The great accuser cast down, or, A publick trial of Mr. John Goodwin of Coleman-street, London, at the bar of religion & right reason it being a full answer to a certain scandalous book of his lately published, entituled, The triers tried and cast, &c. whereupon being found guilty of high scandal and malediction both against the present authority, and the commissioners for approbation and ejection, he is here sentenced and brought forth to the deserved execution of the press / by Marchamont Nedham, Gent.

ARGUMENT X.

BEing now arrived at the Tenth Argument of this Au∣thor, * 1.1 I am come to the main matter, and shall have an occasion to lance the Tumor, and let out all the Corruption which disturbed his Stomach, and that his Head, and caused him to talk idly, as men use to do in great and hot distem∣pers. The sum of the story in short is this; For he speaks out now, and tells us at large why he is so virulent angry at his Highness and the Council, and the Commissioners; even for no other cause, but that neither maintenance nor countenance is like to be given to such as are tainted with his spurious, heterodoxal, pseudo-theological Phant'sies. For (saith he) is not the simple professing and owning of those great and important Truths of God,* 1.2 That Christ dyed, or gave himself a Ransom for all men; That God reprobated no man under a personal consideration, nor intended so to repro∣bate any man, from eternity; That he vouchsafeth a suffici∣encie of means unto all men to repent and be saved; That he vouchsafeth a sufficiencie of means unto all men to repent and be saved: That he neither constraineth, nor necessitateth any man to believe, or to be saved; And that those who at pre∣sent truly believe, may put or thrust away a good Conscience from them, and thereby make shipwrack of their Faith, and

perish: Is not (saith he) the professing and owning of these most worthy Truths (with others confederate with them) a Bar against all Spiritual or Ecclesiastick promotion, in the course of the Commissioners proceedings?

Before I make Reply to the Main, let the Reader ob∣serve this by the way; that I cannot admit one thing which he insinuates here in the Conclusion; Viz. That the ap∣proving of men by the Commissioners for the Publick Maintenance should be reckoned an Ecclesiastical pro∣motion, when as I have already made it evident (and the very nature of the thing speaks out for it self) that it is a meer Civill Act and Provision. But to proceed;

It is not a Business proper upon the present occasion, to enter upon the disquisition of those Arminian Points by him enumerated; and if there were an occasion, it were but Actum agere, seeing all in a manner that is necessary to be known for the confutation of them may be found in the Works of the late Reverend and Learned Dr Twisse, and of these two Learned, Reverend Doctors, Dr Owen, and Dr Ken∣dal, who yet live, the Honor and Ornaments of the Uni∣versity of Oxford. However, because he hath clothed and presented them here in the plausible phrase of Scripture, thus much may be said in general terms by way of return.

1. That Christ died,* 1.3 and gave himself a ransom for All, 'tis true; but then it ought to be understood in a Go∣spel, not in a Universal sence, as if all men were ransom∣ed into such a State, that they may save themselves if they will. 2. That seeing from all eternity God was pleased to take some (as it were) out of the lump and common mass of Mankind, and design them to become vessels of honor, and leave others as vessels of wrath fitted for destruction, there∣fore questionles there are a sort of particular persons, whom he never loved in Christ, & so consequently are concluded under a state of Reprobation. 3. That he doth vouchsafe a sufficiency of means to all men to repent, and beleeve; but not so, that the means should be so far in their own power, that they should be able to beleeve and repent when it pleaseth themselves. Lastly, That he neither constrain∣eth

nor necessitateth any man to beleeve, or be saved; yet having by the power of his own Spirit so wrought and framed the heart of a man, that it becomes pliant to the purpose of his grace, then the heart is of it self induced and disposed, not constrained to beleeve, and by the same power of the Spirit is enabled to persevere in be∣leeving, being sustained by continual supplies of Grace, (through the Spirit) from Christ, by vertue of the union with him through faith, so that they cannot make ship∣wrack of Faith and a good Conscience, so far as to pe∣rish; forasmuch as being the Sons of God, they are kind∣ly led and conducted by the Spirit of God, and kept by his mighty power to Salvation.

Now whereas Mr G. is pleased to understand these great and important Truths, and the other which depend upon them, not in the same genuine sence that the Scriptures hold them forth, but hath set the whole Canon of Scripture upon the Rack to extort another meaning from them than was in all times confessed by the precious Saints of God in all the Churches, I must needs make bold to brand his Tenets up∣on his own forehead with the black Characteristick Notes of great and most important Errors. Errors indeed they are of the first Magnitude, such as have spawned a nu∣merous brood of most monstrous Anti-scriptural Absur∣dities into the World, seemingly to support a miserable reputation, by eating out the very bowels of Christian Ve∣rity; as appears by Dr Kendals Answer to that strange Book of his called Redemption Redeemed. But because 'tis very requisite the Reader should have a Taste of them here, I will transcribe some few out of those many con∣sequential Absurdities, which have been collected by the Doctor, and thereupon leave the Reader to judge, whether the Sons of Mr Goodwins delight, whom he hath adopted into the same unhappy Cause and Opinion, ought in rea∣son to be allowed Maintenance or Countenance by any Christians in Authority. Some of the Notions are as followeth. The Places of that Book of his from whence they are cited, I have noted here in the Margin.

• 1. That the ordinary Effects,* 1.4 Acts, and Operations in the Sublunary parts, are not so or upon any such terms attributed unto God, but that they have their second Causes also respe∣ctively producing them whereunto they may as truly, and per∣haps more properly be ascribed than unto God
• 2. That Periods of particular Beings are not determined by God.
• 3. That Periods of mens lives are not fixed by God.* 1.5
• 4. Christs actual dying not determined by God.* 1.6
• 5. Christs death not necessary for our salvation,* 1.7 though upon sundry other accounts.* 1.8
• 6. For aknowledge not properly attributable to God,* 1.9 other∣wise then as hands and eyes.
• 7. Knowledge not properly attributable to God.* 1.10
• 8. God intends many things,* 1.11 which shall never come to pass.
• 9. God acts nothing in time.* 1.12
• 10. God made all things at once, by one act.* 1.13
• 11. By this Act Peter was made a Believer.* 1.14
• 12. This Act was God himself;* 1.15 yea, all Gods actions are nothing really but himself.
• 13. Yea▪* 1.16 all things were God himself from Eternity.
• 14. That God,* 1.17 if he reprobated any Creature, must needs reprobate himself.
• 15. For,* 1.18 all Creatures were nothing but God from Eter∣nity; according to the most true and common Maxim of Divines, Quicquid in Deo est, Deus est.
• 16. Election,* 1.19 not of Individuals, but of Species.
• 17. It was not in Gods power to have done more towards the preventing of wicked mens abuse of his gifts,* 1.20 then he did.
• 18. Men not saved are as much obliged to God,* 1.21 as they should have been in case they had been saved. Then, by con∣sequence, those who are saved, owe him no more then they should have done had they been damned.
• 19. For,* 1.22 God doth as much to render the means of Grace effectual to those that perish, as it is possible for him to do.
• 20. The Doctrine of Apostacie more comfotable then that of Perseverance.
• ...

• 21. Such Doctrines as these, All men without exception shall be saved, whether they believe or not. No man shall be punished for any sin whatsoever, either in this world, or that to come. Men are as much approved of God in the committing of the greatest sin,* 1.23 as in the performance of the greatest duty. Such Doctrines (saith Mr. Goodwin) as these are much more sweet and comfortable in respect of their frame, consti∣tution, and import, that that which affirms a necessity of the Saints perseverance.
• 22. Yea (saith Mr. Goodwin) which is yet more.* 1.24 I verily believe▪ that in case any such unchangeableness of Gods love were to be found in, or could be regularly deduced from the Scriptures, it were a just ground to any considering man to question their Authority, and whether they were from God, or no.

Other stuff there is; but I am weary of it. How do you like the man now? Hath he not drawn his own picture with most lovely lines and features? When a man is once out of the way, see how he runs out of one By-path into an∣other, before he comes to the end of his rambling! These are Doctrines that would make a tender Conscience melt, and tremble at hearing them. No wonder then if the Commissioners be startled, and think it concerns them to do what Mr. G. chargeth upon them here in this Argument of his as a Crime; which is (as he is pleased to express it) to dive as far and as deep as they know, into the Judgments of those that come before them, to discover whether there be not some Touch or Tincture (at least) of some propension of Judg∣ment towards those Opinions; those Opinions, I say, which draw such a horrible Train of Absurdities after them, as directly tend to the utter subverting of the Doctrine of the Gospel.

But Mr. G. saith, The Commissioners lay snares and stumbling Blocks in the way of the Young men of these Opinions, because when they come before them to be exa∣mined,

they are put to this Dilemma either to lose the hopes of their Preferment, or get through by dissembling their Opinions; As many of them have done, if their own Boast∣ings may be credited; They will tell you of many through∣out England, and more than two or three now in London, that have gone through this Test. By such dissimulation it must needs be, or else the Commissioners deserve not to be blamed by you for being so over-strict. But what do you infer from this wild Assertion? even as wild a Conclusion. Ergo, It is unchristian for the Commissioners to sift them touching those Opinions: And they (forsooth) who lay such a stumbling-block as this in the way of their Brethren will not (he saith) escape the revenging hand of God more than Balaam did, who taught Balack to cast a stumbling block before the Children of Israel. This is like leaping over Blocks, and a running over Hedge and Ditch in matter of Argumentation, as if Balaam were alive again and had bewitched him: Certainly if Balaam's Beast should revive, and recover the use of his Tongue, he would frame some∣what more like an Argument then this, or else he would deserve his Masters cudgel. But these things we must par∣don; for the old Man-and-Boy is very angry on the behalf of those his Sons, whom he hath begotten through his per∣verting of the Gospel. And so I leave him, passing on to the Eleventh Argument.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Mr. G. his Tenth Argu∣ment.
• * 1.2

  Mr. G. his Ar∣minian Tenets.
• * 1.3

  Gospel Truths, in op¦position to Mr G his Ar∣minian Te∣••ers.
• * 1.4

  Chap. 1. sect. 11. Miserable Ab∣surdities which Mr. G. hath been necessi¦tated to broach to bottles up his Arminian Tenets.
• * 1.5

  Chap. 2. sect. 1.
• * 1.6

  Ibid sect 2
• * 1.7

  Chap 2 sect 12.
• * 1.8

  ibid.
• * 1.9

  Chap. 3 sect. 1.
• * 1.10

  Chap. 3. sect. 3
• * 1.11

  Ibid. sect. 7.
• * 1.12

  Chap 4. sect 23.
• * 1.13

  Ibid. sect. 21.
• * 1.14

  Sect 18.
• * 1.15

  Sect. 17.
• * 1.16

  Chap 16. s. 14.
• * 1.17

  Chap. 4. sect 8.
• * 1.18

  Chap. 18. sec. 37.
• * 1.19

  Chap. 4. sect. 30.
• * 1.20

  Chap. 16. sec. 15.
• * 1.21

  Chap. 16. sect. ult.
• * 1.22

  Ibid.
• * 1.23

  Chap 9 sect 16.
• * 1.24

  Chap. 13. sec. 33