Richard Baxter's Catholic theology plain, pure, peaceable, for pacification of the dogmatical word-warriors who,…Richard Baxter's Catholick theologie plain, pure, peaceable, for pacification of the dogmatical word-warriours who,…

C. They deny absolute Reprobation at least, and say that God reprobateth no men, but upon fore-sight of sin; And so that he hath no Decree that men shall sin, nor that he will permit them to sin, nor that they shall do the act in particular which is sin: As if God had not decreed the hardening of Pharaohs heart, the sin of Sihon, of Rehoboam, of the Jews in killing Christ, &c.

B. 1. I told you before, Reprobation is a word that signifieth several acts: You dare not but grant them, that God decreeth or willeth to damn no man but for sin, and as a Sinner: And this is the same thing that they mean. 2. If by Reprobation you mean Gods Decree to give them no Faith or Repentance. 1. You must prove that God hath such a Decree or Will, for a mere negation, where not-decreeing or not-willing to give them Grace, will do as much. 2. All Christians must needs confess that God made a Covenant of Grace with fallen Mankind in Adam and Noah; And that no man is now under the mere Obligations of the Law and Covenant of Innocency, which saith [Be perfect and live, sin and die for ever]: And that there is some common mercy extended to all the World, which obligeth them to repent in order to Salvation. He subverteth Scripture, and all experience, that denieth this. Therefore all must grant, that God denieth no special Grace to any, but the abusers of this common Grace. And he decreeth to do but what he doth. ^*Therefore the persons whom he decreeth to deny special Grace to, are none but the abusers of common Grace, or the rejecters of that special Grace, when offered. ⟨p. 29⟩3. If by Reprobation, you mean Gods Will or Decree to permit them to sin and perish wilfully; 1. You can prove no such Decree or Will: Because permission being a negation or nothing, needs it not, but will be as certainly without it, upon a bare not decreeing to hinder them from sin. 2. And you mistake in saying that Arminius denieth it: For he ^*saith with you, That God decreeth his own permission. 3. You must take the pains to distinguish between negative and privative Unbelief, and between negative and privative not-hindering Sin, or not-giving Faith. Negative Unbelief is mere not-believing: And so none of us did believe from eternity, or before we were born: He that is not, believeth not; nor yet in the first instant that the Promise and Law of Faith was given us. Our unbelief is not sin, or privative, but on supposition that we are men, and have reason, and have a Law and Object of Faith. And Gods permitting us in this negative Non-belief is not to be called a privative, but only a negative permission. For God did from eternity so permit me to be no man, and no Believer, and yet this was not Reprobation. So God did negatively not hinder Adams first sin, but not privatively;