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none without their will, which no body denies; for God makes his people willing in the day of his power. Again, he elsewhere fays "We were by nature children of wrath as others, et omnes fancti ab ira fanguine Chrifti redempti funt, and all the faints are redeemed from wrath by the blood of Chrift." Again he obferves, that "without the blood. of the Lord Jefus no man can draw nigh to God, because he is our peace- and if Chrift is pax credentium, the peace of believers, whoever is without peace confequently hath not Chrift." And elsewhere fpeaking of the feal of the Spirit, he fays, "He that is fealed fo as to keep the seal, and shew it in the day of redemption pure and fincere, and in no part damaged, may be able, because of that, to be numbered, cum his qui redempti funt, with them that are redeemed." And on those words, the grace of God bath appeared to all men, he has this remark", "There's no difference of free and bond, of Greek and Barbarian, of circumcifed and uncircumcifed, of men and women, but we are all one in Chrift, we are all called to the kingdom of God, we are all after the offence reconciled to our Father, not by our merits, but by the grace of the

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Saviour;" where it is plain, by all men he understands perfons of every fex, rank and condition. And a little after, fays he ",

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Rightly therefore Chrift Jefus our great God and Saviour, hath redeemed us by his own blood, ut fibi Chriftianum populum peculiarem faceret, that he might make for himelf a peculiar Chriftian people." More paflages of the like nature might be produced, but these may fuffice.

As for the many citations by Monfieur Daille out of Maximus Taurinenfis, I take no notice of, because the Jermons from whence they are taken are incertae fidei, of doubtful credit, and out of them many things are afcribed to different authors.

w Ib. C. D.

* Pag. 826, &c.

y Vid. Rivet. Critic. Sacri, 1. 4. c. 23. P. 430.

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CHA P. III.

Of ORIGINAL SIN, the IMPOTENCE of Man's FREE WILL, and the NECESSITY of the GRACE of GOD to every thing that is fpiritually good.

USTIN has proved the do&trine of original fin out of the writings of the Fathers that were before him, by producing fuch clear teftimonies of theirs, that as Voffius fays, "It is very much to be wonder'd ar, that there were any formerly, or any now to be found, who think that this was a device of Austin's, and would perfuade others fo; against these, adds he, we shall fhew, that even before the Times of Austin, Ecclefiam Dei femper in eo confpiraffe, the church of God always agreed in this, that we finned in Adam, in whofe loins we were virtually contained, and by that fin deserved a privation of original righteousness, temporal death, and an eternal feparation from God." The teftimonies of Voffius, befides

Hift. Pelag. 1. 2. Par. 1. Thef. 6. p. 150.

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those of Austin's, together with an addition of many others, will be given under the following Numbers in proof of this point. Thefe early writers did indeed fay many things incautiously, and without guard, concerning free will, which are not easily reconcileable to other expreffions of theirs, to which they were led by the oppofition they made to the errors of the Valentinians, Bafilidians, Marcionites, Manichees, and others, who held two different natures in man; that some were naturally good, and others naturally evil, and neither of them could poffibly be otherwise. Now it was common with the Fathers, that when they fet themselves against one error they generally went into the other extreme; this is obferved even of Austin himself, "That when he wrote against Arrius he feemed to favour Sabellius; when against Sabellius, Arrius; when against Pelagius, the Manichees; when against the Manichees, Pelagius." Moreover, Voffius has this to fay on their behalf, that "thofe holy martyrs, and other famous doctors, when they afcribe to man freedom to that which is good, either treat only of things natural and moral; or if at any time they speak of works of piety, and fuch as belong to God, they confider the will of

↳ Rivet. de patrum authoritate, c. 11. § 4. p. 68. Hift. Pelag. 1. 3. Par. 1. p. 282.

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man in common, and indefinitely, not diftinguishing what he can do by the strength of nature, and what by the strength of grace, but only attributing that nature to man, by which, before grace, he can do, or not do moral good; and after ftrength received by grace can believe or not believe, do, or omit works of piety; contrary to which were the opinion of the Bardefanifts, Manichees, and the like. If we interpret the Fathers otherwife, adds he, we must not only make them contradict one another, but themselves also. Befides, we shall make it appear in the following Numbers by a variety of teftimonies, that they held the weakness and difability of man, without the grace of God, to do any thing that is fpiritually good; yea, even that is morally fo; and that the will of man is finful, and the root of fin; and that it is in a state of servitude and bondage to fin, until released by the grace of God; and as to the neceffity of the grace of God to the performance of every good action, Voffius afferts and proves what follows, that "the Latin writers who were before the times of Pelagius, clearly acknowledged the neceffity of grace; both the Africans, as Tertullian, Cyprian, and Arnobius; and the Italians, French, and others, as Lactantius, Hilary, and Ambrofe;

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4 lb. Thef, 1. p, 267,

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