A27064:914
Universal redemption of mankind, by the Lord Jesus Christ stated and cleared by the…
Universal redemption of mankind, by the Lord Jesus Christ stated and cleared by the late learned Mr. Richard Barter [sic] ; whereunto is added a short account of Special redemption, by the same author.
London: printed for John Salusbury, 1694
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.
Tremelius and Junius render it thus plainly, [Sacrificavit enim Diis Damascenorum percutientium ipsum] not Diis Damascenorum percutientientibus ipsum. And would one think now that so great a stress should be laid by prudent sober men, on such an oversight. Darmesek being a collective, the Cities name put for the Peoples (than which nothing more usual when there is mention of the acts of Cities and Countries) did truly smite Ahaz: As England did smite Scotland: Or Rome conquered so much of the World: And Venice holds War with the Turk.
2. What if it had been otherwise? May not God give power to those Devils which were the Gods of Damascus, really to smite Ahaz? As well as he gave the Devil power to smite Job a better man.
3. And what if all that they supposed of this Text had been true? If God had spoke in so strange a language once in all the Bible? If we shall thence take liberty to interpret him so elsewhere, without proving this to be the sense, we may then indeed make any thing of the Scripture. And though I doubt not but God in mercy will bear with the weakness of good men that by the power of prejudice do run on such expositions, having a zeal for God, though not according to knowledge, and supposing ⟨p. 331⟩themselves necessitated to it; yet certainly the proper natural tendency of such violent dealing with Scripture is to infidelity it self, and the questioning of the truth of Scripture: and if we escape that, we lie fair open to the invasion of Popery, to conceit a necessity of an Earthly final Judge of the sense of Scripture as being insufficient to manifest its own sense. In the mean time, how do we gratify Papists and Sceptics by this dealing.
3. And what if all that they supposed of this Text had been true? If God had spoke in so strange a language once in all the Bible? If we shall thence take liberty to interpret him so elsewhere, without proving this to be the sense, we may then indeed make any thing of the Scripture. And though I doubt not but God in mercy will bear with the weakness of good men that by the power of prejudice do run on such expositions, having a zeal for God, though not according to knowledge, and supposing