A77854:503
Vindiciæ legis
Vindiciæ legis: or, A vindication of the moral law and the covenants, from the errors of papists, Arminians, Socinians, and more especially, Antinomians. In XXIX. lectures, preached at Laurence-Jury, London. / By Anthony Burgess, preacher of Gods Word.Vindiciæ legis: or, A vindication of the morall law and the covenants, from the errours of papists, Arminians, Socinians, and more especially, Antinomians. In XXIX. lectures, preached at Laurence-Jury, London. / By Anthony Burgess, preacher of Gods Word.
London: printed by James Young for Thomas Underhill, 1646
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.
We therefore come to the Questions: And first concerning 1capital punishments to be inflicted upon some offenders. There are those that say, It doth not stand with the goodness and meekness of a Gospel-spirit to put any man to death for any crime whatsoever. But the falseness hereof doth appear, 1. In 2that its a command of God from the beginning, with a perpetual reason added to it, that he who was guilty of murder, should be put to death; so that at least in this case there ought to be a capital punishment. Now the command that God gave is Gen. 9. 6. Whosoever sheddeth mans blood, by man shall his blood be shed, and there is the reason given of it, because the image of God, viz. in his soul, is in him. To elude this, they say, that this is ⟨p. 181⟩not a command, but a mere prediction: God doth here foretell (say they) what will befall the murderer, not what a Magistrate is bound to do. But that is a mere evasion; for why should God fore-tell this, but because it was a duty to be done? Therefore its not said indefinitely, He that sheddeth mans blood, his blood shall be shed, but he addeth, by man it shall be shed. Therefore, howsoever a great *Scholar saith, That those are deceived, who think capital punishments are appointed by the Law of Nature, or any perpetual Law of God; yet this place demonstrateth the contrary: neither is it any matter that Plato would have reduced into his common-wealth the abrogation of capital punishments; or that the Romans for a while did use no heavier punishment, then deportation, or banishment; we must live by commands, and not by examples, especially humane. It's instanced in Cain, who, though he killed his brother Abel, yet God did not destroy him. It must be granted, that Gods indulgence to Cain was very great; for he doth not only spare his life, but sets a mark upon him to preserve him (what this was, they are most to be commended, who dare not determine it, because the Scripture is silent in it.) and not only so, but he addeth a more severe punishment to that man that shall kill Cain, then was due to the killing of any man. This hath made some wonder, but the answer is very easy, that where God, for some special reasons, doth prohibit such a fact, if that be notwithstanding committed, it is to be accounted more heinous.