A30198:70
Reprobation asserted, or, The doctrine of eternal election & reprobation promiscuously handled in eleven…
Reprobation asserted, or, The doctrine of eternal election & reprobation promiscuously handled in eleven chapters wherein the most material objections made by the opposers of this doctrine are fully answered, several doubts removed, and sundry cases of conscience resolved / by John Bunyan.
London: printed for G.L., 1674
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.
If it be the Cause, then it must either, 1. Leave him infirm. Or, 2. Infuse sin into him. Or, 3. Take from him something that otherwise would keep him upright. 4. Or both license Satan to tempt, and the Reprobate to close in with the temptation. But it doth none of these; therefore it is not the Cause of the Condemnation of the Creature.
That it is not the Cause of Sin, it is evident, 1. Because the Elect are as much involved therein, as those that are passed by. 2. It leaveth him not infirm; for he is by an after-Act, to wit, of Creation, formed perfectly upright. 3. That Reprobation infuseth no sin, appeareth, because it is the Act of God. 4. That it taketh nothing (that good is) from him, is also manifest, it being only a leaving of him. 5. And that it is not by this Act that Satan is permitted to tempt, or the Reprobate to sin, is manifest; because as Christ was tempted, so the Elect fall as much into the temptation, at least many of them, as many of those that are Reprobate: Whereas if these things came by Reprobation, then the Reprobate would be only concerned therein. All which will be further handled in these questions yet behind.
That it is not the Cause of Sin, it is evident, 1. Because the Elect are as much involved therein, as those that are passed by. 2. It leaveth him not infirm; for he is by an after-Act, to wit, of Creation, formed perfectly upright. 3. That Reprobation infuseth no sin, appeareth, because it is the Act of God. 4. That it taketh nothing (that good is) from him, is also manifest, it being onely a leaving of him. 5. And that it is not by this Act that Satan is permitted to tempt, or the Reprobate to sin, is manifest; because as Christ was tempted, so the Elect fall as much into the temptation, at least many of them, as many of those that are Reprobate: Whereas if these things came by Reprobation, then the Reprobate would be onely concerned therein. All which will be further handled in these questions yet behind.