and absolute Lord of all things by right of Generation These Truths are evident as we are assur'd by Jesus Christ himself who says that his Father has given him power to judge Men because he is the Son of Man So we ought not to think that Scripture Expressions which make Jesus Christ the Author of Grace must be understood of him consider'd in his Divine Person For if so I confess I should not have prov'd him the Occasional Cause since he would be the True Cause of it But whereas it is certain that the Three Persons of the Trinity are equally the True Cause of Grace because all the External Operations of God are common to them all my Proofs are undeniable since Holy Scripture says of the Son and not of the Father or the Holy Spirit that he is the Head of the Church and that in this Capacity he communicates Life to the constituent Members of it Second OBJECTION XIV 'T is God who gives the Soul of Jesus Christ all the Thoughts and Motions relating to the Formation of his Mystical Body So that if on one hand the Wills of Jesus Christ as Occasional or Natural Causes determine the Efficacy of the General Wills of God on the other 't is God himself who determines the several Wills of Jesus Christ. And thus it comes to the same thing For in brief the Volitions of Jesus Christ are always conformable to those of his Father I grant that the particular Volitions of the Soul of Jesus Christ are always conformable to the Wills of his Father not as if there were any particular Wills in the Father which answer to those in the Son and determine them but only that the Volitions of the Son are always conform'd to Order in general which is the necessary Rule of the Will of God and of all those who love him For to love Order is to love God 't is to will what he wills 't is to be Just Wise Regular in our Love The Soul of Jesus desires to form to the Glory of his Father the largest most sumptuous and accomplish'd Temple possible Order demands this since nothing can be made too great for God All the several Thoughts of this Soul perpetually intent on the Execution of its Design proceed likewise from God or the Word to which it is united But its various Desires are certainly the Occasional Cause of these various Thoughts for it thinks on what it wills Now these diverse Desires are sometimes entirely free and probably the Thoughts which excite them do not invincibly determine the Soul of Jesus Christ to apply her self to the Means of executing them For in brief 't is equally advantageous to the Design of Jesus Christ whether it be Peter or John that causes the Effect which the Regularity of his Work requires 'T is true the Soul of Jesus is not indifferent in any thing that relates to his Father's Glory or that Order necessarily demands but is entirely free in all the rest there is nothing extraneous to God which invincibly determines his Love Thus we ought not to wonder if Jesus have particular Wills though there be not the like Wills in God to determine them But let it be granted that the Volitions of Jesus Christ are not free and that his Light invincibly carries him to will and to will always in a determinate manner in the Construction of his Church But it is Eternal Wisdom to which his Soul is united that must determine his Volitions We must not for that Effect suppose Particular Wills in God But all the Wills of Jesus Christ are Particular or have no Occasional Cause to determine their Efficacy as have those of God For the Soul of Jesus Christ having not an infinite Capacity of Thinking his Notices and consequently his Volitions are limited Therefore his Wills must needs be Particular since they change according to his diverse Thoughts and Applications For probably the Soul of Jesus Christ otherwise imploy'd in Contemplating and tasting the infinite Satisfactions of the True Good methinks ought not according to Order desire at once to think on all the Ornaments and Beauties he would bestow upon his Church nor on the different Ways of executing each of his Designs For Jesus Christ desiring to render the Church worthy of the infinite Majesty of his Father would gladly perfect it with infinite Beauties by Ways most conformable to Order He must then constantly change his Desires there being but one infinite Wisdom who can fore-see all and prescribe himself General Laws for the executing his Designs But the future World being to subsist eternally and to be infinitely more perfect than the present it was requisite that God should establish an Occasional Cause Intelligent and Enlightned by Eternal Wisdom to remedy the Defects which should unavoidably happen in the Works that were form'd by General Laws The Collision of Bodies which determines the Efficacy of the General Laws of Nature is an Occasional Cause without Understanding and Liberty and therefore 't is impossible but there must be Imperfections in the World and Monsters produc'd which are not of such account as that the Wisdom of God should descend to remedy them by Particular Wills But Jesus Christ being an Intelligent Occasional Cause illuminate with the Wisdom of the Word and susceptible of Particular Wills according to the particular Exigencies of the Work he forms 't is plain that the future World will be infinitely more perfect than the present that the Church will be without Spot or Wrinkle as we are taught by Scripture and that it will be a Work most worthy of the Complacency of God himself 'T is in this manner that Eternal Wisdom renders as I may say to his Father what he had taken from him For not permitting him to act by Particular Wills he seem'd to disable his Almighty Arm But becoming incarnate he so brings it to pass that God acting in a manner worthy of him by most Simple and General Laws produces a Work wherein the most Illuminate Intelligences cannot observe the least Imperfection PROOFS founded on REASON XV. Having demonstrated by the Authority of Scripture that the diverse Motions of the Soul of Jesus Christ are the Occasional Causes which determine the Efficacy of the General Law of Grace by which God would have all Men sav'd in his Son 't is necessary to shew in general by Reason that we are not to believe God acts in the Order of Grace by Particular Wills For though by Reason separate from Faith it cannot be demonstrated that God has constituted the Wills of Man-God the Occasional Causes of his Gifts yet it may without Faith be shewn that he distributes them not to Men by Particular Wills and that in two manners a priori and a posteriori that is by the Idea we have of God and by the Effects of Grace For there is nothing but serves to prove this Truth First then for the Proof of a priori A wise Being
were true that God acted by particular Wills since Miracles are such only from their not happening by General Laws Therefore Miracles suppose these Laws and prove the Opinion I have establish'd But as to ordinary Effects they clearly and directly demonstrate General Laws or Wills If for Instance a Stone be dropp'd upon the Head of Passengers it will continually fall with equal speed not distinguishing the Piety or Quality or Good or Ill Disposition of those that pass If we examine any other Effect we shall see the same Constancy in the Action of the Cause of it But no Effect proves that God acts by particular Wills though Men commonly fancy God is constantly working Miracles in their Favour That way they would have God to act in being consonant to their own and indulgent to Self-love which centers all things on themselves and very proportionate to their Ignorance of the Complication of Occasional Causes which produce extraordinary Effects naturally falls into Mens Thoughts when but greenly studied in Nature and consult not with sufficient Attention the abstract Idea of an Infinite Wisdom of an Universal Cause of a Being Infinitely Perfect CONCERNING Nature and Grace DISCOURSE II. Of the Laws of GRACE in particular and of the Occasional Causes which regulate and determine their Efficacy PART I. Of the Grace of JESVS CHRIST I. SINCE none but GOD can act immediately and by himself on Minds and produce in them all the various Motions they are capable of 'T is he alone who sheds his Light within us and inspires us with certain Sensations which determine our diverse Volitions And therefore none but he can as a True Cause produce Grace in our Souls For Grace or that which is the Principle or Motive of all the Regular Motions of our Love is necessarily either a Light which instructs us or a confus'd Sensation that convinces us that God is our Good since we never begin to love an Object unless we see clearly by the Light of Reason or feel confusedly by the tast of Pleasure that this Object is good I mean capable of making us happier than we are II. But since all Men are involv'd in Original Sin and even by their Nature infinitely beneath the Majesty of God 'T is Jesus Christ alone that can by the Dignity of his Person and the Holiness of his Sacrifice have access to his Father reconcile him to us and merit his Favours for us and consequently be the meritorious Cause of Grace These Truths are certain But we are not seeking the Cause which produces Grace by its own Efficacy nor that which merits it by its Sacrifice and Good Works We enquire for that which regulates and determines the Efficacy of the General Cause and which we may term the Second Particular and Occasional III. For to the end the General Cause may act by General Laws or Wills and that his Action may be regular constant and uniform 't is absolutely necessary there should be some Occasional Cause to determine the Efficacy of these Laws and to help to fix them If the Collision of Bodies or something of like Nature did not determine the Efficacy of the General Laws of the Communication of Motions it would be necessary for God to move Bodies by particular Wills The Laws of Union of the Soul and Body become efficacious only from the Changes befalling one or other of these two Substances For if God made the Soul feel the Pain of pricking tho' the Body were not prick'd or though the same thing did not happen in the Brain as if it were he would not act by the General Laws of Union of the Soul and Body but by a particular Will If Rain fell on the Earth otherwise than by a necessary Consequence of the General Laws of Communication of Motions the Rain and the Fall of every Drop that composes it would be the Effect of a particular Will So that unless Order requir'd it should rain that Will would be absolutely unworthy of God 'T is necessary therefore that in the Order of Grace there should be some Occasional Cause which serves to fix these Laws and to determine their Efficacy And this is the Cause we must endeavour to discover IV. Provided we consult the Idea of intelligible Order or consider the sensible Order which appears in the Works of God we shall easily discover that Occasional Causes which determine the Efficacy of General Laws and are of use in fixing them must necessarily be related to the Design for which God has establish'd them For Example Experience evidences that God has not made and Reason certifies that he ought not to make the Courses of the Planets the Occasional Causes of the Union of our Soul and Body He ought not to will that our Arm should be mov'd in such or such a manner or that our Soul should feel the Tooth-ake when the Moon shall be in conjunction with the Sun if so be this Conjunction acts not on the Body God's Design being to unite our Soul to our Body he cannot in prosecuting that Design give the Soul Sensations of Pain save when there happen some Changes in the Body repugnant to it Wherefore we are not to seek out of our Soul or Body the Occasional Causes of their Union V. Hence it follows that God designing to form his Church by Jesus Christ could not according to that Design seek the Occasional Causes which serve to settle the General Laws of Grace by which the Spirit of Jesus diffus'd through his Members communicates Life and Holiness to them except in Jesus Christ and in the Creatures united to him by Reason Thus the Rain of Grace is not deriv'd to our Hearts by the diverse situations of the Stars nor by the Collision of certain Bodies nor even according to the different Courses of the animal Spirits which give us Motion and Life All that Bodies can do is to excite in us Motions and Sensations purely Natural For whatever arrives to the Soul through the Body is only for the Body VI. Yet as Grace is not given to all that desire it nor as soon as they desire it and is granted to those who do not ask it it thence follows that even our Desires are not the Occasional Causes of Grace For this sort of Causes have constantly and most readily their Effect and without them the Effect is not produc'd For Instance the Collision of Bodies being the Occasional Cause of the Change which happens in their Motion if two Bodies did not meet their Motions would not alter and if they alter'd we may be assur'd they met The general Laws which shed Grace upon our Hearts find nothing therefore in our Wills to determine their Efficacy as the general Laws which regulate the Rains are not founded on the Dispositions of the Places rain'd upon For it indifferently rains upon all Places on hollow and manur'd Grounds even on the Sands and the Sea it self VII We are therefore reduc'd to confess that
as Jesus Christ alone can merit Grace for us so it is he alone that can administer Occasions to the General Laws by which it is distributed to Men. For the Principle or Foundation of these General Laws or that which determines their Efficacy being necessarily either in us or in Jesus Christ since it is certain that it is not in us it must needs be found in him VIII Besides when Man had sinn'd did it behoove God to have any more regard to his Desires Being we are all in a disorder'd State we can no longer be an Occasion of God's shewing us Favour But a Mediatour was needful not only to give us Access towards God but to be the Occasional Cause of the Favours we hope from him IX Whereas God had a Design of making his Son the Head of his Church it was requisite he should constitute him the Occasional or Natural Cause of the Grace which sanctifies it For 't is the Head which communicates Life and Motion to the Limbs and with that Prospect God permitted Sin For if Man had continued in Innocence as his Will had been meritorious of Grace and even of Glory so the inviolable Laws of Order would have requir'd that God should have appointed in Man the Occasional Cause of his Perfection and his Happiness In so much that Jesus Christ would not have been the Head of the Church or at most had been but the Head of those Influences which all the Members might have easily dispens'd with X. If our Soul were in our Body before it was form'd and if by her diverse Volitions all the Parts which compose it were rang'd and postur'd with how many various Sensations and different Motions would she be touch'd upon consideration of all the Effects which were to follow her Volitions Especially if she were extremely desirous of forming the most vigorous and best made Body pobssile XI Now Holy Scripture does not only say that Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church but also that he begets it and fashions it and gives it increase that he suffers merits acts and influences continually in it The Zeal which Jesus Christ has for his Father's Glory and the Love he bears to his Church constantly suggest to him the Desire of making it the most ample the most magnificent and the perfectest that can be Therefore as the Soul of Jesus has not an infinite Capacity and yet would endow his Church with infinite Beauties and Ornaments we have all reason to believe that there is in his holy Soul a continual Chain of Thoughts and Desires with reference to the mystical Body which he constantly forms XII Now they are these continual Desires of the Soul of Jesus that tend to sanctifie his Church and render it worthy of his Father's Majesty which God has establish'd the Occasional Causes of the Efficacy of the general Laws of Grace For we are taught by Faith that God hath given his Son an absolute Power over Men in constituting him Head of his Church which yet cannot be conceiv'd unless the several Volitions of Jesus Christ are follow'd by their Effects For 't is manifest I should have no Power over my Arm if it mov'd when I would not have it and remain'd dead and motionless when I desir'd to move it XIII This Sovereign Power Jesus Christ has merited over Men as also that Quality of Head of the Church by the Sacrifice he offer'd upon Earth on full Possession of which Right he entred after his Resurrection 'T is now that he is High Priest of future Goods and that He by his diverse Desires prays indefatigably for Men to the Father And since his Desires are Occasional Causes his Prayers are always heard His Father denies him nothing as the Scripture assures us and yet his Prayers and Desires are necessary to obtain Because Occasional Physical Natural Causes for these three Terms have here the same Signification have no Power of themselves and all the Creatures even Jesus Christ consider'd as Man are in themselves but Weakness and Impotence XIV Therefore the Soul of Jesus having a Succession of various Thoughts with reference to the diverse Dispositions whereof Souls in general are capable has these Thoughts attended with certain Desires relating to the Sanctification of these Souls Which Desires being Occasional Causes of Grace ought to shed it on those Persons in particular whose Dispositions resemble that which the Soul of Jesus Christ actually thinks on and this Grace ought to be so much stronger and more abundant as his Desires are more strong and lasting XV. When a Person considers any Part of his Body that is not form'd as it ought to be he naturally has certain Desires relating to it and to the Use he would make of it in a sociable Life which Desires are prosecuted with certain insensible Motions of the Animal Spirits and tend to the posturing or proportioning it in a due manner When the Body is quite form'd and the Flesh is grown solid and consistent these Motions cannot change the Contexture of the Parts but only give them certain Dispositions which we call Corporeal Habits But when the Body is not completely form'd and the Flesh is extremely soft and tender these Motions which accompany the Desires of the Soul not only give the Body particular Dispositions but also change its Construction Which is sufficiently manifest in Children unborn For they are not only mov'd with the same Passions as their Mothers but also receive on their Bodies the Marks of these Passions from which their Mothers are always exempt XVI The Mystical Body of Jesus Christ is not yet grown into a Perfect Man nor will be till the Accomplishment of Ages but he continually is forming it For he is the Head which gives all the Members their increase by the Efficacy of his Influence according to the proportion convenient for each to the end it may be form'd and edified by Charity Which are Truths we are taught by St. Paul Now since Jesus Christ has no other Action than the diverse Motions of his Will 't is necessary that his Desires should be follow'd with the Influence of Grace which only can form him in his Members and give them that Beauty and Proportion which ought to be the Eternal Object of Divine Love XVII The diverse Motions of the Soul of Jesus being the Occasional Causes of Grace we need not wonder if it be sometimes given to the greatest Sinners or to Persons that make no use of it For the Soul of Jesus desiring to raise a Temple of a vast Extent and of infinite Beauty may wish that Grace may be given to the greatest Sinners and if in that Moment Jesus Christ thinks actually on the Covetous for Instance the Covetous shall receive Grace Or Jesus Christ wanting for the Construction of his Church Minds of a certain Character commonly not attainable but by those who suffer certain Persecutions whereof the Passions of Men are the natural
their Effect The Prayers and diverse Desires of Jesus Christ with reference to the Formation of his Body have likewise most constantly and speedily their Accomplishment God denies his Son nothing as we learn from Jesus Christ himself Occasional Causes produce not their Effect by their own Efficacy but by the Efficacy of the General Cause 'T is likewise by the Efficacy of the Power of God that the Soul of Jesus Christ operates in us and not by the Efficacy of Man's Will 'T is for this Reason that St. Paul represents Jesus Christ as praying to his Father without Intermission For he is oblâ—gâ—d to Pray in order to Obtain Occasional Causes have been establish'd by God for the determining the Efficacy of his General Wills and Jesus Christ according to the Scripture has been appointed by God after his Resurrection to govern the Church which he had purchas'd by his Blood For Jesus Christ became the Meritorious Cause of all Graces by his Sacrifice But after his Resurrection he entred 〈◊〉 the Holy of Holies as High Priest of future Goods to appear in the Presence of God and to endue us with the Graces which he has merited for us Therefore he himself applies and distributes his Gifts as Occasional Cause he disposes of all things in the House of God as a well-beloved Son in the House of his Father I think I have demonstrated in the Search after Truth that there is none but God who is the true Cause and who acts by his own Efficacy and that he communicates his Power to Creatures only in establishing them Occasional Causes for the producing some Effects I have proved for Example That Men have no Power to produce any Motion in their Bodies but because God has establish'd their Wills the Occasional Causes of these Motions That Fire has no power to make me feel Pain but because God has establish'd the Collision of Bodies the Occasional Cause of the Communication of Motions and the violent Vibration of the Fibres of my Flesh the Occasional Cause of my Pain I may here suppose a Truth which I have proved at large in the Third Chapter of the Second Part of the Sixth Book and in the Illustration upon the same Chapter and which those for whom it was principally written don't contest Now Faith assures us that all Power is given to Jesus Christ to form his Church All Power is given unto me in Heaven and in Earth Which cannot be understood of Jesus Christ as to his Divinity for as God he has never received any thing And therefore it is certain that Jesus Christ as to his Humanity is the Occasional Cause of Grace supposing I have well proved that God only can act on Minds and that Second Causes have no Efficacy of their own Which those ought first to examine who would understand my Sentiments and give a Judgment of them XII I say farther that no one is sanctified but through the Efficacy of the Power which God has communicated to Jesus Christ in constituting him the Occasional Cause of Grace For if any Sinner were converted by a Grace whereof Jesus Christ was not the Occasional but only the Meritorious Cause that Sinner not receiving his New Life through the Efficacy of Jesus Christ would not be a Member of the Body of which Jesus Christ is the Head in that manner explain'd by St. Paul by these Words of the Epistle to the Ephesians That we may grow up into him in all things who is the Head even Christ from whom the whole Body fitly join'd together and compacted by that which every Joint supplieth according to the effectual working in the measure of every Part maketh increase of the Body unto the edifying it self in Love Which Words not only say Jesus Christ is the Meritorious Cause of all Graces but likewise distinctly signifie that Christians are the Members of the Body whereof Jesus Christ is the Head that 't is in him we increase and live with an entire new Life that 't is by his inward Operation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that his Church is form'd and that thus he has been constituted by God the sole Occasional Cause who by his several Desires and Applications distributes the Graces which God as the True Cause showers down on Men. 'T is on this Account St. Paul says Christians are united to Jesus Christ as their Root Rooted and built up in him 'T is for the same Reason that Jesus Christ compares himself to a Vine and his Disciples to the Branches that derive their Life from him I am the Vine ye are the Branches On the same Grounds St. Paul affirms that Jesus Christ lives in us and that we live in him that we are rais'd up in our Head that our Life is hidden with Jesus Christ in God in a word that we have already Life Eternal in Jesus Christ. All these and many other Expressions of like nature clearly manifest that Jesus Christ is not only the Meritorious but also the Occasional Physical or Natural Cause of Grace and that as the Soul informs animates and consummates the Body so Jesus Christ diffuses through his Members as Occasional Cause the Graces he has merited to his Church by his Sacrifice For my part I cannot see how these Reasons can be call'd in question or upon what Grounds a most edifying Truth and as ancient as the Religion of Jesus Christ can be treated as a dangerous Novelty I grant my Expressions are novel but that 's because they seem to me the fittest of all others distinctly to explain a Truth which can be but confusedly demonstrated by Terms very loose and general These words Occasional Causes and Natural Laws seem necessary to give the Philosophers for whom I wrote this Treatise of Nature and Grace a distinct Understanding of what most Men are content to know confusedly New Expressions being no farther dangerous than involving Ambiguity or breeding in the Mind some Notion contrary to Religion I do not believe that Equitable Persons and conversant in the Theology of St. Paul will blame me for explaining my self in a particular manner when it only tends to make us Adore the Wisdom of God and strictly to unite us with Jesus Christ. First OBJECTION XIII 'T is Objected against what I have establish'd That neither Angels nor Saints of the Old Testament receiv'd Grace pursuant to the Desires of the Soul of Jesus since that Holy Soul was not then in Being and therefore though Jesus Christ be the meritorious Cause of all Graces he is not the Occasional Cause which distributes them to Men. As to Angels I Answer That 't is very probable Grace was given them but once So that if we consider things on that side I grant there is nothing can oblige the Wisdom of God to constitute an Occasional Cause for the Sanctification of Angels But if we consider these blessed Spirits as Members of the Body whereof Jesus Christ is the Head or suppose them
them and recommend them to the Reception of all Men. I might vindicate this Opinion by the Conduct of the Fathers and by the Authority of St. Austin who frequently exhorts to the clear Discovery and Understanding of those Truths which we already believe in the Obscurity of Faith But I don't suppose there are any so irrational as to find fault with my Conduct however prejudiced against my Opinions Wherefore I intreat those who will be at the Pains of reading what I have written not to suppose me in an Errour but to suspend their Judgment till they have well understood my Opinion and not to condemn me in General Terms nor draw too hastily from my Principles unwarrantable Conclusions In Matters so obscure as those of Grace the Advantage is always on the side of the Aggressor and 't is not just to make use of it to the Defendant's Prejudice He should judge equitably and without Prepossession compare all the Consequences deducible from the several Opinions that he may embrace that which seems most agreeable to the Goodness and Wisdom of God For 't is unreasonable to condemn an Opinion unexamin'd for some unhappy Consequences which Men never fail to infer from it when the Imagination is scar'd and the Mind possess'd with contrary Notions XIX I know for Example that some Persons have said I make all Prayers useless and rob Men of the Confidence they ought to have in God since in their Notions God acting by General Wills we must not expect particular Supplies from Heaven I confess if this sole Consequence were included in my Principles they would be false heretical and impious For we overturn Religion if we take from Men their due Hope and Confidence in God and 't is partly on that very account I cannot admit of those Mens Opinions which are most opposite to my manner of Reconciling Grace with Liberty But so far are my Principles from leading to Despair that on the contrary they give the Righteous and even Sinners Consolation in shewing them the Means of obtaining of God the things they stand in need of For if we are Righteous our Prayers are meritorious and if meritorious Order requires that they should be heard and Order being with God a Law infinitely more inviolable than any other establish'd for the Construction of his Work he never fails to do what Order prescribes him Therefore the Prayers of the Righteous are never ineffectual which is what I have establish'd in the XIX Section of the Second Discourse But if we are Sinners 't is certain our Prayers are of themselves in vain for God hears not Sinners Order will have it so Nevertheless we must not despair We have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous He came into the World to save Sinners His Prayers are constantly and most readily heard Let us pray in his Name or address our selves to him Our Prayers will sollicite him to form some Desires relating to us and his Desires are the Occasional Causes which infallibly determine the General Law of Grace by which God wills the Salvation of all Men in his Son This is what I have maintain'd at large in the Second Discourse Thus I am so far from depriving Men of the Confidence they ought to have in God that on the contrary I precisely shew by the Authority of Scripture the way we ought to take for the obtaining of God the Graces that we want Therefore I pray my Readers to do me the Justice of Examining my Opinions without Prevention and I am willing they should afterward judge of them according to their Light and Knowledge For I submit all my Thoughts not only to the Censure of the Church which has Right to make me quit them by an Authority which I shall be ever ready to defer to but also to the Judgments of all Particular Persons by whose Admonitions I shall endavour to profit The END * Nihil est potentius illa creâ—tura quae mâ—â—s diciâ—ur rationalis nihil est 〈◊〉 Quicquid 〈◊〉 illam est jam creator est Tr. 23. in Joan. Quod rationali anima melius est omnibus conscentientibus Deus est Aug. †Ad ipsam similitudinem non omnia facta sunt sed sola substantia rationalis quare omnia per ipsam sed ad ipsam non nisi anima rationalis Itaque substantia rationalis per ipsam facta est ad ipsam non est enim ulla natura interposita Lib. Imp. de Gen. ad Litt. Rectissime dicitur factus ad Imaginem Similitudinem Dei non enim aliter incommutabilem veritatem posset mente conspicere De ver Rel. Mens quod non sentit nisi cum purissima beatissima est nulli cohaeret nisi ipsi veritati quae similitudo imago patris sapientia dicitur August lib. imp de Gen. ad 〈◊〉 Non exigua hominis portio sed totius humanae universitatis substantia est Ambr. 6. Hexam 7. †Ubique veritas praesides omnibus consulentibus te simulque respondes omnibus etiam diversa consulentibus Liquide tu respondes sed non liquide omnes audiunt Omnes unde volunt consulunâ— sed non semper quod volunt audiunt Conf. S. Aug. lib. 10. cap. 26. * V. Quint. Curt. lib. 7. cap. 8. Intâ—s in domicilio cogitationis nec Hebraea nec Graca nec Latina nec Barbara veritas sine oris linguae organis sine strepiâ—â— syllabarum Confess S. Aug. l. 11. c. 3. * Videtur quasi ipse a te occidere cum tu ab ipso occidas Aug. in Psal. 25. Nam etiam sol iste videntis faciem illustrat caeci ambobus sol praesens est sed praesente sole unus absens est Sic Sapientia Dei Dominus J. C. ubique praesens est quia ubique est veritas ubique sapientia Aug. in Joan. Tract 35. What I here say of the Vnions of the Mind with GOD and with the Body ought to be understood according to our ordinary way of Conception For indeed our Mind can be immediately united to GOD only that is can truly depend on none but GOD. And if it be united to or depend on the Body 't is because the Will of GOD makes that Vnion or Dependence efficacious Which will easily be conceiv'd in the Sequel of this Work Quis enim bene se inspiciens non expertus est tanto se aliquid intellexisse sincerius quanto removere atque subducere intentionem mentis a corporis sensibus potuit Aug. de Immort Anim. c. 10. Principium creaturae intellectualis est aeterna sapientia quod principium manens in se incommutabiliter nullo modo cessat occulta inspiratione vocationis loqui ei creaturae cui principium est ut convertatur ad id ex quo est quod aliter formata ac perfecta esse non possit Lib. 1. de Gen. ad Litter Ch. 50. Scimus quoniam cum apparuerit similes ei erimus quoniam
is not strange that our Sensations should agitate us and quicken our love for sensible things whereas our Light dissipates and vanishes without producing any zeal and ardency for Truth 'T is true that several Men are persuaded that God is their real Good love him as their All and earnestly desire to strengthen and increase their Union with him But few evidently know that by meditating on the Truth we unite our selves to God as far as natural strength can attain that it is a sort of Enjoyment of him to contemplate the true Ideas of things and that that abstracted view of some general and immutable Truths on which all the particulars depend are flights of a Mind that sequesters it self from the Body to unite it self to God Metaphysicks speculative Mathematicks and all those universal Sciences which regulate and contain the particular as the Universal Being comprehends all particular Beings seem to be Chimerical to most Men as well to the pious as to those that do not love God So that I dare hardly make bold to say that the study of those Sciences is the most pure and perfect Application to God that the Mind may be naturally capable of and that it is by the sight of the Intellectual World which is their Object that God has produced and still knows this sensible World from which Bodies receive their Life as Spirits live from the other Those that purely follow the Impressions of their Senses and motions of their Passions are not capable of relishing the Truth because it flatters them not And even the Vertuous who constantly oppose their Passions when they proffer them false Goods do not always resist them when they conceal from them the Truth and make it despicable because one may be pious without being a Man of parts To please God we need not exactly know that our Senses Imagination and Passions always represent things otherwise than they are since it appears not that our Lord and his Apostles ever intended to undeceive us of several Errours upon this matter which Descartes has discover'd to us There is a great difference betwixt Faith and Understanding the Gospel and Philosophy the greatest Clowns are capable of Faith but few can attain to the pure Knowledge of Evident Truth Faith represents to vulgar Men God as the Creator of Heaven and Earth which is a sufficient motive of Love and Duty towards him whereas Reason knowing that God was God before he was Creator not only considers him in his Works but also endeavours to contemplate him in himself or in that immense Idea of the infinitely perfect Being which is included in him The Son of God who is the Wisdom of his Father or the Eternal Truth made himself Man and became sensible that he might be known by Men of Flesh and Blood by gross material Men that he might instruct them by that which was the Cause of their Blindness and draw them to the love of him and disengage them from sensible goods by the same things that had enslav'd them for having to doe with Fools he thought fit to take upon him a sort of Folly whereby to make them wise So that the most pious Men and truest Believers have not always the greatest Understanding They may know God by Faith and love him by the help of his Grace without understanding that he is their All in the sense Philosophers understand him and without thinking that the abstracted Knowledge of Truth is a sort of a Union with him We ought not therefore to be surprized if so few Persons labour to strengthen their natural Union with God by the Knowledge of Truth since to this there is required a continual opposition of the Impressions of the Senses and Passions in a very different way from that which is usual with the Vertuous who are not always persuaded that the Senses and Passions abuse them in the manner that has been explain'd in the foregoing Books The Sensations and Thoughts in which the Body has a share are the sole and immediate Cause of the Passions as proceeding from the Concussion of the Fibres of the Brain raising some particular Commotion in the Animal Spirits And therefore Sensations are the only sensible proofs of our dependence on some things which they excite us to love but we feel not our Natural Union with God when we know the Truth and do not so much as think upon him because he is and operates in us so privately and insensibly as to be imperceptible to our selves And this is the Reason that our natural Union with God raises not our Love for him But it goes quite otherwise with our Union to sensible things All our Sensations prove it and Bodies appear before our Eyes when they act in us Their Action is visible and manifest Our Body is even more present to us than our Mind and we consider the former as the best part of our Selves So that our Union to our Body and by it to sensible Objects excites in us a violent Love which increases that Union and makes us depend on things that are infinitely below us CHAP. VI. Of the more general Errours of the Passions with some particular Instances 'T IS the part of Moral Philosophy to discover the particular Errours concerning Good in which our Passions engage us to oppose irregular affections to restore the Integrity of the Heart and to rule the Course of our Life But here we chiefly aim at giving Rules to the Mind and finding out the Causes of our Errours in reference to Truth so that we shall not proceed farther in those Matters that relate to the Love of true Good We are tending to the Instruction of the Mind and only take the Heart in the way in as much as the Heart is its Master We search into Truth it self without a special Respect to our selves and we consider its Relation with us only because that Relation is the Spring of Self-love's disguising and concealing it from us for we judge of all things by our Passions whence it is that we mistake in all things the Judgments of Passions never agreeing with the Judgments of Truth 'T is what we learn in these excellent Words of St. Bernard Neither Love nor Hatred know how to make a Judgment according to Truth Will you hear a true Judgment As I hear I judge says our Lord he says not as I hate as I love or as I fear Here you have a Judgment of Hatred We have a Law say the Jews and by that Law he ought to die Here a Judgment of Fear If we let him alone say the Pharisees the Romans shall come and take away our Place and Nation Here another of Love as that of David speaking of his Parricide Son Spare the young Man Absalom Our Love Hatred and Fear cause us to make false Judgments only Nothing but the pure Light of Truth can illuminate our Mind nothing but the distinct Voice of our common Master can cause us to make
Fruit an Hundred-fold and that the Earth bringeth forth Fruits of her self first the blade then the Ear after that the full Corn in the Ear. Lastly it is written in the Book of Wisdom that the Fire had as it were forgotten it's strength to Burn in favour of the People of God It is therefore certain from the Old and New Testament that Second Causes have an Active Force ANSWER I answer that in Holy-Writ there are many Passages which ascribe to God the pretended Efficacy of Second Causes some of which are these I am the Lord that maketh ALL THINGS that stretcheth forth the Heavens ALONE that spreadeth abroad the Earth by MY SELF Thine hands have made me and fashion'd me together round about I cannot tell how you came into my Womb. It was not I that form'd the Members of every one of you But doubtless the Creator of the World who formâ—d the Generation of Man c. Seeing he giveth to Life and breath and all things He causeth Grass to grow for the Cattle and Herb for the service of Men that he may bring forth food out of the Earth There are infinite such like Passages but let these suffice When an Author seems to Contradict himself And Natural Equity or a stronger Reason obliges us to reconcile him to himself methinks we have an infallible Rule to discover his true Opinion For we need but observe when he speaks according to his own Light and when after Common Opinion When a Man Accommodates himself to the vulgar way of speaking that is no sure sign he is of their Opinion But when he says positively the contrary to what Custom Authorises though he say it but once we have Reason to conclude it his judgement provided we know he speaks seriously and with Mature deliberattion For instance when an Author speaking of the properties of Animals shall say an hundred times over that Beasts have sense that Dogs know their Master that they Love and Fear him and but in two or three places shall affirm that Beasts are insensible that Dogs are incapable of Knowledge and that they neither Love nor Fear any thing how shall we reconcile this Author to himself Must we make a Collection of all his passages for and against it and judge of his Opinion by the greater number If so I conceive there is no Man to whom for example may be attributed this Opinion That Animals have no Soul For even the Cartesians most frequently say that a Dogs feels when he is beaten and rarely it is that they affirm he does not feel And although I my self encounter a vast multitude of prejudices in this Treatise yet many passages may be gather'd from it by which unless this present Rule be admitted it may be prov'd that I confirm them all and even that I hold the Opinion of the Efficacy of Second Causes which I am now refuting or it may be it might be concluded that the Search after Truth abounds with gross and palpable contradictions as do some Persons who I fear have not Equity and penetration enough to set up for judges of the Works of others Holy Scripture and Fathers and most Religious Men speak oftner of sensible Goods Riches and Honours in the vulgar Opinion than by the true Ideas they have of them Our LORD brings in Abraham saying to the Wicked Rich Man Son thou hast receiv'd thy GOOD things in thy Life time that is to say Riches and Honour What we by prejudice call Good our Good that is Gold and Silver is stil'd in Scripture in an hundred places our Sustenance and Substance and even our honesty or that which Honours us Paupertas Honestas à Deo sunt Must these ways of speaking us'd by the Holy Scripture and the most Religious Persons make us believe that they contradict themselves or that Riches and Honours are truly our goods and worthy our Love and our Researches No doubtless Because the Modes of Speech suiting with prejudices signify nothing And that we see elsewhere that Our SAVIOUR has compar'd Riches to Thorns has told us we must renounce them that they are deceitful and that all that 's great and glorious in the World is an abomination in the sight of God Therefore we must not heap together the Passages of Scripture or the Fathers to judge of their Opinions by the greater number unless we will attribute to them every Moment the most irrational prejudices in the World This being suppos'd 't is plain that Holy Scripture says positively 't is God that makes all even to the Grass of the Field that arrays the Lillies with such Ornaments as CHRIST prefers before those of Solomon in all his Glory 'T is not only two or three but innumerable Passages that Attribute to God the pretended Efficacy of Second Causes and overthrow the Nature of the Peripateticks Besides we are inclin'd as it were by a kind of Natural prejudice not to think on God in Ordinary Effects And to attribute force and Efficacy to Second Causes for the generality none but Miraculous Effects can make us think on God as the Author and the sensible impression engages us in the Opinion of Second Causes The Philosophers hold this Opinion because say they the Senses evince it Which is their mightiest Argument Lastly this Opinion is receiv'd by all that follow the judgment of their Senses The Language is accommodated to this prejudice and 't is as commonly said That Fire has a Power to Burn as that Silver and Gold are a Man's Goods Wherefore those Passages which the Scripture or Fathers afford us for the Efficacy of Second Causes prove no more than those That an Ambitious or Covetous Person would choose for the vindication of his Behaviour But we are not to say so of those Expressions that may be brought for the proof of God's Working all in all For since this Opinion is repugnant to prejudice the Passages that assert it are to be interpreted in their utmost Rigour For the same Reason that we are to conclude it the Sentiment of a Cartesian that Beasts are Insensible though he should say it but now and then and should constantly in common Discourse say the contrary as that they Feel See and Hear In the first Chapter of Genesis God Commands the Earth to produce Plants and Animals and Orders the Waters to bring forth Fish and Consequently say the Peripateticks the Water and Earth were indu'd with a competent Virtue to produce these Effects I cannot see the certainty of this conclusion nor any necessity of admitting this consequence though we were oblig'd to explain this Chapter by it self without recourse to other passages of Scripture This method of expounding the Creation is adapted to our way of conceiving things and so there is no necessity of our taking it Literally nor ought we to lay it as a Foundation to our prejudices Since we see Animals and Plants on the Earth Fowls inhabiting the Air and Fishes
living in the Water God to let us understand that his Order constituted them in these Places produc'd them therein From the Earth he form'd Animals and Plants not that the Earth was capable of Generating or as if God had to that intent given it a force and Vertue which it retains till now For we are sufficiently agreed that the Earth does not Procreate Horses and Oxen but because out of the Earth the Bodies of Animals were form'd as is said in the following Chapter Out of the ground the Lord form'd every Beast of the field and every Fowl of the Air. The Animals were form'd out of the gound formatis de humo animantibus says the Vulgar Latin and not produc'd by it Therefore when Moses had related how Beasts and Fish were produc'd by Vertue of the Command which God gave the Earth and Water to produce them he adds that it was God that made them lest we should attribute their Production to the Earth and Water And God CREATED great Whales and every living Creature that moveth which the WATERS BROVGHT FORTH abundantly after their kind and every winged Fowl after his kind and a little lower after he had spoken of the formation of Animals he adjoyns And GOD MADE the Beast of the Earth after his kind and Cattel after their kind and every thing that creepeth on the Earth after his kind But 't is observable by the way That what the Vulgar Translates Producant aquae reptile animae viventis volatile super terram and our English Let the Water bring forth abundantly the moving Creature that hath Life and Fowl that may fly above the Earth the Hebrew has it Volatile VOLITET Let the Fowl fly above the Earth Which distinction shows as is evident from the fore-cited passage of the next Chapter that Fowls were not produc'd from the Water and that it was not Moses's design to prove that the Waters were truly empower'd to produce Fish and Fowl but only to denote the respective place design'd for each by the Order of God whether to live or to be produc'd in Et volatile VOLITET super Terram For commonly when we say that the Earth produces Trees and Plants we only mean to signifie that it furnishes Water and Salts which are necessary to the Germination and increase of Seeds But I dwell no longer on the Explication of these Scripture Passages which Literally taken make for Second Causes For we are so far from being oblig'd that it is sometimes dangerous to take Expressions in the Letter which are founded on common Opinion by which the Language is form'd For the vulgar part of Men speak of all things according to the Impressions of Sense and the Prejudices of Infancy The same Reason which constrains us to interpret Literally such Scripture Passages as directly oppose Prejudices gives us Reason to believe the Fathers never design'd ex proposito to maintain the Efficacy of Second Causes or the Nature of Aristotle For though they often speak in a manner that countenances Prejudices and the Judgments of Sense yet they sometimes so explain themselves as to manifest the disposition of their Mind and Heart St. Austin for instance gives us sufficiently to understand That he believed the Will of God to be the Force and Nature of every thing when he speaks thus We are wont to say but not truly that Prodigies are against Nature For the Nature of every Creature being but the Will of the Creator How can that which is done by the Will of God be contrary to Nature Miracles therefore and Prodigies are not against Nature but against what we know of it 'T is true St. Austin speaks in several places according to Prejudices But I affirm that that is no Argument for we are not Literally to explain but those Expressions which are contrary to them for which I have given the Reasons If St. Austin in his Works had said nothing against the Efficacy of Second Causes but had always favour'd this Opinion his Authority might be made use of to confirm it But if it should not appear that he had industriously examin'd that Question we might still have reason to think he had no settled and resolv'd Opinion about the Subject but was it may be drawn by the Impression of the Senses inconsiderately to believe a thing which no Man would doubt of before he had carefully examin'd it 'T is certain for example that St. Austin always speaks of Beasts as if they had a Soul I say not a Corporeal Soul for that Holy Father too well knew the distinction of the Soul and Body to think there were Corporeal Souls I say a Spiritual Soul for Matter is incapable of Sense And yet it would seem methinks more reasonable to employ the Authority of St. Austin to prove that Beasts have not a Soul than to prove they have For from the Principles which he has carefully examin'd and strongly establish'd it manifestly follows they have none as is shown by Ambrosius Victor in his Sixth Volume of Christian Philosophy But the Opinion that Beasts have a Soul and are sensible of Pain when we strike them being consonant to Prejudices for there is no Child but believes it we have still reason to believe that he speaks according to Custom and Vulgar Opinion and that if he had seriously examin'd the Question and once began to doubt and make reflexion he would never have said a thing so contrary to his Principles And thus though all the Fathers had constantly favour'd the Efficacy of Second Causes yet it may be no regard were due to their Opinion unless it appear'd that they had carefully Examin'd the Question and that their Assertions were not the results of common Speech which is form'd and founded upon Prejudices But the case is certainly quite contrary for the Fathers and such as were most Holy and best acquainted with Religion have commonly manifested in some places or other of their Works what was their Disposition of Mind and Heart in reference to the present Question The most Understanding and indeed the greatest number of Divines seeing that on one hand the Holy Scripture was repugnant to the Efficacy of Second Causes and on the other that the Impression of the Senses the publick Vote and especially Aristotle's Philosophy which was had in veneration by the Learned establish it For Aristotle believ'd God unconcern'd in the particulars of Sublunary Transactions That that change was below his Majesty and that Nature which he supposes in all Bodies suffic'd to produce all that was done below The Divines I say have so equally balanc'd these Two as to reconcile Faith with Heathen Philosophy Reason with Sense and to make Second Causes ineffective without the additional concourse of God Almighty But because that immediate concourse whereby God acts jointly with Second Causes includes great difficulties some Philosophers have rejected it pretending that in Order to their Acting there needs no more than
unequally supplied there 's all Reason to believe the Diversity of their Graces must proceed from him who is the Chief of Angels as well as Men and who under that Character has merited by his Sacrifice all the Graces which God has given his Creatures but has variously applied them by his different Desires It being undeniable that Jesus Christ long before his Birth or Meriting might be the Meritorious Cause of the Graces given to the Angels and Saints of the Old Testament it ought methinks be granted that by his Prayers he might be the Occasional Cause of the same Graces long before they were demanded For indeed there is no necessary Relation between Occasional Causes and the Time of Production of their Effects and though commonly these sort of Causes are follow'd by their Effects at the Time of their Action yet their Action being not of it self efficacious since its Efficacy depends on the Will of the universal Cause there 's no necessity of their actual Existence for the producing their Effect For Instance Suppose Jesus Christ at this present time should desire of his Father that such a Person might receive such a Supply of Grace at certain Moments of his Life that Prayer of Jesus Christ would infallibly determine the Efficacy of the General Will God has of saving all Men in his Son This Person will receive these Assistances though the Prayer of Jesus Christ be pass'd and his Soul actually think on another thing and never think again on that which he requir'd for him But the past Prayer of Jesus Christ is no more present to his Father than a future For all that must happen in all Times is equally present to God Thus God loving his Son and knowing he shall have such Desires with respect to his Ancestors and those of his own Nation and likewise to the Angels which must enter into the Spiritual Edifice of his Church and constitute the Body whereof he is the Head ought to accomplish the Desires of his Son before they were made that the Elect which preceded his Nativity and which he purchas'd by the Merit of his Sacrifice might as peculiarly belong to him as others and that he might be their Head as really as he is ours I acknowledge it is fit that Meritorious and Occasional Causes should rather precede their Effects than follow them and that Order would have Causes and their Effects exist together For 't is plain that all Merit ought to be instantly recompenc'd and every Occasional Cause actually to produce its Effect provided nothing hinders bâ—t it may or ought be done But Grace being absolutely necessary to Angels and Patriarchs could not be deferr'd But as for the Glory and Reward of the Saints of the Old Testament since that might be deferr'd 't was fit that God should suspend its Accomplishment till Jesus Christ should ascend into Heaven be constituted High Priest over the House of God and begin to exercise the Sovereign Power of Occasional Cause of all Graces merited by his Labours upon Earth Therefore we are to believe that the Patriarchs entred not Heaven till after Jesus Christ their Head Mediator and Fore-runner But though it should be granted that God had not appointed an Occasional Cause for all the Graces afforded the Angels and Patriarchs I see not how it can be thence concluded that Jesus Christ does not at present endue the Church with the Spirit which gives it Increase and Life that he does not pray for it or that his Prayers or Desires are not effectually heard in a word that he is not the Occasional Cause which applies to Men the Graces he has merited I grant if you 'll have it so that God before Jesus Christ gave Grace by particular Wills the Necessity of Order requiring it Whilst by Order the Occasional Cause could not be so soon establish'd and the Elect were very few in Number But now when the Rain of Grace falls not as heretofore on a small Number of Men but is shower'd on all the Earth and Jesus Christ may or ought be constituted the Occasional Cause of the Goods which he has merited for his Church what reason is there to believe God works so many Miracles as he gives us good Thoughts For in short all that is done by particular Wills is certainly a Miracle as not being a Result of the General Laws he has ordain'd whose Efficacy are determin'd by Occasional Causes But how can we imagine that in order to save Men he works so many Miracles useless to their Salvation I would say affords them all these Graces which they resist because not proportion'd to the actual Force of their Concupiscence St. John teaches us That Christians receive from the Fulness of Jesus Christ Graces in abundance For says he the Law was given by Moses but Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ. For indeed the Graces which preceded him were not comparable to those he distributed after his Triumph If they were Miraculous we are to suppose they were extremely rare Even the Grace of the Apostles before the Holy Spirit was given them could not come in comparison with those they receiv'd when the High Priest of future Goods having entred by his Blood into the Holy of Holies had obtain'd by the Force of his Prayers and sent through the Dignity of his Person the Holy Spirit to animate and sanctifie his Church The unaccountable Blindness of the Jews their gross and carnal Notions their frequent Relapses into Idolatry after so many Miracles sufficiently manifest their disregard for true Goods and the dispiritedness of the Apostles before they had received the Holy Ghost is a sensible Proof of their Weakness So that Grace in those Days was extremely rare because our Nature in Jesus Christ was not yet establish'd the Occasional Cause of Graces Jesus Christ was not yet fully consecrated Priest after the Order of Melchisedech nor had his Father given him that Immortal and Glorious Life which is the particular Character of his Priesthood For 't was necessary that Jesus Christ should enter the Heavens and receive the Glory and Power of Occasional Cause of true Goods before he sent the Holy Spirit according to the Words of St. John The Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified And according to others of Jesus Christ himself It is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you but if I go I will send him unto you Now it cannot be imagin'd that Jesus Christ consider'd as God is the Head of the Church as Man he has obtain'd that Quality The Head and Members of a Body must be of the same nature Jesus Christ as Man intercedes for Men as Man he receiv'd from God a Sovereign Power over his Church For as he is God he intercedes not as God he has not receiv'd a Name which is above every Name but he is equal to the Father
videbimus eum sicuti est Joh. Ep. 1. ch 3. v. 2. * Corpus quod corrumpitur aggravat animam Sap. 9.10 Terrena inhabitatio deprimit sensum multa cogitantem difficile aestimamus quae in terra sunt quae in prospectu sunt invenimus cum labore Sap. 9.15 †Deus intelligibilis lux in quo a quo per quem intelligibiliter lucent omnia 1. Sol. Insinuavit nobis Christus animam humanam non vegetari non illuminari non beatificari nisi ab ipsa substantia Dei August in Joh. Illa autoritas divina dicenda est quae non solum in sensibilibus signis transcendit omnem humanam facultatem sed ipsum hominem agens ostendit ei quousque se propter ipsum depresserit non teneri sensibus quibus videntur illa miranda sed ad intellectum jubet evolare simul demonstrans quanta hic possit cur haec faciat quam parvi pendat Aug. 2. de Ord. 9. * Tract in Joan. 27. Et si cognovimus secundum carnem Christum jam non secundum carnem novimus 2 ad Cor. Nolite putare quenquam hominem aliquid discere ab homine Admonere possumus per strepitum vocis nostrae si non sit intus qui doceat inanis fit strepitus noster Aug. in Joan. Auditus per me factus intellectus per quem Dixit aliquis ad cor vestrum sed non eum videtis Si intellexistis fratres dictum est cordi vestro Munus Dei est intelligentia August Johan Tract 40. Noli putare te ipsam esse lucem Aug. in Psal. Sicut audio sic judico judicium meum justum est quia non quaero voluntatem meam Johan cap. 5.30 Qui hoc videre non potest oret agat ut posse mereatur nec ad hominem disputatorem pulset ut quod not legit legat sed ad Deum Salvatorem ut quod non valet valeat Epist. 112. cap. 12. Supplexque illi qui lumen mentis accendit attendat ut intelligat Conf. Ep. Fund cap. 33. Nullo modo resistitur Corporis sensibus quae nobis sacratissima disciplina est si per eos inflictis plagis vulneribusque blandimur Ep. 72. * See the 6 th Book Of the Nature Properties of the Vnderstanding II. Of the Nature and Properties of the Will and of its Liberty * See the Illustrations * See the Illustrations I. Of our Judgments and Reasonings II. That Judgments and Reasonings depend upon the Will Geometricians love not Truth but only the Knowledg of Truth tho' it be otherwise said III. What use should be made of our Liberty that we never may be deceiv'd IV. General Rules for the avoiding Error and Sin A necessary Reflexion on the two Rules I. The Answer to some Objections II. Observations on what has been said concerning the necessity of Evidence See the Illustrations I. Of the Occasional Causes of our Errors and that there are five principal II. The General Design of the whole Work III. The particular Design of the first Book I. Two ways of explaining how our Senses were corrupted by Sin S. Gregor Homil. 39. upon the Gospels * Fr. Son â—â—ur †Fr. Son Esprit See the Illustrations Deus ab initio constituit hominem reliquit illum in manu Consilii sui adjecit mandata praecepta sua c. Ec. 15.14 A Remedy for the Disorder which Original Sin has caus'd in the World and the Foundation of Christian Morality * See the Illustrations II. That our Liberty not our Senses is the true cause of our Errors III. A Rule for avoiding Error in the use of our Senses I. Of the Errors of sight in respect of Extension absolutely consider'd * See the Journal of the Learned Nov. 12. 1668. Fr. Le germe * The Cicatricle or the Sperm of the Egg is a little white spot upon the Yolk See Malpigh de Formatione Pulli in Ova †See Swammerdam 's Miraculum naturae II. A Continuation of these Errors about Invisible Objects III. Of the Errors of sight touching Extension relatively consider'd I. Of the Errors of sight about Figures II. We have no knowledge of the least of them III. The knowledge we have of the greater is not exact IV. An Explication of some Natural judgments which prevent our deception V. That these very judgments deceive us in some particular junctures See the 9. Chapter towards the end See the 3 d. Ch. of the 2 d. Part of the 6 Book I. That our Eyes are incapable of informing us of the Quantity or Swiftness of Motion consider'd in it self II. That Duration which is necessary to our knowledge of the Quantity of Motion is unknown to us III. An Instance of the Errors of Sight in respect of Motion and Rest. I. A general Demonstration of the Errors of our Sight concerning Motion II. That the Distance of Objects is necessary to be known in order to judge of the Quantity of their Motion III. The Mediums whereby we know the Distances of Objects are examined The Soul does not make all those judgments I aâ—tribute to her these Natural judgments are nothing but Sensations and I only speak thus the better to explain things The second Medium whereby to judge of the Distance of Objctes The third Medium whereby to judge of the Distance of Objects The fourtâ— and fifth Mediums The sixth Medium whereby to judge of the Distance of Objects * Seethe Illustrations * I call by the Name of Idea here whatever is the Immediate Object of the Mind I. The Distinction of the Soul and Body II. An Explication of the Organs of the Senses III. The Soul is immediately united to that part of the Brain where the Fibres of the Organs of the Senses centre IV. An Instance to explain the effect which Objects have upon our Bodies V. What it is that Objects produce in the Soul and the Reasons why the Soul perceives not the Motions of the Fiâ—res of the Body This confus'd Reasoning or this Natural Judgement is only a Compound Sensation See what I have said before of Natural Judgements and the first Ch. of the 3 d. Book VI. Four things which are generally confounded in every Sensation I. Of the Error we fall into concerning the Action of Objects against the External Fibres of our Senses III. The Cause of this Error III. An Objection and Answer I. Of our Errors concerning the Motions or Vibrations of the Fibres of our Senses II. That we confound them with the Sensations of our Soul and sometimes have no Perception of them III. An Experiment that proves it IV. An Explication of three sorts of Sensations of the Soul V. The Errors that accompany the Sensations I. The Definition of the Sensations II. That a Man knows his own Sensations better than he thinks he does III. An Objection and Answer IV. From whence it proceeds that a Man imagines he has no knowledge of
if God caus'd it to rain on this Meadow by a particular Benevolence to the Owner this Rain would not fall on the River where 't is insignificant since it could not fall there without a Cause or Will in God which has necessarily some End VII But we have still more Reason to think an Effect is produc'd by a general Will when this Effect is contrary or even useless to the Design which we are taught by Faith or Reason the Cause propos'd For Instance The End which God proposes in the various Sensations he affords the Soul in our tasting different Fruits is that we may eat those which are fit for Nourishment and reject the rest I suppose thus Therefore when God gives a grateful Sensation at the Instant of our eating Poisons or empoison'd Fruits he acts not in us by particular Wills So we ought to conclude since that agreeable Sensation is the Cause of our Death whilst the End of God's giving us diverse Sensations is to preserve our Life by a convenient Nourishment for I once more suppose thus For I speak only with reference to the Grace which God gives us doubtless to convert us so that 't is visible God showers it not on Men by particular Wills since it frequently renders them more Culpable and Criminal For God cannot have so Fatal a Design God gives us not therefore agreeable Sensations by particular Wills when we eat poisonous Fruits But because a poisonous Fruit excites in our Brain Motions like those produc'd by wholsome Fruits God gives us the same Sensations by reason of the general Laws which unite the Soul to the Body that she might be wakeful for its Preservation So likewise God gives not those who have lost an Arm Sensations of Pain relating to it but by a general Will For 't is useless to the Body of this Man that his Soul should suffer Pain relating to an Arm that 's lost 'T is the same case with Motions produc'd in the Body of a Man in the Commission of a Crime Finally supposing we are obliged to think that God scatters his Rain upon the Earth witâ— Intent to make it fruitful we cannot believe he distributes it by particular Wills since it falls upon the Sands and in the Sea as well as on plow'd Lands and is often so excessive on seeded Ground as to extirpate the Corn and frustrate the Labours of the Husbandman Thus it is certain that Rains which are useless or noxious to the Fruits of the Earth are necessary Consequences of the general Laws of the Communications of Motions which God has establish'd for the producing better Effects in the World supposing which I again repeat that God cannot will by a particular Volition that Rain should cause the Barrenness of the Earth VIII Lastly When an Effect happens which has something extraordinary 't is reasonable to believe it is not produc'd by a general Will. Nevertheless 't is impossible to be sure of it If for Example in the Procession of the Holy Sacrament it rains on the Assistants save on the Priests and those which carry it we have reason to think this proceeds from a particular Will of the universal Cause yet we cannot be certain because an occasional intelligent Cause may have this particular Design and so determine the Efficacy of the general Law to execute it IX When the preceding Marks are not sufficient for us to judge whether a certain Effect is or is not produc'd by a general Will we are to believe it is if it be certain there is an Occasional Cause establish'd for the like Effects For Example We see it rain to some Purpose in a Field we do not examine whether this Rain falls or not in the great Roads we know not whether it be noxious to the bordering Grounds nay we suppose it only does good and that all the attending Circumstances are perfectly accommodated to the Design for which we are oblig'd to believe that God would have it rain Nevertheless I say that we ought to judge this Rain is produc'd by a general Will if we know that God has setled an Occasional Cause for the like Effects For we must not have recourse to Miracles without Necessity We ought to suppose that God acts herein by the simplest ways and though the Lord of the Field ought to return Thanks to God for the Bounty yet he ought not to imagine it was caus'd in a miraculous manner by a particular Will The Owner of the Field ought to thank God for the Good he receives since God saw and will'd the good Effect of the Rain when he establish'd the general Laws whereof it is a necessary Consequence and that it was for the like Effects they were establish'd On the contrary if the Rains are sometimes hurtful to the Earth as it was not to render them unfruitful that God establish'd the Laws which make it rain since Drought suffices to make them barren 't is plain we ought to thank God and to adore the Wisdom of his Providence even when we do not â—eel the Effects of the Laws establish'd in our Favour X. But to conclude when we cannot be certified by the Circumstances which accompany certain Effects that there is an Occasional Cause establish'd to produce them 't is sufficient to know they are very common and relate to the principal Design of the general Cause in order to judge they are produc'd by a general Will. For Example The Springs which water the Surface of the Earth are subservient to the principal Design of God which is that Mâ—n should not want things necessary to Life I suppose so Besides these Fountains are very common therefore we ought to conclude they are foâ—m'd by some General Laws For as there is much more Wisdom in executing his Designs by Simple and General Means than by Complicated and Particular as I think I have sufficiently prov'd elsewhere We owe that Honour to God as to believe his way of acting is general uniform constant and proportion'd to the Idea we have of an infinite Wisdom These are the Marks by which we are to judge whether an Effect be produc'd by a general Will. I now come to prove that God bestows his Grace on Men by general Laws and that Jesus Christ has been establishâ—d the Occasional Cause to determine their Efficacy I begin by the Proofs of Holy Scripture XI St. Paul teaches us That Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church That he constantly influences it with Spirit and Life That he forms the Members and animates them as the Soul animates the Body or to speak still more clearly the Holy Scripture teaches us two things The first that Jesus Christ prays continually for his Members The second that his Prayers or Desires are always heard Whence I conclude that he was constituted by God the Occasional Cause of Grace and likewise that Grace is never given to Sinners but through his Means The Occasional Causes have constantly and readily