I Come now to the Inference the Apostle makes from the precedent Doctrine, What manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness? One word here needs a little explication, and that is holy; What is meant by a holy conversation.
Holiness is an Equivocal Term. It is attributed either to God, or to the Creature. When it is attributed to God, it signifies either,
1. The unspotted Purity of his Nature, and the constant and immutable rectitude of his Will. So it is taken, 1 Iohn 3. 3. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself as he is pure: and 1 Pet. 1. 15. As he which called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation: Because it is written, be ye holy for I am holy. Psal. 145. 17. The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.
- His Sovereign Majesty and Greatness, appearing in his transcendent Wisdom and Power, in his Supreme and Absolute Dominion over all things: in respect whereof, he is called the Holy One of Israel, and his Name is said to be Holy: that is, to be invoked with the greatest reverence. Holy and reverend is his Name. Because of this his Greatness and Excellency he is to be worshipped and adored with the most submissive humility and veneration, with a transcendent and incommunicable Worship and Devotion.
When Holiness is attributed to Creatures, it signifies either an Inherent and Inward, or a Relative or Outward, Holiness.
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Inherent or Inward Holiness is a Conformity of Heart and Life to the Will of God: or as1 others define it, An habitual Frame of Mind: whereby we are fitted for Vertuous Actions, but more especially for the Duties of Religion: Indeed Holiness doth always include a reference to God.
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Relative or Outward Holiness results from a Separation and setting a-part any thing from a prophane and common, and applying it to a Sacred or Religious Use. For the Majesty of God, who at first created, and continually sustains and governs all things, being so great and inviolable, all Persons, Things, and Times, and Places, and Ceremonies separated and appropriated to his Service and Worship, are by all Nations esteemed Sacred, and to have a Character of Holiness imprinted on them.
By Holiness in this place, is to be understood an inherent Holiness, which is well defined by Dr. Outram,2 a Conformity of Heart and Life to the Will of God. I shall not discourse at large concerning a holy Conversation, nor instance particulars wherein it consists. That would be to write a Body of Practical Divinity: I shall therefore at present suppose the Reader sufficiently instructed in that. My business shall be to shew the strength of the Apostle’s Inference.
It may be said, How doth this Dissolution concern us, who may perchance be dead and rotten a thousand Years before it comes? What have we to do with it?
I answer, It concerns us, 1. Because it’s possible it may happen in our times; it may surprize us before we are aware. The precise time thereof is uncertain. And it shall be sudden and unexpected, coming as a Thief in the Night, as we have before shewn; therefore we ought always to be upon our guard, to have our loyns girt about and our lights burning. This use the Scripture in many places makes of the uncertainty, of the time of Christ’s coming, Luke 12. 40. Be ye therefore ready: for the Son of Man cometh at an hour when ye think not, Luke 21. 34, 35. And take heed to your selves, lest at any time your hearts be over-charged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the whole earth. Parallel whereto are Matth. 24. 42. and Mark 13. 33, 35. That it shall come is certain, when it shall come is uncertain, and it every day draws nearer and nearer, therefore it is not wisdom to remove the evil day far from us: and as in reference to the day of Death, it is an usual and prudent advice, so to live every day, as if it were our last day; or at least, as we would not be afraid to do should it be so: because we are sure, that one day will be our last, and for ought we know, the present may be it: so likewise it is rational Counsel in respect of the End of the World, so to prepare our selves for it by a holy Conversation, that we may get above the terror and dread which will otherwise attend the apprehension of the approach of it: and that we may be provided against the worst that may follow; and be secure come what can come.
Secondly, It concerns us, should it be a thousand Years to come. Because then is the general Resurrection both of the just and unjust, Acts 24. 15. and the general Judgment, When we must all appear before the dreadful tribunal 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. 2. Cor. 5. 10. which, Rom. 2. 5. is called the revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Who will render to every man according to his deeds, &c. Upon this account, I say, it concerns us much how we have our Conversation here.
First, As we hope to be acquitted at that day, and to enter into those new Heavens, in which dwells righteousness. Holiness is a necessary condition and antecedent to happiness. Necessary I say,
- By God’s appointment, Heb. 12. 14. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Rom. 6. 22. Have your fruit unto holiness, and the end eternal life. Psal. 50. ult. To him that ordereth his conversation aright, will I shew the salvation of God. Eternal Life is the Gift of God. He is not obliged to bestow it upon any Man. He may make what Condition he pleases for the obtaining of it. No Man hath any Right to it: No Man can lay any claim to it, but from this Donation, and from the performance of these Conditions. Rev. 22. 14. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs and whoremongers, and sorcerers, &c. All the Right they have depends upon God’s Promise, which is conditionate, and accrues to them by the performance of the Condition, which is the doing of his Commandments.
2 Necessary, not only by God’s appointment, but in the very nature of the thing. Holiness is the very quality and complexion of Heaven. No Man without it is qualified to be a subject of that Kingdom: For thereinto nothing that is impure or unclean can enter. Revel. 21. 27. And there shall in no wise enter into it [the New Jerusalem] any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination. In this new Heaven dwelleth righteousness. 2 Pet. 3. 15. Therefore 1 John 3. 3. Every man that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself as he is pure. Heaven would naturally spue out and eject a wicked Person, as one heterogeneous to it. Heaven and Hell are not more distant in Place, than they are in Nature. There is not more antipathy between fire and water, between light and darkness, between streight and crooked, neither are they more incompatible, or do more naturally resist and expel one another, than holiness which is the quality of Heaven, and wickedness which is the disposition and temper of Hell. Some do think Heaven to be rather a state, than a place; and that he that is partaker of the Divine Nature hath Heaven within him. This is true, but this is not all. The whole Notion of Heaven comprehends both a state and a place. A Man must be in a heavenly state, before the local Heaven can receive him, or he brook it. Heaven without him would be no Heaven to the Man who hath not Heaven within him. A wicked Person could find no business or employment in Heaven; nothing to satisfie his corrupt and depraved affections, inclinations, and appetites. He would there meet with no suitable company; no persons whose conversation he could take any delight and complacency in, but rather hate and abhor. For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? or what communion hath light with darkness? 2 Cor. 6. 14. Like naturally loves like, and unites with it, and doth refuse, resist, and hate that which is unlike it. For every thing is made to love itself; and consequently whatsoever resembles and comes near it, and is as it were a replication of it; and to hate the contrary. As therefore we would be glad to be Partakers of the blessedness of the local Heaven, so let us endeavour to get into our Minds and Spirits the qualities and conditions of Heaven; that so we may be fit Subjects for that Kingdom, sit Companions for that Society. This is the time allotted us to purifie our selves from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit, and to perfect holiness in the fear of God. There is no invention in the Grave whither we are going, Eccles. 9. 10. Vpon this moment depends eternity. As the tree falls so it it lies, Eccles. And as Death leaves, so will Judgment find us. Quando isthinc excessum fuerit, nullus jam locus poenitentiae est. Hîc vita aut amittitur, aut tenetur: Hîc saluti aeternae cultu Dei & fructu fidei providetur. Cyprian Serm. de Immortal. After we shall depart hence there remains no more place for repentance. Eternal life is here, either lost or won. Here provision is made for everlasting salvation by the worship of God, and fruit of faith. We must work while it is day, the night [of death] cometh wherein no man can work, John 9. 4. And therefore the time our Bodies shall rest in the Grave, should it be a thousand Years, will little avail us: for if the Soul be mean while awake, the certain and dreadful expectation of the Sentence of Condemnation to an eternal Hell at the Day of Judgment, will be little less afflictive than the Torments thereof themselves. I might add by way of Digression, that Sin and Wickedness is naturally productive of Hell in the Soul. A wicked Man carries Hell in his Breast. Sin necessarily infers Misery: It is contrary to the nature of the Soul, and whatsoever is so must needs be grievous. Diversion and Non-Attention to his Condition, is the wicked Man’s only Security: I have heard it often from a3 great Divine in his Sermons, That there is but a Thought’s distance between a wicked Man and Hell. For do but fix and bind his Thoughts to the Consideration of his Life and Actions, and he will anticipate Hell himself, he shall need no infernal Furies to lash him, he will be his own Tormentor: Such a Man’s Pressures will be heavy enough, should the Divine Nemesis superadd no more. The Reason of this I have given in a former Discourse, and therefore shall now omit what else might have been added on this particular.
Secondly, It much concerns us, upon account of the future Judgment which shall be at the Dissolution of the World, to have our Conversation in all Holiness, as we desire to avoid that Shame and Misery which will then otherwise certainly befal us.
- As we desire to avoid that Shame which will cover our Faces at that day. If here Shame and Disgrace be more grievous and insupportable than Death itself, what will it be then, when the Soul shall be rendred more quick and apprehensive and sensible of such Impressions? There is nothing shameful but sin, nothing else hath any natural Turpitude in it. Shame follows Sin as the Shadow doth the Body: He that will commit the one cannot avoid the other. Therefore such wicked Persons as have not quite renounced Modesty, and lost all Sence of Shame, especially if guilty of secret Crimes, the Consideration of a future Judgment would be a powerful Curb to restrain them from Sin for the future: because then God will produce and bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and disclose and make manifest the counsels of all hearts. 1 Cor. 4. 5. Then he will judge the secrets of men by Iesus Christ, Rom. 2. 16. Then will he bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, Eccles. 12. 14. For would they but consider and ponder what Confusion will overwhelm them when this shall be done in the face of the whole World, and before all that knew them, and they not able to make any denial, or excuse. This, I say, if any thing, would be a powerful Curb to withhold them from those Enormities to which this shame is appendant. It may be thou madest a great Figure in the World for Piety and Religion, wouldst seem to be Some-body in the Eyes of Men, when thou wert false and unsound, didst harbour and nourish some Viper in thy Bosom, Introrsum turpis, speciosa pelle decorus: When thy secret Faults shall be exposed before thy Neighbours, and Friends, and Children, And the shame of thy nakedness shall be made to appear, Revel. 3. 18. How wilt thou then be confounded and astonished, and unable to list up thy Head? What horrour will then seize thee, When thy confusion shall be continually before thee, and the shame of thy face shall cover thee? Psalm 44. 15. It concerns thee therefore to look about thee in time, and search thy Conscience to the Bottom to remove whatever grates, to cast out whatever offends, though never so customary, never so pleasing to Flesh and Blood: to apply thy self to the Merits and Satisfaction of Christ Iesus for the Expiation of what is past; and for the future to resolve and endeavour the amendment of whatsoever hath heretofore been amiss in thee; and to beg the assistance of the Divine Grace to strengthen in thee every good purpose and resolution of heart, and to enable thee to bring it to issue and effect. And for thy security, I think it good Advice, to resolve so to behave thy self in thy Retirements, so to live in the secret of thy Chamber and Closet, as though the Doors were thrown open upon thee, and all the Eyes of the World beheld thee; as though thou were’t in the Arena of a Publick Theatre, exposed to the view of Men and Angels. I remember the ingenious Writer of Politick Discourses, Boccalini, doth often divert himself and his Reader, with facetious Reflections upon the contrivance of a Window into the Breast; which, if I mistake not, be fathers upon Lipsius. However he may deride it, I think it would be prudent Counsel to give and take, for every Christian. So to live and carry it in the secret of his Heart, as if there were a Window into his Breast, that every one that passed by, might look in thereat, and see all the thoughts and imaginations that passed there, that found any entertainment or acceptance with him. For though indeed God searches the hearts and reins, and understandeth our thoughts afar off, Psal. 139. 2. Yet such is the hypocrisie of Mankind, that they do for the most part more reverence the Eyes of Men, than of God: and will venture to do that in his presence, which they would be ashamed the Eyes of Man should see them doing. You will say, Is it not better to be modest, than to be impudent? Is it not better to conceal, than to publish ones shame? Is it not better to reverence Man, than neither God nor Man? Doth not the Scripture condemn a Whore’s Fore-head? Is it not a true Proverb, Past Shame, Past Grace? Was it not good Advice of a Cardinal (as I remember) Si nou castè, tamen cautè? He that hath devoured shame, what Bridle is there left to restrain him from the worst of evils? I answer, That it seems indeed to me, that publick sins of the same nature, are more heinous than secret; and that impudence in sinning, is an aggravation of sin. For open sins dare God, and bid defiance to Heaven, and leave the Sinner unreclaimable, and are of more pernicious influence. I do not now speak of the hypocrisie of seigning holiness to serve our own ends, which is rightly esteemed duplex iniquitas, but that of concealing and hiding vicious actions, to avoid the shame of Men. And yet there is a great obliquity in this too. Because even this is a slighting and undervaluing of God, a preferring of Man before him, setting a greater price and esteem upon the praise and commendation of Men, than the praise and approbation of God, Iohn 12. 43. God sees the secretest Actions, yea, the most retired thoughts. They that believe this, and yet make bold to do in his presence, what the fear of Man’s Eye would restrain them from, it is clear that they reverence Man more than God, a poor frail, impotent Creature like themselves, more than the most pure and ever blessed Creator. Nay, let the Temptation to any sin be never so strong, and the natural inclination never so vehement, if the knowledge and conscience of Men be a motive and consideration powerful enough to enable us to resist and repel them, had we but as firm a belief of the presence and inspection of God, and as great a reverence and dread of him, Why should not these have the same influence and effect upon us? Let us then avoid the hypocrisie of desiring to be thought better than we are, by endeavouring to our utmost to be as good as we would be thought to be, and if possible, better. So shall we satisfie our selves that we seek the praise of God, more than the praise of Men.
Here before I proceed, I cannot but admire the Wisdom and Goodness of Almighty God, in implanting such a Passion in the Nature of Man as Shame, to no other use or purpose, that I can imagine, than to restrain him from vicious and shameful Actions. A Passion I call it, because the Body, as in other Passions, suffers from it, and that in a peculiar manner; it causing a sudden motion of the Blood to the outward parts, especially to the Face, which is called blushing; and a dejection of the Eyes. If you ask me what Shame is, I answer, It is an ungrateful and afflictive sence of Soul proceeding from Dishonour. Now Dishonour is nothing else but Mens ill Opinion of me, or dislike and condemnation of my Actions, some way declared and manifested to me; which why I should have such an abhorrence of, and why it should be so grievous and tormenting to me, there seems not to be a sufficient ground and foundation in the nature of the thing, supposing such as have this Opinion, have neither power nor will to hurt my Body: but only in the Ordination of God, who hath so made our Natures, to secure our Innocency, and with hold us from the commission of what is disgraceful and ignominious, as all sinful Actions, and none else are.
And as for secret sins, I think shame may take place there too. It was a precept of the Pythagoreans, […], Of all Men reverence your self most: be ashamed to do that before your self, which before others you would abhor or blush to do; otherwise you must suffer dishonour from your self, and condemn your own Actions, which will in all reason be more grievous and afflictive than the ill Opinion and Word of other Men. Hence Conscience of sin is esteemed a most painful and tormenting thing, by the generality of all Mankind, tho no other Man be privy to it.
But to return from whence we digressed, though (Daniel 12. 2) shame and everlasting contempt shall at the general Resurrection be the portion of them who persist and die in their sins, yet a serious and unfeigned Repentance, attested by a holy Conversation for the future, is an effectual means to deliver us from this shame, whatever our forepast sins have been. For they shall not be produced against us, they shall not be objected to us at that day; they shall be buried in eternal silence and oblivion, and be as tho’ they had not been. And this Opinion I hold, 1. More agreeable to the Scripture, which in this matter makes use of the Terms of hiding, and covering, and blotting out, and forgetting, Psalm 32. 1. Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, and whose sin is covered, Esay 43. 25. I, even I am he, that blotteth out thy transgressions, and will not remember thy sins. So Psalm 51. 9. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Jerem. 48. 34. I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more. Ezek. 28. 22. All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not he mentioned unto him, Mich. 7. 19. Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the Sea. And as it is more consonant to the Scripture, so is it, 2. More grateful and consolatory to the Penitents. For the mere mentioning and reciting of their sins before such an Assembly, must needs refresh their shame and sorrow, and so diminish their happiness and joy. To which I might add, that it is written, our Saviour at the last Judgment, in pronouncing the Sentence, shall enumerate the Good Works of the Godly to their praise; but not a word said of producing their sins. I say, I hold this Opinion more probable upon these accounts, than theirs who affirm they shall then be published, for the magnifying and advancing, the declaring and illustrating the Mercy and Grace of God, in pardoning so great and heinous Offences.
And truly, I do not know, but that the sins of the Blessed may be blotted out, even of their own Memories. Some Philosophers who were of Opinion, that Souls prae-exist before their Bodies, thought they were dipt in Lethe, which is a Fountain causing Oblivion, by means whereof they forgat whatever they had done before. This I look upon as a dream, or Fancy: but truly I am inclinable sometimes to imagine, that the Soul of Man can hardly be entirely happy, unless it be as it were thus dipt in Lethe: for every sinful Action having a natural Turpitude in it, and being dishonourable, how can the Memory and thought of it, but beget such an ungrateful Passion as Shame, even to Eternity? And what do Divines mean by saying, that the action [of sinning] suddenly passes away, but the stain and blot of it remains; but that a vicious action, even by them to whom it is pardoned, can never be thought of without grief and disturbance, it leaves an indelible scar in the Soul, which can never be perfectly healed and obliterated.
- It concerns us much to live in all holy Conversation in this World, as we desire to avoid that Pain and Misery, which we shall otherwise most certainly be adjudged to at that day: that indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, which God shall render to them that do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, Rom. 2. 8. That worm that dieth not, and that fire that is not quenched, Mark 9. 44. and 46, and 48. That outer darkness, where is weeping and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, Matth. 8. 12. and 22. 13. and 25, 30, That furnace of fire, Matth. 13. 42. 50. That lake of fire and brimstone, Revel. 20. 10. or of fire burning with brimstone, Revel. 19. 20. Which places, tho’ they be not literally to be expounded, yet do they import at least a very sad and deplorable Estate, a high degree of torment and anguish: and all this eternal and without intermission night and day. These shall go into everlasting punishment, Mat. 25. 46. The state of the Damned is supposed to be a state of absolute and complete Misery, made up of the loss of the greatest Good, and a constant, fresh, and lively apprehension of it: which Divines call Poena Damni. And, 2. Excess of bodily pain and sufferings, and sad distress and Trouble of Mind, occasioned by all manner of frightful Apprehensious, and vexatious Perturbations and Reflections, which they call Poena Sensus; and this without any intermission or hope of deliverance eternally. Iude 7. it is called the vengeance of eternal fire. Revel. 14. 11. The smoke of their torment is said to ascend up for ever and ever. And Revel. 20. 10. it is said of the Beast and false Prophet, that they shall be tormented night and day for ever and ever. If this be so, is’t not our greatest Wisdom to use our utmost diligence and endeavour to avoid so deplorable a Condition, and to secure to our selves an interest in a future estate of everlasting […] and Happiness when this Life shall be ended?
But here the Epicureans, and sensual Persons will be ready to object and argue, Here are Pleasures and Delights in this World, which are very inviting and taking, and do highly gratifie my Senses and Appetites. I hear likewise of future Rewards and Punishments for those that deny or fulfil their carnal Lusts and Desires. These sensual Pleasures I see and taste, and feel, and am sure of, the other I do but only hear of, and therefore they do not, they cannot so strongly affect me: Were Heaven and the Happiness thereof set before my eyes, and did I see it as plainly and clearly as I do these things below, then indeed I should not need many motives to provoke me to endeavour the obtaining of it. But alas, that is far above, out of our sight, the Joys of Heaven are by the Apostle termed things not seen. Again, these outward, and temporal enjoyments are present and easily obtainable; the other at a great distance, future, and besides, very hard to come by; and I love my ease, Vt est ingenium hominum à labore proclive ad libidinem. Should I deny my self Good in this Life, and then perchance cease to be, and so have no Reward for my pains; nay, on the contrary expose my self to the hazard of many afflictions and sufferings, which are the portion of the Godly in this Life, how unnecessarily shall I make my self miserable? Miserable I say, because by the Apostle’s own confession Christians, If in this life only they had hope, would be of all men the most miserable, 1 Cor. 15. 19 Had I not better make sure of what is before me? Why have I these Appetites within me, and such Objects about me, the one being so suitable to the other, is it not more natural and reasonable to fulfil, than deny them? Surely it cannot be Wisdom to lose a certain Good, for an uncertain Hope; and for an ungrounded fear of Hell hereafter, to undergo a Purgatory here.
To this Argumentation upon the false Foundation of the uncertainty of a Future Estate of endless Happiness or Misery, accordingly as we have behaved our selves in this Life, I answer,
That for the futurity of such an estate, we have the best Authority in the World, to wit, the holy Scriptures, and universal Tradition.
- The Holy Scriptures, whose Authority to be more than humane, hath been by many so clearly and convincingly demonstrated, that I shall take it for granted, and not waste time to prove it. The Testimonies herein contained concerning eternal Happiness and Misery are so clear and full, that it seems to me impossible without manifest distortion to elude or evade the force of them. Some we have already recited, and might produce many more, Isa. 33. 14. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? Dan. 12. 2. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 2. Thess. 1. 9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, &c. speaking of them who know not God, and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Isa. 66. 24. For their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched.
The Origenists, and others, that cannot be reconciled to the Catholick Doctrine of the Eternity of the Punishments of the Damned, make the word […], from which the Latin aevum is derived, to signifie sometimes a determinate time, as might (say they) easily be proved by many examples, and so […] or […], which we translate for ever, signifies when applied to this matter, a long indeed, but yet a finite time; and […], which we render for ever and ever, may likewise signifie not an eternal duration, but a time to which some term may be set by God, though to us unknown. In the same sense they accept the Adjective […] for a long, but finite time. But I am of S. Augustine’s Opinion, that […] doth in the New Testament signifie the same with aeternus in Latin, and is appropriated to things that have no end: and that […], for ever and ever, doth in like manner always denote eternal or endless duration. That the word […], when applied to the state of the Damned, doth signifie eternal. S. Augustine well demonstrates from the Antithesis in that place of Matth. 25. 46. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. Where it is in the same sense attributed to that Life which is the Reward of the Righteous, and that Fire which is the Punishment of the Damned; there being no reason to believe that the same word in the same Verse, when applied to opposites, should be taken in a different sense. But by the confent of all Christians it is granted, that the Life of the Blessed shall be eternal, therefore so must the Punishment of the Damned be too.
This acception of the word […] for eternal or endless, when it refers to the state of those miserable Persons, receives a further and strong confirmation from the
Second Particular we proposed, that is, Vniversal Tradition: It being a received Opinion among the Heathen, which must needs descend down to them by Tradition from the Ancients, that Eternal Punishments awaited the Wicked after Death.
What more common Notion among the Grecians and Romans, than of an Elysium, and Tartarus? the former to reward good Men, the latter to punish wicked. And those too esteemed to be Eternal States. Of this the Epicurean Poet Lucretius is a sufficient and unexceptionable Witness: For he makes the fear of these Punishments to be the cause of all the Miseries of Humane Life, and the Foundation of all Religion,
Aeternas quoniam poenas in morte timendum.
Now, that he could derive this from no other source but Tradition, is clear; because he lived a good while before our Saviour’s time, and the divulgation of the Scripture among the Heathen. And because it may be objected, that Aeternas may signifie only of long continuance, to put the Matter out of all doubt, in another place he saith, —Nam si nullum finem esse putarent, Aerumnarum homines, nulla ratione valerent Relligionibus atque minis obsistere vatum. —But if it once appear That after Death there’s neither Hope nor Fear. Then Men might freely triumph, then disdain The Poet’s Tales, and scorn their fancy’d Pain. But now we must submit, since Pains we fear Eternal after Death, we know not where.
And that this Opinion and Belief generally prevailed among the People before Epicurus his time, the same Lucretius testifies in the beginning of his first Book, Humana ante oculos foedè cum vita jaceret In terris oppressa gravi sub Relligione, &c. Primùm Graius homo, &c. Long time Men lay opprest with slavish fear, Religion’s Tyranny did domineer, Which being plac’d in Heaven, look’d proudly down, And frighted abject Spirits at her frown At last a Mighty One of Greece began T’assert the Natural Liberty of Man, By senceless Terrours, and vain Fancy led To Slavery, streight the conquer’d Fantoms fled. for he makes (as we saw before) the Fear of Eternal Pain and Misery, to be the Foundation of all Religion.
- Now because these Objectors do represent Religion to themselves and others as a melancholick and disconsolate thing: and think and say, that those that enter into this state, must bid adieu to all the Pleasures of Sence, and tast no sweetness in any worldly Object. I shall endeavour to remove this prejudice. I say therefore, That our gracious God doth not envy us any real Good that the Creatures can afford us, and therefore hath not denied us a moderate use and fruition of any of them. And seeing he hath annexed Pleasure to those Actions that are necessary for the support of life, and continuation of kind, as a bait to invite us to the performance of them, it seems to me highly absurd and contradictious to affirm, that he hath forbidden us to partake or taste those Enjoyments which himself has appointed as effectual means for the security of those great Ends; and which are so necessary Consequents of those Actions, that we cannot but partake them. Where the Appetite is eager, God hath indulged, I might say, commanded a moderate and regular satisfaction. And we know, nay, the blindness of Atheism cannot deny, that the greatest pleasure results from a moderate and well circumstantiated use of Pleasures. Voluptates commendat rarior usus. Now a Religious Man enjoys all the Pleasures of these worldly and sensible Goods, without any of the pain, which is annexed to the excessive and irregular use, or indeed abuse of them: and besides, his Pleasure is enhansed, in that he beholds and receives them as Blessings of God, and Tokens of his Favour and Affection; and is without all fear of a future sad Reckoning for his participation of them. Howbeit a denial of our selves for God’s sake and cause in any thing which we might otherwise lawfully enjoy, though it be not commanded, yet is accepted, and shall be rewarded by him.
Others there are who grant, That these words grammatically signifie as we contend, and that Eternal Punishments are indeed threatned to the wicked; but say they, these Threatnings are intended only, as Terriculamenta, or Bug-bears to Children, to terrifie and keep People in awe, and to preserve the World in some tolerable condition of quietness. And Origen himself, tho’ he be of opinion, that these Threatnings signifie only temporary Pains; yet he saith, that such Mysteries are to be sealed up and concealed from the Vulgar, left wicked Men should rush into sin with all fury and licentiousness, if this Bridle were taken off, who by the opinion and fear of eternal and endless Punishments can scarce be deterred and restrained from it.
To this I answer, 1. That it seems to me indecorous and unsuitable to the Person and Majesty of God, to make use of such sorry and weak means to bring about his ends, as grave Men can hardly condescend to. 2. I do not see how it can consist with his Veracity, in plain terms, absolutely to threaten and affirm what he never intends to do.
Indeed it is questionable, Whether it be allowable in Man: it being a best but an officious Lye: for it is a speaking what we do not think, and that with an intention to deceive.
Secondly, I proceed now to a second Objection against the Eternity of the Pains and Sufferings of the Damned, and that is, its inconsistency with the Justice of God. What proportion can there be between a transient and temporary act, and an eternal Punishment? The most rigid Justice can exact no more than a Talio, to suffer as I have done. […]. If I have hurt, or grieved, or injured any Man, to be punished with the same, or an equivalent suffering: if I have taken any unreasonable Pleasure, to compensate it with an answerable Pain. Indeed the enormities of my Life cannot well deserve so much, if it be considered, that I have been strongly instigated and inclined, and as it were fatally driven upon all the Evils which I have committed, by those Affections and Appetites, which I made not for my self, but found in my self; and have been exposed to strong and almost inexpugnable Temptations from without; beset with Snares, encompassed about with innumerable Evils.
To this I answer First, That every sin, injury, or offence is aggravated and enhansed by the dignity or merit of the Person against whom it is committed. So Parricide is esteemed a greater Crime than ordinary Murther, and by the Laws of all Nations avenged with a sorer Punishment. The like may be said of Laesa Majestas, or Treason. Now God is an infinite Person, and Sin being an injury and affront to him, as being a violation of his Law, an infinite Punishment must be due to it.
This answer Dr. Hammond in his Practical Catechism, lib. 5. sect. 4. accounts a Nicety, and unsatisfactory, as also that other common answer, That if we should live infinitely, we would sin infinitely; and therefore gives us another, which in his Discourse of the Reasonableness of Christian Religion, he thus briefly summs up.
- That the choice being referred to us to take of the two which we best like, eternal Death set before us on the one hand, to make eternal Life the more infinitely reasonable for us to chuse on the other hand, and the eternal Hell (whensoever we fall into it) being perfectly our own Act, neither forced on us by any absolute Decree of God, nor irresistible temptation of the Devil, or our own Flesh; but as truly our wish and choice, and mad purchase; nay, much more truly and properly, than eternal Heaven is (when our Obedience is first wrought by God’s Grace, and yet after that so abundantly rewarded by the Doner) it is certain, if there be any thing irrational, it is in us unkind and perverse Creatures (so obstinate to chuse what God so passionately warns us to take heed of; so wilfully to die, when God swears he wills not our death) and not in him, who hath done all that is imaginable to be done to reasonable Creatures (here in their way or course) to the rescuing or saving of us.
But to this may be replied, If the thing itself be unjust, how can our chusing of it make it just? How can it be just to annex such a Penalty as eternal Hell to a short and transient offence? Suppose a Prince should make a Law, that whosoever did not rise up and bow himself before an Old Man, should be put to Death with Torments; and one of his Subjects knowingly should transgress this Law upon some great temptation; would it not be accounted Cruelty in the Prince to execute this Law upon him? Laws may be unjust upon account of disproportionate Penalties. Neither doth our Choice much help the Matter, for that is but an effect of our Error or Folly, or, if you will, Madness, which doth as little deserve eternal Death as the Sin committed doth.
If any Man be dissatisfied with the precedent Answers, all that I have to add further, is, that before this Sentence adjudging to eternal Death be pronounced against him, and executed upon him, there shall be such a revelation made, as shall convince and satisfie him of the Righteousness thereof. And this the Apostle seems to intimate, Rom. 2. 5. when he calls the Great Day of Doom, the Day of the Revelation of the righteous Judgment of God. Then shall be made appear what now to our dim-sighted Reason is not penetrable; how the Justice of God can consist with the Eternal Damnation of the wicked.
As for Man’s being as it were fatally determined to Evil by the strength of Temptation, and the violence of unruly and headstrong Passions and Appetites: I answer, That there are motives and considerations sufficient to enable a Man to resist and repel, to conquer and overcome the most alluring and fascinating Temptations, the most urging and importunate Appetites or Affections; such are certain Shame and Disgrace, and that not long to come, eternal Infamy and Dishonour; present Death, strong fear and dread of approaching Death, or sad and intolerable Pains or Calamities. Now the Divine Threatnings are of the greatest and most formidable Evils and Miseries that Humane Nature is capable of suffering; and therefore were they but firmly beheved and apprehended, they would be of force sufficient to stir up in us such strong Passions of Fear and Terror, as would easily chase away all Temptations, and embitter all the Baits of Sensual Pleasure.
- There remains yet a third Objection against an eternal Hell, and that is, that it is inconsistent with the Divine Goodness. For the Unbeliever will say, It’s contrary to all the Notions and Ideas I have of God, to conceive him to be so angry and furious a Being. How can it stand with Infinite Goodness to make a Creature that he fore knew would be eternally miserable? We Men account it a piece of goodness to pardon offences: And all Punishments are intended either for the reformation and amendment of the Offender, or if it be unreclaimable to prevent the Mischief which he might otherwise do, or for an Example to others to deter them from the like Enormities: but I do not see for what such end any Man can be eternally tormented. So that of such inflictions one may rationally demand, Cui bono? What Good comes of them? How then can they come from God, who by all Mens confession is infinitely Good?
To which I answer: First, That God is just as well as good. You will say, what is Justice? It is an equal weighing of Actions, and rendring to every one his Right or Due. A setting streight again what was perverted by the sins and extravagancies of Men. Now that the breaking of order and equality in the World, this usurping and encroaching upon others Rights is a great Evil, and ought to be rectified, some may take an Argument from the strong inclination and desire to revenge Injuries, that is implanted in the Nature of Man, and of all Creatures. You’ll say, all desire of Revenge is absolutely sinful and unlawful. I answer, I am no Patron of Revenge. I know the very Heathen by the Light of Nature condemned it. —Infirmi est animi exigu[…]que voluptas Vltio— Revenge is the pleasure of a poor and weak Spirit. Yet let us hear what they have to say. 1. It is hard to affirm, that any innate Appetite or Desire is in itself simply and absolutely, and in all Circumstances whatsoever unlawful, for this seems to reflect upon the Author of Nature.
To which may be answered, that a well circumstantiated Desire of Revenge may not be in itself unlawful, yet for the evil Consequents of it, it may be, and is prohibited by a positive Law. 2. Divine Persons have prayed to God to avenge them, as David and the Prophets. And S. Paul himself, 2. Tim. 4. 14. prays God, to reward Alexander the Coppersmith according to his works. To which may be answered, that those Expressions are rather Predictions of what should befal their Enemies, than desires that they might. Again, whereas it is said, Revel. 6. 9, 10. That the souls of them under the altar that were slain for the word of God, and the testimony which they held, cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our Blood on them that dwell on the earth: Doctor Hammond saith, It signifies no more, than that their Blood cries to God for Vengeance, as Abel’s is said to do. 3. The Nature of Forgiveness seems to imply the Lawfulness of some desire of Revenge. For what is Forgiveness but a parting with, and as renouncing the Right I have to be avenged, and therefore before I forgive I do retain at least some will to be revenged. And I am not obliged by our Saviour to forgive absolutely, but upon condition of Repentance. Luke 17. 3, 4. If thy brother sin against thee rebuke him, and if he repent forgive him, &c. And in the Lord’s Prayer one Petition is, Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. But God forgives not without Repentance. To which may be answered. That before Repentance, I may retain a will of punishing an Offender for his own Good and Reformation, but with no respect of avenging what is past. And if his Repentance prevents his Punishment, then I am to forgive him, that is, cease to desire his Punishment. But all allow Vengeance to be just in God, whose Actions are not to be scanned by our Measures.
- If it be just with God to propose to us such a choice as Heaven upon condition of our Obedience to his Law, or Hell in case of Disobedience; as we see some wise Men make no scruple to grant; then it cannot be injustice in him to inflict the Punishments of Hell upon them that make it their choice. Nay, I cannot see how it can consist with his Veracity not to do it; why then should any Argument from his Goodness move us to distrust his Veracity? To which I shall add, That the very being of Sin and Misery in the World is as great an Argument against the Goodness of God, as the eternal Punishment of it; Sith we must needs grant, that God Almighty, Blessed for ever, could, if he had pleased, have prevented it. If any Man shall say, This was not possible without changing the very Nature of Man, and taking away the Liberty of his Will. To him I reply, How then can he confirm the Blessed, reserving their Liberty? Or must we say with Oriegn, That they are in a mutable state too, and that Heaven will have an end as well as Hell? If any Man remain still unsatisfied with what hath been said, I must refer him for full satisfaction to the Revelation of the righteous Judgment of God at that Great Day, of which mention hath been already made.
I am as unwilling as any Man to limit the Mereies of God: but yet I must refer it to him, whether he will be more favourable than he hath threatned or no, whether he will remit something of the Severity of his Comminations. I am also willing to restrain and consine the sense of these words […], and […], as far as the Context will permit. But let our Opinions and Hopes of the Mercies of God, and a temporary Hell be what they will: a temporary Hell, I say, or rather a Purgatory instead of Hell: For the word Hell, according to the usual acception of it, includes Eternity. I shall propose two things to be considered.
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That Origen the first Broacher of this Opinion of the Determination of the Punishments of the Damned, doth acknowledge that the contrary Doctrine is very useful to restrain the common People from Sin: and that this is to be held as a great Secret, and studiously concealed from them. Now if it be of such eminent use to them, why may it not also be to the Learned and Noble; who, I fear me, may want such a Bridle as well as they?
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Since God hath threatned eternal Punishments, whether he intends to execute them upon us or no, it is clear, I think, he would have them be believed by us, else they cannot have that end and effect he designed them to; and therefore it must be unbelief and presumption in us to deny or distrust them, tho’ upon supposition, that they are irreconcilable with his Goodness; with which yet perhaps they may accord well enough, tho’ we cannot at present discern it. All Divine Revelations are to be believed and accepted by us, as well Threatnings as Promises; and if we may distrust the Veracity of God in them, I know not but we may as well do it in these: if we deny the Eternity of the Torments of Hell, I do not see but that we may upon as good grounds, with Origen, deny the Eternity of the Joys of Heaven.
Let not then the presumption of a temporary Hell encourage thee to go on in sin: for, I fear, such a Persuasion may have an ill influence on the Manners of Men. Eternity is the very sting of Hell: take that out, and the Sinner will think it tractable enough. The very thought of an eternal Hell intervening (and it will often intrude itself) strikes a cold damp to his very Heart in the midst of his Jollities, and will much qualifie and allay all his Pleasures and Enjoyments. Rid him of this fear, and he will be apt to despise Hell and all its Torments, be they never so grievous or lasting. Take off this Bridle, and, as we hinted before, he will rush into Sin, as a Horse rusheth into the battel. He will be ready thereupon thus to argue with himself, What need I take so much pains to strive against Sin? What need I swim against the Stream, and resist the Tide and Eddy of my Passions, my natural Appetites and Inclinations, and the Solicitations of Company? What need I maintain such a constant Watch and Ward against my Spiritual Enemies, the Devil, the World, and the Flesh? If I fall into Hell at last, that is no eternal State, it lasteth but for a time, and will come to an end. I’ll venture it: I hope I shall make a shift to run through well enough. Let me ask thee, But how if thou shouldest find thy self mistaken? If the Event frustrate thy Hopes, and fall out contrary to thy Expectation? What a sad case wilt thou be in then? How will the unexpectedness thereof double thy Misery? Improvisa graviùs seriunt. How wilt thou be strucken as it were with a Thunderbolt, when the Almighty Judge shall sulminate against thee a dreadful indeed, but by thee formerly undreaded Sentence, adjudging thee to endless Punishments? How walt thou damn thine own Credulity, who by a groundless Belief of a temporary Hell, hast precipitated thy self into an eternal, which otherwise thou mightest possibly have avoided?
Well, but suppose there be some shadow of hope of the determination of the Punishments of the Damned: It is by all acknowledged to be a great piece of folly to leave Matters of the highest moment, and which most nearly concern us, at uncertainties: and a point of Wisdom, to secure the Main Chance, and to be provided against the worst that can come. An eternal Heaven or State of compleat Happiness is the Main Chance, and is not to come into any competition, or so much as to be put into the ballance against a few short, transient, fordid, loathed, and for the most part upon their own account repented Pleasures: To secure to our selves an Interest in such a State is our greatest Wisdom. And as for being provided against the worst that may or can come. What can be worse than an eternal Hell? which, there is I do not say a possibility, but the greatest probability imaginable, that it will be our portion; if we persist in impenitency, and dye in our sins. But suppose the best should happen that we can hope or conceive, that Hell should last only […], for Ages of Ages, and at last determine: do we think this a small matter? If we do, it is for want of consideration and experience of acute Pains. Should any of us be under the sense and suffering of a raging Paroxysm of the Stone, or Gout, or Colick, I doubt not but rather than endure it for ten thousand Years, he would willingly part with all his expectation of a blessed Estate after that Term were expired, yea, and his Being to boot. But what are any of these Pains to the Torments and Perpessions of Hell? or the duration of ten thousand Years to those Ages of Ages? If thou makest light of all this, and nothing can restrain thee from Sin, but the Eternity of Punishment, thou art bound to thank God, who hath used this only effectual means, threatning an eternal Hell. And it ill becomes thee to complain of his rigour and severity, who wouldest have made so pernicious an use of his lenity and goodness. But thou who hast entertained such an Opinion, and abusest it to encourage thy self to go on in thy sins, though others should escape with a temporary Punishment, surely thou hast no reason to expect any milder Doom, than to be sentenced to an eternal.
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