CA P. XVII. ,Heb. 6.4, 5, 6. Heb. r o.a 8,29. Thewords conditionall. 422 dent it is, that in thefe two paffages the HolyGhofl,after aferious manner,&with a verypathetique &moving graine ofspeech,anddifcourfe (fcarce the like to be founel inall theScriptures )admonifbeth thole who are at prefent trueBelievers, to take heedofrelapfng into the wayes oftheirformer ignorance & impiety.This ca- veat or admonitionhepreffeth by an argument ofthis import;that inicafè they(hall thusrelapfe, there will be very littleor nohope at all, of their recovery or retorno to the Efiate of Faith and Grace , wherein now theyfland. Before thefaces of filchfayings andpaffagesas thefe, rightly underfiood, and duelyconfîdered, there is no landing for that Daririne, which denies apoJbility, either ofa totali, orfi' nail defeblion ofthe Saints. But this light alfo is darkened in the Heavens, by the interpofition ofthe vailesoftheft two exceptions. i. That the Apofilein thefaid paffages a f rmesnothingpofttively, concerningthefilling away oftholehefpeaker of, but only conditionally anduponfuppofttion, 2. That hedothnot Jpeake oftrite andfoundBelievers, but ofHypocrites, and fuckwho had Faith only inPhew not infubfante. The former of theft exceptibns bath been alreadynonfuited, and that byfome ofthe ablefi Patrons themfelvesofthe caufe of Perfeverance ; where we were taught from a penofthat Learning, that fuch conditionall fayings, upon which Admonitions, Promifes,or Threatnings arebuilt, doe at leafs fuppofe fome- thing impopible, however by vertue oftheir Tenorand forme, they fuppofe nothing in being. But 2. As to the places in hand, there is not any Hypotheticallfgne, or conditio- nall tobefound in eitherof them, as they come from theHoly Ghofl, and are carried in the Originall. Thofe two , Iffs, appearing in the Englifh Tranjlati- on, the one in the former place, the other in the latter,(hew (it may be) tie Tranf lators inclination to the caufe, but not theirfaithfulneffe in their engagement; an infirmitywhereunto theywere veryfubje/, as we (hall have occafionto talenotice ofthefecond time erelong, in another infianceofthe likepartiality. But the Te- nor ofboth thepaffáges in hand, is foordered by the Apofile, that heplainly de clares, how great andfearfull the danger is, orwill be, when Believers doe,or(hall, fall away, not if, or in cafe, they(ball fallaway. Anf. Of the two Anfwers, which, as himfelfe fignifyeth,are ùfually given to the obje&ions from thefeplaces of Scripture, that Mr Goodwin cloth not fairely acquit hishands ofeither, willquickly appeare. t. To the firft, that the forme offpeech ufed by the Apofile inboth pla- ces is conditionall whence there is no arguing to the event, without-begging the thing inqueflion,or fuppofall,that the cödition in all refpe&s may be fill= filled,where it requires only to thecöftitution ofit as a condition in the place ofarguing, wherein it is ufed, that it be poffible in Tome only, he oppofethc That fomeof them, who have wrote forthe Dolrineof theSaints Per- feverance, have difclaimed the ufe ofit,as to its application to theplace in E- zechiel formerly confidered;but yet leaving themto the libertyoftheir judg- nient,who are fominded, that the reafon given by them, and here againe re- peated byMr Goodwin, doth not in the leaf} enforce any tolet go this Anfwer to theobje&ionpropofed, that thall be pleafed to infift upon it, bath been manifefted. To this Mr Goodwin farther addes that weighty Obfervation that the word If, is not in the Original], and thence takes occafion to fall foule upon theTranflators,as having corrupted the paffages out offavour tothe Do&rine contended for. Iwith they had never worfe miftaken, nor(hewedmore par- tiality inanyother place; For firft., will. Mr Goodwindeny that a propofition. cannot be Hypotheticall,nor an expreffion conditionall ,unl effe the word if,be exprefíed; were it worth the labour,inftances might abundantly begiven him in that language,whereofwefpeake,to the contrary. He that (hall fayto him as
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