preceding concessions; and not to gag Sergeant IF, when he honestly speaks the very words of the Captain of our salvation, or those of the Apostles his lieutenant-generals:-2. Not to call him a Galatian, or a papist, when he is found in company with St. James.-3. Not to enter an action against him, for disturbing the peace of those backsliders, who have denied the faith, and lost their first love, now quietly hug a bosom sin, or take their Laodicean rest on the pillow of self-election :-4. Not to put him under arrest, for heading a platoon of those, whom some of the absolute elect call diabolians, because they doubt the truth of unconditional election, or election without IF; and choose to fire at sin, rather than at their captain.-And 5. not to say to him, Hail! Sergeant, kissing him as if he were a good Christian, in order to betray him with some decency into the hands of the Antinomians, as a circumcised caitiff. Whether my pious Opponent has not treated the honest Sergeant in that manner, I leave the candid reader to determine. "Yet take notice," [says he, p. 94.] "that Sergeant IF is not of Jewish, but Christian parentage; not sprung from Levi, through a son of Abraham; no centinel of Moses, but a watchman for the camp of Jesus. He wears no dripping beard, like the circumcised race; and is no legal blustering condition to purchase man's salvation, but a modest gospel evidence to prove the truth of grace. He tells no idle tales.”—Enough, Sir, if" he tells no idle tales," he does not cavil and quibble, much less does he deny his proper name, and wellknown meaning. Although he no more dreams of "purchasing man's salvation," than you do, yet he is conditional IF,-Sergeant IF, a very valiant guard to the scripture doctrine of perseverance, and an irreconcilable emeny to Calvinian election, and "antinomian dotages." never shuffles! These are strange hints indeed! 66 Patient Reader, permit me to try," by the following questions, the solidity of the Calvinistic distinction between IF and IF, which supports the amazing weight of the great Diana. 1. When the gospel said to David If thou dost these things thou shalt never fall, and he fell into adultery: was "Sergeant IF a MODEST gospel evidence to prove the truth of his grace?" And supposing he was such a modest evidence, did he "lend no wanton cloak to a corrupt heart?"-2. When our Lord said to the young ruler, IF thou wilt be perfect, sell all; was Sergeant IF, of Jewish, or Christian parentage ?-3. How shall I know when the Sergeant is a centinel of Moses, or when he is 66 a watchman for the camp of Jesus?" Should you answer, a Jewish IF wears a dripping beard, you may indeed by such an argument convince, and entertain some Calvinists; but you leave me quite in the dark; and with " some very honest folks, who are cast in a gospel foundery," instead of" ringing a fire-bell," I smile at your wit and orthodoxy, but can no more understand what you mean by an IF, "with a dripping beard," than you could conceive what I would be at, If I spoke ofa Yes, with a long tail, or a perhaps, with dreadful horns? -4. how shall I distingush a legal " from an evangelical IF? Should you say, that the "legal, blustering" Sergeant wears an halberd, but the evangelical mild IF has no weapon at all: I ask, What business has an unarmed IF, in "the camp of Jesus ?" Why do you call him Sergeant? Is he not a sham centinel, a ridiculous scare-crow, to deceive the simple, rather than " a very valiant guard to check the forward ?-5. How shall I make a difference between an Everton IF, and a Madeley IF? When I have read my Bible in both places, I have always found the Ser. geant exactly of the same stature; he al ways appeared in the same black regimentals: and to this day a Madeley IF, exactly answers to the description, that the pious Vicar of Everton gives of him. He is "a monosyllable, low in stature, but of_lofty significance:" Whereas the Everton IF, is yet lower in significance than in stature, since you make it signify just nothing. Should you reply, that a Madeley IF is "like one of the circumcised race;" I answer, that although about eleven years ago I circumcised him with an antinomian knife, yet I did not quite mutilate him. But I could name a gospel minister, who has "served more than three apprenticeships at a noted hall of physic," by whom the unhappy Sergeant has not only been "circumcised," but quite emasculated, yea, deprived of his very vitals. For when IF, in the above-quoted scriptures, is absolutely divested of conditionality, and O ye Opposers of the second gospel-axiom, "Pray come and peep!"-See Calvinism "unmasked" by one of your principal leaders, who shews to the world the futile foundation of your doctrine of grace !—Thanks be to his humourous honesty, we see now, that those famous doctrines stand upon the super-metaphysical difference there is, between IF, and IF;-between Jewish IF, and Christian IF; —legal IF, and evangelical IF;-IF at Madeley, and IF at Everton. When IF, the culprit appears in the Foundery-pulpit, he tells idle tales, it seems! he slily disguises himself! But when IF, the orthodox, shews himself in the desk at Everton, (for it is to be feared, that he seldom appears in the pulpit valiantly to guard Bible perseverance) he never equivocates! When he says to peo. ple that never stood, or to people that can never fall, IF ye do the things, ye shall never fall, &c. He is not a condition, and yet he turned into an unnecessary evidence of grace, which the elect can do without, as well as David and Solomon; may it not be compared to a dead Sergeant, whose lungs and heart are pulled out; and whose ill-smelling remains, far from being a "valiant guard" against the forward, prove an enticing lure to unclean birds, who fly about in search of a carcase. Excuse Reader, this prolix and ludicrous defence of the Sergeant. The subject, though treated in so queer a manner, is of the utmost importance; for the Minutes, the Checks, and second gospel-axiom stand or fall with Sergeant IF. If he is a coward, a knave, or a cypher, Antinomianism will still prevail; but if he recovers his true and lofty significance, he will soon rid the church of antinomian dotages. As "much respect is due unto him," and to St. James's undefiled religion, which the ingenious book I quote indirectly undermines, I thought it my duty to "open my bag" also, and let out a ferret, or to speak exactly the language of Everton, "a fox," to chase "a straggling goose hard at hand." Take notice however, that by the "goose," I do not mean the reverend author of the World unmasked, for he has wit enough, and to spare; but the "wadling dame," Calvinistic contradiction, alias Logica Genevensis. And now reader, I lay her before thee, not to make thee "sup" upon her "amidst a deal of cackling music," but that thou wouldst help me to nail her up to the everlasting doors of the temple of truth, as sportsmen do cranes and foxes to the doors of their rural buildings. CONCLUSION. Were I to conclude these strictures upon the dangerous tenets, inadvertently advanced, and happily contradicted, in The Christian World unmasked, without professing my bro therly love and sincere respect for the ingenious and pious Author; I should wrong him, myself, and the cause which I defend. I only do him justice when I say, that few, very few of our elders, equal him in devotedness to Christ, zeal, diligence, and ministerial success. His indefatigable labours in the word and doctrine, entitle him to a double share of honour: and I invite all my readers with me to esteem him highly in love for his Master's and his work's sake: entreating them not to undervalue his vital piety, on account of his antinomian opinion; and beseeching them to consider, that his errors are so much the more excusable as they do not influence his moral conduct, and he refutes them himself, far more than his favourite scheme of doctrine allows him to do. Add to this, that those very errors spring in a great degree from the idea, that he honours Christ by receiving, and does God service by propagating them. The desire of catching the attention of his readers, has made him choose a witty, facetious manner of writing, for which he has a peculiar turn; and the necessity I am under of standing his indirect attack, obliges me to meet him upon his own ground, and to encounter him with his own weapons, I beg, that what passes for evangelical humour in him, may not be called indecent levity in me. A sharp pen may be guided by a kind heart: and such, I am persuaded, is that of my much esteemed antagonist, whom I publicly invite to my pulpit; protesting that I should be editied, and overjoyed, to hear him enforce there the guarded substance of his book, which notwithstanding the vein of solifidianism, I have taken the liberty, to open, contains many great and glorious truths. END OF THE SECOND PART OF THE FIFTH CHECK. THE FICTITIOUS AND THE GENUINE CREED: BEING A "CREED FOR ARMINIANS," COMPOSED BY RICHARD HILL, Esq. TO WHICH IS OPPOSED A CREED, For those who believe that Christ tasted Death for every man. BY THE AUTHOR OF THE CHECKS TO ANTINOMIANISM. PREFACE. In which the Author gives an account of Mr. · Hill's new method of attack, and makes some reconciling concessions to the Calvinists, by means of which their strongest arguments are unnerved, and all that is truly scriptural in Calvinism is openly adopted into the anti-calvinian doctrine of grace. We should be deservedly considered as bad Protestants, if it were not ready always to give an answer with meekness to every man (much more to Mr. Hill, a gentleman of piety, learning, reputation, wit, and fortune,) who asketh us a reason of the hope that is in us. We confess that after the way, which our opponents call the heresy of the Arminians and Perfectionists, we worship the God of our Fathers; believing what is written in the Scripture concerning the extent of redemption by price and by power. With regard to our extensive views of Christ's redemption by price, Mr. Hill calls us Arminians; and with respect to our believing, that there is no perfect faith, no perfect repentance, in the grave, the christian graces, ofrepentance, faith, hope,patience, &c. must be perfected here or never; and with respect to our confidence that Christ's Blood fully applied by his Spirit, and apprehended by perfect faith, can cleanse our hearts from all unrighteousness before we go into the purgatory of the Calvinists, or into that of the Papists, that is, before we go into the valley of the shadow of death, or into that of the suburbs of hell;-with respect to this belief and confidence, I say, Mr. Hill calls us, Perfectionists; and appearing once more upon the stage of our controversy, he has lately presented the public with what he calls, "A Creed for Arminians and Perfectionists," which he introduces in these words: "The following confession of faith however shockConcerning the extent of Christ's redemping, not to say blasphemous, it may appear to tion by price we believe, that he, by the grace of God tasted death to procure initial salvation for every man, and eternal salvation for them that obey him. And concerning the extent of his redemption by power, we are persuaded, that, when we come to God by him, he is able and willing to save to the uttermost our souls from the guilt and pollution of sin here, and our bodies from the grave and from corruption hereafter. P the humble Christian, must inevitably be But how has Mr. Hill proved that this is the case? Has he supported his charge by one argument? No: Butamong some consequences of our doctrine, which are quite harmless and scriptural, he has fixed upon us some shocking consequences, which have no necessary connexion with any of our doctrines of grace. We apprehend therefore, that by this method, Mr. Hill has exposed his inattention more than our heresy.' If Mr. Hill had said before a thousand witnesses, I hold ten guineas in my right hand, and ten in my left, could the author of the Checks wrong him, or expose his own candour, if he insisted upon the truth of this consequence, "Then Mr. Hill holds twenty guineas in both his hands." And If Mr. Hill protested ever so long, that he holds but fifteen in all, and that I am a "calumniator" for saying that he holds twenty; would not all the witnesses, who are impartial and acquainted with the proportion of numbers, clear me of the charge of calumny, and accuse Mr. Hill of inattention? Again: If I had said before the same witnesses, that I have two guineas in my right hand, and two in my left; and if Mr. Hill, to keep his error in countenance by bringing me in guilty of as great a mistake as his own, fixed the follow ing consequence upon my assertions, "Then you hold seven guineas in both your hands;" would he not expose himself more than me? And would not all the candid spectators declare, that although I have a right to maintain that ten and ten make twenty, my opponent cannot reasonably assert that two and two make seven. The justness of this illustration will appear to the reader, if he cast a look upon the creed which I have composed for an Antinomian with Mr. Hill's principles. The doctrines that it contains are all his own, and they are expressed chiefly in his own words, as appears from numerous quotations in which I refer the reader to the pages where he has publicly maintained the tenets which I expose but Mr. Hill has not produced in his Arminian Creed one line out of my Checks from which any shocking or blasphemous doctrine flows by "unavoidable" consequence. If he had I protest, as a lover of truth, that I would instantly renounce the principle, on which such a doctrine might be justly fathered; being persuaded that the pure light of a pure doctrine, can never be necessarily productive of gross darkness; although it may accidentally be obscured by occasional difficulties, as the sun may be darkened by interposing clouds. Some readers will probably think, that I have made the Calvinists too many concessions in the following pages: but I am persuaded that I have granted them nothing but what they have a scriptural right to and God forbid that any protestant should grant them less!-At the Synod of Dort the Arminians being sensible, that a gratuitous election can be defended by reason and scripture, would debate first the doctrine of gratuitous, Calvinian reprobation, which is flatly contrary to reason and scripture. The Calvinists on the other hand being conscious that the strength of their cause lay in maintaining a gratuitous election, and hoping that the gratuitous reprobation would naturally skulk under that election, insisted that the doctrine of election should be debated first. The Arminians would not consent to it, so that nothing was properly discussed; and the Calvinists having numbers and the sword on their side, deposed their opponents as obstinate heretics. Whilst we disapprove the severity of the Calvinists, we blame the Arminians for provoking that severity by refusing to clear up the doctrine of election. And improving by the mistakes of both parties, we make the reconciling concessions which follow. 1. We grant that there is an election of distinguishing grace: but we shew that this election is not Calvinian Election; thousands being partakers of the partial election of distinguishing grace, who have no share in the impartial election of distributive justice; two distinct elections these, the confounding of which has laid the foundation of numberless errors. See Scripture Scales, Sect. XII. 2. We grant the Calvinists that initial salvation is merely by a decree of divine grace through Jesus Christ. But we assert that eternal salvation is both by a decree of divine grace and of distributive justice: God rewarding in Christ with an eternal life of glory those believers who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory, honour, and immortality. 3. We grant, that although God, as a Judge, is no respecter of persons; yet, as a Benefactor, he is, and of consequence has a right to be, so far a respecter of persons, as to bestow his favours in various degrees upon his creatures; dealing them to some with a more sparing hand than he does to others." 4. We grant that although God punishes no one with eternal death for original and necessary sin; yet when sin, which might have been avoided by the help of creating or of redeeming grace has been voluntarily and personally committed; God does punish [and of consequence has a right to punish] with eternal death, some offenders more quickly than he does others; the shewing, in such a case, mercy and justice, upon gospel terms, to whom he pleases, and as soon or as late as he pleases, being undoubtedly the privilege of his sovereign goodness or justice. An awful privilege this, which is perfectly agreeable to the evangelical law of liberty, and with which the Calvinists have absurdly built their twin doctrines of finished salvation and finished damnation; not considering that such doctrines stain the first gospel-axiom and totally destroy the second. The nature of this concession may be illustrated by an example. Two unconverted soldiers march up to the enemy. Both have unavoidably transgressed the third commandment; the one by calling fifty times for his damnation; and the other five hundred times. Now, both have personally forfeited their initial salvation, and continuing impenitent, God, as a righteous revenger of profaneness, may justly suffer the fifty-pence debtor to fall in the battle, and to be instantly hurried to the damnation he had madly prayed for: and as à long-suffering, merciful Creator, he may suffer the five-hundred pence debtor, I mean the soldier who has sinned with a higher hand, to walk out of the field unhurt, and to be spared for years; following him still with new offers of mercy, which the wretch is so happy as to embrace at last. Here is evidently a high degree of the distinguishing grace, which has been manifested towards Manasses, and a thousand other grievous sinners. But by this peculiar favour, God violates no promise, and he acts in perfect consistency with himself: for, when two people have personally forfeited their initial salvation by one avoidable sin, of which they do not repent when they might; he does no injustice to the fifty-pence debtor, when he calls him first to an account; and he greatly magnifies his long suffering, when he continues to reprieve the five-hundred pence debtor. dispenses its superior blessings. But all the partiality which that grace ever displayed, never amounted to one single grain of Calvinian reprobation. Because God, as a righteous judge, lets every man have a fair trial for his life. Nor will all the sophisms in the world reconcile the ideas, which the Scripture and rectified reason give us of divine justice, with a doctrine which represents God as condemn. ing to eternal torments, a majority of men, for the necessary, unavoidable consequences of Adam's sin :-A sin this, which, upon the scheme of the absolute predestination of all events, was also made unavoidable and necessary. To return: By this sparing use of astonishing mercy, God strongly guards the riches of his grace. This inferior degree of forbearance makes thoughtful sinners stand in awe; as not knowing but the first sin they will commit, shall actually fill up the measure of their iniquity, and provoke the Almighty to swear in his righteous anger, that their day of grace is ended. To justify therefore God's conduct, with men in this respect, we need only observe, that, if distinguishing grace did not make the difference which we grant to the Calvinists, perverse free will, would draw amazing strength from the unwearied patience of free-grace. Suppose for instance, that God had ensured to all men a day of grace of four-score years, would not all sinners think it time enough to repent at the age of threescore years and nineteen? Therefore, through the clouds of darkness which surround us, reason sees far into the propriety of the partiality with which distinguishing grace 5. We grant that although Christ died to purchase a day of [initial] salvation for all men, yet he never died to purchase ETERNAL salvation for any adults but them that believe, obey, and are faithful unto death. And that of consequence, the redemption of mankind by Jesus Christ is general and unconditional with respect to INITIAL salvation; but particular and conditional with respect to ETERNAL salvation; except in the case of infants, who die before actual sin: These and only these, are blessed with unconditional election and finished salvation in the Calvinistic sense of these phrases :-These are irresistibly saved and eternally admitted into one of the many mansions of our heavenly Father's house: Free-grace, to the honour of our Lord's meritorious infancy, absolutely saves them without any concurrence of their free-will. Nor is it surprising, that God should do it unavoidably; for as they never were personally capable of working WITH free-grace, i. e. of working out their salvation, so they never were in a capacity of working, AGAINST free-grace, or of beginning to work their damnation. Having never committed any act of sin, God can consistently with the gospel, save them eternally without any act of repentance. In a word, infants having no unrighteousness but that of the first Adam, reason, as well as scripture, dictates, that they need no righteousness but that of the second Adam. 6. From the preceding concession it follows, that obedient, persevering believers are God's elect in the particular and full sense of the word: being elected to the reward of eternal life in glory :-A reward this, from which they who die in a state of apostacy or impenitency have cut themselves off, by not making their calling and conditional election sure. 7. We grant, that none of these peculiar elect shall ever perish, though they would have perished had they not been faithful unto death: And we allow, that with respect to God's fore knowledge and omniscience, their number is certain. But we steadily assert, that, with regard to the doctrines of general redemption, of God's covenanted mercy, of man's free agency, of divine justice, and of a |