A SECOND CONSIDEEATION
THE AMOTATIONS OF HUGO GROTIUS,
Having, in my late defence of the doctrine of the gospel from the corruptions of the Socinians, been occasioned to vindicate the testi- monies given in the Scripture to the deity of Christ from their ex- ceptions, and finding that Hugo Grotius, in his Annotations, had (for the most part) done the same things with them as to that par- ticular, and some other important articles of the Christian faith, that book of his being more frequent in the hands of students than those of the Socinians, I thought it incumbent on me to do the same work in reference to those Annotations which it was my design to perform towards the writings of Socinus, Smalcius, and their companions and followers. What I have been enabled to accomplish by that endeavour, with what service to the gospel hath been performed thereby, is left to the judgment of them who desire dXrj6ivsiv iv dyd'zri. Of my dealing with Grotius I gave a brief account in my epistle to the governors of the university, and that with reference to an apology made for him not long before. This hath obtained a new apology, under the name of "A Second Defence of Hugo Grotius;'' with what little advantage either to the repute of Grotius as to the thing in question or of the apologist himself, it is judged necessary to give the ensuing account, for which I took the first leisure hour I could obtain, having things of greater weight daily incumbent on me. The only thing of importance by me charged on those Anno- tations of Grotius was this, — that the texts of Scripture, both in the Old Testament and New, bearing witness to the deity and satisfac- tion of Christ, are in them wrested to other senses and significations, and the testimonies given to those grand truths thereby eluded. Of those of the first kind I excepted one, yet with some doubt, lest his expressions therein ought to be interpreted according to the ana- logy of what he had elsewhere delivered ; of which afterward.
Because that which concerns THE SATISFACTION OF CHRIST will admit of the easiest despatch, though taking up most room, I shall in the first place insist thereon. The words of my chai-ge on the
G20 A EEVIEW OF THE ANNOTATIONS OF HUGO GROTIUS.
Annotations, as to this head of the doctrine of the Scripture, are these: " The condition of these famous Annotations as to the satis- faction of Christ is the same; — not one text in the whole Scripture wherein testimony is given to that sacred truth which is not wrested to another sense, or at least the doctrine in it concealed and ob- scured by them."
This being a matter of fact, and the words containing a crime charged on the Annotations, he that will make a defence of them must either disprove the assertion by instances to the contrary, or else, granting the matter of fact, evince it to be no crime. That which is objected in matter of fact " aut negandum est aut defen- dendum," says Quintilian, lib. v. cap. de Refut., and " extra hsec in judiciis fere nihil est." In other cases, " patronus neget, defendat, transferat, excuset, deprecetur, molliat, minuat, avertat, despiciat, derideat;" but in matters of fact the first two only have place. Aristotle allows more particulars for an apologist to divert unto, if the matter require it. He may say of what is objected, "H wg ovx. fCr/i/, 9j, ug ov ^XaCspov, ri ob rovrcf), 5j ug ov Trfkixouro, 5j oux udixov, jj cu /Ji'sya, »j olx. aid^p'ov, jj ovx s'^ov /ji^syeSog (E-het. lib. iii. cap. xv.) ; all which, in a plain matter of fact, may be reduced to the former heads. That any other apology can or ought to take place in this or any matter of the same importance will not easily be proved. The pre- sent apologist takes another course; such ordinary paths are not for him to walk in. He tells us of the excellent book that Grotius wrote, " De Satisfactione Christi," and the exposition of sundry places of Scripture, especially of divers verses of Isa. liii. given therein, and then adds sundry inducements to persuade us that he was of the same mind in his "Annotations;" and this is called a defence of Grotius! The apologist, I suppose, knows full well what texts of Scripture they are that are constantly pleaded for the satisfaction of Christ by them who do believe that doctrine. I shall also for once take it for granted that he might without much difficulty have obtained a sight of Grotius' Annotations; to which I shall only add, that probably, if he could from them have disproved the assertion before men- tioned by any considerable instances, he is not so tender of the pre- facer's credit as to have concealed it on any such account. But the severals of his plea for the Annotations in this particular, I am per- suaded, are accounted by some worthy of consideration. A brief view of them will suffice.
The signal place of Isa. liii., he tells us, *' he hath heard taken notice of by some" (I thought it had been probable the apologist might have taken notice of it himself), as that wherein his Annotations are most suspected, therefore on that he will fasten a while. Who would not now expect that the apologist should have entered upon the consideration of those Annotations, and vindicated them from