and trouble of spirit stirring in him when there is no feare to commit sin nor care to prevent the evill that sin will bring then is the heart heardned This hardness of heart is either naturall or adventitiall and acquired the first of these we all bring with us into the world being either altogether insensible of our spirituall misery by reason of sin and suffering or not so sensible as we should be Hence the heart of man is said to be a heart of stone Acquired hardness is that whereby the natural is increased and augmented this may in some degree be not onely be in the worst but in the best of men which is brought to passe either by custom in sinning or by secret judgement or by both of this there are divers degrees as 1. When a man takes liberty voluntarily and frequently to do such things as he knows to be sinfull 2. When he doth these against the frequent perswasions admonitions and cals of the word to the contrary 3. Against such corrections punishments and judgements which God shall inflict upon himself or he shall see inflicted upon others for the same or for the like sins 4. When he shall do this against the stirrings and strivings the checks or rebukes of his own Conscience 5. When notwithstanding all these he shall take up strong resolutions and confirmed purposes to do as he hath done namely to maintain his own wil against Gods will Thus may wicked men harden their own hearts and thus i'ts often said of Pharaoh that he hardned his heart and would not let the peoplegoe when he once saw that the judgement was past 6. When he shall come to be past all sence and feeling of his sin thus the Apostle speaks of some that being past feeling gave themselves to commit all uncleannesse with greediness Eph. 4.10 2. There may be an acquired hardnesse by the secret judgement of God Thus it s said here that the Lord hardned Pharaohs heart and of Sihon that the Lord hardned his spirit and made it obstinate that he might give him into the bands of the Israelites Deut. 2.30 How this is done more shall be spoken in the due place CHAP. II. Shewing that God is not nor cannot be the author or proper cause of this or any other sinne BY another and proper cause I understand causa perse such a cause as is in it self and in i'ts own nature tends to produce such or such an effect as the Sun is the proper cause of light and heat the water of moisture and the like That God cannot thus be the cause of sin may appear upon these following grounds Argu. 1. God is the Author of all good and therefore he cannot be Author of evill for out of the same fountaine cannot proceed sweet water and bitter Jam. 3.11 As the Sun cannot be the proper cause of light and darkness no more can the Lord be of good and evill 2. Sin is a defect now God is all act yea he is actus purissimus perfectissimus the most pure and perfect act therefore he cannot be the Author that which is a defect for however sinne cleaves to mens actions as the accident to be subject yet it self is a meere defect in a privation of what should be 3. Sin is contrary to those excellent qualities and properties which immediately flow from the nature of God is light sin is darkness 1 Joh 1.5.6 God is purity and holiness Sin is pollution and filthiness Jam. 1.21 God is righteous yea righteousness it self all sin is unrighteousness 1 Joh 5.17 God is perfection in the highest degree all sin is imperfection now one contrary cannot be the proper cause of another 4. God is said to be such a God as loveth not wickednesse neither can evill dwell with him yea he hates all the workers of iniquity Psal 5.4.5 he hates them because of their sinne now he cannot hate that which himself is the Author and proper cause of 5. He threatens in his word that he will punish all sinne and iniquity that he wil not hold the wicked innocent Exod. 34.7 but he wil visit the iniquities of the Fathers upon the Children even unto the third and fourth Generation that the wicked shall not goe unpunished Prov. 11.21 they shall not escape 1 Thes 5.3 Now it cannot stand with his justice to punish that which himself is the Author and proper cause of 6. Sin makes a reparation between God and the soul Esay 59.2 It is an aversion of the soul from God Now God cannot be the Author of that which is an aversion from him for then he should deny himself but he cannot lye or denye himselfe 1 Tim. 2.13 7. If God could be the Author of sin he himself might be said to be a sinner if he were the Author of unrighteousness he himself might be said to be unrighteous to which the Apostle gives an absit as a thing blasphemous to speak or think Is God unrighteous which punisheth saith he God forbid How then shall he judge the world Rom. 3.5,6 8. The Apostle saith that he who committeth sin is of the Devil 1 John 3.8 and that Christ came into the world to dissolve the workes of the Devil Now Christ came not into the world to dissolve the works of God therefore sin is none of his work 9. If God should be the Author of sin then the difference betwixt good and evil would be taken away both arising from the same cause in the same manner 10. If God should be the Author of sin then he should seem to dissemble and deale deceitfully with men because he so often cals off from this as a thing which he loathes and abhors and mean while is the parent and producer of it By all these grounds it appeares that God cannot be the Author and proper cause of sin though he hath some kind of hand in it CHAP. III. Shewing how God hath a hand in the sinful actions of men THe just and holy God may be said to have a hand in the unjust actions of sinful men divers wayes as 1. By way of permission when he suffers them to follow the sinful inclinations and dispositions of their own wicked natures and so produce actions accordingly without restraining or hindring them Thus it is said he suffered the Gentiles to walke in their own waies Act. 14.16 A man may be said to have a hand in that which he willingly and wittily suâ—…ers to be done when he hath power to hinder it This is granted on all hands for if God should not suffer sin to be it could not be committed God is able to restrain and hinder the committing of sin if he pleaseth if any thing should be done whether he would or not then were he not omnipotent 2. By suffering Satan to tempt and provoke mon to sinne and by his temptations to prevaile thus it is said that he did deliver all that Job had into the hans of Satan and then
Adams fall as all other sins before it was committed and therefore his foresight doth not hinder the free working of mans will no more doth his decree 2. It followes not that his decree may be frustrate and disappointed though some things come to passe contingently because although it be necessary that what God hath decreed should come to passe yet not that it should come to necessarily that it should be effected Necessario modo necessarijs medijs in a necessary manner and by necessary meanes God having decreed that not a bone of Christ should be broken it was necessary that this should come to passe and that Christs leggs should be preserved from breaking when the others were broken that were crucified with him but yet this came not to passe necessarily for both Christs bones were in their own nature fragilia talia quae frangi possint such as might be broken as also the Souldiers did freely abstaine from breaking of them without any compulsion at all But it is not possible that the same effect should come to passe both necessarily and contingently Yes it is possible as this effect hath reference to divers causes as the not breaking of Christs bones had reference to Gods decree and appointment it was necessary as hath been shewed because that could not be disappointed but as it had reference to the second cause namely the free will of the Souldiers as it was not necessary but contingent So on the other side the Suns giving light in the aire and the fire burning of combustible matter are necessary effects as they have reference to the second causes but contingent as they have reference to the first cause for God doth freely not necessarily concur with the Sun in his shining and the fire in his burning Hence arise these distinctions so frequent with Divines of nenessitas absoluta hypothetica necessitas causae consequentiae an absolute and condition all necessity a necessity of the cause and of the consequence The absolute necessity or necessity of the cause is when things are so fast and firmely tyed together by the order of the second causes as according to the course of nature the effect cannot come to passe otherwise then it doth As if a man be a man he must needs bea reasonable creature if fire be fire it must needs have the property of burning if a stone be a stone the motion of it must needs tend downward The conditionall or consequentiall necessity is when there is no such fast linking together of the second causes but that when they worke one way there is a disposition in them to worke another way though one thing doth certainly follow another yet by no necessary causation but by a free and contingent manner of working Upon supposal of Gods Ordination and appointment the rising of the Sun follows the rising of the morning Star and in the Countries where we live the comming of the warm summer follows the comming in of the Swallows amongst us and this by a consequentiall necessity for it is never otherwise but not by any absolute or causall necessity God having decreed and appointed concerning Esau and Jacob that the elder should serve the younger it was necessary that Jacob should get the birth-hood and blessing from his brother Esau but this was effected by as contingent meanes as might be for it was no whit necessary that Esau should come in hungry from hunting that Jacob should have Pottage in a readinesse that Esau should be desirous of them and be willing to part with his birth-right for them all these things were done freely on both parts there was no necessity that Jsaac should mistake Jacob for Esau and his savory meat for Esaus Veinson but all this was done most freely though guided by a secret providence God having determined that the Israelites should spoile the Egyptians of their Jewels of Silver and Jewels of Gold at their departure out of Egypt Exod 12.35 compared with Chap. 3.22 and 11.2 this must necessarily come to passe yet it was done in a most free manner without any enforcement or necessity for it is said they asked of the Egyptians Jewels of Silver and Jewels of Gold and the Lord gave them favour in their eyes that they granted their request Chap. 12.34,35 So God having decreed the fall of Adam it was necessary that this should come to passe but it was also necessary it should come to passe freely and accordingly he did freely and willingly yeild to the enticing perswasion of the Serpent without any compulsion at all For as the power of God whereby he his able able to change the nature of things doth not hinder the necessary working of necessary causes so likewise the will of God whereby he hath determined the event one way doth not hinder the free and contingent working of contingent causes Besides every necessary truth is an eternall truth this being a most true rule that axioma necessacium est quod semper verum est ne falsum esse potest a necessary proposition is that which is alway true and can never be false that man is a reasonable creature was a necessary truth before man was born That a Cain should kill his brother was no necessary truth before the thing was done no more was it a necessary truth that Adam should eat the forbidden fruit before he had eaten it and although it was a truth afterwards yet no necessary truth for no circumstance of time can change the nature of things as to make a contingent truth to become necessary or a necessary truth to become contingent True it is that when a thing is done it cannot be undone for a thing cannot be and not be both at once but it was not necessary that it should be done if it be a thing of contingent nature What I now speak or write is necessary should be thus spoken or written when it is once done but before it was done it was not necessary that I should speake or write in this manner or speak or writ at all these being acts of freedom and liberty so it is in all actions of the like nature in all contingent actions Thus we see that Gods determination and decree doth no whit infringe or obstruct the liberty of mans will and therefore not withstanding such decree man is no whit lesse blame-worthy nor God at all faulty in the evill which man doth Object A third objection which may be raised from what hath been delivered is that God hath been said to be an accidentall cause of sin if so then the sinfull actions of men fall out besides his scope and intent for that is said to be an effect by accident quando aliquid pâ—aeter efficientis sâ—…pum accidit when some event happens besides the intent of the efficient Now how can God will or decree sinne if it fals out besides his scope and intents Answ To this doubt answer may be made by distinguishing betwixt intentio
potentia se majorem haberet si volens permittit permissio est genus quoddam voluntatis God permits a thing either willingly or against his will if against his will this would be with pain and grief to him and then he should have some other greater in power then himself if he permits willingly then his permission is some kind of will Ibid. Sencti affliguntur secundum Dei voluntatem 1 Pet. 3.17 at illi non possunt pati nisi alter agat Qui unit passionem vult actionem actio proficiscitur ab agente The Saints are afflicted according to the will of God 1 Pet. 3.17 They cannot suffer unlesse another acts he that wils the passion wils the action also and action proceeds from an agent Here by the way we may take notice how ill Bellarmine agrees with S. Austine in this point for the writing of this subject and answering to that place Act. 2.23 where it is said that Christ was delivered to be crucified by the determinate councell of God He saith Bellar. de Amis grat statu Pcti lib. 2. cap. 13. Saepe accidit ut actio sit mala passio bona Deus voluit passionem patientiam sanctorum non autem actionem eorum a quibus affliguntur But this crosseth Austine who saith that in the Saints suffering who suffer according to the will of God Qui vult passionem vult actionem and it is contrary to right reason for action and passion are one and the samemotion one cannot be without the other therefore he that wils the one must needs will the other also Further Austine speaking of that place Rom. 1.26 where God is said to give men up to their vile affections hath these words Contra. Iul. Pelag. l. 5. c. 3. Quid est quod dicit cum desiderijs suis traditi dicuntur relicti per divinam patientiam intelligendi sunt non per potentiam in peccata compulsi Quasi non simul posuit haec duo idem apostolus patientiam nempe potentiam Rom. 9. What is it which he saith when men are said to be delivered up to their to their own affections and desires are they to be understood as left onely by the divine patience and not put forward to sin by the divine power as though the same Apostle did not joyne both these together namely patience and power Rom. 9.22 Thus we see that this learned Father goes as high or rather higher in his expressions touching the manner of Gods working in sin then those of our Divines have done who are so much quarrel'd against by Bellarmine and Arminius I know well that most of our Orthodox writers do seldom use that expression that God did decree sin or is the cause of it but only that he did decree to permit sin but their meaning must needs be that he did decree that sin should be effected and brought about in such a way and manner and by such meanes as himself would not be the Author or proper cause of it but onely a cause by accident For if they should mean that he would have no efficiency or working in it then they should make him to exercise a bare permission in it and so to be an idle spectator of all the sinful actions done in the world which is an opinion that they altogether renounce and reject as hath been already shewed Doctor Twisse hath a passage where he affirmes that though God intends the evill action which man doth yet he intends not the evill of the action But that is meaning his he doth not so intend it as to be the Author of it though he hath a working hand in it appears by many other places in his writings as when he saith Vindic. grat lib. 2. pag. 156 Cum peccatum Adae eveniebat non nisi Deo volente eveniehat When it sell out that Adam did sin this fell out by the will of God Excaecare est preouldubio Effectum dare ut quis excaecaretur To blind is so to work bring it about that a man should be blinded Ibid. p. 87. An quae Satanas in sanctnm Job patravit Deo tantum permittente facta sunt Annon Job profitetur Deum abstulisse quae dederat Were those things which Satan did ill against Job done onely by Gods permission doth not Job profess that God had taken away what he gave Ib. p. 157. Decretum permissiuum nihilominus est efficax ad fines a Deo sibi praestitutos quam effectivum The permissive decree is no less efficacious for the ends fore appointed of God then his working decree These are the words of that learned man by which it appeares that his meaning in the former words is not as if he denyed that God did decree the evill actions of men at all for here he grants a decree and that an efficacious decree but only that he doth not so decree the evill of an action as to be the author or proper cause of it for if he should not at all intend the evill of mens actions then the evill of those actions should fall out besides his intention and then it should be either besides his knowledge and so he should not be omniscient or against his will and so he should not be omnipotent CHAP. V. Shewing more particularly the manner how the righteous God hath a hand in the unrighteous actions of sinfull men THat God is not the Author or proper cause of sin and yet hath some kind of efficiency and working in it hath been already shewed it followes now to shew more particularly the manner how he worketh in producing of it The manner of Gods working in sinfull actions is secret and hidden not easily to be apprehended much lesse to be explicated which made Austin speake thus of it Contra Justinum Pelag. lib. 5 cap 3. Quanta est poena tradi passionibus ignominiae sive deserendo sive alio quoque vel explicabili vel inexplicabili modo c. how great a punishment is to be given up to unseemly passions whether this be done by way of desertion or by any other explicable or inexplicable way yet there is one way which is not altogether above our apprehension but therein we may in some sort discerne Gods manner of working in sinfull actions and that is by administring occasions by presenting such objects and offering to men such things are in themselves lawfull and good but they make an ill use of them taking occasion by them to be stirred to evill in some kind or other Vindic. lib. 2. p. 133. Licet Deo ita se gerere in rerum omnium administratione ut materiam occasionem objiciat unde homines naturaliter excitentur pro varia affectuum qualitate vel ad bonum vel ad malum saith Dr. Twisse God may so carry himselfe in the administration of things as he may offer matter and occasion whereby men may be excited either to good or evill
tooke an occasion to grow stubborne and rebellious and more to harden his heart in a resolution not to let them goe Exod. 5.2 I know not the Lord saith he neither will I let them go yea the ofner Moses came to him with command from God for doing it the more he still hardned his heart against it looke as a strong streame the more it is stopt the higher it riseth though no new water be added to it so it is in this case Thus the Jewes the more they were warned by the Prophet of their Idolatry and that they should not goe downe into Egypt Jer. 42.17 the more obstinate and wilfull they waxed both these wayes Chap. 44.16 so when Christs hearers heard that which they thought touched themselves it is said they were filled with with wrath and thrusting him out of the City they led him to the edge of an hill with purpose to have throwen him downe headlong Luk. 18.27 When Stephen preached so excellently to the Jews they hurst with anger and gnashed upon him with their teeth running violently upon him Act 7.54.57 So that Christs and Stephens preaching was an accidentall cause of the wrath of these wicked men as the stopping of a streame is the cause of the rising of it Hence the Apostle speaking of the Law saith where there is no law there is no transgression Rom. 4.15 that sin took occasion by the command and wrought in him all manner of concupiscence for without the Law sin is dead but when the Law came sin revived Rom. 7.8,9 that sin took occasion by the command and deceived him verse 11. so that the Law quickned sin put life into it and set it on worke it lying as it were dead before and not stirring so strongly as it did after the comming of the Law by all which it appeares that the Law is an accidentall cause of sin Now so far as the Law workes it God workes it the Law being his agent and instrument Quest But here it may be asked how can it be that the Law which in it selfe is holy just and good should any way be the cause of evill Answ This ariseth from the contrariety that is betwixt the good and holy law of God and mans corrupt and wicked heart there is nothing more pure and holy then the Law of God it being the perfect rule of righteousnesse and an exact idaea of all purity and holinesse there is nothing more corrupt and and impure then the wicked heart of man it being the fountaine of all pollution and filthinesse Mat. 15.19 Jer. 17.9 Now it is a true rule in Logick Contraria juxta se posita magis elucescunt when contraries are placed neer together the contrarieties of their natures doth more appeare and put forth it selfe keep fire and water at a distance and the contrarieties of their natures doth not much shew it selfe but bring them together cast water upon the fire or put coales of fire into the water then they fight one with the other and the stronger overcomes the weaker so the more neer and close the most pure and holy word of God be brought and applyed to the corrupt and rebellious will of man the more is the innate corruption and rebellion of it irritated and stirred up and the more strongly doth it put forth it selfe The more strongly the command was pressed upon Pharaoh touching letting the Israelites goe the more strongly did his rebellious will rise up against it This we may see true in the ordinary carriage of wicked men Let a proud swearer or filthy speaker be rebuked for their ill language and they will the more breake forth into abusive speech Thus we see how the Law and Word of God that in its owne nature tends to restraine and represse sin may accidentally provoke and put men forward to greater eagernesse and violence in sinning yea not onely the Law but the Gospel may by accident be an occasion of greater evil Thus our Saviour tels the Pharisees that if they had been blind they had had no sinne but because they said they did see therefore their sin remained Joh. 9. last if they had had no meanes of knowledge their sin had not been so great but now the light shined upon them thereby their sin was increased because they shut their eyes against it Hence likewise the Apostle saith that the Gospel was to some the savour of death 2 Cor. 2.16 In it owne nature it did tend to life but by accident it came to be an occasion of death to such as rejected it Thus we see how God may be accidentally a cause of sin namely by administring occasion and that both inwardly and outwardly both by his workes and by his word and Bellarmine himselfe is forced in a manner to acknowledge thus much for he saith Bellar. de amiss grat statu pcti l. 2. c. 14. Patientia Dei aliquo modo indurat Caeterum non dicitur excecare vel indurare nisi per accidens sed ipsis homines abutentes rebus bonis seipsos obdurat The patience of God doth after a sort harden men but yet he is not said to blind or to harden but onely by accident for when they doe abuse good things they harden themselves Here Bellarmine grants that God may bee said to blind and harden men by accident when they abusing his Patience and long suffering take occasion from thence to harden themselves in sinne CHAP. VI. Shewing that such causes as worke by accident may have a true efficiency and yet not be altogether blameless in blame-worthy actions THat accidental causes may have a true efficiency and yet not be faulty when the effect is faulty may appear both by Reason and Scripture 1. The rule of reason tels us that whatsoever hath a vis any power or vertue to bring forth an effect is so far a cause of that effect For causa est cujus vi res est Now there be many things which have an efficiency in bringing forth such or such an effect which yet cannot justly be blamed though the effect be evill When a man stands so neare the fire that he scorcheth his legges the fire hath a true efficiency in this scorching yet not the fire but the man onely is to be blamed for though it be the natural property of the fire to burne yet the end why the fire was made was to warme not to burn those that stand before it and that it scorcheth the mans leggs it is his owne fault because he did not stand further off when he might have done it and the fire was onely an accidental cause of scorching When a man weares a sword for his defence and he in a Melancholike or mad humour shall run the Sword into his own body here not the Sword but the man is to be blamed because the end of wearing a Sword is the safety not the hurt of the owner and though it hath a true efficiency in hurting wounding
purchasor of peace Is he not called the Prince of Peace Isai 9.6 Is it not said of him that he is our peace Ephes 2.14 how then doth he say that he came not to send peace these words must needs therefore be taken with similation he came not to send peace that is not peace onely but the sword also but especially his coming was the cause of peace in another manner then it was of the sword How did it cause the sword this coming was not the proper cause of the Sword but the sword that is wars and troubles broke forth in the world occasionally upon his coming for after that Christ came and the Gospel was peeached in the word some there were that rejected it others embraced and entertained it beleived and obeyed it and accordingly made profession of Christ and his truth now those who did thuâ— came to be hated and maligned yea to be persecuted and ill intreated by the other yea by this meanes it came to passe that those who were joyned together by the nearest bond of outward relation came to be divided be carryed on with the greatest enmity and ill affection one against another so that the brother did deliver the brother to death and parents their children and children did rise up against their paâ—ents and cause them to be put to death Mat. 10 21. By which it is plaine that Christ and his Gospel had a hand in both these both in sending peace and sending the sword because the same expression is used in both if there were a bare permission in sending the sword there was permission only in sending peace if there was efficiency and working in the one there was so also in the other although after another manner In like manner when Christ saith that he came to set fire on the earth to send persecution and that his desire was this fire might be kindled Luk. 12.49 It is plaine he hath a working hand herein for what he intends and earnestly desires that he likewise some way or other effectually procures Object If it be asked how the same cause can bring forth contrary effects how the same Christ and the same Gospell can bring both peace and trouble Answ The answer is that though Christ had a sufficiency and worke in both yet in a far differing manner for he is the author and proper cause of peace this he both purchased and prayed for of this he is causa per se of the other he is causa per accidens an accidentall cause onely the end of his comming and of causing his Gospel to be preached to be preached being not to bring trouble and persecution but this ariseth from the perverse refractory wils of wicked men who therefore hate the light because their deeds are evill As the same heat of the Sun softens the waxe and hardens the clay and the same light of the Sun helps a good sight to see better but hurts sore eyes so it is in this case Thus also it is said that Christ is set or appointed for the rising and fall of many Lu. 2.34 Not onely for the rising of some but the fall of others that he is the corner stone elect and precious be is made in head of the corner to believers but a stumbling stone and rock of offence to those that are disobedient 1 Pet. 2.7,8 He hath an efficiency in both these for the text sayth he is made to both but of the one he is the author and proper cause and therefore altogether faultlesse and blamelesse their owne willfull unbeliefe being the proper cause of their stumbling CHAP. VII Shewing that God may worke in the same blame-worthy actions with Sathan and sinfull men and yet himselfe be altogether blamelesse THat the holy God doth worke in the same action with the sinfull creature hath been already shewed Not only Sathan moved David to number the people but God also 2 Sam. 24.1 Jacobs sons sold their brother into Egypt so it is said that God sent him thither Psal 10,17 when Jobs cattle were taken away by ill instruments Job saith the Lord tooke them away Job 1.21 Now it followes to shew yet further how the Lord may be blamelesse when he workes with the creature in the same blame-worthy actions This hath been in part made plaine by that which hath been shewed already namely that in all sinfull actions he is onely causa per accidens an accidentall cause no proper cause which workes out of inward principles and according to its own nature and this yet will more clearly appeare if we consider the differences that are betwixt him and the sinfull creature in their working though they work together in the same action yet they differ in the ground in the manner and in the end of their working 1. They differ in the ground the ground of all Gods actions is his owne most holy will his owne purpose and good pleasure He worketh all things after the counsell of his owne will Ephes 1.11 Whatsoever pleased the Lord that did he in heaven and in earth Psal 135.6 But evill instruments are guided by their owne wicked wills and not by Gods will in their evill actions for they do that which is contrary to his revealed will and his secret will they know not if they do the same things God wils yet not because he wils them but upon other corrupt grounds when a wicked man sins he seeks to fulfill the will of the flesh but not at all to fulfill the will of God Eph. 2.2 he doth that which seems good in his owne eyes and not which seems good in Gods eyes 2. They differ in manner of working for in sinful actions God works with evil not as a moral cause but as a natural cause onely God no where doth counsel or command or perswade men to do evil but altogether the contrary But herein wicked men follow only the dictate of their depraved judgement the sway of their corrupt will the motion of their inordinate affections or are carryed on by the counsels and perswasions or examples of others that are like unto themselves It belongs to God as the author of nature to uphold the creature in all its naturall motions and actions And he moves the creatures with a motion agreeable to their severall natures as irrationall creatures so also Angels and men when he moves good men they work according to their natures when he moves bad men they worke also according to their natures and this without any iniquity or injustice at all in God for he is the author and proper cause of the motion of the obliquity of it he is onely an accidentall cause saith Dr. Twisse Vindict l. 2 p. 86. True it is that in good actions he useth a further motion and concourse then he doth in other actions for there he workes not only as the author of nature but of grace not only by a generall influence of nature but by an influence of speciall
were able were bound not to do this so that we see God may do many things which his Law binds men not to do the other side may not do many things which by his Law men are obliged to do and therefore he is not subject to it as men are he is Dominus legis non subditus True it is that God is so a Law to himselfe that he can do nothing which is contrary to his one nature as he cannot lye he cannot deny himselfe but there are some things forbidden in the Law which are not contrary to the nature of God Thus we see how God may worke in the same actions with the sinfull creature and yet himselfe be altogether blamelesse for look as when God gets himselfe glory by the actions of wicked men as by the Jewes crucifying of Christ it is no thanke to them because they never intended it so on the other side when they abuse his power and providence supporting the strength of nature euen in sinfull actions it is no blame to him because he being the good of nature must sustaine nature in all her actions and motions and because that as the evill which wicked men doe is onely an accidentall cause of his glory so the good which he affords them and the helpe which he administers in upholding their naturall strength is onely an accidentall cause of the evill which they commit CHAP. VIII Shewing how those Scriptures are to he understood which by the sound of words seeme to make God the author and proper cause of sinne THose Scriptures wherein the same sinfull actions are attributed both to God and men and set forth by the same expressions as when God said that what David had done he would doe 2 Sam. 12.12 seem to sound so as if both were alike causes of these actions therefore it will be needfull to speake something that may be helpfull to weaker apprehensions for the right understanding of these Scriptures and for clearing of Gods holinesse and justice I shall instance onely in some of the principall of them and what shall be held forth for the clearing of these may likewise be helpfull for giving satisfaction to other places wherein the like expressions are used Object In that place Exodus 9.12 which was propounded for the subject of this discourse it is said that God hardned Pharaohs heart afterward it is said that Pharaoh hardned his owne heart verse 34. Now it may be asked since the same action is attributed to both how both were not causes alike in producing of it Answ The Lord did this in another way then Pharaoh did it he did it onely by administring occasion he sent Moses with a peremptory emptory command to Pharaoh to let his people go this did irritate the natural pride and rebellion of Pharaohs heart and stir up in him a stronger and more stubborn resolution not to let them go As the command was holy just and good so it was good that it should be applyed to Pharaoh by propounding it and urging it upon him but the more this was done the worse he grew for the command being holy and his heart altogether unholy these two being contrary the nearer they were brought together the more they did strive and fight one against another this being the nature of contraries as before was shewed But here was no fault at all in the command for the proper end of the command was to informe Pharaoh of his duty and to stir him up to the performance of it But Pharaoh takes a contrary course for whereas the end of the command was to make him willing to let the people goe he takes occasion from it to grow more refractory either because it put him in mind of the damage he should receive by their departure they being so serviceable in making brick for his buildings or that it might appear that he thought not any no not the great God greater then himself and therefore he scorned to stoope and submit himself to any of his commands By all which it appeares that the command was onely an occasion or accidentall cause of Pharaohs hardning but no faulty cause at all Now as the command did it God did that being his agent and he working by it Neither God nor his command put any evill into Pharaohs heart but by propounding good to him and not imparting grace to perform it he takes occasion to become more evill Augustine Epist 105. ad Sixtum Deus obdurat non impartiendo malitiam sed non impatiendo gratiam saith S. Austine God hardneth not by infusing any evil but by not bestowing grace To this purpose Doctor Twiss saith well In his answer to Mr. Cotten that when a man is moved to courses contrary to his corrupt humours whether by the word of God or his works these motions being onely by way of perswasion and he doth not by grace remove or correct those corrupt humours in this case to move and to deny grace is to harden It is a good thing to move to good actions by outward perswasions neither is God bound to confer grace inwardly upon all those whom he doth thus perswade outwardly Object 2 It is said that God did that which Absolon did when he defiled his Fathers Concubines Answ 1. As God did it it was an Act of justice in punishing Davids sin with Vriahs wife by suffering Absolon to commit the like sin with his wives 2. God administred occasion of this action by causing David to leave his Concubins to keep his house There was no evill in this but hence Ahitophel takes occasion to give that wicked counsell and Absolon takes occasion to follow it in defiling his Fathers Concubines Object 3. David saith that God bad Shimei go and curse him 2 Sam. 16.10 Answ This is not to be taken properly as if Shimei had received a command from God to do this but onely it sheweth the efficacy of the divine administration of things even in such things whereof God is onely a cause by accident 2. God did administer occasion to Shimei for his heart being full of rancor against David he seeing now David to be brought into distresse thought this a fit time to vent bis malice because now he might do it with hope of impunity as before was shewed 3. He did it as an Act of justice David had caused the name of God to be blasphemed by the sins which he had committed and the Lord suffers this wretch to curse and blaspheme him Object 4. It is said that God turned the heart of the Egyptians to hate his people Psal 105.25 Answ He is said to doe this not that he infused any hatred into their hearts but in that he administred occasion for he caused his people to grow and increase exceedingly both in number and in wealth Now this gave occasion to the Egyptians to envy and to hate them here the goodnes of God to his people stirred up evill affections in them