YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

TREATISE

CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE,

COMPILED

FROM THE HOLY SCRIPTURES ALONE ;

JOHN MILTON.

TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL

CHARLES R. SUMNER, M. A.
LIBRARIAN AND HISTORIOGRAPHER TO HIS MAJESTY, AND PREBENDARY
OF CANTERBURY.

FROM THE LONDON EDITION.

VOLUME I.

BOSTON.

PUBLISHED BY CUMMINGS, I1ILLIARD, AND CO  RICHARDSON AND LORD-
CHARLES EWER— CROCKER AND BREWSTJiR— TIMOTHY BKDLINGTON
— R. P. AND C. WILLIAMS. 1825.

CAMBRIDGE :
i'rom the University Press— By Hilliard Ik Metcalf.

TO THE
KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.
Sire,
In obedience to Your Majesty's gracious com
mand, I have executed a Translation of the recently
discovered theological treatise of Milton, which I
have now the honour of laying most humbly at Your
Majesty' 's feet.
With every sentiment of gratitude and attachment.
I have the honour to be,
Sire,
Your Majesty's
most humble servant, and dutiful subject,
CHARLES R. SUMNER.
Windsor, June, 25, 1825.

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS.

J. 0 enter into a preliminary discussion of the doc
trines or opinions contained in the present volume,
seems, properly speaking, to be no necessary part of
the Translator's duty. After stating, therefore, in
the first place, the circumstances under which the
original manuscript was discovered, and the reasons
for considering it as the long lost theological work of
Milton, it will be sufficient to subjoin, as briefly as
possible, a few remarks chiefly relating to certain
peculiarities in the following treatise, by which it is
distinguished from the author's other compositions.
From information communicated by Robert Lemon,
sen. Esq. Deputy Keeper of His Majesty's State
Papers, who has lately completed from the documents
under his care an entire series of the Order-Books of
the Council of State during the Interregnum, it ap
pears that Milton retired from active official employ
ment as Secretary for Foreign Languages, about the
middle of the year 1655. The following entry oc
curs under the date of April 17 in that year :
" The Councell resumed the debate upon the report made
from the Committee of the Councell to whom it was referred

VI
to consider of the establishment of the Councell's contin
gencies. "Ordered .... That the former yearly Salary of Mr.
John Milton, of Two Hundred Eighty-Eight Pounds, &c,
formerly charged on the Councell's contingencies, be reduced
to One Hundred and Fiftie Pounds per annum, and paid to
him, during his life, out of His Highness' Exchequer."
This sum must have been intended as a retiring
pension in consideration of past services, as it is evi
dent from another entry, under the same date, that a
successor was already appointed, at a reduced salary,
to discharge the duties of the situation which Milton
had previously occupied.
" For the Fee of Mr Phillip Medows, } per annum.
Secretary for the Latine Tongue, > £200 0 0"
after the rate of - - - - - ;
From this time it is presumed that Milton ceased to
be employed in public business, as his name does not
again occur in the Books of the Council of State,
which continue in uninterrupted succession till the 2d
of September 1658, the day preceding the death of
Cromwell.*
*The Orders of the Council of State during- the Interregnum,
brought to light and arranged by the industry of Mr. Lemon, form one
of the most interesting series of documents relative to English History
at -present in existence. They contain the daily transactions of the
executive government in England from 1648-9 to September 1658, and
are particularly valuable from the period of the dissolution of the Long
Parliament in 1653, to the death of Cromwell in September 1658 ¦ as
during the greater part of that time the Council of State, under the
Protector, combined both the executive and legislative functions of
government, and as these books are the authentic, but hitherto un
known records of their daily proceedings. It is greatly to be desired
that the attention of the Record Commissioners should be drawn to

vn

It is mentioned by the biographers of Milton
(Toland's Life of John Milton, p. 148, 12mo. Lon
don, 1699 ; Newton's Life of Milton, Vol. I. p. xl.
and lxiii. 8vo. London, 1757 ; Symmons's Life of
Milton, appended to his edition of the Prose Works,
Vol. VII. p. 500, London, 1806) that about the time
when he was thus released from public business, lie
entered upon the composition of three great works,
more congenial to his taste than the employments in
which he had been recently engaged, and fitted to
occupy his mind under the blindness with which he
had been afflicted for nearly three years. The works
commenced under these circumstances were Paradise
Lost, a Latin Thesaurus, intended as an improvement
on that by Robert Stephens, and a body of Divinity
comp:led from the Holy Scriptures, ' all which,' ac
cording to Wood {Fasti Oxonienses, Part I. 1635,
col. 486, edit. 1817) ' notwithstanding the several
troubles that befel him in his fortunes, he finished af
ter His Majesty's Restoration.' After enumerating
the works of Milton then published, Wood says;
' These I think are all the things he hath yet extant ;
those that are not, are a Body of Divinity, which
my friend (Aubrey) calls Idea Theologian, now, or
at least lately, in the hands of the author's acquaint
ance, called Cyriack Skinner, living in Mark Lane,
London ; and the Latin Thesaurus, in those of Ed
ward Philipps, his nephew.'
these valuable documents, and perhaps it might be advisable that a fair
transcript of them should be made, under their sanction, to gus.rd
against loss or damage by any accident which may happen to the
originals.

Vlll
In allusion to the work which is thus called by
Wood, on the authority of Aubrey, Idea Theologies,
Toland has the following passage : ' He wrote like
wise a System of Divinity, but whether intended for
public view, or collected merely for his own use, I
cannot determine. It was in the hands of his friend
Cyriack Skinner, and where at present is uncer
tain.'* Dr. Symmons also says, in a note, Vol. VII.
p. 500 : ' An answer to a libel on himself, and a sys
tem of Theology, called, according to Wood, Idea
Theologian, are compositions of Milton which have
been lost. The last was at one time in the hands of
Cyriack Skinner, but what became of it afterwards
has not been traced.'
It appears then from the above testimonies, that a
treatise on Divinity was known to have been com
piled by Milton, and deposited, either for safe custo
dy, or from motives of friendship, in the hands of
Cyriack Skinner ; since which time all traces of it
have been lost. It is necessary to show, in the next
place, what are the grounds for supposing that the
original work, from which the following translation
has been executed, is the identical treatise so long
concealed from the researches of all the editors and
biographers of the author of Paradise Lost.
It is observable that neither Wood, nor any of the
subsequent biographers of Milton, have mentioned
the language in which his theological treatise was
* Life, p. 148.

IX
written. To prefix a learned title to an English
composition would be so consistent with Milton's
own practice, as well as with the prevailing taste of
his age, that the circumstance of Aubrey's ascribing
to it a Latin name affords no certain proof that the
work itself was originally written in that language.
In the latter part of the year 1823, however, a Latin
manuscript, bearing the following title, Joannis
Miltoni Angli de Doctrina Christiana, Ex sa
cris duntaxat libris petita, Disquisitionum li
bri duo posthumi, was discovered by Mr. Lemon,
in the course of his researches in the Old State Pa
per Office situated in what is called the Middle Trea
sury Gallery, Whitehall. It was found in one of the
presses, loosely wrapped in two or three sheets of
printed paper, with a large number of original let
ters, informations, examinations, and other .curious
records relative to the Popish plots in 1677 and 1678,
and to the Rye House plot in 1683. The same par
cel likewise contained a complete and corrected copy
of all the Latin letters to foreign princes and states
written by Milton while he officiated as Latin Secre
tary ; and the whole was enclosed in an envelope
superscribed, ' To Mr. Skinner, Merch1.' The ad
dress seems distinctly to identify this important man
uscript with the work mentioned by Wood, though
an error has been committed, either by himself or his
informant, with respect to its real title.
Mr. Cyriack Skinner, whose name is already well
known in association with that of Milton, appears,
b

from a pedigree communicated by James Pulman,
Esq., Portcullis Poursuivant at Arms, to have been
the grandson of Sir Vincent Skinner or Skynner,
knight, whose eldest son and heir, William Skynner,
of Thornton College in the County of Lincoln, Esq.,
married Bridget, second daughter of Sir Edward
Coke, knight, Chief Justice of England.* The
affinity between Cyriack Skinner and this distin
guished ornament of the English Bar, is thus alluded
to by Milton in his 21st Sonnet :
To Cyriack Skinner.
Cyriack, whose grandsire, on the royal bench
Of British Themis, with no mean applause
Pronounc'd, and in his volumes taught, our laws,
Which others at their bar so often wrench ;

William Skynner, of:
Thornton College in
the County of Lin
coln, Esq. Son and
Heir of Sir Vincent
Skynner, Knt.
Will dated August 3,
1627, proved Februa
ry 1, 1627-8.

Rridget second daughter
of Sir Edward Coke,
Knt. Chief Justice of
England, and relict of
William Berney, Esq.
Will (in which she is de
scribed ' of Thornton
College, widow,) dated
Sept. 26, 1648, proved
June 18, 1653, by her
son Cyriack Skynner,
Executor.

Edward Skynner of:
Thornton College
aforesaid.Esq. son
and heir, 1643.
Will dated May
20, 1657, proved
Sept. 11 follow
ing.

Ann, daughterof
yir Wm. Went
worth, Knt. of
Asliby Fuero-
rum in Com.
Line. Grandfa
ther of Thos.
Earl of Straf
ford. Exr. 1657.

William Skyn
ner second son
1634, named in
1648 and in
1657.

Cyriack Skynner, 3d:
son 1634- named in
1657, of the Parish
of St. Martin in the
Fields, where he was
buried Aug. 8, 1700.
Administration of his
effects granted to his
Daughter, August 20,
1700.

m
:Bridget living 1634.
Elizabeth wife of
Philip Weslid of
Grimsby in Com.
Line. 1648.
Theophila, married
1648.

Edward Skynner
1657.

Daughters 1657,

Annabella Skynner
1700.

XI
To-day deep thoughts resolve with me to drench
In mirth that, after, no repenting draws ;
Let Euclid rest, and Archimedes pause,
And what the Swede intends, and what the French.
To measure life learn thou betimes, and know
Toward solid good what leads the nearest way ;
For other things mild Heav'n a time ordains,
And disapproves that care, though wise in show,
That with superfluous burden loads the day,
And, when God sends a cheerful hour, refrains.
All the biographers of Milton have mentioned thai;
Cyriack Skinner was his favourite pupil, and subse
quently his particular friend. Wood incidentally
notices him in speaking of the well-known club of
Commonwealth's men, which used to meet in 1659
at the Turk's Head in New Palace Yard, Westmin
ster. ' Besides our author (James Harrington) and
H. Nevill, who were the prime men of this club,
were Cyriack Skinner, a merchant's son of London,
an ingenious young gentleman, and scholar to Jo.
Milton, which Skinner sometimes held the chair,
Major John Wildman,' &c. &c* Wood further
says that ' the discourses of the members about
government, and ordering a commonwealth, were the
most ingenious and smart that were ever heard ; for
the arguments in the Parliament House were but flat
to them.' They were fond, it. appears, of proposing
models of democratical government, and at the dis
solution of the club in February, 1659, at which
time the secluded members were restored by General
* Fasti Oxonienses, Life of Mr. James Harrington, 389.

xu

Monk, ' all their models,' Wood says, ' vanished.'
These models are not now of common occurrence,
but two of them are in the possession of the Rev.
Henry J. Todd, from whom the following information
respecting them is derived. One is entitled ' A Modell
of a Democraticall Government, humbly tendered to
consideration by a friend and well-wisher to this
Commonwealth,' 4to. London, 1659. The title of
the other is 'Idea Democratica, or a Commonweal
Platform,' 4to. London, 1659. Both consist of a
very few leaves only, and neither are enumerated by
Wood among Harrington's pieces. Mr. Todd sup
poses with much probability, that as the chair was
often taken by the ingenious young gentleman, as
Wood terms Skinner, he was concerned in the pub
lication of these antimonarchical curiosities. Care
however must be taken not to confound him with
another individual of the same name, who likewise
took a part against the crown in the politics of the
day ; viz. Augustine Skinner, one of the small Rump
Parliament of ninety members in 1659. It was
probably the latter who belonged to the Committee
appointed by the House to consider all orders, &c.
touching absent, that is, the secluded members ; in
which Committee is the leader of the Rota Club,
' Sir James Harrington,' as he was then usually
called, though not knighted. Harrington is the fifth
in the list of the Committee, and 'Mr. Skinner' the
twelfth.* * See ' A brief Narrative of the late forcible Seclusion of divers
Members of the House of Commons,' 1660, p. 6.

Xlll
In the year 1654, we learn from a letter addressed
to Miltton by his friend Andrew Marvell, and first
published by Dr. Birch, that Skinner ' had got near '
his former preceptor, who then occupied lodgings in
Petty France, Westminster, probably for the sake of
their contiguity to the Council. This was the house
' next door to the Lord Scudamore's, and opened
into St. James's park,' where he is said to have re
mained eight years ; namely, from 1652 till within
a few weeks of the restoration of Charles the Second.
By a comparison of dates, it may be conjectured
that he removed into it when obliged to leave the
lodgings in Whitehall, which, as is proved by the
following curious extracts from the Council books,
had been provided for him at the public expense,
and fitted up with some of the spoils of the late
King's property.
" 1649. Nov. 12. Ordered — That Sir John Hippesley be
spoken to, that Mr. Milton may be accom
modated with the Lodgings that he hath
at Whitehall."
" 1649. Nov- 19.  That Mr. Milton shall have the
Lodgings that were in the hands of Sir
John Hippesley, in Whitehall, for his
accommodation, as being Secretary to the
Councell for Forreigne Languages."
" 1650, June, 14.  That Mr. Milton shall have u
warrant to the Trustees and Contractors
for the sale of the King's goods, for the
furnishing of his Lodgings at Whitehall
with some Hangings."

xiv
Copy of the Warrant of the Council of State, above-mentioned.
' These are to will and require you,
forthwith, upon sight hereof, to deliver
unto Mr. John Milton, or to whom hee
shall appoint, such Hangings as shall bee
sufficient for the furnishing of his Lodgings
in Whitehall. Given at Whitehall 18°.
Junii 1650.
To the Trustees and Contractors for
the Sale ofthe late King's Goods.'1
" 1651. April 10. Ordered  That Mr. Vaux bee sent un
to, to lett him know that hee is to forbeare
the removeing of Mr. Milton out of his
Lodgings at Whitehall, until Sir Henry
Mildmay and Sir Gilbert Pickering shall
have spoken with the Committee concern
ing that businesse."
" 1651. June 11.  That Lieutenant Generall Fleetwood,
Sir John Trevor, Mr. Alderman Allen, and
Mr. Chaloner, or anie two of them, bee ap
pointed a Committee to go from this Coun
cell to the Committee of Parliament for
Whitehall, to acquaint them with the case
of Mr. Milton, in regard to their positive
order for his speedie remove out of his
Lodgings in Whitehall, and to endeavour
with them that the said Mr. Milton may bee
continued where he is, in regard of the
employment hee is in to the Councell,
which necessitates him to reside neere the
Councell."
About a year after Skinner had thus become the
neighbour of Milton, the latter addressed to him that

XV
beautiful sonnet on the loss of his sight, which, in
consequence of the allusion contained in it to the
Defence of the People, was not published till twenty
years after the author's death.
Cyriack, this three years day these eyes, tliough clear.
To outward view, of blemish or of spot,
Bereft of light, their seeing have forgot ;
Nor to their idle orbs doth sight appear
Of sun, or moon, or star, throughout the year,
Or man, or woman. Yet I argue not
Against Heaven's hand or will, nor bate a jot
Of heart or hope ; but still bear up and steer
Right onward. What supports me, dost thou ask?
The conscience, friend, to have lost them overplied
In liberty's defence, my noble task,
Of which all Europe rings from side to side.
This thought might lead me through the world's vain
mask
Content, though blind, had I no better guide.
It appears from the title, that the work entrusted
to Skinner's care was originally intended to be a post
humous publication. The reproaches to which its
author had been exposed in consequence of opinions
contained in his early controversial writings, may have
induced him to avoid attracting the notice of the
public during the ascendancy of his political oppo
nents, by a frank avowal of his religious sentiments.
But by what means, by whom, or at what time this
interesting document was deposited in the State Pa
per Office, is at present not known with certainty ;
every trace of its existence having been lost for nearly
a century and a half, till it was discovered by Mr.
Lemon in the manner above described.

xvi

In the absence of all positive evidence on this sub
ject, it is due to the sagacity of Mr. Lemon to state
the satisfactory conjecture originally formed by that
gentleman, which subsequent discoveries have almost
converted into a moral certainty. From the decided
republican principles which Cyriack Skinner was well
known to have adopted, it is not improbable that he
was suspected of participating in some of the nu
merous political conspiracies which prevailed during
the last ten years of the reign of Charles the Second,
and that his papers were seized in consequence. Sup
posing this step to have been taken, the Milton man
uscript would have come officially, with the other sus
pected documents, into the possession either of Sir
Joseph Williamson, or Sir Leoline Jenkins ;
who held successively the office of Principal Secre
tary of State for the Southern or Home Department,
during the whole of the period alluded to, that is,
from 1674 to 1684. It was at this time the custom
for the Secretaries, on retiring from office, to remove
with them the public documents connected with their
respective administrations ; but both these distin
guished statesmen, from a conviction of the incon
venience of a practice which has since been disused,
bequeathed their large and valuable collections of
manuscripts to His Majesty's State Paper Office. It
was in the course of examining these papers for the
purpose of arranging them in chronological order,
and of forming a catalogue raisonne of their contents
that the identical manuscript came to light, of which

XVII

the public, by His Majesty's gracious command, is
now in possession.*
It will be admitted that the above mode of ac
counting for the unexpected discovery of Milton's
theological work among the neglected treasures ofthe
State Paper Office, is at least plausible. It occurred,
however, to Mr. Lemon, that an accurate inspection
of the papers relative to the plots of 1677, 1678, and
1683, deposited in the same press with the manu
script, might perhaps afford some information respect
ing it. He has therefore recently examined the
whole of this part of the collection, and in a bundle
of papers containing informations and examinations
taken in the year 1677, the following letter was dis
covered from a Mr. Perwich, written at Paris, March
15, 1677, and addressed to Mr. Bridgeman, Secreta
ry to Sir Joseph Williamson, which appears to throw
considerable light on the preceding conjecture.
Paris March 15 — 77.
'Sir I have ctct (delivered) Dr. Barrow's letter to M<\
Skinner, before witnesse, as you desired. I found him much
surprised, and yet at the same time slighting any constrain
ing orders from the Superiour of his Colledge, or any bene-
* In the same office have been lately discovered some curious docu
ments, hitherto unknown, respecting- both the family history and the
official life of Milton, which, by the permission of Mr. Secretary Peel,
are now incorporated, with other materials, into an account of him and
his writings, about to be published by the Rev. Mr. Todd, the well"
known and able editor of Milton's Poetical Works.
C

XV1U
fit he expected thence, but as to Milton's Workes he intended
to have printed, (though he saith that part which he had in
M. S. S. are noe way to be objected ag' ; either with regard
to Royalty and Government) he hath desisted from the cau
sing them to be printed, having left them in Holland, and
that he intends, notwithstanding the College sumons, to goe
for Italy this summer. This is ali I can say in that affaire.
You have herein all our newes. I am Sr,
Your most faithfull obt. Servt.
W. Perwich.
For Wm. Bridgman, Esq.
Secry to the Right Honble.
M . Secry Williamson.
att Court."
On this letter Mr. Lemon submits the following
reasoning, which it is right to state in his own lan
guage :
' From the words in the preceding letter, " Supe
riour of his Colledge,'"' it evidently appears that Mr.
Skinner, who at that period is thus proved to have
had unpublished manuscripts of Milton in his posses
sion, was a member of some Catholic religious or
der ; and it is a very curious and interesting fact,
which strongly corroborates the preceding conjecture,
that in the original deposition of Titus Oates (which
actually lay on the parcel containing the posthumous
work of Milton when it was discovered) signed by
himself, and attested by Sir Edmund Bury Godfrey
on the 27th of September, 1678, a few days only
before his mysterious murder, and also signed by Dr.

xix
Ezrael Tonge, and Christopher Kirkby, the name of
Mr. Skinner is inserted as a Benedictine, in the
list given in by Titus Oates of the persons implicated
in the Popish plot of 1678.'
There are, however, some reasons for doubting
whether Skinner the Benedictine can have been Cy
riack Skinner, the original depositary of Milton's
work. It appears from the pedigree inserted in a
preceding page, that letters of administration were
granted in August 1700 to Annabella, daughter of
Cyriack Skinner, in which he is described as of the
parish of St. Martin's in the Fields, Widoioer. This
is evidently inconsistent with the supposition that he
was a member of a religious order. It is indeed
barely possible that he may have assumed the Bene
dictine character in 1677 (the year in which Per-
wich's letter is dated) though it is most unlikely that
such a change should have taken place in the princi
ples of one who had been the intimate friend of Mil
ton, and whose opinions had been so decidedly op
posed to Popery during the Commonwealth. By the
will of Edward, the eldest brother, dated 20th May
1657, and proved the 10th of February following,
Cyriack was nominated guardian of his son, in case
his wife (the daughter of Sir William Wentworth,
who was killed at Marston Moor) should re-marry or
die ; and in the same document a legacy of one hun
dred pounds is bequeathed to each of the brothers
William and Cyriack.

XX
On the whole, therefore, it seems most probable,
that the Benedictine Skinner, if an immediate con
nexion of this family, was William, the second son
of William and Bridget, and elder brother of Cyri
ack ; a conjecture rendered more likely from the fact
that no will ofthis individual is registered, nor is any
record of him mentioned after 1657, when his elder
brother died. Cyriack, aware of the suspicion to
which he was liable as the friend of Milton, as well
as on account of his own political character, might
naturally conceive that his papers would be safer in
the hands of his brother, out of the kingdom, than in
his own custody ; and the government having been
informed by Mr. Perwich of their concealment in
Holland, perhaps obtained possession of them through
their emissaries, while Skinner was travelling in Italy,
according to his design mentioned in the letter to Mr.
Bridgeman. There seems no reason, however, why the words
' Superiour of his Colledge ' should not apply with
as much propriety to the head of a Protestant as of
a Roman Catholic Society. Dr. Isaac Barrow,
Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, did not die
till May 1677, two months after the date of Per-
wich's letter, and in the register of that College the
following entries occur : ' Oct. 2, 1674. Daniel
Skinner juratus et admissus in socium minorem..' —
'May 23d, 1679. Daniel Skinner juratus et admissus
in socium majorem.' From the unusual interval be
tween the first and second admission, which ordinarily

XXI
does not exceed a year and a half, as well as from
the day, May 23, the regular day for the admission
of major Fellows being in July, it is evident that his
advance to the latter rank took place under some ex
traordinary circumstances. If he was the Skinner
mentioned in Perwich's letter, it may be supposed
that his contumacious absence retarded his rise in the
College, and that his continuance in his fellowship,
and subsequent election as major Fellow, is to be as
cribed to the leniency of the Society. That the
Skinner alluded to was not a Catholic may be infer
red from his having gone to Holland, which does not
seem the most obvious place of refuge for a Catholic
emigrant ; as also from the manner in which he
speaks of Milton's manuscript works, especially if, as
is probable, in describing them as " no way to be ob
jected against either with regard to royalty and gov
ernment," he intended to have added, " or with re
gard to religion," " church polity," or something
similar, which by an oversight was omitted ; for he
can hardly have meant to write " royalty or govern
ment," there being little or no difference between the
terms, in the sense in which the writer would have
used them. Nor is it likely that a member of a
Catholic religious order would have entertained the
design of publishing such works.
The manuscript itself consists of 735 pages, closely
written on small quarto letter paper. The first part,
as far as the 15th chapter of the first book, is in a
small and beautiful Italian hand ; being evidently a

XXll
corrected copy, prepared for the press, without inter
lineations of any kind. This portion of the volume,
however, affords a proof that even the most careful
transcription seldom fails to diminish the accuracy of
a text ; for although it is evident that extraordinary
pains have been employed to secure its legibility and
correctness, the mistakes which are found in this part
of the manuscript, especially in the references to the
quotations, are in the proportion of 14 to 1 as com
pared with those in the remaining three-fifths of the
work. The character is evidently that of a female
hand, and it is the opinion of Mr. Lemon, whose
knowledge of the hand-writings of that time is so
extensive that the greatest deference is due to his
judgement, that Mary, the second daughter of Milton,
was employed as amanuensis in this part of the
volume. In corroboration of this conjecture, it may
be remarked that some of the mistakes above alluded
to are of a nature to induce a suspicion that the
transcriber was merely a copyist, or, at most, only
imperfectly acquainted with the learned languages.
For instance, in p. 19, 1. 17, of the Latin volume, the
following quotation occurs : Heb. iv. 13. omnia sunt
mida, et ab -i-ntimo patentia oculis ejus; where in
the manuscript the word patientia is substituted for
patentia. This might have been supposed an acci
dental oversight, occasioned by the haste of the
writer ; but on turning to the Latin Bible of Junius
and TremelUus, which Milton generally uses in his
quotations, it will be found that the same error occurs
in the edition printed at Geneva, 1630, but not in

xxm

that printed at London, 1593. This not only seems
to fi\ the precise edition of the Bible from which the
texts were copied, but, considering that the mistake
is such as could hardly fail to be corrected by the
most careless transcriber, provided he understood the
sentence, affords a strong presumption that the writer
possessed a very moderate degree of scholarship. On
the other hand, a great proportion of the errors are
precisely such as lead to a supposition that the amanu
ensis, though no scholar, was to a certain degree ac
quainted with the language verbally ; inasmuch as
they generally consist, not of false combinations of
letters, but of the substitution of one word for another
of nearly similar sound or structure. Of this kind are
gloriai for gratis, corruentem for cor autem, nos for
non, in jus for ejus, re for rex, imminuitur for in
nuitur, in quam for inquam, iniquam for inquam,
assimulatus for assimilatus, alienee, tua for alienatai,
ccelorum for ccecorum, decere for docere, explorentur
for explerentur, examinatis for exanimatis. j-uraverunt
for jejunarunt, errare for orare, &c. &c. Faults of
this description, especially considering that very few
occur of a different class, and taken in connexion
with the opinion of Mr. Lemon stated above, will
perhaps remind the reader of a charge which, as Mr.
Todd notices, has been brought against the paternal
conduct of Milton; ' I mean his teaching his children
to read and pronounce Greek and several other lan
guages, without understanding any but English.'*
This at least is certain, that the transcriber of this
* Some Account ofthe Life and Writings of Milton. Vol. I. p. 161.

xxiv

part of the manuscript was much employed in Mil
ton's service ; for the hand-writing is the same as
appears in the fair copy of the Latin letters, discov
ered, as has been mentioned, in the press which con
tained the present treatise.*

* It is desirable that a new edition of these letters should be published
from this corrected manuscript. The text appears to differ in many
instances from that of our present editions, and from the following
printed advertisement, which was found in the same parcel, there can
be no doubt that the collection had been carefully revised by the author
or his friends, and was prepared for publication. It was intended to
have been committed to the press in Holland, and was therefore
probably among the papers which Skinner had left in that country.
The advertisement itself is curious, as containing an indignant remon
strance against the conduct of some dishonest bookseller who bad
obtained a surreptitious copy of the letters, and published them in an
incorrect shape.
' Innotescat omnibus cutn in Academiis, tum in Londino, literatis,
Bibliopolis etiam, si qui sint qui praeter solitum Latine sciunt, nee noa
exteris quibuscunque, quod Literce Joannis Miltoni Angli, interregni
tempore scriplce, quas bibliopola quidam Londinensis, secum habita
consultatione quantam in rem famamque quantam imperfectissimum
quid et indigestum ex operibus tanti viri sibi pro certo cederet, nuper
in lucem irrepi fecit (prasterquam quod a contemptissimo quodam et
perobscuro preli quondam curatore, qui parvam schedarum manum vel
emendicaverit olim abs authore, vel, quod verisimilius est, clam sup-
pilaverit, perexiguo pretio fuerunt emptae) sunt misere mutilse, dimidiatas,
deformes ex omni parte ruptoque ordine confusae, prasfatiuncula spurca
non minus quam infantissima dehonestatae, caeterisque dein a numerosi-
oribus chartis nequiter arreptas. Quodque vera Literarum exemplaria,
locupletiora multum et auctiora, composita concinnius et digesta, typis
clegantioribus excudenda sunt in Hollandia prelo commissa. Quas una
cum Articulis Hispanicis, Portugallicis, Gallicis, Belgicis in ista rerum
inclinatione nobiscum initis et percussis, pluribusque chartis Germanicis,
Danicis, Suevicis scitissime scriptis, ne ex tam spuriis libri natalitiis,
et ex tam viii praafatore laederetur author, brevi possis, humanissime
lector, expectare.'

xxv
The remainder of the manuscript is in an entirely
different hand, being a strong upright character, sup
posed by Mr. Lemon to be the hand-writing of Ed
ward Philipps, the nephew of Milton. This part of
the volume is interspersed with numerous interlinea
tions and corrections, and in several places with small
slips of writing pasted in the margin. These correc
tions are in two distinct hand-writings, different from
the body of the manuscript, but the greater part of
them undoubtedly written by the same person who
transcribed the first part of the volume. Hence it is
probable that the latter part of the MS. is a copy
transcribed by Philipps, and finally revised and cor
rected by Mary and Deborah Milton from the dicta
tion of their father, as many of the alterations bear
a strong resemblance to the reputed hand-writing of
Deborah, the youngest daughter of Milton, in the
manuscripts preserved in the Library of Trinity Col
lege, Cambridge ; who is stated by Wood {Fasti
Oxonienses, Part I, 1635. col. 483.) to have been
' trained up by her father in Latin and Greek, and
made by him his amanuensis.' A lithrographic fac
simile has been taken of two of the Sonnets in the
Trinity manuscript, and is prefixed to this volume,
by the permission of the Master and Seniors of that
Society. The other plate is an accurate representa
tion of the three hand-writings alluded to in the pre
ceding statement.
Independently, however, of other considerations,
the readers of the volume now published will find the
d

xxvi
best proofs of its authenticity in the resemblance of
its language and opinions to the printed works of
Milton. Some striking specimens of this agreement
are frequently given in the notes, and these illustra
tions might have been multiplied to a much greater
extent, had it not seemed desirable, on account of the
bulk of the volume, only to select such as were most
remarkable for similarity of style or sentiments.
It must be acknowledged that the disqualifications
of Milton for such a work as the present, were neither
few nor unimportant. They were owing partly to
the unhappy circumstances of the period at which he
lived, and partly to that peculiar disposition of mind
which led him to view every surrender of individual
opinion, whether in morals or politics as an infringe
ment on the rights of natural liberty. In his time
power was abused, under pretence of religion, in a
degree to which, happily for genuine Christianity, the
ecclesiastical annals can scarcely afford a parallel ;
and the universal prevalence of an intolerant spirit,
from which his own connexions as well as himself had
suffered severely, disposed him to look with an un
favourable eye, not only upon the corruptions, but
on the doctrine itself and discipline of the church.
His father had been disinherited for embracing the
Protestant faith. He himself had been brought up
under a Puritan who was subsequently obliged to
leave England on account of his religious opinions,
Thomas Young of Essex, one of the six answerers of
Hall's Humble Remonstrance. Hence there is some

XXVII
foundation for the remark of Hayley, that Milton
' wrote with the indignant enthusiasm of a man re
senting the injuries of those who are most entitled to
his love and veneration. The ardour of his affections
conspired with the warmth of his fancy to inspire him
with that puritanical zeal which blazes so intensely
in his controversial productions.' * Thus it was that,
like Clarke, though on different grounds, he was
biassed against the authority of the church, and pre
disposed by the political constitution of his mind to
such unbounded freedom as can hardly consist, as
has been truly said, with any established system of
faith whatever.f His love of Christian liberty began
indeed to manifest itself at a very early period of his
life, for though destined to the church from his child
hood, he refused to enter it from a religious scruple,
thinking that ' he who took orders must subscribe
slave.' There were, however, other circumstances of a
different nature, which in some degree counterbalan
ced these defects. His epic poems afford sufficient
evidence not only of extensive biblical knowledge,
but of singular judgement in availing himself of the
language of Scripture itself, without addition or al
teration, in particular parts of his subject. There is
no topic to which he recurs more frequently or with
more apparent satisfaction than to the serious turn of
* Hayley 's IAfe qf Milton, p. 66.
\ Bp. Van Mildert's Review of Waterland's Life and Writings.
Works, I. 48.

xxvm

his early studies. In his Apology for Smectymnuus
he speaks of the ' wearisome labours and studious
watchings wherein he had spent and tired out almost
a whole youth.'* Again ' care was ever had of me
with my earliest capacity, not to be negligently train
ed up in the precepts of Christian religion.' In his
treatise on education he mentions his ' many studious
and contemplative years altogether spent in the search
of religious and civil knowledge,' to which allusion
is again made with much feeling in the Defensio
Secunda pro Populo Anglicano.f He was a pro
ficient in the Hebrew tongue, which he strongly re
commends should be gained ' at a set hour,' that the
Scriptures may be ' read in their own original. 'J His
own knowledge of this language was probably ac
quired in his early youth, for in a letter to Young,
written in 1625, he thanks him for his acceptable
present of a Hebrew Bible ; ' Biblia Hebrsea, per-
gratum sane munus tuum, jampridem accepi.'^ Au
brey and others, who obtained their information from
his widow, have related that as long as he lived it was
his custom to begin the day with hearing a portion of
the Hebrew Scriptures, which a person was employed
to read to him ; and during every period of his life
his Sundays were wholly devoted to theology. The
importance which he attached to these pursuits is fur
ther confirmed by what Birch relates of the system
pursued by him with his pupils. ' The Sunday's
work for his pupils was for the most part to read a
* Prose Works, I. 208. f Ibid. I. 225, 274, V. 199, 230, 233.
Jlbid. I. 281. 5 Ibid. VI. 110.

XXIX
Chapter of the Greek Testament, and hear his ex
position of it. The next work after this was to write
from his dictation some part of a system of divinity
which he collected from the most eminent writers
upon that subject, as Amesius, Wollebius, &c.'*
Some account of the treatises to which he is said to
have been indebted for this compilation, will be found
in vol. II. p, 328.
Nourished with these studies, and imbued with a
salutary abhorrence of indolence and licentious ex
cess, the ordinary failings of youth, Milton's mind
acquired from his earliest years that reverential and
devotional cast which is perceptible in all his writings.
In the sonnet written on attaining his three and
twentieth year he unfolds the principle on which he
acted. .... Be it less or more, or soon or slow,
It shall be still in strictest measure even
To' that same lot, however mean or high,
Towards which time leads me, and the will of Heaven ;
All is, if I have grace to use it so,
As ever in my great Taskmaster's eye.
The pious language in which, at a later period of
his life, he speaks of his blindness, is not more af
fecting as a display of the mental consolations where
by he was supported under his personal infirmities,
than it is characteristic of his religious feelings.
* Account of the Life and Writings of Mr. J. Milton, p. xxiii. 4to.
.London, 17 S3,

xxx

' Sic denique habento , me sortis meae neque pigere
neque poenitere ; immotum atque fixum in sententia
perstare ; Deum iratum neque sentire neque habere ;
immo maximis in rebus clementiam ejus et benignitas
tem erga me paternam experiri atque agnoscere ; in
hoc prsesertim, quod solante ipso atque animum con-
firmante in ejus divina voluntate acquiescam ; quid is
largitus mihi sit quam quid negaverit ssepius cogitans :
postremo nolle me cum suo quovis rectissime facto
facti mei conscientiam permutare, aut recordationem
ejus gratam mihi semper atque tranquillam deponere.
Ad csscitatem denique quod attinet, malle me, si ne
cesse est, meam, quam vel suam, More, vel tuam.
Vestra imis sensibus immersa, ne quid sani videatis
aut solidi, mentem obcsecat : mea, quam objicitis,
colorem tantummodo rebus et superficiem demit ;
quod verum ac stabile in iis est contemplationi men
tis non adimit. Quam multa deinde sunt quas videre
nollem ; quam multa qua? possem, libens non videre ;
quam pauca reliqua sunt qua? videre cupiam ! Sed
neque ego csecis, affiictis, mcerentibus, imbecillis,
tametsi vos id miserum ducitis, aggregari me discru-
cior ; quandoquidem spes est eo me propius ad mise
ricordiam summi Patris atque tutelam pertinere. Est
quoddam per imbecillitatem, praeeunte apostolo, ad
maximas vires iter : sim ego debilissimus, dummodo
in mea debilitate immortalis ille et melior vigor eo
se efficacius exerat ; dummodo in meis tenebris divini
vultus lumen eo clarius eluceat : tum enim infirmissi-
mus ero simul ct validissimus, caucus eodem tempore
et perspicacissimus ; hac possim ego infirmitate con-

xxxi
summari, hac perfici, possim in hac obscuritate sic
ego irradiari. Et sane haud ultima Dei cura ca?ci
sumus ; qui nos, quo minus quicquam aliud prater
ipsum cernere valemus, eo clementius atque benigni-
us respicere dignatur. Vae qui illudit nos, vae qui
lsedit, execratione publica devovendo : nos ab injuriis
hominum non modo incolumes, sqd pene sacros divina
lex reddidit, divinus favor ; nee tam oculorum hebe-
tudine, quam ccelestium alarum umbra has nobis fe-
cisse tenebras videtur, factas illustrare rursus interiore
ac longe prastabiliore lumine haud raro solet.'*
Again, in the second book of The Reason of
Church Government, a passage occurs of singular
beauty, which shows how devotedly the author was
attached to the illustration of sacred subjects, whether
in works of imagination, or of pure reasoning. - These
abilities, wheresoever they be found, are the inspired
gift of God rarely bestowed, but yet to some (though
most abuse) in every nation ; and are of power, be
side the office of a pulpit, to inbreed and cherish in a
great people the seeds of virtue and public civility,
to allay the perturbations of the mind, and set the
affections in right tune ; to celebrate in glorious and
lofty hymns the throne and equipa*ge of God's
almightiness, and what he works, and what he suf
fers to be wrought with high providence in his
church ; to sing victorious agonies of martyrs and
saints, the deeds and triumphs of just and pious
nations doing valiantly through faith against the
enemies of Christ; to deplore the general relapses of
* Defensio Secunda pro Populo Anglicano. Prose Works, V. 216.

xxxn

kingdoms and states from justice aud God's true
worship. Lastly, whatsoever in religion is holy and
sublime, in virtue amiable or grave, whatsoever hath
passion or admiration in all the. changes of that which
is called fortune from without, or the wily subtleties
and refluxes of man's thoughts from within ; all
these things with a solid and treatable smoothness to
paint out and describe ; teaching over the whole book
of sanctity and virtue, through all the instances of
example, with such delight, to those especially of soft
and delicious temper, who will not so much as look
upon truth herself unless they see her elegantly
dressed, that whereas the paths of honesty and good
life appear now rugged and difficult, though they be
indeed easy and pleasant, they will then appear to all
men both easy and pleasant, though they were rugged
and difficult indeed.'* *
To these quotations another of a different kind
may be not improperly added, as well on account of
the eloquence of the passage, as in proof that the
author's opinions respecting the Trinity were at one
time different from those which are disclosed in the
present treatise. ' Which way to get out, or which
way to end I know not, unless I turn mine eyes, and
with your help lift up my hands, to that eternal and
propitious throne, where nothing is readier than grace
and refuge to the distresses of mortal suppliants : and
it were a shame to leave these serious thoughts less
piously than the heathen were wont to conclude their
* Prose Works, I. 120.

xxxm
graver discourses. Thou, therefore, that sittest in
light and glory unapproachable, Parent of angels and
men ! next thee I implore, omnipotent King, Re
deemer of that lost remnant whose nature thou didst
assume, ineffable and everlasting Love ! And thou,
the third subsistence of divine infinitude, illumining
Spirit, the joy and solace of created things ! one
tripersonal Godhead ! look upon this thy poor and
almost spent and expiring church ; leave her not thus
a prey to these importunate wolves, that wait and
think long till they devour thy tender flock ; these
wild boars that have broke into thy vineyard, and left
the print of their polluting hoofs on the souls of thy
servants. O let them not bring about their damned
designs, that stand now at the entrance of the bottom
less pit, expecting the watchword to open and let out
those ureadful locusts and scorpions, to reinvolve us
in that pitchy cloud of infernal darkness, where we
shall never more see the sun of thy truth again, never
hope for the chearful dawn, never more hear the bird
of morning sing.'*
There is much reason for regretting that the prose
works of Milton, where, in the midst of much that is
coarse and intemperate, passages of such redeeming
beauty occur, should be in the hands of so few read
ers, considering the advantage which might be derived
* Of Reformation in England. Prose Works, I. 56. See indeed the
entire context of this and the preceding quotation. Compare also the
eloquent conclusion of the fourth section of Animadversions upon the
Remonstrant's Defence, I. 181 — 184.
e

XXXIV
to our literature from the study of their original and
nervous eloquence. On their first appearance, indeed,
they must inevitably have been received by some with
indifference, by others with dislike, by many with
resentment. The zeal of the author in the cause of
the Parliament, and the bitter personality with which
he too frequently advocates his civil and religious
opinions, were not calculated to secure him a dis
passionate hearing even from his most candid oppo
nents. But in happier times, when it is less difficult
to make allowance for the effervescence caused by the
heal of conflicting politics, and when the judgement
is no longer influenced by the animosities of party,
the taste of the age may be profitably and safely
recalled to those treatises of Milton which were not
written to serve a mere temporary purpose. In one
respect indeed they will be found to differ very mate
rially from the work now published. The latter is
distinguished in a remarkable degree by calmness of
thought, as well as by moderation of language. His
other writings are generally loaded with ornament
and illustration bordering on the poetical, rather than
the argumentative style, and such is the vehemence
with which he pours out his opprobrious epithets
against his antagonists, that he seems to exhaust the
powers of language in the bitterness of his invective.
These are the characteristics in particular of his
earliest works, and especially of his declamations
against More and Salmasius. The contrast which
this volume presents is singular, and if, as is probable,
it was composed during his declining years, it affords

xxxv
a pleasing picture of a mind softened by the influence
of religious principle, and becoming gradually more
tolerant of the supposed errors of others, as the period
drew near when he must answer for his own before
an unerring tribunal. Milton pursues his plan, not
indeed without an occasional sally against academical
institutions and ecclesiastical privileges, but without a
single glance at contemporaneous politics, or a single
harsh expression against religious opinions at variance
with his own. His language, even where the argu
ments themselves are least convincing, is almost uni
formly plain and temperate, and his metaphors are
sparingly and judiciously introduced. It would seem
as if he recognized the propriety, on so grave a sub
ject as religion, of suffering his mind to pursue its
contemplations undisturbed by the flights of that vivid
fancy, to which, on the ordinary topics which em
ployed his pen, he prescribed no limits.
Milton has shown a partiality in all his works, even
on subjects not immediately connected with religion,
for supporting his argument by the authority of Scrip
ture. This practice, though agreeable to the spirit
of his age, is not unfrequently carried to an extrava
gant length ; as when he defends indiscriminate read
ing by the examples of Moses, Daniel, and Paul, who
were skilful in heathen learning.* To a theological
treatise, however, illustrations of this kind properly
belong ; and it is gratifying to see the unbounded
imagination of Milton deferring, with the simplicity
* Areopagitica. Prose Works, I. 296.

xxxvi 5*

of a Pascal, to ' the infallible grounds of Scripture
'Let us,' says he in the present work, ' discard rea
son in sacred matters, and follow the doctrine of Holy
Scripture exclusively.' t Indeed its peculiar feature,
in the opinion of the author, appears to have been its
compilation from the Bible alone. Not that he under
valued the Fathers, for in the course of his argument
he alludes to the opinions of several, and frequently
with commendation ; nor does he refuse to notice the
criticisms of modern commentators, among whom
Beza, whose interpretations he often follows, seems to
have been an especial favourite. See especially his
explanation of Rev. i. 4, 5. vol. I. p. 223. and of Philipp.
iii. 15. vol. II. p. 161. Even in the title of his work, how
ever, he refers to the Bible as his sole authority, with
an emphasis indicative of the importance he attached
to this circumstance. The same particular is again
prominently alluded to in the preface, where an in
teresting account is given of the manner in which
he qualified himself for the execution of his task.
' Whereas the greater part of those who have written
most largely on these subjects, have been wont to fill
whole pages with explanations of their own opinions,
thrusting into the margin J the texts in support of their
doctrine, with a summary reference to chapter and
* Prose Works, II. 71. f I. 115.
I Milton speaks in the most contemptuous terms of these « marginal
stuffings,' in The Reason of Church Government, &c. Prose Works,
I. 123. See also An Apology for Smectymnuus, Ibid. 247. And else
where he says of Prynne, that he may be known, by his ' wits lying
ever beside him in the margin, to be ever beside his wits in the text.'
Likeliest Means io remove Hirelings, &c. III. 336. See also II. 241.

xxxvii
Verse ; 1 have chosen, on the contrary, to fill my
pages even to redundance with quotations from
Scripture, that so as little space as possible might be
left for my own words, even where they arise from
the context of revelation itself.'
In the course of so long a work, embracing such
a variety of topics, many opportunities would often
occur for allusion to the politics ofthe times, in which
religion bore so important a part. To have abstained
from any reference to these subjects, is no ordinary
proof of discretion in one who had dedicated his time
and talents with such unwearied zeal to promote the
objects of his party. Scarcely a sentence, however,
will be found, in which local or temporary interests
can be suspected of having influenced the mind of
the author. Sometimes indeed he lays a stress on
certain particulars, to which the subjects then in dis
pute between the conflicting religious parties gave
more importance than they now possess. The power
of the keys, for instance, claimed by the Pope, was
then a familiar topic of discussion. Hence he takes
occasion to bring proof from' Scripture, that the
administration of ecclesiastical discipline is not com
mitted exclusively to Peter and his successors, or to
any individual pastor specifically, but to the whole
particular church, whether consisting of few or of
many members.* The subjects of Episcopacy and
Covenants might have furnished him with opportuni
ties not only of lashing the Royalists in general, but
* II. 205.

XXXVIII

of renewing those attacks which he had formerly
directed so pertinaciously against King Charles him
self. It may be worth while to contrast his manner
of treating the subject of Covenants in his political
tracts, with some corresponding remarks in the follow
ing treatise. He says in his Eiconoclastes, ' Neither
was the " covenant superfluous, though former engage
ments, both religious and legal, bound us before ; "
but was the practice of all churches heretofore in
tending reformation. All Israel, though bound enough
before by the law of Moses " to all necessary duties,"
yet with Asa their king entered into a new covenant
at the beginning of a reformation : and the Jews after
captivity, without consent demanded of that king
who was their master, took solemn oath to walk in
the commandments of God. All Protestant churches
have done the like, notwithstanding former engage
ments to their several duties.'* Compare with this
passage the observations to the same effect, in the
beginning of the chapter on Church-discipline in this
work, where, although the events of his own times
could not but have been present to his mind during
the composition of a passage so similar, he neverthe
less entirely abstains even from the remotest reference
to them. ' It is a prudent as well as a pious custom,
to solemnize the formation or re-establishment of a
particular church by a public renewal of the covenant,
as was frequently done in the reformations of the
Jewish church, Deut. xxix. 1. The same took place
under Asa, Ezra, Nehemiah, and others. So also,
* Prose Works, III. 28.

XXXIX
when an individual unites himself to a particular
chureh, it is requisite that he should enter into a
solemn covenant with God and the church to conduct
himself in all respects, both towards the one and the
other, so as to promote his own edification, and that
of his brethren.'* Again, speaking ofthe penitential
meditations and vows of Charles at Holmby, Milton
says, in the same treatise which has been already
quoted, ' It is not hard for any man who hath a
Bible in his hands, to borrow good words and holy
sayings in abundance ; but to make them his own,
is a work of grace only from above. 'f A sentiment
precisely similar occurs in this work, but not the most
covert allusion is added which can recal to the mind
of the reader the charge of insincerity formerly ad
vanced against the unfortunate monarch in nearly the
same language. He is equally cautious Avhere he
argues that marriage is only a civil contract, an
opinion acted upon by his party during the Interreg
num. In vol. II. p. 323. a favourable opportunity pre
sented itself for inveighing against Archbishop Laud's
consecration of churches, at that time one of the
favourite topics of abuse among the Puritanical party,
and probably alluded to in Paradise Lost :
 God attributes to place
No sanctity, if none be thither brought
By men who there frequent, or therein dwell. XI. 836.
But neither in this place, nor in his remarks on the
sanctification of the Sabbath, another of the contro-
* II, 202. t Prose Works, III. 69.

xl
verted subjects of his day, and not avoided by the
author in his political writings (see Eiconoclastes,
II. 405.) is a single expression employed which can
expose him to the charge of substituting the language
of the polemic for that of the divine, or of forgetting
the calmness befitting the character of an inquirer
after religious truth, to indulge in a second triumph
over a political adversary.
Many doubts hitherto entertained respecting the
real opinions of Milton on certain subjects are re
moved by the present treatise, to which, as originally
intended for a posthumous work, no suspicion of in
sincerity can attach. Of all the charges indeed which
private or political prejudice has created against the
author, that of being a 'time-server,' according to
the reproach of Warburton, seems to have been the
least deserved. The honesty of his sentiments is
sufficiently vindicated by the boldness with which he
uniformly expressed them in times when freedom of
speech was more than ordinarily dangerous, as well
as by his consistent exposure of what he conceived to
be erroneous, whether advocated by his own friends
or by his opponents. Thus on discovering that ' new
presbyter was but old priest writ large,' he resisted
the encroachments of the presbyterians, as resolutely
as he had before contributed to overthrow prelacy ;
and, if it were necessary, his political independence
might be no less successfully vindicated by adducing
the spirited language which he addressed to Cromwell
in the zenith of his power. He has however been

xii
charged with concealing his opinions on a subject of
no less importance than Popery, and even of enter
taining a secret inclination in its favour. This impu
tation, considering the multifariousness of Milton's
writings, may perhaps have received same colour from
the silence which he generally observes with regard
to the doctrines of the Church of Rome, althongh
incidental phrases, sufficiently indicative of the sound
ness of his Protestant principles, sometimes occur.
See particularly his ' Treatise on true Religion,' in
which he recommends the study of the Bible to all
classes of men, as the best preservative against
Popery. His reason for not entering upon the sub
ject more at large is assigned in the preface to the
present work, and it is simply this, that the cause of.
Protestantism appeared to be so firmly established as
to stand in no need of his services. He professed to
employ his pen, as we learn from his own testimony,*
only where, in his judgement, the good of bis country
or the interests of religion required it. Acting on
this principle, he undertook successively to oppose
episcopacy, to advocate the cause of liberty, of edu
cation, and of a free press. But perceiving, as he
tells us, that the strong holds of the reformed religion
were sufficiently fortified, as far as they were exposed
to danger from the Papists, he directed his attention
to more neglected subjects, and exerted his talents in
the defence of civil or of religious liberty. f Encour
aged perhaps by this comparative silence, and pre-
* Defensio Secunda pro Populo Anglicano. Prose Works, V. 233.
t Preface, p. 4. f

xiii
suming on the supposed absence of additional written
evidence to falsify his statement, Titus Oates did not
scruple to accuse Milton of being a member of a
Popish Club. ' The Popish lord is not forgotten, or
unknown, who brought a petition to the late regicides
and usurpers, signed by about five hundred principal
Papists in England ; wherein was promised, upon
condition of a toleration of the Popish religion here
by law, their joint resolution to abjure and exclude
the family of the Stuarts for ever from their undoubted
right to the Crown. Who more disheartened the
loyalty and patience of your best subjects than their
confident scribblers, White and others? And Milton
was a known frequenter of a Popish club.' See the
Address or Dedication to the King prefixed to ' A
true Narrative of the Horrid Plot, &c. of the Popish
party against the life of his Sacred Majesty, &c. By
Titus Oates, D. D. folio, Lond. 1679.' This charge
was subsequently copied into ' A History of all the
Popish Plots, &c. from the first year of Elizabeth to
this present year 1684, by Thos. Long, Prebendary
of Exeter,' who says, p. 93. ' Milton was by very
many suspected to be a Papist ; and if Dr. Oates
may be believed, was a known frequenter of the
Popish Club, though he were Cromwell's Secretary.'
The evidence furnished by the present publication
will show how improbable it is that Milton, who,
even within the precincts of the Papal dominions,
had been at so little pains to moderate his zeal for
the reformed religion, as to be exposed to insult and
personal danger in consequence of his known princi-

xliii
pies, should have consented to sit at the same secret
council-board with his alleged confederates. See par
ticularly vol. I. p. 321, on the marriage of priests;
p. 429, on purgatory; vol. II. p. 128, &c. on tran
substantiation; p. 136, on the sacrifice of the mass;
p. 138, &c. on the five Papistical sacraments ;
p. 146, on the authority of the Roman pontiffs ;
p. 177, on traditions ; p. 195, on councils.
On the subject of Divorce, the line of argument
pursued in this treatise coincides with the well-known
opinions which Milton has elsewhere so zealously
advocated. To his heterodoxy on this point must
now be added, what hitherto has been unsuspected,
his belief in the lawfulness of polygamy, to which
he appears to have been led by the difficulty he found
in reconciling the commonly received opinion with
the practice of the patriarchs. It seems however no
less easy to conceive that the Supreme Lawgiver
might dispense with his own laws in the early ages
of the world, for the sake of multiplying the popula
tion in a quicker ratio, than that marriages between
brothers and sisters might be then permitted on ac
count of the paucity of inhabitants on the face of the
earth. Yet the existence of the latter practice in the
primeval ages has never been alleged as a sufficient
authority for the intermarriage of so near relations,
now that the reason for the original permission has
ceased to operate.
Doubts have always been entertained as to the real
sentiments of Milton respecting the second person of

xliv
the Trinity. Newton indeed is assiduous in praising
his theological views, although he once so far quali
fies his assertion, as to content himself with pronoun
cing that Milton is ' generally truly orthodox.' War-
ton however has acknowledged the justice of Mr.
Calton's remark on a memorable passage in Paradise
Regained, (I. 161 — 167.) that not a word is there
said of the Son of God, but what a Socinian, or at
least an Arian, would allow. The truth is, that who
ever takes the trouble of comparing with each other
the passages referred to in the note below, will find
real and important contradictions in the language of
Milton on this subject.* That these contradictions
should exist, will cease to appear extraordinary after
a perusal of the chapter ' On the Son of God ' in
the ensuing pages. It is there asserted that the Son
existed in the beginning, and was the first of the
whole creation ; by whose delegated power all things
were made in heaven and earth ; begotten, not by
natural necessity, but by the decree of the Father,
within the limits of time ; endued with the divine
nature and substance, but distinct from and inferior
to the Father ; one with the Father in love and
unanimity of will, and receiving every thing, in his
filial as well as in his mediatorial character, from the
Father's gift. This summary will be sufficient to
show that the opinions of Milton were in reality near
ly Arian, ascribing to the Son as high a share of di
vinity as was compatible with the denial of his self-
* Paradise Lost, III. 62— 64. 138—140. 305—307. 350. 384—415.
V. 603—605. 719, 720. VI. 676—884. X. 63—67. 85, 86. 225, 226.

xiv
existence and eternal generation, but not admitting
his co-equality and co-essentiality with the Father.
That he entertained different views at other periods
of his life, is evident from several expressions scat
tered through his works. The following stanza oc
curs in the ode on the morning of Christ's Nativity,
written, according to Warton, as a college exercise at
the age of twenty-one.
That glorious form, that light unsufferable,
And that far-beaming blaze of majesty,
Wherewith he wont at Heaven's high council-table
To sit the midst of Trinal Unity,
He laid aside, and here with us to be,
Forsook the courts of everlasting day,
And chose with us a darksome house of mortal clay.
A few years afterwards he wrote thus in his first con
troversial work : ' Witness the Arians and Pelagians,
which were slain by the heathen for Christ's sake,
yet we take both these for no true friends of Christ.'*
In the same tract he speaks of the ' hard measure '
dealt out to the ' faithful and invincible Athanasius ; '
and in the treatise ' On Prelatical Episcopacy,' pub
lished shortly afterwards, he holds the following im
portant language : ' Suppose Tertullian had made an
imparity where none was originally ; should he move
us that goes about to prove an imparity between God
the Father and God the Son ?  Believe him now
for a faithful relater of tradition, whom you see such
* Of Reformation in England. Prose Works, L 7,

xlvi
an unfaithful expounder of the Scripture.'* Whether
Milton wonld have ceased to hold the doctrines es
poused by him in his earlier years, had he lived subse
quently to the times of Bishop Bull and of Water-
land, it is now useless to conjecture. The pride of
reason, though disclaimed by him with remarkable,
and probably with sincere earnestness, formed a prin
cipal ingredient in his character, and would have pre
sented, under any circumstances, a formidable obsta
cle to the reception of the true faith. But we may
be permitted to regret that the mighty mind of Mil
ton, in its conscientious, though mistaken search af
ter truth, had not an opportunity of examining those
masterly refutations of the Arian scheme, for which
Christianity is indebted to the labours of those dis
tinguished ornaments of the English Church.
With respect to the cardinal doctrine of the atone
ment, the opinions of Milton are expressed throughout
in the strongest and most unqualified manner. No
attentive reader of Paradise Lost can have failed to
remark, that the poem is constructed on the funda
mental principle that the sacrifice of Christ was strict
ly vicarious ; that not only was man redeemed, but a
real price, ' life for life,' was paid for his redemption.
The same system will be found fully and unequivo
cally maintained in this treatise ; and much as it is
to be regretted that it cannot be said, in the author's
* Prose Works, I. 72.

xlvii
own words elsewhere, of the Son of God as deline
ated in the following pages, that
 in him all his Father shone
Substantially express'd,
yet the translator rejoices in being able to state that
the doctrine of the satisfaction of Christ is so scrip-
turally and unambiguously enforced, as to leave, on
that point, nothing to be desired.
Milton's sentiments respecting the divine decrees
are as clear, and perhaps as satisfactory, as can be
expected on a subject in which it is wisest and safest
to confess with the cautious Locke our inability to
reconcile the universal prescience of God with the
free agency of man, though we be as fully persuaded
of both doctrines, as of any truths we most firmly
assent to. His views may be thus summarily stated ;
that every thing is foreknown by God, though not
decreed absolutely. He argues that the Deity, hav
ing in his power to confer or withhold the liberty of
the will, showed his sovereignty in conceding it to
man, as effectually as he could have done in depriving
him of it ; that he therefore created him a free agent,
foreseeing the use which he would make of his liberty,
and shaping his decrees accordingly, inasmuch as the
issue of events, though uncertain as regards man, by
reason of the freedom of the human will, is perfectly
known to God, by reason of the divine prescience.
This is, on the one hand, in direct opposition to the
doctrine of the Socinians, that there can be no certain

xlviii
foreknowledge of future contingencies ; and on the
other, to that of the Supralapsarians, that the Deity
is the causal source of human actions, and conse
quently that the decrees of God are antecedent to
his prescience. In treating of the latter topic, Milton
justly protests against the use of a phraseology when
speaking of the Deity, which properly applies to
finite beings alone.
There are other subjects, and particularly that of
the Holy Spirit, to which the translator had wished
to have adverted, had he not been warned, by the
length to which the preceding observations have al
ready extended, to abstain from further comment.
He cannot however conclude these preliminary re
marks, without acknowledging his obligations to W.
S. Walker, Esq. Fellow of Trinity College, Cam
bridge, who has not only discharged the greater part
of the laborious office of correcting the press, but
wdiose valuable suggestions during the progress of
the work have contributed to remove some of its
imperfections.

CONTENTS.

VOLUME I.

Preface  I
Book I.
Of the Knowledge of God  11
Chap. I.
Of the Christian Doctrine, and the Number of its Divisions . . ibid.
Chap II.
Of God   IG
Chap. III.
Of the Divine Decrees  38
Chap. IV.
Of Predestination  56
Chap. V.
Of the Son of God  103
Chap. VI.
Of the Holy Spirit  201
Chap. VII.
Of the Creation   227
Chap. VIII.
Of the Providence of God, or of his General Government of the
Universe  261
Chap. IX.
Of the Special Government of Angels . .  285
S

Chap. X. Page
Of the Special Government of Man before the Fall ; including- the
Institutions of the Sabbath and of Marriage . . ...... 296
Chap. XI.
Of the Fall of our first Parents, and of Sin . .  339
Chap. XII.
Of the Punishment of Sin  353
Chap. XIII.
Of the Death of the Body   361
Chap. XIV.
Of Man's Restoration, and of Christ as Redeemer  382
Chap. XV.
Of the Functions of the Mediator, and of his threefold Office . . . 400
Chap. XVI.
Of the Ministry of Redemption .  410
Chap. XVII.
Of Man's Renovation, including his Calling  431
Chap. XVIII.
Of Regeneration  443

VOLUME II.
Chap. XIX.
Of Repentance  o
Chap. XX.

Of Saving Faith

17

Chap. XXI.
Of being planted in Christ, and its effects  25
Chap. XXII.
Of Justification  gg
Chap. XXIII.
Of Adoption  49

Chap. XXIV.
Of Union and Fellowship with Christ and His Members; wherein
is considered the Mystical or Invisible Ciiirch  55
C iap. XXV.
Of Imperfect Glorification; wherein are considered the Doctrines
of Assurance and Final Perseverance  58
Ciap. XXVI.
Ofthe Manifestation ofthe Covenant of Grace, including the Law
of God  75
C iap. XXVII.
Of the Gospel, and of Caristian Liberty  83
C tap. XXVIII.
Of the External Sealing of the C ivenant of Grace  112
Cjap. XXIX.
Of the Visible C.mrch  141
Chap. XXX.
Of the Hhly Scriptures  159
Chap. XXXI.
Of Particular Churches  180
Chap. XXXII.
Of Church Discipline  201
Chap. XXXIII.
Of Perfect Glorification ; including the Second Advent of Christ,
the Resurrection of the Dead, and the General Conflagra
tion  211

Book II.
Of the Service of God  237
Chap. I.
Of Good Works  ibid-
Chap. II.
Of the Proximate Causes of Good Works  249
C.iap. III.
Of the Virtues belonging to the Service of God  261

Ill
Chap. IV. Page
Of External Service  2'3
Chap. V.
Of Oaths and the Lot ... .  ... 300
Chap. VI.
Of Zeal ... ...... •  318
Chap. VII.
Of the Time for Divine Worship; wherein are considered the
Sabbath, Lord's Day, and Festivals ...  326
Chap. VIII.
Of our Duties towards Man, and the general Virtues belonging
thereto  .  . . 342
C iap. IX.
Of the first Class of Special Virtues connected with the Duty of
Man towards himself . .  352
Chap. X.
Of the second Class of Virtues connected with the Duty of Man
towards himself  .  371
Chap. XI.
Ofthe Duties of Mm towards his Neighbour, and the Virtues com
prehended under those Duties .  375
Chap. XII.
Of the Special Virtues or Duties which regard our Neighbour . 389
Chap. XIII.
Of the second Class of Special Duties towards our Neighbour . . 395
Chap. XIV.
The second Class of Special Duties towards our Neighbour continued 416
Chap. XV.
Of the Reciprocal Duties of Man towards his Neighbour; and spe
cially of Private Duties  405
Chap. XVI.
Of the remaining Class of Private Duties . ... . 438
Chap. XVII.
Of Public Duties towards our Neighbour ... . .145

JOHN MILTON,

TO ALL THE CHURCHES OF CHRIST,
AND TO ALL
WHO PROFESS THE CHRISTIAN FAITH THROUGHOUT THE WORLD,
PEACE, AND THE RECOGNITION OF THE TRUTH,
AND ETERNAL SALVATION
IN GOD THE FATHER, AND IN OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.

Oince the commencement of the last century, when
religion began to be restored from the corruptions
of more than thirteen hundred years to something
of its original purity, many treatises of theology
have been published, conducted according to sounder
principles, wherein the chief heads of Christian doc
trine are set forth sometimes briefly, sometimes in
a more enlarged and methodical order. I think
myself obliged, therefore, to declare in the first in
stance why, if any works have already appeared as
perfect as the nature of the subject will admit, I
have not remained contented with them — or, if all
my predecessors have treated it unsuccessfully, why
their failure has not deterred me from attempting an
undertaking of a similar kind.
vol. i. 1

2
If I were to say that I had devoted myself to the
study of the Christian religion because nothing else
can so effectually rescue the lives and minds of men
from those two detestable curses, slavery and super
stition,* I should seem to have acted rather from a
regard to my highest earthly comforts, than from a
religious motive.
But since it is only to the individual faith of each
that the Deity has opened the way of eternal sal
vation, and as he requires that he who would be
saved should have a personal belief of his own,f I
resolved not to repose on the faith or judgment of
others in matters relating to God ; but on the one
hand, having taken the grounds of my faith from
divine revelation alone, and on the other, having
neglected nothing which depended on my own in
dustry, I thought fit to scrutinize and ascertain for
myself the several points of my religious belief, by
the most careful perusal and meditation of the Holy
Scriptures themselves.
If therefore I mention what has proved beneficial
in my own practice, it is in the hope that others,
* ' Vota vestra et preces ardentissimas Deus, cum servilutis haud uno
genere oppressi ad eum confugislis, henigne exaudiit. Qua; duo in vita
hominum mala sane maxima sunt, et virtuti damnosissima, tyrannis et
superstitio, iis vos gentium pi-imos frloriose liberavit.' Pro Pop. Anglican.
Defens. ad finem. Milton's Prose Works, Symmons's Edition, Vol. V.
p. 195. t  What but unbuild
His living temples, built by faith to stand,
Their own faith, not another's?  Paradise Lost, XII. 526.

3
»
who have a similar wish of improving themselves,
may be thereby invited to pursue the same method.
I entered upon an assiduous course of study in my
youth, beginning with the books of the Old and
New Testament in their original languages, and
going diligently through a few of the shorter sys
tems of divines, in imitation of whom I was in the
habit of classing under certain heads whatever pas
sages of Scripture occurred for extraction, to be
made use of hereafter as occasion might require.
At length I resorted with increased confidence to
some of the more copious theological treatises, and
to the examination of the arguments advanced by
the conflicting parties respecting certain disputed
points of faith. But, to speak the truth with free
dom as well as candour, I was concerned to discover
in many instances adverse reasonings either evaded
by wretched shifts, or attempted to be refuted, rather
speciously than with solidity, by an affected display
of formal sophisms, or by a constant recourse to the
quibbles of the grammarians ; while what was most
pertinaciously espoused as the true doctrine, seemed
often defended, with more vehemence than strength
of argument, by misconstructions of Scripture, or
by the hasty deduction of erroneous inferences.
Owing to these causes, the truth was sometimes as
strenuously opposed as if it had been an error or a
heresy — while errors and heresies were substituted

4
for the truth, and valued rather from deference to
custom and the spirit of party, than from the au
thority of Scripture.
According to my judgement, therefore, neither
my creed nor my hope of salvation could be safely
trusted to such guides ; and yet it appeared highly
requisite to possess some methodical tractate of
Christian doctrine, or at least to attempt such a
disquisition as might be useful in establishing my
faith or assisting my memory. I deemed it there
fore safest and most advisable to compile for myself,
by my own labour and study, some original treatise
which should be always at hand, derived solely
from the word of God itself, and executed with all
possible fidelity, seeing that I could have no wish
to practise any imposition on myself in such a
matter. After a diligent perseverance in this plan for sev
eral years, I perceived that the strong holds of the
reformed religion were sufficiently fortified, as far
as it was in danger from the Papists, — but neglected
in many other quarters ; neither competently strength
ened with works of defence, nor adequately provided
with champions. It was also evident to me, that,
in religion as in other things, the offers of God were
all directed, not to an indolent credulity, but to
constant diligence, and to an unwearied search after
truth ; and that more than I was aware of still re-

mained, which required to be more rigidly examined
by the rule of Scripture, and reformed after a more
accurate model. I so far satisfied myself in the
prosecution of this plan as at length to trust that I
had discovered, with regard to religion, what was
matter of belief, and what only matter of opinion.
It was also a great solace to me to have compiled,
by God's assistance, a precious aid for my faith, —
or rather to have laid up for myself a treasure which
would be a provision for my future life, and would
remove from my mind all grounds for hesitation, as
often as it behoved me to render an account of the
principles of my belief.
If I communicate the result of my inquiries to the
world at large ; if, as God is my witness, it be with
a friendly and benignant feeling towards mankind,
that I readily give as wide a circulation as possible
to what I esteem my best and richest possession, I
hope to meet with a candid reception from all par
ties, and that none at least will take unjust offence,
even though many things should be brought to light
which will at once be seen to differ from certain
received opinions. I earnestly beseech all lovers of
truth, not to cry out that the Church is thrown into
confusion by that freedom of discussion and inquiry
which is granted to the schools, and ought certainly
to be refused to no believer, since we are ordered
to prove all things, and since the daily progress of

0
the light of truth is productive far less of disturbance
to the Church, than of illumination and edification.
Nor do I see how the Church can be more disturbed
by the investigation of truth, than were the Gentiles
by the first promulgation of the gospel ; since so
far from recommending or imposing anything on my
own authority, it is my particular advice that every
one should suspend his opinion on whatever points
he may not feel himself fully satisfied, till the evi
dence of Scripture prevail, and persuade his reason
into assent and faith. Concealment is not my ob
ject ; it is to the learned that I address myself, or
if it be thought that the learned are not the best
umpires and judges of such things, I should at least
wish to submit my opinions to men of a mature and
manly understanding, possessing a thorough knowl
edge of the doctrines of the gospel ; on whose
judgements I should rely with far more confidence,
than on those of novices in these matters.* And
whereas the greater part of tjiose who have written
most largely on these subjects have been Avont to
fill whole pages with explanations of their own
opinions, thrusting into the margin the texts in sup
port of their doctrine, with a summary reference to
the chapter and verse ; I have chosen, on the con-
* 'I seek not to seduce the simple and illiterate; my errand is to find
out the choicest and the learnedest, who have this high gift of wisdom to
answer solidly, or to be convinced.' Address to the Parliament of England,
prefixed to The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce. Prose Works, I. 341.

trary, to fill my pages even to redundance with
quotations from Scripture, that so as little space as
possible might be left for my own words, even when
they arise from the context of revelation itself.
It has also been my object to make it appear from
the opinions I shall be found to have advanced,
whether new or old, of how much consequence to the
Christian religion is the liberty not only of winnow
ing and sifting every doctrine,* but also of thinking
and even writing respecting it, according to our indi
vidual faith and persuasion ;f an inference which
will be stronger in proportion to the weight and im
portance of those opinions, or rather in proportion to
the authority of Scripture, on the abundant testimony
of which they rest. Without this liberty there is
neither religion nor gospel — force alone prevails, —
by which il is disgraceful for the Christian religion
to be supported. Without this liberty we are still en-
" ' Sad it is to think how that doctrine of the Gospel, planted by teachers
divinely inspired, and by them winnowed and sifted from the chaff of over-
dated ceremonies,' 8ic. Of Reformation in England. Prose Works, I. 1.
t ' For me, I have determined to lay up as the best treasure and solace of
a good old age, if God vouchsafe it me, the honest liberty of free speech
from my youth, where I shall think it available in so dear a concernment as
tlie Church's good.' The Reason of Church- Government urged against Prelaty.
Prose Works, I. 116. 'To Protestants, therefore, whose common rule and
touchstone is the Scripture, nothing can with more conscience, more equity,
nothing more Protestantly can be permitted, than a free and lawful debate
at all times by writing, conference, or disputation of what opinion soever,
disputable by Scripture ; concluding that no man in religion is properly a
heretic at this day, but he who maintains traditions or opinions not probable
by Scripture, who for aught I know is the Papist only ; he the only heretic
who counts all heretics but himself.' Treatise of Civil Power in Ecclesiasti.
cal Causes. Prose Works, III. 326.

slaved, not indeed, as formerly, under the divine law,
but, what is worst of all, under the law of man, or to
speak more truly, under a barbarous tyranny. But I
do not expect from candid and judicious readers a
conduct so unworthy of them, — that like certain un
just and foolish men, they should stamp with the in
vidious name of heretic or heresy whatever appears to
them to differ from the received opinions, without
trying the doctrine by a comparison with Scripture
testimonies.* According to their notions, to have
branded any one at random with this opprobrious
mark, is to have refuted him without any trouble,
by a single word. By the simple imputation of the
name of heretic, they think that they have despatch
ed their man at one blow. To men of this kind
I answer, that in the time of the apostles, ere the
New Testament was written, when ever the charge
" ' But we shall not carry it thus ; another Greek apparition stands in our
way, Heresy and Heretic ; in like manner also railed at to the people as in
a tongue unknown  In apostolic time, therefore, ere the Scripture was
written, heresy was a doctrine maintained against the doctrine by tbem de
livered ; which in these limes can be no otherwise defined than a doctrine
maintained against the light, which we now only have, of the Scripture.'
Treatise of Civil Power in Ecclesiastical Causes. Prose Works, III. 325. And
again, in The Reason of Church- Government urged against Prelaty. 'As for
those terrible names of sectaries and schismatics, which ye have got togeth.
er, we know your manner of fight, when the quiver of your arguments,
which is ever thin, and weakly stored, after the first brunt is quite empty,
your course is to betake ye to your other quiver of slander, wherein lies your
best archery. And whom you could not move by sophistical arguing, them
you think to confute hy scandalous misnaming ; thereby inciting the blinder
sort of people to mislike and deride sound doctrine and good Christianity
under two or three vile and hateful terms.' I. 104.

9
of heresy was applied as a term of reproach, that
alone was considered as heresy which was at variance
with their doctrine orally delivered, — and that those
only were looked upon as heretics, who according
to Rom. xvi. 17, 18. ' caused divisions and offences
contrary to the doctrine ' of the apostles  ' serving
not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly.'
By parity of reasoning therefore, since the compila
tion of the New Testament, I maintain that nothing
but what is in contradiction to it can properly be
called heresy.
For my own part, I adhere to the Holy Scriptures
alone — I follow no other heresy or sect. I had not
even read any of the works of heretics, so called,
when the mistakes of those who are reckoned for or
thodox,* and their incautious handling of Scripture,
first taught me to agree with their opponents whenev
er those opponents agreed with Scripture. If this be
heresy, I confess with St. Paul, Acts xxiv. 14. ' that
after the way which they call heresy, so worship I
the God of my fathers, believing all things which are
written in the law and the prophets' — to which I add,
whatever is written in the New Testament. Any
other judges or chief interpreters of the Christian be
lief, together with all implicit faith, as it is called,
* ' Tea those that are reckoned for orthodox, began to make sad and
shameful rents in the Church about the trivial celebration of feasts,' &c. Of
Reformation in England. Prose Works, I. 15.
VOL. I. 2

10
I, in common with the whole Protestant Church, re
fuse to recognize.*
For the rest, brethren, cultivate truth with brother
ly love. Judge of my present undertaking according
to the admonishing of the Spirit of God — and nei
ther adopt my sentiments, nor reject them, unless ev
ery doubt has been removed from your belief by the
clear testimony of revelation. Finally, live in the
faith of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Fare
well. * ' With good and religious reason, therefore, all Protestant Churches with
one consent, and particularly the Church of England in her thirty-nine Ar
ticles, Artie. 6th. 19th. 20th. 21st. and elsewhere, maintain these two points,
as the main principles of true religion ; that the rule of true religion is the
word of God only : and that this faith ought not to be an implicit faith, that
is, to believe, though as the Church believes, against or without express au
thority of Scripture ' Of true Religion, &c. Prose Works, IV. 260. And
again, in the same treatise— 'This is the direct way to bring in that papistical
implicit faith, which we all disclaim.' IV. 268.

A
POSTHUMOUS TREATISE
ON THE
CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE,
COMPILED FROM THE HOLY SCRIPTURES ALONE!
IN TWO BOOKS:
BY
JOHN MILTON.

BOOK I.

CHAPTER I.
OF THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE, AND THE NUMBER OF ITS
DIVISIONS.
X he Christian Doctrine is that divine revelation
disclosed to all ages by Christ (though he was
not known under that name in the beginning) con
cerning the nature and worship of the Deity, for the
promotion of the glory of God, and the salvation
of mankind.
It is not unreasonable to assume that Christians
believe in the Scriptures whence this doctrine is de
rived — but the authority of those Scriptures will be
examined in the proper place.
Christ. Matt. xi. 27. ' neither knoweth any man
the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the
Son will reveal him.' John i. 4. ' in him was life,
and the life was the light of men.' v. 9. ' that was

12
the true light which lighteth every man that cometh
into the world.' 1 Pet. iii. 19. 'by which also he
went and preached unto the spirits in prison.'
Under the definition of Christ are also compre
hended Moses and the Prophets, who were his fore
runners, and the Apostles whom he sent. Gal. iii. 24.
' the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto
Christ, that we might be justified by faith.' Heb.
xiii. 8. ' Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day,
and for ever.' Col. ii. 17. ' which are a shadow of
things to come : but the body is of Christ.' 1 Pet.
i. 10, 11. 'who prophesied of the grace that should
come unto you : searching what, or what manner of
time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did
signify.' Rom. i. 1. ' Paul, a servant of Jesus
Christ : ' in which manner he begins nearly all the
rest of his epistles. 1 Cor. iv. 1. ' let a man so
account of us, as of the ministers of Christ.'
Divine Revelation. Isai. li. 4. 'a law shall pro
ceed from me.' Matt. xvi. j 7. 'flesh and blood
hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which
is in heaven.' John vi. 4G. ' they shall be all
taught of God.' ix. 29. ' we know that God spake
unto Moses.' Gal. i. 11, 12. ' the gospel which
was preached of me is uot after man ; for I neither
received it of man.' 1 Thess. iv. 9. ' ye your
selves are taught of God.'
This doctrine, therefore, is to be obtained, not
from the schools of the philosophers, nor from the
laws of man, but from the Holy Scriptures alone,
under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 2 Tim. i.
14. ' that good thing which was committed unto

13
thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.'
Col. ii. 8. ' lest any man spoil you through philoso
phy.' Dan. iii. 16. ' we are not careful to answer
thee in this matter.' Acts iv. 19. ' whether it be
right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more
than unto God, judge ye.'
In this treatise then no novelties of doctrine are
taught ; but for the sake of assisting the memory,
what is dispersed throughout the different parts of
the Holy Scriptures is conveniently reduced into one
compact body as it were, and digested under certain
heads. This method might be easily defended on
the ground of Christian prudence, but it seems better
to rest its authority on the divine command ; Matt.
xiii. 52. ' every scribe which is instructed unto the
kingdom of heaven is like unto a man which is an
householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure
things new and old.' So also the Apostle says,
2 Tim. i. 13. 'hold fast the form' — which the
author of the Epistle to the Hebrews seems to have
determined to adopt as the rule of his own conduct
for teaching the heads of Christian doctrine in me
thodical arrangement : vi. 1 — 3. ' of repentance
from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the
doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and
of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment;
and this will we do, if God permit.' This usage of
the Christians was admirably suited for Catechumens
when first professing their faith in the Church. Al
lusion is made to the saie system in Rom. vi. 17.
' ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doc
trine which was delivered you.' In this passage

14
the Greek word twos, as well as vnox-vnaai? 2 Tim.
i. 13. seems to signify either that part of the evan
gelical Scriptures which were then written (as in
Rom. ii. 20. uogcpadts, < the form of knowledge and
of the truth in the law,' signified the law itself) or
some systematic course of instruction derived from
them or from the whole doctrine of the gospel.
Acts xx. 27. ' I have not shunned to declare unto
you all the counsel of God' — which must mean
some entire body of doctrine, formed according to a
certain plan, though probably not of great extent,
since the whole was gone through, and perhaps even
repeated several times during St. Paul's stay at Ephe
sus, which was about the space of three years.
Christian doctrine is comprehended under two
divisions, — Faith, or the knowledge of God, — and
Love, or the worship of God. Gen. xvii. 1. ' walk
before me, and be thou perfect.' Psal. xxxvii. 3.
' trust in Jehovah, and do good.' Lake xi. 28.
' blessed are they that hear the word of God, and
keep it.' Acts xxiv. 14. 'believing all things' —
and v. 16. ' herein do I exercise myself.' 2 Tim.
i. 13. ' hold fast the form of sound words which
thou hast heard of me, in faith and in love which
is in Christ Jesus.' 1 Tim. i. 19. ' holding faith
and a good conscience.' Tit. iii. 8. ' that they
which have believed might be careful — .' 1 John
iii. 23. 'that w7e should believe and love.'
These two divisions, though they are distinct in
their own nature, and put asunder for the conveni
ence of teaching, cannot be separated in practice.
Rom. ii. 13. ' not the hearers of the law, but the

15
doers of the law shall be justified.' James i. 22.
' be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only.'
Besides, obedience and love are always the best
guides to knowledge, and often lead the way from
small beginnings, to a greater and more flourishing
degree of proficiency. Psal. xxv. 14. ' the secret
of Jehovah is with them that fear him.' John vii.
17. 'if any man will do his will, he shall know of
the doctrine.' viii. 31, 32. ' if ye continue in my
word  ye shall know the truth, and the truth
shall make you free.' 1 John ii. 3. ' hereby we do
know that we know him, if we keep his command
ments.' It must be observed, that Faith in this division
does not mean the habit of believing, but the things
to be habitually believed. So Acts vi. 7. ' were
obedient to the faith.' Gal. i. 23. ' he preacheth
the faith.

CHAPTER II.

OP GOD.

JL hough there be not a few who deny the exist
ence of God,* for ' the fool hath said in his heart,
There is no God,' Psal. xiv. 1. yet the Deity has
imprinted upon the human mind so many unquestion
able tokens of himself, and so many traces of him
are apparent throughout the whole of nature, that
no one in his senses can remain ignorant of the
truth. Job xii. 9. ' who knoweth not in all these
that the hand of Jehovah hath wrought, this ? ' Psal.
xix. 1. ' the heavens declare the glory of God,'
Acts xiv. 17. 'he left not himself without witness.'
xvii. 27, 28. ' he is not far from every one of us.'
Rom. i. 19, 20. ' that which may be known of God
is manifest in them.' and ii. 14, 15. ' the Gentiles. . . .
shew the work of the law written in their hearts,
their conscience also bearing witness.' 1 Cor. i. 21.
' after that in the wisdom of God, the w^orld by wis
dom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe.' There can
* Unless there be, who think not God at all :
If any be, they walk obscure ;
For of such doctrine never was there school,
But the heart of the fool,
And no man therein doctor but himself. — Samson Agonisles, 295,

17
be no doubt but that every thing in the world, by
the beauty of its order, and the evidence of a deter
minate and beneficial purpose which pervades it,
testifies that some supreme efficient Power must
have pre-existed, by which the whole was ordained
for a specific end.
There are some who pretend that nature or fate is
this supreme power:* but the very name of nature
implies that it must owe its birth to some prior agent,
or, to speak properly, signifies in itself nothing ; but
means either the essence of a thing, or that general
law which is the origin of every thing, and "under
which every thing acts, — and fate can be nothing
but a divine decree emanating from some almighty
power. Further, those who attribute the creation of every
thing to nature, must necessarily associate chance
with nature as a joint divinity ; so that they gain
nothing by this theory, except that in the place of
that one God, whom they cannot tolerate, they are
obliged, however reluctantly, to substitute two sove
reign rulers of affairs, who must almost always be in
opposition to each other. In short, many ocular
demonstrations, many true predictions verified, many
wonderful works have compelled all nations to be-
*  that Power
Which erring men call Chance — . Cumus, 5SS.
Ih allusion to the doctrines of the Stoicks, ke. Seneca De Benefieiis, iv. 8;
' Sic hunc naturam vocas, falum,fortunam ; omnia ejusdem Dei nomina suntj
Varie utentis sua potestate.' JYat. Quiest. ii 45. 'Vis ilium fatum vocare ?
non errabis.' The next clauses of this sentence contain in the original two
of those conceits which are so frequent in Milton's works, and which can
scarcely be preserved in a translation. The passage stands thus—' sed
natura natam se fatetur, &c  el fatum quid nisi effalum divinum om-
hipotentis cujuspiam nnminis potest esse ? '
VOL. I. 3

18
lieve, either that God, or that some evil power whose
name was unknown, presided over the affairs of the
world. Now that evil should prevail over good,
and be the t>ue supreme powrer, is as unmeet as it is
incredible. Hence it follows as a necessary conse
quence, that God exists.
Again : the existence of God is further proved by
that feeling, whether we term it conscience, or right
reason,* which even in the worst of characters is not
altogether extinguished. If there were no God, there
would be no distinction between right and wrong ;
the estimate of virtue and vice would entirely depend
on the blind opinion of men ; no one would follow
virtue, no one would be restrained from vice by any
sense of shame, or fear of the laws, unless conscience
or right reason did from time to time convince every
one, however unwilling, of the existence of God, the
Lord and ruler of all things, to whom, sooner or
later, each must give an account of his own actions,
whether good or bad.
The whole tenor of Scripture proves the same
thing ; and the disciples of the doctrine of Christ
may fairly be required to give assent to this truth in
the first instance, according to the expression "in
Heb. xi. 6. ' he that cometh to God, must believe
that he is.' It is proved also by the dispersion of
the Jews throughout the whole world, according to
what God often forewarned them would happen on
* Since thy original lapse, true liberty
Is lost, which always with right reason dwells
Iwinn'd. Paradise Lost, XII. 83.
'Recta: rationi obtemperare discite.' Defensio Secunda pro Populo Anglican*.
f rose Works, V. 266. a

19
account of their sins. Nor is it only to pay the pen
alty of their own guilt that they have been reserved
in their scattered state, among the rest of the na
tions, through the revolution of successive ages, and
even to the present day ; but rather to be a perpetual
and living testimony to all people under heaven, of
the existence of God, and of the truth of the Holy
Scriptures. No one, however, can have right thoughts of God,
with nature or reason alone as his guide, indepen
dent of the word, or message of God.* Rom. x.
14. ' how shall they believe in him of whom they
have not heard ?'
God is known, so far as he is pleased to make us
acquainted with himself, either. from his own nature,
or from his efficient power.
When we speak of knowing God, it must be un
derstood with reference to the imperfect compre
hension of man ; for to know God as he really
is, far transcends the powers of man's thoughts,
much more of his perception. 1 Tim. vi. 16.
' dwelling in the light which no man can approach
unto.' God therefore has made as full a revelation
of himself as our minds can conceive, or the weak-
* Left only in those written records pure,
Though not but by the Spirit understood. Paradise Lost, XII. 513.
'It will require no great labour of exposition to unfold what is here meant
by matters of religion ; being as soon apprehended as defined, sucn things as
belong chiefly to the knowledge and service of God, and are either above
the reach and light of nature without revelation from above, and therefore
liable to be variously understood by human reason,' he. Treatise of Civil
Power in Ecclesiastical Causes. Prose Works, III. 320. ' True religion is
the true worship and service of God, learnt and believed from the word of
God only. No man or angel can know how God would be worshipped and
served, unless God reveal it.' Of True Religion, ke. IV. 259.

20
ness of our nature can bear. Exod. xxxiii. 20, 23.
' there shall no man see me and live  but
thou shalt see my back parts.' Isai. vi. 1 'I saw
the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up,
and his train filled the temple.' John i. 18. ' no
man hath seen God at any time.' vi. 46. ' not that
any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of
God, he hath seen the Father.' v. 37. ' ye have
neither heard his voice at any time.' 1 Cor. xiii.
12. ' we see through a glass, darkly  in part.'
Our safest way is to form in our minds such a
conception of God, as shall correspond with his own
delineation and representation of himself in the sa
cred writings. For granting that both in the literal
and figurative descriptions of God, he is exhibited
not as he really is, but in such a manner as may be
within the scope of our comprehensions, yet Ave
ought to entertain such a conception of him, as he,
in condescending to accommodate himself to our ca
pacities, has shewn that he desires we should con
ceive. For it is on this very account that he has
lowered himself to our level, lest in our flights above
the reach of human understanding, and beyond the
written word of Scripture, we should be tempted to
indulge in vague cogitations and subtleties.*
* Sollicit not thy thoughts with matters hid :
Leave them to God above ; him serve and fear.
Paradise Lost, VIII. 166.
.  Heaven is for thee too high
To know what passes there ; so, lowly wise,
Think only what concerns thee, and thy being ;
Dream not of other worlds, what creatines there
Live, in what state, condition, or degree  . 172,

21
There is no need then that theologians should
have recourse here to what they call anthropopathy*
— i figure invented by the grammarians to excuse
the absurdities of the poets on the subject of the
heathen divinities. We may be sure that sufficient
care has been taken that the Holy Scriptures should
contain nothing unsuitable to the character or dignity
of God, and that God should say nothing of himself
which could derogate from his own majesty. It is
better therefore to contemplate the Deity, and to
conceive of him, not with reference to human pas
sions, that is, after the manner of men, who are
never weary of forming subtle imaginations respect
ing him, but after the manner of Scripture, that is,
in the way in which God has offered himself to our
contemplation ; nor should we think that he would
say or direct any thing tq^ be written of himself,
which is inconsistent with the opinion he wishes us
to entertain of his character. Let us require no bet
ter authority than God himself for determining what
is worthy or unworthy of him. If ' it repented Je
hovah that he had made man,' Gen. vi. 6. and
' because of their groanings,' Judges ii. 18. let us
believe that it did repent him, only taking care to re
member that what is called repentance when applied
to God, does not arise from inadvertency, as in men ;
for so he has himself cautioned us, Num. xxiii. 19.
' God is not a man that he should lie, neither the
son of man that he should repent. See also 1 Sam.
* Two ways then may the Spirit of God be said to be grieved, in Himself,
in his saints ; in Himself, by an anthropopathie, as we call it ; in his Saints
by a sympathie; the former is byway of allusion to human passion and
carriage. Bp. Hall's Rem. p. 106.

22
xv. 29. Again, if ' it grieved the Lord at his heart,'
Gen. vi. 6. and if ' his soul were grieved for the
misery of Israel,' Judges x. 16, let us believe that it
did grieve him. For the affections which in a good
man are good, and rank with virtues, in God are
holy. If after the work of six days it be said of
God that ' he rested and was refreshed,' Exod. xxxi.
1 7. if it be said that ' he feared the wrath of the en
emy,' Deut. xxxii. 27, let us believe that it is not
beneath the dignity of God to grieve in that for
which he is grieved, or to be refreshed in that which
refresheth him, or to fear in that he feareth. For
however we may attempt to soften down such ex
pressions by a latitude of interpretation, when applied
to the Deity, it comes in the end to precisely the
same. If God be said ' to have made man in his
own image, after his likeness,' Gen. i. 26. and that
too not only as to his soul, but also as to his
outward form* (unless the same words have differ-
* The Humanitarians held that God was to be understood as having really
a human form. See Clarke's Sermons, Vol. I. p. 26. fol. edit. The drift of
Milton's argument leads him to employ language which would appear at first
sight to verge upon their doctrine, but it will be seen immediately that he
guards himself against the charge of having adopted one of the most ignor
ant errors of the dark ages of the Church. The reasoning of Milton on this
subject throws great light on a passage in Paradise Lqst, put into the mouth
of Raphael :  What surmounts the reach
Of human sense, I shall delineate so,
By likening spiritual to corporal forms,
As may express tliem best ; though what if Earth
Be but the shadow of Heaven, and things therein
Each to other like, more than on earth is thought ?
Here Newton observes the artful suggestion that there may be a greater
similitude and resemblance between things in Heaven and things in Earth
than is generally imagined, and supposes it may have been intended as au
apology for the bold figures which the Poet has employed. We now see
that his deliberate opinion seems to have leaned to the belief that the fabrick

23
ent significations here and in chap. v. 3. ' Adam
begat a son in his own likeness, after his image') and
if God habitually assign to himself the members and
form of man, why should we be afraid of attributing
to him what he attributes to himself, so long as what
is imperfection and weakness when viewed in refer
ence to ourselves be considered as most complete and
excellent whenever it is imputed to God. Question
less the glory and majesty of the Deity must have
been so dear to him, that he would never say any
thing of himself which could be humiliating or de
grading, and would ascribe to himself no personal
attribute which he would not willingly have ascribed
to him by his creatures. Let us be convinced that
those have acquired the truest apprehension of the
nature of God who submit their understandings to
his word ; inasmuch as he has accommodated his
word to their understandings, and has shown what
he wishes their notion of the Deity should be.
To speak summarily, God either is, or is not,
such as he represents himself to be. If he be really
such, why should we think otherwise of him ? If he
be not such, on what authority do we say what God
has not said ? If at least it be his will that we
should thus think of him, why does our imagination
wander into some other conception ? Why should
wre hesitate to conceive of God according to what
he has not hesitated to declare explicitly respecting
himself? For such knowledge of the Deity as was
necessary for the salvation of man, he has himself of
his goodness been pleased to reveal abundantly.
of the invisible world was the pattern of the visible. Mede introduces a
hint of a similar kind in his tenth discourse, as Newton remarks.

24
Deut. xxix. 29. < the secret things belong unto Je
hovah, but those things which are revealed belong
unto us  that we may do them.'
In arguing thus, we do not say that God is in
fashion like unto man in all his parts and members,
but that as far as we are concerned to know, he is of
that form which he attributes to himself in the sa
cred writings. If therefore we persist in entertain
ing a different conception of the Deity than that
which it is to be presumed he desires should be cher
ished, inasmuch as he has himself disclosed it to us,
we frustrate the purposes of God instead of rendering
him submissive obedience. As if, forsooth, we wish
ed to show that it was not we who had thought too
meanly of God, but God who had thought too mean
ly of us.
It is impossible to comprehend accurately under
any form of definition the ' divine nature,' for so it
is called, 2 Pet. i. 4. ' that ye might be partakers of
the divine nature' — though nature does not here sig
nify essence, but the divine image, as in Gal. iv. 8.
' which by nature are no Gods,' and dsorys Col. ii.
9. dzioTiys Rom. i. 20. to dsiov Acts xvii. 29. which
are all translated ' Godhead.' But though the na
ture of God cannot be defined, since he who has no
efficient cause is essentially greatest of all, Isai.
xxviii. 29. some description of it at least may be col
lected from his names and attributes.
The names and attributes of God either show his
nature, or his divine power and excellence. There
are three names which seem principally to intimate
the nature of God,— fiin* Jehovah — IT Jah—Wtlit
Ehie. Even the name of Jehovah was not forbid-

25
den to be pronounced, provided it was with due revr
erence. Exod. iii. 15. Jehovah, God of your fath
ers  this is my name for ever, and this is my
memorial.' xx, 7. ' thou shalt not take the name
of Jehovah thy God in vain.' Again, it occurs pro
nounced, 1 Kings xvii. 12. ' as Jehovah thy God
liveth,' and so in many other places. This name
both in the New Testament and in the Greek ver
sion of the Old is always translated Kvgios — the
Lord, — probably for no other reason than because
the word Jehovah could not be expressed in Greek
letters. Its signification is, ' he who is,' or, ' which
is, and which was, and which is to come,' Rev. i. 4.
Jah, which is a sort of contraction ofthe former name,
has the same signification. Exod. xvii. 16. ' Jah hath
sworn' — and in other places. Exod. iii. 14. iTflN
Ehie, ' I am that I am,' or ' will be;'* and if the
first person be changed into the third of the kindred
verb, Jave, who is, or will be, — meaning the same
* The original of this passage presents considerable difficulty. It is
thus written in the manuscript: 'Cap. iii. 14. n'nX Ehie, qui sum
vel ero, et persona prima in tertiam affinis verbi mutatur Jehovae, qui est
vel erit, idem quod Jehova, ut quidam putant illisque vocabulis rectius
prolatum.' In the translation 1 have considered Ehie qui sum vel ero,
as an absolute sentence ; and conceiving the next clause to have been
incorrectly transcribed, I have rendered it as if it had been written —
et si persona prima in tertiam affinis verbi mutatur, Jave, qui est, vel
erit, &c. Simon in his Hebrew Lexicon has the following remark on
the word Hin* : ' (TitT nomen proprium Dei, a Mose demum in-
troductum, eum qui re prcestiturus sit, quod olim promiserit, ex ipsa loci
Mosaici authentica explicatione, Exod. iii. 14. significans, .adeoque
f7lPP vel JTlH' proprie efferendum, ut ex veteribus Theodoretus et
Epiphanius Jahe, h. e. Jave scripserunt. If the sense of the passage
has been rightly conceived, the kindred verb will be ,*7"||7 sidit, fuit
vel factus est. See Simon in voce. See also Buxtorf's Lexicon ad Rad.
!"pf7 and Cappelli Vindic. Arcani Punctualionis, lib. 1. §, 20.
VOL. I. 4

26
as Jehovah, as some think, and more properly ex
pressed thus than by the other words ; but the name
Jave appears to signify not only the existence of his
nature, but also of his promises, or rather the com
pletion of his promises ; whence it is said, Exod. vi.
3. ' by my name Jehovah was I not known to them.'
And with what vowel points this name Jehovah
ought to be pronounced, is shown by those proper
names into the composition of which two of them
enter, as Jehosaphat, Jehoram, Jehoiada, and the
like. The third, or final vowel point may be sup
plied by analogy from the two other divine names,
?4'T8 and H».
I. The first of the attributes which show the in
herent nature of God, is Truth. Jer. x. 10. ' Je
hovah is the true God.' John xvii. 3. ' that they
might know thee the only true God.' 1 Thess. i. 9.
' the living and true God.' 1 John v. 20. ' that we
may know him that is true.'
II. Secondly, God, considered in his most simple
nature, is a Spirit. Exod. iii. 14, 15. ' I am that
I am.' Rom. xi. 36. ' of him and through him are
all things.' John iv. 24. ' God is a spirit.' What
a spirit is, or rather what it is not, is shown, Isai.
xxxi. 3. ' flesh, and not spirit.' Luke xxiv. 39. ' a
spirit hath not flesh and bones.' Whence it is evi
dent that the essence of God, being in itself most
simple, can admit no compound quality ; so that the
term hypostasis, Heb. i. 3.* which is differently trans-
* %ugxxrhg Tvit imirmicria; almu. the express image of his person. Author
ized Transl. exact image of his substance Mackuight. ' Concerning tbe word
imw-Ko-ia;, rendered in our Bibles, person, it hath been observed by com
mentators, that it did not obtain that signification till after the Council of
Nice. Our translators have rendered un-in-ao-is, Heb. xi. 1. by the word
substance.' M&ckn. 171 loc.

27
lated substance, or subsistence, or person, can be
nothing else but that most perfect essence by which
God subsists by himself, in himself, and through him
self. For neither substance nor subsistence make
any addition to what is already a most perfect es
sence ; and the word person in its later acceptation
signifies any individual thing gifted with intelligence,
wrhile hypostasis denotes not the ens itself, but the
essence of the ens in the abstract. Hypostasis,
therefore, is clearly the same as essence, and thus
many of the Latin commentators* render it in the
passage already quoted. Therefore, as God is a
most simple essence, so is he also a most simple
subsistence. III. Immensity and Infinity.^ 1 Kings viii. 27.
' the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain
thee.' Job xi. 8. 'it is as high as heaven 
deeper than hell.' xxxvi. 26. ' God is great, and we
know him not.'
IV. Eternity. It is universally acknowledged that
nothing is eternal, strictly speaking, but what has
neither beginning nor end,t both which properties
are attributed to God, not indeed in each of the fol-
* Imago essentia: ejus. Tremellius.
+ Thee, Father, first they sung Omnipotent,
Immutable, Immortal, Infinite,
Eternal King. Paradise Lost, III. 372.
Another expression of great beauty is used in Samson Agonistes to denote
the same attribute :
As if they would confine the Interminable,
And tie him to his own prescript. 307.
X The disputes among the schoolmen respecting the proper definition of
eternity could not have been forgotten by Milton. It appears therefore that
at this time the famous definition of Boc'thius was generally rejected— osler-
nitas est inlerminabilis vita tola simul el perfecta possessio. According to
these terms God would not necessarily have been without a beginning.

lowing passages separately, but as a plain deduction
from the several texts when compared together. Job
xxxvi. 26. ' neither can the number of his years be
searched out.' Gen. xxi. 33. ' the everlasting God,'
literally, ' the God of old time or ages. Psal. xc. 2.
'from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God, or from
age to age.' cii. 12. ' but thou, O Jehovah, shalt en
dure for ever.' v. 24. ' thy years are through all gen
erations.' v. 27. ' but thou art the same, and thy years
shall have no end.' Psal. cxiv. 13. ' thy kingdom is
an everlasting kingdom.' Isai. xliii. 10. ' before me
there was no God formed, neither shall there be after
me.' xliv. 6. ' I am the first, and I am the last.'
Habak. i. 12. ' art thou not from everlasting,' literally
' from old time.'
The evidence of the New Testament is still clear
er, because the Greek word signifies to exist for ever.*
Rom. vi. 26. " according to the commandment of the
everlasting God.' 1 Tim. i. 17. 'unto the King
eternal.' Rev. i. 4. ' from him which is, and which
was, and which is to come.'
But all the words used in Scripture to denote eter
nity, often signify only of old time, or antiquity. Gen.
vi. 4. ' mighty men which were of old.' Job xx. 4.
' knowest thou not this of old, or from eternity, since
man was placed upon earth?' Isai. xiii. 14. ' I
have long time holden my peace.' David also seems
to have understood that the term for ever only inti
mated a great while to come. 2 Sam. vii. 13. ' I
* ' Sic etiam Deus dicitur qui est, qui erat, et qui futurus est, Apoc. i. 8. et
iv. 8. Deo tamen aevum sive aeternitas, non tempus, attribui solet : quid
autem est aevum proprie, nisi duratio perpetua, Graece, aiin, quasi «! i»,
semper existens.' Artis Logicce plenior Inslitutio, he. Prose Works, VI. 224.

29
will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever,'
compared with v. 19. ' thou hast spoken also of thy
servant's house for a great while to come.' See also
1 Chron. xvii. 12, 14, 17. John ix. 32. 'since the
world began was it not heard that any man opened
the eyes of one that was born blind.' Acts iii. 21.
' which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his
holy prophets since the world began.' 2 Tim. i. 9.
and Tit. i. 2. ' before the world began : ' and in
Heb. xi. 3. the word is also used to signify this
world, where the Syriac version translates it, — ' be
fore the worlds were framed.' From these and many
similar texts it appears that the idea of eternity,
properly so called, is conveyed in the Hebrew lan
guage rather by comparison and deduction than in
express words.
V. The Immutability of God has an immediate
connection with the last attribute. Psal. cii. 27.
' but thou art the same.' Mai. iii. 6. ' I am Jeho
vah, I change not.' James i. 17. ' with whom is
no variableness, neither shadow of turning.'
VI. His Incorruptibility is also derived from the
fourth attribute. Psal. cii. 26. ' thou shalt endure.'
Rom. i. 23. ' the uncorruptible God. 1 Tim. i. 17.
' unto the King immortal.'*
VII. The next attribute of God, his Omnipresence,
arises from his infinity. Psal. cxxxix. 8, 9. ' if I
ascend up into heaven, thou art there,' &c. &c.
Prov. xv. 3. ' the eyes of Jehovah are in every
place.' Jer. xxiii. 24. ' do not I fill heaven and
earth ? ' Eph. iv. 6. ' who is above all, and through
* apSa^ru incorruplibili. Tremellius. qui non corrumpihtr. Beza.

30
all, and in you all.' Our thoughts of the omnipres
ence of God, whatever may be the nature of the
attribute, should be such as appear most suitable to
the reverence due to the Deity.
VIII. Omnipotence. 2 Chron. xx. 6. ' in thine
hand is there not power and might ?' Job xiii. 2. ' I
know that thou canst do every thing.' Psal. xxxiii.
9. ' he spake, and it was done.' ex v. 3. ' he hath done
whatsoever he hath pleased.' See also exxxv. 6.
Matt. xix. 26. 'with God all things are possible.'
Luke i. 37. ' with God nothing shall be impossible.'
Hence the name of El Shaddai, applied to the Deity,
Gen. xvii. 1. 'I am the Almighty* God,' literally
' sufficient.' Ruth i. 21. ' the Almighty hath afflicted
me.' Jer. xxxii. 18. ' the Great, the Mighty God,
the Lord of Hosts.' Gen. xiv. 22. ' Jehovah, the
most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth.'
Thus also the name *J"1N. frequently occurs. In the
New Testament, ' the Lord Almighty,' 2 Cor. vi. 18,
and Rev. i. 8. ' the only Potentate, the King of kings,
and Lord of lords,' i. Tim. vi. 15. There seems,
therefore, an impropriety in the term of actus purus,
or the active principle, which Aristotlef applies to
God, for thus the Deity would have no choice of act,
but what he did he would do of necessity, and could
do in no other way, which would be inconsistent with
his omnipotence and free agency. But it must be
observed, that the power of God is not exerted in
things which imply a contradiction. J 2 Tim. ii. 13.
* Fortis omnipotens. TremelUus. Shaddai. Hebr. qui sum mfficiens.
fSee Aristot. Metaph. lib. 1. cap. ix. &c. lib. 14. cap. vi. Cud-
worth's Intellectual System, Vol. II. p. 322. Birch's Edit.
| Can he make deathless death ? That were to make
Strang-e contradiction, which to God himself

31
' he cannot deny himself.' Tit. i. 2. ' God, that can
not lie.' Heb. vi. 18. 'in which it was impossible for
God to lie.'
IX. All the preceding attributes may be regarded
as necessary causes of the ninth attribute, the Unity
of God ; of which, however, other proofs are not
wanting. Deut. iv. 35. ' Jehovah he is God, there
is none also beside him.' v. 39. ' Jehovah he is God
in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath : there
is none else.' vi. 4. ' hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God
is one Jehovah.' xxxii. 39. ' I, even I, am he, and
there is no God with me.' 1 Kings viii. 60. 'that all
the people of the earth may know that Jehovah is
God, and that there is none else.' 2 Kings xix. 15.
' thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the king
doms of the earth.' Isai. xliv. 6. ' beside me there is
no God.' v. 8. 'is there a God beside me ? yea,
there is no God ; I know not any.' xiv. 5. ' I am
Jehovah, and there is none else ; there is no God
beside me.' v. 21. ' there is no God else beside me
 there is none beside me.' v. 22. ' I am God, and
there is none else' — that is, no spirit, no person, no
being beside him is God ; for none is an universal
negative, xlvi. 9. ' I am God, and there is none else :
I am God, and there is none like me.' What can be
plainer, what more distinct, what more suitable to
general comprehension and the ordinary forms of
speech, in order that the people of God might under-
impossible is held ; as argument
Of weakness, not of power. Paradise Lost, X. 798.
'Cum autem dico potentiae Dei objectum omne esse possibile, per possi-
bile intelligo illud quod non implicat contradictionem ut fiat. Nam
quod contradictionem implicat, ne Deus quidem ipse potest.' Curcella?i
Jnstitutio II. 2.

32
stand that there was numerically one God and one
Spirit, in the common acceptation of numerical
unity ?
For it was fitting and highly agreeable to reason,
that what was the first and consequently the greatest
commandment, scrupulous obedience to which was
required by God even from the lowest of all the
people, should be delivered in so plain a manner, that
nothing ambiguous or obscure in its terms could lead
his worshippers into error, or keep them in suspense
or doubt. And thus the Israelites under the law and
the prophets always understood it to mean, that God
was numerically one God, that beside him there was
none other, much less any equal. For those dispu
tants of the schools had not yet appeared, who, de
pending on their own sagacity, or rather on arguments
of a purely contradictory tendency, cast a doubt upon
that very unity of God, which they pretended to as
sert. But as with regard to the omnipotence of the
Deity, it is universally allowed, as has been stated
before, that he can do nothing which involves a con
tradiction ; so must it also be remembered in this
place, that nothing can be said of the one God, which
is inconsistent with his unity, and which implies at
the same time the unity and plurality of the Godhead-
Proceeding to the evidence of the New Testament,
we find it equally clear, in so far as it goes over the
former ground, and in one respect even clearer, inas
much as it testifies that the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ is that one God. Mark xii. 28, Christ having
been asked, which was the first commandment of all,
answers, v. 29. from Deut. vi. 4. — a passage quoted

33
before, and evidently understood by our Lord in the
same sense which had always been applied to it —
' hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.' To
which answer the scribe assented, v. 32. ' well, Mas
ter, thou hast said the truth ; for there is one God,
and there is none other but he.' John xvii. 3. ' this is
life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true
God.' Rom. iii. 30. ' seeing it is one God.' 1 Cor.
viii. 4. ' we know. ...that there is none other God but
one.' v. 6. ' to us there is but one God, the Father,
of whom are all things.' Gal. iii. 20. ' a mediator is
not a mediator of one ; but God is one. Eph. iv 6.
' one God and father of all.' 1 Tim. ii. 5. ' there is
one God.' So, too, though D'PHK be plural in the
Hebrew, it is used notwithstanding for the one God,
Gen. i. 1. N"D D'h1^- Psal. vii. 10. and Ixxxvi. 10.
*DH5"E,P ¦/# i and elsewhere. But Fl 7ft is also used
in the singular, Psal. xviii. 31. 'who is God save
Jehovah, or who is a rock save our God ? which
verse is sufficient to show that the singular and plu
ral of this word both mean the same thing. More
will be found on this subject in the fifth chapter.
Hitherto those attributes only have been mentioned
which describe the nature of God, partly in an af
firmative sense, partly negatively, as where they deny
the existence of those imperfections in the Deity,
which belong to created things, — as, for instance,
when we speak of his immensity, his infinity, his in
corruptibility. The succeeding attributes are such as
show his divine power and excellence under the
ideas of vitality, intelligence and will.
* [ r\iii dti'Vn rmK> p^im ixxxvi. 10. ]
VOL- I. 5

34
I. Vitality. Deut. xxxii. 40. ' I live for ever,'
whence he is called ' the living God.' Psal. xiii. 2.
and in many other passages. John v. 26. ' the Fa
ther hath life in himself.'
II. The attribute of omniscience refers to the in
telligence of God. Gen. vi. 5. ' God saw  every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart.' Gen. xviii.
14. ' is any thing too hard for Jehovah ?' 1 Chron.
xxviii. 9. ' Jehovah searcheth all hearts.' 2 Chron.
vi. 30. ' thou only knowest the hearts of the children
of men.' Psal. xxxiii. 15. ' he fashioneth their hearts
alike ; he considereth all their works.' cxxxix. 2.
'thou understandest my thought afar off.' v. 4. 'for
there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Jehovah,
thou knowest it altogether.' cxlvii. 5. 'his under
standing is infinite.' Job xi. 7 — 9. ' canst thou by
searching find out God ?' &c. xxvi. 6. ' hell is naked
before him.' Prov. xv. 11. ' hell and destruction are
before Jehovah ; how much more then the hearts of
the children of men.' xvi. 2. 'Jehovah weigheth the
spirits.' xvii. 3. ' Jehovah trieth the hearts.' Isai. xl.
28. ' there is no searching of his understanding.' Jer.
xvii. 10. 'I Jehovah search the heart, I try the reins,'
whence, Acts i. 24. he is called ' the Lord which
knoweth the hearts of all men.' Jer. xxiii. 23, 24.
' am I a God at hand, saith Jehovah, and not a God
afar off? can any hide himself in secret places that I
shall not see him ?' Heb. iv. 13. ' all things are naked
and opened unto the eyes of him,' whence he is call
ed the ' only wise,' Dan. ii. 10. Rom. xvi. 27.
1 Tim. i. 17. So extensive is the prescience of God,
that he knows beforehand the thoughts and actions of
free agents as yet unborn, and many ages before those

35
thoughts or actions have their origin. Deut. xxxi.
16. ' behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers ; and
this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the
gods of the strangers of the land,' &:c. v. 20, 21.
' then will they turn unto other gods,' &c. ' for I
know the imagination which they go about even now,
before I have brought them into the land which I
sware.' 2 Kings viii. 12. ' I know the evil that thou
wilt do unto the children of Israel.'
III. With reference to the ivill, God is, 1st. infi
nitely pxtre and holy. Exod. xv. 11. 'glorious in
holiness.' Josh. xxiv. 19. 'he is an holy God.' 1
Sam. ii. 2. ' there is none holy as Jehovah.' vi. 20.
'before this holy God Jehovah.' Job xv. 15, 'the
heavens are not clean in his sight.' Isai. vi. 2, 3.
'he covered his face  and said, Holy, holy, holy,
is the Lord of Hosts.' xl. 25. ' saith the Holy One.'
xii. 20. 'the Holv One of Israel.' Habak. i. 13.
' thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil.'
2. He is most gracious. Exod. xxxiv. 6. ' mer
ciful and grat ious, long-suffering, and abundant in
goodness and truth. See also Psal. Ixxxvi. 15. and
ciii. 8. v. 4. ' neither shall evil dwell with thee.' xxv.
6. ' thy lovingkindnesses  have been ever of old.'
ciii. 11. 'great is his mercy toward them that fear
him.' v. 17. ' the mercy of Jehovah is from everlast
ing to everlasting.' cxix. 68. ' thou art good, and
doest good.' Lam. iii. 22. 'it is of the mercies of
Jehovah that we are not consumed.' Matt. xix. 17.
' there is none good but one, that is, God.' Luke vi.
36. ' be ye merciful, as your Father also is merciful.'
2 Cor. i. 3. 'the Father of mercies.' Eph. ii. 4.
' rich in mercy.' 1 John iv. 8. ' God is love.' And

36
thus again God may be proved to be immutable, from
the consideration of his infinite wisdom and goodness ;
since a being of infinite wisdom and goodness would
neither wish to change an infinitely good state for
another, nor would he be able to change it without
contradicting his own attributes.
3. As God is true by nature, so is he also true and
faithful in respect of his will. Psal. xix. 7. ' the
testimony of Jehovah is sure.' John vii. 28. ' he
that sent me is true.' Rom. iii. 4. ' let God be true,
but every man a liar.' 2 Tim. ii. 13. 'if we believe
not, yet he abideth faithful.' 1 Cor. i. 9. and x. 13.
' God is faithful.' Rev. vi. 10. ' O Lord, holy and
true.' 4. He is also just. Deut. xxxii. 4. ' all his ways
are judgement, a God of truth and without iniquity,
just and right is he.' Psal. xxxvi. 6. ' thy righteous
ness is like the great mountains.' cxix. 137. 'right
eous art thou, O Jehovah, and upright are thy judge
ments.' Isai. v. 16. ' God. ...shall be sanctified in
righteousness. It is not requisite to discuss at large
in this place what is consistent or inconsistent with
the justice of God, since if it be necessary to say
any thing on so clear a subject, occasions will arise
for introducing such observations as may be required
in other parts of this work. Severity also is attribut
ed to God. Rom. xi. 22. ' on them which fell,
severity.' From all these attributes springs that infinite ex
cellence of God which constitutes his true perfection,
and causes him to abound in glory, and to be most
deservedly and justly the supreme Lord of all things,
according to the qualities so frequently ascribed to

37
him. Psal. xvi. 11. ' in thy presence is fulness of
joy.' civ. 1. ' thou art clothed with honour and
majesty.' Dan. vii. 10. ' thousand thousands min
istered unto him.' Matt. v. 48. ' as your Father
which is in heaven is perfect.' 1 Tim. i. 11. 'the
blessed God.' vi. 15. 'who is the blessed .... po
tentate.' Some description of this divine glory has been
revealed, so far as it falls within the scope of human
comprehension. Exod. xix. 18, &c. ' mount Sinai
was altogether on a smoke — .' xxiv. 10, &c. ' they
saw the God of Israel, and there was under his feet
as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as
it were the body of heaven in his clearness.' xxxiii.
9, 10. ' the cloudy pillar descended, &c. &c. — ' and
v. 18, &c. 1 Kings xix. 11. 'behold, Jehovah pass
ed by.' viii. 10, 11. 'the cloud filled the house of
Jehovah.' xxii. 19. 'I saw Jehovah sitting on his
throne.' Psal. xviii. 8, &c. and civ. Micah i. 3, &c.
Nahum i. 3, &c. Isai. vi. Ezek. i. and viii. 1 — 3.
and x. 1, &c. and xliii. 2, 3. Habak. iii. 3, Sec.
Dan. vii. 9. Rev. iv.
It follows, finally, that God must be styled by us
wonderful, and incomprehensible. Judges xiii. 18.
' why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is
secret ? ' Psal. cxiv. 3. ' his greatness is unsearch
able.' Isai. xl. 28. ' there is no searching of his
understanding.

CHAPTER III.

OF THE DIVINE DECREES.

-Olitherto I have considered that knowledge of
God which is to be obtained from his nature. That
which is derived from his efficiency is the next sub
ject of inquiry.
The efficiency of God is either internal or external.
The internal efficiency of God is that which is in
dependent of all extraneous agency. Such are his
decrees. Eph. i. 9. ' which he hath purposed in
himself.' The decrees of God are general or special. God's
general decree is that ivhereby he has decreed from
all eternity of his own most free and wise and holy
purpose, whatever he willed, or whatever he wets him
self about to do.
Whatever, &c. Eph. i. 11. 'who worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will ; ' which
comprehends whatever he himself works or wills
singly, not what is done by others, or by himself in
co-operation with those to whom he has conceded
the natural power of free agency. The creation of
the world, and the removal of the curse from the
ground, Gen. viii. 21. are among his sole decrees.

39
From all eternity. Acts xv. 18. ' known unto
God are all his works, from the beginning of the
world.' 1 Cor. ii. 7. ' even the hidden wisdom which
God ordained before the world.'
Of his own most free — ; that is, without controul,
impelled by no necessity, but according to his own
will. Eph. i. 11. as before.
Most wise — ; that is, according to his perfect
foreknowledge of all things that were to be created.
Acts ii. 23. ' by the determinate counsel and fore
knowledge of God.' iv. 28. ' for to do whatsoever
thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be
done.' xv. 18. ' known unto God are all his works
from the beginning of the world.' 1 Cor. ii. 7. ' the
hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world.'
Eph. iii. 10, 11. 'the manifold wisdom of God, ac
cording to the eternal purpose which he purposed.'
There is an absurdity, therefore, in separating the
decrees or will of the Deity from his eternal counsel
and foreknowledge, or in giving them priority of
order. For the foreknowledge, of God is nothing
but the wisdom of God, under another name, or that
idea of every thing, which he had in his mind, to
use the language of men, before he decreed any
thing. Thus it is to be understood that God decreed
nothing absolutely, which he left in the power of
free agents, — a doctrine which is shewn by the whole
canon ofthe Scripture.* Gen. xix. 17, 21. ' escape to
* The following lines contain the sum of the doctrine laid down by
Milton in this and the following chapter, and the coincidences of ex
pression are not unfrequently as striking as the similarity of reasoning.
 So will fall
He and his faithless progeny : Whose fault ?

40
the mountain, lest thou be consumed  see, I
have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I
will not overthrow this city for the which thou hast
spoken.' Exod. iii. 8, 17. ' I am come down to
deliver them .... and to bring them up unto a good
land' — though these very individuals actually perish
ed in the wilderness. God also had determined to
deliver his people by the hand of Moses, yet he
would have killed that same Moses, Exod. iv. 24. if
he had not immediately circumcised his son. 1 Sam.
ii. 30. ' I said indeed  but now Jehovah saith,
Be it far from me ; ' — and the reason for this change
is added, — 'for, them that honour me I will honour.'
xiii. 13, 14. ' now would Jehovah have established
Whose but his own? Ingrate, he had of me
All he could have ; I made him just and right,
Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall.
Such I created all the ethereal Powers
And Spirits, both them who stood, and them who fail'd;
Freely they stood who stood, and fell who fell.
Not free, what proof could they have given sincere
Of true allegiance, constant faith, or love,
Where only what they needs must do appear'd,
Not what they would? what praise could they receive,
What pleasure I, from such obedience paid,
When will and reason (reason also is choice)
Useless and vain, of freedom both despoil'd,
Made passive both, had serv'd necessity,
Not me ? They therefore, as to right belong'd,
So were created, nor can justly accuse
Their Maker, or their making, or their fate,
As if predestination over-rul'd
Their will, dispos'd by absolute decree
Or high foreknowledge ; they themselves decreed
Their own revolt, not I ; if I foreknew,
Foreknowledge had no influence on their fault,
Which had no less prov'd certain, unforeknown, &c. &c.
Paradise Lost, III. 95.

41
thy kingdom  but now thy kingdom shall not
continue.' Again, God had said, 2 Kings xx. 1.
that Hezekiah should die immediately, which how
ever did not. happen, and therefore could not have
been decreed without reservation. The death of
Josiah was not decreed peremptorily, but he would
not hearken to the voice of Necho when he warned
him according the word of the Lord, not to come
out against him ; 2 Chron. xxxv. 22. Again, Jer.
Xviii. 9, 10. ' at what instant I shall speak concern
ing a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and
to plant it ; if it do evil in my sight, that it obey not
my voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith
I said I would benefit them,' — that is, I will rescind
the decree, because that people hath not kept the
condition on which the decree rested. Here then is
a rule laid down by God himself, according to which
he would always have his decrees understood, —
namely, that regard should be paid to the condition-
ate terms attached to them. Jer. xxvi. 3. ' if so be
they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil
way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I pur
pose to do unto them because of the evil of their
doings.' So also God had not even decreed abso
lutely the burning of Jerusalem. Jer. xxxviii. 17, &c.
' thus saith Jehovah  if thou wilt assuredly go forth
unto the king of Babylon's princes, then thy soul
shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire.'
Jonah iii. 4. ' yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be
overthrown' — but it appears from the tenth verse,
that when God saw that they turned from their evil
way, he repented of his purpose, though Jonah was
angry and thought the change unworthy of God.
vol. i. 6

42
Acts xxvii. 24, 31. ' God hath given thee all them
that sail with thee' — and again — ' except these abide
in the ship, ye cannot be saved,' where Paul revokes
the declaration he had previously made on the au
thority of God ; or rather, God revokes the gift he
had made to Paul except on condition that they
should consult for their own safety by their own per
sonal exertions.*
It appears, therefore, from these passages of Scrip
ture, and from many others which occur of the same
kind, to the paramount authority of which we must
bow, that the most high God has not decreed all
things absolutely.
If, however, it be allowable to examine tbe divine
decrees by the laws of human reason, since so many
arguments have been maintained on this subject by
controvertists on both sides with more of subtlety
than of solid argument, this theory of contingent de
crees may be defended even on the principles of
men, as most wise, and in no respect unworthy of
the Deity. For if those decrees of God, which have
been referred to above, and such others of the same
class as occur perpetually, were to be understood in
an absolute sense, without any implied conditions,
God would contradict himself, and appear inconsis
tent. * • Ex his verbis [nisi isti in navi manserint, &c.) liquet apostolum, qui
optime mentem divini promissi intelligebat, non credidisse Deum abso
lute velle salvare eos omnes qui in navi erant ; sed tantum sub hac condi-
tione, si nihil eorum omitterent quas ad suam incolumitatem facere po-
terant  Sed conditionem in promisso quod acceperat inclusam
fuisse, non obscure liquet ex verbis quibus conceptum fuit, Ecce Deus
xtX«.£imzi ««, omnes qui tecum navigant, id est, largitus est tibi hanc
gic .am, in los omnes tuo consilio a morte liberes, si illi obtemperariut ;
alioqui de iis actum crit, et ipsi culpa sua pcribunt.' Curcellaei Instilu-
tio, iii. 11. 4.

43
It is argued, however, that in such instances not
only was the ultimate purpose predestinated, but
even the means themselves were predestinated with
a view to it. So indeed it is asserted, but Scripture
nowhere confirms the rule, which alone would be a
sufficient reason for rejecting it. But it is also at
tended by this additional inconvenience, that it
would entirely take away from human affairs all lib
erty of action, all endeavour and desire to do right.
For the course of argument would be of this kind —
If God have at all events decreed my salvation,
whatever I may do against it, I shall not perish.
But God has also decreed as the means of salvation
that you should do rightly. I cannot, therefore, but
do rightly at some time or other, since God has de
creed that also, — in the mean time I will act as I
please ; if I never do rightly, it will be seen that I
was never predestinated to salvation, and that what
ever good I might have done would have been to no
purpose. See more on this subject in the following
Chapter. Nor is it sufficient to affirm in reply, that the kind
of necessity intended is not compulsory, but a ne
cessity arising from the immutability of God, where
by all things are decreed, or a necessity arising from
his infallibility or prescience, whereby all things are
foreknown. I shall satisfactorily dispose in another
place of these two alleged species of necessity re
cognized by the schools :* in the mean time no
* ' But when I say that the divine decree or promise imprints a ne
cessity upon things, it may to prevent misapprehension be needful to
explain what kind of necessity this is, that so the liberty of second caus
es be not thereby wholly cashiered and taken away. For this therefore

44
other law of necessity can be admitted than what
logic, or in other words, what sound reason teaches ;
that is to say, when the efficient either causes some
determinate and uniform effect by its own inherent
propensity, as for example, when fire burns, which
kind is denominated physical necessity ; or when
the efficient is compelled by some extraneous force
to operate the effect, which is called cumpulsory ne
cessity, and in the latter case, whatever effect the
efficient produces, it produces per accidens* Now
any necessity arising from external causes influences
the agent either determinately or compulsorily ; and
it is apparent that in either alternative his liberty
we are to observe that the schools distinguish of a twofold necessity,
physical and logical, or causal and consequential ; which terms are com
monly thus explained ; viz. that physical or causal necessity is when a
thing by an efficient productive influence certainly and naturally pro
duces such an effect,' &c. South's Sermon on the Resurrection, Vol. III.
p. 398. ' Graviter itaque errare censendi sunt, qui duplicem necessita-
tem rebus tribuunt, ex providentia divini, unam immutahilitalis, quia cum
Deus non mutet deeretum, sicut dicitur Psal. xxxiii. 11. Mai. iii. 6. quic
quid omnino decrevit, certissime evenit : alteram infallihilitatis, quia,' &c.
Curcellaei lnstitutio, iii. 12. 16. See also lib. iv. 2. 5.
¦ * i Tertio causa efficiens per se efficit, aut per accidens. Tertium hoc
par modorum efficiendi est ab Aristotele etiam et vcteribus notatum.'
Artis Logical plenior lnstitutio. Prose Works, VI. 208. And again —
'Quae autem natura necessario, quae consilio libere agunt; necessario
agit quae aliter agere non potest, sed ad unum quidpiam agendum deter-
minatur, idque solum sua propensione agit, quae necessitas natura? dici
tur .... Libere agit efficiens non hoc duntaxat ut naturale agens, sed
hoc vel illud pro arbitrio, idque absolute, vel ex hypothesi .... Per ac
cidens efficit causa quae externa facultate efficit ; id est, non sua ; cum
principium effecti est extra efficientem, externumque principium interno
oppositum ; sic nempe efficiens non efficit per se, sed per aliud  Co-
actione fit aliquid, cum efficiens vi cogitur ad effectum. Ut cum lapis
sursum vel recta projicitur, qui suapte natura deorsum fertur. Hasc
necessitas coactionis dicitur, et causis etiam liberis nonnunquam acci-
dere potest.' ibid. 209.

45
would be wholly annihilated. But though a certain
immutable and internal necessity of acting right, in
dependent of all extraneous influence whatever, may
exist in God conjointly with the most perfect liber
ty, both which principles in the same divine nature
tend to the same point, it does not therefore follow
that, the same thing can be conceded with regard to
two different natures, as the nature of God and the
nature of man, in which case the external immuta
bility of one party may be in opposition to the inter
nal liberty of the other, and may prevent unity of
will. Nor is it admitted that the actions of God are
in themselves necessary, but only that he has a ne
cessary existence ; for Scripture itself testifies that
his decrees, and therefore his actions, of what kind
soever they be, are perfectly free.
But it is objected that no constraint is put upon
the liberty of free agents by divine necessity or first
causes. I answer, — if it do not constrain, it either
determines, or co-operates, or is wholly inefficient.
If it determine or co-operate, it is either the sole or
the joint and principal cause of all the actions,
whether good or bad, of free agents.* If it be whol
ly inefficient, it cannot be called a cause in any
sense, much less can it be termed necessity.
* The allusion appears to be to the doctrine of Thomas Aquinas and
the Dominicans, who held that God predetermined the will by a phys
ical influence, so that the Deity was the first cause of the action, and
the creature the second cause, all the guilt of the sin being attributed
lo the latter party. With regard to the logical distinction, nearly the
very words of the original occur elsewhere. ' Secundo, causa efficiens
sola efficit, aut cum aliis. Earumque omnium ssepe alia principalis, alia
minus principalis, sive adjuvans et ministra.' Artis Logicm plenior
lnstitutio. Prose Works, VI. 206.

46
Nor do we imagine anything unworthy of God,
when we assert that those conditional events depend
on the human will, which God himself has chosen
to place at the free disposal of man ; since the Deity
purposely framed his own decrees with reference to.
particular circumstances, in order that he might per
mit free causes to act conformably to that liberty
with wdiich he had endued them. On the contrary,
it would be much more unworthy of God, that man
should nominally enjoy a liberty of which he was
virtually deprived, which would be the case were
that liberty to be oppressed or even obscured under
the pretext of some sophistical necessity of immuta
bility or infallibility, though not of compulsion, — a
notion which has led, and still continues to lead
many individuals into error.
However, properly speaking, the divine counsels
can be said to depend on nothing, but on the wisdom
of God himself, whereby he perfectly foreknew in
his own mind from the beginning what would be the
nature and event of every future occurrence when
its appointed season should arrive.
But it is asked how events which are uncertain,
inasmuch as they depend on the human will, can har
monize with the decrees of God, which are immuta
bly fixed?* for it is written, Psal. xxxiii. 11. 'the
counsel of Jehovah standeth forever.' See also Prov.
xix. 21. and Isai. xlvi. 10. Heb. vi. 17. ' the immu
tability of his counsel.' To this objection it may be
answered, first, that to God the issue of events is not
* Yet more there be who doubt his ways not just,
As to his own edicts found contradicting 
Samson Agonistes, 300i

47
uncertain, but foreknown with the utmost certainty,
though they be not decreed necessarily, as will appear
afterwards. — Secondly, in all the passages referred to,
the divine counsel is said to stand against all human
power and counsel, but not against the liberty of will
with regard to such things as God himself had placed
at man's disposal, and had determined so to place from
all eternity. For otherwise, one of God's decrees
would be in direct opposition to another, and that
very consequence would ensue which the objector im
putes to the doctrine of his opponents, namely, that
by considering those things as necessary, which the
Deity had left to the uncontrouled decision of man,
God would be rendered mutable. But God is not
mutable, so long as he decrees nothing absolutely
which could happen otherwise through the liberty as
signed to man ; whereas he would then be mutable,
then his counsel would not stand, if he were to ob
struct by another decree that liberty which he had
already decreed, or were to darken it with the least
shadow of necessity.*
It follows, therefore, that the liberty of man must
be considered entirely independent of necessity,! and
*So without least impulse or shadow of fate,
Or aught by me immutably foreseen,
They trespass, authors to themselves in all
Both what they judge, and what they choose ; for so
I form'd them free ; and free they must remain,
Till they enthrall themselves ; I else must change
Their nature, and revoke the high decree
Unchangeable, eternal, which ordain'd
Their freedom ; they themselves ordain'd their fall.
Paradise Lost, III. 120,
\  Beyond this had been force,
And force upon free will hath here no place.
Paradise LosL IX. 1174,

48
no admission can be made in favour of that modifica"
tion of the principle which is founded on the doctrine
of God's immutability and prescience. If there be
any necessity at all, as has been stated before, it either
determines free agents to a particular line of conduct,
or it constrains them against their will, or it co-ope
rates with them in conjunction with their will, or it is
altogether inoperative. If it determine free agents to
a particular line of conduct, man will be rendered the
natural cause of all his actions, and consequently of
his sins, and formed as it were with an inclination
for sinning. If it constrain them against their will,
man who is subject to this compulsory decree will be
rendered the cause of sins only per accidens, God be
ing the cause of sins per se. If it co-operate with
them in conjunction with their will, then God becomes
either the principal or the joint cause of sins with
man. If, finally, it be altogether inoperative, there is
no such thing as necessity, it virtually destroys itself
by being without operation. For it is wholly impos
sible, that God should have decreed necessarily what
we know at the same time to be in the power of man ;
or that that should be immutable which it remains for
subsequent contingent circumstances either to fulfil or
frustrate. Whatever, therefore, was left to the free will of
our first parents, could not have been decreed immu
tably or absolutely from all eternity ; and question
less, either nothing was ever placed in man's power,
or if it were, God cannot be said to have determined
finally respecting it without reference to possible con
tingencies.

19
If it be objected, that this doctrine leads to absurd
consequences, we reply, either the consequences are
not absurd, or they are not the consequences of the
doctrine. For it is neither impious nor absurd to say,
that the idea of certain things or events might be sug
gested to God from some extraneous source ; for since
God had determined from all eternity, that man should
so far be a free agent, that it remained with himself
to decide whether he would stand or fall,* the idea of
that evil event, or of the fall of man, was suggested
to God from an extraneous source, — a truth which all
confess. Nor does it follow from hence, that what is merely
temporal becomes the cause of, or a restriction upon
what is eternal, for it was not any thing temporal,
but the wisdom of the eternal mind that gave occasion
for framing the divine counsel.
Whatever therefore was the subject of the divine
counsel, whether man or angelf who was to be gifted
*  such discourse bring on
As may advise him of his happy state,
Happiness in his power left free to will,
Left to his own free will, his will though free,
Yet mutable ; whence warn him to beware
He swerve not, too secure. Paradise Lost, V. 233.
fSo Satan, speaking of himself:
Hadst thou the same free will and power to stand ?
Thou hadst ; whom hast thou then or what to accuse,
But Heaven's free love dealt equally to all ? IV. 6G.
And Raphael :
Myself, and all the angelick host, that stand
In sight of God enthron'd, our happy state
Hold, as you your's, while our obedience holds ;
On other surety none ; freely we serve
Because we freely love, as in our will
To love or not ; in this we stand or fall :
And some are fallen'  . V. 535.
VOL. I. 7

50
with free will, so that his fall might depend upon his
own volition, such without doubt was the nature of
the decree itself, so that all the evil consequences
which ensued were contingent upon man's will ;
wherefore the covenant stood thus — if thou remain
faithful, thou shalt abide in Paradise ; if thou fall,
thou shalt be cast out : if thou dost not eat the for
bidden fruit, thou shalt live ; if thou eat, thou shalt
die.* Hence, those who contend that the liberty of ac
tions is subject to an absolute decree, erroneously con
clude that the decree of God is the cause of his fore
knowledge, and antecedent in order of time.f If we
must apply to God a phraseology borrowed from our
own habits and understanding, that his decrees should
have been the consequence of his foreknowledge seems
more agreeable to reason, as well as to Scripture, and
to the nature of God himself, who, as has just been
proved, decreed every thing according to his infinite
wisdom by virtue of his foreknowledge.
It is not intended to deny that the will of God is
the first cause of all things, but we do not separate
his prescience and wisdom from his will, much less
do we think them subsequent to the latter in point of
time. Finally, the will of God is not less the uni
versal first cause, because he has himself decreed that
*  thine and of all thy sons
The weal or woe in thee is plac'd ; beware.
I in thy persevering shall rejoice,
And all the blest ; stand fast, to stand or fall
Free in thine own arbitrement it lies.
Paradise Lost, VHI. 637.
f According to the Supralapsarian doctrine, that a prescience of fu
ture contingents, antecedent to the divine decree, is an absurdity and
impossibility.

31
some things should be left to our own free will, than
if each particular event had been decreed necessarily.
To comprehend the whole matter in a few words,
the sum of the argument may be thus stated in
strict conformity with reason. God of his wisdom
determined to create men and angels reasonable
beings,* and therefore free agents ; at the same time
he foresaw which way the bias of their will would
incline, in the exercise of their own uncontrouled lib
erty, f What then ? shall we say that this foresight
or foreknowledge on the part of God imposed on
them the necessity of acting in any definite way ?
No more than if the future event had been foreseen
by any human being. For what any human being
has foreseen as certain to happen, will not less cer
tainly happen than what God himself has predicted.
Thus Elisha foresaw how much evil Hazael would
bring upon the children of Israel in the course of a
few years, 2 Kings viii. 12. Yet no one would af
firm that the evil took place necessarily on account of
the foreknowledge of Elisha ; for had he never fore
known it, the event would have occurred with equal
certainty, through the free will of the agent. So
neither does any thing happen because God has fore-
* . . . God left free the will, for what obeys
Reason, is free ; and reason he made right,
But bid her well be ware, and still erect. IX. 351,
f  What can 'scape the eye
Of God all-seeing, or deceive his heart
Omniscient? who in all things wise and just
Hindered not Satan to attempt the mind
Of Man, with strength entire and free will arm'd
Complete to have discover'd and repuls'd
Whatever wiles of foe or seeming friend. Paradise Lost, X. -5.

52
seen it ; but he foresees the event of every action,
because he is acquainted with their natural causes,
which, in pursuance of his own decree, are left at
liberty to exert their legitimate infiuence. Conse
quently the issue does not depend on God who fore
sees it, but on him alone who is the object of his
foresight. Since therefore, as has before been shown,
there can be no absolute decree of God regarding
free agents, undoubtedly the prescience of the Deity,
(which can no more bias free agents than the presci
ence of man, that is, not at all, since the action in
both cases is intransitive, and has no external influ
ence,) can neither impose any necessity of itself, nor
can it be considered at all the cause of free actions.
If it be so considered, the very name of liberty must
be altogether abolished as an unmeaning sound ; and
that not only in matters of religion, but even in ques
tions of morality and indifferent things. There can
be nothing but what will happen necessarily, since
there is nothing but what is foreknown by God.
That this long discussion may be at length con
cluded by a brief summary of the whole matter, we
must hold that God foreknows all future events, but
that he has not decreed them all absolutely : lest all sin
should be imputed to the Deity, and evil spirits and
wicked men should be exempted from blame.* Does
my opponent avail himself of this, and think the con
cession enough to prove either that God does not fore
know every thing, or that all future events must
* ' Hoc tantum obiter ; fatum sive deeretum Dei cogere neminem
male facere; et ex hypothesi divinae praescientise certa quidem esse
omnia, non nccessaria.' Artis Logicce plenior lnstitutio. Prose Works,
VI. 210.

53
therefore happen necessarily, because God has fore
known them ? I allow that future events which God
has foreseen, will happen certainly, but not of neces
sity. They will happen certainly, because the divine
prescience cannot be deceived, but they will not hap
pen necessarily, because prescience can have no in
fluence on the object foreknown, inasmuch as it is
only an intransitive action. What therefore is to
happen according to contingency and the free will of
man, is not the effect of God's prescience, but is pro
duced by the free agency of its own natural causes,
the future spontaneous inclination of which is per
fectly known to God. Thus God foreknew that
Adam would fall of his own free will ; his fall there
fore was certain, but not necessary, since it pro
ceeded from his own free will, which is incompatible
with necessity.* Thus too God foreknew that the
Israelites would revolt from the true worship to
strange gods, Deut. xxxi. 16. If they were to be led
to revolt necessarily on account of this prescience on
the part of God, it was unjust to threaten them with
the many evils which he was about to send upon
them, ver. 17. it would have been to no purpose that
a song was ordered to be written, which should be a
witness for him against the children of Israel, because
their sin would have been of necessity. But the
prescience of God, like that of Moses, v. 27. had no
extraneous influence, and God testifies, v. 16. that he
foreknew they would sin from their own voluntary
*  no decree of mine
Concurring to necessitate his fall,
Or touch with lightest moment of impulse
His free will, to her own inclining left
In even scale. Paradise Lost, X. 42.

54
impulse, and of their own accord, — ' this people will
rise up,' &c. and v. 18. 'I will surely hide my face
in that day.... in that they are turned unto other
gods.' Now the revolt of the Israelites which sub
sequently took place, was not the consequence of
God's foreknowledge of that event, but God fore
knew that, although they were free agents, they
would certainly revolt, owing to causes with which
he was well acquainted, v. 20, 21. 'when they
shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat,
then will they turn unto other gods  I know then-
imagination which they go about, even now before I
have brought them into the land which I sware.'
From what has been said it is sufficiently evident,
that free causes are not impeded by any law of neces
sity arising from the decrees or prescience of God.
There are some who in their zeal to oppose this doc
trine, do not hesitate even to assert that God is himself
the cause and origin of sin. Such men, if they are
not to be looked upon as misguided rather than mis
chievous, should be ranked among the most abandon
ed of all blasphemers. An attempt to refute them,
would be nothing more than an argument to prove
that God was not the evil spirit.
Thus far of the general decree of God. Of his
special decrees the first and most important is that
which regards his Son, and from which he primarily
derives his name of Father. Psal. ii. 7. ' I will de
clare the decree : Jehovah hath said unto me, Thou
art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.' Heb. i.
5. ' unto which of the angels said he at any time,
Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee?'
And again, ' I will be to him a Father, and he shall

55
be to me a Son.' 1 Pet. i. 19, 20. ' Christ.. ..who
verily was fore-ordained before the foundation of the
world.' Isai. xiii. 1. ' mine elect, in whom my soul
delighteth.' 1 Pet. ii. 4. ' chosen of God, and pre
cious.' From all these passages it appears that the
Son of God was begotten by the decree of the Father.
There is no express mention made of any special
decree respecting the angels, but its existence seems
to be implied, 1 Tim. v. 21. 'the elect angels.'
Eph. i. 9, 10. ' the mystery of his will. ...that he
might gather together in one all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven, and which are on earth.'

CHAPTER IV.

OF PREDESTINATION.

A he principal special decree of God relating to man
is termed Predestination, whereby God in pity to
mankind, though foreseeing that they would fall of
their own accord, predestinated to eternal salvation
before the foundation of the world those who should
believe and continue in the faith ; for a manifestation
ofthe glory of his mercy, grace, and wisdom, accord
ing to his purpose in Christ.
It has been the practice of the schools to use the
word predestination, not only in the sense of election,
but also of reprobation. This is not consistent with
the caution necessary on so momentous a subject,
since wherever it is mentioned in Scripture, election
alone is uniformly intended. Rom. viii. 29, 30.
' whom he did predestinate to be conformed to the
image of his Son  moreover whom he did predesti
nate, them he also called : and whom he called, them
he also justified : and whom he justified, them he
also glorified.' 1 Cor. ii. 7. ' the hidden wisdom,
which God ordained before the world unto our glory.'
Eph. i. 5. ' having predestinated us unto the adop
tion.' v. 11. 'in whom also we have obtained an
inheritance, being predestinated according to his pur-

57
pose.' Acts ii. 23. compared with iv. 28. 'him be
ing delivered by the determinate counsel and fore
knowledge of God they have taken  for to do
whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined be
fore to be done,' namely, as a means of procuring the
salvation of man.
Ia other modes of expression, where predestination
is alluded to, it is always in the same sense of elec
tion alone. Rom viii. 28. ' to them who are the
called according to his purpose.' ix. 23, 24. ' the ves
sels of mercy which he had afore prepared unto glo
ry, even us, whom he hath called.' Eph. iii. 11.
' according to the eternal purpose which he purposed
in Christ Jesus.' 2 Tim. i. 9. 'according to his own
purpose and grace.' For when it is said negatively,
1 Thess. v. 9. ' God hath not appointed us to wrath,
but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,'
it does not follow by implication that there are
others who are appointed to wrath. Nor does the
expression in 1 Pet. ii. 8. ' whereunto also they
were appointed,' signify that they were appointed
from all eternity, but from some time subsequent to
their defection, as the Apostles are said to be ' chosen'
in time, ' and ordained' by Christ to their office,
John xv. 16.
Again, if an argument of any weight in the discus
sion of so controverted a subject can be derived from
allegory and metaphorical expressions, mention is
frequently made of those who are written among the
living, and of the book of life, but never of the book
of death.* Isai. iv. 3. ' written among the living.'-
*  blotted out and ras'd
By their rebellion from the book of life. Paradise Lost, I. 362.
VOL. I. 8

58
Dan. xii. 1. ' at that time thy people shall be de
livered, every one that shall be found written in
the book.' Luke x. 20. ' rather rejoice, because
your names are written in heaven.' Philipp. iv. 3.
' whose names are in the book of life.' At the same
time this figure of enrolment in the book of life does
not appear to signify eternal predestination, which is
general, but some temporary and particular decision
of God applied to certain men, on account of their
works. Psal. Ixix. 28. ' let them be blotted out of
the book of the living, and not be written with the
righteous ;' whence it appears that they had not been
written from everlasting. Isai. lxv. 6. ' behold it is
written before me ; I will not keep silence, but will
recompense.' Rev. xx. 12. ' the dead were judged
out of those things which were written in the books,
according to their works.' It is clear, therefore, that
it was not. the book of eternal predestination, but of
their works. In the same way neither were those
ordained from everlasting who are said, Jude 4. to
have been ' before of old ordained to this condemna
tion.' For why should we give so extensive a sig
nification to the term ' of old,' instead of defining it
to mean, from the time when they had become in
veterate and hardened sinners ? Why must we un
derstand it to imply so remote a period, either in this
text, or in the passage whence it seems to be taken?
2 Pet. ii. 3. 'whose judgement now of a long time
lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not,' —
that is, from the time of their apostacy,- however
long they had dissembled it.
The text, Prov. xvi. 4. is also objected, — * Jeho
vah hath made all things for himself; yea, even the

59
wicked for the day of evil.' But God did not make
him wicked, much less did he make him so ' for him
self.' All that he did was to sentence the wicked to
deserved punishment, as was most fitting, but he did
not predestinate him, if innocent, to the same fate.
It is more clearly expressed, Eccles. vii. 29. ' God
hath made man upright ; but they have sought out
many inventions,' whence the day of evil ensues as
certainly, as if the wicked had been made for it.
Predestination, therefore, must always be referred
to election, and seems often to be put for it. What
St. Paul says, Rom. viii. 29. ' whom he did fore
know, he also did predestinate,' is thus expressed,
1 Pet. i. 2. ' elect according to the foreknowledge.'
Rom. ix. 11. 'the purpose of God according to elec
tion.' xi. 5. ' according to the election of grace.'
Eph. i. 4. ' he hath chosen us in him.' Col. iii. 12.
' as the elect of God, holy and beloved.' 2 Thess.
ii. 13. ' because God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation.' Reprobation, therefore, could not
be included under the title of predestination. 1 Tim.
ii. 4. ' who will have all men to be saved, and to
come unto the knowledge of the truth.' 2 Pet. iii. 9.
' the Lord.... is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing
that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance,' — to us-ward, that is, towards all men,
not towards the elect only, as some interpret it, but
particularly towards the wicked, as it is said, Rom.
ix. 22. ' God endured... .the vessels of wrath.' For
if, as some object, Peter would scarcely have in
cluded himself among the unbelievers, much less
would he have numbered himself among such of the
elect as had not yet come to repentance. Nor does

60
God delay on account of the elect, but rather hastens
the time. Matt. xxiv. 22. ' for the elect's sake those
days shall be shortened.'
I understand by the term election, not that general
or national election, by which God chose the whole
nation of Israel for his own people,* Deut. iv. 37.
' because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their
seed after them,' and vii. 6 — 8. ' Jehovah thy God
hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself,'
Isai. xiv. 4. ' for Israel mine elect.' Nor do I mean
that election by which God, after rejecting the Jews,
chose the Gentiles as those to whom the Gospel
should be announced in preference, of which the
apostle speaks particularly Rom. ix. and xi. Nor am
I referring to that election by which an individual is
selected for the performance of some office, f as
1 Sam. x. 24. ' see ye him whom the Lord hath
chosen ?' John vi. 70. ' have not I chosen you
twelve, and one of you is a devil ?' whence those are
sometimes called elect who are eminent for any par
ticular excellence, as 2 John I. 'the elect lady,' that
is, most precious, and v. 13. ' thy elect sister.' 1 Pet.
ii. 6. ' a chief corner stone, elect and precious.'
1 Tim. v. 21. ' the elect angels.' But that special
election is here intended, which is nearly synonymous
with eternal predestination. Election, therefore, is
not a part of predestination ; much less then is repro
bation. For, speaking accurately, the ultimate pur-
*  Resolving from thenceforth
To leave them to their own polluted ways ;
And one peculiar nation to select
From all the rest. Paradise Lost, XII, 109.
f  such as thou hast solemnly elected
With gifts and graces eminently adorn'd
To some great work, thy glory — , Samson Agonistes, 679.

61
pose of predestination is the salvation of believers, — a
thing in itself desirable, — but on the contrary the ob
ject which reprobation has in view is the destruction
of unbelievers, athing in itself ungrateful and odious ;
whence it is clear that God could never have predes
tinated reprobation, or proposed it to himself as an
end. Ezek. xviii. 32. ' I have no pleasure in him
that dieth.' xxxiii. 11. ' as I live, saith the Lord God,
I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that
the wicked should turn from his way and live.' If
therefore the Deity have no pleasure either in sin, or
in the death of the sinner, that is, either in the cause
or the effect of reprobation, certainly he cannot delight
in reprobation itself. It follows, that reprobation forms
no part of what is meant by God's predestination.
Whereby God, 6kc. that is, God the Father. Luke
xii. 32. ' it is your Father's good pleasure.' So it is
stated wherever mention is made of the divine de
crees or counsel : John xvii. 2. ' as many as thou
hast given him.' v. 6, 11,24. ' the men which thou
gavest me out of the world.' Eph. i. 4. ' he hath
chosen us in him.' v. 5. ' having predestinated us.'
v. 11. ' being predestinated according to his purpose.'
Before the foundation of the vjorld, Eph. i. 4.
2 Tim. i. 9. 'before the world began.' See also
Tit. i. 2.
In pity to mankind, though foreseeing that they
ivould fall of their own accord. It was not simply
man as a being who was to be created, but man as a
being who was to fall of his own accord, that was the
matter or object of predestination ;* for that mani-
* According to a part of the Sublapsarian scheme, taught by St. Au
gustine aDd maintained by the Synod of Dort.

62
festation of divine grace and mercy which God de
signed as the ultimate purpose of predestination, pre
supposes the existence of sin and misery in man,
originating from himself alone. It is universally ad
mitted that the fall of man was not necessary ; but if
on the other hand the nature of the divine decree was
such, that his fall became really inevitable, — which
contradictory opinions are sometimes held in conjunc
tion by the same persons, — then the restoration of
man, who had fallen of necessity, became no longer a
matter of grace, but of simple justice on the part of
God. For if it be granted that he lapsed, though not
against his own will, yet of necessity, it will be im
possible not to think that the admitted necessity must
have overruled or influenced his will by some secret
force or guidance. But if God foresaw that man
would fall of his own free will, there was no occa
sion for any decree relative to the fall itself, but only
relative to the provision to be made for man, whose
future fall was foreseen. Since then the apostacy of
the first man was not decreed, but only foreknown by
the infinite wisdom of God, it follows that predesti-
nation was not an absolute decree before the fall of
man ; and even after his fall, it ought always to be
considered and defined as arising, not so much from a
decree itself, as from the immutable conditions of a
decree. Predestinated ; that is, designated, elected ; pro
posed to himself the salvation of man as the scope
and end of his counsel. Hence may be refuted the no
tion of an abandonment and desertion from all eter
nity, in direct opposition to which God explicitly and
frequently declares, as has been quoted above, that he

63
desires not the death of any one, but the salvation of
all ; that he hates nothing that he has made ; and
that he has omitted nothing which might suffice for
universal salvation.
For a manifestation of the glory of his mercy,
grace, and ivisdom. This is the chief end of predes
tination. Rom. ix. 23. ' that he might make known
the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy.'
1 Cor. ii. 7. ' we speak the wisdom of God in a mys
tery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained
before the world unto our glory.' Eph. i. 6. ' to the
praise of the glory of his grace.
According to his purpose in Christ. Eph. iii. 10,
11. ' the manifold wisdom of God, according to the
eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus
our Lord.' i. 4, 5, ' he hath chosen us in him ; hav
ing predestinated us unto the adoption of children by
Jesus Christ.' v. 11. 'in him, in whom also we have
obtained an inheritance, being predestinated accord
ing to his purpose.' This is the source of that love
of God, declared to us in Christ. John iii. 16.
' God so loved the world, that he gave his only be
gotten Son.' Eph. ii. 4, 5. ' for his great love
wherewith he loved us.... by grace ye are saved.'
1 John iv. 9, 10. ' in this was manifested the love
of God toward us, because that God sent his only-
begotten Son into the world,' &c. Wherefore there
was no grace decreed for man who was to fall, no
mode of reconciliation with God, independently of
the foreknown sacrifice of Christ ;* and since God
*  in thee
As from a second root shall be restor'd
As many as are restor'd, without thee none.
Paradise Lost, III. 287.

64
has so plainly declared that predestination is the ef
fect of his mercy, and love, and grace, and wisdom
in Christ, it is to these qualities that we ought to at
tribute it, and not, as is generally done, to his abso
lute and secret will, even in those passages where
mention is made of his will only. Exod. xxxiii. 19.
' I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious,', that
is, not to enter more largely into the causes of this
graciousness at present, Rom. ix. 18. ' he hath mer
cy on whom he will have mercy,' by that method,
namely, which he had appointed in Christ. Or it
will appear on an examination of the particular texts,
that in passages of this kind God is generally speak
ing of some extraordinary manifestation of his grace
and mercy. Thus Luke xii. 32. ' it is your Father's
good pleasure.' Eph. i. 5, ll. 'by Jesus Christ to
himself, according to the good pleasure of his will ;
in whom also we have obtained an inheritance 
after the counsel of his own will.' James i. 18. ' of
his own will,' — that is, in Christ, who is the word
and truth of God, — ' begat he us with the word of
truth.' Those who should believe, and continue in the
faith. This condition is immutably attached to the
decree; it attributes no mutability, either to God or
to his decrees ; 2 Tim. ii. 19. ' the foundation of
God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord
knoweth them that are his :' or according to the ex
planation in the same verse, all who ' name the name
of Christ, and depart from iniquity ;' that is, who
ever believes : the mutability is entirely on the side
of them who renounce their faith, as it is said,
2 Tim, ii. 13. 'if we believe not, yet he abideth

65
faithful ; he cannot deny himself.' It seems then
that there is no particular predestination or election,
but only general,— or in other words, that the privi
lege belongs to all who heartily believe and continue
in their belief, — that none are predestinated or elect
ed irrespectively, e. g. that Peter is not , elected as
Peter, or John as John, but inasmuch as they are be
lievers, and continue in their belief, — and that thus
the general decree of election becomes personally
applicable to each particular believer, and is ratified
to all who remain stedfast in the faith.
This is most explicitly declared by the whole of
Scripture, which offers salvation and eternal life
equally to all, under the condition of obedience in
the Old Testament, and of faith in the New. There
can be no doubt that the tenor of the decree in its
promulgation was in conformity with the decree it
self, — otherwise the integrity of God would be im
pugned, as expressing one intention, and concealing
another within his breast. Such a charge is in effect
made by the scholastic distinction which ascribes a
two-fold will to God ; his revealed will, whereby he
prescribes the way in which he desires us to act, and
his hidden will, whereby he decrees that we shall
never so act :* which is much the same as to attribute
* ' Voluntas Dei in varias species distingui solet, ut absolutam et con-
ditionatam ; antecedentem et consequentem ; signi et beneplaciti, &c.
 Voluntas signi dicitur cum Deus verbo suo significat quid velit aut
nolit ab hominibus fieri, et mandatis ejus continetur ; beneplaciti vero,
qua Deus apud se premit et occultat id quod vult facere.' Curcelkei
lnstitutio, ii. 9. 6, 7. ' Thomas Aquinas and his disciples frame another
distinction to elude the text in Timothy (1 Tim. ii. 4.) and tell us of a
will revealed, and of another hidden, which is, many times at least, con
trary to that revealed  a distinction rejected by our 17th Article,
VOL. I. 9

66
to the Deity two distinct wills, whereof one is in di
rect contradiction to the other. It is, however, as
serted that the Scriptures contain two opposite state
ments respecting the same thing ; it was the will of
God that Pharaoh should let the people gO, for such
was the divine command, — but it was also not his
will, for he hardened Pharaoh's heart. The truth
however is, that it was God alone who willed their
departure, and Pharaoh alone who was unwilling ;
and that he might be the more unwilling, God hard
ened his heart,* and himself deferred the execution of
his own pleasure, which was in opposition to that of
Pharaoh, that he might afflict him with heavier pun
ishment on account of the reluctance of his will.
Neither in his mode of dealing with our common fa
ther Adam, nor with those whom he calls and invites
to accept of grace, can God be charged with com
manding righteousness, while he decrees our diso-
which directs us to follow, not this supposed hidden will of God, but
that which is expressly declared in his word.' Glocester Ridley's Sixth
Sermon on the Divinity and Operations of the Holy Ghost.
* This my long sufferance, and my day of grace
They who neglect and scorn, shall never taste ;
But hard be harden'd, blind be blinded more,
That they may stumble on, and deeper fall ;
And none but such from mercy I exclude. Paradise Lost, III. 198.
 the will
And high permission of all-ruling Heaven
Left him at large to his own dark designs,
That with reiterated crimes he might
Heap on himself damnation, while he sought
Evil to others, and, enrag'd, might see
How all bis malice serv'd but to bring forth
Infinite goodness, grace, and mercy, shewn
On man, by him seduc'd; but on himself
Treble confusion, wrath, and vengeance pour'd. I. 211.

67
bedience to the command. What can be imagined
more absurd than a necessity which does not necessi
tate, and a will without volition ?
The tenor of the decree in its promulgation (which
was the other point to be proved) is uniformly condi
tional. Gen. ii. 17. ' thou shalt not eat of it ; for in
the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die,'
— which is the same as if God had said, 1 will that
thou shalt not eat of it ; I have not therefore decreed
that thou shalt eat of it ; for if thou eat, thou shalt
die ; if thou eat not, thou shalt live. Thus the de
cree itself was conditional before the fall ; which
from numberless other passages appears to have been
also the case after the fall. Gen. iv. 7. ' if thou
doest well, shalt thou not be excepted ? and if thou
doest not well, sin lieth at the door,' or, ' the pun
ishment of sin watcheth for thee.' Exod. xxxii. 32,
33. ' blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which
thou hast written  whosoever hath sinned against
me, him will I blot out of my book.' Such was the
love of Moses for his nation, that he either did not
remember that believers, so long as they continued
such, could not be blotted out, or the expression
must be understood in a modified sense, as in Rom.
ix. 1, &c. ' I could wish, ifit were possible — :' but
the answer of God, although metaphorical, explains
with sufficient clearness that the principle of predes
tination is founded upon a condition, — ' whosoever
hath sinned, him will I blot out.' This is announced
more fully in the enforcement of the legal covenant,
Deut. vii. 6 — 8. where God particularly declares his
choice and love of his people to have been gratui
tous ; and in v. 9. where he desires to be known as

68
'a faithful God which keepeth his covenant and
mercy,' he yet adds as a condition, ' with them that
love him and keep his commandments.' Again, it is
said still more clearly, v. 12. ' it shall come to pass,
if ye hearken, to these judgements, and keep and do
them, that Jehovah thy God shall keep unto thee
the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy
fathers.' Though these and similar passages seem
chiefly to refer either to the universal election of a
nation to the service of God, or of a particular indi
vidual or family to some office (for in the Old Testa
ment it is perhaps difficult to trace even a single
expression which refers to election properly so called,
that is, election to eternal life,) yet the principle of
the divine decree is in all cases the same. Thus it
is said of Solomon, as of another Christ, 1 Chron.
xxviii. 6, 7, 9. 'I have chosen him to be my son,
and I will be his father.' But what are the terms
of the covenant ; — ' if he be constant to do my
commandments and my judgements, as at this day
 if thou seek him, he will be found of thee ;
but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever.'
The election of his posterity also depended on the
same stipulation. 2 Chron. vi. 16. 'so that thy
children take heed to their way, to walk in my law.'
See also xxxiii. 8. and xv. 2. ' the Lord is with
you, while ye be with him  but if ye forsake
him, he will forsake you;' whence Isaiah does not
scruple to say, xiv. 1, ' the Lord will yet choose Is
rael.' See also Zech. i. 16. Isaiah also shows who
are the elect ; lxv. 9, 10. ' mine elect shall inherit
it  and Sharon shall be  for my people that
have sought me.' Jer. xxii. 24. ' though Coniah

69
Were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I
pluck thee thence.'
The same thing must be observed in the covenant
of grace, wherever the condition is not added. This
however seldom happens. Mark xvi. 16 ' he that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved : but he that
believeth not shall be damned.' If we could con
ceive God originally predestinating mankind on such
conditional terms as these, endless controversies might
be decided by this single sentence, or by John iii. 16.
' God so loved the world, that he gave his only be
gotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have everlasting life.' xv. 6. ' if a
man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch.'
v. 10. ' if ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide
in my love, even as I have kept my Father's com
mandment.' xvii. 20. ' neither pray I for these alone,
but for them also which shall believe on me through
their word.' Such therefore were those who were
predestinated by the Father. So also, Luke vii. 30.
' the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of
God against themselves, being not baptized of him ;'
whence it appears that even they might previously
have been predestinated, if they would have believed.
Who was more certainly chosen than Peter ? and
yet a condition is expressly interposed, John xiii.
8. ' if I wash thee not, thou hast no part with
me.' What then ensued ? Peter readily complied,
and consequently had part with his Lord : had
he not complied, he would have had no part with
him. For though Judas is not only said to have
been chosen, which may refer to his apostleship, but
even to have been given to Christ by the Father, he

70
yet attained not salvation. John xvii. 12. ' those
that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them
is lost, but the son of perdition ; that the Scripture
might be fulfilled, i. 11, 12. 'he came unto his
own, and his own received him not. But as many
as received him, to them gave he power,' &c, that
is, to those who believed in his name ; to whom he
did not give power before they had received and be
lieved in him, not even to those who were specially
called his own. So St. Paul, Eph. i. 13. ' in whom
also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that
holy spirit of promise.' Undoubtedly those whom
in the beginning of his epistle he calls holy, who
were not sealed till after that they had believed,
were not individually predestinated before that peri
od. 2 Cor. vi. 1. ' we beseech you also that ye
receive not the grace of God in vain.' Rev. iii. 5.
' he that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in
white raiment, and I will not blot out his name out of
the book of life.' On the other hand it is said, xxii.
19. ' if any man shall take away from the words of
the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his
part out of the book of life.
Again, if God have predestinated us ' in Christ,'
as has been proved already, it certainly must be on
the condition of faith in Christ. 2 Thess. ii. 13.
' God hath from the beginning chosen you to salva
tion through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of
the truth.' Therefore it is only future 'believers'
who are chosen. Tit. i. 1. ' according to the faith of
God's elect, and the acknowledging ofthe truth which
is after godliness.' Heb. xi. 6. ' without faith it is
impossible to please God,' — and thus become one of

71
the elect ; whence I conclude that believers are the
same as the elect, and that the terms are used indis
criminately. So Matt. xx. 16. ' many be called,
but few chosen,' only signifies that they which be
lieve are few. Rom. viii. 33. ' who shall lay any
thing to the charge of God's elect ?' that is, of be
lievers : otherwise by separating election from faith,
and therefore from Christ, we should be entangled in
hard, not to say, detestable and absurd doctrines.
So also, Rom. xi. 7. ' the election have obtained it ;'
that is, believers, as is clear from the twentieth verse,
' thou,' that is, thou that art elect, ' standest by
faith ; ' and v. 22. ' if thou continue in his goodness ;
otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.' Such is St.
Paul's interpretation ofthe doctrine in his own case ;'
1 Cor. ix. 27. ' lest that by any means when I have
preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.'
Philip, iii. 12. ' not as though I had already attain
ed, either were already perfect ; but I follow after,
if that I may apprehend that for which also I am
apprehended of Christ Jesus.' 2 Tim. ii. 10, 12. 'I
endure all things for the elect's sake, that they may
also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus,'
&c. yet it is said in the next verse, ' if we believe
not, yet he abideth,' &c.
Two difficult texts remain to be explained from
analogy by the aid of so many plainer passages ; for
what is obscure must be illustrated by what is clear,
not what is clear by what is obscure. The first pas
sage occurs Acts xiii. 48. the other Rom. viii. 28 — 30.
which, as being in my judgement the least difficult
of the two, I shall discuss first. The words are as
follow : ' we know that all things work together for

72
good, to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose : for whom he did
foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to
the image of his Son,' &c. ' moreover whom he
did predestinate, them he also called ; and whom he
called, them he also justified ; and whom he justified,
them he also glorified.'
In the first place it must be remarked, that it ap
pears from v. 28, that those ' who love God' are the
same as those ' who are the called according to his
purpose,' and consequently as those ' whom he did
foreknow,' and ' whom he did predestinate,' for ' them
he also called,' as is said in v. 30. Hence it is ap
parent that the apostle is here propounding the scheme
and order of predestination in general, not of the pre
destination of certain individuals in preference to
others. As if he had said, We know that all things
work together for good to those who love God, that
is, to those who believe, for those who love God be
lieve in him. The order of this scheme is also ex
plained. First, God foreknew those who should
believe, that is, he decreed or announced it as his
pleasure that it should be those alone who should find
grace in his sight through Christ, that is, all men, if
they would believe. These he predestinated to sal
vation, and to this end he, in various ways, called all
mankind to believe, or in other words, to acknowl
edge God in truth ; those who actually thus believed
he justified ; and those who continued in the faith
unto the end he finally glorified. But that it may be
more clear who those are whom God has foreknown,
it must be observed that there are three ways in which
any person or thing is said to be known to God-

73
First, by his universal knowledge, as Acts xv. 18.
' known unto God are all his works from the begin
ning of the world.' Secondly, by his approving or
gracious knowledge,* which is an Hebraism, and
therefore requires more explanation. Exod. xxxiii.
12. ' I know thee by name, and thou hast also
found grace in my sight.' Psal. i. 6. 'Jehovah
knoweth the way of the righteous.' Matt. vii. 23.
' I never knew you.' Thirdly, by a knowledge at
tended with displeasure. Deut. xxxi. 21. ' I know
their imagination which thejr go about,' &c. 2 Kings
xix. 27. ' I know  thy coming in, and thy rage
against me.' Rev. iii.*l. ' I know thy works, that
thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.' In
the passage under discussion it is evident that the ap
proving knowledge of God can be alone intended ; but
he foreknew or approved no one, except in Christ, and
no one in Christ except a believer. Those therefore
who were about to love, that is, to believe in God, God
foreknew or approved ;f — or in general all men, if they
should believe ; those whom he thus foreknew, he pre
destinated, and called them that they might believe ;
those who believed, he justified. But if God justified
believers, and believers only, inasmuch as it is faith
*  when God
Looking on the earth, with approbation marks
The just man, and divulges him through heaven
To all his angels. Paradise Regained, III. 60.
1 In the original it is — qui igitur dilecti dilecturi erant, id est, credi-
turi, eos pra?novit Deus, &c. — which scarcely seems to have any sense,
unless some allusion be intended to John xvi. 27. ' the Father himself
loveth you,' &c. It seems more probable that dilecti has been inserted
by the carelessness of the transcriber.
VOL. I. 10

74
alone that justifieth, he foreknew those only who
would believe, for those whom he foreknew he justi
fied ; those therefore whom he justified he also fore
knew, namely, those alone who were about to believe.
So Rom. xi. 2. ' God hath not cast away his people
which he foreknew,' that is, believers, as appears from
v. 20. 2 Tim. ii. 19. ' the Lord knoweth them that
are his,' that is, ' all who name the name of Christ,
and depart from iniquity;' or in other words, all be
lievers. 1 Pet. i. 2. ' elect according to the fore
knowledge of God the Father, through sanctification
of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the
blood of Jesus Christ.' This can be applicable to
none but believers, whom the Father has chosen, ac
cording to his foreknowledge and approbation of
them, through the sanctification of the Spirit and
faith, without which the sprinkling of the blood of
Christ would avail them nothing. Hence it seems
that the generality of commentators are wrong in in
terpreting the foreknowledge of God in these pas
sages in the sense of prescience ; since the prescience
of God seems to have no connection with the princi
ple or essence of predestination ; for God has predes
tinated and elected whoever believes and continues in
the faith. Of what consequence is it to us to know
whether the prescience of God foresees who will, or
will not, subsequently believe ? for no one believes
because God has foreseen his belief, but God fore
sees his belief because he was about to believe. Nor
is it easy to understand how the prescience or fore
knowledge of God with regard to particular persons
can be brought to bear at all upon the doctrine of
predestination, except for the purpose of raising a

75
number of useless and utterly inapplicable questions.
For why should God foreknow particular individuals,
or what could he foreknow in them which should
induce him to predestinate them in particular, rather
than all in general, seeing that the common condition
of faith had been established ? Without searching
deeper into this subject, let us be contented with only
knowing, that God, out of his infinite mercy and
grace in Christ, has predestinated to salvation all
who should believe.*
The other passage is Acts xiii. 48. ' when the
Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the
word of the Lord ; and as many as were ordained to
eternal life, believed.' The difficulty is caused by
the abrupt introduction of an opinion of the historian,
in which he at first sight appears to contradict him
self as well as the rest of Scripture, for he had before
attributed to Peter this saying, chap. x. 34, 35. ' of a
truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons ;
but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh
righteousness, is accepted with him.' 'Accepted'
certainly means chosen ; and lest it should be urged
that Cornelius had already been a proselyte before,
St. Paul says the same thing even of those who had
never known the law, Rom. ii. 10, 14. ' there is no
respect of persons with God,' &c. ' when the Gen
tiles which have not the law,' &c. 1 Pet. i. 17. ' the
Father, who without respect of persons judgeth ac
cording to every man's work.' Now those who hold
*Thy ransom paid, which man from death redeems,
His death for man, as many as offer'd life
.Neglect not, and the benefit embrace
By faith not void of works. Paradise Lost, XII. 424.

76
the doctrine that a man believes because he is ordain
ed to eternal life, not that he is ordained to eternal life
because he will believe, cannot avoid attributing to
God the character of a respecter of persons, which he
so constantly disclaims. Besides, if the Gentiles be
lieved because they were ordained to eternal life, the
same must have been the primary cause of the unbe
lief of the Jews, v. 46. which will plead greatly in
their excuse, since it would seem that eternal life had
only been placed in their view, not offered to their
acceptance. Nor would such a dispensation be cal
culated to encourage the other nations, who would
immediately conclude from it that there was no occa
sion for any will or works of their own in order to obtain
eternal life, but that the whole depended on some fatal
ordinance ; whereas oh the contrary Scripture uni
formly shows in the clearest manner, that as many
as have been ordained to eternal life believe, not sim
ply because they have been so ordained, but because
they have been ordained on condition of believing.
For these reasons other interpreters of more sagaci
ty,* according to my judgement, have thought that
there is some ambiguity in the Greek word xiTaypz-
vos, which is translated ' ordained,' and that it has
the same force as ev yroi fiergias SiaTedeifitvoi, ' well
or moderately disposed or affected,' of a composed,
attentive, upright, and not disorderly mind ; of a dif
ferent spirit from those Jews, as touching eternal life,
who had ' put from them the word of God,' and had
shown themselves ' unworthy of everlasting life.'
* This is the interpretation of Hammond and Whitby, and of Wolfius,
Cur. Philnl. in loc. See also the Commentators quoted in Mr. Home's
note. Introduction to the Critical Study ofthe Scriptures, Vol. II. p. 759.

77
The Greeks use the word in a similar sense, as in
Plutarch,* and 2 Thess. iii. 6, 11. ' there are some
which walk disorderly,' certainly with reference to
eternal life. This sense of the word, and even the
particular application which is here intended, fre
quently occurs in Scripture in other terms. Luke
ix. 92. svdsxos, ' well disposed,' or ' fit for the king
dom of God.' Mark xii. 34. ' not far from the king
dom of God.' 2 Tim. ii. 21. ' a vessel. ...meet for
the master's use, and prepared for every good
work.'f For, as will be shown hereafter, there are
some remnants ofthe divine image left in man, J the
union of which in one individual renders him more fit
and disposed for the kingdom of God than another.
Since therefore we are riot merely senseless stocks,
some cause at least must be discovered in the nature
of man himself, why divine grace is rejected by some
and embraced by others. One thing appears certain,
that though all men be dead in sin and children of
wrath, yet some are worse than others ; and this dif
ference may not only be perceived daily in the nature,
disposition, and habits of those who are most alienated
* ifruffu ya.p riv ffdrippav xa;) rsrxypivas ra7s ItfiQupiais. Plutarch, in Pompeio.
Derivatives from this word are used with the same metaphorical signification, offrts
vH£PU.},a&av vo}.i[Aoufi(va.s fie; tt'oXus, 'i\uhv ju.lv uffo ^cXrihvs xa) pavia; fiapSaptxvs,
pSofev Se itvi) ffrgariartxvis XTa^ias, xxi tjjj ruv ra^ia^uv v?.sovl%iizs. — Synes-
Epist. 62. vcvhrsiTZ to7s araxrois. 1 Thess. v. 14.
\ Milton employs the word fitted in a similar sense in his Hist, of
Britain, Book V . c. 1. ' But when God hath decreed servitude on a
sinful nation, fitted by their own vices for no condition but servile, all
estates of government are alike unable to avoid it.'
J  Why should not man,
Retaining still divine similitude
In part, from such deformities be free,
And for his Maker's image sake, exempt ?
Paradise Lost, XI. 511.

78 *
from the grace of God, but may also be inferred from
the expressions used in the parable, Matt. xiii. where
the nature of the soil is variously described in three
or four ways ; part as stony ground, part overrun with
thorns, part good ground, at least in comparison of
the others, before it had as yet received any seed.
See also Matt. x. 11, &c. ' inquire who in it is wor
thy,' &c....' and if the house be worthy, let your peace
come upon it.' How could any one be worthy be
fore the Gospel had been preached, unless on account
of his being ' ordained,' that, is, well inclined or dis
posed, to eternal life ? which Christ teaches that the
rest will perceive in their own punishments after death.
Matt. xi. 22. ' it shall be more tolerable for Tyre
and Sidon at the day of judgement, than for you.'
Luke xii. 47, 48. ' that servant which knew his
Lord's will  shall be beaten with many stripes:
but he that knew not.... shall be beaten with few
stripes.' And, lastly, the gift of reason has been im
planted in all, by which they may of themselves resist
bad desires, so that no one can complain of, or allege
in excuse, the depravity of his own nature compared
with that of others.
But, it is objected, God has no regard to the less
depraved among the wicked in his choice, but often
prefers the worse to the better. Deut. ix. 5. ' not
for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine
heart, dost thou go to possess their land.' Luke x.
13. ' if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and
Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great
while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.'
I answer, that it cannot be determined from these
passages, what God regards in those whom he choos-

79
es ; for in the first place, I have not argued that he
has regarded righteousness even in the least degree.*
Secondly, in the former passage the question is not
respecting election to life eternal, but concerning the
gift of the land of Canaan to the Israelites, a gift
assigned them for other reasons than those for which
eternal life would have been given, — partly on ac
count of the wickedness of the original inhabitants,
and partly that the promise might be fulfilled which
had been ratified by an oath to their forefathers ;
wherein there is nothing that contradicts my doctrine.
In the latter passage, it is not the elect who are com
pared with the reprobate, but the reprobate who are
compared with each other, the Tyrians with the un
believing Jews, neither of which nations had repent
ed. Nor would the Tyrians ever have truly repented,
even if these miracles had been wrought among them,
for if God had foreseen that they would have repent
ed, he would never have forsaken them ; but the ex
pression is to be understood in the same sense as
Matt. xxi. 31. ' the publicans and the harlots go into
the kingdom of God before you.'
Lastly, it will be objected, that ' it is not of him
that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God
that showeth mercy,' Rom. ix. 16. I answer, that
my argument does not presuppose one that willeth or
that runneth, but one that is less reluctant, less back
ward, less resisting than another — that it is, neverthe-
*  thou oft,
Amidst their highth of noon,
Changest thy countenance, and thy hand, with no regard
Of highest favours past
From thee on them, or them to thee of service.
Samson Agonistes, 682.

80
less, God who showeth mercy, and who is at the
same time infinitely wise and just. Meanwhile,
when it is said that ' it is not of him that willeth nor
of him that runneth,' it is not denied that there is
one who wills, and one who runs, only care is taken
not to assign to him any portion of merit or praise.
But when God determined to restore mankind, he
also without doubt decreed that the liberty of will
which had been lost should be at least partially re
gained by them, which was but reasonable, Whom
soever therefore in the exercise of that degree of
freedom which their will had acquired either previous
ly to their call, or by reason of the call itself, God
had seen in any respect willing or running, (who it is
probable are here meant by the ordained) to them he
gave a greater power of willing and running, that is,
of believing. Thus it is said, 1 Sam. xvi. 7. ' Je
hovah looketh on the heart,' namely, on the disposi
tion of men either as it is by nature, or after grace
has been received from him that calleth them. To
the same purport is that well known saying, — ' to him
that hath shall be given.' This may be illustrated
by the example of the centurion, Matt. viii. 10. ' I
hive not found so great faith, no, not in Israel,' — of
the woman of Canaan, Matt. xv. 28. ' O woman,
great is thy faith,' — of the father of the demoniac,
Mark ix. 24. ' Lord, I believe ; help thou mine un
belief, — and of Zaccheus, Luke xix. 3. ' he sought
to see Jesus who he was,' whence, v. 9. ' Jesus said
unto him, This day is salvation come to this house.'
Zaccheus therefore had not been ordained from all
eternity, but from the time when he had shewn him
self eagerly desirous of knowing Christ.

81
Nor is it less on this account ' of God that show
eth mercy,' since the principal is often put for the
sole cause without impropriety, not only in common
discourse, but even in the language of logicians : and
certainly unless God had first shown mercy, it would
have been in the power of no one either to will or to
run. Philipp. ii. 13. ' for it is God that worketh in
you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.'
2 Cor. iii. 5. ' not that we are sufficient of ourselves
to think any thing as of ourselves ; but our sufficien
cy is of God,' without whose mercy he that willeth or
he that runneth would gain nothing.*
I think therefore it must be sufficiently clear from
the analogy of all the rest of Scripture, who those
are that are said in the passage quoted from the Acts
to have been ordained to eternal life. On a review
of the whole, I should conjecture, that Luke had not
intended to advance in so abrupt a manner any new
doctrine, but simply to confirm by a fresh example
the saying of Peter respecting Cornelius, Acts x. 34,
35. Cornelius and the Gentiles with him believed,
as many at least as feared God and worked right
eousness, for such were accepted of God in every
* All hast thou spoken as my thoughts are, all
As my eternal purpose hath decreed ;
Man shall not quite be lost, but sav'd who will ;
Yet not of will in him, but grace in me
Freely vouchsaf 'd ; 
 that he may know how frail
His fall'n condition is, and to me owe
All his deliverance, and to none but me.
Paradise Lost, III. 171.
See also Glocester Ridley's Sixth Sermon on the Holy Spirit, where
the line of argument pursued by Milton is beautifully and powerfully
enforced.
VOL. I. 11

82
nation. So in the other passage, those of the Gen
tiles whose thoughts were already devoted to serious
subjects, worthy the attention of men, believed, and
gave themselves up to instruction with docility and
gladness of heart, glorifying the word of the Lord.
Such Peter declared were accepted of God in every
nation, and such Luke in conformity with Peter's
opinion asserts to be ordained to, that is, qualified
for eternal life, even though they were Gentiles.
But an objection of another kind may perhaps be
made. If God be said to have predestinated men
only on condition that they believe and continue in
the faith, predestination will not be altogether of
grace, but will depend on the will and belief of man
kind ; which will be derogatory to the exclusive ef
ficacy of divine grace. But this is so far from be
ing true, that the doctrine of grace is thus placed in
a much clearer light than by the theory of those who
make the objection. For the grace of God is ac
knowledged to be infinite, in the first place, inasmuch
as he showed any pity at all for man, whose fall was
to happen through his own fault. Secondly, because
he ' so loved the world, that he gave his only begot
ten Son' for its salvation. Thirdly, because he has
again granted us the power of volition, that is, of
acting freely, in consequence of recovering the liber
ty of the will by the renewing of the Spirit. It was
thus that he opened the heart of Lydia, Acts xvi. 14.
But if the condition whereon the decree depends, that
is to say, the will enfranchised by God himself, and
faith which is required of mankind be left in the
power of beings who are free agents, there is nothing
in the doctrine either derogatory to grace, or incon-

83
sistent with justice ; since the power of willing and
believing is either the gift of God,* or, so far as it is
inherent in man, partakes not of the nature of merit
or of good works, but only of a natural faculty.
Nor does this reasoning represent God as depending
upon the human will, but as fulfilling his own pleas
ure, whereby he has chosen that man should always
use his own will with a regard to the love and wor
ship of the Deity, and consequently with a regard to
his own salvation. If this use of the will be not ad
mitted, whatever worship or love we render to God
is entirely vain and of no value ; the acceptableness
of duties done under a law of necessity is diminished,
or rather is annihilated altogether, and freedom can
no longer be attributed to that will over which some
fixed decree is inevitably suspended. f
*  Man shall find grace ;

Happy for man, so coming ; he her aid
Can never seek, once dead in sins, and lost.
Paradise Lost, llf. 227.
| God made thee perfect, not immutable ;
And good he made thee, but to persevere
He left it in thy power ; ordain'd thy will
By nature free, not over-rul'd by fate
Inextricable, or strict necessity ;
Our voluntary service he requires,
Not our necessitated ; such with him
Finds no acceptance, nor can find ; for how
Can hearts not free, be tried whether they serve
Willing or no, who will but what they must
By destinj', and can no other choose ?
Paradise Lost, V. 524.
'Many there be tliat complain of Divine Providence for suffering
Adam to transgress. Foolish tongues ! when God gave liim reason, he
gave him freedom to choose, for reason is but choosing ; he had been
else a mere artificial Adam, such an Adam as he is in the motions.

84
The objections, therefore, which are so vehement
ly urged by some against this doctrine, are of no
force whatever ; — namely, that on this theory, the
repentance and faith of the predestinated having been
foreseen, predestination becomes posterior in point of
time to works, — that it is rendered dependent on the
will of man, — that God is defrauded of part of the
glory of our salvation, — that man is puffed up with
pride, — that the foundations of all Christian conso
lation in life and in death are shaken, — that gratuitous
justification is denied.' On the contrary, the scheme,
and consequently the glory, not only of the divine
grace, but also of the divine wisdom and justice, is
thus displayed in a clearer manner than on the oppo
site hypothesis ; which was the principal end that
God proposed to himself in predestination.
Since then it is so clear that God has predestinated
from eternity all those who should believe and con
tinue in the faith, it follows that there can be no
reprobation, except of those who do not believe or
continue in the faith, and even this rather as a conse
quence than a decree ; there can therefore be no
reprobation of individuals from all eternity. For
God has predestinated to salvation, on the proviso of
a general condition, all who enjoy freedom of will ;
while none are predestinated to destruction, except
through their own fault, and as it were, per accidens,
in the same manner as there are some to whom the
Gospel itself is said to be a stumbling-block and a
We ourselves esteem not of that obedience, or love, or gift, which is of
force ; God therefore left him free, set beiore him a provoking- objecti
ever almost in his eyes; herein consisted his merit, herein the right of
his reward, the praise of his abstinence.' Speech for the Liberty of
Unlicensed Printing. Prose Works, I. 305.

85
savour of death. Of this assertion proof shall be giv
en from the testimony of Scripture no less explicit
than of the doctrine asserted in the former part of the
chapter. Isai. 1. 1. ' where is the bill of your
mother's divorcement, whom I have put away ?  be
hold for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves.' Hos.
iv. 6. ' because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will
also reject thee  seeing thou hast forgotten the law
of thy God, I will also forget thy children.' Rev.
xiii. 8. ' all that dwell upon the earth shall worship
him, whose names are not written in the book of life
ofthe Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.'
And who are they but such as have not believed ?
whom God has therefore deserted* because they
'wandered after the beast,' v. 3. Nor should I call
the decree mentioned in Zephaniah ii. ] — 3. a decree
of eternal reprobation, but rather of temporal punish
ment, and at any rate not an absolute decree, as
the passage itself is sufficient to show : ' gather
yourselves together,' &c. ' before the decree bring
forth'  &c. &c. ' it may be ye shall be hid in the day
of the anger of Jehovah.'
For if God had decreed any to absolute reproba
tion, which we do not read, he must, even according
to their system who affirm that reprobation is an ab
solute decree, have likewise decreed the means with
out which his own decree could not be fulfilled.
Now these means are neither more nor less than sin.
Nor will the common subterfuge avail, namely, that
God did not decree sin, but only its permission : this
* Thence faintings, swoonings of despair,
And sense of heaven's desertion. Samson Agonistes, 631

86
is a contradiction in terms ; for at this rate he does
more than simply permit it : he who permits a thing
does not decree it, but leaves it free.
But even if there be any decree of reprobation,
Scripture everywhere declares, that as election is
established and confirmed by faith, so reprobation is
rescinded by repentance.* Jer. vi. 30. ' reprobate
silver shall men call them, because Jehovah hath re
jected them ;' and yet in the third verse of the fol
lowing chapter God addresses himself to the same
people — ' amend your ways and your doings, and I
will cause you to dwell in this place.' So too in
chap, xviii. 6, &c. where God compares his own
right with that of the potter, (whence St. Paul seems
to have taken his metaphor, Rom. ix.) ' if that nation,
against Whom I have pronounced, turn from their
evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do
unto them.' So too where God defends in the clear
est manner the justice of his ways, Ezek. xviii.
25 — 27. ' when the wicked man turneth away from
the wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth
that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul
alive.' xxxiii. 14, 15. ' when I say unto the wicked,
Thou shalt surely die, if he turn from his sin, and
do that which is lawful and right,' &c. &c. ' he shall
surely live, he shall not die.' The same is incul
cated in other parts of the chapters just quoted : xviii.
31, 32. 'why will ye die, O house of Israel? for I
have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith
*To prayer, repentance, and obedience due,
Though but endeavonr'd with sincere intent,
Mine ear shall not be slow, mine eye not shut.
Paradise Lost, III. 191

87
the Lord Jehovah ; wherefore turn yourselves and
live ye.' xxxiii. 11. 'say unto them, As I live, saith
the Lord Jehovah, I have no pleasure in the death of
the wicked ; but that the wicked turn from his way
and live ; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways, for
why will ye die, O house of Israel ?' Luke xiii. 5.
' except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish :' there
fore, if ye repent, ye shall not perish. If then there
be no repentance, of what advantage is election ; or
if there be repentance, of what injury is reprobation ?
Accordingly St. Paul, in speaking of those whom he
describes as blinded, and whom he opposes to the
elect, Rom. xi. 7. ' the election hath obtained it, and
the rest were blinded,' subjoins immediately, v. 11.
' have they stumbled that they should fall ? God for
bid;' and v. 23, &c. 'and they also, if they abide
not in unbelief, shall be graffed in ; for God is able
to graff them in again,' &c. lastly, he adds, v. 32.
' God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he
might have mercy upon all.'
If then God reject none but the disobedient and
unbelieving, he undoubtedly gives grace to all, though
not in equal measure,* yet sufficient for attaining
knowledge of the truth and final salvation ; — I have
said, not in equal measure, because not even to the
reprobate, as they are called, has he imparted uni-
* Some I have chosen of peculiar grace,
Elect above the rest; so is my will :
The rest shall hear me call, and oft be warn'd
Their sinful state, and to appease betimes
The incens'd Deity, while offer'd grace
Invites ; for I will clear their senses dark
What may suffice, and soften stony hearts
To pray, repent, and bring obedience due.
Paradise Lost, III. 183.

88
formly the same degree of grace. Matt. xi. 21, 23.
' woe unto thee, Chorazin,' &c. ' for if the mighty
works which have been done in you, had been done
in Tyre and Sidon,' — &c. See also Luke x. 13.
For God, as any other proprietor might do with re
gard to his private possessions, claims to himself the
right of determining concerning his own creatures ac
cording to his pleasure, nor can he be called to account
for his decision, though, if he chose, he could give
the best reasons for it. Rom. ix. 20, 21. ' nay but,
O man, who art thou that repliest against God ? shall
the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast
thou made me thus ? hath not the potter power over
the clay?' It is owing, therefore, to his supreme
will that God does not vouchsafe equal grace to all ;
but it is owing to his justice that there are none to
whom he does not vouchsafe grace sufficient for their
salvation. Isai. v. 4. ' what could have been done
more in my vineyard, that I have not done in it ?'
which words are spoken of the whole nation of the
Jews, not of the elect only. xxvi. 10. 'let favour be
showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteous
ness.' Ezek. xii. 2. ' which have eyes to see, and
see not, they have ears to hear, and hear not ; for
they are a rebellious house.' 2 Kings xvii. 13. ' Je
hovah testified against Israel, and against Judah, by
all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye
from your evil ways,' &c  ' notwithstanding they
would not hear, but hardened their necks.' See also
2 Chron. xxxvi. 15, 16. John i. 9. 'that was the
true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into
the world.' ix. 41. 'if ye were blind, ye should have
no sin ; but now ye say, We see, therefore your sin

89
remaineth,' namely, because your sin is the fruit of
pride, not of ignorance, xv. 22. ' if I had not come
and spoken unto them, they had not had sin : but
now they have no cloak for their sin.' xii. 34 — 41.
' yet a little while is the light with you : walk while
ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you,' &c.
• while ye have light, believe in the light, that ye
may be the children of light.' Acts xiii. 46. ' it was
necessary that the word of God should first have
been spoken to you, but seeing you put it from you,
and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo,
we turn to the Gentiles.' xiv. 16, 17. ' who in times
past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways :
nevertheless he left not himself without witness.'
Rom. x. 20, 21. ' I was found of them that sought
me not ; I was made manifest unto them that asked
not after me : but to Israel he saith. All day long I
have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and
gainsaying people.' 2 Cor. vi. 1,2.' behold, now is
the accepted time ; behold, now is the day of salva
tion.' Heb. iii. 7, 8. compared with Psal. xcv. 7, 9.
' to-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your
hearts.' Undoubtedly if he desire that the wicked
should turn from their way and live, Ezek. xxxiii.
11. — if he would have all men to be saved, 1 Tim.
ii. 4. — if he be unwilling that any should perish,
2 Pet. iii. 9. he must also will that an adequate pro
portion of saving grace shall be withholden from no
man : for if otherwise, it does not appear how his
truth towards mankind can be justified. Nor is it
enough that only so much grace shall be bestowed
as will suffice to take away all excuse ; for our con
demnation would have been reasonable, even had no
vol. i. 12

90
grace at all been bestowed.* But the offer of grace
having been once proclaimed, those who perish will
always have some excuse, and will perish unjustly,
unless it be evident that it is actually sufficient for
salvation. So that what Moses said in his address to
the Israelites, Deut. xxix. 4. ' Jehovah hath not given
you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears
to hear, unto this day,' must be understood as having
been dictated by the kindness and tenderness of his
feelings, lest he should have been accused of harsh
ness and asperity towards so large an assembly of the
people, who were then on the point of entering into
covenant with God, if he had chosen that particular
time for openly reproving the hardness of their hearts.
When, therefore, there were two causes to which
their impenitence was capable of being ascribed, — ei
ther, that a heart had not yet been given by God,
Avho was at liberty to give it when he pleased, or,
that they had not yielded obedience to God, — he
made mention only of the freedom of God's will, and
left their hardness of heart to be suggested silently by
their own consciences ; for no one could be at a loss
to perceive, that if God to that day had not given
them an understanding heart, their own stubbornness
must have been the principal cause ; or else that
God, who had wrought so many miracles for their
sakes, had abundantly given them a heart to perceive,
and eyes to see, and ears to hear, but that they had
refused to make use of these gifts.
* God made thee of choice his own, and of his own
To serve liim ; thy reward was of his grace ;
Thy punishment then justly is at his will.
Paradise Lost, X. 766.

91
Thus much, therefore, may be considered as certain
and irrefragable truth — that God excludes no one
from the pale of repentance and eternal salvation, till
he has despised and rejected the propositions of suf
ficient grace, offered even to a late hour, for the sake
of manifesting the glory of his long-suffering and
justice. Nor has God anywhere declared in direct
and precise terms that his will is the cause of repro
bation, but the reasons which influence his will in the
case at issue are frequently propounded, — namely, the
grievous sins of the reprobate previously committed,
or foreseen before actual commission, — want of re
pentance, — contempt of grace, — deafness to the re
peated calls of God. For reprobation must not be
attributed, like the election of grace, to the divine
will alone. | Deut. ix. 5. ' not for thy righteousness,
or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to
possess their land ; but for the wickedness of these
nations Jehovah thy God doth drive them out before
thee.' For the exercise of mercy requires no vindica
tion ; it is unnecessary to assign any cause for it, ex
cept God's own merciful will ; but, that reprobation,
the consequence of which is punishment, may be re
conciled with justice, it must be owing to man's sin
alone, and not to the arbitrary will of God — to sin
either committed or foreseen, after the constant rejec^
tion of grace, or after it has been sought at length too
late, and only through fear of punishment, when the
appointed day of grace is past. | For God does not
reprobate for one cause, and condemn or assign to
death for another, according to the distinction com
monly made ; but those whom he has condemned on
account of sin, he has also reprobated on account of

92
sin, as in time, so from all eternity. And this repro
bation lies not so much in the divine will, as in the
obstinacy of their own minds ; it is not God who
decrees it, but the reprobate themselves who deter
mine on refusing to repent while it is in their power.
Acts xiii. 46. ' ye put it from you, and judge your
selves unworthy of everlasting life.' Matt. xxi. 43.
' the stone which the builders rejected,' &c. ' therefore
the kingdom of God shall be taken from vou.' See
also 1 Pet. ii. 7, 8. Matt, xxiii. 37. ' how often
would I have gathered thy children together,' &c.
' and ye would not.' Nor would it be less unjust to
decree reprobation, than to condemn for any other
cause than sin. As, therefore, there is no condemna
tion except on account of unbelief or of sin, (John
iii. 18, 19. ' he that believeth not is condemned al
ready, because he hath not believed,' &c. ' this is the
condemnation, that light is come into the world, and
men loved darkness rather than light :' xii. 48. ' he
that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath
one that judgeth him ; the word that I have spoken,'
&c. 2 Thess. ii. 12. ' that they all might be damned
who believed not the truth,') so we will prove from
all the passages that are alleged in confirmation of the
decree of reprobation, that no one is excluded by any
decree of God from the pale of repentance and eter
nal salvation, unless it be after the contempt and re
jection of grace, and that at a very late hour. We
may begiu our proofs of this assertion from the in
stance of Jacob and Esau, Rom. ix. since in the
opinion of many the question seems to turn on that
case. It will be seen that the subject of discussion
in this passage is not so much predestination, as the

93
unmerited calling of the Gentiles after the Jews had
been deservedly rejected.
St. Paul shows in the sixth verse, that the word
which God spake to Abraham, had not. therefore tak
en none effect because all his posterity had not receiv
ed Christ, and more had believed among the Gentiles
than among the Jews ; inasmuch as the promise was
not made in all the children of Abraham, but in
Isaac, v. 7 ; that is to say, ' they which are the chil
dren of the flesh, these are not the children of God,
but the children of the promise are counted for the
seed,' v. 8. The promise therefore was not made to
the children of Abraham according to the flesh, but to
the children of God, who are therefore called the
children of the promise. But since Paul does not
say in this passage who are the children of God, an
explanation must be sought from John i. 11, 12. where
this very promise is briefly referred to ; ' he came un
to his own, and his own received him not : but as
many as received him, to them gave he power to be
come the sons of God, even to them that believe on
his name.' The promise therefore is not to the chil
dren of Abraham in the flesh, but to as many of the
children of his faith as received Christ, namely, to
the children of God and of the promise, that is, to
believers ; for where there is a promise, it behoves
that there be also a faith in that promise.
St. Paul then shows by another example, that God
did not grant mercy in the same degree to all the pos
terity even of Isaac, but much more abundantly to
the children of the promise, that is, to believers ; and
that this difference originates in his own will ; lest
any one should arrogate any thing to himself on the

94
score of his own merits, v. 11, 12. 'for the children
being not yet born, neither having done any good or
evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth, it
was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.'
The purpose of God according to what election ?
Doubtless according to the election to some benefit,
to some privilege, and in this instance specially to the
right of primogeniture transferred from the elder to
the younger of the sons or of the nations ; whence it
arises that God now prefers the Gentiles to the Jews.
Here then his purpose of election is expressly men
tioned, but to reprobation there is no allusion. St.
Paul is satisfied with employing this example to es
tablish the general principle of election to any mercy
or benefit whatever. Why should we endeavour to
extort from the words a harsh and severe meaning,
which does not belong to them ? If the elder shall
serve the younger, whether the individual or the peo
ple be intended, (and in this case it certainly applies
best to the people) it does not therefore follow that the
elder shall be reprobated by a perpetual decree ; nor,
if the younger be favoured with a larger measure of
grace, does it follow that the elder shall be favoured
with none. For this can neither be said of Esau,
who was taught the true worship of God in the house
of his father, nor of his posterity, whom we know to
have been called to the faith with the rest of the Gen
tiles. Hence this clause is added in Esau's blessing,
Gen. xxvii. 40. ' it shall come to pass when thou shalt
have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke
from off thy neck.' Now if the servitude of Esau
implied his reprobation, these words must certainly

95
imply that it was not to last forever. But an expres
sion which occurs in the same chapter is alleged as
decisive : ' Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hat
ed,' v. 13. But how did God evince his love or hat
red ? He gives his own answer, Mai. i. 2, 3, ' I hated
Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste.'
He evinced his love therefore to Jacob, by bringing
him back again into his country from the land of
Babylon ; according to the purpose of that same
election by which he now calls the Gentiles, and
abandons the Jews. At the same time even this text
does not prove the existence of any decree of repro
bation, though St. Paul subjoins it incidentally, as it
were, to illustrate the former phrase, — ' the elder shall
serve the younger ;' for the text in Mai. i. 2, 3. dif
fers from the present passage, inasmuch as it does not
speak of the children yet unborn, but of the children
when they had been long dead, after the one had
eagerly accepted, and the other had despised the grace
of God. Nor does this derogate in the least from
the freedom of grace, because Jacob himself openly
confesses that he was undeserving of the favour which
he had obtained ; Gen. xxxiii. 10. St. Paul there
fore asserts the right of God to impart whatever grace
he chooses even to the undeserving, v. 14, 15. and
concludes — ' so then it is not of him that willeth, or
of him that runneth, (not even of Jacob, who had
openly confessed himself undeserving, nor of the
Jews who followed after the law of righteousness)
but of God that showeth mercy,' v. 16. Thus St.
Paul establishes the right of God with respect to
any election whatever, even of the undeserving, such
as the Gentiles then seemed to be.

96
The apostle then proceeds to prove the same thing
with regard to the rejection of the Jews, by consid
ering God's right to exercise justice upon sinners in
general; which justice, however, he does not display
by means of reprobation, and hatred towards child
ren yet unborn, but by the judicial hardening of the
heart, and punishment of flagrant offenders, v. 17,
18. ' for the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for
this same purpose have I raised thee up,' &c. He
does not say, ' I have decreed,' but, ' I have raised
up ;' that is, in raising up Pharaoh he only called
into action, by means of a most reasonable command,
that hardness of heart, with which he was already
acquainted. So Exod. iii. 19. ' I am sure that the
king of Egypt will not let you go.' So too, 1 Pet.
ii. (in which chapter much has been borrowed from
the ninth of Romans,) v. 7, 8. ' unto them which be
disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed,'
 &c. ' even to them that stumble at the word,
being disobedient : whereunto also they were ap
pointed.' They therefore first disallowed Christ, be
fore they were disallowed by him ; they were then
finally appointed for punishment, from the time that
they had persisted in disobedience.
To return, however, to the chapter in Romans. It
follows in the next verses, 19 — 21. ' thou wilt say
then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault ?' &c.
' why hast thou made me thus' — that is, hard-heart
ed, and a vessel unto dishonour, whilst thou showest
mercy to others ? In answer to which the apostle
proves the reasonableness, not indeed of a decree of
reprobation, but of that penal hardness of heart,
which, after much long-suffering on the part of God,

97
is generally the final punishment reserved for the more
atrocious sins. v. 21. ' hath not the potter power
over the clay ?' that is, the material fitted for his own
purposes, to put honour upon whom he chooses, pro
vided it be not on the disobedient: as itis said, 2
Tim. ii. 21. ' if a man purge himself from these, he
shall be a vessel unto honour,' &c. whilst he hardens
still more the hearts of the contumacious, that is, he
punishes them, according to the next verse of this
chapter — ' he endured with much long-suffering the
vessels of wrath fitted to destruction.' Whence then
were they fitted, except from their own hardness of
heart, whereby the measure of their iniquity was com
pleted ! See Gen. xv. 16. and Eph. v. 6. 'because of
these things cometh the wrath of God upon the chil
dren of disobedience.' Nor does the use of the passive
voice always imply the sufferance of some external
force ; for we speak of one being given up to vice, or
inclined to this or that propensity, meaning only that
such is the bias of his own disposition. Finally, the
three last verses of the chapter, which contain the
conclusion of the whole question, are a convincing
proof that St. Paul only intended to show the free and
gratuitous mercy of God in calling the Gentiles to
salvation, who should be obedient to the faith, and at
the same time the justice of his judgements in hard
ening the hearts of the Jews and others, who obsti
nately adhered to the law of works, v. 30 — 32.
' what shall we say then? that the Gentiles  have
attained to righteousness which is of faith' — not
therefore through election independent of faith : ' but
Israel  hath not attained : wherefore ? because they
VOL. i. 13

98
sought it not by faith' — not therefore through a de
cree of reprobation independent of unbelief.
After having passed this difficulty, those which re
main will scarcely interrupt our course. Psal. xcv.
10, 11. ' forty years long was I grieved with this
generation,' &c. ' unto whom I sware in my wrath
that they should not enter into my rest.' It must be
observed here how long it was before God passed his
decree, and that (if we may reason by analogy res
pecting spiritual things, from types of this kind, as
was done before in the case of Esau) he excluded
from his eternal rest only those who tempted him, and
whose hearts were hardened. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 15,
16. ' and Jehovah God of their fathers sent to them
by his messengers,' &c. ' because he hacLcompassion
on his people and on his dwelling-place : but they
mocked the messengers of God,' &c. ' until the wrath
of Jehovah arose against his people, till there was no
remedy.' Isai. xxviii. 12, 13. 'to whom he said,
This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary
to rest,' &c. ' yet they would not hear : but. the word
of Jehovah was unto them precept upon precept,' &c.
' that they might go and fall backward,' &c. ' where
fore hear the word of Jehovah, ye scornful men,' &c.
xxix. 10. ' for Jehovah hath poured out upon you the
spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes.' The
reason is given, v. 13, 14. whence it appears that it
was not on account of God's decree, but of their own
grievous wickedness : ' forasmuch as this people draw
near me with their mouth,' &c. ' but have removed
their heart far from me  therefore the wisdom of
their wise men shall perish,' &c. Matt. xi. 25, 26. ' I
thank thee, O Father, because thou hast hid these

99
things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed
them unto bahes : even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight.' Lest we should attribute this sole
ly to the arbitrary will of God, the verses preceding
will explain why it so seemed good, and why Christ
ascribes glory to the Father on this account, v. 21 —
23 ; in which it is disclosed what those wise men had
first been themselves, namely, despisers of the divine
grace. See also xiii. 11. ' because it is given unto
you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,
but to them it is not given.' And why? the next
verse subjoins the reason : ' whosoever hath, to him
shall be given, and he shall have more abundance ;
but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken
away even that he hath.' It is impossible to apply
this sentence otherwise, than to those who have first
voluntarily rejected divine grace, in the sense in which
nearly the same words are addressed, chap. xxv. 29.
to the slothful servant. A passage to the same pur
pose occurs, chap. xiii. 13. ' therefore speak I to
them in parables, because they seeing see not,' &c.
Hence an easy solution is afforded for other texts.
John viii. 43. ' ye cannot hear my word;' — because
when ye were able ye would not, ye are now unable
on account of your unbelief in which you are harden
ed, not on account of any decree of God ; or in con
sequence of your pride, through which you cannot en
dure to hear the word ; or lastly, as it is expressed in
the following verse, 44, because ' ye are of your fa
ther the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will
do.' Again, v. 46. ' if I say the truth, why do ye
not belieVe me ?' Christ himself answers the ques
tion, v. 47. ' ye therefore hear not, because ye are not

100
of God.' What is the meaning of ' ye are not of God r
not surely, ye are not elect ; it implies the same as
' to be of the devil,' v. 44, that is, to follow the devil
rather than God. So too, x. 26. ' ye believe not be
cause ye are not of my sheep.' Why not of my
sheep ? Because it was so decreed ? By no
means, — but because ye do not hear the word ; be
cause ye do not follow me ; ' my sheep hear my
voice, and they follow me,' v. 27. Ye, as I repeat
edly tell you, do not believe, v. 25, 26. ' I told you,
and ye believed not ; the works that I do in my Fa
ther's name, they bear witness of me : but ye believe
not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto
you'. The argument runs thus — ye do not believe,
because ye are not of my sheep ; ye are not of my
sheep, because ye neither hear my word nor follow
me. Christ certainly intended to give some such
reason for their unbelief as would throw the fault of
it upon themselves, not such a one as would exempt
them from blame ; but if not to be of his sheep, be
interpreted to mean not to be of the elect, a privilege
which had never been within their option, his words
would contain an excuse for their conduct, rather than
a reproof, which would be contrary to his obvious pur
pose. Again, xii. 39, 40, compared with Isai. vi. 10.
' therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias
saith again, He hath blinded their eyes,' &c. Not
because the words of Isaiah, or the decree of God
delivered by his mouth, had previously taken away
from them the power or grace of belief irrespective
ly ; but according to the reason declared by the pro
phet why they could not believe, namely, because
God had blinded their eyes. And why he had thus

101
blinded their eyes, the preceding chapter explains, v.
4, &c. because nothing more remained to be done to
his unfruitful vineyard, but to cut it down. This ap
pears still more clearly Luke xiii. 24, 25. ' many will
seek to enter in, and shall not be able : when once
the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to
the door.' xiv. 24. ' I say unto you that none of those
men that were bidden shall taste of my supper.' xix.
42. ' if thou hadst known at least in this thy day, the
things which belong unto thy peace ! but now they
are hid from thine eyes.' Rom. i. 21, 24, 26, 'be
cause that when they knew God, they glorified him
not as God,' &c. ' wherefore God also gave them up,'
&c. ' for this cause God gave them up,' &c. 2 Thes.
ii. 10 — 12. ' with all deceivableness of unrighteous
ness in them that perish ; because they received not
the love of the truth, that they might be saved : and
for this cause God shall send them strong delusion,
that they should believe a lie : that they all might be
damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure
in unrighteousness.' iii. 2. ' for all men have not
faith ;' that is, obstinate and unreasonable sinners
have it not ; which the context shows is the sense
intended. 1 Pet. ii. 7, 8. ' the stone which the
builders disallowed,' &c. ' and a stone of stumbling
and rock of offence, even to them which stumble at
the word, being disobedient ; whereunto also they
were appointed,' — that is, to be disobedient. And
why ? Because they had disallowed that stone, and
had stumbled upon it, disallowing Christ themselves
before they were disallowed by him. Whoever has
paid attention to what has been urged, will easily
perceive that the difficulties respecting this doctrine

102
have arisen from the want of making the proper dis
tinction between the punishment of hardening the
heart and the decree of reprobation ; according to
Prov. xix. 3. ' the foolishness of man perverteth his
way, and his heart fretteth against Jehovah.' For
such do in effect impugn the justice of God, however
vehemently they may disclaim the intention ;* and
might justly be reproved in the words of the heathen
Homer :
Avxav ydg tipsxigqaiiv dxatidahiifctiv bXovxo.
Odyss. I. 7.
 they perish'd self-destroy'd
By their own fault. Book I. 1. 9-
And again, in the person of Jupiter :
*Jl nonoi, olov 8tf vv deovs [igoxol alxioavrai !
it; fftiiav ydg cpaoi xdx kpfiivar ot Si xai avxoi
tifi}6tv dxatiduhiytiiv, vrcig fiogov, aXys1 E%ovdiv.
Odyss. I. 32.
Perverse mankind ! whose wills, created free,
Charge all their woes on absolute decree :
All to the dooming gods their guilt translate,
And follies are miscall'd the crimes of fate.
Book I. 1. 40. Pope's Translation.
*  to themselves
All glory arrogate, to God give none ;
Rather accuse him under usual names,
Formne and fate, as one regardless quite
Of mortal things. Paradise Regained, IV. 314.
On which passage Dunster quotes the second of the passages froffl
the Odyssey with which Milton himself concludes this chapter.

CHAPTER V.

PREFATORY REMARKS.

A cannot enter upon subjects of so much difficulty
as the Son of God and the Holy Spirit, without again
premising a few introductory words. If indeed I
were a member of the Church of Rome, which re
quires implicit obedience to its creed on all points of
faith, I should have acquiesced from education or
habit in its simple decree and authority, even though
it denies that the doctrine of the Trinity, as now re
ceived, is capable of being proved from any passage
of Scripture.* But since I enrol myself among the
* ' But I would show you the divers ways the Doctors of your Church
do the principal and proper work of the Socinians for them, under
mining the doctrine of the Trinity, by denying it to be supported by
those pillars of the faith, which alone are fit and able to support it, I
mean Scripture, and the consent of the ancient Doctors. For Scrip
ture, your men deny very plainly and frequently that this doctrine can
be proved by it. See if you please this plainly taught, and urged very
earnestly by Cardinal Hosius, De Auctor. Sacr. lib. iii. p. 53. by Gor-
donius Huntlseus, Tom. I. Controv. 1. De Verbo Dei, lib. x. by Gretserus
and Tannerus, in Colloquio Ratisbon. and also by Vega, Possevin, Wickus,
and others.' Chillingworth's Preface to the Author of Charity Main
tained, a work published in 1630 by Matthias Wilson, a Jesuit, under
the name of Edward Knott. ' Longe ergo sincerius facerent, et prout
ingenuos disputatores decet, si cum Pontificiis faterentur istam dis-
tinctionem ex Scriptura non posse probari, sed tantum ex traditione.'
Curcellaei Dissertatio Prima de vocibus Trinitalis, &c.38. See also the
passages quoted by CurcelUeius, from writers of the Romish Church.

104
number of those who acknowledge the word of God
alone as the rule of faith, and freely advance what ap
pears to me much more clearly deducible from the Holy
Scriptures than the commonly received opinion, I see
no reason why any one who belongs to the same Pro
testant or Reformed Church, and professes to ac
knowledge the same rule of faith as myself, should
take offence at my freedom, particularly as I impose
my authority on no one, but merely propose what I
think more worthy of belief than the creed in general
acceptation. I only entreat that my readers will pon
der and examine my statements in a spirit which
desires to discover nothing but the truth, and with a
mind free from prejudice. For without intending to
oppose the authority of Scripture, which I consider
inviolably sacred, I only take upon myself to refute
human interpretations as often as the occasion re
quires, conformably to my right, or rather to my duty
as a man. If indeed those with whom I have to con
tend were able to produce direct attestation from
heaven to the truth ofthe doctrine which they espouse,
it would be nothing less than impiety to venture to
raise, I do not say a clamour, but so much as a mur
mur against it. But inasmuch as they can lay claim
to nothing more than human powers, assisted by
that spiritual illumination which is common to all,*
it is not unreasonable that they should on their part
allow the privileges of diligent research and free dis
cussion to another inquirer, who is seeking truth
through the same means and in the same way as
* The spirit of God, promis'd alike and given
To all believers. Paradise Lost, XIL 519.

105
themselves,* and whose desire of benefiting man
kind is equal to their own.
In reliance, therefore, upon the divine assistance,
let us now enter upon the subject itself.f
OF THE SON OF GOD.
Hitherto I have considered the internal efficiency
of God as shown in his decrees.
His external efficiency, or the execution of his de
crees, whereby he carries into effect by external
agency whatever decrees he has purposed within him
self, may be comprised under the heads of Genera
tion, Creation, and the Government ofthe Universe.
First, Generation, whereby God, in pursuance of
his decree, has begotten his only Son ; whence he
chiefly derives his appellation of Father.
Generation must be an external efficiency, since
the Father and Son are different persons ; and the
divines themselves acknowledge this, who argue that
there is a certain emanation of the Son from the
Father (which will be explained when the doctrine
concerning the Holy Spirit is under examination ;)
for though they teach that the Spirit is co-essential
with the Father, they do not deny that it emanates,
and goes out, and proceeds^ and is breathed from the
Father, which are all expressions denoting external
efficiency. In conjunction with this doctrine they
* The sentence is thus written in the original — quid est sequius quam
ut permittant alteri eandem atque ipsi ratione ac via veritatem inda-
ganti — probably an error for eadem.
f ' Which, imploring divine assistance, that it may redound to his
glory, and the good of the British nation, I now begin.' History of
Britain, B. I. Prose Works, IV. 3.
VOL. I. 14

106
hold that the Son is also co-essential with the Father,
and generated from all eternity. Hence this ques
tion, which is naturally very obscure, becomes involv
ed in still greater difficulties if the received opinion
respecting it be followed ; for though the Father be
said in Scripture to have begotten the Son in a double
sense, the one literal, with reference to the production
of the Son the other metaphorical, with reference to
his exaltation, many commentators have applied the
passages which allude to the exaltation and mediatorial
functions of Christ as proofs of his generation from
all eternity. They have indeed this excuse for their
proceeding, if any excuse can be offered in such a
case, that it was impossible to find a single text in
all Scripture to prove the eternal generation of the
Sou. This point appears certain, notwithstanding
the arguments of some of the moderns to the contrary,
that the Son existed in the beginning, under the
name of the logos or word, and was the first of the
whole creation,* by whom afterwards all other things
were made both in heaven and earth. John i. 1 — 3.
' in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God,' &c. xvii. 5. ' and
now, 0 Father, glorify me with thine own self with
the glory which I had with thee before the world
was.' Col. i. 15, 18. ' the first-born of every crea
ture.' Rev. iii. 14. 'the beginning of the creation of
*Thee next they sang of all creation first,
Begotten Son, divine Similitude,
In whose conspicuous countenance, without cloud
Made visible, the Almighty Father shines,
Whom else no creature can behold ; on thee
Impress'd, the effulgence of his glory abides,
Transfus'd on thee his ample Spirit rests.
Paradise Lost, III. 383.

107
God.' 1 Cor. viii. 6. ' Jesus Christ, by whom are
all things.' Eph. iii. 9. 'who created all things by
Jesus Christ.' Col. i. 16. 'all things were created
by him and for him.' Heb. i. 2. ' by whom also he
made the worlds,' whence it is said, v. 10, ' thou,
Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the
earth ; ' on which point more will be said in the
seventh Chapter, on the Creation.
All these passages prove the existence of the Son
before the world was made, but they conclude nothing
respecting his generation from all eternity. The
other texts which are produced relate only to his
metaphorical generation, that is, to his resuscitation
from the dead, or to his unction to the mediatorial
office, according to St. Paul's own interpretation of
the second Psalm : ' I will declare the decree ; Je
hovah hath said unto me, thou art my Son ; this day
have I begotten thee' — * which the apostle thus ex
plains, Acts xiii. 32, 33. ' God hath fulfilled the
promise unto us their children, in that he hath raised
up Jesus again ; as it is also written in the second
Psalm, Thou art my Son ; this day have I begotten
thee.' Rom. i. 4. 'declared to be the Son of God
with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by
the resurrection from the dead.' Hence, Col. i. 18.
Rev. i. 4. ' the first begotten of the dead.' Heb. i.
5, speaking of the exaltation of the Son above the
angels ; ' for unto which of the angels said he at any
time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten
* Hear my decree, which unrevok'd shall stand ;
This day have I begot whom I declare
My only Son, and on this holy hill
Him have anointed, whom ye now behold
At my right hand. Paradise Lost, V. 603.

108
thee ? and again, I will be to him a Father, and he
shall be to me a Son.' Again, v. 5, 6, with refer
ence to the priesthood of Christ ; ' so also Christ glo
rified not himself to be made an High Priest, but he
that said unto him, Thou art my Son, this day have
I begotten thee : as he saith also in another place,
Thou art a priest for ever,' &c. Further, it will be
apparent from the second Psalm, that God has be
gotten the Son, that is, has made him a king : v. 6.
' yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Sion ;'
and then in the next verse, after having anointed his
King, whence the name of ' Christ ' is derived, he
says, ' this day have I begotten thee.'* Heb. i. 4, 5.
' being made so much better than the angels, as he
hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name
than they.' No other name can be intended but that
of Son, as the following verse proves : ' for unto which
of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son ;
this day have I begotten thee ?' The Son also de
clares the same of himself. John x. 35, 36. ' say ye
of Him whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent
into the world, Thou blasphemest, because I said, I
am the Son of God ?' By a similar figure of speech,
though in a much lower sense, the saints are also said
to be begotten of God.'f
*  Into thee such virtue and grace
Immense I have transfus'd, that all may know
In heaven and hell thy power without compare ;
And this perverse commotion govern'd thus,
To manifest thee worthiest to be heir
Of all things ; to be heir, and to be king
By sacred unction, thy deserved right. Paradise Lost, VI. 703.
t Thenceforth I thought thee worth my nearer view
And narrower scrutiny, that I might learn

109
It is evident however upon a careful comparison
and examination of all these passages, and particularly
from the whole of the second Psalm, that however
the generation of the Son may have taken place, it
arose from no natural necessity, as is generally con
tended, but was no less owing to the decree and will
of the Father than his priesthood or kingly power, or
his resuscitation from the dead. Nor does this form
any objection to his bearing the title of begotten, in
whatever sense that expression is to be understood, or
of God's ' own Son,' Rom. viii. 32. For he is called
the own Son of God merely because he had no other
Father besides God, whence he himself said, that
' God was his Father,' John v. 18. For to Adam
God stood less in the relation of Father, than of
Creator, having only formed him from the dust of the
earth ; whereas he was properly the Father of the
Son made of his own substance. Yet it does not fol
low from hence that the Son is co-essential with the
Father, for then the title of Son would be least of all
applicable to him, since he who is properly the Son is
not coeval with the Father, much less of the same
numerical essence, otherwise the Father and the Son
would be one person ; nor did the Father beget him
from any natural necessity, but of his own free
In what degree or meaning thou art call'd
The Son of God ; which bears no single sense :
The Son of God I also am, or was ;
And if I was, I am ; relation stands :
All men are Sons of God ; yet thee I thought
In some respect far higher so declar'd.
Paradise Regained, IV. 514.
•The people of God, redeemed and washed with Christ's blood, and dig
nified with so many glorious titles of saints, and sons in the gospel.'
Of Reformation in England. Prose Works, I. 14.

110
will,* — a mode more perfect and more agreeable to
the paternal dignity ; particularly since the Father is
God, all whose works, as has been already proved
from Scripture, are executed freely according to his
own good pleasure, and consequently the work of
generation. For questionless, it was in God's power consistent
ly with the perfection of his own essence not to have
begotten the Son, inasmuch as generation does not
pertain to the nature ofthe Deity, who stands in no
need of propagation ;f but whatever does not pertain
to his own essence or nature, he does not effect like
a natural agent from any physical necessity. If the
generation of the Son proceeded from a physical
necessity, the Father impaired himself by physically
begetting a co-equal ; which God could no more do
than he could deny himself; therefore the generation
of the Son cannot have proceeded otherwise than from
a decree, and of the Father's own free will.
Thus the Son was begotten of the Father in con
sequence of his decree, and therefore within the limits
of time, for the decree itself must have been anterior
to the execution of the decree, as is sufficiently clear
from the insertion of the word ' to-day.' Nor can I
* Milton puts the same distinction into the mouth of Adam, speaking
after his fall of the relation in which his sons stood to him :
 what if thy son
Prove disobedient, and reprov'd retort,
'Wherefore didst thou beget me ? I sought it not:'
Would'st thou admit for his contempt of thee
That proud excuse ? yet him not thy election,
But natural necessity begot. Paradise Lost, X. 760.
f  No need that thou
Should'st propagate, already infinite,
And through all numbers absolute, though one. VIII. 419.

Ill
discover on what passage of Scripture the assertors of
the eternal generation of the Son ground their opinion,
for the text in Micah v. 2. does not speak of his
generation, but of his works, which are only said to
have been wrought 'from of old.' But this will be
discussed more at large hereafter.
The Son is also called ' only begotten.' John i.
14. ' and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only
begotten of the Father.' v. 18. ' the only begotten
Son which is in the bosom of the Father.' iii. 16, 18.
'he gave his only begotten Son.' 1 John iv. 9.
' God sent his only begotten Son.' Yet he is not
called one essentially with the Father, inasmuch as
he was visible to sight, and given by the Father,
by whom also he was sent, and from whom he pro
ceeded ; but he enjoys the title of only begotten
by way of superiority, as distinguished from many
others who are also said to have been born of God.
John i. 13. ' which were born of God.' 1 John iii.
9. ' whosoever is born of God, doth not commit sin.'
James i. 18. 'of his own will begat he us with the
word of truth.' 1 John v. 1. ' whosoever believeth,'
&c. ' is born of God.' 1 Pet. i. 3. ' which accord
ing to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again
unto a lively hope.' But since throughout the Scrip
tures the Son is never said to be begotten, except, as
above, in a metaphorical sense, it seems probable that
he is called ' only begotten ' principally because he is
the one mediator between God and man.
So also the Son is called the ' first born.' Rom.
viii. 29. ' that he might be the first born among many
brethren.' Col. i. 15. ' the first born of every crea
ture.' v. 18. 'the first born from the dead.' Heb.

112
i. 6. ' when he bringeth in the first begotten into the
world.' Rev. iii. 14. ' the beginning of the creation
of God,' — all which passages preclude the idea of his
co-essentiality with the Father, and of his generation
from all eternity. Thus it is said of Israel, Exod. iv.
22 ' thus saith Jehovah, Israel is my son, even my
first born ;' and of Ephraim, Jer. xxxi. 9. ' Ephraim
is my first born ;' and of all the saints, Heb. xii. 23.
' to the general assembly of the first bom.'
Hitherto only the metaphorical generation of Christ
has been considered ; but since to generate another
who had no previous existence, is to give him being,
and that if God generate by a physical necessity, he
can generate nothing but a co-equal Deity, which
would be inconsistent with self-existence, an essential
attribute of Divinity ; (so that according to the one
hypothesis there would be two infinite Gods, or
according to the other the first or efficient cause
would become the effect, which no man in his senses
will admit) it becomes necessary to inquire how or
in what sense God the Father can have begotten the
Son. This point also will be easily explained by
reference to Scripture. For when the Son is said to
be ' the first born of every creature,' and ' the begin
ning of the creation of God,' nothing can be more
evident than that God of his own will created, or
generated, or produced the Son before all things, en
dued with the divine nature, as in the fulness of time
he miraculously begat him in his human nature of the
Virgin Mary. The generation of the divine nature is
described by no one with more sublimity and copious
ness than by the apostle to the Hebrews, i. 2, 3.
' whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom

113
also he made the worlds ; who being the brightness
of his glory, and the express image of his person,' &c.
It must be understood from this, that God imparted
to the Son as much as he pleased of the divine na
ture, nay of the divine substance itself, care being
taken not to confound the substance with the whole
essence, which would imply, that the Father had
given to the Son what he retained numerically the
same hi uself; which would be a contradiction of
terms instead of a mode of generation. This is the
whole that is revealed concerning the generation of
the Son of God. Whoever wishes to be wiser than
this, becomes foiled in his pursuit after wisdom, en
tangled in the deceitfulness of vain philosophy, or
rather of sophistry, and involved in darkness.
Since, however, Christ not only bears the name of
the only begotten Son of God, but is also several
times called in Scripture God, notwithstanding the
universal doctrine that there is but one God, it ap
peared to many, who had no mean opinion of their
own acuteness, that there was an inconsistency in
this ; which gave rise to an hypothesis no less strange
than repugnant to reason, namely, that the Son, al
though personally and numerically another, was yet
essentially one with the Father, and that thus the
unity of God was preserved.
But unless the terms unity and duality be signs of
the same ideas to God which they represent to men,
it would have been to no purpose that God had so
repeatedly inculcated that first commandment, that he
was the one and only God, if another could be said
to exist besides, who also himself ought to be be
lieved in as the one God. Unity and duality cannot
vol. i. 15

114
consist of one and the same essence. God is one
ens, not two ; one essence and one subsistence,
which is nothing but a substantial essence, appertain
to one ens ; if two subsistences or two persons be as
signed to one essence, it involves a contradiction of
terms, by representing the essence as at once simple and
compound. If one divine essence be common to two
persons, that essence or divinity will either be in the re
lation of a whole to its several parts, or of a genus to
its several species, or lastly of a common subject to
its accidents. If none of these alternatives be con
ceded, there is no mode of escaping from the absurd
consequences that follow, such as that one essence
may be the third part of two or more.
There would have been no occasion for the sup
porters of these opinions to have offered such violence
to reason, nay even to so much plain scriptural evi
dence, if they had duly considered God's own words
addressed to kings and princes,* Psal. lxxxii. 6.
' I have said, Ye are gods, and all of you are children
of the Most High ;' or those of Christ himself, John
x. 35. ' if he called them Gods, unto whom the word
of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken — ;'
or those of St. Paul, 1 Cor. viii, 5, 6. ' for though
there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or
earth, (for there be gods many and lords many,) but
to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are
all things,' &c. or lastly of St. Peter, ii. 1, 4. 'that
by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature,'
*  for glory done
Of triumph, to be styl'd great conquerors,
Patrons of mankind, gods, and sons of gods.
Paradise Lost, XI. 696.

115
which implies much more than the title of gods in the
sense in which that title is applied to kings ; though
no one would conclude from this expression that the
saints were co-essential with God.
Let us then discard reason in sacred matters, and
follow the doctrine of Holy Scripture exclusively.*
Accordingly, no one need expect that I should here
premise a long metaphysical discussion, and introduce
all that commonly received drama of the personalities
in the Godhead : since it is most evident, in the first
place, from numberless passages of Scripture, that
there is in reality but one true independent and su
preme God ;f and as he is called one, (inasmuch as
human reason and the common language of mankind,
and the Jews, the people of God, have always con
sidered him as one person only, that is, one in a
numerical sense) let us have recourse to the sacred
writings in order to know who this one true and su
preme God is. This knowledge ought to be derived
in the first instance from the gospel, since the clear
est doctrine respecting the one God must necessarily
be that copious and explanatory revelation concern
ing him which was delivered by Christ himself to
his apostles, and by the apostles to their followers.
Nor is it to be supposed that the gospel would be
ambiguous or obscure on this subject ; for it was not
given for the purpose of promulgating new and in
credible doctrines respecting the nature of God, hith-
* Down, reason, then ; at least vain reasonings, down.
Sampson Agonistes, 322.
f Seem I to thee sufficiently possess'd
Of happiness or not ? who am alone
From all eternity ; for none I know
Second to me or like, equal much less. Paradise Lost, VIII. 404.

116
erto utterly unheard of by his own people, but to
announce salvation to the Gentiles through Messiah
the Son of God, according to the promise of the God
of Abraham. ' No man hath seen God at any time ;
the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the
Father, he hath declared him,' John i. 18. Let us
therefore consult the Son in the first place respecting
God. According to the testimony of the Son, delivered
in the clearest terms, the Father is that one true
God, by whom are all things. Being asked by one
of the scribes, Mark xii. 28, 29, 32, which was the
first commandment of all, he answered from Deut.
vi. 4. ' the first of all the commandments is, Hear,
O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord ;' or as it
is in Hebrew, ' Jehovah our God is one Jehovah.'
The scribe assented ; ' there is one God, and there
is none other one but he ;' and in the following verse
Christ expresses his approbation of this answer.
Nothing can be more clear than that it was the opin
ion of the scribe, as well of the other Jews, that by
the unity of God is intended his oneness of person.
That this God was no other than God the Father,
is proved from John viii. 41, 54. ' we have one
Father, even God. It is my Father that honoureth
me ; of whom ye say that he is your God.' iv. 21.
' neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, shall
ye worship the Father.' Christ therefore agrees
with the whole people of God, that the Father is
that one and only God. For who can believe that
the very first of the commandments would have been
so obscure, and so ill understood by the Church
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117
persons, equally entitled to worship, should have re
mained wholly unknown to the people of God, and
debarred of divine honours even to that very day ?
especially as God, where he is teaching his own
people respecting the nature of their worship under
the gospel, forewarns them that they would have for
their God the one Jehovah whom they had always
served, and David, that is Christ, for their King and
Lord. Jer. xxx. 9. ' they shall serve Jehovah their
God, and David their King, whom I will raise up
unto them.' In this passage Christ, such as God
willed that he should be known or served by his
people under the gospel, is expressly distinguished
from the one God Jehovah, both by nature and title.
Christ himself therefore, the Son of God, teaches us
nothing in the gospel respecting the one God but what
the law had before taught, and everywhere clearly as
serts him to be his Father. John xvii, 3. ' this is
life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.' xx. 17.
' I ascend unto my Father, and your Father ; and to
my God and your God : ' if therefore the Father be
the God of Christ, and the same be our God, and if
there be none other God but one, there can be no
God beside the Father.
Paul, the apostle and interpreter of Christ, teaches
the same in so clear and perspicuous a manner, that
one might almost imagine the inculcation of this
truth to have been his sole object. No teacher of
catechumens in the Church could have spoken more
plainly and expressly of the one God, according to
the sense in which the universal consent of man
kind has agreed to understand unity of number.

118
1 Cor. viii. 4 — 6. ' we know that an idol is nothing
in the world, and that there is none other God but
one : for though there be that are called gods,
whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods
many and lords many,) but to us there is but one
God the Father, of whom are all things, and we in
him ; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all
things, and we by him.' Here the expression ' there
is none other God but one,' excludes not only all
other essences, but all other persons whatever ; for it
is expressly said in the sixth verse, that ' the Father
is that one God ; ' wherefore there is no other person
but one ; at least in that sense which is intended by
divines, when they argue from John xiv. 16. that
there is another God, for the sake of asserting the
personality of the Holy Spirit. Again, to those
' who are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth,
God the Father, of whom are all things' is opposed
singly ; he who is numerically ' one God,' to ' many
Gods.' Though the Son be another God, yet in
this passage he is called merely ' Lord ; ' he ' of
whom are all things' is clearly distinguished from
him ' by whom are all things,' and if a difference of
causation prove a difference of essence, he is distin
guished also in essence. Besides, since a numerical
difference originates in difference of essence, those
who are two numerically, must be also two essen
tially.* There is ' one Lord,' namely he whom
* ' Res etiam singula?, sive individua, quos vulgo vocant, singulas si-
bique proprias formas habent ; diflerunt quippe numero inter se, quod
nemo non fatetur. Quid autem est aliud numero inter se, nisi singulis
formis differre ? Numerus enim, ut recte Scaliger, est affectio essen-
tiam consequens. Quae igitur numero, essentia quoque diffenmt; et
nequaquam numero, nisi essentia, differrent. Evigilent hic theologi

119
• God the Father hath made,' Acts ii. 36. much more
therefore is the Father Lord, who made him, though
he be not here called Lord. For he who calls the
Father ' one God,' also calls him one Lord above all,
as Psal. ex. 1. ' the Lord said unto my Lord,' — *
passage which will be more fully discussed hereafter.
He who calls Jesus Christ ' one Lord,' does not call
him one God, for this reason among others, that
' God the Father hath made him both Lord and
Christ' Acts ii. 36. Elswhere therefore he calls the
Father both God and Lord of him whom he here
calls ' one Lord Jesus Christ.' Eph. i. 17. ' the
God of our Lord Jesus Christ.' 1 Cor. xi. 3. ' the
head of Christ is God.' xv. 28. ' the Son also him
self shall be subject unto him.' If in truth the
Father be called ' the Father of Christ,' if he be
called ' the God of Christ,' if he be called 'the head
of Christ,' if he be called the God to whom Christ
described as the Lord, nay, even as ' the Son him
self, is subject, and shall be subjected,' why should
not the Father, be also the Lord of the same Lord
Christ, and the God of the same God Christ ; since
Christ must also be God in the same relative manner
that he is Lord and Son ? Lastly, the Father is he
' of whom,' and ' from whom,' and ' by whom,' and
' for whom are all things ; ' Rom. xi. 36. Heb. ii.
10. The Son is not he ' of whom,' but only ' by
Quod si quascunque numero, essentia quoque differunt, nee tamen ma
teria, necesse est formis inter se differant ; non autem communibus,
ergo propriis.' Artis Logical plenior lnstitutio. Prose Works, VI. 214.
The hint thrown out to the theologians in this passage is very remark
able ; but I am not aware that it has ever been noticed as affording a
clew to the opinion of Milton on the important subject alluded to,
which could scarcely have been expected to be found in a treatise on
Logick.

120
whom ; ' and that not without exception, ' all things,'
namely ' which were made,' John i. 3. ' all things,
except him which did put all things under him,'
1 Cor. xv. 27. It is evident therefore that when it
is said ' all things were by him,' it must be un
derstood of a secondary and delegated power ; and
that when the particle by is used in reference to the
Father, it denotes the primary cause, as John vi. 57.
' I live by the Father ; ' when in reference to the
Son, the secondary and instrumental cause ; which
will be explained more clearly on a future occasion.
Again, Eph. iv. 4 — 6. ' there is one body and one
Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your call
ing ; one Lord, one faith, one baptism ; one God and
Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and
in you all.' Here there is one Spirit, and one Lord ;
but the Father is one, and therefore God is one in
the same sense as the remaining objects of which unity
is predicated, that is, numerically one, and therefore
one also in person. 1 Tim. ii. 5. ' there is one God,
and one mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus.' Here the mediator, though not pure
ly human, is purposely named man, by the title de
rived from his inferior nature, lest he should be thought
equal to the Father, or the same God, whereas the
argument distinctly and expressly refers to one God.
Besides, it cannot be explained how any one can be a
mediator to himself on his own behalf ; according to
Gal. iii. 20. ' a mediator is not a mediator of one,
but God is one.' How then can God be a mediator
of God ? Not to mention that he himself uniformly
testifies of himself, John viii. 28. 'I do nothing of
myself,' and v. 42. ' neither came 1 of myself.' Un-

121
doubtedly therefore he does not act as a mediator to
himself; nor return as a mediator to himself. Rom.
v. 10. ' we were reconciled to God by the death of
his Son.' To whatever God we were reconciled, if
he be one God, he cannot be the God by whom we
are reconciled, inasmuch as that God is another per
son ; for if he be one and the same, he must be a
mediator between himself and us, and reconcile us to
himself by himself ; which is an insurmountable dif
ficulty. Though all this be so self-evident as to require no
explanation, — namely, that the Father alone is a self-
existent God, and that a being which is not self-ex
istent cannot be God — it is wonderful with what futile
subtleties, or rather with what juggling artifices, cer
tain individuals have endeavoured to elude or obscure
the plain meaning of these passages ; leaving no
stone unturned, recurring to every shift, attempting
every means, as if their object were not to preach
the pure and unadulterated truth of the gospel to the
poor and simple, but rather by dint of vehemence and
obstinacy to sustain some absurd paradox from falling,
by the treacherous aid of sophisms and verbal dis
tinctions, borrowed from the barbarous ignorance of
the schools.
They defend their conduct, however, on the ground
that though these opinions may seem inconsistent with
reason, they are to be held for the sake of other pas
sages of Scripture, and that otherwise Scripture will
not be consistent with itself. Setting aside reason,
therefore, let us have recourse again to the language
of Scripture.
vol. i. 16

122
The passages in question are two only. The first
is John x. 30. ' I and my Father are one,' — that is,
one in essence, as it is commonly interpreted. But
God forbid that we should decide rashly on any point
relative to the Deity. Two things may be called one
in more than one way. Scripture saith, and the Son
saith, ' I and my Father are one,' — I bow to their
authority. Certain commentators conjecture that they
are one in essence, — I reject what is merely man's
invention. For the Son has not left us to conjecture
in what manner he is one with the Father, (whatever
member of the Church may have first arrogated to
himself the merit of the discovery,) but explains the
doctrine himself most fully, so far as we are concern
ed to know it. The Father and the Son are one, not
indeed in essence, for he had himself said the contra
ry in the preceding verse, ' my Father, which gave
them me, is greater than all,' (see also xiv. 28. ' my
Father is greater than I,') and in the following ver
ses he distinctly denies that he made himself God, in
saying, ' I and my Father are one ;' he insists that
he had only said as follows, which implies far less,
v. 36. ' say ye of him whom the Father hath sanctified,
and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because
1 said, I am the Son of God ?' This must be spoken
of two persons not only not co-essential, but not co
equal. Now if the Son be laying down a doctrine
respecting the unity of the divine essence in two per
sons of the Trinity, how is it that he does not rather
attribute the same unity of essence to the three per
sons ? Why does he divide the indivisible Trinity ?
For there cannot be unity without totality. There
fore, on the authority of the opinions holden by my

123
opponents themselves, the Son and the Father without
the Spirit are not one in essence. How then are they
one? it is the province of Christ alone to acquaint
us with this, and accordingly he does acquaint us
with it. In the first place, they are one, inas
much as they speak and act with unanimity ; and so
he explains himself in the same chapter, after the
Jews had misunderstood his saying: x. 38. 'believe
the works ; that ye may know and believe that the
Father is in me, and I in him.' xiv. 10. ' believest
thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in
me ? the words that I speak unto you, I speak not of
myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth
the works.' Here he evidently distinguishes the Fa
ther from himself in his whole capacity, but asserts
at the same time that the Father remains in him ;
which does not denote unity of essence, but only in
timacy of communion. Secondly, he declares him
self to be one with the Father in the same manner as
we are one with him, — that is, not in essence, but in
love, in communion, in agreement, in charity, in spirit,
in glory. John xiv. 20, 21. 'at that day ye shall know
that I am in the Father, and ye in me, and I in you : he
that hath my commandments, 'and keepeth them, he
it is that loveth me ; and he that loveth me, shall be
loved of my Father.' xvii. 21. ' that they all may
be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee ;
that they also may be one in us.' v. 23. ' I in them,
and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one,
and that the world may know that thou hast sent me,
and hast loved them as thou hast loved me,' v. 22.
' the glory which thou gavest me I have given them,
that they may be one, even as we are one.' When

124
the Son has shown in so many modes how he and
his Father are one, why should I set them all aside ?
why should I, on the strength of my own reasoning,
though in opposition to reason itself, devise another
mode, which makes them one in essence ; or why, if
already devised by some other person, adopt it, in
preference to Christ's own mode ? If it be proposed
on the single authority of the Church, the true doc
trine of the orthodox Church herself teaches me oth
erwise ; inasmuch as it instructs me to listen to the
words of Christ before all other.*
The other passage, and which according to the
general opinion affords the clearest foundation for the
received doctrine of the essential unity of the three
persons, is 1 John v. 7. ' there are three that bear
record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy
Ghost, and these three are one.' But not to mention
that this verse is wanting in the Syriacf and the oth
er two Oriental versions, the Arabic and the Ethiopic,
as well as in the greater part of the ancient Greek
manuscripts, and that in those manuscripts which ac
tually contain it, many various readings occur, it no
more necessarily proves those to be essentially one,
*' The best of those that then wrote (in the first ages of Christianity)
disclaim that any man should repose on them, and send all to the Scrip
tures.' Of Reformation in England. Prose Works, I. 11.
f This is true of the manuscripts of the old Syriac version, but the
printed editions of the Syriac as well as of the Armenian versions con
tain the disputed clause. See Bishop Marsh's Letters to Archdeacon
Travis. Preface, Notes 8, 9, 10, 11. With respect to the Greek
manuscripts, Milton expresses himself cautiously. It now appears that
the clause is not found in any Greek manuscript written before the six
teenth century, which has been yet collated. For an elaborate ac
count of the arguments for and against its authenticity, see Home's
Introduction, &c. Part II. Chap. iv. Sect. 5. § 6. where references are
given to the principal authorities.

125
who are said to be one in heaven, than it proves those
to be essentially one, who are said to be one on earth
in the following verse. And not only Erasmus, but
even Beza, however unwillingly, acknowledged (as
may be seen in their own writings)* that if John be
really the author of the verse, he is only speaking
here, as in the last quoted passage, of an unity of
agreement and testimony. Besides, who are the
three who are said to bear witness ? That they are
three Gods, will not be admitted ; therefore neither is
it the one God, but one record or one testimony of
three witnesses, which is implied. But he who is not
co-essential with God the Father, cannot be co-equal
with the Father. This text however will be discussed
more at large in the following chapter.
But, it is objected, although Scripture does not
say in express words that the Father and the Son are
one in essence, yet reason proves the truth of the
doctrine from these, as well as from other passages of
Scripture. In the first place, granting, (which I am far from
doing,) that this is the case, yet on a subject so sub
lime, and so far above our reason, where the very
elements and first postulates, as it were, of our faith
are concerned, belief must be founded, not on mere
* ' Annon illico poterunt tergiversari, de consensu dictum esse, non
de eadem essentia ?  Nihil autem aeque confirmat auctoritatem
testimonii ut consensus. Itaque consentiunt in terra Spiritus aqua et
sanguis. An hsec tria sunt unum, sicut Pater, Filius et Spiritus Sanc
tus unum sunt ? Nemo dicit, opinor, sed testimonii consensu sunt unum ;
ita Pater, Verbum et Spiritus Sanctus sunt unum.' Erasmi Responsio ad
Notaliones novas Ed. Leid. Tom. IX. p. 278. Edit. Lug. Bat. 1703.
' Et hi tres unum sunt: id est, ita prorsus consentiunt ac si unus testis
essent ; uti re vera unum sunt si wi'« spectes ; sed de ilia (ut mihi qui
dem videtur) non agitur hoc in loco.' Beza in loc.

126
reason, but on the word of God exclusively, where
the language of the revelation is most clear and par
ticular. Reason itself, however, protests strongly
against the doctrine in question ; for how can reason
establish (as it must in the present case) a position
contrary to reason ? Undoubtedly the product of
reason must be something consistent with reason, not
a notion as absurd as it is removed from all human
comprehension. Hence we conclude, that this opinion
is agreeable neither to Scripture nor reason. The
other alternative therefore must be adopted, namely,
that if God be one God, and that one God be the
Father, and if notwithstanding the Son be also called
God, the Son must have received the name and na
ture of Deity from God the Father, in conformity
with his decree and will, after the manner stated be
fore. This doctrine is not disproved by reason, and
Scripture teaches it in innumerable passages.
But those who insist that the Son is one God with
the Father, consider their point as susceptible of am
ple proof, even without the two texts already exam
ined, (on which indeed some admit that no reliance is
to be placed) if it can be demonstrated from a suffi
cient number of Scripture testimonies that the name
and attributes and wrorks of God, as well as divine
honours, are habitually ascribed tothe Son. To pro
ceed therefore in the same line of argument, I do not
ask them to believe that the Father alone and none
else is God, unless I shall have proved, first, that in
every passage each of the particulars above mention
ed is attributed in express terms only to one God the
Father, as well by the Son himself as by his apos
tles. Secondly, that wherever they are attributed to

127
the Son, it is in such a manner that they are easily
understood to be attributable in their original and
proper sense to the Father alone ; and that the Son
acknowledges himself to possess whatever share of
Deity is assigned to him, by virtue of the peculiar
gift and kindness of the Father ; to which the apos
tles also bear their testimony. And lastly, that the
Son himself and his apostles acknowledge through
out the whole of their discourses and writings, that
the Father is greater than the Son in all things.
I am aware of the answer which will be here made
by those who, while they believe in the unity of God,
yet maintain that the Father alone is not God. I
shall therefore meet their objection in the outset, lest
they should raise a difficulty and outcry at each in
dividual passage. They twice beg the question, or
rather request us to make two gratuitous concessions.
In the first place, they insist, that wherever the name
of God is attributed to the Father alone, it should be
understood ovaicoSas, not vrtoaxaxixas, that is to say,
that the name of the Father, who is unity, should be
understood to signify the three persons, or the whole
essence of the Trinity, not the single person of the
Father. This is on many accounts a ridiculous dis
tinction, and invented solely for the purpose of sup
porting their peculiar opinion ; although in reality,
instead of supporting it, it will be found to be de
pendent on it, and therefore if the opinion itself be
invalidated, for which purpose a simple denial is suf
ficient, the futile distinction falls to the ground at the
same time. For the fact is, not merely that the dis
tinction is a futile one, but that it is no distinction at
all ; it is a mere verbal quibble, founded on the use of

128
synonymous words, and cunningly dressed up in
terms borrowed from the Greek to dazzle the eyes of
novices. For since ' essence ' and ' hypostasis ' mean
the same thing, as has been shown in the second
Chapter, it follows that there can be no real differ
ence of meaning between the adverbs ' essentially'
and ' substantially,' which are derived from them.
If then the name of God be attributed to the Father
alone 'essentially,' it must also be attributed to the
Father alone ' substantially ;' since one substantial es
sence means nothing else than one hypostasis, and
vice versa. I would therefore ask my adversaries,
whether they hold the Father to be an abstract ens or
not ? Questionless they will reply, the primary ens
of all. I answer, therefore, that as he has one hy
postasis, so must he have one essence proper to him
self, incommunicable in the highest degree, and par
ticipated by no one, that is, by no person besides,
for he cannot have his owm proper hypostasis, with
out having his own proper essence. For it is impos
sible for any ens to retain its own essence in common
with any other thing whatever, since by this essence
it is what it is,* and is numerically distinguished from
all others. If therefore the Son, who has his own
proper hypostasis, have not also his own proper
essence, but the essence of the Father, he becomes
on their hypothesis either no ens at all, or the same
ens with the Father ; which strikes at the very foun
dation of the Christian religion. The answer which
is commonly made, is ridiculous — namely, that al
though one finite essence can pertain to one person on-
* ' The form, by which the thing is what it is, is oft so slender and
undistinguishable,' &c. &c. Tetrachordon. Prose Works, II. 140.

129
ly, one infinite essence may pertain to a plurality of per
sons ; whereas in reality the infinitude of the essence
affords an additional reason why it can pertain to only
one person. All acknowledge that both the essence
and the person of the Father are infinite ; therefore
the essence ofthe Father cannot be communicated to
another person, for otherwise there might be two, or
any imaginable number of infinite persons.
The second postulate is, that wherever the Son at
tributes Deity to the Father alone, and as to one
greater than himself, he must be understood to speak
in his human character, or as mediator. Wherever
the context and the fact itself require this interpreta
tion, I shall readily concede it, without losing any
thing by the concession ; for however strongly it may
be contended, that when the Son attributes every thing
to the Father alone, he speaks in his human or medi
atorial capacity, it can never be inferred from hence
that he is one God with the Father. On the other
hand I shall not scruple to deny the proposition,
whenever it is to be conceded not to the sense of the
passage, but merely to serve their own theory ; and
shall prove that what the Son attributes to the Father,
he attributes in his filial or even in his divine charac
ter to the Father as God of God, and not to himself
under any title or pretence whatever.
With regard to the name of God, wherever simul
taneous mention is made of the Father and the Son,
that name is uniformly ascribed to the Father alone,
except in such passages as shall be hereafter separately
Considered. I shall quote in the first place the texts
of the former class, which are by far the more con
siderable in point of number, and form a large and
vol. i. 17

130
compact body of proofs. John iii. 1 6. ' so God loved
the world, that he gave his own Son,' Stc. vi. 27.
' him hath God the Father sealed.' v. 29. ' this is the
work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath
sent.' xiv. 1. ' ye believe in God, believe also in me.'
What is meant by believing in any one, will be ex
plained hereafter ; in the mean time it is clear that
two distinct things are here intended — 'in God' and
'in me.' Thus all the apostles in conjunction, Acts
iv. 24. ' lifted up their voice to God with one accord,
and said, Lord, thou art God which hast made heaven
and earth  who by the mouth of thy servant Da
vid hast said, Why did the heathen rage  against
the Lord, and against his Christ ?' Rom. viii. 3.
' God sending his own Son.' 1 Thess. iii. 11. ' now
God himself, and our Father, and our Lord Jesus
Christ, direct our way unto you.' Col. ii. 2. ' to the
acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the
Father, and of Christ.* iii. 3. ' your life is hid with
Christ in God.' 2 Tim. iv. 1. 'I charge thee there
fore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ.' 1 John
iv. 9. ' the love of God towards us, because that God
sent his only begotten Son.' So also where Christ
is named first in order. Gcd. i. 1. 'by Jesus Christ,
and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.'
2 Thess. ii. 16. ' now our Lord Jesus Christ himself,
and God, even our Father.' The same thing may
be observed in the very outset of all the Epistles of
St. Paul and of the other apostles, where, as is natural,
it is their custom to declare in express and distinct
terms who he is by whose divine authority they have
* Tou &tov xa.) II«t£«, xa) Toi Xjiittou. Gr. of God, even of the Foliar, and
of Christ. Macknight's Translation. See also Hammond and Whitby on the
passage.

131
been sent. Rom. i. 7, 8. 1 Cor. i. 1 — 3. 2 Cor.
i. 1 — 3, and so throughout to the book of Revela
tions. See also Mark i. 1.
The Son likewise teaches that the attributes of di
vinity belong to the Father alone, to the exclusion
even of himself. With regard to omniscience.
Matt. xxiv. 36. ' of that day and hour knoweth no
man, no not the angels of heaven, but my Father
only;' and still more explicitly, Mark xiii. 32. ' not
the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but
the Father.'
With regard to supreme dominion both in heaven
and earth, the unlimited authority and full power of
decreeing according to his own independent will.*
Matt. vi. 13. ' thine is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever.' xviii. 35. ' so likewise shall
my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from
your hearts forgive not,' &c. — xxvi. 29. ' in my Fa
ther's kingdom.' xx. 23. ' to sit on my right hand
and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be
given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.'
It is not mine — , in my mediatorial capacity, as it is
commonly interpreted. f But questionless, when the
ambition of the mother and her two sons incited them
to prefer this important petition, they addressed their
petition to the entire nature of Christ, how exalted
soever it might be, praying him to grant their request
to the utmost extent of his power whether as God or
* Father eternal, thine is to decree,
Mine, both in Heaven and Earth, to do thy will
Supreme. Paradise Lost, X. 68.
¦(•See Poole's Synopsis in loco. But Whitby explains it as signifying
only a perfect conformity to His Father's will, without implying any de
fect in His own power. He quotes in support of this interpretation
Luke xxii. 29. Rev. iii. 21. 1 Cor. xii. 5.

132
man ; v. 20. ' worshipping him, and desiring a cer
tain thing of him,' and v. 21. ' grant that they may
sit.' Christ also answers with reference to his whole
nature — ' it is hot mine to give ;' and lest for some
reason, they might still fancy the gift belonged to
him, he declares that it was altogether out of his
province, and the exclusive privilege of the Father.
If his reply was meant solely to refer to his mediato
rial capacity, it would have bordered on sophistry,
which God forbid that we should attribute to him ;
as if he were capable of evading the request of Sa
lome and her sons by the quibble which the logicians
call expositio prava or cequivoca, when the respond
ent answers in a sense or with a mental intention dif
ferent from the meaning of the questioner. The same
must be said of other passages of the same kind,
where Christ speaks of himself ; for after the hypo
statical union of two natures in one person, it follows
that whatever Christ says of himself, he says not as
the possessor of either nature separately, but with
reference to the whole of his character, and in his
entire person, except where he himself makes a dis
tinction. Those who divide this hypostatical union
at their own discretion, strip the discourses and an
swers of Christ of all their sincerity ; they represent
every thing as ambiguous and uncertain, as true and
false at the same time ; it is not Christ that speaks,
but some unknown substitute, sometimes one, and
sometimes another ; so that the words of Horace may
be justly applied to such disputants :
Quo teneam vultus mutantem Protea nodo ?*
* 1 Ep. i. 90. He employs the same allusion in Paradise Lost :
 call up unbound
In various shapes old Proteus from the sea. III. 603.

133
Luke xxiii. 34. ' Father forgive them,' &c. John xiv.
2. 'in my Father's house.' So also Christ himself
says, Matt. xxvi. 39. ' O my Father, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me ; nevertheless not as I will,
but as thou wilt.' Now it is manifest that those who
have not the same will cannot have the same essence.
It appears however from many passages, that the Fa
ther and Son have not, in a numerical sense, the same
intelligence or will. Matt. xxiv. 36. ' no man know
eth  but my Father only.' Mark xiii. 32. 'neither
the Son, but the Father.' John vi. 38. ' I came
down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the
will of him that sent me.' Those therefore whose
understanding and will are not numerically the same,
cannot have the same essence. Nor is there any mode
of evading this conclusion, inasmuch as the Son him
self has thus expressed himself even with regard to
his own divine nature. See also Matt. xxvi. 42. and
v. 53. ' thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my
Father, and he shall presently give me more than
twelve legions of angels ?' Mark xiv. 36. ' Abba,
Father, all things are possible unto thee ; take away
this cup from me,' &c. Luke xxii. 29. ' I appoint
unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed
unto me.' xxiii. 46. ' Father, into thy hands I com
mend my spirit.' John xii. 27. ' Father, save me
from this hour.' If these prayers be uttered only in
his human capacity, which is the common solution,
why does he petition these things from the Father
alone, instead of from himself, if he were God ? Or
rather, supposing him to be at once man and the su
preme God, why does he ask at all for what was in

134
his own power ?* What need was there for the union
of the divine and human nature in one person, if he
himself, being equal to the Father, gave back again
into his hands every thing that he had received from'
him ?
With regard to his supreme goodness. Matt. xix.
17. ' why callest thou me good ? there is none good
but one, that is, God.' We need not be surprised
that Christ should refuse to accept the adulatory titles
which were wont to be given to the Pharisees, and on
this account should receive the young man with less
kindness than usual ; but when he says, ' there is
none good but one, that is God,' it is evident that he
did not choose to be considered essentially the same
with that one God ; for otherwise this would only
have been disclaiming the credit of goodness in one
character, for the purpose of assuming it in another.
John vi. 32. ' my Father giveth you the true bread
from heaven.' v. 65. 'no man can come unto me' —
that is, to me, both God and man — ' except it were
given unto him of my Father.'
With regard to his supreme glory. Matt, xviii.
10. ' their angels do always behold the face of my
Father which is in heaven.' John xvii. 4. ' I have
glorified thee on the earth.' Nay, it is to those who
obey the Father that the promise of true wisdom is
made even with regard to the knowing Christ him
self, which is the very point now in question. John
vii. 17, 18. ' if any man will do his will, he shall
know of the doctrine whether it be of God, or
whether I speak of myself : he that speaketh of him-
'" .... What he brings what needs he elsewhere seek ?
Paradise Regained, IV. 325.

135
self seeketh his own glory ; but he that seeketh his
glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unright
eousness is in him.' xv. 8. ' herein is my Father glo
rified, that ye bear much fruit ; so shall ye be my
disciples.' Matt. vii. 21. 'not every one that saith
unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father that
is in heaven.' xii. 50. ' whosoever shall do the will
of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my
brother, and sister, and mother.'
Thus Christ assigns every attribute of the Deity to
the Father alone. The apostles uniformly speak in a
similar manner. Rom. xv. 5, 6. ' the God of patience
and consolation grant you to be like minded one to
ward another, according to Christ Jesus.' xvi. 25 — 27.
f to him that is of power to stablish you  according
to the commandment of the everlasting God  to
God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ — our
Lord,' as the Vetus Interpres and some of the Greek
manuscripts read it. 1 Tim. vi. 13 — 16. ' I give
thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all
things, and before Christ Jesus, wdio witnessed a good
confession  until the appearing of our Lord Jesus
Christ, which in his times he shall show, who is the
blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and
Lord of lords : who alone hath immortality, dwelling
in the light which no man can approach unto, whom
no man hath seen, nor can see ; to whom be honour
and power everlasting. Amen.'
With regard to his works. See Rom. xvi. 25 — 27.
1 Tim. vi. 13 — 16. as quoted above. 2 Cor. i. 21,
22. ' now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ,
and hath anointed us, is God ; who hath also sealed

136
us.' Now the God which stablisheth us, is one God.
1 Pet. i. 2. ' elect according to the foreknowledge of
God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit
unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus
Christ.' Even those works which regard the Son
himself, or which were done in him. Acts v. 30 — 33.
' the God of our fathers raised up Jesus  him hath
God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a
Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgive
ness of sins.' Gal. i. 1. 'by Jesus Christ, and God
the Father, who raised him from the dead.' Rom. x.
9. ' if thou shalt believe in thine heart that God hath
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.' 1 Cor.
vi. 14. ' God hath both raised up the Lord, and will
also raise us up by his own power.' 1 Thess. i. 10.
' to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised
from the dead.' Heb. x. 5. ' sacrifice and offering
thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared me.'
1 Pet. i. 21. 'who by him do believe in God that
raised him up from the dead.' So many are the texts
wherein the Son is said to be raised up by the Father
alone, which ought to have greater weight than the
single passage in St. John, ii. 19. ' destroy this tem
ple, and in three days I will raise it up' — where he
spake briefly and enigmatically, without explaining
his meaning to enemies who were unworthy of a
fuller answer, on which account he thought it unne
cessary to mention the power of the Father.
With regard to divine honours. For as the Son
uniformly pays worship and reverence to the Father
alone, so he teaches us to follow the same practice.
Matt. vi. 6. ' pray to thy Father.' v. 9. ' after this
manner therefore pray ye ; Our Father, which art

137
in heaven,' &c. xviii. 19. ' as touching any thing
that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my
Father which in heaven.' Luke xi. 1, 2. ' teach us
to pray,' &c. ' and he said unto them, When ye
pray, say, Our Father, which art in heaven.' John
ii. 16. ' make not my Father's house an house of
merchandise,' iv. 21 — 23. ' the hour cometh, and
now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the
Father in spirit and in truth ; for the Father seeketh
such to worship him.' xv. 16. ' that whatsoever ye
shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it
you.' xvi. 23. 'in that day ye shall ask me noth
ing ;  whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my
name, he will give it you.' Rom. i. 8, 9. ' first, I
thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all 
for God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit
in the gospel of his Son,' &c. v. 11. ' we also joy
in God through our Lord Jesus Christ.' vii. 25. ' I
thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.' xv. 6.
' that ye may with one mind and one mouth glo
rify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.'
1 Cor. i. 4. ' I thank my God always on your behalf,
for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus
Christ.' 2 Cor. i. 3. ' blessed be God, even the Fath
er of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies,
and the God of all comfort' Gal. i. 4, 5. ' who
gave himself.  according to the will of God and our
Father ; to whom be glory for ever and ever.' Eph.
i. 3. ' blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ,' &c. ii. 18- ' for through him we both
have access by one Spirit unto the Father.' iii. 14.
1 for this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ' v. 20, 21. ' now unto him
vol. i. 18

138
that is able to do exceeding abundantly, above all
that we ask or think, according to the power that
worketh in us, unto him be glory in the Church by
Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, world without
end.' Philip, i. 2, 3. ' grace be unto you and peace
from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus
Christ. I thank my God upon every remembrance
of you.' See also Col. i. 3. and iii. 1 7. ' whatsoever
ye do  do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
thanks to God and the Father by him.' 1 Thess. i.
2, 3. ' we give thanks to God for you all, making
mention of you in our prayers ; remembering without
ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and
patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the
sight of God and our Father.' v. 9, 10. ' to serve
the living and true God ; and to wait for his Son
from heaven, whom he raised from the dead.' See
also 2 Thess. i. 2, 3. and 2 Tim. i. 3. ' I thank God,
whom I serve from my forefathers.' Now the fore
fathers of Paul served God the Father alone. See
also Philem. 4, 5. and 1 Pet. i. 3. and iv. 10. ' as
every man hath received the gift......let him speak as
the oracles of God  as of the ability which God
giveth, that God in all things may be glorified
through Jesus Christ' James i. 27. ' pure religion
and undefiled before God and the Father, is this.'
1 John. ii. 1. ' we have an advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous.' 2 John 4 — 6. ' walking
in truth, as we have received a commandment from
the Father  this is love, that we walk after his
commandments.' Rev. i. 6. ' who made us kings
and priests unto God and His Father ; to him be
glory and dominion for ever and ever,' Matt. xxi. 12.

139
' Jesus went into the temple of God.' Here how
ever my opponents quote the passage from Mal
achi iii. 1. 'the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly
come to his temple, even the messenger of the cov
enant.' I answer, that in prophetical language these
words signify the coming of the Lord into the flesh*
or into the temple of the body, as it is expressed
John ii. 21. For the Jews sought no one in the
temple as an object of worship, except the Father ;
and Christ himself in the same chapter has called
the temple his Father's house, and not his own.
Nor were they seeking God, but ' that Lord and
messenger of the covenant ; ' that is, him who was
sent from God as the mediator of the covenant ; — he
it was who should come to his Church, which the
prophets generally express figuratively under the im
age of the temple. So also where the terms God
and man are put in opposition to each other, the
Father stands exclusively for the one God. James
iii. 9. ' therewith bless we God, even the Father ;
and therewith curse we men, which are made after
the similitude of God.' 1 John ii. 15, 16. ' if any
man love the world, the love of the Father is not in
him ; for all that is in the world  is not of the
Father, but ofthe world.'
But it is strenuously urged on the other hand, that
the Son is sometimes called God, and even Jeho
vah ; and that all the attributes of the Deity are as
signed to him likewise in many passages both of the
Old and New Testament, We arrive therefore at
the other point which I originally undertook to
prove ; and since it has been already shown from
the analogy of scripture, that where the Father and

140
the Son are mentioned together, the name and at
tributes, and works of the Deity, as well as divine
honours, are always assigned to the one and only
God the Father, I will now demonstrate, that when
ever the same properties are assigned to the Son, it
is in such a manner as to make it easily intelligible
that they ought all primarily and properly to be at
tributed to the Father alone.
It must be observed in the first place, that the
name of God is not unfrequently ascribed, by the
will and concession of God the Father, even to an
gels and men, — how much more then to the only be
gotten Son, the image of the Father. To angels.
Psal, xcvii. 7, 9. ' worship him all ye gods....
thou art high above all the earth ; thou art exalted
far above all gods,' compared with Heb. i. 6. See
also Psal. viii. 5. To judges. Exod. xxii. 28.
' thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of
thy people.' See also, in the Hebrew, Exod. xxi.
6. xxii. 8, 9. Psal. Ixxxii. 1, 6. 'he judgeth
among the gods. I have said, Ye are gods, and all
of you are children of the most high.' To the
whole house of David, or to all the saints. Zech.
xii. 8. ' the house of David, shall be as God, as the
angel of the Lord before them.' The word D'rl7$,
though it be of the plural number, is also employed
to signify a single angel, in case it should be thought
that the use of the plural implies a plurality of per
sons inthe Godhead: Judges xiii. 21. ' then Ma
noah knew that he was an angel of Jehovah; and
Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, be
cause we have seen God.' The same word is also
applied to a single false God. Exod. xx. 3. ' thou

141
shalt have no other gods before me.' To Dagon.
Judges xvi. 23. To single idols. 1 Kings xi. 33.
To Moses. Exod. iv. 16. and vii. 1. To God the
Father alone. Psal. ii. 7. xiv. 7. and in many other
places. Similar to this is the use of the word DVJIN!,
the Lord, in the plural number with a singular mean
ing ; and with a plural affix according to the Hebrew
mode. The word 'J~ltt also with the voAvel Palha
is frequently employed to signify one man, and with
the vowel Kamets to signify one God, or one angel
bearing the character of God. This peculiarity in
the above words has been carefully noticed by the
grammarians and lexicographers themselves, as well
as in 7^5 used appellatively. The same thing may
niiriC'J^. For even among the Greeks the word
perhaps be remarked of the proper names D'7^75 and
Sstinox-qs, that is, Lord, is also used in the plural
number in the sense of the singular, when extraordi
nary respect and honour are intended to be paid.
Thus in the Iphigenia in Aulis of Euripides, Viav
Ss6n6xai6i maxos sl, (1. 304 Beck's edition) for Ssa-
noxq, and again svxXees xoi dsantoxav dvrjaxsiv V7teg
(1. 312) for Ssanorov. It is also used in the Rhesus
and the Bacchse and in the same manner.*
Attention must be paid to these circumstances, lest
any one through ignorance of the language should
erroneously suppose, that whenever the word Elohim
is joined with a singular, it is intended to intimate a
plurality of persons in unity of essence. But if there
Le any significance at all in this peculiarity, the word
must imply as many Gods, as it does persons. Be-
Rhes. 264. Bacch. 1027. Edit. Beck.

142
sides, a plural adjective or a plural verb is sometimes
joined to the word Elohim, which, if a construction
of this kind could mean anything, would signify not
a plurality of persons only, but also of natures. See
in the Hebrew, Deut. v. 26. Josh. xxiv. 19. Jer.
x. 10. Gen. xx. 13. Further, the singular libti
also sometimes occurs, Deut. xxxii. 18. and else
where. It is also attributed to Christ with the sin
gular affix. Psal. ex. 1. 'JIN? 'Jehovah said unto
my Lord,' in which passage the Psalmist speaks of
Christ (to whom the name of Lord is assigned as
a title of the highest honour) both as distinct from
Jehovah, and, if any reliance can be placed on the
affix, as inferior to Jehovah. But when he addresses
the Father, the affix is changed, and he says, v. 5.
'J'TJ* ' the Lord at thy right hand shall strike through
kings in the day of his wrath.'
The name of God seems to be attributed to an
gels,* because as heavenly messengers they bear the
appearance of the divine glory and person, and even
speak in the very words of the Deity. Gen. xxi. 17,
18. xxii. 11, 12, 15, 16. -by myself have I sworn,
* Milton is fond of attributing the name of God to angels, even in
his Poem :
Deigns none to ease thy load, and taste thy sweet,
Nor God, nor man ? Paradise Lost, V. 59.
And again, in the same book,
Evil into the mind of God or man
May come and go, so unreprov'd. 117.
Where Newton properly remarks that God must signify Angel, for
' God cannot be tempted with evil,' as St. James says of the Supreme
Being. So also in Paradise Regained, of the fallen angels,
 led their march
From Hell's deep vaulted den to dwell in light,
Regents and potentates, and kings, yea Gods,
Of many a pleasant realm and province wide. I. 115.

143
saith Jehovah.' For the expression which was se
frequently in the mouth of the prophets, and which is
elsewhere often omitted, is here inserted, that it may
be understood that angels and messengers do not de
clare their own words, but the commands of God who
sends them, even though the speaker seem to bear
the name and character of the Deity himself. So
believed the patriarch Jacob; Gen. xxxi. 11 — 13.
' the angel of God spake unto me say ing.... I have
seen all that Laban doeth unto thee. I am the God
of Bethel,' &.c. xxxii. 30. ' I have seen God face to
face ;' compared with Hos. xii. 4, 5. ' he had power
with God, yea, he had power over the angel.' Exod.
xxiv. 10, 11. ' they saw the God of Israel. ...also they
saw God.' Deut. iv. 33. 'did ever people hear the
voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as
thou hast heard, and live ?' Yet it is said, Exod.
xxxiii. 20. 'there shall no man see me, and live.'
John i. 18. ' no man hath seen God at any time.'
v. 37. ' ye have neither heard his voice at any time,
nor seen his shape.' 1 Tim. vi. 16. ' dwelling inthe
light which no man can approach unto, whom no man
hath seen, nor can see.' It follows therefore that
whoever was heard or seen, it was not God ; not
even where mention is made of God, nay even of Je
hovah himself, and of the angels in the same sen
tence. Gen. xxviii. 12, 13. ' behold the angels of
God  and behold, Jehovah stood above them.'
1 Kings xxii. 19. ' I saw Jehovah sitting on his
throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him.'
Isai. vi. 1, 2. 'I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne......
above it stood the seraphim.' I repeat, it was not
God himself that he saw, but perhaps one of the an-

144
gels clothed in some modification of the divine glory,
or the Son of God himself, the image of the glory of
his Father, as John understands the vision, xii. 41.
' these things said Esaias, when he saw his glory.'
For if he had been of the same essence, he could no
more have been seen or heard than the Father him
self, as will be more fully shown hereafter. Hence
even the holiest of men were troubled in mind when
they had seen an angel, as if they had seen God him
self. Gen. xxxii. 30. ' I have seen God.' Judges
vi. 22. ' when Gideon perceived that he was an angel
of Jehovah, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord Jehovah, for
because I have seen an angel of Jehovah face to face. '
See also xiii. 21, 22. as before.
The name of God is ascribed to judges, because
they occupy the place of God to a certain degree in
the administration of judgement. The Son, wdio was
entitled to the name of God both in the capacity of a
messenger and of a judge, and indeed in virtue of a
much better right,* did not think it foreign to his
character, when the Jews accused him of blasphemy
because he made himself God, to allege in his own
defence the very reason which has been advanced.
John x. 34 — 36. ' Jesus answered them, Is it not
written in your law, I said, Ye are gods ? If he call
ed them gods unto whom the word of God came, and
the Scripture cannot be broken ; say ye of him whom
the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world,
Thou blasphemest ; because I said, I am the Son of
* Be not so sore oifended, Son of God,
Though Sons of God both angels are and men,
If I, to try whether in higher sort
Than these thou bear'st that title.Paradise Regained, IV. 196.

145
God ? ' — especially when God himself had called the
judges, sons of the Most High, as has been stated
before. Hence 1 Cor. viii. 4, 5. ' for though there be
that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth,
(as there be gods many, and lords many,) but to us
there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all
things, and we in him ; and one Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom are all things, and we by him.'
Even the principal texts themselves which are
brought forward to prove the divinity of the Son, if
carefully weighed and considered, are sufficient to
show that the Son is God in the maimer which has
been explained. John i. 1 . 'in the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God.' It is not said, from everlasting,
but ' in the beginning.' The Word, — therefore the
Word was audible. But God, as he cannot be seen,
so neither can he be heard ; John v. 37. The Word
therefore is not of the same essence with God. ' The
Word was with God, and was God,' — namely, be
cause he was with God, that is, in the bosom of the
Father, as it is expressed v. 18. Does it follow there
fore that he is essentially one with him with whom
he was ? It no more follows, than that the disciple
' who was lying on Jesus' breast,' John xiii. 23.
was essentially one with Christ. Reason rejects the
doctrine ; Scripture nowhere asserts it ; let us there
fore abandon human devices, and follow the evan
gelist himself; who is his own interpreter. Rev.
xix. 13. ' his name is called The Word of God' — that
is, of the one God : he himself is a distinct person.
If therefore he be a distinct person, he is distinct from
God, who is unity. How then is he himself also God ?
vol. i. 19

146
By the same right as he enjoys the title of the Word,
or of the only begotten Son, namely, by the will of
the one God. This seems to be the reason why it is
repeated in the second verse — ' the same was in the
beginning with God ;' which enforces what the apos
tle wished wre should principally observe, not that he
was in the beginning God, but in the beginning with
God ; that he might show him to be God only by
proximity and love ; not in essence ; which doctrine
is consistent with the subsequent explanation of the
evangelist in numberless passages of his gospel.
Another passage is the speech of Thomas, John
xx. 28. ' my Lord and my God.' He must have an
immoderate share of credulity who attempts to elicit
a new confession of faith, unknown to the rest ofthe
disciples, from this abrupt exclamation of the aposr
tie, who invokes in his surprize not only Christ his
own Lord, but the God of his ancestors, namely,
God the Father ; — as if he had said, Lord ! what do
I see — what do I hear — what do I handle with my
hands ? He whom Thomas is supposed to call God
in this passage, had acknowledged respecting himself
not long before, v. 17. 'I ascend unto my God and
your God.' Now the God of God cannot be essen
tially one with him whose God he is. On whose
word therefore can we ground our faith with most
security ; on that of Christ, whose doctrine is clear,
or of Thomas, a new disciple, first incredulous, then
suddenly breaking out into an abrupt exclamation in
an ecstasy of wonder, if indeed he really called Christ
his God ? For having reached out his fingers, he
called the man whom he touched, as if unconscious of
what he was saying, by the name of God. Neither is

147
it credible that he should have so quickly understood
the hypostatic union of that person whose resurrec
tion he had just before disbelieved. Accordingly the
faith of Peter is commended — ' blessed art thou, Si
mon ' — for having only said — ' thou art the Son of the
living God,' Matt. xvi. 16, 17. The faith of Thomas,
although as it is commonly explained, it asserts the
divinity of Christ in a much more remarkable man
ner, is so far from being praised, that it is under
valued, and almost reproved in the next verse —
' Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast be
lieved ; blessed are they that have not seen, and yet
have believed.' And yet, though the slowness of his
belief may have deserved blame, the testimony borne
by him to Christ as God, which if the common inter
pretation be received as true, is clearer than occurs
in any other passage, would undoubtedly have met
with some commendation ; whereas it obtains none
whatever. Hence there is nothing to invalidate that
interpretation of the passage which has been alrea
dy suggested, referring the words — my Lord — to
Christ, — my God — to God the Father, Who had just
testified that Christ was his Son, by raising him up
from the dead in so wonderful a manner.
So too Heb. i. 8. ' unto the Son ' — or ' of the
Son — he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and
ever.' But in the next verse it follows, ' thou hast
loved righteousness,' &c. ' therefore God, even thy
God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness
above thy fellows,' where almost every word indi
cates the sense in which Christ is here termed God ;
and the words of Jehovah put into the mouth of the
bridal virgins, Psal. xiv. might have been more prop-

148
crly quoted by this writer for any other purpose than
to prove that the Son is co-equal with the Father,
since they are originally applied to Solomon, to
whom, as properly as to Christ, the title of God
might have been given on account of his kingly pow
er, conformably to the language of Scripture.
These three passages are the most distinct of all
that are brought forward ; for the text in Matt. i. 23.
' they shall call ' (for so the great majority of the
Greek manuscripts read it*) ' his name Immanuel,
which being interpreted is, God with us,' does not
prove that he whom they were so to call should neces
sarily be God, but only a messenger from God, ac
cording to the song of Zacharias, Luke i. 68, 69.
' blessed be the Lord God of Israel ; for he hath visit
ed and redeemed his people, and hath raised up an
horn of salvation for us,' &c. Nor can any thing
certain be inferred from Acts xvi. 31 , 34. ' believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ, — and he rejoiced, believing in
God with all his house.' For it does not follow from
hence that Christ is God, since the apostles have
never distinctly pointed out Christ as the ultimate ob
ject of faith; but these are merely the words of the
historian, expressing that briefly which there can be
no doubt that the apostles inculcated in a more detail
ed manner, — faith in God the Father through Christ.
Nor is the passage in Acts xx. 28. more decisive, —
• the Church of God, which he hath purchased with
his own blood ;' that is, with his own Son, as it is
elsewhere expressed, for God properly speaking has
'* xaXttrovtri to ovofiu. avroii. ' "Kakiffzis Steph. /3. Cant. Euseb. sed exemplaria
MSS. universim, Vulg. Hieron. Epiphan. Chrysost. Theophylact. Origen. lien.
Just. Martyr, (qui etiam habet xaXia-sri) receptam lectionem retinent.' Mill, in loc.

149
no blood ; and no usage is more common than the
substitution of the figurative term blood for offspring.
But the Syriac version reads, not ' the Church of
God,' but ' the Church of Christ ; ' and in our own re
cent translation it is, ' the Church ofthe Lord.'* Nor
can any certain dependence be placed on the authority
of the Greek manuscripts, five of which read xov
Kvgiov xai 0£ov,\ according to Beza, who suspects
that the words xov Kvgiov have crept in from the
margin, though it is more natural to suppose the words
xal Osov to have crept in, on account of their being
an addition to the former. The same must be said
respecting Rom. ix. 5. ' who is over all, God blessed
forever. Amen.' For in the first place, Hilary and
Cyprian do not read the word God in this passage,
nor do some ofthe other Fathers, if we may believe the
*In the list of various readings given in Bp. Wilson's Bible, it 's
stated that the reading of the Lord exists in one of the English Bibles
printed by Whitchurch, which is probably the ' recent translation ' al
luded to by Milton. This printer published many editions of the Bible,
separately or in conjunction with Grafton, about the middle of the six
teenth century. The library at St. Paul's contains ten editions publish
ed in different years between 1530 and 1560, but the reading alluded to
appears in none of them. The libraries of the British Museum, Lam
beth, and Canterbury (which latter collection contains about fifty an
cient English Bibles and Testaments presented by the late Dr. Coombe),
the Bodleian library at Oxford, the University library, and the libraries
of Trinity and St. John's Colleges, Cambridge, have also been searched
without success for a copy ofthe edition in question.
f This is the reading of the Codex Passional, the date of which, how
ever, is not earlier than the eighth or ninth century, and of sixty-three
other MSS. none of which are among the most correct or authoritative.
See Home's Introduction, &c. Vol. II. 352, for an analysis of what
Griesbach, Hale, Michaelis and others have written on the verse. The
sum ofthe whole is, that ixxXwitt to? ©so?, Church of God, the received
reading, 'is better supported than any of the other readings, and conse
quently we may conclude that it was the identical expression uttered
by Paul, and recorded by Luke.'

150
authority of Erasmus ; who has also shown that the
difference of punctuation may raise a doubt with re
gard to the true meaning of the passage, namely,
whether the clause in question should not rather be
understood of the Father than of the Son.* But
waiving these objections, and supposing that the
words are spoken of the Son ; they have nothing to
do with his essence, but only intimate that divine
honour is communicated to the Son by the Father,
and particularly that he is called God ; which has
been already fully shown by other arguments. But,
they rejoin, the same words which were spoken of
the Father, Rom. i. 25. ' more than the Creator, who
is blessed for ever. Amen,' are here repeated ofthe
Son ; therefore the Son is equal to the Father. If
there be any force in this reasoning, it will rather
prove that the Son is greater than the Father ; for
according to the ninth chapter he is ' over all,' which
however, they remind us, ought to be understood in
the same sense as John iii. 31, 32. ' he that cometh
from above, is above all ; he that cometh from heaven
is above all.' In these words even the divine nature
is clearly implied, and yet, ' what he hath seen and
heard, that he testifieth,' which language affirms that
he came not of himself, but was sent from the Father,
and was obedient to him. It will be answered, that
it is only his mediatorial character which is intended.
* 'Sanctus Cyprianus adversus Judaeos libro secundo, capite qninto,
adduxit hunc locum, omissa Dei mentione. Itidem Hilarius enarrans
Psalmum cxxii. quod incuria librariorum esse omissum videri potest.'
Erasmi Annolationes ad Rom. ix. 5. See also his treatise entitled
Responsio de FUU divinitate. Tom. IX. p. 849. Macknight in his
notes on the passage of the Romans, answers Erasmus with regard to
both the points which Milton mentions.

.151
But he never could have become a mediator, nor
could he have been sent from God, or have been
obedient to him, unless he had been inferior to God
and the Father as to his nature. Therefore also af
ter he shall have laid aside his functions as medi
ator, whatever may be his greatness, or whatever it
majr previously have been, he must be subject to God
and the Father. Hence he is to be accounted above
all, with this reservation, that he is always to be ex
cepted ' who did put all things under him,' 1 Cor.
xv. 27. and who consequently is above him under
whom he has put all things. If lastly he be termed
blessed, it must be observed that he received blessing
as well as divine honour, not only as God, but even
as man. Rev. v. 12. ' worthy is the Lamb that was
slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and
strength and honour and glory and blessing ; ' and
hence, v. 13. ' blessing, and honour, and glory, and
power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and
unto the Lamb for ever and ever.'
There is a still greater doubt respecting the read
ing in 1 Tim. iii. 16. ' God was manifest in the flesh.'
Here again Erasmus asserts that neither Ambrose nor
the Vetus Interpres read the word God in this verse,
and that it does not appear in a considerable number
of the early copies.* However this may be, it will
be clear when the context is duly examined, that the
whole passage must be understood of God the Father
* 'Ambrosius et Vulgatus Interpres legerunt pro Qih, »> id est, quod.''
Erasmus ad 1 Tim. iii. 16. The Clermont MS. the Vulgate, and some
other versions read S, which. The Colbertine MS. reads $s, who. All
the other Greek MSS. have ©s«. For a defence of the latter reading
see Mill and Macknight in loco, and Pearson Ore the Creed. See alsc»
Waterland, Works, II. 158.

152
in conjunction with the Son. For it is not Christ
who is ' the great mystery of godliness,' but God
the Father in Christ, as appears from Col. ii. 2. ' the
mystery of God and of the Father, and of Christ'
2 Cor. v. 18, 19. 'all things are of God, who hath
reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ.... to wit,
that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto
himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.'
Why therefore should God the Father not be in
Christ through the medium of all those offices of re
conciliation which the apostle enumerates in this
passage of Timothy ? ' God was manifest in the
flesh ' — namely in the Son, his own image ; in any
other way he is invisible : nor did Christ come to
manifest himself, but his Father, John xiv. 8, 9.
' Justified in the Spirit ' — and who should be thereby
justified, if not the Father ? ' Seen of angels' — inas
much as they desired to look into this mystery, 1 Pet.
i. 12. ' Preached unto the Gentiles ' — that is, the
Father in Christ. ' Believed on in the world' — and
to whom is faith so applicable, as to the Father through
Christ? ' Received up into glory ' — namely, he who
was in the Son from the beginning, after recon
ciliation had been made, returned with the Son into
glory, or was received into that supreme glory which
he had obtained in the Son. But there is no need of
discussing this text at greater length : those who are
determined to defend at all events the received opin
ion, according to which these several propositions are
predicated not of the Father but of the Son alone,
when they are in fact applicable both to the one and
the other, though on different grounds, may easily
establish that the Son is God. a truth which I am far

153
from denying — but they will in vain attempt to prove
from this passage that he is the supreme God, and
one with the Father.
The next passage is Tit. ii. 13. ' the glorious ap
pearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus
Christ.' Here also the glory of God the Father may
be intended, writh which Christ is to be invested on
his second advent, Matt. xvi. 27. as Ambrose under
stands the passage from the analogy of Scripture.
For the whole force of the proof depends upon the
definitive article, which may be inserted or omitted
before the two nouns in the Greek without affecting
the sense ; or the article prefixed to one may be com
mon to both.* Besides, in other languages, where
the article is not used, the words may be understood
to apply indifferently either to one or two persons ;
and nearly the same words are employed without the
article in reference to two persons, Philipp. i. 2.
and Philem. 3. except that in the latter passages
the word Father is substituted for great. So also
2 Pet. i. 1. ' through the righteousness of [our]
God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.' Here the re
petition of the pronoun r^iav without the article, as
it is read by some of the Greek manuscripts, shows
that two distinct persons are spoken of. And surely
what is proposed to us as an object of belief, especial
ly in a matter involving a primary article of faith,
ought not to be an inference forced and extorted from
passages relating to an entirely different subject, in
which the readings are sometimes various, and the
* On the importance of the Greek article, see Mr. Granville Sharp's
Remarks on the Uses qf the Definitive Article, &c. ; Dr. Wordsworth's
Six Letters to Mr. Sharp ; Mr. Boyd's Supplementary Researches ; and
Bp. Middleton's Doctrine of the Greek Article.
vol. i. 20

154
sense doubtful, — nor hunted out by careful research
from among articles and particles, — nor elicited by
dint of ingenuity, like the answers of an oracle, from
sentences of dark or equivocal meaning — but should
be susceptible of abundant proof from the clearest
sources. For it is in this that the superiority of the
gospel to the law consists ; this, and this alone, is
consistent with its open simplicity ; this is that true
light and clearness which we had been taught to ex
pect would be its characteristic. Lastly, he who
calls God great, does not necessarily call him supreme,
or essentially one with the Father ; nor on the other
hand does he thereby deny that Christ is the great
God, in the sense in which he has been above proved
to be such.
Another passage which is also produced is 1 John
iii. 16. ' hereby perceive we the love of God, because
he laid down his life for us.' Here however the
Syriac version reads illius instead of Dei, and it re
mains to be seen whether other manuscripts do the
same.* The pronoun he, ixuvos, seems not to be re
ferred to God, but to the Son of God, as may be con
cluded from a comparison of the former chapters of
this epistle, and the first, second, fifth and eighth ver
ses of the chapter before us, as well as from Rom.
v. 8. ' God commendeth his love toward us, in that,
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.' The
love of God, therefore, is the love of the Father,
whereby he so loved the world, that ' he purchased it
with his own blood,' Acts xx. 28. and for it ' laid
down his life,' that is, the life of his only begotten
Son, as it may be explained from John iii. 16. and
by analogy from many other passages. Nor is it ex-
* The Ethiopic version reads ttunS. Mill omits ®uS.

155
traordinary that by the phrase, ' his life,' should be
understood the life of his beloved Son, since we are
ourselves in the habit of calling any much-loved
friend by the title of life, or part of our life, as a
term of endearment in familiar discourse.
But the passage which is considered most im
portant of all, is 1 John v. part of the twentieth
verse — for if the whole be taken, it will not prove
what it is adduced to support. ' We know that the
Son of God is come, and hath given us an under
standing, that we may know him that is true, and we
are in him that is true, (even) in his Son Jesus
Christ : this is the true God, and eternal life.' For
' we are in him that is true in his Son,' — that is, so
far as we are in the Son of him that is true : — ' this
is the true God ;' namely j he who was just before
called ' him that was true,' the word God being
omitted in the one clause, and subjoined in the other.
For he it is that is ' he that is true' (whom that we
might know, ' we know that the Son of God is come,
and hath given us an understanding ') not he who is
called ' the. Son of him that is true,' though that be
the nearest antecedent, — for common sense itself re
quires that the article this should be referred to ' him
that is true,' (to whom the subject of the context
principally relates,) not to ' the Son of him that is
true.'* Examples of a similar construction are not
Wanting. See Acts iv. 10, 11. and x. 16. 2 Thess.
ii. 8, 9. 2 John 7. Compare also John xvii. 3. with
which passage the verse in question seems to corres-
* This is the interpretation of Benson, Wetstein, Schleusner, Mac
knight, &c. In support of the other construction, see Beza, Whitby,
and particularly Waterland, Works, Vol. II. p. 123. '

156
pond exactly in sense, the position of the words alone
being changed. But it will be objected, that accord
ing to some of the texts quoted before, Christ is God ;
now if the Father be the only true God, Christ is
not the true God ; but if he be not the true God, he
must be a false God. I answer, that the conclusion
is too hastily drawn ; for it may be that he is not ' he
that is true,' either because he is only the image of
him that is true, or because he uniformly declares
himself to be inferior to him that is true. We are
not obliged to say of Christ what the Scriptures do
not. say. The Scriptures call him God, but not ' him
that is the true God ;' why are we not at liberty to
acquiesce in the same distinction ? At all events he
is not to be called a false God, to whom, as to his
beloved Son, he that is the true God has communica
ted his divine power and glory.
They also adduce Philipp. ii. 6. ' who being in
the form of God ' — but this no more proves him to
be God than the phrase which follows — ' took upon
him the form of a servant' — proves that he was real
ly a servant, as the sacred writers nowhere use the
word form for actual being. But if it be contended
that the form of God is here taken in a philosophical
sense for the essential form, the consequence cannot
be avoided, that when Christ laid aside the form, he
laid aside also the substance and the efficiency of
God ; a doctrine against which they protest, and with
justice. To be in ' the form of God,' therefore, seems
, to be synonymous with being in the image of God ;
which is often predicated of Christ, even as man is
also said, though in a much lower sense, to be the
image of God, and to be in tiie image of God, that

157
is, by creation. More will be added respecting this
passage hereafter.
The last passage that is quoted is from the epistle
of Jude, v. 4. ' denying the only Lord God, and our
Lord Jesus Christ.' Who will not agree that this is
too verbose a mode of description, if all these words
are intended to apply to one person ? or who would
not rather conclude, on a comparison of many other
passages which tend to confirm the same opinion, that
they were spoken of two persons, namely, the Father
the only God, and our Lord Jesus Christ ? Those,
however, who are accustomed to discover some ex
traordinary force in the use of the article, contend
that both names must refer to the same person, be
cause the article is prefixed in the Greek to the first of
them only, which is done to avoid weakening the
structure of the sentence. If the force of the arti
cles is so great, I do not see how other languages can
dispense with them.
The passages quoted in the New Testament from
the Old will have still less weight, if they be produced
to prove anything more than what the writer who
quoted them intended. Of this class are, Psal. Ixviii.
17 — 19. 'the chariots of God are twenty thousand,'
&c  ' the Lord is among them,' &c. ' thou hast
ascended on high  thou hast received gifts for men.'
Here (to say nothing of several ellipses, which the
interpreters are bold enough to fill up in various ways,
as they think proper) mention is made of two persons,
God and the Lord, which is in contradiction to the
opinions of those who attempt to elicit a testimony
to the supreme divinity of Christ, by comparing this
passage with Eph. iv. 5 — 8. Such a doctrine was

158
never intended by the apostle, who argues very dif
ferently in the ninth verse — ' now that he ascended,
what is it but that he also descended first into the
lower parts of the earth?' — from which the only mean
to show that the Lord Christ, who had lately died,
and was now received into heaven, gave gifts unto
men which he had received from the Father.
It is singular, however, that those who maintain
the Father and the Son to be one in essence, should
revert from the gospel to the times of the law, as -if
they would make a fruitless attempt to illustrate
light by darkness. They say that the Son is not
only called God, but also Jehovah, as appears from
a comparison of several passages in both testaments.
Now Jehovah is the one supreme God ; therefore
the Son and the Father are one in essence. It will
be easy to expose the weakness of such an argu
ment as this, which is derived from the ascription of
the name of Jehovah to the Son. For the name of
Jehovah is conceded even to the angels, in the same
sense as it has been already shown that the name of
God is applied to them, namely, when they repre
sent the divine presence and person, and utter the
very words of Jehovah. Gen. xvi. 7. ' the angel of
Jehovah found her,' compared with v. 10. ' the an
gel of Jehovah said unto her, I will multiply thy seed
exceedingly,' and v. 13. ' she called the name of Je
hovah who spake unto her — .' xviii. 13. ' and Jeho
vah said,' &c. whereas it appears that the three men
whom Abraham entertained were angels. Gen. xix.
1. 'there came two angels.' v. 13. 'and Jehovah
hath sent us' — compared with v. 18, 21, 24. ' Oh,
not so, 'J"l£t : and he said unto him, See I have ac-

159
cepted thee  then Jehovah rained  from Jehovah
out of heaven.' Gen. xxi. 17. ' the angel of God
called to Hagar out of heaven,' &c  ' God hath
heard' — compared with v. 18. 'I will make him a
great nation.' So Exod. iii. 2, 4. ' the angel of Je
hovah  when Jehovah saw that he turned aside to
see, God called unto him ' — compared with Acts. vii.
30. ' there appeared to him an angel of the Lord in
a flame of fire in a bush.' If that angel had been
Christ or the supreme God, it is natural to suppose
that Stephen would have declared it openly, especial
ly on such an occasion, where it might have tended
to strengthen the faith of the other believers, and
strike his judges with alarm. In Exod. xx. when
the law was delivered, no mention is made of any
one who gave it to Moses, except Jehovah, and yet
Acts vii. 38. the same Stephen says, ' this is be that
was in the church in the wilderness with the angel
which spake to him in the mount Sinai ; ' aud verse
53. he declares that ' the law was received by the
disposition of angels.' Gal. iii. 19. ' it was ordain
ed by angels.' Heb. ii. 2. ' if the word spoken by
angels was steadfast,' &c. Therefore what is said in
Exodus to have been spoken by Jehovah, was not
spoken by himself personally, but by angels in the
name of Jehovah. Nor is this extraordinary, for it
does not seem to have been suitable that Christ who
was the minister of the gospel should also be the
minister of the law : ' by how much more also he is
the mediator of a better covenant.' Heb. viii. 6.
But it would indeed have been wonderful if Christ
had actually appeared as the mediator of the law,
and none of the apostles had ever intimated it.

160
Nay, the contrary seems to be asserted Heb. i. 1.
' God who at sundry times and in divers manners
spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets,
hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son.'
Again it is said, Num. xxii, 22. ' God's anger was
kindled. ...and the angel of Jehovah stood in the way
for an adversary unto him.' v. 31. ' then Jehovah
opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of
Jehovah.' Afterwards the same angel speaks as if
he were Jehovah himself, v. 32. ' behold I went out
to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse be
fore me : ' and Balaam says, v. 34. ' if it displease
thee — ; ' to which the angel answers — ' only the
word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt
speak.' v. 35. compared with v. 20. and with chap.
xxiii. 8, 20. Josh. v. 14. ' as captain of the host
of Jehovah am I come,' compared with vi. 2. ' Je
hovah said unto Joshua.' Judg. vi. 11, 12. ' an an
gel of Jehovah  the angel of Jehovah,' — com
pared with v. 14. ' Jehovah looked upon him, and
said — .' Again, v. 20, 21. ' the angel of God 
the angel of Jehovah ; ' and v. 22. ' Gideon perceiv
ed that he was an angel of Jehovah' — compared with
v. 23. ' Jehovah said unto him' — although the angel
here, as in other instances, personated the character
of Jehovah : — v. 14. ' have not I sent thee ? ' v. 16.
' surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the
Midianites : ' and Gideon himself addresses him as
Jehovah, v. 17. ' show me a sign that thou talkest
with me.' 1 Chron. xxi. 15. ' God sent an an
gel — .' v. 16, 17. 'and David saw the angel of
Jehovah  and fell upon his face, and said unto
God — .' v. 18, 19. ' then the angel of Jehovah com-

161
manded Gad to say unto David  and David went up
at the saying of Gad, which he spake in the name of
Jehovah.' But it may be urged, that the name of Jehovah is
sometimes assigned to two persons in the same sen
tence. Gen. xix. 24. ' Jehovah rained  from Je
hovah out of heaven.' 1 Sam. iii. 21. 'Jehovah
revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of
Jehovah.' Jer. xxxiv. 12. ' the word of Jehovah
came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying — .' Hos. i.
7. ' I will save them by Jehovah their God.' Zech.
iii. 1 — 3. ' standing before the angel. ...and Jehovah
said unto Satan, Jehovah rebuke thee' — and again,
' before the angel.' I answer, that in these passages
either one of the persons is an angel, according to
that usage of the word which has been already ex
plained ; or it is to be considered as a peculiar form
of speaking, in which, for the sake of emphasis, the
name of Jehovah is repeated, though with reference
to the same person ; ' for Jehovah the God of Israel
is one Jehovah.' If in such texts as these both per
sons are to be understood properly and in their own
nature as Jehovah, there is no longer one Jehovah,
but two ; whence it follows that the repetition of
the name can only have been employed for the pur
pose of giving additional force to the sentence. A
similar form of speech occurs Gen. ix. 16. ' I will
look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting
covenant between God and every living creature:
and 1 Cor. i. 7, 8. ' waiting for the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ.' 1 Thess. iii. 12, 13. 'the
Lord make you to increase,' &c. ' to the end he may
stablish your hearts  before God, even our Father,
vol. i. 21

162
at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.' Here
whether it be ' God, even our Father,' or ' our Lord
Jesus,' who in the former verse is called Lord, in
either case there is the same redundance. If the
Jews had understood the passages quoted above, and
others of the same kind, as implying that there were
two persons, both of whom were Jehovah, and both
of whom had an equal right to the appellation, there
can be no doubt that, seeing the doctrine so frequent
ly enforced by the prophets, they would have adopt
ed the same belief which now prevails among us, or
would at least have laboured under considerable scru
ples on the subject : whereas I suppose no one in
his senses will venture to affirm that the Jewish
Church ever so understood the passages in question,
or believed that there were two persons, each of
whom was Jehovah, and had an equal right to as
sume the title. It would seem, therefore, that they
interpreted them in the manner above mentioned.
Thus in allusion to a human being, 1 Kings viii. 1.
' then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel. ...unto
king Solomon in Jerusalem.' No one is so absurd
as to suppose that the name of Solomon is here ap
plied to two persons in the same sentence. It is
evident, therefore, both from the declaration of the
sacred writer himself, and from the belief of those
very persons to whom the angels appeared, that the
name of Jehovah was attributed to an angel ; and
not to an angel only, but also to the whole Church,
Jer. xxxiii. 16.
But as Placseus of Saumur thinks it incredible that
an angel should bear the name of Jehovah, and that
the dignity of the supreme Deity should be degraded

163
by being personated, as it were, on a stage, I will
produce a passage in which God himself declares that
his name is in an angel. Exod. xxiii. 20, 21. ' behold,
I send an angel before thee, to ke^p, thee in the way,'
&c. ' beware of him, and obey his voice ; provoke
him not, for he will not pardon your transgressions ;
for my name is in him.' The angel who from that
time forward addressed the Israelites, and whose
voice they were commanded to hear, was always called
Jehovah, though the appellation did not properly be
long to him. To this they reply, that he was really
Jehovah, for that angel was Christ ; 1 Cor. x. 9.
' neither let us tempt Christ,' &c. I answer, that it
is of no importance to the present question, whether
it were Christ or not ; the subject of inquiry now is,
whether the children of Israel understood that angel
to be really Jehovah ? If they did so understand, it
follows that they must have conceived either that
there were two Jehovahs, or that Jehovah and the
angel were one in essence ; which no rational person
will affirm to have been their belief. But even if
such an assertion were advanced, it would be refuted
by chap, xxxiii. 2, 3, 5. 'I will send an angel be
fore thee. ...for I will not go up in the midst of thee....
lest I consume thee in the way. And when the peo
ple heard these evil tidings, they mourned.' If the
people had believed that Jehovah and that angel were
one in essence, equal in divinity and glory, why did
they mourn, and desire that Jehovah should go up
before them, notwithstanding his anger, rather than
the angel ? who, if he had indeed been Christ, would
have acted as a mediator and peace-maker. If, on
the contrary, they did not consider the angel as Je-

164
hovah, they must necessarily have understood that he
bore the name of Jehovah in the sense in which I
suppose him to have borne it, wherein there is nothing
either absurd or theatrical. Being at length prevail
ed upon to go up with them in person, he grants thus
much only, v. 14. — ' my presence shall go with
thee' — which can imply nothing else than a repre
sentation of his name and glory in the person of some
angel. But whoever this was, whether Christ, or some
angel different from the preceding, the very words
of Jehovah himself show that he was neither one with
Jehovah, nor co-equal, for the Israelites are com
manded to hear his voice, not. on the authority of his
own name, but because the name of Jehovah was in
him. If on the other hand it is contended that the
angel was Christ, this proves no more than that
Christ was an angel, according to their interpretation
of Gen. xlviii. 16. ' the angel which redeemed me
from all evil;' and Isai. lxiii. 9. 'the angel of his
presence saved them' — that is, he who represented
his presence or glory, and bore his character ; an an
gel, as they say, by office, but Jehovah by nature.
But to whose satisfaction will they be able to prove
this? He is called indeed, Mai. iii. 1. ' the messenger
ofthe covenant :' see also Exod. xxiii. 20, 21. com
pared with 1 Cor. x. 9. as before. But it does not
therefore follow, that whenever an angel is sent from
heaven, that angel is to be considered as Christ ; nor
where Christ is sent, that, he is to be considered as one
God with the Father. Besides that the obscurity of
the law and the prophets ought not to be brought
forward to refute the light of the gospel, but on the
contrary the light of the gospel ought to be employed

165
to illustrate the obscurity necessarily arising from the
figurative language of the prophets. However this
may be, Moses says, prophesying of Christ, Deut.
xviii. 15. ' Jehovah thy God will raise up unto thee
a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like
unto me ; unto him ye shall hearken.' It will be
answered, that he here predicts the human nature of
Christ. I reply that in the following verse he plainly
takes away from Christ that divine nature which it is
wished to make co-essential with the Father — ' ac
cording to all that thou desiredst of Jehovah thy God
in Horeb.. ..saj'ing, Let me not hear again the voice
of Jehovah my God,' &c. In hearing Christ there
fore, as Moses himself predicts and testifies, they
were not to hear the God Jehovah, nor were they to
consider Christ as Jehovah.
The style of the prophetical book of Revelations,
as respects this subject, must be regarded in the same
light. Chap. i. 1, 8, 11. 'he sent and signified it
by his angel.' Afterwards this angel (who is de
scribed nearly in the same words as the angel, Dan.
x. 5, &x.) says, ' I am Alpha and Omega, the be
ginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and
which was, and which is to come,' v. 13. ' like unto
the Son of man.' v. 17. ' I am the first and the last'
ii. 7, &c. 'what the Spirit saith unto the churches.'
xxii. 6. 'the Lord God sent his angel.' v. 8. ' be
fore the feet of the angel which showed me these
things.' v. 9. ' see thou do it not; for I am thy fel
low-servant,' &c. Again, the same angel says, v. 12.
' behold I come quickly, and my reward is with me,'
&c. and again, v. 13. 'I am Alpha and Omega,'
&c. and v. 14. ' blessed are they that do his com-

166
mandments ; ' and v. 16. « I Jesus have sent my an
gel,' &c. These passages so perplexed Beza,* that
he was compelled to reconcile the imaginary difficulty
by supposing that the order of a few verses in the
last chapter had been confused and transposed by
some Arian, (which he attributed to the circumstance
of the book having been acknowledged as canonical
by the Church at a comparatively late period, and
therefore less carefully preserved,) whence he thought
it necessary to restore them to what he considered
their proper order. This supposition would have been
unnecessary, had he remarked, what may be uniform
ly observed throughout the Old Testament, that an
gels are accustomed to assume the name and person,
and the very words of God and Jehovah, as their
own ; and that occasionally an angel represents the
person and the very words of God, without taking
the name either of Jehovah or God, but only in the
character of an angel, or even of a man, as Junius
* ' Dicam quid mihi videatur, ita ut quod sentio relinquam ecclesiae
atque adeo piis omnibus dijudicandum. Existimo hunc librum, eonegli-
gentius habitum, quod non statim ab omnibus pro apostolico scripto
censeretur, fuisse ab Ariano quopiam depravatum, qui Christum Deum
non esse, nee proinde adorandum, sic confirmare vellet : idque exortis
jam Anomosis post ipsius Arii tempora, alioqui hunc locum minime prae-
termissuris. Transpositos igitur fuisse arbitror hos versiculos, nempe
12 et 13,' &c. According to the order subsequently proposed by Beza,
the verses would stand thus — 14, 15, 16, 13, 12, 17, &c. Eusebius classes
the Apocalypse among the armXiyipcm, or disputed books, and it is omit
ted in the catalogues of canonical books formed by Cyril, Bishop of Je
rusalem (A. D. 340), and by the council of Laodicea (A. D. 364), and in
one or two other early catalogues of the Scriptures ; but this omission
was probably not owing to any suspicion concerning its authenticity or
genuineness, but because its obscurity and mysteriousness were thought
to render it less fit to be read publicly and generally. Home's Intro
duction, &c. IV. 497. Bp. Tomline's Elements of Christian Theology,
Vol. I. 500.

167
himself acknowledges, Judges ii. 1, &c* But ac
cording to divines the name of Jehovah signifies two
things, either the nature of God, or the completion of
his word and promises. If it signify the nature, and
therefore the person of God, why should not he who
is invested with his person and presence, be also in
vested with the name which represents them ? If it
signify the completion of his word and promises, why
should not he, to whom words suitable to God alone
are so frequently attributed, be permitted also to as
sume the name of Jehovah, whereby the completion
of these words and promises is represented ? Or if
that name be so acceptable to God, that he has al
ways chosen to consider it as sacred and peculiar to
himself alone, why has he uniformly disused it in the
New Testament, which contains the most important
fulfilment of his prophecies ; retaining only the name
of the Lord, which had always been common to him
with angels and men ? If, lastly, any name whatever
can be so pleasing to God, why has he exhibited himself
to us in the gospel without any proper name at all ?
They urge, however, that Christ himself is some
times called Jehovah in his own name and person ;
as in Isai. viii. 13, 14. ' sanctify Jehovah of hosts
himself, and let him be your fear, and let him be your
dread : and he shall be for a sanctuary ; but for a
stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both
the houses of Israel,' &c. compared with 1 Pet. ii. 7.
' the same is made the head of the corner, and a
stone Of stumbling,' &c. I answer, that it appears on
a comparison of the thirteenth with the eleventh
* ' Hominem, non angelum fuisse apparet, quod locus unde venerit
exprimitur, neque disparuisse legitur, ut de aliis angelis narratur. Sic
propheta angelus Dei vocatur Hagg. i. 3.' Junius in loc.

168
verse, — ' for Jehovah spake thus to me,' &c. — that
these are not the words of Christ exhorting the Israel
ites to sanctify and fear himself, whom they had not
yet known, but of the Father threatening, as in other
places, that he would be ' for a stone of stumbling,'
&c. 'to both the houses of Israel,' that is, to the
Israelites, and especially to those of that age. But
supposing the words to refer to Christ, it is not un
usual among the prophets for God the Father to
declare that he would work himself, what afterwards
under the gospel he wrought by means of his Son.
Hence Peter says — ' the same is made the head of
the corner, and a stone of stumbling.' By whom
made,, except by the Father ? And in the third chap
ter, a quotation of part of the same passage of Isaiah
clearly proves that the Father was speaking of him
self; v. 15. 'but sanctify the Lord God' — under
which name no one will assert that Christ is intend
ed. Again, they quote Zech. xi. 13. ' Jehovah said
unto me, Cast it unto the potter ; a goodly price that
I was prized at of them.' That this relates to Christ
I do not deny ; only it must be remembered, that
this is not his own name, but that the name of Je
hovah is in him, Exod. xxiii. 21. as will presently
appear more plainly. At the same time there is no
reason why the words should not be understood of
the Father speaking in his own name,* who would
consider the offences which the Jews should commit
* Milton attributes similar language to the Almighty, when he repre
sents him as giving his great command concerning the Messiah in
heaven ; Him who disobeys,
Me disobeys, breaks union, and that day
Cast out from God — , &c. Paradise Lost, V. 611.

169
against his Son, as offences against himself; in the
same sense as the Son declares that whatever is done
to those who believed in him, is clone to himself.
Matt. xxv. 35, 40. ' I was an hungered, and ye gave
me meat,' &c. ' inasmuch as ye have done it unto
one ofthe least of these my brethren, ye have done it
unto me.' An instance of the same kind occurs Acts
ix. 4, 5. ' Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me ?'
The same answer must be given respecting Zech. xii.
10, especially on a comparison with Rev. i. 7. ' every
eye shall see him, and they also that pierced him : '
for none have seen Jehovah at any time, much less
have they seen him as a man ; least of all have they
pierced him. Secondly, they pierced him who ' pour
ed upon them the spirit of grace,' v. 10. Now it
was the Father who poured the spirit of grace through
the Son ; Acts ii. 33. ' having received of the Father
the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth
this.' Therefore it was the Father whom they
pierced in the Son. Accordingly, John does not say,
' they shall look upon me,' but, ' they shall look up
on him whom they pierced,' chap. xix. 37. So also
in the verse of Zechariah alluded to a change of per
sons takes place — ' they shall look upon me whom
they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as
one mourneth for his only son ; ' as if Jehovah were
not properly alluding to himself, but spoke of another,
that is, ofthe Son. The passage in Malachi iii. 1.
admits of a similar interpretation : ' behold I will
send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way
before me, and Jehovah, whom ye seek, shall sud
denly come to his temple, even the messenger of the
covenant, whom ye delight in : behold he shall come,
vol. i. 22

170
saith Jehovah of hosts.' From which passage Placaeus
argues thus : He before whose face the Baptist is to
be sent as a messenger, is the God of Israel ; but the
Baptist was not sent before the face of the Father ;
therefore Christ is that God of Israel. But if the
name of Elias could be ascribed to John the Baptist,
Matt. xi. 14. inasmuch as he ' went before him in
the spirit and power of Elias,' Luke i. 17. why may
not the Father be said to send him before his own
face, inasmuch as he sends him before the face of
him who was to come in the name of the Father ?
for that it was the Father who sent the messenger, is
proved by the subsequent words of the same verse,
since the phrases ' I who sent,' and ' the messenger of
the covenant who shall come,' and ' Jehovah of hosts
who saith these things,' can scarcely be understood to
apply all to the same person. Nay, even according
to Christ's own interpretation, the verse implies that
it was the Father who sent the messenger ; Matt. xi.
10. ' behold, 1 send my messenger before thy face.'
Who was it that sent ? — the Son, according to Placseus.
Before the face of whom ? — of the Son : — therefore
the Son addresses himself in this passage, and sends
himself before his own face, which is a new and un
heard of figure of speech ; not to mention that the
Baptist himself testifies that he was sent by the
Father, John i. 33. ' I knew him not, but he that
sent me.... the same said unto me,' &c. God the
Father, therefore, sent the messenger before the face
of his Son, inasmuch as that messenger preceded the
advent of the Son ; he sent him before his own face,
inasmuch as he was himself in Christ, or, which is
the same thing, in the Son, 'reconciling the world unto

171
himself.' 2 Cor. v. 19. That the name and pres
ence of God is used to imply his vicarious power and
might resident in the Son, is proved by another pro
phecy concerning John the Baptist. Isai. xl. 3. ' the
voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare
ye the way of Jehovah ; make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.' For the Baptist was never
heard to cry that Christ was ' Jehovah,' or ' our God.'
Recurring, however, to the Gospel itself, on which,
as on a foundation, our dependence should chiefly be
placed, and adducing my proofs more especially from
the evangelist John, the leading purpose of whose
work was to declare explicitly the nature of the Son's
divinity, I proceed to demonstrate the other proposi
tion announced in my original division of the subject
— namely, that the Son himself professes to have re
ceived from the Father, not only the name of God
and of Jehovah, but all that pertains to his own being,
— that is to say, his individuality, his existence itself,
his attributes, his works, his divine honours ; to
which doctrine the apostles also, subsequent to Christ,
bear their testimony. John iii. 35. ' the Father lov
eth the Son, and hath given all things unto him.' xiii. 3.
' Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things
unto him, and that he was come from God.' Matt.
xi. 27. ' all things are delivered unto me of my
Father. But here perhaps the advocates of the contrary
opinion will interpose with the same argument which
was advanced before ; for they are constantly shifting
the form of their reasoning, Vertumnus-like,* and
* ' Let him try which way he can wind in his Vertumnian distinctions
and evasions, if his canonical gabardine of text and letter do not sit top

172
using the twofold nature of Christ developed in his
office of mediator, as a ready subterfuge by which to
evade any arguments that may be brought against
them. What Scripture says of the Son generally,
they apply, as suits their purpose, in a partial and
restricted sense ; at one time to the Son of God, at
another to the Son of Man, — now to the Mediator in
his divine, now in his human capacity, and now again
in his union of both natures. But the Son himself
says expressly, ' the Father loveth the Son, and hath
given all things into his hand,' John iii. 35. — namely,
because he loveth him, not because he hath begotten
him — and he hath given all things to him as the Son,
not as Mediator only. If the words had been meant
to convey the sense attributed to them by my oppo
nents, it would have been more satisfactory and in
telligible to have said, 'the Father loveth Christ,' or
' the Mediator,' or 'the Son of Man.' None of these
modes of expression are adopted, but it is simply said,
'the Father loveth the Son;' that is, whatever is
comprehended under the name of the Son. The
same question may also be repeated which was asked
before, whether from the time that he became the
Mediator, his Deity, in their opinion, remained what
it had previously been, or not ? If it remained the
same, why does he ask and receive every thing from
the Father, and not from himself? If all things come
close about him, and pinch his activity.' Telrachordon, Prose Works,
11. 201. ' Vertit rationes et " annon rex cum optimatibus plus potestatis
habeat" quserit; iterum nego, Vertumne, si pro optimatibus proceres
intelligas, quoniam accidere potest ut nemo inter eos optimatis no
mine sit dignus.' Pro Populo Anglicano Defensio, Prose Works,
V. 149.

173
from the Father, why is it necessary (as they main
tain it to be) for the mediatorial office, that he should
be the true and supreme God ; since he has received
from the Father whatever belongs to him, not only
in his mediatorial, but in his filial character ? If his
Deity be not the same as before, he was never the
Supreme God. From hence may be understood John
xvi. 15. ' all things that the Father hath are mine' —
that is, by the Father's gift. And xvii. 9, 10. ' them
which thou hast given me, for they are thine ; and
all mine are thine, and thine are mine.'
In the first place, then, it is most evident that he
receives his name from the Father. Isai. ix. 6. ' his
name shall be called Wonderful,' &c. ' the everlasting
Father;'* if indeed this elliptical passage be rightly
understood ; for, strictly speaking, the Son is not the
Father, and cannot properly bear the name, nor is it
elsewhere ascribed to him, even if we should allow
that in some sense or other it is applied to him in the.
passage before us. The last clause, however, is
generally translated not ' the everlasting Father,' but
' the Father of the age to come,'t — that is, its teach
er, the name of father being often attributed to a
teacher. Philipp. ii. 9. ' wherefore God also hath
highly exalted him, and hath given him (xai i%agiaaxo)
a name which is above every name.' Heb. i. 4.
' being made so much better than the angels, as he
hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name
* Milton follows the version of Tremellius, who translates the pas
sage thus — ' Cujus nomen vocat Jehova, admirabilem,' &c.
t Hxrhe; /KiXXovTos almos. Septuag. ' Pater futuri sseculi.' Vulg. ' The
Father of the everlasting age.' Lowth. ' The Father of the world to
come.' Douay Bible.

174
than they.' Eph. i. 20, 21. ' when he set him at
his own right hand  far above all principality,' &c.
' and every name that is named, not only in this
world, but also in that which is to come.' There is
no reason why that name should not be Jehovah, or
any other name pertaining to the Deity, if there be
any still higher : but the imposition of a name is al
lowed to be uniformly the privilege of the greater
personage, whether father or lord.
We need be under no concern, however, respecting
the name, seeing that the Son receives his very being
in like manner from the Father. John vii. 29. ' I
am from him.' The same thing is implied John i. 1.
' in the beginning.' For the notion of his eternity is
here excluded not only by the decree, as has been
stated before, but by the name of Son, and by the
phrases — ' this day have I begotten thee,' and, ' I
will be to him a father.' Besides, the word ' begin
ning,' can only here mean ' before the foundation of
the world,' according to John xvii. 5. as is evident
from Col. i. 15 — 17. ' the first born of every crea
ture : for by him were all things created that are in
heaven, and that are in earth,' &c. ' and he is before
all things, and by him all things consist' Here the
Son, not in his human or mediatorial character, hut
in his capacity of creator, is himself called the first
born of every creature. So too, Heb. ii. 11. 'for
both he that sanctifieth, and they that are sanctified,
are all of one ;' and iii. 2: ' faithful to him that ap
pointed him.' Him who was begotten from all eter
nity the Father cannot have begotten, for what was
made from all eternity was never in the act of being
made ; him whom the Father begat from all eternity

175
he still begets ; he whom he still begets is not yet be
gotten, and therefore is not yet a son ; for an action
which has no beginning can have no completion. Be
sides, it seems to be altogether impossible that the
Son should be either begotten or born from all eter
nity. If he is the Son, either he must have been
originally in the Father, and have proceeded from
him, or he must always have been as he is now, sepa
rate from the Father, self-existent and independent.
If he was originally in the Father, but now exists
separately, he has undergone a certain change at some
time or other, and is therefore mutable. If he al
ways existed separately from, and independently of,
the Father, how is he from the Father, how begotten,
how the Son, how separate in subsistence, unless he
be also separate in essence ? since (laying aside meta
physical trifling) a substantial essence and a subsist
ence are the same thing. However this may be, it
will be universally acknowledged that the Son now
at least differs numerically from the Father ; but that
those who differ numerically must differ also in their
proper essences, as the logicians express it, is too
clear to be denied by any one possessed of common
reason. Hence it follows that the Father and the
Son differ in essence.
That this is the true doctrine, reason shows on
every view of the subject ; that k is contrary to
Scripture, which my opponents persist in maintaining,
remains to be proved by those who make the asser
tion. Nor does the type of Melchisedec, on which
so much reliance is placed, involve any difficulty.
Heb. vii. 3. ' without father, without mother, without
descent ; having neither beginning of days, nor end

176
of life ; but made like unto the Son of God.' For
inasmuch as the Son was without any earthly father,
he is in one sense said to have had no beginning of
days ; but it no more appears that he had no begin
ning of days from all eternity, than that he had no
Father, or was not a Son. If however he derived
his essence from the Father, let it be shown how that
essence can have been supremely divine, that is,
identically the same with the essence of the Father ;
since the divine essence, whose property it is to be
always one, cannot possibly generate the same es
sence by which it is generated, nor can a subsistence
or person become an agent or patient under either of
the circumstances supposed, unless the entire essence
be simultaneously agent or patient in the same man
ner also. Now as the effect of generation is to
produce something which shall exist independently of
the generator, it follows that God cannot beget a co
equal Deity, because unity and infinity are two of
his essential attributes. Since therefore the Son de
rives his essence from the Father, he is posterior to
the Father not merely in rank (a distinction unau
thorized by Scripture, and by which many are de
ceived) but also in essence ; and the filial character
itself, on the strength of which they are chiefly wont
to build his claim to supreme divinity, affords the
best refutation of their opinion. For the supreme
God is self-existent ; but he who is not self-existent,
who did not beget, but was begotten, is not the first
cause, but the effect, and therefore is not the su
preme God. He who was begotten from all eterni
ty, must have been from all eternity ; but if he can
have been begotten who was from all eternity, there

177
is no reason why the Father himself should not have
been begotten, and have derived his origin also from
some paternal essence. Besides, since father and
son are relative terms, distinguished from each other
both in theory and in fact, and since according to the
laws of contraries the father cannot be the son, nor
the son the father, if (which is impossible from the
nature of relation) they were of one essence, it would
follow that the father stood in a filial relation to the
son, and the son in a paternal relation to the father,
— a position, of the extravagance of which any ra
tional being may judge. if or the doctrine which
holds that a plurality of hypostasis is consistent with
a unity of essence, has already been sufficiently con
futed. Lastly, if the Son be of the same essence
with the Father, and the same Son after his hypo
statical union coalesce in one person with man, I do
not see how to evade the inference, that man also is
the same person with the Father, an hypothesis which
would give birth to not a few paradoxes. But more
may perhaps be said on this point, when the incarna
tion of Christ comes under consideration.
With regard to his existence. Johfi v. 26. ' as
the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to
the Son to have life in himself.' vi. 57. ' as the living
Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father, so he
that eateth me,' &c. This gift of life is for ever.*
Heb. ii. 8. ' unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O
God, is for ever and ever,' — hence, xi. 12. ' they
*  Thou hast given me to possess
Life in myself for ever ; by thee I live,
Though now to Death I yield. Paradise Lost, III. 243.
vol. i. 23

178
shall perish, but thou remainest  but thou art the
same, and thy years shall not fail.'
With regard to the divine attributes. And first,
that of Omnipresence ; for if the Father has given
all things to the Son, even his very being and life, he
has also given him to be wherever he is. In this
sense is to be understood John i. 48. ' before that
Philip called thee  I saw thee.' For Nathaniel in
ferred nothing more from this than what he professes
in the next verse, — ' thou art the Son of God,' and
iii, 13. ' the Son of man which is in heaven.' These
words can never prove that the Son, whether of man
or of God, is of the same essence with the Father ;
but only that the Son of man came down from heav
en at the time when he was conceived in the womb
of the Virgin, that though he was ministering on
earth in the body, his whole spirit and mind, as be
fitted a great prophet, were in the Father, — or that
he, who when made man was endowed with the high
est degree of virtue, is, by reason of that virtue, or
of a superior nature given to him in the beginning,*
even now in heaven ; or rather ' which was in heav
en.' the Greek av having both significations. Again,
Matt, xviii. 20. ' there am I in the midst of them.'
*  hast been found
By merit, more than birthright, Son of God.
Paradise Lost, III. 308.
 For their King
Messiah, who by right of merit reigns. VI. 42.
That all the angels and ethereal powers,
They now, and men hereafter, may discern
From what consummate virtue I have chose
This perfect man, by merit call'd my Son,
To earn salvation for the sons of men.
Paradise Regained, I. 163.

179
Xxviii. 20. ' I am with you alway, even unto the end
of the world.' Even these texts, however, do not
amount to an assertion of absolute omnipresence, as
will be demonstrated in the following chapter.
Omniscience. Matt. xi. 27. ' all things are de
livered unto me of my Father, and no man knoweth
the Son, but the Father, neither knoweth any man
the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the
Son will reveal him. John v. 20. ' the Father loveth
the Son, and showeth him all things.' viii. 26. ' I
speak those things that I have heard of him.' v. 28.
' then shall ye know that  as my Father hath
taught me, I speak these things.' v. 38. ' I speak
that which I have seen with my Father.' xv. 15. ' all
things that I have heard of my Father, I have made
known unto you.' ii. 24, 25. ' he knew all men 
for he knew what was in man.' xxi. 17. ' thou know
est all things.' xvi. 30. ' now are we sure that thou
knowest all things  by this we believe that thou
earnest forth from God.' iii. 31 — 34. ' he that cometh
from heaven  what he hath seen and heard  he
whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God ;
for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.'
Rev. i. 1. ' the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God
gave unto him,' — whence it is written of him, ii. 23.
* I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts,' —
even as it is said of the faithful, that they know all
things ; 1 John ii. 20. ' ye have an unction from the
Holy One, and ye know all things.' Even the Son,
however, knows not all things absolutely ; there being
some secret purposes, the knowledge of which the
Father has reserved to himself alone. Mark xiii. 32.
'of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the

180
angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, hut, the
Father ;' or as it is in Matt. xxiv. 36. ' my Father
only.' Acts i. 7. ' the times and the seasons, which
the Father hath put in his own power.'
Authority.* Matt, xxviii. 18. ' all power is given
unto me in heaven and in earth.' Luke xxii. 29. ' I
appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath ap
pointed unto me. ' John v. 22. ' the Father hath com
mitted all judgement unto the Son.' v. 43. ' I ara
come in ray Father's name.' vii. 16. ' my doctrine is
not mine, but his that sent me.' viii. 42. ' I proceed
ed forth and came from God ; neither came I of my
self, but he sent me.' xii. 49, 50. ' I have not
spoken of myself but the Father which sent me, he
gave me a commandment what I should say, and
what I should speak.' xiv. 24. ' the word which ye
hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.'
xvii. 2. ' as thou hast given him power over all flesh.'
Rev. ii. 26, 27. ' to him wrill I give power.... even as
I received of my Father.'
Omnipotence. John v. 19. ' the Son can do
nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father
do ; for what things soever he doeth, these also
doeth the Son likewise.' v. f>0. 'I can of my own
self do nothing.' x. 18. '1 have power to lay it down,
and I have power to take it again : this co ^.mand-
ment have I received of my Father.' Hence Philipp.
iii. 21. 'he is able even to subdue all things unto
*  All power
I give thee. Paradise Lost, III. 317
Scepter and power, thy giving, I assume,
And gladlier shall resign, when in the end
Thou shalt be all in all — VI. 730.

181
himself.' Rev. i. 8. ' I am  the Almighty:' though
it may be questioned whether this is not said of God
the Father by the Son or the angel representing his
authority, as has been explained before : so also
Psal. ii. 7.
Works. John v. 20, 21. 'for the Father.... will
show him greater works than these. ...for as the Father
raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them ; even so
the Son quickeneth whom he will.' v. 36. ' the works
that my Father hath given me to finish, the same works
that I do, bear witness of me that the Father hath
sent me :' — it is not therefore his divinity of which
they bear witness, but his mission from God ; and so
in other places, viii. 28. ' then shall ye know that I
am he, and that I do nothing of myself.' x. 32. ' ma
ny 'good works have I showed you from my Father.'
xi. 22. ' I know that even now, whatsoever thou wilt
ask of God, God will give it thee.' v. 41. ' Father,
I thank thee that thou hast heard me.' So likewise
in working miracles, even where he does not ex
pressly implore the divine assistance, he nevertheless
acknowledges it Matt. xii. 28. compared with
Luke xi. 20. ' I cast out devils by the spirit,' or ' fin
ger, of God.' John xiv. 10. ' the Father that dwel
leth in me, he doeth the works.' Yet the nature of
these works, although divine, was such, that angels
were not precluded from performing similar miracles
at the same time and in the same place where Christ
himself abode daily ; John v. 4. ' an angel went down
at a certain season into the pool.' The disciples also
performed the same works. John xiv. 12. 'he that
believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also ;
and greater works than these shall he do.'

182
The following gifts also, great as they are, were
received by him from the Father. First, the power
of conversion. John vi. 44. ' no man can come to
me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.'
xvii. 2. ' that he should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given him :' and so uniformly ; whence
arises the expression, Matt. xxiv. 31. — 'his elect.'
Wherever therefore Christ is said to have chosen any
one, as John xiii. 18. and xv. 16, 19. he must be
understood to speak only of the election to the apos
tolical office.
Secondly, creation — but with this peculiarity, that
it is always said to have taken place per eum, through
him, not by him, but by the Father. Isai. li. 16.
' 1 have put my words in thy mouth, and I have
covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may
plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the
earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.'
Whether this be understood of the old or the new
creation, the inference is the same. Rom. xi. 36.
' for of him,' — that is, of the Father, — ' and through
him, and to him are all things ; to whom be glory
for ever.' 1 Cor. viii. 6. ' to us there is but one
God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in
him ; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all
things.' The remaining passages on the same sub
ject will be cited in the seventh chapter, on the Cre
ation. But the preposition per must signify the
secondary efficient cause, whenever the efficiens a
quo, that is, the principal efficient cause, is either ex
pressed or understood. Now it appears from all the
texts which have been already quoted, as well as
from those which will be produced hereafter, that the

183
Father is the first or chief cause of all things. This
is evident from the single passage, Heb. iii. 1 — 6.
' consider the Apostle.... who was faithful to him that
appointed him  who hath builded the house,' that
is, the Church. But he 'that appointed him,' v. 2.
and 'builded all things, is God,' that is, the Father,
v. 4.
Thirdly, the remission of sins, even in his human
nature. John v. 22. ' the Father hath committed all
judgement unto the Son.' Matt. ix. 6. ' but that ye
may know that the Son of man hath power on earth
to forgive sins, then saith he,' &c. Acts v. 31 . ' him
hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince
and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and
forgiveness of sins.' Hence Stephen says, vii. 60.
' Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.' It clearly
appears from these passages that the following ex
pression in Isaiah refers primarily to God the Father,
xxxv. 4 — 6. ' behold, your God will come with ven
geance, even God with a recon^pense, he will come
and save you : then the eyes of the blind shall be
opened,' &c. For it was the Father who appointed
Christ ' to be a Saviour,' Acts v. 31. and the Father
is said ' to come unto him,' John xiv. 23. and ' do the
works,' as has been proved before.
Fourthly, preservation. John xvii. 11, 12. ' holy
Father, keep through thine own name those whom
thou hast given me  I kept them in thy name.' v. 15.
' I pray  that thou shouldest keep them from the
evil.' Col. i. 17. ' by him all things consist' Heb.
i. 3. ' upholding all things by the word of his power.'
where it is read in the Greek, not ' of his own
power,' but ' of his,' namely, of the Father's pow-

184
er.* But this subject will come under consideration
again in the eighth chapter, on Providence, where the
chief government of all things will be shown to belong
primarily to the Father alone ; whence the Father,
Jehovah, is often called by the prophets not only the
Preserver, but also the Saviour. Those who refer
these passages to the Son, on account of the appella
tion of Saviour, seem to fancy that they hereby gain
an important argument for his divinity ; as if the
same title were not frequently applied to the Father
in the New Testament, as will be shown in the thir
teenth chapter.
Fifthly, renovation. Acts v. 31. 'him hath God
exalted with his right hand, to be a Prince and a Sa
viour, for to give repentance to Israel.' 1 Cor. i. 30.
' of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made
unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification,
and redemption.' 2 Cor. iv. 6. ' for God, who com
manded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined
in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.' v.
17 — 21. ' behold, all things are become new, and all
things are of God, who hath reconciled himself to us
by Jesus Christ  we pray you in Christ's stead, be
ye reconciled unto God : for he hath made him to be
sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him.' Hence Jer. xxiii.
6. may be explained without, difficulty ; ' this is his
name whereby he shall be called, Jehovah our
* This observation is added, because in the Latin version used by Mil
ton the clause is translated sustinens omnia verbo potential sum, not illius.
Peirce (Notes on St. Paul's Epistles) refers the phrase his power, to
God the Father ; but nearly all the best commentators uniformly ex
plain it as referring to the Son.

185
righteousness,' and xxxiii. 16. ' this is the name where
with she shall be called' (that is, the Church, which
does not thereby become essentially one with God)
' Jehovah our righteousness.'*
Sixthly, the power of conferring gifts — namely,
that vicarious power which he has received from the
Father, John xvii. 18. ' as thou has sent me into the
world, even so have I also sent them into the world.'
See also xx. 21. Hence Matt. x. 1. 'he gave them
power against unclean spirits.' Acts iii. 6. ' in the
name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.'
ix. 34. ' Jesus Christ maketh thee whole.' What
was said before of his works, may be repeated here.
John xiv. 16. ' I will pray the Father, and he shall
give you another Comforter.' xvi. 13, &c. ' the Spi
rit shall receive of mine  all things that the Father
hath are mine, therefore said I that he shall take of
mine.' xx. 21, 22. ' as my Father hath sent me, even
so send I you  receive the Holy Ghost' Hence
Eph. iv. 8. ' he gave gifts to men ;' compared with
Psal. Ixviii. 18. whence it is taken — ' thou hast
received gifts for men.'
Seventhly, his mediatorial work itself, or rather his
passion. Matt. xxvi. 39. ' O my Father, if it be
possible, let this cup pass from me.' Luke xxii. 43.
' there appeared an angel unto him from heaven,
strengthening him.' Heb. v. 7, 8. ' who in the days
of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and sup-
*(In the original, the sentence is as follows : — ' xxxiii. 16. ethoc est quod
vocdbiteam (nempe ecclesiam, non idcirco essentia cum Deo unam) Je
hovah justitia nostra ; vel clariore syntaxi, Jehovam justitiam nostram;
vel si quis mavult, hic qui vocabit eam ; eodem pertinet.' I have omitted
in the translation the latter clauses of the sentence, which could scarce
ly be made intelligible in a language without inflections.
vol. i. 24

186
plications with strong crying and tears unto him that
was able to save him from death, and was heard in
that he feared : though he were a Son, yet learned he
obedience by the things which he suffered.' For if
the Son was able to accomplish by his own indepen-
v^dent power the work of his passion, why did he for
sake himself; why did he implore the assistance of
his Father ; wrhy was an angel sent to strengthen
him ? How then can the Son be considered co-essen
tial and co-equal with the Father ? So too he ex
claimed upon the cross — ' My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me ?' He whom the Son, himself
God, addresses as God, must be the Father, — why
then did the Son call upon the Father ? Because he
felt even his divine nature insufficient to support him
under the pains of death. Thus also he said, when
at the point of death, Luke xxiii. 46. ' Father, into
thy hands I commend my spirit.' To whom rather
than to himself as God would he have commended
himself in his human nature, if by his own divine na
ture alone he had possessed sufficient power to deliver
himself from death ? It was therefore the Father only
who raised him again to life ; which is the next par
ticular to be noticed.
Eighthly, his resuscitation from death. 2 Cor.
iv. 14. ' knowing that he which raised up the Lord
Jesus, shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present
us with you.' 1 Thess. iv. 14. ' them also which
sleep in Jesus shall God bring with him.' But this
point has been sufficiently illustrated by ample quo
tations in a former part of the chapter.

187
Ninthly, his future judicial advent.* Rom. ii. 16.
' in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men
by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.' 1 Tim.
vi. 14. ' until the appearing of our Lord Jesus
Christ.' Tenthly, divine honours. John v. 22, 23. ' the
Father hath committed all. judgement unto the Son ;
that all men should honour the Son, even as they
honour the Father  which hath sent him.' Philipp.
ii. 9 — 11. ' God hath highly exalted him, and hath
given him a name  that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow  and that every tongue should
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the father.' Heb. i. 6. ' when he bringeth in the first-
begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the an
gels of God worship him.' Rev. v. 12. ' worthy is
the Lamb that was slain to receive power,' &c.
Hence Acts vii. 59. ' calling upon God, and saying,
Lord Jesus receive my spirit.' ix. 14. 'all that call
upon thy name.' 1 Cor. i. 2. ' with all that in every
place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.'
2 Tim. ii. 22. ' with them that call upon the Lord
out of a pure heart,' that is, as it is explained Col.
iii. 17. ' whatsoever ye do  do it in the name of the
Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by
him.' 2 Tim. ii. 19. ' every one that nameth the
name of Christ.' It appears therefore that when
we call upon the Son of God, it is only in his capa
city of advocate with the Father. So Rev. xxii. 20.
* But whom send I to judge them ? Whom but thee,
Vicegerent Son ? To thee I have transferr'd
All judgement, whether in Heav'n or Earth, or Hell.
Paradise Lost, X. 55.

188
' even so, come, Lord Jesus ' — namely to execute
judgement, ' which the Father hath committed unto
him, that all men might honour the Son,' &c. John
v. 22, 23.
Eleventhly, baptism in his name. Matt, xxviii.
18, 19. ' all power is given unto me in heaven and
in earth ; go ye therefore and teach all nations, bap
tizing them in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost. More will be said on
this subject in the next chapter.
Twelfthly, belief in him; if indeed this should be
considered as an honour peculiar to divinity ; for the
Israelites are said, Exod. xiv. 31. 'to believe Jeho
vah and his servant Moses.' Again, to ' believe the
prophets ' occurs 2 Chron. xx. 20. and ' faith toward
all saints,' Philem. 5. and ' Moses in whom ye trust,'
John v. 45. Whence it would seem, that to believe
in any one is nothing more than an Hebraism, which
the Greeks or Latins express by the phrase, to be
lieve any one ; so that whatever trifling distinction
may be made between the two, originates in the
schools, and not in Scripture. For in some cases, to
believe in any one implies no faith at all. John ii.
23, 24. ' many believed in his name  but Jesus did
not commit himself unto them.' xii. 42. ' many be
lieved on him, but because of the Pharisees they did
not confess him.' On the other hand, to believe any
one, often signifies the highest degree of faith. John
v. 24. ' he that believeth on him (qui credit ei) that
sent me, hath everlasting life.' Rom. iv. 3. ' Abra
ham believed God, and it was counted unto him for
righteousness.' 1 John v. 10. ' he that believeth not
God.' See also Tit. iii. 8. This honour, however,

189
like the others, is derived from the Father. John iii.
35, 36. ' the Father hath given all things into his
hand : he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting
life.' vi. 40. ' this is the will of him that sent me,
that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on
him, may have everlasting life.' xii. 44. ' Jesus cried
and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on
me, but on him that sent me.' Hence xiv. 1, ' ye be
lieve in God, believe also in me.' 1 John iii. 23.
' this is his commandment, that we should believe on
the name of his Son Jesus Christ' It may therefore
be laid down as certain, that believing in Christ im
plies nothing more than that we believe Christ to be
the Son of God, sent from the Father for our salva
tion. John xi. 25 — 27. ' Jesus said unto her, I am the
resurrection and the life ; he that believeth in me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live : and whoso
ever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Be
lievest thou this ? She saith unto him, Yea Lord ; I
believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God,
which should come into the world.'
Thirteenthly, divine glory. John i. 1. ' the Word
was with God, and the Word was God.' v. 14. ' we
beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of
the Father,' naga, Ilaxgos. v. 18. ' no man hath seen
God at any time ; the only-begotten Son, which is in
the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.' vi. 46.
' not that any man hath seen the Father, save he
which is of God,' o av naga xov Oeov xvii. 5. ' glo
rify thou me with thine own self with the glory which
I had with thee before the world was.' No one doubts
that the Father restored the Son, on his ascent into
heaven, to that original place of glory of which he

190
here speaks. That place will be universally ac
knowledged to be the right hand of God ; the same
therefore was his place of glory in the beginning, and
from which he had descended. But the right hand
of God primarily signifies a glory, not in the highest
sense divine, but only next in dignity to God. So
v. 24, ' that they may behold my glory which thou
hast given me ; for thou lovedst me before the foun
dation of the world.' In these, as in other passages,
we are taught that the nature of the Son is indeed
divine, but distinct from and clearly inferior to the
nature of the Father, — for to be with God, ngds &£ov,
and to be from God, naga @ea, — to be God, and to
be in the bosom of God the Father, — -to be God, and
to be from God, — to be the one invisible God, and to
be the only-begotten and visible, are things so differ
ent that they cannot be predicated of one and the
same essence. Besides, the fact that the glory which
he had even in his divine nature before the foundation
of the world, was not self-derived, but given by . the
love of the Father, plainly demonstrates him to be
inferior to the Father. So Matt. xvi. 27. ' in the
glory of his Father.' Acts iii. 13. ' the God of Abra
ham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our
fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus.' Col. i. 19.
' it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness
dwell.' ii. 9. ' in him dwelleth all the fulness of the
Godhead bodily.' Eph. iii. 19. ' that ye might be
filled with all the fulness of God.' These passages
most clearly evince that Christ has received his ful
ness from God, in the sense in which we shall re
ceive our fulness from Christ. For the term bodily,
which is subjoined, either means substantially, in op-

191
position to the vain deceit mentioned in the preceding
verse,* or is of no weight in proving that Christ is of
the same essence with God. 1 Pet. i. 21. ' who
gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in
God.' ii. 4. 'chosen of God and precious.' 2 Pet.
i. 16, 17. ' we were eye-witnesses of his majesty ;
for he received from God the Father honour and glo
ry, when there came such a voice to him — .' 1 Pet.
iv. 11. compared with 2 Pet. iii. 18. ' that God in
all things may be glorified, through Jesus Christ, to
whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever : but
grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ ; to whom be glory both now
and for ever.' On a collation of the two passages, it
would seem that the phrase ' our Lord,' in the latter,
must be understood of the Father, as is frequently
the case. If however it be applied to the Son, the
inference is the same, for it does not alter the doc
trine of the former passage. John xii. 41. citing
Isai. lxiii. 5. ' these things said Esaias, when he saw
his glory, and spake of him,' — that is, the glory of
the only-begotten, given to the Son by the Father.
Nor is any difficulty created by Isai. xiii. 8. ' I am
Jehovah, that is my name ; and my glory will I not
give to another, neither my praise to graven images.'
For though the Son be another than the Father, God's
meaning is merely that he will not give his glory to
graven images and strange gods, — not that he will
not give it to the Son, who is the brightness of his
* Milton seems to have had the same idea in his mind in the following
passage : ' Beyond compare the Son of God was seen
Most glorious ; in him all his Father shone
Substantially express'd — .' Paradise Lost, III. 138.

192
glory, and the express image of his person,* and up
on whom he had promised that he would put his
Spirit, v. 1. For the Father does not alienate his
glory from himself in imparting it to the Son, inas
much as the Son uniformly glorifies the Father.f
John xiii. 31. ' now is the Son of man glorified, and
God is glorified in him.' viii. 50. ' I seek not mine
own glory ; there is one that seeketh and judgeth.'
Hence it becomes evident on what principle the
attributes of the Father are said to pertain to the Son.
John xvi. 15. ' all things that the Father hath are
mine.' xvii. 6, 7. ' thine they were, and thou gavest
them me ;  now they have known that all things
whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.' It is
*  ' On his right
The radiant image of his glory sat,
His only Son.' Paradise Lost, III. 62.
' Son, thou in whom my glory I behold
In full resplendence, heir of all my might — .' V. 719.
' Effulgence of my glory, Son belov'd,
Son in whose face invisible is beheld
Visibly, what by Deity I am ;
And in whose hand what by decree I do,
Second Omnipotence. VI. 680.
 Unfolding bright
Toward the right hand his glory, on the Son
Blaz'd forth unclouded Deity : He full
Resplendent all his Father manifest
Express'd. X. 63.
\ O Father, O supreme of heavenly thrones,
First, Highest, Holiest, Best, thou always seek'st
To glorify thy Son, I always thee,
As is most just : This I my glory account,
My exaltation, and my whole delight, &c. VI. 723.
Shall I seek glory then, as vain men seek,
Oft not deserv'd ? I seek not mine, but his
Who sent me, and thereby witness whence I am.
Paradise Regained, II. 105.

193
therefore said, v. 10. ' all mine are thine, and thine
are mine' — namely, in the same sense in which he
had called the kingdom his, Luke xxii. 30. for he had
said in the preceding verse, ' I appoint unto you a
kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me.'
Lastly, his coming to judgment. 1 Tim. vi. 14.
' until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
in his time he shall show, who is the blessed and only
Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords ; who
only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no
man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen,
nor can see.'
Christ therefore, having received all these things
from the Father, and ' being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God,' Philipp.
ii. 5. namely, because he had obtained them by gift,
not by robbery. For if this passage imply his co-
equality with the Father, it rather refutes than proves
his unity of essence ; since equality cannot exist but
between two or more essences. Further, the phrases
' he did not think it,' — ' he made himself of no reputa
tion,' (literally, he emptied' himself ,) appear inappli
cable to the supreme God. For to think is nothing
else than to entertain an opinion, which cannot be
properly said of God.* Nor can the infinite God be
said to empty himself, any more than to contradict
himself ; for infinity and emptiness are opposite
terms. But since he emptied himself of that form of
God in which he had previously existed, if the form
* ' Opinio autem in Deum non cadit.' Milton uses the same words in
his treatise on Logic, where he assigns the reason. ' Opinio tamen in
Deum non cadit, quia per causas seque omnia cognoscit.' Prose Woz-ks,
VI. 293. For, as he says in his Speech for the Liberty of Unlicensed
Printing, ' opinion is but knowledge in the making.' 1.322.
vol. i. 25

194
of God is to be taken for the essence of the Deity
itself, it would prove him to have emptied himself of
that essence, which is impossible.
Again, the Son himself acknowledges and declares
openly, that the Father is greater than the Son ;
which was the last proposition I undertook to prove.
John x. 29. ' my Father is greater than all.' xiv. 28.
' my Father is greater than I.' It will be answered,
that Christ is speaking of his human nature. But did
his disciples understand him as speaking merely of
his human nature ? Was this the belief in himself
which Christ required ? Such an opinion will scarce
ly be maintained. If therefore he said this, not of
his human nature only, (for that the Father was
greater than he in his human nature could not admit
of a doubt) but in the sense in which he himself
wished his followers to conceive of him both as God
and man, it ought undoubtedly to be understood as
if he had said, My Father is greater than I, whatso
ever I am, both in my human and divine nature ;
otherwise the speaker would not have been he in
whom they believed, and instead of teaching them,
he would only have been imposing upon them with
an equivocation. He must therefore have intended
to compare the nature with the person, not the na
ture of God the Father with the nature of the Son in
his human form, j So v. 31. 'as the Father gave me
commandment, even so I do.' John v. 18, 19. Be
ing accused by the Jews of having made himself
equal with God, he expressly denies it : ' the Son can
do nothing of himself,' v. 30. ' as I hear I judge,
and my judgement is just ; because I seek not mine
own will, but the will of my Father which sent me.'

195
vi. 38. ' I came down from heaven, not to do mine
own will, but the will of him that sent me.' Now
he that was sent was the only begotten Son ; there
fore the will of the Father is other and greater than
the will of the only begotten Son. vii. 28. ' Jesus
cried in the temple, saying  I am not come of my
self.' viii. 29. ' he that sent me is with me : the
Father hath not left me alone ; for I do always those
things that please him.' If he says this as God, how
could he be left by the Father, with whom he was
essentially one ? if as man, what is meant by his
being ' left alone, ' who was sustained by a Godhead
of equal power ? And why ' did not the Father leave
him alone ? ' — not because he was essentially one with
him, but because he ' did always those things that
pleased him,' that is, as the less conforms himself to
the will of the greater, v. 42. ' neither came 1 of
myself,'— not therefore of his own Godhead, — ' but he
sent me ; ' he that sent him was therefore another and
greater than himself, v. 49. ' I honour my Father.'
v. 50. 'I seek not mine own glory.' v. 54. 'if I
honour myself, my glory is nothing ; ' it is therefore
less than the Father's glory, x. 24, 25. ' if thou be
the Christ, tell us plainly.... the works that I do in
my Father's name, they bear witness of me.' xv.
10. ' as I have kept my Father's commandments, and
abide in his love.' xvi. 25. ' the time cometh when
I shall no more speak to you in proverbs, but I shall
shew you plainly of the Father.' xx. 17. 'I ascend
unto my Father and your Father ; and to my God,
and your God.' Compare also Rev. i. 11. ' I am
Alpha and Omega,' and v. 17. 'I am the first and
the last.' See also ii. 8. iii. 12. ' him that overcom-

196
eth will I make a pillar in the temple of my God,'
which is repeated three times successively. Here
he, who had just before suled himself ' the first and
the last,' acknowledges that the Father was his God.
Matt. xi. 25, 26. ' I thank thee, O Father, Lord of
heaven and earth ; because thou hast hid these things,'
&c. ' even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy
sight.' Thus far we have considered the testimony of the
Son respecting the Father ; let us now enquire what
is the testimony of the Father respecting the Son :
for it is written, Matt. xi. 27. ' no man knoweth the
Son, but the Father ; neither knoweth any man the
Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son
will reveal him.' 1 John v. 9. ' this is the witness
of God which he hath testified of his Son.' Here the
Father, when about to testify of the Son, is called
God absolutely ; and his witness is most explicit.
Matt. iii. 17. ' this is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased.' Isai. xiii. 1. compared with Matt.
xii. 18. ' behold my servant, whom I uphold ; mine
elect in whom my soul delighteth ; I have put my
spirit upon him : ' — see also Matt. xvii. 5. 2 Pet. i.
17. 'for he received from God the Father honour
and glory, when there came such a voice to him from
the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased.' Mai. iii. 1. ' even the messenger
of the covenant, behold he shall come, saith Jehovah
of hosts : ' and still more clearly Psal. ii. where God
the Father is introduced in his own person as ex
plicitly declaring the nature and offices of his Son.
Psal. vii. 8, 11, 12. 'I will declare the decree ; Jeho
vah hath said unto me, Thou art my Son.. ..ask of

197
me and I shall give. ...serve Jehovah. ...kiss the Son.'
Heb. i. 8, 9. ' unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O
God, is for ever and ever.. ..thou hast loved righteous
ness, and hated iniquity ; therefore God, even thy
God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness
above thy fellows.' To the above may also be added
the testimony of the angel Gabriel, Luke i. 32. ' he
shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the
Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto him the
throne of his father David.' If then he be the Son
ofthe Most High, he is not himself the Most High-
The apostles every where teach the same doctrine ;
as the Baptist had done before them. John i. 29.
' behold the Lamb of God.' v. 33, 34. ' I knew him
not, but he that sent me to baptize with water, the
same said unto me,' &c. ' and I saw, and bare record
that this is the Son of God.' iii. 32. ' what he hath
seen and heard, that he testifieth,' &c. — not he alone
that was ' earthly,' nor did he speak only of ' earthly
things,' but he that is ' above all,' and that ' cometh
from heaven.' v. 31. lest it should be still contended
that this and similar texts refer to the human nature
of Christ 2 Cor. iv. 4, 6. ' lest the light of the glo
rious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God,
should shine unto them.' Col. i. 15. ' who is the
image of the invisible God, the first-born of every
creature.' Philipp. ii. 6. ' in the form of God.' Heb.
i. 2. ' whom he hath appointed heir.' v. 3. ' the
brightness of his glory, and the express image of his
person.' The terms here used, being all relative, and
applied numerically to two persons, prove, first,
that there is no unity of essence, and secondly, that
the one is inferior to the other. So v. 4. ' being made

198
so much better than the angels, as he hath by inher
itance obtained a more excellent name than they.'
1 Cor. iii. 23. ' ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's.'
Here, if any where, it might have been expected that
Christ would have been designated by the title of
God ; yet it is only said that he is God's. The same
appears even more clearly in what follows ; xi. 3.
' I would have you know that. ..the head of Christ is
God.' Eph. i. 17. ' the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ.' 1 Cor. xv. 27. ' when he saith, all things
are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted,
which did put all things under him : and when all
things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son
also himself be subject unto him that put all things
under him, that God may be all in all.' Here the
usual subterfuge of the opponents of this doctrine,
that of alleging the mediatorial office of Christ can be
of no avail ; since it is expressly declared, that when
the Son shall have completed his functions as medi
ator, and nothing shall remain to prevent him from re
suming his original glory as only begotten Son, he shall
nevertheless be subject unto the Father.
Such was the faith of the saints respecting the Son
of God ; such is the tenor of the celebrated confes
sion of that faith ; such is the doctrine which alone is
taught in Scripture, which is acceptable to God, and
has the promise of eternal salvation. Matt. xvi.
15 — 19. ' whom say ye that I am ? and Simon Pe
ter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God : and Jesus answered and said un
to him ; Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona : for flesh
and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my
Father which is in heaven.... upon this rock I will

199
build my Church.' Luke ix. 20. 'the Christ of
God.' John i. 49, 50. ' Nathanael answered and said
unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God ; thou art
the King of Israel.' vi. 69. 'we believe and are sure
that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.'
ix. 35—38. ' dost thou believe on the Son of God ?
he answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might
believe on him ? and Jesus saith unto him, Thou
hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with
thee : and he said, Lord, I believe ; and he worship
ped him.' xi. 22, 26, 27. ' I know that even now,
whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it
thee : whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall
never die : believest thou this ? she saith unto him,
Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son
of God, which should come into the world.' xvi. 27,
30, 31. * the Father himself loveth you, because ye
have loved me, and have believed that I came out
from God : now are we sure that thou knowest all
things ; by this we believe that thou earnest forth
from God.' xvii. 3, 7, 8, 21. ' this is life eternal, that
they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus
Christ whom thou hast sent : now they have known
that all things, whatsoever thou hast given me, are
of thee ; for I have given unto them the words which
thou gavest me ; and they have received them, and
have known surely that I came out from thee : that
the world may believe that thou hast sent me.' xx.
31. ' these are written, that ye might believe that Je
sus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing,
ye might have life through his name.' Acts viii. 37.
' if thou believest, thou may est.... I believe that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God.' Rom. x. 9. ' if thou shalt

200
believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved.' Col. ii. 2. ' that their
hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love,
and unto all riches of the full assurance of understand
ing, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God,
and ofthe Father, and of Christ' Philipp. iv. 6, 7.
' let your requests be made known unto God : and the
peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall
keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.'
1 Pet. i. 21. ' who by him do believe in God, that
raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory ;
that your faith and hope might be in God.' 1 John
iv. 15. ' whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the
Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.'
v. 1. ' whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is
born of God.' v. 5. ' who is he that overcometh the
world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of
God ?' Finally, this is the faith proposed to us in
the Apostles' Creed, the most ancient and universally
received compendium of belief in the possession of the
Church.

CHAPTER VI.

OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

.Having concluded what relates to the Father and
the Son, the next subject to be discussed is that of
the Holy Spirit, inasmuch as this latter is called the
Spirit of the Father and the Son. With regard to
the nature of the Spirit, in what manner it exists, or
whence it arose, Scripture is silent ; which is a cau
tion to us not to be too hasty in our conclusions on
the subject. For though it be a Spirit, in the same
sense in which the Father and Son are properly called
Spirits ; though we read that Christ by breathing on
his disciples gave to them the Holy Ghost, or rather
perhaps some symbol or pledge of the Holy Ghost,
John xx. 22. — yet in treating of the nature of the
Holy Spirit, we are not authorized to infer from such
expressions, that the Spirit was breathed from the
Father and the Son.* The terms emanation and pro
cession, employed by theologians on the authority of
John xv. 26. do not relate to the nature of the Holy
Spirit ; ' the Spirit of truth, o naga xov JTaxgos ixno-
gsvixai, who proceedeth' or ' goeth forth from the
* This seems to be said in allusion to the controversies which arose
between the Eastern and Western Churches on the subject of the spi-
ration or procession of the Holy Ghost from the Father and the Son.
vol. i. 26

202
Father;' which single expression is too slender a
foundation for the full establishment of so great a
mystery, especially as these words relate rather to
the mission than to the nature of the Spirit ; in
which sense the Son also is often said il-slOsiv, which
in my opinion may be translated either to go forth
or to proceed from the Father, without making any
difference in the meaning, Nay, we are even said
' to live by every word (ixnogivopeva)) that proceed
eth,' or ' goeth forth from the mouth of God,' Malt.
iv. 4. Since therefore the Spirit is neither said to be
generated nor created, nor is any other mode of exist
ence specifically attributed to it in Scripture, we
must be content to leave undetermined a point on
which the sacred writers have preserved so uniform
a silence. The name of Spirit is also frequently applied to
God and angels, and to the human mind.* When
the phrase, the Spirit of God, or the Holy Spirit,
occurs in the Old Testament, it is to be variously in
terpreted ; sometimes it signifies God the Father
himself, — as Gen. vi. 3. ' my Spirit shall not alway
strive with man ;' sometimes the power and virtue of
the Father, and particularly that divine breath or in
fluence by which every thing is created and nourished.
In this sense many both of the ancient and modern
interpreters understand the passage in Gen. i. 2. ' the
* Sciunt, qui in Hebrseis Uteris versati sunt, quam late pateat Spiritus
nomen. Origine sua ventum significat; ob cujus subtilitatem, qua
visum fugit, ad alia transfertur; primum ad substantias; nam Deus,
angeli boni malique, deinde ipse hominis animus eo vocabulo nuncupa-
tur.' Grotius ad Luc. ix. 55. See also Glocester Ridley's First Sermon
on tlie Divinity and Personality of the Holy Ghost, where he cautions
against those grosser errors which arise from a confusion of kind.

203
Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.'*
Here, however, it appears to be used with reference
to the Son, through whom the Father is so often said
to have created all things. Job xxvi. 13. ' by his
Spirit he hath garnished the heavens.' xxvii. 3. ' the
Spirit of God is in my nostrils.' xxxiii. 4. ' the Spir
it of God hath made me, and the breath of the Al
mighty hath given me life.' Psal. civ. 30. ' thou
sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created,' cxxxix. 7.
' whither shall I go then from thy Spirit ?' Ezek.
xxxvii. 14. ' I shall put my Spirit in you, and ye
shall live.' See also many other similar passages.
Sometimes it means an angel. Isai. xlviii. 16.
'the Lord Jehovah and his Spirit hath sent me.'
Ezek. iii. 12. ' then the Spirit took me up.'f See
also v. 14, 24, &c.
Sometimes it means Christ, who, according to the
common opinion was sent by the Father to lead the
Israelites into the land of Canaan. Isai. lxiii. 10, 11.
' they rebelled and vexed his Holy Spirit  where is
he that put his Holy Spirit within them ?' — that is,
the angel to whom he transferred his own name,
namely, Christ ' whom they tempted,' Numb. xxi. 5,
&c. compared with 1 Cor. x. 9.
* Milton seems to allude to the Rabbinical interpretation of this pas
sage, which, following the opinion of some of the Fathers, explains the
Spirit qf God to mean rni iimfim ha.erXx<rriKfo, or t'm higyuav Z^mrixm, the
creative or vivifying power. It seems extraordinary that Patrick should
have chosen to adopt a mode of explanation nearly similar, and not less
objectionable. ' This therefore we are to understand to be here meant ;
the infinite wisdom and power of God, which made a vehement commo
tion and mighty fermentation (by raising perhaps a great wind) upon the
face of the waters.' So too Grotius.
t The Spanish Jesuit Sanctius, and Pradus [In Ezechielem, Explana
tions, &c. Romas 1596.) understand this passage in the sense attributed
to it by Milton.

204
Sometimes it means that impulse or voice of God
by which the prophets were inspired. Nehem. ix. 30.
' thou testifiedst against them by thy Spirit in thy
prophets.' Sometimes it means that light of truth, whether
ordinary or extraordinary, wherewith God enlightens
and leads his people. Numb. xiv. 24. ' my servant
Caleb, because he had another Spirit within him' — .
Nehem. ix. 20. ' thou gavest also thy good Spirit to
instruct them.' Psal. li. 11, 12. ' take not thy Holy
Spirit from me ....renew a right Spirit within me.'
cxliii. 10. ' thy Spirit is good ; lead me into the land
of uprightness.' Undoubtedly neither David, nor
any other Hebrew, under the old covenant, believed
in the personality of that good and Holy Spirit, un
less perhaps as an angel.*
More particularly, it implies that light which was
shed on Christ himself. Isai. xi. 2. ' the Spirit of
Jehovah shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom
and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Jehovah.'
xiii. 1. ' I have put my Spirit upon him,' compared
with Acts x. 38. ' how God anointed Jesus of Naza
reth with the Holy Ghost and with power.'
It is also used to signify the spiritual gifts conferred
by God on individuals, and the act of gift itself. Gen.
xii. 38. ' a man in whom the Spirit of God is.' Numb.
xi. 1 7, 25, 26, 29. ' I will take of the Spirit which
is upon thee, and will put it upon them.' 2 Kings ii. 9.
' I pray thee, let a double portion of thy Spirit be
* See an elaborate refutation of the opinion that this doctrine was un
known before the Christian Revelation, in Ridley's Second Sermon on
the Holy Ghost.

205
upon me.' v. 15. ' the Spirit of Elijah doth rest upon
Elisha.' Nothing can be more certain, than that all these
passages, and many others of a similar kind in the
Old Testament, were understood of the virtue and
power of God the Father, inasmuch as the Holy
Spirit was not yet given, nor believed in, even by
those who prophesied that it should be poured forth
in the latter times.
So likewise under the Gospel, what is called the
Holy Spirit, or the Spirit of God, sometimes means
the Father himself. Matt. i. 18, 20. ' that which is
conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost' Luke i. 35.
' the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the pow
er of the Highest shall overshadow thee ; therefore
also that holy thing wh'.ch shall be born of thee, shall
be called the Son of God.'
Again, it sometimes means the virtue and power of
the Father. Matt. xii. 28. compared with Luke xi. 20.
' I cast out devils by the Spirit' or ' finger of God.'
Rom. i. 4. ' declared to be the Son of God with pow
er, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resur
rection from the dead.' For thus the Scripture
teaches throughout, that Christ was raised by the
power of the Father, and thereby declared to be the
Son of God. See particularly Acts xiii. 32, 33.
quoted in the beginning of the last chapter. But
the phrase ' according to the Spirit ' (secundum Spiri
tum) seems to have the same signification as Eph.
iv. 24. ' which after God (secundum Deum) is crea
ted in righteousness and true holiness;' and 1 Pet.
iv. 6. ' that they might live according to God (secun
dum Deum) in the Spirit.' Isai. xiii. 1. compared

206
with Heb. ix. 14. ' I have put my Spirit upon him
 who through the eternal Spirit offered himself
without spot to God.' Luke iv. 1. ' Jesus, being full
of the Holy Ghost,' and v. 18. compared with Isai.
Ixi. 1. 'the Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me,
because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to
the poor; he hath sent me,' &c. Acts x. 38. ' God
anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and
with power.' i. 2. ' after that he through the Holy
Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles
whom he had chosen.' It is more probable that
these phrases are to be understood of the power of
the Father, than of the Holy Spirit itself ; for how
could it be necessary that Christ should be filled with
the Holy Spirit, of whom he had himself said, John
xvi. 15. 'he shall take of mine ?' For the same rea
son I am inclined to believe that the Spirit descended
upon Christ at his baptism, not so much in his own
name, as in virtue of a mission from the Father, and
as a symbol and minister of the divine power. For
what could the Spirit confer on Christ, from whom
he was himself to be sent, and to receive all things ?
Was his purpose to bear witness to Christ ? But as
yet he was himself not so much as known. Was it
meant that the Spirit should be then manifested for
the first time to the church ? But at the time of his
appearance nothing was said of him or of his office ;
nor did that voice from heaven bear any testimony to
the Spirit, but only to the Son. The descent there
fore, and appearance of the Holy Spirit in the like
ness of a dove, seems to have been nothing more
than a representation of the ineffable affection ofthe
Father for the Son, communicated by the Holy

207
Spirit, under the appropriate image of a dove, and
accompanied by a voice from heaven declaratory of
that affection.*
Thirdly, the Spirit signifies a divine impulse, or
light, or voice, or word, transmitted from above,
either through Christ, who is the Word of God, or
by some other channel. Mark xii. 36. ' David him
self said by the Holy Ghost' Acts i. 16. ' the Holy
Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concern
ing Judas.' xxviii. 25. ' well spake the Holy Ghost
by Esaias the prophet' Heb. iii. 7. ' wherefore, as
the Holy Ghost saith, To-day if ye will hear his
voice,' &c. ix. 8. ' the Holy Ghost this signifying,
that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made
manifest..' x. 15. ' whereof the Holy Ghost also is a
witness to us.' 2 Pet. i. 21. ' holy men of God spake
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost' Luke ii.
25, 26. ' the Holy Ghost was upon him : and it was
revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost — .' It appears
to me, that these and similar passages cannot be con
sidered as referring to the express person of the Spir
it, both because the Spirit was not yet given, and
because Christ alone, as has been said before, is prop
erly speaking, and in a primary sense, the Word of
*  In likeness of a dove
The Spirit descended, while the Father's voice
From Heav'n pronounc'd him his beloved Son.
Paradise Regained, I. 30.
In another part of the same book, Milton intimates an uncertainty re
specting the real signification of the descent of the Holy Spirit, which
is very consistent with the hesitating manner in which he comments on
the passage in this treatise.
 thence on his head
A perfect dove descend, [whatever it meant,)
And out of Heav'n the sorran voice 1 heard, &c. 82.

208
God, and the Prophet of the Church ; though ' God
at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time
past unto the fathers by the prophets,' Heb. i. 1.
whence it appears that he did not speak by the Holy
Spirit alone, unless the term be understood in the
signification which 1 have proposed, and in a much
wider sense than was subsequently attributed to it.
Hence, 1 Pet. i. 11. ' searching what or what manner
of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them' —
that is, in the prophets — ' did signify,' must either be
understood of Christ himself, — as iii. 18, 19. 'quick
ened by the Spirit, by which also he went and preach
ed unto the spirits in prison,' — or it must be under
stood of the Spirit which supplied the place of Christ
the Word and the Chief Prophet.
Lastly, the Spirit signifies the person itself of the
Holy Spirit, or its symbol. Matt. iii. 16. Mark i. 10.
' he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove,
and lighting upon him.' Luke iii. 22. ' in a bodily
shape like a dove.' John i. 32, 33. 'like a dove.'
Nor let it be objected, that a dove is not a person ;
for an intelligent substance, under any form whatever,
is a person ; as for instance, the four living creatures
seen in Ezekiel's vision, ch. i. John xiv. 16, 17.
' another Comforter.' See also v. 26. xv. 26.
xvi. 7, 13. xx. 22. 'he breathed on them, and saith
unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost,' — which was
a kind of symbol, and sure pledge of that promise,
the fulfilment of which is recorded Acts ii. 2 — 4, 33.
' having received of the Father the promise of the
Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this.' Matt, xxviii. 19.
' in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Ghost.' Acts xv. 28. 'it seemed good to

209
the Holy Ghost.' Rom. viii. 16. ' the Spirit itself
beareth witness with our spirit.' v. 26. 'it helpeth
our infirmities  it maketh intercession for us.' Eph.
i. 13, 14. xa nvsvfiaxi xa ayia os iaxiv dgga6av ' ye
were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise which
(who, Whitby, Macknight) is the earnest of our in
heritance.' iv. 30. ' grieve not the Holy Spirit of
God.' Lastly, it signifies the donation of the Spirit itself,
and of its attendant gifts. John vii. 39. ' but this
spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on
him should receive ; for the Holy Ghost was not yet
given.' Matt. iii. 11. 'he shall baptize you with the
Holy Ghost and with fire.' See also Acts i. 5. and
xi. 16. 1 Thess. v. 19. ' quench not the Spirit'
Who this Holy Spirit is, and whence he comes,
and what are his offices, no one has taught us more
explicitly than the Son of God himself. Matt. x. 20.
' it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Fa
ther that speaketh in you.' Luke xi. 13. ' how much
more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit
to them that ask him.' xxiv. 49. ' behold, I send
the promise of my Father upon you ; but tarry ye in
the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power
from on high.' John xiv. 16, 17. ' I will pray the
Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that
he may abide with you for ever, even the Spirit of
truth.' v. 26. ' the Comforter, which is the Holy
Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name.'
xv. 26. ' the Comforter, whom I will send unto you
from the Father,  which proceedeth from the Fa
ther, he shall testify of me.' xvi. 7. ' I will send him
unto you.' v. 8. ' when he is come, he will reprove
vol. i. 27

210
the world — .' v. 13. ' he shall not speak of himself;
but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak.'
v. 14. ' he shall glorify me, for he shall receive of
mine.' v. 15. ' all things that the Father hath are
mine ; therefore said I that he shall take of mine.'
xx. 22. ' when he had said this, he breathed on them,
and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.'
Acts ii. 2 — 4, 33. ' having received of the Father
the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth
this — .' v. 32. ' we are his witnesses of these things,
and so is also the Holy Ghost whom God hath given
to them that obey him.' Rom. xv. 13. ' now the God
of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
that ye may abound in hope through the power of
the Holy Ghost.' 1 Cor. xii. 3. ' no man can say
that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost'
Heb. ii. 4. ' God also bearing them witness both with
signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts
of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will.'
Hence he is called the Spirit of the Father, the Spir
it of God, and even the Spirit of Christ. Matt. x. 20.
' it is the Spirit bf your Father that speaketh in you.'
Rom. viii. 9. ' but ye are not in the flesh, but in the
Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you :
now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is
none of his.' v. 15, 16. ' ye have received the spirit
of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father ; the
Spirit itself beareth witness with our Spirit, that we
are the sons of God.' I Cor. vi. 11. 'by the Spirit
of our God.' 2 Cor. i. 21, 22. ' he which stablisheth
us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God ;
who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the
Spirit in our hearts.' Gal. iv. 6. ' God hath sent

211
forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father.' Eph. i. 13, 14. ' that holy Spirit of
promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance.'
iv. 30. ' grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby
ye are sealed.' ii. 18. 'through him we both have
access by one Spirit unto the Father.' 1 Pet. i. 12.
' the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven.' From all
which results the command in Matt, xxviii. 19. ' bap
tizing them in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost.' 1 John v. 7. ' there
are three that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the
Word, and the Holy Ghost ; and these three are
one.' The latter passage has been considered in the
preceding chapter ; but both will undergo a further
examination in a subsequent part of the present
If it be the divine will that a doctrine which is to
be understood and believed as one of the primary ar
ticles of our faith, should be delivered without obscu
rity or confusion, and explained, as is fitting, in clear
and precise terms, — if it be certain that particular care
ought to be taken in every thing connected with reli
gion, lest the objection urged by Christ against the
Samaritans should be applicable to us — ' ye worship
ye know not what,' John iv. 22. — if our Lord's say
ing should be held sacred wherever points of faith are
in question — ' we know what we worship' — the par
ticulars which have been stated seem to contain all
that we are capable of knowing, or are required to
know respecting the Holy Spirit, inasmuch as revela
tion has declared nothing else expressly ua the subject.
The nature of these particulars is such, that although
tlie Holy Spirit be no where said to have taken upon
himself any mediatorial functions, as is said of Christ,

212
nor to be engaged by the obligations of a filial relation
to pay obedience to the Father, yet he must evidently
be considered as inferior to both Father and Son, in
asmuch as he is represented and declared to be sub
servient and obedient in all things ; to have been
promised, and sent, and given ; to speak nothing of
himself; and even to have been given as an earnest
There is no room here for any sophistical distinction
founded on a twofold nature; all these expressions re
fer to the Holy Spirit, who is maintained to be the
supreme God ; whence it follows, that wherever simi
lar phrases are applied to the Son of God, in which he
is distinctly declared to be inferior to the Father, they
ought to be understood in reference to his divine as
well as to his human character. For what those, who
believe in the Holy Spirit's co-equality with the
Father, deem to be not unworthy of him, cannot be
considered unworthy of the Son, however exalted may
be the dignity of his Godhead. Wherefore it remains
now to be seen on what grounds, and by what argu
ments, we are constrained to believe that the Holy
Spirit is God, if Scripture nowhere expressly teach
the doctrine of his divinity, not even in the passages
where his office is explained at large, nor in those
where the unity of God is explicitly asserted, as in
John xvii. 3. 1 Cor. viii. 4, &c. nor where God is
either described, or introduced as sitting upon his
throne, — if, further, the Spirit be frequently named
the Spirit of God, and the Holy Spirit of God, Eph.
iv. 30, so that the Spirit of God being actually and
numerically distinct from God himself, cannot possibly
be essentially one God with him whose Spirit he is,
(except on certain strange and absurd hypotheses,

213
which have no foundation in Holy Scripture, but were
devised by human ingenuity for the sole purpose of
supporting this particular doctrine) — if, wherever the
Father and the Holy Spirit are mentioned together,
the Father alone be called God, and the Father alone,
omitting all notice of the Spirit, be acknowledged by
Christ himself to be the one true God, as has been
proved in the former chapter by abundant testimony ;
if he be God who ' stablisheth us in Christ,' who
'hath anointed us,' who 'hath sealed us,' and 'given
us the earnest of the Spirit,' 2 Cor. i. 22. if that God
be one God, and that one God the Father ; if, finally
' God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our
hearts, crying Abba, Father,' Gal. iv. 6. whence it
follows that he who sent both the Spirit of his Son
and the Son himself, he on whom we are taught to
call, and on whom the Spirit himself calls, is the one
God and the only Father. It seems exceedingly un
reasonable, not to say dangerous, that in a matter of
so much difficulty, believers should be required to re
ceive a doctrine, represented by its advocates as of
primary importance and of undoubted certainty, on
anything less than the clearest testimony of Scripture ;
and that a point which is confessedly contrary to hu
man reason, should nevertheless be considered as sus
ceptible of proof from human reason only, or rather
from doubtful and obscure disputations.
First, then, it is usual to defend the divinity of the
Holy Spirit on the ground, that the name of God
seems to be attributed to the Spirit : Acts v. 3, 4.
' why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy
Ghost ?,...thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.'
But if attention be paid to what has been stated be-

214
fore respecting the Holy Ghost on the authority of
the Son, this passage will appear too weak for the
support of so great a doctrinal mystery. For since
the Spirit is expressly said to be sent by the Father,
and in the name of the Son, he who lies to the Spirit
must lie to Go 1, in the same sense as he who receives
an apostle, receivfs God who sent him, Mitt. x. 40.
John xiii 20.* St. Paul hi nself removes all ground
of controversy from this passage, and explains it most
appositely by implication, 1 Thess. iv. 8. where his
intention is evidently to express the same truth more
at large : ' he therefore that despiseth, despiseth not
man, but God, who hath also given unto us his Holy
Spirit.' Besides, it may be doubted whether the Holy
Spirit in this passage does not signify God the Father ;f
for Peter afterwards says, v. 9. ' how is it that ye
have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord ? '
that is, God the Father himself, and his divine intelli
gence, which no one can elude or deceive. And in
v. 32. the Holy Spirit is not called God, but a witness
of Christ with the apostles, ' whom God hath given
* Clarice, as might be expected, gives the same explanation of the passage, (Scrip
ture Doctrine, Part I. Sect 2. No. 66.) also quoting 1 Thess. iv. 8. He supports
his opinion on the authority of Athanasius. TWs o ¦^i.uva.fj.^os ra, ayiw vrvtvpun,
T&j @E<w \-^/zvffaro, rep xaroixouvrt Ev av8^ai^fois otic rou Tv£Vf£.aros avrov' otfou yag
XeTi To yvtvfia rou Qtou, ixti iff-rtv o 0ios. iv rovriii yap, $nvi, yivaiffxopiv o-Tt o
&tos £f vp,7* f/ivu on lx rou wzvpixros aitroZ ii^aixsv %p.7v. De Inearnat. Verbi, et
contra Arianos.
f There is some error in this passage in the manuscript, where it is
written thus: 'Quicquid incertum est annon hoc loco Spiritus Sanctus
Deum Patrem significat : idem enim Petrus, &c.' Unless we suppose
that some words have fallen out, the sentence may be corrected by a
very slight alteration : — Quid, quod incertum est annon hoc loco Spiritus
Sanctus Deum Patrem signified ? idem, &c. I have followed this con
jecture in the translation, as it is a form of sentence very frequently
used in other parts of the treatise.

215
to them that obey him.' So also Acts ii. 38. ' ye
shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost,' given, that
is, by God. But how can the gift of God be himself
God, much more the supreme God ?
The second passage is Acts xxviii. 25. compared
with Isai. vi. 8, 9. 'I heard the voice of the Lord,
saying' — &c  ' well spake the Holy Ghost by
Esaias the prophet,' &c. See also Jer. xxxi. 31.
compared with Heb. x. 15. But it has been shewn
above, that the names Lord and Jehovah are through
out the Old Testament attributed to whatever angel
God may entrust with the execution of his commands ;
and in the New Testament the Son himself openly
testifies of the Holy Spirit, John xvi. 13. that ' he
shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall
hear, that shall he speak.' It cannot therefore be in
ferred from this passage, any more than from the pre
ceding, that the Holy Ghost is God.
The third place is 1 Cor. iii. 16. compared with vi.
19. and 2 Cor. vi. 16. ' the temple of God'  ' the
temple of the Holy Ghost.' But neither is it here
said, nor does it in any way follow from hence, that
the Holy Spirit is God ; for it is not because the
Spirit alone, but because the Father also and the Son
' make their abode with us,' that we are called ' the
temple of God.' Therefore in 1 Cor. vi. 19. where
we are called ' the temple of the Holy Ghost,' Paul
has added, ' which ye have of God,' as if with the
purpose Of guarding against any error which might
arise respecting the Holy Spirit in consequence of his
expression. How then can it be deduced from thisr
passage, that he whom we have of God, is God him
self? In what sense we are called ' the temple of the

216
Holy Ghost,' the same apostle has explained more
fully Eph. ii. 22. ' in whom ye also are builded to
gether for an habitation of God through the Spirit'
The next evidence which is produced for this pur
pose, is the ascription of the divine attributes to the.
Spirit. And first, Omniscience ; as if the Spirit were
altogether of the same essence with God. 1 Cor. ii.
10, 11. ' the Spirit searcheth all things, yea the deep
things of God : for what man knoweth the things of
of a man, save the spirit of a man which is in him ?
even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the
Spirit of God.' With regard to the tenth verse, I re
ply, that in the opinion of divines,* the question here
is not respecting the divine omniscience, but only re
specting those deep things ' which God hath revealed
unto us by his Spirit' — the words immediately pre
ceding. Besides, the phrase ' all things ' must be re
stricted to mean whatever it is expedient for us to
know : not to mention that it would be absurd to
speak of God searching God, with whom he was one
in essence. Next, with regard to the eleventh verse,
the essence of the spirit is not the subject in question;
for the consequences would be full of absurdity, if it
were to be understood that the Spirit of God was
with regard to God, as the spirit of a man is with
regard to man. Allusion therefore is made only to
the intimate relationship and communion of the Spirit
with God, from whom he originally proceeded. That
no doubt may remain as to the truth of this interpre
tation, the following verse is of the same import : ' we
have received  the Spirit which is of God.' That
* So Beza and Grotius explain the passage.

217
which is of God, cannot be actually God, who is
unity. The Son himself disallows the omniscience of
the Spirit still more plainly. MM. xi. 27. ' no man
knoweth the Son, but the Father, neither knoweth
any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whom
soever the Son will reveal him.' What then becomes
of the Holy Spirit ? for according to this passage, no
third person whatever knoweth either the Father or
the Son, except through their medium. Mark xiii.
32. ' of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no,
not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son,
but the Father.' If not even the Son himself, who is
also in heaven, then certainly not the Spirit of the
Son, who receiveth all things from the Son himself;
John xvi. 14.
Secondly, Omnipresence, on the ground that ' the
Spirit of God dwelleth in us.' But even if it filled
with its presence the whole circle of the earth, with
all the heavens, that is, the entire fabrick of this
world, it would not follow that the Spirit is omnipre
sent For why should not the Spirit easily fill with
the influence of its power, what the Sun fills with its
light ; though it does not necessarily follow that we
are to believe it infinite ? If that lying spirit, 1 Kings
xxii. 22. were able to fill four hundred prophets at
once, how many thousands ought we not to think the
Holy Spirit capable of pervading, even without the
attributes of infinity or immensity ?
Thirdly, divine works. Acts ii. 4. ' the Spirit
gave them utterance.' xiii. 2. ' the Holy Ghost said,
Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work.' Acts
xx. 28. 'the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to
fee i the church of God.' 2 Pet. i. 21. ' holy men of
vol. l. 28

218
God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.'
A single remark will suffice for the solution of all
these passages, if it be only remembered what was
the language of Christ respecting the Holy Spirit,
the Comforter ; namely, that he was sent by the Son
from the Father, that he spake not of himself, nor in
his own name, and consequently, that he did not act
in his own name ; therefore that he did not even move
others to speak of his own power, but that what he
gave he had himself received. Again, I Cor. xii. 11.
the Spirit is said to ' divide to every man severally as
he will.' In answer to this it may be observed, that
the Spirit himself is also said to be divided to each
according to the will of God the Father, Heb. ii. 4.
and that even ' the wind bloweth where it listeth,'
John iii. 8. With regard to the annunciation made to
Joseph and Mary, that the Holy Spirit was the au
thor of the miraculous conception, Matt. i. 18, 20.
Luke i. 35. it is not to be understood with reference
to his own person alone. For it is certain that, in the
Old Testament, under the name of the Spirit of God,
or of the Holy Spirit, either God the Father himself,
or his divine power was signified ; nor had Joseph
and Mary at that time heard anything of any other
Holy Spirit, inasmuch as the personality and divinity
of the Holy Spirit are not acknowledged by the Jews
even to the present day. Accordingly, in both the
passages quoted, nvsvua ayiov is without the custom
ary article ; or if this be not considered as suffi
ciently decisive, the angel speaks in a more circum
stantial manner in St. Luke ; ' the Holy Ghost shall
come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall
overshadow thee ; therefore that holy thing which

219
shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God,'
— that is, of the Father : unless we suppose that
there are two Fathers, — one Father of the Son of
God, another Father of the Son of man.
Fourthly, divine honours. Matt, xxviii. 19. ' bap
tizing them in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost.' Here mention is un
doubtedly made of three persons ; but there is not a
word that determines the divinity, or unity, or equal
ity of these three. For we read, Matt. x. 41. John
xiii. 20. of receiving a prophet in the name of a pro
phet, and a righteous man in the name of a righteous
man, and of giving a cup of cold water in the name
of a disciple ; which evidently means nothing more,
than because he is a prophet, or a righteous man, or
a disciple. Thus too the Israelites ' were baptized
unto Moses,' 1 Cor. x. 2. that is, unto the law or doc
trine of Moses; and 'unto the baptism of John,'
occurs in the same sense, Acts xix. 3. and ' in the
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,' Acts
ii. 38. and ' into Jesus Christ,' and ' into his death,'
Rom. vi. 3. and ' into one body,' 1 Cor. xii. 13. To
be baptized therefore in their name, is to be admitted
to those benefits and gifts which we have received
through the Son and the Holy Spirit. Hence Paul
rejoiced that no one could say he had been baptized
in his name, 1 Cor. i. 13 — 15. It was not the im
putation of making himself God that he feared, but
that of affecting greater authority than was suitable
to his character. From all which it is clear that
when we are baptized in the name of the Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost, this is not done to impress upon our
minds the inherent or relative natures of these three

220
persons, but the benefits conferred by them in baptism
on those who believe, — namely, that our eternal sal
vation is owing to the F-rher, our redemption to the
Son, and our sanctification to the Spirit. The pow
er of the Father is inherent in himself, that of the
Son and the Spirit is received from the Father ; for it
has been already proved on the authority of the Son,
that the Son does every thing in the name of the Fa
ther, and the Spirit every thing in the name of the
Father and the Son ; and a confirmation of the same
truth may be derived from the words immediately
preceding the verse under discussion; v. 18. 'all
power is given unto me.. ..go ye therefore.. ..baptizing
in the name,' &c. and still more plainly by 1 Cor.
vi. 1!. ' but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but
ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and
by the Spirit of our God.' Here the same three
are mentioned as in baptism, ' the Son.' ' the Spirit,'
and ' our God ;' it follows therefor", that the Father
alone is our God, of whom are both the Son and the
Spirit. But invocation is made to the Spirit. 2 Cor. xiii. 14,
' the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of
God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with
you all.' This, however, is not so much an invoca
tion as a benediction, in which the Spirit is uot ad
dressed as a person, but sought as a gift from him
who alone is there called God, namely, the Father,
from whom Christ himself directs us to seek the
communication of the Spirit. Luke xi. 13. If the
Spirit were ever to be invoked personally, it would
be then especially, when we pray for him ; yet we
are commanded not to ask him of himself, but only of

221
the Father. Why do we not call upon the Spirit
himself, if he be God, to give himself to us ? He
who is sought from the Father, and given by him^
not by himself, can neither be Gotl, nor an object of
invocation. The same form of benediction occurs
Gen. xhiii. 15, 16. ' the God before whom my fa
thers did walk.. ..the angel which redeemed me from
all evil, bless the lads :' and Rev. i. 4. ' grace be un
to 30U, and peace from him which is.... and from the
seven spirits.' It is clear that in this passage the
sevt n spirits, of whom more will be said hereafter,
are not meant to be invoked. Besides that in this
benediction the order or dignity of the things signi
fied should be considered, rather than that of the
persons ; for it is by the Son that we come to the
Father, from whom finally the Holy Spirit is sent.
So 1 Cor. xii. 4 — 6. ' there are diversities of gifts,
but the same Spirit : and there are differences of ad
ministrations, but the same Lord: and there are di
versifies of operations, but it is the same God which
worketh all in all.' Here the three are again men
tioned in an inverse order ; but it is one God which
worketh all in all, even in the Son and the Spirit, as
we are taught throughout the whole of Scripture.
Hence it appears that what is said Matt. xii. 31. 32,
has no reference to the personality of the Holy Spirit.
For if to sin against the Holy Spirit were worse than
to sin against the Father and Son, and if that alone
were an unpardonable sin, the Spirit truly would be
greater than the Father and the Son. The words
must therefore apply to that illumination, which, as
it is highest in degree, so it is last in order of time,
whereby the Father enlightens us through the Spirit,

222
and which if any one resist, no method of salvation
remains open to him. I am inclined to believe, how
ever, that it is the Father himself who is here called
the Holy Spirit, by whose Spirit, v. 28, or finger,
Luke xi. 20. Christ professed to cast out devils ;
when therefore the Pharisees accused him falsely of
acting in concert with Beelzebub, they are declared
to sin unpardonably, because they said of him who
had the Spirit of his Father, ' he hath an unclean
spirit,' Mark iii. 30. Besides, it was to the Phari
sees that he spoke thus, who acknowledged no other
Spirit than the Father himself. If this be the true
interpretation of the passage, which will not be
doubted by any one who examines the whole con
text from v. 24 to v. 32. that dreaded sin against the
Holy Spirit will be in reality a sin against the Fa
ther, who is the Spirit of holiness ; of which he
would be guilty, who should affirm that the Spirit of
the Father which was working in Christ was the
prince of the devils, or an unclean spirit ; — as Mark
clearly shows in the passage quoted above.
But the Spirit bestows grace and blessing upon
the churches in conjunction with the Father and the
Son ; Rev. i. 4, 5. ' grace be unto you and peace
from him which is.. ..and from the seven spirits which
are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ.' It is
clear, however, that the Holy Spirit is not here meant
to be implied ; the number of the spirits is inconsist
ent with such a supposition, as well as the place
which they are said to occupy, standing like angels
before the throne. See also iv. 5. and v 6. where
the same spirits are called ' seven lamps of fire burn
ing before the throne,' and the ' seven horns ' and

223
' seven eyes ' of the Lamb. Those who reduce these
spirits to one Holy Spirit, and consider them as
synonymous with his sevenfold grace, (an opinion
which is deservedly refuted by Beza,*) ought to be
ware, lest, by attributing to mere virtues the proper
ties of persons, they furnish arguments to those com
mentators who interpret the Holy Spirit as nothing
more than the virtue and power of the Father.f
This may suffice to convince us, that in this kind of
threefold enumerations the sacred writers have no
view whatever to the doctrine of three divine persons,
or to the equality or order of those persons ; — not
even in that verse which has been mentioned above,
and on which commentators in general lay so much
stress, 1 John v. 7. ' there are three that bear record
in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost,
and these three are one,' where there is in reality
*'Dei majestati adjungit suos stipatores, non tamen quasi illos ulla in
parte Deo exaequet, vel cum Christo conferat, sicut etiam Paulus testes
una citat Deum, Christum, et angelos, 1 Tim. v. 21. Nam quod septem
hos spiritus nonnulli pro Spiritu Sancto acceperunt, cujus septiformis, ut
loquuntur, sit gratia, manifeste refelli potest vel ex eo quod scribitur
infra v. 5, 6. At ne quis hoc loco offendatur, quasi ad istos spiritus ali
quid transferatur quod ad Deitatem tantum pertineat, vel quasi Christus
istis spiritibus subjiciatur, considerentur divina elogia quae paulo post
tribuuntur Christo Unius enim Dei est, et quidem qui homo sit factus,
sanguine suo abluere mundi peccata ; neque usquam angelis gloria et
robur aeternum tribuitur, sed hoc ipsum est quod angeli Dei acclamant.
Christus ergo ut Deus hic describitur ; septem autem isti spiritus ut
ministri ante thronum collocantur ; ergo etiam coram Christo, ut qui
Deo Patri assideat. Denique ut nemo de hoc possit ambigere, iidem
isti septem Spiritus infra v. 5, 6. Agni cornua et oculi, id est, ministri,
dicuntur.' Beza ad Apoc. i. 4.
f According to the doctrine of the Socinians. ' Respondemus Spiri
tum Sauctum quidem per se, et, ut in scholis loquuntur, abstracte sump-
tum, qualitatem re vera esse, non substantiam.' Crellius, in answer to
the question ' an Spiritus Sanctus substantia quaedam sit, an vero mera
tantum qualitas a Deo profecta.'

224
nothing which implies either divinity or unity of es
sence. As to divinity, God is not the only one who
is said to bear record in heaven; 1 Tim. v. 21. ' I
charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the elect angels,' — where it might have been ex
pected that the Holy Spirit would have been named
in the third place, if such ternary forms of expression
really contained the meaning which is commonly as
cribed to them. What kind of unity is intended, is
sufficiently plain from the next verse, in which ' the
spirit, the water, and the blood ' are mentioned, which
' are to bear record to one,' or ' to that one thing.'
Beza himself, who is generally a staunch defender
of the Trinity, understands the phrase unum sunt to
mean, agree in one.* What it is that they testify,
appears in the fifth and sixth verses — namely, that
' he that overcometh the world is he that believeth
that Jesus is the Son of God, even Jesus Christ,' that
is, the anointed ; therefore he is not one with, nor
equal to, him that anointed him. Thus the very re
cord that they bear is inconsistent with the essential
unity of the witnesses, which is attempted to be de
duced from the passage. For the Word is both the
Son and Christ, that is, as has been said, the an
ointed ; and as he is the image, as it were, by which
we see God, so is he the word by which we hear
him. But if such be his nature, he cannot be es
sentially one with God, whom no one can see or hear.
The same has been already proved, by other argu
ments, with regard to the Spirit ; it follows, therefore,
that these three are not one in essence. I say nothing
of the suspicion of spuriousness attached to the pas-
* See page 125, note.

225
sage, which is a matter of criticism rather than of
doctrine. Further, I would ask whether there is one
Spirit that bears record in heaven, and another which
bears record in earth, or whether both are the same
Spirit. If the same, it is extraordinary that we no
where else read of his bearing witness in heaven, al
though his witness has been always most conspicu
ously manifested in earth, that is, in our hearts.
Christ certainly brings forward himself and his Father
as the only witnesses of himself, John viii. 16, 19.
Why then, in addition to two other perfectly compe
tent witnesses, should the Spirit twice bear witness
to the same thing ? On the other hand, if it be another
Spirit, we have here a new and unheard of doctrine.
There are besides other circumstances, which in the
opinion of many render the passage suspicious ; and
yet it is on the authority of this text, almost exclu
sively, that the whole doctrine of the Trinity has been
hastily adopted.
Lest however we should be altogether ignorant
who or what the Holy Spirit is, although Scripture
nowhere teaches us in express terms, it may be col
lected from the passages quoted above, that the Holy
Spirit, inasmuch as he is a minister of God, and
therefore a creature, was created or produced of the
substance of God, not by a natural necessity, but by
the free will of the agent, probably, before the foun
dations of the world were laid, but later than the
Son, and far inferior to him. It will be objected,
that thus the Holy Spirit is not sufficiently distin
guished from the Son. I reply, that the Scriptural
expressions themselves, ' to come forth,' ' to go out
from the Father,' ' to proceed from the Father,' which
vol. i. 29

226
mean the same in the Greek, do not distinguish the
Son from the Holy Spirit, inasmuch as these terms
are used indiscriminately with reference to both
persons, and signify their mission, not their nature.
There is however sufficient reason for placing the
name as well as the nature of the Son above that of
the Holy Spirit in the discussion of topics relative to
the Deity ; inasmuch as the brightness of the glory of
God, and the express image of his person, are said to
have been impressed on the one, and not on the
other.

CHAPTER VII.

OF THE CREATION.

J. he second species of external efficiency is com
monly called Creation. As to the actions of God
before the foundation of the world, it would be the
height of folly to inquire into them, and almost equal
ly so to attempt a solution of the question.* With
regard to the account which is generally given from
1 Cor. ii. 7. ' he ordained his wisdom in a mystery,
even the hidden mystery which God ordained before
the world,' — or, as it is explained, that he was occu
pied with election and reprobation, and with decreeing
other things relative to these subjects, — it is not ima
ginable that God should have been wholly occupied
from eternity in decreeing that which was to be cre
ated in a period of six days, and which, after having
* Milton elsewhere alludes to the less serious employments of the
Deity before the creation of the world, referring to Prov. viii. 24, 25,
30. ' God himself conceals us not his own recreations before the world
was built ; " I was," saith the eternal Wisdom, " daily his delight, play
ing always before him." ' Tetrachordon. Prose Works, II. 128. And
again, Before the hills appear'd, or fountain flow'd,
Thou with eternal Wisdom didst converse,
Wisdom thy sister, and with her didst play
In presence of th' Almighty Father, pleas'd
With thy celestial song. Paradise Lost, VII. 8.

228
been governed in divers manners for a few thousand
years, was finally to be received iuto an immutable
state with himself, or to be rejected from his presence
for all eternity.
That the world was created, is an article of faith ;
Heb. xi. 3. ' through faith we understand that the
worlds were framed by the word of God.'
Creation is that act whereby God the Father pro
duced every thing that exists by his Word and Spirit,
that is, by his will, for the manifestation of the glory
of his power and goodness.
Whereby God the Father. Job. ix. 8. ' which alone
spreadeth out the heavens, Isai. xliv. 24. ' I am Jeho
vah that maketh all things : that stretcheth forth the
heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by
myself, xiv. 6, 7. ' that they may know from the rising
of the sun, and from the west, that there is none be
side me : I am Jehovah, and there is none else : I
form the light, and create darkness.' If there be
any thing like a common meaning, or universally re
ceived usage of words, this language not only pre
cludes the possibility of there being any other God,
but also of there being any co-equal person, of any
kind whatever. Neh. ix. 6. ' thou art Jehovah alone;
thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens.' Mai.
ii. 10. ' have we not all one Father ? hath not one
God created us?' Hence Christ himself says, Matt.
xi. 25. ' I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth.' So too all the apostles, Acts iv. 24. compared
with v. 27. ' Lord, thou art God, which hast made
heaven and earth, and the sea, and all that in them
is. ...the kings of the earth stood up. ...against the holy
child Jesus.' Rom. xi. 36. 'for of him, and through

229
him, and to him are all things.' 1 Cor. viii. 6. ' to us
there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all
things.' 2 Cor. iv. 6. 'for God who commanded the
light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our
hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ' Heb. ii. 10. ' him,
for whom are all things, and by whom are all things.'
iii. 4. ' he that built all things is God.'
By his Word. Gen. i. throughout the whole chap
ter — ' God said.' Psal. xxxiii. 6. ' by the word of
Jehovah were the heavens made.' v. 9. ' for he spake,
and it was done.' cxlviii. 5. ' he commanded, and
they were created.' 2 Pet. iii. 5. ' by the word of
God the heavens were of old,' — that is, as is evident
from other passages, by the Son, who appears hence
to derive his title of Word. John i. 3, 10. ' all things
were made by him : by him the world was made.' 1
Cor. viii. 6. ' to us there is but one God, the Father,
of whom are all things, and we in him ; and one Lord
Jesus Christ, by whom are all things.' Eph. iii. 9.
'who created all things by Jesus Christ.' Col. i. 16.
'by him were all things created.' Heb. i. 2. 'by
whom also he made the worlds ;' whence it is said, v.
10. ' thou hast laid the foundation ofthe earth.' The
proposition per sometimes signifies the primary cause,
as Matt. xii. 28. 'I cast out devils {per Spiritum) by
the Spirit of God.' 1 Cor. i. 9. ' God is faithful, {per
quem) by whom ye are called,' — sometimes the in
strumental, or less principal cause, as in the passages
quoted above, where it cannot be taken as the primary
cause, for if so, the Father himself, of whom are all
things, would not be the primary cause ; nor is it the
joint cause, for in such case it would have been said

230
that the Father created all things, not by, but with
the Word and Spirit ; or collectively, the Father, the
Word, and the Spirit created ; which phrases are no
where to be found in Scripture. Besides, the ex
pressions to be of the Father, and to be by the Son,
do not denote the same kind of efficient cause. If it
be not the same cause, neither is it a joint cause ; and
if not a joint cause, certainly the Father, of whom are
all things, must be the principal cause, rather than the
Son by whom are all things ; for the Father is not
only he of whom, but also from whom, and for whom,
and through whom, and on account of whom are all
things, as has been proved above, inasmuch as he com
prehends within himself all lesser causes ; whereas
the Son is only he by whom are all things ;* where
fore he is the less principal cause. Hence it is often
said that the Father created the world by the Son,f —
but never, in the same sense, that the Son created the
world by the Father. It is however sometimes at
tempted to be proved from Rev. iii. 14. that the Son
was the joint, or even the principal cause of the crea
tion with the Father ; ' the beginning of the creation
of God;' where the word beginning is interpreted
* For an answer to this assertion, and indeed with reference to the
whole of this chapter, see Waterland's Second Sermon in defence qf the
Divinity qf our Lord Jesus Christ, where he proves that Christ is prop
erly Creator. f He Heaven of Heavens and all the Powers therein
By thee created. — Paradise Lost, III. 390.
 By whom,
As by his Word, the mighty Father made
All things, ev'n thee ; and all the Spirits of Heaven
By him created in their bright degrees. V. 835.

231
in an active sense, on the authority of Aristotle.* But
in the first place, the Hebrew language, whence the
expression is taken, nowhere admits of this sense, but
rather requires a contrary usage, as Gen. xlix. 3.
'Reuben, thou art.. ..the beginning of my strength.'
Secondly, there are two passages in St. Paul referring
to Christ himself, which clearly prove that the word
beginning is here used in a passive signification.
Col. i. 15, 18. ' the first born of every creature,....
the beginning, the first born from the dead,' — where
the position of the Greek accent,f and the passive
verbal ngaxoxoxos, show that the Son of God was the
first born of every creature precisely in the same sense
as the Son of Man was the first born of Mary, ngaxo-
xoxos, Matt. i. 25. The other passage is Rom. viii. 29.
' first born among many brethren ;' that is, in a passive
signification. Lastly, it should be remarked, that he
is not called simply ' the beginning of the creation,'
but ' of the creation of God;' which can mean noth
ing else than the first of those things which God
created ; how therefore can he be himself God ? Nor
can we admit the reason devised by some of the
Fathers! for his being called, Col. i. 15. ' the first
born of every creature,' — namely, because it is said
v. 16. ' by him all things were created.' For had St.
* See Aristotle's Metaphys. iv. 1. Milton alludes to the same inter
pretation in his logical work. ' Hinc causa proprie dicta, principium
quoque nominatur a Cic. I. de Nat. Deorum, sed frequentius apud Graecos.'
Artis Logicce plenior lnstitutio, &c. Prose Works, VI. 205.
f In allusion to the opinion of Isidore Pelusiota, Erasmus, and others
(with whom Michaelis agrees, Annotat. ad Paraphr. ad Col. i. 15.) that
it should not be read a-pairoroxos, primogenitus, but ^unrixos, primus
genitor. J Justin Martyr, Atbenagoras, Tertullian (contra Marcionem, lib. v.)
Novatian. See also Athanasius, Orat. ii. contra Arianos.

232
Paul intended to convey the meaning supposed, he
would have said, ' who was before every creature,'
(which is what these Fathers contend the words sig
nify, though not without violence to the language)
not, ' who was the first born of every creature,' an
expression which clearly has a superlative, and at the
same time to a certain extent partitive sense, in so far
as production may be considered as a kind of genera
tion and creation ; but by no means in so far as the
title of first born among men may be here applied to
Christ, seeing that he is termed first born, not only in
respect of dignity, but also of time. v. 16. ' for by him
were all things created that are in heaven.'
Nor is the passage in Prov. viii. 22, 23. of more
weight, even if it be admitted that the chapter in
general is to be understood with reference to Christ:
' Jehovah possessed me in the beginning of his way
before his works of old : I was set up from everlast
ing.'* For that which was 'possessed' and 'setup,'
could not be the primary cause. Even a creature,
however, is called the beginning of the ways of God,
Job xl. 19. 'he {behemoth) is the chief {principium)
of the ways of God.' As to the eighth chapter of
Proverbs, it appears to me that it is not the son of
God who is there introduced as the speaker, but a
poetical personification of wisdom, as in Job xxviii.
20 — 27. ' whence then cometh wisdom ? — then did
he see it.'
Another argument is brought from Isai. xiv. 12, 23.
' I have made the earth.... unto me every knee shall
bow.' It is contended that this is spoken of Christ,
* See Waterland's Seventh Sermon on Christ's Divinity, &c. Works,
Vol. II. 144.

233
on the authority of St. Paul, Rom. xiv. 10, 11. ' we
shall all stand before the judgement seat of Christ: for
it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee
shall bow to me.' But it is evident from the parallel
passage Philipp. ii. 9 — 11. that this is said of God
the Father, by whose gift the Son has received that
judgement seat and all judgement, ' that at the name of
Jesus every knee should bovv....to the glory of God
the Father;' or, which means the same thing, ' every
tongue shall confess to God.'
And Spirit. Gen. i. 2. ' the Spirit of God moved
upon the face of the waters;'* that is, his divine
power, rather than any person, as has been already
shown in the sixth chapter, on the Holy Spirit. For
if it were a person, why is the Spirit named, to the
exclusion ofthe Son, by whom we so often read that
the world was created ? unless indeed that Spirit were
Christ, to whom, as has been before proved, the name
of Spirit is sometimes given in the Old Testament.
However this may be, and even if it should be ad
mitted to have been a person, it seems at all events to
have been only a subordinate minister : God is first
described as creating the heaven and the earth ; the
* Spiritus Dei incubahat. The word incubabat properly signifies brooded,
as a bird over her eggs; and the beauty of the original image, which is
not retained in our authorized translation, has been twice preserved with
great effect in the Paradise Lost.
 Thou from the first
Wast present, and with mighty wings outspread
Dove-like sat'st brooding on the vast abyss,
And mad'st it pregnant. I. 19.
 On the wat'ry calm
His brooding wings the Spirit of God outspread,
And vital virtue infus'd, and vital warmth
Throughout the fluid mass. VII. 234.
vol. i. 30

234
Spirit is only represented as moving upon the face of
the waters already created. So Job xxvi. 13. 'by
his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens,' Psal. xxxiii.
6. ' by the word of Jehovah were the heavens made,
and all the host of them by the breath {spiritu) of his
mouth.' Now the person of the Spirit does not seem
to have proceeded more from the mouth of God than
from that of Christ, who ' shall consume that wicked
one with the spirit of his mouth,' 2 Thess. ii. 8. com
pared with Isai. xi. 4. ' the rod of his mouth.'
By his ivill. Psal. cxxxv. 6. 'whatsoever Jeho
vah pleased, that did he in heaven and earth.' Rev.
iv. 11. ' for thy pleasure they are and were created.'
For the manifestation of the glory of his power
and goodness. Gen. i. 31. ' God saw every thing
that he had made, and behold, it was very good.'
See also 1 Tim. iv. 4. Psal. xix. 1. ' the heavens
declare the glory of God.' Prov. xvi. 4. 'Jehovah
hath made all things for himself.' Acts xiv. 15.
' that ye. should turn from these vanities unto the liv
ing God which made heaven and earth and the sea,
and all things that are therein.' xvii. 24. ' God that
made the world and all things therein.' Rom. i. 20.
'for his eternal power and Godhead are clearly seen.'
Thus far it has appeared that God the Father is
the primary and efficient cause of all things. With
regard to the original matter of the universe, however,
there has been much difference of opinion.* Most
* The object of the next pages is to prove that the world was not
created out of nothing. An intimation of this opinion occurs incident
ally in Paradise Lost.
 Fool, not to think how vain
Against th' Omnipotent to rise in arms :

235
of the moderns contend that it was formed from
nothing, a basis as unsubstantial as that of their own
theory.* In the first place, it is certain that neither
the Hebrew verb N*D, nor the Greek xxl&iv, nor the
Latin creare, can signify to create out of nothing.f
On the contrary, these words uniformly signify to
create out of matter. Gen. 1. 21, 27. 'God created
....every living creature which the waters brought
forth abundantly. ...male and female created he them.'
Isai. liv. 16. 'behold, I have created the smith. ...I
have created the waster to destroy.' To allege, there
fore, that creation signifies production out of noth
ing, is, as logicians say, to lay down premises with
out a proof ; for the passages of Scripture commonly
quoted for this purpose, are so far from confirming
the received opinion, that they rather imply the con
trary, namely, that all things were not made out of
nothing. 2 Cor. iv. 6. ' God, who commanded the
Who out of smallest things could without end
Have rais'd incessant armies to defeat
Thy folly. VI. 135.
where Newton rightly observes, that Milton did not favour the opinion
that the creation was out of nothing.
* So Drusius, Paulus Fagius, Estius, &c, and nearly all the English
commentators. Tillotson takes occasion to reply to the objections raised
against the doctrine, in his sermon On the Power qf God, from Psal.
lxii. 11. With regard to the opinion of the Fathers, Lactantius says,
[De Orig. Error, lib. ii.) ' Nemo qua?rat ex quibus ista materiis tam
magna, tam mirifica opera Deus fecerit ; omnia enim fecit ex nihilo.'
Tertullian, [Advers. Hermog. cap. xiv.) ' Igitur in quantum constitit
materiam nullam fuisse, ex hoc etiam quod aec talem competat fuisse
qualis inducitur, in tantum probatur omnia a Deo ex nihilo facta.'
Justin. (Aristotel. Dogm. evers) %\ oiras lerh * S\* xyinnnis, is i ®s«, xx)
iuvxrxi o &eos ex raw uyivvvtrou womffxi n, SjjXov us ^uvxtxi o Qsos, xa) ix row u-
¦7Xw,' fib ovtos -Zotritrui r>.
| See this argument answered by Beveridge, Exposition qf the First
Article, Works, Vol. IX. p. 50.

236
light to shine out of darkness.' That this darkness
was far from being a mere negation, is clear from
Isai. xiv. 7. ' I am Jehovah ; I form the light, and cre
ate darkness.' If the darkness be nothing, God in
creating darkness created nothing, or in other words,
he created and did not create, which is a contradiction.
Again, what we are required 'to understand through
faith ' respecting ' the worlds, ' is merely this, that
' the things which were seen were not made of things
which do appear,' Heb. xi. 3. Now 'the things
which do not appear' are not to be considered as
synonymous with nothing, (for nothing does not ad
mit of a plural, nor can a thing be made and com
pacted together out of nothing, as out of a number of
things)* but the meaning is, that they do not appear
as they now are. The apocryphal writers, whose
authority may be considered as next to that of the
Scriptures, speak to the same effect. Wisd. xi. 17.
' thy almighty hand that made the world of matter
without form.' 2 Mace. vii. 28. ' God made the
earth and all that is therein of things that were not.'
The expression in Matt. ii. 18. may be quoted, ' the
children of Rachel are not' This, however, does
not mean properly that they are nothing, but that
(according to a common Hebraism) they are no lon
ger amongst the living.
It is clear then that the world was framed out of
matter of some kind or other. For since action and
passion are relative terms, and since, consequently,
* There seems to be an error in the Latin MS. in this passage. It
stands thus — neque compingi ex multis tanquam ex nihilo quicquam potest.
It is probable that a confusion has arisen in the arrangement of the
words, and that they ought to have been written as follows — neque com
pingi ex nihilo tanquam ex multis quicquam potest.

237
no agent can act externally, unless there be some
patient, such as matter, it appears impossible that
God could have created this world out of nothing ;
not from any defect of power on his part, but because
it was necessary that something should have previ
ously existed capable of receiving passively the ex
ertion of the divine efficacy. Since, therefore, both
Scripture and reason concur in pronouncing that all
these things were made, not out of nothing, but out
of matter, it necessarily follows, that matter must
either have always existed independently of God, or
have originated from God at some particular point
of time. I That matter should have been always in
dependent of God, (seeing that it is only a passive
principle, dependent on the Deity, and subservient
to him ; and seeing, moreover, that, as in number,
considered abstractly, so also in time or eternity
there is no inherent force or efficacy) that matter, I
say, should have existed of itself from all eternity,
is inconceivable. If on the contrary it did not ex
ist from all eternity, it is difficult to understand from
whence it derives its origin, There remains, there
fore, but one solution of the difficulty, for which
moreover we have the authority of Scripture, namely,
that all things are of God.* Rom. xi. 36. ' for of
* I am by no means confident that I have succeeded in conveying the
meaning intended to have been expressed by Milton in the preceding
sentences. In the original the passage is evidently corrupt, and it is not
very easy to propose satisfactory emendations. I have ventured to
translate it on the supposition that it was originally written and point
ed thus : — Ut extra Deum semper fuerit materia [quamvis principium
tantummodo passivum sit, a Deo pendeat, eique subserviat ; quamvis ut
numeri, ita et cevi, vel sempiterni, nulla vis, nulla apud se efficacia sit)
tamen ut ab ceterno, inquam, per se materia extiterit intelligi non potest ;
nee si ab ceterno non fuit, unde tandem fuerit intellectu est facilius ; rested
igitur hoc solum, prmunte prcesertim scriptura, fuisse omnia ex Deo.

238
him, and through him, and to him are all things.'
1 Cor. viii. 6. ' there is but one God, the Father, of
whom are all things:' where the same Greek prepo
sition is used in both cases. Heb ii. 11. 'for both
he that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified, are
all of one.'
In the first place, there are, as is well known to
all, four kinds of causes, — efficient, material, formal,
and final* Inasmuch then as God is the primary,
and absolute, and sole cause of all things, there can be
no doubt but that he comprehends and embraces with
in himself all the causes above-mentioned. There
fore the material cause must be either God, or nothing.
Now nothing is no cause at all ; and yet it is con
tended that forms, and above all, that human forms,
were created out of nothing. But matter and form,
considered as internal causes, constitute the thing
itself; so that either all things must have had two
causes only, and those external, or God will not have
been the perfect and absolute cause of every thing.
Secondly, it is an argument of supreme power and
goodness, that such diversified, multiform, and inex
haustible virtue should exist and be substantially in
herent in God (for that virtue cannot be accidental
which admits of degrees, and of augmentation or re
mission, according to his pleasure) and that this diver
sified and substantial virtue should not remain dor-
* ' Quot autem modis alicujus vi res est, tot esse species causa? sta-
tuendum est: Modis autem quatuor alicujus vi res est; utrecte Aristot.
Phys. II. 7. et nos supra diximus ; vel enim a quo, vel ex quo, vel per
quod, vel propter quod res una quaeque est, ejus vi esse recte dicitur. His
modis nee plures inveniuntur, nee pauciores esse possunt ; recte igitur
causa distribuitur in causam a qua, ex qua, per quam, et piopter quam,
id est, efficientem, et materiam, aut formam, et finem.' Artis Logiue
plenior lnstitutio. Prose Works, VI. 205.

. 239
mant within the Deity, but should be diffused and
propagated and extended as far and in such manner
as he himself may will. For the original matter of
which we speak, is not to be looked upon as an evil
or trivial thing, but as intrinsically good, and the
chief productive stock* of every subsequent good. It
was a substance, and derivable from no other source
than from the fountain of every substance, though at
first confused and formless, being afterwards adorned
and digested into order by the hand of God.f
Those who are dissatisfied because, according to
this view, substance was imperfect, must also be dis
satisfied with God for having originally produced it
out of nothing in an imperfect state, and without form.
For what difference does it make, whether God pro
duced it in this imperfect state out of nothing, or out
of himself ? By this reasoning, they only tranfer that
imperfection to the divine efficiency, which they are.
unwilling to admit can properly be attributed to sub-
* ' Producendi seminarium.' The same word is used in the Doctrine
and Discipline qf Divorce. 'Seeing then there is a two-fold seminary
or stock in nature, from whence are derived the issues of love and hatred,)
&c. Prose Works, I. 370.
f Won from the void and formless infinite.
Paradise Lost, III. 12.

I saw when at his word the formless mass,
This world's material mould, came to a heap :
Confusion heard his voice, and wild uproar
Stood rul'd, stood vast infinitude confin'd ;
Till at his second bidding Darkness fled,
Light shone, and order from disorder sprung ;
Swift to their sev'ral quarters hasted then
The cumbrous elements, earth, flood, air, fire ;
And this ethereal quintessence of Heav'n
Flew upward, spirited with various forms. Ibid. 708.
Compare also the more detailed account in Book VII. 192 — 275,

240
stance, considered as an efflux of the Deity. For why
did not God create all things out of nothing in an ab
solutely perfect state at first ? It is not true, however,
that matter was in its own nature originally imperfect ;
it merely received embellishment from the accession
of forms which are themselves material.* And if it
be asked how what is corruptible can proceed from
incorruption, it may be asked in return how the vir
tue and efficacy of God can proceed out of nothing.
Matter, like the form and nature of the angels itself,
proceeded incorruptible from God ; and even since the
fall it remains incorruptible as far as concerns its
essence. But the same, or even a greater difficulty still re
mains — how that which is in its nature peccable can
have proceeded (if I may so speak) from God ? I ask
in reply, how anything peccable can have originated
from the virtue and efficacy which proceeded from
God ? Strictly speaking indeed it is neither matter
nor form that sins ; and yet having proceeded from
God, and become in the power of another party, what
is there to prevent them, inasmuch as they have now
become mutable, from contracting taint and contami
nation through the enticements of the devil, or those
which originate in man himself? It is objected, how
ever, that body cannot emanate from spirit. I reply,
much less then can body emanate from nothing. For
spirit being the more excellent substance, virtually
and essentially contains within itself the inferior one ;
*  one first matter all,
Endued with various form3, various degrees
Of substance, and in things that live, of life.
Paradise Lost, V. 472.

241
as the spiritual and rational faculty contains the cor
poreal, that is, the sentient and vegetative faculty.*
For not even divine virtue and efficiency could pro
duce bodies out of nothing, according to the com
monly received opinion, unless there had been some
bodily power in the substance of God ; since no one
can give to another what he does not himself possess.
Nor did St. Paul hesitate to attribute to God some
thing corporeal ; Col. ii. 9. ' in him dwelleth all the
fulness of the Godhead bodily.' Neither is it more
incredible that a bodily power should issue from a
spiritual substance, than that what is spiritual should
arise from body ; which nevertheless we believe will
be the case with our own bodies at the resurrection.
Nor, lastly, can it be understood in what sense God
can properly be called infinite, if he be capable of re
ceiving any accession whatever ; which would be the
case if any thing could exist in the nature of things,
which had not first been of God and in God.
Since therefore it has (as I. conceive) been satisfac
torily proved, under the guidance of Scripture, that
God did not produce everything out of nothing, but
of himself, I proceed to consider the necessary conse
quence of this doctrine, namely, that if all things are
not only from God, but of God, no created thing can
*  Know that in the soul
Are many lesser faculties, that serve
Reason as chief. Paradise Lost, V. 100.
 And food alike those pure
Intelligential substances require,
As doth your rational ; and both contain
Within them every lower faculty
Of sense, whereby they hear, see, smell, touch, taste,
Tasting concoct, digest, assimilate,
And corporeal to incorporeal turn. Ibid. 407.
VOL. I. 31

242
he Anally annihilated. And not to mention that not
a word is said of this annihilation in the sacred writ
ings, there are other reasons, besides that which has
been just alleged, and which is the strongest of all,
why this doctrine should be altogether exploded.
First, because God is neither willing, nor, properly
speaking, able to annihilate anything altogether. He
is not willing, because he does everything with a
view to some end, — but nothing can be the end nei
ther of God, nor of anything whatever. Not of God,
because he is himself the end of himself; not of any
thing whatever, because good of some kind is the end
of everything. Now nothing is neither good, nor in
fact anything. Entity is good, non-entity conse
quently is not good ; wherefore it is neither consis
tent with the goodness or wisdom of God to make
out of entity, which is good, that which is not good,
or nothing. Again, God is not able to annihilate
anything altogether, because by creating nothing he
would create and not create at the same time, which
involves a contradiction. If it be said that the crea
tive power of God continues to operate, inasmush as
he makes that not to exist which did exist ; I answer,
that there are two things necessary to constitute a
perfect action, motion and the effect of motion : in
the present instance the motion is the act of annihila
tion ; the effect of motion is none, that is, nothing,
no effect. Where there is no effect there is no efficient.
Creation is either of things invisible or visible.
The things invisible, or which are at least such to
us, are, the highest heaven, which is the throne and
habitation of God, and the heavenly powers, or
angels.

243
Such is the division of the apostle, Col. i. 16. The
first place is due to things invisible, if not in respect
of origin, at least of dignity. For the highest heaven
is as it were the supreme citadel and habitation of
God. See Deut. xxvi. 15. 1 Kings viii. 27, 30,
' heaven of heavens.' Neh. ix. 6. Isai. lxiii. 15.
' far above all heavens,' Eph. iv. 10. where God
' dwelleth in the light which no man can approach
unto.' 1 Tim. vi. 16.* Out of this light it appears
that pleasures and glories, and a kind of perpetual
heaven, have emanated and subsist. Psal. xvi. 11.
' at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.'
Isai. lvii. 15. ' the high and lofty one that inhabiteth
eternity, whose name is Holy : I dwell in the high
and holy place.'
It is improbable that God should have formed to
himself such an abode for his majesty only at so re
cent a period as at the beginning of the world. For
if there be any one habitation of God, where he dif
fuses in an eminent manner the glory and brightness
of his majesty, why should it be thought that its
foundations are only coeval with the fabrick of this
world, and not of much more ancient origin ? At the
same time it does not follow that heaven should be
eternal, nor, if eternal, that it should be God ; for it
was always in the power of God to produce any effect
he pleased at whatever time and in whatever manner
seemed good to him. We cannot form any concep
tion of light independent of a luminary ; but we do
not therefore infer that a luminary is the same as
*  God is light,
And never but in unapproached light
Dwelt from eternity. Paradise Lost, III. 3.

244
light, or equal in dignity. In the same manner we
do not think that what are called ' the back parts' of
God. Exod. xxxiii. are, properly speaking, God ;
though we nevertheless consider them to be eternal.
It seems more reasonable to conceive in the same
manner of the heaven of heavens, the throne and habi
tation of God, than to imagine that God should have
been without a heaven till the first of the six days of
creation.* At the same time I give this opinion, not
as venturing to determine anything certain on such a
subject, but rather with a view of showing that
others have been too bold in affirming that the invisi
ble and highest heaven was made on the first day,
contemporaneously with that heaven which is within
our sight. For since it was of the latter heaven
alone, and of the visible world, that Moses undertook
to write, it would have been foreign to his purpose to
have said anything of what was above the world.
In this highest heaven seems to be situated the
heaven of the blessed ; which is sometimes called
Paradise, Luke xxiii. 43. 2 Cor. xii. 2, 4. and Abra
ham's bosom, Luke xvi. 22. compared with Matt. viii.
11. where also God permits himself to be seen by the

*The same opinion has been held by the Fathers, as well as by most
of the moderns. ' In libro de Trinitate, sive Novatiani sive Tertulliani
sit, tam mundus angelicus quam superfirmamentarius conditus dicitur
ante mundum Mosaicum his verbis. Quum etiam superioribus, id est,
xuper ipsum quoque solidamcntum partibus, angelos prius instituerit Deus,
'ipirttuales virtutcs digesserit, thronos polestatesque prccfecerit, et alia, multa,
iwlorum immensa spatia condiderit, &c. ut hic mundus novissimum magis
Dei opus esse apparcat, quam solum, et unicum. Denique Catholiconim
eommunem hanc fuisse sententiam notat Cassianus suo lempoie, nempe
sa:culo quinto ineunte; ante illud Geneseus temporale principium, omnes
illas polestates ecelestes Deum creasse, non dubium est' T. Burnet. Archaiol,
Philos. c. tt.

245
angels and saints (as far as they are capable of en
during his glory), and will unfold himself still more
fully to their view at the end of the world, 1 Cor. xiii.
12. John xiv. 2, 3. ' in my father's house are many
mansions.' Heb. xi. 10, 16. ' he looked for a city
which hath foundations.... they desire a better coun
try, that is, an heavenly.... for he hath prepared for
them a city.'
It is generally supposed that the angels were cre
ated at the same time with the visible universe, and
that they are to be considered as comprehended un
der the general name of heavens. That the angels
were created at some particular period, Ave have the
testimony of Numb. xvi. 22. and xxvii. 16. ' God of
the spirits,' Heb. i. 7. Col. i. 16. 'by him were all
things created. ...visible and invisible, whether they be
thrones,' &c* But that they were created on the
first, or on any one of the six days, seems to be as
serted (like most received opinions) with more confi-
*The opinion that ang-els were not created, but self-existent, is with
great propriety attributed to Satan in Paradise Lost.
That we were form'd then say'st thou ? and the work
Of secondary hands, by task transferr'd
From Father to his Son ? strange point and new !
Doctrine which we would know whence learn'd ? who saw
When this creation was ? remember'st thou
Thy making, while the Maker gave thee being ?
We know no time when we were not as now ;
Know none before us, self-begot, self-rais'd
By our own quick'ning power, when fatal course
Had circled his full orb, the birth mature
Ofthis our native Heav'n, ethereal sons. V. G5;i.
In another place Satan proposes the question as doubtful ;
Whether such virtue spent of old now fail'd
More angels to create, if they at least
Are his created — . LX. 145.

246
dence than reason, chiefly on the authority of the*
repetition in Gen. ii. 1. ' thus the heavens and the
earth were finished, and all the host of them,'' — unless
we are to suppose that more was meant to be implied
in the concluding summary than in the previous nar
ration itself, and that the angels are to be considered
as the Jbost who inhabit the visible heavens. For
what is said Job xxxviii. 7. that they shouted for joy
before God at the creation, proves rather that they
were then already in existence, than that they were
then first created. Many at least of the Greek, and
some of the Latin Fathers, are of opinion that angels,
as being spirits, must have existed long before the ma
terial world;* and it seems even probable, that the
apostasy which caused the expulsion of so many
thousands from heaven, took place before the founda
tions of this world were laid. Certainly there is no
sufficient, foundation for the common opinion, that
motion and time (which is the measure of motion)
could not, according to the ratio of priority and sub-
* ' Plures e patribus Christianis angelos extitisse ante terram, vel ante
mundum Mosaicum, per ignota nobis sajcula, statuerunt; aliqui etiam coelos
supremos, velcoelumempyreum. Sedde angelisconstantiorestetapluribus
celebrata sententia. Ut mittam Origenem, hoc Sanctus Basilius in Hexa'i-
mero, Chrysostomus v-piS rovs o-xavo*x\io-llivras,c. 7. sra>.At£ rxvrns tyis xrio-iots vrpyr-
Unpoi, &c. Gregorins Nazianzenus Orat. 38. et alibi, Johannes Damascenus
1. ii. Orth. Fid. c. 3. Joh. Philoponus De Creatione Mundi, 1. i. c. 10.
Olympiodorus in Job xxxviii. aliique e Grascis docuere. E Latinis etiam
non pauci eidem sententiae adhasserunt. Hilarius, 1. xii. De Trinitate;
Hieronymus, Ambrosius in Hexa'imcro, 1. i. c. 5. Isidorus Hispalensis,
Beda, aliique.' T. Burnet. Archceol. Philos. 1. ii. c. 8. It is observable
thai Milton had indirectly declared himself to have believed in the pre-
existence of angels in the Paradise Lost, where he represents Uriel to
have been present at the creation of the visible world, and puts. into his
mouth the beautiful description quoted in a preceding page, — ' I saw
when at his word the formless mass,' &c.

247
sequence, have existed before this world was made ;
since Aristotle, who teaches that no ideas of motion
and time can be formed except in reference to this
world, nevertheless pronounces the world itself to be
eternal.* Angels are spirits, Matt. viii. 16. and xii. 45. inas
much as the legion of devils is represented as having
taken possession of one man, Luke viii. 30. Heb. i.
14 ' ministering spirits.' They are of ethereal na
ture,! 1 Kings xxii. 21. Psal. civ. 4. compared with
Matt. viii. 31. Heb. i. 7. ' as lightning,' Luke x. 18.
whence also they are called Seraphim. Immortal,
Luke xx. 36. ' neither can they die any more.' Ex
cellent in wisdom ; 2 Sam. xiv. 20. Most powerful
in strength; Psal. ciii. 20. 2 Pet. ii. 11. 2 Kings
xix. 35. 2 Thess. i. 7. Endued with the greatest
swiftness, which is figuratively denoted by the at
tribute of wings ;t Ezek. i. 6. In number almost
infinite; Deut. xxxiii. 2. Job xxv. 3. Dan. vii. 10.
Matt. xxvi. 53. Heb. xii. 22. Rev. v. 11, 12.
Created in perfect holiness and righteousness ; Luke
ix. 26. John viii. 44. 2 Cor. xi. 14, 15. ' angels
*See Aristot. Natural. Auscult. lib. viii. cap.,1. In reference to this
Milton says elsewhere :
 Time, though in eternity, applied
To motion, measures all things durable
By present, past, and future. Paradise Lost, V. 580.
| Your bodies may at last turn all to spirit,
Improv'd by tract of time, and wing'd ascend
Ethereal as we. Paradise Lost, V. 499.
And when Satan receives his wound from Michael,
...... th' ethereal substance clos'd,
Not long divisible. VI. 330.
| Meanwhile the winged heralds, by command
Of sovran pow'r — . I. 752.

248
of light... ministers of righteousness.' Matt. vi. 10.
' thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.' xxv. 81.
' holy angels.' Hence they are also called sons of
God,* Job i. 6. and xxxviii. 7. Dan. iii. 25. com
pared with v. 28. and even Gods, Psal. viii. 5. xcvii.
7. But they are not to be compared with God ; Job
iv. 18. ' his angels he charged with folly.' xv. 15.
' the heavens are not clean in his sight' xxv. 5. ' yea,
the stars are not pure in his sight.' Isai. vi. 2. ' with
two wings he covered his face.'f They are distin
guished one from another by offices and degrees ;J
Matt. xxv. 41. Rom. viii. 38. Col. i. 16. Eph. i. 21.
and iii. 10. 1 Pet. iii. 22. Rev. xii. 7. Cherubim,
Gen. iii. 24. Seraphim, Isai. vi. 2. and by proper
names; Dan. viii. 16. ix. 21. x. 13. Luke i. 19.
Michael, Jude 9. Rev. xii. 7. 1 Thess. iv. 16.
' with the voice of the Archangel.' Josh. v. 14. See
more on this subject in the ninth chapter. To push
our speculations further on this subject, is to incur
the apostle's reprehension, Col. ii. 18. ' intruding into
those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up
by his fleshly mind.'
* I came among the sons of God, when he
Gave up into my hands Uzzean Job.
Paradise Regained, I. 368.
f Dark with excessive bright thy skirts appear,
Yet dazzle heav'n, that brightest Seraphim
Approach not, but with both wings veil their eyes.
Paradise Lost, HI. 380.
J ' Yea the angels themselves, in whom no disorder is feared, as the
apostle that saw them in his rapture describes, are distinguished and
quaternioned into their celestial princedoms and satrapies, according
as God himself has writ his imperial decrees through the great
provinces of heaven.' Reason qf Church Government, &c. Prose Works,
1.81.

249
The visible creation comprises the material uni
verse, and all that is contained therein ; and more
especially the human race.
The creation of the world in general, and of its
individual parts, is related Gen. i. It is also described
Job xxvi. 7, &c. and xxxviii. and in various passages
of the Psalms and Prophets. Psal. xxxiii. 6 — 9.
civ. cxlviii. 5. Prov. viii. 26, &c. Amos iv. 13.
2 Pet. iii. 5. Previously, however, to the creation of
man, as if to intimate the superior importance of the
work, the Deity speaks like a man deliberating :*
Gen. i. 26. ' God said, Let us make man in our own
image, after our own likeness.' So that it was not
the body alone that was then made, but the soul of
man also (in which our likeness to God principally
consists) ; which precludes us from attributing pre-
existence to the soul which was then formed, — a
groundless notion sometimes entertained, but refuted
by Gen. ii. 7. ' God formed man of the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life ; thus man became a living soul.' Job xxxii. 8.
' there is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the
Almighty giveth them understanding.' Nor did God
merely breathe that spirit into man,f but moulded it
in each individual, and infused it throughout, enduing
and embellishing it with its proper faculties. Zech.
xii. 1. 'he formeth the spirit of man within him.'
We may understand from other passages of Scrip
ture, that when God infused the breath of life into
*' Itis not good. God here presents himself like to a man deliberating;
both to show us that the matter is of high consequence,' &c. Tetra-
chordon. Prose Works, II. 127.
f Lest that pure breath of life, the spirit of man
Which God inspir'd — . Paradise Lost, X. 784.
vol. i. 32

250
man, what man thereby received was not a portion
of God's essence, or a participation of the divine na
ture, but that measure of the divine virtue or influ
ence, which was commensurate to the capabilities of
the recipient.* For it appears from Psal. civ. 29, 30,
that he infused the breath of life into other living
beings also ; — ' thou takest away their breath, they
die... .thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created ;'
whence we learn that every living thing receives ani
mation from one a* id the same source of life and
breath ; inasmuch as when God takes back to himself
that spirit or breath of life, they cease to exist.
Eccles. iii. 19. ' they have all one breath.' Nor has
the word spirit any other meaning in the sacred writ
ings, but that breath of life which we inspire, or the
vital, or sensitive, or rational faculty, or some action
or affection belonging to those faculties.
Man having been created after this manner, it is
said, as a consequence, that ' man became a living
soul ;'t whence it may be inferred (unless we had
rather take the heathen writers for our teachers re
specting the nature of the soul) that man is a living
being, intrinsically and properly one and individual,
not compound or separable, not, according to the
common opinion, made up and framed of two distinct
* ' Unde a quibusdam dicitur, particula aurce divince, Horat. 11. Sat. ii.
quod non reprehendo, modo bene intelligatur non quasi a Dei essentia,
tanquam ejus pars, avulsa fuisset ; sed quod ineffabili quodam modo pro-
fluere eam ex se fecerit.' Curcellasi lnstitutio, III. 7.
|  He form'd thee, Adam, thee, O man,
Dust of the ground, and in thy nostrils breath'd
The breath of life ; in bis own image he
Created thee, in the image of God
Express, and thou becam'st a living soul.
Paradise Lost, VII. 523',

251
and different natures, as of soul and body, — but that
the whole man is soul, and the soul man, that is to
say, a body, or substance individual, animated, sensi
tive, and rational ; and that the breath of life was
neither a part of the divine essence, nor the soul it
self, but as it were an inspiration of some divine vir
tue fitted for the exercise of life and reason, and in
fused into the organic body ; for man himself, the
whole man, when finally created, is called in express
terms ' a living soul.' Hence the word used in Gen
esis to signify soul, is interpreted by the apostle,
1 Cor. xv. 45. 'animal.'* Again, all the attributes
of the body are assigned in common to the soul : the
touch, Lev. v. 2, &c. ' if a soul touch any unclean
thing,' — the act of eating, vii. 18. ' the soul that
eateth of it shall bear his iniquity ;' v. 20. ' the soul
that eateth of the flesh,' and in other places : — hun
ger, Prov. xiii. 25. xxvii. 7. — thirst, xxv. 25. ' as
cold waters to a thirsty soul.' Isai. xxix. 8. — cap
ture, 1 Sam. xxiv. 11. 'thou huntest my soul to take
it.' Psal. vii. 5. ' let the enemy persecute my soul,
and take it'
Where however we speak of the body as of a mere
senseless stock, there the soul must be understood as
* See Beza's version in loc. ' Factus est prior homo Adamus animal
vivens.''  when God said,
Let th' earth bring forth soul living in her kind. VII. 450.
in which passage the original reading, even in the copies corrected by
Milton, was fowl instead of soul. Dr. Newton agrees with Bentley,
Pearce, and Richardson in preferring soul, and gives the following rea
son : ' We observed before, that when Milton makes the Divine Person
speak, he keeps closely to Scripture. Now what we render living crea
ture (Gen. i. 24.) is living soid in the Hebrew, which Milton usually
follows rather than our translation.'

252
signifying either the spirit, or its secondary faculties,
the vital or sensitive faculty for instance. Thus it is
as often distinguished from the spirit, as from the
body itself. Luke i. 46, 47. 1 Thess. v. 23. ' your
whole spirit and soul and body.' Heb. iv. 12. 'to
the dividing asunder of soul and spirit.' But that
the spirit of man should be separate from the body,
so as to have a perfect and intelligent existence inde
pendently of it, is nowhere said in Scripture, and the
doctrine is evidently at variance both with nature
and reason, as will be shown more fully hereafter.
For the word soul is also applied to every kind of
living being ; Gen. i. 30. ' to every beast of the
earth,' &c. ' wherein there is life.' (anima vivens,
Tremell.) vii. 22. ' all in whose nostrils was the
breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died ;'
yet it is never inferred from these expressions that the
soul exists separate from the body in any of the brute
creation. On the seventh day God ceased from his work,
and ended the whole business of creation ; Gen.
ii. 2, 3.
It would seem therefore, that the human soul is
not created daily by the immediate act of God, but
propagated from father to son in a natural order;*
*The question which Milton now begins to discuss, is thus stated by
Fiddcs in his Body qf Divinity, Book iii. Part I. ' Whether they were
all created at once in order to be united to certain bodies which should
be prepared afterwards in convenient time for their reception ; or
whether they are created at the instant when the bodies they are to
inform are fit to receive them, are questions which have been much
controverted  But the arguments which have been produced for
the pre-existence of souls appear to be more specious, and in the opin
ion of some of the greatest men of antiquity, heathen and Christian,
whom certain moderns of distinction in the learned world have followed'*
really conclusive.'

253
which was considered as the more probable opinion
by Tertullian and Apollinarius, as well as by Augus
tine, and the whole Western church in the time of
Jerome, as he himself testifies, Tom. II. Epist. 82.
and Gregory of Nyssa in his treatise on the soul.*
God would in fact have left his creation imperfect,
and a vast, not to say a servile task, would yet re
main to be performed, without even allowing time for
rest on each successive sabbath, if he still continued
to create as many souls daily as there are bodies mul
tiplied throughout the whole world, at the bidding of
what is not seldom the flagitious wantonness of man.f
Nor is there any reason to suppose that the influence
of the divine blessing is less efficacious in imparting
to man the power of producing after his kind, than
* ' Super animae statu memini vestrae quasstiunculae, immo maxime
Ecclesiasticae questionis ; utrum lapsa de ccelo sit, ut Pythagoras phi-
losophus, omnesque Platonlci, et Origines putant ; an a propria Dei
substantia, ut Stoici, Manichasus, et Hispana Priscilliani hasresis suspi-
cantur ; an in thesauro habeantur Dei olim conditae, ut quidam Ecclesi-
asticistulta persuasione confidunt ; an quotidie a Deo fiant, etmittantur
in corpora, secundum illud quod in evangelio scriptum est, Pater meus
usque modo operatur et ego operor ; an certe ex traduce, ut Tertullianus,
Apollinarius, et maxima pars occidentalium autumant, ut quomodo cor
pus ex eorpore, sic anima nascatur ex anima, et simili cum brutis animan-
tibus conditione subsistat.' Hieronymi Epist. 82. (78 Edit. Benedict.)
ad Marcellinum et Anapsychiam. Ovx xpx vvv xl -$v%a) yivovrat * to yxg,
0 Tlxrijp pov '(us xprt iftyaZ,tTai, ovx W) rov xrifyiv, xXX ivr) tov trpovoeTv sipno-^ai'
atx) avra o*oxu ' A#o*.?.ivxpim rxs *J/v%xs xto ruv ^vy^m rix-rttr6xt uaxi£ aero rm
ruuxruv. irpo't'ivxi yap tmv Tpv%w xarx ^txho^m rov vparou mSpuvfov lis rovs l|
txiivou nxHitras, xata*ip rhf cu^arixyi' 'hix%ox,m. Greg. Nyssen. De Anima.
\ 'Deus absolutasex diebus creaiioue mundi dicitur quievisse ab omni
opere suo, Gen. xi. 2. Non autem vere a creando quievisset, si nunc
singulis momentis ipse multas animas immediate produceret. Ut nunc
non dicam indignum prorsus Deo videri, ut sit minister generationum
foedarum et incestuosarum quas ipse abominatur, et severe in lege pro-
hibuit ; ita ut simul atque libeat hominibus impuris corpora sua miscere,
oporteat ilium adesse, qui foetui, quantumvis illegitime concepto, animam
infundat.' Curcell. Instit. III. 6.

254
to the other parts of animated nature ; Gen. i. 22, 28.*
Thus it was from one of the ribs of the man that
God made the mother of all mankind, without the
necessity of infusing the breath of life a second time,
Gen. ii. 22. and Adam himself begat a son in his
own likeness after his image, v. 3. Thus 1 Cor.
xv. 49. ' as we have borne the image of the earthy :'
and this not only in the body, but in the soul, as it
was chiefly with respect to the soulf that Adam was
made in the divine image. So Gen. xlvi. 26. ' all
the souls which came with Jacob out of Egypt, which
came out of his loins.' Heb. vii. 10. ' Levi was
in the loins of Abraham :' whence in Scripture an
offspring is called seed, and Christ is denominated
' the seed of the woman.' Gen. xvii. 7. ' I will be
a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.' 1 Cor.
* ' Deus, Adamo et Eva creatis, ipsis benedictionem suam impertitus
est ad humani generis propagationem, dicens, Crescite, &c. Gen. i. 28.
et ix. 1. Ergo dedit eis facultatem alios homines sibi similes, qui eor
pore et anima constarent, producendi ; quemadmodum et caeteris ani-
mantibus, quibus benedixit, talem communicavit .... Nee vero dix-
isset Moses Adamum genuisse, &c. Gen. v. 3. nempe ut ipse ad imaginem
Dei factus erat. Ista enim Dei imago praecipue in anima consistit ....
Et rursus dicit Moses, cunctce animce, &c. Gen. xlvi. 25. Ergo non so
lum corpora, sed etiam animae liberorum et nepotum Jacobi ab eo pro-
gnatas sunt.' Curcell. Instit. 111. 4.
f  God on thee
Abundantly his gifts hath also pour'd
Inward and outward both, his image fair.
Paradise Lost, VIII. 219.
On which passage, in answer to Warburton's insinuation, that one
would think by this outward that Milton was of the sect of Anthropo-
morphites, as well as Materialists, Mr. Todd has well observed that the
poet only meant to allude to the complete nature of man, the animal and
intellectual parts united, which the learned Hale, treating of the words
in the image of God made he man, minutely and admirably illustrates.
See also above, page 22, and the note there.

255
xv. 44. ' it is sown a natural body.' v. 46. ' that was
not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural.'
But besides the testimony of revelation, some ar
guments from reason may be alleged in confirmation
of this doctrine. Whoever is born, or shapen and
conceived in sin,* (as we all are, not David only,
Psal. li. 5.) if he receive his soul immediately from
God, cannot but receive it from him shapen in sin ;
for to be generated and conceived, means nothing
else than to receive a soul in conjunction with the
body. If we receive the soul immediately from God,
it must be pure, for who in such case will venture to
call it impure ?f But if it be pure, how are we
conceived in sin in consequence of receiving a pure
soul, which would rather have the effect of cleansing
the impurities of the body ; or with what justice is
the pure soul charged with the sin of the body ?
But, it is contended, God does not create souls im
pure, but only impaired in their nature, and destitute
of original righteousness, I answer, that to create
pure souls destitute of original righteousness, — to
send them into contaminated and corrupt bodies, —
to deliver them up in their innocence and helplessness
to the prison house of the body, as to an enemy, writh
understanding blinded and with will enslaved, — in
other words, wholly deprived of sufficient strength for
resisting the vicious propensities of the body — to
create souls thus circumstanced, would argue as much
injustice, as to have created them impure would have
* ' Proclivitas ad malum, cum qua infantes nascuntur, huic etiam opin-
ioni favet. Nam ea a Deo non est, ut omnes fatentur, neque etiam a
eorpore, quod non est vitii moralis capax.' Curcell. Instit. III. 8.
f Yet evil whence ? in thee can harbour none,
Created pure. Paradise Lost, V. 99.

256
argued impurity ; it would have argued as much in
justice, as to have created the first man Adam him
self impaired in his nature, and destitute of original
righteousness. Again, if sin be communicated by generation, and
transmitted from father to son, it follows that what
is the ngaxov Ssxxixov* or original subject of sin,
namely, the rational soul, must be propagated in the
same manner ; for that it is from the soul that all
sin in the first instance proceeds, will not be denied.
Lastly, on what principle of justice can sin be im
puted through Adam to that soul, which was never
either in Adam, or derived from Adam ? In confirma
tion of which Aristotle's argument may be added,
the truth of which in my opinion is indisputable. f
If the soul be equally diffused throughout any given
whole, and throughout every part of that whole, how
can the human seed, the noblest and most intimate
part of all the body, be imagined destitute and devoid
of the soul of the parents, or at least of the father,
* ' Subjectum distingui potest in recipiens, quod Graece hxmxir appel
lant, et occupans, quod objectum dici solet, quia in eo adjunctaoccupan-
tur . . . Sic anima est subjectum scientiae, ignorantiae, virtutis, vitii, quia
haec animae adjunguntur, id est, praeter essentiam accedunt.' Artis Lo-
gicce plenior lnstitutio. Prose Works, VI. 220.
t See Aristot. xtp) -^v^yhs, I. 9. — ' Per omnes ejus particillas tota simul
adest, nee minor in minoribus, et in majoribus major, sed alicubi inten-
sius, alicubi remissius, et in omnibus tota, et in singulis tota est.' Au-
gustinus De Origine anima hominis ad Hieron. Ep. 166. Edit. Benedict.
. . . . Spirits that live throughout
Vital in every part, notas frail man
In entrails, heart or head, liver or reins. —
All heart they live, all head, ail eye, all ear,
All intellect, all sense. Paradise Lost, VI. 344.
. . . if it be true
That light is in the soul,
She all in every part — . Samson Agonistes, 91. .

257
When communicated to the son by the laws of gene
ration ? It is acknowledged by the common consent
of almost all philosophers, that every form* to which
class the human soul must be considered as belong
ing, is produced by the power of matter.
It was probably by some such considerations as
these that Augustine was led to confess that he could
neither discover by study, nor prayer, nor any pro
cess of reasoning, how the doctrine of original sin
could be defended on the supposition of the creation
of souls. f The texts which are usually advanced,
* Milton frequently uses the word forma in its philosophical sense. In
his English works he commonly expresses it by the word shape.
¦ ¦ saw
Virtue in her shape how lovely. Paradise Lost, IV. 846.
' Discipline is not only the removal of disorder ; but if any visible shape
can be given to divine things, the very visible shape and image of virtue.'
The Reason qf Church Government, &c. Prose Works, I. 81. ' Regene
rate in us the lovely shapes of virtues and graces.' Ibid. 86. ' Truth
indeed came once into the world with her divine master, and was a
perfect shape most glorious to look on.' Speech for Liberty qf Printing.
Ibid. 319.
f ' We cannot deny but that besides Origen, several others of the an
cient fathers before the fifth council seem either to have espoused the
pre-existence of souls, or at least to have had a favour and kindness for
it ; insomuch that St Augustine himself is sometimes staggering in this
point, and thinks it to be a great secret whether men's souls existed be
fore their generations or no, and somewhere concludes it to be a matter
of indifferency, wherein every one may have his liberty of opinion either
way without offence.' Cudworth's Intellectual System, chap. v. ' Hu
jus igitur damnationis in parvulis causam requiro, quia neque animarum,
si novae fiunt singulis singula?, video esse ullum in ilia aetate peccatum,
nee a Deo damnari aliquam credo quam videt nullum habere peccatum.'
Augustinus De Origine anima, $c. ad Hieron. ' Quaere ubi, vel unde, vel
quando coeperint (animae) damnationis meritum habere, si novae sunt,
ita sane ut Deum non facias, nee aliquam naturam, quam non condidit
Deus, vel peccati earum vel innocentum damnationis auctorem. Et si
inveneris quod te quaerere admonui, quod ipse adhuc, fateor, non inveni,
defende quantum potes, atque assere animam infantium ejusmodi esse
vol. i. 33

258
Eccles. xii. 7. Isai. lvii. 16. Zech. xii. 1. certainly
indicate that nobler origin of the soul implied in its
being breathed from the mouth of God ; but they no
more prove that each soul is severally and immedi
ately created by the Deity, than certain other texts,
which might be quoted, prove that each individual
body is formed in the womb by the immediate hand
of God.* Job x. 8 — 10. ' thine hands have ' made
me. ...hast thou not poured me out as milk?' Psal.
xxxiii. 15. ' he fashioneth their hearts alike.' Job
xxxi. 15. ' did not he that made me in the womb
make him ?' Isai. xliv. 24. ' thus saith Jehovah....
he that formed thee from the womb.' Acts xvii. 26.
' he hath made of one blood all nations of men.'
We are not to infer from these passages, that natural
causes do not contribute their ordinary efficacy for
the propagation of the body ; nor on the other hand
that the soul is not received by traduction from the
father, because at the time of death it again betakes
itself to different elements than the body, in conform
ity with its own origin.
With regard to the passage, Heb. xii. 9. where
' the fathers of the flesh ' are opposed to ' the Father
of spirits,' I answer, that it is to be understood in a
theological, not in a physical sense, as if the father of
novitatem, ut nulla propagatione ducuntur ; et nobiscum quod inveneris
fraternadileclionecommunica.' Augustinus Ep. 157. (190. Edit. Bene
dict.) ad Optatum.
* ' Sunt quaedam scripturae loca, quae id asserere videntur, ut Job
xxxiii. 4. Eccles. xii. 9. Zach. xii. 4. Respondeo, ex eo quod Jobus ait,
spiraculum Omnipotentis vitam sibi indidisse, non magis sequi id factum
esse immediate a Deo, quam ex eo quod idem dicit, nonne sicut lac mui-
sisti me, &c. Job. x. 8. colligi legitime potest corpora nostra a parentibus
non gigni, sed immediate a Deo ipso formari.' Curcell. Instit. III. 10. 9.

259
the body were opposed to the father of the soul ; for
flesh is taken neither in this passage, nor probably
any where else, for the body without the soul ; nor
' the father of spirits ' for the father of the soul, in
respect of the work of generation ; but ' the father
of the flesh ' here means nothing else than the earth
ly or natural father, whose offspring are begotten in
sin ; ' the father of spirits ' is either the heavenly
father, who in the beginning created all spirits, angels
as well as the human race, or the spiritual father,
who bestows a second birth on the faithful ; accord
ing to John iii. 6. ' that which is born of the flesh is
flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.'
The argument too, will proceed better, if the whole
be understood as referring to edification and correc
tion, not to generation ; for the point in question is
not, from what source each individual originated, or
what part of him thence originated, but who had
proved most successful in the employment of chas
tisement and instruction. By parity of reasoning,
the apostle might exhort the converts to bear with his
rebuke, on the ground that he was their spiritual fa
ther. God indeed is as truly the father of the flesh as
of ' the spirits of flesh,' Numb. xvi. 22. but this is
not the sense intended here, and all arguments are
weak which are deduced from passages of Scripture
originally relating to a different subject.
With regard to the soul of Christ, it will be suffi»
cient to answer that its generation was supernatural,
and therefore cannot be cited as an argument in the
discussion of this controversy. Nevertheless, even
he is called ' the seed of the woman,' ' the seed of

260
David according to the flesh;' that is, undoubtedly,
according to his human nature.
There seems therefore no reason, why the soul of
man should be made an exception to the general law
of creation. For, as has been shown before, God
breathed the breath of life into the other living be
ings, and blended it so intimately with matter, that
the propagation and production of the human form
were analogous to those of other forms, and the
proper effect of that power which had been commu
nicated to matter by the Deity.
Man being formed after the image of God, it fol
lowed as a necessary consequence that he should be
endued with natural wisdom, holiness, and righteous
ness. Gen. i. 27, 31. ii. 25. Eccles. vii. 29. Eph.
iv. 24. Col. iii. 10. 2 Cor. iii. 18. Certainly with
out extraordinary wisdom he could not have given
names to the whole animal creation with such sudden
intelligence, Gen. ii. 20.*
*In this illustration the chief stress is laid upon the suddenness with
which Adam was enabled to give appropriate names to the brute crea
tion, as it passed in review before him. Milton has two other allusions
to this event, and the same circumstance is marked as the prominent
feature of the case in both passages. There is nothing in the scriptural
narration to suggest the particular idea, or the coincidence would have
been less remarkable.
I nam'd them as they pass'd, and understood
Their nature, with such knowledge God endu'd
My sudden apprehension. Paradise Lost, VIII. 352.
' But Adam, who had the wisdom given him to know all creatures, and
to name them according to their properties, no doubt but had the gift to
''discern perfectly that which concerned him much more, and to appre
hend at first sight the true fitness of that consort which God provided
him.' Tctrachordon. Prose Works, II. 133.

CHAPTER VIII.

OF THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD, OR OF HIS GENERAL
GOVERNMENT OF THE UNIVERSE.

x he remaining species of God's external efficiency,
is his government of the ivhole creation.
This government is either general or special.
His general government is that whereby God the
Father regards, preserves, and governs the ivhole of
creation with infinite ivisdom and holiness according
to the conditions of his decree.
God the Father. Neh. ix. 6. ' thou, even thou, art
Jehovah alone .... thou hast made, and thou pre-
servest them all.' To this truth Christ himself bears
witness everywhere. Matt. v. 45. ' that ye may be
the children of your Father which is in heaven ; for
he maketh his sun to rise .... and sendeth rain,'
&.c. vi. 4. ' thy Father which seeth in secret.' v. 8.
' your Father knoweth.' v. 13. ' thine is the kingdom
and the power and the glory.' v. 26. ' your heavenly
Father feedeth them.' v. 32. ' your heavenly Father
knoweth that ye have need of all these things.'
vii. 11. ' your Father which is in heaven shall give
good things unto them that ask him.' x. 29. 'one of
them shall not fall on the ground without your Fa-

262
ther.' Acts i. 7. ' the times and seasons which the
Father hath put in his own power.' Eph. i. 11. 'ac
cording to the purpose of him who worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will.' James i. 17. ' ev
ery good gift and every perfect gift is from above,
and cometh down from the Father of lights.' Even
as regards the Son himself. Acts iv. 27. ' against thy
holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed .... for
to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determin
ed before to be done.' The preservation of the uni
verse is attributed to the Son also, but in what sense,
and on what grounds, may be seen in the fifth chap
ter, on the Son of God. Col. i. 17. 'by him all
things consist,' — but both the preceding and following
verses explain on what account ; namely, because the
Father, v. 1 3. ' hath translated us into the kingdom
of his dear Son,' and because, v. 19. ' it pleased the
Father that in him should all fulness dwell.' Heb. i. 3.
' upholding all things by the word of his power,'
namely, because, v. 2. the Father ' hath appointed
him heir of all things.' Further, it will appear on
an examination of the passage, that the original ought
to be translated, not of his own power,* but of his,
namely, the Father's, of whose person he was the
*In allusion to the versions of Beza and TremelUus, who translate
the clause, suslineatque omnia verbo potentia sua, or verbo illo suo potente,
sustinel omnia virtute verbi sui. Mill reads xvtov, without noticing the
other reading, nor have I remarked that Waterland, who often quotes
and argues upon the passage, takes any notice of the variation. It is
however mentioned by Doddridge ; and Wetstein, who reads kJtou, has
the following note: • abrov, ut ad Patrem referatur. Christus verbo po
tential paternae cuncta fert. Editio Erasmi, Colinaei.' To these two
names Archbishop Newcome has added that of Bengelius, in the copy
of Wetstein's New Testament which formerly belonged to that prelate,
and which is enriched with several annotations in his hand-writing,

263
express image : and the right reading in the Greek is
avtov, not avxov, since 81' savxov immediately fol
lows, as if put expressly for the sake of distinction.
Lastly, Christ testifies of himself, Matt, xxviii. 18.
' all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth ;'
and to the same effect in many other places.
Regards. Job xxxi. 4. ' doth not he count all my
steps ?' 2 Chron. xvi. 9. ' the eyes of Jehovah run to
and fro throughout the whole earth.' Psal. xxxiii. 15.
' he fashioneth their hearts alike ; he considereth all
their works.' Jer. xxxii. 19. ' thine eyes are open up
on all the ways of the sons of men.' Hos, ii. 21.
' I will hear the heavens.'
Preserves. Deut. viii. 3. ' man doth not live by
bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of
the mouth of Jehovah.' Job vii. 20. ' O thou pre
server of men.' Psal. xxx. 7. ' thou didst hide thy
face, and I was troubled.' Ixxx. 1. ' O Shepherd of
Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock. ...shine
forth.' v. 3. ' cause thy face to shine and we shall
be saved.' civ. 29. ' thou takest away their breath,
they die.' Nehem. ix. 6. ' thou hast made.. ..and thou
preservest them all.' Acts xiv. 17. 'he left not him
self without witness.' xvii. 25. ' he giveth to all life.'
v. 28. 'in him we live.'
According to the conditions of his decree. It is
necessary to add this qualification, inasmuch as God
preserves neither angels, nor men, nor any other part
of creation absolutely, but always with reference to
the conditions of his decree. For he preserves man
kind, since their spontaneous fall, and all other things
with them, only so far as regards their existence, and
not as regards their primitive perfection.

264
Governs. Job xiv. 5. ' thou hast appointed his
bounds.' Psal. xxix. 10. ' Jehovah sitteth king for
ever.' xciii. 1. ' Jehovah reigneth. ...the world also
is established.' ciii. 19. ' his kingdom ruleth over all.'
Prov. xx. 24. ' man's goings are of Jehovah.' xxi. 1.
' the king's heart is in the hand of Jehovah.... he
turneth it whithersoever he will.'
With infinite wisdom and holiness. Job ix. 10.
' which doeth great things past finding out, yea, and
wonders without number.' Prov. x. 24. ' the fear
of the wicked it shall come upon him ; but the desire
of the righteous shall be granted.' xii. 3. ' a man
shall not be established by wickedness.' xiii. 9. ' the
light of the righteous rejoiceth.' Isai. Iv. 9. ' my
ways are higher than your ways.' Deut. xxxii. 4.
' all his ways are judgement' Psal. xix. 9. ' the
judgements of Jehovah are true and righteous alto
gether.' lxxvii. 13. 'thy way, O God, is in the sanc
tuary,' Generally speaking, however, no distinction
is made between the righteous and the wicked, with
regard to the final issue of events, at least in this life.
Job xii. 6. ' the tabernacles of robbers prosper.' xxi.
7. ' wherefore do the wicked live, become old ? '
Eccles. vii. 15. ' there is a just man that perisheth in
his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that pro-
longeth his life in his wickedness.' viii. 14. ' there
be just men unto whom it happeneth according to the
work of the wicked ; again, there be wicked men,
to whom it happeneth according to the work of the
righteous.' ix. 2. ' there is one event to the righteous
and to the wicked.' The reason for this may be seen
Job v. 7. ' man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly
upward.' xxiv. 23. ' though it be given him to be in

265
safety, whereon he resteth ; yet his eyes are upon
their ways,' &c. Psal. Ixxiii. 12, &c. ' behold, these
are the ungodly who prosper in the world,' &c 
until I went into the sanctuary of God ; then under
stood I their end. xcii. 7. ' when the wicked spring
as the grass,' &c  'it is that they shall be de
stroyed for ever.' Eccles. vii. 18. ' it is good that
thou shouldest take hold of this ; yea also from this
withdraw not thine hand ; for he that feareth God
shall come forth of them all.' viii. 12. ' though a sin
ner do evil an hundred times, and his days be pro
longed ; yet surely I know that it shall be well with
them that fear God.' Jer. xii. 1. ' wherefore doth the
way of the wicked prosper?' Dan. xii. 10. 'many
shall be purified, and made white, and tried.']
The whole of creation. Gen. viii. 1. ' God remem
bered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle.'
ix. 9, 10, 12, 15. ' I, behold I establish my covenant
with you.. ..and every living creature that is with you.'
Prov. xv. 3. ' the eyes of Jehovah are in every place,
beholding the evil and the good.'
Even the smallest objects. Job xxxiv. 21. ' for his
eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his
goings.' Psal. civ. 21. ' the young lions roar after
their prey, and seek their meat from God.' cxlvii. 9.
'he giveth to the beast his food.' Matt. vi. 26. x.
29, 30. ' a sparrow shall not fall on the ground with
out your Father : but the very hairs of your head are
all numbered.'
At the same time, God does not extend an equal
share of his providential care to all things indiscrimi
nately. 1 Cor. ix. 9. ' doth God take care for oxen ? '
that is, as much care as he takes for man? Zech.
vol. i. 34

266
ii. 8. ' he that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of his
eye.' 1 Tim. iv. 10. 'the Saviour of all men, specially
of those that believe.'
Natural things. Exod. iii. 21. 'I will give this
people favour in the sight of the Egyptians ; ' that
is, by operating a change in their natural affec
tions. Jer. li. 16. ' he uttereth his voice, there is a
multitude of waters in the heavens ; and he causeth
the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth.'
Amos v. 8. ' that calleth for the waters of the sea,
and poureth them out upon the face of the earth ;
Jehovah is his name.'
Even such as are supernatural. Lev. xxv. 20, 21.
' and if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh
year ?....it shall bring forth fruit for three years.'
Deut. viii. 3, 4. ' he fed thee with manna.. ..thy rai
ment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot
swell these forty years.' See also xxix. 5. 1 Kings
xvii. 4. ' I have commanded the ravens to feed thee
there.' v. 14. ' the barrel of meal shall not waste,' &c.
Events contingent or fortuitous. Exod. xxi. 13.
' if God deliver him into his hand.' Prov. xvi. 33.
' the whole disposing of the lot is of Jehovah.' Nor
is anything derogatory to divine providence intended
by Scripture, even where (as sometimes happens) it
scruples not to employ the names of fortune or chance ;
all that is meant is to exclude the idea of human
causation. Eccles. ix. 11. 'time and chance hap
peneth to them all.' Luke x. 31. 'by chance there
came down a certain priest that way.'
Voluntary actions. 2 Chron. x. 15. ' so the king
hearkened not unto the people : for the cause was of
God.' Prov. xvi. 9. ' a man's heart deviseth his

267
way ; but Jehovah directeth his steps.' xx. 24.
' man's goings are of Jehovah.' xxi. 1. 'the king's
heart is in the hand of Jehovah as the rivers of water;
he turneth it whithersoever he will.' Jer. x. 23. ' O
Jehovah, 1 know that the way of man is not in him
self.' In this, however, there is no infringement on
the liberty of the human will ; otherwise man would
be deprived of the power of free agency, not only
with regard to what is right, but with regard to what
is indifferent, or even positively wrong.
Lastly, temporal evils no less than blessings. Exod.
xxi. 13. 'if God deliver him into his hand.' Isai.
xiv. 7. ' 1 make peace, and create evil,1 — that is, what
afterwards became evil, and now remains so ; for
whatever God created was originally good, as he him
self testifies, Gen. i. Matt, xviii. 7. ' woe unio the
world because of offences ; for it must needs be that
offences come : but woe to that man by whom the
offence cometh.' 1 Cor. xi. 19. ' for there must be
also heresies amongst you, that they which are ap
proved may be made manifest amongst you.'
God, however, is concerned in the production of
evil only in one of these two ways ; either he permits
its existence by throwing no impediment in the way
of natural causes and free agents, (as, Acts. ii. 23.
'him being delivered by the determinate counsel of
God. ...ye have slain.' xiv. 16. ' who in times past
suffered all nations to walk in their own ways.' 1
Pet. iii. 17. 'it is better, if the will of God be so,
that ye suffer for well-doing.' iv. 19. 'them that
suffer according to the will of God,') or, secondly, he
causes evil by the infliction of judgements, which is
called the evil of punishment. 2 Sam. xii. 11. ' be-

268
hold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own
house,' — that i.s, punishment. Prov. xvi. 4. ' Jeho
vah hath made all things for himself; yea, even the
wicked for the day of evil ; ' that is, him who, having
been created good, became subsequently wicked by
his own fault, in conformity with the explanation al
ready given of Isai. xiv. 7. liv. 16. ' I created the
waster to destroy.' Lam. iii. 38, 39. ' out of the
mouth of the Most High proceedeth not evil and good ?
wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the
punishment of his sins ? ' Amos iii. 6. ' shall there
be evil in a city, and Jehovah hath not done it?'
For God, who is infinitely good, cannot be the doer
of wickedness, or of the evil of sin ; on the contrary,
out of the wickedness of men he produces good.
Gen. xiv. 5. 'God did send me before you to pre
serve life.' 1. 20. ' as for you, ye thought evil against
me ; but God meant it unto good.'
If (inasmuch as I do not address myself to such as
are wholly ignorant, but to those who are already
competently acquainted with the outlines of Christian
doctrine) I may be permitted, in discoursing on the
general providence of God, so far to anticipate the
natural order of arrangement, as to make an allusion
to a subject which belongs properly to another part of
my treatise, that of sin, I might remark, that even in
the matter of sin God's providence finds its exercise
not only in permitting its existence, or in withdraw
ing his grace, but also in impelling sinners to the
commission of sin, in hardening their hearts, and in
blinding their understandings.
In impelling sinners to the commission of sin.
Exod. ix. 16. ' for this cause have I raised thee up.'

269
Judges ix. 23. ' God sent an evil spirit between
Abimelech and the men of Shechem.' 2 Sam. xii.
11, 12. ' I will raise up evil against thee out of thine
own house, and I will take thy wives before thine
eyes, aud give them unto thy neighbour.. ..I will do
this thing.' xvi. 10. 'Jehovah hath said unto him,
Curse David ' xxiv. 1. 'Jehovah moved David against
them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.' Com
pare 1 Chron. xxi. 1 . 1 Kings xxii. 20. ' who shall
persuade Ahab ? ' Psal. cv. 25. " he turned their
heart to hate his people.' Ezek. xiv. 9. ' I Jehovah
have deceived that prophet'
In hardening their hearts. Exod. iv. 21. vii. 3.
' I will harden Pharaoh's heart.' Deut. ii. 30. 'Je
hovah thy God hardened his spirit.' Josh. xi. 20. ' it
was of Jehovah to harden their hearts.' John xii. 39,
40. ' therefore they could not believe, because that
Esaias said again. ...he hath hardened their heart.'
Rom. ix. 18. ' whom he will he hardeneth.'
In blinding their understandings. Deut. xxviii. 28.
' Jehovah shall smite thee with madness, and blind
ness, and astonishment of heart.' 1 Sam. xvi. 14.
' an evil spirit from Jehovah troubled him.' 1 Kings
xxii. 22 ' I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all
his prophets : and Jehovah said, Thou shalt persuade
him.' Isai. viii. 14. ' he shall be for a stone of
stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses
of Israel ; for a gin and for a snare-—.' xix. 14. ' Je
hovah hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst
thereof, and they have caused Egypt to err.' xxix.
10. ' Jehovah hath poured out upon you the spirit of
deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes.' Matt, xiii; 13.
' therefore speak I to them in parables, because they

270
seeing see not.' John xii. 40. compared with Isai.
vi. 9. ' he hath blinded their eyes.' Rom. i. 28. ' God
gave them over to a reprobate mind.' 2 Thess. ii. 11.
' God shall send them a strong delusion, that they
should believe a lie.'
But though in these, as well as in many other pas
sages of the Old and New Testament, God distinctly
declares that it is himself who impels the sinner to
sin, who hardens his heart, who blinds his under
standing, and leads him into error ; yet on account
of the infinite holiness of the Deity, it is not allowa
ble to consider him as in the smallest instance the
author of sin. Hos. xiv. 9. ' the ways of Jehovah
are right, and the just shall walk in them ; but the
transgressors shall fall therein.' Psal. v. 4. ' thou
art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness, nei
ther shall evil dwell with thee.' Rom. vii. 8. ' sin,
taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me
all manner of concupiscence.' James i. 13, 14. 'let
no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of
God ; for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither
tempteth he any man : but every man is tempted
when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed.'
iv. 1. ' from whence come wars and fightings amongst
you ? come they not hence, even of your lusts which
war in your members ? ' I John ii. 16. ' for all that
is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of
the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father,
but is of the world.' For it is not the human heart in
a state of innocence and purity, and repugnance to
evil, that is induced by him to act wickedly and de
ceitfully ; but after it has conceived sin, and when it
is about to bring forth, he, in his character of sove-

271
reign disposer of all things,* inclines and biasses it in
this or that direction, or towards this or that object.
Psal. xciv. 23. ' he shall bring upon them their own
iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wicked
ness, yea, Jehovah our God shall cut them off;' —
that is to say, by the infliction of punishment Nor
does God make that will evil which was before good,
but the will being already in a state of perversion, he
influences it in such a manner, that out of its own
wickedness it either operates good for others, or pun
ishment for itself, though unknowingly, and with the
intent of producing a very different result. Prov.
xvi. 9. ' a man's heart deviseth his way, but Jehovah
directeth his steps.' Thus Ezek. xxi. 21, 22. when
the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way
in doubt whether he should go to war against the
Ammonites or against the Jews, God so ordered the
divination, as to determine him on going against Jeru
salem, f Or, to use the common simile, as a rider
who urges on a stumbling horse in a particular direc
tion is the cause of its increasing its speed, but not of
its stumbling, — so God, who is the supreme governor
of the universe, may instigate an evil agent, without
*  Therefore was law giv'n them to evince
Their natural pravity, by stirring up
Sin against law to fight. Paradise Lost, XII. 287.
f < Deus interdum peccatores inscios et praster mentem suam ad ob-
jectum aliquod contra quod peccent, potius quam ad aliud dirigit ; vel ad
hoc potius peccatum, quam ad aliud quod animo ante conceperant, eos
ferri sinit....cum rex Babylonis ambitione sua incitatus bellum gerere
constituisset, at penderet adhuc animo, nesciens utrum Judaeos an vero
Ammonitas impetere deberet, Deus ita direxit sortes, quas consulebat,
ut in Judaeos, quorum peccata ultionem suam magis provocaverant, ex-
peditionem illam militarem susciperet, Ezech. xxi. 29, &c.' Curccll.
lnstitutio, III. 13, 7.

272
being in the least degree the cause of the evil. I shall
recur again to this simile hereafter. For example, —
God saw that the mind of David was so elated and
puffed up by the increase of his power, that even
without any external impulse he was on the point of
giving some remarkable token of his pride ; he there
fore excited in him the desire of numbering the peo
ple : he did not inspire him with the passion of vain
glory, but impelled him to display in this manner,
rather than in any other, that latent arrogance of his
heart which was ready to break forth. God there
fore was the author of the act itself, but David alone
was responsible for its pride and wickedness. Fur
ther, the end which a sinner has in view is generally
something evil and unjust, from which God uniformly
educes a good and just result, thus as it were creating
light out of darkness. By this means he proves the
inmost intentions of men, that is, he makes man to
have a thorough insight into the latent wickedness of
his own heart, that he may either be induced thereby
to forsake his sins, or if not, that he may become
notorious and inexcusable in the sight of all ; or lastly,
to the end that both the author and the sufferer of the
evil may be punished for some former transgression.
At the same time, the common maxim, that God
makes sin subservient to the punishment of sin, must
be received with caution ; for the Deity does not ef
fect his purpose by compelling any one to commit
crime, or by abetting him in it, but by withdrawing
the ordinary grace of his enlightening spirit, and
ceasing to strengthen him against sin. There is in
deed a proverb which says, that he who is able to
forbid an action, and forbids it not, virtually eom-

273
mands it.* This maxim is indeed binding on man,
as a moral precept ; but it is otherwise with regard to
God.f When, in conformity with the language of
mankind, he is spoken of as instigating, where he
only does not prohibit evil, it does not follow that he
therefore bids it, inasmuch as there is no obligation
by which he is bound to forbid it. Psal. lxxxi. 11,
12. ' my people would not hearken to my voice, and
Israel would none of me : so I gave them up unto
their own hearts' lust, and they walked in their own
counsels.' Hence it is said, Rom. i. 24. 'wherefore
God also gave them up to uncleanness,' — that is, he
left them to be actuated by their own lusts, to walk
in them ; for properly speaking God does not insti
gate, or give up, him whom he leaves entirely to him
self, that is, to his own desires and counsels, and to
the suggestions of his ever active spiritual enemy. In
the same sense the Church is said to give up to Satan
the contumacious member, whom it interdicts from its
communion. With regard to the case of David's
numbering the people, a single word will be sufficient.
For it is not God, but Satan who is said to have in
stigated him. 2 Sam. xxiv. l.J 1 Chron. xxi. 1. A
* ' But they shift it ; he permitted only. Yet silence in the law is
consent, and consent is accessory.' Tetrachordon. Prose Works, II. 9.
' Yea, but to permit evil, is not to do evil. Yes, it is in a most eminent
manner to do evil ; where else are all our grave and faithful sayings, that
he whose office is to forbid and forbids not, bids, exhorts, encourages ? '
Ibid. 182. f As if they would confine th' Interminable,
And tie him to his own prescript,
Who made our laws to bind us, not himself.
Samson Agonistes, 307.
X Perrexit autem ira Jehovrn accendi in Israelitas, quum incitasset ad-
versarius Davidem in eos, &c. Version of Tremellius. Our authorized
vol. i. 35

274
similar explanation applies to the passage in 2 Sam.
xii. 11, 12. ' behold, I will raise up evil against thee
out of thine own house,' — that is, the evil of punish
ment, — ' and I will take thy wives before thine eyes,
and give them unto thy neighbour,' — that is, I will
permit thy son to go in unto them, according to the
counsel of Ahithophel ; for this is the meaning of the
word give, as has been just shown. As to the popu
lar simile of the stumbling horse, the argument drawn
from it is itself a lame one ; for the sinner, if he be
really instigated, is not instigated simply to act, as in
the case of the horse, but to act amiss, — or in other
words, he is instigated to stumble, because he stum
bles.* In both the instances above adduced, God
had determined to punish openly the secret adultery
of David : he saw Absalom's propensity to every kind
of wickedness ; he saw the mischievous counsels of
Ahithophel, and did nothing more than influence their
minds, which were already in a state of preparation
for any atrocity, to perpetrate one crime in preference
to another, when opportunity should offer ; according
to the passage of Proverbs quoted above, xvi. 9. ' a
man's heart deviseth his way ; but Jehovah directeth
his steps.' For to offer an occasion of sinning, is only
translation renders the passage differently. The anger qf Jehovah was
kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go,
number Israel and Judah.
* ' Atqui, inquies, id fit quia sunt mali, non quia Dei concursus eos tales
reddat, veluti cum agaso armentum equorum aut asinorum claudorum
agitat, causa quidem est incessus illorum, sed vitium ipsis adhaerens est
causa cur claudicarent. Respondeo istam similitudinem claudicare, nee
posse applicari primo hominis peecato, quo caetera omnia inevitabiliter
fluere existimant. Nullus enim tunc in eo erat defectus, qui efficeret ut
Peo ad agendum impellente male ageret.' Curcell. lnstitutio, IV. 2- 3-

275
to manifest the wickedness of the sinner, not to create
it. The other position, that God eventually converts
every evil deed into an instrument of good, contrary
to the expectation of sinners, and overcomes evil with
good,* is sufficiently illustrated in the example of Jo
seph's sale by his brethren, Gen. xiv. 8. Thus also
in the crucifixion of Christ, the sole aim of Pilate was
to preserve the favour of Caesar ; that of the Jews to
satisfy their own hatred and vengeance ; but God,
whose ' hand and counsel had determined before every
thing that was to be done,' Acts iv. 28. made use of
their cruelty and violence as instruments for effecting
the general redemption of mankind. Rom. xi. 11.
' through their fall salvation is come unto the Gen
tiles.' 1 Cor. xi. 19. ' there must be also heresies
among you, that the}7 which are approved may be
made manifest among you.' Philipp. i. 12, 14. ' the
things which happened unto me have fallen out
rather unto the furtherance ofthe gospel.'
Again, as God's instigating the sinner does not
render him the author of sin, so neither does his hard-
*  If then his Providence
Out of our evil seek to bring forth good — .
Paradise Lost, I. 162.
 Who seeks
To lessen thee, against his purpose serves
To manifest the more thy might ; his evil
Thou usest, and from thence creat'st more good.
VII. 613. See also XII. 470.
' Denique providentia divina circa peccatum jam commissum se exerit,
non tantum puniendo ipsum ex severitate, aut condonando ex miseri
cordia, sed etiam ad bonum aliquem finem inservire faciendo, contra
perpetrantis intentionem. Ita Deus usus est venditione Josephi, ad con-
servandum familiam patris et regnum jEgypti, ne fame perirent; et
scelere Judaeorum Jesum morti tradentium, ad generis humani redemp-
tionem.' Curcell. lnstitutio, III. 12. 8.

276
ening the heart or blinding the understanding involve
that consequence ; inasmuch as he does not produce
these effects by infusing an evil disposition, but on the
contrary by employing such just and kind methods,
as ought rather to soften the hearts of sinners than
harden them. First, by his long-suffering. Rom. ii.
4, 5. ' despisest thou the riches- of his long-suffering
....but after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasur-
est up unto thyself wrath ?' Secondly, by urging his
own good and reasonable commands in opposition to
the obstinacy of the wicked ; as an anvil, or adamant,
is said to be hardened under the hammer. Thus Pha
raoh became more furious and obdurate in proportion
as he resisted the commands of God. Exod. v. 2.
' who is Jehovah ?' vii. 2. 3. 'thou shalt speak all
that I command thee. ...and I will harden Pharaoh's
heart.' Isai. vi. 10. 'make the heart of this people
fat,' — that is to say, by the repeated inculcation of
the divine commands, as in xxviii. 13. ' the word of
Jehovah was unto them precept upon precept.. ..that
they might go and fall backward.' Thirdly, by cor
rection or punishment. Ezek. iii. 20. ' when a
righteous man doth turn from his righteousness and
commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling-block before
him, he shall die.' Jer. v. 3. ' thou hast stricken
them, but they have not grieved.... they have made
their faces harder than a rock.' The hardening of
the heart, therefore, is usually the last punishment
inflicted on inveterate wickedness and unbelief in this
life. 1 Sam. ii. 25. ' they hearkened not unto the
voice of their father, because the Lord would slay
them.' God often hardens in a remarkable manner
the powerful and rebellious princes of this world, in

277
order that through their insolence and haughtiness his
glory may be magnified among the nations. Exod.
ix. 16. ' for this cause have I raised thee up, for to
show in thee my power.' See also x. 2. compared
with Rom. ix. 17. ' even for this same purpose have
I raised thee up, that I might show my power in
thee.' Exod. xiv. 4, 17. ' I will be honoured upon
Pharaoh.' Yet the act of hardening is not so exclu
sively the work of God, but that the wicked them
selves fully co-operate in it, though with any view
but that of fulfilling the divine will. Hence Pharaoh
is said to harden his own heart, Exod. ix. 34. ' when
he saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders
were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his
heart, he and his servants.' 2 Chron. xxxvi. 13.
' he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from
turning unto Jehovah.' Psal. xcv. 8. ' harden not
your heart.' Zech. vii. 12. ' they made their hearts
as an adamant stone, lest .they should hear the law
and the words which Jehovah of hosts hath sent.'
Thus also with regard to the blinding of the under
standing. Deut. xxviii. 15. compared with v. 28.
' it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken un
to the voice of Jehovah thy God.. ..Jehovah shall
smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonish
ment of heart,' that is, by withdrawing the light of
his grace, by confounding or stupifying the faculties
of the mind,' or by simply permitting Satan to work
these effects in the sinner. Rom. i. 28. ' even as
they did not like to retain God in their knowledge,
God gave them over to a reprobate mind.' 2 Cor.
iv. 4. ' in whom the god of this world hath blinded
the minds of them which believe not.' Eph. ii. 2.

278
' the spirit that now worketh in the children of diso
bedience.' 2 Thess. ii. 11. ' for this cause God
shall send them strong delusion.' Lastly, God is
said to deceive men, not in the sense of seducing
them to sin, but of beguiling them to their own pun
ishment, or even to the production of some good end.
Ezek. xiv. 9 — 11. ' if the prophet be deceived when
he hath spoken a thing, I Jehovah have deceived that
prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him,'
&c  ' and they shall bear the punishment of their
iniquity. ...that the house of Israel may go no more
astray from me.' God first deceived the already cor
rupt and covetous prophet, by disposing his mind to
prophesy things acceptable to the people, and then
deservedly cut off both the people who inquired of
him, and the prophet of whom they inquired, to deter
others from sinning in a similar manner ; because on
the one hand a bad intention had been displayed on the
part of the inquirers, and on the other a false answer
had been returned, which God had not commanded.
To this view of providence must be referred what
is called temptation, whereby God either tempts men,
or permits them to be tempted by the devil or his
agents. Temptation is either for evil or for good.
An evil temptation is when God, as above describ
ed, either withdraws his grace, or presents occasions
of sin, or hardens the heart, or blinds, the understand
ing. This is generally an evil temptation in respect
of him who is tempted, but most equitable on the
part of the Deity, for the reasons above-mentioned.
It also serves the purpose of unmasking hypocrisy ;*
* ' Yet I will not insist on that which may seem to be the cause on
God's part ; as his judgement on our sins, the trial of his own, the un
masking of hypocrites — .' Of Reformation in England, I. 5.

279
for God tempts no one in the sense of enticing or
persuading to sin, (see James i. 13. as above,) though
there be some towards whom he deservedly permits
the devil to employ such temptations. We are taught
in the Lord's prayer to deprecate temptations of this
kind ; Matt. vi. 13. ' lead us not into temptation, but
deliver us from evil.'*
A good temptation is that whereby God tempts
even the righteous for the purpose of proving them,
not as though he were ignorant of the disposition of
their hearts, but for the purpose of exercising or
manifesting their faith or patience, as in the case of
Abraham and Job ; or of lessening their self-confi
dence, and reproving their weakness, that both they
themselves may become wiser by experience, and
others may profit by their example ; as in the case
of Hezekiah, 2 Chron. xxxii. 31. whom ' God left' —
partially, or for a time — ' to try him, that he might
know all that was in his heart' He tempted the
Israelites in the wilderness with the same view.
Deut. viii. 2. ' to humble thee, and to prove thee, to
know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest
keep his commandments or no.' Psal. Ixvi. 10.
' thou, O God, hast proved us, thou hast tried us as
silver is tried.7 1 Pet. i. 7. 'that the trial of your
faith.. ..might be found unto praise.' iv. 12. ' beloved,
think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is
to try you, as though some strange thing happened
unto you.' Rev. ii. 10. ' behold, the devil shall cast
some of you into prison, that ye may be tried.'
This kind of temptation is therefore rather to be
desired. Psal. xxvi. 2. ' examine me, O Jehovah,
* Ah illo malo. Tremellius. from that evil one.

280
and prove me ; try my reins and my heart' James,
i. 2, 3. ' my brethren, count it all joy when ye fall
into divers temptations ; knowing this, that the trying
of your faith worketh patience.'
God also promises a happy issue. 1 Cor. x. 13.
' there hath no temptation taken you but such as is
common to man ; but God is faithful, who will not
suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but
will with the temptation also make a way to escape,
that ye may be able to bear it.' James i. 12. ' blessed
is the man that endureth temptation ; for when he is
tried,he shall receive the crown of life.'
Yet even believers are not always sufficiently ob
servant of these various operations of divine provi
dence, until they are led to investigate the subject
more deeply, and become more intimately conversant
with the word of God. Psal. Ixxiii. 2, 17. ' my
feet were almost gone. ...until I went into the sanctu
ary of God : then understood I their end.' Dan.
xii. 10. ' many shall be purified, and made white,
and tried ; but the wicked shall do wickedly : and
none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise
shall understand.'
Having said in the prefatory definition, that the
providence of God extends to all things, and that it
has enacted certain immutable laws, by which every
part of the creation is administered, it may not be
an useless digression to inquire in this place, whether,
among other fixed regulations, a limit has been set
to the duration of human life, which is not to be pass
ed.* That such is the case, Scripture clearly inti-
* ' Tertia quasstio spectat conservationem individuorum, utrum Deus
absolute decreto unicuique homini certum vitae terminum assignarit,
quem nemo ulla ratione aut contrahere aut producere possit.' Curcell.
lnstitutio, III. 11. 1.

281
mates. Job xiv. 5. ' Seeing his days are determined,
the number of his months are with thee, thou hast
appointed his bounds that he cannot pass.' Psal.
xc. 10. ' the days of our years are threescore years
and ten, and if by reason of strength they be four
score years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow ;
for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.' From these
and similar passages, and especially from the early
history of the world, it is evident that God, at least
after the fall of man,* limited human life to a certain
term, which in the progress of ages, from Adam to
David, gradually became more and more contracted ;
so that whether this term be one andthe same to all,
or appointed differently to each individual, it is in the
power of no one to prolong or exceed its limits.
This is the province of God alone, as is proved be
yond all doubt by the promise of long life made by
him to his people, and by his addition of fifteen years
to the life of Hezekiah when at the point of death.
The power of shortening or anticipating the term in
question, on the contrary, is not the exclusive privi
lege of God, though this also is exercised by him,
both for purposes of reward and punishment ; the
* This seems to intimate a belief in the doctrine held by the Fathers
and best divines, that if Adam had not sinned, he would not have died.
The opinion is expressed in the same doubtful manner in a speech of
Raphael :  time may come, when men
With angels may participate 
And from these corporal nutriments perhaps
Your bodies may at last turn all to spirit,
Improv'd by tract of time, and wing'd ascend
Ethereal as we, or may at choice
Here, or in heav'nly Paradises dwell. Paradise Lost, V. 493,
vol. i. 36

282
same effect may be, and in fact frequently is, pro
duced by the crimes or vices of mortals themselves.
Prov. x. 27. ' the fear of Jehovah prolongeth clays,
but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.'
Exod. xx. 12. ' honour thy father and thy mother,
that thy days may be long upon the land,' &c. See
also numerous passages to the same purpose, during
the time of the law. Psal. Iv. 23, ' bloody and de
ceitful men shall not live out half their days,' that is,
they shall not live to the end of that term, to which
by the constitution of their bodies they might other
wise have arrived ; in which class are to be placed
all those who lay violent hands on themselves, or who
accelerate death by intemperate living.
The providence of God is either ordinary or ex
traordinary.* His ordinary providence is that whereby he up
holds and preserves the immutable order of causes
appointed by him in the beginning. This is common
ly, and indeed too frequently, described by the name
of nature ; for nature cannot possibly mean anything
but the mysterious power and efficacy of that divine
voice which went forth in the beginning, and to
which, as to a perpetual command, all things have since
paid obedience. Job xxxviii. 12. ' hast thou com
manded the morning since thy days ?' v. 33. ' know
est thou the ordinances of heaven ?' Psal. cxlviii. 8.
' fire and hail, snow and vapours, stormy wind fulfilling
*< Qualitas providentiae in duobus pracipue spectatur. 1. Quod alia
sit ordinaria, alia vero extraordinaria . . Providentia ordinaria est,
qua Deus in hominum regimine ordinem a se ab initio institutum obser-
vat, et omnia convenienter naturae, quam ipsis indidit, gubernat.' Cur-
cell, lnstitutio, III. 12. 10.

283
his word.' Isai. xiv. 12. ' I have stretched out the
heavens, and all their host have I commanded.'
Jer. xxxi. 36. ' if those ordinances depart from be
fore me.' xxxiii. 20. ' my covenant of the day and
my covenant of the night.'
The extraordinary providence of God is that where
by God produces some effect out of the usual order
of nature, or gives the power of producing the same
effect to whomsoever he may appoint. This is what
we call a miracle. Hence God alone is the primary
author of miracles, as he only is able to invert that
order of things which he has himself appointed.
Psal. lxxii. 18. ' who only doeth wondrous things.'
John x. 21. ' can a devil open the eyes of the blind ?'
2 Thess. ii. 9. ' whose coming is after the power of
Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders.'
The use of miracles is to manifest the divine power,
and confirm our faith. Exod. vi. 6, 7. 'I will re
deem you .... with great judgements .... and ye
shall know that I am Jehovah your God.' viii. 22.
' I will sever in that day the land of Goshen .... to
the end thou mayest know that I am Jehovah.'
1 Kings xvii. 24.' ' now by this I know that thou art
a man of God.' Mark xvi. 20. ' the Lord working
with them, and confirming the word with signs fol
lowing.' Heb. ii. 4. ' God also bearing them wit
ness, both with signs and wonders and with divers
miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to
his own will.'
Miracles are also designed to increase the condem
nation of unbelievers, by taking away all excuse for
unbelief. Matt. xi. 21. ' woe unto thee, Chorazin
. . . for if the mighty works which were done in you

284
had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have
repented long ago — ' John xv. 24. ' if I had not
done among them the works which none other man
did, they had not had sin : but now they have no
cloak for their sin.'

CHAPTER IX.

OF THE SPECIAL GOVERNMENT OF ANGELS.

J. he general government of Providence has been
hitherto the subject of consideration. The special
governnent is that which embraces with peculiar re
gard angels and men, as beings far superior to the
rest of the creation.
Angels are either good or evil, Luke ix. 26. viii. 2.
for it appears that many of them revolted from God
of their own accord before the fall of man. John
viii. 44. ' he abode not in the truth, because there is
no truth in him : when he speaketh a lie, he speaketh
of his own, for he is a liar, and the father of it.' 2
Pet. ii. 4. ' God spared not the angels that sinned.'
Jude 6. ' the angels which kept not their first estate.'
1 John iii. 8. ' the devil sinneth from the beginning.'
Psal. cvi. 37. ' they sacrificed unto devils.'
Some are of opinion that the good angels are now
upheld, not so much by their own strength, as by the
grace of God. I Tim. v. 21. ' the elect angels,'
that is, who have not revolted.* Eph. i. 10. ' that
* Milton employs the word elect in opposition to the apostate angels, in
the description of the first battle-in heaven :
 but those ele zt
Angels, contented with their fame in Heav'n,
Seek not the praise of men: the other sort,
In might though wond'rous, — &c. Paradise Lost, VI. 374.

286
he might gather together in one all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven and which are on earth.'
Job iv. 18. ' his angels he charged with folly.' See
also xv. 15. Hence arises, in their opinion, the de
lighted interest which the angels take in the mystery
of man's salvation ;* 1 Pet. i. 12. ' which things the
angels desire to look into.' Eph. iii. 10. ' that now
unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places
might be known by the church the manifold wisdom
of God.' Luke ii. 13, 14. ' a multitude of the
heavenly host praising God,' namely, on account of
the birth of Christ, xv. 10. ' there is joy in the
presence of the angels of God over one sinner that
repenteth.' They assign the same reason for their
Avorshipping Christ. Heb. i. 6. ' let all the angels
of God worship him.' Matt. iv. 11. ' angels came
and ministered unto him.' Philipp. ii. 10. ' at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in
heaven — .' 2 Thess. i. 7. ' the Lord Jesus shall be
revealed from heaven with his mighty angels.' 1 Pet.
iii. 22. 'angels being made subject unto him.' Rev.
v. 11, 12. ' worthy is the Lamb that was slain.' It
seems, however, more agreeable to reason, to suppose
that the good angels are upheld by their own strength
no less than man himself was before his fall ; — that
they are called elect, in the sense of beloved or excel
lent ; — that it is not from any interest of their own,
but from their love to mankind, that they desire to
look into the mystery of our salvation ; — that they
* Nor less think we in heav'n of thee on earth
Than of our fellow servant, and enquire
Gladly into the ways of God with* man.
Paradise Lost, VIII. 224.

287
are not comprehended in the covenant of reconcilia
tion ; — that, finally, they are included under Christ
as their head, not as their Redeemer.*
For the rest, they are represented as standing dis
persed around the throne of God in the capacity of
ministering agents.f Deut. xxxiii. 2. ' he came with
ten thousands of saints.' 1 Kings xxii. 19. 'I saw
Jehovah sitting on his throne, and all the host of
heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his
left' Job i. 6. ' there was a day when the sons of
God came to present themselves before Jehovah.'
See also ii. 1. Dan. vii. 10. ' ten thousand times
ten thousand stood before him.' Matt, xviii. 10.
' their angels do always behold the face of my Father
which is in heaven.' Luke i. 19. ' I am Gabriel who
stand in the presence of God.'
Praising God. Job xxxviii. 7. ' all the sons of God
shouted for joy.' Psal. cxlviii. 2. ' praise ye him, all
his angels.' Neh. ix. 6. ' the host of heaven wor
shipped thee.' Isai. vi. 3. ' one cried unto another
and said, Holy, holy, holy.' See also Rev. iv. 8. vii.
11. ' the angels fall before the throne on their faces.'
They are obedient to God in all respects. Gen.
xxviii. 12. ' behold the angels of God ascending and
descending on it.' Psal. ciii. 20. ' his angels. ...that
do his commandments.' Zech. i. 10. ' these are they
* When the great ensign of Messiah blaz'd,
 Michael soon reduc'd
His army, circumfus'd on either wing,
Under their head embodied all in one. VI. 775.
f  Ye behold him, and with songs
And choral symphonies, day without night,
Circle his throne rejoicing. V. 161.

288
whom Jehovah hath sent to walk to and fro through
the earth.'
Their ministry relates especially to believers.* Heb.
i. 14. ' are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth
to minister for them who shall be heirs of salva
tion ? ' Psal. xxxiv. 7. ' the angel of Jehovah en-
campeth round about them that fear him.' xci. 11.
' he shall give his angels charge over thee ' Isai.
lxiii. 9. ' the angel of his presence saved them.' Matt.
xviii. 10. ' their angels do always behold the face of
my Father.' xiii. 41. 'the Son of man shall send
forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his
kingdom all things that offend.' xxiv. 31. ' they shall
gather together his elect from the four winds.' Acts
xii. 15. 'it is his angel.' 1 Cor. xi. 10. 'for this
cause ought the woman to have power on her head
because of the angels,' namely, as some think, (and
numerous examples in confirmation of their opinion
are not wanting) those angels whose office it was to
be present at the religious assemblies of believers.f
* The tutelary care of angels is incidentally alluded to in Paradise
Lost:  except whom
God and good angels guard by special grace. II. 1032.
Subjected to his service angel wings
And flaming ministers, to watch and tend
Their earthly charge. IX. 155.
Send me the angel of thy birth, to stand
Fast by thy side. Samson Agonistes, 1431.
 some good angel bear
A shield before us. Comus, 658.
\ This is the interpretation of Grotius, Hammond, (who quotes from
the Fathers in support of his opinion) Wolf, Doddridge, Pearce, &c. But
Milton probably alluded to Tremellius, whose version he principally used,
and whose note is as follows : ' Hujus autem rei testes sunt et observa-
tares angeli in ecclesia Dei, ab externo ordine internam Dei gratiam et

289
Seven of these, in particular, are described as
traversing the earth in the execution of their minis
try.* Zech. iv. 10. 'those seven are the eyes of Je
hovah which run to and fro through the whole earth.'
Rev. v. 6, ' which are the seven Spirits of God sent
forth into all the earth.' See also i. 4. and iv. 5.
It appears also probable that there are certain
angels appointed to preside over nations, kingdoms,
and particular districts. Dan. iv. 13, 17. 'this
matter is by the decree of the watchers.' xii. 1.
' Michael.... the great prince which standeth for the
children of thy people.' x. 13. ' I remained there
with the kings of Persia.' 2 Pet. ii. 11. 'whereas
angels, which are greater in power and might, bring
not railing accusation against them before the Lord.'
Gen. iii. 24. ' to keep the way of the tree of life.'
They are sometimes sent from heaven as messen
gers of the divine vengeance, to punish the sins of
men. They destroy cities and nations. Gen. xix. 13.
2 Sam. xxiv. 16. 1 Chron. xxi. 16. ' David saw
the angel of Jehovah.. ..having a drawn sword in
his hand stretched out over Jerusalem.' They lay
waste whole armies with unexpected destruction. 2
Kings xix. 35. Compare also other passages to the
pietatem membrorum optime recognoscentes. Psal. xxxiv. 8. et xci. li.
Matt, xviii. 10. John i. 52. Eph. iii. 10. 1 Tim. v. 21. Heb. i. 14. 1 Pet.
i. 12.' These seem to have been the ' numerous examples 7 referred to

above.

* Th' Arch-Angel Uriel, one ofthe sev'n
Who in God's presence, nearest to his throne,
Stand ready at command, and are his eyes
That run through all the heav'ns, or down to th' earth
Bear his swift errands over moist and dry,
O'er sea and land. Paradise Lost, III. 648.
vol. i. 37

290
same effect. Hence they are frequently represented
as making their appearance in the shape of an armed
host. Gen. xxxii. I, 2. 'this is God's host' Josh.
v. 15. ' the captain of the host of Jehovah.' 2 Kings
vi. 17. ' the mountain was full of horses and chariots
of fire.' Psal. Ixviii. 17. ' the chariots of God are
twenty thousand.' Luke ii. 13. ' a multitude ofthe
heavenly host.'
Angels are also described Isai. vi. Hos. i. 7. Matt.
xxviii. 2, 3. Rev. x. 1.
There appears to be one who presides over the rest
of the good angels, to whom the name of Michael is
often given.* Josh. vi. 14. ' as captain of the host
of Jehovah am I come.' Dan. xi. 13. 'Michael, one
of the chief princes, came to help me.' xii. 1. ' Mi
chael shall stand up, the great prince.' Rev. xii. 7, 8.
'Michael and his angels fought against the dragon.'
It is generally thought that Michael is Christ. But
Christ vanquished the devil, and trampled him under
foot singly ; Michael, the leader of the angels, is intro
duced in the capacity of a hostile commander waging
war with the prince of the devils, the armies on
both sides being drawn out in battle array, and sepa
rating after a doubtful conflictf Rev. xii. 7, 8. Jude
also says of the same angel, ' when contending with
* Go, Michael, of celestial armies prince. Paradise Lost, VI. 44.
f So in the description of the first fight in Paradise Lost, which is
borrowed from the prophecy in the Apocalypse quoted above, ' long
time in even scale the battle hung,' till at last Michael, ' the prince of
angels,' engages in single combat with the Adversary :
.... from each hand with speed retir'd,
Where erst was thickest fight, th' angelic throng,
And left large field. VI. 307.

291
the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, he
durst not bring against him a railing accusation,' —
which would be an improper expression to use with
reference to Christ, especially if he be God. 1 Thess.
iv. 16. ' the Lord himself shall descend from heaven
with the voice of the archangel.' Besides, it seems
strange that an apostle of Christ, in revealing things
till then so new and unheard-of concerning his mas
ter, should express himself thus obscurely, and should
even shadow the person of Christ under a difference
of name.
The good angels do not look into all the secret
things of God, as the Papists pretend ; some things
indeed they know by revelation, and others by means
of the excellent intelligence with which they are gift
ed ; there is much, however, of which they are igno
rant An angel is introduced inquiring Dan. viii. 13.
' how long shall be the vision ?' xii. 6. ' how long
shall it be to the end of these wonders ?' Matt.
xxiv. 36. ' of that day knoweth no man, no, not even
the angels in heaven.' Eph. iii. 10. ' to the intent
that now unto the principalities and powers in heav
enly places might be known by the church the mani
fold wisdom of God.' Rev. v. 3. ' no man in heav
en was able to open the book.'
The evil angels are reserved for punishment. Matt.
viii. 29. ' art thou come hither to torment us before
the time ?' 2 Pet. ii. 4. 'God cast them down to hell,
and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be re
served unto judgement.' Jude 6. ' he hath reserved
them in everlasting chains under darkness unto the
judgement of the great day.' 1 Cor. vi. 3. ' know
ye not that we shall jud0e angels?' Matt. xxv. 41.

292
' everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his an
gels.' Rev. xx. 10. ' they shall be tormented for
ever and ever.'
They are sometimes, however, permitted to wan
der throughout the whole earth, the air, and heaven
itself, to execute the judgements of God.* Job i. 7.
' from going to and fro in the earth.' 1 Sam. xvi. 15.
' the Spirit of Jehovah departed from Saul, and an
evil spirit from Jehovah troubled him.' 1 Pet. v. 8.
' the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about.' John
xii. 31. 'the prince of this world.' 2 Cor. iv. 4.
the god of this world.' Matt. xii. 43. ' he walketh
through dry places.' Eph. ii. 2. ' according to the
prince of the power of the air.' vi. 12. 'against
spiritual wickedness in high places.' They are even
admitted into the presence of God. Job i. 6. ii. 1.
1 Kings xxii. 21. 'there came forth a spirit, and
stood before Jehovah.' Zech. iii 1. 'he showed me
Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of
Jehovah, and Satan standing at his right hand to re
sist him.' Luke x. 18. 'I beheld Satan as light
ning fall from heaven.' Rev. xii. 12. ' woe to the
inhabiters of the earth, for the devil is come down
unto you.' Their proper place, however, is the bot
tomless pit, from which they cannot escape without
* ... do him mightier service as his thralls
By right of war, whate'er his business be,
Here in the heart of hell to work in fire,
Or do his errands in the gloomy deep. Paradise Lost, I. 148.
 the spirits perverse
With easy intercourse pass to and fro
To tempt or punish mortals. II. 1031.

293
permission.* Luke viii. 31. ' they besought him that
he would not command them to go out into the deep.'
Matt. xii. 43. ' he walketh through dry places, seek
ing rest, and findeth none.' Mark v. 10. ' he be
sought him much that he would not send them away
out of the country.' Rev. xx. 3. ' and cast him
into the bottomless pit, and shut him up.' Nor can
they do anything without the command of God. Job
i. 12. ' Jehovah said unto Satan, Behold, all that he
hath is in thy power.' Matt. viii. 31. ' suffer us to
go away into the herd of swine.' Rev. xx. 2. ' he
laid hold on the dragon.. ..and bound him a thousand
years.' Their knowledge is great, but such as tends rather
to aggravate than diminish their misery ; so that they
utterly despair of their salvation.f Matt. viii. 29.
' what have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of
God ? art thou come hither to torment us before the
* So stretch'd out huge in length the Arch-Fiend lay,
Chain'd on the burning lake, nor ever thence
Had ris'n or heav'd his head, but that the will
And high permission of all-ruling heav'n
Left him at large to his own dark designs. Paradise Lost, I. 209.
f .  his doom
Reserv'd him to more wrath ; for now the thought
Both of lost happiness and lasting pain
Torments him — . I. 52.
 hope never comes
That comes to all. I. 66.
 We are decreed,
Reserv'd. and destin'd to eternal woe;
Whatever doing, what can we sutler more,
What can we suffer worse ? II. 159.
Me miserable ! which way shall I fly
Infinite wrath, and infinite despair? IV. 73.

294
time •?' See also Luke iv. 34. James ii. 1 9. ' the
devils believe and tremble,' knowing that they are re
served for punishment, as has been shown.
The devils also have their prince. Matt, xii 24.
' Beelzebub, the prince of the devils.' See also Luke
xi. 15. Matt, xxv, 41. 'the devil and his angels.'
Rev. xii. 9- ' the great dragon was cast out. ..and his
angels.' They retain likewise their respective ranks.*
Col. ii. 15. 'having spoiled principalities and pow
ers.' Eph. vi. 12. ' against principalities, against
powers.' Their leader is the author of all wicked
ness, and the opponent of all good. Job i. and ii.
Zech. iii. 1. ' Satan.' John viii. 44. ' the father of
lies.' 1 Thess. ii. 18. 'Satan hindered us.' Acts
v. 3. ' Satan hath filled thine heart.' Rev. xx. 3, 8.
' that he should deceive the nations no more.' Eph.
ii. 2. ' the spirit that now worketh in the children of
disobedience.' Hence he has obtained many names
corresponding to his actions. He is frequently called
Satan, that is, an enemy or adversary,! Job i. 6.
1 Chron. xxi. 1. ' the great dragon, that old serpent,
the devil,' that is, the false accuser. Rev. xii. 9.
'the accuser of the brethren, v. 10. 'the unclean
? The Stygian council thus dissolv'd, and forth
In order came the grand infernal peers :
Midst came their mighty Paramount — .
Paradise Lost, 11. 506.
f • . . . To whom th' Arch-Enemy,
And thence in heav'n call'd Satan. — I. 81.
 the Adversary of God and man,
Satan—. II. 629.
High proof ye now have giv'n to be the race
Of Satan (for I glory in the name
Antagonist of heay'n's Almighty King.)
X. 385. See also VI. 281.

295
spirit' Matt. xii. 43. 'the tempter,'* iv. 3. ' Abad
don. ...Apollyon,' that is, the destroyer,! Rev. ix. 11.
' a great red dragon,' xii. 3.
*Tbe tempter ere th' accuser of mankind. Paradise Lost, IV. 10.
+  who bids abstain
But our Destroyer, foe to God and man ? IV. 749.

CHAPTER X.
OF THE SPECIAL GOVERNMENT OF MAN BEFORE THE
FALL, INCLUDING THE INSTITUTIONS OF THE SAB
BATH AND OF MARRIAGE.

A he Providence of God, as regards mankind, relates
to man either in his state of rectitude, or since his fall.
With regard to that which relates to man in his
state of rectitude, God, having placed him in the gar
den of Eden, and furnished him with whatever was
calculated to make life happy, commanded him, as a
test of his obedience, to refrain from eating of the
single tree of4niowledge of good and evil, under
penalty of death if he should disregard the injunction.*
Gen. i. 28. ' subdue the earth, and have dominion — .'
ii. 15 — 17. 'he put him into the garden of Eden....
of every tree in the garden thou mayest freely eat;
but in the day that thou eatest of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt surely die.'
*  well thou know'st
God hath pronounc'd it death to taste that tree,
The only sign of our obedience left.
Paradise Lost, IV. 426.
 lest the like befall
i n Paradise to Adam or his race
Charg'd not to touch the interdicted tree,
If they transgress, and slight that sole command,
So easily obey'd amid the choice
Of all tastes else to please their appetite,
Though wand'ring. VII. 44.

297
This is sometimes called the covenant of ivorks*
though it does not appear from any passage of Scrip
ture to have been either a covenant, or of works. No
works whatever are required of Adam ; a particular
act only is forbidden. It was necessary that some
thing should be forbidden or commanded as a test of
fidelity, and that an act in its own nature indifferent,
in order that man's obedience might be thereby mani
fested. For since it was the disposition of man to do
what was right, as a being naturally good and holy,
it was not necessary that he should be bound by the
obligation cf a covenant to perform that to which he
was of himself inclined ;! nor would he have given
any proof of obedience by the performance of works
to which he was led by a natural impulse, independ
ently of the divine command. Not to mention, that
no command, whether proceeding from God or from
a magistrate, can properly be called a covenant, even
where rewards and punishments are attached to it ;
but rather an exercise of jurisdiction.
The tree of knowledge of good and evil was not a
sacrament, as it is generally called ;| for a sacrament
* So Bishop Taylor. ' I find in Scripture no mention made of any
such covenant as is dreamt of about the matter of original sin : only the
covenant of works God did make with all men till Christ came; but he
did never exact it after Adam.' Works, IX. 399. And in his treatise
on The Doctrine and Practice of Repentance, Gen. ii. 17. is quoted as the
first of the texts to prove ' the old covenant, or the covenant of works.'
VIII. 303.
t ' Were it merely natural, why was it here ordained more than the
rest of moral law to man in his original rectitude, in whose breast all
that was natural or moral was engraven without external constitutions
and edicts ? ' Tetrachordon. Prose Works, II. 133.
J ' That some of the objects in Eden were of a sacramental nature we
can hardly doubt, when we read of the tree of knowledge, and of the
vol. i. 38

298
is a thing to be used, not abstained from : but a
i» pledge, as it were, and memorial of obedience.
It was called the tree of knowledge of good and
evil from the event ; for since Adam tasted it, we not
only know evil, but we know good only by means of
evil.* For it is by evil that virtue is chiefly exercised,
and shines with greater brightness.
The tree of life, in my opinion, ought not to be
considered so much a sacrament,! as a symbol of
eternal life, or rather perhaps the nutriment by which
that life is sustained. Gen. iii. 22. ' lest he take also
of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.' Rev.
ii. 7. ' to him that overcometh, will I give to eat of
the tree of life.'
Seeing, however, that man was made in the image
of God, and had the whole law of nature so implanted
and innate in him, that he needed no precept to en
force its observance, it follows, that if he received any
additional commands, whether respecting the tree of
knowledge, or the institution of marriage, these com
mands formed no part of the law of nature, which
is sufficient of itself to teach whatever is agreeable
to right reason, that is to say, whatever is intrinsi
cally good.f Such commands must therefore have
tree of life.' Bp. Home's Sermon on the Garden of Eden. See also his
two Sermons on the Tree qf Knowledge and qf Life.
* ' Perhaps this is that doom which Adam fell into of knowing good
and evil, that is to say, of knowing good by evil.' Speech for the Liberty
cf Unlicensed Printing. Prose Works, I. 299.
 the tree of knowledge grew fast by,
Knowledge of good bought dear by knowing ill.
Paradise Lost, IV. 222.
f ' The church began in innocency, and yet it began with a sacrament,
the tree of life—.' Bp. Taylor. Works, I. 149.
| See the passage quoted from our author's Tetrachordon, page 297,
note.

299
been founded on what is called positive right, where
by God, or any one invested with lawful power, com
mands or forbids what is in itself neither good nor
bad, and what therefore would not have been obliga
tory on any one, had there been no law to enjoin or
prohibit it. With regard to the Sabbath, it is clear
that God hallowed it to himself, and dedicated it to
rest, in remembrance of the consummation of his
work;* Gen. ii. 2, 3. Exod. xxxi. 17. Whether
its institution was ever made known to Adam, or
whether any commandment relative to its observance
was given previous to the delivery of the law on
Mount Sinai, much less whether any such was given
before the fall of man, cannot be ascertained, Scrip
ture being silent on the subject. The most probable
supposition is, that Moses, who seems to have written
the book of Genesis much later than the promulgation
of the law, inserted this sentence from the fourth
commandment, into what appeared a suitable place
for it ; where an opportunity was afforded for remind
ing the Israelites, by a natural and easy transition, of
the reason assigned by God, many ages after the
event itself, for his command with regard to the ob
servance of the Sabbath by the covenanted people.
An instance of a similar insertion occurs Exod. xvi.
33, 34. ' Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and
put an omer full of manna therein.... so Aaron laid it
up ; ' which however did not take place till Long after
wards. The injunction respecting the celebration of
*  from work
Now resting, bless'd and hallow'd the sev'nth day,
As resting on that day from all his work.
Paradise Lost, VII. 590.

300
the Sabbath in the wilderness, Exod. xvi. a short time
previous to the delivery of the law, namely, that no
one should go out to gather manna on the seventh
morning, because God had said that he would not
rain it from heaven on that day, seems rather to have
been intended as a preparatory notice, the ground
work, as it were, of a law for the Israelites, to be de
livered shortly afterwards in a clearer manner : they
having been previously ignorant of the mode of ob
serving the Sabbath. Compare v. 5. with v. 22 — 30.
For the rulers of the congregation, who ought to have
been better acquainted than the rest with the com
mandment of the Sabbath, if any such institution then
existed, wondered why the people gathered twice as
much on the sixth day, and appealed to Moses ; who
then, as if announcing something new, proclaimed to
them that the morrow would be the Sabbath. After
which, as if he had already related in what manner
the Sabbath was for the first time observed, he pro
ceeds, v. 30. ' so the people rested on the seventh
day.' That the Israelites had not so much as heard of the
Sabbath before this time, seems to be confirmed by
several passages of the prophets. Ezek. xx. 10 — 12.'
' I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt,
and brought them into the wilderness ; and I gave
them my statutes, and showed them my judgements
...moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a
sign between me and them, that they might know
that I am Jehovah that sanctify them.' Neh. ix. 13,
14. ' thou earnest down also upon Mount Sinai.. .and
gavest them right judgements  and madest known
unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them

301
precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses
thy servant.' This subject, however, will come
again under discussion, Book II. Chap. vii.
With regard to marriage, it is clear that it was in
stituted, if not commanded, at the creation, and that
it consisted in the mutual love, society, help, and
comfort of the husband and wife, though with a re
servation of superior rights to the husband.* Gen. ii.
18. ' it is not good that the man should be alone ; I
will make him an help meet for him.' 1 Cor. xi.
7 — 9. ' for a man. ...is the image of the glory of God,
but the woman is the glory of the man : for the man
is not of the woman, but the woman of th&_man ;
neither was the man created fqrjjie woman, hut the
woman for the man.' The power of the husband
was even increased after the fall. Gen iii. 16. 'thy
desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over
thee.' Therefore the word ^3 in the Hebrew signi
fies both husband and lord. Thus Sarah is represent
ed as calling her husband Abraham lord, 1 Pet. iii. 6.
* See Tetrachordon. 'It might be doubted, &c  lost by her means.'
Prose Works, II. 121, 122. 'What an injury is it after wedlock  to
be contended with in point of house rule who shall be the head...." I suf
fer not," saith St. Paul, " the woman to usurp authority over the man."
If the apostle would not suffer it, into what mould is he mortified that
can?" Doctrine, <Src. of Divorce, II. 36.
.... Was she made thy guide,
Superior, or but equal, that to her
Thou didst resign thy manhood, and the place
Wherein God set thee above her made of thee?
Paradise Lost, X. 146. See also XI. 291, 634—636.
Therefore God's universal law
Gave to the man despotic power
Over his female in due awe,
Nor from that right to part an hour,
Smile she or lower.

302
1 Tim. ii. 12 — 14, ' I suffer not a woman to teach
nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in si
lence : for Adam was first formed, then Eve ; and
Adam was not deceived, but the woman .behig de
ceived, was in the transgression.'
Marriage, therefore, is a most intimate connection
of man with woman, ordained by God, for the pur
pose either of the procreation of children, or of the
relief and solace of life. Hence it is said, Gen. ii.
24. 'therefore shall a man leave his father and his
mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall
be one flesh.' This is neither a law nor a command
ment, but an effect or natural consequence of that
most intimate union which would have existed be:
tween them in the perfect state of man ; nor is the
passage intended to serve any other purpose, than to
account for the origin of families.
In the definition which I have given, I have not
said, in compliance with the common opinion, of one
man with one woman, lest I should by implication
charge the holy patriarchs and pillars of our faith,
Abraham and the others who had more than one
wife at the same time, with habitual fornication
and adultery ; and lest 1 should be forced to exclude
from the sanctuary of God as spurious, the holy off
spring which sprang from them, yea, the whole of
the sons of Israel, for whom the sanctuary itself was
made. For it is said, Deut. xxiii. 2. ' a bastard
shall not enter into the congregation of Jehovah,
even to his tenth generation.' Either therefore po
lygamy is a true marriage,* or all children born in
* ' Certain it is that whereas other nations used a liberty not unnatural,
for one man to have many wives, the Britons altogether as licentious

303
that state are spurious ; which would include the
whole race of Jacob, the twelve holy tribes chosen
by God. But as such an asseition would be absurd
in the extreme, not to say impious, and as it is the
height of injustice, as well as an example of most
dangerous tendency in religion, to account as sin
what is not such in reality ;* it appears to me, that,
so far from the question respecting the lawfulness of
polygamy being trivial, it is of the highest impor
tance that it should be decided.
Those who deny its lawfulness, attempt to prove
their position from Gen. ii. 24. 'a man shall cleave
unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh,' compared
with Matt. xix. 5. 'they twain shall be one flesh.'
A man shall cleave, they say, to his wife, not to his
wives, and they twain, and no more, shall be one
flesh. This is certainly ingenious ; and I therefore
subjoin the passage in Exod. xx. 17. 'thou shalt not
covet thy neighbour's house, nor his man-servant,
nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass :' whence
but more absurd and preposterous in their license, had one or many
wives in common among ten or twelve husbands.' History qf England.
Prose Works, IV. 68. With the exception of this hint, I am not
aware of any passage in Milton's printed works which contains a clew
to his opinions respecting polygamy. His history was written just be
fore he became Latin Secretary to the Council, about the year 1650 ;
and it is observable that although, according to the above quotation,
he appears to have been inclined in favour of the practice, he then ad
mitted its licentiousness.
| See the title to The Doctrine and Discipline qf Divorce; — 'where
in also are set down the bad consequences of abolishing, or condemning
of sin, that which the law of God allows, and Christ abolished not.'
Prose Works, I. 332. ' In these opinions it would be more religion to
advise well, lest we make ourselves juster than God, by censuring rash
ly that for sin, which his unspotted law without rebuke allows, and his
people without being conscious of displeasing him have used.1
Doctrine, &c . II. 32.

304
it would follow that no one had more than a single
house, a single man-servant, a single maid-servant, a
single ox, or ass. It would be ridiculous to argue,
that it is not said houses, but house, not man- servants
but man-servant, not even neighbours, but neighbour;
as if it were not the general custom, in laying down
commandments of this kind, to use the singular num
ber, not in a numerical sense, but as designating the
species of the thing intended. With regard to the
phrase, ' they twain,' and not more, ' shall be one
flesh,' it is to be observed, first, that the context re
fers to the husband and that wife only whom he
was seeking to divorce, without intending any allusion
to the number of his wives, whether one or more.
Secondly, marriage is in the nature of a relation ;
and to one relation there can be no more than two
parties. In the same sense therefore as ifa man has
many sons, his paternal relation towards them all is
manifold, but towards each individually is single and
complete in itself ; by parity of reasoning, if a man
has many wives, the relation which he bears to each
will not be less perfect in itself, nor will the husband
be less 'one flesh' with each of them, than if he had
only one wife. Thus it might be properly said of
Abraham, with regard to Sarah and Hagar respective
ly, ' these twain were one flesh.' And with good rea
son; for whoever consorts with harlots, however ma
ny in number, is still said to be one flesh with each ;
1 Cor. vi. 16. ' what, know ye not that he which is
joined to an harlot is one body ? for two, saith he,
shall be one flesh.' The expression may therefore
be applied as properly to the husband who has many
Wives, as to him who has only one. Hence it fol-

305
lows that the commandment in question (though in
fact it is no commandment at all, as has been shown)
contains nothing against polygamy, either in the way
of direct prohibition or implied censure ; unless we
are to suppose that the law of God, as delivered by
Moses, was at variance with his prior declarations ; or
that, though the passage in question had been frequent
ly inspected by a multitude of priests, and Levites,
and prophets, men of all ranks, of holiest lives and
most acceptable to God, the fury of their passions
was such as to hurry them by a blind impulse into
habitual fornication ; for to this supposition are we
reduced, if there be anything in the present precept
which renders polygamy incompatible with lawful
marriage. Another text from which the unlawfulness of po
lygamy is maintained, is Lev. xviii. 18. 'neither shalt
thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover
her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.'
Here Junius translates the passage mulierem unam
ad alteram, instead of mulierem ad sororem suam, in
order that from this forced and inadmissible interpre
tation he may elicit an argument against polygamy.
In drawing up a law, as in composing a definition, it
is necessary that the most exact and appropriate words
should be used, and that they should be interpreted
not in their metaphorical, but in their proper signifi
cation. He says, indeed, that the same words are
found in the same sense in other passages. This is
true ; but it is only where the context precludes the
possibility of any ambiguity, as in Gen. xxvi. 31. ju-
raverunt virfratri suo, that is, alteri, ' they sware one
to another.' No one would infer from this passage that
vol- i. 39

306
Isaac was the brother of Abimelech ; nor would any
one, on the other hand, entertain a doubt that the
passage in Leviticus was intended as a prohibition
against taking a wife to her sister; particularly as the
preceding verses of this chapter treat of the degrees
of affinity to which intermarriage is forbidden. More
over this would be to uncover her nakedness, the evil
against which the law in question was intended to
guard ; whereas the caution would be unnecessary in
the case of taking another wife not related or allied to
the former ; for no naked uess would be thereby un
covered. Lastly, why is the clause in her life time
added ? For there could be no doubt of its being law
ful after her death to marry another who was neither
related nor allied to her, though it might be ques
tionable whether it were lawful to marry a wife's sis
ter. It is objected, that marriage with a wife's sister
is forbidden by analogy in the sixteenth verse, and
therefore a second prohibition was unnecessary. I
answer, first, that there is in reality no analogy be
tween the two passages ; for that by marrying a
brother's wife, the brother's nakedness is uncovered ;
whereas by marrying a wife's sister, it is not a sister's
nakedness, but only that of a kinswoman by marriage,
which is uncovered. Besides, if nothing were to be
prohibited which had been before prohibited by analo
gy, why is marriage with a .mother forbidden, when
marriage with a father had been already declared un
lawful ? or why marriage with a mother's sister, when
marriage with a father's sister had been prohibited?
If this reasoning be allowed, it follows that more than
half the laws relating to incest are unnecessary.
Lastly, whereas the prevention of enmity is alleged

307
as the principal motive for the law before us, it is
obvious, that if the intention had been to condemn
polygamy, reasons of a much stronger kind might
have been urged from the nature of the original
institution, as was done in the ordinance of the
Sabbath.* A third passage which is advanced, Deut. xvii. 17.
is so far from condemning polygamy, either in a king,
or in any one else, that it expressly allows it ; and
only imposes the same restraints upon this condition
which are laid upon the multiplication of horses, or
the accumulation of treasure; as will appear from the
seventeenth and eighteenth verses.
Except the three passages which are thus irrele
vantly adduced, not a trace appears of the interdiction
of polygamy throughout the whole law ; nor even in
any of the prophets, who were at once the rigid in
terpreters of the law, and the habitual reprovers of
the vices of the people. The only shadow of an ex
ception occurs in a passage of Malachi, the last of
the prophets, which some consider as decisive against
polygamy. It would be indeed a late and postlimin-
ous enactment, if that were for the first time prohib
ited after the Babylonish captivity which ought to
have been prohibited many ages before. For if it had
been really a sin, how could it have escaped the repre
hension of so many prophets who preceded him ? We
may safely conclude that if polygamy be not forbid
den in the law, neither is it forbidden here ; for
*-' But they were to look back to the first institution ; nay rather why
was not that individual institution brought out of Paradise, as was that of
the Sabbath, and repeated in the body of the law, that man might have
understood it to be a command ? ' Doctrine, &c. II. 29.

308
Malachi was not the author of a new law. Let us
however see the words themselves as translated by
Junius, ii. 15. Nonne unum effecit ? quamvis reliqui
spiritus ipsi essent : quid autem unam ? It would be
rash and unreasonable indeed, if, on the authority of
so obscure a passage, and one which has been tortured
and twisted by different interpreters into such a va
riety of meanings, we were to form a conclusion on
so important a subject, and to impose it upon others
as an article of faith.* But whatever be the signifi
cation of the words nonne unum effecit, what do they
prove ? are we, for the sake of drawing an inference
against polygamy, to understand the phrase thus — did
not he make one woman? But the gender, and even
the case, are at variance with this interpretation ; for
nearly all the other commentators render the words
as follows : annon unus fecit? et residuum spiritus
ipsi ? et quid ille unus ? We ought not therefore to
draw any conclusion from a passage like the present
in behalf of a doctrine which is either not mentioned
elsewhere, or only in doubtful terms ; but rather con-
elude that the prophet's design was to reprove a prac
tice which the whole of Scripture concurs in reprov
ing, and which forms the principal subject of the very
chapter in question, v. 11 — 16. namely, marriage with
the daughter of a strange god ; a corruption very
* Though the words of this difficult clause are rendered very variously
by the different commentators, yet, with the exception of Grotius, who
explains the passage with reference to the origin of souls ex traduce
from our natural parents, nearly all agree in considering it as an argu
ment against polygamy. The interpretation which Milton seenis to
prefer, is suggested by Tirinus and Menochius. See Poole's Synopsis
in loc.

309
prevalent among the Jews of that time, as we learn
from Ezra and Nehemiah.*
With regard to the words of Christ, Matt. v. 32.
and xix. 5. the passage from Gen. ii. 24. is repeated
not for the purpose of condemning polygamy, but of
reproving the unrestrained liberty of divorce, which is
a very different thing ; nor can the words be made
to apply to any other subject without evident violence
to theii meaning. For the argument which is de
duced from Matt. v. 32. that if a man who marries
another after putting away his first wife, committeth
adultery, much more must he commit adultery who
retains the first and marries another, Ought itself to
be repudiated as an illegitimate conclusion.! For in
* ' It wrought so little disorder among the Jews, that from Moses till
after the captivity, not one of the prophets thought it worth the rebuk
ing; for that of Malachi well looked into will appear to be not against
divorcing, but rather against keeping strange concubines, to the vexa
tion of the Hebrew wives.' Doctrine, &c. Prose Works, II. 61. 'He
that reads attentively will soon perceive, that God blames not here the
Jews for putting away their wives, but for keeping strange concubines,
to the profaning of Judah's holiness, and the vexation of their Hebrew
wives, v 11. and 14. Judah hath married the daughter of a strange god :
and exhorts them rather to put away their wives whom they hate, as the
law permitted, than to keep them under such affronts. And it is received,
that this prophet lived in those times of Ezra and Nehemiah (nay by
some it is thought to be Ezra himself) when the people were forced by
these two worthies to put their strange wives away. So that what the
story of those times, and the plain context of the 11th verse, from whence
tbis rebuke begins, can give us to conjecture of the obscure and curt
Ebraisms that follow, this prophet does not forbid putting away, but for
bids keeping, and commands putting away according to God's law, which
is the plainest interpreter both of what God will, and what he can best
suffer.' Tetrachordon, II. 146.
\ The original of this sentence affords no satisfactory sense. ' Id
ejusmodi est profecto, ut argumentum ipsum pro adulterio sit protinus
repudiandum.' The fondness for that play upon words which is so char
acteristic of Milton, and of which, as has been already observed (see p. 17.)

310
the first place, it is the divine precepts themselves
that are obligatory, not the consequences deduced
from them by human reasoning ; for what appears a
reasonable inference to one individual, may not be
equally obvious to another of similar discernment.
Secondly, he who puts away his wife and marries
another, is not said to commit adultery because he
marries another, but because in consequence of his
marriage with another he does not retain his former
wife, to whom also he owed the performance of con
jugal duties ; whence it is expressly said, Mark x. 11.
'he committeth adultery against her.' That he is in
a condition to perform his conjugal duties to the one,
after having taken another to her, is shown by God
himself, Exod. xxi. 10. ' if he take him another wife,
her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage shall
he not diminish.' It cannot be supposed that the
divine forethought intended to provide for adultery.
Nor is it allowable to argue, from 1 Cor. vii. 2.
' let every man have his own wife,' that therefore
none should have more than one ; for the meaning of
the precept is, that every man should have his own
wife to himself, not that he should have but one wife.
That bishops and elders should have no more than one
wife is explicitly enjoined 1 Tim. iii. 2.. and Tit.
i. 6. 'he must be the husband of one wife,' in order
probably that they may discharge with greater dili
gence the ecclesiastical duties which they have un
dertaken. The command itself, however, is a suffi-

this treatise furnishes numerous examples, renders it not improbable
that it was originally written pro adulterino ; for which the amenuensis
employed in transcribing this part of the manuscript, substituted the more
common word adulterio.

311
cient proof that polygamy was not forbidden to the
rest, and that it was common in the church at that
time. Lastly, in answer to what is urged from 1 Cor.
vii. 4. ' likewise also the husband hath not power of
his own body, but the wife,' it is easy to reply, as
was done above, that the word wife in this passage
is used with reference to the species, and not to the
number. Nor can the power of the wife over the
body of her husband be different now from what it
was under the law, where it is called njiJJ, Exod.
xxi. 10. and signifies her staled times, which St. Paul
expresses in the present chapter by the phrase, her
due benevolence. With regard to what is due, the
Hebrew word is sufficiently explicit.*
On the other hand, the following passages clearly
admit the lawfulness of polygamy. Exod. xxi. 10.
' if he take him another wife, her food, her raiment,
and her duty of marriage shall he not diminish.'
Deut. xvii. 17. 'neither shall he multiply wives to
himself, that his heart turn not away.' Would the
law have been so loosely worded, if it had not been
allowable to take more wives than one at the same
time ? Who would venture to subjoin as an inference
from this language, therefore let him have one only ?
In such case, since it is said in the preceding verse,
' he shall not multiply horses to himself,' it would
be necessary to subjoin there also, therefore he shall
have one horse only. Nor do we want any proof to
assure us, that the first institution of marriage was
intended to bind the prince equally with the people ;
* . . . Love's due rites, nuptial embraces sweet.
Paradise Lost, X. 994.

312
if therefore it permits only one wife, it permits no
more even to the prince. But the reason given for
the law is this, ' that his heart turn not away ;' a
danger which would arise if he were to marry many,
and especially strange women, as Solomon afterwards
did. Now if the present law had been intended
merely as a confirmation and vindication of the pri
mary institution of marriage, nothing could have been
more appropriate than to have recited the institution
itself in this place, and not to have advanced that rea
son alone which has been mentioned.
Let us hear the words of God liimself, the author
of the law, and the best interpreter of his own will.
2 Sam. xii. 8. ' I gave thee thy master's wives into
thy bosom.... and if that had been too little, I would
moreover have given unto thee such and such things.'
Here there can be no subterfuge ; God gave him
wives, he gave them to the man whom he loved, as one
among a number of great benefits; he would have
given him more, if these had not been enough. Be
sides, the very argument which God uses towards
David, is of more force when applied to the gift of
wives, than to any other, — thou oughtest at least to
have abstained from the wife of another person, not
so much because I had given thee thy master's house,
or thy master's kingdom, as because I had given thee
the wives of the king. Beza indeed objects, that
David herein committed incest, namely, with the
wives of his father-in-law.* But he had forgotten
* ' Deinde, si valcrct Ochini argumentum, profecto non tantum poly-
..famiam sed etiam incestus probaret; si quidem consanguinei uxoris
eodem gradu junguntur viro quo ipsi uxori. Itaque non magis licuit
Davidi ducere uxoris sua? Michal novercas, quam suam ipsius nover-
cain.' Beza De Polygamic!.

Olil Ol,)
what is indicated by Esther ii. 12, 13. that the kings
of Israel had two houses for the women, one ap
pointed for the virgins, the other for the concubines,
and that it was the former and not the latter which
were given to David. This appears also from 1 Kings
i. 4. ' the king knew her not' Cantic. vi. 8. ' there
are fourscore concubines, and virgins without number.'
At the same time it might be said with perfect pro
priety that God had given him his master's wives,
even supposing that he had only given him as many in
number and of the same description, though not the
very same; even as he gave him, not indeed the
identical house and retinue of his master, but one
equally magnificent and royal.
It is not wonderful, therefore, that what the au
thority of the law, and the voice of God himself has
sanctioned, should be alluded to by the holy prophets
in their inspired hymns as a thing lawful and hon
ourable. Psal. xiv. 9. (which is entitled ' A song of
loves') ' kings' daughters were among thy honourable
women.' v. 14. ' the virgins her companions that
follow her shall be brought unto thee.' Nay, the
words of this very song are quoted by the apostle to
the Hebrews, i. 8. ' unto the Son he saith, Thy
throne, O God,' &c. as the words wherein God the
Father himself addresses the Son, and in which his
divinity is asserted more clearly than in any other
passage. Would it have been proper for God the
Father to speak by the mouth of harlots, and to
manifest his holy Son to mankind as God in the
amatory songs of adulteresses ? Thus also in Cantic.
vi. 8 — 10. the queens and concubines are evidently
mentioned with honour, and are all without distinction
vol. i. 40

314
considered worthy of celebrating the praises of the
bride ; ' there are threescore queens, and fourscore
concubines, and virgins without number.. ..the daugh
ters saw her and blessed her ; yea, the queens and
the concubines, and they praised her.' Nor must we
omit 2 Chron. xxiv. 2, 3. ' Joash did that which was
right in the sight of the Lord all the davs of Jehoiada
the priest : and Jehoiada took for him two wives.'
For the two clauses are not placed in contrast, or
disjoined from each other, but it is said in one and the
same connection that under the guidance of Jehoiada
he did that which was right, and that by the authority
of the same individual he married two wives. This
is contrary to the usual practice in the eulogies of
the kings, where, if to the general character anything
blameable be subjoined, it is expressly excepted ;
1 Kings xv. 5. ' save only in the matter of Uriah the
Hittite.' v. 11, 14. 'and x\sa did that which was
right. ..but the high places were not removed : never
theless Asa's heart was perfect' Since therefore the
right conduct of Joash is mentioned in unqualified
terms, in conjunction with his double marriage, it is
evident that the latter was not considered matter of
censure ; for the sacred historian would not have
neglected so suitable an opportunity of making the
customary exception, if there had really been any
thing which deserved disapprobation.
Moreover, God himself in an allegorical fiction,
Ezek. xxiii. 4. represents himself as having espoused
two wives, Aholah and Aholibah ; a mode of speak
ing which he would by no means have employed, es
pecially at such length, even in a parable, nor indeed
have taken on himself such a character at all, if the

315
practice which it implied had been intrinsically dis
honourable or shameful.
On what grounds, however, can a practice be con
sidered dishonourable or shameful, which is prohibited
to no one even under the gospel ? for that dispensa
tion annuls none of the merely civil regulations which
existed previous to its introduction.* It is only en
joined that elders and deacons should be chosen from
such as were husbands of one wife. 1 Tim. iii. 2.
and Tit. i. 6. This implies, not that to be the hus
band of more than one wife would be a sin, for in
that case the restriction would have been equally im
posed on all ; but that, in proportion as they were less
entangled in domestic affairs, they would be more at
leisure for the business of the church. Since there
fore polygamy is interdicted in this passage to the
ministers of the church alone, and that not on ac
count of any sinfulness in the practice, and since none
of the other members are precluded from it either here
or elsewhere, it follows that it was permitted, as above-
said, to all the remaining members of the church,
and that it was adopted by many without offence.
Lastly, I argue as follows from Heb. xiii. 4.
Polygamy is either marriage, or fornication, or adul
tery ; the apostle recognizes no fourth state. Rever
ence for so many patriarchs who were polygamists
will, I trust, deter any one from considering it as for
nication or adultery ; for ' whoremongers and adulterers
God will judge ; ' whereas the patriarchs were the ob
jects of his especial favour, as he himself witnesses.
* 'Sciunt enim qui labris aliquanto primoribus evangelium gustarunt,
ecclesia? gubernationem divinam esse totam ac spiritualem, non civilcm.'
Pro Populo Anglicano Defensio. Prose Works, V. 196.

316
If then polygamy be marriage properly so called, it is
also lawful and honourable, according to the same
apostle : ' marriage is honourable in all, and the bed
undefiled.' It appears to me sufficiently established by the
above arguments, that polygamy is allowed by the
law of God ; lest however any doubt should remain,
I will subjoin abundant examples of men whose holi
ness renders them fit patterns for imitation, and who
are among the lights of our faith. Foremost I place
Abraham, the father of all the faithful, and of the
holy seed, Gen. xvi. 1, &c. Jacob, chap. xxx. and, if
I mistake not, Moses, Numb. xii. 1. 'for he had mar
ried [a Cushite, Marginal Translation, or] an Ethio
pian ivoman.' It is not likely that the wife of Moses,
who had been so often spoken of before by her proper
name of Zipporah, should now be called by the new
title of a Cushite ; or that the anger of Aaron and
Miriam should at this time be suddenly kindled, be
cause Moses forty years before had married Zipporah;
nor would they have acted thus scornfully towards one
whom the whole house of Israel had gone out to meet
on her arrival with her father Jethro. If then he
married the Cushite during the lifetime of Zipporah,
his conduct in this particular received the express ap
probation of God himself, who moreover punished
with severity the unnatural opposition of Aaron and
his sister. Next I place Gideon, that signal example
of faith and piety, Judg. viii. 30, 31. and Elkanah,
a rigid Levite, the father of Samuel ; who was so far
from believing himself less acceptable to God on ac
count of his double marriage, that he took with him
his two wives every year to the sacrifices and an-

317
iiual worship, into the immediate presence of God;
hor was he therefore reproved, but went home blessed
with Samuel, a child of excellent promise, 1 Sam. ii.
10. Passing over several other examples, though
illustrious, such as Caleb, 1 Chron. ii. 46, 48. vii. 1.
4. the sons of Issachar, in number, ' six and thirty
thousand men, for they had many wives and sons,'
contrary to the modern European practice, where in
many places the land is suffered to remain unculti
vated for want of population ; and also Manasseh, the
son of Joseph, 1 Chron. vii. 14. I come to the
prophet David, whom God loved beyond all men, and
who took two wives, besides Michal ; and this not in
a time of pride and prosperity, but when he was al
most bowed down by adversity, and when, as we
learn from many of the psalms, he was entirely occu
pied in the study of the word of God, and in the right
regulation of his conduct. 1 Sam. xxv. 42, 43. and
afterwards, 2 Sam. v. 12, 13. ' David perceived that
Jehovah had established him king over Israel, and
that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel's
sake : and David took him more concubines and
wives out of Jerusalem.' Such were the motives,
such the honourable and holy thoughts whereby he
was influenced, namely, by the consideration of God's
kindness towards him for his people's sake. His
heavenly and prophetic understanding saw not in that
primitive institution what we in our blindness fancy
we discern so clearly; nor did he hesitate to proclaim
in the supreme council of the nation the pure and
honourable motives to which, as he trusted, his chil
dren born in polygamy owed their existence. 1 Chron.
xxviii. 5. ' of all my sons, for Jehovah hath given me

318
many sons, he hath chosen,' &c. I say nothing of
Solomon, notwithstanding his wisdom, because he
seems to have exceeded due bounds ; although it is
not objected to him that he had taken many wives,
but that he hafd married strange women ;* 1 Kings
xi. 1. Nehem. xiii. 26. His son Rehoboam 'desired
many wives,' not in the time of his iniquity, but during
the three years in which he is said to have walked
in the way of David, 2 Chron. xi. 17, 21, 23. Of
Joash mention has already been made ; who was in
duced to take two wives, not by licentious passion, or
the wanton desires incident to uncontrolled power,
but by the sanction and advice of a most wise and
holy man, Jehoiada the priest. Who can believe,
either that so many men of the highest character
should have sinned through ignorance for so many
ages ; or that their hearts should have been so hard
ened ; or that God should have tolerated such con
duct in his people ? Let therefore the rule received
among theologians have the same weight here as in
other cases : " The practice of the saints is the best
interpretation of the commandments."
It is the peculiar province of God to make marriage
prosperous and happy. Prov. xix. 14. 'a prudent wife
is from Jehovah.' xviii. 22. ' whoso findeth a wife,
findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of Jehovah.'
* .  where stood
Her temple on th' offensive mountain, built
By that uxorious king, whose heart, though large,
Beguil'd by fair idolatresses, fell
To idols foul. Paradise Lost, I. 442.
Women, when nothing else, beguil'd the heart
Of wisest Solomon, and made him build,
.And made him bow to the gods of his wives.
Paradise Regained, II. 169.

319
The consent of parents, if living, should not be
wanting.* Exod. xxii. 17. 'if his father utterly re
fuse to give her unto him — .' Deut. vii. 3. 'thy
daughter thou shalt not give unto his son.' Jer. xxix.
6. ' take wives for your sons.' But the mutual con
sent of the parties themselves is naturally the first and
important requisite ; for there can be no love or good
will, and consequently no marriage, without mutual
consent! In order that marriage may be valid, the consent
must be free from every kind of fraud, especially in
respect of chastity. Dew*, xxii. 20, 21, 23. It will
be obvious to every sensible person that maturity of
age is requisite.
The degrees of affinity which constitute incest are
to be determined by the law of God, Lev. xviii. Deut.
xxvii. and not by ecclesiastical canons or legal de
crees. We are moreover to interpret the text in its
plain and obvious meaning, without attempting to
elicit more from it than it really contains. To be
wise beyond this point, savours of superstitious folly,
and a spurious preciseness.
It is also necessary that the parties should be of
one mind in matters of religion. Under the law this
* 'The 18th chapter (of Bucer's Kingdom of Christ) I only mention
as determining a thing not here in question, that marriage without con
sent of parents ought not to be held good, yet with this qualification fit
to be known,' fcc. Prose Works, II. 81. 'Itis generally held by re
formed writers against the Papist, that.. ..the father not consenting, his
main will without dispute shall dissolve all  Because the general honour
due to parents is great, they hold he may, and perhaps hold not amiss.'
Teirachordon. Prose Works, II. 136.
f ' There must be a joint consent and good liking on both sides.'
Doctrine, &c. Prose Works, I. 366. ' This brings in the parties' con
sent; until which be, the marriage hath no true being.' Teirachordon,
IT. 143,

320
precept was understood as applying to marriages al
ready contracted, as well as to those in contempla
tion. Exod. xxxiv. 15, 16. Deut. vii. 3, 4, com
pared with Ezra x. 11, &c. and Nehem. xiii. 23, 30.
A similar provision was made under the gospel for
preventing the contraction of any marriage where a
difference of religious opinion might, exist : 1 Cor.
vii. 39. ' she is at liberty to be married to whom she
will, only in the Lord.' 2 Cor. vi. 14. ' be ye not
unequally yoked together with unbelievers.' But if
the marriage be already contracted it is not to be dis
solved, while any hope remains of doing good to the
unbeliever.* 1 Cor. vii. 12. For the Best, what kind
of issue generally follows such marriages may be seen
in the case of the antediluvian world, Gen. vi. of
Solomon, 1 Kings xi. 1, &c. of Ahab, xxi. 25. of
Jehoshaphat, who gave his son Jehoram a wife of the
daughters of Ahab, 2 Kings viii.
The formj of marriage consists in the mutual ex-
* ' His drift, as was heard before, is plain ; not to command our stay in
marriage with an infidel; that had been a flat renouncing ofthe religious
and moral law ; but to inform the Corinthians, that the body of an unbe
liever was not defiling, if his desire to live in Christian wedlock showed
any likelihood that his heart was opening to tlie faith ; and therefore ad
vises to forbear departure so long till nothing have been neglected to
set forward a conversion ; this 1 say he advises — .' Doctrine, &c.
Prose Works, I. 365. See also Teirachordon : ' I cannot see by this
golden dependence — not an endless servitude.' II. 123, 124. andpp.
¦206—218. f'What is not therefore among the causes constituting marriage,
must not stay in tbe definition. Those causes are concluded to be
matter, and, as the artist calls it, form . . . First, therefore, the ma
terial cause of matrimony is man and woman ;,the author and efficient,
God and their consent; the internal form and soul of this relation is
conjugal love arising from a mutual fitness to the final causes of wed
lock, help and society in religious, civil, and domestic conversation,
which includes as an inferior end the fulfilling of natural desire, and

\

321
ercise of benevolence, love, help, and solace between
the espoused parties, as the institution itself, or its
definition, indicates.
The end of marriage is nearly the same with the
form. Its proper fruit is the procreation of children ;
but since Adam's fall, the provision of a remedy
against incontinency has become in some degree a
secondary end. 1 Cor. vii. 2. Hence marriage is
not a command binding on all, but only on those who
are unable to live with chastity out of this state.*
Matt. xix. IL ' all men cannot receive this saying.'
Marriage is honourable in itself, and prohibited to
no order of men ; wherefore the Papists act contrary
to religion in excluding the ministers of the church
from this rite.! Heb. xiii. 4. ' marriage is honoura
ble in all.' Gen. ii. 24. 1 Cor. ix. 5. ' have we
not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as
other apostles ?' I Tim. iii. 2. a bishop must be
blameless, the husband of one wife.' v. 4. ' one
that ruleth well his own house, having his children in
subjection.'
specifical increase ; these are the final ,causes both moving the efficient,
and perfecting the form.' Tetrachordon. Prose Works, II. 140. See
also p. 143. ' Marriage is a divine institution  common duty than
matrimonial.' * ' If we speak of a command in the strictest definition, then mar
riage itself is no more a command than divorce ; but only n free per
mission to him that cannot contain.' Doctrine, &c. Prose Works,
II. 13. f ' Whatever hypocrites austerely talk
Of purity, and place, and innocence,
Defaming as impure what God declares
Pure, and commands to some, leaves free to all.
Our Maker bids increase ; who bids abstain
But our Destroyer, foe to God and Man ?
Paradise Lost, IV. 744,
VOL. I. 41

322
Marriage, by its definition, is an union of the most
intimate nature ; but not indissoluble or indivisible,*
as some contend, on the ground of its being subjoin
ed, Matt. xix. 5. ' they two shall be one flesh.'
These words, properly considered, do not imply that
marriage is absolutely indissoluble, but only that it
ought not to be lightly dissolved. For it is upon the
institution itself, and the due observance of all its
parts, that what follows respecting the indissolubility
of marriage depends, whether the words be considered
in the light of a command, or of a natural conse
quence. Hence it is said, ' for this cause shall a man
leave father and mother . . . and they two shall be
one flesh ;' that is to say, if, according to the nature
of the institution, as laid down in the preceding verses,
Gen. ii. 18, 20. the wife be an help meet for the
husband; or in other words, if good will, love, help,
comfort, fidelity, remain unshaken on both sides,!
which, according to uuiversal acknowledgement, is the
essential form of marriage. But if the essential form
* This is in direct opposition to the sentiments attributed to Adam in
his original innocency.
 to have thee by my side
Henceforth an individual solace dear. Paradise Lost, IV 485.
fThe same comment upon the passage in Genesis occurs elsewhere,
and is remarked by Newton as a beautiful climax.
For this cause he shall forego
Father and mother, and to his wife adhere ;
And they shall be one flesh, one heart, one soul. VIII. 497.
And again, Eve, replying to Adam, who had said, ' we are one fleshv'
Adam, from whose dear side I boast me sprung,
And gladly of our union hear thee speak,
One heart, one soul io both. IX. 96».

323
be dissolved, it follows that the marriage itself is
virtually dissolved.
Great stress, however, is laid upon an expression in
the next verse ; ' what God hath joined together, let
not man put asunder.' What it is that God has joined
together, the institution of marriage itself declares.
God has joined only what admits of union, what is
suitable, what is good, what is honourable ;* he has
not made provision for unnatural and monstrous as
sociations, pregnant only with dishonour, with misery,
with hatred, and with calamity. It is not God who
forms such unions, but violence, or rashness, or error,
or the influence of some evil genius.! Why then
should it be unlawful to deliver ourselves from so
* ' Lastly, Christ himself tells who should not be put asunder, namely,
those whom God hath joined. A plain solution ofthis great controversy,
if men would but use their eyes; for when is it that God may be said
to join? .... only then when the minds are fitly disposed and enabled
to maintain a cheerful conversation, to the solace and love of each oth
er, according as God intended and promised in the very first foundation
of matrimony ; " I will make him a help meet for him :" for surely what
God intended and promised, that only can be thought to be his joining,
and not the contrary.' Doctrine, &c. II. 39. ' But here the Christian
prudence lies, to consider what God hath joined : shall we say that God
hath joined error, fraud, unfitness, wrath, contentiom, perpetual loneli
ness, perpetual discord ; whatever lust, or wine, or witchery, threat or
enticement, avarice or ambition hath joined together, faithful and un
faithful, christian with anti-christian, hate with hate, or hate with love,
shall we say this is God's joining ?' Tetrachordon, Prose Works, II. 178.
f ' It is error or some evil angel which either blindly or maliciously
hath drawn together, in two persons ill embarked in wedlock, the sleep
ing discords and enmities of nature.' Doctrine, &c. Prose Works, I.
370. ' The rest whom either disproportion or deadness of spirit, or
something distasteful and averse in the immutable bent of nature ren
ders conjugal, error may have joined, but God never joined against the
meaning of his own ordinance.' Ibid. II. 40. ' Charity and wisdom
disjoins that which not God, but error and disaster jomei, teirachor
don, II. 203.

324
pressing an intestine evil ?* Further, our doctrine
does not separate those whom God has joined togeth
er in the spirit of his sacred institution, but only
those whom God has himself separated by the au
thority of his equally sacred law ; an authority which
ought to have the same force with us now, as with
his people of old. As to Christian perfection, the
promotion of which is urged by some as an argument
for the indissolubility of marriage, that perfection is
not to be forced upon us by compulsion and penal laws,
but must be produced, if at all, by exhortation and
Christian admonition. Then only can man be properly
said to dissolve a marriage lawfully contracted, when,
adding to the divine ordinance what the ordinance
itself does not contain, he separates, under pretence
of religion, whomsoever it suits his purpose. For it
ought to be remembered that God in his just, and
pure, and holy law, has not only permitted divorce
on a variety of grounds, but has even ratified it in
some cases, and enjoined it in others, under the se
verest penalties, Exod, xxi. 4, 10, 11. Deut. xxi.
14. xxiv. 1. Ezra x. 3. Nehem. xxiii. 23, 30.
But this, it is objected, was ' because of the hard
ness of their hearts,' Matt. xix. 8. I reply, that
these words of Christ, though a very appropriate
answer to the Pharisees who tempted him, were nev
er meant as a general explanation of the question of
divorce.! His intention was, as usual, to repress the
* Once join'd, the contrary she proves, a thorn
Intestine, far within defensive arms
A cleaving mischief. Samson Agonistes, 1036.
t 'The occasion which induced our Saviour to speak of divorce, was
either to convince the extravagance of the Pharisees in that point, or
to give a sharp and vehement answer to a tempting question.' Doctrine,
&c. Prose Works, II. 2.

325
arrogance of the Pharisees, and elude their snares ;
for his answer was only addressed to those who
taught from Deut. xxiv. 1. that it was lawful to put
away a wife for any cause whatever, provided a bill
of divorcement were given. This is evident from the
former part of the same chapter, v. 3. 'is it lawful
for a man to put away his wife for every cause ?'
not for the sole reason allowed by Moses, namely, if
' some uncleanness were found in her,' which might
convert love into hatred ; but because it had become
a common practice to give bills of divorce, under the
pretence of uncleanness, without just cause ; an abuse
which, since the law was unable to restrain it, he
thought it advisable to tolerate, notwithstanding the
hardness of heart which it implied,* rather than to
prevent the dissolution of unfortunate marriages, con
sidering that the balance of earthly happiness or mis
ery rested principally on this institution.!
* ' Now that many licentious and hard-hearted men took hold of this
law to cloke their bad purposes, is nothing strange to believe, and these
were they, not for whom Moses made the law, (God forbid) but whose
hardness of heart taking ill advantage by this law he held it better to
suffer as by accident, where it could not be detected, rather than good
men should lose their just and lawful privilege of remedy ; Christ there
fore having to answer these tempting Pharisees, according as his custom
was, not meaning to inform their proud ignorance what Moses did in the
true intent of the law, which they had ill-cited, suppressing the true
cause for which Moses gave it, and extending it to every slight matter,
tells them their own, what. Moses was forced to suffer by their abuse of
his law.' Doctrine, &c. Prose Works, II. 21. See also p. 42. 'Moses
had granted — contentious cause whatsoever.' Again; 'This was that
hardness of heart, and abuse of a good law, which Moses was content
to suffer, rather than good men should not have it at all to use needful
ly.' Ibid. p. 50. ' Why did God permit this to his people the Jews, but
that the right and good which came directly thereby, was more in his
esteem than the wrong and evil which came by accident ?' Colasterion.
Prose Works, II. 251.
t Quandoquidem in iis tantum vitse momentum vel beatae vel miseras

For, if we examine the several causes of divorce
enumerated in the law, we shall find that wherever
divorce was permitted, it was not in compliance with
the hardness of the human heart, hut on grounds of
the highest equity and justice. The first passage is
Exod. xxi. 1 — 4. ' these are the judgements which
thou shalt set before them: if thou buy an Hebrew
servant. ...in the seventh year he shall go out free for
nothing.... if he were married, then his wife shall go
out with him : if his master have given him a wife,
and she have borne him sons or daughters, the wife
and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go
out by himself.' Nothing could be more just than
this law, which, so far from conceding anything to
the hardness of their hearts, rather restrained it ; in
asmuch as, while it provided against the possibility of
any Hebrew, at whatever price he might have been
purchased, remaining more than seven years in bon
dage, it at the same time established the claim of the
master as prior to that of the husband. Again, v. 10,
11. 'if he take him another wife, her food, her rai
ment, and her duty of marriage shall he nbt diminish :
and if he do not these three unto her, then shall she
go out free without money.' This law is remarkable
for it consummate humanity and equity ; for while it
does not permit the husband to put away his wife
through the mere hardness of his heart, it allows the
wife to leave her husband on the most reasonable of
all grounds, that of inhumanity and unkindness. Again,
positum esse judicavit ; an expression which will be best illustrated
by the author himself:
 each on himself relied, v
As only m his arm the moment lay
Of victory. Paradise Lost, VI. 237.

327
Deut. xxi. 13, 14. it was permitted by the right of
war, both to take a female captive to wife, and to
divorce her afterwards ; but it was not conceded to
the hardness of their hearts, that she should be
subsequently sold, or that the master should derive
any profit from the possession of her person as a
slave.* The third passage is Deut. xxiv. 1. ' when a man
hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to
pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he
hath found some uncleanness in her, then let him
write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her
hand, and send her out of his house.' There is no
room here for the charge of hardness of heart, sup
posing the cause alleged to be a true, and not a ficti
tious one. For since, as is evident from the institution
itself, God gave a wife to man at the beginning to the
intent that she should be his help and solace and de
light, if, as often happens, she should eventually prove
to be rather a source of sorrow, of disgrace, of ruin,
of torment, of calamity, why should we think that we
are displeasing God by divorcing such a one?! I
should attribute hardness of heart rather to him who
retained her, than to him who sent her away under
such circumstances ; and not I alone, but Solomon
himself, or rather the Spirit of God itself speaking by
* ' Lastly, it gives place to the right of war, for a captive woman
lawfully married, and afterwards not beloved, might be dismissed, only
without ransom ; Deut. xxi.' Teirachordon. Prose Works, II. 156.
t ' Cleave to a wife, but let her be a wife, let her be a meet help, a
solace, not a nothing, not an adversary, not a desertrice ; can any law
or command be so unreasonable, as to make men cleAe to calamity, to
ruin, to perdition ? ' Tetrachordon. Prose Works, II. 137.

328
the mouth of Solomon;* Prov. xxx. 21 ¦, 23. ' for
three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which
it cannot bear ; for an odious woman when she is
married — .' On the contrary, Eccles. ix. 9. ' live
joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days
of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee ; '
the wife therefore ' which he hath given thee ' is she
' whom thou lovest,' not she whom thou hal est : and
thus Mai. ii. 16. ' whoever hateth,' or, ' because he
hateth, let him dismiss her,'! as all before Junius
explain the passage. God therefore appears to have
enacted this law by the mouth of Moses, and reiter
ated it by that of the prophet, with the view, not of
giving scope to the hard-heartedness of the husband,
but of rescuing the unhappy wife from its influence,
wherever the case required it. For there is no hard-
heartedness in dismissing honourably and freely her
whose own fault it is that she is not loved. That
one who is not beloved, who is, on the contrary,
* ' This law the Spirit of God by the mouth of Solomon, Prov. xxx.
21, 23. testifies to be a good and a necessary law, by granting it that
a hated woman (for so tlie Hebrew word signifies rather than odious,
though it come all to one) that a hated woman, when she is married, is
a thing that the earth cannot bear.' Doctrine, &c. Prose Works, II. 21.
| ' If Solomon's advice be not overfrolic, live joyfully, saith he, with
the wife whom thou lovest, all thy days, for that is thy portion  Yea, God
himself commands us in his law more than once, and by his prophet
Malachi, as Calvin and the best translations read, that he who hates, let
him divorce, that is, he who cannot love.' Doctrine, &c. Prose Works,
I. 358. 'Although tbis place also hath been tampered with, as ifit were
to be thus rendered — The Lord God saith, that he hateth putting away.
But this new interpretation rests only in the authority of Junius; for
neither Calvin, nor Vatablus himself, nor any other known divine so
interpreted before,' &c. Tdrachordon 11.146. Sibi odio esse dimissionem
ait Jehova Deus Israelis. Junius. Si odio habueris, dirnitte, ait Dominus
Deus Israelis. Lat. Vulg. It appears from Poole's Synopsis that the
version of Piscator is the only one which agrees with Junius.

329
deservedly neglected, and an object of dislike and
hatred ; that a wife thus situated should be retained,
in pursuance of a most vexatious law, under a yoke
of the heaviest slavery (for such is marriage without
love) to one who entertains for her neither attach
ment nor friendship, would indeed be a hardship more
cruel than any divorce whatever.* God therefore
gave laws of divorce, in their proper use most equita
ble and humane ; he even extended the benefit of
them to those whom he knew would abuse them
through the hardness of their hearts, thinking it better
to bear with the obduracy of the wicked, than to re
frain from alleviating the misery of the righteous, or
suffer the institution itself to be subverted, which,
from a divine blessing, was in danger of becoming the
bitterest of all calamities. ,
The two next passages, Ezra x. 3. and Nehem.
xiii. 23, 30. do not permit divorce on account of the
people's hardness of heart, but positively command it
for the most sacred religious reasons. On what au
thority did these prophets found their precept ? They
were not the promulgators of a new law ; the law
of Moses alone could be their warrant! But the
* ' To retain still, and not be able to love, is to heap up more injury.'
Doctrine, S;c. of Divorce. Prose Works, I. 355. And again — ' not to be
beloved, and yet retained, is the greatest injury to a gentle spirit.' Ibid.
' Not he who after sober and cool experience, and long debate within
himself, puts away whom, though he cannot love or suffer as a wife with
that sincere affection that marriage requires, yet loves at least with that
civility and goodness, as not to keep her under a neglected and unwel
come residence, when nothing can be hearty, and not being, it must
needs be both unjoyous and injurious to any perceiving person so de
tained, and more injurious than to be freely and upon good terms dis
missed.' Teirachordon. II. 196.
\ ' This command thus gospellized to us, hath the same force with that
tphereon Ezra grounded the pious necessity of divorcing. Neither had
vol. i. 42

330
law of Moses nowhere commands the dissolution of
marriages of this kind ; it only forbids the contracting
of such : Exod. xxxiv. 15, 16. Deut. vii. 3, 4.
whence they argued, that the marriage which ought
never to have been contracted, ought, if contracted,
to be dissolved. So groundless is the vulgar maxim,
that what ought not to have been done, is valid when
done *
Marriage therefore gives place to religion ; it gives
place, as has been seen, to the right of a master ;!
and the right of a husband, as appears from the pas
sages of Scripture above quoted, as well as from the
whole tenor of the civil law, and the universal custom
of nations, is nearly the same as that of the master.
It gives way, finally, to irresistible antipathies, and
to that natural aversion with which we turn from
whatever is unclean ; but it is nowhere represented
as giving way to hardness of heart, if this latter be
really alleged as the sole or principal reason for enact
ing the law. This appears still more evidently from
Deut. xxii. 19. ' because he hath brought up an evil
name upon a virgin of Israel, she shall be his wife;
he may not put her away all his days : ' and v. 29.
he other commission for what he did, than such a general command in
Deuteronomy as this, nay not so direct, for be is bid there not to marry,
but not bid to divorce,' &c. Doctrine, &c. Prose Works, I. 362.
* '¦ " Bnt," saith the lawyer, " that which ought not to have been done,
once done, avails." I answer, this is but a crotchet of the law, but that
brought against it is plain Scripture.' Doctrine, &c. Prose Works,
1. 365.f < The law of marriage gives place to the power of parents ; for we
hold that consent of parents not bad may break the wedlock, though
else accomplished. It gives place to masterly power, for the master
might take away from a Hebrew servant the wife which he gave him,
Exod. xxi.' Teirachordon. Prose Works, II. 156.

331
' she shall be his wife, because he hath humbled her;
he may not put her away all his days.' Now if the
law of Moses did not give way to his hardness of
heart who was desirous of putting away the virgin
whom he had humbled, or to his who was willing to
put away the wife against whom he had brought up
an evil report, why should we imagine that it would
give way to his alone who was averse from unclean
ness, supposing that such aversion could properly be
included under the definition of hardness of heart ?
Christ therefore reproves the hardness of heart of
those who abused this law, that is, of the Pharisees
and others, when he says, 'on account of the hardness
of your hearts he permitted you to put away your
wives;' but he does not abrogate the law itself, or the
legitimate use of it ; for he says that Moses permitted
it on account of the hardness of their hearts, not that
he permitted it wrongfully or improperly. In this
sense almost the whole of the civil law might be said
to have been given on account of the hardness of
their hearts ; whence Paul reproves the brethren,
1 Cor. vi. 6. because they had recourse to it, though
no one argues from hence that the civil law is, or
ought to be abrogated. How much less then can any
one who understands the spirit of the Gospel believe,
that this latter denies what the law did not scruple to
concede, either as a matter of right or of indulgence,
to the infirmity of human nature ? *
* ' O perverseness ! that the law should be made more provident of
peace-making than the gospel ; that the gospel should be put to ben- a
most necessary help of mercy from the law, but must not have it ! '
Doctrine, he. Prose Works, I. 358. See also book II. chap. vii. 'But
if those indulgences, &c — work of our redemption.' 11. 19. 20.

332
The clause in the eighth verse, * from the beginning
it was not so,' means nothing more than what was
more clearly intimated above in the fourth verse, ' he
which made them at the beginning, made them male
and female ;' namely, that marriage in its original in
stitution was not capable of being dissolved even by
death, for sin and death were not then in existence.
If however the purpose of the institution should be
violated by the offence of either, it was obvious that
death, the consequence of that offence, must in the
course of things dissolve the bond ; and reason taught
them that separation must frequently take place even
before that period. No age or record, since the fall
of man, gives a tradition of any other ' beginning' in
which ' it was not so.'* In the earliest ages of our
faith, Abraham himself, the father of the faithful,
put away his contentious and turbulent wife Hagar
by the command of God, Gen. xxi. 10, 12, 14.
Christ himself, v. 9. permitted a divorce for the
cause ot fornication ; which could not have been, if
those whom God had once joined in the bands of
matrimony were never afterwards to be disunited.
According to the idiom of the eastern languages,
however, the word fornication signifies, not adultery
* ' From the beginning, that is to say, by the institution in Paradise,
it was not intended that matrimony should dissolve for every trivial
cause as you Pharisees accustom. But that it was not thus suffered
from the beginning ever since the race of men corrupted, and laws
were made, he who will affirm must have found out other antiquities
than are yet known. Besides, we must consider now, what can be so
as from the beginning, not only what should be so. In the beginning,
had men continued perfect, it had been just that all things should have
remained, as they began to Adam and Eve,' &c. Teirachordon. Prose
Works, II. 192.

333
only,* but either what is called any unclean thing,
or a defect in some particular which might justly be.
required in a wife, Deut. xxiv, 1. (as Selden was the
first to prove by numerous Rabbinical testimonies in
his Uxor Hebrcea !) or it signifies whatever is found
to be irreconcilably at variance with love, or fidelity,
or help, or society, that is, with the objects of the
original institution ; as Selden proves, and as I have
myself shown in another treatise! from several texts
* ' For the language of Scripture signifies by fornication . . . not only
the trespass of body . . . but signiues also any notable disobedience,
or intractable carriage of the wife to the husband.' Tetrachordon.
Prose Works, II. 198.
f See Book III. Chap. xxii. and xxvii. Seldsn is quoted again with
approbation in the Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce. ' Let him has
ten to be acquainted with that noble volume written by our learned
Selden, " Of the Law qf Nature and of Nations," a work more use
ful and more worthy to be perused by whosoever studies to be a
great man in wisdom, equity, and justice,' &c. Prose Works, ii. 59.
He calls him also in the Speech for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing,
' the chief of learned men reported in this land.' I. 298. Again, in
his Defensio Secunda pro Populo Anglicano, referring to the treatise
here quoted, he says, ' quid item de excepta solum fornicatione sentien-
dum sit, et meam aliorumque sententiam exprompsi, et clanssimus vir
Seldenus noster, in Uxore Hebroea plus minus biennio post edita, uberius
demonstravit,' V. 234.
\ Tbis is the only direct reference to any of Milton's printed works
which this treatise contains. The allusion is to a passage in Tetrachor
don, where the author explains the text, saving for the cause qf fornica
tion. Prose Works II. 197 — 201. It has been generally supposed that
Milton's opinions on the subject of divorce were influenced by the well-
known circumstances connected with his first marriage, aud Warton
says that he published Tetrachordon in consequence. Some probability
seems to have been given to this conjecture by the passage quoted in the
2d note on page 327. But though Milton's attention may have been first
directed to this subject by his own domestic unhappiness, it is evident
from the work now published, that his sentiments respecting divorce
were deliberately conceived, and that the treatises which he printed
during his life time were not merely intended to serve a temporary
purpose in which he was personally interested.

334
of Scripture. For it would have been absurd, when
the Pharisees asked, whether it was allowable to put
away a wife for every cause, to answer, that it was
not lawful except in case of adultery, when it was
well known already to be not only lawful but neces
sary to put away an adulteress, and that not by di
vorce, but by death. Fornication, therefore, must
be here understood in a much wider sense than that
of simple adultery, as is clear from many passages of
Scripture, and particularly from Judges xix. 2. ' his
concubine played the whore against hiin ;' not by
committing adultery, for in that case she would not
have dared to flee to her father's house, but by re
fractory behaviour towards her husband.* Nor could
Paul have allowed divorce in consequence of the de
parture of an unbeliever,! unless this also were a spe
cies of fornication. It does not affect the question,
that the case alluded to is that of a heathen ; since
whoever deserts her family ' is worse than an infidel,'
1 Tim. v. 8. ' Nor could anything be more natural,
or more agreeable to the original institution, than that
the bond which had been formed by love, and the
hope of mutual assistance through life, and honourable
* ' Grotius shows also, that fornication is taken in Scripture for such
a continual headstrong behaviour, as tends to plain contempt of the
husband, and proves it out of Judg. xix. 2. where the Lovite's wife is
said to have played the whore against him ; which Josephus and the
Septuagint, with the Chaldean, interpret only of stubbornness and re
bellion against her husband . . . Had it been whoredom, she would have
chosen any other place to run to than to her father's house, it being so
infamous for a Hebrew woman to play the harlot, and so opprobrious to
the parents. Fornication then in this place of the Judges is understood
for stubborn disobedience against the husband, and not for adultery.'
Doctrine, &c. II. 46.
f See 1 Cor. vii. 15.

335
motives, should be dissolved by hatred and implaca
ble enmity, and disgraceful conduct on either side.
For man, therefore, in his state of innocence in Para
dise, previously to the entrance of sin into the world,
God ordained that marriage should be indissoluble ;
after the fall, in compliance with the alteration of
circumstances, and to prevent the innocent from being
exposed to perpetual injury from the wicked, he per
mitted its dissolution ; and this permission forms part
of the law of nature and of Moses, and is not dis
allowed by Christ. Thus every covenant, when ori
ginally concluded, is intended to be perpetual and
indissoluble, however soon it may be broken by the
bad faith of one of the parties ; nor has any good
reason yet been given why marriage should differ in
this respect from all other compacts ; especially since
the apostle has pronounced that ' a brother or a sis
ter is not under bondage,' not merely in a case of
desertion, but in such cases, that is, in all cases that
produce an unworthy bondage.* 1 Cor. vii. 15. ' a
brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases,
but God hath called us in peace,' or ' to peace :'! he
* ' St. Paul leaves us here the solution not of this case only, which
little concerns us, but of such like cases which may occur to us.' Te
trachordon. Prose Works, II. 216.
f ' Having declared his opinion in one case, he leaves a further liber
ty for Christian prudence to determine in cases of like importance,
using words so plain as not to be shifted off, that a brother or a sister is
not under bondage in such eases, adding also that God hath called us to
peace in marriage. JNow if it be plain that a Christian may be
brought into unworthy bondage, and his religious peace not only inter
rupted now and then, but perpetually and finally hindered in wedlock,
by misyoking with a diversity of nature as well as of religion, the rea
sons of St. Paul cannot be made special to that one case of infidelity,
but are of equal moment to a divorce wherever Christian liberty and
peace are without fault equally obstructed.' Doctrine, &c. II. 48.

336
has not therefore called us to the end that we should
be harassed with constant discord and vexations ; for
the object of our call is peace and liberty, not mar
riage, much less perpetual discord and the slavish
bondage of an unhappy union, which the apostle de
clares to be above all things unworthy of a free man
and a Christian.* It is not to be supposed that
Christ would expunge from the Mosaic law any en
actment which could afford scope for the exercise of
mercy towards the wretched and afflicted, or that his
declaration on the present occasion was intended to
have the force of a judicial decree, ordaining new and
severer regulations on the subject ; but that, having
exposed the abuses of the law, he proceeded after his
usual manner to lay down a more perfect rule of
conduct, disclaiming on this, as on all other occasions,
the office of a judge, and inculcating truth by simple
admonition, not by compulsory decrees. It is there
fore a most flagrant error to convert a gospel precept
into a civil statute, and enforce it by legal penalties.
It may perhaps be asked, if the disciples under
stood Christ as promulgating nothing new or more
severe than the existing law on the subject of divorce,
how it happened that they were so little satisfied with
his explanation, as to say, v. 10. ' if the case of the
man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry ?'
I answer, that it is no wonder if the disciples, who had
imbibed the doctrines of their time, thought and felt
like the Pharisees with regard to divorce ; so that the
* ' St. Paul here warrants us to seek peace rather than to remain in
bondage. If God hath called us to peace, why should not we follow
him ? why should we miserably stay in perpetual discord under a ser
vitude not required ?' Tetrachordon, II. 215.

337
declaration of our Lord, that it was not lawful to
put away a wife for every cause, only having given
her a writing of divorcement, must have appeared to
them a new and hard saying.*
The whole argument may be summed up in brief
as follows. It is universally admitted that marriage
may lawfully be dissolved, if the prime end and form
of the institution be violated ; which is generally al
leged as the reason why Christ allowed divorce in
casas of adultery only. But the prime end and form
ot marriage, as almost all acknowledge, is not the
nuptial bed, but conjugal love and mutual assistance
through life ; for that must be regarded as the prime
end and form of a rite, which is alone specified in
the original institution.! Mention is there made of
the pleasures of society, which are incompatible with
* ' But if it be thought that the disciples, offended at the rigour of
Christ's answer, could yet obtain no mitigation of the former sentence
pronounced to the Pharisees, it may be fully answered, that our Saviour
continues the same reply to his disciples, as men leavened with the
same customary license which the Pharisees maintained, and displeased
at the removing of a traditional abuse, whereto they had so long not
unwillingly been used.' Doctrine, &c. Prose Works, II. 25. 'Some
may think, if this our Saviour's sentence be so fair, as not commanding
aught that patience or nature cannot brook, why then did the disciples
murmur and say, It is not good to marry 1 I answer, that the disciples
had been longer bred up under the Pharisajan doctrine, than under
that of Christ, and so no marvel though they yet retained the infection
of loving od licentious customs; no marvel though they thought it
hard they might not for any offence, that thoroughly angered them, di
vorce a wife, as well as put away a servant, since it was but giving her
a bill, as they were taught.' Tetrachordon, II. 204.
f ' For although God in the first ordaining of marriage taught us to
what end he did it, in words expressly implying the apt and chearful
conversation of man with woman, to comfort and refresh him against the
evil of solitary life, not mentioning the purpose of generation till after
wards, as being but a secondary end in dignity, though not in necessity,'
&c. Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce. Prose Works, I. 343.
vol. i. 43

338
the isolation consequent upon aversion, and of conju
gal assistance, which is afforded by love alone ; not
of the nuptial bed, or of the production of offspring,
which may take place even without love : from
whence it is evident that conjugal affection is of
more importance and higher excellence than the nup
tial bed itself, and more worthy to be considered as
the prime end and form of the institution. No one
can surely be so base and sensual as to deny this.
The very cause which renders the pollution of the
marriage bed so heavy a calamity, is, that in its con
sequences it interrupts peace and affection ; much
more therefore must the perpetual interruption of
peace and affection by mutual differences and un
kindness be a sufficient reason for granting the liberty
of divorce. And that it is such, Christ himself de
clares in the above passage ; for it is certain, and has
been proved already, that fornication signifies, not so
much adultery, as the constant enmity, faithlessness,
and disobedience of the wife, arising from the mani
fest and palpable alienation of the mind, rather than
of the body.* Not to mention, that the common,
though false interpretation, by which adultery is made
the sole ground of divorce, so far from vindicating
the law, does in effect abrogate it ; for it was ordain
ed by the law of Moses, not that an adulteress should
be put away, but that she should be brought to judge
ment, and punished with death.!
* ' Thus much that the word fornication is to be understood as the
language of Christ understands it, for a constant alienation and disaf
fection of mind, or for the continual practice of disobedience and cross
ness from the duties of love and peace.' Tetrachordon, II. 200.
f ' And also that there was no need our Saviour should grant divorce
for adultery, it being death by law, and law then in force.' Ibid.
II. 199.

CHAPTER XI.
OF THE FALL OF OUR FIRST PARENTS, AND OF SIN.

J. he Providence of God, as regards the fall of man,
is observable in the sin of man, and the misery con
sequent upon it, as well as in his restoration.
Sin, as defined by the apostle, is dvo(iia, or ' the
transgression of the law,' 1 John iii. 4.
By the law is here meant, in the first place, that
rule of conscience which is innate, and engraven
upon the mind of man ;* secondly, the special com
mand which proceeded out of the mouth of God,
(for the law written by Moses was long subsequent)
Gen. ii. 17. 'thou shalt not eat of it' Hence it is
said, Rom. ii. 12. 'as many as have sinned without
law, shall also perish without law.'
Sin is distinguished into that which is common to
all men, and the personal sin of each individual.
The sin which is common to all men is that ivhich
our first parents, and in them all their posterity
* ' That which is thus moral, besides what we fetch from those un
written laws and ideas which nature hath engraven in us' — . Reason
qf Church Government urged against Prelaty. Prose Works, I. 90.

340
committed* when, casting off their obedience to God,
they tasted the fruit of the forbidden tree.
Our first parents. Gen. iii. 6. ' the woman took
of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto
her husband with her, and he did eat.' Hence 1 Tim.
ii. 14. ' Adam was not deceived, but the woman be
ing deceived, was in the transgression.' This sin
originated, first, in the instigation of the devil, as is
clear from the narrative in Gen iii. and from 1 John
iii. 3. ' he that committeth sin is of the devil, for the
devil sinneth from the beginning.' Secondly, in the
liability to fall with which man was created,! where
by he, as the devil had done before him, ' abode not
in the truth,' John viii. 44. nor 'kept his first estate,
but left his own habitation,' Jude 6. If the circum
stances of this crime are duly considered, it will be
acknowledged to have been a most heinous offence,
and a transgression of the whole law. For what sin
can be named, which was not included in this one act ?
It comprehended at once distrust in the divine veraci
ty, and a proportionate credulity in the assurances of
* His crime makes guilty all his sons.
Paradise Lost, III. 290.
 in me all
Posterity stands curs'd ; fair patrimonii
That I must leave you, sons. XI. 317.
\  should Man
Fall circumvented thus by fraud, though join'd
With his own folly ? III. 150.
Left to his own free will, his will though free,
Vet mutable ; whence warn him to beware
lie swerve not, too secure. V. 236.
God made thee perfect, not immutable. Ibid. 324.
Firm we subsist, yet possible to swerve. IX. 359.

341
Satan; unbelief; ingratitude; disobedience; glut
tony ;* in the man excessive uxoriousness, in the
woman a want of proper regard for her husband,
in both an insensibility to the welfare of their off
spring, and that offspring the whole human race ;
parricide, theft, invasion of the rights of others, sacri
lege, deceit, presumption in aspiring to divine attri
butes, fraud in the means employed to attain the
object, pride, and arrogance.! Whence it is said,
Eccles. vii. 29. ' God hath made man upright, but
they have sought out many inventions.' James ii. 10.
' whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend
in one point, he is guilty of all.'
And in them all their posterity ; for even such as
were not then born are judged and condemned in
them, Gen. iii. 16, &c. so that without doubt they
also sinned in them, and at the same time with them.
*  ungovern'd appetite . . .
 a brutish vice,
Inductive mainly to the sin of Eve. XI. 517.
' If our first parents, Adam and Eve, (Gen. iii. 6.) had not obeyed
their greedy appetite in eating the forbidden fruit, neither had they lost
the fruition of God's benefits which they then enjoyed in Paradise, nei
ther had they brought so many mischiefs on themselves, and on all their
posterity. But when they passed the bounds that God had appointed
them, as unworthy of God's benefits, they are expelled and driven out
of Paradise ; they may no longer eat the fruits of that garden, which by
excess they had so much abused.' Homily Against Gluttony.
f  they not obeying
Incurred (what could they less ?) the penalty,
And, manifold in sin, deserv'd to fall.
Paradise Lost, X. 14.
Newton has the following note on these lines. ' The divines, especially
those of Milton's communion, reckon up several sins as included in this
one act of eating the forbidden fruit ; namely, pride, uxoriousness, wicked
curiosity, infidelity, disobedience, &c. so that for such complicated guilt
he deserved to fall from his happy state in Paradise.'

342
Rom. v. 12. ' by one man sin entered into the world.'
v. 15. ' through the offence of one many be dead ; '
and v. 16. ' the judgement was by one to condemna
tion ; ' v. 17. ' by one man's offence death reigned by
one ; ' and v. 18. ' by the offence of one man judge
ment came upon all men to condemnation ; ' and v. 19.
' by one man's disobedience many were made sinners.'
1 Cor. xv. 22. ' in Adam all die; ' undoubtedly there
fore all sinned in Adam. For Adam being the com
mon parent and head of all, it follows that, as in the
covenant, that is, in receiving the commandment of
God, so also in the defection from God, he either
stood or fell for the whole human race ; in the same
manner as ' Levi also payed tithes in Abraham, whilst
he was yet in the loins of his father,' Heb. vii. 9, 10.
' he hath made of one blood all nations of men,' Acts
xvii. 26. For if all did not sin in Adam, why has
the condition of all become worse since his fall ?
Some of the modern commentators reply, that the
deterioration was not moral, but physical.* To which
I answer, that it was as unjust to deprive the innocent
of their physical, as of their moral perfection ; espe-
* ' These do also think that the threatening made to Adam, that upon
his eating the forbidden fruit he should surely die, is to be taken literally,
and is to be carried no further than to a natural death .... All this these
divines apprehend is conceivable, and no more ; therefore they put origi
nal sin in this only, for which they pretend they have all the Fathers
with them before St. Austin, and particularly St. Chrysostom and The
odoret, from whom all the later Greeks have done little more than
copied out their words.' Burnet On the Ninth Article. The view taken
of original sin by Jeremy Taylor seems not to have been essentially
different from the opinion contained in the preceding quotation. Bp.
Heber points out in a masterly and candid manner the inaccuracy of
reasoning which led to his partial heterodoxy on this subject. Life
prefixed to Taylor's Works, ccxx — ccxxxi.

343
cially since the former has so much influence on the
latter, that is, on the practical conduct of mankind.
It is, however, a principle uniformly acted upon in
the divine proceedings, and recognized by all nations
and under all religions from the earliest period, that
the penality incurred by the violation of things sacred
(and such was the tree of knowledge of good and
evil) attaches not only to the criminal himself, but to
the whole of his posterity, who thus become accursed
and obnoxious to punishment. It was thus in the
deluge, and in the destruction of Sodom ; in the
swallowing up of Korah, Numb. xvi. 27 — 32. and in
the punishment of Achan, Josh. vii. 24, 25. In the
burning of Jericho the children suffered for the sins of
their fathers, and even the cattle were devoted to the
same slaughter with their masters, Josh. vi. 21. A
like fate befel the posterity of Eli the priest, 1. Sam.
ii. 31, 33, 36. and the house of Saul, 2 Sam. xxi.
1, &c. because their father had slain the Gibeonites.
God declares this to be the method of his justice,
Exod. xx. 5. ' visiting the iniquity of the fathers up
on the children, unto the third and fourth generation
ofthem that hate me.' Numb. xiv. 33. 'your chil
dren shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and
bear your whoredoms ;'they themselves, however, not
being guiltless. He himself explains the principle by
which this justice is regulated, Lev. xxvi. 39. ' they
that are left of you shall pine away in their iniqui
ty  and also in the iniquities of their fathers
shall they pine away with them.' 2 Kings xvii. 14.
1 fhey hardened their necks, like to the necks of their
fathers.' Ezek. xviii. 4. 'behold, all souls are mine;
as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is

344
mine ; the soul that sinneth it shall die.' The diffi
culty is solved with respect to infants, by the con
sideration that all souls belong to God ; that these,
though guiltless of actual sin, were the offspring of
sinful parents, and that God foresaw that, if suff
ered to live, they would grow up similar to their pa
rents. With respect to others, it is obviated by the
consideration, that no one perishes, except he him
self sin. Thus Agag and his people were smitten
for the crime of their fathers, four hundred years af
ter their ancestors had laid wait for Israel in the way,
when he came out of Egypt, 1 Sam. xv. 2, 3. but
at the same time they were themselves justly obnox
ious to punishment for sins of their own, v. 33. So
too Hoshea king of Israel was better than the kings that
were before him, but having fallen into the idolatry
of the Gentiles, he was punished at once for his own
sins and for those of his fathers, by the loss of his
kingdom, 2 Kings xvii. 3 — 4. Thus too the sins of
Manasseh were visited on his children, but they
themselves were far from being innocent, xxiii. 26.
compared with Jer. xxv. 3, 4. ' because of all the
provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal.
From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon
king of Judah, even unto this day  the word ofthe
Lord hath come unto me ; and I have spoken unto
you, rising early and speaking ; but ye have not heark
ened.' 2 Kings xxiv. 3. ' for the sins of Manasseh,
according to all that he did.' On the same princi
ple the good king Josiah, and those who resembled
him, were for the most part exempt from punishment;
but the case was otherwise with the Pharisees, Matt.
xxiii. 34, 35. ' some of them ye shall kill, &c. that

345
upon you may come all the righteous blood shed up
on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel un
to the blood of Zacharias.'
Hence the penitent are enjoined to confess not on
ly their own sins, but those of their fathers. Lev.
xxvi. 40. 'if they shall confess their iniquity and the
iniquity of their fathers.' Nehem. ix. 2. ' they confess
their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.' Many
similar texts occur.
Thus also entire families become obnoxious to pun
ishment for the guilt of their head. Gen. xii. 17.
' Jehovah plagued Pharaoh and his house with great
plagues because of Sarai.' xx. 7. ' if thou restore her
not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou and
all that are thine.'
Subjects also are afflicted for the sins of their ru
lers ; thus the whole of Egypt was smitten for the of
fence of Pharaoh. It is remarkable that David, even
while remonstrating against the hardship of punishing
the people for the sins of their king, yet thought it
not unjust that the sons should suffer for and with
their father. 2 Sam. xxiv. 17. 'lo, I have sinned,
and I have done wickedly^ but these sheep, what
have they done ? let thine hand, I pray thee, be
against me, and against my father's house.'
Sometimes a whole nation is punished for the ini
quity of one Of the people. Josh. vii. and the tres
pass of one is imputed to all, v. 1, 11.
We may add, that even just men have not thought it
inconsistent with equity to visit offences against them
selves, not only on the offender, but on his posterity.
Thus Noah scrupled not to pronounce the condemn
vol, i. 44

346
nation of Canaan for the wickedness of his father
Ham, Gen, ix. 25.*
This principle of divine justice in the infliction
of piacular punishments was not unknown to other
nations, nor was it ever by them accounted unjust.
So Thucydides, Book I. Sect. 126. and xovxov sva-
¦yeis xai dXixngtoi xrjs ©sov ixetvol xe ixalovvxo, xai
xo ykvos xo an' ixuvav. And Virgil, iEn. I. 39.
 Pallasne exurere classem
Argivum, atque ipsos potuit submergere ponto
Unius ob noxam ?
The same might be easily shown by a multitude of
other Pagan testimonies and examples.
Again, the possessions and right of citizenship of
one convicted of high treason, a crime between man
and man, are forfeited, not only as respects himself
but all his posterity ; and legal authorities decide
similarly in other analogous cases. We all know
what are the recognized rights of war, not only with
regard to the immediate parties themselves, but all
who fall into the power of the enemy, such as women
and children, and those who have contributed noth
ing to the progress of the war either in will or
deed. The personal sin of each individual, is that.
which each in his own person has committed, inde
pendently of the sin which is common to all. Here
likewise all men are guilty. Job ix. 20. ' if I justify
*  Justice and some fatal curse annex'd
Deprives them of their outward liberty,
Their inward lost: witness th' irrev'rent son
Of him who built the ark : who, for the shame
Done to his father, heard this heavy curse,
Servant of servants, on his vicious race. Paradise Lost, XII. 99.

04/
myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me.' x. 15.
' if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head.'
Psal. cxliii. 2. ' in thy sight shall no man living be
justified.' Prov. xx. 9. ' who can say, I am pure
from my sin ?' Eccles. vii. 20. ' there is not a just
man upon earth that doeth good, and sinneth not.'
Rom. iii. 23. 'all have sinned.'
Both kinds of sin, as well that which is common
to all, as that which is personal to each individual,
consist of these two parts, whether we term them
gradations, or divisions, or modes of sin, or whether
we consider them in the light of cause and effect ;
namely, evil concupiscence, or the desire of sinning,
and the act of sin itself. James i. 14, 15. ' every man
is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust,
and enticed : then when lust hath conceived, it bring
eth forth sin.' This is not ill expressed by the poet:
Mars videt hanc, visamque cuplt, potiturque cupita.
Ovid. Fast. HI. 21.
Evil concupiscence is that of which our original
parents were first guilty, atid which they transmitted
to their posterity, as sharers in the primary trans
gression, in the shape of an innate propensity to sin.*
This is called in Scripture ' the old man,' and 'the
body of sin,' Rom. vi. 6. Eph. iv. 22. Col. iii. 9. or
simply ' sin,' Rom. vii. 8. ' sin taking occasion by
the commandment.' v. 17. 20. 'indwelling sin.' v. 21.
' evil present with us.' v. 22. ' the law in our mem-
* Quasi habitum quondam sive fomitem deinceps peccati ingenerarunt.
'The particulars commonly reckoned, are, that from Adam we derive an
original ignorance, a proneness to sin, a natural malice, a " fomes," or
nest of sin imprinted and placed in our souls,' &c. Taylor's Works,
IX. 10.

bers' v. 24. ' the body of death, viii. 2. 'the law of
sin and death.'
The first who employed the phrase original sin is
said to have been Augustine in his writings against
Pelagius ;* probably because in the origin, that is, in
the generation of man, it was handed down from our
first parents to their posterity. If however this were
his meaning, the term is too limited ; for that evil
concupiscence, that law of sin, was not only naturally
bred in us, but dwelt also in Adam after the fall, in
whom it could not properly be called original.
This general depravity of the human mind and its
propensity to sin is described Gen. vi. 5. ' God saw
that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart
was only evil continually.' viii. 21. ' the imagination
of man's heart is evil from his youth.' Jer. xvii. 9.
' the heart is deceitful above all things.' Malt. xv. 19.
' out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders,' &c.
Rom. vii. 14. 'the law is spiritual, but I am carnal.'
Roui. viii. 7. ' the carnal mind is enmity against
God.' Gal. v. 17. ' the flesh lusteth against the
spirit' Eph. iv. 22. ' the old man which is corrupt
according to the deceitful lusts.'
This depravity was engendered in us by our first
parents. Job xiv. 4. ' who can bring a clean thing
* This is incorrect. Augustine wrote in the beginning of the fifth
century, but the term had been before employed by Cyprian, in the mid
dle of the third. ' Fuerant et ante Christum viri insignes, prophetae et
sacerdotes : sed in peccatis concepti et nati, nee originali nee personali
caruere delicto.' De Jejunio et Tentalione. Milton only once admits
the expression into his poem :
Wept at completiDg of the mortal sin
Original. Paradise Lost, IX. 1003.
See Taylor's Doctrine and Practice of Repentance, Chap. iv. Sect. 1.
Works, IX. 1.

349
out of an unclean?' xv. 14. 'what is man that he
should be clean ? and he which is born of a woman,
that he should be righteous ? ' Psal. li. 5. ' behold, I
was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother
conceive me.' Iviii. 3. ' they go astray as soon as they
be born.' Isai. xlviii. 8. ' thou wast called a trans
gressor from the womb.' John iii. 6. ' that which is
born of the flesh is flesh.' Eph. ii. 3. ' we were by
nature the children of wrath, even as others,' those
even who are born of regenerate parents ; for faith,
though it takes away the personal imputation of guilt,
does not altogether remove indwelling sin. It is not
therefore man as a regenerate being, but man in his
animal capacity, that propagates his kind ; as seed,
though cleared from the chaff and stubble, produces
not only the ear or grain, but also the stalk and husk.
Christ alone was exempt from this contagion, being-
born by supernatural generation, although descended
from Adam. Heb. vii. 26. ' holy, undefiled.'
Some contend that this original sin is specially
guiltiness ; but guiltiness is not properly sin, but the
imputation of sin, which is also called ' the judgement
of God,' (Rom. i. 32. ' who knowing the judgement
of God ') whereby sinners are accounted ' worthy of
death,' and become inoSixoi, that is, ' guilty before
God,' Rom. iii. 19. and ' are under sin,' v. 9. Thus
our first parents, in whom, as above observed, there
could have been no original sin, were involved in
guiltiness immediately upon their fall ; and their pos
terity, before original sin was yet engendered, were
involved in the same guiltiness in Adam ; lastly, guilti
ness is taken away in those who are regenerate, while
original sin remains*

350
Others define original sin to be the loss of original
righteousness, and the corruption of the whole mind.*
But before this loss can be attributed to us, it must be
attributed to our first parents, to whom, as was argued
before, original sin could not attach ; in them there
fore it was what is called actual sin, which these
divines themselves distinguish from original sin. At
any rate it was the consequence of sin, rather than
sin itself; or if it were sin, it was a sin of ignorance ;
for they expected nothing less than that they should
lose any good by eating the fruit, or suffer harm in
any way whatever. I shall therefore consider this
loss of original righteousness in the following chapter,
under the head of punishment, rather than in the
present, which relates to sin.
The second thing in sin, after evil concupiscence,
is the crime itself, or the act of sinning, which is
commonly called Actual Sin. This may be incurred,
not only by actions commonly so called, but also by
words and thoughts, and even by the omission of
good actions.
It is called Actual Sin, not that sin is properly an
action, for in reality it implies defect ; but because it
commonly consists in some act. For every act is in
itself good ; it is only its irregularity, or deviation
from the line of right, which, properly speaking, is
evil. Wherefore the act itself is not the matter of
which sin consists, but only the vnoxsi^evov or sub
ject in which it is committed.
* 'Peccatum originis varie admodum definitur a theologis, ita ut quid
per ipsum intelligant vix satis capi possit. Scholastici dicunt vulgo, esse
carentiam justitiee originalis debitss inesse. Sed Protestantes non acqui-
escunt in hac definitione, nee etiam inter se bene consentiunt.' Curcell;
Dissertatio secunda de Peecato Originis, 5.

351
By words. Matt. xii. 36. ' every idle word that
men shall speak, they shall give account thereof.'
xv. 11. ' that which cometh out of the mouth, this
defileth a man.'
By thoughts. Exod. xx. 17, ' thou shalt not covet
thy neighbour's house — .' Psal. vii. 14. ' behold,
he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mis
chief, and brought forth falsehood.' Prov. xxiv. 8.
' he that deviseth to do evil — .' Jer. xvii. 9. ' the
heart is deceitful above all things,' &c. Matt. v. 28.
'he hath committed adultery with her already in his
heart' xv. 19. ' out of the heart proceed evil thoughts.'
1 John iii. 15. ' whoso hateth his brother is a mur
derer.' By omission. Matt. xii. 30. ' he that is not with
me is against me,, and he that gathereth not with me,
scattereth abroad.' See also Luke xi. 23. and vi. 9.
where to omit saving the life of a man is accounted
the same as to destroy it. Matt. xxv. 42. ' I was
an hungered, and ye gave me no meat.' James iv. 17.
' to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to
him it is sin.'
All sins however are not, as the Stoics maintained,
of equal magnitude.* Ezek. v. 6. ' she hath changed my
* ' Sins are not equal, but greater or less in their principle, as well as
in their event. It was one of the errors of Jovinian, which he learned
from the school of the Stoics, that all sins are alike grievous:
. . . Cum dicas esse pares res
Furta latrociniis, et magnis parva mineris
Falce recisurum simili te, si tibi regnum
Permittant homines.
Hor. Serm. I. 3. 121.' Taylor's Works, VIII. 337.
See also Cicero's third paradox, on 1<rx tx xp,aprri[AXTx, xx) ra xxTo^tuftaTa-,
and his oration pro L. Mnrena : ' omnia peccata esse paria ; omne delic
tum, scelus esse nefarium ; nee minus delinquere eum, qui gallum galli-
naceum, cum opus non fuerit, quam eum qui patrem suffocaverit.'

352 .
judgements into wickedness more than the nations.'
viii. 15. 'thou shalt see greater abominations than
these.' John xix. 11. 'he that delivereth me unto
thee hath the greater sin.' This inequality arises
from the various circumstances of person, place, time,
and the like. Isai. xxvi. 10. ' in the land of upright
ness, will he deal unjustly.'
The distinction between mortal and venial sin will
come more properly under consideration in another
place. In the mean time it is certain, that even the
least sin renders the sinner obnoxious to condemna
tion. Luke xvi. 10. 'he that is unjust in the least,
is unjust also in much.'

CHAPTER XII.

OF THE PUNISHMENT OF SIN.

A hus far of Sin. After sin came death, as the
calamity or punishment consequent upon it. Gen.
ii. 17. ' in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt
surely die.' Rom. v. 12. ' death entered by sin.' vi.23.
'the wages of sin is death.' vii. 5. ' the motions of
sins did work in our members to bring forth fruit
unto death.'
Under the head of death, in Scripture, all evils
whatever,* together with every thing which in its
consequences tends to death, must be understood as
comprehended ; for mere bodily death, as it is called,
did not follow the sin of Adam on the self-same day,
as God had threatened.!
*  the fruit
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe.
Paradise Lost, I. 1.
| The divine denunciation is interpreted in the same sense in Para
dise Lost :  my sole command
Transgress'd, inevitably thou shalt die,
From that day mortal ; and this happy state
Shalt lose, expell'd from hence into a world
Of woe and sorrow. VIII. 329.
vol. i. 45

354
Hence divines, not inappropriately, reckon up four
several degrees of death. The first, as before said,
comprehends all those evils which lead to death, and
which it is agreed came into the world immediately
upon the fall of man, the most important of which
I proceed to enumerate. In the first place, guiltiness;
which, though in its primary sense it is an imputation
made by God to us, yet is it also, as it were, a com
mencement or prelude of death dwelling in us, by
which we are held as by a bond, and rendered sub
ject to condemnation and punishment. Gen. iii. 7.
' the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew
that they were naked.' Lev. v. 2, &c. ' if it shall
be hidden from him, he also shall be unclean and
guilty.' Rom. iii. 19. 'that all the world may be
come guilty before God.' Guiltiness, accordingly, is
accompanied or followed by terrors of conscience.
Gen. iii. 8. 'they heard the voice of God. ...and Adam
and his wife hid themselves.... and he said, I was
afraid.' Rom. viii. 15. ' ye have not received the
spirit of bondage again to fear.' Heb. ii. 15. ' who
through fear of death were all their lifetime subject
to bondage, x. 27. ' a certain fearful looking for of
judgement' It is attended likewise with the sensible
forfeiture of the divine protection and favour; whence
results a diminution of the majesty of the human
countenance, and a conscious degradation of mind.
Gen. iii. 7. 'they knew that they were naked.'
Hence the whole man becomes polluted : Tit. i. 15.
' even their mind and conscience is defiled : ' whence
arises shame:* Gen. iii. 7. 'they sewed fig-leaves
*  innocence, that as a veil
Had shadow'd them from knowing ill, was gone,

355
together, and made themselves aprons.' Rom. vi. 21.
' what fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye
are now ashamed ? for the end of those things is
death.' The second degree of death is called spiritual
death ; by wdiich is meant the loss of divine grace,
and of that innate righteousness, wherein man in the
beginning lived unto God. Eph. ii. 1. ' who were
dead in trespasses and sins.' iv. 18. ' alienated from
the life of God.' Col. ii. 13. ' dead in your sins.'
Rev. iii. 1. ' thou hast a name that thou livest, and
art dead.' And this death took place not only on the
very day, but at the very moment of the fall. They
who are delivered from it are said to be ' regenerated,'
to be ' born again,' and to be ' created afresh ;'
which is the work of God alone, as will be shown
in the chapter on Regeneration.
This death consists, first, in the loss, or at least in
the obscuration to a great extent of that right reason
which enabled man to discern the chief good, and
which was as it were the life of the understanding.
Eph. iv. 18. ' having the understanding darkened, be
ing alienated from the life of God through the igno
rance that is in them.' v. 8. ' ye were sometime
darkness.' John i. 5. ' the darkness comprehended
it not' Jer. vi. 10. ' they cannot hearken.' John
viii. 43. 'ye cannot hear my word.' 1 Cor. ii. 14.
' the natural man receiveth not the things of the
Spirit of God.' 2 Cor. iii. 5. ' not that we are suf
ficient of ourselves, to think anything as of ourselves.'
Just confidence, and native righteousness,
And honour, from about them, naked left
To guilty shame. Paradise Lost, IX. 1054.

356
iv. 4. ' the god of this world hath blinded the minds
of them that believe not.' Col. i. 13. 'who hath
delivered us from the power of darkness.' It con
sists, secondly, in that deprivation of righteousness
and of liberty to do good, and in that slavish subjec
tion to sin and the devil, which constitutes, as it
were, the death of the will. John viii. 34. ' whoso
ever committeth sin, is the servant of sin.' All have
committed sin in Adam ; therefore all are born ser
vants of sin. Rom. vii. 14. ' sold under sin.' viii. 3.
' what the law could not do, in that it was weak
through the flesh.' v. 7. ' it is not subject unto the
law of God, neither indeed can be.' vi. 16, 17. ' his
servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin un
to death,' &c. Philipp. iii. 19. ' whose god is their
belly.' Acts xxvi. 18. ' Irom the power of Satan.'
2 Tim. ii. 26. ' out of the snare of the devil, who
are taken captive by him at his will.' Eph. ii. 2.
' the spirit that now worketh in the children of diso
bedience.' Lastly, sin is its own punishment, and
produces, in its natural consequences, the death of
the spiritual life ; more especially gross and habitual
sin. Rom. i. 26. ' for this cause God gave them up
unto vile affections.' The reason of this is evident ;
for in proportion to the increasing amount Of his sins,
the sinner becomes more liable to death, more miser
able, more vile, more destitute of the divine assistance
and grace, and farther removed from his primitive
glory. It ought not to be doubted that sin in itself
alone is the heaviest of all evils, as being contrary
to the chief good, that is, to God ; whereas punish
ment seems to be at variance only with the good of
the creature, and not always with that.

357
It cannot be denied, however, that some remnants
of the divine image still exist in us, not wholly ex
tinguished by this spiritual death.* This is evident,
not only from the wisdom and holiness of many of
the heathen, manifested both in words and deeds, but
also from what is said Gen. ix. 2. ' the dread of you
shall be upon every beast of the earth.' v. 6. ' who
so sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be
shed ; for in the image of God made he man.' These
vestiges of original excellence are visible, first, in the
understanding. Psal. xix. 1. ' the heavens declare
the glory of God ;' which could not be, if man were
incapable of hearing their voice. Rom. i. 19, 20.
' that which may be known of God is manifest in
them. ...for the invisible things of him from the crea
tion of the world are clearly seen.' v. 32. 'who
knowing the judgement of God.' ii. 15. ' which
show the work of the law written in their hearts.'
vii. 23, 24. ' I see another law in my members, war
ring against the law of my mind....O wretched man
that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of
this death ?' Nor, secondly, is the liberty of the
will entirely destroyed. First, with regard to things
indifferent, whether natural or civil. j Cor. vii.
36, 37, 39. ' let him do what he will....he hath pow
er over his own will.. ..she is at liberty to be married
to whom she will.' Secondly, the will is clearly not
altogether inefficient in respect of good works, or at \
any rate of good endeavours ; at least after the grace
of God has called us : but its power is so small and
* See p. 77. note J. And again ; — ' For there are left some remains
of God's image in man, as he is merely man' — . Tetrachordon. Prose
Works, II. 124.

358
insignificant, as merely to deprive us of all excuse
for inaction, without affording any subject for boast
ing. Deut. xxx. 19. ' choose life, that both thou
and thy seed may live.' Psal. Ixxviii. 8. 'a genera
tion that set not rheir heart aright.' Jer. vii. 13 — 16.
' because 1 spake unto you, rising up early, and
speaking, but ye heard not ; and I called you, but ye
answered not ; therefore,' &c. Language which
would not have been applied to mere senseless stocks.
xxxi. 18. ' turn thou me, and I shall be turned.'
Zech. i. 3. ' turn ye unto me, and I will turn unto
you.' Mark ix. 2n, 24. ' if thou canst believe....
and straightway the father of the child cried out, and
said with tears, Lord, 1 believe, help thou mine un
belief.' Rom. ii. 14. ' when the Gentiles, which have
not the law, do by nature the things contained in the
law.' vi. 16. ' know ye not that to whom ye yield
yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to
whom ye obey ; whether of sin unto death, or of
obedience unto righteousness ?' vii. 18. 'to will is
present with me ;' and v. 21. ' when I would do
good :' which words appear to be spoken in the per
son of one not yet fully renewed, and who, if he
had experienced God's grace in vocation, was still
destitute of his regenerating influence. See v. 14.
' I am carnal, sold under sin.' For as to the expres
sion in v. 25. ' I thank God through Jesus Christ,'
this, and similar language and conduct, are not in
consistent with the character of one who is as yet
only called, ix. 31. ' Israel, which followed after the
law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of
righteousness.' x. 2. 'they have a zeal of God, but
not according to knowledge.' 1 Cor. ix. 17. ' if I do

359
this thing willingly, I have a reward, but if against
my will — '. Philipp. iii. 6. ' concerning zeal, per
secuting the church ; touching the righteousness
which is in the law, blameless.' 1 Pet v. 2. ' feed
the flock of God. ...not by constraint, but willingly.'
Hence almost all mankind profess some desire of
virtue, and turn with abhorrence from some of the
more atrocious crimes. 1 Cor. v. 1. ' such fornica
tion as is not so much as mentioned among the
Gentiles.' There can be no doubt that for the purpose of
vindicating* the justice of God, especially in his
calling of mankind, it is much better to allow to man,
(whether as a remnant of his primitive state, or as
restored through the operation of the grace whereby
he is called) some portion of free will in respect of
good works, or at least of good endeavours, rather
than in respect of things which are indifferent. For
if God be conceived to rule with absolute disposal
all the actions of men, natural as well as civil, he
appears to do nothing which is not his right, neither
will any one murmur against such a procedure. But
if he inclines the will of man to moral good or evil,
according to his own pleasure, and then rewards the
good, and punishes the wicked, the course of equity
seems to be disturbed ; and it is entirely on this sup
position that the outcry against the divine justice is
founded. It would appear, therefore, that God's
* Ad asserendam justitiam Dei. Milton introduces the Latinism in
his Paradise Lost :
That to the height of this great argument
I may assert eternal Providence,
And justify the ways of God to men. I. 24.

360
general government of the universe, to which such
frequent allusion is made, should be understood as
relating to natural and civil concerns, to things in
different and fortuitous, in a word, to anything rather
than to matters of morality and religion. And this
is confirmed by many passages of Scripture. 2 Chron.
xv. 12, 14. ' they entered into a covenant to seek
Jehovah the God of their fathers with all their heart,
and with all their soul : and they sware unto Jeho-
hovah.' Psal. cxix. 106. ' I have sworn, and I will
perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgements.'
For if our personal religion were not in some degree
dependent on ourselves, and in our own power, God
could not properly enter into a covenant with us ;
neither could we perform, much less swear to perform,
the conditions of that covenant.

CHAPTER XIII.

OF THE DEATH OF THE BODY.

JL he third degree of death is what is called the
death ofthe body. To this all the labours, sorrows,
and diseases which afflict the body, are nothing but
the prelude. Gen. iii. 16. ' I will greatly multiply
thy sorrow.' v. 17. ' in sorrow shalt thou eat of it'
v. 19. ' in the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread.'
Job v. 7. ' man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly
upward.' Deut. xxviii. 22. ' Jehovah shall smite thee
with a consumption.' Hos. ii. 18. ' in that day will
I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the
field.' Rom. ii. 9. 'tribulation and anguish upon
every soul of man that doeth evil.' All nature is
likewise subject to mortality and a curse on account
of man. Gen. iii. 1 7. ' cursed is the ground for thy
sake.' Rom. viii. 20, 21. ' the creature was made
subject to vanity, not willingly.' Even the beasts are
not exempt, Gen. iii. 14. vi. 7. So ' the first-born
of beasts ' in the land of Egypt perished for the sins
of their masters, Exod. xi. 5.
The death of the body is to be considered in the
light of a punishment for sin, no less than the other
degrees of death, notwithstanding the contrary opinion
vol. i. 46

362
entertained by some.* Rom. v. 13, 14. 'until the
law sin was in the world.. ..death reigned from Adam
to Moses.' 1 Cor. xv. 21. ' since by man came death;'
that is to say, temporal as well as eternal death ; as
is clear from the corresponding member of the sen
tence, ' by man came also the resurrection from the
dead ;' therefore that bodily death from which we are
to rise again, originated in sin, and not in nature ;
contrary to the opinion of those who maintain that
temporal death is the result of natural causes, and
that eternal death alone is due to sin.!
The death of the body is the loss or extinction of
life. The common definition, which supposes it to
consist in the separation of soul and body, is inad
missible.! For what part of man is it that dies when
this separation takes place ? Is it the soul ? This will
not be admitted by the supporters of the above defini
tion. Is it then the body ? But how can that be said
* Pelagius, Socinus, Crellius, &c. ' That Adam should not have died
if he had not sinned, is so manifestly the doctrine ofthe Scriptures, and
ofthe church of God, both before and since Christ our Saviour's appear
ance in the flesh, that Pelagius of old, and Socinus in this latter age,
are justly to he esteemed the most impudent of mortals for daring to call
it into question.' Bp. Bull's Discourse on the State of Man before the
Fall. See also Hopkins On the Two Covenants.
f This opinion is maintained by Curcellseus, Instit. III. 13 — 21. See
also his second dissertation De Peecato Originis, 59.
| ' The royal preacher in my text, assuming that man is a compound
of an organized body and an immaterial soul, places the formality and
essence of death in the disunion and final separation of these two con
stituent parts : Death is, when ' the dust returns to the earth as it was,
and the spirit returns to God who gave it.' Horsley's Sermons, III. 189.
The whole of the masterly discourse from which the preceding extract
is taken, deserves to be compared with this chapter, as containing in a
small compass the most philosophical, as well as scriptural refutation of
its arguments. See also the end of the Sermon on John xi. 25, 26.
Vol. III. p. 131.

363
to die, which never had any life of itself? Therefore
the separation of soul and body cannot be called the
death of man.
Here then arises an important question, which,
owing to the prejudice of divines in behalf of their
preconceived opinions, has usually been dismissed
without examination, instead of being treated with
the attention it deserves. Is it the whole man, or
the body alone, that is deprived of vitality ? And as
this is a subject which may be discussed without en
dangering our faith or devotion, whichever side of the
controversy we espouse, I shall declare freely what
seems to me the true doctrine, as collected from num
berless passages of Scripture ; without regarding the
opinion of those, who think that truth is to be sought
in the schools of philosophy, rather than in the
sacred writings.
Inasmuch then as the whole man is uniformly said
to consist of body, spirit, and soul, (whatever may be
the distinct provinces severally assigned to these divis
ions,) I will show, that in death, first the whole man,
and secondly, each component part suffers privation
of life. It is to be observed, first of all, that God
denounced the punishment of death against the whole
man that sinned, without excepting any part. For
what could be more just, than that he who had sinned
in his whole person, should die in his whole person ?
Or, on the other hand, what could be more absurd
than that the mind, which is the part principally
offending, should escape the threatened death ; and
that the body alone, to which immortality was
equally allotted, before death came into the world by

364
sin,* should pay the penalty of sin by undergoing
death, though not implicated in the transgression ?
It is evident that the saints and believers of old,
the patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, without excep
tion, held this doctrine. Jacob. Gen. xxxvii. 35.
' I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning.'
xiii. 36. ' Joseph is not' So also Job, ch. iii. 12 — 18.
' as an hidden untimely birth I had not been ; as
infants which never saw light.' Compare x. 21.
xiv. 10. ' man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?'
v. 13. ' so man lieth down, and riseth not, till the
heavens be no more.' xvii. 13. ' if I wait, the grave
is mine house.' v. 15, 16. ' where is now my hope ?....
they shall go down to the bars of the pit.' See also
many other passages. The belief of David was the
same, as is evident from the reason so often given by
him for deprecating the approach of death. Psal.
vi. 5. ' in death there is no remembrance of thee : in
the grave who shall give thee thanks ? ' See also
Ixxxviii. 11 — 13. cxv. 17. ' the dead praise not Jeho
vah.' xxxix. 13. ' before I go hence, and be no more.'
cxlvi. 2. ' while I live will I praise Jehovah.' Cer
tainly if he had believed that his soul would survive,
and be received immediately into heaven, he would
* See Bp. Bull's Discourse on the State of Man before the Fall, where
this opinion is illustrated. Milton introduces it in the mouth of Raphael
in paradise Lost :
 Time may come when men
With angels may participate, and find
No inconvenient diet, nor too light fare ;
And from these corporal nutriments perhaps
Your bodies may at last turn all to spirit,
Improv'd by tract of time, and wing'd ascend
Ethereal as we ; or may, at choice,
Here or in heavenly Paradises dwell. V. 493.

365
have abstained from all such remonstrances, as one
who was shortly to take his flight where he might
praise God unceasingly. It appears that the belief
of Peter respecting David was the same as David's
belief respecting himself : Acts ii. 29, 34. ' let me
freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he
is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us
unto this day. ...for David is not ascended into the
heavens.' Again, it is evident that Hezekiah fully
believed that he should die entirely, where he laments
that it is impossible to praise God in the grave. Isai.
xxxviii. 18, 19. 'for the grave cannot praise thee:
death cannot celebrate thee ; they that go down into
the pit cannot hope for thy truth : the living, the liv
ing, he shall praise thee, as I do this day.' God
himself bears testimony to the same truth. Isai. lvii.
1, 2. ' the righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it
to heart ; and merciful men are taken away, none
considering that the righteous is taken away from the
evil to come ; he shall enter into peace ; they shall
rest in their beds.' Jer. xxxi. 15. compared with
Matt. ii. 18. 'Rachel weeping for her children, re
fused to be comforted for her children, because they
were not.' Thus also Daniel, ch. xii. 2. ' many of
them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake.'
It is on the same principle that Christ himself proves
God to be a God of the living, Luke xx. 37, &c.
arguing from their future resurrection ; for if they
were then living, it would not necessarily follow
from his argument that there would be a resurrection
of the body : hence he says John xi. 25. ' I am the
resurrection and the life.' Accordingly he declares
expressly, that there is not even a place appointed for

366
the abode of the saints in heaven, till the resurrection :
John xiv. 2, 3. 'I go to prepare a place for you :
and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come
again, and receive you unto myself; that where 1 am,
there ye may be also.' There is no sufficient reason
for interpreting this of the body ; it is clear therefore
that it was spoken, and should be understood, of the
reception of the soul and spirit conjointly with the
body into heaven, and that not till the coming of
the Lord. So likewise Luke xx. 35. Acts vii. 60.
' when he had said this, he fell asleep.' xxiii. 6. 'the
hope and resurrection of the dead ; ' that is, the hope
of the resurrection, which was the only hope the
apostle professed to entertain. Thus also xxiv. 21.
xxvi. 6 — 8. 1 Cor. xv. 17 — 19. 'if Christ be not
raised' (which resurrection took place for the very
purpose that mankind might likewise rise again) ' then
they also which are fallen asleep in Christ, are per
ished ; ' whence it appears that there were only two
alternatives, one of which must ensue ; either they
must rise again, or perish : for ' if in this life only
we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most
miserable ; ' which again indicates that we must
either believe in the resurrection, or have our hope in
this life only. v. 29, 30. ' if the dead rise not at all,
why stand we in jeopardy every hour ? ' v. 32. ' let
us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die ; ' that is, die
altogether, for otherwise the argument would have no
force. In the verses which follow, from v. 42. to
v. 50. the reasoning proceeds on the supposition that
there are only two states, the mortal and the immortal,
death and resurrection ; not a word is said of any in
termediate condition. Nay, Paul himself affirms that

367
the crown of righteousness which was laid up for him
was not to be received before that last day : 2 Tim.
iv. 8. ' henceforth there is laid up for me a crown ol
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge,
shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but
unto all them also that love his appearing.' If a
crown were laid up for the apostle, it follows that it
was not to be received immediately after death. At
what time then was it to be received ? At the same
time when it was to be conferred on the rest of the
saints, that is, not till the appearance of Christ in
glory. Philipp. ii. 16. ' that I may rejoice in the
day of Christ, iii. 11. ' if by any means I might at
tain unto the resurrection of the dead. v. 20, 21. ' our
conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look
for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ ; who shall
change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like
unto his glorious body.' Our conversation therefore
is in heaven, not where we are now dwelling, but in
that place from whence we look for the coming of the
Saviour, who shall conduct us thither. Luke xx.
35, 36. ' they which shall be accounted worthy to
obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead,
neither marry, &c  for they are equal unto the
angels.... being the children ofthe resurrection,' — that
is, when they finally become such ; whence it follows,
that previous to the resurrection they are not admitted
to that heavenly world.
Thus far proof has been given of the death of the
whole man. But lest recourse should be had to the
sophistical distinction, that although the whole man
dies, it does not therefore follow that the whole of
man should die, I proceed to give similar proof with

368
regard to each of the parts, the body, the spirit, and
the soul, according to the division above stated.
First, then, as to the body, no one doubts that it
suffers privation of life. Nor will the same be less
evident as regards the spirit, if it be allowed that the
spirit, according to the doctrine laid down in the
seventh chapter, has no participation in the divine
nature, but is purely human ; and that no reason can
be assigned, why, if God has sentenced to death the
whole of man that sinned, the spirit, which is the
part principally offending, should be alone exempt from
the appointed punishment ; especially since, previous
to the entrance of sin into the world, all parts of man
were alike immortal ; and that, since that time, in
pursuance of God's denunciation, all have become
equally subject to death.* But to come to the proofs.
* . . . . Yet one doubt
Pursues me still, lest all I cannot die ;
Lest that pure breath of life, the spirit of man
Which God inspired, cannot together perish
With this corporeal clod : then in the grave,
Or in some other dreadful place, who knows
But I shall die a living death ? O thought
Horrid, if true I yet why ? it was but breath
Of life that sinn'd ; what dies but what had life
And sin ? the body properly had neither.
All of me then shall die : let this appease
The doubt, since human reach no further knows.
Paradise Lost, X. 782.
When Milton wrote II Penseroso, his opinions respecting the soul seem
lo have been different. He there summons the spirit of Plato to un
fold the mystery of the separate state in which he supposed it to exist
after death. . unspbere
The spirit of Plato to unfold
What worlds, or what vast regions hold
Th' immortal mind, that hath forsook
Her mansion in this fleshly nook. II Penseroso, 88.

369
The Preacher himself, the wisest of men, expressly
denies that the spirit is exempt from death : iii.
18 — 20. ' as the beast dieth, so dieth the man ; yea,
they have all one breath.... all go unto one place.'
And in the twenty-first verse, he condemns the igno
rance of those who venture to affirm that the way of
the spirits of men and of beasts after death is differ
ent : ' who knoweth the spirit of man, (an sursum
ascendat,) whether it goeth upward ?'* Psal. cxlvi. 4.
' his breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth ; in
that very day his thoughts perish.' Now the thoughts
are in the mind and the spirit, not in the body ; and
if they perish, we must conclude that the mind and
spirit undergo the same fate as the body. 1 Cor.
v. 5. ' that the spirit may be saved in the day of the
Lord Jesus :' the apostle does not say ' in the day of
death,' but 'in the day of the Lord.'
Lastly, there is abundant testimony to prove that
the soul (whether we understand by this term the
whole human composition, or whether it is to be
understood as synonymous with the spirit) is subject
to death, natural as well as violent. Numb, xxiii. 10.
' let me (anima mea, Lat. Vulg.) die the deatli of
the righteous.' Such are the words of Balaam, who,
though not the most upright of prophets, yet in this
instance uttered the words which the Lord put into
his mouth ; v. 9. Job xxxiii. 18. ' he keepeth back
his soul from the pit.' xxxvi. 14. ' they (anima
eorum, Lat. Vulg.) die in youth.' Psal. xxii. 20.
* ' Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward ?' — Authorized
Transl. See Bp. Bull's Discourse on the Subsistence of the Soul of Man
after death. His supposition is, that the words are spoken by an Epi
curean (if he may be allowed to call him so by anticipation) who is de
riding the notion of the soul's immortality.
vol. i. 47

370
1 deliver my soul from the sword.' Ixxviii. 50. ' he
spared not their soul from death.' Ixxxix. 48. ' shall
he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave ?'
xciv. 17. 'my soul had almost dwelt in silence.'
Hence man himself, when dead, is spoken of under
the name of ' the soul ;' Lev. xix. 28. Hebr. and
xxi. 1, 11. ' neither shall he go in to any dead body'
(soul, Hebr.) Isai. xxxviii. 17. ' thou hast in love to
my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption.' The
just and sufficient reason assigned above for the death
of the soul, is the same which is given by God him
self; Ezek. xviii. 20. ' the soul that sinneth, it shall
die :' and therefore, on the testimony of the prophet
and the apostle, as well as of Christ himself, the soul
even of Christ was for a short time subject unto death
on account of our sins : Psal. xvi. 10. compared
with Acts ii. 27, 28, 31. ' his soul was not left in
hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.' Matt.
xxvi. 38. ' my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto
death.' Nor do we anywhere read that the souls as
semble, or are summoned to judgement, from heaven
or from hell, but that they are all called out of the
tomb, or at least that they were previously in the
state of the dead. John. v. 28, 29. ' the hour is
coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall
hear his voice, and shall come forth.' In this pas
sage those who rise again, those who hear, those
who come forth, are all described as being in the
graves, the righteous as well as the wicked. 1 Cor.
xv. 52. ' the trumpet shall souud, and the dead shall
be raised.' I Thess. iv. 13 — 17. 'but I would not
have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them
which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others

371
which have no hope : for if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so them also which sleep
in Jesus will God bring with him : for this we say
unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which
are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord
shall not prevent them which are asleep ; for the
Lord himself shall descend,' &c....' and the dead in
Christ shall rise first : then we which are alive and
remain, shall be caught up together with them into
the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air ; and so shall
we ever be with the Lord.' They were asleep ; but
the lifeless body does not sleep, unless inanimate
matter can be said to sleep. ' That ye sorrow not,
even as others which have no hope,' — but why should
they sorrow and have no hope, if they believed that
their souls would be in a state of salvation and hap
piness even before the resurrection, whatever might
become of the body ? The" rest of the world, in
deed, who had no hope, might with reason despair
concerning the soul as well as the body, because they
did not believe in the resurrection ; and therefore it
is to the resurrection that Paul directs the hope of
all believers. ' Them which sleep in Jesus will God
bring with him ;' that is, to heaven from the grave.
' We which are alive and remain unto the coming of
the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.'
But there would have been no reason to fear lest the
survivors should prevent them, if they who were
asleep had long since been received into heaven ; in
which case the latter would not come ' to meet the
Lord,' but would return with him. ' We ' however,
' which are alive shall be caught up together with
them,' not after them, ' and so shall we ever be with

372
the Lord,' namely, after, not before the resurrection.
And \hen at length ' the wicked shall be severed from
among the just,' Matt. xiii. 49. Dan. xii. 2. ' many
of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall
awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame
and everlasting contempt' In such a sleep I should
suppose Lazarus to have been lying, if it were asked
whither his soul betook itself during those four days
of death. For I cannot believe that it would have
been called back from heaven to suffer again the in
conveniences of the body, but rather that it was
summoned from the grave, and roused from the sleep
of death. The words of Christ themselves lead to
this conclusion : John xi. 11, 13. ' our friend Laza
rus sleepeth ; but I go, that 1 may awake him out of
sleep : howbeit Jesus spake of his death :' which
death, if the miracle were true, must have been real.
This is confirmed by the circumstances of Christ's
raising him ; v. 43. ' he cried with a loud voice,
Lazarus come forth.' If the soul of Lazarus, that
is, if Lazarus himself was not within the grave, why
did Christ call on the lifeless body which could not
hear ? If it were the soul which he addressed, why
did he call it from a place where it was not ? Had
he intended to intimate that the soul was separated
from the body, he would have directed his eyes to
the quarter whence the soul of Lazarus might be
expected to return, namely, from heaven : for to call
from the grave what is not there, is like seeking the
living among the dead, which the angel reprehended
as ignorance in the disciples, Luke xxiv. 5. the same
is apparent in the raising of the widow's son : Luke
vii. 14.

373
On the other hand, those who assert that the soul
is exempt from death, and that when divested of the
body, it wings its way, or is conducted by angels, di
rectly to its appointed place of reward or punishment,
where it remains in a separate state of existence to
the end of the world, found their belief principally
on the following passages of Scripture. Psal. xlix.
15. ' God will redeem my soul from the power of
the grave.' But this proves rather that the soul en
ters the grave with the body, as was shown above,
from whence it needs to be redeemed, namely, at the
resurrection, when ' God shall receive it,' as follows in
the same verse. As for the remainder, ' their redemp
tion ceaseth for ever.' v. 8. and they are ' like the
beasts that perish,' v. 12, 14.
The second text is Eccles. xii. 7. ' the spirit shall
return unto God that gave it' But neither does this
prove what is required ; for the phrase, ' the spirit
returning to God,' must be understood with consider
able latitude ; since the wicked do not return to God
at death, but depart far from him. The preacher
had moreover said before, iii. 20. ' all go unto
one place ;' and God is said both to have given,
and to gather unto himself the spirit of every living
thing, whilst the body returns to dust, Job xxxiv.
14, 15. ' if he gather unto himself his spirit and
his breath, all flesh shall perish together, and man
shall turn again unto dust' See also Psal. civ. 29,
30. Euripides in the Suppliants has, without
being aware of it, given a far better interpretation
of this passage than the commentators in question.*
* ' How much more rationally spake the heathen king Demophoon
in a tragedy of Euripides, than these interpreters would put upon king

374
bdsv 8' k'xadxov sts xo (pas * dcpixsxo,
Ivxavd' dneXdstv, nvevp,a [izv ngds atdsga,
xo dapa 8' sis yrjv — . 532. Edit. Beck.
Each various part
That constitutes the frame of man, return*
Whence it was taken ; to th' ethereal sky
The soul, the body to its earth.
Line 599. Potter's Transl.
that is, every constituent part returns at dissolution
to its elementary principle. This is confirmed by
Ezek. xxxvii. 9. ' come from the four winds, O
breath ;' it is certain therefore that the spirit of man
must have previously departed thither from whence it
is now summoned to return. Hence perhaps origi
nates the expression in Matt. xxiv. 31. ' they shall
gather together the elect from the four winds.' For
why should not the spirits of the elect be as easily
gathered together as the smallest particles of their
bodies, sometimes most widely dispersed throughout
David.' Tenure of Kings and Magistrates. Prose Works, II. 280. It
is related on the authority of one of Milton's daughters, that, after the
Holy Scriptures, his favourite volumes were Homer, Euripides, and
Ovid. The present Treatise contains nine quotations from the classics,
seven of which are from the authors mentioned. Aristotle, whom he
calls ' one of the best interpreters of nature and morality,' [Tenure of
Kings and Magistrates, II. 279.) is likewise often expressly quoted, or
alluded to ; but not a single direct reference is made to Plato, who, as
Mr. Todd justly remarks on the authority of the poet himself, was one
of the principal objects of his regard. Some Account of the Life and
Writings of Milton, p. 152.
* This is the reading proposed by Porson, Adversaria, p. 235. Toup
(in Suid. II. p. 6.) suggested to ih instead of to o-up, but the offence
against metre was pointed out by Porson, Notce Breves ad Toupii
Emcndationes, ad p. 234. In the next line the old reading was iirnkh.
Gataker proposed &,vt\h7v which emendation was adopted by Musgrave.
and approved by Porson.

375
different countries ? In the same manner is to be
understood 1 Kings xvii. 21. 'let this child's soul
come into him again.' This however is a form of
speech applied to fainting in general : Judges xv. 19.
' his spirit came again, and he revived.' See also
1 Sam. xxx. 12. For there are many passages of
Scripture, some of which have been already quoted,
which undoubtedly represent the dead as devoid of
all vital existence ; but what was advanced above
respecting the death of the spirit affords a sufficient
answer to the objection.
The third passage is Matt. x. 28. ' fear not
them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the
soul.' It may be answered that, properly speaking,
the body cannot be killed, as being in itself a thing
inanimate : the body therefore, as is common in
Scripture, must be taken for the whole human com
pound, or for the animal and temporal life ; the soul
for that spiritual life with which we shall be clothed
after the end of the world, as appears from the re
mainder of the verse, and from 1 Cor. xv. 44.
The fourth text is Philipp. i. 23. ' having a desire
to depart (cupiens dissolvi, having a desire for disso
lution) and to be with Christ' But, to say nothing
ef the uncertain and disputed sense of the word
dvaXvaai, which signifies any thing rather than dis
solution* it may be answered, that although Paul
desired to obtain immediate possession of heavenly
perfection and glory, in like manner as every one is
desirous of attaining as soon as possible to that, what-
* ' Qui urgent propriam solvendi et dissolvendi notionem, hi adeant
Duker. ad Florum IV. 11. extr. qui docuit, solvi etiam metaphorice apud
Latinos pro mori poni.' Schleusner in voce xmxiu.

376
ever it may be, which he regards as the ultimate ob
ject of his being, it by no means follows that, when
the soul of each individual leaves the body, it is re
ceived immediately either into heaven or hell. For
he ' had a desire to be with Christ ; ' that is, at his
appearing, which all the believers hoped and expected
was then at hand. In the same manner one who is
going on a voyage desires to set sail and to arrive at the
destined port, (such is the order in which his wishes
arrange themselves) omitting all notice of the inter
mediate passage. If, however, it be true that there
is no time without motion, which Aristotle illustrates
by the example of those who were fabled to have
slept, in the temple of the heroes, and who, on awak
ing, imagined that the moment in which they awoke
had succeeded without an interval to that in which
they fell asleep ; * how much more must intervening
time be annihilated to the departed, so that to them
to die and to be with Christ will seem to take place
at the same moment ? Christ himself, however, ex-
* 'AXXx (triv obi? anv ys p.<Ta£o).ws' otxv yetg avTo) pilffiv fttTa&aWiofLtv Ttjv
oixvotav, h XaQuptv fitTaGaXkovTts , ov Soxe? hfuv ysyovzvxi o %povos' xuGaffip ovb^i Tois
iv Tn ^,apdo7 f/,v6o\oyovf/,ivots xxfavoztv vrapa Tois vtpuiriv, otxv kytpOuffi. ffwa^TTovvi yxp
TO VpOTtpOV VVV TIQ VffTiPOV VVV, XU.) tV ^OtOVlTtV, \\xipoVVTlS OlX T1JV UVXtffJS'/lff'lXV TO fAlTU^V.
Nat. Auscult. IV. 1U. Edit. Duvall. Simpiicius in his scholium on this
passage explains the allusion at some length, but the most material part
of his information is contained in the following note of Kuhnius. 'Paulo
modestius agunt Graeci cum loquuntur deberoibus in Sardinia dormienti-
bus, quorum mentionem facit Aristoteles libro IV. &c. Ubi Simpiicius —
ex Herculis filiis, quos ex Thestii natis susceperat, nonnullos in Sardinia
mortuos dici, illorumque corpora usque ad Aristotelis, forte et usque
ad Alexandri Aphrodisiensis tempora mansisse integra ct ao-twTa, et
speciem dormientium praebuisse. Apud bos captabant dormientes somnia,
et o-vfiGokixovs somnos protrahebant, qui ab his heroibus corporis valetudi-
neiu coirunodam, vel alia quaedam petitum venerant. Vide Schol. Grace.
in Luciani Tom. I, pag. 3.' Kuhnii Observationes in Diogenis Laertii
Lib. I. Segm. 109.

377
pressly indicates the time at .which we shall be with
him ; John xiv. 3. ' if I go and prepare a place for
you, I will come again and receive you unto myself;
that where I am, there ye may be also.'
The fifth text evidently favours my view of the
subject : 1 Pet. iii. 19. ' by which also he went and
preached to the spirits that are in prison,' literally, in
guard, or, as the Syriac version renders it, in sepul-
chro, in the grave, which means the same ; for the
grave is the common guardian of all till the day of
judgement. What therefore the apostle says more
fully, iv. 5, 6. ' who shall give account to him that
is ready to judge the quick and the dead ; for, for
this cause was the gospel preached also to them that
are dead,' he expresses it in this place by a metaphor,
' the spirits that are in guard ; ' it follows, therefore,
that the spirits are dead.
The sixth text is Rev. vi. 9. ' I saw under the altar
the souls ofthem that were slain.' 1 auswer, that in
the Scripture idiom the soul is generally often put for
the whole animate body, and that in this passage it is
used for the souls of those who were not yet born ;
unless indeed the fifth seal was already opened in the
time of John ; in the same manner as in the parable
of Dives and Lazarus, Luke xvi. though Christ, for
the sake of the lesson to be conveyed, speaks of that
as present which was not to take place till after the
day of judgement, and describes the dead as placed
in two distinct states, he by no means intimates any
separation of the soul from the body.
The seventh text is Luke xxiii. 43. ' Jesus said
unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou
be with me in paradise.' This passage has on vari-
vol. i. 48

378
ous accounts occasioned so much trouble, that some
have not hesitated to alter the punctuation, as if it had
been written, ' I say unto thee to-day ; * that is, al
though I seem to-day the most despised and misera
ble of all men, yet I declare to thee and assure thee,
that thou shalt hereafter be with me in paradise, that
is, in some pleasant place, (for properly speaking
paradise is not heaven) or in the spiritual state al
lotted to the soul and body. The same expedient has
been resorted to Matt, xxvii. 52, 53. At the time of
the earthquake, on the same day (not three days after,
as is generally supposed) the graves were opened, the
dead arose and came out, v. 52. xai e^sXOovxes, and
having come out at length after the resurrection of
Christ they went into the holy city ; for so, accord
ing to Erasmus, the ancient Greeks pointed the pas
sage ; f and with this the Syriac agrees : et egressi
sunt, et post resurrectionem ejus ingressi sunt, &c.
That spiritual state in which the souls as well as
bodies of the arising saints previously abode, might
not improperly be called paradise ; and it was in this
state, as appears to me, that the penitent thief was
united to the other saints without punishment for sin.
* 'Hanc vocem praacedentibus jungendam esse statuit cum aliis
ilesjchius, O. 49. qui citantur Schol. Codicis 34. Theophylactus.
xWoi 2s IxStafyvTui to pfifia, ffTI^OVTZS iU To ffyfitpov, 'ivx M To Xtyopivov T010VTOV
:,f/.r,v Xiyoi ffoi fy,f/,ipov i'trx to* pir iftov 'Iffy Iv tu vratvaoucra, avvlffitpipovTis.
Sever. Apologet 22.' Wetsten. ad Luc. xxiii. 43. See the remarks of
Whitby on this passage, and the reason which he gives against the
punctuation proposed.
f ' Graeci sic distinguunt, ut apparcat eos statim mortuo Christo resur-
rexisse ; verum non egressos e monumentis, nee apparuisse, priusquam
resurrexisset Christus. Unde resurrexerunt positum est pro revixerunt.'
Erasmus ad Matt, xxviii. 55. He proceeds to quote Jerome, Chrysostom
and Origen in support of this interpretation. Theophylact and Augus
tine are against it.

379
Nor is it necessary to take the word to-day in its strict
acceptation, but rather for a short time, as in 2 Sam.
xvi. 3. Heb. iii. 7. However this may be, so much
clear evidence should not be rejected on account of a
single passage, of which it is not easy to give a satis
factory interpretation.
The eighth text is the forty-sixth verse of the same
chapter ; ' into thy hands I commend my spirit.' But
the spirit is not therefore separated from the body, or
incapable of death ; for David uses the same lan
guage Psal. xxxi. 5. although he was not then about
to die : ' into thine hand I commit my spirit,' while
it was yet abiding in, and with the body. So Stephen,
Acts vii. 59. ' Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.. ..and
when he had said this, he fell asleep.' It was not
the bare spirit divested ofthe body that he commended
to Christ, but ' the whole spirit and soul and body,'
as it is expressed 1 Thess. v. 23. Thus the spirit of
Christ was to be raised again with the body on the
third day, while that of Stephen was to be reserved
till the appearing ofthe Lord. So 1 Pet. iv. 19. ' let
them commit the keeping of their souls to him in well
doing.' The ninth passage is 2 Cor. v. 1 — 20. It is suffi
ciently apparent, however, that the object of this pas
sage is not to inculcate the separation of the soul from
the body, but to contrast the animal and terrestrial
life of the whole man with the spiritual and heavenly.
Hence in the first verse ' the house of this tabernacle '
is opposed, not to the soul, but to ' a building of God,
an house not made with hands,' that is, to the final
renewal of the whole man, as Beza also explains it,*

* ' Arrepta occasione ex comparatione proxime praecedente, corpus
istud, ut est in hac vita calamitosum, comparat cum caduco et fragili

380
whereby { we are clothed upon ' in the heavens,
' being clothed. ...not naked,' v. 3. This distinctly
appears from the fourth verse : ' not for that we would
be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might
be swallowed up of life.' See also v. 5. 'now he
that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God ; '
not for the separation of the soul from the body, but
for the perfecting of both. Wherefore the clause in
the eighth verse, ' to be absent from the body, and to
be present with the Lord,' must be understood of the
consummation of our happiness ; and ' the body ' must
be taken for this frail life, as is common in the sacred
writers, and the ' absence ' spoken of v. 9. for our
eternal departure to an heavenly world ; or perhaps
to be ' at home in the body, and to be absent from
the Lord,' v. 6. may mean nothing more than to be
entangled in worldly affairs, and to have little leisure
for heavenly things ; the reason of which is given v. 7.
' for we walk by faith, not by sight : ' whence it fol-
it follows, v. 8. ' we are confident and willing rather
to be absent from the body, and to be present with
the Lord ; that is, to renounce worldly things as much
as possible, and to be occupied with things heavenly.
The ninth verse proves still more clearly that the ex
pressions ' to be present ' and ' to be absent ' both
refer to this life: ' wherefore we labour that whether
present or absent, we may be accepted of God : ' for
no one supposes that the souls of men are occupied
from the time of death to that of the resurrection in

tabernaculo ; cui opponit cceleste domicilium, sic vocans firmam et pe.
rennem ejusdem corporis in coelo glorificati conditionem  est autem
etiam bic locus, de futura gloria, isti tractationi de ministerii dignitate
insertus,' &c. Beza ad 2 Cor. v. 1.

381
endeavours to render themselves acceptable to God in
heaven ; that is the employment of the present life,
and its reward is not to be looked for till the second
coming of Christ. For the apostle says, v. 10. ' we
must all appear before the judgement-seat of Christ,
that every one may receive the things done in his
body, according to that he hath done, whether it be
good or bad.' There is consequently no recompense
of good or bad after death, previous to the day of
judgement. Compare 1 Cor. xv. the whole of which
chapter throws no small light on this passage. The
same sense is to be ascribed to 2 Pet. i. 13 — 15 ;
' as long as I am in this tabernacle,' &c. that is, in
this life. It is however unnecessary to prolong this
discussion, as there is scarcely one of the remaining
passages of Scripture which has not been already ex
plained by anticipation.
The fourth and last degree of death, is death eter
nal, the punishment of the damned ; which will be
considered in the twenty-seventh chapter.

CHAPTER XIV.

OF MAN'S RESTORATION, AND OF CHRIST AS RE
DEEMER.

e have hitherto considered the Providence of
God in relation to the fall of man ; we are now to
consider it as operating in his restoration.
The restoration of man is the act whereby man,
being delivered from sin and death by God the Fa
ther through Jesus Christ, is raised to a far more
excellent state of grace and glory than that from
which he had fallen. Rom. v. 15. ' but not as the
offence, so also is the free gift : for if through the
offence of one many be dead, much more the grace
of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man
Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.' v. 17.
' for if by one man's offence death reigned by one ;
much more they which receive abundance of grace
and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by
one, Jesus Christ.' See also v. 21. Eph. i. 9, 10.
' according to his good pleasure which he hath pur
posed in himself . . . that he might gather together
in one all things in Christ.' 1 John iii. 8. ' he that
committeth sin is of the devil .... for this purpose

383
the Son of God was manifested, that he might de
stroy the works of the devil.'
In this restoration are comprised the redemption
and renovation of man.
Redemption is that act whereby Christ, being sent
in the fulness of time, redeemed all believers at the
price of his own blood, by his own voluntary act,
conformably to the eternal counsel and grace of
God the Father.
Conformably to the eternal counsel of God the
Father. 1 Pet. i. 20. ' the Lamb .... preordained
before the foundation of the world.' See other pas
sages to the same effect in the fourth chapter, on
Predestination. Grace. Even before man had, properly speaking,
confessed his guilt, that is, before he had avowed it
ingenuously and in the spirit of repentance, God
nevertheless, in pronouncing the punishment of the
serpent, previously to passing sentence on man, pro
mised that he would raise up from the seed of the
woman one who should bruise the serpent's head,
Gen. iii. 15. and thus anticipated the condemnation
of mankind by a gratuitous redemption. John iii. 16.
' God so loved the world, that he gave his only be
gotten Son—'. Rom. iii. 25. ' whom God hath set
forth to be a propitiation through faith.' v. 8. ' God
commendeth his love toward us, in that while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us.' Heb. ii. 9.
' that he, by the grace of God, should taste death
for every man.' 1 John iv. 9, 10. ' in this was
manifested the love of God toward us, because that
God sent his only begotten Son  not that we
loved God, but that he loved us.' Hence the Father

384
is often called ' our Saviour,' inasmuch as it is by
his eternal counsel and grace alone that we are saved.
Luke i. 47. ' my spirit hath rejoiced in God my
Saviour.' v. 68, 69. 'blessed be the Lord God of
Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people,
and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the
house of his servant David.' 1 Tim. i. 1. 'by the
commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus
Christ, which is our hope.' ii. 3. ' for this is good
and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour.'
iv. 10. ' we trust in the living God, who is the
Saviour of all men.' Tit. i. 3. ' according to the
commandment of God our Saviour.' ii. 10. ' that
they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in
all things.' iii. 4 — 6. 'but after that the kindness
and love of God our Saviour towards man appeared,
. . . according to his mercy he saved us by the wash
ing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost,
which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ
our Saviour.' Jude 25. ' to the only wise God our
Saviour, be glory ;' where the Vetus Interpres and
some of the Greek manuscripts add, ' through Jesus
Christ our Lord.'*
Christ being sent in the fulness of time. Gal.
iv. 4. ' but when the fulness of time was come, God
sent forth his Son.' Eph. i. 10. ' in the dispensa
tion of the fulness of times.'
At the price of his own blood. Isai. liii. 1, &c.
Acts xx. 28. ' the Church of God, which he hath
purchased with his own blood.' Rom. iii. 25. ' a
* These words are found in fifteen manuscripts, according to Wet-
stein, and in the Vulgate, two Syriac, Coptic, and Arabic versions. See
also Mill on this verse.

385
propitiation through faith in his blood.' 1 Cor. vi. 20.
' ye are bought with a price.' See also vii. 23. Gal.
iii. 13. ' being made a curse for us.' Eph. v. 2.
' he hath given himself for us an offering and a
sacrifice to God.' Heb. ii. 9. ' that he should taste
death for every man.' xiii. 20. ' through the blood
of the everlasting covenant.' 1 Pet. i. 19. ' with
the precious blood of Christ.' iii, 18. ' Christ also
hath once suffered for sins.' Rev. i. 5. ' that washed
us from our sins in his own blood.' v. 9. ' thou hast
redeemed us to God by thy blood.' xiii. 8. ' the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.'
By his own voluntary act. Isai. liii. 10. ' upon
condition that his soul make a trespass offering,'*
Horsley's Translation. Matt. xx. 28. ' to give his
life a ransom for many.' John x. 15, 18. ' I lay
down my life for the sheep : no man taketh it from
me, but I lay it down of myself; I have power to
lay it down, and I have power to take it again.'
Eph. v. 2. ' he hath given himself for us.' Philipp.
ii. 8. ' became obedient unto death.' 1 Tim. ii. 6.
' who gave himself a ransom for all.
All believers. Rom. iii. 25. ' a propitiation through
faith in his blood.'
There is no other Redeemer or Mediator besides
Christ. Acts iv. 12. ' neither is there salvation in
any other, for there is none other name under heaven
* 'That his soul should make the trespass offering, expresses that it
was with the full consent of his own mind that he made the painful
atonement See Vitringa upon the place.' Horsley's Bibl. Crit. in
Joe. Quandoquidem semetipsum exposuit, Tremellius. If his soul shall
make a propitiatory sacrifice. Lowth's Translation. A different sense
i3 given to the passage in our authorized version : when thou shalt make
his soul an offering for sin.
vol. i. 49

386
given among men, whereby we must be saved.'
1 Tim. ii. 5. ' there is one mediator.. ..the man
Christ Jesus.' John xiv. 6. ' no man cometh unto
the Father, but by me.'
There was a promise made to all mankind, and an
expectation of the Redeemer, more or less distinct,
cveu from the time of the fall. Gen. iii. 15. ' I will
put enmity.' xxii. 18. 'in thy seed shall all the nations
of the earth be blessed.' See also xxvi. 4. xxviii. 14.
xlix. 10. ' until Shiloh, or the peacemaker come.'
Deut. xviii. 1 5. ' Jehovah thy God will raise up unto
thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren,
like unto me ; unto him ye shall hearken : according
to all that thou desiredst of Jehovah thy God in
Horeb.. ..saying, Let me not hear again the voice of
Jehovah my God, neither let me see this great fire any
more, that 1 die not.' Job xix. 25, 26. ' I know that
my Redeemer liveth.' In the Psalms and propheti
cal writings the advent of the Redeemer is intimated
with less obscurity. Psal. Ixxxix. 35, 36. 'once have
I sworn by my holiness, that I will not lie unto
David. His seed shall endure for ever.' Isai. xi. 1,
&c. ' there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of
Jesse.' Jer. xxx. 9. ' they shall serve Jehovah their
God, and David their king, whom I will raise up
unto them.' xxxiii. 15. 'at that time will I cause
the branch of righteousness to grow up unto David.'
At the appointed time he was sent into the world.
Gal. iv. 4. as above.
Two points are to be considered in relation to
Christ's character as Redeemer : his nature and office.
His nature is twofold ; divine and human. Matt.
xvi. 16. 'the Christ, the Son of the living God.' Gen.

387
iii. 15. ' the seed of the woman.' John i. 1, 14. ' the
Word was God  and the Word was made flesh.'
iii. 13. ' he that came down from heaven, even the
Son of man that is in heaven.' v. 31. 'he that cometh
from above... .he that cometh from heaven.' Actsii. 30.
' of the fruit of the loins of David, according to the
flesh. See also Rom. i. 3. viii. 3. 'God sending his own
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh.' ix. 5. 'of whom
as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all,
God.' 1 Cor. xv. 47. ' the second man is the Lord
from heaven.' Gal. iv. 4. ' God sent forth his Son,
made of a woman.' Philipp. ii. 7, 8. ' but made
himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form
of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men,
and being found in fashion as a man — .' Heb. ii.
14, 16. ' he also himself took part of flesh and blood —
he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took
on him the seed of Abraham.' x. 5, &c. ' wherefore
when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice
and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou
prepared me.. ..then said I, Lo, I come.' 1 John i. 7.
' the blood of Jesus Christ his Son.' iv. 2. ' every
spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the
flesh, is of God.' Col. ii. 9. ' in him dwelleth all the
fulness of the Godhead bodily ; ' which passage I
understand, not of the divine nature of Christ, but of
the entire virtue of the Father, and the full completion
of his promises, (for so I would interpret the word,
rather than fulness,) dwelling in, not hypostatically
united with, Christ's human nature ; and this bodily,
that is, not in ceremonies and the rudiments of the
world, but really and substantially ; according to Isai.
xi. 2, &c. ' the Spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him,

388
the spirit of wisdom.' Johnm. 34. ' God giveth not
the Spirit by measure unto him.' i. 17. ' grace and
truth came by Jesus Christ.' 1 Tim. iii. 16. ' God
was manifest in the flesh,' that is, in the incarnate
Son, his own image. With regard to Christ's divine
nature, the reader is referred to what was proved in
a former chapter concerning the Son of God ; from
whence it follows, that he by whom all things were
made both in heaven and earth, even the angels them
selves, he who in the beginning was the Word, and
God with God, and although not supreme, yet the first
born of every creature, must necessarily have existed
previous to his incarnation, whatever subtleties may
have been invented to evade this conclusion by those
who contend for the merely human nature of Christ.
This incarnation of Christ, whereby he, being God,
took upon him the human nature, and was made flesh,
without thereby ceasing to be numerically the same
as before, is generally considered by theologians as,
next to the Trinity in Unity, the greatest mystery of
our religion. Ofthe mystery of the Trinity, however,
no mention is made in Scripture ; whereas the incar
nation is frequently called by this name. 1 Tim.
iii. 16. ' without controversy great is the mystery of
godliness ; God was manifest in the flesh — .' Col.
ii. 2, 3. ' to the acknowledgement of the mystery of
God, and of the Father, and of Christ; in which'*
(namely, in the mystery) ' are hid all the treasures of
wisdom.' Eph. i. 9, 10. ' having made known unto
us the mystery of his will. ...that he might gather to
gether in one all things in Christ' iii. 4. 'in the
mystery of Christ' See also Col. iv. 3. Eph. iii. 9.
* In whom. Authorized Translation.

389
' the fellowship of the mystery which from the begin
ning of the world hath been hid in God, who created
all things by Jesus Christ' Col. i. 26, 27. 'the
riches of the glory of this mystery.... which is Christ'
Since then this mystery is so great, we are admon
ished by that very consideration not to assert any
thing respecting it rashly or presumptuously, on mere
grounds of philosophical reasoning ; not to add to it
anything of our own ; not even to adduce in its be
half any passage of Scripture of which the purport
may be doubtful, but to be contented with the clearest
texts, however few in number. If we listen to such
passages, and are willing to acquiesce in the simple
truth of Scripture, unincumbered by metaphysical
comments, to how many prolix and preposterous ar
guments shall we put an end ! how much occasion of
heresy shall we remove ! how many ponderous dab-
blings in theology shall we cast out, purging the tem
ple of God from the contamination of their rubbish !
Nothing would be more plain, and agreeable to rea
son, nothing more suitable to the understanding even
of the meanest individual, than such parts of the
Christian faith as are declared in Scripture to be
necessary for salvation, if teachers, even of the re
formed church, were as yet sufficiently impressed
with the propriety of insisting on nothing but divine
authority in matters relating to God, and of limiting
themselves to the contents of the sacred volume.
What is essential would easily appear, when freed from
the perplexities of controversy ; what is mysterious
would be suffered to remain inviolate, and we should
be fearful of overstepping the bounds of propriety in
its investigation.

890
The opinion, however, which now prevails, or
rather which has prevailed for many ages, is this ;
that whereas it was contended in a former stage of
the controversy respecting Christ, that the three per
sons of the Trinity were united in one nature, it is
now asserted, on the other hand, that two natures are
so combined in the one person of Christ, that he has a
real and perfect subsistence in the one nature, inde
pendently of that which properly belongs to the other ;
insomuch that two natures are comprehended in
one person. This is what is called in the schools
the hypostatic union. Such is the explanation of
Zanchius, Vol. I. Part II. Book II. Chap. 7.* ' He
took upon him not man, properly speaking, but the
human nature. For the Logos being in the womb
of the virgin assumed the human nature by forming a
body of the substance of Mary, and creating at the
same time a soul to animate it. Moreover, such was
his intimate and exclusive assumption of this nature,
that it never had any separate subsistence, independ
ent of the Logos ; but did then first subsist, and has
ever since subsisted, in the Logos alone.' I say noth
ing of the silence of Scripture respecting the above
arcana, though they are promulgated with as much
confidence, as if he who thus ventures to deliver them
on his own authority, had been a witness in the
womb of Mary to the mysteries which he describes.
He argues as if it were possible to assume human
'" 'Assumpsit humanam naturam, non hominem proprie loqnendo. Nam
jtiycs in utero virginis existens, humanam naturam sibi ipse, in seipso,
turn corpus ex substantia Mariae formando, tum animam simul creando,
assumpsit ; atque ita illam in seipso, et sibi assumpsit, ut ilia natura
nunquam per se substilerit, extra x'oysv -, sed et tum primum, et deinceps
semper in x'oya tantum substiterit.'

391
nature, without at the same time assuming man ; for
human nature, that is, the form of man in a material
mould, wherever it exists, constitutes at once the
proper and entire man, deficient in no part of his
essence, not even (if the words have any meaning)
in subsistence and personality. In reality, however,
subsistence is the same as substantial existence ; and
personality is nothing but a word perverted from its
proper use to patch up the threadbare theories of
theologians. It is certain that the Logos was made
that which he assumed ; if then he assumed the hu
man nature, not man, he was made not man, but the
human nature ; these two things being inseparable.
But before I proceed to demonstrate the weakness
of the received opinion, it is necessary to explain the
meaning of the three terms so frequently recurring,
nature, person, and hypostasis, which last word is
translated in Latin, substantia or subsistentia, sub
stance or subsistence. Nature in the present in
stance can signify nothing, but either the actual es
sence, or the properties of that essence. Since how
ever these properties are inseparable from the essence,
and the union of the natures is hypostatical, not ac
cidental, we must conclude that the term nature can
here mean only the essence itself. Person is a meta
phorical word, transferred from the stage to the
schools of theology, signifying any one individual
being, as the logicians express it ; any intelligent ens,
numerically one, whether God, or angel, or man.
The Greek word hypostasis can signify nothing in
the present case but what is expressed in Latin by
substantia or subsistentia, substance or subsistence ;
that is to say, a perfect essence existing per, se ;

392
whence it is generally put in opposition to merely
accidents. Hence the union of two natures in Christ must be
considered as the mutual hypostatic union of two es
sences ; for where there is a perfect substantial es
sence, there must also be an hypostasis or subsist
ence, inasmuch as they are the same thing ; so that
one Christ, one ens, one person, is formed of this
mutual hypostatic union of two natures or essences.
For it is no more to be feared that the union of two
hypostases should constitute two persons, than that
the same consequence should result from the union of
two natures, that is to say, of two essences. If how
ever the human nature of Christ never had any proper
and independent subsistence, or if the Son did not
take upon himself that subsistence, it would have
been no more possible for him to have been made
very man, or even to have assumed the real and per
fect substance or essence of man, than for the body
of Christ to be present in the sacrament without
quantity or local extension, as the Papists assert.*
This indeed they explain by his divine power, their
usual resort in such cases. It is however of no use
to allege a divine power, the existence of which can
not be proved on divine authority. There is then in
Christ a mutual hypostatic union of two natures, that
i.s to say, of two essences, of two substances, and
consequently of two persons ; nor does this union
prevent the respective properties of each from re-
' Those words . . . are as much against plain equity and the mercy
of religion, as those words of " take, eat, this is my body," elementally
understood, are against nature and sense.' Doctrine and Discipline qf
Divorce. Prose Works, II. 37.

393
maining individually distinct. That the fact is so,
is sufficiently certain ; the mode of union is unknown
to us ; and it is best to be ignorant of what God
wills should remain unknown. If indeed it were
allowable to define and determine with precision in
mysteries of this kind, why should not our philo
sophical inquisitiveness lead us to inquire respecting
the external form common to the two natures ? For
if the divine and human nature have coalesced in one
person, that is to say, as my opponents themselves
admit, in a reasonable being, numerically one, it fol
lows that these two natures must have also coalesced
in one external form. The consequence would be,
either that the divine form must have been annihilated
or blended with the human, which would be absurd,
unless they were previously the same ; or, vice versa,
that the human must have been annihilated or blended
with the divine, unless it exactly resembled the lat
ter ; or, which is the only remaining alternative,
Christ must be considered as having two forms. How
much better is it for us to know merely that the Son
of God, our Mediator, was made flesh, that he is
called both God and Man, and is such in reality ;
which is expressed in Greek by the single and ap
propriate term Osdvdganos. Since however God has
not revealed the mode in which this union is effected,
it behoves us to cease from devising subtle explana
tions, and to be contented with remaining wisely ig
norant. It may however be observed, that the opinion here
given respecting the hypostatic union agrees with
what was advanced relative to the Son of God in the
fifth chapter, namely, that his essence is not the same
vol. i. 50

394
with that of the Father ; for if it were the same, it
could not have coalesced in one person with man,
unless the Father were also included in the same
union, nay, unless man became one person with the
Father as well as with the Son ; which is impossible.
The reasons, therefore, which are given to prove
that he who was made flesh must necessarily be the
supreme God may safely be dismissed. It is urged,
first, from Heb. vii. 26, 27. that ' such an high priest
became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate
from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.'
These words, however, do not even prove that he is
God, much less that it was necessary that he should
be so ; not to mention, that he is ' holy,' not only as
God, but as man conceived of the Holy Spirit by the
power of the Most High ; nor is he said to be higher
than the heavens, but to be ' made higher than the
heavens.' Again, what is said of him v. 24. ' he
continueth ever,' is a property which he has in com
mon both with men and angels ; nor does it follow
that he is God because ' he is able to save them to
the uttermost that come unto God by him,' v. 25.
Lastly, ' the word of the oath, which was since the
law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for ever
more,' v. 28. so that he is not on this account ne
cessarily God. Besides, Scripture nowhere teaches,
that none but God is able to approach God, to take
away sin, to fulfil the law, to endure and van
quish the anger of God, the power of Satan, tempo
ral as well as eternal death, in a word, to restore to
us the blessings which we had lost ; but it teaches
that he has power to effect this ' to whom the Father
has given it ;' that is to say, the beloved Sonof God,

395
in whom he has himself testified that he is well
pleased. That Christ, therefore, since his assumption of hu
man flesh, remains one Christ, is a matter of faith ;
whether he retains his two-fold will and understand
ing, is a point respecting which, as Scripture is silent,
we are not concerned to inquire. For having emptied
himself* he might ' increase in wisdom,' Luke ii.
52. by means of , the understanding which he pre
viously possessed, and might ' know all things,' John
xxi. 17. namely, through the teaching of the Father,
as he himself acknowledged, f Nor is his twofold
will implied in the single passage Matt. xxvi. 39..
' not as I will, but as thou wilt,' unless he be the
same with the Father, which, as has been already
shown, cannot be admitted.
That Christ was very man, is evident from his
having a body, Luke xxiv. 39. ' a spirit hath not
*  he that dwelt above
High thron'd in secret bliss, for us frail dust
Emptied his glory, ev'n to nakedness. Ode on tlie Circumcision, 18.
Xewton remarks that the expression is taken from Philipp. ii. 7. though
notas in our translation, he made himself of no reputation, but as itis in
the original, Ixvtov ix'svum.
f . . . now by some strong motion I am led
Into the wilderness, to what intent
I know not yet, perhaps I need not know ;
For what concerns my knowledge God reveals.
Paradise Regained, I. 290.
Several of the expressions in the soliloquy from which these lines are
extracted are founded on the supposition, that Christ was not possessed
of all the knowledge which his human nature was capable of receiving
by virtue of tbe union of the two natures, and from the first moment of
that union. See the authorities by which this opinion is supported, in
the note on the above passage in Mr. Hawkins's recent edition of Mil
ton's poetical works.

396
flesh and bones, as ye see me have ;' a soul, Mark
x. 45. ' that he might give his life (animam, his soul)
a ransom for many ;' xiv 34. ' my soul is exceeding
sorrowful unto death ;' and a spirit, Luke xxiii. 46.
' into thy hands I commend my spirit.' It is true
that God attributes to himself also a soul and spirit ;
but there are reasons most distinctly assigned in
Scripture, why Christ should be very man. 1 Cor.
xv. 21. ' for since by man came death, by man came
also the resurrection of the dead.' Heb. ii. 14. ' for
asmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh
and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the
same, that through death he might destroy him that
had the power of death, that is, the devil.' v. 17.
' wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made
like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful
and faithful high priest.' v. 18. ' for in that he him
self hath suffered, being tempted, he is able to suc
cour them that are tempted.' iv. 15. 'we have not
an high priest which cannot be touched with the
feeling of our infirmities.' v. 2. 'who can have com
passion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of
the way ; for that he himself also is compassed with
infirmity.' Finally, God would not accept any other
sacrifice, inasmuch as any other would have been less
worthy. Heb. x. 5. ' sacrifice thou wouldest not,
but a body hast thou prepared me.' viii. 3. ' it is of
necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.'
ix. 22. ' without shedding of blood is no remission.'
Inasmuch, however, as the two natures constitute
one Christ, certain particulars appear to be predicated
of him absolutely, which properly apply to one of
his natures. This is what is called communicatio

397
idiomatum or proprietatum, where by the customary
forms of language what is peculiar to one of two na
tures is attributed to both jointly. John iii. 13. ' he
that came down from heaven, even the Son of man,
which is in heaven.' viii. 58. ' before Abraham was,
I am.' Accordingly, these and similar passages,
wdierever they occur, are to be understood xax' alio
xai aXXo, as theologians express it ; (for in speaking
of Christ the proper expression is not dXXos xai dXXos,
but aXXo xai alio, inasmuch as it refers, not to him
self, but to his person, or, in other words, his office
of mediator : for as to the subject of his two na
tures, it is too profound a mystery, in my judgement
at least, to warrant any positive assertion respecting
it.) It sometimes happens, on the other hand, that what
properly belongs to the compound nature of Christ, is
attributed to one of his natures only, 1 Tim. ii. 5.
' one mediator between God and men, the man Christ
Jesus.' Now he is not mediator inasmuch as he is
man, but inasmuch as he is Osdvdganos.
Scripture, however, more frequently distinguishes
what is peculiar to his human nature. Acts ii. 30.
' of the fruit of the loins of David, according to the
flesh.' See also Rom. ix. 5. 1 Pet. iii. 18. 'being
put to death in the flesh,' that is to say, being affected
chiefly and most visibly in his human nature. This
text will be adverted to again in the sixteenth
chapter. The incarnation of Christ consists of two parts ;
his conception and his nativity. Of his conception
the efficient cause was the Holy Spirit. Matt. i. 20.
' that which is conceived in her, is of the Holy

398
Ghost.' Luke i. 35. ' the Holy Ghost shall come
upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall over
shadow thee ; by which words I am inclined to un
derstand the - power and spirit of the Father himself,
as has been shown above ; according to Psal. xl.
6, 7. compared with Heb. x. 5, 6. ' a body hast
thou prepared me.'
The object of this miraculous cenception was to
obviate the contamination consequent upon the sin of
Adam. Heb. vii. 26. ' such an high priest became
us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from
sinners.' The nativity of Christ is predicted by all the pro
phets, and more particularly in the following passages.
Mic. v. 2. ' thou Bethlehem Ephratah ... out of
thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler
in Israel.' Isai. vii. 14. ' behold, a virgin shall con
ceive.' xi. 1. ' there shall come forth a rod out of the
stem of Jesse.' The history of the nativity is given
Matt. i. 18 — 25. Luke i. 42. 'blessed is the fruit
of thy womb.' ii. 6, 7. ' the days were accomplished
that she should be delivered.' v. 22. ' when the days
of her purification were accomplished.'
That the Messiah is already come is proved, in
contradiction to the belief of the Jews, by the fol
lowing arguments. First, the cities of Bethlehem
and Nazareth, (where according to prophecy Christ
was to be born and educated, Mic. v. 2. Zech. vi. 12.
' behold the man whose name is (Nezer, or) the
Branch,' are no longer in existence. Secondly, it
was predicted that his advent should take place while
the second temple and the Jewish government were
yet in being. Hag. ii. 7, 9. 'I will fill this house

399
with glory: the glory of this latter house shall be
greater than of the former.' Dan. ix. 24. ' seventy
weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy
holy city, to finish the transgression . . . and to anoint
the most Holy.' v. 26. 'after threescore and two
weeks shall Messiah be cut off . . . and the people of
the prince that shall come shall destroy the city.' v.
27. 'he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to
cease.' Zech. ix. 9. ' rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion, shout, O daughter of Jerusalem ; behold thy
king cometh unto thee.' Gen. xlix. 10. ' the sceptre
shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from be
tween his feet, until Shiloh come,' by which name the
three most ancient Jewish commentators, Onkelos,
Jonathan, and Hierosolymitanus, understood the
Messiah.* Dan. ii. 44. ' in the days of those kings
shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom.' Lastly,
because the Gentiles have long since put away the
worship of other gods, and embraced the faith of
Christ, which event, according to the prophecies, was
not to take place till after his coming, Gen. xlix. 10.
' unto him shall the gathering of the people be.' Isai.
ii. 2. ' it shall come to pass in the last days . . . that
all nations shall flow unto it.' See also Mic. iv. 1.
Hag. ii. 6. ' yet once, it is a little while . . . and I
will shake all nations.' Mai. iii. 1. ' the Lord, whom
ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple.'
* See Poole's Synopsis in loc. where, besides the authorities mention
ed by Milton, other Jewish commentators are cited as admitting the
same interpretation of the passag-e.

CHAPTER XV.
OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE MEDIATOR, AND OF HIE
THREEFOLD OFFICE.

A he nature of Christ the Mediator, human as well
as divine, has been already defined.
The mediatorial office of Christ is that whereby,
at the special appointment of God the Father, he
voluntarily performed, and continues to perform, on
behalf of man, whatever is requisite for obtaining
reconciliation ivith God, and eternal salvation*
At the special appointment of God the Father.
Isai. xiii. 1. ' behold my servant . . . mine elect in
whom my soul delighteth.' lxi. 1. ' Jehovah hath
anointed me.' Hence he derived the name of Mes
sias, of Christ, Psal. ii. of the messenger of the
covenant, Mai. iii. 1. and of the advocate, 1 John
ii. 1. 'we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ.' Psal. ex. 4. ' Jehovah hath sworn, and
will not repent.' Rom. iii. 25. ' whom God hath
*  Men hereafter may discern
From what consummate virtue I have chose
This perfect man, by merit call'd my Son,
To earn salvation for the sons of men.
Paradise Regained, I. 164.

401
set forth.' Heb. v. 4 — 6. ' so also Christ glorified
not himself to be made an high priest.' x. 9, 10. ' I
come to do thy will, O God ... by the which will
we are sanctified.' John iii. 16, 17. ' God gave
his only begotten Son . . . God sent not his Son into
the world to condemn — '. v. 34. ' God giveth not the
Spirit by measure unto him.' vi. 27. ' him hath God
the Father sealed.' x. 36. ' him whom the Father
hath sanctified and sent into the world.' Gal. i. 4.
' who gave himself . . . according to the will of God
and our Father.'
Voluntarily. John xv. 9. 'as the Father hath
loved me, so have I loved you.' Rom. viii. 35. ' who
shall separate us from the love of Christ ? shall
tribulation,' &c  ' or sword ? ' Eph. iii. 19. 'the
love of Christ which passeth knowledge.'
Whatever is requisite for obtaining reconciliation
with God. Rom. v. 10. 'we were reconciled to God
by the death of his Son.' 2 Cor. v. 18, 19. ' all
things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ : God was in Christ reconciling the
world unto himself.' 1 John ii. 2. ' he is the propitia
tion for our sins.'
Eternal salvation. Matt. i. 21. 'thou shalt call
his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their
sins.' 1 Tim. i. 15. ' Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners.' John i. 17. '.grace and truth
came by Jesus Christ.' 1 John iv. 9. ' God sent his
only begotten Son into the world, that we might live
by him.' 1 Thess. v. 9. 10. ' God hath not ap
pointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through
Jesus Christ our Lord.'
VOL. i. 51

402
The name and office of mediator is in a certain
sense ascribed to Moses, as a type of Christ.* Gal.
iii. 19. ' the law was ordained by angels in the hand
of a mediator.' What the nature of his office was, is
explained Acts vii. 38. ' this is he.. ..who received the
lively oracles to give unto us,' compared with Deut.
v. 5. 'I stood between Jehovah and you at that time
to show you the word of Jehovah.'
In treating of the functions of the Mediator, we are
to consider his threefold office, as prophet, priest, and
king, and his manner of administering the same.
His office as a prophet is to instruct his church in
heavenly truth, and to declare the ivhole ivill of Ms-
Father. Deut. xviii. 15. compared with Acts iii. 22.
and vii. 37. ' Jehovah thy God will raise up unto thee
a prophet from the midst of thee.' Isai. lxi. 1. 'Je
hovah hath annointed me to preach,' compared with
Luke iv. 18. Ezek. xxxiv. 23. 'I will set up one
shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my
servant David.' Zech. vi. 12, 13. 'behold the man....
he shall build the temple of Jehovah.' Matt, xxiii. 8.
' one is your master, even Christ.' Luke x. 22. ' no
man knoweth who the Father is, but the Son, and
he to whom the Son will reveal him.' Rev. v. 7.
* he took the book.' Hence he is called ' counsellor,'
Isai. ix. 6. and lv. 4. ' a witness, a leader and com
mander to the people.' John i. 9. ' that was the true
light which lighteth every man that cometh into the
* ...;.... To God is no access
Without mediator, whose high office now
Moses in figure bears, to introduce
One greater. Paradise Lost, XII. 239.

403
world.' 1 Cor. i. 24. ' the wisdom of God.' Heb.
iii. 1. 'the apostle of our profession.' xii. 2. 'the
author and finisher of our faith.' xiii. 20. ' that great
shepherd of the sheep.' Rev. i. 5. 'the faithful wit
ness.' Heb. i. 2. ' God hath in these last days
spoken unto us by his Son.' John i. 16 — 18. ' grace
and truth came by Jesus Christ.. ..the only begotten
Son. ...he hath declared him.' iv. 25. 'when Christ
is come, he will tell us all things.' xviii. 37. 'to this
end was I born, and for this cause came I into the
world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.'
xv. 1 5. ' all things that I have heard of my Father,
I have made known unto you.'
His prophetical office consists of two parts ; one
external, namely, the promulgation of divine truth ;
the other internal, to wit, the illumination of the
understanding. The former is mentioned Matt. iv. 1 7.
' from that time Jesus began to preach and to say — ; '
and Mark i. 14. the latter Luke xxiv. 32, 45. ' did
not our heart burn within us.... while he opened to us
the Scriptures ? then opened he their understanding,
that they might understand the Scriptures.' Acts
xvi. 14. ' the Lord opened the heart of Lydia, that
she attended unto the things that were spoken of
Paul.' John viii. 12. ' I am the light ofthe world;
he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but
shall have the light of life.'
Christ's prophetical office began with the creation
of the world, and will continue till the end of all
things. 1 Pet. i. 10, 11. ' the spirit of Christ which
was in them.... when it testified beforehand the suffer
ings of Christ,' &c. iii. 19. ' by which also he went
and preached unto the spirits in prison.' John i. 10.

404
'he was in the world. ...and the world knew him not'
Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. 'go ye therefore and teach all
nations. ...and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the
end of the world.' Acts i. 3. 'to whom also he
showed himself alive after his passion. ...speaking
of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.'
2 Cor. xiii. 3. ' since ye seek a proof of Christ
speaking in me.'
Christ's sacerdotal office is that whereby he once
offered himself to God the Father as a sacrifice for
sinners, and has always made, and still continues to
make intercession for us.
Christ's sacerdotal office. Psal. ex. 4. ' thou art
a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. Zech.
vi. 13. 'he shall be a priest upon his throne.' Heb.
v. 10. ' called of God an high priest after the order
of Melchizedek.' See also vii. 17, 20, 21.
Once offered; virtually, and as regarded the effi
cacy of his sacrifice, from the foundation of the world,
as above stated ; Rev. xiii. 8. actually in the fulness
of time, and that once for all, Heb. vii. 27. ix. 25,
26, 28. ' Christ was once offered.' x. 10, 12, 14.
' by one offering.' 1 Pet. iii. 18. ' Christ hath once
suffered for sins.'
Himself as a sacrifice. Isai. liii. 10, ' when thou
shalt make his soul an offering for sin.' Psal. xl. 6, 7.
' burnt offering and sin-offering hast thou not required :
then said I, Lo, I come.' Eph. v. 2. ' Christ hath
"¦iven himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to
God.' Heb. ix. 14. 'who through the eternal Spirit
offered himself.' Being God-man, he offered himself
in that capacity ; ' he who thought it not robbery to
be equal with God, made himself of no reputation,' &c

405
Philipp. ii. 6, 7. He offered himself, however, more
particularly in his human nature, as many passages of
Scripture expressly indicate. Matt. xx. 28. ' the Son
of man came. ...to give his life a ransom for many.'
Acts xx. 28. ' the church of God, which he hath pur
chased with his own blood.' Col. i. 20. ' through the
blood of his cross.' v. 22. ' in the body of his flesh
through death.' Heb. ix. 12. 'by his own blood he
entered in.' x. 10. ' through the offering ofthe body
of Jesus Christ.' 1 Pet. ii. 24. ' who his own self
bare our sins in his own body on the tree.' iv. 1.
' forasmuch as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh.'
I John iv. 10. 'he sent his son to be the propitiation
for our sins.' Rom. iii. 25. ' whom God hath set
forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood,
to declare his righteousness.'
For sinners. Isai. liii. 12. 'he bare the sin of
many.' 2 Cor. v. 21. 'he hath made him to be sin
for us, who knew no sin.' Gal. iii. 13. ' Christ hath
redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a
curse for us.' Heb. ix. 28. ' Christ was once offered
to bear the sins of many.' 1 Pet. ii. 24. ' who his
own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree.'
iii. 18. ' he hath once suffered for sins, the just for
the unjust.' 1 John ii. 2. ' he is the propitiation for
our sins.'
Has always made intercession. Isai. liii. 12. ' he
made intercession for the transgressors.' Jer. xxx. 21.
' I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach
unto me ; for who is this that engaged his heart to
approach unto me? ' John xiv. 6, 13. 'no man cometh
unto the Father, but by me.' xvii. 9. ' I pray for
them.' Rom. viii. 24. ' who maketh intercession for

406
us^ Heb. vii. 25. ' he ever liveth to make inter
cession for them.' viii. 1. 2. 'who is set on the right
hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, a
minister of the sanctuary.' He makes intercession,
first, by ' appearing in the presence of God for us,'
Heb. ix. 24. 1 John ii. 1. ' we have an advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.' Secondly,
by rendering our prayers agreeable to God. John
xiv. 13. ' whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that
will I do.' As to the expressions, Rom. viii. 26, 27.
' the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us,' and, ' he
maketh intercession for the saints according to the
will of God,' the preceding words of the same verse
show in what sense they are to be understood ; ' the
Spirit also helpeth our infirmities ; ' and Gal. iv. 6.
' God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father ; ' that is, encouraging
and persuading us to address God as our Father
through faith. This is easily distinguished from the
intercession which Christ makes for us in his sacer
dotal capacity.
The Kingly office of Christ is that whereby being
made King by God the Father, he governs and pre
serves, chiefly by an inward law and spiritual power,
ihe Church which he has purchased for himself, and
conquers and subdues its enemies.
Made King by God the Father. Psal. ii. 6. ' I
have set my King upon my holy hill.' ex. 1. com
pared with Matt. xxii. 44. ' the Lord said unto my
Lord, Sit thou on my right hand.' Ezek. xxxvii.
25. ' my servant David shall be their prince for ever.'
Dan. ii. 44. ' the God of heaven shall set up a king
dom.' vii. 14. ' there was given him dominion.'

407
Matt. xi. 27. ' all things are delivered unto me of my
Father.' xxviii. 18. 'all power is given unto me.'
Luke i. 32. ' the Lord God shall give unto him the
throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the
house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there
shall be no end.' Eph. i. 20—22. ' when he set him
at his own right hand . . . far above all principality—'.
Rev. i. 5. ' prince of the kings of the earth.' xix. 16.
' King of kings.'
His Church. Psal, ii. 6. ' yet have I set my
King upon my holy hill of Sion.' Matt. ii. 5, 6.
* thus it is written by the prophet ... out of thee
shall come a governor, that shall rule my people Is
rael.' Luke i. 33. ' he shall reign over the house of
Jacob.' Eph. i. 22. ' who gave him to be the head
over all things, to the church.' Col. i. 18. ' he is
the head of the body, the church.'
Chiefly by an inward law. Jer. xxxi. 31, 32.
compared with Heb. viii. 8. and x. 16. ' this is the
covenant that I will make with them ... I will put
my laws into their hearts.' Luke xvii. 21. ' behold
the kingdom of God is within you.' John iv. 23, 24.
' in spirit and in truth.' xviii. 36. ' my kingdom is not
of this world ; if my kingdom were of this world,
then would my servants fight' Hence the law of
the kingdom, the gift of the Spirit, was given at Je
rusalem on the fiftieth day from the passover in
Mount Sinai, Acts ii. 1. in sign that the old law was
superseded by the new, the law of bondage and of
the flesh by the law of the Spirit and of freedom.
Rom. xiv. 17. 'the kingdom of heaven is not meat
and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in
the Holy Ghost' Psal. Ixviii. 18. compared with

408
Eph. iv. 8. ' he gave gifts unto men,' that is, spiritual
gifts. Accordingly, the weapons of those who fight
under Christ as their King, are exclusively spiritual.
2 Cor. x. 4. 1 John v. 4. ' this is the victory that
overcometh the world.' Herein it is that the pre
eminent excellency of Christ's kingdom over all oth
ers, as well as the divine principles on which it is
founded, are manifested ; inasmuch as he governs
not the bodies of men alone, as the civil magistrate,
but their minds and consciences,* and that not by
force and fleshly weapons, but by what the world
esteems the weakest of all instruments.f Hence
external force ought never to be employed in the ad
ministration of the kingdom of Christ, which is the
church. Governs and preserves. Isai. ix. 6, 7. ' Counsellor
. . . the Prince of peace : of the increase of his gov
ernment and peace there shall be no end.' Jer.
xxiii. 5, 6. ' in his days Judah shall be saved.' John
x. 28. ' neither shall any man pluck them out of my
hand.' Heb. vii. 2. ' the King of righteousness . . .
King of peace.'
* .... To guide nations in the way of truth
By saving doctrine, and from error lead
To know, and knowing worship God aright,
Is yet more kingly ; this attracts the soul,
Governs the inner man, the nobler part;
That other o'er the body only reigns,
And oft by force, which to a generous mind,
So reigning, can be no sincere delight.
Paradise Regained, II. 473.
|  by small
Accomplishing great things, by things deem'd weak
Subverting worldly strong. Paradise Lost, XII. 566.

409
Overcomes and subdues his enemies. Psal. ii. 9.
' thou shalt break them with a rod of iron,' namely,
at his second coming. Psal. ex. 1, 2. compared
with Matt. xxii. 44. Dan. ii. 44. 'it shall break
in pieces and consume all these kingdoms.' The
world ; John xvi. 33. and 1 John v. 4. Death and
the law, and sin ; 1 Cor. xv. 26, 54 — 57. ' the sting
of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law :
but thanks be to God which giveth us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ' Satan; Rom. xvi.
20. Luke xix. 27. ' those mine enemies which would
not that I should reign over them, bring hither.'
Rev. xvii. 14. ' the Lamb shall overcome them.'
The kingdom of Christ is also styled the kingdom
of grace, and the kingdom of glory. The kingdom
of grace is the same as the kingdom of heaven,
which ' is at hand,' Matt. iii. 2. The kingdom of
glory is that which is destined to be made more man
ifest at his second advent.
The kingdom of Christ, as appears from the au
thorities just quoted, is, like his priesthood, eternal ;
that is, it will endure as long as the world shall last,
and as long as there shall be occasion for his media
torial office. This is clearly taught by the apostle,
1 Cor. xv. 24, 28. ' then cometh the end, when he
shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the
Father . . . and shall also himself be subject unto
him;' in like manner as a period is assigned to his
priestly office (although that also is called eternal) as
well as to his prophetical office, ' that God may be all
in all.' See more on this subject in the last chapter
of the present book, on the kingdom of Christ in
glory. vol. i. 52

CHAPTER XVI.

OF THE MINISTRY OF REDEMPTION.

XXaving treated of the mediatorial office, and its
threefold functions, we are now to consider the man
ner in which it is discharged. This includes the
state of humiliation to which our Redeemer submit
ted, as well as his state of exaltation.
The humiliation of Christ is that state in which
under his character of God-man he voluntarily sub
mitted himself to the divine justice, as well in life as
in death, for the purpose of undergoing all things
requisite to accomplish our redemption.
Under his character of God-man. Philipp. ii.
6 — 8. ' he made himself of no reputation, and took
upon him the form of a servant' Luke xxii. 43.
' there appeared an angel unto him from heaven,
strengthening him.' Now the presence of an angel
would have been superfluous, unless the divine na
ture of Christ, as well as his human, had needed sup
port. So also Matt, xxvii. 46. ' My God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me ?' If his divine nature
had not partaken of the trial, why was it not at hand
to sustain him when he demanded succour ? or, if it
had the ability, but not the will to help him, of what

411
avail was it to call upon his Father, whose will was
identically one with his own ?
In life. Rom. viii. 3. ' in the likeness of sinful
flesh.' This is conspicuous even from his birth,
Luke ii. 7. in his circumcision, Rom. xv. 8. by which
he became a ' a debtor to do the whole law,' Gal. v. 3.
whence an offering was made for him, Luke ii, 24 ;
in his flight into Egypt, Matt. iii. in his subjection to
his parents, Luke ii. 51 ; in his submitting to manual
labour, Mark vi. 3 ; in his baptism, Matt. iii. in his
temptation, Matt. iv. Heb. ii. 18. iv. 15 ; in his
poverty, Matt. viii. 20. 2 Cor. viii. 9. ' that ye
through his poverty might be rich ; ' in the persecu
tions, insults, and dangers which he underwent ; for
an account of which, together with the whole of his
passion, it is better to refer to the gospels, than to
cite the passages at length. To the same purport is
the prediction of Isaiah, 1. 6. 'I gave my back to the
smiters — .' Compare also xlix. 6, 7. liii 2. 3.
In death. Psal. xxii. Philipp. ii. 8. ' he became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.'
This death was ignominious in the highest degree ;
Deut. xxi. 23. ' he that is hanged, is accursed of
God.' The curse also to which we were obnoxious,
was transferred to him, Gal. iii. 13. accompanied
with a dreadful consciousness of the pouring out of
the divine wrath upon his head, which extorted from
him the dying exclamation, Matt, xxvii. 46. ' My God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me ? ' Lastly, he
was datained in the grave three days after death ;
1 Cor. xv. 4. And here may be found the solution
of the difficulty respecting the descent into hell,*
* It has not been questioned whether the soul of Christ descended into
hell, (as seenis to be implied in the words of Milton) which ' no Chris-

412
which has occasioned so much acrimonious contro
versy among divines ; for if Christ's death was real,
his soul must have died on the same day with his
body, as was above shown. Tliere is another ques
tion which seems less easy of solution ; namely,
whether he yielded to death in his divine nature like
wise. For not a few passages of Scripture intimate
that his divine nature was subjected to death conjointly
with his human ; passages too clear to be explained
away by the supposition of idiomatic language. Rom.
x. 9. ' if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved,' Him
whom we ought to confess with the mouth, God
raised from the dead. But he whom we ought to
confess with the mouth is ' the Lord Jesus,' that is,
the whole person of Jesus ; therefore God raised from
the dead the whole person of the Lord Jesus. 1 Cor.
ii. 8. ' had they known it, they would not have cru
cified the Lord of glory.' Gal. i. 1. ' not of men,
neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the
Father, who raised him from the dead.' Christ there
fore was not raised in his human nature alone, but in
the whole of his person ; and Paul received his mis
sion from him not as man, but as God-man. Philipp.
ii. 6 — 8. ' who being in the form of God.... made
himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form
tian can deny,' says St. Augustin, ' it is so clearly delivered in this
prephecy of the Psalmist (Psal. xvi. 8 — 10.) and application of the
apostle (Acts ii. 25)' but the controverted point has been, what that
hell was into which he descended. See the various opinions stated at
large, in Burnet and Beveridge On the Third Article ; Pearson, On the
Creed, Fifth Article ; see also Bp. Horsley's Sermon on 1 Pet. iii. 18 — 20-
Vol. II. 145.

413
of a servant.. ..he humbled himself, and became obe
dient unto death.' 1 John iii. 16. ' hereby perceive
we the love of God, because he laid down his life
for us.' Rev. i. 17, 18. ' I am the first and the last;
I am he that liveth, and was dead.' See also ii. 8.
The only uncertainty, therefore, arises from the words
of Christ to the thief, ' this day thou shalt be with
me in paradise ; ' a passage which has on other ac
counts given much trouble to the learned. As to the
conciseness of expression in 1 Pet. iii. 18. 1 consider
it as of comparatively little importance ; ' being put
to death in the flesh, but quickened by ' (or in) ' the
Spirit : ' since, if the antithesis be correct, the apostle's
intention is to specify, on the one hand, the part in
which he died, and on the other, that in which he was
quickened. Now that which was quickened, must
have been previously dead. But if ' the Spirit ' be
here put for that which causes life, it must be under
stood, on comparing it with less obscure texts of
Scripture, to signify the Spirit of God the Father.
The fact, that Christ became a sacrifice both in his
divine and human nature, is denied by none ; and as
it was requisite that the whole of the sacrifice should
be slain, Christ, who was the sacrificed lamb, must
be considered as slain in the whole of his nature.
To the divine justice. Luke xxiv. 26. ' ought not
Christ to have suffered these things ? ' Isai. liii. 6.
' Jehovah hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.'
The humiliation of Christ was succeeded by his
exaltation. The exaltation of Christ is that by which, having
triumphed over death, and laid aside the form of a
servant, he tvas exalted by God the Father to a state

414
of immortality and of the highest glory, partly by his
own merits,* partly by the gift ofthe Father, for the
benefit of mankind ; wherefore he rose again from
the dead, ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the
right hand of God.
Having triumphed over death, and laid aside the
form of a servant. Luke xxiv. 26. 'ought not Christ
to have suffered these things, and to enter into his
glory? ' Col. ii. 14, 15. 'having spoiled principalities
and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumph
ing over them in it'
He was exalted by God the Father. John x. 18.
' I have power to lay it down, and I have power to
take it again : this commandment have I received of
my Father.' Hence John ii. 19. 'destroy this tem
ple, and in three days I will raise it up,' namely,
because he had been so commanded by the Father,
as he acknowledges in the preceding quotation. Acts
ii. 24. ' whom God raised up, having loosed the
pains of death.' v. 33. ' being by the right hand of
God exalted.' v. 30, 31. 'the God of our fathers
raised up Jesus.. ..him hath God exalted with his
right hand to be a Prince.' See also x. 40. and xiii.
32 — 34. as above. Rom. i. 4. ' declared to be the
Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of
holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.' viii. 11.
' if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the
dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the
dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies.' 2 Cor.
xiii. 4. ' though he was crucified through weakness,
*  All power
I give thee ; reign for ever, and assume
Thy merits. Paradise Lost, III. 317.

415
yet he liveth by the power of God.' Eph. i. 19, 20.
' according to the working of his mighty power, which
he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the
dead.' Philipp. ii. 9. ' wherefore God also hath
highly exalted him.' Col. ii. 12. 'through the faith
of the operation of God, who hath raised him from
the dead.' Heb. ii. 7. ' thou crownedst him with
glory and honour.'
To a state of immortality. Acts xiii. 34. 'no more
to return to corruption.' Rom. vi. 9. ' Christ being
raised from the dead, dieth no more.'
Partly by his own merits, partly by the gift of the
Father. Rom. xiv. 9. ' to this end Christ both died....
that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.'
Philipp. ii. 9. ' wherefore God also hath highly ex
alted him, and given him a name which is above
every name.' Heb. ii. 9. ' we see Jesus.... crowned
with glory and honour, that he by the grace of God
should taste death for every man.' xii. 2. ' for the
joy that was set before him.'
For the benefit of mankind. See below, where
the object of Christ's entire ministry is considered.
This exaltation consists of three degrees ; his resur
rection, his ascension into heaven, and his sitting on
the right hand of God; all of which are specified
with sufficient clearness in the gospels and apostoli
cal writings. For his resurrection, see Matthew and
Mark, &c. and 1 Cor. xv. 4, &c. for his ascension
into heaven, Mark xvi. 19. Luke xxiv. 51. John
xiv. 12, &c. Acts i. 9, &c. Eph. iv. 8—10. 'he
ascended up far above all heavens.' His sitting on
the right hand of God, a Hebraism signifying that he
is exalted to a place of power and glory next to

416
God,* is mentioned Matt. xxvi. 64. ' sitting on the
right hand of power.' See also Mark xiv. 62. xvi. 19.
Eph. i. 20. 'he set him at his own right hand in the
heavenly places.' Heb. i. 3. ' sat down on the right
hand of the Majesty on high.' viii. 1. ' who is set on
the right hand of the throne of the Majesty.' See
also xii. 2. Psal. ex. 1. Acts vii. 55.
The human nature of Christ, although exalted to
a state of the highest glory, exists nevertheless in one
definite place, and has not, as some contend, the at
tribute of ubiquity. f Matt, xxviii. 6. ' he is not
here, for he is risen.' Luke xxiv. 51. ' he was part
ed from them and carried up into heaven.' John
xiv. 28. ' I go away, and come again unto you.'
Acts iii. 21. 'whom the heaven must receive until
the times of restitution of all things.'
As Christ emptied himself in both his natures, so
both participate in his exaltation;! his Godhead, by
* Regardless of the bliss wherein he sat
Second to thee. Paradise Lost, ill. 408.
 Who into glory him receiv'd
Where now he sits at the right of bliss.
Paradise Lost, VI. 891.
| This alludes to the doctrine of the Ubiquitarians, who held the om
nipresence of the human body of Christ. The opinion seems to have
been first maintained by Brentius, one of the earliest reformers, in
1560. Luther favored it in his controversy with Zuingle, but subse
quently acknowledged its difficulties, especially as connected with the
corporal presence in the Eucharist. After his death it was again ad
vanced by Brentius, supported by Chemnitius and Andraeas. Curcel-
lieus, Instit. V. 15. 9 — 15. argues against the doctrine.
| Therefore thy humiliation shall exalt
With thee thy manhood also to this throne ;
Here shalt thou sit incarnate, here shall reign
Both God and Man, Son both of God and Man.
Paradise Lest, III. 313.

417
its restoration and manifestation ; his manhood, by an
accession of glory. John xvii. 5. ' now, O Father,
glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory
which I had with thee before the world was.' Acts
xiii. 32, b3. 'he hath raised up Jesus again, as it is
also written in the second Psalm, Thou art my Son,
this day have I begotten thee.' Rom. i. 4. ' being
declared ' (or defined) ' to be the Son of God with pow
er, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resur
rection from the dead.'
The effect and design of the whole ministry of
mediation is, the satisfaction of divine justice on be
half of all men, and the conformation of the faithful.
to the image of Christ.
The satisfaction of Christ is the complete repara
tion made by him in his twofold capacity of God
and man, by the fulfilment of the law, and payment
of the required price for all mankind*
By the fulfilment of the law. Matt. v. 17. 'I
am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.' Psal. xl. 8, 9.
compared with Heb. x. 1,9. '1 come to do thy will,
O God.' Gal. iv. 5. 'to redeem them that were
under the law.' Col. ii. 14. ' blotting out the hand
writing of ordinances that was against us, which was
contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it
to his cross.' Rom. viii. 3, 4. ' that the righteous
ness of the law might be fulfilled.' Christ fulfilled
* Die be or justice must ; unless for him
Some other able, and as willing, pay
The rigid satisfaction, death for death. Paradise Lost, III. 209.
 So Man, as is most just,
Shall satisfy for man.Ibid. 294. Compare also XII. 415 — 419.
vol. i. 53

418
the law by perfect love to God and his neighbour,
until the time when he laid down his life for his
brethren, being made obedient unto his Father in all
things.* By payment of the required price for, that is to
say, instead of all mankind. Matt. xx. 28. Xvxgov
avri noXXav 'a ransom for many.' 1 Cor. vi. 20.
'ye are bought with a price.' 1 Tim. ii. 6. dvxi-
Xvxgov vnig ndvxav, ' a ransom for all.' The Greek
words clearly denote the substitution of one person
in the place of another. 1 Pet. i. 18. iXvxgeidrjxs,
' ye were redeemed . . . with the precious blood of
Christ, as of a lamb.' Rom. v. 10. ' we were re
conciled to God by the death of his Son.' iv. 25.
' for our offences.' 1 Cor. xv. 3. ' for our sins.'
2 Cor. v. 21. ' for us.' Tit. ii. 14. ' for us, that he
might redeem us.' See also Gal. i. 4. Heb. vii. 22.
' a surety.' x. 12. 'one sacrifice for sins.' v. 29.
' who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and
hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith
he was sanctified, an unholy thing.' It is in vain
that the evidence of these texts is endeavoured to be
evaded by those who maintain that Christ died, not
in our stead, and for our redemption, but merely for
our advantage in the abstract, and as an example to
mankind. f At the same time I confess myself un-
* The law of God exact he shall fulfil
Both by obedience and by love, though love
Alone fulfil the law. Paradise Lost, XII. 402.
f Giving to death, and dying to redeem. Paradise Lost, HI. 299.
Which line is thus explained by Warburton. ' Milton's system of di
vinity taught, not only that man was redeemed, but likewise that a real
price was paid for his redemption ; dying to redeem therefore signifying
only redemption in a vague uncertain sense, but imperfectly represents

119
able to perceive how those who consider the Son as
of the same essence with the Father, can explain
either his incarnation, or his satisfaction.
For all mankind. Rom. v. 18. ' the free, gift
came upon all men.' 2 Cor. v. 14. ' if one died for
all, then were all dead.' If this deduction be true,
then the converse is also true, namely, that if all were
dead, because Christ died for all, Christ died for all
who were dead ; that is, for all mankind. Eph. i. 10.
' that he might gather together in one all things
in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are
on earth;' all things therefore on earth without a
single exception, any more than in heaven. Col. i.
20. 'by him to reconcile all things.' 1 Tim. ii. 4.
' who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto
the knowledge of the truth.' Compare also v. 6.
Heb. ii. 9. ' for every man.' See also 2 Pet. iii. 9.
Further, Christ is said in many places to have been
given for the whole world. John iii. 16, 17. ' God
so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.' vi. 51. ' the bread that I
will give is my flesh, which 1 will give for the life of
the world.' See 1 John iv. 14. They however
who maintain that Christ made satisfaction for the
elect alone, reply, that these passages are to be un
derstood only of the elect who are in the world ; and
his system ; so imperfectly, that it may as well be called the Socinian ;
the price paid (which implies a proper redemption) is wanting. But to
pay a price implying a voluntary act, the poet therefore well expresses
it by giving to death, that is, giving himself to death ; so that the sense
of the line fully expresses Milton's notion ; heavenly love gave a price
for the redemption of mankind, and by virtue of that price really re
deemed them.'

420
that this is confirmed by its being said elsewhere that
Christ made satisfaction for us, that is, as they inter
pret it, for the elect. Rom. viii. 34. 2 Cor. v. 21.
Tit. ii. 14. That the elect, however, cannot be alone
intended, will be obvious to any one who examines
these texts with attention, if in the first passage from
St. John (for instance) the term elect be subjoined
by way of explanation to that of the world. ' So
God loved the world' (that is, the elect) ' that whoso
ever ' (of the elect) ' believeth in him should not perish.'
This would be absurd ; for which of the elect does
not believe ? It is obvious therefore that God here
divides the world into believers and unbelievers ; and
that in declaring, on the one hand, that ' whosoever
believeth in him shall not perish,' he implies on the
other, as a necessary consequence, that whosoever
believeth not, shall perish. Besides, where the world
is not used to signify all mankind, it is most com
monly put for the worst characters in it. John xiv.
17. ' even the Spirit of truth, whom the world can
not receive ;' xv. 19. ' the world hateth you ;' and
so in many other places. Again, where Christ is
said to be given for us, it is expressly declared that
the rest of the world is not excluded. 1 John ii. 2.
' not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole
world ;' words the most comprehensive that could
possibly have been used. The same explanation ap
plies to the texts in which Christ is said to lay down
his life ' for his sheep,' John x. 16. or ' for the
church,' Acts xx. 28. Eph. v. 23, 25. Besides, if,
as has been proved above, a sufficiency of grace be
imparted to all, it necessarily follows that a full and
efficacious satisfaction must have been made for all

421
by Christ, so far at least as depended on the counsel
and will of God ; inasmuch as without such satisfac
tion not the least portion of grace could possibly have
been vouchsafed. The passages in which Christ is
said to have ' given a ransom for many,' as Matt. xx.
28. aud Heb. ix. 28. to ' bear the sins of many,' &c.
afford no argument against the belief that he has given
a ransom for all ; for all are emphatically many. If
however it should be argued, that because Christ
gave his life for many, therefore he did not give it
for all, many other texts expressly negative this in
terpretation, and especially Rom. v. 19. ' as by one
man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by
the obedience of one shall many be made righteous ;'
for no one will deny that many here signifies all. Or
even if the expression for all should be explained to
mean for some, or in their own words, for classes of
individuals, not for individuals in every class, nothing
is gained by this interpretation ; not to mention the
departure from the usual signification of the word for
the sake of a peculiar hypothesis. For the testimony
of the sacred writings is not less strong to Christ's
having made satisfaction for each individual in every
class (as appears from the frequent assertions that he
died for all, and for the whole ivorld, and that he is
' not willing that any should perish,' 2 Pet. iii. 9.)
than the single text Rev. v. 9 is to his having died
for classes of individuals ; ' thou hast redeemed us to
God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue,
and people, and nation.' It will be proved, however,
that Christ has made satisfaction not for the elect
alone, but also for the reprobate, as they are called.
Matt, xviii. 11- ' the Son of Man is come to save

422
that which was lost.' Now all were lost ; he there
fore came to save all, the reprobate as well as those
who are called elect. John iii. 17. ' God sent not
his Son into the world to condemn the world,' (which
doctrine, nevertheless, must be maintained by those
who assert that Christ was sent for the elect only, to
the heavier condemnation of the reprobate) ' but that
the world through him might be saved ;' that is, the
reprobate ; for it would be superfluous to make such
a declaration with regard to the elect. See also John
xii. 47. vi. 32. 'my Father giveth you the true bread
from heaven ;' ' you,' that is, even though ye ' be
lieve not,' v. 36. ' he giveth,' that is, he offers in
good faith : ' for the bread of God . . . giveth life un
to the world,' that is, to all men, inasmuch as he gives
it even to you who believe not, provided that you on
your part do not reject it. Acts xvii. 30, 31. 'now
he commandeth all men every where to repent ; be
cause he hath appointed a day in the which he will
judge the world in righteousness.' Those whom he
will judge, he undoubtedly calls to repentance : but
he will judge all the world individually ; therefore he
calls all the world individually to repentance. But
this gracious call could have been vouchsafed to none,
had not Christ interfered to make such a satisfaction
as should be not merely sufficient in itself, but effec
tual, so far as the divine will was concerned, for the
salvation of all mankind ; unless we are to suppose
that the call is not made in earnest. Now the call to
repentance and the gift of grace are from the Deity ;
their acceptance is the result of faith : if therefore
the efficacy of Christ's satisfaction be lost through
want of faith, this does not prove that an effectual

423
satisfaction has not. been made, but that the offer has
not been accepted. Heb. x. 29. ' who hath trodden
under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the
blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified,
an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the spirit
of grace.' 2 Pet. ii. 1. ' even denying the Lord that
bought them, and bringing upon themselves swift de
struction.' Forasmuch then as all mankind are di
vided into elect and reprobate, in behalf of both of
whom Christ has made satisfaction, he has made
satisfaction lor all. So far indeed is this satisfaction
from regarding the elect alone, as is commonly be
lieved, to the exclusion of sinners in general, that the
very contrary is the case ; it regards all sinners what
ever, and it regards them expressly as sinners ;
whereas it only regards the elect in so far as they
were previously sinners. Rom. iii. 25. ' to declare
his righteousness for the remission of sins that are
past, through the forbearance of God.' 1 Tim. i. 15.
' this is a faithful saying, and worthy of all accepta
tion, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners, of whom I am chief.' But it is objected,
Christ ' does not pray for the world,' John xvii. 9.
This is true of that particular prayer, which was
dedicated chiefly to the benefit of his disciples ; but
on the cross he prayed even for his murderers, Luke
xxiii. 34. ' Father forgive them.' He exhorts us-
likewise by the mouth of the apostle, 1 Tim. ii. lf
&c. ' that supplications be made for all men ; ' and
for this especial reason : ' for this is good and accep
table in the sight of God our Saviour, who will have
all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge
of the truth.' They also object Tit. ii. 14. ' who

424
gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all
iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people,
zealous of good works;' 'a peculiar people,' not
therefore the whole of mankind. I reply, that re
demption is not purification ; Christ has redeemed all
transgressors, but he purifies only such as are zealous
of good works, that is, believers ; for no works are
good, unless done in faith. All are redeemed, even
those who know not of it, or who are yet enemies
and sinners, Rom. v. 6 — 8, 10. but none are purified,
except their wills be consenting, and they have faith ;
as Scripture everywhere testifies. Ezek. xii. 2. ' they
have ears to hear, and hear not, for they are a rebel
lious house.' Matt, xxiii. 37. ' how often would I
have gathered thy children together . . . and ye wrould
not' Luke vii. 30. ' the Pharisees rejected the
counsel of God against themselves.' John v. 34, 40.
' these things I say, that ye might be saved . . . and ye
will not come to me that ye might have life.' Acts
vii. 51. ' ye do always resist the Holy Ghost'
2 Thess. ii. 10. ' because they received not the love
of the truth, that they might be saved.' Acts x. 43.
' through his name whosoever believeth in him shall
receive remission of sins.' xv. 9. ' purifying their
hearts by faith.' Rom. iii. 22. ' by faith of Jesus
Christ unto all and upon all them that believe ; for
there is no difference ; for all have sinned — : through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus ; whom God
hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his
blood.' Gal. iii. 22. ' the Scripture hath concluded
all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus
Christ might be given to them that believe.'

425
The complete reparation made by Christ. Heb.
x. 14. ' by one offering he hath perfected for ever
them that are sanctified.' 1 John i. 7. 'the blood
of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.' Tit. ii. 14.
' that he might redeem us from all iniquity.' Heb.
i. 3. ' when he had by himself purged our sins.'
vii. 22. ' by so much was Jesus made a surety of
a better testament' ix. 14. ' how much more shall
the blood of Christ.... purge your conscience.' He
made full satisfaction, because such was the will of
his Father, who said ' This is my beloved Son in
whom I am well pleased ; ' implying that he had
himself sanctified and sealed him to his office.
That the satisfaction made by Christ was the effect
and end proposed by the whole of his ministry, ap
pears from the following passages.
First, of his humiliation. Isai. liii. 4 — 11. ' by his
knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many ;
for he shall bear their iniquities.' Rom. iii. 25. ' to
be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare
his righteousness.' v. 9. 'being now justified by his
blood.' 2 Cor. v. 21. ' he hath made him to be sin
for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him.' Eph. v. 2. ' Christ
hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice
to God for a sweet-smelling savour.' 1 Pet. ii. 24.
' who his own self bare our sins in his own body on
the tree, that we being dead to sins, should live unto
righteousness.' Secondly, of his exaltation. Rom. v. 10. ' much
more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.'
viii. 34. ' who is he that condemneth ? it is Christ
that died, yea rather that js risen again, who is even
vol. i. 54

426
at the right hand of God, who maketh intercession
for us.' 1 Cor. xv. 17. 'if Christ be not raised....
ye are yet in your sins.' Heb. ix. 24. ' Christ is en
tered.... into heaven itself, now to appear in the pres
ence of God for us.' 1 Pet. iii. 21. ' the answer of
a good conscience towards God, by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ.' 1 John ii. 1. ' we have an advocate
with the Father.'
The effect of Christ's satisfaction is sufficient to
produce the reconciliation of God the Father with
man. John vi. 37, 39. ' all that the Father giveth
me shall come, to me.' Rom. v. 10, 11. 'when we
were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the
death of his Son.' 2 Cor. ii. 16. ' to the other the
savour of life unto life.' v. 19. ' God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their
trespasses unto them.' Eph. i. 6. 'to the praise of
the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us ac
cepted in the beloved.'
The second object of the ministry of the Mediator
is, that we may be conformed to the image of Christ,
as well in his state of humiliation as of exaltation.
Rom. viii. 29. ' to be conformed to the image of his
Son.' In his state of humiliation. Rom. vi. 4. ' there
fore we are buried with him.' v. 5. ' for if we have
been planted together in the likeness of his death—.'
v. 8. 'if we be dead with Christ — .' v. 11. 'reckon
ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but
alive unto God — .' viii. 17. 'if so be that we suffer
with him, that we may be also glorified together.'
Gal. ii. 20. ' I am crucified with Christ.... but Christ
liveth in me.' 2 Tim. ii. 11, 12. ' if we be dead

427
with him, we shall also live with him.' Philipp. iii. 10.
' that I may know him, and the power of his resur
rection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being
made conformable unto his death.' Col. i. 24. 'who
now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that
which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh
for his body's sake, which is the church.' 1 Pet.
iv. 13. 'rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of
Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be re
vealed, ye may be glad also.'
In his state of exaltation. Matt, xxvii. 52, 53.
' the graves were opened.' John xii. 32. ' I, if I be
lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.'
xiv. 2 — 4. 'I go to prepare a place for you. ...and I
will receive you unto myself.' xvi. 7. ' it is expedient
for you that I go away — .' xvii. 22. 'the glory which
thou gavest me, I have given them.' Rom. iv. 25.
' who was raised again for our justification.' vi. 4. 5.
' like as Christ was raised up from the dead — .' 1 Cor.
xv. 13. 'if there be no resurrection from the dead,
then is Christ not risen.' v. 20. ' Jie first-fruits of
them that slept.' Eph. ii, 5, 6. ' God hath quickened
us together with Christ.. ..and hath raised us up to
gether, and made us sit together in heavenly places in
in Christ Jesus.' Philipp. iii. 21. ' who shall change
Our vile body — .' Col. i. 18. 'the first-born from
the dead.' iii. 1, 2, &c. ' if ye then be risen with
Christ — .' 1 Thess. iv. 14. ' even so them also which
sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.' Heb. x.
19,20. 'having boldness to enter into the holiest — .'
1 Pet. i. 3, 4. ' which hath begotten us again by a
lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from
the dead.'

428
So far, therefore, as regards the satisfaction of
Christ, and our conformity to his humiliation, the
restoration of man is of merit ; in which sense those
texts are to be understood which convey a notion of
recompense and reward. Matt. v. 12. ' rejoice and
be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven.'
Rom. ii. 6. 7. ' who will render to every man accord
ing to his deeds ; to them who by patient continuance
in well doing seek for glory and honour and immor
tality, eternal life.' 2 Cor. iv. 17. 'for our light
affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us
a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.'
Philipp. iii. 14. 'I press toward the mark for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.'
2 Thess. i. 5 — 7. ' which is a manifest token of the
righteous judgement of God, that ye may be counted
worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also
suffer ; seeing it is a righteous thing with God to
recompense tribulation to them that trouble you, and
to you who are troubled, rest with us — .' 2 Tim.
iv. 8. ' there is laid up for me a crown of righteous
ness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give
me at that day, and not to me onl}r, but unto all them
also that love his appearing.' Heb. vi. 10. 'for God
is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of
love.' 1 John i. 9. ' if we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just' Rev. iii. 4. 'they shall walk with
me in white; for they are worthy.' Nor need we
fear, lest in thus believing we should lend any sup
port to the doctrine of human merits. For our con
formity to the image of Christ is as far from adding
anything to the full and perfect satisfaction made by
him, as our works are from adding to faith: it is faith

429
that justifies, but a faith not destitute of works: and
in like manner, if we deserve anything, if there be
any worthiness in us on any ground whatever, it is
God that hath made us worthy in Christ. Col. i. 12.
' giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us
meet to be partakers of the inheritance.' 2 Thess.
i. 11. ' we pray always for you that our God would
count you worthy of this calling.' See more on this
subject in Chap. xxii. on Justification.
On the other hand, so far as regards the election of
Christ to the office of Mediator by God the Father,
and our own election to life by the same Father, the
restoration of man is purely of grace ; whence the
Father is so often said in the gospel to have given
those that are the Son's to the Son, and the Son to
those that are the Son's.
The fable of a purgatory, in which, as the Papists
feign, the sins of men are cleansed and purged away
by fire, is refuted by many considerations, but above
all by that of the full satisfaction of Christ. For
(besides that there is no mention of any such place in
Scripture) if it be true that the blood of Christ has
made complete expiation for us, and purified us
thoroughly from all stains, it follows that there is
nothing left for the fire to purge. To those who un
derstand the fire mentioned in I Cor. iii. 13, 15. of a
real fire, I reply, that the apostle is not here speaking
of the flames of purgatory, but of a metaphorical fire,
appointed to try, not mankind in general, but the
false teachers, whose doctrine the day, that is, the
light of truth, shall declare, whether it was on the
one hand disguised and impaired by false ornaments,
or whether on the other hand it remained neglected

430
and without cultivation. Like the fiery trial men
tioned 1 Pet. iv. 12. it proves us in this world, not
purges us in the next. Besides, all retribution, all
endurance of good or evil subsequent to this life,
is deferred till the day when Christ shall sit in
judgement, 2 Cor. v. 10. ' that every man may re
ceive the things done in his body, according to that
he hath done, whether it be good or bad.' And ifit
be true, as shown in a preceding chapter, that the
soul as well as the body sleeps till the day of resur
rection, no stronger argument can be urged against
the existence of a purgatory. Lastly, it is certain
that to those who are to be saved there is nothing
intervening, except death, between ' the earthly house '
of this life, and 'the house eternal in the heavens,'
2 Cor. v. 1. 2 Tim. iv. 8. ' there is laid up for me a
crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
Judge, shall give me at that day.'

CHAPTER XVII.
OF MAN'S RENOVATION, INCLUDING HIS CALLING.

Having concluded the subject of man's redemption,
his renovation is next to be considered.
The renovation of man is that change whereby he
who was before under the curse, and obnoxious to
the divine wrath, is brought into a state of grace.
Eph. ii. 3, 5, &c. ' we were by nature the children
of wrath.. ..by grace ye are saved.' i. 3, 5. ' who hath
blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ.' Col. iii. 10. ' and have put on the
new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the
image of him that created him.' Eph. iv. 23, 24.
1 that ye be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and
that ye put on the new man, which after God is
created in righteousness and true holiness.' 2 Cor.
iv. 16. ' the inward man is renewed day by day.'
Tit. iii. 5. ' by the washing of regeneration, and re
newing of the Holy Ghost.' Rom. xii. 2. ' by the
renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is
that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.'
Heb. vi. 4, 6. ' for it is impossible for those who were
once enlightened....if they shall fall away, to renew
them again to repentance.'

432
In renovation two things are to be considered ; the
mode by w?hich man is renewed, and the manifesta
tion of that mode.
The mode by which man is renewed, is either na
tural or supernatural.
By the natural mode, I mean that which influences
the natural affections alone. This includes the calling
of the natural man, and the consequent change in his
character. The calling of man is that natural mode of reno
vation whereby God the Father, according to his
purpose in Christ, invites fallen man to a knowledge
of the way in which he is to be propitiated and serv
ed; insomuch that believers, through his gratuitous
kindness, are called to salvation, and such as refuse
to believe are left without excuse.
Whereby God the Father. Acts ii. 39. ' to as
many as the Lord our God shall call.' 1 Cor. i. 9.
' bv whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his
Son.' 2 Cor. v. 20. ' as though God did beseech
you by us.' John vi. 37. ' all that the Father giveth
me.' v. 44. ' except the Father which hath sent me
draw him.' 2 Thess. ii. 13, 14. ' the Spirit 
whereunto he called you.' 1 Pet. v. 10. ' the God
of all grace, who hath called us.' 2 Pet. i. 3.
' through the knowledge of him that hath called us.'
According to his purpose. Rom. viii. 28 — 30.
1 the called according to his purpose.' 2 Tim. i. 9.
' who hath called us with an holy calling . . . accord
ing to his own purpose and grace.'
In Christ. Gen. iii. 15. ' it shall bruise thy head.'
xxii. 18. ' in thy seed shall all the nations of the
earth be blessed.' 1 Cor. i. 9. ' unto the fellowship

433
of his Son.' Gal. i. 6. ' into the grace of Christ'
1 Pet. v. 10. ' who hath called us by Christ Jesus.'
To a knowledge of the way in which he is to be
propitiated and served. Gen. xvii. 1. 'walk before
me and be thou perfect'
Through his gratuitous kindness. Isai. Iv. 1,
&c. ' come buy wine and milk without money and
without price.' lxv. 1. ' I am sought of them that
asked not for me ; I am found of them that sought
me not ; I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation
that was not called by my name.'
Believers are called to salvation. 1 Tim. vi. 12.
' lay hold on eternal life.' 1 Thess. ii. 12. 'who
hath called you to his kingdom and glory.' See also
2 Thess. ii. 14. 1 Pet. ii. 9. 'out of darkness into
his marvellous light.' v. 10. ' who hath called us unto
his eternal glory.'
Such as refuse to believe are left without excuse.
Prov. i. 24. ' because I have called, and ye refused
... I also will laugh at your calamity.' John xv. 22.
' If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had
not had sin ; but now they have no cloak for their
sin.' Rom. i. 18 — 20. ' who hold the truth in un
righteousness : because that which may be known of
God is manifest in them ... for the invisible things
of him from the creation of the world are clearly
seen ... so that they are without excuse.' Those
therefore who have not been called, are not without
excuse x. 14. ' how shall they believe in him of
whom they have not heard ?'
This calling is either general or special. The gen
eral calling is that whereby God invites the whole of
mankind, in various ways, but all of them sufficient
vol. i. 55

434
for the purpose, to the knowledge of the true Deity.
John i. 9. ' that was the true light which lighteth
every man that cometh into the world.' Acts xiv. 17.
' he left not himself without witness. Rom. i. 19.
' because that which may be known of God is mani
fest in them.' ii. 15. ' which shew the work of the
law written in their hearts, their conscience also bear
ing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accus
ing or else excusing one another.'
It may be objected, that all have not known Christ.
I answer, that this proves nothing against the doc
trine, that all are called in Christ alone ; inasmuch as,
had he not been given to the world, God would have
called no one : and as the ransom he has paid is in
itself sufficient for the redemption of all mankind, all
are called to partake of its benefits, though all may
not be aware of the source from which they flow.
For if Job believed that his sacrifice could avail for
his sons, who wrere not present at its offering, and
were perhaps thinking of nothing less, i. 5. if the
returned Jews believed that their sacrifices could be
available for the ten tribes, who were then far dis
tant, and ignorant of what was passing at Jerusalem ;
how much more ought we to believe that the perfect
sacrifice of Christ may be abundantly sufficient even
for those who have never heard of the name of Christ,
and who believe only in God ? This will be treated
more at large under the head of faith.
God's special calling is that whereby he, at the
time which he thinks proper, invites particular indi
viduals, elect as well as reprobate, more frequently,
and with a more marked call than others.

435
Particular individuals in preference to others.
Thus he called Abraham from his father's house, who
probably expected no such call, Gen. xii. 1, &c. and
who was even an idolater at the time.* Josh. xxiv.
2, 3. ' they served other gods, and I took your father
Abraham from the other side of the flood.' So also
he called the people of Israel, for his name's sake and
for the sake of the promises made to their fathers.
Psal. cxlvii. 19, 20. ' he sheweth his word unto Ja
cob ... he hath not dealt so with any nation, and as
for his judgements, they have not known them.'
Another reason is given Matt. ix. 13. ' I am not come
to call the righteous, but sinners.' xv. 26. ' it is not
meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to
dogs.' Acts xvi. 6, 7. ' they were forbidden of the
Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia . . . they as
sayed to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered them
not' v. 9. 'a vision appeared to Paul in the night.5
Elect. Rom. viii. 28 — 30. ' to them that love
God, to them who are the called, according to his
purpose. 1 Cor. i. 26. ' ye see your calling, breth-
ten . . . God hath chosen the foolish things of the
world.' 2 Tim. i. 9. ' with an holy calling, accord
ing to his own purpose and grace.' Rev. xix. 9.
' blessed are they which are called unto the marriage
supper Of the Lamb.'
As well as reprobate. Isai. xxviii. 13. ' the word
of Jehovah was unto them precept upon precept.'
Ezek. ii. 4, 5. ' they are impudent children and stiff-
* Him on this side Euphrates yet residing,
Bred up in idol-worship. Paradise Lost, XII. 114.
Yet he at length, time to himself best known,
Rememb'ring Abraham, by some wond'rous call
May bring them back. Paradise Regained, III. 433.

436
hearted ; I do send thee unto them.' See also v. 7.
iii. 7, 11, 27. Matt. x. 18. ' for a testimony against
them and the Gentiles.' xi. 21. 'woe unto thee,
Chorazin ." xxii. 8, 9. ' they which were bidden were
not worthy ... as many as ye shall find, bid to the
marriage.' v. 10. 'both bad and good.' xxiii. 37.
' how often would I have gathered your children to
gether, and ye would not' Luke vii. 30. ' the Phar
isees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against
themselves.' Acts vii. 51. ' ye do always resist the
Holy Ghost.' xiii. 46. ' seeing ye put it from you,
and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life.'
At the time which he thinks proper. Matt. xx.
1, 3, &c. ' he went out about the third hour.' Acts
xiv. 16. 'who in times past suffered all nations to
walk in their own ways.' xvii. 27, 30. ' the times
of this ignorance God winked at ; but now command
eth all men every where to repent.' Eph. iii. 5.
* which in other ages was not made known.' Rom.
xvi. 25. ' which was kept secret since the world be
gan.' On the promulgation of the gospel, a new
command was given: Matt, xxviii. 19. 'go ye there
fore and teach all nations.' Mark xvi. 15. ' preach
the gospel to every creature.' Rom. x. 18. ' have they
not heard ? yes verily, their sound went into all the
earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.'
Col. i. 26. ' the mystery which hath been hid for
a;res . . . but now is made manifest.'
a The change which takes place in man by reason
of his calling, is that whereby the natural mind and
will of man being partially renewed by a divine im
pulse, are led to seek the knowledge of God, and for
the time, at least, undergo an alteration for the better.

437
Inasmuch as this change is from God, those in
whom it takes place are said to have been enlight
ened, and to be endued with power to will what is
good. This is ascribed sometimes to the Father :
Eph. i. 17, 18. 'that the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ. ...may give unto you the spirit of knowledge....
the eyes of your understanding being enlightened.'
2 Cor. iv. 6. ' God hath shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge — .' James i. 17. ' every
good gift cometh down from the Father of lights.'
Luke xi. 13. ' how much more shall your heavenly
Father give the Holy Spirit' Sometimes to the Son:
John i. 9. ' that was the true light which lighteth
every man that cometh into the world.' Sometimes
to the Holy Spirit : Heb.vi. 4, &c. 'those who were
once enlightened. ...and were made partakers of the
Holy Ghost.'
As this change is of the nature of an effect pro
duced on man, and an answer, as it were, to the call
of God, it is sometimes spoken of under the metaphor
of hearing or hearkening, (this faculty itself, however,
being usually described as a gift from God) some
times under that of tasting. Hearing : Matt. xi. 15.
' he that hath ears to hear, let him hear.' Thus
Herod is said 'to have heard' John the Baptist
'gladly.' Mark vi. 20. So also Acts xxvi. 28.
< Agrippa was willing to hear Paul.' xvi. 14. 'whose
heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the
things spoken of Paul.' Rom. vi. 17. ' God be thanked
that.. ..ye have obeyed from the heart,' &c. (ex corde
auscultastis). • Heb. iii. 7. 'to-day if ye will hear his
voice.' Tasting: Heb. vi. 4. 'it is impossible for
those who were once enlightened, and have tasted

438
of the heavenly gift... if they shall fall away — .'
Even the weakest of man's efforts is ascribed to the
same source. Luke xi. 13. ' how much more shall
your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them
that ask him.' Philipp. ii. 12, 13. ' work out your
own salvation with fear and trembling ; for it is God
that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good
pleasure.' This can only imply that he works in us
the power of acting freely, of which, since our fall,
we were incapable, except by means of a calling and
renewal. For the power of volition cannot be wrought
in us, without the power of free agency being at the
same time imparted; since it is in this power that
the will itself consists.
The parts of this change, considered as an effect,
are two ; repentance, and a corresponding faith.
Both the one and the other of these feelings may be
either the genuine beginnings of conversion, or the
mere effect of nature, or, lastly, they may be alto
gether fictitious ; and repentance of this kind, or a
transient sorrow for past sin, bears the same relation
to solid and lasting repentance, which the faith cor
responding to it bears to a saving faith.* I distinguish
between the two species of repentance for the sake of
* Ut pcenitentia ad resipiscentiam, ita fides hujusmodi se habet ad fidem
salvificam. This is probably an allusion to the distinction made by
Lactantius between these two words. ' Is enim quem facti sui pcenitet,
errorem suum pristinum intelligit : ideoque Grasci melius et significantius
fitTxvoixv dicunt, quam nos possimus resipiscentiam dicere ; resipiscit
enim, ac mentem suam quasi ab insania recipit, quem errati pig-it, cas-
ligatque seipsum dementias, et confirmat animum suum ad rectius viven-
dum ; tum illud maxime cavet, ne rursus in eosdem biqueos inducatur.'
Lib. 6. De Vero Cultu, c. 24. Tertullian however in his treatise on
Repentance, and the Fathers in general, use the two words indis
criminately.

439
clearness, although I do not deny that the same word
is indiscriminately employed to denote the temporary
and the permanent affection ; in like manner as the
various kinds of faith are all expressed in Scripture
by the same term.
This secondary species of repentance (in Greek
fisxapiXsia) is that whereby a man abstains from sin
through fear of punishment, and obeys the call of
God merely for the sake of his own salvation.
Through fear of punishment. Jer. vi. 8. 'be thou
instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from
thee, lest I make thee desolate.' Rom. ii. 15. 'their
conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts
the meanwhile accusing one another.' 2 Cor. vii. 10.
' the sorrow of the world worketh death.' Malt.
xix. 22. 'he went away sorrowful.' Gen. iv. 13.
' my punishment is greater than I can bear.' Numb.
xxiii. 10. ' let me die the death of the righteous, and
let my last end be like his.'
For the sake of his own salvation. Matt. xix. 16,
' what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal
life?' Ezek. xviii. 21, 28. 'if the wicked will turn....
he shall surely live, he shall not die.' See also xxxiii.
14 — 16. Hos. vii. 14. 'they have not cried unto me
with their heart, when they howled upon their beds :
they assemble themselves for corn and wine, and they
rebel against me.' Joel i. 5. ' because of the new
wine, for it is cut off from thy mouth.'
This kind of repentance is common to the regen
erate and to the unregenerate. Examples among the
unregenerate are Cain, Esau, Pharaoh, Saul, Ahabf
Judas, and many others, in whom contrition, and con
fession of sins, and other marks of repentance, are

440
perceptible. Exod. ix. 27. ' I have sinned this time;
Jehovah is righteous, and I and my people are
wicked.' 2 Sam. xv. 24. ' 1 have sinned, for I have
transgressed the commandment of Jehovah.'
Repentance is not to be deferred. 2 Cor. vi. 2.
' for he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted,
and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee :
behold, now is the accepted time ; behold, now is the
day of salvation.' Heb. iii. 7, 8. 'to-day, if ye will
hear his voice, harden not your hearts.'
Among the most striking exhortations to repentance
in Scripture are Deut. xxx. 1, &c. Job xi. 13, &c.
2 Chron. xxx. 6. Isai. i. 16. &c. lvii. 19, &c. Jer.
iv. 1, &c. xviii. 8. Hos. xiv. 1, &c. All exhorta
tion, however, would be addressed in vain to such as
were not in some measure renewed, at least in the
natural mode here described ; that is to say, who
were not endued with some portion of mental judge
ment and liberty of will.
The faith corresponding to this species of repentance
is an assent, likewise natural, yielded to the call of
God, and accompanied by a trust which is in like
manner natural, and often vain. I have described
this assent as yielded to the call of God, inasmuch
as faith, of whatever kind, can only be founded on
divine testimony in matters relating to God. Rom.
x. 17. ' faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the
word of God.'
This faith is commonly distinguished into the sev
eral degrees of historical faith, temporary faith, and
faith in miracles. Any faith, however, may be tem
porary ; so may repentance itself : as will be here
after shown.

441
Historical faith consists in an assent to the truth of
the scripture history, and to sound doctrine. This
faith is necessary to salvation, but is not in itself a
saving faith. 1 Tim. i. 19. ' holding faith and a
good conscience, which some having put away con
cerning faith have made shipwreck.' iv. 1. ' some
shall depart from the faith, giving heed to. ...doctrines
of devils.' Heb. xi. 6. ' he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them
that diligently seek him.' James ii. 19. 'the devils
also believe and tremble.'
Temporary faith is that which assents to hearing,
and exercises a certain degree of trust in God, but
generally of that kind only which is termed natural.
I say generally, because there is no reason why a
regenerate faith should not itself sometimes prove
merely temporary, owing to the remains of human
frailty still inherent in us ; this however seldom hap
pens, as will be argued hereafter under the head of
final perseverance. Matt. xiii. 20, 21. 'he that
heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it :
yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while.'
Luke viii. 13. ' which for a time believe, and in time
of temptation fall away.' John vi. 66. ' from that
time many of his disciples went back.' Acts viii. 13.
' then Simon himself believed also, and was baptized.'
v. 18. ' when Simon saw that through the laying On
of the apostles' hands,' &c. v. 21. ' thy heart is not
right in the sight of God.' 1 Tim. v. 12. 'having
damnation, because they have cast off their first faith.'
Faith in miracles is that whereby any one is endued
with the power of working miracles in the name of
God, or whereby he believes that another is endued
vol. i. 56

442
with this power. Matt. vii. 22. ' have we not prophe
sied in thy name, and in thy name done many won
derful works ? ' See also x. 8. xvii. 19. ' why could
not we cast him out?' Mark xvi. 17. 'these signs
shall follow them that believe.' 1 Cor. xii. 9. ' to
another faith by the same Spirit' xiii. 2. ' though I
have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and
have not charity, I am nothing.'
Even without this species of faith, however, mira
cles have been sometimes wrought for unbelievers.'
Numb. xx. 10, 11. ' hear now, ye rebels, must we
fetch you water out of this rock ? ' In this instance
both he who worked the miracle, and those for whom
it was worked, seem to have been in a state of un
belief at the time of its performance. 2 Kings v. 12.
' are not Abana and Pharphar better than all the
waters of Israel? '
The call of God, and the consequent change in the
natural man, do not of themselves ensure his salva
tion, unless he be also regenerate ; inasmuch as they
are only parts of the natural mode of renovation
Matt. xxii. 14. ' many are called, but few are chosen'
2 Cor. vii. 10. 'the sorrow of the world worketh
death.' Heb.iv.2. ' unto us was the gospel preached,
as well as unto them, but the word preached did not
profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that
heard it' 2 Pet. ii. 20. ' if after they have escaped
the pollutions of the world, through the knowledge of
the Lord our Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again
entangled therein — .'

CHAPTER XVIII.

OF REGENERATION.

A he intent of supernatural renovation is not only to
restore man still more completely than before to the
use of his natural faculties, as regards his power to
form right judgement, and to exercise free will ; but
to create afresh, as it were, the inward man, and in
fuse from above new and supernatural faculties into
the minds of the renovated. This is called regenera
tion, and the regenerate are said to be planted in
Christ. Regeneration is that change operated by the Word
and the Spirit, whereby the old man being destroyed,
the inward man is regenerated by God after his own
image, in all the faculties of his mind, insomuch that
he becomes as it were a new creature, and the whole
man is sanctified both in body and soul, for the ser
vice of God, and the performance of good works.
John iii. 3, 5. ' except a man be born again, he can
not see the kingdom of God. ...except a man be born
of water and of the Spirit.' 1 Pet. i. 23. ' being born
again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible.'
Is regenerated by God; namely, the Father; for
no one generates, except the Father.' Psal. li. 10.
1 create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a

444
right spirit within me.' Ezek. xi. 19. ' I will put a
new spirit within you.' John i. 12, 13. 'to them gave
he power to become the sons of God.... which were
born, not of blood. ...but of God.' iii. 5, 6. ' except
a man be born of water and the Spirit — ; ' where by
' the Spirit ' appears to be meant the divine power of
the Father ; for the Father is a Spirit ; and, as was
said before, no one generates except the Father.
xvii. 17. ' sanctify them through thy truth.' Rom.
viii. 11, 16. ' but if the Spirit of him that raised up
Jesus from the dead — ; the Spirit itself beareth wit
ness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.'
Gal. iv. 6. ' because ye are sons, God hath sent forth
the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba,
Father.' Eph. ii. 4, 5. ' God who is rich in mercy....
hath quickened us together with Christ.' 1 Thess.
v. 23. ' the very God of peace sanctify yon wholly.'
Tit. iii. 5. ' according to his mercy he saved us by
the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy
Ghost.' Heb. xiii. 20. 'the God of peace.. ..make
you perfect in every good work.' 1 Pet. i. 3. ' blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten
us again — .' James i. 17, 18. ' of his own will be
gat he us.'
By the Word and the Spirit. John xvii. 17.
' sanctify them through thy truth ; thy word is truth.'
James i. 18. ' of his own will begat he us with the
word of truth.' Eph. v. 26. ' that he might cleanse
it with the washing of water by the Word.' 1 Cor.
xii. 13. 'by one Spirit we are all baptized into one
body.' Tit. iii. 5. 'by the washing of regeneration
and renewing of the Holy Ghost. '

445
The imvard man. John iii. 5, 6. 'that which is
born ofthe Spirit is spirit.' Rom. vii. 22. 'after the
inward man.'
The old man being destroyed. Rom. vi. 6. ' know
ing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that
the body of sin might be destroyed.' v. 11. 'likewise
reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin,
but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.'
2 Cor. v. 17. 'old things are passed away; behold,
all things are become new.' Col. iii. 9 — 11. ' that
ye have put off the old man with his deeds, and have
put on the new man.'
In all the faculties of his mind ; that is to say, in
understanding and will. Psal. li. 10. ' create in me
a clean heart, O God.' Ezek. xi. 19. ' I will put a
new spirit within you. ...and I will give them an heart
of flesh.' Tfxxvi. 26. ' a new heart also will I give
you, and a new spirit will I put within you.' Rom.
xii. 2. ' be ye transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that ye may prove what is that good.. ..will of
God.' Eph. iv. 23. ' be renewed in the spirit of
your mind.' Philipp. ii. 13. 'it is God which worketh
in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.'
This renewal of the will can mean nothing, but a
restoration to its former liberty.
After his own image. Eph. iv. 24. ' put on the
new man, which after God is created in righteousness
and true holiness.' Col. iii. 9 — 11. 'which is re
newed in knowledge after the image of him that
created him.' 2 Pet. i. 4. ' that by these ye might
be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the
corruption that is in the world through lust.' If the
choice were given us, we could ask nothing more of

446
God, than that, being delivered from the slavery of
sin, and restored to the divine image, we might have
it in our power to obtain salvation if willing. Willing
we shall undoubtedly be, if truly free; and he who
is not willing, has no one to accuse but himself. But
if the will of the regenerate be not made free, then
we are not rewarded, but compelled to embrace sal
vation in an unregenerate state.
A new creature. 2 Cor. 5. 17. ' if any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature.' Gal. vi. 15. 'a new
creature.' Eph. iv. 24. ' the new man.' See also
Col. iii. 10, 11. Hence some, less properly, divide
regeneration into two parts, the mortification of the
flesh, and the quickening of the spirit ; whereas
mortification cannot be a constituent part of regenera
tion, inasmuch as it partly precedes it, (that is to say,
as corruption precedes generation) and partly follows
it ; in which latter capacity it belongs rather to re
pentance. On the other hand, the quickening of
the spirit is as often used to signify resurrection as
regeneration. John v. 21. ' as the Father raiseth up
the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son
quickeneth whom he will.' v. 25. ' the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear
shall live.'
The whole man. 1 Cor. vi. 15, 19. ' know ye
not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost
which is in you ? ' 1 Thess. v. 23. ' the very God of
peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your
whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless
unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.'
For the performance of good works. 1 John ii.
29. ' if ye know that he is righteous, ye know that

447
every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.'
Eph. ii. 10. 'we are his workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus unto good works.'
Is sanctified. 1 John iii. 9. ' whosoever is born of
God, doth not commit sin ; for his seed remaineth in
him ; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.'
v. 18. ' whosoever is born of God, sinneth not, but
he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that
wicked one toucheth him not.' Hence regeneration
is sometimes termed sanctification, being the literal
mode of expressing that, for which regeneration is
merely a figurative phrase. 1 Cor. vi. 11. ' such
were 'some of you; but ye are washed, but ye are
sanctified, but ye are justified.' 1 Thess. iv. 7.
' God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto
holiness.' 2 Thess. ii. 13. ' because God hath from
the- beginning ohnsen you to salvation through sancti
fication of the Spirit.' 1 Pet. i. 2. * according to
the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanc
tification of the Spirit.' Deut. xxx. 6. ' Jehovah thy
God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy
seed, to love Jehovah thy God.' Sanctification is
also attributed to the Son. Eph. v. 25, 26. ' Christ
loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he
might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of
water by the word.' Tit. ii. 14. ' that he might re
deem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself
(unto himself as our Redeemer and King) ' a peculiar
people.' Sanctification is sometimes used in a more extend
ed sense, for any kind of election or separation,
either of a whole nation to some particular form of
worship, or of an individual to some office. Exod.

448
xix. 10. ' sanctify them to-day and to-morrow.' xxxi.
13. ' that ye may know that I am Jehovah that doth
sanctify you.' See also Ezek. xx. 12. Numb. xi.
18. ' sanctify yourselves against to-i&ovrow.' Jer.
i. 5. ' before thou earnest forth out of the womb I
sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the
nations.' Luke i. 15. ' he shall be filled with the
Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.'
The external cause of regeneration or sanctification
is the death and resurrection of Christ. Eph. ii.
4, 5. ' when we were dead in sins, God hath quick
ened us together with Christ.' v. 25, 26. ' Christ
gave himself for the church, that he might sanctify
and cleanse it.' Heb. ix. 14. ' how much more shall
the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit
offered himself without spot to God, purge your con
science from dead works to serve the lining God.'
x. 10. lhy tho wliicn will we are sanctified through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ' 1 Pet. i.
2, 3. ' through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obe
dience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ
. which hath begotten us again unto a lively hope
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.'
1 John i. 7. ' the blood of Jesus Christ his Son
cleanseth us from all sin.'
Sanctification is attributed also to faith. Acts
xv. 9. ' purifying their hearts by faith ;' not that
faith is anterior to sanctification, but because faith
is an instrumental and assisting cause in its gradual
progress.

1*

SD/ end OF VOL. I.