A42457:195
An antidote against error concerning justification, or, The true notion of justification, and of…An antidote against errour concerning justification, or, The true notion of justification, and of…
An antidote against error concerning justification, or, The true notion of justification, and of justifying faith, cleared by the light of scripture, and solid reason, from several mistakes of the words, which misapprehensions prove the seeds of dangerous errors by ... Thomas Gataker ... ; to which is added, The way of truth and peace, or, A reconciliation of the holy apostles S. Paul and S. James, concerning justification by faith without works, Rom. 3.28, by works and not by faith only, Jam. 2, 21, 24, by Charles Gataker ...An antidote against errour concerning justification, or, The true notion of justification, and of justifying faith, cleared by the light of scripture, and solid reason, from several mistakes of the words, which misapprehensions prove the seeds of dangerous errours by ... Thomas Gataker ... ; to which is added, The way of truth and peace, or, A reconciliation of the holy apostles S. Paul and S. James, concerning justification by faith without works, Rom. 3.28, by works and not by faith only, Jam. 2, 21, 24, by Charles Gataker ...
London: printed by J.C. for Henry Brome, 1670
Title page typeset from the transcription.
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.
The rest is wanting, and will be wanted. It will be fitter for me to say, Placeat homini, qod placuit Deo. Let not that discontent man, which pleased God. And it seemed good to the Lord of the Vineyard to interrupt this faithful Servants labour with an acute disease, which supervening to age, which is an incurable sickness, put a period to his life; which was his day or season of work. He was not idle in the former part of the day, but took this business in hand at his very evening, which man that knows not his time, could neither fore-see, nor put off.1 And now this unfinished Piece of his must stand, as an imperfect Table begun to be wrought by Apelles or Titian (famous in their Generations) which no surviving or succeeding Artist, will adventure to accomplish with a less-skilful hand. But yet we are not at an irrecoverable loss, since we have still the living Oracles of Gods word, which are the original truth, whereof humane discourses are extract Copies and besides common Reason,2 we may by humble and earnest pra•e• obtain the assistance of Gods holy Spirit for the improvement of Reason in the ⟨image 37⟩prosecution of what is not here expressed. And tho this discourse be abruptly broken off, before it fully explain what faith is, yet we may from the Negative part, which cuts off all Notions pretending to that Title, conclude the affirmative, that justifying faith is an affiance in Christ, or in God through Christ, and for Christs sake, for absolution from our sins, and so consequently for eternal salvation: and the justifying act of faith is to trust to, on, or in Christ, commonly called believing in or on him, by a speech somewhat improper, yet not without example in Exotic Authors.3 But if our Interpreters had ben so lucky, as instead of believing on God, and on Christ, to have rendered the word [Greek or Hebrew] by trusting, (as e. g. John 14. 1. we read the words of our Saviour to his Disciples, Ye believe in God, believe also in me, but we may very well read thus, Ye do trust, or, Do ye trust in God, or on God, trust also in me, or on me) use would have made the term familiar, and the thing it self obvious to the understanding, and it would have prevented many hot but impertinent contentions about words. But mine infirmities will not permit me to enlarge in the explication of the nature of faith, which is a common Theme, but deserves exact handling.