•'^ f--^ / I / X ^TA^^^' .. ''' scs^^^ ^^ ^Ut^t^^m^mm THE MARROW O F MODERN DIVINITY, III Two PART S. PART I. Touching both the CovESfAKT of Works, and the Covenant of Grace : With their VCg and End, both in the Time of the Old Teftarnent, and in the Tin>e of the New. Clearly defcribing the: W AV to eternal Life by Jesus Christ. In a Dialogue betwixt EvANGELisTA, a Minifter of the Gofpe!, NoMisTA, a Legilift, Antinomista, an Antinoniian, and Neophitus, a young Chriflian. By EDWARD FISHER, A.M. THE EIGHTH E D irlQN, Willi NOTES, By that eminent and faithful Servant of Jesus Christ, Mr THOMAS BOSrON, Late IVIinifter of the Gofpel at Ettrick. To which is added, The Twelve Oueries, which were propofed to the TwjIvs Marro-jj-mm, by the C 6 MM i s S I o n of the General Assembly of the Church c^ Scotland, i 7 2 i . W ith the Marrow- men\ AnJ'wsrs to fa id ^^rks» 2C0R. xiii.8. For ive can do mihhp^ .^galnfi ths Truth, but for the Truth. FALKIRK: Piinted and fold by Patrick Maui, M.DCC.LXXXIX, Mr CARTL^s Recommendation and Imprimatur^ I H A V E pcrufcd this enfuing Dialogue, and find it tending to peace and hoiinels ; the author endeavouring to reconcile and heal thofe unhappy diiFerenccs, which have lately broken out afrefh amongfl: us, about the points therein handled and cleared : for which cauCe, 1 allow it to be printed, and recommend it to the reader, as a difcourfe (lored with many iiecefTary and fcafonable truths, confirmed by icripture, and avowed by many approved writers : all compofed in a familiar, plain, moderate ftile, without bitterneis againft, or uncomely rcflrdions upon, others : which flies have lately corrupted many boxes of (othcrwife precious) oinment. JOSEPH CARYL. T H E PREFACE WHOSOEVER thou art, to whofe hands this book ihaii conic, I pre fume to put thee in mind of the divine command, binding on thy confcience, Deut. i. ij. *' Ye Ih dl not refpect perfons in judgment, but you fliall '' hear the (mall as well as the great." Reject not the book with contempt, nor with indignation neithef, when thou iihdeft it intituled, The Marrcyw of Modern Divinity^ left thou do it to thine own hurt. Reraemijcr, that out* blelTed Lord himfelf was accounted '* a friend of publi- cans and fmners," Mat. xt. 19. " Many faid of him. He hath a devil, and is mad ; why hear ye him?" John X. 20. TJie apoftle Paul was (lander oufly reported to be an Antinomian ; one who, by his dodrine, encouraged men to do evil, Rora.iii. 8. and made void the law, verfe 31. And the firtt martyr, in tlie days pf the gofpel, was ftoned foi* pretended " bUfphemous words againft Moles, and againft the law," Afts vi. Xi, 13. The golpel metliod of fanctification, as well as of juftification, lies fo far out of the ken of natural rea(bn, that if all the rationalifts in the world, philofophers and divines, had conCuUed together to lay down a plan, for repairing the loft image of Govl, in man, they had never hit on that which the divine wifdom hath pitched upon, VIZ. That Tinners ftiould be fantftified in Chrift Jefus, I Cor. i. 2. by faith in him, Ads xxvi. iZ. Nay, being laid before them, they would have rejected it with dil- duin, as fooliihnefs, 1 Cor. i. 23. In all views, which fallen man hath, towards the means of his own recovery, the natural bent is to the way of the covenant of works. i Ifis is evident in the ca(c of the vaft multitudes throughout ths world em- bracing Judaifm, Pr.ganifm, Mahometanifm, and Popery. All this agree in this one principle, *' That- it i« by doing A 2 niert iv The PREFACE, men muft live,*' tho' they hugely difTer as to the things to be done f^.r life. Tlie Jews, in the time of Julian the apoflate, attemp- ted to rebuild their temple, after it had lain many years in ruiiis, by the decree of heaven never to be built a^atn ; and cealed not, till, by an earthquake, r,'hich fhuck the old k undatioii, and turneil all down to the ground, they were forced to forbear, as Socrates the hiltorian tells us, I'lb. 2- cap ao. But the Jews were never more addicied to that temple, than mankind natu- rally is, to be building on the firft covenant ; and Adam's children wiD by no means quit it, until mount Sinai, where they dc-fire to work what they do work, be all on a fke about them. O that theTe, who have been frighted fronj It, were not lo ready to go b^ck towards it.^ Howbek, that can never be the channel of fanif^ifici- tion, what way focver men prepare it, and fit it out for that purpt)re ; becaufc it is not, by divine appointment, tiie miniftration cf righieouiners and life, i Cor iii. And hcrvre it is a?wavs to be obferved, that as the dtK^rine of the r^ofpcl is corrupted, to introduce a more rational fort of religion, the flood of loofenefs and liten- tiouGiefs fwells proportionably ; infounichthat mortality brought in for dodrine, in room and i}cz?i{\ of the gofpel (?f the grace. of God, never falls to be, in efFj Legalifm ; for bringing under contempt me ^ood olif way, in which our fathers found rert to their ibuls, and for removing the ancient land-marks which th«y (et. It is now about fourfcore years (ince this book made \ks firft entrance into the world, under the titfe of The Marrow of Modern Divinity ^ at that time, not urjfitly prefixed to it : but it is too evident, it hath oottivcd the Htneis of that title. The truth is, the divinity therein taught, is no more the modern^ but the ancient divinity, as it was recovered from underneath the antichriftiari darknefs ; and as it ftooJ, before the tools of the late refiners on the Proteftant dodlrine were lifted up upon it ; a dotilrinc which, being from Gud, mull needs be according to godlinefs It was to contribute towards f^e prererviug of this tloctrine, and the withftancjing of its beiiig run down, under the odious name of Antinomianifm, in the diHid- vantageous (ituation it hath in this book, whole unde. ferved lot it is to be every- where fpokcn agamrt, that the folbwing notes were written. And herein two things chiefly, have had Wcighc* One is, Left that doctrine, being put into luch an ill name, ihould become the obje^ of the fettled averfion of fobcr per^ins ; and they be thereby betrayed into LegaliGn. The other is, Left in thele days of God's indignation, (<3 much appearing in fpiritual jaclgments, fome taking up the principles of it, from the hand of this author and ancient divines, for truth ; ihouM take the fenfe, fcope, and delign of them, from (now) common im\Q', and lobe betrayed into real Antinomianifm. Reader^ Lay afide prejudices, look aud fee %vith thine G^svn eyes, call things by their own names, and do noc reckon Anti-Baxterianifm, or Anti-Neoiionnanifm to be Antinomianifm ; and thou llialt find no Antinomianifni taught here ; but thou wilt perhaps be furprized to find, tiia- tliac talc is told of Luther, and other famous Pro- A 3 teftanc vi The P R E F A C E. t«?tlart divines, under the IxTrowed name of the defpifed ^. F. the author of the Flarro-'x' cf M'^dcrn D'rvinity , For thy eafe snd benefit in this edition, the book is divided into Chapters and Sections^ grertter and lefier, according to th^ rubjfct-mitter, with rijnuiRg Titles, not uled in any addition of it heretofore ; -Typographical errors, not a few, are by ccmparing of copies of re\ eral imprefTions, here corrected : the peiiods, \Nhich in many places were' foniewhat indiflinct, are, thro' tire whole, more careful'y diftinguiihed, to the rendering of the ferifcif of the aurhor more clear : the letters of refc^rence, bror'^ht into the Hdinbur'TJi edition I7i8, for avoid in e of tlie fide m irocin, which preceding editions had, are here rciahied for the fame rcaibn ; and Co are tlie icripture texts in the bodv of the book, \\ hich were there brought friiai the fide niargin of fore -going iin- prefhons ; tiie proper places being alligned to fuch of ihem as were found to be mifplaced. The appejidix is. referved for i\\t lecond pai-t, where the au.thor liinirtlf placed it. As fur the notes, in tiiem, words, phra(es, and tliings^ s^e explained ; trmh cleared, confirmed and vindicated:: the- 3nnot;Uor m tking no bones of detlarhig liis diiTenc Irom the author, w here he faw juft groiind f^r it. I make no quellion but he will be thought by fome to h-ive conftruclcd too favx^urably of Ic^'cr.a! palFages : bur, as it is nothimi- llranee, that he inclU^e to the charitable nde, the Look bavuig been many years ago* biefietl of pod to his own T ul ; lb, if he hath erred on ihat fide, it is the fafeit of the two, f-r thct: and me, judging of the words of another roan, whofe ends, I be- lieve wuh Mr Burrough?, to hive been very Jincerc f';r (joJ^ ai^d ths reaiJc'r's gyCiL However, I am I'atisfied he has dealt candidly in that matter, according to his light. Be advifed always to read over a JefTer fection of the bock, before reading :my of the notes thereupon, that you niny have the n.cie c'ear underlbndin^ of, the vJiJe. ' I The PR E F A C E. vU I conclmie this preface, in the words o/two err'r.ent prof^flbi-s of theology', deG rving our feHcas regp.rer <* 1 dread nvghrily that a ratiunal fort cf r^ligi ui is " couiintT in among us : I mean by it, a religion that '* coiifrds in a bare attendance on oatvv;?rd duties and ** ordinance?, without the power of godlinef^; and thence ** people ihr.ll fall into a vvwy of Itrving Gcd, which is '* mere deifni, having no relatioii to Chrlil: Jefbs, and '^ the Spirit of God." Memoirs of Mr Hahburton's Life, puge 19^. , " AiifncH 0 igl:ur vos, Sec. re. Therefore I warf> ' you, and each one of you, efpecially fuch as are to * be directors of the confcitnce, th u you exercife your* ' felvvs in lludy, reading, meditation and prayer, To as ' you may be able to iiiilruct and comfort both your f own and otiiers confciences in the time of temptation, ' and to bring thein back from the law to grace, frnnr * the active (or working) righteon fncfs to the p::.i]ive* ' (cr received) righteoufnefs : in a wort!, from Moies * to Chrift." Luih. comment, in ep'p. ad Gal. p. 27. April, 1726. ^4^-^' ^ ^ -^ 4* ■^- *^ -4^ ">/ -^ -^ -^ -^ -^ To the READER. T F tliou wilt pleafe to perufe this little book, thon Ihalt X liiid great worth in it. There is a line v{ jt. gracious fpiri: drawn through it, vvhich hath filleaed many pre- cious truths togtilier, and pre fented them to thy view: according to the variety of mens (pirits. the various ways of preftnting known truths are profitable. The crface txf G(»d hatli helped this autliiir in making liis works;, if it in like manner he-'p thee in- reading, thou {halt have caufe to blefs God for thefe truths thus brought to thee, and for the labours of tliis good man, whofe ends, I believe, are very fincere for God and thy good. JER. BUKROUGHS. ADVERTISEMENT. WHEREAS it hath been handed about, and by fome publHhed» to tliminilh tlie credit of the enfuing book, That the author Edward Filher, was a poor illiterate barber, without any authority to vouch it ; it is thought proper to prefix the following accoiuit of him^ from XVood's Alhstia Oxjnisnjis^ Vol. II. p 198. " Edward Fifher, the eldeft (on of a knight, became ** a gentleman-conunoner of Brazen-nofc college^ Aug. 25. ** 1627 took on his degree in Arts, and foon after left '* that houfe. Afterwards, being called home by his ** relations, who were then, as 1 have been informed, '* mucli in debt 5 he improved that learning, which he ** had obtained in the univerfity, fo much, that he be- ** came a noted perfon among the learned, fu- his great ^ reading in ecclefiaftical hidory, and in the fathers, and " for his admirable {kill in the Greek and Hebrew ** languages. His works are. u ^ I. Au appeal to the conlcience, as thou wilt an- fvver it at the great and dreadful day of Jefus Chrill. •* Oxford, 1644. (juarto. ^( ** II. The Marrow of Modern Divinity. i(f|6. Odtavo. - '* III. A Chriftian caveat to old and new Sabbata- *^ riaiis. 1630. **' W. An anfwer to fixteen queries', touching the ** rife and obfcrvation of Chriilmab." r E S r I M 0 N I E S.^ ix OCcafionaliy lighting upon this dialogue, under the approbation of a learned and judicious divine ; I was thereby induced to read it, and afterwards, on a firious confideration of the ufefulnefs of it^ to conimend it to the people in my public miniftry. Two things in it efpecially took with me r Firft, The maxter, the main fubftance being dillindly to difcover the nature of the two covenants, upon which all the myileries, both of the law arid gofi^el, depend. To fee the firft A