power of determining the Events foreseen as well as Divine and what 's the reason that this foresight has not the least causality upon these Effects I suppose it will be answered because they depend upon certain regular and constant Motions of the Celestial Bodies which have been ever since the World began and the like Appearances that are now have been heretofore and will be again so long as the World shall continue so that this Fore-knowledge is little more than Recollection of what is past For as it would have been a rare thing to have foretold an Eclipse before ever there was any so would it be an easie matter for a Man of ordinary Skill to predict those that shall happen unto the Worlds end provided he were furnished with an exact History of all those that have been from the Begining Let us now examine whether these or the like Reasons may not be of force in the business of Divine Prescience and in order thereunto let us suppose some point of time like that of the Julian Period before the Creation wherein the World was not yet in being There was then in God 1. The Power and Vertue of educing this same World out of Non-existence into Being 2. A Will to do it in such time and manner as seemed good unto himself 3. A perfect Idea or Prospect of this great Work in all its parts and Succession and all this from Eternity This Idea or Eternal View of all Things and Actions that have been or ever shall be is what we call Divine Prescience it was antecedent to the actual Existence of the World but subsequent in order of nature unto God's Eternal Purpose of creating it Now I appeal to the Reason of Mankind whether it is the Platform that builds the House or whether we ought to refer the cause of the Worlds production unto this Idea or rather to the Concurrence of Divine Will and Power If it be still urged That God's Fore-knowledge of Events must of necessity produce the same since what he foreknows is sure to come to pass It may easily be answered that what God foresees is indeed certain but such certainty doth not consist in the foresight but in the causes foreseen and tho' the effect will surely come to pass yet not without its proper causes of which causes foreknowledge can be none at all unless it could be both the Cause and Effect of the same thing which is impossible Obj. But how can God's Fore-knowledge be called an Effect which doth ever suppose an antecedent Cause For since you grant it to have been from Eternity if it be an Effect it must be an Eternal One whose antecedent Cause must therefore be fetcht from beyond Eternity Nor have you yet sufficiently explained how far or whether you admit there may be such a thing as Fore-knowledge of what is already past which was objected before To this last part of the Objection I have already said if it be considered what amounts to a sufficient Answer but yet I shall endeavour to be a little plainer First then that God did foreknow the things that are now past as well as what are to come is by no means to be doubted but to say that he does now foreknow what is already past is Non-sense because it inmplies the futurity of what is elapsed as if I should say God fore knows the Deluge or the Building of Babel this would be contradiction in point of time as though the things were yet to come which are long since past but it 's proper to say God did foreknow them But Secondly the Notion I aim at will best be apprehended by remembring always to distinguish between the real and the vertual Existence of things the former is brought forth in time and therefore I say God did foresee from Eternity but I cannot say so of the latter which being it self Eternal can admit no priority in point of time As for instance 10000 years ago the World was not extant and something doubtless will be hereafter which is not now but there never was nor ever will be any thing extant but what is or was Virtually existant in God and clearly visible to his all-seeing Eye from all Eternity therefore God's Omniscient View or Idea of all things being antecedent to the Creation but subsequent in order of Nature to the Vertual Existence of the World is Foreknowledge with respect to the one but Contemplation or Intuition in respect of the other If we look forward to the Creation it is Prescience but if we look back upon Eternity it is the result of Divine Will and Power or it is God's beholding in himself the Platform of his Design which as I said before is an effect of the Divine Purpose to build a world which Purpose is the highest Link in the Chain of Causality even as the first step of Solomon towards building of the Temple was this * â— Rings 5.5 Behold I purpose to build an House unto the Name of the Lord my God It is true that God is infinite and Eternal in all his Attributes and so there can be no Precedence amongst them in order of time yet in order of Nature there must be Priority since God cannot be said to behold a pure Nothing to see know and behold are Relative Terms and do ever suppose something to be seen known or beheld Thirdly As for the other part of the Objection against an Eternal Effect it will lye as hard against our Blessed Saviour who is the Eternal Son of God the brightness of his Fathers Glory the Express Image of his Person and the Effect of his Love to Mankind These also are relative Terms a Son supposes a Father an Image or Copy supposes an Original yet none surely doubts the Eternity of him who laid the foundations of the Earth and whose Throne is for ever and ever I put the Question even now what the reason was that the Astronomers Skill and Fore-knowledge of the Celestial Phenomema had not the least influence to cause the same and I gave this Answer because these Phenomena did depend upon certain Motions of the Heavenly Bodies which were regular and had been from the beginning of the World and so it was but enquiring into these Motions and the Fore-knowledge of Eclipses Conjunctions and the like would follow by consequence Let it be now demanded why Divine Prescience had not any causality or influence upon the Creation * Hebr. 1. v. 3 8 10. and I shall answer this Question just after the same manner namely because the Creation did depend upon the Will and Purpose of God which is the first Mover the fountain-Fountain-Cause of all things and was from Eternity Omnipotence it self and even infinite Goodness would seem barren and unfruitful without a Will to Act for whatever God made in Wisdom and ruleth by his Power were wrought after the * Eph. 1.11 Counsel of his own Will nor is there any thing in
such causes were operating could not foresee the effects But the case is not so with God it is not yet come to that pass that because Men cannot foresee contingent Events that therefore we must conclude that God cannot do it neither For as Wind and Weather are in his Hands and obey his Will so Voluntary good Actions flow originally from the Holy Spirit and evil Actions are permitted as the Devils were to enter into the Swine Nor can wicked Agents go one hair's breadth beyond their appointed limits And even permission it self doth imply Fore-knowledge for how can any one be said to have permitted what he knew not of before it was done I hope that to evade this Argument there 's none will say that God gives to wicked men a general Licence to do what they please whilst he in the mean time knows not in particular what wickedness they will commit until they have acted it For besides that this Character is exactly suited unto Satan in his Kingdom of Darkness it destroys Divine Providence root and branch for how can God limit or over-rule to his own good Ends and Purposes those Events whereof he hath no particular foresight or how can he be said in such a case to govern the World at all But as concerning the Nature of a Voluntary Action I have spoken before I shall only add in this place that since God knows most perfectly the heart of Man and what causes are interested in forming of his Judgment how far the Will follows the Dictate of the Understanding and of right Reason or whether it is captivated by Senfual Appetite and by the lusts that war in his Members Since God I say doth infallibly know the Springs of all Actlons whether from Sense from Reason or from Grace and to what degrees any kind of External or Internal force can bend those Springs he must of necessity know what Man purely lest to his own Faculties will do upon any occasion I have insisted longer upon this Objection as also upon the Non-causality of Divine Prescience than some perhaps will think to have been necessary but because the sence of the Objection is said to come from Persons of very great Learning and Reason and I did my self hear it strongly urged that Prescience must needs cause the things Foreseen I thought it not amiss to enlarge a little upon both the Points in order to clear them up to common Understandings but whether I have done it to Satisfaction I must leave to the Readers Judgment The sum of what I have said in reference to this last mentioned which I discoursed of before is this that to affirm Divine Prescience to have a Causality in such sort that the Events foreseen could not possibly have fallen out otherwise is Abusurd and it is false It is Absurd because it puts the Cart before the Horse and makes that to be a cause which is purely an effect and it is False because it is contrary to the word of Truth contained in the Scriptures I shall now conclude this part of my Essay with the words of the Schoolman * Suarez Neque hinc eriam fit ut per hanc Praescientiam Deus imponat necessitatem aliquam rebus sic cognitis quia haec Scientia ut sic non est earum causa It doth not follow from hence that God by his Fore-knowledge imposeth any necessity upon the things so known because this knowledge as such is not the Cause of them But before I come to the last part of my Design I must make a short Digression to prevent an Objection that may arise from what I said not long ago namely That the Divine Will was the fountain Cause of all things as being the first Mover for no doubt God is the first cause of all Motion tho' he never determines any exerted by a free Agent to a wrong Object and all things being wrought as the Apostle says after the Counsel of his Will From hence it may be urged That tho' Divine Prescience have no causality yet since we grant that the Divine Will is the first cause of all things nor can we deny that whatever God wills he certainly foresees doth it not follow from hence that all things must come to pass according to the fixed Purpose and Preordination of God in such sort that the Will of Man must needs be over-rul'd and predetermin'd and consequently the free-agency of rational Creatures wholly evacuated I answer this will by no means follow as may appear from the consideration of the following particulars 1. Though God foresees whatever he will have brought to effect yet we cannot say on the contrary that he wills every thing he foresees God 't is true wills even the sinful Actions which he foresees but with a will permissive of them not effective perfectly knowing as a Wise Man would shrewdly guess what Persons so and so inclined will do in such and such Circumstances being only Inabled not Impelled to act and being left to follow their own Inclinations And so he may certainly foresee many things which he never wills by a positive and effectively determinative will He equally foresees all things that come to pass otherwise he would be deficient in point of Knowledge but we must not say he wills them Equally For that would be to approve of evil and so he would be deficient in point of Goodness For instance he predetermin'd Israel's Deliverance from Egyptian Bondage and he likewise foretold it So that herein his Purpose and Foresight run Parallel But then he foretold Pharaoh's Obstinacy in detaining the People at the same time when he will'd him to let them go and herein his Foresight and express Will are quite contrary He wills that Men should fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in truth and not only so but that they should do it out of * Josh 24.14 15. free choice arising from a true Judgment of things yet he soreknows that some will be Disobedient and Iniquity shall abound †Mat. 24.12 He wills that his chosen People be with him and see his Glory ‖ Jo. 17.24 and he knows it shall be so he knows that others will dye in their Sins but he hath sworn he wills it not (a) Mat. 19.28 Whatever God hath proclaim'd is an undoubted Object of Divine Prescience but every Object of Divine Prescience is not therefore preordain'd nor agreeable to his Will Good things are equally the Objects of Divine Pleasure and Foresight but we cannot say the like of Evil. We may say indeed that God foresees an Evil Action but we cannot say he would have it done nor that he hath power to do it for both these would imply a contradiction since 't is purely inconsistent with the Divine Nature to have either Will or Power to do evil A second Consideration is this That tho' the Divine Will be truly and unchangeably one and the same yet is it distinguishable
charge concerning thee †Psalm 91.8 Now as the ground of that Security against Dangers and sundry Evils mentioned in the 91st Psalm at ver 8. is omitted in the Devil's Quotation So the ground of God's Foresight and cause of the Event foreseen is omitted in the Objection namely a prudent care to preserve life And as the Son of God was never like to fall down and worship the Devil so any sober Man that lives to a full Age is not like to attempt desperate ways to destroy himself The Answer too given by our Saviour is proper in this Case * Mat. 4.7 Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God For if he foresees the End he foresees also the means conducing thereunto which means God having graciously put into thine own hands why shouldst thou tempt him to save thy life by Miracle when thou may'st preserve it by thy own Discretion Thus we see the Devils Argument and that of the Objection run exactly Parallel Secondly The Fallacy of this reasoning consists partly in joining a Truth and a Falsity together and make the one to infer the other tho' there be no Connexion between them and partly in leaving out the consideration of that which must be suppos'd to make the sence compleat whether the inference be true or false For instance let this be the Argument in short God foresees the End therefore it will so come to pass I say here the Proposition is true but the inference without something else supposed is false for if the illative Particle therefore refer only to the word foresees there is no good consequence since Forelight hath not any Causality as hath I hope been proved That Divine Prescience doth ascertain the End is true upon this Account * Necessitas consequentiae in ordine probandi non est necessitas rei ipsius in ordine causandi Baxt. Meth. part 1. pag. 45. that it beholds the Causes wherein the certainty doth consist but that it doth so meerly of it self without supposition of Causes and proper means to effect that end is false God by his Foresight lays no necessity upon the Event but he foresees it in it's causes of which humane Endeavours ordinarily are no small part Therefore the sence of the Argument must in this manner be compleated before it can be made to conclude any thing God foresees the causes productive of such Effects therefore such Effects will follow not from the foresight but from the causes foreseen Thirdly Let us suppose that God foresees some strong Man vigorous and healthful shall dye within a year who according to the Course of Nature might live twenty If this be true it must be true also that intemperance neglect of means or the like must bring him to it Some cause there must be but naked Foresight is no cause at all Again suppose God foresees that such a person will live twenty years If that be true then that he should attempt every day to destroy himself must be false for if God foresees the one he foresees nor the other because they are inconsistent He doth not foresee contradictions to be true or things to be that will never be as once a wise Critick would needs maintain that when Jonah was sent to preach unto Nineveh God then foresaw that City would be destroy'd in forty days tho' it stood many years after But God doth not foresee that Causes will produce such Effects as are improper and impossible not that Repentance will produce Destruction nor that Poison Drowning or Debauchery will produce length of days and vertuous prudence an untimely End In a word Divine Prescience beholds not things in parcels but altogether in one View Sees the Issues and Periods of all things not without but in conjunction with the proper causes conducible thereunto Fourthly It may not be amiss to remember that as there are some true Propositions which by leaving out a word or two may be made false So there are others and those of Divine Authority which without something understood cannot be made out to be true Of the first sort is this * Jo. 7.16 Jo. 12.44 My Doctrine is not mine and again He that believeth on me believeth not on me But this is the Devil's way of quoting Scripture leaving out the Context that should explain it and in this manner too frequently do some Persons deal with those Writings they have a mind to cavil at Of the other sort is this †Jon. 3.4 Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown And ‖ 1 Cor. 6.9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Now the Divine Purpose for the Destruction of that City and for excluding (a) v. 10. Fornicators Idolaters Thieves Drunkards Extortioners and the like out of the Kingdom of Heaven is denounced absolutely without any annexed Condition and yet all acknowledge that such Threatnings are Conditionally to be understood and to be executed only in case of Impenitency And thus it is in our present case That God Foresees the End is true but it is not the whole Truth nor to be understood exclusive of the Means It is undoubtedly true that Christ foresaw the Destruction of Jerusalem yet we must not thence infer that he foresaw it without any respect to Sin for thus he complains How often would I have gathered your Children together c. and ye would not How could it be matter of Complaint that they would not if the Peoples choice be not imply'd Either God Foresees that Men will abuse their Liberty or he doth not if not then neither is he Omniscient nor are the Scriptures true if he doth then such Foresight is so far from taking away Mens Liberty that it confirms it for Men cannot abuse their Liberty unless they have it nor can they use it if the Objection have any force which supposeth Mens endeavours and the use of Means to be in vain Thus then I Summ up what hath been said in Answer to the Objection * Acts 17.24 25 26. God that made the World made all things therein seeing he is Lord of Heaven and Earth and giveth unto all Life and Breath and all things and hath made of one Blood all Nations of Men to dwell upon the Earth and Determined the Times before appointed and the Bounds of their Habitation We ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto Stones or stupid Earth that he should be ignorant either of his own Off-spring or of the Work of his Hands or the Bounty of his Goodness And having gratiously endued Mankind with the Light of Knowledge and with a Faculty of choosing things for his good and avoiding things hurtful he doth not extinguish that Sight nor take away such power of Election unless it be as a Punishment for some grievous and long-continued Provocation But forasmuch as he beholds at once in his Omnisciency the Nature Vertue and Activity of all Creatures with the Causes
Events and Issues of all Things and Actions from Everlasting to Everlasting and since he knows most perfectly the Heart of Man the Bent of his Affections his measure of Grace and prevailing Motives he must of necessity Foreknow the various Results of Man's choice and Liberty of Will without the least obstruction to the free Course and Exercise thereof He Foresees the End together with the Means and the Effect depending on its proper Cause He foresees that some Men shall not live out * Psal 55.23 half their days but they are such as are bloody and deceitful He foresees that †Prov. 10.27 The Years of the Wicked shall be shortned but then he shall fall by his own wickedness And to conclude he foresees that ‖ Prov. 11.5 A righteous Man shall prolong his days not by daily attempts to destroy himself but as the Wise Man saith by the fear of the Lord and in the way of Righteousness Obj. One Objection more and I have done It hath been often said in this Discourse that the Event Foreseen of God is certain and will come to pass and again it hath been asserted that some Events which have been Foreseen might possibly not have come to pass how can these two Notions agree together I answer first that any thing can be certain and uncertain at the same time and in the same respects is granted to be a contradiction but a thing barely Possible which may either be or not be implies no contradiction at all For as there are many things Possible to be which shall never came to pass Actually so other things shall Actually come to pass which yet Possibly might not be Thus it is Possible I may go to Rome but 't is a thousand to one I shall never come there and if it Actually so fall out yet that does not take away the Possibility of going thither for Learned Men say * White de Mucao Multa futura esse quae non crunt multa posse fieri quae non fient On the other hand something will Actually that is certainly be done this day which possibly might be deferr'd till to morrow Illud enim possibile est quo posito nullum sequitur inconveniens But all this perhaps will better appear from the consideration of these Particulars 1. An Event may be certain with respect unto God which is not so to us for nothing can be uncertain to him that is Omniscient but to us that know but in part almost every thing Future is obscur'd with some kind of uncertainty 2. An Event may be certain in it self on Supposition of certain Causes and yet supposing other Causes it would fall out quite otherwise So that 3. The certainty of a future Event is absolute in respect of God Hypothetical in respect of it self but unknown or uncertain in respect of us That is to say it can never so fall out but that he who knows the whole train of Causes leading to it must of necessity Foreknow it But it is the Causes not the Foreknowledge which make it to be what it is which being supposed the Effect certainly follows Which Certainty extends not to us who are ignorant of the Causes Let us see now how this will appear by instances Suppose the French King before he dye turns Protestant whether it so fall out or not God knows for as Solomon saith * Prov. 21.1 The Kings heart is in the hand of the Lord. If Conviction or Interest oblige him to become a Protestant the Effect will certainly follow but this is Hypothetical that is upon Supposition of prevailing Causes and Motives it must follow But to us there can be nothing of Certainty whilst we are ignorant of that Princes Intentions neither know how it may please God to work upon him hereafter The Captivity of the Jews was certainly Foreknown unto God and together with a great Pestilence foretold by the Prophet Jeremiah in a very remarkable and particular manner And afterwards saith the Lord I will deliver Zedekiah King of Judah and his Servants and the People and such as are left in this City from the Pestilence from the Sword and from the Famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon and into the hand of their Enemies c. And he adds further That their City shall be given into the hand of the King of Babylon and he shall burn it with Fire Yet the same Prophet is sent to call them to Repentance to prevent even this very Captivity and tells them ‖ Jer. 7.5 6 7 If ye throughly amend †Jer. 21.6 7 8 9 10. your Ways and your Doings if ye throughly execute Judgment between a Man and his Neighbour if ye oppress not the Stranger the Fatherless and the Widdow and shed not innocent Blood in this place neither walk after other Gods to your hurt then will I cause you to dwell in this place in the Land that I gave to your Fathers for ever and ever We see here a reserved Condition and fair possibility of preventing that Eminent Captivity so much noted in Scripture and so much Prophesied God grant that we by the same Method may earnestly endeavour to prevent another Captivity which has they say been Prophesied too and which severely threatens England at this day I conclude with Adam's Transgression before-mentioned which was most certainly Foreknown unto God forasmuch as * 1 Pet. 1.10 Redemption by the Precious Blood of Christ was Foreordained before the foundation of the World and 't is no less certain that Adam had Free Will and Power to have persisted Innocent which surely amounts at least to a possibility of not transgressing the Divine Command And this consideration alone is enough to answer the Objection and to silence any Argument that can be opposed in this matter I have now done the Uses I propound to my self from this Discourse are Specially these four 1. To read the Scriptures Impartially and to value them Equally upon the Account of that Sacred Authority stampt upon the whole and the Spirit that breaths in every part not to build an Hypothesis upon some few single Expressions further than it may appear to be consentaneous to the integral Body of Truth contained therein 2. In all mysterious Points wherein there appears a difficulty either to affirm or deny still to adhere to that side which hath the surer Evidence and wherein the Word of God is clear and unquestionable to esteem that the strongest Evidence of all and unto which all Arguments from humane reason and even Mathematical Demonstration must yield submission 3. But in such matters wherein there appears equal Danger in both extreams and wherein many Person have err'd on either hand to take the MIDDLE WAY and walk in it with such Caution and Moderation as to be Friends with them that tread not the very same steps and always ready to admit any further discovery of Truth 4. To represent the Ever-blessed