A27004:900
The reasons of the Christian religion the first part, of godliness, proving by natural…
The reasons of the Christian religion the first part, of godliness, proving by natural evidence the being of God ... : the second part, of Christianity, proving by evidence supernatural and natural, the certain truth of the Christian belief ... / by Richard Baxter ... ; also an appendix defending the soul's immortality against the Somatists or Epicureans and other pseudo-philosophers.
London: printed by R. White for Fran. Titon, 1667
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.
Obj. But God is so good, that all his Punishments tend at last to the sinners good, and are merely castigatory.
Obj. But God is so good, that all his Punishments tend at last to the sinners good, and are meerly castigatory.
Answ. God is so wise, that he knoweth better than we what is good and fittest to be done. And God is so good, that for the honour of his Government, and Holiness, and Goodness, he expresseth his hatred of sin, to the final ruin of the sinners. And he is so wise and good, that he will not spare the offender, when the penalty is necessary to the good of the innocent, to prevent their falls. The Objection is a surmise not only groundless, but notoriously false.
Answ. God is so wise, that he knoweth better than we what is good and fittest to be done. And God is so good, that for the honour of his Government, and Holiness, and Goodness, he expresseth his hatred of sin, to the final ruine of the sinners. And he is so wise and good, that he will not spare the offendor, when the penalty is necessary to the good of the innocent, to prevent their falls. The Objection is a surmise not only groundless, but notoriously false.
§. 10. He that would know how far punishment is necessary to the ends of Government, must first know how far the Penal Law it self is necessary; for the first and chiefest benefit to the Common-wealth is from the Law, and the next from the Execution.