgments, and that they are much more likely to judge according to appearance, than to judge righteous judgment. Yea, there are very few of those who call themselves Ministers of the Gospel, but many times when they preach, within the compass of an hour, either change their judgments or deny them ; their doct7'me being Sama- JOHN GOODWIN. 157 ritan, when their application is a Jew. (5.) If to dig broken cisterns with the forsaking of the Fountain of hving water, be the committing of a double evil, how shall not a re- coursing to the Fountain of living water, in conjunction with a forsaking of broken cisterns, be the practising of a double duty ? To forsake an error is one duty, and to embrace truth is another : whereas to persist in the same mind, sup- pose it to be sound and good, is but a single duty. There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine which need no repentance. That which is an occasion of multiplied rejoicing in heaven, why should it be matter of complaint, charge, or imputation upon earth ? (6.) He is the most likely to give a right judgment between two countries, who hath been an inhabitant of l)oth, and hath acquainted himself with the respective conditions of both. In like manner, it is so far from being a reason why a man's present judgment should be rejected, that he hath been of a contrary judgment formerly, that it rendereth it the more considerable, and competent to discern aright between the opinions with which it hath been thoroughly and upon a conscientious engagement, acquainted. It is a true saying of the Heathen Philosopher, ' Every man is able to judge Avell of those things which he knoweth.' But when a man, having a long time known and professed an opinion, by the profession whereof he enjoyed peace, credit, wealth, love and respects from men of all sorts, and was in a fair way to lift up his head yet higher in the world, by continu- ance in the profession ; shall, notwithstanding, relent in his judgment, quit this opinion, and profess that which is op- posite to it, wherein he could not but conclude beforehand, that he should lose credit, friends, all hopes of preferment, — when a man shall change his judgment upon such terms as these, it is a strong argument that he thoroughly under- stands the spiritual danger of that opinion which he for- sakes, as Avell as the truth and goodness of that which he embraceth. Therefore, (7.) as David replied to Michal, when she upbraided him with a deportment by which, as she apprehended, he made himself contemptible, / xvill be 153 LIFE OF yet more vile ; so, the grace of God assisting me, if the changing of my judgment upon such terms as I have done, in tlie controversies mentioned, rendereth me or my judg- ment contemptible, I am resolved upon the like occasion, to make both it and myself more contemptible, by cutting off from my soul error after error, as fast as they shall be discovered, and by changing my judgment as oft as I shall thoroughly understand, that my spiritual interest doth require it. It shall be one of my chief exercises to diminish daily the number of my errors, by making a frequent and diligent survey of my judgment, and by separating the vile from the precious, till no misprision at all of God, or of any of his things, if it be possible, be found in me." * In addition to these remarks, which display a mind more in love with truth, than with ease, or honour, or Avealth, it may not be improper to observe, that several of the greatest divines that have adorned the different Protestant Churches, have vmdergone a change of sentiment concerning the ex- tent of the Divine Philanthropy, similar to that which was experienced by Mr. Goodwin. Of this number, among many others, were Melancthon, Arminius, Tilenus, Dr. Thomas Jackson, Dr. Goad, Mr. Hoard, Dr. Christopher Potter, The ever-memorable Hales of Eton, Dr. Thomas Pierce, Bishop Sanderson, Archbishop Usher, and Dr. "VV hitby : men of deep and various learning, accustomed to read the Scriptures in their original languages, familiar with the writings of the Christian Fathers, well skilled in the laws of argumentation, and accurately acquainted with every scheme of predestination that had been previously advanced. To be associated with such characters, can be no dishonour to any man. After the doctrines of Arminius had gained the assent of Mr. Goodwin''s mind, he preached them to his people in the ordinary course of his ministry ; but it does not appear that he distinctly announced them to the world as " the articles of his belief," till the year 1648, when he published his * Kedemption Redeemed, Preface. JOHN COODWIX, 1^59 treatise entitled, " TJie Divine Authority of tlie Scriptures Asserted ; and tlie Great Charter of the World's Blessed- ness Vindicated." In this singularly curious and valuable volume the author has embodied the substance of those arguments in proof of the divine authority of the Scriptures, which he had formerly advanced from the pulpit with such ennnent success. It contains many new and surprisino- thoughts, and ingenious and interesting remarks upon vari- ous passages of Holy Writ ; and may be read with great advantage even by those who are conversant with the elaborate productions of our more modern apologists for revealed truth. The renowned Baxter, who had paid pro- found attention to the evidences of the Christian Kevelation, pronounces this an " excellent book," and repeatedly re- commends the perusal of it to those who desire to have a thorough knowledge of the foundation upon which their faith is built. * In this treatise Mr. Goodwin unequivocally asserts the glorious doctrine of General Redemption, and the conse- quent salvability of all mankind ; and contends, that the salvation of men in every instance is conditional. " If a Kmg," says he, " having caused a man's legs to be cut off, suppose he hath done it in a way of Justice, yet if he should urge, press, and persuade such a man, to run a race with those that are swift of foot, and promise him, with many expressions of love, exceeding great rewards if he would come as soon to the goal as they that run with him ; this would be a carriage savouring more of unmanlike insolency over the poor wretch in his misery, than of any real affec- tion towards him, or any desire of his good. In like man- ner, to conceive that God applleth himself with such moving and melting expressions of mercy, tenderness of bowels^ love, grace, bounty, towards his creature man, as the Scrip- ture emphatically asserts that he doth ; promising them life and glory if they will believe and turn to him ; and yet to » Reasons ofthe Christian Religion, p. 453. Edit. 1667. Saints' Ever- lasting Rest, p. 267. Edit, 1C69. 160 LIFE OF suppose that these men, to whom he maketh these rich applications of himself, are destitute of all power to do what he requires of them, is to represent the glorious God, in his greatest expressions of mercy, grace, and love, rather as laughing the world to scorn in that great misery wherein it is plunged, than as a God truly desirous and intending to relieve it ; his professions of love, grace, and favour not- withstanding. Some indeed imagine, that they see such a face of God as this in the glass of the gospel : but, God giving life and opportunity, we shall demonstratively prove in due time, that all such conceptions are most unworthy of God, and wholly inconsistent with those things which the Scriptures teach, as well concerning him, as those gracious abilities which he hath indulgently conferred upon men through the Second Adam, notwithstanding their fall in the first."* " God having received that obedience from the hand of Jesus Christ, which is every way as considerable in matter of glory to him, as the sin of man was in dishonour and provocation ; he may, without the least disparagement to his holiness, wisdom, or any other attribute, offer terms of reconciliation and peace to him that hath provoked him. Not as if God were bound presently to forgive men their sins, and to take them into special favour, because of what Christ hath suifered for them ; which seems to be the sense of many : Christ did not satisfy for any man''s sins, in such a sense, or upon such terms. But Christ is said to have made an atonement for the sins of men, because he hath so far pacified and reconciled God to the world, that he is willing, notwithstanding their great sin, and affront put upon him, to offer terms of life and peace ; yet so, that they who will not condescend, or rather indeed that will not ascend, to the terms offered by him, that is, that will not Believe, shall have no further benefit by any thing he hath either done or suffered for them. Nor will it follow, that they for whose sins Christ hath satisfied, must needs, by virtue * Page 169. JOHN GOODWIX. 161 of that satisfaction, be presently justified and saved ; or that God otherwise should be unjust, If, having received satis- faction, he should condemn men for those sins for which he hath been satisfied. The reason Is, because the satisfaction of Christ being an ordinance of God for the justification and salvation of men, merely arbituary, and depend- ing uroN HIS WILL AND -PLEASURE, as Well In the operation as In the being of It, It cannot be conceived to extend any farther, nor to produce Its effects upon any other terms, than his will and pleasure Is that It should produce them. Now the Scriptures are very clear and pregnant In this, that the sufferings of Christ do not justify or save any man sim- ply, or by themselves, but through a man's Believing. * God so loved the world,' salth our Saviour, ' that he gave his only-begotten Son;' not simply that men should 'have everlasting life"' by him ; but ' that whosoever Belleveth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' Notwith- standing the love of God, notwithstanding the gift of Christ unto the world, yet without Believing there is no escaping eternal death, no obtaining everlasting life. Why .'* Be- cause the love of God and the gift of Christ, being both voluntary, they justify, they save, no further, upon no other terms, than the will and good pleasure of God is they should. Now the will of God touching salvation to man, is, that he should be saved by Christ through Believing. Fully consonant hereunto, is that of the apostle, ' Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation,' that is, an actual or personal propitiation, ' through faith in his blood.' Though justification be y/T^, though through the grace of God, though through the redemption which is iu Ch?-ist Jesus ; yet no justification by any, nor by all of these, actually accrues to any man without Believing. " Faith doth not add in the least to the nature, value, or efficacy of Christ's satisfaction; it only interesteth men in the value and efficacy of it ; both which were in it in as ample and full measure before men believe, as they are after. TJie fire, whilst a man keeps at a distance from it, doth not warm M 162 LIFE OF liim : when he comes near it, it doth : yet his coming near doth not make the fire any hotter than it was before ; only it ffives him interest and communion in the heat of it. Thus you see how men's sins may be said to be fully atoned by Christ, and yet men remain under the guilt of them, and perish everlastingly ; and that without the least touch or shadow of disparagement to the justice of God. But we may have occasion to speak further to this point some other time ; where we may further clear the difficulty, — H ow it may stand with the justice of God to accept Chrisfs satis- faction for the sins of men, and yet destroy men for them notwithstanding. It is a point well worth enquiring into ; because generally we do not understand the counsel and mind of God in it aright. If we did, it would set us at per- fect liberty from some of the most ensnaring entanglements in the Antinomian way, and quite break the credit thereof: and the truth is, that Antinomianism is nothing else but a system of the due and lawful consequences of their opirii- ons who most fiercely oppose it. " If God should offer and promise unto men life and peace and salvation, as we know he doth to thousands who never accept his offer and so perish ; and should press upon them with many expressions of love, [tenderness and great compassions, beseeching them that they would be reconciled to him ; having taken away, though justly, that power whereby they might have done themselves good by accept- ing those offers, a7icl slioidd confer 7ione other upon them in the stead ; this would be a dispensation towards poor miser- able creatures, altogether unworthy that God, who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in him the Father of mercies, and the God of all consolation. As to that objec- tion wherewith this opinion is burthened in the thoughts of many, That it is an Arminian doctrine, and maintains free- will, with the like ; we shall answer no more for the present but this : That if it be a doctrine asserted by Paul and Peter, as most assuredly it is, it ought to suffer no dispa- ragement for being found amongst the tenets of Arminius. It is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that JOHN GOODWIN. 163 Clirlst Jesus came into the world to save sinners ; though it was in effect the saying of the devil, when he affirmed Jesus Christ to be the Holy One of God. It is a common Papis- tical trick, to nick-name truths and opinions which rise up against the interest and honour of the See of Rome, to be- think themselves of some heretic or other who asserted them. And I wish that too many of those who are called Protestants, and who, as ambitiously as they, affect the name of Orthodox, did not praise such sayings by a frequent imitation of them."" * Mr. Goodwin's anticipations of reproach and persecution, on his open avowal of these sentiments, were well founded. The affections of several of his friends were immediately alienated from him, and a violent outcry was raised against him as a most dangerous propagator of heresy. If he had actually held in his hand the wonder-working rod of Moses, and had threatened the country with a repetition of all the plagues of Egypt, some good [men could scarcely have manifested greater anxiety and alarm. A host of antago- nists began to assail him with every species of weapon, and even those who possessed neither learning nor argument were employed in calling names. One noble champion of Genevan orthodoxy attacked him in a pamphlet which he entitled. Hell Broke Loose ; charging Mr. Goodwin in effect with overthrowing the Divine Authority of the Scrip- tures, denying Original Sin, asserting that the human soul when separated from the body is in a state of unconscious existence, and with opposing the imputation of Christ's righteousness to believers. His sentiments on the last sub- ject were grossly misrepresented, and the other charges were not supported by even a shadow of legitimate proof. But our author was not opposed and slandered by indivi- duals only. The London clergy, of the Presbyterian denomination, were in the habit of holding weekly meetings at Sion College, to consult about ecclesiastical affairs. Hav- ing long invoked the parliament to suppress all the sectaries * Page 195, &c. m2 ICi LIFK OF in the nation, and finding that their re-iterated request was not hkely to be soon fulfilled, they resolved, (since thei/ could do no more ! ) to unite in the publication of a tract, ■which they entitled, " A Testimony to the Truth of Jesus Christ, and to our Solemn League and Covenant ; as also against the Errors, Heresies, and Blasphemies of these times, and the Toleration of them ; Subscribed by the Ministers of Christ within the Province of London, 1648." To this production the signatures of fifly-two clergymen are appended ; among which are those of John Downame, Arthur Jackson, Samuel Clark, Francis Roberts, Christo- pher Love, Thomas Watson, Thomas Gataker, Daniel Cawdrey, Anthony Tuckney, Edmund Calamy, Simon Ash, Thomas Case, Lazarus Seaman, and Anthony Bur- gess. In this " Testimony" Mr. Goodwin is treated with the most flagrant injustice. He is not only associated with the Heretics and blasphemers of the age, but is indirectly charged with abetting principles which his accusers knew that he strenuously disavowed. His love of accuracy, and habit of correct thinking, had led him to make a distinction which these men attempted to turn to the Avorst possible account. He had remarked, that by " the Word of God" which is the foundation of the Christian Religion, using that term in its sublimest sense, was rather to be understood the o-rand distinguishino- Doctrines of Revelation, than the letter of Sacred Scripture : the latter having sustained some par- tial injury from the hands of copyists and printers; the former remaining through all ages as firm as the pillars of heaven. He nevertheless acknowledged that there is an impoilant sense in which it may be said, that the Scriptures in their present form, are both the Word of God and the foundation of Christianity. Whereas the authors of this *' Testimony," putting a construction upon his words which lie never designed them to bear, represent him as guilty of an absolute denial of both. " If, by the Scriptures," says he, "be meant the matter and substance of things contained in the Books of the Old and New Testament, I fully, and with all my heart and joirx nooDAviK, 165 soul believe them to be tlie none other than the ^^'ord of God ; and, God assisting, shall rather expose myself to a thousand deaths than deny them so to be. I absolutely believe that Jesus Christ is God, that he is the Son of God, Avas made man, died for the salvation of the world, rose again from the dead ; that whosoever believes on him shall be saved, that whosoever believes not shall be condemned ; with a thousand more besides ; all these assertions I fully believe not only to be truths, but truths of special revela- tion from God to the world. " If by the Scriptures be meant, all the letters, syllables, words, phrases, expressed in the said books, whether trans- lated, or in such Hebrew and Greek copies as are commonly used amongst us, I know no ground why I should believe that all the said syllables, letters, words, &c., were in any special w^ay given by God to convey those truths and mys- teries to the minds of men, which he hath been graciously pleased to reveal for their salvation. Concerning transla- tions, the case is clear : there being none of these but which carry marks of human oscitancy and weakness in them. Concerning the Hebrew copies, I know no law that binds me to believe, that no transcriber of them out of their first Originals, no printer of them out of tliese transcripts, ever miscarried after the manner of men, in these negotiations. I dare not say, but that in some of these copies, there may be all things, even to words, syllables, and letters of divine inspiration ; on the other hand, I cannot be confident that they are. As for the original Greek copies, it is generally known that there are many varieties of readings, and some of them considerable, between edition and edition. Now certain it is, that God did not direct his first penmen of the Scriptures, to publish different copies of those things wliicli they were respectively appointed by him to impart by writ- ing to the world. " Though I do not believe that any original exemplar of the Scriptures now extant, is so purely the Word of God but that it may have a tincture of the word of men in it • yet I confidently believe that the providence of God, and M 3 1G6 LIFE OF the love which he bears to his own glory, have so far inter-^ posed and watched over the great and gracious Revelation which he made of himself by Jesus Christ to the world, that those Books, wherein it was in all the particularities at first imparted to the world, neither have suffered, nor ever shall suffer, any such mutilation or falsification in any kind, but that they will be able abundantly to furnish men of all sorts and conditions, with the knowledge of all things neces- sary to be known, either for their Christian deportment in this world, or their everlasting salvation in that which is to come. " Concerning Translations, though I judge none of them to be the pure Word of God, without any embasement by that which is human ; nor yet in such a sense as the Original copies may be called the Word of God, which not only express the mind of God as translations, but hold them forth in that very language, and for the most part, if not altogether, in the self-same words and phrases, wherein God himself directed the publication of them by writing; yet I judge them one of the greatest blessings that God ever vouchsafed to the Gentile part of the world ; and conceive that though they do not, even the best of them, express the mind of God so entirely, or emphatically, as the Originals do ; yet even the worst of them that I know, express so much of the mind and will of God, by the true understanding whereof rnen may be brought to live godly, righteously, and soberly in this present world, and consequently to that immortal and undefiled inheritance reserved in the heavens for those that believe. " Thovigh I jndge no Translation whatsoever, either for gracefulness of language, significancy of terms, majesty of expression, to be equal to the Original Hebrew and Greek ; yet I conceive that there is no Translation so disadvantage- ously compiled, but that carrieth somewhat differing, by way of excellency, from the manner of men, in the phrase and language thereof ; yea that which is sufficient, by the ordinary blessing of God upon a conscientious and intent reading, to evince the descent of the matter contained in it to be from God ; as a seal of arms upon the outside of a JOHN GOODWIN 167 letter, is sufficient to discover from what person of honour the contents of the letter come. " I conceive the matter of the Scriptures, I mean those divine truths, those holy and righteous commands, those great and precious promises, those astonishing and dreadful threatenings, expressed as well in Translations as in the Originals, to be of the greatest power to discover and assert their royal descent from God. There is such a brightness of divine excellency sitting as it were upon the face of the Gospel, that men who are not through the just judgment of God deprived of the use of their understandings about spi- ritual things, cannot but see and acknowledge manifest characters and impressions of the gi'ace, holiness, love, and wisdom of God in it. " The true and proper foundation of Christian Religion, is not ink and paper, not any books or writings whatsoever ; but that substance of matter, those gracious counsels of God concerning the salvation of the world by Jesus Christ, which indeed are represented and declared, both in Trans- lations and Originals, but are essentially distinct from both, and no ways for their natures and beings dependent upon either of them. A bargain agreed upon and concluded between two men, whether the tenor of it be ever drawn up in Avriting or no, is, for the nature of it and matter of transaction, a complete and true bargain : the writing, if any be made in reference to it, only declareth the nature of the bargain, which was in reality and completeness of being before the writing ; and consequently the writing can be no part of it. In like manner, the good pleasure of God con- cerning the salvation of the world, had, in all the particu- lars of it, completeness of being in God himself, long before any branch of it was imparted to the world by any writing whatsoever. There was true religion in the world all along that great space of time, which had gone over the head of the world before Moses was employed by God to lay the corner-stone of that divine fabric of Scriptvu"e, which hath been of a long time perfected. Yea the Gospel itself, and those rich discoveries which God reserved to be pref^e;ited by Jesus Christ to the woi'ld at his coming into it, were TGS LIFF, OF effectually preached, and believed by many unto salvation, and Christian lleligion fully established in the world, before any part of the New Testament was written . The Evan- gelist Matthew is generally conceived, especially by ancient writers, to have been the first penman that God was pleased to use in penning the New Testament ; and that it was about eight years after Christ's ascension, before he put forth his hand to this work. And yet who doubts but that the foundation of Christian Religion was laid before this in the world; yea, and much of this Religion built uponit?""-]* " What treasures of wisdom and knowledge the Scrip- tures brought at first out of the bosom of God, the same they present to the world at this day. God hath suffered no man to rob them of their silver, or to give them tin or dross instead of it. The words they now speak, are the same spirit and life, which they spake in the beginning. It is true the holy God did not guide all the pens of the Tran- scribers of the Scriptures, with the same heavenly Infal- libleness, with which he guided the pens and tongues of his immediate Secretaries, who wrote them from his mouth. This appears from that variety of readings which is found in some words between copy and copy ; which difference proceeded from the ignorance, or negligence, or perhaps from a worse principle sometimes, in those who were em- ployed to transcribe them. The native sense of a scripture may, through a mistake, want, or redundancy of a word in a false copy, be past finding out, in respect of any light which the mistaken place affordeth ; yet by the help of other copies, by the series and carriage of the context, by comparing other scriptures with it, the sense which was lost one way, may be saved by another. God hath watched with that tender eye of providence over the letter of the Scrip- tures, that there was no truth deducible from thence, at the first coming of them into the world, but that by an equal light of understanding, in conjunction with a like hand of diligence, and a like measure of assistance from God, may be deduced from them at this day.'' J t Page 13, &c. J Page 258, &c. JOHN GOODWIV. 1G9 Such were Mr. Goodwin's views of the nature, importance, and value of Divine Revelation. Where then must have been the consciences of the fifty-two " Ministers of Christ within the Province of London/'' who could publicly stigma- tize him, in the most solemn manner, as an abettor of "Errors against the Divine Authority of the Holy Scriptures.^" They knew that he had recently preached many sermons in vindication of this momentous point ; that by the instru- mentality of his labours, several persons had been convinced of this great truth ; and they also held in their hands a volume on the same subject, just published by him, and which was unquestionably the best defence of the Christian Revelation that had then appeared in the Enghsh language. An attack of the same illiberal and calumnious character was made a few years afterwards by Dr. Owen \ipon Dr. Brian Walton, the celebrated editor of the London Polvfflot Bible ; for which he was subjected to a severe castigation from that profound Orientalist. * Equally unjust was the second charge which Mr. Good- win's censors preferred against him. In their list of " Errors about natural man's free-will, and power to do good super- natural ;" they repeat the accusation of Lane, concerning natural men doing that to which God has promised grace and acceptation ; at the same time declining to take the slightest notice of Mr. Goodwin's explicit declaration respect- ing the absolute necessity of the promised aid of the Holy Spirit : and thus intimating that he either denied original depravity, or taught that men might correct and overcome the evil propensities of their fallen nature, by their own unassisted efforts. This conduct was highly iniquitous. Where is the theological writer, however accurate, who may not be convicted of heresy, by a selection of insulated periods and half-sentences from his works ; by a careful omission of his explanations ; and by a total disregard of the sense in which he designs to be understood ? Such was the * See the Second Volume of that interesting Work, Todd's Memoirs of Bkhop rralton, 1821. 170 LIFE OF *' hard measure''"' that was awarded to Mr. Goodwin, and to some other persons, among whom was the excellent Dr. Henry Hammond. While these Presbyterian guardians of Genevan orthodoxy professed to discard the Popish doctrine of infallibility, they arrogated to themselves the high-sound- ing title of " The Ministers of Christ," assumed authority to accuse, to condemn, and to traduce as heretics, men who were in every respect equal to themselves, (if not much superior,) in age, in ministerial diligence, in sound learning, in purity of conduct ; and all this without condescending to hear what the accused had to say in their own defence, and without assigning any reason for censures so harsh and severe. The piety of these men has been extolled to the very heavens; but it is presumed, that if the New Testa- ment be regarded as the standard of religious and moral excellence, the laboured panegyrics of their admirers should be received with considerable abatement. Men who could make an open and deliberate attack upon the character of their brethren, by falsifying their opinions, for no other crime than that of differing from them in religious sentiment, and at the same time couid express their regret that civil pains and penalties were not inflicted upon them, certainly did not excel in the exercise of that "charity" which *' suffereth long and is kind, is not puffed up, and doth not behave itself unseemly ;*" and, without which, even the most orthodox professors of Christianity are no more than *' sovmding brass and a tinkling cymbal." Very dishonourable collusion was practised in obtaining signatures to this objectionable document. In the copy that was laid before Mr. John Downame, and to which he affixed his name, no mention was made either of Dr. Ham- mond or of Mr. Goodwin ; their reputed errors and heresies being foisted in afterwards. It happened unluckily, that Downame had licensed the Doctor's book for publication, and thus recommended it to general perusal. When he therefore found, that, by a manoeuvre of his Presbyterian friends, he was made to condemn as heretical a work to JOHN GOODAVIN. 171 which he had given his public sanction, he complained bitterly of their disingenuous conduct. * Others of the subscribers, one would hope for their own credit, were imposed upon in the same manner. The author of the History of the Puritans, having noticed a few of the reputed errors against which these divines had borne their " testimony,''' observes in reference to Mr. Good- win, that, " He had published several large and learned books ; as The Divine Authority of the Scriptures — Re- demption Redeemed — A Treatise of Jvistification, and An Exposition of the Ninth Chapter to the Romans, out of which the above-mentioned exceptions were taken. This divine, taking it amiss to be marked for a heretic, challenged any of the London clergy to a disputation ; as thinking it a very unrighteous method to condemn opinions before they had been confuted." -f- This account reflects no honour either upon the accuracy or the candour of this celebrated historian. That Mr. Goodwin was the author of the " large and learned books"" here ascribed to him, is true ; but that he " had published" them at the time here referred to, is incorrect. The " Treatise of Justification," and " The Divine Authority of the Scriptures Asserted," are the only works here specified, which had then been presented to the world ; and it was only from the latter of these, and from " The Scourge of the Saints Displayed," that these divines extracted passages which they denominated heretical. They could not " take exceptions" out of " large and learned books" that had no existence. That Mr. Goodwin should think it a very " unrighteous method to condemn opinions before they had been confuted," and should " take it amiss" under such circumstances " to be marked as a heretic," is not surprising ; since these proceedings were a mean and unprincipled attack upon his personal character, designed and calculated to alienate his hearers from him, and to render his ministry inefficient. When Mr. Neal, however, states, that our heretic "challenged any of the London * Goodwin's Novice-Presbyter, Preface. f Neal's Hist. Purit. Vol. iii, p. 359. Edit. 1794. 172 LITF. OF clergy to a disputation,'''' lie docs not seem to write history, but presents to his readers a mere sally of prejudice or of inattention. Mr. Goodvvin was deeply injured, and therefore published a modest and temperate, yet firm and manly vindication of himself from the aspersions of his persecutors, without any of the vaunting levity imputed to him by the historian. This was his only means of redress, and he availed himself of it in a manner that was equally honourable to his understanding and temper. His judges having dated their "Testimony''' from Sion College, the place at which their self-constituted court was held, Mr. Goodvvin entitled his reply, " Sion College Visited.'"' In this very excellent tract he says, " It was never well with Christian Religion, since the ministers of the Gospel cunningly vested that privilege of the church, of being the ground and pillar of truth, in themselves ; claiming Nebuchadnezzar's prerogative amongst men, over the truths of God : ' whom he would he slew, and whom he would he kept alive, and whom he would he set up, and whom he wovild he put down."" " There came lately out of the press, a few pages styling themselves, A testimony to the truth of Jesus Christ, and pretending to a subscription by the Ministers of Christ within the Province of London. I wish for these ministers' sake, to whom I wish nothing but good, and for the truth''s sake also, that I could ccmccive the boldness of any man so great, as to present them to the world for the authors of such a piece of weakness, without their consent. I should be a])le, by such an apprehension, to maintain those honour- able thoughts of their persons, which (my witness is on high) I have always unfeignedly laboured to do. '' To scrapple together a few passages out of several books, without taking any notice of their true meaning; and some of these obvious truths ; yea, to falsify sayings by leaving out some material words ; and only to clamour ' Horrid and prodigious opinions — Infamous and pernicious errors — The very dregs and spawn of those old accursed heresies — Antl-Scrlpturlsm — Popery — Arlanlsm — Socinian- JOHX GOODWIX. 17S ism — Arminianlsm, &c. :"* to pour floods of such reproachful and foul language as this upon men's opinions, without one word of argument against them, is not only altogether irre- lative to the extinction of errors and heresies, but very pro- per for the further propagation of them. For when men speak evil of that as an error or heresy, against which they have nothing of moment to oppose ; the assertors may very reasonably suppose, that they speak evil of it, not out of judgment but affection. " Brethren, give me leave to be serious with you. I be- lieve you are straitened in your own bowels, in comparison of the enlargement you have in mine : though I fear you believe nothing less. I hear of many complaints and sad regrets from you, as that the ministers of Christ are much despised, and your auditories much depopulated, your respects with the people brought well nigh to a morsel of bread. I beseech you, consider ! Hath he that puts his finger in the fire, any cause to complain, that the fire puts him to pain ? Or is it any wonder if, when under a pretence of so much ' zeal for God's glory' — such ' integrity of heart' — such 'conscientiousness of appearing for God, his truth, and the cause of religion' — such ' detestation of all errors, lieresies, and blasphemies' — with many such like glittering professions more, wherewith your ' Testimony' is garnished — you do, in the very face of these professions, stigmatize the truths of God with the odious names of ' infamous and pernicious errors and heresies' — set yourselves to pull down with both hands the names and reputations of the faithful servants of God, your brethren, and this without any cause at all given by them — report their sayings by halves, leaving out their explications, on purpose to defame them — repre- sent such opinions as erroneous in them, which you allow for orthodox in yourselves — exasperate the sword of the civil magistrate against svich as are peaceable and wish you no harm — foment divisions — multiply distractions — obstruct the composure and settlement of things in the land — recom- pencing no degree of all this unworthiness with any propor- tionable or considerable good : — is it any marvel if, going 174 LIFE OF thus to work, coupling such unworthy actions with such specious professions, you sink in the hearts of men daily more and more ? Men will never be able to rise up before you, and call you blessed, unless they be holpen up by the hand of some visible worth in your ways. Mean time, though I find the best of you no better than a briar to me, pursuing me with outcries, for a man of I know not how many errors ; yet there are four amongst your fifty-two, Avho have appeared against me to their deeper shame than others. For what .'* They who publish books of errors, — they who recommend books of errors to be read, — can these men find in their hearts to lift up the heel against those who receive them at their hands ? Mr. Ash, Mr. Cawdrey, Mr. Calamy, Mr. Burgess ; how could these men anoint Mr. John Ball with oil, and salt me with fire, for only speak- ing what he speaketh, in that book of his which they recommend ? " If any man ask, Why I could not be content to sit down by my charge, with the same patience wherein others, charged as well as I, possess their souls ^ no man's pen mov- ing against his accusers, but mine. I answer, Though I do not sit down by it in patience, I rise up Avith it, and bear it upon my shoulder, with more than patience ; even with joy and gladness ; as I stand charged from heaven to do : ' My brethren, count it all joy, when ye fall into divers tempta- tions."* I trust that the tenor of my answer doth no ways imply, that the least hair of the head of my patience is fallen to the ground. " But the chief motive which engaged me to this under^ taking, was, Because I look upon myself as the chief, if not the only person, for whose sake the fifty-two hands were drawn out of the bosom to smite the rest. I have reason to conceive, that this Court of Assize was called principally, if not only, for my sake ; and that no ' Testimony' had been given at this time, either to the ' Truth of Jesus Christ,' or against the ' errors and heresies' of other men, had not the two-and-fifty judged it expedient that my name should be blasted. My fellow-heretics are quickly dis- JOHN GOODWIN. 175 patched ; little being cited out of their books in comparison: I suppose, lest their errors should seem as large, as danger- ous as mine. " The subscribers, with many others of the same interest, are instant upon all occasions, to declaim against me, as a friend to errors and heresies, and to cry out that I plead for a toleration of them all. I solemnly profess, that whoever they are, that bear the errors and wicked opinions of the times, as a burden of sorroAv, I bear my share with them. Nor do I believe that any of them all, who seek to render me the hatred of men, by the imputation of such adehnquency, have run either faster or further, in the way of' God, for pulling up those noisome weeds, than I have done. I have professedly engaged myself, in the course of my ministry, against four of those errors which are generally looked upon as inost predominant amongst us, and to which all others whatsoever may easily be reduced : Antinomianism, Ana- baptism, Anti-Scripturism, Querism. To which I might add a fifth, Manicheism ; which, had it not the Countenance which the other four want, would soon j)e found to be of as dangerous consequence to religion as they. I am a fool to boast myself ; but Avise men have compelled me, and wise men I hope will pardon me." When Mr. Goodwin published his " Sion College Visited," Dr. Hammond also replied to the accusations pre- ferred against him as a propagator of " errors, heresies, and blasphemies." His excellent pamphlet, which he entitled, "A View of some Exceptions to the Practical Catechism," is inserted in the first volume of the folio edition of his works. The Doctor and Mr. Goodwin both appear to infinite advantage, not only in regard to argument, but in respect to spirit and temper, when compared with their dogmatical and self-constituted iudges. " Seeincr it aerain appears," says the learned Doctor, " that it is God's good pleasure to deliver me up to be evil spoken of, and accused, and to bear a yet deeper part of his bitter cup than many others of my brethren have done, I desire to bless and praise his name for this his goodness and mercy 176 LIFE OP to me, and to embrace all those who liave joined their hands to be instruments in this, as those whom by Christ's com- mand I am bound to love, to bless, to pray for, and not to think of any other way of return toward them. This, I thank God, I can most cheerfully do ; and would satisfy myself to have done it in private, between God and my own soul, were there not another occasion which makes it a little necessary for me to say somewhat publicly ; and that is, the vindication of the truth of Christ Jesus, which they who are willing to give ' testimony' to it, will, I hope, take from me in good part.'"' * On the appearance of Mr. Goodwin's " Sion College Visited," and of Dr. Hammond's " View," it was debated among the ministers who had signed the " Testimony" against these eminent men. Whether or not any ansAver to their publications should be prepared ? and the question was finally determined in the negative : perhaps from a con- viction that they had already overstepped the boundaries of truth and charity, -j* One of their fraternity, however, a warm young man, of the name of Willian Jenkyn, less wise than his brethren, renewed the attack upon Mr. Goodwin ; exasperated to find that he not only denied the assumed authority of his censors, but actually " visited" them with reproofs and expostulations. This abusive controversialist, whose tract was denominated " The Busy Bishop," was not only Mr. Goodwin's junior by many years, but vastly infe- rior to him in talents and learning. His conduct indeed would never have been tolerated among a people of the least refinement and delicacy. It was extremely indecorous for a comparatively young man, without any provocation, to make a boastful and insolent attack upon the character of an aged and laborious minister, who had suffered the loss of all things for conscience-sake ; and to exhibit him before the world as an object of scorn and infam3^ With a design of promoting the benefit of this antagonist, rather than of de- fending at large his own peculiar opinions, Mr. Goodwin * Haramoud's Works, Vol. I. p. 199. Edit. 1684. f Goodwin's Novice-Presbyter, Preface. JOU^ GOODWIX. 177 published a reply to the production of Jenkyn, under the title of " The Youngling Elder ; or, Novice-Presbyter." In the composition of this pamphlet the author appears desirous of raising a blush of ingenuous shame on the face of his opponent. " The task whereunto I shall confine myself in this undertaking," says he, " is to shew my youth- ful confidentiary more of himself than he understands ; and how far, even in those things wherein he most magnifies himself, reason and truth are above him. I shall reduce what I judge necessary to animadvert upon his book, to the demonstration of these four capital defects in him : — In point of conscience — of learning, or clerkship — of judg- ment, or apprehension, — of civility, and common ingenuity.'" At the conclusion of this very able work, Mr. Goodwin says, " Though there be nothing in the preceding discourse, that can justly offend any man ; yet, considering partly the exigency of the season, which calleth upon all parties to join heart and hand in order to the common safety ; partly also, the extreme weakness of many, who know not how to love, where all their thoughts as well as persons are not loved first, and adored for truth ; I could easily have been so far over-ruled as to have quietly borne awhile longer that bur- den of shame which Mr. Jenkyn hath laid upon me, and accordingly hav eJh?'bor7ie, at least for a time, the publishing of the treatise, had not an importune stickler in that cause (having by sinister practices procured some of the sheets) unseasonably published some part of it in a pamphlet; wherein he labours to possess the world with prejudice against it, whilst it was yet unborn. In consideration hereof I was necessitated to a present publication of it ; hoping that neither a christian apology for innocency and truth on the one hand, nor a necessary reproof of error and undue practices on the other, shall prove any obstruction in the way of love, concord, and peace ; but rather make way for their advancement. No man shall go further willi his adversary to make peace than I. The most peaceable man under heaven may draw his sword in his own defence, and N 178 LIFE OF possibly wound his adversary, without the least reflection upon that lovely disposition in him." Mr. Goodwin's object in this pamphlet, so far as it referred to his antagonist, was far from being realized. Instead of being salutary in its operation upon the mind of Jenkyn, it only stimulated him to a further attack upon the reputation of Mr. Goodwin, in a publication which he enti- tled, " The Blind Guide." To this production it does not appear that Mr. Goodwin wrote any reply. He had no hope of promoting the moral improvement of his abusive assailant, and therefore silently retired from the contest, submitting his cause to " Him that judgeth righteously." It is but justice to Jenkyn to add, that by a series of persecutions he was afterwards softened into a more generous temper and into more catholic principles. When his own party was triumphant, he insulted Mr. Goodwin as a heretic and sec- tarian, and loudly clamoured for the suppression of all who called the dogmas of his friends in question ; little thinking that a time would come at which the Episcopalians would regain 'their power, and he should die in Newgate for non-conformity to their established forms of religious worship. In his unprincipled attempts to injure Mr. Goodwin's reputation, Jenkyn was assisted by the noted John Vicars, " who could out-scold the boldest face in Billinjrsa-ate ;"" * and whose powers of railing stand unrivalled in the history of human nature. The following is the title of the book which he published against Mr. Goodwin, without having received the slightest provocation : " Coleman-street Con- clave Visited ; and that Grand Impostor, the Schismatics' Cheater in Chief, (who hath long slily lurked therein,) truly and duly Discovered : containing a most palpable and plain Display of Mr. John Goodwin's Self-Conviction, (under his own hand-writing,) and of the notorious Heresies, Errors, MaUce, Pride, and Hypocrisy of this most Huge Garagan- tua in Falsely Pretended Piety ; to the lamentable mis- * Foulis's Hist, of Plots, p. 17<). Edit. 1674. JOHN GOODWIN. 179 leading of his too too credulous, soul-murdered Proselytes, of Coleman-street, and elsewhere : collected principally out of his own Big Braggadochia,AVave-lik:e, Swelling, and Swag- gering ^Vritings ; full-fraught with Six-footed terms, and Flashy, Rhetorical Phrases, far more than solid and sacred Truths ; and may fitly serve, (if it be the Lord^s vnl\,) like Belshazzar's hand-writing upon the wall of his conscience, to strike Terror and Shame into his own Soul and shame- less Face, and to Undeceive his most miserably Cheated and Enchanted, or Bewitched Followers, 1648."" Prefixed to this scandalous publication, as a frontispiece, is a portrait of Mr. Goodwin, with a wind-mill over his head, and a weather-cock upon it. One one side there is a figure of a human head, with distended cheeks, resting upon a cloud, and inscribed " Error," blowing the sails of the wind-mill ; and on the other side, there is a similar figure, inscribed " Pride,*" blowing the weather-cock round on its pivot. In his left hand Mr. Goodwin holds a book bearing the inscription of " Hagio-Mastix ;" the name of one of his tracts against religious coercion : on his right, a hand is stretched out presenting to him a book on which is written, " Moro-Mastix ;" the title of an idle anonymous pamphlet which was published against him. An old decayed tree, stripped of its foliage and branches, stands on the left side of the venerable old man. At the top of this device are the following lines : The cock my vain and various mind descries ; The mill my venting and inventing Ues. The following couplet is issuing from Mr. Goodwin's moutli : In all the grists I grind in error's mill. Unhappy I, 1 am mistaken still. Underneath this caricature are two sets of verses. The former of these, ascribed by Vicars to a " fawning flatterer," N^ 180 LIFE OF is taken from a fine portrait of Mr. Goodwin, engraven by Glover, and bearing the date of 164)1. The following is a copy: Thou seest not whom thou seest ; then do not say That this is he. Who calls a lump of clay. Without its soul, a man ? Thou seest no more; Nay but a shadow of that lump. What store Of gifts and graces, what perfections rare. Among ten thousand persons scattered are. Gather in one : imagine it to be This shadow's substance, and then say 'tis he. D. T.* In an oppoite column, as a counterpart to this panegyric, are the following hnes by a " downright dealer, J. V." I shame to see, what here I see, and say. That this is he who fast and loose doth play With piety. A soul full of deceit. Clad in a lump of clay, the world to cheat : In whom the scattered boils of errors base. Of full ten thousand sectaries take place, Gather'd in one. And thus if you will see Heresy's substance in a shade, 'tis he. The abusive epithets which are crowded into the title of tliis book, are a fair sample of those with which almost every paragraph abounds. Yet many religionists of that age seem to have thought, that the use of such language was perfectly justifiable, and implied no violation of any prin- ciple of Christian morals ! The following letter to Vicars on the subject of his book, was written by one of the parliamentary preachers ; and very correctly displays the canting spirit and manner of that class of theologians. It is inserted in the preface ^to this calumnious pub- lication. * These lines, in all probability, were written by Daniel Taylor, Esq., author of the Letter to Mr. Vicars, mentioned iu a preceding cliapter. A very interesting character of this extraordinary man will be found in a subsequent part of these memoirs. JOHN GOODWIN. 181 " To my much esteemed friend, Master John Vicars. " My worthy Friend, " It is my loss, as well as grief, that I am not able to peruse your manuscript. Surely I should have found in it, that zeal and wisdom, that quickness and meekness, that conviction and clearness, that piety and reason, that candid ingenuity in relating, and that solid modesty in confuting, which would have well become yourself, advan- ced truth, and have enervated specious errors. But I am not well, and have been enforced lately to omit preaching in my place, and am still indisposed to study. Pray for me. Get the view to be supplied by a better eye ; and be confi- dent that I join with you, and all good men, against all heresies and blasphemies. Sir, your truly assured friend is Feb. 29, 1647. Obadiah Sedgewick."" To this infamous production of Vicars, Mr. Goodwin, of course, published no reply. Indeed, who but a maniac would attempt to confute a work of this nature ? The principles and spirit which could give birth to such a piece of wickedness and folly, are disgraceful to the human cha- racter, and merit universal execration. Mr. Goodwin just noticed it in the following manner : " As for Rabshakeh Vicars, with his pictures, poetry and wind-mills, I conceive that he hath received already an answer meet for him, in the contempt of learned men — the neglect of wise men — the sorrow of good men — and the laughter of boys and chil- dren. fls azsokoiTO xat aXkos, ot'S" roiavra, ye ps<^ot. Such wages always let such workmen have. I shall be no further troublesome to Mr. Vicars, except it be with the recommendation of a few words to him, for his christian meditation : ' If any man among you seem to be n3 182 LIFE OF religious, and bridleth not his tongue,' much more his pen, ' but deceiveth his own heart ; this man"'s rehgion is vain.' Farewell, Mr. Vicars." * The author of the History of the Puritans, who was attached to the Calvinian doctrines, which this book was designed to recommend, declined to give any account of the work ; and, for very obvious reasons, just intimates that it is " not worth remembering." In the last age, however, a theological writer, a clergyman of the Established Church, intimated that its contents afforded him a high intellectual repast. The late Mr. Toplady speaks of Vicars in terms of admiration, and expresses himself as being delighted with M'hat he calls, the '•'■ Jacetwus title," and " exquisitely laughable frontispiece," of his book. -}- * Novice-Presbyter, p. 120' f Toplady 'sWorks, Vol. I. p. 41. Edit. 17S4. JOHN GOODWIN. 183 CHAPTER VI. TerMtnation of the Civil IVars — Ineffectual attempts to settle the government by negotiation with the King — Interference of the Army — Restraint put upon the Parliament — The High Court of Justice — Puritan Ministers sent to pray unth the King — His Decapitation — Causes which fed to this catastrophe — The faults of' the King — Of the Parliament — Of the Army — Sentiments of Baxter concerning the case of Charles — Pamphlet of Eutactus Philodemius — Ettract from Dr. Owen — Catine's Defence of the Army — Political tracts of Milton — Mr. Goodwin's " Right and Might" — " Unrighteous Judge" — " Obstructors of Justice" — His motives in writing these icorks — The Fifth Monarchy-men — Vindication of Mr. Goodwin from the charge of Bishop Burnet — Calumnies of Mr. Toplady — British Constitution — Mr. Goodwin's restoration to his vicarage — Proposal of apolitical speculator. In the investigation of Mr. Goodwin's personal history thus far, we have found many things to admire and applaud. Had he confined his attention exclusively to the duties of the Christian ministry, and left statesmen to dispute about party politics ; or, (if he must have given his opinion on questions of secular policy,) had he continued stedfast in his adherence to those sound constitutional principles avowed in his " Anti-Cavalierism," instead of suffering his mind to be biassed by passing occurrences, his conduct through the whole of his life would have appeared to great advantage. But, like several other eminent men who flourished in that eventful age, the very singular circumstances under w^hich he saw the nation placed, in regard to its government, led him unhappily to declare his approbation of public measures which, whatever might be the design of those who adopted them, were both morally and politically wrong. The part which he acted in respect to those ambitious and misguided men in the army, Avho iniquitously brought their sovereign to the scaffold, has been frequently employed to bring his 184 LIFE OF general character into disrepute : and as partial and exag- gerated accounts concerning him have been often repeated by different writers, we will endeavour to furnish a faithful and circumstantial narrative of this part of his conduct, freely censuring what we deem reprehensible, and justifying him from such charges as have no foundation in truth. The commencement of the war between the Kintr and the Parliament has been already noticed. This momentous contest was carried on with various success for several years, till at length its fate was decided by the utter defeat of the royalists at the battle of Naseby, which was fought on the 14th of June, 1645. The following year the King fled to the Scottish army before Newark, under the com- mand of the Earl of Leven, by whom he was detained as a prisoner, and shortly after delivered to the commissioners of the parliament. By them he was conducted, Feb. 6th, 1646—7, to Holmby, or Holdenby-House, in Northampton- shire ; where he remained in easy if not honourable confine- ment, till he was seized in the following June, by the army; and after some removals, was placed in a state of delusive liberty and splendour at Hampton-Court. At this crisis he was presented with an opportunity of recovering his honours, and of replacing himself on his throne. The Presbyterians, now in the fulness of their power, with the parliament, the city of London, and the Scots at their command, openly avowed their hostility to a general Toleration ; and the victorious army, composed of Independents, and of various classes of religionists, per- ceived that they had lavished their blood merely to substi- tute one tyranny for another, and had conquered only for their own ruin. In this exigence they preferred petitions and remonstrances to the parliament, and on the failure of these legal weapons, under the impulse of resentment and des- pair, resorted to violence, and destroyed the Presbyterian power, the government and themselves. They became indeed the instruments of their superior officers, and were ultimately made the engine of Cromwell, by whom they, with the nation at large, were despoiled of their great JOHN GOODWIN. 185 political object, constitutional liberty, but were nevertheless gratified with their favourite toleration. These events, though just at hand, were not anticipated ; Cromwell and Ireton, therefore, uncertain of their contest with the Presbyterians, made an offer to Charles, while he was in their power at Hampton-Court, to reinstate him in his royalties on certain conditions, for which they stipulated on behalf of themselves and their friends. But the King, elated by an opinion of his own essential importance amidst the conflict of parties, rejected every proposal, and even offended those who made them, by his haughtiness, fluctu- ation, and duplicity. When they found, by his secret cor- respondence with the Queen, that no reliance was to be placed on his good faith, Cromwell and Ireton seem to have determined on his destruction : withdrawing therefore their protection, they compelled him for his immediate pre- servation, to fly from Hampton-Court in quest of another asylum. This he sought, but, instead of it, he unfortunately found a much more rigorous prison in the Isle of Wight ; where he endured a close confinement for twelve months in Carisbrooke Castle. But even here, an opportunity was afforded him of regaining, by treaty, his liberty and his regal prerogatives. The persuasion which he entertained of his own importance, however, induced him to throw away the last means of safety. The negotiation between him and the parliament being protracted by the difficulties which he interposed, the army gained time to return from their victorious expedition against the Scots, and to concert measures against their common enemies, the Presbyterians and himself. * Having taken forcible possession of the House of Commons, and excluded those who were opposed to their democratic schemes, the members who remained assumed authority to constitute what they called a " High Court of Justice." The captive monarch was then seized, and brought before this tribunal under a charge of high treason, for levying war * Symmous's Life of Milloii, pp. 286—290. 1810. 186 Lll'K OF against the parliament, and the people therein represented. After a trial of three days, during which lie justly persisted in denying the authority of the Court, the King was con- demned to be beheaded. When this sentence had been pronounced, Mr. Goodwin, together with several other divines, was directed to attend his majesty, and assist him in his devotions. With this order Mr. Goodwin reluctantly complied, and spent about an hour in the royal presence. * Their services, however, were declined by the King, who chose Dr. Juxon, bishop of London, as his attendant in his last hours. Herbert, the King"'s faithful friend, says, " At this time, came to St. James*'s, Edmund Calamy, Richard Vines, Joseph Caryl, William Dell, and some other London mi- nisters, who presented their duty to the King, with their humble desires to pray with him, and perform other offices of service, if his majesty would please to accept of them. The King returned them thanks for their love to his soul, hoping that they and all other good subjects would, in their addresses to God, be mindful of him ; but in regard he had made choice of Dr. Juxon, whom for many years he had known to be a pious and learned divine, and able to admi- nister ghostly comfort to his soul, suitable to his present condition, he would have none other. The ministers were no sooner gone, but John Goodwin, minister in Coleman- street, came likewise, upon the same account, to render his service ; whom the King also thanked, and dismissed with the like friendly answer."" -f* A detailed account of his majesty ''s decapitation will not be expected in this place. It is of more importance to observe, that this catastrophe originated in the faults of three distinct parties : those of the King, the Parliament, and the Army. In enumerating the principal defects of Charles, it is im- possible to pass over his love of arbitrary power. This, * Obstructors of Justice, p. 96. Edit. 1649. f Herbert's Memoirs of the two last years of the Reign of Kinjj Charles I. p. 119. Edit. 1702. JOHN GOODWIN. 187 however, in him was a misfortune rather than a crime. He was an inheritor of the principles by which it was sanc- tioned, and partook of them in common witli nearly all the kings who had preceded him, or who then occupied the thrones of the world. At that period a free government existed only in the pages of theoretical or fanciful writers. That the sceptre was a trust reposed in the hands of the monarch for the benefit of the people ; that the people might lawfully be the watchful guardians of their own welfare ; that the consent of the governed was, in any sense, the basis of ffovernment ; — were at that time monstrous propositions in the eyes of monarchs, and generally consi- dered as bordering upon rebellion and impiety. In the time of Charles, indeed, better views were propagated ; but the throne was of course the last place to which they were likely to gain access. Without dwelling upon defects for which this unfortunate monarch was rather to be pitied than blamed, we proceed to notice certain faults in morals, which, (as moral principles depend neither upon time, person, nor place,) may justly be denominated crimes, in whatever indi- viduals they may be found, -j- One of these faults was, a want of fidelity to his engage- ments. "The sincerity of Charles's promises," says Dr. Warner, " has been called in question by many people ;" — and " I apprehend that this charge is just. I do not say indeed, that the king always made use of doubtful and ambiguous terms, reserving the explication of them as as might best suit his purpose, which is not very consistent with good faith, but it appears to me, I must own, that he sometimes used this artifice with a studied intention to deceive the parliament. But however this might be, it is notorious that he broke his faith in confirmiKg the Duke of Buckingham's false account of the Spanish treaty, in pro- tecting and employing Papists, in compounding with recu- sants, and dispensing with the penal laws against them. Nor is it less notorious, that iiis majesty broke his faith to t Clirislian Observer, Vol. XIIL p. 373. 188 LIFE OF the parliament, in the petition of right ; and notwithstanding his assurances to the Commons of his intention to maintain their privileges, that he violated them within a few days after." * " Perhaps the most exceptionable part of Charles the First's character,"" says Dr. Birch, " and what appears to have been the main source of his misfortunes, and occasion of his ruin, was his want of sincerity in all matters in which his power and prerogative were concerned. This is too clearly proved by many public facts, to be denied by any impartial person : and might have been still more strongly evinced, if the friends of the king's memory had not taken an uncommon care to suppress such evidences, as would have discredited their panegyrics on him." •}- Another fault of this monarch, of which the mischief was no less extensive, was his connivance at the licentious man- ners of his court, and even of his particular friends. This fact stands not only upon the assertions of his enemies, but the acknowledgment of his admirers and apologists. Many concur in lamenting the profligacy of the royal camps and courts. There indeed almost every loose character was to be found. " Never any good undertaking," says one of the king*'s zealous advocates, when speaking of the royal cause, " had so many unworthy attendants, such horrid blasphemers and wicked wretches, as ours hath had. I quake to think, much more to speak, what mine ears have heard from some of their lips." ]: And though the personal example of the king was by no means such as to sanction these excesses, yet the re-issuing of the infamous book of Sports; the silence of the crown as to the general laxity of manners ; the admission to his court, and even to his favour, of the most profligate -individuals ; the society placed immediately around the young princes ; — all loudly proclaim the king"'s neutrality in the war of morals, and his neglect to spread * Ecclesiastical History, Vol. ii, p. 575. Edit. 1769. f Inquiry into the Share which Charles I. had in the Transactions of the Earl of Gla- morgan, p. 33(), Edit. 1756. J Symmous's Vindication of King Charles, p. 165, Edit. 1648. JOITN GOOD WIN. 189 the wing of authority over such principles and men as would have been the champions of his throne and of his life in the approaching struggle. The evils which were likely to result, and which actually did result, from this religious indifference, were almost incalculable. It drove devout men from his side ; it hedged him in with persons incapable either of advising him, or of calling forth, by their virtues, the better and loftier feelings of his wavering subjects ; it created in his children those habits which dishonoured the life of the one, accelerated the ruin of the other, and finally transferred the crown to hands more worthy to possess it. The best buttresses of a throne are, under God, those which are supplied by the breasts of a pious people. When these cease to yield their support, it may, at least in a free country, be expected to fall. The devotional spirit and the pious magnanimity displayed by Charles in his last days, appear to have been induced by the Divine blessing upon his mis- fortunes, and must not be considered as the general charac- teristics of his life. The faults of the Parliament are equally conspicuous. Whether their conduct in hastening to decide their contest with the king by the sword, after the concessions he had made, be justifiable or not, we leave to those who are more competent to the task. Baxter states, that " the great distrust which the parliament had of the king," was one of the principal causes by which the war was hastened. " They were confident,"" says he, "' that he was unmovable as to his judgment and affections, and that whatever he granted them, was but in design to get his advantage utterly to destroy them ; and that he did but watch for such an opportunity. They supposed that he utterly abhorred the parliament, and their actions against his ship-money, his judges, bishops, &c. ; and therefore whatever he promised them, they believed him not, nor dvu'st take his word ; which they were hardened in by those former actions of his, which they called, the breach of his former promises." * Whether they were warranted in taking up arms under these impressions * Reliq. Baxter. Part First, p. 27. 190 LIFE OF or not, they liave been justly accused of speedily abandoning the general and national object, for the pursuit of their own private ends, and the establishment of their peculiar opinions. For a time their measures were worthy of high commendation ; such as a nation had a right to expect from its representatives. But soon these boasted champions of freedom began to secure their own perpetuity ; to reward their own exertions ; to take measures for building the fabric of Presbyterianism out of the ruins of Episcopacy ; and to restrain conscience by the enactment of penal laws. These proceedings were iniquitous ; and throw a shade upon the motives which dictated their earlier and more praise- worthy proceedings. To exchange an arbitrary monarch for a perpetual parliament, was to exchange one tyrant for many. To make themselves the sole judges of their own deserts, and distributors of their own rewards, was to create a drain upon the national resources which nothing could satisfy. To establish Presbyterianism in the place of Epis- copacy, was to force upon all the religion of a few ; to take from the party who loved an establishment, the only one they revered ; and to force a detested establishment upon those who would endure none at all. -|- To interfere in the affairs of private conscience, so as to threaten men with pains and penalties if they should dare to use the Book of Com- mon Prayer either in their public or domestic devotions, was presumptuously to usurp the authority of God, by a profane intrusion into the sanctities of individual devotion. The Parliament began well, but speedily abandoned their meritorious course, indulging the conceit, that power was safe only in their own hands, that unlimited power is safe in any hands, that they were at liberty to overthrow the eccle- siastical constitution, and to set up their private views as the standard of religion to the whole nation. They threw society into a state of anarchy and confusion, by dissolving the connection between the King and his subjects, and thus made a breach which their subsequent efforts were unable to repair. They subverted the institutions of the country, and prepared the way for a military despotism ; but it was f Christian Observer, ut supra. JOHJi GOODWI\^ 191 reserved for men of greater wisdom and moderation to establish constitutional liberty. The faults of the Army were of equal magnitude. The dissolute character of the Court, and the persecuting mea- sures of the Episcopal Clergy, induced the more devout part of the nation to join the Parliament ; whose military forces therefore comprised a considerable number of men who were sincerely religious. Many of these at length imbibed sentiments concerning church-government very closely allied to republicanism, and thus became hostile to monarchy. Their fanaticism also was unbounded : they suffered their reliffion to deg^enerate into mere mental excite- to o ment, unrestrained by the sober exercise of good sense, or the hallowing precepts of Christianity. Cromwell fanned the flame of their extravagancies, and not unfrequently dis- tinguished himself among them, by extemporaneous effu- sions in preaching and prayer ; and thus gained their entire confidence and cordial attachment. When he therefore formed the design of bringing Charles to the scaffold, and of seizing the supreme authority himself, to engage their co- operation and assistance, he pursued these ends under religious pretences. Professing an extraordinary zeal for God, a decided abhorrence of all religious coercion, and an inflexible regard for universal liberty of conscience; he prevailed upon them freely to surrender themselves to his guidance, and to execute the revolutionary plots devised by him and his son-in-law Ireton. The King was unhap- pily governed by principles and counsels which rendered him hostile both to civil and religious liberty, and made his promises suspicious ; the Parliament had become highly despotic, and, under Presbyterian influence, execrably intolerant ; and the Army, headed by Cromwell and Ire- ton, scattered the one, and shed the blood of the other, without any authority except that of the sword. What views soever may be entertained respecting the character of Charles, there can be but one opinion among the intelligent and dispassionate, concerning the absolute illegality of his execution, and of the measures which imme- 192 LIFE OF diately led to it. The delinquencies of his government had indeed been great, and there was too much reason to fear that he would resume his former conduct if a favourable oppor- tunity should again occur ; yet for a few military men, of their own accord, to control the parliament, to put the sove- reign to death, and completely to overthrow the civil con- stitution of the country, was an atrocious assumption of power, which no concurrence of circumstances could pos- sibly justify. The life of any ruler can only be at the dis- posal of the constitution ; or of that system of laws and regulations by which his subjects should be governed. If his life be taken away by any means but those provided by the constitution, it is murder: No pretended or even proved acts of tyranny, can justify his being put to death in any other way. And what constitution in the civilized world provides for the infliction of death upon the supreme magistrate.'* Every such infliction either against law, or without its sanction, is murder, by whomsoever perpetra- ted. * Among the English regicides there were indeed some individuals who appear to have been honest patriots, and who really thought, that, by the measures they adopted, they were applying a perfect remedy to all the evils under which the nation had long groaned, and were establishing the liberties of their countrymen upon a solid and permanent base : Such at least were Lieutenant-Colonel Ludlow and Colonel Hutchinson, "f* But they ought to have recollected, that the principles upon which they proceeded were sub- versive of social order, and therefore of all rational freedom. What government could stand, if those who are at the head * Dr. Adam Clarke's Commentary on Judges iii. ■f " Though some may blame, many more will pity, a man such as Col. Hutchinson, who found, or conceived himself reduced to the cruel alternative of permitting all that system of liberty, civil and religious, to the establishment of which he had devoted all his faculties, and was ready to sacrifice his existence, to he risqued upon the good faith of a man whose misfortune it was (to say no worse) to be environed by designing and am- bitious persons, who rendered all his virtues abortive, and made all afraid to trust him, or of signing a sentence which has since been called a mur- der, and the undergoing of it a martyrdom !" Memoirs of Col. Hutch- inson, Preface, p. 'J. Edit. 1806. JOHN GOODWIN. 393 of the military forces of any nation, are permitted to place themselves above law, and to control the regularly consti- tuted authorities ? Besides, revolutions in states, effected by mobs and by a licentious soldiery, are uniformly a curse to the nations in which they occur. They are contrary to the order of God, and their punishment is, that they subvert the liberty which they are designed to secure. A sage of elder times has justly said, " We ought in the government of a commonweal, to imitate and follow the great God of nature, who in all things proceedeth easily, and by little and little : who of a little seed causeth to ptow a tree for height and greatness right admirable ; and vet, for all tliat, insensibly : and still by means conjoining the extremi- ties of nature ; as by putting the spring betwixt winter and summer, and autumn betwixt summer and winter ; mode- rating the extremities of the times and seasons, with the self-same wisdom which he useth in other things also, and that in such sort, as that no violent force or course therein appeareth." * Cromwell and his daring associates were condemned by some as the most wicked and unprincipled of human beings, and by others were eulogized and defended as the greatest benefactors of their country. The excellent Baxter, who had strenuously vindicated the Parliament in taking up arms against the Royalists, decidedly disapproved of the King's decapitation, and never hesitated, on all proper occa- sions, to declaim against it as a crime : he nevertheless thought that it admitted of considerable extenuation, and was vastly different from private assassination, and from the Popish doctrine of deposing and putting to death heretical Kings. " I leave it to posterity,"" says he, " hav- ing been myself a member of the army four years, or there- abouts, that it was utterly against the mind and thoughts of Protestants, and those that they called Puritans, to put the King to death ; it was the work of Papists, Liber- tines, Vanists, and Anabaptists ; and the Protestants deeply * The Six Bookes of a Coumionweale, written by J. Bodin, Done into English by Richard Knolles, p. 473. Edit. KiOG. o 194 LIFE OF suffered for opposing it. And yet, I must needs add, that every wise man sees that the case itself much differs from the Papists, If the body of a common- wealth, or those that have part in the legislative power, and so in the supremacy, should unwillingly be engaged in a Avar with tlie Prince; and, after many years' blood and deso- lations, judicially take his life, as guilty of all this blood, and not to be trusted any more with government ; and all this they do, not as private men, but as the remaining sovereign power, and say they do it according to the laws ; — undoubt- edly this case doth very much differ from the Powder-plot, or Papists'* murdering of Kings, and teaching that it is lawful for a private hand to do it, if he be but an heretic, or be but deposed or excommunicated by the Pope. A war, and a treacherous murder, are not all one with a private hand, or foreign prelate pretending to a dominion over the lives and states of princes, and over the kingdoms of the world ; and that the Vice-Christ, or Vice-God on earth." -f In defence of the principles upon which the Army had acted, a learned and ingenious tract was published in the year 1649, under the fictitious signature of Eutactus Philodemius, dated from Gray's Inn, and entitled, " The Original and End of Civil Power." Dr. Owen, also, in a strain of genuine fanaticism, which would have disgraced the most despicable of Cromwell's preaching officers, com- pared the outrageous proceedings of the Regicides to the valorous achievements of the IVIan after God's own heart, in subduing the enemies of his country, and in preparing the way for the national glory and prosperity by which the reign of Solomon Avas distinguished. Speaking of Ireton, the Doctor says, " He was an eminent instrinnent in the hand of God, in as tremendous alterations, as such a spot of this world hath at any time received, since Daniel saw in general them all As Daniel's visions were all terminated in the kingdom of Christ, so all his actions had the same aim and intendment. This was that which gave life and sweetness to all the most dismal and black engagements that at any time he Avas called out unto. It was all the ven- t Baxter's Key for Catholicks , p. 323. Edit. 1C59. JOHN r.ooDWiN. 195 geance of the Lord and his temple : A Davldical prepara- tion of his paths in blood, that he might for ever reign in righteousness and peace." * The army had also a warm advocate in the celebrated John Canne, who has long been in high repute for his refer- ences and notes to the Holy Scriptures. This learned man announced himself to the world as the author of " The Golden Rule : or, Justice Advanced, &c. ; being a clear and full Satisfaction to the whole Nation, in justification of the legal proceedings of the High Court of Justice against Charles Steward, late King of England, 1649." But among the numerous advocates of this measure, the author of Paradise Lost was the most eminently distinguished. This consummate genius and scholar contended, in varitnis pub- lications, that the conduct of the army was not only defen- sible, as being in accordance with the law of nature, but so highly meritorious as to entitle them to perpetual renown. It has also been observed by a very sensible modern writer, in reference to the army, that, " If ruin was appre- hended by these men to themselves or the kingdom ; if their civil or religious rights, in their eyes, appeared as intended to be sacrificed, and the king and the priest, whether prelate or presbyter mattered not, were to reassume their wonted rule ; and above all, if the King's character appeared such to them, that no reliance was to be put on his promises, declarations, or oaths, (all of which they seem strongly to affirm,) we are not to wonder at the deed. All men know the force of necessity and self-preservation, and know also that they will operate more strongly than law or reason." -f* These considerations go to extenuate the proceedings of the regicides, but not to justify them; for, in no case can it be lawful to do e\al that good may come. It is a circumstance deeply to be regretted, that the cruel treatment which Mr. Goodwin had received from the Pres- byterians, and the outrageous assumptions and intolerance * The Labouring vSaint's Dismission to Rest : A Sermon preached at the Funeral of the Right Honourable Henry Ireton. Collection of Ser- mons, p. 420. Edit. 1721. t Harris's Life of Cromwell, p. 197. Ldit. 18I4. o 2 196 IIFE OF of that body, together with tlie singular exigency of the ' nation at that particular crisis, gave such a bias to his mind as induced him to take up his pen in defence of CromweU andhis presumptuousfraternity. Such, however, was the fact. He \\Tote two pamphlets on that subject. The first of these, which is entitled " Right and Might well Met," was de^ signed to justify the restraint which was put upon the parliament, and was published before the King was brought to trial. A reply to this tract was immediately drawn up by Mr. John Geree, under the title of " Might overcoming Rio-ht f Sir Francis Nethersole also addressed a printed Letter to our author on the same occasion, accusing him of advancing principles in his last publication opposite to those contained in his " Anti-Cavalierism :"" to which Mr. Good- win immediately replied in a small piece which he entitled, " The Unrighteous Judge." This pamphlet bears the date of Jan. 18th, 1648, ten days after the first assembling of the High Court of Justice, -j- Sir Francis pressed our author to declare his opinion concerning the " untouchable- ness of the lives of Kings," particularly in reference to the principles laid down in the " Anti-Cavalierism," and the " Right and Might well Met ;" to which Mr. Goodwin says, " Such a thing is indeed easy to be done, but no way honourable or comely for me to do. He that shall, especially in pubhc, deliver his judgment in matters of great weight, without a proportionable retirement of himself, for the exact casting up of all particular accounts relating to such an undertaking, runs a double hazard : the one, of misleading others, the other, of dishonour to himself." | In this lan- guage of hesitation and reserve, Mr. Goodwin expressed himself only twelve days before the King was actually brought to the scafibld. Sir Francis also accused Mr. Goodwin of " seducing" the Soldiery and the Parliament ; and of " leading them out of the road of their loyalty ;" to which he replies, " The God on high, who must shortly judge me, knows, and both Parliament-men and Soldiers t Ludlow's Memoirs, Vol. I. p. 275. Edit. 1722. + p. 14. JOIIX OOODWIK. 197 know, that I never was the manjrom whose tongue or pen the least word or syllable, tending to the forming or directing any of their proceedings ever came. Only when I discerned, that, through better teaching than mine, they were engaged in ways of conscience and honour, Hkely to bless the nation, I considered myself obliged in duty, to bring forth the righteousness of their cause into the clearest light I could, and to stop the mouths of gainsayers with my pen/'' f Let the reader then judge, what credit is due to the assertion of Granger, that " no man more eagerly promoted the murder of the King/'' \ Of this charge, we believe, there exists not the slightest proof. After a lapse of four months Mr. Goodwin produced a tract in vindication of the High Court of Justice, in its conduct towards the King ; " having,"''' as he says, *' with all diligence, and good conscience, surveyed that great transaction, in all the circumstances of it ; and being willing to tax myself at so much time and pains as to draw up a report in writing of what I find in that survey.''' 11 The title of this piece is, " The Obstructors of Justice : or, A Defence of the honourable Sentence passed upon the late King, 1649 ;''"' and the whole is a reply to three distinct publications : " The serious and faithful Representation of the Judgments of the Ministers of the Gospel within the Province of London, in a Letter from them to the General and his Council of War"'' — Dr. Haramond''s " Humble Address to his Excellency and Council of War"" — and Geree''s " Might overcoming Right." The author of this last tract died a short time before Mr. Goodwin wrote : his memory is therefore respected, and even his arguments treated with forbearance. The Presbyterian ministers, who had signed the " Serious Representation,'" had rendered themselves particularly open to animadversion. They had been active promoters of hostility to the King, through the whole course of the war ; and now procested against a mea- sure which was the result of their own conduct ; and the t Unrighteous Judge, p. 5. + Biog. Hist. Eng. Vol. III. p. 42, Edit. 1801. II Obstructors of Justice, Dedication. o3 198 LIFE OF very possibility of which could never have existed but for that doctrine of resistance which they had strenuously incul- cated, till the King was, in point of fact, reduced to the situation of a subject. " The ministers," says our author, " deposed the King, and consequently exposed him to that trial whereunto he was brought, [and] to that sentence which passed upon him. — The ministers with their party clearly deposed tlie King when they denied subjection to him — withdrew their obedience from him — acknowledged a power superior to his — levied war against him as a traitor, rebel, and enemy to the kingdom — chased him up and down from place to place — confiscated his revenues — and at last imprisoned his person." -f* I>r> Henry Hammond was an episcopal divine of great learning, of eminent piety, and of a holy and upright life. His attachment to his royal master, to whom he sustained the office of chaplain, was uniform and highly exemplary. He voluntarily submitted to lose a:ll his preferments rather than betray the church of which he was a member, or renounce allegiance to his King. With a magnanim- ity worthy of his elevated character, he took upon himself individually to remonstrate with those who meditated the death of his sovereign. At the same time, it must be con- fessed, that his views of government were unfriendly to general liberty, as tending to encourage arbitrary sway in the chief magistrate. For the Doctor's erudition and inte- grity Mr. Goodwin had the highest respect, while he thought it his duty to controvert his political principles, and to justify ihimself against ^the charges which the Doctor had preferred against him, not only in his " Humble Address," but in some other publications. " I perceive," says he, " by son>e pieces published by this Doctor, since the late trou- bles in the land, that he hath some particular desire to engage me. I cannot account for such desire, considering that many others have taken up the bucklers against that cause which he maintaineth, as well as I ; and that I never f Obstructors of Justice, p. 53, JOHN GOODWIN. 199 in any of my writings, either mentioned his name, or reflected upon him in the least. I have heard frequently of him : nor have I at any time heard any thing concerning him but well and worthy of a man, his judgment in the grand state-question of the times excepted : the disparage- ment whereof I was very willing to pass by, as judging it honestly covered with his other principles and regular deportments. But since he hath once and again lifted up the standard of his pen against me, I have at last taken the field, hoping to right myself at that weapon wherewith I have been assaulted." -f- There are many passages in Mr. Goodwin'^s " Obstruc- tors of Justice"" which are written with great acuteness, and strength of reason ; but these relate to subjects of a col- lateral description. What he has advanced on the main question of his book, is unworthy of his superior endow- ments, though often plausible, and, in point of arg'tcmenf, equal to any thing advanced on the same side either by Milton or by any of his contemporaries. It is but justice to Mr. Goodwin to state, that in defend- ing the army he was not influenced by any dislike of social order, or by any predilection for a republican government, as opposed to a limited monarchy. In the case of King Charles he was evidently misled by his pas- sion for religious freedom. No man ever lived, who under- stood the rights of conscience better than he, or who was more tremblingly alive to their importance. All dominion over conscience he regarded as a usurpation of the Divine prerogative, and a wicked encroachment upon the most sacred rights of human nature. Whereas the King " was careful" of episcopal " Uniformity,"" | and the parliament had issued Ordinances in restraint of religious liberty suffi- cient to disgrace even a Spanish government, and to wound the obduracy of a Bonner. Had the King therefore been restored to the exercise of his regal functions, when the par- liament voted his concessions to be a ground for a future f Obstructors of Justice, p. 133. J Pcrrinchief's Life of King Charles the First, p. 240. Edit. 1684. 200 i-Hii Of settlement, the probability was, according to the opinion of Mr. GoodAvin and others, that the Episcopalians or the Presbyterians, or perhaps both, would enjoy the counte- nance and protection of the State ; and all other bodies of religious people, after a sacrifice of their property, and an exposure of their lives in the field, would be delivered up to the severities of persecution. These not improbable anticipations doubtless made a strong impression upon Mr. Goodwin''s mind, as well as the revenge which he kneAv to be meditated by the royal party. Under the impulse of those feelings, which such a situation of affairs was calcu- lated to excite, he wrote his two pamphlets in vindication of the army, -f* The political principles inculcated in these publications, as well as in those of his bold compeers, are dangerous and indefensible ; they are nevertheless the errors of an ardent and generous mind, desirous, above every thing besides, of restoring to his species those rights Avhich they had received from their Maker, but of which they had been wantonly deprived. To animadvert upon all the unjust reflections which have been cast upon Mr. Goodwin, and the misrepresentations of his political conduct advanced by different writers, Avould be an endless task. One or two instances, however, it is requisite to notice. The partiality of Mr. Neal has long been a subject of just complaint. The History of the Puritans, as a whole, is certainly a work of superior value. It is a vast collection of important ecclesiastical facts ; and the zeal which it uniformly displays in favour of civil and religious liberty, is Avorthy of the highest praise. At the same time it is notorious, that the author's representations are often incorrect ; that he is frequently negligent in the examina- tion of his avithorities ; and that, on almost all occasions, when the hoTiour of his oAvn party is concerned, he yields to the delusive influence of prejudice. He is scarcely ever Avilling to do justice either to individuals or communities who happened to differ from him. The account given by f Right and Might, p. 18. Obstructors ol' Justice, p. 117. JOHX C.OODWIK. 201 him of the political writings of Milton and Mr. Goodwin is highly disingenuous. After giving the title of Milton"'s answer to Salmasius, he simply remarks, that it was " writ- ten in an elegant but severe style (" and then proceeds to state, that " To satisfy the English reader, Mr. John Good- win published a small treatise, which he entitled, 'A Defence of the Sentence passed upon the late King,' &c.— a very weak and inconclusive performance ! For admitting our author's principles, that the original of government is from the people, and that magistrates are accountable to them for their administration, they are not applicable in the present case, because the officers of the army had neither the voice of the people, nor of their representatives in a free parliament ; the House of Commons was purged, and the House of Peers dispersed, in order to make way for this outrage upon the constitution. Our author was so sensible of this objection, that, in order to evade it, he advances this ridiculous conclusion : That though the erecting of a High Court of Justice by the House of Commons alone, be con- trary to the letter, yet being for the people's good, it is sufficient that it be agreeable to the spirit cf the law. But who gave a few officers of the army authority to judge what was best for the people's good, or to act according to the spirit of the law, in contradiction to the letter ?'"' -{- That Mr. Goodwin was unsuccessful in the accomplish- ment of his design, it would be folly to deny. It is never- theless the duty of an historian, like that of a witness in a court of justice, to declare " the whole truth," so far as it can be ascertained, without either prejudice or favour. In the present instance Mr. Neal has not thought it expedient to do this ; fearful, as it should seem, lest Mr. Goodwin should not appear to sufficient disadvantage. He has not given the slightest intimation of any thing objectionable in the political writings of Milton, excepting " the severity of his style," which is counterbalanced bv its acknowledged " elesance :" but, seizing upon a single expression in Mr. Goodwin's t Hist. Purit. Vol. III. p. 503. 202 : LIFE OF pamphlet, and totally disregarding the argument with which it stands connected, he sneers at the whole, as " weak," "ridi- culous,'" and " inconclusive."" Now it is a fact, of which Mr. Neal could not be ignorant, that every thing advanced by Milton in defence of the King's execution, and of the pro- ceedings which immediately led to it, is open to the objection which he has urged with such an air of contempt against Mr. Goodwin. Both these eminent men argue in vindication of these measures upon precisely the same principle, — that they were indispensably necessary in order to the civil and religious liberty of British subjects. To Milton''s "Tenureof Kings and Magistrates,*" which, every one knows, was also intended " to satisfy tlie English reader," Mr. Goodwin makes frequent reference in his " Obstructors of Justice," in confirmation of his different positions. Besides, though Milton's political writings are enriched by classical facts and allusions, irradiated by the blaze of poetic genius, and con- tain frequent burstsof powerful and commanding eloquence, — and though his Latin pieces especially are written in a style the most beautiful and enchanting, — yet they are disfigured by such grim satire, and personal insult and abuse, as Mr. Goodwin never wrote. Milton was a stern republican, sys- tematically hostile to monarchy, and he treats the memory of his decapitated sovereign with the most sarcastic and offensive levity. From both these faults Mr. Goodwin is completely free. The contemptuous reflections cast upon him, and that indirect praise of his coadjutor, when the historian had introduced them to his readers, is undoubtedly to be resolved into that difference of theological opinion which subsisted between Mr. Neal and the object of his animadversion. At all events, no fair and candid historian, when he meets with two delinquents, will studiously conceal the faults of the more notorious offender, and wreak all his official vengeance upon the other. Such little arts, how common soever, are infinitely beneath the dignity of genuine history. In Mr. Goodwin's day, there arose in various parts of the nation, a people who expected the immediate appearance of Jesus Christ in person, to establish on earth a new monarchy JOHN GOODWiy. 203 or kingdom. They were principally, though not exclu- sively, of the Baptist denomination. * As there were four great empires, which had successively gained the dominion of the world ; the Assyrian, the Persian, the Grecian, and the Roman ; so these men, believing that the kingdom of Christ was to be the Fifth, received the appellation of Fifth Monarchy-Men. They imagined, that under this glorious dispensation, there would be no sovereign but Christ, nor any to govern in subordination to him but the saints.-f* Under this impression, many of them endeavoured to effect the sub- version of all human government, as being inimical to the kingdom of Christ, and as preventing its erection. Soon after Cromweirs assumption of the Protectorate, they were detected in the formation of a conspiracy, the object of which was, to blow up Whitehall when he was present ; for which several of them were imprisoned. On regaining their liberty, they plotted the destruction of Oliver's son ; and a few months after the Restoration, raised an insurrection in London, in which they killed several people, vociferating through the streets, N'o king- but Christ ! " The madness of these men," says bishop Kennet, " extended so far, as to believe that they, and tlie rest of their judgment, were called by God to reform the world, and make all the earthly poAvers, which they called Babylon, subservient to the kingdom of King Jesus ; and in order thereunto, never to sheath the sword, till the carnal powers of the world became a hissing and a curse : and by a misguided zeal they were so confident of their undertaking, that they were taught and believed, that one should subdue a thousand ; making account, when they had led captivity captive in England, to go into France, Spain, Germany and other parts of the world, there to pro- secute their holy design." j Bishop Burnet has, most unaccountably, represented Mr. Goodwin as the most active and zealous of these miserably deluded people. " The Fifth Monarchy-Men," says he, * Ivimey'sHisto/yof the Baptists, p. 261. f Hobbes's History of the Civil Wars, p. 2.55, Edit. 1679. Noble's Lives of the English Regicides, Vol. i, p. 272. Edit. 17y8. + Register and Chrouide, p. J55. 204 T.1FE OF ** seemed to be really on expectation every day when Christ should appear. John Goodwin headed these, who first brought in Armlnianism among the sectaries ; for he was for liberty of all sorts. — He filled all people with such an expectation of a glorious thousand years speedily to begin, that it looked like a madness possessing them." * That Mr. Goodwin either " headed" the Fifth Monarchy- Men, or held any of their peculiar opinions, cannot by any means be admitted without proof, not the least shadow of which was ever produced by the bishop, or by any of Mr. Goodwin's accusers. On the contrary, the most convincing proof exists, that in giving this representation of his princi- ples and character the Right Reverend Historian was totally mistaken. Every man of reading knows, that the bishop"'s assertions are often fabulous, and his characters frequently distorted ; and that scarcely any thing can be less certain than many of his hearsay reports. Whether the whole of his numerous inaccuracies are to be attributed to pure inad- vertency, or imply a reflection upon his veracity, this is not the place to enquire.-|- Burnet was a native of Edinburgh, and did not visit Eng- land till the year 1663, when he Avas only twenty years of affe. Charles the Second was then restored, and the childish vagaries, and murderous exploits of the Fifth Monarchy- Men were at an end. Mr. Goodwin was then an old man and a sequestered minister ; and our juvenile adventurer who, at that time, staid only six months in this country, was busily employed in visiting the two Universities, and in pay- ing his devoirs to the Nobility and dignified clergy.j On this subject, therefore, Burnet does not speak from personal knowledge, but appears to have retailed one of the numerous and vague reports of the day. And when it is recollected, that Mr. Goodwin was an Independent, and had sided with the army, it will scarcely be supposed, that his sentiments ♦History of his Own Times, Vol.i, p.67. Edit. 1724. f See Rose's Obser- vations on Fox's Historical Work, Appendix ; and Heywood's Vindication of Fox's History, passim. X Thomas Burnet's Life of Bishop Burnet, annexed to the History of his Own Time. JOHX GOODWIN. SOS and conduct would be correctly represented by popular fame, especially among the associates of the Prelate, after the Restoration had turned the tide of public opinion in favour of monarchy and of the episcopal church. Besides, few writers have ever been in the habit of declaring their religious creed in a manner more ingenuous and unequi- vocal than Mr. Goodwin ; and yet, in his numerous writings, not the slightest trace of attachment to the peculiar notions of the Fifth Monarchy-Men is to be discovered. It must appear a singular circumstance, that he should have " filled all men with such an expectation of a glorious thousand years speedily to begin, till it looked like a madness possess- ing them," and yet shoidd never have introduced the subject in any of liis publications : and it must be passing strange, if he should have produced such a mighty effect in the na- tion without employing the press. Can it be imagined, that " all men"" would so attend his ministry in Coleman-street, as to be wrought vip to such a pitch of phrenzy ? The same remark will apply to the publications of his antagonists. Prynne indeed charged him with being an, enemy to civil government ; but it was only because he denied that magis- trates have any legitimate authority in the affairs of private conscience. Edwards wrote various pamphlets for the avowed purpose of effecting Mr. Goodwin's ruin. For this end, he not only examined our author's writings, but employed spies to attend his ministry, and to furnish an account of every thing in his public prayers and sermons that might be deemed objectionable, and used to his disadvantage. He mentions the wild opinions of the Fifth Monarchy-Men, among other "errors and heresies,"" but never gives the least intimation that they constituted any part of Mr. Goodwin''s creed, or that he had any connection with the men by whom they were held. Now is it probable — is it possible — that he should have been the Head of a multitude of atrocious fanatics, who aimed at the subversion of all government, ecclesiastical and civil ; that he should have gained " all men"" over to those despicable opinions mentioned by the bishop ; and that Edwards and Prynne, in their malignant 20G LIFE OF efforts to expose him to tlie vengeance of the civil power, should have maintained absolute silence on the subject ? After Cromwell was Invested with the supreme power, the Fifth Monarchy-Men were the most active and daring of allhis enemies. It was therefore deemed necessai-y to employ spies to associate with them, and to discover their proceed- ings and Intentions. These wily men obtained access to the nocturnal meetings of those incendiaries, and from time to time presented to CromwelPs Secretary, an account of the persons who were present, of the principal actors among them, and of their various revolutionary plans. The com- munications concerning them thus obtained, are preserved in the State Papers of Thurlow ; where it is said, " The chief and leader of them, is one Venner, that was a wy ne-cooper :"* but in these authentic documents, which contain the names of all the leading characters among them, no mention what- ever is made of Mr. Goodwin. This circumstance affords no mean proof of the inaccuracy of Burnet's account. This is also further proved by the public avowals which Mr. Goodwin so frequently made, not only of his conscien- tious regard for civil magistracy in general, but of his fidelity to the parliament, and afterwards to the government of the commonwealth. A few of these it may not be improper to lay before the reader. " It is the will of God," says he, " that there should be some government in every society of men. In this sense, all forms of government that are lawful and just, whether they be simple, as monarchy, aristocracy, democracy ; or mixed, having somewhat of two or of all these simples in them ; are equally or indifferently from God." -j* " No lawful rule, authority, or power, are enemies to Christ, but are confederate with him." ^ " The constant tenour of my deportment, from the begin- ning of this parliament, hath been fully parliamentary. If I should boast, that, to my power, I have notbeen behlndthevery greatest of those that have built up the parliamentary cause * Thurlow's State-papers, Vol. vi. pp. 184 — 188. f Auti-CavalierUm, p. 5. 1642. I Danger of fighting against God, p. 15. 1()44. JOHX GOODWiy. 207 with the highest liand and the loyalest heart, I should not be ashamed. Some of my adversaries themselves in place, have given large testimony to my faithfulness and diligence in this kind;'* " We freely allow to all Christian Kings and Magistrates in the world, any authority whatsoever, which will not cl^im a right to punish men for not being as wise, as learned, as far insighted into religion as themselves ; or for such matters of fact as are occasioned merely by such defects as these. The weakness of men's judgments calls rather for instruction than punishment. We cannot judge, that the mistaking of a man's way in a dark controversy, deserves a prison or any other stroke with the civil sword." f *' There are two ordinances, by which the good pleasure of God is, to communicate of his goodness and love to his saints, during the present state of things. One is the ministry of the Avord, the other civil magistracy. The one intended for their calling out of this present world, and fitting them for future glory ; the other for their protection, that under the shadow of it they may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. To attempt a deliverance from either, must needs be as a covering the sun with sackcloth, and a turning of the moon into blood. I look upon Magis- tracy as the only preventive appointed by God, to keep the world from falling foul upon itself, and being destroyed by its own hand." J " Concerning the power of the civil magistrate, I have not only argued and asserted the lawfulness of it, but the necessity also ; yea, and shewed the benefit and blessing of it unto the world ; and have endeavoured with all my migln- to convince the error and sin of those who refuse subjection to it." II " The zeal of my loyalty to magistracy and government, hath been abundantly testified, by the frequent contests of my pen against all the profanations and pollutions of the * Innocency's Triumph, p. 3. 1645. f Innocency andTruth, p. 73. 1645. X Scourg^e of the Saints, Preface. 1646. H Divine Authority of the Scriptures, p. 29. 1648. SOS LIFE OF glory of them ; wliether injustice, tyranny, oppression, unfaithfulness in those called to them; or anarchical, disloyal, tumultuous, seditious strains, either in word or deed, in those a good part of whose calling is obedience and subjection to them." * " Do not such persons sin against an express command of God, who, under what pretext soever, teach disobedience to the powers over them ; animating and incensing the peo- ple against the powers which God, whether in judgment or mercy, hath appointed over them ? Can the sin of resisting the powers, be more dangerously perpetrated, than when those who ouglit to live in subjection are urged, yea upon religious pretences conjured, to refuse subjection, and are borne in liand, that, whilst they break so signal a command of God, they do him worthy service ?" -j* " The prosperity and peace, both of the parliament and present government, together with theirs who are entrusted with it, have been the great contest and strife of my soulj ever since the day wherein God laid the foundations of it ; and this against disobligements not a few nor inconsiderable. That I speak the truth in this, and lie not, I have many witnesses." | " It is sufficiently known to the world, that I have always been as zealous an assertor of their authority, as any of their best friends whatsoever : nor have I to this hour suffered the least alteration either in my judgment or affections." || It will be seen by the references in the margin, that these public appeals were made by Mr. Goodwin, and repeated at different times, from the commencement of the civil wars, till within a little while of the Restoration : nor did his adversaries ever confront them, except by the idle charge, that as he opposed the interference of magistrates in the affairs of conscience, he was an enemy to their secular pre- rogatives. The last two of these appeals were made at a * Exposition of the Ninth Chapter to the Romans, Dedication. 16"53. f Dissatisfaction Satisfied, p. 11. 1654. X The Triers or Tormentors Tried and Cast, Preface. 1657. || Triumviri, Preface. 1658. JOHN GOODWIN. 209 time when the Fifth Monarchy-Men were the most active in giving efficiency to their revolutionary schemes ; and when several of them had been taken into custody for their opposition to the existing government. Now allowing Mr. Goodwin to have possessed the least share of common sense, surrounded as he was by men whose tender mercies were cruel, and who would have exulted in an opportunity of subjecting him to a State-prosecution, it is impossible that he should so frequently have courted an investigation of his political principles and conduct had he been the head of the Fifth Monarchy-Men, or even a member of their miserable fraternity : To say nothing of the improbability, that a man of his strong sense and sound learning, should ever be the dupe of such consummate folly. It is also worthy of remark, that Burnet's account is incon- sistent with itself, and therefore destroys its own credibility. Speaking of the Fifth Monarchy-Men, he says, " It was no easy thing for Cromwell to satisfy those, Avhen he took the power into his own hands ; since that looked like a step to kingship, which Goodwin had long represented as the great Antichrist, that hindered Christ''s being set upon his throne With much ado, he managed these republican enthusiasts.''^ And yet, in reference to the Protector, the bishop remarks, " None of the preachers were so thorough- VACED Jhr him, as to temporal matters, as Goodwin was." * Thus the bishop states, in effect, with his characteristic gra- vity, that while Mr. Goodwin taught people to regard Crom- well's political measures as an approximation to the great Antichrist, he was more eager and zealous, or, to use the prelate's own term, more thoroughpaced, in defence of' tlwse measures^ than any other minister of his age ! And that, while he exceeded all his clerical contemporaries in ardent attachment to the Usurper, he was the head of a band of ruffians, who not only meditated the overthroxo of his goveiniment, but formed apian for his assassination! Cre- DAT JUD-EUS ApELLA ! * Own Times, Vol. i. pp. ^7, g^- 210 LIFE OF But we have evidence still more convincing, that Burnet''s account is untrue. Mr. Goodwin was not only unconnected with the Fifth Monarchy-Men, hut repeatedly wrote against them, and strenuously opposed the very principle, of which the bishop declares him to have been an enthusiastic advocate. The Fifth Monarchy-Men were generally rigid predestina- rians, whose avowed belief was, that all events, and the times of their actual occurrence, are ordained by an unchangeable deci-ee of the Almighty. In reference to these deluded men Mr. Goodwin enquires, " Is the time of setting up the Fifth Monarchy determined by God, so that no human endeavours are available to hasten this period, nor any human opposition able to retard it .'' If neither, why should men trouble the world about them, and abuse the simplicity of inconsiderate people, by bearing them in hand, that if they were permitted to umpire the affairs of state, they would bring the Fifth Monarchy upon the world, even before the day thereof .'^ Why should these men clamour against persons, who them- selves acknowledge to be godly, as if they stood in Christ's way, and would not suffer him to set up his kingdom, only because they cannot be satisfied about the truth of their notions, and refuse to steer a course threatening' ruin and coxFUsioN TO THE NATION.'' Is it not the declared Opinion qfHhese men, that the day wherein that great jubilee they speak of, shall begin, is unalterably fixed by God ?''' * In his " Peace Protected, and Discontent Disarmed," Mr. Goodwin expresses himself to a similar effect. " There were some in Paul's days," says he, " who troubled the minds of many with this notion, ' That the day of Christ was at hand.' (2 Thes. ii, 2.) Yet this was no testimony of Jesus proper for that generation, Avith what confidence soever it might be pretended to have been such. And to set a few people agog with a conceit, that if they might set up such and such persons in places of power, they would lay the foundation of the Fifth Monarchy, and suddenly bring in the kingdom of Christ upon the world, is no testimony of * Dissatisfaction Satisfied, p. 16. Edit. 1654, JOHN OOODWiy. 3^11 Jesus proper to this generation. For Jesus hath no where declared such a propriety as this to reside in such a doctrine."* Mr. Goodwin expresses himself in still stronger language on this subject, in another of his publications. Addressing the members of his church, and warning them against the most dangerous sects then in existence, he says, " Amongst the persons known by the name of Fifth Monarchy-Men, (not so much from their opinion touching the said Monarchy, as by that fierce and restless spirit which worketh in them, to bring it into the world by unhallowed methods,) you will learn to speak evil of those that are in dignity, to curse the Ruler of your people, to entertain darkness instead of a vision, to advance yourselves Avith confidence into the things you have not seen, and to please yourselves most when you neither please God nor sober-minded people." -|- To the improbable, unauthenticated, and contradictory charge of Burnet, so dishonourable to Mr. Goodwin, we oppose all that mass of counter evidence, now before the reader ; leaving him to declare on which side the truth lies, and confidently anticipating a verdict in favour of the accused. It was singularly unfortunate for the memory of Mr. Goodwin, that about sixty years had elapsed from the time of his death, before the publication of Burnet's History ; so that, as his friends, who were personally acquainted with him, had gone to " the house appointed for all living," he had no one to do justice to his character, when that inaccurate work was presented to the world. For Mr. Goodwin's attachment to Cromwell, so often charged upon him as a crime, it is not difficult to assign rea- sons which imply no reflection upon his memory. When men properly estimate the value of religious liberty, protec- tion from the dire grasp of persecution, come from what quarter it may, will inspire sentiments of gratitude. This protection was afforded by CromwelL, who effectually hum- bled the intolerant and haughty Presbyterians, and declared * Page 4/. Edit. 1054. t Cala-Baptism, signal, i 3. r2 212 LIFK OF his readiness to spread die shield over all classes of religious people, who forbore to interfere with his political measures, and conducted themselves in a peaceable and orderly manner. Had it not been for Cromwell, in all probability, Mr. Goodwin"'s Arminianism would have cost him his liberty, if not his life. To the enemies of Mr. Goodwin, Burnet's incorrect account has been an occasion of noisy triumph ; especially to the late Rev. Augustus Toplady. The mind of this theologian was so thoroughly saturated with the doctrines of Calvinism, that they seemed to be incorporated with his very being. More magnanimous than several of his breth- ren, he scorned to conceal his religious opinions, and gloried in their open avowal and defence. Had he, in doing this, conducted himself with the decorum of a Gentleman and a Christian, whatever might have been thought of his creed, his honesty would have entitled him to universal respect. But he set himself to destroy the good name of nearly all the eminent men, whose sentiments concerning the extent of the Divine compassion were contrary to his own ; and seems never to have imagined, that an Anti-Calvinist, whe- ther living or dead, was entitled to either justice, truth, or mercy. Eager to criminate Mr. Goodwin, and thus to get rid of his arguments, this celebrated polemic seized with exultation upon the statement of Burnet ; and though it contained a palpable contradiction on its very face ; with- out enquiring whether it was true or not, he adopted it as a basis of the most unfounded charges. Toplady has endeavoured to improve upon the bishop's account, by add- ing several circumstances of his own invention ; all of which are perfectly gratuitous assumptions, unsupported by the slightest authority, and some of them are absolutely false. He has applied to the venerable old man the most reproach- ful epithets, boldly taxed him with crimes that he never committed, and, in the teeth of the strongst evidence to the contrary, has represented him as one of the most consum- mate hypocrites that ever disgraced the human form, or insulted the patience of heaven, f A formal refutation of t Toplady's Historic Defence, Introduction. JOHN GOODWIN. 213 such unprincipled accusations, is altogether unnecessary. A simple negative is all the reply to which unauthorised asser- tions, the mere ebullitions of angry passion, are at all entitled. Besides, the practice of calling names, and of falsifying history, never fails, among the candid and intel- ligent, to defeat its own purpose. It requires little sagacity to perceive, that no system of religious doctrine, which requires for its support the sacrifice of truth and charity, can ever have emanated from that Being who is the un- changeable patron of both. On taking leave of the civil troubles of this country, as connected with the personal history of Mr. Goodwin, we cannot forbear to adore that infinitely wise and gracious Providence, which superintends the affairs of men, and which is especially displayed in educing good from evil. By that Power the deeds of violence now related, have been overruled for the permanent advantage of this favoured land. The lawless republicans, with Cromwell and Ireton at their head, though they did not establish liberty, gave the death-blow to monarchical tyranny. The arbitrary and cruel policy of the Stuarts was indeed resumed by the Second Charles, whose persecuting reign, in open violation of his promise, and whose mean acceptance of French gold, have stamped his character with indelible infamy. But though monarchical tyranny lived, it could never recover from the wound it had received, but finally expired with the abdication of James, -f Finding that his attempts to render himself absolute, and to subvert the Protestant religion, had alienated the affections of his subjects from him, this monarch, recollecting the fate of his father, " yielded an easy and a bloodless victory to his opponents, and left them to settle the constitution amidst calm and sober councils." Out of that chaos of confusion and disorder into which society was thrown by the civil wars and the commonwealth, and by the oppressive sway of the two succeeding Kings, an invisible but Divine hand guided them in the formation f Noble's Memoirs of the Protectorate House of Cromwell, Vol. II. p. 320. Edit. 1784. < 1'3 214 LIFE OF of a system of civil polity, which, affording protection to the lowest ranks of society, and extending the control of law to the highest, is the glory of Britain, and the admira- tion of the world. Under the auspices of this constitution, British subjects enjoy more rational liberty, have more true religion, and are consequently more happy, than any other nation upon the face of the earth. When democratic revo- lutionists, therefore, actuated by principles imported from Infidel France, are eagerly pressing to lay unhallowed hands upon the sacred deposit, who that loves his country and his King, can forbear to exclaim, — Procul, O procul estc, Prnfam t AfterWilliam Taylor had enjoyed Mr. Good wind's benefice in Coleman-street, about four or five years, he fell under the displeasure of the existing government,and was expelled after theexample of hisinjured predecessor. On thisoccasion urgent application was made by Mr. Goodwin'^s friends in his behalf ; and after considerable difficulty had been surmounted, their request was obtained. Mr. Goodwin found, however, on his restoration to his church, that a great part of the revenue which he had formerly enjoyed, was alienated from him. The vicar^s income arose, principally, from the voluntary contri- butions of the parishioners ; many of whom, favouring the principles of the Presbyterians, presented to Taylor their respective quotas. The loss sustained by Mr. Goodwin in consequence of his ejectment, in the space of nine years, he estimates at One Thousand Pounds : a large sum in those times, the absence of which must have been severely felt by Mr. Goodwin, considering the largeness of his family, -f* In the year 1651, an anonymous speculator in politics published a tract, under the title of, " A Model of a New Representative, now under consideration ; wherein is shewn, who are the men that are conceived meet to be the choosers of, and chosen into the places of Parliament-men, in the next Representative." This writer suggests, that none of the members of Mr. Goodwin's church should be deemed f Peace Protected, Preface. JOHN GOODWIX, 215 eligible to sit in parliament : " Considering first," sajs lie, "that for the greatest part of them, they are such high extollers of reason, that in case they should be chosen to the places of parliament-men, they would never give way that any Act should pass the House which should not be grounded upon reason, though of never so spiritual a con- cernment. " 2. Because they are, many of them, so well versed in the art of reasoning, tliat one of them will be able to puzzle a hundred honest men, that are not guided by their reasons. " 3. Because they are so deeply baptized into that spirit that teacheth subjection to the civil magistrate, (being once settled by God,) that they hold themselves bound to submit unto all the ordinances of man for the Lord's sake : they being people also taken notice of, to be very true ta their principles : all of which things considered, there appears little danger in rejecting them.'''' The suggestions of this writer serve to shew the estima- tion in which the friends of Mr. Goodwin were held at this eveiuful and interesting period. SIG LIFE OF CHAPTER VII Mr. Gondicin's public disputations with Vavasor Powell and John Simpson- Publication of " TrutUs Conflict with Error" — Mr. Goodwin's " i?e- vjcdi/ of' Unreasonableness" — Extract from that pamphlet — His "Redemp- tion Redeemed" — Extracts from the Dedication — Vino of the subjects discussed in that great work — Sense in which the author held General Redemption — His remarks on the doctrine of Perseverance — Plan of the Second Part of " Redemption Redeemed" — Testimonies in favour of that piddication — Mr. Goodwin's method of ascertaining the meaning of Scrip- ture — His ingenuous avowal of his tchole creed — Persuasion that all the doctrines of Scripture are perfectly harmonious ivith each other — His vietvs of the Divine Sovereignty — Anti-Calvinistical jvorks by other authors which accompanied tlie publication of" Redemption Redeemed." After his conversion to AnTiinianism, Mr. Goodwin was surrounded by men who regarded him as one of the most notorious heretics of the age, and who were resolved (if possible) to overwhelm him by popular clamour ; he was therefore compelled to defend himself and his opinions in open disputations, as well as from the pulpit and the press. It has not indeed been vmusual in different ages, for men of opposite sentiments to meet by appointment in some public place, for the purpose of arguing the points at issue between them. Thus Carolstadt and Ecklus, soon after the com- mencement of the Reformation in Germany, held a public disputation at Lelpsic, concerning the doctrine of Luther, in the presence of several of the first personages of the empire.* The celebrated Richard Baxter and Mr. Tombs engaged in a similar contest, in the parish church of Bewd- ley, in Worcestershire, respecting the subjects and mode of baptism.-f- Mr. Goodwin was thrice drawn into oral debate, * Cox's Life of Melancthon, pp. 92. &c. Edit. 1817. f Baxter's Plain Scripture-Proof, Preface. JOHN GOODWIN. ^17 before a vast concourse of people, in defence of the Armi- nian doctrines. In the first of these Vavasor Powell was his opponent ; a minister of the Baptist denomination ; a man of great zeal, and of equal indiscretion. He was em- ployed for some time as an itinerant preacher in the Prin- cipality of Wales ; where his labours are said to have been eminently successful. Having imbibed the extravagant notions of the Fifth Monarchy-Men, he was afterwards swallowed up in the vortex of secular politics. During the Commonwealth he used the pulpit as a vehicle of the most daring invective against the Protector and his government ; in consequence of which he was apprehended and sent to prison. He and his fellow-captives considered themselves sufferers for righteousness' sake ; but Cromwell used to tell them, that they suffered for being busy-bodies in other men''s matters, and for not minding their own proper busi- ness, -f* Some disagreement having taken place between a few of Mr. Goodwin's hearers and their Calvinian neighbours, concerning the extent of human redemption by Jesus Christ, for the satisfaction of these parties, he was urged by Powell to engage with him in a public dispute. To this proposal Mr. Goodwin acceded; and the requisite preliminaries being settled, these champions met in Coleman-street, on the 31st of December, 1649, in the presence of several ministers and some thousands of people. The question at issue between them was, Whether Jesus Christ died for the Redemption of all mankind, or only for those who are actvially chosen to the enjoyment of eternal life ? The text which Mr. Goodwin particularly insisted upon, in defence of General Redemption, was John iii. 16. God so loved the world, that he gave Ms only begotten Son, that xchosoever helieveth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Powell contended, that by the term zvorld, in this passage, was to be understood the " elect of God" only : to which f Ivimey's Hist, of the Baptists, pp.232, 261. SI 8 LIFE OF Mr. Goodwin replied, " If by the world is meant the elect of God only, then the sense of the place must run thus: * So God loved the elect of God, that whosoever of these elect should believe, they should not perish but have ever- lasting life f which clearly implies, that some of the elect will not believe, and so consequently may perish. This is to put nonsense upon the place, and to destroy the savour that is in it ; and therefore cannot be the sense of it as taken in this argument. That which destroyeth the con- struction of the sentence, and the savour which is in it, (which alone is fit to feed the understanding of a man,) cannot be the sense of the place. To understand the word w^orld, in this place, of the elect only, makes the sense alto- gether unprofitable. Ergoy Through the wdiole of this argument Mr. Goodwin had decidedly the advantage of his opponent, who had raised a ghost which he was manifestly unable to lay. Powell was therefore glad to give place to four of his Calvinian brethren, Caryl, Drake, Simpson, and Venning, who stepped forward to his assistance, and, in his stead, successively attacked his powerful antagonist. At the close of the debate, Powell again rose, and said, " I shall make bold to speak one word. For my part, I bless God that our meeting hath been as it hath ; that there hath been no more contention or division amongst us ; and I refer what hath been controverted to the congregation, and desire them to judge. And if Mr. Goodwin will engage further at another time, there will be some to oppose him." To these remarks, Simpson replied, " I will never under- take to dispute, unless every man shall be commanded silence, but the two disputants ; and the moderator to keep up the question. And Mr. Goodwin having at this time pressed his arguments, if now he will answer to the question, there shall be some ready still to oppose." Mr. Goodwin replied, " Though I conceive the laws of dispute in this kind will somewhat suffer, by the observation of these rules; yet, if the truth will not be entertained, nor the dispute carried on, but upon that motion, I will stand to it."' JOH.V GOODWIX. 219 According to this agreement, on the 14th of January, 1649—50, a disputation was held between Mr. Goodwin and Mr. John Simpson, in the church of Alhallows the Great, in Upper Thames-street. Simpson, hke his friend Powell, was a Baptist, and a Fifth Monarchy-Man. They both held the same political sentiments, and were afterwards companions in prison for delivering inflammatory har- angues against Cromwell. Dr. Calamy states, that Simpson was " a great Antinomian." Be this as it may, he was a thorough Calvinist. " I desire liberty," says he, " to prove, that there are some particular persons hated of God from all eternity ; and that there are others loved of God from all eternity ; and that God did really intend the salvation of the one by the death of Christ, and not in good earnest the salvation of the other ; but rather the aggravation of their condemnation thereby." To these and other peculiarities of his creed, this disciple of Calvin attached the greatest possible importance. " The point which we are upon," says he, " is of great concern- ment ; a fundamental point in religion ; the ground of faith : what it is that every man and v/oman must believe, that they may be saved." Such were the views of Mr. Goodwin's second opponent : a man apparently of stronger sense than Powell, but inferior to him in charity and meek- ness. For the better accommodation of the assembly, in regard to hearing, Mr. Goodwin took his station in the gallery, and Simpson in the pulpit. The latter of them opened the meeting by answering objections against dispu- tations of that nature. Mr. Goodwin then added a few introductory remarks, in which he distinctly states, that while he attributed considerable importance to the doctrine of General Redemption, he was far from regarding aa acknowledgment of it as essential to salvation. He also avows his conviction, that whether men hold general or particular redemption, if they " truly and sincerely believe in Jesus Christ for salvation," they are in the way to a blessed immortality. 220 LIFE OF In respect to himself, Mr. Goodwin says, " I ravist pro- fess before you all this clay, though in part it will redound, it may be, to some shame and disparagement to myself; yet, for the honour of Him for whom I was created, and for whom I should sacrifice all that I have or am, I am fully resolved herein, that I cannot be better disposed of, than in sacrificing upon the Lord Jesus Christ, who hath already been sacrificed upon the service of my soul, and of yours. This is that which I would signify unto you, that for many years together, ever since I was capable of under- standing any thing in the gospel, I was of that judgment whereof it seems Mr. Simpson is at this day ; and though I would not speak of myself, yet I crave leave to acquaint you with what others have said in this behalf ; that I produced more arguments for the confirmation of that opinion, than others of my brethren in the ministry usually did. But since it pleased God to enlarge my understanding so far, as to go round about the controversy, and to see and ponder and weigh, Avith the greatest impartialness of judg- ment and conscience I was capable of; going round about again and again, and telling the towers, and viewing the strength, the arguments, evidences, and mighty demon- strations of that opinion wherein I now stand ; I was not able by all the assistance I had from my former discussions, wherein I had given out myself to the utmost of that light and learning and strength which God had given me ; all these were of no value or consideration at all, to stand up against that further light which came upon me on the other hand, though I was conscientiously and deeply engaged in it. *' I know it is the sense of the greatest part of you, that in matters of faith there is nothing considerable to be built iipon any man's reason, or upon discussions which are drawn from the Scriptiu'es by the mediation of human understand- ing : which supposed, let me say, that there is no man who holds, That Christ died for some particular persons, and not for all, but his faith in this point doth stand merely JOHN GOODWIX. 221 upon the workings of reason. Whereas that opinion which I maintain concerning the universahty of Christ"'s death for all, stands upon express Scriptures, plain and clear terms, without the intervention of any man''s reason to make it out. As there is no place in all the Scriptures, that doth affirm, that he died for some particular persons only, or denies that he died for all men, but many that expressly affirm that he died for all ; therefore clear it is, at least thus far, that all those arguments which are brought from the Scriptures to prove the contrary, must be founded upon the discussions, issuings, and givings out of the reasons and apprehensions of men." In the disputation of this day several subjects of great importance occupied the attention of our combatants ; such as the extent of human redemption by Jesus Christ, the nature of God's decrees relating to the election and repro- bation of men, and the meaning of various passages in the Ninth Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans. Mr. Good- win stated and defended his own views with great precision and force of reasoning against the principles of his antagonist, which were emphatically Calvinistic. The arguments on both sides were in substance those which are usually em- ployed in this controversy. At the conclusion of this day's debate, Mr. Henry Jessey, a minister of the Baptist denomination, a man of liberal sentiments and of a catholic spirit, interfered, and " spake to this effect : ' I desire, because there are many weak Christians here present, that are apt to be troubled, and to despair within themselves, to hear such differences between godly and learned men, they will be ready to say, they know not Avhat to believe, nor Avhat religion to be of; therefore I shall only desire to inform them this one thing : That the difference between the two opinions is not so great, but that men, whether they believe the one or the other, may be saved through the grace of God in Jesus Christ." On hearing this, Simpson exclaimed, " Mr. Jessey ! Mr. Jessey ! no more of that ! I conceive that they that hold general redemption, and free-will, in opposition to free grace, never 222 LIl'K OF had any experimental knowledge of the grace of God in Jesus Christ." — " I am sorry," replied Mr. Jessey, " to hear such words come from you." — " Then Mr. Powell prayed, and the cong-i-etyation was dismissed." These disputants met again in the same place on the 11th of February following ; when Mr. Goodwin, after the introductory prayer, said, " Because I found some incoi - venience in staying long the last time, being m years, I desire that we may first agree upon bounds and limits of time for disputation ' " We will refer it," replied his antagonist, " to what time you shall please." To which Mr. Goodwin rejoined, " I shall be willing to stand as long as I am well able ; about two hours, or somewhat more ; till about twelve o'clock, or a little after; and longer I shall not be well able to stay." Mr. Goodwin then stated, that having been unjustly reflected upon at the conclusion of their last meeting, as holding free-will in opposition to free grace, he requested leave to refute the charge by an ingenu- ous declaration of his sentiments on these subjects. Twice he solicited permission to do this, and in both instances was refused, and completely borne down by the clamours of his opponent, who had preferred the accusation. Having, as he expressed it, had dirt thrown in his face, and beirg peremp- torily denied the liberty of washing it ofl", Mr. Goodwin sub- mitted, and proceeded to the discussion of various topics connected with the doctrine of General Redemption, especi- ally the salvability of the heathen, and the decrees of God relating to the eternal states of men. In the whole debate of this day, Mr. Goodwin displayed his characteristic acuteness and good temper, together with his accurate knowledge of the Scriptures and of the Calvinistic controversy. Towards the conclusion of the contest Mr. Goodwin annoyed his antagonist exceedingly by producing two extracts from Calvinian publications, in which the doctrine of General Redemption was manifestly implied. One of these was taken from a sermon which Powell had recently published, and the other from the " Testimony to the Truth of Jesus Christ," of which mention lias been made in a preceding JOHN GOODWIN. chapter, and to which the signatures of fifty-two Calvinist ministers were annexed. In regard to this latter work, Mr. Goodwin says, " A second instance which I would read to you, is out of a small treatise, published by most of the ministers in the city, out of a pretence to give testimony to the truth of Jesus Christ, against errors and heresies : page 32. — ' Thousands and tens of' thousands ^ poor souls, •which Clirist hath ransomed nnth his blood, shall hereby be betrayed, seduced, and endangered to be undone to all eternity.'' Here is the doctrine of universal redemption fully asserted ; inasmuch as they that are ransomed with the blood of Christ, are said to be in danger (yf' being imdonc to all eter- nity. For danger implies not a possibility only, but a probability and likelihood of falling into, and suffering what they are in danger of. Now if the ransomed of Christ may be in danger of perishing ; then the ransomed are not the elect only, in your sense, but they that perish, and conse- quently all men. I could bring you tv/enty other instances besides these, which assert, preach, and affirm, and that constantly, from day to day, the same opinions and con- clusions which now they quarrel with, and make such matter of error and heresy, and things of such a dangerous nature. They cannot preach without them, nor write without them. — Can a man be in danger of miscarrying in that, wherein there is no possibility of miscarrying ?^'' This disputation was continued till Mr Goodwin com- plained of being injured in regard to his health, and at length ended in all probability where such contests are likely always to end, — in the confirmation of both parties in their own opinions. " The time is past," says Mr. Goodwin, " and I have spent myself, and I fear have incurred some inconvenience in my health. Yet, notwithstanding, I have been freely willing to give testimony to the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, which will be witnessed at the great day of his appearing. Till then, I shall be Avilling to lie under what reproach either you or whosoever else shall cast upon me. I have stood here, and denied myself many ways, and shall now refer both my cause and yours to tlie righteous LIFE OF judgment of God who cannot be deceived." Mr. Goodwin also added, " I desire the people to take knowledge, that there is no election or reprobation from eternity, but decrees of election and I'eprobation only. There is no reprobation of persons, because it is impossible there should be any per- sons from eternity. But the decrees of God being nothing but God himself, to deny such decrees from eternity, is to deny God. But this is that which I deny : That these decrees respect persons personally considered. They only respect species of men. The decree of election from eter- nity was. That whosoever believes should be saved ; and, on the contrary. That whosoever lives and dies in unbelief, should be condemned : this is the decree of reprobation. This is that which I say. There is no other decree of elec- tion and reprobation from eternity but only this. And so I have done." On the termination of this contest, a Short-Hand Writer, of the name of John Weeks, published a quarto pamphlet containing one hundred and eighteen pages, entitled, " Truth's Conflict with Error : or. Universal Redemption Controverted, in three public disputations : the first between Mr. John Goodwin and Mr. Vavasor Powell, in Coleman- street, London ; the other two between Mr. John Goodwin and Mr. John Simpson, at Alhallows the Great, in Thames- street ; in the presence of divers ministers of the city of London, and some thousands of others, 1650." From this curious and interesting document the preceding account has been extracted. In an address to the reader prefixed to this tract, it is said, " What thou hast here presented to thy view, I nothing doubt thou didst either hear, or else hast heard of; the sound of it having gone forth both far and near ; neither was it done in a corner." On the same occasion, Mr. Goodwin published a small pamphlet, which he entitled, " The Remedy of Unreasona- bleness : or, The substance of a Speech intended at a Con- ference or Dispute, in Alhallows the Great, London, Feb. 11th, 1649 ; exhibiting the brief heads of Mr. John Good- win"'s Judgment concerning the Freeness, Fulness, Eff*ectu- JOHN GOODWIN. S25 alness of tlie grace of God, 1650."'*' In the preface to this publication, the Author says, " At the former of the two late conferences held in Alhallows the Great, between Mr. J. Simpson and myself, he was pleased, upon no occasion at all given by me, to traduce me before the congregation there assembled, consisting of some thousands of people, as a man holding free will in opposition to free grace. At the latter of the said conferences, perceiving him not so knowing what my opinion was in the said points, and fearing the like of his friends, who made up a great part of the auditory ; to free them from an unchristian surmise against their brother, who never injured any of them ; I was desirous to have given an account of my faith, touching the said particulars, in the presence of those who were met to hear. But he that had the face to charge unduly, had not the heart either to stand by so unworthy an action, or to acknowledge the unworthi- ness of it. For when I desired leave, over and over, and that with much earnestness, to have given some brief account to the people, of my judgment touching the things unjustly charged upon me, lie peremptorily denied it; and as oft as I made offer to speak upon this account, he, in a very unseemly manner, and with much clamoiir, interrupted me, and suffered me not." " Concerning the grace of God," continues our author, ** I have, upon all occasions, constantly taught, That the whole plot or counsel of God concerning the salvation of the world, is of free grace, of mere grace and goodness of will in God. That his purpose of election, or predestination of men to life and glory, is an act of free grace also ; and that there was no obligation upon him to predestinate any man as now he hath done. That the gift of Jesus Christ unto the world, is an act of free grace, and that God was no ways obliged hereunto. That to confer justification, adop- tion, and salvation itself, upon believing in Jesus Christ, are acts of the pure and free grace of God. That to give power and means of believing to men, is an act of mere and free grace likewise. That it is of the free grace of God, and by the assistance thereof, that anvman dotli ever actually believe. 226 i-ii'E OF " Concerning the extent of this grace, my doctrine hatli been, that it is not imprisoned or confined within the narrow- compass of a handful of men ; but that, Uke the sun in the firmament of heaven, it compasseth the whole earth from one end of it to the other, and stretchetli itself unto all men. That it is exceeding full and comprehensive : that the good Avhich God graciously intends unto men, is full, absolute, and complete blessedness, containing every desirable thing in it. And that the means^which God graciously exhibiteth unto men to make them blessed, are every ^way sufficient for such a purpose. " Concerning the efFectualness of this grace, I teach upon all occasions, that in the gift of a power whereby to believe or to he saved, it is simply irresistible, and that men cannot hinder this operation of it. That what good soever any man doth, he doth it through the assistance of the free o-race of God, and is in no capacity so much as to conceive a o-ood thought without it. And that when any man actually believeth, he is mightily strengthened and assisted by the special grace of God thereunto. So that the act of believing is to be ascribed to God, not only as the sole giver of that power by which men believe, but as the sole supernatural actor also of this power ; and that man, when he doth believe, is so far from having any ground of boasting in himself, hath all the reason in the world to confess, that he is an unprofitable servant, and hath only done that which was his duty to do. Only I conceive, that men are not necessitated by this grace to believe, Avhether they will or no ; nor yet made willing upon any such terms, but that there is a possibility left unto them of remaining unwilling to any point of time till the act of believing be produced. " My opinion being truly compared with the opinion of those that dissent from me, appears to have much more in it for the exaltation of the grace of God than theirs, and theirs much more in it for the exaltation of the will of man. My opinion makes the grace of God so free as to enrich the whole world and all that is called man in it, and that without tlic least engagement upon God from men thereunto; whereas I JOHX GOODWIN. OO- their opinion imprisons it within a narrow compass of men in comparison, and so bridles the freeness of it in that consid- eration. As in one branch of their opinion they stifle the glory of the freeness of it, so in another, they destroy the very essence of it, and make it to be no grace at all. For that opinion which makes the grace of God the cause of no other actions in men, than ''such as God cannot, according to the constant method of his remunerative bounty reward, destroys the very nature of grace. And that the opinion maintained by our opposers, doth this, is evident : because that, making men to act necessarily and unavoidably, by meansof the grace which is given unto them, it inaketh them to act physically, or as mere natural agents ; and so reduceth all they do by virtue of the grace of God, to the condition of mere natural actions; which, by the standing law of God's remunerative bounty, are not capable of reward. " Again : That their opinion tends many thousand degrees more than mine, to magnify the wills of men, is evident thus : I affirm the will of man, even under the strongest and most effectual motions of grace whereof it is capable, (die nature and essential liberty of it only preserved,) to be in a capacity of doing that which is evil ; which is the greatest abasement of the will that can well be imagined : whereas the other opinion maketh the wills of men, under the effectual motions of gi^ace to that which is good, like unto the will of God himself; I mean necessarily good, and free from all possibility of sinning ; which is the highest exaltation of the will that can well be conceived. Besides, that opinion making men unable to do righteously, for want of the grace of God, when they do wickedly, takes oft' the shame and demerit of sinning from the wills of men, and either casts them upon God for denying his grace unto them, or else resolves them into nothing. Whereas the opinion asserted by me, that men, when they do wickedly, have sufficient means from God to refrain from sin and do right- eously, resolves the shame and whole demerit of sinning into men themselves, and their wills, and so renders them inex- cusable. Thus you see how unjustlv, and with manifest S28 LIFE OF untruth, I have been charged to hold free will against free grace, and that my accusers are the guilty persons them- selves. " Concerning my opinion about the death of Christ, which is, that he died for the salvation of all men, without exception of any ; and consequently for the heathen ; as well those who enjoy the oral ministry of the gospel, as those that Avant it : I herein hold nothing but what was generally taun-ht and received in the churches of Christ for three hundred years together, next after the times of the apos- tles ; which, by all our modern Protestant divines, and by Calvin in special manner, are acknowledged for times wherein Christian Religion reigned in her greatest purity and soundness of doctrine ; as I am able to make substantial proof, by express testimonies, and these not a few, from the best records of those times. That God''s predestination of men, or purpose of election, depends upon his foresight of their faith, (an opinion clearly confederate wiih that of universal redemption by Christ,) is both by Calvin and Beza themselves acknowledged to have been the judgment of many of the ancient Fathers ; and is proved by many particular instances, and express testimonies, by Gerard Vossius, in his Historia Pelagiana, Lib. vi. Thes. 8. Con- cerning ome few sayings found in some of those authors, which seem to be of a contrary import, and are cited upon that account, the truth is, that they are but seemingly so. They speak not of the purchase, but of the application, of redemption by Christ." These extracts are important, as displaying Mr. Good- win's correct acquaintance with the doctrines of pure Armi- nianism at this period, as well as the strength of his convic- tion that they are the sacred truths of God. He now began to meditate the publication of a work in which the grand principles of the Arminian system should be distinctly developed and largely defended. The times were favour- able to this project. The power of the Presbyterians was broken ; and that great object of his desire, general liberty of conscience, fully obtained. He considered the glorious JOHN GOODWIN. 229 doctrine of human Redemption by the Son of God, as deUvered in the Scriptures, and embraced by the Primitive Church, to be obscured and held in bondage through the restrictions and hmitations imposed upon it by the theolo- gians of the Genevan school ; and therefore gave to his book the significant title of Redemption Redeemed. The publication of this work, ^Avhich is a folio volume, and bears the date of 1651, was a singularly magnanimous adventure, and shews the author's superiority to public opinion and censure. He had indeed nothing to apprehend in the form of legal process, since the persecuting ordinan- ces of the Long Parliament, which had been issued as the guardians of Calvinian orthodoxy, had now become obso- lete, and therefore harmless as lions in sculpture. The doctrines of Calvin, however, had acquired more general popularity in this country, than at any former period ; and Mr. Goodwin's attack upon them in this work, was by far the most formidable that had ever appeared in the English language. Most of the distinguishing doctrines of Armi- nianism indeed might be distinctly traced in the writings of British Protestants from the commencement of the Reformation in the reign of Henry the Eighth, and had been formally defended by Godwyn, Mountagu, Hoard, and others ; but, previously to the publication of Mr. Goodwin's book, they had never been reduced, among us, to any thing like system, viewed in their connection and dependencies, nor recommended by such a combination of eloquence and argument. Our author therefore had nothing to expect but opposition in its most formidable shape. Of this he was fully aware; yet he anticipated the most beneficial results from putting the Arminian doctrines into a train of public discussion. The feelings with which lie appeared before the world on this occasion are admirably depicted in his dedicatory address to " Dr. Benjamin Whichcote, Provost of King's College, and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge ; together with the rest of the Heads of Colleges and Students in Divinity, in that 230 ]-n-K OF famous University.'" In this noble composition, which dis- plays almost every characteristic mark of mental greatness, our author says, " Reverend and right worthy Gentlemen, Friends and Brethren in Christ ! The oracles consulted by me about this dedication, were neither any undervaluing of you, nor overvaluing of myself, or of the piece here presented to you; nor any desire of drawing respects from you, either to my person or any thing that is mine : m.uch less any malig- nancy of desire to cause you to drink of my cup, or to bring you under the same cloud of disparagement, which the world hath spread about me. Praise unto His grace, who hath taught me some weak rudiments of his heavenly art, of drawing liffht out of darkness, for mine own use. I have not been for so many years together, trampled upon to so httle purpose, as to remain ignorant of mine own vileness, and what element I am nearest allied to ; nor so tender and querulous as either to complain of those who go over me as the stones of the street, or to project the sufferings of others in order to my own solace and relief. My long want of respects from men, is now turned into an atliletic habit, somewhat after the manner of those who by long fasting lose their appetites, and find a contentedness of nature to live with little meat afterwards. I can, from the dunghUl %vhereon I sit, with much contentment and sufficient enjoy- ment of myself, behold my brethren on thrones round about me. " The prize that I run for in my applications to you, is to engage those whom I judge the most able, and not the least willing among their brethren, to bless the world, labouring under its own vanity and folly, by bringing forth the glo- rious Creator, and ever-blessed Redeemer, out of their pavilions of darkness, into a clear and perfect light, to be beheld, reverenced, adored, in all their glory ; to be pos- sessed, enjoyed, delighted in, in all their beauty, sweetness, and desirableness, by the inhabitants of the earth. I know you have no need to be taught, but possibly you may Jiave some need to consider, that your gifts, parts, learn- JOHN r.ooDwix. 231 ing, knowledge, wisdom, books, studies, opportunities, pleasant mansions, will all suddenly make company for that which is not, and never turn to any account of true great- ness, nor of any interest worthy of truly considering men, unless they shall, by a solemn act of consecration, be con- signed over to that great service of God and men, whereby that blessed Union between them shall be promotetl, the foundations whereof have been, by so high a hand of grace, laid in the blood of Jesus Christ. You know the saying of the great Prophet of tlie world, ' He that gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad.*' Whatsoever shall not offer itself, to be taken and carried along by Jesus Christ, in that sublime motion wherein he moveth daily, according to the will of his Father, in a straight course for the saving of the world, will, most certainly, be dissipated and shattered all to nothing, by the iiTesistible dint and force thereof. Gifts, parts, reason, understanding, under means of being impro- ved by study ; learning, knowledge ; if these do not make one shoulder with Jesus Christ, in lifting the world from the gates of death, will undoubtedly, above the rate of all other things, abound to the confusion and condemnation of men. When men of rich endowments give their strength to other studies and enquiries, suffering the minds of men to perish in their sad pollutions, through ignorance, or, which is worse, those disloyal and profane notions of God and Christ, which reign in the midst of them, without taking any com- passion upon them, by searching out and discovering to them those most excellent things of God and Christ, the knoAvledge whereof would be to them as a resurrection from death unto life ; they do but write their names in the dust, and buy vanity with that price which was put into their hands for a far more honourable purchase. And yet they are sons of greater folly, who, by suffering their judgments to be abused by sloth, or sinister respects, (for there is a far different consideration of those who miscarry at this point through mere human frailty,) bring forth a strange God and a strange Christ into the world ; such as neither J>32 LUK OF the Scriptures, nor reason unbewitched, know or own ; and most imperiously charge the consciences of men with the dread of Divine displeasure, and the vengeance of hell- fire, if they refuse to bow the knee before the images and representations which they have set up. " Knowing the terror of the Lord, according to the mea- sure of the light of the knowledge of himself, which he hath been graciously pleased to shine into my heart, I have, in the ensuing discourse, lift up my soul to the discovery of him to the world, in the truth of his nature, attributes, counsels, decrees, and dispensations ; and that with sim- plicity of intention to disencumber the minds of men of such apprehensions concerning him, which are evil mediators between him and his creature ; fomenting that enmity be- tween them which hath been occasioned by Unworthy deportment on the creature''s side. I confess that, in some particulars, I have been led (I trust by the Spirit of truth) out of the way more generally occupied by those who, of later times, have travelled the same regions of enquiry with me : but deeply pondering what Augustine somewhere saith,that as nothing can be found out more beneficial to the world, than som_ething further of God than is at present known, so nothing is attempted with more danger ; I have steered my course with all tenderness and circumspection ; arguing nothing, concluding nothing, but either from the grammatical sense, or best knoAvn signification of words and phrases in the Scripture, and this with the express agree- ment of contexts, together with the analogy of the Scrip- tures in other places, or from the most universally received principles either in religion or sound reason, and more par- ticularly from such notions concerning God and his attri- butes, which I find generally subscribed with the names of all that are caUed orthodox among us, and have written of such things. Nor have I any where receded from the more general sense of Interpreters, in the explication of any text of Scripture, but only where the express signification of j\ords, or the urgency of the context, or some repugnancy JOHN GOODWIN. 233 to the Scripture elsewhere, or some pregnant Inconsistency with clear principles of religion or sound reason necessitated me to it. I seldom, upon any of these accounts, leave the common road of Interpreters, but I find that some or other of the more intelligent of them have trodden the same path before me. For the most part, Chrysostom among the ancient expositors, and Calvin among the moderns, are my companions in the paths of my greatest solitariness. The main doctrine avouched in the discourse, wherein the Re- demption of Mankind by Jesus Christ, no particular per- son excepted, is asserted, I demonstrate, from the best records of antiquity, to have been the oecumenical sense of the Christian world in her primitive and purest times. Nor am I conscious of the least mistake, either in word or mean- ing, of any author cited throughout the whole discourse ; nor of any omission in point of diligence and care, for the prevention of all mistakes. " The discourse, such as it is, with aU respects of honour and love, I present to you ; not requiring any thing by way of countenance or approbation, otherwise than upon those equitable terms, on which Augustus recommended his children to the favour of the senate : si meruerit. Only as a lover of the truth, name, and glory of God, and of the peace, joy, and salvation of the world, I shall take leave to pour out my soul in this request ; That you will confirm, by setting the royal signet of your approbation to the doctrine here main- tained, if you judge it to be a truth, or else vouchsafe to deliver me, and many others, from the snare thereof, by taking away with a hand of light and potency of demon- stration those weapons wherein we trust. Your contesta- tion, upon these terms, will be with me more precious than your attestation, in case of your comport in judgment with me : though I ingenuously confess, that for the truth''s sake, even in this also I shall greatly rejoice. Notwithstanding, I deem it much more richly conducing to my peace and safety, to be delivered from my errors, than to receive countenance and approbation in what I hold and teach. 234 LIFK OF *' I shall not need to desire you, that in your answer, you will not rise up in j'our might against the weaker pas- sages ; but that you will bend the strength of your reply against the strength of what you shall oppose. A field may be won, though many soldiers of the conquering side may fall or be wounded ; so may a mountain remain unmovable, though the looser earth about the sides of it, should be taken up and scattered in the air. In like manner, the body of a discourse may stand entire in its solidity and strength, though many particular expressions, remote from the centre, should be detected of inconsiderateness, weak- ness, or untruth. In some cases, one argument may be so triumphantly commanding, that though many others of the same engagement should be defeated, yet the cause pro- tected by it may laugh all opposition to scorn. I acknow- ledge there are some passages in the ensuing discourse, which, upon the review, I apprehend obnoxious enough to exception, and Avhich, had [my second thoughts been born in due time, should have been better secured. But I trust that ancient law of indulgence in such cases as mine, is of authority sufficient in your commonwealth to relieve me: Opere in longo fas est obrepere somnum. Neither need I suspect any of that unmanlike learning among you, which teacheth men to confute opinions by vulgar votes and exclamations. ' We know that this sect (or heresy) is every where spoken against,' had no influence upon Paul to turn him out of the way of his heresy. And as for those mormolukes of Arminianism, Pelagianism, which serve to affright children in understanding out of the the love of many important truths, I am not under any jealousy concerning you, that you should suffer any impres- sions from them. You know that that great Enemy of men, who of old taught the enemies of God to put his saints into bears'' skins, and into wolves' skins, so preparing them to be torn in pieces by dogs, hath, in these later times, pre- JOHN GOODWIX. 235 vailed Avith many of the children of God to put many of his truths, such as they like not, or comprehend not, into names of ignominy and reproach, to draw others into the same hatred of them with themselves. This method of suppress- ing opinions, against which men have no competent ground of eviction otherwise, was first invented by the subtle sons of the synagogue of Rome. " The truth is, you have no such temptation upon you as private men have, to flee to any such polluted sanctuary. By the suffrage of your authority, your esteem among"st men being so predominant, you may slay what doctrines yovi please, and what you please you may keep alive. If you justify, who will not be afraid to condemn? If you condemn, who will justify ? Only God's eldest daughter, Truth, hath One mightier than you on her side, who will justify her in due time, though you should condemn her ; and will raise her up the third day in case you shall slay her. " I shall discharge you from any further sufferings from my pen at present ; only with my soid poured out before God in prayer for you, that he will make his face to shine upon you, in quickening your apprehensions, enlarging your understandings, balancing your judgments, strength- ening your memories ; in giving you ableness of body, willingness of mind, to labour in those rich mines of truth the Scriptures ; in breaking up before you the fountains of those great depths of spiritual light and heavenly under- standing ; in assisting you mightily by his Spirit in the course of your studies ; in lifting you up in the spirit of your minds, above the faces, fears, respects of men ; in drawing out your hearts to relieve the extremities of the world round about you ; in making you so many burning and shilling lights in his temple, the glory and delight of your nation ; in vouchsafing to you as much of all that is desirable in this world, as your spiritual interests will bear, and the reward of prophets respectively, in the glory and great things of the world to come." LIFE OF Such was the eloquent and dignified manner in which Mr. Goodwin inscribed to his Alma Mater this elaborate and invaluable production ; in the composition of which he has brought his accurate and extensive reading to bear, and exerted all the energies of his gigantic mind. This impor- tant work is divided into twenty chapters; in the first of which our author proves that there is no created being or Second cause, but what depends upon the First, which is God ; and that in its operations as well as in its simple existence. His object in the second chapter is, to prove, that although there is as absolute and essential a dependence of second causes upon the First, in point of operation as of simple existence ; yet that the operations of second causes (at least ordinarily) are not so immediately determined by that dependence as their respective beings or existences are. The third chapter treats of the knowledge and fore-knowledge of God, and of the difference between these and his desires, purposes, inten- tions and decrees ; and shews how these also are distinguished from each other. The subjects of discussion in the fourth chapter are, the perfection of God in his nature and being, his simplicity and actuality, together with the goodness of his decrees, as deducible from this perfection. The fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth chapters are occupied in proving from the Scriptures the interesting doctrine of General Redemption. The ninth, tenth, and five following chapters are a digression, containing a connected chain of argument- ation, deduced from the Scriptures, to prove that it is possible for a believer so to apostatize from God" as to perish for ever. In the sixteenth chapter the author resumes the subject of General Redemption, and pursues the same inter- esting theme through the remainder of his Avork. He contends that this doctrine is demonstrable from the Inspired Writings, was held by the Christian Fathers in the purest ages of the Church, and that many of the most eminent of its opponents, in several instances, have contradicted their own creed, and paid homage to that system in which Jesus Christ is recognized as the Redeemer of all mankind. JOHN &OODWIX. 237 Explaining the sense in which he held the doctrine of General Redemption, Mr. Goodwin says, " When with the Scriptures we affirm, that Christ died for all men, we mean. That there was a reality of intention on God's part, that as there was a worth of merit in the death of Christ, fully sufficient for the ransom of all men, so it should be equally, and upon the same terms, applicable to all men in order to their redemption, without any difference, or special limitation of it to some more than others. That God did only antecedently intend the actual salvation of all men, by the death of Christ ; but consequently the salvation only of those who believe. That there is a possibility, yea, a fair and gracious possibility, for all men, without exception, to obtain actual salvation by his death ; so that in case any man perisheth, his destruction is altogether from himself; there being as much in the death of Christ towards procuring his salvation, as for any of those Avho come to be actually saved. That he not only put all men without exception, into a capability of being saved by believing ; but also took off from all men the guilt and condemnation brought upon all men by Adam's transgression ; so that no man shall be condemned but upon his own personal account, and for such sins only which shall be voluntarily committed by him, or for omissions which it was in his power to have prevented. That he procured this favour with God for all men, that they should receive from him sufficient strength and means to repent, to believe, and to persevere in both to the end. That Christ by his death purchased this transcendent grace also, for all men without exception, that upon their repent- ance and believing in him, they should be justified, and that upon their perseverance unto the end, they should be eternally saved. " The imputation, from the guilt whereof we desire in special manner to wash our hands by this explication, is, that as we hold universal redemption, so we hold universal salvation, or that all men shall be saved by Christ. To me it seemeth not a little strange, how any man professing subjection of judgment to the Scriptures, should ever come 238 LIFE OF to a confederacy with such an opinion. For with what fre- quency, and evidence of expression, do these rise up against it, ever and anon asserting on the one hand the paucity of those that will be saved ; and on the other the everlastingness of the misery of those who perish ! Nor do they give the least intimation of release from misery, to those who die in their sins." In defence of this view of Redemption Mr. Goodwin has produced an astonishing mass of Scriptural argument, and has confirmed it by testimonies from Augustine, Ambrose, Jerome, Chrysostom, Athanasius, Hilarius, Cyril of Jeru- salem, Eusebius, Arnobius, Didymus, Basil the Great, Gregory Nyssen, Gregory Nazianzen, Eplphanius, Tertul- lian, Origen, Cyprian, Clemens of Alexandria, Justin. Martyr, Irenaeus, Prosper, Cyril of Alexandria, Theodoret, Leo the Great, Fulgentius, Primasius, Gregory the Great, Bede, Theophylact, (Ecumenius, Anselm, Bernard, Me- lancthon, Chemnitius, Luther, Calvin, Peter Martyr, Bucer, Parseus, Gualter, Hemmingius, Ursine, Aretius, John Fox, Lavater, Chamier, Perkins, Zanchius, Bullinger, Grynaeus, Davenant, Kimedontius. " My intent,"" says Mr. Goodwin, " in citing Calvin, with those other late Protestant Avriters whom we have joined in the same suffrage in favour of the doctrine of General Redemp- tion, is not to persuade the reader, that the standing judg- ment either of him or of the greater part of the rest, was whole and entire for the said doctrine, or stood in any great propension hereunto ; much less to imply that they never in any other places of their writings declared themselves against it ; but to shew, that the truth of this doctrine is so near at hand, and the influence of it so benign and accommo- dations to other trutJis of religion, that it is a hard matter^ for those that deal much in those affairs, not to assert it ever and anon, and to argue many things tipon the authority of it ; yea, though extra casum necessitatis on the one hand, and incogitantite on the other, they are wont to behold it, as God doth proud men, afar off.''"' The following recapitulation of the chapters in which the subject of Perseverance is discussed, will give the reader JOIifN fiOODWIKT. 239 some conception of our author's plan, in tliis part of his work, and of the important topics upon which he has expatiated. " It hath been clearly proved,*" says he, "that the doctrine which maintains an absolute necessity of the saints' perseverance in grace to the end, hath nothing more in it for the real consolation of the saints, than that which is contrary to it. Diligent and unpartial search hath been made into those passages of Scripture, which the greatest advocates of the said doctrine of perseverance mainly insist upon; none of which, it hath been made fully to appear, holdeth any real correspondency with it. The best and most substantial ai'guments upon which the said doctrine is wont to be built, have been weighed in the balance and found light. The doctrine which avoucheth a possibility of the saints' declining, and this unto death, hath been asserted by the express testimony and consent of many Scriptures. This doctrine also hath received further credit and confirmation from several prin- ciples, as well of reason as religion, and these pregnant and strong. The truth of this latter doctrine hath been further ascertained, hy several examples of persons, who, by their fallings.) have caused the said doctrine to stand impregnable. This doctrine hath been countenanced also, by the concurrent sense of all orthodox antiquity. It hath likewise received testimony from the generality of that learning and religion, since the times of the Reformation, which have commended themselves unto the world in (he writings of that party in the Protestant churches, which is commonly known by the name of Lutheran. Substantial proof hath been made, that the professed adversaries of the doctrine we now speak of, even the most steady, grave, and best advised of them, have unawares given large and clear testimony to it ; being not able, without the help of the spirit wliich speaketh in it, to manage their discursive affairs in other cases. Yea, the Synod of Dort itself, convening with a prejudice against it, and provoking one another to lay the honour of it in the dust for ever, hath, at several turns, and in divers expressions, according to the interpretation of their own most orthodox S40 LIFE OF and learned friends, fully comported witli it, asserting that in clearness and evidence of principle, which they deny with solemnity of protest, and with a religious abhorrency in conclusion." In the last chapter of this inestimable volume, Mr. Good- win lays down the plan of the Second Part of " Redemption Redeemed,'' which, at that time, he intended to prepare for the press. He specifies twenty-three objections against the doctrine of General Redemption, every one of which he pledges himself to confute. Most of these objections are copied from the Acts of the Synod of Dort. " We shall also," says he, " launch forth into the deep of that great question, concerning personal election and reprobation, and soberly enquire. Whether the Scriptures teach any such decree of reprobation in God, from eternity, whereby the persons of such and such men, or of a determinate number of men,before any actual and voluntary sin perpetrated by them, and without respect had to such perpetrations, be left under an unavoidable necessity of perishing everlastingly.'' Here also we intend to enquire, What the Scriptures teach concerning the state of Infants "^ and more particularly whether it can be substantially proved from them, that any infant, dying before the commission of actual sin, is adjudged by God to hell-fire .? " I shall take occasion also to discuss the great question about Universal Grace : whether God vouchsafeth not to all men, without exception, a sufficiency of power and means whereby to be saved ? " And because the Ninth Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, is frequently brought upon the stage of these controversies, we intend a particular explication of this chapter : yea, I am under some present inclination to engage myself upon this in the first place, and to publish it by itself, before I put hand to the greater work." On parting with his reader the author prefers the follow- ing requests : " That he will strive, by fervent and frequent prayer, to interest God himself in the composure of the work intended ; that through much of his presence with me in the JOHN GOODWIN. 241 framing of It, (if yet his good pleasure shall be not to judge a proportion of life and health for the finishing of it, too high a dignation for me,) all my insufficiency for so great an undertaking may be drowned, so as not to appear ; and that I may be enabled to bring forth the truth in those high mysteries, out of that thick darkness which at present is spread by men round about them, into a clear and perfect light. My second request to the reader is, That he will make a covenant with his expectations and desires, so as not to look for the Second Part of this work, till after such time which may reasonably be judged competent for a man of slow genius in writing, and of almost continual diversions through bye employments, to raise and finish such a build- ing, as that in reason may be presumed to be.'' The talent, the learning, and the temper displayed in this work are creditable to Mr. Goodmn in a high degree. Almost every page is imbued with pious and benevolent feeling, and the argumentation, generally speaking, is emi- nently perspicuous, cogent, convincing, and impressive. A few passages, as might have been expected in a work of such a nature and of such magnitude, are liable to exception ; especially in the introductory chapters, which are of a metaphysical character; but viewed as a whole, it is an astonishing monument of genius and industry. It is the most ample, and unquestionably the best defence of General Redemption, that ever issued from the British Press. Its reasonings on this subject have been cavilled at, and des- pised, but never refuted. An Arminian reader, whose mind is duly alive to the importance of his creed, in the studious perusal of this inestimable volume, will find it to resemble a lofty tree, the numerous branches of which are widely spread in all directions, bending with rich and mellow fruit. In favour of this truly great work perhaps the following testimonies may not be deemed impertinent : The Hev. Joseph SutclifFe, who is well known to the religious world by his translation of the seventh and eighth volumes of Sau- rin's Sermons, and by several excellent original publications, R 242 LIFE OF has said, ^' Goodwm''s Redemption Redeemed is a work of amazing labour and vast instruction.""* Mr. Wilson also, the able and candid author of the " History and Antiquities of Dissenting Churches,'"* though no admirer of Mr. Goodwin's Arminian sentiments, has remarked, that " The long title of this book will give the reader some idea of the important subjects upon which it treats ; and it cannot be denied that he has discussed them with great learning and ingenuity. The quotations from ancient and modern authors are very numerous ; and some persons will be surprised to find not only the most eminent fathers and reformers of the church, but even Calvin him- self, represented as favouring the doctrine of General Redemption."'"' | The late Rev. Walter Sellon, speaking of Mr. Goodwin, with whose principal works he was well acquainted, ex- presses himself in still stronger language. " His Redemp- tion Redeemed,"'"' says he, " will ever remain as a monument of his great reading, clear reasoning, and sound judgment."" -f- There are some peculiarities in this volume, and in all Mr. Goodwin's principal theological publications, which are worthy of special attention. In ascertaining the import of any passage of Scripture, he seldom lays much stress upon verbal criticism, but views the passage in question in connection with the argument of which it constitutes a part. He was well aware that almost any doctrines may be dedu- ced from the Holy Scriptures by a little dexterity in etymo- logies, and an aptitude in bringing together insulated texts, which bear some affinity to each other in sound. By such arts he knew that the unwary had often been deceived ; but he durst not attach a meaning to the words of the Holy Spirit, which he had reason to believe that Spirit never intended. How often have divines of a certain school attempted to prove, that man is passive in the work of con- version, by urging the apostolic enquiry, " Who maketli thee to differ .?" (1 Cor. iv. 7.) Whereas the slightest atten- tion to the context will shew, that St. Paul is not there * Translation of Ostervald on the Christian Ministry, p. 77. Edit. 1804. : Vol. II. p. 423. t Works, Vol. I. p. 37G. Edit. 1814. joir>f GOODwrx. 24S speaking of gracious qualifications, but of ministerial gifts and endowments. In support of the necessary and una- voidable " perseverance of the saints,"" the following passage has often been quoted Avith an air of confidence and tri- umph : " If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments ; then will I visit their transgressions with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.'' (Psalm Ixxxix, 30—33.) But the connection in which these words stand, most clearly shews, they have no reference to " saints'" in general, but to David and his posterity ; and that they speak not of any such continuance in the divine favour, as is necessarily con- nected with eternal life ; but simply of the appointment of David and his sons to the regal office, through the succes- sive ages of the Jewish commonwealth, and as introductory to the reign of the Messiah. These examples, with a hun- dred more that might be adduced, illustrate the importance of that rule of interpretation which Mr. Goodwin applied with such superior effect ; — a rule which will always be adopted by those who are more in love with truth, than with the peculiarities of men. As an expositor of Scripture, our author appears to incomparable advantage, when placed by the side of the greater part of his contemporaries and opponents. It is also observable, that in Mr. Goodwin's creed there was no article of which he was at all ashamed, or which lie was in any way desirous to extenuate or to conceal. He had the fullest conviction, that his theological principles were not only true, but in every respect worthy of God, by whom he believed them to have been revealed, and adapted to pro- mote the spiritual and moral improvement of mankind. He therefore avowed and defended them in a manner the most explicit and unequivocal ; and even took a pleasure in tracing them in all their bearings and tendencies and results. The reverse of this, in various instances, has been the conduct of men holding sentiments opposite to his. Where r2 244 LIFE OF is the minister who, after a distinct and open avowal of the doctrine of absolute reprobation or preterition, will even attempt to apply that doctrine to any practical or beneficial purpose in the individuals to whom it is supposed to relate ? Not a few theologians of the Genevan school, express them- selves in phraseology so guarded, as to leave the attendants upon their ministry in doubt whether they hold General or Particular Redemption : and others hesitate, before mixed congregations, to give a prominence in their discourses even to the doctrine of absolute election to eternal life. Upon Avhat ground such conduct can be justified, it is difficult to discover. If the peculiar doctrines of Calvinism are the " mysteries of God,"" Christian ministe^-s, as " the stewards'" of those mysteries, are officially bound to declare them. " It is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful." (1 Cor. iv. 2.) God's gracious election of men is a topic to which the Inspired Writers frequently advert ; and if the Calvinian view of that subject be Scriptural, on what principle are men authorised in concealing it ? In what a singular dilemma is that man placed, who is ashamed or afraid to inculcate, except in an indirect manner, doctrines which he believes to have emanated from the blessed God, but of whose moral tendency he has reason to doubt ! Whether the tenets of Arminianism be true or false, certain it is, that their consistent adherents feel themselves at perfect liberty, without the slightest hesitation or reserve, to declare what they believe to be the whole counsel of God, and are not hampered in their ministrations as are many of their predestinarian brethren. Mr. Goodwin regarded all the truths of revelation as being in perfect harmony and consistency with each other, and to trace their connection and order he deemed one of the noblest exercises of the human intellect. That the decrees of God should be irreconcilable with the declara- tions, the precepts, the invitations, and the promises of his word, appeared to him a monstrous proposition, and nothing less than a reflection upon the divine veracity. From the notion of absolute predestination as held by Calvin, arises that of limited atonement, of necessitating grace, of uncon- JOHN GOODWIN. 245 ditional perseverance, and of the unavoidable hardening of the non-elect. But then the Holy Scriptures distinctly assert, in almost every form of expression, that Jesus Christ died for all men ; they contain innumerable warnings, expostulations, and conditional proniises, all of which are addressed to men as free agents ; they also represent the Lord Jesus as weeping over lost souls, and declaring that he would often have gathered them as a hen gathereth her brood under her wings, but that they would not, (Luke xiii, xix, ;) they expressly declare, " that when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, all his righteousness that he hath done, shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in the sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die," (Ezek. xviii,24. ;) they also introduce the blessed God as swearing by himself that he hath no pleasure in the death of the wicked ; but that the wicked turn from his way and live. (Ezek. xxxiii, 11.) No human ingenuity has ever yet been able to reconcile these palpable inconsistencies. The doctrine of absolute predestination, which Mr. Goodwin accounted a mere assumption, appeared to him to cast a shade over the moral perfections of the blessed God, and to contradict the obvious import of all those parts of sacred Scripture which speak of the extent of the divine mercy, and of human redemp- ■ tion; as well as to render inefficient the arguments and exhortations of ministers, when calling upon •' all men every where to repent," and inviting " all the ends of the earth" to look unto Christ as their almighty Saviour. The legitimate consequence of that doctrine, when explicitly inculcated, and applied by individuals to themselves, he thought, was to lead some to presumption and others to despair. " Some men," says he, " desirous to commend themselves to God, as men zealous for his glory more than others, invent notions of some scripture expressions, to bestow upon him in the name of prerogatives, which, upon due consider- ation, are found vmworthy of him, and of a broad incon- sistency Avith his glory indeed. What savour of glory to k3 S46 3,1 1'K 01' God can there be, in bringing him upon the great theatre of the world speaking thns : ' I will cast out of my favour, and devote to everlasting burnings, to torments endless, intolerable, insupportable, thousand thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousands of my creatures, men, women, and children, though they never offended me other- wise than children may offend many thousands of years before they are born. Though I thus in the secret of my counsel intend to leave them irrecoverably to the most exquisite torments that can be endured, and these to be suffered by them to the days of eternity, without all pos- sibility of escaping ; yet will I, in words, speak to their hearts, proclaim myself unto them to be a God merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. I will intreat them with bowels and great compassions, and profess myself aggrieved in soul because of their impenitency : I will allure them to repent- ance, Avith all my great and precious promises of pardon, life, and glory, and all the great things of the world to come. I will most solemnly protest, and swear unto them by the greatest Oath that is, even by my own life and Being, that I desire not their death.' Can men endued with understanding, or that know in the least what belongeth to matters of honour and glory, savour any thing in such pro- ceedings, worthy the name, glory, and super-transcendent holiness and excellency of God 't Certain it is, that there is nothing in God, nothing that proceeds from him, but what is, according to the principles of reason in the hearts and consciences of men, just matter of praise, honour and glory unto him. " That prerogative which God stands upon in the Scrip- tvires, and claims to himself as a royalty annexed to the crown of heaven and earth, in reference to the condemnation of his creature, standeth not in any liberty claimed by him to leave what persons he pleaseth to inevitable ruin, only in consideration of Adam's sin, much less without any such consideration ; but to uiake the terms and conditions, as of JOHN GOODWIX, 247 life so of death, as of salvation so of condemnation, and these equally respecting all men ; and not such as men are apt to think meet for him to do, but what Himself pleaseth: such as the counsel of his own will adviseth, and leadeth him to. For he is said, not to work all things, or any one thing, simply according to his own will, but to work all things according to the counsel of his own will. So that in whatsoever God acteth, we are to look not only for will, but counsel ; i. e. wisdom, and tendency unto ends worthy of him ; and these discernible enough by men to be such, if they were diligent and impartial in the consideration of them. For example : The Jews thought it most equal, and best becoming God, that he should ordain the observa- tion of Moses's Law, to be the Law of life and salvation to men, and the neglect of this Law, to be the Law of con- demnation and death. God here interposeth, and declares that his Will is otherwise, and that he constitutes Faith in his Son to be the law of justification and life, whether joined with the observation of Moses's law or without it ; and Unbelief to be the law of condemnation and death, though in conjunction with the strictest observation of Moses's law. This prerogative God himself asserts with majestic authority, speaking thus : ' I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion upon whom I Avill have compassion.' As if he should say, ' Men shall not prescribe to me terms of shewing mercy. I will not be advised or obliged by them, what manner of persons I shall justify and save : I mean to follow the counsel of mine own will, in these great and important affairs, which concern the life and death, the salvation and destruction of my creature.' " Though it be not denied, that God hath an absolute sovereignty over his creature, i. e. a lawful power to dispose of it as he pleaseth ; yet it is an horrible indignity and affront pvit upon him, and no less than a constructive denial of his infinite grace, goodness, mercy, bounty, love, to affirm that he exerciseth this sovereignty upon the hardest terms that can be imagined, and no ways conducing to his own glory ; which they affirm, in effect, who maintain, that 248 LiiK 01" from eternity he purposed to leave the greatest part of men to everlasting misery and ruin, without any possibility of escape. Suppose that God should grant an absolute power to parents over their children ; as that, if they pleased, they might slay them, or dispose of them to be slain, or expose them as soon as they are born to suffer all the extremities that are incident to flesh and blood ; can it be imagined, that persons of loving and tender dispo- sitions, would ever desire to have children that they might shew their power over them, in disposing of them unto death, or exposing them unto misery, as soon as they should be born ? Are such intentions or desires as these consistent with goodness and tenderness of disposition? How prodigiously then, and portentously inconsistent must it needs be, Avith the grace, goodness, mercy, bounty, love of God, which are all infinite, to create mil- lions of men, with a desire or intention to declare his prerogative over them, in leaving them irrecoverably, irrevocably, unavoidably, to the endless torments of hell ?"* About the time when Mr. Goodwin published his Redemption Redeemed, several other works against the pecuhar doctrines of Calvinism issued from the British press. One of these was an able defence of General Redemption, in reply to Dr. Owen, who had begun to distinguish himself as an advocate of limited mercy and atonement. It was the production of Mr. John Home of Lynn in Norfolk, a very learned and pious man, and was entitled, " The Open Door for Man's Approach to God : or, A Vindication of the Record of God, concerning the Extent of the Death of Christ, 1650." To this work the Doctor never published any answer, affecting to regard it as beneath his notice : others, however, thought, that its argumentation was too powerful for him to confute. A second work on the same side, which made its appear- ance at this period, was entitled, " The Late Assembly of Divines'' Confession of Faith Examined, as it was presented by them unto the Parlia^nent ; Avherein many of their Ex- cesses and Defects, of their Confusions and Disorders, of * Redemption Redeemed, p. 66 JOHN GOODWIN. 249 their Errors and Contradictions, are presented both to them- selves and others, 1651." Tlie author of this volume was Mr. W. Parker, who has displayed considerable shrewdness of remark, familiar acquaintance with tJie Sacred Scriptures, and decided opposition to the peculiarities of Genevan Theo- logy. This work is at present very rarely to be met with. During the same year was also published, " Appello Evangelium for the true doctrine of Divine Predestination, concorded with the Orthodox Doctrine of God's Free Grace, and Man''s Free Will ; by John Plaifere, sometime Fellow of Sidney-Sussex College, in Cambridge, and late Rector of Debden in Suffolk, 1651. "" This was a posthumous publication ; the author having been dead several years : but manuscript copies of his work had been preserved iu the libraries of the curious. Plaifere has shewn himself to have been a man of admirable moderation, of great inge- nuity, of sovmd judgment, and of deep learning. He states, with great clearness and precision, five schemes of predesti- nation which had been held by different classes of Christ- ians, points out the objections to which most of them are liable, and gives the preference to that which he conceived to be the opinion of the Fathers who lived before Augustine, and was espoused by the learned Arminius. In this work are also comprised an able discussion of several questions connected with the subject of predestination, and an excel- lent analysis of the Seventeenth Article of Religion as held by the Church of England. To this vohnne is appended an interesting letter by Dr. Christopher Potter, containing an account of the steps by which he had been led to renounce the dogmas of Calvin, and embrace the doctrine of General Redemption. Plaifere's Appello was reprinted in a " Col- lection of Tracts concerning Predestination and Providence,"" from the Cambridge University-Press, and published in the year 1719. It was also inserted by the late Rev. John Wes- ley, in the first volume of the Arminian Magazine. Another work of the same date was entitled, " Fur Praedestinatus : sive Dialogismus inter quendam ordinis prajdicantium Calvinistam et Furem ad laqueum damnatum habitus, 1651."" This is a feigned dialogue between a Thief 250 LIFE OF condemned . to immediate execution, and a Calvlnistic Preacher, who attempts to move him to repentance for his crimes. The thief, akhough by his own acknowledgment he had hved in the commission of the worst enormities, is full of self-satisfaction ; maintains that he could not possibly have acted any other part than what he has done, as all men, being either elect or reprobate, are predestinated to happiness or misery; that the best actions, as they are reputed, partake of so much Avickedness as to differ in no essential degree from the worst ; that sinners fulfil the will of God as much as those who most comply with his outward commands ; and that God, as working irresistibly in all men, is the cause of the worst sins which they commit. The dialogue is managed with great address and ability ; and, what must have given it its greatest effect, the statements of the Calvinistic doc- trines are made in the actual words of the principal writers of that persuasion, of whom not fewer than forty are quoted, and specially referred to in the course of the work. This is a frightful view of the principle of absolute predestination, when applied to practical purposes by men acting under the impulse of their depraved passions. The " Fur Praedestinatus" was published anonymously, and has generally been ascribed to the pen of Archbishop Sancroft : it is therefore made a prominent article in the learned and interesting- life of that distinguished prelate, recently published by Dr. D'Oyley. This, however, is a mistake. The tract was in existence many years before Sancroft was capable of producing such a composition. It was first printed and circulated in Holland, in the early part of the seventeenth century, when the controversy respecting predestination was warmly agitated between the Calvinists and Arminlans in the United Provinces ; and was generally thought to have been the production of Henry Slatius, a man of some note amongst the Remonstrants.* Two trans- lations of this dialogue into English have made their appearance : One in the year 1658, and another in 1814.-f- * Brandt's Histoiyof the Reformation, Vol. iv, p. 539. Edit. 1723. t D'Oyley's Life of Archbishoji Santroftj Vol. i, pp. 66—71. JOHN GOODWIX. 251 CHAPTER VIII. Attack 2ipon Mr. Goodivin ly Dr. Hill in a sermon at St. Paul's Church — Mr. Goodivin' s Letter to the Doctor — His Letter to Mr. Caryl — Caryl's liej)ly — Dr. Barlow's Letter to Mr. Goodwin — " The Pagan's Debt and Dowry" — Reply of Obadiah Howe — Bailie's *' Scotch Antidote" — Attack upon Mr. Goodwin iy Richard Reshury — Mr. Goodwin's " Con- Jidence Dismounted" — Reshury' s Rejoinder — JForks written against Mr. Goodwin ly Mr. Henry Jeans — Mr. John' Pawson — Dr. Owen — Mr, George Kendall — Mr. Tkomas Lamb — Christopher Salter's Letter to Mr. Goodwin — Mr. Goodwin's " Agreement and Distance of' Brethren" — • Extract from the Dedication — Mr. Goodwin's Exposition of the Ninth Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans — Extract concerning Esau. While the ability with which Mr. Goodwin's " Redemp- tion Redeemed" was written, excited the admiration of his friends, it rendered his book highly obnoxious to those per- sons whose religious opinions it was intended to confute. Scarcely was it therefore in circulation, before the pulpits of the metropolis began afresh to ring with charges of heresy against its author. Among the preachers who were distin- guished by hostility to this publication, Dr. Thomas Hill, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, appears to have engaged Mr. Goodwin''s first attention. This gentleman was one of the Assembly of Divines, a frequent preacher before the Long Parliament, and a zealous advocate of the Calvin- istic doctrines. Being appointed to preach at St. PauPs Church, before the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London, he availed himself of the opportunity then afforded, to caution his civic auditory against the volume of Mr. Goodwin, as a work replete with the errors of Pelagius and Arminius. In addition to this he cast some severe reflections upon Mr. Goodwin''s character, and 252 LIFE OF charged him with having falsified the numerous quotations contained in his book. Considering the nature and pubhcity of this accusation, Mr. Goodwin addressed a letter to the Doctor, complaining of liis conduct, proposing an interview with him, either alone or in the presence of their friends ; and requesting him to make some public acknowledgment of the injustice of his charges. Mr. Goodwin also stated, that in case these proposals were rejected, he would publish his letter, and thus appeal to the Christian world. The Doctor appears to have declined either to have an interview with our Arminian heretic, or to make any apology for the rude and violent attack upon his good name. Mr. Goodwin therefore committed his epistle to the press, under the title of " Moses made Angry : A Letter written and sent to Dr. Hill, upon occasion of some hard Passages that fell from him in a Sermon preached at Paul's, May 4th, 1651." Addressing his accuser, Mr. Goodwin says, " Sir, you are a gentleman, to whom I never, to the best of my knowledge, gave the least offence. If unwittingly I have done it, I am ready to make you all christian satisfaction. For your learning and knowledge, according to what groimds I had to make an estimate of them, I proportionably honoured you ; and much more because I always conceived you chiefly employed them about that most honourable work of propa- gating the glorious Gospel of God in the world. That testimony also which, time after time, I received concerning your goodness of spirit, blamelessness of conversation, &c., much advanced my esteem of you. Notwithstanding, had you poured shame and contempt upon my head alone, had you ground to powder only me and my name, you might have done it without trouble or inconvenience to yourself ; at least from me. Such millers in black clothing I meet with daily, and let them pass quietly by me. But inasmuch as you have magnified yourself against the truth, yea seve- ral of the most important truths of the living God, it will neither stand with that loyalty of obedience which I owe to the command of God imposed on me in that behalf, nor with that love which I owe to yourself as a Chri&rian brother, to JOHX fiOODWIN. 253 suiFer such a sin to rest upon you. I delight not in contests. I am for peace with all men, and for a quiet and retired pil- grimage on earth. So that -whensoever I contend with any man, I saci'ifice the darling disposition of my soul upon the service of the truth. Nor shall any man approve himself more easy to be entreated, upon any equitable or tolerable account, or more willing to receive satisfaction from him that hath offended him than I. Therefore, Sir, I beseech you, trouble not yourself either with seeking out, or pretend- ing to find, any other intent of this address to you, than as a simple, plain-hearted, and christian application of myself to vindicate the just right of the dearly beloved of my soul, and I trust of your"'s also, truth. " You reflected upon the author of that book, which so torments those that dwell on the face of the earth, as if he falsified, wrested, perverted authors : the very truth is, that this, if it be comely to call a spade a spade, is a pure calumny. The authors cited in the said book, at least the far greater part of them, speak as directly to the heart of the main doctrines maintained in the book, as the author of the book himself. Nor are you, nor any other man, able to prove the least touch of any falsifying or perverting any author brought upon that stage. If there be any thing mistaken, (as mistakes may be incident to the most upright of men,) in any quotation, this only proves the author to be a man, not a falsifier. There is nothing asserted in the said book, especially in the two main doctrines there contended for, but what, for substance and effect of matter, is plainly affirmed over and over not only by themost orthodox Fathers, Chrysostom, Augustine, &c., but by the most orthodox wri- ters of later times, as Luther, Calvin, Musculus, and others. Yea yourselves, the preachers of this age, however by times you appear in flames of fire against them, yet otherwhile, and sometimes in one and the same sermon, you give testi- mony xmto them. There is sufficient proof made, page 561 of the book decried by you, that a jury of fifty-two preachers, and among these such as are counted pillars in and about the City of Loudon, in the same pamphlet wherein 354 LIFE OF as they pretend, they give ' Testimony to the Truth of Jesus Christ, against Errors and Heresies," do clearly build up the principal doctrine avouched in the said book, General Redemption by Christ. Yea yourself, in this very sermon, wherein you set yourself with all the might of your indignation against it, gave the right hand of fellowship to it, in granting, that had Judas believed, he should have been saved by Christ. See (I desire it rather to your satis- faction than shame) the doctrine of General Redemption demonstratively proved from such a position as this, p. 113, &c., and p. 135, &c., of that truth-teaching book so often hinted. The Synod of Dort itself acknowledgeth, that ' If Redemption be not acknowledged as a common benefit bestowed on mankind, that general and promiscuous preaching of the Gospel, committed to the apostles to be performed among all nations, will have no true foundation."" Therefore whilst you clamour against General Redemption, you not only cry down the glory of the unsearchable riches of the free grace of God, vouchsafed in Christ to the world, but also fight your best friends, as well as those Avhom you traduce under the name of Pelagians, Arminians, &c. ; liveries of like cloth which the servants of truth have been compelled to wear in all ages. Yea, in your inconsiderate contests, you act as men divided against yourselves ; and your sayings, like the children of Ammon and Moab, when they came forth to battle against Judah and Jehoshaphat, help to destroy one another. "If I knew how to relieve those truths of God, which you desperately affronted, without making a breach upon your reputation, I should freely pass by mine own interest, and demand nothing of you for personal reparations ; although I believe that you hardly know how to provoke at much a higher rate, than you practised provocation upon me : unless haply that be some allay, that you were ravished by some other man's spirit, far worse than your own, into such a splenetic ecstacy. For Dr. Hill hath formerly worn the crown of a meek, temperate, and christian spirit. But we -read that Moses, the meekest man on earth, was, at the JOHN CiOODAVIX, 255 waters of strife, provoked to speak unadvisedly with his lips ; and I, with many others, believe, that Dr. Hill was overshadowed with the spirit of some lion or other, (which probably I could point at among the herd,) when he con- ceived those ' devouring words' whereof he was delivered in the pulpit. May 4th, 1651. The ground of my conjecture is, partly because that which was born of him here, had so little of his own likeness in it ; partly because it had so much of the likeness of another man. But concerning myself, the best is, that neither you nor others, can value me at any lower rate than I do myself. You trod but upon the earth, when you trampled me under your feet. If you pursue me to the grave, you cannot hinder my resurrection ; the day whereof will be time enough for me to become any thing. " I know the miscarriages of the best and wisest of men are too many ; and far be it from me to make any man a delinquent above the tenour of his misactings ; and these construed with as much favour as a good conscience will afford. If you can, and be willing to disclaim, any thing in the said particulars, I desire to hear speedily from you upon that account ; otherwise I shall presume, that my informa- tions touching the premises were authentic." About the time at which Mr. Goodwin thus adressed himself to Dr. Hill, he sent the following Letter to Mr. Joseph Caryl, well known as a Presbyterian divine of that age, and author of an immense Commentary on the Book of Job. The epistle itself sufficiently explains the occasion on which it was written. " My Christian and worthy Friend and Brother in Christ : " I came, some fcAV days since, to understand, that there is one passage in my late Book, entitled Redemp- tion Redeemed, (possibly among many others of less offence,) of so hard a resentment with you, that you judged it of very dangerous consequence, and have cautioned S56 LIFE OF several persons (as some of themselves have reported, I know not how publicly, or unto how many,) against the danger of it. Whether your intent was hereby to blast the credit of that one passage only, or to render the Book itself as unsafe, or however of no good consequence for them to read, I shall not too narrowly enquire into, much less determine. I acknowledge it to be far above my line, in the composure of a Book, to be able to apprehend or fore- see, what notions or expressions may possibly provoke a spirit of prejudice ; or to deliver my sense at every turn upon such terms, as to leave no place or possibility for sinister construction : But this I am able to avouch, as in the sight of God, who will shortly bring every secret thing into j udgment, that in the penning of that Book, I was con- scientiously studious and careful, to decline, as well in matter as in words, whatsoever I apprehend likely to offend any man, further or otherwise than as the truth, even with the fairest and clearest delivery of it, is apt to offend those who are not disposed to receive it. And I now am, and 1 trust always shall be, willing and ready to do the best I can to heal every man''s offence, taken at any saying or expres- sion in that Book, when I come particularly to understand the ffround or occasion of it. I hear that within these few weeks there was another, whose name I shall spare at pre- sent, who very reasonlessly, and without the least cause given, stumbled in the University pulpit at Cambridge, at another passage in the said Book, where I give an account of my judgment concerning the fulness, freeness, and effec- tualness of the Grace of God. Notwithstanding, I had in some particular and distinct explications of myself, imme- diately before, endeavoured to remove the stumbling-stone, such as it was, out of his way ; and had shewed him before this, how he might with a very good conscience, and with more honour to himself, have passed by that passage with- out lifting lip his heel against it ; but that I want such particularity of information about the cai-riage of the dis- course, as I desire and hope in due time to obtain. As for JOHN GOODWIX. 257 him, who Arch-Rabbi like, concluded at once, and without premises, all those without exception that hold the doctrines of General Atonement by Christ, and of a possibility of a final declining in such who ever believed, to be men Godless, Christless, Spiritless, Graceless, I shall at present only advise him to lay his heart close to those two sayings of a wise man, Prov. xxvi, 12. and Prov. xxix, 20. When I shall hear that he is thoroughly baptized into the spirit of these Scriptures, I shall judge him a person worthy a reproof when he offends. In the mean time, I judge, that he who told it amongst news from Heaven unto the City, that Arminius''s rotten posts were lately new painted, together with him who not long after, diurnal-wise, told the same story over again to the same audience, only in a more dis- mal metaphor, informing them, that Arminius's ghost was lately started out of his grave and walked ; neither of them meddling any further with the controversies ; I judge, that these are wise men in their generation, and did well consider that the name of Arminius is the most forcible engine, though made of nothing but air and wind, to batter the walls of those opinions, which they so cordially wish in the dust ; and that should they have engaged any Scripture or argument upon the design, they had run a hazard of losing all that ground, or more, which they had reason to hope they had won, by drawing the pedigree of the said opinions, though most untruly, from Arminius ; it faring with their credulous hearers, according to the proverb : The blind szoallow many ajly. " But, Sir, concerning that passage in my late Book, upon the horn whereof you were pleased to tie a bunch of hay, by way of signal vuito your friends and others, to take heed of it, and to keep at a distance from it ; if my intelli- gence leadeth me to the right place; (as I suppose upon competent grounds it doth,) as far as I am able Avith the most impartial eye I have, to see into it, it is so far from meriting the brand of ignominy wherewith you have stig- matized it, that, rightly understood and considered, it is as innocent tind oifenceless, as any saying that ever fell from S 258 LIFE OF your own mouth, in any of your sermons. The passage I presume is this : Page 335 of the said Book : I shall cite it verbatim. ' Yea, that which is yet more, I verily believe, that in case any such assurance of the unchangeableness of God's love, were to be found in, or could regularly be deduced from the Scriptures, it were a just ground to any intelligent and considering man, to question their authority, and whether they were from God or no.' " The reason of this saying I immediately subjoin in these words, * For that a God infinitely righteous and holy, should irreversibly assure the immortal and undefiled inher- itance of his grace and favour unto any creature whatsoever, so that though this creatvire should prove never so abomin- able in his sight, never so outrageously and desperately wicked and profane, he should not be at liberty to with- hold this inheritance from him, is a saying, doubtless, too hard for any man who rightly understands and considers the nature of God, to hear.' What there should be in either of these sayings, so much as liable to any suspicion of an incomportance either with reason or with truth, cannot enter into my thoughts to imagine or conceive. The pile of the discourse is built, and I cannot but presume regularly enough, upon this foundation ; That if any thing were found in those writings known by the name of Scriptures, whether in the letter of them, or in any expressness of con- sequence from them, (here justified or approved,) of any blasphemous import against God, or any of his Attributes, it were a just ground at least to question, whether the said writings were from God or no. I suppose I shall not need to argue this principle, being so full of light in itself. The Holy Ghost himself teaclieth us, that God cannot deny him- self ; and as certain it is, that he cannot blaspheme himself; Tior yet authorize, inspire, or teach any person or creature whatsoever, to blaspheme him : the blaspheming of himself being nothing else but a constructive denying of himself, as is evident. Therefore what book or writing soever, con- tains any thing blasphemous against God, I do not mean as -simply rejjurtcd, but as asserted and muhtiaincd, is not only JOHN GOODWIX. 259 a just ground to question (which yet is all I affirm in the point) whether such a writing or book be of divine inspi- ration or no, but even positively to conclude against thera that they are not. So then, if there be any thing dangerous, or of suspicious consequence, in either of the said passages, it must be this ; that in the former of them, I suppose, and in the latter constructively affirm, that such an unchange- ableness of the Love of God as is mentioned in the former, and described in part in the latter, is of a blasphemous import, and repugnant to those great Attributes of right- eousness and holiness in God. Though the latter of the said passages recited carrieth a sufficient light in it to satisfy any man, impartially considerate, concerning the truth of this assertion ; yet the matter being of a high and sacred import, I am willing and shall endeavour to give, both unto yourself and others, somewhat a more full and distinct account hereof, " First, then, evident it is, that that unchangeableness of the Love of God, which these passages speak of, and with- out a supposal whereof the common doctrine of Persever- ance, against which I here argue, cannot be maintained, in the formal and proper notion of it, supposeth, that if ever God once truly loveth a person, it is impossible that upon any occasion or interveniences whatsoever, he should hate him afterwards. " Secondly, Every whit as evident it is, that such a notion as this supposeth that in case a person hath once, or at any time, truly believed, suppose in his youth, (under which condition he must needs be beloved by God,) though the very next hour or day after his believing, he should fall into the ways of sin, wickedness, disobedience, rebellion against God, and should, without repentance or remorse, continue in these abominations, adding drunkenness to thirst, from time to time, for ten, twenty, it may be, forty or fifty years together, yet God all this while truly loveth him, and remaineth unchanged in his affection towards him ; and consequently loveth him with the same love ; as great, as rich, as dear, under all these horrible pollutions, and 260 LIFE OF most accursed abominations, as he either would or could have loved him with, in case he had all this while walked in the greatest innocency and uprightness of heart and life before him. Now then this is that which I affirm : That to attribute such an unchangeableness of Love unto God as this, which maketh him to love an obstinate and obdurate sinner, a worker of all manner of abominations, with the same affection wherewith he loveth a just, holy, and good man, a worker of all righteousness, is of a blasphemous import to those glorious Attributes of his, his righteousness and holiness. For if the case were thus with God, should not the world have cause to demand, with those in Malachi, Where is the God of Judgment ? Or what is there, or can there be, of a more diametrical opposition unto holiness, than equally to respect and love the most unrighteous with those that are most righteous ? — or unto holiness, than to honour those that are most polluted and abominable, as much as those that are holy ? " Nor can you here pretend, that I wrong your doctrine of Perseverance to the value of the least hair on your head, by making it a patroness and protectrix of such an un- changeableness of Love in God, as that now represented : because evident it is, that without such an unchangeableness supposed, the said doctrine will neither have footing nor foundation to support it. For though you and others, patrons of this doctrine, understand yourselves, and be- friend your doctrine better, than to express or represent it unto the world in those colours, wherewith I have now drawn the portraiture of it ; or to describe the unchange- ableness of the Love of God, which must be the basis and pillar of it, in such terms as it hath been described by me ; yet there is nothing more pregnant and notorious, than that your soft and .silken, and most tender expressions of it, being regularly, and according to the exigency of truth, interpreted, and dravt'n out of those collusive involutions, amount every whit to as much, in deformity and Atheolo- gicalness of notion, as any expressions used by me import. For certain it is, (nor do I remember that I ever met v/ith a JOH^ GOODWTX. 2G1 denial of it, amongst the greatest defenders of your faith, in the point of Perseverance,) that he that truly believeth, may possibly fall, and that within a very short time after his believing, into the greatest and foulest sins that the nature of man is lightly incident to, as drunkenness, adul- tery, murder, envy, malice, covetousness, oppression, idol- atry, &c., and from the time of his first falling into them, may continue in the practice of them for many years toge- ther ; yea, possibly, to the very approaches of death, with- out repentance. Only you teach indeed, but by human, not divine inspiration, that such persons, (I mean once believers) in case they fall into such sins, as those now mentioned, or the like, yet never miscarry in the great business of salvation, but by a high hand of grace from God are always brought back unto repentance before their death : However, upon the former supposition, it clearly follows, that your doctrine of Perseverance cannot stand without the supposal of such an unchangeableness of Love in God, which is palpably, and in the eye of a very ordinary understanding, of a highly disparaging and blasphemous import to his righteousness and holiness. In what sense the Scriptures hold forth an unchangeableness in God, and so in all his Attributes, and particularly in his Love, I declare once and again, upon occasion, in my late Book of Redemp- tion, page 63, 64, 278, 279, 205, 206, 318, 319, and 330. I demonstratively prove your doctrine of Perseverance to be at open and manifest defiance also with another great Attribute of God, his Wisdom. Yea, when I look narrowly into the purport and tendencies of your doctrine, I cannot overrule my thoughts, but that they will be very jealous, that it is accessary to far the greatest part of those abom- inations at this day raging amongst us : Antinomianism, Enthusiasm, Familism, of the dangerous and vile opinions and practices of those called Seekers, and -of those bred of the dregs of all these, the Ranters ; and generally of all the coolings, declinings, backslidings, and of other foul and sad miscarriages amongst Professors. s3 262 LIFE OF *' Sir, I have looked upon you as the glory of tlie Lon- don ministry, and do still, notwithstanding the contest of of your judgment against mine, about the doctrine of Re- demption, and the questions relating hereunto. Yet, give him leave, who is possibly looked upon by you, as by many others, as the reproach and shame of this ministry, to say this unto you, that those two opinions, the one of a peremp- tory personal Election from Eternity, the other of a peremptory and necessitated Perseverance of the Saints, genuinely interpreted, do, upon the matter, wholly dissolve the usefulness and necessity of your ministry : the former in relation to persons yet unconverted ; the latter in respect of believers. For the jBrst, if there be a certain number of men peremptorily designed by God to salvation, all others as peremptorily excluded, what need either the one or the other regard your ministry, or any other man's.'* The former shall be infallibly and irresistibly converted, saved, whether you or any man preach the Gospel unto them or no. If so, Fortis ubi est Ajax ? where, or what is the necessity of the greatest Preacher under heaven, in respect of them ? The latter, notwithstanding all the possible relief that you by your ministry can afford them, will and must inevitably perish. Yea, all the good that you are capable of doing unto these by your ministry, is only to help them deeper into hell. If those who already believe, shall certainly, and against all possible interveniences per- severe in faith unto the end, what if the ministry of the Gospel and they were quite parted, they should run no hazard of losing their crown thereby. This great truth, that your doctrine of Perseverance frustrates the ministry in reference unto the saints, I prove at large, and I sup- pose beyond all reasonable contradiction, page 301, 302, 339, &c. of the Book formerly mentioned : Where also I tear in pieces the fig-leaf of that pretence, that the ministry of the Gospel, notwithstanding the Perseverance of the Saints be supposed absolute and unfrustrable, is yet a means for the effecting or procuring of it. JOHN GOODWIX. 263 " But, Sir, concerning tlie passage recited, wherein you pretend to find so much danger, that you judge it necessary to arm your friends with a rehgious caveat against it, I verily believe, that there is scarce any page in any of those books which either you have published in your own name, or licensed for others, but I could quarrel with somewhat therein, at as good a rate of ingenuity, if I judged the en- gagement worthy of me, as you have done at that passage of mine : yea, and wring every whit as bad blood out of the nose of it, as you have forced out of mine. But for oversights, hard expressions, or doubtful passages in other men"'s writings, otherwise than for the necessary defence of those truths which God hath stirred up my spirit to plead and protect, I liave neither time nor mind to take any such cognizance of them. Concerning my own writinos, so far as I find them justifiable for matter of truth, and defensible, I shall, God willing, j^ro viriU, stand up to maintain them against all opposition and detraction, as fast as I shall come to understand that exceptions are taken against them. What shall reasonably and in a Christian manner, be excepted against any thing, I shall make no apology for, but with a spirit of meekness own the over- sight, and only endeavour the rectifying. In case unjust opposers shall rise up too fast, or prove too many in num- ber for me, I must then be content to edecimate, and turn myself only to those that are counted Pillars, and leave punies either to share with them in such answers, and satis- factions, which shall be given unto them, or otherwise to take their pleasure in flying upon the wings of their own wind. Sir, I cannot suspect a want of so much civility in you, as to deny water unto those for the washing of their faces, who are bemired, though casually, and by their friends : or that the pubUshing of these few harmless lines in order to my purgation, will be matter of offence in the least unto you. " Thus desiring that the Father of Lights will o-ive to you and me, and all others thai desire to serve him 264 LIFE OF faithfully in the Gospel of his dear Son, light and not darkness for our vision, I take my leave, and rest, Your's ivith a perfect heart to serve you in our Great Redeemer, John Goodwin." To this Letter Mr. Caryl returned the following answer : " I suppose you printed and- published your Book, with a willingness that it should be read and con- sidered by all men ; and knew also, that your opinion, therein asserted, concerning Universal Redemption, and Falling from Grace, hath been, as still it is, opposed by very many. For my own part, I plainly profess to you, that I have, according to my measure, held forth and maintained the contrary doctrines, not only before I saw your Book, but before ever I saw your face ; and so I judge myself bound to do, as I have opportunity, till I see ground to change my opinion ; which as yet I do not, no not by Avhat I have found in your Book. " As for that particular passage of it, which you say I have stigmatized with a brand of ignominy, as also cau- tioned my friends about it ; what you mean by stigmatizing I apprehend not : all that I have said of it, hath been but a manifestation of my dislike of it, or that it is an argument of your highest confidence, that the truth, in that point to which it relates, is on your side. Now truly. Sir, if you call this stigmatizing it with a brand of ignominy, I know not how to take it off, notwithstanding all that you have written in vindication of it in the Letter you were pleased to send me. " And whereas you intimate your purpose to print that Letter ; it shall I hope be no trouble to me, unless for your sake, if you do so. Only give me leave to caution you as a friend, to consider well both with yourself, and with your friends, Whether it be so comely in you to discover such an JOHN GOODWI^f. 265 eagerness in this cause, that you cannot contain yourself from pubhshing in print, what is spoken in private dis- course among friends, concerning this or other passages in your Book. The Lord lead us into all truth, and teach us how to walk in love ! Your's in truth to serve you, in all offices of Gospel love, Joseph Caryl." Mr. Goodwin pei'ceived that the publication of his letter would be disagreeable to Caryl, for whom he entertained a sincere respect, and therefore abandoned that design. Several years afterwards, however, he was constrained to commit it to the press, to prevent the appearance of surrep- titious and incorrect copies, which was meditated by some of the London Booksellers. * One argument urged by Mr. Goodwin in proof of Gen- eral Redemption, is. That all men are required to believe in Jesus Christ for salvation, on pain of everlasting misery. In opposition to what he had advanced on this subject. Dr. Thomas Barlow, afterwards Bishop of Lincoln, addressed a letter to him, in which he contends, that the obligation and command to believe in Christ are not universal, but apply to those only to whom the Gospel is preached, and who possess a capacity to understand it. The Heathens, of course, according to his views, have nothing to do with that evangelical requisition. -|- In reply to this letter, Mr. Goodwin published a small tract, entitled, " The Pagan''s Debt and Dowry : or, A Brief Discussion of these Ques- tions : Whether, how far, and in what sense, such persons of mankind, amongst whom the Letter of the Gospel never came, are, notwithstanding, said to Believe in Jesus Christ." This pamphlet, which was written in great haste, and in the midst of numerous and pressing avocations, contains some very able and ingenious reasoning respecting the * Fresh Discovery of the High Presbyterian Spirit. Preface, 1654. t Barlow's Genuine Remains, p. 122. Edit. lGy3. 2G6 LIFE OF moral obligations of the Heathen, and in defence of their salvability : subjects on which crude and indigested specu- lations have been often advanced. Some persons, laudably anxious to prove the necessity as well as the advantages of Revelation, against the assumptions of Infidelity ; and others, desirous of giving the greatest possible impulse to the cause of Christian Missions, have represented the sal- vation of men without the direct and perfect light of revealed truth, as absolutely impossible. But that millions of human beings, without any fault of their own, should be placed in circumstances which render their endless misery necessary and inevitable, Mr. Goodwin thought, could never be reconciled with those views of divine justice and equity which the Scriptures inculcate, much less with the goodness and mercy of the blessed God. There is indeed nothing in the doctrine of unconditional reprobation, as taught by Calvin himself, that is more revolting and objec- tionable than such an opinion. On all subjects connected with the moral government of God, too much caution can- not be exercised lest sentiments injurious to the divine per- fections should be advanced, even for the purpose of illus- trating the value of truth, or of stimulating men to christian duty. Nor is there any necessity for resorting to principles of that desperate character. The writings of the Greek and Roman philosophers afford ample proof of the blindness of the human intellect, even in its highest state of cultivation, without the Revelation of God, and are sufficient for ever to confound the incoherent reasonings of Deism. And if men professing Christianity, cannot be stimulated to Mis- sionary enterprize, by the solemn charge of Jesus Christ, that his Gospel should be preached to every creature, and by the melancholy and indubitable fact, that the whole Heathen world is in a state of peculiar wretchedness and peril, no motives whatever will rouse them from their guilty supineness and indifference. With all submission to those who think otherwise, it is presumed that the necessary and unavoidable damnation of the Heathen, as such, can never be successfully maintained in the teeth of the apostolic JOHN GOODWIN. 267 declaration, that God will render " glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile."" (Rom. ii. 10.) As nearly all the men who had written against Mr. Good- win, had treated him in a manner the most abusive and indecorous, it excited his surprize on finding in Dr. Barlow an opponent who was disposed to exercise towards him the greatest candour and urbanity, and who actually spoke of his learnino^ and talents in terms the most handsome and respectful. This generous conduct, so unusual among the polemics of that age, made a deep impression upon Mr. Goodwin''s mind, and afforded him a welcome opportunity of indulging some of the best feelings of which the human heart is susceptible. The following sentences extracted from " The Pagan's Debt and Dowry," will serve to display the temper in which that ingenious tract was written : " 1 find you a man of a far better spirit, than any I have yet met with in any antagonist."" — " I cannot but kindly resent * in you, that worthy disposition to put honour where it was wanting ; and to help, with your respects, to fill up the pit which others have digged in the field of my reputation, to find the treasure of their own."*"" — " I greatly desire it at the hands of my God, both your"'s and mine.""—" You have writ not without grounds worthy a learned man."'*' — " I very much honour you, for those signal parts of christian worth and ingenuity, which, by the light of your papers sent me, I sufficiently discern to be in you,"" Language like this, in the controversial volumes of our author's contemporaries, is extremely rare. Dr. Barlow made no reply to Mr. Goodwin''s tract, but whether he was convinced by its reasonings, is vuicertain. The doctrine of the salvability of the Heathen, which was defended in this work, was not likely to pass uncensured in an age of contradiction, when so many minds were hardened in the school of absolute reprobation. No one, thei'efore, * " To RESENT ; to be sensible of,"— Phillips's New World of Words, Edit. 1/OG, S6S LIFE OF who is acquainted with the theological history of that period, will be surprized to learn, that this inoffensive publication was animadverted upon with great asperity by Mr. Obadiah Howe, rector of Stickney, and minister of Horncastle, in Lincolnshire. This gentleman sided with the Puritans dur- ing the interregnum, but at the Restoration conformed to the Episcopal Church, and was presented to the vicarage of Boston.*" The work published by him against Mr. Good- win, is entitled, " The Pagan Preacher Silenced ;"''' to wliicli our author replied in the preface to his " Triumviri.'" As Mr. Goodwin's "Redemption Redeemed" excited general attention, so the books which were written against it, were considerable both in number and mamiitude. Mr. Robert Bailie, " minister of the Gospel at GlasgoAv,"" and author of many bitter and intolerant pamphlets against the Independents and Baptists, published a very small volume under the title of " A Scotch Antidote against the English infection of Arminianism : which Little book maybe, through God's blessing, very useful to preserve those that are yet sound in the faith, from the infection of Mr. John Good- win's Great book." Of this publication Mr. Goodwin does not appear to have taken any notice. Every thing contained in it in the shape of argument, is a bare repetition of what had been advanced by preceding writers, and what, in Mr. Goodwin''s apprehension, had been already confuted. Another of Mr. Goodwin's assailants was Mr. Richard Resbury, vicar of Ovmdle in Northamptonshire. This gentleman had prepared for publication an edition of a small volume of Sermons, in defence of the distinguishing doc- trines of Calvinism, nearly all the copies of which remained unsold for some years. On the appearance of Mr. Goodwin's " Redemption Redeemed," he seems to have thought that a favourable opportunity presented itself for giving an impulse to the sale of his book. He therefore drew up an invective against Mr. Goodwin by way of preface, and prefixed to" his volume the following title, intimating that the whole was a * Wood's Athena- OxMiienscs, Vol, ii, col. 718. JOHN GOODWIN. 269 reply to the work which then occupied so much attention : " Some Stop to the Gangrene of Arminianism, lately pro- moted by Mr. John Goodwin in his book entitled Redemp- tion Redeemed : or, The Doctrine of Election and Repro- bation in Six Sermons, opened and cleared from the old Pelagian and late Arminian Errors, 1651." Resbury was a thorough Calvinist. He contends strenuously for the doc- trine of absolute reprobation, and attempts to prove the blasphemous position, " That God decrees the being of sin in the world." In his preface he attacks Mr. Goodwin without ceremony. " In the first place," says he, " my hearty prayer is, The Lord rebvke iliee^ To this polemic Mr. Goodwin published an address, which he entitled, " Confidence Dismounted : or, A Letter to Mr. Richard Resbury, of Oundle in Northamptonshire, &c., 1651." In this spirited pamphlet, Mr. Goodwin thus admonishes his opponent : " Erasmus said, Poor Luther made many rich: meaning by occasion of his writings against the Pope, and such doc- trines as were the pillars of his throne and kingdom ; which whosoever would undertake to oppose or confute, had great matters of preferment cast upon him. So I perceive that my poor writings are like occasionally to enrich many Avith credit, approbation and applause from men ; and that as Caleb promised his daughter Achsah to wife, to whomso- ever should smite Kiriath-Sepher, and take it ; so doth that spirit that is abroad amongst those that are called Ministers of the Gospel, promise honour and applause inito any man that shall but offer to smite either my person or writings with his tongue or pen ; though they speak or write neither truth, nor any thing to purpose against either. Mr. Resbury, it seems, hath hearkened unto the encouragement of this spirit, and by his title-page hath tempted the world to believe, that he hath done some worthy thing against my book of Redemption : whereas it cannot reasonably be thought, by any thing in his book, that ever he looked any argument or line of mine in the face : so far is he from answering any thing argued by me, either Kara, zsolas or S70 1.1 FE OF TSo^x. Yet not content with the sound of his own trumpet in the frontispiece of his book, by which he would give the world to hope that he was preparing to battle against me, he, or some factor of his about the City, hath purchased the louder blasts of two trumpets more, to make the same sound, and hath bought of two of our common Diurnalists, their respective outcries, or proclamarees, to call the world together, to be spectators of his learned valour. Indeed in his preface, he supplies, in the most untrue and unchristian revilings of my person, that which in his discourse is want- ing in weight and substance of matter for answer to my book. But the spirit I spake of, suggested, it seems, this to him : ' If thou beest not able to grapple with his writings, lay on load of reproach upon his person. Thou shalt have a good reward for thy labour, as well in one kind as in the other ; they shall prosper both alike in thy hand.' " Sir, I beseech you, by the love you bear to the Lord Jesus Christ, with what conscience or face of ingenuity, can you say, that ' The main truths of God^ concerning his Electing and Redeeming Grace, have, hy the daring hand of that unhapjjy man, Mr. John Goodzoin, in his wretched Treatise, by him called (but miscalled) Redemptimi Redeemed^ been so highly assaulted ;' when you neither have shewed, much less proved, nor are able to prove, that so mvich as any of these truths have been in the slightest manner assaulted by me in this treatise. I trust you will suffer the word of Christian admonition from him who, God knoweth, and your own conscience may know, is no enemy to you, nor to your peace, nor to your honour or reputation ; that such causeless aspersions and reproaches cast upon your Christian brethren, as these, will never make your face to shine with any true or permanent lustre, nor abound to your account in the great day. In terming me an imhappy man, you speak truth enough in one sense, and little in another. It is my unhappiness, not to be believed when I speak the truth ; and much more that my speaking the truth should prove a stumbling-stone to so many, and occasion their falling into the great and dangerous sin of hard speaking, reviling, per- JOHN GOODWIN, 271 secutlng with the tongue, opposing, calumniating the truth manifested to them. In all this, I confess, I am an unhappy man. But the Lord Jesus Christ himself was, in all such respects as these, an unhappy man also, being set as well for the falling as for the rising of many in Israel. But that he was a sweet savour unto God, as well in those who perish, as in those that are saved by him, he was a person thrice liappy and blessed. And I should deny the signal goodness of God towards me, if I should not judge myself happy in those (not a few) who have been built up by my hand in the knowledge of God, in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the peace and joy of their souls ; yea, and in the reproaches, hard sayings, and evil entreaties which I meet with from Mr. Resbury and others ; inasmuch as these also work for me so much a better resurrection, and a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. " Whereas you seem desirous to pick a quarrel against my hand, by terming it ' daring:'' I confess my hand and heart too are very daring, venturous, and bold in assaulting Error, how strongly soever fortified by the judgments, affections, interests, pre-occupations, authorities, credits, writings of men. That clear, satisfying, and convincing light of the truth, which God hath graciously shined into my heart, teacheth my hand to war and my fingers to fight, against all that is lesser and lower than God in the quarrel and cause of truth. And if you count it a blemish or disparagement to my hand to be daring in this kind, it is a sign that your own hand hath little courage for the truth, nor that it dares lift up itself in defence of it, unless it hath a proud arm of flesh to stand by it, and second it in the engagement. " Your subtle insinuation, to have yourself notioned like unto Michael the Archangel, and me unto the Devil, in this imprecatory prayer against me, The Lord rebuke thee I I perfectly resent. But, Sir, you should have done well to have considered, whether, in case the Archangel had had to .do with a man as you have, (though as vile and sinful as you apprehend the man of your contest to be,) and not with the devil, he would have prayed for him, The Lord S72 LIFE OF Jhrgive tlice^ and not The Lord rebuke thee, until his obsti- nacy had appeared. However, if I have so deeply sinned, as you deem me to have done, in judging me worthy to drink the DeviFs cup after him, I shall join issue with you, in the words of your prayer against me, and pray. The Lordrehiikeme, only with David''s addition, not in anger. " And, Sir, give me leave to doubt, whether you had the consent of your conscience, in drawing up this charge against me, \haX,Jhr the present I so seriously desjnse, and so boldly bid defiance to the peculiar grace of God. Michael the Archangel durst not bring any railing, much less any forged or false accusation, against Satan himself, when he contended with him. If he had done this, he had fought with no better weapons than those which Satan himself useth in his battles. It is a thing of most deplorable consideration to me, that those who call themselves Ministers of the Gospel, should so harden themselves against the fear of the Lord, as to speak and spread abroad at pleasure, words of an infamous and disparaging import against their brethren, who never gave them the least cause of offence, and this without any coloura- ble pretence of truth in them. For, Sir, I beseech you, what sentence can you, or any other of you, find either in my book of Redemption, or any other of my writings, wherein I make the least semblance, or give the lightest inti- mation, that I at all, much less so seriously (as your charge advanceth,) despise the peculiar Grace of God ? And yet your pen riseth much higher, and proclaims that I also boldly bid dejiance to it. Well might the Apostle James com- plain that the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. I, espe- cially in my treatise of Redemption, am so far from despis- ing the peculiar Grace of God, or from any bold bidding of defiance to it, that I magnify it upon all occasions with all my might, and demonstrate the peculiarity, i. e. the signal excellency and glory of it, to consist in this, that it encom- passeth the whole world about, and particularly visiteth every creature of mankind, and this in order to their salvation. So that I make the Grace of God, which is saving in the nature and tendency of it, never the less, but rather the JOHN cooDwrx. 273 more peculiar, by commending the rich diffusiveness of it to particular men. As for that Grace of God, or rather that degree, or that operation of this Grace, which is actually and eventually saving to men, I peculiarize it every whit as much, and, for aught I know to the contrary, upon the same terms, as Mr. Resbury himself, and men of his judg- ment generally do. For my judgment clearly is, that no person is actually saved, but by such an assistance or opera- tion of the Grace of God, which no other person whatso- ever partaketh of, or which is vouchsafed unto no other per- son but only unto those who are actually saved also. Only herein I may, (I conceive) possibly dissent from them : They hold that this peculiar, actually-saving grace of God, is upon such terms decreed by God unto those that come to be saved by it, that there is an absolute necessity for them to embrace it and to be saved by it : whereas my sense is, that such Grace is no otherwise decreed by God unto those who in time come to receive it, and in Jine, to be actually saved by it, than it is unto others, who never come to receive it ; and that these might have received it, or come to be parta- kers of it, in the same way, and by the same means, by which those others, who are in conclusion saved by it, came to have part and fellowship in it. But this difference between Mr. Resbury and me, about the peculiar grace of God, doth no whit more prove me to be a serious despiser of it, or a bold bidder of defiance to it, than himself. Therefore his charge against me in this point is merely clamorous and aspersive, and such as a tender conscience would have trem- bled so much as to demur upon ; and how much more to have published .'' " Concerning your charge of ' wrested quotations^ I must crave leave to tell you, that \vrested quotations are as far beneath me, as I perceive speaking truth to be above you. If you wrested the Scriptures no more than I do authors, your notions about the counsels and dispensations of God, would be much straighter than they are. The truth main- tained by me, is able to stand upon her own proper base, against all opposition, and hath no need at all to be supported T 274i LIFK OF by the rotten props of wrested quotations ; no, nor yet by the credit or repute of any author or authors whatsoever, though never so pertinently or candidly quoted to her assistance. Nor do I mention or make use of authors upon any such account, as if the doctrine I teach were not able, without having any thing at all added to it by men, to com- mend itself to the judgments aud consciences of all consid- ering men, and truly desirous of the knowledge of the truth : but partly, to remove that stone, or straw rather, of offence, (at which people of effeminate and weak apprehensions are so apt to stumble,) viz. That the said doctrine wanteth an arm of flesh to stand by it, was never held by orthodox or pious men : partly also to demonstrate, that the greatest opposers of this doctrine were not so consistent with themselves in their opposition to it, but that ever and anon they fluctuated in their judgments about it, and sometimes pulled down with one hand what they had built up with the other. This is a thing so manifest to those, that with judgment and observa- tion are conversant in their writings, that to deny it, is in effect to deny that the sun is up at noon-day. Therefore for him to wrest quotations, or pervert the sayings of men, who hatli no more need either of men or their sayings, than I, or the doctrine asserted by me, have, is to sacrifice his name and conscience, upon the service of a nut-shell, or thing of nought. There was more wisdom than so, though not much honesty, in that saying of the Heathen : Si jus violandum est, regnandi gratia violandum est : i. e. Justice too sacred is to harm. Unless a kingdom be the charm. *' One thing, before I close, I desire calmly to know of you: Why, or upon what account, you term the doctrine maintained by me in my treatise of Redemption, by the name of Arminianism ? If it be simply because the said doctrine was, as you suppose, held by Arminius, I must crave leave to inform you, that unless the good figure of Synecdoche makes peace between your supposition and the truth, they will never agree. For the doctrine here taught by me, was I JOHN GOODWIN. S75 only in part held by Arminius : the main foundations on which I build, you will not find laid by him. — Were it granted, that what I teach in that book, was, for substance of matter, nothing but what is to be found in his writings, yet what reason is there why that which I teach in comnion with Arminius, should be termed Arminianism, when you teach twenty times more upon the same terms, (I mean in common with Arminius,) and yet would be judged the freest man in the world from Arminianism ? " If you charge me with Arminianism, because the doc- trine which I maintain was held by Arminius, with oppo- sition or contrariety to the truth ; I answer, (1.) Whether this be truth or no, adhuc sub Judicc lis est, is a case yet depending in the court of equity : and I believe before many years have passed over the head of the world, all competent judges will pass sentence against you in the point. (2.) In case it were true, that Arminius did indeed main- tain that doctrine in opposition to the truth, about which I make one in judgment with him, yet why should my doc- trine be rather termed Arminianism, than either Calvinism, Musculism, Martyrism, or the like, considering that Calvin, Musculus, and others, reputed orthodox, did assert over and over, and this in terms every whit as significant and express, as any found in Arminius, the very self-same doc- trine ; as I fully, and above all controversy and contradic- tion, prove by many testimonies cited from the writings of these men, in my treatise of Redemption. If you here plead, that these authors, elsewhere in their writings, de- clare their judgments in opposition to this doctrine : (1.) I make little question but that this may with as much truth be said concerning Arminius himself. (2.) If those other authors declare sometimes for the said doctrine, and other while against it, why should he, who teacheth contrary to what they deliver in one place, be traduced as an opposer of their doctrine, rather than he who teacheth contrary to what they teach and deliver in another ? Sir, I fear that when the Lord Jesus Christ (both your's and mine) shall 1 rw 276 LIFE OF come to umpire between you and me, your aspersing his truth with infamous and ignominious terms, will turn to no good account unto you. " Conceriiing your Treatise, or Sermons, if there be any thing in them more material or weighty than what your great JMasters at the Synod of Dort have, upon the same account which you stand up to justify, afforded us in their Sy nodical writings, it shall, God willing, be taken into con- sideration in due time. But I believe that Avhen the Oaks of Bashan shall be hewn down and fall, the shrubs and under- wood will be broken down to the ground Avith them : and that when the horsemen are put to rout, the infantry will throw down their arms and quit the field. As to your decree of Absolute Reprobation, when you seek for it in the Ninth to the Romans, you dig in a wrong field to find any such treasure ; and the truth is, that you may as soon discover the element of fire at the bottom of the sea, as such a Reprobation in that Chapter, or in any other qviarter of the Scriptures. Yea yourself, in this very Epistle, making your ' Elect ones, through rceakness of judgment, and unshilfulness in the mystery of Christ, I'lahle to he seduced by a spirit of error,'' do little less than shake the fovmdations of your absolute Reprobation. If you speak of such a liableness to seduction, Avhich endangereth not the salvation of the seduced, your zealous solicitousness for the suppression of error, is to little purpose, at least in reference to such persons. For men, whether elect in your notion, or not elect, will be always liable to be thus far at least seduced, were all the errors at present on foot in the world never so thoroughly suppressed. Besides, according to your principles, all the sins which your elect shall at any time commit, shall work for good unto them, and not only be forgiven immediately upon the commission. Therefore your care of preventing their seducemeut, being truly inter- preted, is only a care to keep them from that which would turn to a certain benefit to them, in case they were not kept from it. If you speak of a liableness to such a seduc- JOHN GOODWIN. -^ * • tion, which may possibly end in the destruction of the seduced, then you clearly suppose a possibility ot the perishing of your elect ones : and if your Election staggers, how can your Reprobation stand ? How impertinently you cite, and apply to your purpose, those words of the apos- tie, The foundation of God standetk sure, but that 1 am unworthy to teach, you might have learned from the 359and seepages of my book of Redemption. But I shall, I trust, ere long, interruptory occasions not too numerously or importunely thronging me, vindicate the innocency of that Ninth Chapter to the Romans, from the scandalous impu- tation of holding correspondency with so monstrous and horrid a doctrine, as that which Mr. Resbury, with many others, led out of the way of truth by the same spirit of error and delusion, teach, under the notion of absolute Repro- bation. In the mean time, hoping that, for the future, you will be more Christianly tender of the names and reputa- tions of vour brethren, at least until you know more evil by them, and this upon better terms than I am certain you yet know, or can know any by me, or I trust ever shall know; I take ray leave; beseeching the God ot all grace, with all fervency and effectualness of prayer and supplication, that he will vouchsafe to make both your anointing and mine, with the Spirit of revelation, much more rich and full than hitherto it hath been ; that we may be more able to give the light of the knowledge of God m the face of Jesus Christ, unto men. Your assured friend in Chrut, above and agaimi all unlindnesses or evil enlreaties, Oct. 15. 1651. J««^^ Goodwin." On the pubhcation of this letter Resbury made a second attack upon Mr. Goodwin, in a work which he entitled, « The Liohtless Star : or, Mr. John Goodwin discovered a Pelagio-Socinian, 1652." This work consists of remarks upon Mr. Goodwin^s Letter, and upon the preface to his Redemption Redeemed ; and the whole is designed to prove that the object of his animadversion, who held the total t3 278 LIFE OF depravity of human nature and the necessity of divine influ- ence as distinctly as any minister of his age, was a Pela- gian ; and that, although he asserted the Godhead and Atonement of Christ as strongly as any man that ever lived, he was nevertheless a Socmian. His spirit and man- ner of writing are worthy of his argument : malignant and abusive in the extreme. Had controversy always been conducted on the plan of Resbury, it would have been the bitterest curse that ever visited the Christian Church. It has been said that Resbury " was particularly hon- oured for what he wrote in opposition to Mr. John Goodwin in the Arininian controversy." * This is very probable. Many a person has been highly honoured, whose claims to that distinction were of a very equivocal nature. This was manifestly the case with Resbury. After disputing with his opponent at considerable length, he sometimes grants him all that he contends for ; and, in cases of difficulty, to get rid of an argument, interprets Scripture in a manner which, to say the least, reflects no honour upon his under- standing. As a specimen, his explanation of the Parable of the Talents may be adduced. He contends that, by the Talents, the Doctrines of the Gospel are to be understood ; and that Christian Ministers are the Servants to whom those Talents are committed. This comment gave Mr. Goodwin an occasion to remark, with his characteristic humour and acuteness, that upon these principles, " (1.) There must be five Gospels, or five doctrines of the Gospel, committed to some ministers, two to others, and but one to some. (2.) He that received five Gospels, or five doctrines of the Gospel, must be supposed to have made his five ten ; and he that received two doctrines, to have improved them into four. (3.) God should commend and reward ministers for multi- plying Gospels, or doctrines of the Gospel, above the num- ber of what he committed to them, (4.) The doctrines of the Gospel committed to ministers that prove unfaithful, should be taken from them, and given to them that are * Palmer's Nonconformists' Memorial, Vol. III. p. 44. JOH>J GOODWIN. 279 most faithful. These exotic notions are the fruits which grow upon the tree of Mr. Resbury's interpretation of the Talents." f A tract containing an attack upon Mr. Goodwin, was also published by Mr. Henry Jeanes, Rector of Chedsey, in Somersetshire, under the title of " A Vindication of Dr. Twisse, from the Exceptions of Mr. John Goodwin." This production was appended to the folio work of Dr. Twisse, entitled, " The Riches of God's Love unto the Vessels of Mercy, consistent with his Absolute Hatred or Reprobation of the Vessels of Wrath ;"" and was intended to prove that Mr. Goodwin, in his " Redemption Redeemed," had given an incorrect representation of Dr. Twlsse's opinions concern- ing the permissive decrees of God. To the animadversions of this Gentleman Mr. Goodwin afterwards replied, in the preface to his " Triumviri."" Mr. John Pawson was another of those writers who were distinguished by their opposition to Mr. Goodwin's " Re- demption Redeemed." Being appointed to preach in St. Paul's Church before the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London, a few weeks after Dr. Hill had occupied that honourable situation, he undertook to disprove the doctrine of General Redemption as asserted in Mr. Good- win's work. His auditors, covered with civic honours, appa- rently desirous to prove their orthodoxy in the Genevan sense of that term, requested that the sermon might be published. With this request Pawson complied ; and to his discourse, which was designed to shew that immense multitudes of the human race were not redeemed by Jesus Christ, but left under a fatal necessity of perishing for ever, gave the title of " A Vindication of Free Grace." Replying to this inefficient publication, Mr. Goodwin remarks, that " If Mr. Pawson would have given a title to his sermon according to the matter, rather than his desire to make his copies more plausible, he might rather have enti- tled it, A Revenge upon, than a Vindication of Free-Grace. t Triumviri, p. 14. 280 LIFE OF For what hath he in a manner attempted, but to make at nullity of the most glorious and triumphant Grace of God, Avhich magnifieth itself against the sin of Adam, in the whole extent of it, and rejoiceth over all flesh, with a desire to beautify it with salvation ; and instead hereof, obtrudeth upon the world a notion of a Grace which is asthmatical, and narrow chested ; or like unto that ' bed' in Isaiah, * shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it : and the covering narrower than that a man can wrap himself in it :"' a grace commensurable with the hearts of men, but alto- gether unworthy Him, whose ways are as much higher than the ways of men, and His thoughts than their thoughts, as the heavens are higher than the earth. If a painter should paint the sun in an eclipse, darkened ten or eleven degrees of twelve, and then write over it. The Sun in his Might, it would be a very natural emblem of Mr. Pawson's sermon and title compared."" -j- Mr. Goodwin's great work was not opposed merely by single sermons and small tracts : The digression which it contains respecting the Perseverance of the Saints, drew from Dr. Owen a folio volume of more than four hundred and forty pages, exclusive of a large preface, in defence of the Calvinian view of that subject. The Doctor was then in the height of his popularity, enjoying the Vice-Chancel- lorship of the University of Oxford, under the patronage of Cromwell ; to whom his book is dedicated, as " His Hiffhness Oliver Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland, with the Dominions thereof."" In this laudatory address, the Usurper is re- minded of his own personal interest in the doctrine of the unavoidable perseverance of the Saints. Some of the fol- lowing sentences strongly resemble 01iver"'s own language in unintelligibility : " In the midst of all the changes and mutations which the infinitely wise providence of God doth daily effect in the greater and lesser things of this world ; as to the communications of his love in Jesus Christ, and t Triumviri, p. 30. joHSr GooDWiK. 281' the merciful gracious distributions of the unsearchable riches of his grace, and the hid treasures thereof purchased by his blood, he knows no repentance : of both these you have had full experience. And though your concernment with the former, hath been as eminent as that of any person whatsoever in these latter ages of the world, yet your interest in and acquaintance with the latter is of incompa- rable more importance in itself, as answerably of more value and esteem unto you. A sense of the excellency and sweetness of unchangeable love, emptying itself in the golden oil of distinguishing spiritual mercies, is one letter of that new name which none can read but he that hath it. The series and chains of eminent providences, whereby you liave been carried on and protected in all the hazardous work of your generation, which God hath called you to, is evident to all. Of your preservation by the power of God through faith, in a course of gospel obedience, upon the account of the immutability of the love, and the infallibility of the promises of God, which are yea and amen in Christ, your own soul is only possessed of the experience.*'"' Dr. Owen was a man of unquestionable piety, of great diligence and application, and of high repute for theological learning ; but was vastly inferior to Mr. Goodwin in open- ness of temper, and perspicuity of argumentation. In several of his controversial pieces there is a leaven of sourness, accompanied by an air of obscurity and reserve. To ascer- tain his meaning, even on subjects sufficiently plain in themselves, often requires more attention than the general- ity of readers are prepared to afford. He never seems to disclose his whole heart to his opponent, nor to enjoy an opportunity of yielding to the impulse of kind and benevo- lent feeling towards such as called his dogmas in question. Like most of his brethren, while writing against Mr. Good- win's opinions, he directed a blow at his personal character. In the preface of his work, when speaking of Mr. Goodwin, he says, " Whether from his own genius and acrimony of spirit, or from the provocations of others, with whom he hath had to do, many of his treatises have been sprinkled 282 LIFE OF with sarcasms, and contemptuous rebukes of the persons with whom he hath had to do. — Much indeed of his irre- gularity in this kind, I cannot but ascribe to that prompt facihty he hath, in putting abroad every passion of his mind, and all his conceptions, not only decently clothed in language of a choice signiflcancy, but also trimmed and adorned with all manner of signal improvements, that may render it keen or pleasant, according to his intendment or desire. What the Latin Lyric said of the Grecian Poet may be applied to him : Monte decurrens velut amiiis imbres Quem super notas aluere ripas, Fervet, immensusque rult profundo Pindarus ore." * This insinuation concerning Mr. Goodwin, as if he were a man of an " acrimonious spirit," was neither just in itself nor generous as coming from the learned Doctor. Basking in the sun-beams of affluence and honour, it was easy for the latter to say many fine things about good temper in contro- versialists, and to cast reflections upon a man who was pining in the shades of adversity, pointed at by the finger of scorn, and goaded by the hand of persecution. The Doctor should have recollected, that men who avowed their belief in the same theological creed with himself, had deprived Mr. Goodwin of his living, and done every thing in their power to ruin his character, to deprive his children of bread, and to expose him to the vengeance of the civil magistrate. Vexed by such treatment during a series of years, he might have addressed his good-naiured accusers in the languao-e of another celebrated sufferer : "I also could speak as ye do : if your soul were in my souFs stead, * Pindar, like some fierce torrent swoU'n with show'rs. Or sudden cataracts of melting snow, Which from the Alps its headlong deluge pours. And foams and thunders o'er the vales below, With desultory fury borne along. Rolls his impetuous, vast, unfathomable song. West. JOHN GOODWIN. S83 I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you."" (Job xvi, 4) To be pkmdered of his property, traduced as a heretic, and then exhibited to the world as a man of an " acrimonious spirit," was the hard fate of our Anninian. But when the whole of his polemical treatises have been carefully investigated, in reference to the " spi- rit" they display, and fairly compared with those of Dr. Owen, or of any other contemporary writer, Mr. Goodwin will not appear to any disadvantage ; especially if the cir- cumstances under which the different authors wrote be taken into the account. It has been said, that in '' the whole" of his book against Mr. Goodwin, Dr. Owen " has given the world an example of a rare christian temper in the management of contro- versy :" * but this is to be received rather as the compli- ment of a friend and admirer, than as the correct verdict of an impartial judge. The Doctor does not indeed treat his antagonist in that vulgar and abusive manner in which some others had done ; but he never manifests a disposition to do him justice in any respect. When he mentions the high esteem in which Mr. Goodwin was held by many, because of his talents and general character, he coldly remarks, " To interpose my judgment in the crowd, on the one side or the other, I know neither warrant nor sufficient cause." Through the whole of his work he affects to despise Mr. Goodwin"'s mode of reasoning ; and never ex- presses the slightest respect for a man who had chosen rather to suffer the loss of all things than to violate his conscience: a man, too, who had been distinguished above all his contemporaries as the friend and advocate of religious liberty ; and to whom it is highly probable the Doctor him- self was indebted for his best thoughts on that interesting subject. Besides, the " temper" which could furnish just occasion for the following complaint is certainly not entitled to very exalted praise : " Dr. Owen," says Mr. Goodwin, " wiU needs have me to hold, whether I will or no, that * Memoirs of Dr. Owen, prefixed to his Sermons, p. 12. Edit. 1721. LIFE OF perseverance is to be obtained by * manly considerations/ and by the exercise and improvement of a man's own abilities, without any assistance of the gi'ace of God. By the authority of this supposition, he stigmatizeth my doc- trine of perseverance with this brand of infamy : ' That my maintaining of the saints' perseverance, is as bad, if not worse, than my maintaining their apostasy.' Certainly the Doctor's ingenuity and conscience were both withdrawn, when his enemy and mine tempted him to make so sad a breach upon his honour, as to charge me with saying, that the saints may persevere by any means whatsoever, witliout the grace of God ; my avowed doctrine being. That what good thing soever any man doth, he doth it through the assist- ance of the free grace of God ; and is in no capacity so much as to conceive a good thought without it. These are my words, published to the world ; and if the Doctor can pro- duce any sentence of mine, contrary to the import of the words now recited, I shall provide him more honour in my thoughts, than yet I am able to do. Excepting mere over- sights, which are not contrary in the least to honesty, faith- fulness, and truth, I abominate the Doctor's insinuative charge ; looking upon it as beneath the dignity of his function, parts, and learning to exhibit ; and as much be- neath my principles and spirit to stand under, with the least obnoxiousness of guilt or merit." •}* In regard to the Doctor's mode of reasoning, Mr. Good- win says, " He seldom engageth against any argument, whether levied from some text of Scripture, or from the clearest principles of reason, but first he vilifieth it ; and when he hath made it soft and tender, by steeping it in this liquor, an answer of straw will serve to thrust it through, and lay it for dead. The very transcription of passages of this character out of his book, would, I verily believe, amount to a competent volume. I speak the truth witli all ingenuity and clearness of spirit : many of his strains in arguing, many of his principles in answering, are as f Triumviri, Preface. JOHN GOODWIN. 285 uncouth and exotic to my understanding, as if his intellec- tuals and mine had not been cast in the same mould, nor he and I made creatures of the same kind. His demonstra- tions are not so much as dialectical or topical proofs to me ; and for many of his fundamentals in the fabric of his dispu- tation for his notion of perseverance, my soul knoweth not how to take pleasure in them. Yea, when he doth not strictly argue, but only speak orator-like, as in his epistles prefixed to his book, his sense oft times is so retired, that, reading some periods twice or thrice over, with a very great desire to communicate with him in his thought, I suffered disappointment, and was not able to reach him. At some turns I thought his printer might be accessary to my suffer- ings in this kind ; but at others, I could observe no symp- toms of such a cause.*" * Messrs. Bogue and Bennett have recently informed the Christian world, that " Dr. Owen, who had been brought into notice, and raised to the highest posts of literary honour by his attack upon Arminianism, triumphantly confuted Goodwin's Redemption lledeemed, in a treatise on the Per- severance of the Saints."-f- This is only a very slight speci- men of that loose and incorrect mode of writing, which these Reverend Historians have adopted on almost all occasions in Avhich Arminianism is concerned. Indeed, a considerable part of what they have advanced on this subject, is a mere tissue of sarcastic levity, and unblushing misrepresentation. Equally remote from truth and candour, their assertions not unfrequently betray either a pitiful want of information, or a flagrant disregard of that rigid and unbending veracity without which historical narration loses all its value, and becomes only a pernicious medium of deception. Mr. Goodwin's work, as we have already seen, is comprised in twenty chapters ; the principal subject of which is, as its title intimates. General Redemption; including a digression concerning the Perseverance of the Saints. The latter topic occupies seven cliapters, and no more. Against these chap- * Triumviri, Preface. t History of the Uisseuters, Vol. iv. p. 22a. Edit. 1812. 286 LIFE OF ters only, Dr. 0\ven''s book was written ; and therefore cannot contain a triumphant confutation of Goodwin's Re- demption Redeemed. Were it admitted that the Doctor was perfectly successful in the establishment of his thesis, and that he rendered nugatory every objection of his antag- onist ; (a point which will not be conceded,) even in this case, it could not be said, that his volume contains a confu- tation of one half of Mr. Goodwin's work. That a learned and argumentative treatise should be " triumphantly confuted" by an attack upon a mere digression, while thirteen chapters, in which the principal subject is discussed, are passed over in total silence, involves a mystery which these gentlemen are bound to explain. Dr. Owen had no such opinion of his work when he said, " What hath been, or may yet fur- ther be done, by others, who have made, or shall make it their business to draw the saw of this controversy to and fro with Mr. Goodwin, I hope will give satisfaction, as in other things, so in the particulars by me omitted.""* The divine who was most distinguished by his writings against Mr. Goodwin's book, was Mr. George Kendall, rector of Blisland, near Bodmin in Cornwall. This Gentleman, who was afterwards created D. D., resigned his rectory, and took up his residence in London, purposely that he might "watch Mr. Goodwin's movements, and " be in a better capa- city to oppose him and his doctrine."*!' Kendall, like his friend Dr. Owen, wrote also with great warmth and eager- ness against Mr. Baxter ; whom he affected to despise, and "whose theological opinions he was disingenuous enough to identify with those of Mr. Goodwin. He was the mere tool of a party, and would descend to any trick for the purpose of turning the laugh against his antagonists, and of exposing them to public contempt. " Dr. Kendall," says Baxter, *' was a little quick-spirited man, of great ostentation, and a considerable orator and scholar. He was driven on farther by others, than his own inclinations would have led him. He thought to get an advantage to his reputation, by a * Epistle Dedicatory. f AthcnaE Oxonicnses, Vol. ii, col. 326. JOHN GOODWIN. 287 triumph over John Goodwin and me : for those who set him on work, would needs have him conjoin us both together, to intimate that I was an Arminian." * In opposition to Mr. Goodwin's Redemption Redeemed, this writer pubhshed two foho volumes. In the first he at- tempts to prove, that Jesus Christ did not " taste death for every man," and that the Lord did not " lay upon him the iniquity of us all ;" and in the second he contends, in respect to those who have once been sanctified, that nothing can either deprive them of the Holy Spirit, or prevent their final salvation. His general mode of writing on these subjects, is reprehensible in a high degree. He labours almost inces- santly to make his opponent appear contemptible and ridicu- lous. For this purpose he has selected from Mr. Goodwin*'s work a considerable number of passages in which the author's meaning is not fully expressed, and which, in consequence of their separation from their respective connections, appear weak and paradoxical. To many of these passages he has annexed a comment, which he knew to be directly opposed to the sense of his author. By a liberal use of these mean expedients, he has represented the object of his uncandid animadversion as a consummate fool. At the same time he indulges himself in low jokes, and dull attempts at wit, when discussing subjects which oughtnever to be touched but with fear and trembling. He makes himself merry when speak- ing of the perfections of God, and endeavouring to unravel *' the counsel of his will,"" respecting the endless happiness and misery of the immortal souls of men. Such conduct is not only a violation of good taste, but is exceedingly perni- cious in its influence upon the human mind. There is such an awful sanctity connected with the doctrines of Revelation, especially those which relate to the Divine nature, and to the eternal states of men, that even mistakes concerninsr them should be treated in a serious manner. For that levity which pervades his writings Kendall found no example in the work which he professes to answer : the whole of it, * ReliquiEE Baxteriaua?, Part First, p. 110; 288 LIFE OF according to his own confession, being remarkable for " sobriety." One example of Kendall's dishonourable conduct towards his opponent, will afford a sufficient specimen of his mode of writing. Mr. Goodwin had asserted, after the example of the most enlightened divines both in ancient and in modern times, that when knowledge is predicated of God, it is to be understood as existing eminently in Him, and not properly, or formally, as in the imperfect minds of men. " Know- ledge in the creature," says he, " is a principle essentially distinct from the soul where it resideth, and is capable of augmentation and diminution therein, and of separation from it. Whereas that which is called knowledge in God, neither differs really or essentially from his nature, or from Himself; but is one and the same thing with Him : nor is it capable of growth, of decay, or of separation." * His disingenuous antagonist, having selected the following six words from dif- ferent parts of a paragraph, " Knowledge not properly attributable to God," makes these remarks upon what he represents as Mr. Goodwin's doctrine : " And yet it [ i. e. knowledge] is surely [properly attributable] to Mr. Good- win in a high degree, and in a low one to every one of his weak brethren, who are not capable of his profound specida- tio?is. The silliest of us are not ignorant of all things : only God properly knoweth nothing." -f* Before an opponent who is capable of descending to the use of such contemptible, not to say wicked tricks, it is impossible for any author to stand. And yet this writer of Calvinistic folios was encou- raged and recommended by the Vice-Chancellor of the Uni- versity of Oxford ! Describing his own manner of writing, Kendall says, " Though sometimes I sneer, I never snarl, much less do I bite.":[: His readers soon find that his "sneers" are almost perpetual in their recurrence ; and as they proceed in the perusal of his volumes, they soon perceive that the reason * Redemption Redeemed, p. 30. f Vindication of the Doctrine com- monly received in the Reformed Churches : Request to the Reader. X Common Doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints : Preface. JOHN GOODWIN. 289 why he does not bite is sufficiently obvious. He had talents and industry, but was no match for Goodwin, either in manly argumentation, or in sound biblical learn- ing. What Messrs. Bogue and Bennett have said concerning Dr. Owen"'s book, had been previously asserted by the late Rev. Augustus Toplady, in reference to the publications of Kendall, By these, said he, Goodwin's " Redemption Redeemed was effectually answered." " If it was," says Mr. Sellon, " I will eat it, as tough a morsel as it is. Has Mr. Kendall proved, that the Scriptures do not say what they do, in favour of General Redemption, and the pos- sibility of falling from grace ? Or has he proved, that the writers he quotes in favour of those doctrines, do not say what they do ? Or that those writers and those Scriptures do not mean what they say ? Or has he proved, that the plain passages of Scripture, are to be explained by the figu- rative ; and such as are easy, and of undoubted sense, by such as are more difficult and doubtful ? If he has not proved these things, which it is impossible he should, he has not ' effectually answered"" Jolin Goodwin's Redemption Redeemed." * In the rear of those antagonists who appeared against Mr. Goodwin on this occasion, was Mr. Thomas Lamb, who styles himself a " Servant of Christ, dwelling at the sign of the Tun, in Norton-Fallgate, London." This polemic, according to Edwards, was originally a soap- boiler, and afterwards a minister among the Baptists. He was a man of great zeal, activity, and courage; and acquired considerable celebrity by frequent imprison- ment ; having, at one time or another, been confined in nearly all the jails in London and its vicinity. His book asrainst Mr. Goodwin bears the following; title : " Absolute Freedom from Sin, by Christ's Death for the World, as the Object of Faith, in opposition to Conditional, set forth by Mr. John Goodwin in his book entitled Redemption • Selloji's Works, Vol. I. p. 376. u 290 LIFE OF Redeemed ; and the final Perseverance of the Saints pro- ceeding from Election by the Grace of God alone, main- tained and sweetly reconciled with the aforesaid Doctrine : and the great Question of God's eternal Decree of Repro- bating the unbelieving World, cleared from that Odium cast upon it by Mr. Goodwin, 1656." This work is dedi- cated to Oliver Cromwell, and copies of it were presented by the author to several of the most distinguished characters in the nation. " The main pillar that bears up the fabric of his book," says Mr. Goodwin, is that antinomish prin- ciple, which turns up the Gospel by the roots, viz. That faith is no condition of the covenant of grace, upon which the salvation of men is by God suspended. The weak man, it seems, is not able to conceive, how the covenant of grace should be absolutely and sovereignly free, in case faith, or any other service, should be required by God in the nature of a condition, for obtaining the good things covenanted therein, as justification, adoption, &c. And truly he that is not able to understand this, I can hardly look upon as a man that hath as yet attained the A B C of evangelical knowledge ; much less as competent to engage in contro- versial divinity." Referring to tlie Jlctlt'ious theology with which he considered the book of this illiterate wight, as well as the folios of his erudite opponents, to abound, Mr. Goodwin says, " Mr. Lamb may take Dr. Owen by the one hand, and Mr. Kendall by the other, and bespeak ihem tlms : Scribimus indocti, doctique poemata passim, Unlearn'd, and learn'd, we poems write amain." f Mr. Goodwin''s attempts to establish the doctrine of General Redemption, were not in every instance met by hostility. Several of his contemporaries regarded him as a magnanimous and successful champion of revealed truth, and presented to him their cordial thanks for his merit- orious services. The subjoined Letter from a man of this f Triumviri, Preface. JOHN GOODWIN. 291 class, will be read with interest. It was published in the year 1653, under the title of " Sal Scylla : or, A Letter written from Scilly to Mr. John Goodwin, Minister of the Gospel in London ;" and was accompanied by the follow- ing advertisement : THE PRINTER TO THE READER. Gentle Reader, This Letter coming from a stranger, residing in a place far remote, for the Christian ingenuity therein expressed, and the symphony it bears, in the truth, with the minds of those that have perused it, and for the service that it may yet farther do, in several respects ; it Avas the desire of many that it might have the honour, and they themselves the ease , of its being made more facilely public, than the transcribing of many copies would afford ; and therefore a copy of it coming to my hand, though without the knowledge of the author, or the owner of the original, it is put to the press. Vale. Scillt/i May, 25, 1653. " Brother, " I dare be bold so to call and esteem you, (con- sidering what spirit you are of,) thovigh I be but the least toe of that body whereof I believe you are an eye at the least : and Providence having brought your Book of Re- demption to my hand, and given me time and opportunity to read it over once and again, as also seriously to ponder the full-mouthed authority of Scripture, Reason, and the most godly learned, in vindication of that foundation of truth, the face whereof hath been, and still is, by most, almost as much marred as v/as the face of the Lord and Master of it, I should be injuriously unthankful to God and man, if I should not acknowledge you so to be. For the light of the body is the eye ; and this light, which by reflection of the u2 292 LIFE OF true light, hath enlightened your eye, doth from thence again reflect upon many members, to guide their feet in the way of grace, mercy, truth, and peace. " About four or five years past, I met with two or three small tracts upon the point, as L. S. Stooks, Home contra Owen. The first-mentioned, coming first to my hand, undermined my tabernacle, (as it might easily do, having but a sandy foundation,) and blew up the whole fabric about mine ears, spoiled all my goods which I had laid up for many years, and I escaped only with my life, wounded and naked, destitute of house or home, food, raiment, and medicine ; yet withal shewed me a stone choice and pre- cious, wherewith I might lay a more sure foundation for a better house, that could not be shaken : yet this stone was rough and uneven, and I knew not as yet how to fit and square it to build upon ; neither have I, or heard I, of any other that could, till I found out Home, who squared this stone to my mind at that time : also he provided me with many materials to build upon it. Having therefore so good benefactors to bear the cost, I thanked God and them, and fell to work. But having built two or three stones high, their materials failed me. Wherefore my house being not yet covered, and I weary of lying by the hedges, I made use of some of the ruins of my old house to finish my new building, and so patched it up as I could : but entering into it, I found it every shower, like a contentious woman, a continual dropping, until I met with your model, which having thoroughly viewed within and without, I found every stone so close compact and cemented, as if it had been one entire rock : wherefore I pulled down so much as was faulty, and built up again according to that last pattern. And now I thank my God, through the grace given to you and me, I have a house wherein to shelter me from all winds and weathers whatsoever ; and not only so, but which is well furnished with all things necessary for my being and well-being. — I need not expound my parable ; the moral, I believe, is obvious to the meanest member of your church. JOHN GOODWIN. 293 " To relate the divers transactions between the Father, Son, Spirit, and my soul, from the twentieth to the forty- fifth year of my pilgrimage, would exceed the bounds of an epistle, and the limit of many sheets of paper. There- fore be pleased with this brief and general account : From the twentieth to the thirty-ninth year of mine age, I lived upon the husks of the common faith of election ; yet did not then so account it, though since I have found it to be no better. In which time I was under many eclipses, and relapses, and once even at the gate of despair: in this epilepsy, I made use of the common antidote. Whom God lovetJi once, he loveth to the end : the g'vfts and callings of God are witlwut repentance, S^-c. But this Avas but a palli- ative cure, the cause still remaining, depending upon the common notion of election. During this time I was counted a Puritan, (except in my relapses, wherein I was only a scandal to those so called,) then I turned to the Presbyte- rian, after that to the Independent, thence to the Anabap- tist, then to the Seeker ; where seeking for that which could not be found, I had almost lost myself. Then I faced the Ranter, but found him to be set on fire of hell ; and knowing by woeful experience, that the burnt child dreads the fire, I durst not come near. Here I was at a loss, and at as great a strait as the Lepers before the gate of Samaria : If I stand here, I must perish ; if I went back to any of the former dispensations, the famine was there. Therefore I resolved to yield myself to the mercy of the Gentiles ; which I did accordingly ; where I continued the space of two years, not without hope, nor without God in the world, (though I had rejected the Scripture, and all men's interpretation upon it,) the vision of all being to me as a book that was sealed, which neither learned nor un- learned could open or read ; yet during this time I had hope in God, and committed my sold and body to my faithful Creator, who did speak peace to me in this strange land ; and many times would lead me by his Spirit unto the Scriptures, where I should yet read with as little under- standing as the Eunuch. At the end of this dispensation, u3 294 LIFE OF I was led by tlie Spirit once more to the Scriptures ; then opened he my understanding, and pressed me farther to search and try all things ; which I did accordingly ; and so by the grace of God I am what I am. And now, my Father, tlie Chariot and Horsemen of the Israel of God, ride on because of the Word of Truth : charge through all opposition ; and Jesus Christ, who hath shewed you so great things, as the despisers and wonderers of this world will not believe, though it be so plainly declared to them, shall shew you yet greater things, that they may marvel. I know but two or three in all these West-parts, like minded in this point ; the rest, which are many and zealous, though they might know that the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God stronger than men, yet are so bewitched with tradition, that seeing the visions of God will not answer the visions of their own hearts, they will make the Devil a Seer, according to that of the Poet : Flectere si nequeo Superos, Acheronta movebo. If the powers above I cannot bend, I'll move the fiend some aid to send. " And therefore they rejoice in, and boast of Master Kendall's answer : the word answer, being I believe the strongest argument for the confirmation of their error, or the eviction of their truth. — Yet these, I bear them record, have all zeal for God, though not according to knowledge : for they, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and also of his love, goodness, mercy, wisdom, equity, and truth ; and going about to establish his will and power alone ; have not submitted to either. If your promise upon llom. ix, be fulfilled, I pray send it down amongst us, that the deceiving and deceived may, if possible, be unde- ceived. I pray also send us word, whether your Second Part to the same tune be finished, or when probably it may ; when happily the grand objection, the want of means to them that never heard of Jesus Christ, may be convinc- ingly answered, to the satisfaction of the most judicious of them who chiefly stumble at that stum.bling-stone. JOHN GOODWIN'. 295 " I need make no apology for my boldness in thus writing ; believing that your greatness is in being least, and servant unto all. Therefore follow on, O man of God, to serve your God, and your generation, that you may finish thework which is given you to do, with joy, to the joy of many : and that, both you and they may attain the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. For which the weakest and unworthiest of all the members of Christ, shall cast in his miteof prayer into the treasury of the Almighty. My duty I commend to you, and all that love and wait for the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ ; which is by love to serve you all. CHPasTOPHER Salter, Chirurgeon of tlie Islands and Garrison of Scillij.'" It has been said by an acute observer of human nature, that few people care to understand what pretended heretics mean, and that fewer still have the courage to do them jus- tice. The correctness of this remark was perhaps never more apparent than in the case of Mr. Goodwin. Many of the clergy in and about London, undertook, in the course of their ministry, to confute what they called his errors and heresies: but the greater part of them, either througli inattention or design, grossly misrepresented his opinions before their respective congregations ; thus exposing him and his friends to popular reproach and clamour. Desirous of preventing their good from being evil spoken of, and of doing justice to the truth, Mr. Goodwin, in conjunction with his church, drew up a small quarto tract, which they published vuider the title of, " The agreement and Distance of Brethren: or, A Brief Survey of the Judgment of Mr. John Goodwin, and the Church of God walking with him, touching these important heads of Doctrine; Election and Reprobation ; the Death of Christ ; the grace of God in and about Conversion ; the Liberty of the Will ; the Per- severance of the Saints : declaring the particulars as well agreed upon as dissented in between them and their Chris- tian Brethren of opposite Judgment, lG5f2." In their pre- fatory address to the reader, these persecuted men remark, ^96 LIFE OF *' The piece now in thy hand, is only apologetical, and therefore we hope will not be offensive to any. It is lawful even for an offender, in case he be unduly assaulted, to rise up in his own defence : how much more for him that is con- scious of no miscarriage, but knoweth that things are laid to his charge which he knoweth not ? Though the greater part of these papers be bestowed upon the justification of ourselves, in some tenets which we own, and for which we suffer, in many men's words and deportments, the penalty of persons deeply and dangerously erroneous; yet our design in drawing up [this] account, [is] rather the washing of our hands in innocency of many enormous opinions, which some would fain thrust into the company of those tenets which we hold in opposition to them ; hoping, by this means, to render them more obnox- ious to jealousies and prejudice. For are there not some ministers, in and about the city, so far from all christian ingenuity, as openly to declaim against us, as, in our doc- trine of election, denying the Godhead of the Father, as Arius the Godhead of the Son ? as holding an election of qualities not of persons to salvation ? as exalting nature above grace ? as affirming that men, by their own strength, and without the special grace of God, may repent, believe, and be saved ? as denying a power in God to bring to pass his intentions ? to omit many others of like import which we abhor. " To prevent the sin of slander in others ; who, through the suggestions of their teachers, may speak evil of us falsely ; and in ourselves, the sin of leaving a pit uncovered, into which men may very possibly fall, and receive much harm ; we have drawn up this brief model of our sense about the five heads of doctrine, which are solemnly contro- verted between us and our brethren, partakers, many of them, we question not, of like precious faith with us." Mr. Goodwin and his friends also add, as the result of their own individual experience, " Truth delighteth little in the countenances of men, till she hath secured their judg- ments, and set up her throne in their understandings. But JOHN GOODWIK. 297 this we can inform thee concerning her, that, well under- stood, she will bear any man's charges, that shall travel with her through the world : though we must confess, that many times her company is very costly. But what she spends in silver, she repays in gold ; and with the rubbish of men's names, friends, and fortunes, builds up their consciences ■with that peace which passeth all understanding, and with that joy which is unspeakable and full of glory." In this tract Mr. Goodwin lays before his readers the five points of doctrine, concerning which he and his Calvinian brethren entertained different opinions ; shews how far he could agree with them on each subject ; distinctly specifies the precise questions at issue between them ; and then states some of the reasons which induced him to withhold his assent from their creed. This work was afterwards published in a duodecimo volume, of about one hundred and fifty pages ; every paragraph of which, though composed amidst nume- rous provocations, is written in a strain of as pure charity, as perhaps ever emanated from a human mind. And it may be safely affirmed, that there is not, in the English language, any volume which, in as small a compass, contains so much information respecting the Calvinian controversy. The pamphlet of Mr. Wesley, entitled, " Predestination calmly Considered," comes nearer to it than any other, and contains more argument; but does not embrace so many topics as that of Mr. Goodwin. To the first edition of the " Agreement and Distance of Brethren," was prefixed an excellent address to Oliver Cromwell, as " Lord General of the Forces of the Parlia- ment of England ;" who was well known to be strongly attached to the doctrines of Calvinism. This address is signed by Mr. Goodwin and thirteen members of his church, " in the name and by the consent" of the rest. " Though God of his grace and goodness," say they, "hath endued us with some measure of strength from on high, to suffer for truth's sake, yet we are not well able to bear it that truth should suffer for our's. Out of this weakness, if yet weakness it be, we make this humble address to you, trust- 298 LIFE OF ing that by the mediation hereof, some part at least of those sufferings may be eased, -which we cannot reasonably but judge and fear, the truth suffers under the name of error, in the judgments and thoughts of many ; and this occasioned we confess in part by us, who have neglected, until now, the public rendering of some brief and plain account of such tenets which we hold and profess apart from the judgment of some other Christian churches amongst us, and from the more generally received sense of those who are called minis- ters of the Gospel in the nation. We can freely call God for a record upon our soul, that there is no spirit in us that lusteth after envy, or contention, or singularity of opinion, in the things of Jesus Christ: and we heartily wish that our Brethren's doctrine were in all points such, that we might live and die in a thorough and complete unity of faith with them. We verily believe, that it was not more grievous to Abraham, to part with his son Ishmael and his mother out of his house, than it is unto usy to part company with oiu'' Christian Brethren, (servants of the same God with us,) in any thing which concerns the common salvation. Nor shall we willingly give place unto any in endeavouring to keep ' the unity of the Spirit Avith all saints, in the bond of peace. The ensuing lines, we hope, will abundantly testify the longing desire of our soul to go hand in hand with our Brethren, as far as ever, by any construction, interpretation, ' mollification, qualification, restriction, proviso whatsoever, we are able to make any thing like unto truth of their doc- trines and sayings. But when a voice out of our judgments and consciences, (which we cannot but judge to be the voice of God,) crieth aloud unto us, ' Take heed to yourselves ; go no further with them : the rest of their way is dark and slippery ;** — we look upon ourselves as warned from heaven to turn aside from them into those paths of doctrine, which to us ward are full of light and life and peace. And confi- dent we are, that neither your Lordship, nor any other per- son of Christian ingenuity, will turn it unto matter of reproach, or of the lightest blame unto us, that, having been so uprightly industrious and studious as we have been, (our JOHN GOODWTX. 299 consciences bearing us witness,) to inform our judgments of the truth, we should comport with them in our profession ; and speak that upon occasion in the ears of men, which they assure us is of God. Nor can we doubt, but that, our judgments standing at that point of the compass, where tlie word of God, as conceived and understood by us, hath at present fixed them, you would impute unworthiness in the highest unto us, if, to please men, we should despise them, and profess or speak openly unto others, things contrary to what they inwardly speak and avouch to us. *' Sir, that God, whom we serve, knoweth, that no corrupt design hath beguiled us, or had the least influence upon our counsels, for making this dedication unto you We are well able, through Christ strengthening us, not only to suffer still in the thoughts, sayings, and actings of men against us, for our judgments' and consciences' sake, (which we inter- pret to be for the truth's sake,) as we do; but even to rejoice in deeper sufferings than these, if God and men shall agree to call us to such a baptism. We are all thoughts made, that nothing that we are able or can be made aUe, to do for the truth, will turn to any such blessed account to us, as our sufferings for the truth. The prize that we run for in this dedication, is not to receive from you, either favour, countenance, orprotection, eltherforour persons or opinions ; these are the projectures of men that are fearful ;— but to offer an opportunity to you of honouring yourself yet more, and of making your mountain so strong and sure that it may never be removed. For truth, with her children, being countenanced and protected by men, imitate the fruitful fields, qui multoplus afferunt, quam acceperunt, who return much more than they receive. And though truth, with those of her household and charge, require neither counte- nance nor protection of men, as if they stood in need of them, (for they know as well how to want as to abound,) yet men, especially men in eminency of place and power, stand in need of them, and of that protection and safety, the donation whereof is appropriate unto them ; which yet they are in no 300 LIFE OF Steady capacity of giving unto any, but unto their friends, and unto those that shall stand by them in the day of their trial." Our author''s next publication, relating to this controversy, was " An Exposition of the Ninth Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans : wherein, by the tenor of the said Chapter, from first to last, is proved, that the Apostle's scope is to maintain his great doctrine of Justification by Faith ; and that he discourseth nothing at all, concerning any personal Election or Reprobation of Men from Eternity, 1653." This book is dedicated to the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the city of London ; who, a few months before, had requested Mr. Pawson to publish his sermon against our author. Although they had already, in effect, passed judg- ment in his case, Mr. Goodwin gave them to understand, that he had much to say in defence of his own sentiments ; and modestly intimated, that before they ventured in future to interfere between him and his opponents, they ought at least to give both sides a patient hearing. In his address to the reader, Mr. Goodwin says, " I find old age coming upon me like an armed man, attended with his accustomed retinue of infirmities, weaknesses, and disa- blings from service, as well in the labour of the mind, as of the outer man. Besides, the troublesome importunity of some men in another way, hath engaged my thoughts to off'er something in public, (and this with as much expedition, as my slow pace, and other emergent diversions, which are like to prove not a few, will afford,) for the healing of it, if God shall graciously please to stand by me in the cure. By rea- son hereof, my intentions declared for drawing up a Second Part of my Book of Redemption, are set back for a time. Yea, whether God will not, by the hand of death, discharge me from the service, before I shall be in a capacity to lift up a hand unto it, is beyond the ken of my understanding. However, Pie whose interest is a thousand times more con- cerned in such a service than mine, will, I am securely confi- dent, awaken other instruments to the performance of it, though I shall fall asleep. JOHN GOODWIN. 301 « If my brethren of hardest thoughts against me, really knew, how little pleasure I take in declining their judg- ment, in the sense of this Chapter, or in any point in religion ; and how httle offence I take at them, simply for their oppo- sition in judgment to me, I suppose they could not be any otherwise affected towards me, than I am towards them ; and that they would only pity and pray for me, as a man to whom the light of truth hath only in part shined, and not be continually shooting the arrows of bitter words against me, as if I were disaffected to them, or did not desire to speak the truth in love as well as they. However, if I could think that the measure which they mete out unto me, in hard sayings and otherwise, would turn to as good an account unto them, in the day of Jesus Christ, as I am certain they will unto me, I could count the temptation double joy. For the truth is, my reproaches are my best riches, and my mortality is more endeared to me, by my sufferings for the truth, than by any thing I have done, or am in a capacity of doing for it. My brethren need not fear, that I shall ever reciprocate either hard sayings or doings with them. Nature itself teacheth me not to reproach my benefactors." Next to his Redemption Redeemed, and his treatise of Justification, this is the most valuable and important of all Mr. Goodwin's publications. It is indeed difficult to deter- mine, whether the author excelled more in argument, or in the interpretation of Scripture. Various attempts have been made by learned men to explain the Ninth Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans ; but the writer of these memoirs is ready to confess, that no commentary on that part of the Sacred Volume which he ever perused, has been so perfectly satisfactory to his mind as the Exposition of Mr. Goodwin ; who contends that the apostle is not speaking of any per- sonal and irrespective appointment of men to eternal life and death, as some have supposed, but of the Justification of Sinners before God. He shews that God has an unquestion- able right to determine in what particular manner he will confer his favours ; — that he has constituted Faith in his 302 LIFE OF Son, as the grand condition of our Justification before him, to which all are therefore required to submit ; — that the believing Gentiles, by submission to the Divine Will in this respect, were made partakers of Justifying Grace ; — and that the unbelieving Jews, by seeking Justification by the works of the Law, not only fell short of that blessing, but were even deprived of all their religious privileges. Mr. Goodwin shews, in a chain of connected and beautiful argu- mentation, that every part of that important chapter bears upon these subjects ; and then proves, beyond all possibility of successful contradiction, that this is the apostle*'s meaning, from the last four verses ; where the inspired author, stating the conclusion to which his premises conducted him, says, *' What shall we say then ? [What inference shall be de- duced from these facts and observations ?] That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to right- eousness, even the righteousness which is of faith ; but Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore .^^ [because they were absolute reprobates, and outcasts from the mercy of God ? No :] Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law : for they stumbled at that stumbling-stone ; as it is written. Behold I lay in Sion a stumbling-stone, and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." (Rom. ix, 30 — 33.) " My witness is in heaven," says Mr. Goodwin, " and my record on high, that throughout my exposition, I have not willingly wrested, or adulterously forced, any phrase, word, syllable, or letter ; but have, with all simplicity of heart, without turning aside either to the right hand or to the left, followed the genuine ducture of the context and scope of the place, consulting, without partiality, all circum- stances which I could think of, in order to a due steerage of my judgment in every thing." Had Mr. Goodwin written an exposition of the Sacred Books in general, judging from the specimen now before us, it would have been one of the most valuable productions of; the kind ever presented to the Christian Church. Great JOHIS GOODWIN. 303 use was made of this work, though without any mention of the author's name, by Mr. Samuel Loveday, in a book pub- lished by him in the year 1676, entitled " Personal Repro- bation Reprobated ;" and a very valuable extract from it was inserted by Mr. Wesley in the third^ volume of the Arminian Magazine. The following arguments against the notion of Esau's personal reprobation, in the Calvinian sense of that term, will be read with interest, especially by Christian parents : they form a part of our author's exposition of the 10th, 11th, and two succeeding verses of this important chapter : " Nor to my best remembrance have I ever heard, that any one of the learned Fathers concluded from the passages in hand, either Esau's reprobation from eternity, or his eternal condemn- ation in time. And yet more certain I am, that neither could they, nor any other, have sufficient ground from the said passages, to found such a conclusion upon. Because, " 1. Esau is not here mentioned under any personal con- sideration ; but only as the head and significator of his posterity. " 2. It is the confession of those who are the most opposite in the doctrine of reprobation, and may be evinced from the Scriptures, that all Esau's posterity were not reprobated, in such a sense ; as neither were all Jacob's posterity elected. " 3. Neither doth that service, or subjection to Jacob, which the Oracle imposeth upon Esau, import such a reprobation ; in as much as the servant may be elected, when the master is in a state of reprobation. (1 Pet. ii. 18. P hilip. iv, 22, &c.) " 4. Were it granted, that servitude did import such a reprobation as is contended for; yet, certain it is, that Esau in person never served Jacob. " 5. Neither doth that hatred of God against Esau, mentioned by Malachi, import any such reprobation of Esau ; because it related not to Esau personally considered, as appears from that description which the prophet gives of the effects thereof: viz. 'Laying his mountains waste, throwing down when he should build,' &c., in which cfl'ect it never 304 LIFE OF expressed itself against the person of Esau. These are not the proper effects of a hatred in God, which argueth a reprobation of men for eternity ; unless we will say, that when Jerusalem was laid waste by the Chaldeans, all the persons that were sufferers in this calamity, were reprobated by God from eternity. In case this could be proved, (the contrary whereof is evident from the Scriptures,) yet were it no sufficient proof, that all that deeply suffer in public desolations, are therefore reprobated by God, or perish eternally. " 6. The drift of the apostle in the context, doth no ways require a supposition, that Esau should be personally reprobated from eternity ; but only, that in his posterity, and those sad events which according to the prediction were in after ages to befal them, he should prove a significant type of the spiritual and eternal misery of all those that should seek justification by the works of the Law, or in a way of their own devising, and not submit to the counsel and good pleasure of God ; who hath consecrated the way of Faith in Jesus Christ, as the only means whereby Justification is to be attained. " 7. His perfect reconcilement to his brother after that deep offence taken at him, is no light testimony of his own reconciliation with God. ' If ye forgive men their tres- passes,' saith our Saviour, * your heavenly Father will also forgive you."" Therefore unless it can be proved, that Esau returned with the dog to his vomit, or continued in some course of impiety inconsistent with salvation, formerly practised, there can be no competent ground assigned of his damnation, much less of his personal reprobation from eternity. " 8. If Isaac had understood the Oracle delivered to his wife, ' The elder shall serve the yovrnger,*" as if it had im- ported, that his elder son had been reprobated from eter- nity, it is no ways probable that he could set his heart upon him as he did. That terrible wrath of God revealed from heaven against the son in so signal a manner, could not but wholly quench all joy, pleasure, comfort, or con- JOHN GOODAVIX. 305 tentment in the parent in relation to such a son. Unless we shall judge Isaac to have been extremely sensual, and inor- dinately given to appetite, Ave cannot conceive that he could take any comfort in his son, or love him for his venison's sake, wliich the Scripture. testifieth of him, if he had known that God had from eternity doomed him to the torments of eternal fire. " 9. It is no ways probable, nor like one of the dispensa- tions of God, that he should inform such parents, who were righteous and holy, who had found special favour in his sight, whose peace his heart was set to promote, that he had reprobated from eternity any of their children, and this whilst they were yet unborn. A message of such a sad and horrid import, comirig from the mouth of God immediately, to a weak and tender woman, whose hour of travail with two children was come, being likewise already sorely trou- bled and perplexed with the strangeness of her condition, could not but have endangered her life. Certainly God did not intend to signify unto Rebecca, that she was ready to fall in travail of a reprobate; a child which he was peremptorily resolved to destroy with the dreadful ven- geance of hell-fire. " 10. If God should have signified to [Rebecca, and by her to Isaac, that their elder son had been reprobated from eternity, and consequently that there was no possibility of his repentance or salvation, must not this have been a grand discouragement to them from lifting vip so much as a prayer for him, and from all other endeavours in order to his conversion and salvation ? And thus God must be sup- posed to have taught astorgy and unnaturalness to Isaac and Rebecca ; and taken them off from the performance of such duties on behalf of their child, which he strictly and universally imposeth upon all other parents without excep- tion. " 11. It was never known, or heard of, that God ever made any discovery to the world of any man's final estate, especially on the left hand, before he was born ; no, nor before the perpetration of some grand and horrid sin. X S06 LIFE OF " 12. There Is no end imaginable, worthy the only wise and most gracious God, why he should make known such a thing concerning Esau, being yet unborn, as that he had reprobated him from eternity. Such a revelation cannot well be supposed to be of any use, or edification to the world ; but rather of evil tendency, and malignant influ- ence upon the hearts of men ; occasioning them to judge hardly and most unworthily of God, as no faithful Creator, as having no care, no love, no bowels of compassion towards the workmanship of his hands ; not to mention that dra- gon's tail, I mean the long bead-roll of enormous notions and conceits, which attends the doctrine of personal reproba- tion from eternity, the account whereof is to be seen else- where. Whereas if it be supposed, as according to the evident scope of the context it ought, that by what God revealed concerning Esau, or his posterity in him, he sig- nified unto the world, that they who should not submit to his counsel and pleasure for their Justification, and seek it by Faith in Jesus Christ, should be for ever excluded from the heavenly inheritance : such a discovery as this, is apparently of rich and blessed consequence unto men." JOHX GOODWIX. 307 CHAPTER IX. Proposal of Cromwell's friends fr a limited Toleration — Appointment of a Committee of divines to determine laliut doctrines of Christianity are fundamental — Mr. Goodwin's " Thirty Queries" — Extracts from this work — PuHication of two anonymous replies — Mr. Goodwin's difence, in his " Apologist Condemned" — His " Dissatisfaction Satitified" — lic- joinder ly some of the Fifth Monarchy-Men — His " Peace Protected" — Charge of Blasphemy preferred against him to Cromtvell and the Parlia- ment — His " Vrcsh. Discovery of the High Presbyterian Spirit" — Extract from that work — Defence of the liberty of ti{e Press — Secession in Mr. Goodwin's church — His " Philadelphia" and " J f'ater- Dipping" — His " Cata-Baptism" — Account of William Allen — Mr. Goodwin's sermon on the death of Daniel Taylor, Esq. — Character of that excellent man—- Mr, Goodwin's Pastoral address to his church. When the friends of Cromwell were Investing him with the Protectorate, they drew up a scheme of polity, which they entitled, " The Government of England ;'"' and in which it was specified, that all classes of people should enjoy the free exercise of their religion, wJm professed faith in God by Jesus Christ. After this, the Usurper called a Parliament, who, on the examination of that clause, pro- nounced it to signify. All xcho held the fundamental doctrines of religion ; and accordingly appointed a Committee further to examine this suhject, and to nominate a certain number of divines, who were to draw up a list of such doc- trines ; a professed belief of which was to be the test of toleration. The Committee consisted of about foiu*teen persons, who named every one his man. Archbishop Usher was nominated by Lord Broghill ; but declined the service, on account of his age and infirmities, and his un- willingness to wrangle with the men who were to be asso- x2 308 LIFE OF ciated with him. Mr. Baxter was therefore appointed in his stead, and accordingly sent for from Kidderminster to London. " But before I came," says he, " the rest had begun their work, and drawn up some few of the propo- sitions which they called fundamentals. The men that I found there, were, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Reyner, Dr. Chey- nell. Dr. Goodwin, Dr. Owen, Mr. Nye, Mr. Sidrach Simpson, Mr. Vines, Mr. Manton, and Mr. Jacomb.'^f In settling the business for which they were convened, .these divines spent much time in learned strife and conten- tion. Baxter, who was opposed to [a general toleration, displayed greater liberality on this occasion than any of his colleagues. Possessing consummate acuteness and subtlety, by his objections and remarks he gave some of his brethren serious annoyance ; and especially Dr. Owen, whose prin- ciples and spirit in this debate, excite no very high opinion of his Catholicism. " One merry passage," says Baxter, *' I remember, occasioned laughter. Mr. Simpson caused them to make this a fundamental : ' He that alloweth himself, or others, in any known sin, cannot be saved.' I pleaded against the word ' allowed ;' and told them that many a thousand lived in wilful sin, which they could not be said to ' allow' themselves in, but confessed it to be sin, and went on against conscience, and yet were impenitent and in a state of death ; and that there seemed a little con- tradiction between ' known' sin and ' allowed :' so far as a man ' knoweth' that he sinneth, he doth not ' allow,' that is, approve it. Other exceptions there were : but they would have their way, and my opposition did but heighten their resolution. At last I told them, as stiff as they were in their opinion and way, I would force them with one word to change or blot out all that fundamental. I urged them to take my wager : and they would not believe me, but marvelled what I meant. I told them, that the Parliament took the Independent way of separation to be a sin ; and when this article came before them, they would say, ' By t Reliquiae Baxterianae, Part Second, p. 197. JOHN GOODWIN. ^dJiQ our brethren's judgment, we are all damned men, if we allow the Independents, or any other Sectaries, in tfceir sin.' They gave me no answer, but left out all that funda- mental." -f- It is scarcely necessary to remark, that several of these divines were of the Independent denomination, and that a large majority of the parliament were violent sticklers for Presbyterian uniformity. That there are such doctrines of religion as those speci- fied by the friends of Cromwell, and a list of which these divines were required to prepare, Mr. Goodwin was not disposed to deny. No man was more deeply impressed than he, with the importance of revealed truth, and the obliga- tions of men to believe it upon the divine testimony. But in declaring to what doctrines individuals are required to yield their assent, upon pain of endless torment, he saw- that regard should be had to their respective capacities, to their opportunities of obtaining religious knowledge, and to various other circumstances, concerning which the blessed God alone is competent to judge. At all events, he saw that this was a subject in which the Civil Magistrate had no legitimate authority to interfere ; and that therefore the parliamentary committee, and the disputatious divines con- vened by their . authority, might both suspend their idle toil. The just limits of the civil and ecclesiastical powers, in the knowledge of which Milton has represented the younger Vane as an eminent proficient, Mr. Goodwin under- stood above most men of that age. To know Both spiritual pow'r and civil, what each means. What severs each, thou hast learn'd, which few have done : The bounds of either sword to thee we owe : Therefore on thy firm hand religion leans In peace, and reckons thee her eldest son. If Dr. Owen possessed those correct views on this sub- ject, Avhich his friends have so often ascribed to him, his acceptance of the office allotted him by the parliamentary t Ibid. p. 199. x3 310 LIFE OF Committee reflects no honour upon his chamcter. Why did he not rather inform his masters, that they were exceed- ing their delegated powers ? This would have been much more creditable to him, as an advocate of religious liberty, than to have submitted to be the tool of men who, either tlirough ignorance or presumption, were taking upon them- selves to usurp a, prerogative totally unconnected with civil magistracy. While Cromwell's parliament were endeavouring to ascertain what doctrines of religion British subjects should believe as a qualification for the enjoyment of civil rights and privileges, they meditated the appointment of a few individuals, as the Triers of all candidates for the ministe- rial function. To these men it was proposed to give autho- rity to prevent whom they [pleased from entering into the church, or at least from possessing any of its revenues. Under the oppressive measures of the Long Parliament Mr. Goodwin had manfully defended universal liberty of conscience ; and under the sway of the Protector, he could not be an indifferent spectator, when arrangements were in progress to invade the right of private judgment. With him it was a principle, to which he always conscientiously adhered, never to attempt, by any means whatsoever, to bring into disrepute any government under which he was actually placed. If he discovered any thing in its measures, which he deemed unjust, he declared his opinion, and the reasons upon which it was founded, with a firm and manly tone, but always in language decorous and respectful. In reference to the proposal of Cromwell's friends, that all who *' professed faith in God by Jesus Christ, should enjoy the benefits of toleration,"" and that an inconsiderable number of men should be appointed as the guardians of the national pulpit, he drew up a very able pamphlet, which he pub- lished under the title of " Thirty Queries, modestly pro- pounded, in order to a discovery of the truth and mind of God, in that Question, or Case of Conscience : Whether the Civil Magistrate stands bound, by way of duty, to inter- pose his power or authority in matters of Religion and Worship of God .^1653." JOHN GOODWIN. 311 In this tract our author enquires, "Whether any thing be incumbent, by way of duty, upon the Civil Magistrate, simply in respect of his office of Magistracy, because of his being Christian, which would not have been matter of duty to him in case he had been Pagan ? Or whether the office and work of the Civil Magistrate, as such, be not entire within itself, and consisting within its own appropriate bounds and limits ; so that nothing more accrues unto him by way of duty, in his office, by being Christian ; nor any thing whicb is matter of duty to him as a Magistrate, diminished or taken off /rom him by his being Pagan ? And if so, whether doth God require of a Pagan Magistrate, that, according to his present judgment and conscience, he should interpose and umpire with his authority in matters of Christian belief, or in tilings appertaining to the worship of God? " Whether doth it appertain to the Civil Magistrate as such, to provide by Civil Penalties, as by disgracing, fining, imprisonment, death, &c. for the observation of any other law in his territories, but the Law of Nature; and of this so far only, as either it clearly dictateth the doing of such things, which have a rational connection with the welfare, honour, and prosperity of that community of men, which is under his inspection and government ; or as it, with like clearness, restraineth the doing of such other things, which are in the eye of reason contrary hereunto ? Considering that matters of a more spiritual nature, which relate only to a lioly and humble walking with God, and not properly or directly to the Civil interest, are of another cognizance ; and committed by God to the care and faithfulness of Ecclesi- astical Magistrates, in conjunction with the counsel of such Christian Churches, which are under their inspection respec- tively ? " Whether did not the Lord Christ rebuke his disciples, and that somewhat roundly, who desired a commission from him to call for fire from Heaven, as Elias formerly had done, to consume those who refused to receive him ? Did he not sharply reprove them in saying, ' Ye know not what 312 LIFE OF manner of spirit ye are of?' meaning that they did not cn- sider the nature of the Gospel, and what lenity ought to be shewed towards sinners, in order to the pro}:>agation thereof, above what the severity of the law admitted. And doth not the reason which he immediately subjoineth, plainly shew this to have been his meaning ; For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men''s lives, but to save them ? As if he had said, One great end of my coming into the world, was not that any man's life should be taken from him for my sake ; but that I might mediate, persuade, and prevail with those who otherwise are severe against offenders, as, you are, to exercise all lenity and patience towards them, and to be tender over their lives, in order to the salvation of their souls ? " Whether the ancient saying amongst the Fathers, Sanguis Marti/rum, scmc7i Ecclesife, i. e. ' the blood of the Martyrs was the seed of the Church,"* be not altogether as true, and this upon the same account in reason, and experi- mented accordingly in all ages, that Sanguis H^reticomm, semen Hccreseos ; ' the blood of Heretics is the seed of Heresy ?"* And is not that saying of Tacitus, Punitis ingeniis gliscit authoritas ; ' Punishment doth but make the : authority and credit of any man's wit or parts, to sliine, and prevail the more;** altogether as true in matters of an Ecclesiastical or Christian, as of a Politic or Civil import ? " Whether had not an Uzzah an honest and upright intention to accommodate the Ark, and to preserve it from harm by shaking, when he put forth his hand to keep it steady by holding it ? Or was the Ark of God in any real danger of suffering inconvenience by the shaking of the Oxen, in case Uzzah had not intemieddled to prevent it ? " Whether might Paul have been lawfully punished by the Civil Magistrate in Ephesus, for that sedition or tumult, which was occasioned in this city by his preaching the Gos- pel ; and particularly of this doctrine, ' That they be na gods that are made with hands ?' If not, whether may such Ministers, upon occasion of whose preaching tumults are frequently raised by rude and inconsiderate people, be JOHN GOODWIN 813 punished by the Christian Magistrate upon this account ? Or ought not rather the principals in such tumults to be enquired out and punished ? " Whether are any two, four, or six persons, suppose all of them godly, learned, and competently (yea, let it be, if you please, excellently) qualified for the ministry of the Gospel, competent judges of the gifts, parts, and ministerial abilities of many thousands of their brethren ? Or is it Christian, to set up Nebuchadnezzars in the Church of Christ ? persons, I mean, who will ecclesiastically slay whom they will, and whom they will keep alive ; set up whom they will, and Avhom they will put down? Or in case it shall be judged expedient, that any such number'of persons be invested with such a prodigiousness of power ; who are competent judges of the meetness of persons to be entrusted herewith ? Espe- cially where there are so many thousands, (as this nation through the abundant blessing of God upon it affordeth) of very excellent abilities and endowments ; amongst whom it is next to an impossibility for men to single out any two, four, or six persons, to whose worth and abilities all the rest shall by any law of God, or of equity and reason, stand bound to stoop or do homage ? Or is it not a solecism in reason and conscience, that greater parts, learning, and worth, should be compelled to go on foot, whilst those that are meaner and more servile are made to ride on horses ? " Whether, in case any two, four, or six persons, shall be advanced to that power and interest now mentioned, are not they like to be the men who zccar soft 7-aimcnt, and live in kings' houses ; I mean, Avhose applications have been to the greatness of this world ; who by artifices and compli- ances have insinuated themselves into the familiarity and friendship of the anointed Cherubs of the earth, — and are able to give gifts unto men ? And are such persons as these, who cannot but be judged great lovers of this present world, meet to be entrusted with that high umpirage speci- fied, in the affairs of Jesus Christ ? " Whether, since the days of Christ and his Apostles, can it be proved, or is it at all probable, that ever any 314 LIFE OF person who preached the Gospel, how faithful and service- able soever to God and men, was wholly free from error, ' or universally orthodox ? Or can it reasonably be thought, either pleasing to God, or profitable unto men, or advanta- geous to the Gospel, that no man should be admitted to the preaching of it, but only those, who shall be adjudged by a few men, (and these in some things, without all doubt, possibly in many things, weak and erroneous themselves,) to be throughout the whole circvimference of their faith unspotted with error, and in all their tenets and opinions unquestionably orthodox and sound ? Or in case some heterodox or unsound opinions may be tolerated in those who shall be permitted to preach the Gospel, what, or of what nature, or to what degree dangerous, may these opi- nions be ? Or who, according to the Word of God, shall be judged meet to umpire in this great and difficult affair ? " Whether it is meet or Christian, for any man, or num- ber of men, (especially for any smaller or inconsiderable number,) to presume so far of their own abilities, wisdom, learning, knowledge, insight into the Scriptures, &c., as to judge themselves worthy to prescribe authoritatively, and to the exposing of those whom they shall make delinquents, to Civil penalties or inconveniences, unto the gifts, parts, learning, and knowledge of other men, and these probably no ways inferior, possibly superior, to themselves, in all such qualifications and endowments? Or is it Christianor rea- sonable, either to tempt men into such a conceit, or to indulge men under such a conceit, of themselves, by delegat- ing such a power or authority unto them ? " Whether, is not the manifestation of the Spirit (as the apostle termeth the manifest gifts of the Spirit,) given to every man to profit withal? If so, who can with a good conscience inhibit such from publishing the Gospel, upon pretence of an unsoundness in some disputable opinions, or for want of that, which some men call Ordination ; whose abilities for that work are at least competent, and the exer- cise of them desired by many for their edification ? JOHN GOODWIX. 315 " Whether did those Christians who, upon a great perse- cution raised against the Church at Jerusalem, being scat- tered abroad^ went every where preaching the word, pass any test of their abihties, or sufficiency for the work, before they put forth their hand unto it ? Or is their fact in preaching the Gospel upon such terms, and before any public appro- bation, any ways censurable by the Word of God ? " Whether are not all men bound to pray, that the Lord would send forth labourers into his harvest ; and if their prayer in this behalf be, as it may and ought to be, effectu- ally fervent, whether shall it not prevail, and consequently will not the Lord of the harvest himself send forth labourers hereinio ? If so, are not such persons, who shall be com- missioned with power to elect and reprobate whom they please, amongst those whose hearts shall stir them up to labour in this harvest, more like to refuse or keep back those (at least some of them) whom the Lord shall send forth (i.e. stir up their hearts to go) into this harvest, than any ways to acconnnodate him in his way, or to promote the harvest- work itself ?" On the appearance of Mr. Goodwin's " Queries," two anonymous pamphlets were immediately published against him. One of these was a formal defence of the coercive power of the Magistrate in the affairs of conscience ; and was entitled, " Master John Goodwin's Queries Questioned, concerning the power of the Civil Magistrate in matters of Religion, by One Query opposed to his Thirty. Query : Whether the fourth commandment doth not sufficiently justify and enjoin the power of the civil Magistrate in mat- ters of Religion ? 1653."" The other pamphlet is a sort of satyrical vindication of Mr. Goodwin, who had, previously to the publication of his " Queries,"" given his signature to an address to the government, recommending some regula- tions of an ecclesiastical nature. This piece was entitled, " An Apology for Mr. John Goodwin ; who, having sub- scribed proposals to the Magistrate concerning matters of Beligion, after that, makes Thirty Queries, Whether it be 816 LIFE OF the Magistrate's duty to interpose his authority in matters of Religion. 1653." To both these nameless assailants Mr. Goodwin drew up a reply, which he published under the title of " The Apolo- gist Condemned : or, A Vindication of the Thirty Queries, together with their Author, &c., by way of Answer to a scurrilous pamphlet, published, as it seems, by a Proposalist, under the mock title of an Apology for Mr. John Goodwin ; together with a brief touch upon another pamphlet, entitled, Mr, J. Goodwin's Queries Questioned. 1653."" In regard to the man who assumed the character of an advocate, Mr. Goodwin says, " The Gentleman, the Apologist, being, as I understand, a Gracellng of the greatness of this world, can have, in my understanding, no reasonable ground for taking sanctuary behind the curtain, but only some consciousness, that his pamphlet is beneath him, and that it would rather take from than add to him, if his name were known. He seems to be of that race of men, whose conscience Avill allow them to do evil, but their prudence will not allow them to bear the shame belonging to it, if they know how to help it. " It is obvious to every eye that looks into the mock -apo- logy, that the main projecture of it, was the propounding of this main query and wonder, as the author terms it, * How the same hand could subscribe the Ministers'* Propo- sals for the advancement of Religion, to the Supreme Magistrate; and yet propose this question. Whether the Magistrate stands bound, by way of duty, to interpose his authority in matters of religion.'' He seems to promise unto himself the present downfall of the credit and esteem of the Querist, and consequently of his Queries, upon the the sound of this ram''s horn, — the bare proposal of Ills Query. " But suppose the hand he speaks of, had subscribed the said proposals, upon the terms insinuated, (which will be found to be an undue insinuation,) is it such a wonder, how Peter, that had denied his Lord and Master before a JOHN GOODWINS 317 damsel, should yet confess him with so much courage as he did, before a council afterwards ? Or is it such a wonder, how he that doth weakly once, should at any time after do more wisely ? Nay, questionless, of the two, it is the greater wonder, that he who hath stumbled and fallen to the eai-th, should not rise and get up, than that he should not always he upon the ground. "But may not the Apologist bear the shame, of being a false witness against the Querist, upon the like account on which they that witnessed against Christ, that he had said, * I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days,' are stigmatized by the Holy Ghost for false witnesses ? For doth he not represent the subscription of the Querist to the Ministers' Proposals, as if he subscribed the reasonableness of the said proposals, or the meetness of them to be put in execution ; when he expressly declared, together with a friend of his, who subscribed at the same tmie, unto Mr. Nye, who importunately solicited our sub- scriptions, that he was not satisfied with the contents of the said proposals, neither could he own or subscribe them, as meet to be put in practice. Hereupon Mr. Nye affectionately pursuing his motion for our subscriptions, expressed himself to this effect : That though we were not satisfied touching the meetness of things contained in the said proposals, to be practised, yet we might lawfully subscribe them, as meet to be delivered unto, and to be taken into consideration by the Committee. We, apprehending no snare, danger, or incon- venience in it, to subscribe them in such a notion, and with such a declaration of ourselves, as this, and being desirous to go as far with our brethren of the ministry, as ever our judgments and consciences would permit us, yielded accord- ingly, and subscribed. But to mention this by way of Apology for Mr. John Goodzain, had been to prevaricate with the design : and besides, to act at any such rate of fairness, is a strain of ingenuity higher (I fear,) than the heart of a Proposalist is willing to be wound up unto. It Is no marvel, that he hates the light : this, as our Saviour pbserveth, being the property of him that doeth evil. In the- 318 LiFS aF mean time, I find liow hard a thing it is, so much only as to touch pitch, and not be defiled. I shall, I trust, from henceforth remember, that that generation of men, with whom I had to do in this business, Faenum habet in cornu : longe fugiam. A lock of hay tied to their horn they have r Far from them 1 shall flee, myself to save. But suspecting (it seems) that the wonder he speaks of, will not procure sufficient credit to his cause, against the Querist and his Queries together, having, as he supposeth, by his linsey-woolsey story done well towards the laying the honour of the one in the dust, he attempteth the disparagement of the other also* Amongst the ' Thirty Queries (he saith) propounded by him, there is not one to be found, but is either (1.) Impertinent, or (2.) Impotent."' Page 7, he smiteth me with his censorian rod for an imaginary defect in a contra-distinction I make, between evil doers against the lightqf nature, and worshippers of God in a false manner ; but himself in saying, that all my Queries are either imperti- nent or impotent, contradistinguisheth twice two against four. For that which is impertinent must needs be impo- tent, unless he Avill say, that that which no ways concerns a cause, may yet have strength enough to overthrow it. And again, that which is impotent must needs be impertinent, or to little purpose, unless he will say, that that which hath nothing in it to countenance or support a cause, is yet perti- nent to it. Yea, impotency and impertinency are identical, after the manner of things which are mutually exegetical the one of the other." Mr. Goodwin's reply to the Apologist is explanatory rather than otherwise ; but his answer to his other opponent is argumentative, and contains a spirited and able defence of universal freedom in the affairs of private conscience^ At the conclusion of his pamphlet, Mr. Goodwin says, " By the sense of this Antiquerist and Apologist, touching the interposure of the Magistrate's power in matters of religion. JOHN GOODWIN. 319 it appeareth sufficiently, that if the land had a Phalaris king over it, there would be found more than one Perillus to make him brazen bulls for the tormenting of such Christians, who are either too weak or too wise, to swim down the stream of a State-Religion, or to call men Rabbi."" While Mr. Goodwin was thus laudably anxious to preserve the civil power from all unchristian interference in ecclesias- tical affairs, he was equally desirous to estabhsh its secular prerogatives, and to promote conscientious subjection to its authority. On the abolition of the regal power in England, and the transfer of the supreme authority to the Protector, many classes of people were inclined to insubordination and revolt. The royalists were vexed to see the sceptre in the hands of a Usurper, and longed to place the Prince of Wales on the throne of his ancestors. The republicans hated Crom- well for seizing a power which they thought no individual ought to possess, and for disappointing all those hopes of civil liberty which he himself had induced them to cherish : while others were impatient of all restraint, and desirous of bringing back in civil society, " the reign of chaos and old night," as preparatory to the formation of one grand monarchy under the personal government of the Son of God. To soften the asperities of these disaffected persons, and in compliance with the urgent wishes of his friends, Mr. Good- win published a small tract entitled, " Dissatisfaction Satis- fied ; in Seventeen sober and serious Queries, tending to allay the Discontents and satisfy the Scruples of persons dissatis- fied about the late revolution in government, &c. ; and to guide every man's feet in the way of his duty, and the pubhc peace." In this inoffensive publication, which bears the date of 16*54, Mr. Goodwin reminds the complainers of his age, that there can be no moral evil in obeying just and equitable laws, by whomsoever enacted ; that the apostolic declaration, " The powers that beaxQ ordained of God," is the standing rule by which private Christians ought to walk, and not those intricacies in point of title, of which the gene- rality of men are not competent j udges ; and that it is a fla- grant violation of the precepts of the gospel, for persons 320 LiFi; OF occupying no public station to attempt the subversion of government, or to bring it into disrepute by popular clamour: Positions which shew the practical diiRculties to which theo- retical principles like his, on the subject of civil government, always lead. An answer to these Queries was speedily drawn up by one of the democratic levellers of that age, whose name does not appear. " To this answer," says Mr. Goodwin, " being delivered to me in manuscript, I judged myself concerned to make some reply : which I accordingly did, and published it.""* This reply, which is entitled, " Peace Protected, and Discontent Disarmed," was particularly designed to mode- rate and to satisfy the Fifth Monarchy-Men. It is decidedly conciliatory and pacific in its character. In the preface the author remarks, that by some he had been pronounced a " time-server,'"' and a " worshipper of the greatness of this world."" To which he replies, " If by time-serving, they mean subjecting a man"'s self to serve, with all diligence and faithfulness, the common interest of the men of the times wherein he liveth, I plead guilty to the indictment. I have, in this sense, been a time-server well nigh ever since I was capable of the service. But, if by time-serving be meant any unchristian or unmanlike compliance either with the head or tail of this world, for secular accommodation, I can wash my hands in the laver of David's innocency ; and, with an erect conscience, say, ' They lay to my charge things that I know not."* And herein, I suppose, all those who have known my principles and practice, will be my compur- gators."" In the year 1654, a fresh appeal to the civil power against Mr. Goodwin was made, by a number of persons belonging to the Presbyterian denomination. A small tract was drawn up under the title of " A Second Beacon Fired ;"" consisting of Extracts from various books, which were said to be here- tical or blasphemous. In this pamphlet was inserted a quotation from Mr. Goodwin"'s < ' Redemption Redeemed,'' * Triumviri, Preface. .TOIIN COOBWIX. 321 but so falsified in the transcription, as to bear a sense totally different from that which the author designed it to express. This piece was formally presented to Cromwell and to the Parliament, accompanied by a petition for some legislative enactment to restrain the liberty of the press, and prevent the publication of such works as were not Calvinistically orthodox. The men who submitted to be the tools of a party in this dishonourable transaction, were six London Booksellers ; in reference to whom Mr. Goodwin published a very interesting and able pamphlet under the title of " A Fresh Discovery of the High Presbyterian Spirit : or. The Quenching of the Second Beacon Fired, 1654." This pub- lication contains a Letter addressed to those Booksellers, in which the author complains of the injury done to him by the falsification of his words, argues at considerable length in defence of the liberty of the press, and urges them as Christians and Gentlemen to make some acknowledgment of their misconduct. To this Letter he received a scur- rilous reply, which he has also published with notes and comments upon its several paragraphs. Those Booksellers declared their design to give publicity to the two Letters which had formerly passed between ]\ir. Goodwin and Mr. Caryl, concerning a passage in the " Redemption Re- deemed :" IMr. Goodwin therefore inserted those documents in the work before us, that he might prevent the appearance of mutilated copies. In his address to the reader, Mr. Goodwin says, " I shall not impose upon either thy time or patience at pre- sent : the brief of the story is this : Six London Book- sellers, whose names thou wilt find mentioned in the super- scription of the ensuing Letter, and subscribed to the second, all, as it should seem, devout homagers to the Presbyterian fraternity of Sion-College, not long after the first sitting of the present Parliament, presented to the Lord Protector and the Parliament, a small pamphlet, entitled, A Second Beacon Fired. In this pamphlet, amongst errors and blasphemies, by them so called, and some of them, in my judgment, too truly such, they cite some words of mine, Y 322 LIFE OF out of a passage of my book of Redemption, leaving out others, which give the sense and import of the passage. These words, thus sycophantly and traducingly severed from their fellows in the same sentence, they present to the Lord Protector and Parliament, as containing in them blasphemy and error. It was some while after the present- ment of the pamphlet, before I came to the sight or know- ledge of it. At last, hearing that somewhat published by me was listed in their muster-roll of Heresies and Errors, to serve the design of their petition for the Restraint of the Press, as also of their no-christian intendments against me otherv/ise ; I purchased a sight of the pam.phlet ; and com- paring the transcription, as they had mangled and misfi- gured it, with my words, I found myself most notoriously wronged and abused. Hereupon I wrote a Letter to the said Gentlemen Booksellers, desiring Christian and equita- ble reparations of my name and repute, which they had not a little damnified by that egregious falsification of my words and meaning. These Gentlemen, instead of giving me that satisfaction which Christianity and conscience re- quired, return me such an answer to my letter, as if they had taken unto themselves seven spirits worse than that, by which they, or whosoever for them, indited the said pam- phlet, and the faLifications thereof; and are so far from acknowledging any wrong done unto me, by misusing me and my words, that they justify themselves in that high misdemeanor, and seem to think that they do God service in straining the peg of that iniquity yet higher. Notwith- standing, I may, I suppose, fully acquit the said Gentle- men Booksellers from the guilt of drawing up the said responsatory wrrtii?g : this I j udge to be the froth of another spirit, which some years since leaped upon me, and attempted to rend and tear me : Sic oculos, sic ille manus, sic ora ferebat. Such eyes, such hands, such mouth, that spirit had. Only the said Gentlemen have involved themselves in the guilt of the unchristian contents of the said writing, by con- JOHN GOODWIN. 323 sent and subscription, and possibly by solicitation also; though I rather incline to think that the penman was chosen and requested to the work, not by men that use to sell^ but by some who are more frequently wont to buy books. That motto in their title-page. For SlorCs salve zee cannot hold our peace ; whose device soever it was, seems by the contents of the book, not to be meant of Sion, in the common accep- tation of the word, as it signifies the Church of God, but rather of Sion-College, in London. For certain it is, that the pamphlet is not calculated with any relation at all, to the interest of the Church of God; but most exactly for the interest of Sion-College, and her children. Doubtless whosoever was the enditer of the answer to my letter, might have stood in the High Priest's Hall without any danger : his speech would never have betrayed him to have been of Gahlee. " Therefore as Paul, having received reproachful mea- sure from men, and those failing in their duty who ought to have vindicated him, complains that he was compelled him- self to appear in his own vindication, which otherwise he had rather should have been the work of others ; in like manner, I am compelled once again to take hold of shield and buckler in mine own defence, and either to make or to keep those things concerning myself straight in the minds and thoughts of men, (if it may be,) which men of most untrue suggestions have endeavoured to pervert, and make crooked. " And because the Gentlemen Booksellers, or rather the son of their right hand, their Amanuensis, challenge me to print ^Ir. CaryPs Letter about the passage of their falsifi- cation, sent unto me some years since, and threaten me that they may do it for me, if I will not, glorying over this Letter, as if the publishing of it would confound me, and that the reasons therein against the said passage in my book, were so satisfactory, that they did effectually silence me ; I have therefore published both this Letter of his to me, and mine also to him, which occasioned it. The truth is, I had printed both these Letters presently upon their writing and Y 2 LIFE OF sending, but only for a clause in Mr. Caryl's Letter, where- in he insinuates his unwillingness to have passages of that nature made public. So that it was only out of my respects to Mr. Caryl, that I then forbare the printing of them, and should have done so still, had not these importune sons of High Presbytery thus reproachfully and triumphingly clamoured vipon me to do it. But as for any reasons against the said passage, either satisfactory or unsatisfactory, that Letter mentioneth none, unless it be the asserting of the Author's own judgment, and some other men's, in the point, in opposition unto mine, notwithstanding any thing offered by me in my book. If either the Booksellers, or Book- buyers, judge this a reason so satisfactory^ as effectually to silence mejhr ever, I cannot but judge them to be of the race and lineage of those who are over easy of satisfaction for their own advantage. Besides, of such a reason as this, I was not, nor liglitly could be, ignorant, before Mr. Caryl's Letter came to me. " Such personal contests as these, have always been the regret of my genius : and if I thought not that my reputa- tion may be of more concernment unto others, than I judge it to be to myself, I should not move heart, hand, or foot, to pursue the rescue ; but abandon it to the lust and folly of those who have attempted to make a prey and spoil of it : But I remember a good saying of Austin : ' For our- selves, brethren, our conscience sufficeth ; but for you, our name also had need be excellent :' * and Jerome's advice was, that ' no man should sit still vmder a suspicion or charge of heresy.' -f* *' I trust this small piece may do some service unto the world in promoting and perfecting the discovery of the folly of those men, who resist that great evangelical truth (with its complices) which asserteth. That Cod, with his antece- dent and primary intentions, intended the salvation of the whole world by Jesus Christ. Or however God, and the * Nobis fratres, sufBcit conscientia nostra : sed propter vos etiam fama pollere debet. fin suspicione Hereseos nolo quenquam esse patientem. JOHX GOODWIN. 325 consciences of men, shall agree about the event and success of it, it here presents its services unto thee, good reader, together with the Christian respects and further service of thj cordially devoted friend and servant in Christ, John Goodavin." Mr. Goodvan's Letter is addressed to his " Christian Friends, Mr. Thomas Underhill, Mr. Samuel Gellibrand, Mr. John Roth well, Mr. Luke Fawn, Mr. Joshua Kirton, Mr. Nathaniel Webb,"" to whom he says, " Gentlemen, " A few days since, an ill-conditioned pamphlet, entitled, ' A Second Beacon F'lredy presented to the Lord Protector and Parliament, fell into my hands. I find all your names printed to it; but know not whether your hearts be to it, and were consenting to the publishing and presentment of it ; or whether some son of Belial, taking the advantage, it may be, of some of your known weak- nesses, and desirous to disport himself with your disparage- ment, did not, without your consent, borrow your names, to father so hard favoured a birth of his own. The reason why I cannot but a little demur, Avhether the piece be your's or no, are, (1.) Because I find in it most unchristian falsification : even that which some would call forgery. (2.) Because I find in it, likewise, such counsels offered to the Lord Protector and Parhament, under a pretext of godli- ness and zeal for Zion, which are obstructive to the sove- reign interest of both. (3.) And lastly, there is a scent of such a spirit in the said pamphlet, which teacheth men to suppose that gain is godliness. I confess, that notwith- standing any personal knowledge of any of you, the pam- phlet may be your's, under all the three characters of unworthiness now specified : for I know none of you beyond the face ; and only one of you so far : yet report hath so far befriended some of you in my thoughts, that I am hardly able to conclude you all under the guilt of the y3 326 LIFE OF shameful and unchristian enormities, which dare look the parliament and the world in the face out of those papers. For, (to touch the first in one instance only, not having opportunity of making proof of more at the present,) " Page 4, of the said pamphlet, this absurd passage is charged upon me in my book of Redemption : ' In case any assurance of the unchangeableness of God's Love, were to be found in, or regularly deduced from, the Scriptures, it were a just ground to any intelligent man to question their authority, and whether they were from God or no.' Surely they who lay this saying to my charge, may with as much honesty and conscience, and with as much appearance of truth, impeach David as guilty of saying, ' There is no God ;' (Psalm xiv, 1.) or make the apostle Paul to say, (Rom. X, 9.) ' If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, thou shalt be saved.' For though these words are to be found in these sacred authors, respectively, yet tlie sense they make, otherwise than in consort with the Other words relating to them, was as far from their authors'* meaning, as the heavens are from the earth. David was far enough from affirming, that there is no God, and Paul from saying, that if a man with his mouth confess the Lord Jesus, he shall be saved ; yet the words of which both say- ings consist, are extant in their writings. In like manner the Beacon Firers, whoever they be, you or others, (for I shall not charge you with the folly, but upon better evi- dence,) commit the foul sin of forgery, in making me say, in their pretended transcription out of my book, that in case ' any assurance of the unchangeableness of God's Love, "were to be found, or could regularly be deduced from the Scriptures,' &c. Whereas (besides several other words in the sentence) they leave out the characteristical word. Such; [any ' Such assurance of the unchangeableness' &c.] the word that is the heart and soul of the sentence ; that gives a most rational and orthodox relish to the whole period, and without which the passage contains no more my judg- ment, than their's who forged the transcription. For my JOHN GOODWIN. 327 opinion, which I argue and assert in several places, upon occasion, in my Book of Redemption, is. That the Love of God, in all his counsels and decrees, is unchangeable ; and consequently that an assvirance of this unchangeableness is regularly enough deducible from the Scriptures, and this without any prejudice to their divine Authority ; yea, rather, to the establishment and confirmation hereof. So far am I, either from thinking or saying, that if in case any assurance of the unchangeableness of God*'s Love were to be found in, or could regularly be deduced from the Scrip- tures, it were a just ground to any intelligent man to ques- tion their authority. Therefore they who have accused me, especially unto the Parliament, of such a saying, have the greater sin. That kind of unchangeableness of God's Love, the assurance of which I affirm, v/ere it to be in the Scriptures, would be a just ground to an intelligent and considering man to question their authority, I had imme- diately before described, and sufficiently explained, in the reason of the said assertion ; which I immediately subjoin in these words : ' For that a God, infinitely righteous and holy, should irreversibly assure the immortal and undefiled inheritance of his grace and favour unto any creature what- soever, so that though this creature should prove never so abominable in his siglit, never so outrageously and desper- ately wicked and profane, he should not be at liberty to withhold this inheritance from him, is a saying, doubtless, too hard for any man, M'ho rightly understands and considers the nature of God to bear.' From these words it plainly enough appears, that it is not any assurance of unchange- ableness of God's Love, as the Beacon Firers most uncon- scionably suggest to the Parliament, and to the world, which I conceive to be a just ground to any intelligent and considering man to question the authority of the Scriptures, in case it could be found in them : but such an assu- rance hereof, by virtue of which, men turning aside from Christ, after Satan, from ways of righteousness and truth, to walk in ways of all manner of looseness and profaneness, may, notwithstanding, with secure confidence, promise S28 LIFE OF salvation unto themselves, and that God will never take away his love from them. And whether such an assurance of the unchangeableness of God''s Love as this, were the Scriptures any ways confederate with it, (which far be it from every christian soul to imagine,) would not be dero- gatory or prejudicial in the highest to their authority, let the Beacon Firiers themselves, or any other persons, who make any conscience of putting a difference between God and the devil, determine. " That pernicious counsel against the liberty of Printing, and for the subjecting of the learning, parts, and abilities of all the men in the nation, unto the humour and conceit of a few, who, for their comporting with the Religion of the times, shall be surnamed Orthodox, which the said Beacon Firers do, in effect, very passionately commend unto the Parliament, and which, were it put in execution according to the terms of the suggestion, would certainly fire both City and Country, as well as Beacons ; should argue the ' Second BeacorC not to be of your firing. For you are re- puted friends unto Jesus Christ, and to the truth ; and consequently who can imagine that you should give any advice, especially unto a parliament, which is of a threat- ening import, to the advancement and further discovery of Jesus Christ unto the world ? " What ground is there in the Word of God, for the investing of Edmund, Arthur, and William, with a Nebu- chadnezzarean power over the press, to stifle or slay what books they please, and what they please to keep alive, more than there is for the investing of Joshua, Peter and Tobiah with the same ? Or if the three latter be altogether as reli- gious, judicious, learned, as the three former, by what ruk of equity, reason, or conscience, shall they be more obnoxious in their writings, to the censure and disapprobation of these, than these in their writings unto them ? Or by what rule delivered in the Word of God, shall any man judge the three former, either more religious, learned or judicious, and so more meet for the instrument under consideration than the latter? JOHN GOODWIK. 329 " Is not the granting of such a power over the Press, as the Beacon Firers solicit the Parhament to vest in a certain number of men, ill-consistent with the interest and benefit of a free Commonwealth ? Or may not the Commonwealth deeply suffer by the exercise of such a power, in being thereby deprived of the benefit of the gifts, and labours of many of her worthy members ? " If the Supreme Magistrate in a Commonwealth, be allowed to invest what persons he pleaseth with such a power over the press, is it not to be expected that only such persons shall be deputed to this trust by him, which are of his own judgment ; and, consequently, shall comply with a State-Religion ? And are men of this character competent Arbitrators, between persons of their own party and per- suasion, and those who are contrary minded to them, in their contests about truth and error? And in case the Magistrate himself be unsound in the faith, (as men of his order have no privilege of exemption from error, more than other men,) shall not our Press-Masters be unsound also ? and, consequently, shall we not have error countenanced and set at liberty, and truth imprisoned, and condemned to silence and obscurity ? " That great evil, the spreading of errors and heresies, the prevention whereof the advice given touching the Press pretendeth unto, is not likely to be at all prevented, but promoted rather by it, should it be put in execution. For, Quod licet ingratum est, quod non licet, acrlus urit. And little question there is, but that, in case the liberty of the Press shall be by any law restrained, they who other- wise wovdd be but indifferent whether they published their weak, it may be their erroneous and wicked conceptions, will be hereby provoked to do it, though more secretly. Stolen waters are sweet. " In case they shall, by any such law, be kept from venting their notions by the Press, or by the Masters of the Press be prohibited the printing of them, they will be so 330 LIFE OF much the more diligent and intent to propagate them pri- vately ; and probably gain many more disciples this way than by the ^other. The profane and vain babbling of Hymeneus and Philetus fretted like a canker, although they wanted the opportunity of the Press for their propa- gation. " The setting of Watchmen with authority at the door of the Press, to keep errors and heresies out of the world, is as weak a project, as it would be to set a company of armed men about a house to keep darkness out of it in the night. For as the natural darkness cannot be prevented or dispelled, but by the presence of light, nor needeth there be any other thing, either for the preventing or dispelhng it, but light only ; so neither is it possible either to prevent, or remove errors and heresies, which are spiritual darkness, but only by shining spiritual light in the hearts and under- standings of men ; neither needeth there any thing but this to effect either. " Errors and heresies, the less they play in sight, are like to defend themselves upon terms of more advantage, and to lengthen out the days of their continuance amongst men for the longer time. For by this means they are kept from the clear and distinct knowledge of judicious and learned men, who otherwise being both able and Avilling to perform so worthy a service, would publicly detect and con- fute them. And I verily believe that the printing of J. Biddle's most enormous and hideous notions about the nature of God, and some other very weighty points in reli- gion, will bring the judgment of bloody and deceitful men upon them ; which, (according to David's award) is, not to hve out half their days. (Psalm Iv, 23.)" In their abusive reply to our author's Letter, these Book- sellers enquire of Mr. Goodwin, why he did not answer Dr. Kendall ? to which he says, " Why do not you ask Dr. Owen, why he hath not all this while answered Mr. Home ? As charity, so discipline, begins at home. Yet I think I may in part excuse the Doctor at this turn. For, doubtless, Mr. Hornc''s Operi Door, is too hard to Dr. Owen JOHN GOODWIN. 331 to shut ; and his most satisfactory answer would be, to acknowledge as much. If he should make this answer, he should deserve the commendation of a rede respondes. But my answer to your question is, that I have publicly en- gaged myself, (death, sickness, or other occasional intru- sions not preventing me,) to answer more considerable men than he or his, are. Besides, some of his own judgment in the controversies, have no such opinion of what he hath written, as to think that it needs much answer. The rea- son hereof I conceive to be, because his answers, more generally, stand upon such odd, uncouth, wild, and reason- less principles, in which the generality of his own party can neither find sap nor savour, nor tell what to make of them. "Yea, if all hear-says be orthodox, Mr. Vice-Chancellor him- self, his co-adjutor against the truth, hath pulled in his liorns again, which he put out to such a length in his quaint encomiastic of him, prefixed before his former book. But the consideration now mentioned, in reference to Dr. Ken- dall, is another reason why an answer to his book may be spared, without any great detriment or loss to the cause. Yea, upon the same account, an answer given to it, though, never so satisfactory and full, would amount to no more than an answer ad hom'mem : Others of his judgment would be as little satisfied, or convinced by it, because it would not reach their apprehensions." Th e following accusations and replies illustrate the cha- racter of the parties at issue. Booksellers : " You have been a trier these twenty years ; and you have cause to fear, that you will be trying all things so long, that you v/ill hold nothing at last. You are now about sixty years of age, and one of us remember- ing a verse, Dum quid sis dubitas, jam potes esse nihil." Mr. GooDwix : " You guess somewhat near the years of my earthly pilgrimage. I bless the God of Heaven, with my whole heart and soul, for sparing me so long, until I had thoroughly tried many of the doctrines of your teach- 332 LIFE OF ers, and found them liars ; and had opportunity to stigma- tize them for such publicly, and to alarm the world con- cerning the danger of them. You see I hold several things too fast, for your stoutest champions to wrest them from me. Therefore you shoot this arroAV at a wrong mark." Booksellers: " They that know you well, think you so proud, that they fear you have not as yet been with Jesus Christ to humble you." Goodwin : " You are much mistaken : there are none but those that are strangers or enemies to me, that think thus of me. They that know me well, are otherwise minded; and upon good grounds believe, that I would be willing and free, notwithstanding all your provocations, to carry your books after you ; yea, to stoop to loose the latchet of the shoe of the meanest of you, had I any competent ground to judge, that such a service would turn to any spiritual or temporal advantage to you. But your tongvies, it seems, are your own, and you think you are at liberty to say with them Avhat you list." Booksellers : " We have heard of a great Rabbi, who was converted from Cards and Sack-Possets to Errors and Blasphemies : but we spare you." Goodwin: " For the story of your great Rabbi, it seems it is but a hear-say. If you had seven more as wise stories to join with it, I cannot imagine what service they would do you. Would they make you seem either more wise, or orthodox, or religious ? or less unworthy, than you appear to be ? Or if you intend to theatrize me under the fiction of your Great Rabbi, the conversion you speak of will not accommodate you with truth, in respect of either of the terms ; either those a quibus, or those ad quos. First for Cards : there have now twenty years passed over my head, since my coming to the City : Of all this time I never spent so much as half a minute in the recreation ; and for ten years at least together next before my coming, not a whit more. In my younger days, I confess, I did pass some of my precious hours in this vanity ; yet without scandal, or any observation of inordinateness in my practice JOHN GOODWIN. S33 that way. As for Sack-Possets, counting from the first hour that I saw the hght of the sun, I believe there are very iew ministers about the City of London, though there be divers that have scarce lived half my days, but have fished as often in those ponds as I. If I be brought upon the stage by you, as a man of a servile appetite vuito Sack-Possets, I believe I never came there before upon any such ac- count. " And for Errors and Heresies, whereunto your story, if it personates me, pretends that I have been converted, I confess I have been converted from Errors and Heresies truly so called, unto Errors and Heresies by you so called ; that is, unto the acknowledgment of many worthy truths, into the secret of which your souls, it seems, as yet never entered ; which is the snare vipon you to term them Errors and Heresies. " For your sparing me, I could be content you should spare me less, upon condition you would not spai'e the truth so much." While Mr. Goodwin was thus employed in repelling the calumnious attacks of unprincipled men, he was called to witness a division in his own church : a circumstance Avhich proved to him an occasion of exquisite pain and sorrow, and appears to have been one principal hindrance to the comple- tion of his " Redemption Redeemed."" Thomas Lamb and William Allen, men of exemplary piety and strong sense, who had stood by him amidst all his persecutions, and had adorned their christian profession for several years, im- bibed the sentiments of the Anti-Paedobaptists, and with- drew from their spiritual pastor. About twenty other persons followed their example, and, with these two at their head, formed themselves into a separate church ; conceiving it to be unlawful to associate for religious worship, and to frequent the Lord's table, with people who had not been baptized by immersion in their adult age. The exclusive and intolerant temper of these men, was the great fault of the Baptists in that day, as it has often been in more mo- dern times. The excellent Baxter, a man of truly catholic 334 LIFE OF principles, says, " Many that are against Infant Baptism, think it a matter of so high moment, that whosoever is not baptized at age, you may not hear them preach, nor re- ceive the Lord"'s Supper with them, nor be of the same church, nor pray with them in their families. O what abundance of my own acquaintance are of this opinion V * The spirit by which Lamb and his friends were actuated, " being a spirit of division, it was not satisfied,"" says Mr. Goodwin, " with separating one part of the body from the other by water only, (over which there had been opportu- nity enough for spiritual commerce,) but magnified itself further to divide them hyjii-e also ; inflaming its proselytes with such a zeal over their new way, that they judged themselves more holy than to incorporate in church-com- munion with any j)erson who goeth not wondering after it ; how full of faith and of the Holy Ghost soever ; I j udged myself called upon by God, to resist him, and with the waters of the sanctuary to quench the fire which he had kindled. By this troublesome spirit, I was drawn to a double contest. First, I was engaged to stop the mouth of that plea, wherein he pleaded the vmlawfulness of conjunc- tion between believers Dipped and believers Undipped. Secondly, unless I would give way to him, and suffer him to carry away the truth from my people, I was necessitated with the drawn sword of the Spirit, to oppose him in his Avay wherein he was attempting to circumvent poor Chil- dren of that baptismal Patrimony, which their Heavenly Father had settled on them, and which their first Feoffees in trust, (the primitive Christians,) did constantly and con- scientiously exhibit unto them. This double encounter entrenched very deeply upon my time." ■}* This appears to have been the " troublesome importunity" of which Mr. Goodwin complains in the preface to his Exposition, as pre- venting him from paying that attention to the Second Part of his Redemption Redeemed which was necessary for the finishing of that work. * Plain Scripture Proof, p. 10. Edit. 1G51. f Triumviri, Preface. JOHN GOODWIN. 335 On the Baptismal Controversy, which was then warmly agitated, Mr. Goodwin published three tracts : the first of these is entitled, " Philadelphia : or XL Queries peaceably and inoffensively propounded, for the discovery of Truth in this Case of Conscience: Whether persons baptized, (as themselves call Baptism,) after a profession of Faith, may, or mav not, lawfully hold communion with Churches who judge themselves truly Baptized, though in Infancy, and before such Profession.'* 1653." Our author's second tract on this subject is denominated, " Water-Dipping no firm footing for Church-Communion : or, Considerations proving it not simply Lawful, but Necessary also in point of Duty, for persons baptized after the new mode of Dipping, to continue Communion with those Churches, or embodied Societies of Saints, of which they were Members before the said Dipping, 1653." The titles of these pamphlets ex- plain with sufficient precision the topics of which they treat. The author contends that a difference of opinion and prac- tice concerning the subjects and mode of baptism ought not to separate the members of christian churches from each other. His principles are catholic, and his manner of writ- ing affectionate and convincing. Speaking of those who had seceded from him, and for whose benefit he had taken up his pen, he says, " My conscience beareth me witness, that as I have been cordially and christianly respectful and friendly to these men, as far as 1 have had opportunity to serve them ; so I am still ready to bow down at the feet of the meanest of them for their temporal or spiritual accom- modation." Mr. Goodwin's third publication relating to this contro- versy, is a quarto volume containing upwards of four hundred pages, and is entitled, " Cata-Baptism : or, New Baptism waxing Old, and ready to Vanish Away, 1655." This work is divided into two parts : the first contains " fifty-five Considerations, with their respective proofs and consectaries," designed to remove the scruples of those who would exclude the Children of believing Pai'ents from the 336 LIFE OF ordinance of Baptism : The second is an answer to a tract published by Allen, under the title of " Some Baptismal Abuses briefly Discovered." This work of Mr. Goodwin is every way worthy of his great powers. It is written in a spirit of truly christian meekness and forbearance ; and at the same time is thoroughly argumentative, and replete with original information on the svibjects of which it treats. In the course of this volume Mr. Goodwin makes frequent, reference to Baxter's book on Baptism, and repeatedly mentions that learned and pious author in terms of the highest respect. Though Mr. Goodwin had studied the baptismal contro- versy with deep attention, it was with great reluctance that he was induced to take any part in it ; because his mind was intent upon the completion of his favourite work on the extent of Redemption. " Verily," says he, " I have gone round about the whole body of that doctrine which so much magnifieth itself against Infant Baptism, and have narrowly and with an unprejudiced eye, observed all the limbs and joints thereof, and cannot find so much as one sound mem- ber or clean joint in it. The whole structure of it stands upon foundations which either are sandy or irrelative to what is pretended to be built upon them, and so are no true foundations of this doctrine." " I had rather be at the expense of seven years' labour in an expedition against those who will not suffer the Lord Jesus Christ to inherit the glory of his ever-blessed work of Redemption, in the just compass and extent of it; who presume to set bounds to the Grace of God, which he never set ; who preach this in effect for gospel to the world, that God never bare any good- will to the greatest part of them, but decreed from eternity to torment them with the ven- geance of eternal fire : — who preach also, that those whom they call Elect, though they prove the first-born sons of Belial, and provoke the God of heaven with the height of all abominations, may abide all this while in the love of Election, and are m no possibility of miscarrying in tlie JOHN GOODWIN. iiigli concernment of salvation — witii twenty tilings more of like confederacy with these, and reproach those who are otherwise minded with names of an odious import, as Armi- nians, Socinians, Pelagians, which the enemy of truth puts between their lips whilst they sleep with their mouths open : I had rather serve seven years' hard service against the con- ceits of these men, than so many weeks, though with more ease, against the lighter dreams of persons led aside by the baptismal spirit." Mr. Goodwin considered himself to be providentially called to engage in this controversy. He not only regarded the subject to be important in itself, in as much as baptism is an ordinance of Jesus Christ, but he saw that many of those who had imbibed the principles of Anti-Paedobaptism, had also sustained great spiritual loss. They not only exerted themselves to make divisions in christian churches, but imagined themselves to be elevated to such " a throne of glory and perfection," that they " beheld the whole christian world under them, walking but as shadows, and the greatest of them not worthy to come under the roof of the meanest of their sanctuaries." Addressing these men, Mr. Goodwin enquires, " Whether a great number of those Avho have done homage to your way, have not been spi- ritual losers by the change.^ sensibly declining in those christian principles and dispositions, which at first they brought with them unto your way ; as if their new baptism had not been into Christ, but into old Adam ? This I have observed, and must needs testify, that not any one of them., as far as an estimate can be made by what is discernible in point of conversation, hath gained so much as the making of one hair white or black, by the exchange of his baptism ; but sundry of them have lost many degrees of that sweet Christian savour and love, wherewith they excellently adorned the gospel before." " If by the interposure of these papers between persons drowned in Anabaptism, and those Avhose heads are yet above water, I shall be able, through God, to preserve these from sinking, though I be not able to work miracles in Z 338 LU'E OF recovering any of the other ; yet sliall I do service accep- table to my Lord and Master Christ, and to many of his churches. Or however God shall please to dispose of my labour, as to matter of success, I have discharged my con- science. Notwithstanding, consulting with my own genius and spirit, I am apt to think, that I should not have ap- peared in these controversies, had there not been a fire of Anabaptism kindled in that house of God, which he hath committed to my charge, and this by one of the household ; a man of a sober and grave temper, bvit of somewhat too passive a disposition, from melancholic and superstitious impressions. So hard is it, to watch satan so narrowly, but that, at one time or other, he will insinuate himself, in the likeness of an angel of light, into the temple of God." Mr. Goodwin, however, was far from considering all the Baptists of that age as equally faulty. " Amongst men walking in the way of Presbytery,"" says he, " we find ground for that distinction which divideth them into high and low ; tlie latter being a harmless generation, the other next to insupportable. So amongst those of the Anabap- tismal persuasion, there are some the illness of whose tem- per teacheth them to make fire and sword of their persua- sion ; others again, the soberness and sweetness of whose spirit preserveth them from annoying the churches of Christ with any misuse of their opinion. This obvious difference between men and men of the same persuasion induceth me to believe, that the evils which so frequently attend it, are not so much in the persuasion itself, as in the moral consti- tution of the greatest part of those who are entangled with iL" In addition to an excellent preface, Mr. Goodwin''s " Cata-Baptism" is introduced by a fine dedicatory epistle to Christians of the Baptist denomination; in which, with great openness and candour, he explains the motives by which he was actuated in publicly opposing their peculiar sentiments, and states what he conceived to be reprehensi- ble in their general proceedings. This epistle is succeeded JOHN GOODWIN 339 by an admirable address of considerable length, to the members of his own church ; admonishing them of the evils they ought conscientiously to avoid, and pointing out to them the means by which they might adorn their christian profession and make their calling and election sure. The whole is eminently pastoral, and highly honourable to its learned and pious author. Mr. Goodwin's pieces on baptism, together with some other publications on the same subject, made a deep impression upon the mind of Lamb. Grieved with the narrow and exclusive spirit of several of his brethren, who wantonly unchurched all who were not of their party, he began, according to his own account, to be " pressed much in spirit to consider the grounds of separating" from his former friends: and reading Baxter's Plain Scripture Proof of Infants' Church Membership, and " Mr. John Goodwin's and Home's books of Baptism,"" he perceived that the prac- tice of baptizing children was of much greater authority than he apprehended ; and that, had it been otherwise, the rent made by him in Mr. Goodwin's church was unwar- rantable. Convinced that he had been misled, and wishful to retrace his steps, he wrote to Mr. Baxter for advice, and afterwards applied to Mr. Goodwin's church for re-admis- sion to communion with them. " I have been at Mr. Goodwin's congregation," says he, " to acknowledge my sin in separating from them upon such silly grounds, and have offered myself to break bread with them if they pleased : but withal told the whole church that, for two reasons, I could not come so close to them as heretofore ; because of my relation to the poor people I now serve, (being not yet well lodged in a safe place,) and because of some scruples in my mind, whether Independency did not infer schism in the church universal." Mr. Goodwin was no bigot ; and the result of Lamb's application was creditable to the parties concerned. In a letter to Mrs. Lamb, Baxter says, " I have strong hopes, that if I were in London, I could persuade such as your husband, and Mr. John Goodwin, and many an honest z2 34<0 LIFE OF Presbyterian minister, as great a distance as seems to be between them all, to come yet together, and live in holy communion."''' Lamb also stated in his correspondence with Eaxter, " In respect of Mr. Goodwin's church, with whom I was for several years joined, their principles are larger for communion than others.'' — " They have of their own ac- cord made a vote to receive me, when my spirit should be free to return ; and indeed have always manifested much love to me." Lamb has also added, " My spirit is much set against gay apparel, and following fashions : but Mr. Goodwin's church is as sober as most, I think as any." * Lamb and Allen both renounced the principles of Ahti- Taidobaptism, and after the Restoration conformed to the episcopal churcii. Lamb used frequently to occupy Mr. Goodwin's pulpit during his connection with him, having been ordained an elder with solemn fasting and prayer, and with the full approbation of all his brethren. Allen was a very remarkable character. He was delivered out of the snare of Antinoniianism, early in life, under the ministry of Mr. Goodwin ; and for more than twelve years, was a mem- ber of his church. He had not enjoyed the advantage of any regular education, and was devoted to secular business till lie was far advanced in life ; yet such was his proficiency in sacred knowledge under the pastoral care of Mr- Goodwin, and the bias of his mind to bibhcal studies, that he wrote s&veral tracts of practical and didactic theology, which would have done credit to a grave and learned divine. Most of his pieces were collected together in the year 1707, and reprinted in a folio volume of seven hun- dred and fifty-four pages, including a general preface by the Bishop of Chichester, and a sermon on the author's death by the learned Dr. Kidder^ Bishop of Bath and Wells. " He was a most diligent enquirer after truth," says the Right Rev. preacher, '* he sought wisdom as silver, and searched for her as for hid treasures. Nor did his labour prove in vain ; for he did understand the fear of the Lord, ^nd find the knowledge of God. God had given him a * Rclifiuiae Baxterianae, part i, p. 180. Appendix, p. 51. JOHN GOODWIK. 341 great and clear understanding, a solid judgment and ability ; and he improved his talent to a very great pur- pose. " He read the Holy Scriptures with wonderful care and diligence, attained to great understanding of the more abstruse parts of them ; and though he had not the advan- tage of the learned languages to direct him, yet by acquaint- ing himself with those who had, and by indefatigable dili- gence, he did arrive to so great a measure of knowledge of those things which they do contain, as would be very com- mendable in a well-studied divine. " He wrote several excellent books, that need no recom- mendation to the world. They are well known, and well esteemed ; and the greatest clerk will have no cause to be ashamed to have them placed amongst other authors with which he is furnished. " His great knowledge did not puff him up. His charity and humility and modesty, held proportion to it. He was far removed from a high conceit of himself, or con- tempt of others. He was far from being pert and talkative: far from ostentation and show ; from insulting over his adversaries, or vaiuiting of his victories. " He was exactly just to all men in his dealings and trade. Of this there is no question : and those that knew him well can tell, that in making vip his accounts he was scrupulously so ; and took orcat care that an error or mistake in liis correspondent should not be to his prejudice. He was greatly careful to do no wrong : and had learned to for- give. " In him we might behold great knowledge, and the profoundest humility : An ability to teach others, and the greatest docibility or readiness to learn : The courage and resolution of a confessor, and at the same time, the humility of a little child : A great charity without vaunting, a great zeal without faction, and a diligent pursuit of truth without dogmatizing or study of parties." While Mr. Goodwin's mind was so painfully affected on account of the division made among his flock by Allen and z3 342 LIFE OF Lamb, he was called to sympathize wltli one of his most beloved and valuable friends on the bed of death, and to follow his remains to the silent tomb. This friend was Mr. Daniel Taylor, a merchant in London, and author of the Letter to John Vicars, inserted in a former chapter of these memoirs. At the interment of this singularly excellent man, Mr. Goodwin delivered a discourse, which he after- wards published under the title of, " Mercy in her exal- tation : or, A Sovereign Antidote against the Fear of the Second Death. A Sermon preached at the Funeral of Daniel Taylor, Esq. ; in Stephen's, Coleman-street, Lon- don, on the twentieth day of April, 1655." This appears to have been the only sermon Mr. Goodwin ever published in its original form, and is an admirable specimen of his talents as a preacher. The subject of the discourse is Chris- tian Mercy, in the constant and vigorous exersise of which, its possessor, according to the constitution of the Covenant of Grace, is able to rejoice in the prospect of the general Judgment, and the awards of eternity. The sermon is of considerable length, and is truly learned, argumentative, eloquent and impressive. In the preface to this production, the author states, that some of his hearers had expressed their apprehension, that several of his positions " trenched very near upon the Popish doctrine of justification by works. But certain I am," says he, " that I speak nothing in reference to justification, nor did the subject of my dis- course lead me to treat little or much of justification, espe- cially of that which consists of remission of sins. I am not more clear and better resolved in my judgment, touching the truth of any one doctrine of Christian religion, than that all the good works in the world, were they performed by any man that had sinned in the least, would not be able to procure the pardon of his sins. Pardon of sin cannot be obtained by doing good, but by suffering evil ; and this by a person that is sinless. ' Without shedding of blood there is NO REMISSION.' " That justification which consists in the Divine appro- bation of men, as, ' Well done, good and faithful servant,"* JOHN GOODWIN'. 34'J —' Then sliall every man have praise of God"' — of which that is to be understood, ' Not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified^ — this kind of justification, without which no man shall be saved, is to be obtained by good works ; yet not so properly by the merit of these, as by virtue of the law of God's most gracious and bountiful acceptation. And yet, to say that there is nothing at all in these works, or nothing more than in others contrary to them, to commend any man to God, is to reflect upon his wisdom and righteousness in the esta- blishment of that law by which they come to be approved and accepted upon such terms." In the introduction of this sermon Mr. Goodwin says, *' It is well known to a great part of you, who now hear me, that for several years past, I have put from me the custom of funeral elogies and commendations ; bequeathing this service to the works of the deceased, which have a com- mission from God to perform it, if there be cause ; (Prov. xxi, 1.) whereas I have none that I know of, especially not to do it in consort with the work now in hand. But I have declined the practice, partly because of the oiTensiveness of it to many, who are weak ; partly because of the offensive misuse of it by some, who seem otherwise strong. I con- fess, that it was the saying of one long since, ' If a dishonest practice be in any case tolerable, it is for the procurement of a kingdom ; in all other cases, justice and right must take place.'' So if a minister of God could be venially tempted to dispense with so good a resolution, as that which he hath taken up against blowing a trumpet in the pulpit before the dead, my standing at present is upon the ground of such an opportunity ; being called to preach at the inter- ment of a man of most exemplary and signal worth, in every kind, and whose life can hardly be remembered by those who have any knowledge of it, without falling into an agony of sorrow for his death. It was the saying of the Poet, in respect of the enormous vices of the times and place wherein he lived, that it was a hard matter not to 344 LIFE OF write satirically ; so I may well say, on the other hand, in respect of so many things so highly commendable and chris- tian in him, upon the occasion of whose death I am now speaking to you, a man must resist a temptation to refrain from praising him. "However, partly for ray resolution"'s sake, which is not far from a vow, but more especially for your sakes, whom it much more concerns to be made praiseworthy yourselves, than to hear another praised before you, I shall leave the deceased to the good report of all men, which he purchased at a high rate of well-doing, and of the truth itself, (the word of God, which giveth large testimony to him and to all like him,) and shall, in the name of God, and of the Lord Jesus Christ, by the opening and applying of the words read unto you, make an attempt upon you, to make you, if it may be, like unto him in that which was his glory whilst he lived, and his rejoicing at his death, — his goodness and mercy. Mercy enlarged his heart to rejoice against judg- ment : and O how happy shall you be, if you will be per- suaded to cast in your lot with him, and suffer God to put into your heart by his Word and Spirit, which are now about to put you upon the trial, to take part and fellowship with him in that his rejoicing." This sermon contains little information concerning Mr. Goodwin''s departed friend : but this deficiency is supplied in a very considerable degree, by an admirable dedication to " Mrs. Margaret Taylor, the late wife of Mr. Daniel Tay- lor, deceased, Mr. Edmond Taylor, Mr. Samuel Taylor, his brethren, together with the rest of his kindred, friends and acquaintance.'' In this beautiful composition Mr. Goodwin says, in regard to his " dear friend," " He was religious not of custom, but of conscience ; nobly disdain- ing to prostitute his judgment to any vulgar opinion in mat- ters appertaining to God, simply upon the credit of other men's faith ; and withal studiously scrupulous of receiving any tenet until he had caused it to pass through the fire of a strict examination, and found that it would not burn. Whilst JOHN GOODWIN. 345 the strength of his body was able to bear the exercises of devotion, he maintained a constant and close communion Avith God ; and in the time of his last weakness, a few weeks before his change, amongst other savoury discourse, he bemoaned himself, that since the prevailing of his distem- per, he was deprived of his heart-breaking opportunities with God. His heart was very high in desires after knowledge of the truth, and this in the most profound questions contro- verted between men of the greatest judgments in these days. Books of divinity that wei'e judiciously or accurately written, his delight was, at his spare hours, Nocfiirna versare manii, versarc dhcrna ; ' By night to read, and not to spare by day.' " He put no difference between persons either for their concurrence Avith him, or dissent from him, in matters of opinion, or form of worship. That which commended any person to him, was his own opinion of his integrity, and goodness of heart towards God. His signal integrity, justness, and clearness in dealings, as well in the administra- tion of the trust committed to him, as in his private occasions, are freely testified by all that had to do with him in either kind. The greatness of his estate made no breach at all upon the goodness of his disposition. He observed no dis- tance made between himself and the meanest of his brethren, by his abundance : persons even of the lowest degree, by his affableness and humility, found access to him upon all occasions ; and few, if any, came from him discontented. His carriage was composed and grave, yet without affecta- tion ; his discourse seasonable and savoury, without offence. His native temper seemed to incline him to much reserved- ness : but by judgment and conscience he reduced that which was less desirable in his inclination. His habit and garb every ways comely ; suitable rather to his profession than estate. Whatever savoured of ostentation or vanity, he left to be taken up by persons of looser and lighter spirits. The full cup which God gave unto him, he carried 846 LIFE OF with an even and steady hand, without spilling ; yet freely gave to every man that was athirst, and came in his way, to drink. " His intellectual endowments were given him by the largest measure, which God in these days is wont to mete unto men. His understanding was large, and very compre- hensive : his apprehension quick and piercing : his judgment solid and mature : his memory fast and faithful : his elocu- tion distinct and clear, elegant and fluent, yet not luxuriant and pedantic. He was more than of ordinary abilities to argue the most thorny and abstruse points in divinity ; ready of discerning where the quick of the controversy lay ; very expert in the word of righteousness ; able to draw waters of hfe out of such wells of salvation, from Avhence many men of good understanding and learning had not wherewith to draw because of the depth of them. He had a singular dexterity to make the rough things of business smooth, to untie knots, and disentangle intricacies, in all manner of affairs that were brought unto him. I scarce know any man amongst those he hath left behind, of like felicity with him in giving advice in cases of difficulty and doubtful consider- ation. In sum, as well for parts of nature as of grace, he was a highly accomplished man, adorned and set forth by God, for a pattern for others." That such men as Allen and Taylor should have placed themselves under Mr. Goodwin's pastoral care, and that their characters should have been formed and developed under his ministry, are circumstances which are highly honorable to all the parties concerned. According to Mr. Baxter, Lamb was also a man of an eminently vigorous mind, of deep piety, and of great purity and uprightness of conduct. Concerning the other members of Mr Good- win's church we have little or no information : but in Allen's address to them after his separation, he expresses his views of their character, and of the religious advantages he had enjoyed during his union with them, in terms of the highest respect. " There have now, dearly beloved," says he, " several years passed over our heads, since first I obtained JOHN GOODWIN'. 347 that good opinion from you, as to be admitted into your society. And sure I am, I shall not flatter you in acknow- ledging, that if I have not in all this time improved my spiritual estate very much, it is not because I have not had opportunity so to do, but because I have not had a heart fully to improve this opportunity. And, however mine own dulness and indisposition have obstructed much of that increase which was, as I believe, intended me on your part, yet this I must acknowledge, to the praise of that rich and abundant grace of God that hath uttered itself among you, and hath been declared by you, that your love, diligence, faithfulness and zeal, and the grace of God in them, have made such impressions upon me, as by which you may well, as I doubt not but you will, stand much endeared to me all my days. As for those christian respects I have received from you, they have so much exceeded what I could well expect, as that I have not been under any temptation of neglect this way, wher e the bond of my union with you should be loosened." * The following paragraphs extracted from Mr. Goodwin''s *' Admonition to the remainder of the flock of Christ, yet under his hand and charge," will serve to illustrate the tem- per of his mind at this period of his life, and the views which he entertained of several of the sects then in exist- ence. It is prefixed to his " Cata-Baptism."" " Dear Souls, for whom I expect to be called, and this very shortly, to give an account to the great Shepherd of the sheep, for the time you have already been, and shall yet continue under my hand : that I may give this ' account with joy, and not with grief,"' is the sum of all that either now, or ever hereafter, I shall desire of you. Nor do I desire this of you so much for mine own sake as for your's. " Concerning myself, what my behaviour hath been among you, from the first day of your gathering under my hand, you well know : what my heart hath been towards you, my heart itself knoweth ; but He that is greater than * Some Baptismal Abuses Discovered, Dedication. 348 LIFE OF my heart knowetb much better, and will declare in due time. I have spent the best part of my days with you, and have endeavoured with all my might, human infirmities ex- cepted, to train you up like saints, and heirs apparent to a , heavenly kingdom. And now, not being like long to con- tinue with you, the ' keepers of my house"' beginning to trem- ble, and they ' that look out at the windows to be darkened,' nor to publish many more books than this, before my change ; I was desirous to take the present opportunity, whilst I am yet with you, of being your Remembrancer of some few things, a conscientious observing whereof will do you chris- tian service, and help to bless you, when I am gone. " Remember oft and seriously, that it is much more easy to begin in the Spirit, than to continue and be perfected in the Spirit : to run well for a time, than perseveringly to obey the truth : to interest yourselves in the love of Christ, than to continue in his love to the end. There were four several grounds that had ffood seed sown in them, and three of them bare profession ; but only one of them yielded per- severance. The scriptures are full of fore-warnings, and examples of zealous professors for a time, who, in the pro- gress of their course, turned aside, some into one by-way, some into another, and so lost the things which they had wrought, and perished eternally. How many of yourselves have, within the compass of a few years, turned aside, some on the right hand, and others on the left, into by-ways, where the light of life either shineth not at all, or very malignantly, like unto a dusky twilight, wherein many travellers lose their way "i How many are there, not yet separated from your body, whose spiritual pulse beats very faintly, and concerning whom the ground of jealousy is great, that they have fallen from their first love. What between spiritual wickedness, (I mean sects and opinions pretending to the truth,) and fleshly wickedness, (the love of ease, pleasure, and the contentments of this world,) the trees of Christ's forest, in his respective churches, are made few, that a child may tell them. Therefore if you mean so to run as to obtain, it mightily concerncth you not only to take JOHN GOODWIN. 349 care how to believe, or to live holily, but how to do both perseveringly. You must imitate those who, intending a long voyage by sea, freight their ship with provisions accord- ingly. A little oil will serve to make your lamps blaze for a while ; but it must be a full vessel that will keep them burning till midnight, or till the time of the Bridegroom's coming. " Beware of the notions of those who, to magnify the inward teachings of the Spirit of God, vilify his ordinances, and outward administrations ; judging these to be but impertinencies, and things which may with no spiritual dis- advantariuin, Vol. I. p. 537. JOHN c.ooDwiy. 387 of such men as Baxter, and Howe, and Bates, without feel- ings of the Hveliest regret ? and even trembling for those ■who dared to incur the guilt of such a measure ? Mr. Goodwin lived to see the Puritan clergy driven from the sanctuary, and to witness the commencement of those exe- crable persecutions by which they were harrassed dvn-ing the irreligious reign of the Second Charles. The episcopal clergy had been treated with great cruelty and injustice during the dissolution of monarchy, and, in their turn, re- solved to take ample vengeance upon tlieir former sup- planters. None of the rehgious parties had sufficiently pro- fited by those lessons concerning the rights of conscience which Mr. Goodwin had so strenuo\isly inculcated. As the friend and advocate of religious freedom, " his spirit was stirred in him"" when he saw some of the best men in the nation prohibited from preaching, summoned before arbi- trary tribunals, and shut up in prisons among thieves and murderers ; when he saw congregations deprived of the ministry of men whom they loved as their own souls, and irreligious men forced upon them as their spiritual guides. Under the impulse of feelings such as these intemperate measurc-5 were calculated to produce in a mind like his, he published a pamphlet entitled, " Prelatic Preachers none of Christ's Teachers." This was the last production of Mr. Goodwin's pen, and was ushered into the world without a name and without a date. Its design was to prove that diocesan episcopacy Avas no institution of Jesus Christ, and to call upon the professors of Christianity to discountenance it as an innovation in the church of God. It should seem fron^ this tract, that Mr. Goodwin re- mained a non-conformist till the termination of his life. According to the inscription accompanying a portrait of him, he died in the year 1665, and the seventy-lliird of liis age. No account of his last days was furnished by his con- temporaries, either in a funeral sermon, or in any other authentic document. This omission excites regret rather than surprise, when it is recollected that his death too-k 888 LIFE OF place when London was an extended scene of consternation and disorder, arising from the ravages of the plague, by the contagion of which one hundred thousand persons are said to have been carried off in the short space of twelve months. Scarcely had this terrible calamity disappeared, when a con- siderable part of the city was consumed by fire. — The Register of Burials, belonging to the parish of St. Stephen, Coleman-street, contains the following entry, but whether it refers to the subject of these memoirs or not, is uncertain : " John Goodwin Jn whites Alley, vitler was buried the 3rd of September 1665." It was at this awful crisis, that the distemper raged with the greatest violence. " Men did then no more die by tale and by number : they might put out a weekly bill, and call them seven or eight thousand, or what they pleased ; tis certain they died by heaps, and were buried by heaps, that is to say, without account. If I might believe some people, there was (were) not less buried those first three weeks in September, than twenty thousand per week.^-f- An intelligent and excellent man, who was preserved in those calamitous times, has also stated, " That most of the Church-yards (though some of them large enough) were filled up with earth, or rather the congestion of dead bodies one on another for want of earth, even to the very top of the walls, and some alcove the walls, so as the Churches seemed to be built in pits."'"' + In the year 1670, a quarto volume, bearing the following title, was published in Mr. Goodwin's name : " A Being Filled with the Spirit : wherein it is proved. That it is a Duty incumbent upon All Men, especially of Believers, that they be Filled with the Spirit of God." This posthu- mous publication did not receive the finishing hand cf its learned author : it nevertheless displays the same pious and benevolent temper, acute and powerful argumentation, deep t Journalof the Plague- Year, p. 274. Edit. 1722. + Memoirs of John Evelyn, Esq. F. R. S. Vol. I. pp. 309, 310. Edit. 1818. JOHN GOODWIN. 389 and familiar acquaintance with the Holy Scriptures, and singular facility in explaining their import, so strikingly manifest in his other theological works. He argues, " with strong commanding evidence," in proof of the Personality and Godhead of the Holy Ghost ; and demonstrates the absolute necessity of his gracious operation on the minds of men, in order that they may be enabled to yield an obedient compliance with the requisitions of the Gospel, in the ex- ercise of repentance and of faith ; be assured of their per- sonal adoption into the family of God ; be renewed in holiness and righteousness after the Divine image ; be qua- lified for the service of God in this world, and for the per- fect enjoyment of Him in a future state. To this truly orthodox and useful book, Mr. Ralph Venning, a pious minister of the Calvinian persuasion, wrote an " epistle dedicatory ;" in Avhich he says, " I cannot but acknowledge to have profited by the perusal of it, and do heartily pray, that the Lord will teach all that read it to profit by it, and make it instrumental to their being filled with the Spirit. " Though I confess myself not to be of the same opinion with the learned author in some other controverted points, yet I cannot but give my testimony concerning this piece, that I find an excellent spirit moving on the face of it, and acting in the heart of it, to promote the glory of God, the power of godliness, and consequently the good of men. Possibly an expression here and there may, as all human writings do, call for a grain of salt ; but as to the tenor of the whole, and the tendency thereof, I judge it to be very inoffensive, and not a little, but very useful. The author, it is true, according to his wonted genius, doth often tra- verse a great deal of ground, and fetch some compasses, before he come to his journey's end ; yet he makes it plea- sant by such variety, and will thereby pay the reader for his pains in following him." The publishers of this work, in their address to the reader, say, " The author himself, now at rest, having cc3 S90 MFK OF finished the work which God judged meet for hhn, and for ■which he was sent into the world, was a man whose heart was set within him to serve his generation with all faithful- ness in the great work of the ministry ; not much valuing the approbation or displeasure of men, when the interest of his Lord and Master, and the present peace and everlasting •welfare of men were concerned ; being indeed very faithful and laborious in that great work. We may without vanity say of him, as our blessed Saviour said of John the Baptist, He was a burning and a shining light, and many did much rejoice, at least for a season, in his light ; although at some- times, in the faithful discharge of his duty, he met with the same measure that his great Lord and Master had measured out unto him in the days of his flesh. {John vi, 60—66.)" While these men were disposed to cast a vail over the political errors and delinquencies of Mr. Goodwin, and to hold him up to respect and esteem for his virtues and minis- terial labours, there were others who contemplated his cha- racter and writings with sentiments of decided hostility. In the year 1683, the University of Oxford, wishful to display their attachment to Charles the Second, and to establisli the jus divinum of kings, drew up twenty-seven poliiical propositions, deduced from the writings of Bu- chanan, Knox, Milton, Owen, Baxter, Goodwin, and others, which they pronounced " damnable ;" and in solemn convocation decreed, that the books c^ontaining them, should be publicly burnt by their Marshall in the School- Quadrangle. A copy of these propositions and of the cen- sure passed upon them, was formally presented to the King, who was no doubt pleased with the doctrine designed to be supported. But the House of Commons afterwards returned the compliment to that learned body, by directing that the decree of the University should be committed to the flames by the common hangman, f t Lord Soiners's Collection of Tracts, VoL 111. p. 223. Edit. 1718. JOHN GOODWiy. 391 By the part which Mr. Goodwm had acted in reference to his unfortunate sovereign, it will be perceived, that the last days of his life were embittered, and his gray hairs brought to the grave under the dishonour of public censure. Another evil, still more to be regretted, and arising from the same cause, immediately succeeded : His invaluable writings on the predestinarian controversy, which might have been of the greatest advantage to the Church of Eng- land, fell into disrepute and neglect. They might otherwise have shewn the episcopal clergy the golden mean to be observed in theological doctrine, and have kept many of them at least from inculcating Semi-Pelagianism and merely moral ethics from the pulpit, in the plenitude of their aver- sion to Calvinism ; a fault into which not a few of them fell after the Restoration. The honour of exhibiting; to the Christian Church, upon an extensive scale, the Universal Love of God, and the Redemption of the whole world by the Death of Christ, in connection with the important doc- trine of Justification by Faith, and the renovation of human nature by the power of the Holy Ghost, was re- served for the late Rev. John Wesley ; a man Avho united the purest loyalty with an ardent love of rational freedom, and Avho adopted every thing that was vital and truly evangelical in Calvinian divinity, without the doctrine of fate, which has often been unhappily identified with " the truth as it is in Jesus." The case of Mr. Goodwin, as it respects this subject, is one of the most instructive upon record. In him the finest talents, a most amiable temper, extensive learning, and indefatigable industry and applica- tion, were all rendered abortive, in regard to any perma- nent benefit to the Christian Church. In him is presented the affecting spectacle of a laborious and faithful minister of the gospel, the man who first brought the subject of universal liberty of conscience fairly and fully before British Christians, and some of whose writings are among the most valuable in the whole compass of English theoloo-y, through indiscreet meddling with secular politics, retiring 392 LIFE OF to the grave, not in honour and tranquilUty, but in silence and in sorrow, without even a stone to point out the place where his ashes are deposited ! " Died Abner as the fool dieth ?"" Religious people, and especially Christian minis- ters, are here reminded, in a manner the most impressive, of the evil of indulging unconstitutional disaffection to " the powers that be," and particularly of countenancing revolutionary plots presumptuously formed and executed by unauthorized individuals. " Fear God : honour the King;' JOHN COODVriN. CHAPTER XI. ricw of Mr. Goodwin* s character — DiUgence and fidelity as a Christian Mi-> nistcr — Moderation and firmness as an enlightened advocate of religions Ulerty — Patience of^ contradiction — Style and ma?i?ier as a writer — Strong resemblance to Milton in the leading features of his character — Mischief done iy the political meddling of the Puritans — Mr. Goodwin' s political errors — His great disinterestedness — Causes of the obliquity of his mind in regard to Charles the First — His views of divine grace — Of predestina- tion — Of election — Motives by jvhich he teas actuated in his several contro- versies — His natural modesty — Submission to the Scriptures on all theological questions — His views of the criminality of voluntary ignorance of divine things — Of the necessity of divine illumination in the study of Scripture — His ardent love q/^ truth — Ingenuousness and courage in the profession of it — His great mental poivers — Command of temper — Generosity of mind- Magnanimity under all his persecutions. From the preceding narrative, it is presumed, a tolera- bly accurate view may be obtained of Mr. Goodwin's opini- ons and general character. Such of his contemporaries as Prynne, Edwards, Bastwick, and Vicars, would not acknowledge that he possessed either talent or moral excel- lence ; but have represented him as a monstrous compound of folly, heresy, and wickedness: but their reproaches aj'e manifestly the mere ebullitions of party spleen, advanced without proof, and therefore unworthy of serious regard. Several modern writers have been equally unjust to the memory of this great and singular man. As a Christian Minister, the conduct of Mr. Goodwin was highly exemplary. In the labours of the pulpit he was instant in season, out of season, refuting error, exposing vice, defending the doctrines, and enforcing the duties of Christianity. He did not insult the understandings of his hearers by an incessant repetition of common-places, or of 894 LIFE OF crude and indigested notions ; but acquired ample stores of biblical and theological knowledge, that, like a scribe well instructed, he might bring forth things new and old for the edification of the souls committed to his care. For this purpose his application to study was intense and unremitted. His reading was accurate, and very extensive, notwithstand- ing his general poverty. With the works of the Christian Fathers, of the Schoolmen, and of the most celebrated Protestant Divines, he was familiarly acquainted. Above all, he was an indefatigable and a successful student of the Holy Scriptures. He deliberately investigated all the facts and doctrines which they record, and made himself a complete master of their phraseology ; inattention to which is one principal source of error among theological students. These qualifications gave to his public ministry a richness and a variety, which afforded the highest delight to pious and in- telligent people, drew multitudes around his pulpit, and fully account for that strong attacliment to him which his stated hearers so repeatedly evinced. As an advocate of Religious Liberty, Mr. Goodwin was equally entitled to commendation. He thoroughly under- stood the rights of conscience, and was their uniform and zealous friend. When the whole Presbyterian world clamoured for religious coercion, — when the British Parlia- ment^ engaged in war with the King, claimed dominion over conscience as one of its high prerogatives, and Avas exceedingly jealous of its honours — wheu scarcely any other person dared openly to appear on the same side with him, Mr. Goodwin contended with invincible courage, but with- out any rudeness or indecorum, that Consciences and sotals were made. To be the Lord's alone. To this grand principle he adhered, with the most laudable firmness, amidst all the political changes the nation under- went ; andnever deviated from it a hair''s breadth, from the commencement of his authorship, to the termination of his life. For the establishment of thi? position, he exposed JOHN GOODWIN. S0S himself to great personal danger, and sacrificed his property and his reputation. It is also highly honourable to him, that he never defended religious liberty in the spirit of per- secution. Strange as it may appear, such is the deceitful- ness of the human heart, that this has been often done. The late Mr. Robinson of Cambridge seldom introduces the subject of persecution, without a grin at the national church; many of whose clergy and private members are as strongly averse to that evil as he himself ever was. And surely those Christians who worship God in the use of a Liturgy, and think it their duty to submit to Episcopal Jurisdiction, are as much entitled to courtesy and respect, as those who prefer extemporary worship and any other form of church- government. If it be said, that several dignitaries of the English Church were formerly distinguished by the spirit and practice of persecution ; the answer is obvious : So were many Nonconformists, both in Great Britain and America. But why, either in one case or the other, should the sins of the Fathers be visited upon the children ? Messrs. Bogue and Bennett, in their History of the Dissenters, profess an extraordinary zeal for absolute freedom in religion, and yet frequently pass beyond the line of truth and charity to fix a stigma upon persons who dissent from Calvinism and Inde- pendency. But if liberty of conscience is one of the most sacred rights of human nature — if it is an act of injustice to injure any man in his person or property because he uses that right — is it not also an act of injustice to injure him in his reputation on the same account ? The man who misre- presents the principles and character of his fellow-christians, because the creed which they conscientiously hold happens to differ from his own, let him profess what he may, is a per- secutor to all intents and purposes. In the tracts written by Mr. Goodwin against coercion in matters of faith, this mean and intolerant spirit never appears either under the garb of liberality, or in any other form. His patience of Contradiction was very remarkable. He openly avowed and strenuously defended the unbiassed con- victions of his mind concerning the doctrines of Divine 396 LIFE OF Revelation ; but lie was neither mortified nor offended when he found that his brethren were not convinced by his argu- ments. Several theological writers,under such circumstances, have suffered their passions to be irritated and soured, and have rather displayed the querulousness of discontented children, than the dignified moderation of Christian men. This was the greatest defect in the character of the truly eminent Richard Baxter. This extraordinary man imagined that God had discovered to him a method, by which the fol- lowers of Calvin and those of Arminius might be united together in religious opinion. Delighted with the thought of terminating one of the most perplexing controversies that had ever agitated the Christian Church, he stated his plan, and assigned his reasons. A few persons entered into his views : but neither the Calvinists nor the Arminians were generally inclined to sacrifice those principles which his scheme required. Hence the good man was displeased, and applied to those bodies of Christians the most reproachful epithets ; such as, " Dogmatical word-warriors — incendia- ries — corrupters of the Christian faith — subverters of their own souls — teaching to censure, backbite, slander, and prate against each other, for things which they never under- stood." The use of such language, in reference to men who in the spirit of meekness contend for what they religiously believe to be the truth of God, is in every respect unwarran- table ; since every man has an unquestionable right to fol- low the conscientious convictions of his own mind in the affairs of his salvation, and peaceably to communicate his religious sentiments to others. Of this Mr. Goodwin was fully aware ; and therefore never casts reflections upon his brethren because they thought his creed erroneous. " Far be it from us," he and his church say, " to obtrude our no- tions upon any man : neither shall it be any matter of dis- content to us, that men cannot presently comport in judgment with us. We consider, that as men''s bodies must have competent time allowed them for removal from one place to another ; so must their minds also, for a regular and man- like quitting of a former opinion, held with any tolerable JOHN GOODWIX. 397 degree of probability, to take up another opposite to it. We ourselves were not suddenly, nor without many a looking back towards our former opinions, nor without many a going round about them, built up in that faith wherein we now stand ; and for the entertaining whereof, we have not only forsaken many of our brethren in the way of their j Lidgments, but ourselves.*" * As a writer, Mr. Goodwin repeatedly declares himself to have been remarkably slow in composition. And hence, his works are less numerous than those of many of his contem- poraries ; and not a few of them are extremely diminutive in size. He has faults which were common amongst the authors of his time. His sentences are sometimes immeasurably long, and his style redundant: he multiplies words to satiety. Yet his meaning is generally clear, his language often forci- ble in a high degree, and his thoughts are frequently original and impressive. There are passages in his writings, which, for sublimity of conception, and energy of expression, would not suffer by a comparison Avith the most admired productions of his age ; excepting only those of Milton, and of the inimitable Jeremy Taylor. As a specimen the dedi- cation and preface to his " Redemption Redeemed" might be confidently adduced. He was not deficient in imagination, and some of his ilhistrations are eminently beautiful. Of the Greek and Latin classics he appears to have been a pas- sionate admirer, and hence his quotations from them are numerous, and often introduced with superior elegance and effect. But it is in perspicuity and strength of argumenta- tion, in profound and striking views of evangelical truths and in lucid expositions of different passages of Holy Writ, that his principal excellencies consist. As a logician he has seldom been equalled, and in a talent for illustrating Scripture he was perhaps never excelled. Various are the subjects upon which he employed his pen. His works com- prehend several pieces of didactic and practical theology ; a system of catechetical instruction ; disquisitions on church- * Agreement and Distance of Brethren, Preface. 398 LIFE OF government ; on tlie inspiration of tlie Holy Scriptures ; on religious Toleration ; on the subjects and mode of bap- tism ; on^church-fellowship between Paedo-Baptists and AntipaL'do-Baptists ; on the celebrated quinquarticular con- troversy ; on the Deity, the personality, and the operation of the Holy Ghost ; and on various political questions : and on all these topics, excepting the last, his writings are highly creditable to his learning, his judgment, and his moderation. In the selection of terms he always aimed rather at strength than elegance. In one of his epistles " to the reader," he therefore says, " Trimness of style, and quaint- ness of invention, I know where thou mayest find, but not here. The bent of my study is, to provide for the consci- ences of men, though their fancies starve. And die truth is, that efFeminateness and lightness of phrase, doth but transmit the matter to the imagination : whereas a mas- culine and weighty expression carries it into the conscience, and makes it sink into the soul.*" * Whether any intimacy subsisted between Mr. Goodwin and Milton, is uncertain ; but between the constitution of their minds, and many parts of their personal history, there was a very manifest and striking resemblance. They were both distinguished by a boldness and originality of thought, that rendered them impatient of the restraints which old established systems would have imposed upon them ; by an aptitude to wander in regions of speculation, where the print of a human foot had never been impressed ; and by a peculiar fearlessness of censure in the open avowal of their opinions. At the commencement of the civil wars, they both joined the parliament, and were tlie first that wrote in vindication of its proceedings. At this period they were both inclined to Presbyterianism ; but, observing the in- tolerance of its adherents, they became the disciples of Inde- pendency. The spirit of innovation by which they were actuated, and their mistaken zeal for national liberty * God a Good Master. JOHN GOODWIX, 399 prompted them both to defend the subversion of monarchy, and the measures adopted by the High Court of Justice. They were by far the most ardent, distinguished, and con- sistent advocates of rehgious freedom in that eventful age ; and both strenuously contended for the " liberty of un- licensed printing." Educated in the school of Calvlnian theology, they both at length became " wiser than their teachers," and cherished more enlarged views of the divine philanthropy. Through the whole period of their lives they both displayed the greatest disinterestedness, Milton sacrificed his sight in what he conceived to be the cause of liberty ; and Mr. Goodwin not only exposed himself to great personal danger by his writings for the advancement of the same object, but endured the loss of reputation and property, and never received either fee or reward. Com- peers in political delinquency, they were associated together in the proclamation of Charles the Second, on his accession to the throne, requiring the suppression of their books, and the apprehension of their persons. Many of the Puritan ministers who were contemporary with Mr. Goodwin, possessed several excellences of a high order. They preached the distinguishing truths of revelation in an experimental and impressive manner, so as to produce the most beneficial results in the nation. Open vice was discountenanced, and a general reformation took place in public morals. But by associating all that is vital in Chris- tianity with secular politics, and familiarizing the minds of the common people with the dangerous doctrine of resist- ance, the Puritans ultimately destroyed all the good that had been effected. They excited in the minds of sober and thouglitful men, the friends of social order, strong prejudices against all feeling in religion, and against the scriptural doctrine of salvation by faith. These prejudices, accom- panied by the unhallowed effusions of a burlesque poet o. consummate wit and genius, inundated this country with irreligion, profaneness, and formality, for near a century after the Restoration ; and their influence is still felt in every part of the empire. The mischief done by the politi- 400 LIFE OF cal meddling of the Puritans should serve as a beacon to warn all classes of professing Christians against the princi- ples and machinations of the disloyal, and especially such as tend to sedition and anarchy. Revolutionary strife and contention are an element utterly unsuited to the peaceful and retiring spirit of personal godliness. The great fault of the Puritans, however, admits of considerable extenuation from the persecutions they had formerly endured, and from the peculiar circumstances of their times : considerations which will not apply to any class of people in the present age, when the civil constitution has long been defined and settled, and religious liberty, even to licentiousness, is uni- versally enjoyed. It is especially to be regretted, that Mr. Goodwin should have taken part with the men who were concerned in the fate of Charles. But alas, Nemo mortalium omnibus lioris sapit ! The two pamphlets which he wrote in their defence, have left a blot upon his memory, and will never allow even those who admire his theological opinions, and his general character, to contemplate the whole of his conduct with un- mingled approbation and delight. That a man of his acute- ness and penetration, a man who thought so correctly on almost every other subject, should have written the tracts in question, and have seriously thought that the measures which he defended would form a basis of national liberty ; is a melancholy proof of the infirmity to which great minds are sometimes liable ; and can only be accounted for by recollecting the rude state in which political science then existed, and the peculiar predicament of the country, Avhen the very elements of the constitution wei'e at war with each other. If we identify the present government of England, either in church or state, with that under which Mr. Good- win lived, we shall be unjust to him and grossly impose upon ourselves. On every side he saw insulted parliaments, arbitrary taxation, illegal and sanguinary tribunals, corrupted and mercenary law, bigotted and desolating persecution. * * Syinmons's Life of Milton., p. 586. JOHN GOODWIN. 401 By such enormities the nation was involved in the miseries of civil strife : and when the principles of the king and his advisers were considered, a recurrence of these evils M'as con- fidently anticipated in the event of his restoration to the throne. Speaking of the concessions of the parliament to the royal party, as the ground of Charles's elevation to his regal pre- rogatives, Mr. Goodwin says, « What could such an en- couragement, given to such men, but portend, either a re-embroiling of this miserably- wasted nation in wars and blood, or the necessity of patient and quiet subjection to the iron yoke of perpetual bondage ; together with the certain ruin of those who had shewed most faithfulness in defence of the kingdom's liberties .?" f Under these impressions, Mr. Goodwin wrote his " Right and Might," and his " Ob- structors of Justice," and not from any spirit of insubor- dination, or of hostility to the kingly office ; much less from any delight in blood, as is intimated in the pitiful account of him which is given in the " General Biographical Dic- tionary," recently published under the direction of Alex- ander Chalmers, Esq. Such an insinuation could never have been made by any person who had the slightest know- ledge of Mr. Goodwin s character. He was deceived in Crom- well and his associates, and in the measures to which they resorted ; and his being deceived appears the more remark- able to us who know the tyranny which followed in Eng- land during the commonwealth, and the military despotism which arose out of similar proceedings in modern France : but Mr. Goodwin's errors were common to many eminent personages of that day, and were especially the errors of the mind which produced " Paradise Lost," and the " De- fence of the People of England." Amidst the political aberrations into which Mr. Goodwin was drawn, in those days of confusion, he never acted the part either of a time-server, or of a parasite. He wrote indeed in vindication of the Long Parhament and of the Army ; but when they encroached upon the rights of pri- t Right and Might, p. 18. Dn 402 LIFE OF vate conscience, he did not hesitate with a firm and manly tone to declare his disapprobation of their iniquitous pro- ceedings. His religious sentiments rendered him obnoxious to the leading men both in the Parliament and the Com- monwealth ; but such was his conviction of the truth and importance of those sentiments, that he wovdd neither deny nor conceal them for any worldly accommodation whatever. While other preachers and writers, of far inferior ability, were amply rewarded for their services to the government, he was treated with neglect and injustice. A bare protec- tion from personal violence was the only remuneration he ever received for any of his political writings. His continued attachment to the Long Parliament and to the Protector,' was perfectly gratuitous, and was manifested " against disobligements not a few nor inconsiderable." The former party reduced him to extreme indigence, by expelling him from his vicarage ; the latter restored him to it again, but with scarcely any revenue attached to it. To enjoy the patronage of the great under the Parliament, he must have abandoned his doctrine of religious liberty ; and to acquire temporal honours and emolument under the Common Avealth, he must have sacrificed his Arminlanism : but these lay too near his heart to be resigned for any thing " this short- enduring world could give.*" There was in him a certain loftiness of spirit, which rendered him extremely averse to all crouching to the rich and great for personal advantage. When accused of flattering men in power, he says, " Luther professed, that for twenty years together, he never felt the least motion in his heart towards covetousness - I may say, I never found my heart tempting me to such a compliance with any great person whatsoever. They who have known me from my youth up, will freely give this testimony of me, that what other weakness soever they observed in me, they never found me Inclined to familiarities with sreat men, much less to any adulatory comportments with them.""-f- " Of all unchristian misbehaviours, there is a peculiar anti- f Peace Protected, p. 71. JOHN GOODWIN. 403 pathy in my genius, against the sin of flattery, and unwor- thy compHance with great persons : which principle, though it hath kept me from honour and preferment, hath abun- dantly recompenced that inconvenience otherwise : nor do I intend to sell it or to recede from it at any rate whatsoever. As for flattery and undue applications to the greatness of this world, allVhat know the manner of my conversation, will be my compurgators. But as there is a great abhor- rency in my temper from flattery, so there is a strong pro- pension to vindicate worthy actions, by whomsoever per- formed, whether by shrubs or cedars. In managing this principle, it is very possible that my pen, being warm, may rhetorize a little to the right hand ; which hath always been counted a venial delinquency by ingenuous men." -j- " This I confess, that from first to last, I have stood by the Authority for the time being, and have contended for an universal subjection in all things lawful unto it. When there were two Authorities conflicting, that of the King, and the other of the Parliament, I joined that which I judged best pleadable, and most promissory of civil and RELIGIOUS HAPPINESS. To tliis authority I have constantly adhered, not only in the lowest ebb thereof, when its com- petitress was ready to overwhelm it, but likewise under all those sad requitals wherewith it recompenced my service. For as I was a zealous assertor of tliis Authority, so was I faithful in declaring [its] just and lawful bounds; per- suading it to contain itself within its own sphere ; protesting that if it should prove like Jordan in the time of harvest, and overflow its banks, this would endanger the cutting off of the waters, and laying the channel of it dry. Men in authority can hardly be sufficiently jealous over themselves, lest they concs3it their power to be more extensive than it is; or that in the exercise of it they intrench upon some of the appropi'iate royalties of God. But my faithfulness in en- deavouring to preserve that Authority from destruction by its own exorbitancies, was of so hard a resentment with it, :J- Obstructors of Justice,,}). 141. DD 2 404 LIFE OF that it did not only quench all remembrance of those other services, wherein I sought to prevent the annoyance of it by other men, but kindled a spirit of unkindness, and of hard, that I say not unjust proceedings against me. Upon this account I cannot but presume it was, that I was so frowned upon and smitten by this Authority : that I was, time after time, summoned before the Consistory, surnamed the Committee for Plundered Ministers ; and this by the procurement of some of the members of the Authority I speak of; that here I was coarsely handled, disgracefully entreated, my accusers, though but few and less considerable, countenanced ; my friends, who appeared with me and for me, neglected ; and that at last I was compelled to drink the cup prepared only for Malignant Ministers ; being not only sequestered from my living, but denied the liberty of preaching in my wonted place. Nor was there, as far as my memory is able to recollect, any reason given by the Committee, of so severe a sentence against me. I verily believe, that from the first to the last of the sitting of that Parliament, there was no example of any minister in the land, who had so cordially, and with so much activeness in the promotion of their cause, adhered to them as I had done, and upon whom they had so little to charge otherwise, who received the like measure from their hand. I confess that, after several years'" total sequestration, (between four and five as I remember,) the Presbyterian interest somewhat damping, and the person gratified in my sequestration fall- ing under some parliamentary dislike, I was, with much adO) restored to my place in Coleman-street. But, jam seges est, ubi Troiajimt, at my return, I found only a piece of skeleton of those means, which, at my departure, I left a fair and full body. The chief men upon the place had transferred their devotion-benevolence, as well as their devo- tion itself, upon him who had served their turns and his own in my pulpit. So that if I should estimate the loss I sustained by my sequestration, (without valuing the disre- pute accompanying it,) at five hundred pounds, I should, I believe, cut short the account by one half. Notwithstanding JOHN GOODWIN. 405 all these dlsobligcments, yet did I not behave myself faul- teringly in that covenant of loyalty and service, wherein mine own judgment and conscience had engaged me, to the men who thus requited me. *' So that if I am a time-server, I have served very hard masters ; from whom I never received any thing for my work, but in such coin wherein Paul five times received forty save one. Nor have I ever known, unless by hearsay, that the great men of the times have so much as the ninth part of a farthing, wherewith to reward those who have served them. But I know by experience, that they have scorpions wherewith to chastise their servants without a cause. Nor do I now write these things out of any que- rulous disposition, or desire that the masters of the present times should repair the breaches made upon me by their predecessors, but to stop the mouth of that unworthiness which is opened against me, as if 1 had thriven in the world so well by serving the times formerly, that I meant to fol- low the same occupation. The truth is, I am resolved, God assisting me, to serve the present times upon [the same ac- count on which I served the former; and judge myself bound in conscience so to do. There shall be no more wars in the land, nor bloodshed, nor tumults, nor plunderings, nor depopulations, in my days, nor in the days after me, as far as I shall be able to prevent them. I shall be free to serve men in authority, and in them the nation, and yet leave them at perfect liberty to dispose as well of their faces as of their places, to whom they please. I desire neither ; and if they please to deny me both, I shall serve them as well as I can without them. My great design in giving unto Caesar that which I know to be Caesars, is, that thereby I may purchase the more equitable liberty to deny unto Caesar that which I know is not his, whensoever he assumes it. And if Caesar, whoever he be, caretli not to be served upon such an account, he must wait for relief till I am dead. For I am resolved to serve him, and yet not upon any other terms."" -|- f Peace Protected, Preface. DO 3 406 LIFE OF This valuable extract gives an interesting view of the prin- ciples by which Mr. Goodwin was actuated in regard to his political conduct. On every occasion when conscience was concerned, he was firm and unyielding, free from every bias of secular interest. While we lament therefore the obliquity of his mind in the case of Charles, his honest inte- grity, and singular disinterestedness, will warrant the appli- cation to him of the solemn appeal of his illustrious co- adjutor : " I invoke the Almighty to witness, that I never, at any time, wrote any thing which I did not think agreeable to truth, to justice, and to piety. — Nor was I ever prompted to such exertions by the influence of ambition, by the lust of lucre or of praise ; it was only the conviction of duty and the feeling of patriotism, a disinterested passion for civil and religious liberty."" •}- To Mr. Goodwin's abhorrence of persecution, as an out- rage upon every thing sacred, and the scandalous intolerance of the Presbyterian party, his political errors may be dis- tinctly traced ; nor can they be justly attributed to any other causes. It is also worthy of remark that the religious liberty for which he so strenuously contended, has been fully realized in this country, since the glorious era of the Revo- lution in 1688; and especially since the accession of the House of Hanover to the British throne. O blissful days ! When all men worship God as conscience wills. Far other times our fathers' grandsires knew. When it is said that Mr. Goodwin was an Arminian, it is intended to use that word in its strict and proper sense. It is not unusual to find writers of considerable celebrity, either through prejudice or inattention, greatly injuring the learned and excellent Arminius by associating with his name sentiments which he openly disavowed. The doctrines espoused by him, in defiance of truth and justice, have been frequently identified with those of Arius and Pelagius. Of t Milton's Prose Works, Vol. VI. p. 383. Edit. 1806. JOHN GOODWIX. 407 the same ungenerous treatment Mr. Goodwin had often occasion to complain. Whereas no theological writers whatever have more distinctly and strongly than they, asserted, the absolute and universal depravity of human nature — the proper divinity of Jesus Christ — the atonement made by his death— justification by faith in Him — the indispensable necessity of the Holy Spirit's operation in order to the commencement, the continuance, and the com- pletion of personal holiness ; as well as in every act of Christian obedience. Several theologians have indeed con- tended for the universality of the Divine Benevolence, and at the same time have denied some of the doctrines here specified, especially those of original sin, and justification by faith. This has been the case with some of Arminius's successors in Holland, and with a considerable number of Eno-lish writers. But to denominate such men Arminians is palpably disingenuous, and only calculated to mislead the uninformed. The unevangelical publications of these men have done more to bring the genuine doctrines of Armini- anism into disrepute, than all the arguments of Owen, of Gill, and of Edwards put together. Could the pious and intelligent Arminius address such refiners upon the system which bears his name, he would exclaim, Non tali auxilio, nee defensoribus istis Egeo In avoiding the doctrine of Necessity, Mr. Goodwin, like his great predecessor Arminius, never runs into the Pelagian quagmire. In his writings, Divine Grace is always repre- sented as taking the lead in every thing that conduces to the salvation of man. " Concerning the Grace of God," says-he, " and the freeness hereof, I hold nothing but what fully accords with these positions : That the original of the salvation of the world, and so of every person that comes to be saved, was from the free grace and good pleasure of God. — That the method, or system of counsels, according to which God effecteth the salvation of all that are saved, did proceed entirely from the same grace and good pleasure. AGS I.IFE OP —That the gift of Jesus Christ for a Mediator, and so the grant of justification and salvation to men upon Believing, issued solely from the same grace. — That men by nature, that is, considered under such a condition as they were brought unto by Adam, and wherein they should have subsisted, in case they had been born, had not the grace of God in Christ interposed to relieve them, have no power, not the least inclination or propension of will, to do any thing acceptable to God, or of a saving import. — That notwithstanding the healing of the natural condition of man by the free grace of God, there is not one of a thousand, possibly not one throughout the world, but so corrupts him- self, that without a second relief, viz. in patience and long- suifering towards him, ever comes to repent, or believe, and so to be saved. — That it is from the undeserved grace of God, that any person is put into a capacity of believing, or hath power and means vouchsafed to him to enable him to believe. — That a man is put into this capacity of believing by an irresistible working of the free grace of God. — That when a man comes actually to believe, the exercise of this power proceeds also from the free grace of God ; so that no man ever believeth without present assistance from the free grace of God, over and above his ability to believe. — That the act of believing, whensoever it is performed, is at so low a rate of efficiency from a man's self, that, suppose the act could be divided into a thousand parts, nine liundred ninety and nine of them are to be ascribed unto the free-grace of God, and only one unto man. Yea this one is no otherwise to be ascribed to man, than as supported, strengthened, and assisted by the free-grace of God. I attribute as much as possibly can be, to the grace of God in the act of believing, saving the attributableness of the action to man himself, in the lowest sense that can be conceived. For certain it is, that it is man, not the Spirit of God, that believeth : and therefore there must be such a degree of efficiency about it left unto man, which may with truth give it the denomination of being his. They that go about to interest the grace of God, in the act of believing upon any other terms, so that JOHN GOODWIN. 409 the act cannot truly be called the act of the creature, are injurious in the highest manner to the grace of God, at this main turn; rendering it altogether vmproiitable to the poor creature ; who by the verdict of such a notion should be left in his sins. The law of Justification is expressly this : He that believeth shall be Justified. Therefore if it be not man himself that believeth, it is impossible that he should be justified." * In perfect accordance with these principles were Mr. Goodwin''s views of Predestination and Election. " God is asserted," says he, " to have predestinated, or purposed, so many as should truly Believe, unto Life and Glory ; and all who should Not Believe, unto Destruction. Such a predestination of men from eternity as this, the Scriptures clearly hold forth : such a predestination is fully consistent with the glory of his Wisdom, and highly magnifies all his attributes, without the least disparagement of any. Whereas that doomful pretention, that blood which many wring out of the Scriptures instead of milk, hath no intelligible com- port with any of them, but casts a kind of obscurity upon them all."-|- — " The tenor of God's decree of Election, which was from eternity, is this, Whosoever shall believe in my Son Jesus Christ, shall hereupon become a man of that species, sort, or kind of men, whom I have chosen from amongst all other men, and designed to salvation. Men cannot, in propriety of speech, be said to be elected from eternity, because they had no being from eternity : nothing having been from eternity but God alone." | " Neither God's election, nor his purpose according to election, can be said to proceed from faith foreseen ; but from the mere grace and good pleasure of God. For thougli it be supposed that he decreeth to elect, and accordingly actually electeth, all that believe, and none other ; yet this at no hand proveth either that his purpose or the execution hereof, proceed in their origination, from the faith of such persons foreseen, no nor from the foresight of their faith : * Redemption Redeemed, Preface. f Ibid. p. 68, X Ibid. p. 244. 410 LIFE OF though this be more tolerable than the other. There is nothing in the nature of faith, nor in God's foresight of faith, in what persons soever, that hath in it any generative virtue of any such purpose in God. It is true, the incom- prehensible Wisdom of God, which mingleth itself with, and steers all the motions of his Will, led him to faith as the most proper fovmdation whereon to build his purpose of election, and accordingly his election itself : but this no more proveth that faith, either foreseen, or in what consider- ation soever, is the cause of God's purpose of election, than a good foundation is the cause of a man's desire or resolution to build a house. Doubtless the Love of God to mankind, out of which he decreed the election and salvation of those that believe, was a most intimous principle in him, flowing immediately from the essential goodness of his nature ; and not raised by any foreign influence or interposure what- ever." * Several persons appear to have no conception of contro- versy, except as associated with angry passions : and as Mr. Goodwin was frequently employed in logical warfare, attempts have been made on this grovmd to fix a stain upon his reputation. He has been represented as a sort of second Ishmael, Avhose hand was against every man while every man's hand was against him. It is however manifest, that there is no moral evil in controversy, considered in itself ; and that it only becomes such when managed with unfair- ness, or employed as a vehicle of slander. On the other hand, it may be a means of the greatest possible advantage to society and to religion. To the oral disputes of Jesus Christ with the Jewish sects, we are indebted for no incon- siderable part of the evangelical History ; some of the apos- tolical Epistles are unquestionably of a polemical nature ; and, judging from the practice of the Inspired Writers, there are occasions when it is perfectly lawful to adopt even an ironical stvle, in the exposure of error as well as of vice. The bare circumstance, therefore, of a man's being a contra- * Exposition of tlje Ninth of Romans, p. 133. JOHN GOODWIV. 411 versial writer, implies no just imputation upon his moral character. Openly and zealously to oppose errors, and tyrannical impositions upon conscience, is no fault, but an imperious duty. It should also be remarked, that Mr. Goodwin considered it to be his misfortune, that he was so frequently engaged in disputation with his brethren ; and often declares with considerable emotion, that nothing but a consciousness of duty, and an ardent love of liberty and truth, could induce him to submit to such a sacrifice of his personal feelings. He always enjoyed an opportunity of retiring from the rugged paths of controversy, to walk in the flowery meadows, and among the delightful streams and fountains of exegetical and practical theology. " The great searcher of the reins," says he, " knoweth, that if himself would discharo^e me of the service of contradictinir and opposing men, and dispose of me in a way of retire- ment, were it never so private and obscure, where I might only contest with mine own weakness and errors, he should give me one of the first-born desires of my soul. As for revenge, I have always, since I knew any thing of God, judged it not only an unchristian, but a most effeminate, base, and ignoble passion : yea, at this hour, my thoughts hardly suffer me to conceive of it as consisting with those things that accompany salvation. I wish it were as easy for others to forbear injuring me, as it is for me to neglect and pass it by, when they have done it. Whosoever bur- den me widi the crimes of ambition and revenge, certain I am that they are strangers to my spirit and converse. As for ambition, unless to shape a course for the dust and dunghill ; for poverty, contempt, disgrace ; loss of estate, of friends, of whatsoever is called great in the world, be ambition; the tenor of the course I have steered will be my compurgator in the consciences of all those to Avhom it hath been known." * Mr. Goodwin was naturally modest and unassuming: and hence, notwithstanding his talents and learning, he did * Novice-Presbyter lustructed, p. 137. 412 LIFE OP not appear before the world as an author, till he was up- wards of forty years of age. Many of his publications are of a practical nature ; and nearly all his polemical works were extorted from him by the misrepresentations and reproaches of his intolerant contemporaries. In the course of his ministry he preached what he believed to be the truth : but as his creed was not formed on the model of Calvin's Institutes, and the Decrees of the Synod of Dort, his brethren directed their discourses from the pulpit against him, and filled the press with scandalous pamphlets, the declared object of which was to effect his ruin. He expos- tulated with his ungenerous assailants, expressed a strong desire to live in peace, and for some time patiently endured the most outrageous treatment. Now and then he repelled an unprovoked attack, but suffered many such to pass with- out any public notice. While he pursued these gentle measures, he had reason almost daily to complain, " How are they increased that trouble me !" Weary at length of parrying the thruits of his antagonists, and having been long dared to the field, he buckled on his Arminian armour, carried the war into the camp of the enemy, and maintained it there, with invincible magnanimity and surprizing effect, during the remainder of his life. " They who have known me," says he, " from my youth up, until some few years past, very well know, that however I was encompassed about with infirmities otherwise, yet did I never either deserve or bear the blame of boldness ; but always the contrary. Only since God was pleased to call me out of the retirement of my unprofitable bashfulness, he hath made me, as Jere- my of old, an iron pillar and brazen wall.*" * In none of his public controversies, of a theological na- ture, was Mr. Goodwin the original assailant. He wrote nothing either in defence of his peculiar opinions concerning justification, or in vindication of the Arminian doctrines, till he had been openly impeached as a heretic, and sum- moned to the bar of the public to answer for the crime of * Triumviri, Preface. JOHN GOODWIN. 413 perverting the truths of Christianity. It is true that he commenced the attack upon the Triers and Ejectors of Ministers ; but this he regarded as a duty which he owed to his country, and to the cause of rehgious freedom. " Con- sidering,'" says he, " how enormous and insupportable the proceedings of the two newly-erected Consistories, the one of Triers, the other of Ejectors, grew from day to day, I had no rest in my spirit till I had answered the call of God in my conscience, to give testimony against them ; and to declai-e the unjustifiableness of the power delegated to them ; but especially that exercised by them ; by clear principles in reason, but especially by the light that shines from heaven in the Scriptures." * Mr. Goodwin's implicit submission to the decisions of Holy Writ, on all questions in divinity, is worthy of special notice. Some learned and speculative men have endeavoured to deduce the doctrines of religion from what they have called the Light of Nature ; and have attempted to bend the Scriptures to them by elaborate criticisms and unnatural interpretations. Others have subjected the most sublime discoveries of Revelation to the test of mere human reason ; and have resolved to yield the assent of their minds to no doctrine, the difficulties of which they could not solve upon purely rational principles. But our author was so deeply impressed with the conviction, that All truth is from the Sempiternal Source Of light Divine ; that, upon all occasions, he manifests a perfect willingness to bow to the authority of the Inspired Writings. " We ought not," said one of the greatest of men, " to attempt to draw down or submit the mysteries of God to our reason, but contrariwise, to raise and advance our reason to the I divine truth." "f* In perfect accordance with this principle, it was the business of Mr. Goodwin's life, to ascertain the • Ibid. t Lord Bacon. 414 LIFE OF meaning of the Sacred Oracles, and to form his creed accord- ing to what he religiously believed to be the mind of the Holy Spirit. *' I have not the least desire," says he, "to be wise above what is written in the book of God ; nor have I the least hope of rising in wisdom to the height of what is written herein, whilst the encumbrance of flesh and blood hangeth on me. Only my desires are, that in my conscien- tious endeavours to ascend this mountain, I may neither be thrust down by those that are above me, nor be pulled backward by those that are beneath."" * To remain willingly ignorant, however, of what the bles- sed God hath seen good to reveal, Mr. Goodwin deemed equally criminal Avith a daring scrutiny into the divine secrets. He therefore set himself, by the use of every means in his power, to form an acquaintance with the *' whole counsel of God," as declared in the Holy Scrip- tures. " If any man," says he, " advanceth himself into the things which he hath not seen, or above the proportion of his faith, let him suifer as a transgressor of the law of sobriety ; I shall not be his advocate. I go no further than I feel the ground firm under me. If I come at any time to a place that is soft and tender, I tread light, and charge no great matter of weight upon it. Yet not to go up to the mount, when God calleth, and ofFereth the kisses of his mouth to us there, under a pretence of danger in climbing, is to reject the bounty of heaven, and betray the richest opportunities of making ourselves great in the sight of God, angels, and men. The things revealed in the Scriptures, as well those of the most sublime consideration, as things of a more obvious import, ' belong unto us and to our children,' are our spiritual patrimony, which God our Father hath given us, to maintain ourselves honourably in faith and hohness. Every inch of such an inheritance is worth stand- ing upon, and contending for."f Mr. Goodwin was fully aware of the necessity of Divine assistance in order to the discovery and right apprehension of * Divine Authority of the Scriptures, Dedication. f Redemption Redeemed, Preface. JOHN GOODWIN. 415 revealed truth ; and his views of the readiness of God to impart that assistance were very exalted. " The Spirit of God," says he, "hath such a great interest in the minds of men, that they cannot perform any of those operations that are proper to them, but by the loving interposure and help of this Spirit. The intellectual frame of the soul of man was, by the fall of Adam, brought to an absolute chaos of ignorance and darkness. So that if the under- standings of men quit themselves in any due proportion to their peace, it must needs be by that gracious conjunction of the Spirit of God with them, which is a vouchsafement by Him who raised up the tabernacle of Adam, which was fallen, Jesus Christ, blessed for ever. What light of truth is, since the fall, to be found in any man, is an express fruit of the grace that is given unto the world upon the account of Jesus Christ, and is in the soul by the interposure of the Spirit of God ; the gift whereof, upon this account, is so highly magnified in the Scriptures.""* It has been remarked by Lord Bacon, that Truth and Goodness differ from each other, but as the seal and the wax ; and that the former, when duly received, imprints the latter upon the human mind. The same sentiment occurs in several of Mr. Goodwin"'s publications. Erroneous con- ceptions concerning God, he regarded as the fruitful parent of superstition, of misery, and of sin. Hence he prayed to the Father of Spirits for heavenly illumination and guid- ance — divested himself of the prejudices of education — rose above the fear of man — and, with a mind eager for divine knowledge, studied the Bible through a series of years, availing himself of every help within his reach. Having by these means found what he believed to be "God's eldest daughter. Truth," he became enamoured of her beauty, and made a solemn consecration of all his faculties to her service. Excepting the martyrs, few men have ever made greater sacrifices to truth and conscience. He re- signed personal ease and convenience — the friendship and » Ibid. 416 LIFE OF esteem of his brethren — ^liis reputation— his temporal emo- lument — and became an object of general reproach : a sort of scape-goat, on whose head were laid, by his Calvinistic brethren, nearly all the errors, heresies, and mental follies of human nature. The followino; lano;uao;e Avould have done honour to Martin Luther, or to the most distinguished of his contemporaries : " The serpentine hissing of tongues and pens against me, is now no strange thing, and so no great trial. From my youth up, I have conflicted with the viperous contradictions of men ; Truth having acted me in full opposition to my genius and spirit, by making me a man of contention to the whole earth. But I can willingly and freely say, Let Truth handle me as she pleaseth ; de- prive me of all things ; yea, of that very being itself of which I am yet possessed, upon condition that she herself may reign."* " I have given sufficient hostages unto the world, that I shall never war upon it, or be troublesome to it, for neglect- ing me, or laying my honour in the dust. He who believeth that I was tempted into a way of schism, by men"'s intempe- rate zeal against my Treatise of Justification,-|- is a stranger tome. But that which he calleth schism, is schism only so called ; unless to separate from iniquity be schism. But the most intemperate zeal of men against my person, name, or books, is a temptation of a very faint influence upon me to turn me out of any way of truth, or to make me their enemy. Only when the truth is offended, I confess I burn, and in case I find any strength in my hand to redress the injury done to it, I have no rest in my spirit, until I have attempted the vindication. By truth, I do not mean mine own opinion ,• for that which is no more than so, I shall neither trouble myself nor any other man about it : but I mean a doctrine or notion which I am able to demonstrate, * Exposition, Preface, •f- *' Mr. John Goodwin — 1 believe was tempted into a way of schism, by men's intemperate zeal against his elaborate Treatise of Justification." Baxter's Plain Scripture Proof of Infant's Church-Membership, p. 193. Edit. 1651. JOHN GOODWIN. 417* either from the Scriptures or clear principles in reason, to be agreeable to the mind of God.'' * What was said by the Ever-Memorable Hales of Eton, may be justly applied to Mr. Goodwin: " The pursuit of truth has been my only care, ever since I knew the meaning . of the word. For this I have forsaken all hopes, all friends, all desires which might bias me, and hinder me from driving right at what I aimed. For this I have spent my money, my means, my youth, my age, and all that I have. — If with all my cost and pains, my purchase is but error ; I may safely say, to err has cost me more than it has many to find the truth ; and truth shall give me this testimony at last, that, if I have missed of her, it has not been my' fault, but my misfortune.*"-f* When one of his opponents attempted to silence him by urging the authority of Selden, Mr. Goodwin replied, "I am most ready to comply with the learning and judgment of a man, many degrees inferior to Mr. Selden in the honour which belono-eth to learnino^, who shall teach me that which I am able to comprehend, or to conceive at least probable : but otherwise, angels from heaven, and beetles from the dunghill, are teachers alike unto me : unless the light of reason sheweth me a difference between them, I have no more faith for the teachings of the one than of the other. Were Mr. Selden Socrates, and my Apologist Plato, I must commend them, but not forsake my ancient and fast friend. Truth, for their sakes." | Mr. Goodwin was not less ingenuous and decided in the open avowal of what he believed to be truth, than he was diligent in its pursuit. The confession of the pusillanimous Father Paul, Deus non dedit mild spiritum Lutlieri, was not applicable to him. " I am resolved,*" says he, " God assisting, not to be ashamed of any of Christ's words, nor to forbear, upon occasion, the freest utterance of them, before what generation soever : and hope, that neither name, nor « Cata-Baptism, Preface. f Hales's Works, Vol. i, p. 13". Edit. 1765. X Apologist Condemned, p. 22. E E 418 LIFE OF friends, nor estate, nor liberty, nor life itself, which have not betrayed me hitherto, will ever prove a snare of death to me, or hinder me from finishing my course with joy. If I fall in any of my standings up for the truth, the loss is alrea- dy cast up by Luther"'s arithmetic : I had rather fall with Christ than stand with Caesar."" * Speaking of himself, and of one of his coadjutors, in regard to whom an anonymous writer had inquired, " How dare these men so boldly and so deeply to traduce, calum- niate, condemn, and post up a whole society of Elders ? "" Mr. Goodwin says in another place, " The men he speaks of dare not, upon any terms whatsoever, traduce or calumniate any man, of what condition soever, much less a whole society of Elders : they know that in so doing they should do the office of the grand Accuser of the Brethren. But I will tell you what they dare do : they dare, with the hand of truth, take lions by the beard. They dare, in vindication of the cause of God, and of his servants, withstand his and their enemies, though never so formidable for number, rank, or other consideration, to their faces : they dare expose their names, estates, liberties, lives, to the wrath of men, for ful- filling the righteousness of God. These, and such things as these, they dare do."" f In the investigationofthedoctrinesof Revelation, the mind of INIr. Goodwin never dwells upon the surfaces of things. In the discussion of any theological question, he sees it in all its bearings, and has a distinct view of the end from the beo-inning. The grand principles concerning the extent of the Divine Love, which he was so anxious to establish and recommend, had not been hastily adopted, but had under- gone a thorough investigation. They were not deduced, according to his apprehension, from a few insulated texts of Scripture, but from the general tenor of the Inspired Volume : and the conviction of his own individual exist- ence was not more strong, that his belief that Jesus Christ * Postscript to the Scourge of the Saints Displayed. f Novice- Presbyter, p. 130. JOIIX GOODWIX. 419 BY THE GRACE OF GoD TASTED DEATH FOR EVERY MAN. Most of his larger works, as his Treatise of Justification, his Redemption Redeemed, and his Exposition of the Ninth Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, are written with singular closeness of thought, and evince such mental energy as is seldom displayed. It may be safely affirmed, that a student, whatever maybe his religious persuasion, who wishes fully to understand the controversy on the five points, will not easily meet with an author who will give him more ample and correct information on the subject than Mr. Goodwin. His writings, and especially those just mentioned, are systema- tical : an advantage which some of Mr. Fletcher's best pieces do not possess. Indeed the extraordinary learning and talents of our author have been acknowledged by ene- mies and friends. " I always find," says Dr. Barlow, " in the prosecution of your arguments, that perspicuity and acuteness, which I often seek and seldom find in the writino-s of others." * — " I love and honour your person,*" says Mr. Jeans, "as in other respects, so for the good and great gifts and parts, God hath bestowed on you." -f- — " His great learning, good sense, and extraordinary style for tliat day," says Job Orton, " render his works worth reading." + — The authors of "General Biography" also remark, " His nu- merous writings display considerable learning, and very able polemical talents." || — " That Mr. Goodwin was a man of considerable learning," says Mr. Wilson, " is evident from his writings, as well as the testimony of learned men ; and he seems to have possessed a remarkable talent for dis- putation."^ — Dr. Owen, whom no one will suspect of par- tiahty to our author, or of a disposition to flatter an Anti- Calvinist, says of Mr. Goodwin, " My adversary is a per- son, whom his worth, pains, diligence, and opinions, and tlie contests wherein, on their account, he hath publicly engaged, have delivered him from being the object of any ordinarv thought^'tir. expressions. Nothing not great, not considera- * Genuine Remains, p. 122. f Vindication of Dr. Twisse, p. 201. J Palmer's Noncon. Mem. Vol. i, p. 198, || Article Goodwin. % His., ol Dissenting Churches, Vol. ii, p. 424. ee2 420 LIFE OF ble, not some way eminent, is by any spoken of him, either consenting with him or dissenting from him." * Archbishop Sancroft has also characterized him as " an able English divine." -j* It has been frequently urged against Mr. Goodwin, that his temper was violent, and his general manner of treating his opponents indecorous and disrespectful. But this charge will be found on examination to be the result of prejudice, of inattention, or of something worse. " My conscience," says he, "beareth me witness, that I have not, to my knowledge, the least propension to be offensive to any man. I am able, with all singleness of heart, to say, that I am really interested in the design of the Apostle, to please all men for their good : and better were it for me to die, than that any man should be able to make this my glorying void. " Since I understood that exception was taken at some expressions in my writings as inclinable to sharpness, amongst others of my acquaintance, I desired the free and serious advisement of a grave, learned, and godly minister, (a good old nonconformist of between forty and fifty years standing,) who had diligently perused all my controversial writings, upon the matter. His answer was, that he knew nothing in any of them, that ministered any occasion of offence in that kind. Yet, not satisfying myself herewith, and putting off the relation of an author, I betook myself as a stranger and stauder-by, to consider whether there be any passage in the said writings justly criminable: yea, I armed myself with prejudice, so that I might not be abused by partiality. Upon the survey, I am more than confident, that there is not any sentence in the said writings, but what, for matter of tartness, I am able to parallel either out of the Scriptures, or the writings of the gravest and most approved authors. " When men are much obnoxious, whether in corruptness of judgment, manners, or will, the weakness or siwitilness of * Doctrine of the Saints' Perseverance, Dedication. f D'Oyley's Life of Sancroft, Vol. ii, p. 25y. Edit. 1821. JOHN GOODWIN. 421 this corruption being effectually represented, it carries an appearance of sharpness, and truly hath that which is offen- sive to the flesh. It is the genius of truth, especially when she goeth forth and meets men in the face, armed with power of expression, to do severe execution upon delinquents ; insomuch that, many times, by reason hereof, she is taken for an enemy by those whom she smiteth. Obsequium amicos, Veritas odium parit. *' That which causeth an appearance of more tartness in my controversial writings, than is well justifiable, is, I con- ceive, this : Though many plead the cause of truth, both by reproof and argument, few make it any part of their engagement, either to represent the errors or miscarriages against which they contest, according to what is erroneous in the one or sinful in the other ; or to seek out such expres- sions which are most proper to carry the notion of the one and the other with the greatest force of impression upon the understandings of men : both which I endeavouring after in my writings, it makes them seem to men accustomed to other styles, as if they were seasoned with too much salt, or salted with fire. Whereas all the saltness in them, is but trutli delivered with her due advantage of expression. The best way to refute an error, is by an argument which shews the absurdity of it. Many are capable of a manifest absurdity, whose apprehensions cannot reach a closer demonstration. As for passion, I am not conscious of writing by it, unless haply it be when I meet with ignorance riding in triumph upon confidence's back ; with which occurrency I have been encountered in most of my controversial expeditions. — Weakness, attended with humility, I can pass by, and pity : confidence, supported by worth and truth, I can bear^ if at any time my pen turns into a rod, it is to give correc- tion to confidence for keeping weakness company ; or to nurture weakness into more wisdom, than to suffer confidence to put her to open shame."" -f* f Inexcusableuess of Antapalogia, Preface. ee3 422 LIFE OF " If our opinions know not how to live, without the dis- paragement of those who are of opposite judgment to us, it is a sore testimony against them, that they are not of the royal line of truth ; who is able to maintain her legitimate offspring with her own native inheritance, without the unjust taxation of the reputations, practices, or opinions of her ad- versaries."" -|- It is not pretended, that in the warmth of dispute, Mr. Goodwin never lost the government of his temper, nor *' spake unadvisedly with his lips;" or that he always exem- plified " the meekness and gentleness of Christ."" Had this been the case, considering the torrents of abuse which were poured upon him, both from the pulpit and the press, he must have been possessed of patience more than human. There were occasions on which he not only exposed the prin- ciples, but rebuked the insolence of his unfair and abusive antagonists : but he suffered many a scurrilous pamphlet against him to pass unnoticed, and in most cases returned good for evil. When he met with an opponent who pos- sessed the spirit of a Christian, and the urbanity of a scholar and a gentleman, as in the case of Dr. Barlow, he not only treated him with politeness and respect, but liis mind seemed to dissolve in the exercise of pure benevolence. On this subject Sir Peter Pett has justly observed, that " Dr. Barlow's Letter and Mr. Goodwin"'s Answer, may be to such who write of controversial divinity, an useful specimen of two antagonists writing of the same with candour, and like gentlemen, as well as scholars and Christians ; and the which was suitable to the natural tempers both of Dr. Bar- low and Mr. Goodwin.'"' | The late Rev. Waiter Sellon has also observed in reference to our author, that, " There is hardly a controversial writer to be found, who has more strictly observed the rules of decency and modesty than he, notwithstanding the usage he met with from the Calvinistic party. Surely we cannot but f Calumny Arraigned, Preface. X Barlow's Genuine Remains, p. 139. JOHN GOODWIN. 423 have a high opuiion of a man whom envy itself cannot but praise." 1 1 " If I knew any thing justly offensive," says Mr. Good- win himself, " in any of my writings, were it to the half, yea to the whole of any discourse, I am ready, by a special act of reversal to cut oiF the relation ; nor should it, by my consent, ever more be called mine. Reader, whosoever thou art, I authorize thee, whatsoever thou shalt meet with dis- tasteful to thee, to take it and cast it into the errata. Unworthy is he of the name of a man, much more of a christian, or to have so much place on earth as whereon to rest his foot, who takes pleasure in offending any man, other- wise than in order to his future joy. But glory, honour and peace, be his portion, whose heart serves him to serve the world in the things of their peace, whilst they are making war ao-ainst him with the weapons of unkindness ; and will not accept any hard sayings, or evil entreaties, for a dis- charge from that love and faithfulness, wherewith he stands bound by the law of heaven to oppose them till he overcomes."" + Several years after writing this, having had to contend with such men as Edwards, Jenkyn, Kendall, and others of a similar spirit, Mr. Goodwin remarks, " The prophet Isai- ah cried out, Woe is me^for I am undone, hecauselam a man qf'undcan lips, and dwell in the midst of a people of unclean l\ps I implying, I conceive, that his daily conversing with people of unworthy language, wrought a strong jealousy in him, that he had contracted somewhat of the same guilt. I confess I am under no small fears, lest so much scanning the writings of men of intemperate and unclean pens, as my conflicting with so many adversaries hath drawn me unto, hath tauo-ht my pen also many words of an uncomely charac- ter ; and not being so strictly watchful over my spirit as I ought, I have not so well approved myself to God and good met, as it had been my wisdom to have done. But my God, * Works, Vol.i, pp.376, 416. Octavo Eiit. t Inexcusableness of Autapalogia, Preface. 424 LIFE OP who hath the greatest reason to be ofFended, I know hath pardoned my frailties in this kind ; and good men, I trust, where He hath been gracious, will not be inexorable. For the future I shall, God willing, keep myself from the temp- tation, and suffer men of provokirjg principles to write their pleasures without answering a word.*" * Had Mr. Goodwin consented to study Christianity in the writings of Calvin, Beza, and other divines of the same school — ^liad he submitted to repeat their sayings under the name of the Gospel — had he denominated all who held -contrary opinions Heretics, Pelagians, &c. &c. — and had he called upon the magistrate to punish all who dared to impugn Calvin''s dogmata — in all probability he would have lived in credit among the ministers of his time, and have been esteemed by them as a worthy, reverend, and orthodox brother. By thus conforming to the fashionable creed and practice, he might have been a frequent preacher before the Long Parliament, and an honourable ecclesiastic during the Commonwealth ; perhaps one of CromwelFs Triers, on whom candidates for the ministry, and for preferment, would have waited with all humility and defer- ence. But of such conduct he was incapable. While studying the Holy Scriptures he was fully convinced. That all coercion in matters purely religious is ANTICHRISTIAN THAT JeSUS ChRIST DIED UPON THE cross for the redemption OF EVERY HUMAN BEING AND THAT NO MAN IS EITHER ELECTED TO ETERNAL LIFE, OR REPROBATED TO ENDLESS MISERY, BY ANY DECREE OF GoD IRRESPECTIVE OF CHARACTER. BccaUSC he claimed the right which he unquestionably possessed, of peaceably communicating these doctrines to the world, he was persecuted without mercy. Many of his contemporaries deemed it an intolerable hardship, that they were reduced to the distressing alternative of witnessing the prevalence of such heresies, or of confuting them by logical deductions. Fain would they have saved their midnight oil, and have * Triumviri, Preface. JOHN GOODWIN. 425 prevented the exhaustion of their spirits, by employing tlie sword of the civil magistrate in the solution of their theo- logical difficulties. By the mercy of heaven, however, this dangerous weapon was kept out of their hands. In endea- vouring to supply the want of it, they palmed upon Goodwin nearly all the monstrous opinions that have ever degraded the human understanding. They discharged against him the various epithets of reproach with which their minds were amply stored. They had recourse to caricature, and associated his portrait with ridiculous figures, for the base purpose of exposing him to public contempt. Regardless of truth, and in opposition to the strongest evi- dence, they represented him to the rulers of the nation, as a sceptic who denied the Inspiration of the Scriptures, and as an enemy to civil government. The pulpit rang with invectives against him, especially on public occasions, and the press poured forth floods of calumny. What has been said of a modern divine, may with far greater justice be applied to him ; he indeed Stood pilloried on infamy's high stage. And bore the pelting scorn of half an age; The very but of slander, and the blot For every dart that malice ever shot. The man that mentioned him at once dismissed All mercy from his lips, and sneered and hissed ; His crimes were such as Sodom never knew. And perjury stood up to swear all true ; His aim was mischief, and his zeal pretence. His speech rebellion against common sense ; A knave when tried on honesty's plain rule. And when by that of reason a mere fool ; The world's great comfort was, his doom was passed ; Die when he might, he must be damned at last. The magnanimity displayed by Mr. Goodwin under these circumstances, and which appears never to have for- saken him, proves him to have been a man of no ordinary character. This elevation of soul, this mental hardihood, 426 LIFE OF was not constitutional insensibility, nor sullen indifference ; for his mind was susceptible of the finest emotions ; but it was produced and supported by Christian principles. The language in which he has described this temper, is worthy of being recorded in characters durable as time itself. " Loath I am," says he, " that men of hard language should fall softer any where, than upon me. For God having been graciously pleased to make the revilings of men such benefactors to me, hath put a golden bridle into my lips, to keep me from much sharpness of complaint. It had been a very unseemly thing in Joseph, in the height of his honour in Egypt, to have cried out of, or taken revenge upon, the envy of his brethren in selling him ; which God had sanctified as the means of his advancement. It is an easy matter to forgive injuries, after God hath altered their properties and turned them into blessings. Besides, my hope is, that those who are zealous for supposed truths, will be zealous for truth indeed, when they come to see it. In this case, I can freely set my hope against my experi- ence, and let my complaint fall. But as touching the hard measure I have received from men, my best satisfaction resteth in this consideration — That God is both able to pardon the offenders, and to recompense the sufferer." * " As for personal revilings, I have lived so long under these catadupes, that the noise of the cataracts very little affects me, neither interrupting my sleep nor my meditations. — When first this yoke was put about my neck, it was somewhat uneasy, it wrung and galled me. But after I had been for a time accustomed to it, I looked upon it as a chain of gold, weighing more in honour and peace, than in shame and sorrow. As Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, so is that hard measure, which is daily measured out to me, both in words and deeds, upon no other reason, as far as I am conscious, but because I endeavour to make men more like God, than it seems they have a mind to be — that hard measure * Treatise of Justificationj Preface. JOHN GOODWIN. 4)27 •which I suffer in reproaches and disparagements, because of this, is of far richer contentment to me, than ten times as many < worthy sirs,' and ' reverend sirs,' and other acclam- ations of honour would be." * " Of any wrong done to myself I will not complain. But I know a man who hath been forsaken of his friends, found those of his own household to be his enemies ; who hath been reviled, traduced, reproached ; way-laid by tongues, by pens, by practices ; reported to have lost his wits, abi- lities, parts ; suffered loss of his due and necessary subsist- ence, Avrongfully detained from him, and for which he hath laboured faithfully ; brought before rulers and magistrates ; represented to sovereign authority as a wilful and presum}3- tuous underminer of their undoubted privileges ; besides twenty more hard sayings and practices against him ; and all this for no other cause, but because he holds forth a truth (as in all his heart and soul he is persuaded) which, if enter- tained, is likely to bless the world. Of the injuries offered to such a man I have cause to complain ; but for any suffer- ings of mine own, I count it beneath my engagements to Him who strengtheneth me to do and suffer all things, to stoop to take up any lamentation." *{- " I know myself to be compassed about with as many infirmities as the weakest of men, and my great un worthi- ness in many things, is daily before me. Yet it hath pleased my God, whom I serve in the gospel of his Son, to hide my nakedness from mine enemies, though many in number, and diligent enquirers after it ; and so to dispose of their ill-will against me, that the fiery darts of their accusations have hit where my breast-plate of righteousness is most firm and best proof. It is too much to say of myself, nor will I say it, but it would be a truth comely enough in the mouths of others, that I am, if not the best, yet none of the worst friends, which the Divine Authority of the Scriptures hath amongst men ; and that I have been as diligent, as faithful, as laborious an assertor thereof, as any of those who think * Inexcusableness of Antapalogia, Preface. f lunocency and Truth, Preface. 428 LIFE OF themselves more worthy of the crown. Notwithstanding, with what clamour have I been traduced, not only to vulgar cognizance, but to Authority itself, as an enemy of the Heavenly Original of the Scriptures, by some who out of zeal for God, (for so they gloss the practice,) neglect their own employments, and follow Satan's in accusing the brethren. " But that I daily fight with beasts at Ephesus, after the manner of men, what advantageth it me if the Scriptures be not the Word of God ? Or why have I bought so many scripture-truths at such great rates as I have done, as with the loss of friends, credit, esteem with men, estate, yea all hope, that I say not possihiUtij of bettering my condition in the world, low as it is, — if I believe them not to be the Word of God ? Why did I suffer an ejection out of my freehold, (the best means I had in the world for the sup- port of myself, wife, and seven children,) for no other crime that I could ever hear of, but for endeavouring to go before others in a real reformation, — if I believe not the Scriptures to be the Word of God ? If I did not believe them to be the Word of God, I would believe them as prudently as many others do ; so as to keep fair quarter with soft l"aiment, great purses, full tables, and benches of honour : nor would 1 sacrifice my hope of rising in the world, upon the service of any thing contained in them. Did I not believe them to be the Word of God, I would not for the vindication of any thing they say^ expose myself, as now I do, to the clamorous tongues of an ill-employed generation of Informers — God forgive them! I hope they know not what they do f I am neither Stoic nor Cynic : I had rather abound than be in want : I had rather have the good wills and the good words of my generation than their bad ; and that the greatness of this world should rather smile than frown upon me. For the acquirement of all these I had as fair opportunities as others of my brethren in the ministry, and had a price in my hand as sufficient for the pvuxhase, as many of those who liave bought, pos- sess, and enjoy ; whose advancement I no ways emulate or JOHN GOODWIN. 429 envy. That which mainly separated between me and my desires in this kind, was nothing else but my believing the Scriptures to be the Word of God. This principle was too stiff to bow at the feet of worldly accommodations : and these, on the other hand, thought themselves too good to subject themselves to this principle: and since they thus mutually resented the genius of one another, they have been strangers ; and by this time scarcely know, remember, or take much care one for the other ."' * " My God and my conscience have deeply engaged me in a warfare, very troublesome and costly ; even to contend in a manner with the whole earth, and to attempt the cast- ing down of high things, which exalt themselves against the knowledge of God. And daily experience sheweth, that men''s imaginations are their darlings, that he who touch eth them toucheth the apple of their eye, and appeareth in the shape of an enemy. To bear the hatred and contradiction of the world, is not pleasing to me : notwithstanding, the vehemency of desire which possesseth my heart, of doing some service in the world whilst I am a sojourner in it, and leaving it at my departure upon somewhat better terms for the peace and comfort of it, than I found it at my coming, swallows up much of that offensiveness and mon- strousness of taste, wherewith otherwise the measure I receive from many would affect my soul." -f- " I have the advantage of old age, and of the sanctuary of the grave near at hand, to despise all enemies and avengers. I know that hard thoughts, and hard sayings, and hard writings, and hard dealings, and frowns, and pourings out of contempt and wrath, abide me. ' But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I may finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.' Farewell, good reader, in the Lord ; let him havea friend's portion in thy prayers, who is willing to suffer the loss of all things for thy sake, * Scourge of the Saints Displayed, Appendix. f Cata Baptism, Dedication. 430 LIFE OF that the truth of the gospel . may come with evidence and demonstration of the Spirit unto thee, and remain with thee. If the embracing of the truth before men, keep thee from preferment on earth, it will most assuredly recompense thee seven-fold, yea seventy times seven-fold in Heaven." * These extracts need no comment. They describe a tem- per of mind, in comparison of which, the most ample reve- nues, and the highest literary honours, are less than nothing. From the preceding narrative it is also presumed, that every candid reader will perceive, that John Goodwin was not the man he has been wantonly represented ; but was wor- thy of a better age than that in which it was his misfortune to live. Should this attempt to sketch his life and character, and the controversies in which he was engaged, lead any to a serious perusal of his leading theological writings, inva- luable both for the truths they defend, and the ability with which those truths are stated and maintained, the author of this volume will not regret the hours which have been spent in its compilation. ^ . - * Exposition, Preface, JOHiV GOOUWIN. 431 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF MR. GOODWIN'S PUBLICATIONS. 1. The Saints"' Interest in God, 1640. 2. God a Good Master and Protector to his People, 1641. 3. The Return of Mercies : or, The Saints' Advantage by Losses, 1641. 4. Animadversions upon some of the Looser and Fouler Passages in Mr. Walker's Discourse, 1641. 5. Anti-Cavalierism : or. Truth Pleading as well the Necessity as Lawfulness of the Present War, 1642. 6. The Butcher's Blessing : or, The Bloody Intentions of the Romish Cavahers against the City of London, 1642. 7. A Treatise of Justification, 1642. 8. Os Ossorianum: or, A Bone for a Bishop to Pick, 1643. 9. Reply of Two of the Brethren to A. S., 1644. 10. The Grand Imprudence of Men running the Hazard of Fighting against God, 1644. 11. Innocency's Triumph, 1645. 12. Innocency and Truth Triumphing Together, 1645. 13. Calumny Arraigned and Cast, 1645. 14. Some Modest and Humble Queries concerning a late Printed Paper, 1646. 15. The Scourge of the Saints Displayed in his colours of Ignorance and Blood, 1646. 16. A Brief Answer to an Ulcerous Treatise, entitled Gangraena, 1646. 17. The Inexcusableness of that Grand Accusation of the Brethren, called Antapologia, 1646. 18. Twelve Serious Cautions necessary to be observed in a Reformation according to the Word of God, 1646. 19. Sion-College Visited, 1647. 20. The Novice-Presbyter Instructed, 1648. 21. The DivineAuthorityof the Scriptures Asserted, 1648, 22. Right and Might well Met, 1648. 23. The Unrighteous Judge, 1648. 432 LIFE OF 24. The Oljstructors of Justice, 1649. 25. The Remedy of Unreasonableness, 1650. 26. Redemption Redeemed, 1651. i 27. Moses Made Angry : A Letter written and sent to Dr. Hill, 1651. 28. The Pagan's Debt and Dowry, 1651. 29. Confidence Dismounted : or, a Letter to Mr. Rich- ard Resbury, of Oundle in Northamptonshire, 1651. 30. The Agreement and Distance of Brethren, 1652. 31. An Exposition of the Ninth Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, 1653. 32. Forty Queries peaceably and inoffensively Pro- pounded, 1653. 33. Water-Dipping no firm footing for Church Com- munion, 1653. 34. Thirty Queries, modestly propounded in order to a discovery of the truth and mind of God, in that Case of Conscience : Whether the Civil Magistrate stands bound to interpose his power in matters of Religion and Worship of God, 1653. 35. The Apologist Condemned : or, A Vindication of the Thirty Queries together with their Author, 1653. 36. Dissatisfaction Satisfied, 1654. 37. Peace Protected, and Discontent Disarmed, 1654. 38. A Fresh Discovery of the High Presbyterian Spirit, 1654. 39. Cata-Baptism : or. New Baptism waxing Old, and ready to Vanish Away, 1655. 40. Mercy in her Exaltation, 1655. 41. A Catechism : or, Principal Heads of the Christian Religion. 42. The Triers or Tormentors Tried and Cast, 1657- 43. Triumviri, 1658. 44. Prelatic Preachers none of Christ's Teachers. 45. A Being Filled with the Spirit, 1670. In addition to these publications, Mr. Goodwin wrote Prefaces to the following works : Ramsden's Gleaning of God's Harvest, 1639. Fenner's Divine Message to the Elect Soul, 1645. Satan's Stratagems, by Jacobus Acontius, 1648. ApP.) JOHN GOODWXX. 433 APPENDIX. Page 158. It is a fact, which is highly worthy of attention, that several of the greatest divines, who have adorned the different Protestant Churches by their learning, talents, and virtue, were, in the early part of their lives, " straitened in their bowels" respecting the extent of Christ's Redemption, and as they advanced in years and knowledge, they en- tertained more enlarged views of the Divine Philanthropy. The fol- lowing are some of the examples of this kind which may be specified : MELANCTHON, Luther's friend and co-adjutor, was at first Luther's scholar, and drew from him his earliest religious opinions. But being a learned and dispassionate man, pursuing tiuth, he saw his errors and abandoned them ; and espoused sentiments concerning the respectiveness of Gud's decrees, widely different from those he had formerly held : [a circum- stance which is very conveniently passed over in silence by his late English Biographer.] — (Pierce's Divine Philanthropy Defended, p. 14. Edit. 1657.) LUTHER Also went on long as he at first set out, with so little disguise, that whereas all parties had always pretended that they asserted the freedom of the will ; he plainly spoke out, and said the will was not free, but enslaved. Yet, before he died, he is reported to have changed his mind: for though he never owned that, yet Melancthon, who had been of the same opinion, did freely retract it ; for which he was never blamed by Luther. — (Burnet on the Seventeenth Article.) ARMINIUS Himself was educated at Geneva, and in the earlv part of his life embraced those doctrines concerning predestination, which Calvin and Beza had taught in that city. Afterwards, however, when actually engaged in vindication of those doctrines, he was convinced that they Ff 434 LIFE OF (App, were indefensible ; and embraced the principles of those whose rell- giotis system extends the Divine Benevolence, and the Merits of Jesus Christ to all mankind. — (Mosheim's Eccles. Hist. Vol. V. p. 440. Edit. 1806.) DANIEL TILENUS, Professor of Divinity at Sedan, a man not less acute in judgment, than versed in all kinds of learning, distinguished himself by decided hostility to the sentiments of Arminius. Convinced at length by the arguments of his opponents, he changed sides ; and proved the genu- ineness of his conversion by submitting to share with the Remon- strants in those severe persecutions which were inflicted upon them by the Dutch Calvinists. — (Brandt's History of theReformation, Vol. II. p. 137. Edit. 1721.) DR. THOMAS JACKSON, President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, is thus characterized by the noted Prynne : " Dr. Jackson is a man of great abilities, and of a plausible, affable, courteous deportment. — Of late he hath been trans- ported beyond himself, with metaphysical contemplations. — The Uni- versity of Oxford grieves for his defection" [from the doctrine of absolute predestination.] — (Anti-Arminianism, p. 270. Edit. l630.) BISHOP ANDREWS Is generally allowed to have been one of the most learned and pious men of the age in which he lived. Concerning him. Dr. Pierce ob- serves, "That that inestimable Bishop, in his most mature and ripest years, was very severe to those doctrines which are commonly called Calvinistical, is a thing so known, that I cannot think it will be de- nied." — (Divine Purity Defended, p. 125, Edit. l657.) DR. CHRISTOPHER POTTER, Provost of Queen's College, Oxford, who was esteemed by all who knew him, as a divine of an amiable disposition, and of great probity, industry and learning, has given a pleasing account of his conversion from Calvinism, to the Arminian tenets ; and the piety and meekness of temper, displayed in the narrative, adds weight to his judgment, and is honourable to the cause for which he pleads. — (Collection of Tracts on Predestination, p. 225 Cambridge, 1719.) DR. THOMAS PIERCE, One of the ablest opponents of Calvinism, that system has ever had, slates concerning himself : " 1 was, in my childhood, of the opinions [concerning Election, Reprobation, &c.] Mr. Barlee doth now con- tend for. But, through the infinite mercy of God, I have obtained ApP.) JOHN GOOBWiy. 435 conversion : and being converted from the practice, as well as from the opinion, which I was of, I will, to my poor utmost, endeavour to confirm or convert my brethren." — (Divine Philanthropy Defended, p. 15.) The EVER-MEM0RA3LF, HALES, OF Eton, Who was a Calvlnlst in his younger days, used frequently to say, that when he heard Eplscoplus argue In favour of General Redemp- tion at the Synod of Dort, he " bade John Calvin good night."— (Hales's Golden Remains, Preface.) MR. SAMUEL HOARD, Author of a very able work entitled, " God's Love to Mankind Manifested," — a work which produced a considerable effect among the national Clergy, in the early part of the seventeenth century ; says, " I have sent you here my reasons which have moved me to change my opinion m some controversies, of late debated between the Re- monstrants and their Opponents." — (See the tract itself, p. 1. Edit. 1633. JVIdslon's Memoirs, Vol. I. p. 10. Edit. I749.) DR. THOMAS GOAD Was a person every way eminent, having the repute of a great and general scholar, exact critic and historian, a poet, orator, schoolman, and divine. He was a member of the Synod of Dort, and acquitted himself there with great applause, in opposition to the opinions of the Remonstrants. He at lengtli saw cause to alter his judgment; and, in defence of those principles he had formerly opposed, wrote a very able work entitled, " A Disputation concerning the Necessity and Contingency of Events." — (EcharcVs History of England, Vol. II. p. 122* Edit. 17I8. Collection of Tracts on Predestination, Preface.) .,j.,., ARCHBISHOP USHER, Who Is generally acknowledged to have been one of the most learned men In Europe, In the early part of his life held the doctrines of pure Calvinism ; but as he advanced in years, avowed his belief of General Redemption ; and is said, before his death, to have expressed his dis- like of the whole doctrine of Geneva. — (Pierce's Christian's Rescue from the Grand Error of the Heathen, Appendix, Edit. 1658. — Bird's Fate and Destiny Inconsistent with Christianity, p. 74. Edit. 1726.— Parr's Life of Usher, Appendix, p. 51. Edit. I686. — IFurdsivorlh's Ecclesiastical Biography, Vol. V. p. 504. Edit. 1810.) DR. ROBERT SANDERSON, Professor of Divinity in the University of Oxford, and afterwards Bishop of Lincoln, has given an interesting account of the progress of VY 2 436 LIFE OF (App. his mind, from the sublapsarian scheme, to the mild senthnents of Melancthon and Arminius. — (Hammond's Pacific Discourse concerning God's Grace and Decrees, p. 8. 166O.) MR. RICHARD BAXTER, At the commencement of his theological career, was eager in his attachment to the pecuUar doctrines of Calvin. But when his judgment was more matured, though he still maintained the absolute Election of some men to Life Eternal, he contended strenuously for General Redemption, and for Universal Grace. — ( Baxter' sCdXh.oY\ck Theologie, Preface.) BISHOP DAVENANT Appears to have undergone a change of sentiment similar to that of Baxter. For Archbishop Usher " freely declared himself for the doc- trine of General Redemption, and owned that he was the person who brought both Bishop Davenant and Dr. Preston to acknowledge it." — {Calamy's Abridgment of Baxter's Life and Times, p. 405. Edit. 1713.) DR. DANIEL WHITBY Says, "They who have known my education, may remember that I was bred up seven years in the University, under men of the Calvin- istical persuasion ; and had once firmly entertained all their doctrines*" The zeal with which he afterwards opposed those doctrines, in his Commentary on the New Testament, and in his Discourse concerning the Five Points, is universally known. — (JFIiUhy on the Five Points, Preface.) CALVIN Himself, according to Dr.. Watts, is entitled to a place among those divines whose attachment to the doctrines of limited mercy and partial redemption, abated as they advanced in years. After noticing the difference between his sentiments as expressed in his Institutions and in his Commentaries, the Doctor says, " It may be proper to observe, that the most rigid and narrow limitations of grace to men, are to be found chiefly in his Institutions, which were written in his youth. But his Comments on Scripture were the labour of his riper years, and maturer judgment."— (Works, Vol. III. p. 472. Edit. 1800.) Page 229. It has been confidently asserted, that the doctrines of Armlnianism, or of General Redemption, and the Respectiveness of God's Decrees, were first introduced into this country by Archbishop Laud : whereas. ApP.) J0H\^ GOODWIN". 4g7 nothing can be more remote from the truth. These doctrines were propagated in England many years before that unfortunate metropolitan was born. They Avere not only contained in the Liturgy of the national Church, but were Inculcated by various writers contemporary with the Reformers, and even belonging to their fraternity. In " A Necessary Doctrine and erudicion for any Chrysten man, set furth by the kynges maiestye of Englande, &c. Imprinted at London, in Fletestrete, by Thomas Berthelet, printer to the kynges hyghnes, the xxix daye of Maye, the yere of our lorde M.D.XLIII ; " there Is a chapter on Free- Will, of which the following is a copy. "The commaundementes and threatninges of almighty God in scrip- ture wherby man is called upon, and put in remembraunce, what god would havehym to do,moste evidentlydoo expresse and declare, that man hath Freewyll also nowe after the falle of our fyrst father Adam, as playnly appeareth in these places folowying : Be not ouercome of evil, Neglecte not the grace that is in the. Love not the world e, &c. If thou wylt entre Into life, kepe the comaundementes. Whyche un- doutedly shuld be saied In vayne, onlesse there were some facultie or power left in man, wherby he maie, by the helpe and grace of God (if he wyll receyve it, when it is offered vnto hym) vnderstande his <;om- maundmentes : and freely consent and obele vnto theim : whyche thynge of the catholike fathers, is called Freewyll, whyche if we wvU describe, we maie call it conveniently in all men, A certayne power of the wyll ioyned with reason, wherby a reasonable creature, without constrainte in thynges of reason discerneth and wylleth good and evil, but it wylleth not that good, whyche is acceptable to god, excepte it be holpen with grace, but that which is yll, it willeth of Itselfe : and therfore other men defined frewil In this wise : Freewill is a power of reason and will, by whiche good is chosen by the assistaunce of grace, or euyll is chosen without the assistance of the same. " Howe be it the state and condlclon of freewyll, was otherwyse in our fyrste parentes, before tliey sinned, than It was either in theim, or in theyr posteritie, after they had synned. For our fyrst parentes Adam and Eve, vn tyll they wounded and ouerthrewe theim selfe by synne, had so In possession the sayd power of frewil, by the most lyberall gj^fte and grace of god, theyr maker, that not onely they niyght eschue all maner of synne, but also knowe god, and loue hym, and fulfyl all thinges appertaynying to their fellcitie and welthe. For they were made ryghtuous, and to the ymage and similitude of god, hauyng VV 3 438 LIFE OF (Apr. power of Freewyll (as Chrlsostome sa'ieth) to obeie or disobey. So that by obedience they mighte lyve, and by disobedience they shulde wor- thily deserve to dye. For the wyse man affyrmeth, that the state of theim was of that sort in the begynnying, saying thus : God in the begynnying did create man, and left hym in the handes of his owne counsell : he gaue vnto hym his preceptes and commandementes saiyng : If thou wilt kepe the commaundementes, they shall preserue the : he hath sette afore the, fyre and water, put furthe thy handes to whether thou wylt : before man is lyfe and death, good and euill, what him liketh, that shall he haue. From this moste happie estate, our first parentes falling by disobedience, most greuously hurted theim selves and their posteritie. For besides many other euilles, that came by that transgression, the high power of mans reason, and fredom of will were wounded and corrupted, and al men therby brought into such blind- nesse and infirmltie that they cannot eschue sinne, except they be illumined and made free by an especiall grace, that is to saie, by a supernaturall helpe and working of the holy gost, which although the goodnesse of god offereth to all men, yet they only enioy it, which by their fre will do accept and imbrace the same. Nor they also that be holpen by the said grace, can accomplishe and perfourme thynges that be for their welthe, but with labour and endeauoure ; so great is in our nature, the corrupcion of the first sinne, and the heauy burdein, beryng vs downe to euill. For truly all be it the lyght of reason doth abide, yet it is much darkened, and with muche difficultie doth discerne thynges that be inferiour and perteine to this present life : but to vn- derstand and perceiue thynges that be spirituall, and perteine to the euerlasting life, it is of itself vnable. And so likewise althoughe there remain a certain freedome of will in those thynges which do perteine vnto the desires and workes of this present life, yet to perfourme spi- rituall and heauenly thynges, free will of it selfe is msufficient : and therefore the power of mans freewill, beying thus wounded and de- cayed, hath nede of a phisicion to heale It, and an helpe to repaire it, that it maie receue light and strength, wherby it maie se, and haue power to do those godly and spirituall thynges, whiche before the fall of Adam, it was able and might haue doen. "To this blindness and infirmitie of mannes nature, procedyng of originall synne, the prophet David had regarde, whan he desired his eyes to be lightened of almightie god, that he might consider the mer- uailous thynges that be iii his lav'.'j. And also the prophete Jenny, App.) JOHN GOODWIN. 439 saiyng : Heale me O lorde, and I shall be made hole. Saint Augus- tine also plainly declareth the same saiying : We conclude that freewill is in man after his fall, whiche thyng who so denieth is not a catholic manne : but in spirituail desires and workes to please god, it is so weake and feble, that it can not either begin or perfourme them, on- lesse by the grace and helpe of god, it be preuented and ho pen. And hereby it appereth, that mannes strength and will in all things, whiche be healthful to the soule, and shall please god, hath nede of grace of the holy gost, by whiche suche spiritual thynges be inspired to men, and strength and Constance geueri to perfourme them, if men do not wilfully refuse the said grace offered vnto theim. "And likewise as many thinges be in the scripture, whiche do shewe freewill to be in man : so there be no fewer places in scripture whiche do declare the grace of god to be so necessary, that if by it freewill be not preuented and holpen, it can neither do nor will any thying good and godly. Of whiche sort be these scriptures folowyng : Without me ye can do nothyng. No man cometh to me except it be giuen him of my father. We be not sufficient of ourself, as of ourself, to thinke any good thyng. Accordinge vnto which scriptures, and suche other like, it foloweth, that freewill, before it male will or thynke any godly thynge, must be holpen by the grace of Christ, and by his spirite be preuented and inspired, that it male be able thereto. And beyng so made able, may from thenseforth worke togither with grace, and by the same susteined, holpen, and mainteined, may do and accomplish good workes, and auoide synne, and perseuere also, and increase in grace. It is surely of the grace of god onely, that first we be inspired and moued to any good thyng : but to resist temptations, and to per- Eiste in goodnesse and go forward, it is bothe of the grace of god, and of our freewill and endeuour. And finally after we haue perseuered to the ende, to be crowned with glorie therefore is the gifte and mercie of god, who of his bountifuU goodnesse hath ordeined that reward to be geuen after this life, accordyng to suche good workes as be doen in this life by his grace. "Therefore men ought with muche diligence and gratitude of minde, to consider and regarde the inspiracions and holesome mocions of the holy gost, and to imbrace the grace of god, whiche is offered vnto them in Christe, and moueth them to good thynges. And fur- thermore to go aboute by all meanes to shewe theimselfe suche, as vnto whome the grace of god is not geuen in vaine. And whau they 440 LIFE OF (ApP. do feele, that notwithslandyng their diligence, yet through their owne infirmitie, they be not able to do that they desire, than they ought ernestly, and with a feruent deuocion, and steadfast faith, to aske of him, whiche gaue the beginnyng, that he wolde vouchesafe to per- fourme it: whiche thyng god will vndoubtedly graunt, aecordyng to his promisse, to suche as perseuere in callying vppon hym. For he is naturally good, and willeth all men to be saued, and careth for them, and prouideth al thyng, by whiche they male be saued, exeeple by their owne malice they woU be euill, and so by rightuoiis iudgemente of god, perishe and be loste. For truely men be to them selues the autours of syn and damnacion. God is neither autour of synne, nor the cause of damnacion. And yet doth he most rightuously damme those menne, that do with vices corrupte their nature, whiche be made good and do abuse the same to euil desires against his most holy will. Wherefore men be to be warned, that they do not impute to god their vice, or their damnacion, but to theim selues, whiche by freewill haue abused the grace and benefittes of god. \ "All men be also to be monisshed, and chiefly preachers, that in this high matier, they loking on both sides, so ATTEMPRE and MODERATE THEM SELUES, THAT NEYTHER THEY SO PREACHE THE GRACE OF GOD, THAT THEY TAKE AWAY THERBY FREEWILL, NOR ON THE OTHER SIDE SO EXTOLL FREEWILL, THAT INIURy BE DONE TO THE GRACE OF GOD." The same doctrine is inculcated in a work of still earlier date : in the " Common places of Scripture orderly, and after a compendious forme of teaehynge, set forth with no litle labour, to the great profyte and helpe of all suche studentes of Gods worde, as haue not had longe exercyse in the same, by the ryght excellent clerke Erasmus Sarcerius. Translated into Englysh by Rychard Taverner. Imprynted by Johan Byddell, dwellying in Fletestrete at the sgne of the Sonne ouer agaynst the Cundite. In the yere of our lord god M.CCCCC.XXX.VIII. the xij. daye of August. Cvm Privilegio." This book, which was dedicated to King Henry the Eighth, was reprinted in the year 1533, and in 1577-* " Yf we will wisely speake of predestinacion," says this author, " we must fetche our beginning at the gospell, which is an universall pro- mise. And we must euermore recourse haue to predestinacion of condicion, — as for example : yf the chyldren of Israeli shall walke i« • See DilxUn's Typographical Antiquities, Vol- iii. p- 394. Edit. 1816. ApP.) JOHN GOODWIN. 44)1 my commaundementes, they shall be saved, Yf thou shalt receiue the gospell, thou shalt be saued. Wherefore S. Augustine al so agreeth, saying: God did predestinate man to be obediente vnto him, and to abstaine from tasting of ihe apple that was forbidden him : but if he would be disobedient, to die. Such is thende of the hole predes- tination (as far forth as appertaineth to men) that we should know we be predestinate vpon this condition, that if we receiue the word, we shall be the children of God, whom God hath chosen, to make vs his children by adopcion, as S. Paule writting to the Ephesians declareth. And this condicion is proued by the vniversall promise of the gospell. Now that some of vs be dampned, this is because we beleeve not the gospell. Wherefore also the apostle saieth : ifa man will purge him selfe from suche (meaning wicked doctrines, for of them he spake a lytic before) he shall be a vessell sanctified vnto honour, mete for the Lorde, and prepared vnto all good workes. Also here vnto pertaine such places of Scripture as doe promise an vniuersal grace, whereby a mans conscience ought to lift itself vp againste such assalts as hys reason maketh of predestination, as this vniuersall promise. God willeth all men to be saued. God willeth not the death of the sinner, but that he turne and do repentance." The excellent Bishop Latimer expresses himself with still greater clearness and force, upon these interesting topics : •' Christ," says he, "shed as much blood for Judas, as he did for Peter. Peter beleeued it, and therefore he was saued. Judas would not beleeue, and there- fore he was condemned, the fault being in him only, and in no body els." Sermons, fol. 205. Edit. 1584. " If the most part be damned, the fault is not in God, but in them- selves : for it is written, God would that all men should be saued : But they themselves procure their owne damnation, and despise the passion of Christ by their owne wicked and inordinate living. Heere we may learne to keepe vs from all curious and dangerous questions, when we heare that some be chosen and some be damned : let vs haue good hope that we shall be amongest the chosen, and Hue after this hope, that Is, vprightly and godly, then thou shall not be deceiued. Thinke that God hath chosen those that beleeue in Christ, and that Christ is the Booke of life. If thou beleeuest in him then thou art written in the booke of life, and shall be saued. So we need not go about to trouble our selues with curious questions of the predestination of God. But let us rather endeuour our selues that we may be iu 442 LIFE OP (App. Christ, for when we be in him, then we are well, and then we may be sure that we are ordained to euerlasting life. But you will say, how shall I know that I am in the Booke of Life? How shall I trye my- selfe to be elect of God to euerlasting life ? I answere, first wee may know, that wee may one time bee in the Booke, and another time come out againe, as it appeareth by Dauid which was written in the Booke of life. But when hee sinned, he at the same time was out of the Booke of the fauour of God, vntill he had repented and was sorry for his faultes. So we may be in the Booke at one time, and afterward when we forget God and his word and doe wickedly, we come out of the Booke, that is out of Christ which is the booke. And in that booke are written all beleeuers." Ibid. fol. 312. Bishop Hooper expressed himself on these subjects with equal clearness, as the following passages will testify. They are extracted from "A declaration of the ten holy Commaundementes of allmygthye God, wrotten Exo. 20. Deu. 5. Collectyd out of the scripture Canoni- cal], by Joanne Hopper. M.D.XLVIH." "As we were in Adame before his falle, and shuld if he had not synned byne of the same innocense and perfection that he was creatyd in : so were we in his loynes when he synnid, and participant of his synne. And as we were in hym, and partakers of the ile ; so were we in hym when god made hym a promese of grace, and partakers of the same grace : not as the chyldren of Adame, but as the chyldren of the promise. As the synne of Adame withe out priuylege, or exception, extendyd and appertaynyd vnto all Adames, and euery of Adames pos- terite ; so dyd ihis promis of grace generally appertaine as well to euery and singuler of Adames posterite as to Adame : as it is more playnely €xpressid Gene. 15. 17. Where god promisythe to blysse in the sede of Abraham all the people of the worold. And Paule makythe no di- aersity in Christ, of jew nor Gentile, ferther, it was neuer for bid, but that all sortes of people, and of euery progeny In the worold, to be made partakers of the jewes religion and Ceremonis. farther, saynt Paule, Ro. 5. Doothe by collation of Adame and Chryst, synne and grace, thus interpretat Godes promes. And makith not Christ inferlour to Adame, nor grace unto synne. If all then shall be sauid, what is to be saide of those that sainct Peter spekith of 2 Pet. 2. that shall perishe for there false doctrine ? And lik wyce Christ sayithe, that the gate is streighte that ledyth to line, and feu entre, Matth. 7. Thus the scrip- ture answerithe : that the promese of grace apperteynethe vnto euery ApP.) JOHN GOODWI^r. 443 sort of men in the worold, and comprehendithe them all; how be it within certaine limetes and bondes: the whiche if men neglect, or passe ouer, they exclude themselfes from the promes in Christ. As Chain was no more excludid till he excludid hymselfe, then Abel ; Saul then Dauid ; Judas then Peter ; Esau then Jacob : thowgh Mala. 1. Ro. Q. it semlthe that the sentence of God was geven to saue the one, and to damne the other, before thone louid God, or the other hatid God. How be it these threteninges of God against Esau, if he had not of his wilful malice excludid himselfe from the promes of grace, shuld no more haue hindrid his saluation, then Godes threten- inges against Nineue Jon. 1. whyche not withstonding that God saide shuld be destroiede with xl daies, stode a great tyme after, and dyd penence. Esau was circumcisyd, and presentid vnto the churche of God by his father Isaac in all externall Ceremonyes, as well as Jacob. And that his liefe and conuersalion was not as agreable vnto iustice and equlte, as Jacobes; the sentence of God vnto Rebeka, Gene. 25. was not in the fault, but his owne malice : for there is mencionid nothing at all in that place, Gene. 23. that Esau was disheretyd of eternall of liflFe, but that he shuld be inferioure vnto his brother Jacob in this worold, whiche prophecye was fulfyllid in there posterites, and not in the persones themselfes. *' It is not a chrystiane mannes part, to attribute his saluation to his owne fre will, with the pelagion, and extenuat original sinne. Nor to make God the auctor of ile, and oure damnation, with the Maniche. Nor yet to say, God bathe wroten fatall lawes as the Stoicke, and withe necessite of desteny uiolently puUithe one by the here in to heaven,, and thrustith thother hedling into hell. ** Jo. 6. saithe. No man comniithe vnto me, except my father draw him : many men vnderstand these wordes in a wrong sence, as thowghe God requirid in a resonable man, no more then in a dead post ; and markith not the wordes that follow. Omnis qui audit a patre et discit, venit ad me. That is to say, euery man that hirith and lernith of my father, cummith to me. God drawith withe his word and the holy gost : but mannis dewty is to hire and lerne : that is to say, receaue the grace oflFred, consent vnto the promes, and not repugne the God that callith. God dothe promesse the holy goost vnto them that aske him, and not to them that contemne him. We haue the scripture daily in our handes : reade it, and hire it preachid. Godes mercy euer con- tiueu the same. Let us thinke verely that now God callithe, and. 444. LIFE OF (App. conuerte our liefes to it : let vs obey it, and beware we suffre not oure folyshe iudgmentes to wander after the fleshe, leste the deuill wrappe vs in darkenis, and teache vs to seke the election of God out of the scripture." It would be easy to enlarge upon this subject, but we must forbear. Page 285, To animadvert with just severity upon every objectionable passage in the History of the Dissenters, by Messrs. Bogue and Bennett, would require an ample volume, rather than a limited note. These gentle- men frequently substitute the distortions of caricature, for an honest narration of facts ; present to their readers the tinsel of low wit, instead of sound argument ; and appear far more ambitious to say smart and pungent things, than to "speak the truth in love." A few specimens of their dishonourable mode of treating such Christians as they do not like, we will take the liberty to lay before the reader. " The great doctrine of Pelagianism," say they, " which the church of England condemns in her Articles, that the death of Christ was in- tended alike for all, and that all men have a certain light, or grace, or influence, which they may by their own powers and inclinations im- prove, and that this individual human improvement makes the differ- ence between one man and another, the saved and the damned, is the distinguishing creed of the Arminian Methodists." Vol. iii. p. 35. It is freely acknowledged, that, according to the creed of the Chris- tians in question, the Death of Jesus Christ was intended to Redeem, not those only who are guilty of actual sin, but the Whole Human Race, from that Curse to which they were exposed in consequence of the Original Transgression ; so as to bring every individual into a sal- vable state, and to secure the final salvation of all who die in their Infancy, and of those Adults who. Believing in Him, hold fast the beginning of their confidence stedfast unto the end. Nor is it likely that they will ever abandon this part of their creed, though partial historians should continue to vilify, and should even associate them with all the Heretics in the universe. But was this " the great docirine " of Pelagiiis ? Messrs. Bogue and Bennett know that it was not. They themselves have correctly stated that, among other errors, this "famous heresiarch," and "his favourite disciple" Celeslius, main- tained, " That the sin of Adam affected himself only," so that " there ApP.) JOHN GOODWIN. 445 •wa? no original sin, nor human depravity."* Upon these principles. General Redemption, properly speaking, can have no existence. For, as immense multitudes of mankind die in their infancy, before they are capable of any personal violation of the Divine Law, if there be " no original sin, nor human depravity," it necessarily follows, that as all such persons pass through this life in a state of absolute purity and innocence, they are, in every respect, incapable of Redemption by the Sacrifice of Christ. So that if Pelagius held the doctrine of Redemp- tion by Price at all, it could not be in reference to the whole human race, but to those only who are guilty of actual and personal sin. Par- ticular Redemption may accord with the system of Pelagius, but General Redemption, properly understood, destroys its root and branch. General Redemption implies a General Curse : a General Curse implies General Sin ; or, the Universal Depravity of human nature, in consequence of the apostasy of our first parents from God. The Ar- niinian Methodists are taught by an inspired Apostle, thus to judge : •' That if one died for all, then were all dead : " and had the former of these principles been cordially believed by Pelagius, the latter could not have been denied with even a semblance of plausibility. This reasoning is not at all invalidated by the objection, that Celes- tius, when pressed by his opponents, acknowledged that children were redeemed by Jesus Christ.^ Because both he and his friend Pelagius availed themselves of the ambiguity of language to conceal their real sentiments, and to impose upon the Christian Church.f At all events, Pelagius's absolute denial of original sin, and his avowed belief that children are not at all affected by the transgression of Adam, renders it impossible that he should have held the doctrine of General Redemp- tion, as it is held by the Arminian Methodists. Nor is this a novel remark. It has been urged against the Pelagian scheme, both in ancient and in modern times. Fleury has stated, that Augustine, in his controversy with Pelagius, " proceeds to shew, that this question » History of the Dissenters, Vol- i. p. 8. :|; Milnei-'s History of the Church, Vol. ii. p. 406 Edit. 1"95. t "Had he (Pelagius) once expressly declared, that he did not believe any real influence of divine grace on the mind inclining it to what is good, which he knew the Christian world before his time believed, and whxh, if he himself had believed, he would have expressed ; there would have been an honesty in his heretical pravity, which would have entitled his character to a greater degree of respect. As the case stands , and as he must have known that his opponent used the terms grac e and divine assistance in a quite different sense from that in which he used them, he appears by his own words to have been nn insincere disputant. He sent also to Rome a symbol of his faith, written in the same style of ambiguity, and attended with the same adulatory strains to the Bishop of Rome, which Celestiiis had used on tlie like occasion." Ibid. p. Ill- 446 LIFE OF (App. respects the very foundation of Christianity ; since the main point of it is to know, fVJiether Jesus Christ be truly the Mediator of all «iew."— (Eccles. Hist. Vol. iii. p. 2l6. Edit. 1729.) Dr. Thomas Pierce has also observed, with his usualaccuracy and good sense, that, " Pelagius, by denying original sin, denied universal redemption." — (Divine Philanthropy Defended, p. 92. Edit. l638.) ♦' In St. Paul's divinity," says the excellent Dr. Hammond, *' Christ died for all who are dead in Adam ; and the contrary doctrine, of Christ's not dying for all, was, by the ancients, affixed upon Pelagius, upon that ground of his affirming that all, i.e. that Infants, were not fallen in Adam, and so needed not to be redeemed by Christ."— (Works, Vol. i. p. 200. Edit. l684.) *'The Pelagians," says Dr. Womack, "are charged by the ancients with this doctrine. That Christ did not diejor all," — (Calvinists' Cabinet Unlocked, p. 308. Edit. I659.) But granting that Pelagius did hold General Redemption : what then ? Does a doctrine lose its importance and value by being asso- ciated with error in a human mind ? Pelagius believed that there is a God ; but what man possessed of a sound understanding, would, on this account, assume the profession of Atheism ? Do Messrs. BogTie and Bennett think that the doctrine of absolute predestination is less worthy of their belief, because it has been held by many thousand members of the Church of Rome, and is recommended in the Koran? This opinion might with far greater propriety be called, " the great doctrine " of the Arabian Impostor, and of the Popish Dominicans and Jansenists, than that of General Redemption can be denominated, ** the great doctrine of Pelagianism." But the fact is, the use of such bombast is a mere trick, intended to mislead the uninformed, and is unworthy of any man who has the slightest pretensions to any thing like learning. If it was a truth in the Apostolic age, that Jesus Christ by the grace of God tasted death for every man ; that truth could not become a lie by passing through the mind of Pelagius. All heretic, as it is said he was, he possessed no power of annihilating the doctrints of Divine Revelation. But our historians also affirm that General Redemption, which they call " the great doctrine of Pelagianism," is " condemned by the Church of England in her Articles." This is another flagrant violation of historic truth. No mention is made of Pelagius or of his errors in ApP.) JOHN GOODWIK. 447 any article of the National Church, except the ninth ; the only subject of which is. Original Sin. So far, in fact, is the Church of England from condemning the doctrine of General Redemption, either under the odious name of Pelagianism, or in any other form, that, in her Thirty-first Article, she declares her belief that, " The offering of Christ once made, is the perfect redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction, for all the sins of the luhole world, loth Original and Actual." Equally strong is her language on this subject, both in the Catechism, and in the Liturgy. The venerable and learned Reformers, who compiled those formularies, acknowledged no doctrine of predestination, but what was perfectly consistent with the Redemption of the Whole World by the sacrifice of Christ. And, at all events, they were too well informed gravely to condemn Pelagius for an opinion which he did not believe j and which, had it gained the complete assent of his mind, would have corrected his capital error. The honour of doing this, was reserved for the Historians of the Dissenters. But there is another branch of what these gentlemen call, " the great doctrine of Pelagianism," and which they also declare to be " the distinguishing creed of the Arminian Methodists." It is this : " That all men have a certain light, or grace, or influence, which they may by their own powers and inclinations improve ; and that this individual human improvement makes the difference between one man and ano- ther, the saved and the damned." If, by " their own powers and inclinations," be meant, "powers and inclinations" which men natu- rally possess, the whole is a gross misrepresentation of the religious sentiments of the people in question. It is no part of their creed, that the grace or influence of the Holy Spirit, with which they believe all men are more or less favoured, during their probationary state, may be improved by any such means. They absolutely deny that men have any " powers and inclinations," either to think, or speak, or do, any thing conducive to the glory of God, or to their personal salvation, except such as are produced by the gracious power of the Divine Spirit. "We are to observe that great and important truth," says Mr. Wesley, " It is God that worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure. The meaning of these words may be made more plain, by a small transposition of them. It is God that of his good pleasure worketh in you both to will and to do. This position of the 448 LIFE OT (App. words, connecting the phrase of his good pleasure with the word wmketh, removes all imagination of merit from man, and gives God the whole glory of his work. Otherwise we might have some room for boasting, as if it were our own desert, some goodness in us, or some good thing done by us, which first moved God to work. But this expression cuts off all such vain conceits, and clearly shews, his motive to work lay wholly in himself: in his own mere grace, in his unmerited mercy. " It is by this alone he is impelled to work in any man both lo will and to do. This expression is capable of two interpretations ; both of which are unquestionably true. First, To ivill, may include the whole of inward ; to do, the whole of outward religion. And if it be thus un- derstood, it implies, That it is God that worketh both inward and out- Avard holiness. Secondly, To will, may imply every good desire ; to do, whatever results therefrom. And then the sentence means, Godhreathes into us every good desire, and brings every good desire to good effect. " The original words to SiXsiv and to tvipysiv, seem to favour the latter construction : to SeXhv, which we render to ivill, plainly including every good desire, whether relating to our tempers, words, or actions ; to inward or outward holiness. And to en^yny, which we render to do, manifestly implies all that poivcrfrmn on high, all that energy which works in us every right disposition, and then furnishes us for every good ivord and work. '• Nothing can so directly tend to hide pride from man, as a deep, lasting conviction of this. For if we are thoroughly sensible, that we have nothing which we have not received, how can we glory as if we had not received it ? If we know and feel that the very first motion of good is from above, as well as the power which conducts it to the end : if it is God that not only infuses every good desire, but that accompanies and folluivs it, else it vanishes away ; then it evidently follows, that he who glorieth, must glory in the Lord." — (Works, Vol. X. p. 77-) With respect to the difference between those who are saved and those who are lost, Mr. Fletcher says, "If I freely obey the gospel, and am saved ; and my neighbour freely disoleys it, and is damned, what makes me to differ from him ? Is it not my free obedience of faith ? Undoubtedly: and his free disobedience makes him differ from you: or it would be very absurd Judicially to acquit and reward you rather than him, according to your works. And it would be strange dupli- ApP.) JOHN GOODWIN". 44-9 city to condemn and punish Iihii rather than you in the day of Judg- ment, after the most solemn protestations, that equity and impartiality shall dictate the Judge's sentence. "As to the difficulty arising from St. Paul's question, 1 Cor. iv. 7- Who maketh thee to differ P I add, (1.) According to the Covenant of works, all fall short of the glory of God : and when any one asks with respect to the law of innocence, TVho makes thee to differ? the proper answer is. There is no difference : every mouth must le stopped : all the toorld is guilty before God. — Enter 7iot into judgment with thy servant, O Lord. But, according to the covenant of grace, he that /ree/i/ believes and obeys in the strength of free grace, undoubtedly makes himself to differ from him, that by obstinate disobedience does despite to the Spirit of grace. If this point be given up, the Diana and Apollo, or rather, the Apollyon of the Antinomians, [I mean wanton free-grace and merciless free-wrath] are set up for ever. However, "(2.) If the question. Who maketh thee to differ ? be asked with respect to the numler of out talents, the proper answer is, God's distinguishing grace alone maketh us to differ. And that this is the sense, which the apostle had in view, is evident from the context. He had before re- proved the Corinthians for saying every one, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, S)'C. and now he adds. These things I have in a figure tramfcrred to myself and to Apollos, that ye might leant in us not to think (of gifted, po- pular men, or of yourselves) above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another ; for ivho maketh thee to differ ? Why is thy person graceful ? and why art thou naturally an eloquent man, like Apollos, whilst thy brother's speech is rude, and his bodily presence weak and contemptible like mine ? But, *' (3.) If you ask. Who maketh thee to differ ? with respect to the imjyrove- ment or non-improvenieni of our gifts and graces : if you enquire Whether God necessitates some men to disbelieve, that they may necessarily sin and be damned ; while he necessitates others to believe, that they may necessarily work righteousness and be saved : I utterly deny the last question, and in this sense St. Paul answers his own misapplied ques- tion thus : Be not deceived: whatsoever a man (not what God) soiveth, that shall he also reap ; perdition if he sow to the flesh, and eternal life if he sow to the Spirit. Nor am 1 either afraid or ashamed to second him by saying upon the walls of Jerusalem, that in the last-mentioned sense We make ourselves to diffei: And Scripture, reason, conscience, the Gg 4S0 LIFE OF (ApP. divine perfection?, and the trump of God, which will soon summon ■us to Judgment^ testify that this reply stands as firm as one half of the Bible, and the second gospel axiom on which it is immoveably founded. " Nay there is not a promise or a threatening in the Bible, that Is not a proof of our Lawgiver's want of wisdom, or of our Judge's want of equity, if we are not graciously endued with a capacity to make our- selves differ frmn the obstinate violators of the law, and despisers of the gospel, — that is, if we are not/rce agents." — (Works, Vol. iv, p. 121.) Such Is the Doctrine of Divine Influence, and of Human Agency, held by the Arminian Methodists. But when Messrs. Bogue and Bennett assert, that this is "The great doctrine of Pelagianism," and that it is " condemned in the Articles of the Church of England," they again attempt to impose upon the credulity of their readers. The ■works written by Pelagius, in explanation and defence of his own pecu- liar sentiments, have perished ; no reference therefore can be made to them. But if his contemporaries have faithfully reported his creed, and if It has been correctly understood by the Christian Church in suc- ceeding ages, he denied the doctrine of divine influence altogether; and contended that men, merely by their own natural powers, are able to yield perfect obedience to the law of God. On this subject let the following testimonies be considered. VENERABLE BEDE. " Pelagius, a Briton, spread far and near, the infection of his perfi- dious doctrine against the assistance of divine grace." f AUGSBURGH CONFESSION. "The Pelagians teach, that we are able to please God supreme- ly, ivi/hout tlte Holy Spirit, and by the power of 7iature alone ; and sub- stantially to obey his precepts." J DR. PETER HEYLIN. " Pelagius ascribed so much unto the freedom of the will. In all acts of piety,, as to imagine that the grace of God was unnecessary." — (Histo- rical and Miscellaneous Tracts, p. 50g. Edit. 168I.) BISHOP PEARSON. " It was the known opinion of the Pelagians, that It Is in the power of man to believe the gospel, without any internal operation of the grace of God." — (Exposition of the Creed, p. 238. Edit. 1723.) I Pelagius Brito contra aaxiliurn gratia; superna! venena sua; perfidia; longe lateque clispersit— (Eccles. Hist. Lib. i, Cap- 10.) X Pelagianos docent, quod sine Spiritu sancto, «olis naturje viribus, possimus Dcutn super onuiia diligere, legem Dei faccrc, quoad substamiam actuum. Art. XVIII. Arp.) JOHX oooDwix. 451 PLAIFERE. ♦' The heresy of Pelagius, detested by the whole Church of Christ, is. That wlfhout the grace of God, the will of man can and doth, both will and perform that which is good." — (Appello Evangelium, p. 238. Edit. 1653.) CLAGGETT. " Pelagius's great heresy was this : That a man, by his natural facul- ties, might do that which God required, without any further help from God than thatof declaringhistvi/l." — (Discourse concerningthe operations of the Holy Spirit, p. 133. Edit. I68O.) BISHOP HOPKINS. " The Pelagians affirm, that God therefore pardons and saves some, because they will, by the potver of their own ruiture, ivork faith in them- selves." — (Works, Vol. ii. p. 2C7. Edit. I8O9.) BISHOP BURNET. "Pelagius thought, that man was so entire in his liberty, that there was no need of any other grace, but that of pardon, and of proposing the truth of religion to melt's knowledge." — (Exposition of the Thirty-Nine Articles, p. 118. Edit. 17OO.) DR. JORTIN. " Pelagius was every where accused of denying altogether the assistance of grace." — (Six Dissertations, p. 50. Edit. 1755.) MR. WESLEY. "Pelagius is said to have taught, that man may attain perfection In this life, and that without the assistance (f the grace of God." — (History of England, Vol. i. p. 15.) GROTIUS. " To Pelagianism belong the following dogmata : That there Is no depravity of nature : that the commencement of faith — that prayer, humility, obedience, are not through the gift of grace: that by the vigour of nature, something good pertaining to the salvation of eternal life may be conceived, prepared, and chosen : or, that we may be saved, that is, we may consent to the Gospel-message, without the illumina- tion and inspiration of the Holy Spirit." -f \ Pelagiaiiismus ad quem hacc dogmata pertinent, Nullam esse humampnatiirjpde. pravationem : initium fidei, invocationem, humilitatem, obedicntiam non esse per gratia' domim ; I'ernatura; vigorem bonum aliquod atl salutcm pertincns vita; a'tcma? cogitari, ct expodiri eteligi : Sive salutari, id est, Evangelic* predicationi conseiitiri posse abstjue illuminatione et inspiratioiie Spiritus Saiicti- — Ordinum Hollandia: ac Westfrisia' Pielas, p. 104. Edit. Lond. 452 LIFE OF VOSSIUS, "Upon the subject of Grace, Pelagius neither always thought nor spoke alike. At first he attributed every thing to nature. Afterwards, being reprimanded for his non-acknowledgment of the grace of God, he began to make use of the term : nevertheless he changed not his opinion. For by Grace he understood the poioer of nature, exclusive of the Deity, that is, the rational will. And when the Fathers clearly evinced that the Scripture does not speak of natural grace, but of grace which transcends the powers of nature ; as though deeming a double-horsed chariot preferable to his single steed, he yoked supernatural with natu- ral grace J but even this supernatural grace he considered as merely exter- nal, and placed it in the instruction imparted by the laiv."^ FLEURY. ''Augustine shews that Pelagius had never condemned, in a clear and precise manner, the errors which had been ascribed to him concerning Grace ; since all he said upon that head, might be understood accord- ing to his principles, of the natural power we have to do good, — of the law, — of example, — and of the other methods of enlightening our understandings, — or of the remission of sins, — without acknowledging the necessity of a super natitral assistance as to the will." — (Eccles. Hist. Vol. ill, p. 213. Edit. 1729.) DU PIN. ' "Pelagius held, that man could be perfect, and freed from sin, without God's help." — (Eccles. Hist. Vol. ill, p. 91, Edit. I698.) DR. HAWES. " The radical principles of this heresiarch went to the destruction of the fundamental doctrines of revealed religion, a vicarious atonement, and divine Influence. He affirmed that nothing Is necessary to human perfection, but the exertion of our native faculties ; that the human will is as free to good as to evil, and requires no superna- tural aid."— (History of the Church, Vol. ii, p. 15. Edit. 1800.) FORMEY. •' Pelagius, denying the natural corruption of the soul, drew from it t Pelagius nee idem de gratia semper sensit, nee dixit. Primitus omnia naturae tribucbat- Postea objurgatus, quod gratiam Dei non agnosceret, eam quoque nominare cccpit: scnttntiam tamen non mutavit. Nam per gratiam intellexit possibilitatem natural a Deo condita, hoc est, rationalem voluntatem. Et cum dare ostenderent Patres, Scripturam non de natural! gratia lo- qui, sedea, quae excederet vires natura?: quasi si ngulari equo bigasjampraferens, cum natural! gratia pariter currere jussit supematuralem ; sed solam externam, quara in doctrina Legis col- locabat— Hist. Pelag. p. 294, Edit. 1655. (Al'P. JOHN GOODWIN. 453 this conclusion, that the divine grace teas unnecessary.^' — (Eccles. Hist. Vol. 1, p. 100. Edit. 1766.) DR. WALL. " The chief point on which Pelagius was condemned, was his denial of any such thing as an internal grace of God's Spirit, moving and inclin- ing the heart to faith, love, obedience." — (History of Infant Baptism, Vol. i. p. 210. Edit. 1705.) DR. GREGORY, "Pelagius, .with his friend Cdesivus, opposed, with warmth, the doc- trines of original sin, and the necessity of divine grace." — (Hist, of the Christian Church, Vol. i. p. 272. Edit. 1795.) MOSHEIM. *' Pelagius and Celestius maintained, that mankind are capable of repentance and amendment, and of arriving to the highest degrees of pietya nd virtue by the use of their natural faculties and powers ; that, indeed, external grace is necessary to excite their endeavours, but that they have 7io need of the internal succours of the Divine Spirit." — (Eccles. Hist. Vol. ii. p. 87. Edit. 1806.) , MILNER. *' Now that the holy influence of the Spirit of God was generally damped by superstition, or quenched by licentiousness, Satan felt him- self emboldened to erect a new heresy, which should pretend to the height of purity, supported by mere human nature, exclusive of the operations of Divine grace altogether. This was Pelagianism." — (Hist, of the Church, Vol. ii. p. 400. Edit. 1795.) It would be easy to produce a cloud of witnesses, in addition to these, to prove, that in the general estimation of Christians, whether Catholic^ or Protestant, Lutheran, Calvlnistical, or Arminian, Pelagius absolutely denied what is usually understood by Divine Influence. Whereas no class of religious people whatever, contend for this more strenuously, or more consistently, than the Arminian Methodists. To the gracious operation of the Holy Spirit exclusively, they ascribe all that moral power by which men are enabled to comply with the re- quirements of the gospel : and to the same cause they attribute the purification of human nature, and that in a much higher sense than their accusers themselves are willing to allow. In fact, there are scarcely any people under heaven, who carry this doctrine so far as it is carried by the Christians in question. What then must be thought of historians, who have no more regard either for their own character, GG 3 454 LIFE OF (App. or the understandings of their readers, than publicly to assert, that " the great ductrine of Pelagianhm," on this subject, and on that of Redemption, is " tlie distinguishing creed of the Arminian Methodists ? " " They that tell you," says Mr. Goodwin, " that Christ's dying for all men, a sufficiency of power given to all men to believe, &c. were held by Pelagius, and condemned for errors by the orthodox Fathers, sin both against their own and your souls, and shall render an account unto Him who judgeth righteously, for dealing so unfaithfully and unchristianly by his people and his truth. They cannot prove that Pelagius ever held any of the opinions mentioned ; unless haply after that recantation of his errors, whereunto the arguments and authority of the orthodox men of his times brought him. But that he held the opinion which denieth that Christ died for all men, before, if not after the said recantation, may be evidently proved from Augustine, Epist. 106." — (Remedy of Unreasonableness, p. 10.) And yet, bitter as our historians are against all who dissent from Calvin, they themselves can play the Arminian with considerable dex- terity. In their philippic against the national church, when speaking of the posture of kneeling at the Lord's Supper, and of the ejection of the Puritans, they mention, " Ten thousands of souls which the stern injunction of this rite plunged into misery, by being deprived of those faithful ministers, by whose preaching they might have heen eternally saved."— (Vol. i. p. 341.) Nowif there are " ten thousands of souls plunged into misery, who might have been eternally saved," it follows of course, according to Calvin's division of mankind, either that *' ten thousands" of the elect are in the gulph of p'^rdition ; or that " ten thousands" of the repro- bate, might have been eternally happy in the bosom of God : and in either case, the doctrine of predestination, as taught by that Reformer, falls to the ground. Besides, if no man can be eternally saved, except through the sacrifice of Christ — If, in order to their personal salvation, men must Believe in Him — If no man can truly Believe, unless the Holy Spirit help his infirmities — And yet, if there are " ten thousands of souls plunged into misery, who might have been eternally saved," as our historians affirm ; it necessarily follows, that there are " ten thousands of souls" in " misery" for whom Christ died; and who either were, or might have been, the subjects of Divine Influence. And if this is the case with ten thousands of those who are now in misery, why jijay it not be the case with all such as shall, in the day of general Arp.) joirx goodwin. 455 judgment, be turned into hell ? Thus it appears, that [^if Calvin's doc- trine be true, Messrs. Bogue and Bennett, notwithstanding all their blustering against Arminians and Pelagians, have little cause either to reproach their fellow-heretics, or to make a swaggering boast of their own orthodoxy. TheWesIeyan Methodists make an open and con- fistent profession of the Arminian doctrines : our historians, it seems, adopt them occasionally. In describing some of Mr. Wesley's tracts, Messrs. Bogue and Ben- nett state, " A Dialogue between a Predestinarian and his Friend was Wesley's next publication, which puts as weak arguments as possible into the mouth of a Calvinist, who is thus made an easy convert to Arminianism." — (Vol. iv. p. 231.) There is not the slightest vestige of truth in this account of Mr. Wesley's pamphlet. It contains nothing, strictly speaking, that can be called argument, in defence of Calvinism. The Predestinarian is introduced in the Dialogue merely for the pur- pose of x/a/fwg- some of his opinions : and to prevent all comi)laint on the ground of unfairness, e^ery sentence " put into his mouth," as explanatory of his creed, is copied verbatim from the writings of Cal- vin, Piscator, Twisse, Zuinglius,Zanchius, Peter Martyr, the Assembly of Divines, &c. That " weak" as well as impious things, on the sub- ject of predestination, occur in the works of these theologians, will not be denied; but it is presumed Mr. Wesley was not to blame on this account. He merely copied what they had written in explanation of their peculiar sentiments. Nor is the Predestinarian who is per- sonated in this Dialogue " made an easy convert to Arminianism." No intimation of any such occurrence is given in the tract itself: the whole account given by these prejudiced writers, is pure fiction. Our historians proceed to state, respecting Mr. Wesley, that "He also gave the world his own ' Thoughts on the Perseverance of the Saints,' in which he opposes that doctrine with less ability than was displayed by Goodwin." — (Ibid. p. 232.") What a profound discovery ! Mr. Wesley has " displayed less ability" in the composition of a two- penny pamphlet, than John Goodwin has done in an elaborate and sys- tematic dissertation which, within a few lines,- occupies tliree hundred folio pages. Surely a high opinion of Mr. Wesley must be entertained, when those who distinguish themselves by hostility to his honest fame, have no means of depreciating his character, except by descend- ing to the use of such pitiful expedients. What would be thought of a future ecclesiastical historian, who should iiave the weakness to 456 LIFE OF (App. state, that an Essay on the Authenticity of the New Testament was published by Dr. Bogue ; and a Discourse on Popery, and another concerning Divine Influence, by Mr. Bennett ; and then sagely pro- ceed to remark, for the general benefit of the Christian world. That the first of these productions was not equal to Lardner's Credibility, in seventeen volumes : that the second was inferior to Claude's elaborate Defence of the Reformation, in two volumes octavo ; and that the last, in point of ability, was far surpassed by Dr. Owen's folio work on the Holy Spirit ? Were our censors of Mr. Wesley to meet with such a paltry cavil, perhaps they would individually exclaim. In every work regard the writer's End, Since none can compass more than they Intend* " The next publication of Mr. Wesley," say our historians, " was entitled 'Predestination calmly considered,' which is his most laboured piece, but which indicates any thing rather than calmness or consider- ation." — (Ibid.) That Mr. Wesley was a man of deep learning and of extraordinary abilities, has been acknowledged by persons who were every way qualified to judge. After reading his Appeals to Men of Reason and Religion, Dr. Doddridge inscribed on the back of them, Hoiv forcihle are rigid tcords ! His Defence of the doctrine of Original Sin, in reply to Dr. Taylor, was never answered by that consummate scholar and acute disputant : and it is said that ever after the publica- tion of this work, the Doctor spoke of Mr. Wesley in terms of respect. Messrs. Bogue and Bennett however, state, that his Predestination Calmly Considered, is his " most laboured piece ;" and then with an inconsistency peculiar to themselves, immediately add, that it was written without either "calmness or consideraHo7i .'" That a learned and voluminous author, an author remarkable for accuracy and preci- sion, should write his most laboured piece without consideration, is a mar- vellous thing ; concerning which it can only be said, that if Messrs. Bogue and Bennett seriously believe it, or imagine that others will believe upon their testimony, whatever may be thought of their can- dour, no one surely will call their credulity in question. Passing over many paragraphs equally as objectionable as those which have been noticed, we will conclude these remarks upon Messrs. Bogue and Bennett, by an examination of what they have ad- vanced concerning the late excellent Mr. Fletcher; the immortal author of the Checks to Antinomianism, and the Scripture-Scales. ApP.) JOHN GOODWIN. 457 " In point of temper," say they, " Fletcher was of all the disputants, at once the best and the worst. Too much under the impression of the approaching judgment to indulge himself in the ribaldry, sneers, and contempt in which others seemed to glory, he discovered all the seriousness of Saul of Tarsus, in his opposition to the [Genevan] Gos- pel, and, transported by that zeal which is not according to [Calvinian] knowledge, he is often very devoutly wicked, and almost blasphemes from a sense of duty." — (Vol. iv. p. 237.) When these gentlemen state, that Mr. Fletcher was " often very devoutly wicked," whether their language borders more upon "ribaldry," or upon that which has no meaning, let the reader determine. Might it not just as well have been said, that he was a believing infidel, a malignant philanthropist, a con- tented murmurer, and an honest cheat ? or, that he was a gigantic dwarf, who often felt the cold shiverings of excessive heat, and en- dured the excruciating pains of perfect ease? " In argument, however," say they, "he stood alone on the Armi- nian side ; for though Wesley was shrewd and perspicuous, excelling in that luminous simplicity of language which controversy demands, he soon turned from disputing with enemies, to ruling his votaries ; and left Fletcher to dazzle with eloquence instead of reasoning, and substitute tropes for argument." Little credit is due to historians, who, with the most ample means of information before them, are capable of making such unfounded assertions as these. In argument Mr. Fletcher did noi stand alone, on the Arminian side. He was well supported by at least two powerful auxiliaries. Did our Historians never hear of Mr. Thomas Olivers ? who was contemporary with Mr. Fletcher, and who possessed very considerable talents as a logician. In defence of Mr. Wesley and of the Arminian doctrines, this very sensible and able writer published the following works : A Full Reply to a Pam- phlet, entitled. An Answer to a late Pamphlet of Mr. Wesley against Mr. Erskine. — A Letter to Mr. Toplady, occasioned by his late Letter to the Rev. John Wesley. — A Scourge to Calumnj', inscribed to Richard Hill, Esq. — A Rod to a Reviler : or, an Answer to the Rev. Rowland Hill's Letter to the Rev. John Wesley. — A Full Refutation of the Doctrine of Unconditional Perseverance. Did our Historians never hear of the Rev. Walter Sellon, a clergyman of the Church of England ? This gentleman was also con- temporary with Mr. Fletcher, and wrote the following works in vindi- cation of those doctrines of which that extraordinary man was such a 458 LIFE OF (App. distinguished advocate : A Defence of God's Sovereignty, against the im]jious and horrible Aspersions cast upon it by Elisha Coles. — The Church of England Vindicated from the Charge of Absolute Predes- tination. — Arguments against General Redemption Considered. — An Answer to Aspaslo Vindicated, in Eleven Letters : said to be wrote by the late Rev. James Hervey. And if Mr. Wesley did not take a very active part in the controversy, while his friend was writing the celebrated Checks and Scales, he made an ample atonement for his comparative silence, by his subse- quent conduct. For scarcely had Mr. Fletcher brought his polemical labours to a close, when Mr. Wesley began to publish the " Arminian Magazine, consisting of Extracts and Original Treatises on Universal Redemption." The announcement of this work was like the shout of Achilles from the trenches ; and the publication of it appears to have contributed more than any thing besides, to establish Mr. Wesley's Societies In the belief of the doctrines they had received. Of this work he lived to publish thirteen volumes ; containing, among many excel- lent original pieces, a reprint of several of the most valuable treatises in defence of God's Universal Love, which either this or any other na- tion had produced. Excepting Mr. Goodwin's works, and those of Mr. Fletcher, these volumes contain the best vindication of Arminlan- ism extant. It is extremely difficult for men, writing under the deceitful influ- ence of prejudice, and resolving at all events to censure such charac- ters as they do not admire, to preserve any thing like consistency in their narrations. W^hat must Messrs. Bogue and Bennett themselves think, in their moments of sober reflection, concerning their own representation ? " In argument" say they, " Fletcher stood alone on the Arminian side :" for lo ! he was left by Mr. Wesley, " to dazzle w'lih eloquence instead of reasoning, and substitute tropes for argu- ment." According to this account, Mr. Fletcher had no more to do with aigument, than he had with music ; we ask then in the name of common sense, how he could stand in argument either alone or In com- pany ? Such unmeaning talk is as much below the dignity of genuine history, as it Is above comprehension. To have been consistent with themselves, should not our grave Historians have Informed the Chris- tian world, that Mr. Fletcher was left to stand alone in " eloquence'* and " tropes ?" ApP.) JOHN GOODWIK. 459 In this weak attempt to excite a mean opinion of Mr. Fletcher's abilities and temper, Messrs. Bogue and Bennett have reproached their friends with no ordinary severity. Mr. Fletcher's writings have been in extensive circulation and vast repute, more than forty years, both in this country and in America ; and from the time of their original pub- lication, have been uniformly regarded as standard works on the sideof Arminianism. Nor has any thing like a refutation of them ever been produced. Alas ! what must be thought of Mr. Fletcher's antagonists, who, according to Messrs. Bogue and Bennett, were all driven from the field by " eloquence" and " tropes ?" And is it a fact then, that the mere straw of eloquence and tropes, has afforded the friend of Mr. Wesley such a fortification, that all the valiant sons of Geneva, for near half a century, have been unable to dislodge him ? On dismissing Mr. Fletcher, our Historians add, " If the corrusca- tions of passion and ephemeral wit should go down to them, posterity will pronounce him too loquacious for a deep reasoner, and too empas- sioned to investigate duly the most profound and awful themes which can occupy the human understanding." — (Ibid. p. 238.) Emboldened by this example, we also will venture to hazard an opinion on the same subject. If the rhapsodical and incoherent details of prejudice, the intemperate ebullitions of party feeling, and the rude sallies of self- complacent and censorious levity should go down to them, posterity will pronounce the Historians of the Dissenters much better qiialified to misrepresent Mr. Fletcher's sentiments, to depreciate his talents, and to traduce his character, than to answer what they are pleased to call, his " eloquence" and " tropes." FINIS. James Nicfwts, Printer, 22, fVarwi<:k-Sqj(arc, Patcriw»ter-row, Londoiu DATE DUE ^^■wwMa *'»*«*«ail|StBiSMB5j JW i : '^ t HIGHSMITH # 45220 fci