The Hartlib Papers

[right margin: 29]

[right margin: 30 altered] where none were at all, & should confesse many faults & errours in the cause of his owne forgeing. but on the contrary should obeiect strongly and cunningly for the adverse party, & aunswere slenderly or to noe purpose, might he not be iustly be taxed of vnfaithfullnes & false dealing, In like manner if an honest man being set vpon by some swashbuckeler & fighting with him hand to hand, a third should come vpon them, & professing himselfe a friend to the honest man, should offer to take his part, and should desier him to rest and to breath himselfe whilst he would keepe of the blowes of his adversarye from him. If the good man trusting to him should permit him have his sword or weapon of defence, And he now haveing it and offering faire to keep of the adversaryes blowes, should deale deceiptfully, and not only suffer him to ly open and naked, and give the adversary all advantage to slash and cut him; but allsoe should now and then give a deep wound himselfe and cut him with his owne sword, or wittingly or willingly of purpose suffer his enymie to beat his owne sword against his head. who would not abhorre this villanye & treacherie. And even thus this newe vpstart Patrone deals with vs & our doctrine, whilst that he would seeme to take vpon him the defence of it. First he calls it an opinion, that his doctrine which is vncerteyne, & to make the lest of it is propable, & this needlesly he calls the certeintie of it in quæstion, Secondly he makes a doubt or scruple whether it be a truth generally receaved in our Church whereas all that know our religion [catchword: know]

[left margin: 16] know certeinly that it is receaved and established amongst vs by divine Ecclesiasticall, & civill authority. Thirdly he speakes doubtfully of the soundnes of it, It seemes (sayth he) most authedoxall, as if it were but soe in appearance only. and as [left margin: 27] if he durst not affirme it to be soe, Fourthly that he may make men beleeve that he speakes for it as much as he can; & as it deserves, he professeth his desier to defend and maynteine it. Fifthly he professeth openly that though he doth not affect singularity, but thinkes it a discredit it a discreite to walke alone in matter of religion. yet such is our cause & the doctrine of our Church in this maine point of iustification, that mere necessity compelleth him to forsake the common beaten tract of our learned divines in some things, Sixthly coming on to reprove the 2 contrary false opinions, least this reproofe should be to much respected & esteamed, & as if he feared to doe the adversaries any such. He first blamed his owne weaknes, as if he were not able to climbe over any hills. Seventhly that he may gaine more credit to the false opinions, & as if he laboured to make them honourable rather then to disgrace them, First he commends & extols[altered] to the skyes the maynteiners of them, gracing of them with glorious & golden titles of reverence, learning and worthynes, which are as fit for them as a ring of gold for a swines snout, well for this he had need to looke about him, that his owne Disciples doe not lay violent hands vpon him. for [catchword: they]

[right margin: 31. altered] they who count it pettye blasphemye, If a godly wise learned, and Arthodoxall Archbishop or Bishop who never maynteined erroneous opinion, but stoutly professeth the sincere truth should be called a reverent Father in God, & adorned with the title of grace, which the lawes of the land give vnto him by the same right which they give Christian Princes. Surely if they be not swallowed vp with partiallitie schisme & faction, they will stop theyr eares when they heare this præface read, wherein the refuse & of skoureings of the ministery as our Church iudgeth them, even such men as by the authors owne confession are maynteiners of errour, are graced with the titles of great, learned, worthy, reverent, & iudicious divines, If they doe not excomunicate him till he recant, & count him as a heathen man [Puplicane?], or profane person. They will be, nay they are presently halfe condemned of hipocrisy and dissembling. In the eygth place it is to be obserued by his phrase & his lisping to what side he enclines, & that he is an Ephraimite, haveing his bow bent, he turneth backe in that day of battell, For of the true doctrine he dares say noe more but that it seemes orthodaxall. But for the maynteiners of the false opinions, he doth acknowledge, that is vpon certeyn knowledge he doth professe them to be great worthy learned, & for theyr opinions he speakes very coldly and faintly against them, perhaps not so earnestly as he would doe, against kneeleing at the Lords supper or such like indifferent thing, I thinke them sayth he somwhat erroneous, he dares not say he knowes them [catchword: but only]

[left margin: 27.] but only he thinkes them, not very erroneous[altered], but somewhat erroneous, Lastly as if his mind were changed now whilst hee is speakeing, & as if now he wold have all men see that hee [left margin: 28] doth but mocke the true doctrine in makeing shew of defence, he doth manifestly excuse the 2 erroneous opinions & laws all the blame vpon our Church and our true doctrine, accuseing vs falsely that wee doe hold 2 erroneous positions which gave the adversaries iust cause to forsake vs, & to brouch theyr novelties which are as he sayeth noe more erroneous, then our positions, what man is of so meane capacitie, who doeth not here see and discerne falshood in fellowship, And that vnder colour & defence he doth goe about pervert and destroy the truth of God, and to advance the error and hæresie, I will therefore desier him to take to himselfe, that which our Saviour sayeth. That he who putteth his hand to the plough & looketh backe is not fit for the Kingdome of God./

[right margin: 32 altered] his passive obedience we are freed from the guilt of all sin, which opinion whosoeuer ascribes to any true Divine or to our Church he is a foule slaunderer, for as I have touched before, wee all hold that the passive obedience alone is of noe force alone without the active & also that [habit?] of righteounes, concurring to make vp one perfect righteounes, But if wee vnderstand this position thus, that the passive obedience ioyned with the active, & considered as a part of that one perfect obedience is only the chiefe satisfaction for all sin whatsoever, even as on the other side the originall righteousnes which doth chiefly and immediatly make vs to be righteous in Gods sight and in Christ worthy of æternall life, This position I say thus understood is most true, & whosoever doth reiect it for an vntruth he errs, not knowing the scripture of salvation.

[left margin: 29] if the sinner himselfe had done and suffred those verie particulars which Christ did & suffered for him. In this sense we all hold it, & it is most true, yea wee truly affirme moreover, that God doth not only so love vs and favour vs, as if wee had obeyed the law our selues; but in a higher degree euen so much more by how much the obedience of Christ God and man which is imputed to vs, is for the persons sake more precious then any obedience of a mere man./

[right margin: 33 [altered from 29] ] this position and thus he expoundes it in the [leafe?] next following, And thus I confesse all our divines doe hold it constantly For the scripture gives plaine testimony vnto it, that it is the truth. Rom. 6. what it is sayd that we are dead with Christ, our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed we are buried with him, & Gal. 2. 20. I am crucified with the Christ sayeth the Apostle. These places shew that Christ his crucifying, death and suffering are every beleevers suffering/ And as that learned man of God mr Perkins doth vrge these words in his Commentarye every true Christian is here taught to beleeve that hee was nayled on the crosse with Christ, And in Christ who bare the person of all the elect wee all were crucfied, and died; So likewise 1 Cor. 1. 30 Christ is made vnto vs of God, righteousnes. & 2. Cor. 5. 21. we are made the righteousnes of God in Christ & Romans. 10. 4. Christ is the end or fullfilling of the law to righteousnesse vnto every true beleever, yea plaine reason must needs force vs to hold this truth except wee will deny that vnion and communuion which is betweene Christ and the faithfull, For if the personnall vnion which betweene Christ his Godhead and manhood could make the bloud of his humaine body, that blood of God as the scripture testifies Act: 20 18. & that righteousnesse of God. 2 cor. 5 It must needs follow that the spirituall vnion of Christ & the the beeleaver into one body doth also make Christ his obedience every beeleavers obedience. every beleevers obedience

[left margin: 30] so far as to satisfye that iustice of God for him in particular. Secondly if by an humane contract and marriage which may be broken, The husbands bodie goodes lands & honors are made the wiues [another hand:] in such [sort?] that immediately without anny [creation?] shee becomes a laydy noble honorable rich a landed, and may say this house and those landes are mine; Much more that spirituall contracts[altered], and mariage, betwene[altered] Christ, and every beeliver, which cannot be broken by anny divorcement, must make all the rightiousness of Christ every beeliver, so fare as he hath neede of it, and it may serue for his vse./

[right margin: 34]

[left margin: 34?] expiated of all sin whatsoever not only of Commission but also of omission? can a man possibly, be more iustified then to bee freed from all sin, and fault us to bee esteemed, and iudged[altered from iuged] as one that never committed any euill forbidden, nor omitted any good required

[right margin: 35] [word deleted?] The iustification is nothing else but freedome from all sin whatsoever. For indeede this was the only cause which mad [Vistalour?] & other denye imputation of christes actiue obeidience to iustification[altered from sacrification], because they absurdly imagined iustification to be only the remittion of sinnes, and therfore christ his suffering only beeing a sufficient satisfaction for all sin, wher needfull to be imputed and noe more. wherfore as he is bold to maintaine falsly doctrine & erroure openly; So I hope, I may may without offence to anny good Christian, be bold to censure his writtinges, and to answer him as openly that his assumption heere layed downe in his [one?] words is very false, & conteines in it 2 notable errours. The first is that he[altered from the] counts remision of[altered] sin to be all one with freedome from all sin, fault pollution guilt, & punishment. And that it is all one to haue our sinnes remitted. And to be freed from all sin, in so much <such manner> that wee are esteemed & iuged as the that never committed <anny> sin nor omitted anny good requiered, surly if this be not contrarye to the scripture & common experience I am much deceited For my part, I see and feele great difference between these two, which he confounds, namly remission of sin, & freedome from all sin, & to haue sin remitted, & to be committed as one that never sinned. To make it plaine by instance, ther is noe quæst: but St. Paul was iustified, his sins remitted & he had peace with god, he himselfe playnlye testifieth it. Rom. 5. 1 whering he includes him selfe saying, beeing iustified by faith wee haue peace with God yet for all that

[right margin: 36. altered] [another hand:] hee was not freed from all sin[altered from sine], nor counted as if had never sind For he professeth that sin[altered from sine] & corruption still doe dwell in him & leade him captiue, he counteth himselfe as one that had committed many sins, And the man cryeth, O wretched man that I am who shall deliver mee from this body of death. Rom. 7. So likewise wee all that are effectually called & iustified haue all our sins pardoned. sins past, present & to come, & are free from the guilt of all & all condemnation. Rom. 8. 1. And yet wee are not free from the guilt of all & all condemnation noe from sine it selfe, namely the foule & pollution but in many thinges wee sine dayly neither are wee iudged recounted as men that never sinned, but wee still confesse that wee are sinners, & that wee haue offended every way & wee giue god thanks not for iudging & esteeming vs men that never sinned (which is the errour of some familistes who teach that Gods sees no sin in vs after iustification) But for pardoning our sins & for shewing mercy vnto vs, not withstanding that wee sin dayly & commit many offences which lye naked in his sight & call for punishment continually wherefore, here is one grosse error in this error that he cannot <be> distinguished but confounded two things in one grosse error which is so fare different. The 2 errour is that iustification is no more but remission of sins, & to bee iustified is onely to be counted as no sinner at all. This is directly contrary to the scripture which tells vs that when God iustifieth vs he doth not only remoue the guilt of sin, But also he doth cloth vs in the robes of righteousnes Isa. 61. 10. And he makes vs the righteousnesse of God in christ. 2. cor. 5. 21. And Christ is made vnto vs righteousnes 1 cor. 1. 30. yea plaine reason must needes perswade vs, That as in sanctification, theire is not only mortification & dying to sin, but also vivification [catchword: & rising vp]

& rising vp to holinesse of life. So in iustification theire must bee both removing of guilt or remitting of sin, & also communication of perfect righteousnesse, for if only sine should be taken away & remitted, then gods wrath only shold be appeased, & wee should cease to be his enymies, all enmytie should cease & be destroyed this should be all, But by iustification amytie & friendship before god & vs, his set vp & established, we are restored to greater loue & favour of God then that which Adam lost & wee are worthy of greater glory in Christ then we lost in Adam. Therfore true iustification is more then a [freedome?] for all sin, even putting on of perfect righteousnesse./ lastly children are able to confute this error, by there reason & experience, & even the stones in the streetes giue testymonye against it, For every foole & every child knowes that a stone is free from all sine, & that it is esteemed of Gods men to haue neither committed evill forbidden, nor omitted good required of it, And yet they & all the world would laugh at a mans madnesse if he should say that a stone were iustified & made presently [left margin: 33] righteous, wherefore as the stones do here convince & condemne this man of errour: so if they should be made executioners to inflect some punishment vpon him till he shall recant this false doctrine, all the world might iustly say he had but this due desert.

[right margin: 37] our sins of omission pardoned, & to be counted & reputed, to haue done all good dutyes required which wee haue committed, who can endure, with patience such absurdities which are contrary to common sence & experience I will confute them by one plaine instance onely as familiar as I can devise, A maister doth commaund his servant to goe into his garden & to digg a plott of grounde that he may plaint hearbes & sowe seedes therein, It is the seruants duety & yet he doth neglect it he forbeares to goe, & omitts his labour & his taske hereby he incurres his maisters displeasure & deserues punishment being calld to account & his worke being founde vndone he falles downe and askes forgivenesse his maister pardons the fault which was a fault of omission & remitts the punishment. Now tell me when his maister hath pardoned him hath the seruant done his worke or doth his maister repute & counte him to haue done it, if any shall answer that he hath done it or is counted to haue done it, I will be bold to say he is little better then a madde man & all but madd men will take my part. For there is greate difference betweene pardoning of a fault for dutye omitted, & iudging that the faulty person hath not omitted it. But this you see is the Authors case he thinkes it all one, to say wee haue all sins of omission pardoned, that is the guilt & punishment of them remitted, For christ his passiue obedience of them. And to say wee haue performed all those duties which wee haue omitted & are counted to haue performed & not omitted them. Therefore he is worthy to be taxed of grosse ignorance having thus laied downe this false & absurde opinion for a ground he doth also falsely præsuppose & take it for graunted, that wee hold that by imputation & meritt of Christs passiue obedience alone separated from the actiue, all [catchword: sins of omis-]

sins of omission and commission are pardoned which I haue before shewed to be a false imagition, & slaunder of vs, And vpon those false grounds he proceeds to his confusion. His arguments (for plainnesse sake & for our more easy vnderstanding of his scope) may thus be framed, The first thus he that is counted to haue left vndone all evill forbidden, & to haue done all good Commaunded, is perfectly iustified & needs no more imputation of any actiue obedience to justification. But he that hath all his sins of omission & comission pardoned; [another hand:] therefore [left margin: 34.] he needs no imputacion, of any active obedience, he is perfectly justified already. This is his first argument; implied in theis words by which he would prove, that pardon of all sin, is perfect justification, & there needs no more to justifie vs but such pardon: But his assumption is noted before to be a blind errour full of ignorance, and therefore the conclusion must needs be fals but if we shuld graunt him his conclusion that fredom from all guilt and punishment of sinn were our whole justification, what will follow, suerly he will himself contradict it in his treatise: where he saith that pardon, which is freedom from the guilt & punishment of sin, is neyther the whole nor any essentiall part of justification, but only a contingent effect thereof. Nevertheles for the present he will lay it down for a ground, & thus reason against vs, That which alone freed vs from all guilt & punishment of all sin, is sufficient to justificaton, without any other thinge; but the merit of Christs <passive> obedience only frees vs from all the guilt of all sin, (according to the Doctrine of English Divines; therefore it alone is sufficient; imputation of the active is needles. the first proposition is builded vpon his other fals conclusion: the assumption, or 2 proposition is a fals ly and a slaunder, for we do not hold that the passive obedience alone doth free vs from sin, except it be joyned with the active and thus you see his arguments are all fals, & his grounds erroneous. Now after all this he bringeth a conclusion (as he thinkes) [catchword: against]

against vs to [weet?], that we ought to hold, That vnto the expiation of sin, both the active & passive obedience must of necessitie be imputed & that the one is not seperated from the other; but he might well have spared his labour; This concusion is as needles as his grounds are fals. Reformation is vaine, where men are alreadie reformed: our Church did hold this potition before he knew it, or was able to wright it. But yet I must tel you in a better sence, than he meanes, for his meaning is, that both the active & passive obed. of Chri. must of necessity be imputed to vs, tho we had need only to be pardoned & freed from the guilt of sin, which is a fals and erroneous opinion for except we did as well want righteousnes, as pardon of sinns [we?] needed no imputacion of the active obedience of Chr: but because we want both, therefore we have need of the whole righteousness of Chr. & every part thereof to be joyntlie imputed to vs