A26883:4497
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,…
Richard Baxter's Catholic theology plain, pure, peaceable, for pacification of the dogmatical word-warriors who, 1. by contending about things unrevealed or not understood, 2. and by taking verbal differences for real,Richard Baxter's Catholick theologie plain, pure, peaceable, for pacification of the dogmatical word-warriours who, 1. by contending about things unrevealed or not understood, 2. and by taking verbal differences for real,
London: printed by Robert White for Nevill Simmons, 1675
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
R. It's impossible to know what every man meaneth, and impossible to make all men speak congruously: But as far as I can discern, most of them that so speak, mean, that the most wise God doth all things in order and harmony, and as he suiteth natural causes and effects, so he doth gracious ones: And that his free grace putteth into mans holiness, a suitableness to the Reward, which is but a suitableness of the habit and act to the object: And that he that Loved God much shall be much happy in that Love, and be much beloved by him: And so every Saint enjoy God according to the proportion of his Love or holiness; and Glory be varied according to the degrees of Grace.
R. It's impossible to know what every man meaneth, and impossible to make all men speak congruously: But as far as I can discern, most of them that so speak, mean, that the most wise God doth all things in order and harmony, and as he suiteth natural causes and effects, so he doth gracious ones: And that his free grace putteth into mans holiness, a suitableness to the Reward, which is but a suitableness of the habit and act to the object: And that he that Loved God much shall be much happy in that Love, and be much beloved by him: And so every Saint enjoy God according to the proportion of his Love or holiness; and Glory be varyed according to the degrees of Grace.
L. This we all hold: But you make them sounder and wiser than they are.
R. Many of them and us want skill to speak very clearly: Confusion and darkness is found in all our conceptions and expressions so far as we know but in part: Those that you can prove to me are worse, prove it by them. I take this to be the common sense of those few that talk of Meritum ex proportione: For they most commonly disclaim the word equality, and all disclaim it as to commutation: And what else can they mean? And here I offer you an argument for Reward even in this sense of proportion which all the world cannot answer: supposing that God will freely continue man in life and immortality. If the Reward be essential to or necessarily inseparable from true love and obedience, then true love and obedience have certainly a Reward (and a moral aptitude for that Reward, or a Rewardableness, called Merit:) But the former is certain. For 1. To Love God is the souls health, pleasure and felicity it self (including the Knowledge of him;) And perfect Knowledge and love is perfect happiness. 2. To obey God is formally to do that which Pleaseth him pleasedly because it pleaseth him: And to Please God is mans ultimate End and Reward. 3. It is impossible but that God, by his perfection, should Love and be pleased with every thing that is Good according to the proportion of its goodness; and therefore with the Love and obedience of his Children. So that all those arguments of Protestants which well prove Holiness to be Happiness it self, prove the Reward to be essential or inseparable.