■'!. Similar sentiments were maintained in England during the protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, especially by his chaplain Saltmarsh, and some of the so-called "sectaries," who expressly maintained that, as the ^lcct cannot fall from grace nor forfeit the divine fa- vor, the wicked actions they commit are not really sinful nor to be considered as instances of their vio-
lation of the divine law ; and that, consequently, they have no occasion either to confess their sins or to break them off by repentance.
4. Antinomianism arose also, in the 17th century, from ultra-Calvinism, especially as taught by Dr. Crisp (j 1642). It is true he acknowledges that, " In respect of the rules of righteousness, or the matter of obedience, we arc under the law still, or else," as ho adds, "we are lawless, to live every man as seems good in his own eyes, which no true Christian dares so much as think of." The following sentiments, however, among others, are taught in his sermons : "The law is cruel and tyrannical, requiring what is naturally impossible." "The sins of the elect were so imputed to Christ, as that, though he did not com- mit them, yet they became actually his transgressions, and ceased to be theirs." " The feelings of conscience, which tell them that sin is theirs, arise from a want of knowing the truth." " It is but the voice of a ly- ing spirit in the hearts of believers that saith they have yet sin wasting their consciences, and lying as a burden too heavy for them to bear." " Christ's right- eousness is so imputed to the elect, that they, ceasing | to be sinners, are as righteous as he was, and all that he was." "An elect person is not in a condemned state while an unbeliever; and should he happen to die before God calls him to believe, he would not be lost." " Repentance and confession of sin are not necessary to forgiveness. A believer may certainly conclude before confession, yea, as soon as he hath committed sin, the interest he hath in Christ, and the love of Christ embracing him" (Crisp, Works, ii, 261- 272 ; Orme, Life of Baxter, ii, 232).
This form of High Calvinism, or Antinomianism, absolutely " withers and destroys the consciousness of human responsibility. It confounds moral with nat- ural impotency, forgetting that the former is a crime, the latter only a misfortune ; and thus treats the man dead in trespasses and sins as if he were already in his grave. It prophesies smooth things to the sinner going on in his transgressions, and soothes to slumber and the repose of death the souls of such as are at ease in Zion. It assumes that, because men can neither believe, repent, nor pray acceptably, unless aided by the grace of God, it is useless to call upon them to do so. It maintains that the Gospel is only intended for elect sinners, and therefore it ought to be preached to none but such. In defiance, therefore, of the com- mand of God, it refuses to preach the glad tidings of mercy to every sinner. In opposition to Scripture, and to every rational consideration, it contends that it is not man's duty to believe the truth of God — justify- ing the obvious inference that it is not a sin to reject it. In short, its whole tendenc}' is to produce an im- pression on the sinner's mind that, if he is not saved, it is not his fault, but God's ; that, if he is condemned, it is more for the glory of the Divine Sovereignty than as the punishment of his guilt. So far from regard- ing the moral cure of human nature as the great ob- ject and design of the Gospel, Antinomianism does not take it in at all, but as it exists in Christ, and be- comes ours by a figure of speech. It regards the grace and the pardon as every thing, the spiritual design or effect as nothing. Hence its opposition to progres- sive, and its zeal for impute 1 sanctification : the for- mer is intelligible and tangible, but the latter a mere figment of the imagination. Hence its delight in ex- patiating on the eternity of the Divine decrees", which it does not understand, but which serve to amuse and to deceive, and its dislike to all the sober realities of God's present dealings and commands. It exults in the contemplation of a Christ who is a kind of concre- tion of all the moral attributes of his people ; to the overlooking of that Christ who is the Head of all that in heaven and on earth ltear his likeness, and while unconscious of possessing it. It boasts in the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, while it believes in
ANTINOMIANS
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ANTIOCH
no saint but one, that is Jesus, and neglects to perse- vere" (Orme's Life of Baxter, ii, 243).
The chief English writers of the 17th century who have been charged as favoring Antinomianism, be- sides Crisp, are Kichardson, Saltmarsh, Hussey, Ea- ton, Town, etc. These were answered by Gataker, Witsins, Bull, Ridgely, and especially by Baxter and "Williams. For Baxter's relation to the controversy, see Orme, Life of Baxter, vol. ii, chap, ix, where it is stated that "Baxter saw only the commencement of the controversy, which agitated the Dissenters for more than seven years after he had gone to his rest (f 1691). He was succeeded by his friend Dr. Wil- liams (f 1716), who, after incredible exertion and no small suffering, finally cleared the ground of the An- tinomians."