ft!cft.. !!ccfl. AII[W· ~eft. AnJw. ~·ft· Anfw• (afes about an erri1~ (onfcience anjivered. m tJ!)• .flripes , and IJt tb.zt ftH.Jrvttb it not, with few ; ii it not my duty chiefly to avGid the ma jlt-ipu, bJ' •IV,,idiu:{ fi~tning, agai1!fl my Confcicnce or Knorr{edge l ny Anfw. J, Your duty is to avoid bmh: and if both were not finful, they would not both b punifiHd with ftripes: 2. Your Confcience is not your KnOn:ledge when you err, bur }Our ], e ranee. Confoience as it fignitieth the fac:dty of Knowing may be hid to be Confcience when it rrr~;:; as Rcifim is 1\e,,fim in the f.Jctdty when we err. And Conflience as to an trring aU, may be called Confcicncc_ fo farr as there is any true Knowledge in the ad- ; (as a m:t,n is fa id to fn when he mifo judgrtb ot :olou;s, o r to_ Reaf?n ::hen he argueth at~ifs) But fo f.,;rr ar_ it etreth it is no Ccmfcirffct i;t all_ at a1~: I- or Confou:nct JS fozenc~, and not nefc:en:e· You im agamn yo~r Knowledge, whelr yt>U Im agamfi a rveU-injormcd Cohfcunce; but you fm m ignorance wf1en you hn againfi an trl'in Co11[cience. 3· And if the Qltetlion be not, what is your duty, hue which is the fmriUer fin, then~ i~ true, that C.etcril p.zrtbiD it is a f!.rtaur jiJt to go againfi your judgement, than to follow it. But yet other imp.rritiU in matter and circumfiances, may be an exception againfi this rule. § 39· Q!_d!-. 8. Bttt it ~ 1tvl poffible for every man prefenlly lo lz.now aU hi1 duty and to avbid aU error ab,'ztt bii dmy : KJtuwledge mujt be got in time : All men are ignorant in many thing1 : foould I nJt tbw in the meatt time follow my Confcience? Anfw. I· Your ignorance is culpable or not culpable. If it be not cultable, the thing which you are ignnrJnt of is not you: duty. . If culpable _(which is the cafe fuppofed) as you htbught your{elf to that dllRculry of knowmg, fo lC Wilt rernam yoHr fin ttll lt be cured; and one fin will not war:~ rant another. And all that time you are under a double command, the one is to Know (and u{etbe means of Knowledge ) and the other is to do the thing commanded. So that how long foever you remain in error you remain in fiH, and are not under an obligation to foUow your errot, but firfi to Know and then ro Do the contrary duty. 2. And as long as you keep your felf in a . necedlty, or way of finning, you muH call it fin as it is, and nor call it duty: Ic is nor your d"lity to choofe a fcJJn fi~~ before a greater, but to n~ur: and avoid both the /~fffr and. the great'et : And jf you fay, [ J'Ote cannot ; J yet runember that Jt IS only yourfitt tnat lS your ampotency, or your impotency is fi"ful: But it is true that you are moft obliged to avoid the grwejl fin : Therefore all that re. tn1imth in the refolving of all fuch cafe~ is but to know of two fins which is the greatejl. 9· 40. Quell. 9• JVbut if !bere be a Great duty which I connot ptrform without cohzmitting a lit· tle fin? .Or a very gre.lt Goud which I c.mnot do, but by an 1tnl.m·;ful mean; l As to fave the livet of many by a lie? • Anflv. r. le is no duty to you, when you cannot do it without willful fin, be it never fo little. Deliberately to cboofC a linJ that I may perfOrm forne fervice to God, or do forne Good to othersJ is to run before we are called, and to make work for our felvcs which God never- made for us; and to offer fin for a fa.crit-ice to God ; and to do evil that good may come of it; and abufe God and reject his· government, under pretence of ferving him; The {acrifice of the wici:Jd iJ an abomination to tht Lord: how much more when he bringeth it with a wicJt.ed mind. Prov. 2r. 27. & 15. 8. He that turn· eth away his' ear from bearing the Law, even hit prayer jhaU be abomination. Pcov. 28. 9· Be mort rea4y to bear, tb,.m ttJ offer tht [acrifice of fools: f or tb:y confider_ not that they do evih Ecclef. 5• I· 2. If you will do Good by finning, you muil do Goodm oppofiCIOn to God: and how eafily can he di{3.ppoint you, and turn it into· Evill le is not Good indeed, which mufl be accomplilhed by fin. The final Good is never promoted by it : And all other Good is to be efiimated by its tendency to the Eud: You think rhat Good which is not fo, hecaufe you judge by the prefent feeling of your flt:Ch, and do not forefee how it funds related to the everlalling Good. §. 41. ~ell. 10. Seei1tg thw tb.;~t I a1!1' fure btfore hand that I cannot Preach, or Hear, or Pray, or do any good allioJt w~tbot!t fin, mujf I not, by tbiJ rule, forbear them aU? Anfw. No: bcc:autc your infirmities in the per_formance of your dmy, which you would avoid and cannot, are 'not made the condition of your aChon, but arc the difeafos of it; They are not cbofm and approved of: The dtt~y is ynur duty notwithllanding your i~tfirmitieJ ; and may be accepted of: for you c.Jmtot ferve God in perfdlion till you are ptrfell: and to cajl away his fervice is a farr greater fin , than to do it impcr[efJiy. But you may krve him without fuch wi/lfHI cbofen fin; if not in one rvay, yet in another. The imperfeUion of your fervice is repented of while it is cotnmit· ted ; but fo is not your approved chofm fin. For a man ro make a bargain ag_ainjl Ged , !hat he wiU commit a fin againfi him, though the action be the fame which he hath often done before in pardonable weaknefs, this is to turn it to a prefumptuolt6 beinolt.f fin. If he do it for worldly gain or Jaftty, he jiUerb his obedience to God for <rifles. If he do it to firve Gcd by, he blaJPhemeth God, declaring him to be Evil and a lover of fin, or fo ImpoteJtt as not to be able to d, good, .or attain his ends by lawful means. It is moft dangerous to give it under our hands to the Devil that we wi.U fin, on what pretence foever. . ~· 42. <l!_ett. 1 r•. 1Vbat if I am certain tlut the dmy ir great, and uncertain whether tbe thiitg amzexed to it be a fin or mt .? Muji I forbear a certain duty for an uncertain fin l Or forbear fk. ing a great and certain good, for Jtar of a fmaU uncertain evill An["'• 1· The Q:eilion de <Jfe muil go before the Q.!!.eilion de apparm. Either that which you fay you are uncertain of, is i1tdecd a fin, or it i1 none. If it be no fin, then you are bound both to fearch till you kno~ that i_t is no fin, and n~>t to forbear J:our du"J ~or it. But if r~aUy it be a fin, then your u~tcertamty of 1t is amthcr fin: And that which Go hmdeth you to, IS to forfake them b'Oth. 2· Your <l!lefiion containcth a contradiCtion: you cannot be certain that ir is a duty ar
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