World is full of disorders Who can resist God but God himself But on the other hand who can be displeased that God loves his Wisdom more than his Work Let all those who love order adore and love his Conduct who makes it his inviolable Law let them love and adore his goodness who being fully sufficient to himself has vouchsafed to form a design of making them eternally happy LVI It may be said perhaps that these Laws are so simple and so fruitful that God must needs prefer them before all others and that loving only his glory his Son must needs become incarnate that thus he has done nothing only for his Elect. I confess that God hath done nothing only for his Elect 1 Cor. 3.23 for St Paul teaches us that he has made his Elect for Christ and J. Christ for himself If to render God Amiable to men he must be made to act only for us or after such a manner as is not the most wise I had rather say nothing than talk at this rate Reason teaches me to render God Amiable by considering him infinitely perfect and representing him so full of Charity for his Creatures that he hath made none of them with a design to render 'em miserable For if all be not so happy as to enjoy his presence it is because order requiring that so great a good should be merited all men do not merit it for Reasons which I have already mentioned Is not this to render God Amiable to represent him such that even the Reprobate cannot but adore his conduct and repent of their negligence Additions Altho Predestination be not founded but upon the prescience of God and the freedom of grace as may be seen in St Aust de dono Pers. from the 17. C. to the end nevertheless the greatest part of men to the Idea which answers to this word fix a divine decree so absolute that one seems to them to oppose free grace when he maintains that God was obliged by reason of his wisdom which he loves invincibly to choose those whom he hath chosen As the Palagians suppose that the reason of Gods choice is to be found in the natural merits of men and St. Augustine with the whole Church having maintained that this depends upon the will of God many imagine that he opposes predestination who asserts that the choice of the Elect depends upon the will of God tho it be a will enlightned and conducted by eternal Wisdom To say that the reason of Gods choice is in man is to be a Pelagian and maintain that grace is given to merits But to assert that the reason of this choice is in the eternal wisdom which is the Law of God or the rule of his proceedings This is to cry out with St. Paul O altitudo divitiarum Sapientiae Scientiae Dei But many men do not understand these words in this sence they pretend that one is chosen and another reprobated meerly because God wills it and that his will is his only reason and that it is upon this account that the Elect are more especially obliged to God It is in condescension to this disposition of mind which I have observed in a great many honest men that I have composed this Article But they who will Meditate a little may easily see what are my thoughts thereof LVII In the mean time to satisfie those who suppose that God has predestinated every one of the Elect by a particular will it may be said without injuring the sentiment which I have Proposed that God before he created Souls to unite them to bodys foresaw all that should happen to them according to the general Laws of Nature and Grace and all that they should do in all possible circumstances Thus according to this supposition it being in his power to create the Soul of Paul or that of Peter and to unite it to such a body which he foresaw would be the body of one of the predestinated he resolved from all Eternity to create the Soul of Paul thro' the good will he had for him and to predestinate him by this choice to Eternal Life Whereas he creates the Soul of Peter and unites it to another body by a kind of necessity by reason of the Laws of Union of Souls with Bodies which he has very wisely established for as soon as Bodies are made he has obliged himself to unite Souls unto them which was advantageous for all before sin Now the Body of Peter being begotten by an Heathen Father or by a Father who has no care to Educate his Children or lastly Peter by Birth finding himself engaged in times places and employments which led him to that which is evil he will infallibly be amongst the reprobate In the mean time Peter will be useful to the designs of God for tho he himself does not make one of the Predestinated yet some of his posterity may He will promote the Beauty and Greatness of the Church of Jesus Christ by the many relations he will have to the Elect. In short he will not be miserable but proportionably to the ill use which he shall have made of his liberty For God does not punish with grief any but voluntary irregularities This is all I can say to satisfie the inclination of some persons But I do not clearly see that any one ought to stop here LVIII They who pretend that God has particular designs and wills for all the particular effects which are produced in consequence of general Laws do ordinarily make use of the authority of Scripture whereon to found their opinion Now seeing Scripture is made for all the World for the simple as well as for the learned it is full of Anthropologies It gives to God not only a Body a Throne a Chariot an Equipage the passions of Joy of Sadness of Anger Repentance and other motions of the soul but also attributes unto him those ways of acting which are usual among men that it may speak to the Vulgar after the most sensible manner If J. C. was made Man this was partly to satisfie the inclination of men who love that which resembles them and attend to that which affects them It is to persuade them by this true and real kind of Anthropology of those truths which they would not have been able to comprehend Thus St. Paul to accommodate himself to all men speaks of the Sanctification and predestination of the Saints as if God continually acted in them by particular wills And even J. C. himself speaks of his Father as if he did by such wills adorn the the Lilies and preserve even the hairs of the heads of his Disciples because in truth the goodness of God towards his Creatures being extream these expressions give a great Idea thereof and render God amiable even to those minds which are most gross and have most of self love in them Nevertheless since by the Idea which we have of God and by those
of the knowledge communicated to his mind Otherwise his distraction would not have been Voluntary nor his attention Meritorious Now Nature although corrupted is not destroyed God has not ceased to will that which he once willed the same Laws still remain Thus our different wills are still at this day the occasional or natural causes of the presence of Ideas to our minds Search after Truth 1. explic That God is not the Author of our concupiscence But because the union of the Soul with the Body is changed into a dependance by the natural consequence of sin and the immutability of the will of God as I have * elsewhere explained our Bodies at present disturb our Ideas and speaking so loudly in behalf of the goods which respect them that the mind rarely asks and distractedly hears the inward TRUTH XXXVIII Experience further teaches us every moment that our conversation with knowing Persons is capable of instructing by exciting our attention that Sermons reading converse and many such like occasions may raise in us good sentiments The death of a friend doubtless is able to make us think of Death if some great passion does not wholly imploy us And when an able Preacher undertakes to demonstrate a very plain truth and convince others of it it must be granted that he may perswade his Auditors thereof and even move their Conscience excite their hope and fear and such like passions in them which disposes them less to resist the efficacy of the Grace of J. C. Men being made to live in society one with another it was necessary that they might mutually communicate their thoughts and motions It was needful that they should be united by the Mind as well as the Body and that speaking by the Voice to the Ears and by writeing to the Eyes they should communicate knowledge and understanding to attentive minds XXXIX Now Knowledge what way soever it is produced in us whether by our particular desires or whether some accidents be the occasion thereof it may be called Grace especially when it very much concerns our salvation tho it should only be a consequence of the order of Nature because since sin God owes us nothing and all the good we have is only what J. C. has merited for us For even our very Being subsists not but by J. C. But this kind of Grace tho merited by J. C. is not the Grace of J. C. 'T is the Grace of the Creator because J. C. not being ordinarily the occasional cause thereof the cause of it must be sought for in the order of Nature XL. There are a great many natural effects which may reasonably be accounted Graces For example two Persons at the same time have very different desires of Curiosity The one would go to an Opera the other hear a fam'd Preacher If they satisfie their curiosity he who shall go to the Opera will find such objects as considering the present disposition of his mind will excite in him passions which will ruine him The other on the contrary may find in the Preacher so much clearness and strength that the Grace of Conversion being given at this moment may be very efficacious in him This being supposed a shower of rain or some other accident interveens which keeps them at home this rain doubtless is a natural effect since it depends upon the natural Laws of the communication of motions Nevertheless it may be said to be a Grace in respect of him whose Ruine it prevents and a Punishment to him whose Conversion it hinders XLI Grace being joyned with Nature all the motions of our Souls and of our Bodies have some relation to our Salvation Such a man is saved for having whilst he was in the state of Grace made a step which happily caused him to break his neck And is damn'd for having at some time unluckily escaped the ruines of an house ready to fall We know not what is beneficial for us but we very well know nothing is so indifferent in its self but that it has some relation to our salvation by reason of the mixture combination of the effects which depend on the general Laws of Nature with those of Grace XLII Since then Knowledge discovers the true good the means of obtaining it our duty towards God in a word the ways which we ought to follow since it is sufficient also for those who are animated with charity to make them act well merit new Graces vanquish certain temptations as I shall elsewhere Explain I think it may very deservedly be called by the name of Grace tho J. C. be only the meritorious cause of it And since the outward Graces which act not immediately upon the mind nevertheless enter into the order of predestination of Saints I also look upon them as true Graces In a word I think the name of Grace may be given to all natural effects when they relate to salvation when they are subservient to the Grace of J. C. and remove some impediments of its efficacy Nevertheless if any deny this I have no design to dispute upon words XLIII All these sorts of Graces if we will allow unto them this name being Graces of the Creator the general Laws of these Graces are the general Laws of Nature For it must be observed that sin hath not destroyed nature tho it has corrupted it the general Laws of the communication of motions are always the same and those of the union of soul and body are not changed excepting in this only that what was but a union in respect of the mind is changed into a dependance for reasons I have mentioned elsewhere For at present we depend upon Bodies to which by the institution of Nature we were only united XLIV Now the Laws of Nature are always very simple and very general For God acts not by particular wills except when order requires a Miracle I have sufficiently proved this truth in the first discourse Thus when a stone falls upon the Head of a good man and kills him it falls in consequence of the Laws of motions this happens not because God is just and would by a particular will reward him When a like accident knocks out the brains of a sinner this is not because God would actually punish him For God on the contrary would save all men but it becomes him not to change the simplicity of his Laws to suspend the punishment of a Criminal In like manner when knowledge is conveyed to the mind it is because we have desires which are the occasional causes thereof 't is because we hear some knowing Person and because our brain is supposed to receive the impressions of him that speaks 'T is not because God has any particular will in respect of us but because he follows the general Laws of Nature which he has prescribed to himself I see nothing mysterious in the distribution of these kinds of Graces and I shall not stand to draw the consequences which
necessary that in the order of Grace there be some occasional cause which establishes these Laws and determines the efficacy of them and this is that cause which we must endeavour to find out IV. Tho we never so little consult the Idea of Intelligible order or consider the sensible order which appears in the works of God we clearly discover that the occasional causes which determine the efficacy of the general Laws and establish them must necessarily have relation to the design for which God appoints these Laws For example we see by experience that God has not and Reason convinces us that he ought not to have made the motions of the Planets the occasional causes of the union of soul and body He could not have willed that our Arm shou'd be moved after such and such a manner nor the soul suffer the pain of the Tooth-ach at the time of the Moons conjunction with the Sun if this conjunction does not act upon the body The design of God being to unite the Soul to the Body he cou'd not give to the Soul the sentiments of grief but when some changes happen in the body which are contrary to it Thus we ought not to seek any where else but in the Soul and in the Body the occasional causes of their union V. Hence it follows that God having a design to form his Church by J. C. could not according to this design seek any where else but in J. C. and the Creatures united by reason to J. C. the occasional causes which serve to establish the general Laws of Grace by which the spirit of J. C. is shed upon his Members and communicates unto them his Life and Holiness Thus Grace is not showered down upon our hearts according to the divers scituation of the Stars nor according to the meeting of several bodies nor even according to the different motion of the animal spirits which give unto us motion and life No bodies can excite in us any motions and sentiments but what are purely natural for all that comes to the soul by the body is only for the body The Angels themselves are not made occasional causes of inward grace They are as well as we Members of that body of which J. C. alone is the Head they are Ministers of J. C. for the salvation of the Saints I grant that they may produce some change in the bodies which surround us and even in that which we animate and that thus they may remove some impediments of the efficacy of Grace But certainly they cannot distribute to men such a precious gift they have not immediate power over the minds of men which by their nature are equal to them To conclude St Paul teaches us Heb. 11.5 to believe that God has not subjected to them the future World or the Church of J. C. Thus the occasional cause of Grace cannot be found but in J. C. or in man VI. But seeing it is certain that grace is not granted to all those that desire it nor as soon as they desire it and it is often given to those who do not ask it it follows that even our desires are not the occasional cause of Grace For this kind of causes always have readily their effect and without them the effect is never produced For example the striking of bodies upon one another being the occasional cause of the change which happens in their motion if two bodies do not meet one another their motions are not changed and if they be changed we may be assured that they did The general Laws by which Grace is poured into our hearts do find nothing in our wills which may determine their efficacy like as the general Laws which govern the rains are not founded upon the dispositions of the places where it rains For whither Lands lye Fallow or whither they be cultivated it rains indifferently in all places even upon Sands and in the Sea VII We are then brought to maintain that since none but J. C. cou'd merit grace there is likewise none but he who cou'd give the occasions of the general Laws according to which it is given to men For the principle of the foundation of general Laws or that which determines their efficacy being necessarily either in us or in J. C. since it is certain it is not in us for the reasons above mentioned it must needs be found in J. C. Thus it was necessary that God after sin should have no regard to our wills Being all in disorder we cou'd no more be the occasion of Gods giving us Grace A Mediator therefore was necessary not only to give us access to God but also to be the natural or occasional cause of those favours we hope to receive from him VIII Since God designed to make his Son the Head of his Church it was convenient he should make him the natural or occasional cause of Grace which sanctifies it for it is from the Head that Life and motion ought to be given to the members And it was even with this foresight that God permitted sin for if man had continued in his Innocence without being assisted by the Grace of J. C. seeing his wills wou'd have merited Grace and even Glory God should have established in man the occasional cause of his perfection and happiness The inviolable Law of order requires this so that J. C. wou'd not have been the Head of his Church or such an Head whose influences the Members wou'd have had no need of IX If our soul had been in our body before it was form'd and all the parts which compose it disposed of according to our different wills with how many divers sentiments and motions wou'd she have been affected by all the effects which she would have known ought to have followed from her wills especially if she had had an extream desire to have made a more Vigorous and better form'd body Eph. I. 22 23. IV. 16. Col. 11.19 Act. IX 5. Col I. 24. 1 Cor. XII 27. c. Now the Holy Scripture does not only say that J. C. is the Head of the Church but it also teaches us that he begot it that he form'd it that he nourishes it that he suffered in it that he merits in it that he acts and influences it without ceasing The zeal which J. C. has for the glory of his Father and the love he bears to his Church inspires him continually with a desire of making it the most ample the most magnisicent and the most perfect he can possibly Thus seeing the soul of J. C. has not an infinite capacity and yet desires to give infinite beauties and ornaments to his Church we have all the reason to believe that there is a continual succession of thoughts and desires in his Soul in respect of his Mystical body which he continually forms X. Now these continual desires of the Soul of Jesus which sanctifie the Church and render it worthy of the Majesty of his Father
better understood It seems to me that what I have hitherto said of Nature and Grace is sufficient to satisfie all equitable and moderate Persons concerning an infinite number of Difficulties which disturb the Minds of those only who judge of God by themselves For if we do faithfully consult the Idea of an infinitely perfect Being of a general Cause of an infinite Wisdom and if the Principles I have establish'd of this Idea be granted I believe none will be surprized or offended with God's Conduct and that instead of condemning or murmuring at it Men will not forbear to admire and adore it The Third Discourse Of Grace and the Manner by which it Acts in us The First Part. Of Liberty I. THere is nothing more uncomely than the substance of Spirits if they are separated from God For what is a Mind without Understanding and Reason without Motion and Love In the mean time the Word and Wisdom of God is the Universal Reason of Spirits it is the Love by which God loves himself which gives to the Soul all the motion that it has towards happiness The Mind cannot know the Truth but by its natural and necessary union with Truth its self it cannot be reasonable but by reason in short it cannot in some sence be a Mind and Understanding but because its Substance is enlightned penetrated and perfected by the Light of God himself I have elsewhere explain'd these Truths Book III. of the Searchafter Truth and in the Explication of the Nature of Ideas As the substance of the Soul is not capable of loving that which is good but by its natural and necessary union with the eternal and substantial Love of the Soveraign Good so it moves not towards that which is good but so far forth as God carries it it is not Will but by the motion which God continually imprints upon it it lives not but by charity it wills not but by the love of good which God imparts unto it tho' it abuses it For in truth as God neither makes nor preserves Minds but for himself so he carries them towards himself as long as he preserves their being he communicates the love of happiness to them as far as they are capable Now this natural and continual motion of the Soul towards good in general towards good undetermined that is towards God is that which I here call the Will because it is this motion which makes the Soul capable of loving different goods II. This natural motion of the Soul towards good in general is invincible for it is not in our power to chuse not to be happy We necessarily love that we clearly know and sensibly feel to be the true good All minds love God by the necessity of their nature and if they love any thing but God by the free choice of the will it is not because they do not seek after God or the cause of their happiness but because having a confused sence that Bodies about them make them happy they look upon them as their Goods and by a natural and ordinary consequence love them and unite themselves to them III. But the love of all these particular goods is not naturally invincible Man considered as God made him may hinder himself from loving those goods which do not fill the whole capacity he has of loving Seeing there is a good which contains all others Man may sacrifice to the love of this good all other loves for God having made minds for himself he cannot engage them invincibly to love any thing but himself or with relation to himself The inward sentiment which we have of our selves teaches us that we may for example refuse any fruit tho we are inclin'd to receive it Now this power of loving or not loving particular goods this non-invincibility which is in that motion which carries the minds to love that which does not seem to them to contain all goods this power this non-invincibility is that which I call liberty Thus by putting the definition in the place of the thing defin'd this expression Our will is free signifies that the natural motion of our Soul towards good in general is not invincible in respect of any particular good We do also to this word free joyn the Idea of voluntary but hereafter I shall take this word in the sense which I have observ'd because this is most natural and most ordinary IV. The word good is equivocal it may signifie either pleasure which makes Men formally happy or else the true or apparent cause of pleasure I shall in this Discourse always take the word good in the second sense because in truth pleasure is imprinted upon the Soul to the end that she may love the cause of her happiness that by the motion of her love she may be carried towards it and be straitly united thereunto and so be continually happy When the Soul loves nothing but her pleasure she truly loves nothing but her self for pleasure is only a condition or modification of the Soul which renders her actually happy Now since the Soul cannot be to her self the cause of her happiness she is unjust she is ungrateful she is blind if she loves her pleasure without paying that love and respect which is due to the true cause which produces it in her Since there is none but God who can immediately and by himself act upon the Soul and make her feel pleasure by the actual efficacy of his Almighty Will there is none but he who can be truly good Nevertheless I call the creatures which are the apparent causes of those pleasures which they occasion in us by the name of goods For I would not avoid the ordinary way of speaking but as far as it is necessary clearly to express my self All the creatures tho good in themselves and perfect in respect of God's designs are not good in respect to us I mean they are not our good because they are not the true causes of our pleasure or our happiness V. The natural motion which God continually imprints upon the Soul to engage it to love him or to use a term which expresses several Ideas and which can neither be equivocal nor confused after the definition I have given thereof the will is determined towards particular goods either by clear and distinct knowledge or by a confused sentiment which shews us these goods If the mind neither sees nor tastes any particular good the motion of the Soul continues as it were undetermin'd it tends towards good in general But this motion receives a particular determination as soon as the mind has an idea or sentiment of any particular good for the Soul being incessantly moved towards good indetermin'd she must be moved as soon as any object seems to be good to her VI. Now when the good which is present to the Understanding and Senses does not altogether fill these two faculties when it appears under the idea of a particular good which does not contain all
ordinarily it is then only and in those circumstances when one only Miracle i. e. an effect which cannot be the consequence of natural Laws doth happily adjust a great many events and the most that can be For his prescience being infinite he doth not work two Miracles when one will suffice So that in the Divine Providence there is nothing that is not Divine or which doth not bear the character of the Divine Attributes for God acts according to what he is He is wise his foreknowledge is infinite Now to establish general Laws and to foresee that from thence a work will arise worthy of these Laws is a mark of such a Wisdom as hath no bounds and to act by particular wills is to act as Men who can foresee nothing Therefore God acts by general Laws God is the Searcher of Hearts Now to make use of free Causes for the execution of his designs without determining these Causes after an invincible manner is to be the Searcher of Hearts and it is not necessary to have this quality for the execution of his designs if he did determine causes after an invincible manner Therefore God ordinarily leaves J.C. Angels and Men to act according to their natures He doth not communicate to them his power that he may destroy their liberty He gives them part in the glory of his work and thereby augments his own For leaving them to act according to their natures and nevertheless executing by them designs worthy of himself he makes it admirably appear that he is Searcher of Hearts Nevertheless the limitation of Angels the malice of Devils and both these qualities in good and evil Men and many other reasons may oblige God to act sometimes by particular wills For a limited spirit tho perfectly united to Order cannot foresee the connection of free causes which is necessary to bring the work of God to its perfection So that where Order permits God must determine Angels by particular wills and make even the sins of Men and the malice of Devils to enter into the order of his Providence And proportionably the same must be said of Jesus Christ considered as Man and Head of the Church and as Architect of the Eternal Temple God is immutable now immutability in his Conduct imports immutability in his nature to change Conduct every moment is a mark of inconstancy So that God must follow general Laws with respect to this attribute if none of his other attributes do otherwise require that he cease to observe it For God acts not but for himself but for that love which he bears unto himself but to Honour his attributes both by the Divinity of his ways and the Perfection of his work In a word the immutable Order of Justice which he owes to himself and his own perfections is a Law with which he never can dispence Thus experience teaches us that God governs the purely Corporeal World by the general Laws of the communications of motions By these it is that he makes the admirable Vicissitude of Night and Day Summer and Winter Rain and Fair weather By them also it is that he covers the Earth with Fruits and Flowers that he gives to Animals and Plants their growth and nourishment Experience also teaches us that God governs Men by the general Laws of Union of Soul and Body For by these Laws he doth not only unite the Soul to the Body for the conservation of Life but thereby he also diffuses it as I may say over all his works and so makes it admire the beauties thereof It is by these that he forms Societies and makes as I may say but one body of all People It is by them that he teaches Men the truths of Religion and Morality And Lastly by them it is that he makes Christians absolves Penitents Sanctifies the Elect and makes them merit all those degrees of glory which makes up the beauty of the Heavenly Jerusalem When I say that it is by them he doth all this it is easily perceived that I mean they are subservient thereunto in the Order of Divine Providence For it is cheifly by the general Laws which give power to J.C. and the Angels that GOD doth build his Church Further Faith teaches us that it is by general Laws that God punishes and rewards men since Angels who are the distributers of Temporal goods have no efficacy of their own It is by them that God provides for the necessities of his Elect and resists the pernicious use which Wicked Men and Devils make of that Power which they have to tempt and afflict us in consequence also of certain general Laws But all Powers are submitted to that which J.C. has in consequence of the general Laws of the Order of Grace for at present the Angels themselves who command others for there is a certain subordination among them according to the most probable and received opinion are submitted to J.C. their Head and Lord. It is under him that they labour in the building of his Temple They do not now as under the Law proportion Rewards to Merits For the treasures of Grace are opened by the entrance of J.C. into the Sanctuary For it is true that by afflictions the Saints are purified So that it is better that J.C. give unto Men true goods than that Angels should deliver them from their miseries for if good Men were not afflicted in this World J.C. could not give them the form they must necessarily have to be placed in his building Lastly further yet it is by general Laws that God exercises his Providence over his Church that is to say by the Laws which make the Order of Grace Laws which give unto J.C. as Man Sovereign power in Heaven and in Earth It is by J. C that God hath established the different orders which do externally govern his Church 'T is by him that he spreads abroad inward Grace in Souls It is by him that he sanctifies his chosen people that he will govern them in Heaven and recompence them according to their deserts It is by him that he will judge the Devils and the Damned and condemn them to that fire whose eternal efficacy shall only be the effect of general Laws which shall be observed for ever more By him I say enlightned to this end by eternal wisdom and also subsisting in this wisdom by him being advertised by a revelation whose Laws are unknown of all that which Order requires that he should know and of all that he desires to know of what passes in the World to bring his work to its perfection by him lastly acting by practical desires by prayers by endeavours or actions of an infinite merit but of a limited virtue and proportionable to a finite and a stinted work but by him perfectly free absolutely Master of his desires and actions submitted only to immurable Order the inviolable rule of his will as well as of his Fathers and if I be not deceived very rarely determined after
infinite Wisdom of its Author Additions I use the example of the irregularity of ordinary rain to prepare the mind for another rain which is not given to the merits of men no more than the common rain which falls equally upon Lands that are Sown as well as those that lie Fallow I suppose it to be easily comprehended that it is because the rain falls in consequence of natural Laws that it is so ill distributed in relation to the necessities of the Earth But I think I ought to advise that they who don 't distinctly remember the proofs which I have given in the Search after Truth that it is God who does all that he does not communicate his power unto Creatures but by making them the occasional causes of determining the efficacity of the general Laws by which he executes his designs in a way worthy of him I think I say I ought to advise these persons to read and meditate upon at least the first explication which is at the end of the third discourse for to do it well recourse ought to be had to those places wherein I demonstrate my Principles XV. In truth I am perswaded that the Laws of motion necessary to the production and conservation of the EARTH and of all the STARS in the HEAVENS are reduced to these two The first that Bodies in motion endeavour to continue their motion in a right Line The second that when two Bodies meet one another their motion is distributed from one to another proportionably to their bulk so that afterwards they may be mov'd with an equal celerity These two Laws are the cause of all the motions which make that variety of form which we admire in nature XVI I confess nevertheless Search after Truth in the last C. of Method that the second does not always seem to be observ'd in the experiments which may be made upon this subject but this is because we see only that which happens to Bodies that are visible and that we think not at all upon the Invisible that surround them which by the efficacy of the same Law make the spring of visible Bodies thereby obliging them to recoil and not observe this same Law I must not in this place explain this any further XVII Now these two Laws are so simple so natural and at the same time so fruitful that tho there were no other reasons to judge that nature observes them yet we should have cause to believe that they are appointed by him who always acts by the most simple wayes in whose Action there is nothing irregular and who proportions it so wisely with his Work that he does infinite marvels by a very few Practical Resolutions Additions It would require a whole Book to prove that which I say here concerning the fruitfulness of these two general laws of the communication of motion It will be easily seen that I speak not at all adventures by those who are exactly well acquainted with the Physical principles of Mon. des Cartes But this is not essential to my subject It is sufficient that the Laws of Nature are general These three Articles may be looked upon as a kind of parenthesis XVIII We must not judge of the general cause as of particulars of the Infinite Wisdom as of limited understandings God foreseeing all that should follow the natural Laws even before their establishment could not have established them to overturn them The Laws of Nature are constant and Immutable they are general for all times and all places Two Bodies of such a magnitude and such a swiftness striking upon one another will be reflected after the same manner now as heretofore If the rain falls upon certain grounds and the Sun burns up others if a season favourable to the Fruits of the Earth be succeeded by a Prost which destroys them if a Child comes into the world with a monstrous and useless head which grows out of his breast and makes him miserable it is not because God intended to produce these effects by particular wills but because he has established the Laws of the communication of motions of which these effects are necessary consequences Laws otherwise so simple and withal so fruitful that they produce all that we see beautiful in the world and in a little time repair the greatest Mortality and Dearth XIX He that having built an house and then undermines the Foundation discovers his ignorance he that plants a Vineyard and immediately pulls up that which had taken root shews his folly Because he that wills and wills not wants either understanding or constancy of mind But it can't be said that God acts either by caprice or thro' Ignorance when an Infant comes into the world with superfluous members which hinder him from living or when an Hail-Storm destroys the Fruit almost ripe Thus if God makes the Fruit to fall by a Storm before it is ripe it is not because he wills and wills not For God acts not by particular wills as particular causes do He has not established the Laws of communication of motions with a design to produce Monsters or to make the Fruits Fall before they be ripe he appointed these Laws by reason of their Foecundity and not their Barrenness Thus that which once he willed he wills still and in general the world for which he made these Laws shall subsist eternally Additions I have not here proved a Posteriori or by the effects that the general cause acts by general Wills or Laws whose efficacy is determined by the action of occasional or particular causes tho' these sorts of proofs are very many and undeniable 1. Because I supposed in the Advertisement to the Reader that he had read what I have written against the pretended efficacy of second causes 2. Because none can want these sort of proofs for every one knows that a body is never mov'd before it be struck and that it is never stricken without being mov'd Every one knows it is day when the Sun is risen and that it is night when it is set and that thus God produces the motion and the light in consequence of the general laws of nature 3. To conclude because the proofs a priorit taken from the nature of the cause tho more abstracted appear to me clearer stronger and more proper to the subject I Treat of For if I had not proved only by the effects that God does all that we see in nature by simple general uniform and constant ways it might be answered 'T is true but in grace he does quite otherwise he there does all by particular wills Whereas having proved by the Idea of a Being infinitely perfect that he does all that we see by simple ways since God does not bely himself this proves that he does by the like wayes all that we do not see Thus men begin to reflect that God must act after such a manner as comports with his Divine Attributes Nevertheless at the end of this first Discourse
conscious that his will is efficacious he perfectly knows without making any tryal of his strength whatsoever he is able to do Thus Scripture and Reason teach us that it is by Jesus Christ that the world subsists and that it is by the dignity of this divine person that it receives a beauty which renders it agreeable in the sight of God XXVIII It follows in my opinion from this principle that Jesus Christ is the Model or Pattern by which we are made that we are form'd according to his Image and likeness and that we have nothing beautiful but so far as we are his representations and figures that he is the end of the Law and the finishing of the Jewish Ceremonies and Sacrifices that till this succession of generations which preceded his birth had an end it was necessary they shou'd have had certain relations to him by which they were made more agreeable to God than any others That since Jesus Christ was to be the Head and Spouse of the Church to represent him all men were to proceed from one and their propagation to begin after that manner which Moses relates and St. Paul explains In a word it follows from this principle that the present world ought to be the figure of the future and that as far as the simplicity of the general Laws will permit it all they who have or shall dwell therein have been or shall be figures and resemblances of Gods only Son from Abel in whom he was sacrificed to the last Member that shall be of his Church XXIX We may judge of the perfection of a Work by the conformity there is betwixt this work and the Idea which the eternal wisdom gives us of it For there is nothing Beautiful nothing Amiable but by relation to the essential necessary and independent beauty Now this intelligible beauty being made sensible became also in this estate the rule of beauty and perfection Thus all Corporeal Creatures must still receive from him their Beauty and Splendor All minds must have the same thoughts and the same inclinations with the soul of Jesus if they would be agreeable to those who see nothing Beautiful nothing Amiable but that which is conformable to Wisdom and Truth Since then we are obliged to believe that the work of God has a perfect conformity with the eternal Wisdom we have all reason to believe that the same work has infinite relations to him who is the Head the principle the model and the end thereof But who can explain all these relations XXX That which makes the Beauty of a Temple is the order and variety of the Ornaments which are there to be seen Thus to render the living Temple of the Majesty of God worthy of him who is to inhabit it proportion'd to the infinite wisdom love of its Author all Beauties ought to be found therein But it is not with the Glory and Magnificence of this Spiritual Temple as it is with the gross and sensible Ornaments of Material Temples That which makes the Beauty of the Spiritual Edifice of the Church is the infinite diversity of the Graces which he who is the Head thereof communnicates to all the parts that compose it it is the order and the admirable relations they have by him to one another it is the divers degrees of Glory which shine on all sides XXXI It follows from this principle that to establish this variety of rewards which compose the beauty of the Heavenly Jerusalem it is necessary that men upon Earth shou'd be subject not only to afflictions which purisie them but also to the motions of Concupiscence which gives them opportunity of gaining so many Victories by engaging them in so great a number of different Combats XXXII The Blessed in Heaven will doubtless have an Holiness and variety of gifts which will perfectly answer the diversity of their good works These continual sacrifices by which the Old Man is destroyed and annihelated will Adorn and Beautifie the Spiritual substance of the New Man Luke XXIV 26. And if it became Jesus Christ himself to suffer all sorts of afflictions before he entred into his glory the sin of the first Man which brought the evils into the World which accompany Life and Death which follows it was necessary that men having been tryed upon Earth might justly be rewarded with that Glory the variety and order of which will make the beauty of the future World Additions The sin of the first Man was not necessary in it self God might without this sin have found a Thousand means to make the future Church as Beautiful as it shall be but since God acts always as wisely as is possible and according to the character of the divine attributes since he invincibly loves his Wisdom There cou'd be no such means for Men to Merit the Glory which one day they shall possess as that which suffers them to be ingulf'd in sin that mercy might be shewn to them all in Jesus Christ For the Glory which the Elect shall obtain by the Grace of Jesus Christ in resisting their Concupiscence will be greater and also more worthy of God than any other See the 34 and 35. Articles St. Aug. de cor grat C. 10. XXXIII If I had a clear Idea of the Blessed Spirits which have no body perhaps I might clearly answer a difficulty which arises in respect of them For it may be objected either that there is little variety in the merits and recompences of Angels or else that it was adviseable that God should unite Spirits to bodys on which they do at present so much depend I confess that I do not see any great diversity of rewards which ought to answer the merits of substances purely intelligible especially if they have merited their reward by one single act of Love They not being united to a body which might occasion God to give them according to certain most simple and general Laws a succession of different sentiments or thoughts I can see no diversity in their combats nor in their victories But perhaps there may be an order established which to me is unknown And upon this account I ought not to speak of it It is enough for me to have setled a principle whence we may conclude that it became God to create Bodys and to unite Spirits unto them that by the most simple Laws of the Union of these two substances he might in a general constant and uniform way give us that great variety of sentiments and motions which is the principle of our different Merits and Rewards XXXIV To conclude God ought to have all the Glory of the Beauty and Perfection of the future World This Work which infinitely surpasses all others must be a work of pure mercy The Creatures ought not to boast of having any other part therein but that which the grace of Jesus Christ hath given them In a word Rom. XI 32. Gal. III. 22. it was adviseable that God shou'd
desire of J. Christ We may also look upon the desires of the soul of J. C. which generally relate to all the minds of one certain character as particular desires tho they comprehend many persons because these desires change every moment as those of particular causes do But the general Laws by which God acts are always the same because his wills must be firm and constant seeing his wisdom is infinite as I have shewn in the first Discourse Additions I think I have demonstrated that J. C. as man is the occasional cause of Grace Now since God acts not if Order doth not require or some occasional cause determine him thereunto and that in respect of Grace altogether free Order never requires that God shou'd give it seeing it cannot be merited 'T is evident that all the difficulties which we find in the distribution of Grace must be ascribed to J. C. as man This is that which I have already done in a general way for it was not at all necessary that I should particularly justifie the wisdom and goodness of God which was my only design in the construction of his Church as I did at first advertise But that the minds least able to discern the usefulness of the principles laid down may not fail to apprehend it I shall endeavour as clearly as possibly I can to shew the consequences which may be drawn from these principles There are many difficulties in vindicating Gods Conduct in his way of distributing the rain of Grace as well as in that by which he sends down the ordinary rain the chief of which are that it is not always proportioned to the need of sinners and that even in respect to the just tho it answer their necessities yet it does not always hinder them from falling into disorder God is wise he wills the conversion of sinners he has sworn so by his Prophet A Being infinitely wise proportions the means to the end How then can it be that the Grace which the sinner receives shou'd not be strong enough to make him quit his sin Or to take away all equivocation Why shou'd not such an Infant be Baptised Why should there be so many Nations who know not J. C. It is easily comprehended by what I have said in the first Discourse that this is a consequence of the simplicity of Gods ways and must proceed from the occasional cause which God has established for the executing his design after such a manner as best resembles his Divine Attributes For if it rains upon the High-ways upon the Sand upon the Sea as well as upon the Sown Lands it is because these rains are necessary consequences of the simplicity of those ways which God has established for making the Earth Fruitful But whence does it proceed that J. C. who is an intelligent occasional cause abandons so many sinners and so many nations Or to come to the greatest difficulty Whence is it that J. C. forsakes even the just the members of his body who are straight united to him by charity For as to sinners and they who do not call upon him it may be said that he neglects them as unworthy of his care But whence comes it to pass that he gives to the just exposed to temptation such a Grace which he well foresaw notwithstanding his assistance wou'd be overcome This Grace was altogether sufficient I grant and that it only depended upon the just to make it efficacious But why did not J. C. give it more force since he foresaw the fall of one of his well-beloved Children If my principle can clear up these difficulties without injuring the love of J. C. towards men as well as it defends the wisdom and goodness of God against the reasonings of Libertines certainly the consequences thereof will be very advantageous to Religion This is that which I am about to examine J. C. may be considered according to two respects one as Architect of the Eternal Temple the other as Head of the Church I have partly explained the manner after which J. C. acts as Architect because this manifested the fruitfulness and necessity of my principle But I wou'd not speak of the way by which he acts as Head of the Church by reason of the difficulty of the fall of the just which supposes certain things whereof I thought not then to speak That I may explain more particularly the manner after which J. C. acts as Architect upon the materials which do not as yet make part of his Temple and as Head in respect of the Just who are members of his Body I am obliged to say what I think concerning the holy Soul of J. C. which regulates all his desires with respect nevertheless to the divine Law the immutable and necessary order for the wills of J. C. are always agreeable to those of his Father Tho several of the * Athan. Orat. 4. in Arianos S. Iren Lib. V. S. Basil Ep. 391. ad Amphil. S. Greg. Naz. Orat 36. S. Cyr. of Alex. Thres lib. 9. C. 4. Theod Tom. 4. p. 731. Fathers and those especially who wrote against the Arrians as Athanasius were contented to attribute to Jesus Christ as God the knowledge of all things and expounded concerning J. C. as man that which St. Mark reports The Day of the Lord knoweth no Man no not the Son of Man himself and some of them feared not even to say that Ignorance is one of the defects of Humane Nature which J. C. took for our sakes Nevertheless I am far from this thought For I am perswaded that J. C. as man knows all Sciences and hath a perfect knowledge of all things that he not only knows all the Beings which God hath created with all their Modifications and all their relations but also upon much greater reason all those which God can create In a word all that which God contains in the immensity of his Being I say that J. C. knows upon much greater reason all possible Creatures than the existence and relation of those which God hath made because he knows the first by the right which his union with the Word which contains them as the Word gives him whereas he knows not the other but by a kind of a Revelation as I shall shew hereafter I believe then that J. C. as man knows all things but it ought to be observ'd that there is a great difference between knowing all things habitually and knowing all things actually between knowing all things and thinking of all things which is almost always confounded There is no man but knows that two and two make four and yet there are but few who actually think of it A Geometrician knows his Enclid but he is often a long time without thinking of any of the propositions of this Author A man knows a truth or Science when by his Labour or otherwise he has gain'd a right thereunto insomuch that he can no sooner think of these things but they immediately present
love the true good by Reason because Order requires that the true good should be loved after this manner and because Knowledge alone does not transport or invincibly carry us towards the good which it discovers We do no wise Merit when we love the true good by Instinct or so far as Pleasure invincibly transports or determines the Mind because Order requires that the true good or the good of the Mind should be loved by Reason by a Free love by a love of Choice and Discretion and because the love which Pleasure alone produces is a Blind Natural and Necessary love I confess that when a Man goes further than he is carried by Pleasure he Merits but this is because he acts by Reason and as Order requires he shou'd act for that love which he has above the Pleasure is a Pure and a Reasonable love XXX In like manner it must be Concluded that a Man always demerits when he loves false goods by the instinct of Pleasure provided that he loves them more than he is invincibly engaged to love them For when we have naturally so little Liberty and Capacity of Mind that Pleasure invincibly transports us tho we be irregular and our love be bad and against Order we do not demerit For to demerit I mean to deserve to be punish'd a Man must run after false goods with more earnestness or go farther than Pleasure invincibly carrys him For it must be observed that there is a great deal of difference betwixt a Good action and a Meritorious Action betwixt an irregular action and an action which deserves to be punished the love of a Just Person is often irregular in sleep and yet deserves not to be punished Whatsoever is conformed to Order is good and all that is contrary thereunto is bad but nothing Merits or Demerits but the good or ill use of Liberty or that wherein we have some share Now a Man makes a good use of his Liberty when he follows his Knowledge when he goes on as I may say freely and of himself towards the true good whether he be at first determined by the preventing delectation or by the light of Reason When he sacrifices sensible Pleasures to his duty and conquers grief by the love of Order On the contrary he makes an ill use of his Liberty when his Pleasure is his Reason when he sacrifices his duty to his passions his perfection to his present happiness his love of Order to Self-love and does all this at the time when he is not really forced thereunto I shall still explain this more clearly XXXI When two Objects present themselves to the mind of Man and he will chuse one of them I confess that he will never fail to determine himself on that side where he shall find most Reason and Pleasure on that side where he 'll see most good Since the soul cannot will or love but by the love of good the will being nothing but the love of good or the natural motion of the soul towards good she infallibly loves that which has most conformity with that which she loves invincibly But it is certain that when sensible Pleasures or some such like thing does not disturb the Mind a Man may always suspend the judgment of his love and not determine himself especially in respect of false goods for the soul can have no evidence that false goods are true goods nor that the love of these false goods does perfectly agree with the motion which carrys us towards the true good Thus when a Man loves false goods at the time when his senses and passions do not altogether disturb his Reason he demerits because then he may and ought to suspend the judgment of his love For if he had staid a while to have examined what he ought to have done this false good would soon have appeared much the same as it is Remorse of Conscience and perhaps even the delectation of Grace would have changed all the dispositions of his mind and heart For the condition of a Traveller has nothing fixed a thousand different objects present themselves continually to his mind and the life of Man upon Earth is only a continual succession of thoughts and desires XXXII It seems at first that in respect of the true good Man cannot suspend the judgement of his love for we cannot suspend our judgment but when the evidence is not full Now we cannot but see that it is most evident that God is the true good and that also none but he can be good to us we know that he is infinitely more Amiable than we can comprehend But it must be observed that tho we cannot suspend the judgment of our Reason in respect of speculative truths when the evidence is full yet we may suspend the judgment of our love in respect of good what evidence soever there is in our Ideas For when Sentiments fight against Reason when Taste opposes Knowledge when we sensibly find that to be bitter and ungrateful which Reason clearly represents as sweet and agreeable we may chuse whether we will follow our Reason or our Senses We may act and indeed often do act against our Knowledge because when we attend to Sentiment Knowledge is lost if we do not use violence to retain it and because we ordinarily attend more to Sentiment than to Knowledge because Sentiment is more lively and agreeable than the most evident Knowledge XXXIII It is pleasure which makes minds actually happy Upon this account we ought to enjoy Pleasure when we love the true good the mind thinks upon God if it draws near to him by its love and tastes no other sweetness On the contrary God sometimes fills it with bitterness and desolation He forsakes He rejects it as I may say not that it should cease to love him but rather that its love may be more Humble more Pure and more Meritorious In short He commands it to do some things which makes it actually Miserable But if it draws near to Bodies it finds it self happy proportionably happy as it is united to them certainly that is a temptation what Knowledge soever one may have for we invincibly desire to be happy So that a Man Merits very much if fixing upon his Knowledge he denies himself notwithstanding all uncomfortable desertions if he sacrifices his actual happiness to the love of the true good if living by Faith and trusting in the Promises of God he continues inviolably true to his duty It therefore plainly appears that J. C. might Merit his Glory tho he most evidently knew the true good because having a great love for his Father he intirely submitted himself to his orders without being carried thereto by preventing Pleasures Because altogether complying with his Knowledge he suffered very great Asslictions and sacrificed all the most lively and sensible Pleasures to the love of God For he took a Body as we have that he might have a * Heb. 8.3 victim to offer unto God and
God by particular wills did again form Plants and Animals in the Seas which the first Proposition of the proposed Objection imports the difficulty would be more considerable But I maintain and always have maintained that the Germes of Animals increase and Plants are unfolded in consequence of the general Laws of Nature I hold that all organized Bodies were formed at the beginning of the World so as to draw their nourishment and come to perfection by the Laws of the Communication of Motions and that it is for this reason and the relations which God hath made betwixt the Mother's Brain and that of the Fruit she bears in her Womb. It is plain enough that I here speak only of the primitive parts for which we have no name and which are unknown to us Upon these accounts I say it is that there are to be found so many Irregularities and Monsters among Animals For I never said or thought that God by particular wills forms every day the Bodies of Animals and Plants That which follows viz. That according to my Principles God ought to have formed a World without any other organized Bodies but those of Men that he might have made it by the most simple ways shews that the Objector doth not comprehend my meaning For besides that God might have great reason to form such bodies by particular wills I hold that it being at that time necessary to determine the first motions of matter by such like wills the conduct which he then observed became nevertheless simple by this way of acting and doubtless his work is thereby made more perfect for the wisdom of the Creator is most visible in organized bodies The Objector doth not observe that the difference of bodies proceeds from the various motion of the neighbouring parts and that therefore to form all organized Bodies it was enough for God to give divers motions to the divers parts of matter from the beginning of the World But to do this 't was necessary he should act by particular wills 't is true but it was likewise necessary for him to imploy such like wills to begin the Chaos and divide matter into such parts as would have been fit to have form'd a World without Animals Thus it comes to the same thing as to the simplicity of the ways But on the other side to have formed all organized bodies at once for all ages shews an infinite wisdom whereas to have moved the parts of matter indifferently on all sides to have form'd a World without Animals successively and by little and little would have been no sign of knowledge In a word I affirm and it ought well to be observed that there needs no more particular wills to form Animals than to divide the parts of matter But tho infinitely many more were requisite besides that these wills were necessary when the World was formed they could not disturb the simplicity of God's ways since they preceded the general Laws and the striking of bodies upon one another which is the occasional cause of them But the general Laws being once established God cannot without great reasons cease to observe them Thus we see that God in consequence of his Laws kills an infinite many Animals and that he preserves none of them by particular wills Lastly Tho it should be proved that God doth yet at this day form Insects by particular wills this would make nothing against the main Principle of the Treatise For St. Paul teaches us that Men do not receive Grace but by the intercession of J. C. in consequence of the general Law by which God would sanctifie and save all in his Son and by his Son as I think I have proved in several places and chiefly in the Second Discourse of this Treatise Object VIII The Author says that the passages of Scripture which destroy the efficacy of Second Causes should be taken literally Now these very passages so understood prove that God doth all by particular wills Therefore God for example clothes the Lillies and feeds the young Ravens causes it to rain and preserves even the least Hair of our Heads by particular wills For this is the greatest contradiction in the World that the same words of the holy Spirit should be explained strictly and according to the Letter where Second Causes are to be discarded and that they should not then be taken literally but look'd upon as Anthropologies when we would have it believed that God acts not by particular wills Answer This Objection is surely the weakest in the World For why is it the most plain contradiction in the World that the same passage ought and ought not to be explained strictly and according to the Letter in divers respects The Scripture tells us that God makes the Lillies to grow and clothes them Why may not this and many such like passages be explained literally against the self-efficacy of Second Causes and favourably and not so as to exclude the necessary condition of these same Causes God makes the Plants to grow he forms the Children in the Mother's Womb says the Scripture The rigour of the Letter therefore signifies that God doth this by his own proper efficacy but it doth not exclude the Conditions which he hath prescribed unto himself that he may act after an uniform manner God makes the Plants to increase by his own power but it is in consequence of his Laws by the heat of the Sun and a great deal of Rain This passage and several such like neither speak of natural Laws nor the Sun nor the Rain but if they be rigorously interpreted as if God made the Plants to grow by particular wills and not in consequence of his Laws a Man must renounce common sense and the Scripture it self which in a thousand places speaks of Second Causes as the ordinary means of Providence It is objected That we sind no places of Scripture which prove that God acts ordinarily in consequence of his Laws and I am seriously blamed for producing no such Texts But it seemed to me that I should have rendered my self ridiculous should I have concern'd my self to shew that which no person doubts of For supposing only that the Philosopher's Nature is but a Chymera as I have often proved there is no truth more confirmed in the Holy Scripture For all those passages which seem to favour the efficacy of Second Causes are certain proofs thereof I have if I am not deceived demonstrated in the Explication of the Efficacy of Second Causes that my Opinion perfectly well agrees with the Holy Scripture and that it agrees much better with Religion than that which the prejudices of the Senses and Pagan Philosophy has introduced into the World FINIS