saints themselves, but to God; he observes, that "David says,

εργον το εν ευσέβεια κρατύνειν τον ανθρωπον, it is the work of God to confirm a man in piety;' for thou art my strength and my refuge, says the prophet, and the Lord is the strength of his people; and, the Lord will give strength unto his people."

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HILARY, the deacon, puts perseverance upon the foot of election, and intimates, that the reason why any persevere, is because they are elected; and that if any who have thought to have been believers do not persevere, it is a plain case that they never were elected. Those," says het," whom God foreknew would be devoted to him, them he chose to enjoy the promised rewards; that those who seem to believe and do not continue in the faith begun, may he denied to be God's elect; quia quos Deus eligit apud se permanent, for whom God hath chosen, they continue with him." And a little after, "Whom God foreknew to be fit for himself, these continue believers, quia aliter fieri non potest, for it cannot be otherwise,' but that whom God foreknows, them he also justifies, and so hereby glorifies them, that they may be like the Son of God. As to the rest, whom God has not foreknown, he takes no care of them in this grace, because he has not foreknown them; but if they believe, or are chosen for a time, because they seem good, lest righteousness should be thought to be despised, they do not continue that they may be glorified; as Judas Iscariot, or the seventy-two, who, being chosen, afterwards were offended, and departed from the Saviour." Again ‡," Whom God is said to call, they persevere in faith; hi sunt quos eligit ante mundum in Christo, these are they whom he has chosen in Christ before the world began,' that they may be unblamable before God in love." And in another place he observes, that some persons may seem to be in the number of good men, when, according to God's prescience, they are in the number of evil men §; "Hence God saith to Moses, if any one sins before me, I will blot them out of my book. So that, according to the righteousness of the judge, he then seems to be blotted out, when he sins; but according to prescience, nunquam in libro vitæ fuisse, he never was in the book of life.' Hence the apostle John says of such, They went out from us, but they were not of us, &c. 1 John ii. 19." He represents a believer's love to Christ as insuperable, and the love of God in Christ to him as inseparable. Of the former he says ||, "no torments overcome the love of a firm Christian." And of the latter¶, "there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus." "This confidence,' he says**, "arises from the engagement of Christ, by which he has promised to help in tribulation that faith which is devoted to him." And

Gregor, contr. Eunom. orat. 1, p. 68, vol. ii.
In Ephes. p. 492. § In Rom. 299.
P.

+ Comment. in Rom. P. 294; vide || Ib. p. 295. Ib. p. 296.

P 304.

** Ibid.

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as to faith itself, he says it is res æterna, "an everlasting thing," written by the Spirit, that it may abide. To which add another observation of his t," Because God hath promised to give the heavenly kingdom to them that love him, et det necesse est, and he must needs give it,' because he is faithful; therefore he is present with them that are afflicted for him; nor will he suffer so much to be laid upon them as cannot be borne; but will either make the temptation to cease quickly, or if it should be long, will give power to bear it, otherwise he will not bestow what he has promised; because he that suffers will be overcome; for man is subject to weakness, and there will be none to deliver; but because God is faithful who has promised, he helps, that it may fulfil what he has promised." Vossius refers us to the commentary of this writer upon the ninth of the Romans, but therein does not appear any thing against, but for the saints' perseverance, as has been already cited out of it.

AMBROSE, of Milain, says many things in favour of the saints' perseverance; he speaks of it as a thing certain, and not at all to doubted of. 66 There is nothing," says he $, 66 we may fear can be denied us, nothing in which we ought to doubt of the continuance of divine goodness; the abundance of which has been so daily and constant, as that first he should predestinate, then call, and whom he calls he justifies, and whom he justifies them he also glorifies. Can he forsake those, whom he follows with such benefits of his own, even unto rewards? Among so many blessings of God, are the snares of the accuser to be feared? But who dare accuse them, who in the judgment are counted the elect? Can God the Father himself rescind his own gifts, who has bestowed them, and banish them from the grace of paternal affection, whom he, by adoption, has received? But it is feared, lest the judge should be more severe. Consider what judge thou must have; the Father hath given all judgment to Christ. Can he damn them whom he has redeemed from death? For whom he offered himself, whose life, he knows, is the reward of his own death? And in another place he observes ||, that " many waters cannot quench love; so that thy love cannot be lessened by any persecution, which many waters cannot exclude, nor floods overflow. Whence is this? Consider that thou hast received the spiritual seal, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and piety, the spirit of holy fear; and keep what thou hast received. God the Father hath sealed thee; Christ the Lord hath confirmed thee, and hath given the pledge of the Spirit in thine heart." Again he says T, "The righteous man falls sometimes, but if he is righteous, though he falls he shall not be confounded. What is of nature falls, what is of

6

Hist. Pelag. 1, thes. 12,
p. 567.
De Initiand, c. 7, p. 349.

¶ Enarrat. in Psalm xxxvi. p. 700.

righteousness rises again; for God does not forsake the righteous, but confirms his hands." And in another place *, "His (the good man's) soul does not perish for ever; neither does any one snatch it out of the hand of the Almighty, Father or Son; for the hand of God, that established the heavens, quos tenuerit non amittit, does not lose whom it holds." Faith he not only represents as firm itself, but says, that it is the stable foundation of all virtues; and speaks of grace in general as perpetual. "This," says he ‡, "is the alone possession, which being obnoxious to no tempests, brings forth the fruit of perpetual grace." And though the church of Christ, saints, righteous ones, true believers, are liable to many afflictions, temptations, and trials, yet he intimates that he shall be preserved in the midst of all. "Zebulon shall dwell by the sea," he observes §, "that he may see the shipwrecks of others, whilst he himself is free from danger; and behold others fluctuating in the straits of this world, who are carried about with every wind of doctrine, whilst he perseveres immoveable in the root of faith; as the holy church is rooted and founded in faith; beholding the storms of heretics, and shipwrecks of Jews, because they have denied the governor they had." And in another place ||, "The ship is the church, which though this world is a sort of a troublesome sea to it daily, it is not dashed against the rock, nor sunk to the bottom." Again T, "The soul, which deserves to be called the temple of God, or the church, is beaten with the floods of worldly cares, but not overturned; it is stricken, but not destroyed." Once more**, "The righteous, placed in the house of God, and intent on the word of God, are indeed tried by worldly afflictions, but not estranged from the house of God, and from the keeping of the heavenly commands." All which preservation from evil, and continuance from grace, he ascribes not to the power of man, but to the grace of God. "Perseverance," says hett, "is neither of man that willeth or runneth; non est enim in hominis potestate, for it is not in the power of man,' but it is of God that showeth mercy, that thou canst fulfil what thou hast begun." There are many other passages ‡‡ which countenance this doctrine I forbear to transcribe.

CHRYSOSTOM represents the church, and all the people of God, as invincible, and the graces of faith and hope as always abiding. "He calls the church," says he §§, "a mountain, To Twv doуμаTV AKATAYOVIσTOV, being as to its doctrines inexpugnable;' for a thousand armies may encamp against mountains, bending their bows, wielding their shields, and using stratagems, but cannot hurt them, and when they have de*In Psalm cxix. Nun, p. 1002.

De Cain et Abel, 1. 2, c. 3, p. 154.

De Salomone, c. 4, p. 1093.

** Ib. c. 5, p. 249.

In Psalm xl. p. 753.

§ De Benedict. Patriarch, c. 5, p. 408. De Abraham 1. 2, c. 3, p. 247.

In Psalm cxix. Jod, p. 963.

Vide Enarrat. in Psalm xl. p. 762; in Psalm xliii. p. 790; in Psalm cxix. Daleth, p. 903;

in Prov. c. 31, cap. 3, p. 1099.

§§ Comment. in Isa. ii. 2, tom. i. p. 1030.

6

stroyed their own power go away; so likewise all they that war against the church, Tavтηy μev ovк eσelσav, cannot move her." Again *, "Neither the tyrant, nor the populace, nor battalias of devils, nor the devil himself, περιγε εσθαι αυτων ισχυσεν, are able to prevail against them, the saints." He not only observes †, that faith is a foundation, and the rest the building ; but † calls it της πετρας της αρραγους, “the unbroken rock ;" and adds, "neither rivers nor winds falling upon us can do us any hurt, for we stand unshaken upon the rock." And elsewhere §, "Well does he say, in which we stand; for such is the grace of God, that ovK EXEL TEλOS, Ovк eide Tepas, it has no end, it knows no bounds." And in another place he observes ||, that the apostle "rightly calls faith a shield, for as that is cast about the whole body, being as a wall, so is faith, πаνта уaр aνTN ELKEL, for all things give way to it ;' wherewith," says he, "ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one ; ουδεν γαρ δύναται τούτον τον θυρεον διακοψαι, seeing nothing is able to cut this shield in pieces." And elsewhere he asks ¶, "Are our good things in hopes? In hopes, but not human; these fail, and often make the man that hopes ashamed; or he dies, who is expected to do these things; or if he lives, he changes; ours are not such, αλλα βεβαια και ακίνητος η ελπις, but our hope is firm and immoveable." There are two or three places in this writer referred to by Vossius* against the saints' perseverance, which have not occurred to me; and the last of these references is to a homily, which, and many others with it, he owns is none of his, but a collection from him; and, as he observest†, is not to be depended upon as genuine ; it being usual with such collectors to add things foreign to the doctrine of Chrysostom, and out of other authors.

SECTION XXII.

HIERONYMUS. A. D. 390.

JEROM says many things which countenance the doctrine of the perseverance of the church, of righteous persons, true believers, and regenerate ones. Upon Amos ix. 14 he has this note ‡‡, tt. "From hence we understand, that the church, to the end of the world, will be shaken indeed with persecution, sed nequaquam posse subverti, but can in nowise be overthrown; will be attempted, but not overcome; and this will be, because the Lord God omnipotent, or the Lord God of it, that is, of the church, hath promised that he will do it." And in another place he says §§, "We know that the church, in faith, hope, and love, is inaccessible and inexpugnable, there is none in it immature, every one is docible; impetu irrumpere vel arte illudere potest nullus, no one by force can break in upon it, or by art illude it." And elsewhere he

* In Rom. 8, homil. 15, tom. iii. p. 131.

In 1 Tim. vi. 20, homil. 18, tom. iv. p. 326. In Eph. vi. homil. 24, tom. iii. p. 888. **Hist. Pelag. 1. 6, thes. 12, p. 566, 567.

Hieron. Comment. in Amos, tom. 6, p. 50, M.

In Heb. 6, homil. 8, p. 431.

§ In Rom. v. 2, homil. 9, tom. iii. p. 66. In Rom. v. 5, homil. 9, tom. iii. p. 67. ++ Vide Rivet. Critic. Sacr. 1. 4, c. 1, P 355. §§ Ib. adv. Jovinian. 1. 1, tom. ii. p. 7, D.

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observes, that as the islands are indeed smitten with frequent whirlwinds, storms, and tempests, but are not overthrown, for an example of the evangelic house, which is founded upon a rock of a mighty bulk; so the churches which hope in the law, and in the name of the Lord the Saviour, speak by Isaiah, saying, I am a strong city, a city which is not assaulted;" that is, so as to be taken and destroyed. Much like to this is his remark+ on Isa. li. 5, "The right hand and arm of the Lord is he who saves for himself those who first were lost, ut nullus periret de his quos ei Pater dederat, that none of them might perish whom the Father had given to him;' for that either the souls of the saints, who in the midst of the persecutions of this world, arma in Deum solididatæ sunt fide,' are established with a firm faith in God,' or the multitude of churches among the Gentiles, are called isles, we have frequently declared." Having mentioned ‡ Prov. xxiv. 17, he puts these questions, "If he falls, how is he just? If just, how does he fall?" which he answers thus, "but he does not lose the name of a just man, who, by repentance, always rises again:" moreover, having cited Psalm xcii. 12, he explains it after this manner §, “They that are planted in the house of the Lord are just men, in ecclesia conformati, 'established in the church; but they, not at present, but hereafter shall flourish in the courts of the Lord, where there is a pure and safe possession." And, says he ||, in another place, "Dost thou say that the resurrection is of the soul, or of the flesh? I answer, Which with the soul is regenerated in the laver; Et quomodo peribit quæ in Christo renata est, And how shall that perish, which is regenerated in Christ?" And elsewhere he observes, that "he who with his whole mind trusts in Christ, though as a fallen man he was dead in sin, fide sua vivit in perpetuum, by his faith lives for ever." Once more," The building," says he**, "which is laid upon the foundation of Christ, of which the apostle speaks, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, nunquam destruetur, sed permanebit in perpetuum, shall never be destroyed, but shall abide for ever." He asserts the security of the saints, notwithstanding all the efforts and attempts of Satan by his power and policy to destroy them. "He" (the devil), says hett, "will endeavour to enter into Judah, that is, the house of confession, and frequently, through them who are negligent in the church, he will come up even to the neck, desiring to suffocate believers in Christ; and he will stretch out his wings, filling the whole country of Immanuel, sed non poterit obtinere, quia habet Judas præsentem Deum, but cannot obtain, because Judah has God present with him." Upon Isaiah xiv. 16 he makes this remark‡‡,He shook, he does not overthrow; hence one of them that were shaken, and yet did not fall, says, my feet were almost gone; and the apostle speaks to believers to take the armour of God, and stand against the snares of the devil. The house indeed which is founded on a rock, is not shaken by any tempest ;" that is, so as to

* Hieron. ad Algasiam, tom. iii. p. 51, L, M. Ib. ad Rusticum, tom. i. p. 76, E. Ib. adv. Error. Joan. Hierosol. p. 60, E. ** Ib. Comment. in Hieremiam, tom. v. p. 160, F; p. 20, K, p. 21, G.

+ Jb. Comment. in Isa. tom. v. p. 86, C. § Ib. adv. Pelag. 1. 2, tom. ii. p. 97, C. Ib. ad Minerium, tom. iii. p. 62, 1. vide etiam Comment. in Oseam, tom. 6, + Ib. Comment. in Isa. tom. v. p. 17, F. Ib. p. 37, E.