pag. 18 19. in his Creatures misery it is impossible you should love him The love of our selves is so deeply rooted in nature that we cannot lay it be nor love any thing that is absolutely and directly against us We conceive of the Devil as an absolute enemy to God and men and one that seeks our destruction and therefore we cannot love him And the great cause why troubled souls do love God no more is because they represent him to themselves in an ugly odious shape To think of God as one that seeks and delighteth in mans ruine is to make him as the Devil and then what wonder if instead of loving him and delighting in him you tremble at the thoughts of him and flie from him As I have observed Children when they have seen the Divel painted on a Wall in an ugly shape they have seen the Divel painted on a Wall in an ugly shape they have partly feared and partly hated it If you do so by God in your fancy it is not putting the Name of God on him when you have done that will reconcile your affections to him as long as you strip him of his Divine Nature Remember the Holy Ghosts description of God 1 John 4. 16. God is love Write these words deep in your understanding Desolatus Sir Were the Authour you have cited present with me I would desire him to resolve me how he could demonstrate it that God is love as he hath described him to the Reprobates when he hath from all Eternity abandoned them to sin and hell-torments for his meer pleasure or to shew his Soveraignty and Power over them But you may be pleased to proceed in your own method of discoursing Samaritanus I doubt not to satisfie you in this particular before we part But I shall pursue that encouraging observation of St. Peter where I left you at our last conference That God is no Respecter of persons c. To which you made me no Answer and so I thought fit to withdraw my self from you Acts 10 34 35 Desolatus I remember very well the passage for Mr. â—iâ—trephes was pleased to revive the memory of it but as little to his purpose as to my comfort for as I told him Interpreters do put in such exceptions in their construction of that Text that it signifies nothing at all to my advantage God it seems hath â—ull'd out a set number of persons without regard to any good quality in them upon whom he hath immutably decreed to confer his grace and they shall be insuperably conducted unto glory for all the rest who make up the far greater number not a whit worse than those he hath pass'd them over and decreed to give them neither grace nor glory but to let them fall and that not by a bare permission into sin and to leave them in that sin to their final condemnation and this for the glory of his Soveraign Power over his Creatures If I be not of that set number do I what I will or can I shall find no acceptation at the hands of Almighty God Samaritanus Can you be induced to subscribe to such interpretations of Scripture you may with as much colour of Reason say That when our Saviour commands us when we pray to say Our Father which art in Heaven c. His meaning is we should not say it at all or when the Apostle saith Let every soul be subject to the Higher Powers that his meaning is we should take up Arms against them St. Peters sense is clear enough that Gods respect is not so much to the naked Entities or Beings of men as to their persons so capacitated or qualified He that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him To this man will I look saith the High and Lofty One as you Isa 66. 2. heard even now To this purpose the Lord in his Expostulation with Cain saith If thou dost well shalt thou not be accepted That is without doubt thou shalt Gen. 4. 7. Desolatus But the Scriptures do assure us That God loveth first * Rom. 10. 20. and maketh himself known to those that make no inquisition after him * John 15. 5. Psal 59. 10. and without Christ and his grace man can do nothing* Samaritanus You say the very truth the God of our mercy doth prevent us as the Psalmist hath it But the love of God is exhibited to us in holy Scripture two manner wayes either as Antecedeâ—t which goes before Faith and Repentance or as Consequent which follows the obedience of Faith God bears a general good-will to Mankind before he loves them with a love of complacency and out of that love of good-will though he doth not grant them salvation immediately yet he affords them light and means to lead them to salvation This love is so great that the Apostle saith of it God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us It was through Rom. 5. 8. the bowels of the mercy * Luke 1. 78. Tit. 3. 4. of our God that this day-spring from on High did thus visit us But upon the intervention of our Faith when we entertain this light and receive Christ into our hearts there follows a love of complacency in God towards us which embraceth us as in the Neighbourhood of salvation of this love our Saviour speaketh John 14. 23. If a man love me he will keep my words and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our aboad with him Desolatus But the disposal of men as to their final state of salvation or damnation the Apostle makes it an Act of Gods Soveraign Power Rom. 9. 21. Hath not the Potter power over the Clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour and another unto dishonour Samaritanus The Wiseman who ere he was that wrote that Book tells us of the Potter That employing his labours lewdly he maketh a vain god of the same Clay Sure God cannot do Wisd 15. 8. so similitudes therefore must not be stretch too far * Nasus nimium non est emungendus ne sanguis eliciatur Dr. Prid. Lect. 8. de Salut Eth. But suppose the Potter could give life and sense to his Vessels and perpetuate that life to millions of Ages should he meerly to shew his Soveraign Power over them inflict uncessant and excessive torments upon them what opinion would you have of such a man Would you not think it an Act of extream cruelty contrary to that natural love which every Creature beareth towards its own production and contrary to natural equity thus to torment the harmless Desolatus I must confess I could have no good opinion of such a person in such a case for exercising so much inhumanity Samaritanus If this were Gods practice a man might justifie himself upon the account of such a President It could be no sin for a man in such a case
to follow Gods example in disposing of his own But God as his own most gracious * Micah 7. 18. nature abhors it so his Law forbids all such intolerable cruelty And as a good man regards the life of his Bâ—â—st * Prov. 12. 10. Jonah 4. 11. so doth our good God too But unto men he is a faithful Creatour 1 Pet. 4. 19. Who will have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth 1 Tim. 2. 4. Not willing that any should perish but that all should come to Repentance the end and means too Salvation and Repentance And extendeth the riches * Rom. 9. 22. with chap. 2. 4. of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering to lead them to it And * Hebr. 6. 18. that by two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie we may have a strong consolation in flying for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us He hath confirmed his promise by an Oath Ezek. 33. 11. As I live saith the Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live Turn ye turn ye from your evil wayes for why will ye die O House of Israel Gods goodness or equity makes him have a desire to the work iâ— his own hands 'T is Job 14. 15. the extream provocation and incorrigible obstinacy of sinners that makes the Prophet denounce such a fearful doom against some of them Isaiah 27. 11. For it is a people of no understanding therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them and he that formed them will shew them no favour Desolatus Doth God cast off none but such as cast off him first and dâ—spise his goodness See 2 Kings 13. 23. Samaritanus Not a man that I can find according to the Holy Scriptures * Imo divinae dereliction is eae apertissimè designatur ratio quod Deus ab hominibus peius descratur Prov. 1. 24. Theol. M. Britt â—â— 3. 4. Artic. Thes 4. vide sequent inter Act. Syn. Nat. Dord pag. 129. par 2. for so the Lord hath declar'd himself 1. In the Old Testament Prov. 1. 24. to 31. Because I have called and yeâ—r fâ—â—sâ—d I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded but ye have set at naught all my counsel and would none of my reproof I also will laugh at your calamity c. And to the same purpose Ezek. 24. 13. In thy filthiness is 〈◊〉 because I have purged thee and thou wâ—st not purged thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more till I have caused my fury to rest upon theâ— 2. In the new Testament Acts 13. 26. The Apostle addresseth his Ministry unto them in these That the displeasure of God is only against the refractory and disobedient see Heb. 10. 38. 1 Cor. 10. 5. Heb. 3. 17 18 19. expressions Men and Brethren Children of the stock of Abraham and whosoever among you feareth God to you is the Word of this salvation sent And he gives them warning Ver. 40 41. Beware therefore lest that come upon you which is spoken of is the Prophets Behold ye despisers and wonder and perish and because they did despise contradict and blaspheme the Gospel and reject * Luke 7. 30. the Counsel of God against themselves therefore the Apostle took the boldness to tell them Ver 46. It was necessary that the Word of God should first have been spoken to you but seeing ye put it from you and judge your selves unworhly of everlasting life â—â— we turn to the Gentiles The Talent * Talentum gratiae a Deo semel concessum nemini eripitur nisi qui prius suo vi tio illud sepelivit Matth. 25. 28. Hinc monemur â—â— Spiritum resistamus nâ— Spiritum extinguamus nâ—gratiam Dei frustra recipiamus ne deficiamus a Dâ—o Hebr. 3. 7. Theol. Britt ibid. vide is never taken away till it be first abused or at least neglected hence Hebr. 2. 3. How shell we escape if we neglect so great salvation Reprobation is therefore thus defined by the Learned and Orthodox God 's immutable Decree whereby he hath determined to leave them under wrath for their sin and unbelief and to damn them eternally who will not repent and believe in Christ This Deâ—â—â—iâ—ion is most exactly true if God reprobates such only as he damns and if he doth otherwise there is not an exact conformity betwixt his Decree and the Execution of it which is absurd and the Scriptures express it in See Mark 16. 16. John 3. 36. Acts 13. 46. Rom. 11. 20. every page but especially we may take it from the words of our Saviour Christ John 3. 18 19. He that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the Name of the only begotten Son of God And his is the cause of condemnation that light is come into the World and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil In which words we have not only the way but the cause also of condemnation propounded viz. unbelief and the love of darkness proceeding from a custom of evil-doing Desolatus My Friend I am afraid you forget your self in this point for you know Divines do distinguish here and make a wide difference betwixt the Decree of Reprobation and the Execution of it Although say they God doth destine whomsoever he please to hatred and destruction without any respect to any quality in them yet he is not unjust because betwixt his Eternal Decree and the Execution of it sin and infidelity are subordinated as the cause for which he justly damns them Samaritanus I remember this distinction very well but I cannot allow it for currant because it doth not free God from injustice for if the execution be therefore just because it supposeth a cause or ground for the infliction of that evil upon man which was destinated to him by the Decree the Decree therefore for the infliction of that evil is unjust because that excludes such cause or ground for if it be not lawful to inflict evil without cause neither is it lawful to will the infliction of it for the injustice we know is not first and principally in the insliction but in the will to inflict for rectitude is primò per se in itself first and chiefly in the will in the execution only by extâ—insecal denomination But 2. If there be such a diversity in the execution from the Decree this Execution is not the Execution of that Decree but something else as was intimated before Besides how is sin subordinated to that Decree and by whom Is it by Almighty God Why then whether that subordination be by a positive or privative action that sin is intended of God as a means inservient to that Execution and this will double the injustice of iâ— for what is this else but first to will
that insuperably he that produceth the act and that immediatly shall he be blameless What is this but to condemn an accessary and acquit the principal Diotrephes But there is a great difference betwixt Gods concourse unto our good and evil works to good works he concurs not only efficiently Ex parte Potentiae predetermining the very faculty to the work but also morally Ex parte Objecti in that he doth counsel command perswade and aâ—â—ure us unto the lawful object In sinful acts he does only the first and not the latter so that of our sinful actions he is the physical cause only not the moral but of our good he is as well the moral as the physical Paganus You should consider that moral motion doth not give God the honour of a true and proper cause but only of a Metaphorical for the influence it hath into the Agent is not ipsum agere the very act it self and consequently the effect doth not follow that motion If therefore God should move us no otherwise than after such a manner your Partizans do conclude that while we work God should not discriminate us but we should discriminate our selves from such as work not therefore though God concurs unto the good act by a physical predetermination and morally too but unto the evil act by a physical predetermination only yet there remains the same manner of working in respect of good and evil in that which is chiefly considerable and by it self alone attributes the true and proper nature of a cause to God and assigns him the first and perfect original of that determination that this act should rather be than not be But 2. What is this moral motion and from whence and what doth it work upon in its seduction of us to an evil work be it in the understanding or the will in the imagination or the sensitiue appetite if you allow it to be an act you must confess according to your principels that it is from God and of his product on seeing therefore that the total sum of Gods concurse unto the act of sin amounts fully to thus much in your own account That he predetermines man to produce the whole entity of it and the whole reality also of every other act prerequired unto it that besides he predetermines and applies the Divel * Imoâ—â—ne ipse quidem Diabolus quicquam potest nisi determinante Deo Proinde pro certo tenendum Dominum omnes actiones decâ—rnere atque agendo concurrere suo sancto modo cooperari quando peccatum est in fiâ—â—i c. Malcom Com. ad Act. 4. 24. Passio Christi in individuo fuit a Dâ—o praedefinita praedefinitione perfecta Ergo omnes circumstantiae quae concurrunt ad individuationem illius praedeterminatae sunt aeterno Deâ— decreto sed ad talem individuation in etiam concuâ—rit inâ—â—â—sio actus extensio ad tales personas Alvarez Disp 22. 19. Câ—tance approbante Amesio iâ— Bel. ener Tom 4. lib. 2. cap. 2. n. 12. p. 27. and every other cause de facto conâ—urring to propound the unlawful object and allure to it since he predetermines the will and directs the intention and provides the object and applies the Tempter and addresseth all other circumstances that concur to the individuation of the sinful act there seems to be no moral or physical causality wanting that God should therefore be said to produce mens evil works otherwise than he effects their good works Diotrephes But the efficiency of God though he be Author of the act of sin doth not reach the formal malice of it Paganus No more do Men nor Divels in their most importunate contrivances solicitations and actings towards the sins of others notwithstanding they communicate in the fault * Quatenus incredulit adhabâ—t rationem peccati Deus illam non efficit sed Diabolus juxta illud 2. Cor. 4. 4. Piscator Apol. Resp Amicae Collat. Oppos cap. 3. and guilt by impelling to them such acts as are inseparably attended with a moral pravity neither doth any man produce the formal malice of his own wicked act but inasmuch as he produceth the entity of that act * Aquin. 12ae q. 79. ar 2. 2. to which that malice is annexed If the resolution of your Casuist * Amesius ubi supra lately mentioned be authentick he doth indirectly cooperate and so communicate in the sin of others who is deficient in his diligence to prevent it and he is sufficiently diligent to prevent sin who doth predetermine the will to it Diotrephes Now I have freed God so fully from having any hand in sin by a Metaphorical distinction you endeavour to make him communicate therein by a moral interpretation but that one may be accounted the Author of sin he must be culpably deficient saith Dr. Twiss * Ubi supra p. 72. and thus man may beguilty saith he either by doing what he ought to omit or by omitting what he ought to do but this cannot be incident to God He could I confess saith he keep any Creature from sin â—f it pleased him but if he will not and doth not he commits not any culpable defect for he is not bound to preserve any man from sin Therefore all that can be infer'd from hence is this * R. B. Prid. ubi supra p. 13. That man doth necessarily fall into sin if God doth not uphold him not that God sins because he doth not give what he doth not owe him Paganus You grant then that God is the cause of mans fall though inculpable but your Doctors do acknowledge That to love God in such a measure as to contemn our selves in comparison of him and his service is above the power of nature A Dr. Twiss nbi supra p. 49. man mvst be endued with heavenly grace and the Spirit of God to enable him hereunto and that accordingly God created our first parents in a state of grace and endued them with the Spirit that in this capacity such a law of love might be justly impos'd upon them Now I would fain be satisfied with what equity God could withdraw * from his innocent creatures and such were our first parents before the fall * Si Deus hominem sibi obedientem a pietate deturbat bene currentem cadere facit ergo pro bonis mala retribuit injuste punit quod ut fiat impellit Quid tam perversum quid tam insanum dici aut cogitari potest Prosp Aquit ad 12. Gal. Object that supernatural and necessary assistance and yet being thus without any fault in them strip't off their abilities leave them under the obligation of that now become an impossible Commandment that they might inevitably fall and perish yet this he did as you concluded above out of your Divines Diotrephes We satisfie our selves in that God did this for a greater good and that we may have no cause to complain our Divines conclude *
more moderate Sublapsarians as that of the more rigid Sublapsarians doth make salvation not only uncertain but also impossible to the greatest number of souls how diligent soever to obtain it Therefore The Doctrine of the Calvinists c. is unserviceable to the interest of souls unpracticable in the exercise of the Ministerial Function and not according to godliness The Major is evident because it highly concerns the Ministerial Function and the power of godliness and the interest of souls to have some assurance that salvation is possible to all such at least as are diligent to obtain it for Martinius at the Synod of Dort concludes That the command and promise of the Gospel are disanull'd which evacuates the Ministerial Function and the power of godliness if there be not such a sufficiency of Redemption as is really sufficient for all and that according to the will and intention of God and Christ for saith he Quomodo ex beneficio sufficiente quidem at mihi non destinato per veram intentionem deducetur necessitas credendi quod illud ad me pertineat De Morte Christi pro omnibus Thes 8 9 10. Inter Acta Syn. Nat. Dordr par 2. pag. mihi 105. The Minor is apparent from the whole Discourse of this second Dialogue Colasterion Matth. 23. 13. Luk. 11. 52. Ye shut up the Kingdom of heaven against men and have taken away the key of knowledge and them that were entring in ye hindred Piscator Trip. Resp ad Amic C. U. Duplic cap. 7. Other proofs of the Minor Non procurat Deus illis omnibus media salutis sufficientèr quorum Conversionem in S. literis expectare dicitur Item Deus omnibus quidem vocatis gratiam salutem foris in verbo offert non tamen animo ipsos omnes convertendi Cap. 4. Item Per Deum stat quo minùs omnes vocati credant resipiscant h. e. per defectum gratiae sufficientis ibid. Marlorat in Joan. 15. 2. Stat igitur firma sententia quemcunque Deus ante conditum orbem elegerit eum non posse pâ—rire quem verò rejecerit eum non posse salvari etiamsi omnia sanctorum opera fecerit usque adâ—ò irretractablis est sententia Jacob. Triglandius A Synodist In Defens Doctrinae Honoris Eccles Refâ—r Doctor Haec Dei sententia adeò firma est immutabilis qua rejicit reprobos ut impossibile sit eos salvari etiamsi omnia sanctorum opera fecerint Ideóque verum non est eos qui culpâ suâ pereunt per gratiam potuisse salvari si laborem obedientiae salutari gratiae non subtraxissent Haec ille THE THIRD DIALOGUE BETWIXT DIOTREPHES and SECURUS DIotrephes Well overtaken Sir I pray how far are you travelling this way if you be for Canterbury I shall be very glad of your company Securus That is the place I am bound for and if your occasions lead you thither we are well met indeed for a good Companion is like a Chariot that carries one along with ease and delight to his journies end And such advantage I promise my self in this expedition whil'st the tedicusness of the way is beguiled by the charmes of your acceptable Society add Conversation Diotrephes I am glad you are so pleasant Sir but if you will make me happy in the benefit of your Company I must intreat you not to Ride too much upon the Spur we shall have day enough to accomplish our Journey why therefore should we Tyre our Selves and our Horses to no purpose Securus I beseech you excuse me Sir I Ride at the easiest Rate the importance of my Affairs will allow of and although a slower pace may very well comply with the indifferency of an Arbitrary Visit which I presume to be the design you are now engaged upon yet if you consider how great a vivacity and chearfulness of spirit is stirred up even amongst brute Creatures by Company and much more amongst Men where the benefit is improved by the reciprocation of Discourse I perswade my self you are so prudent you will choose rather to mend your Pace that we may Troop on together than disband your self and withdraw into the uncomfortable condition of a solitary Traveller Diotrephes Sir I must submit my sense and judgment to the power of your Reason But Sir give me leave for we should make a spiritual use of all occurrences we meet with give me leave therefore to unfold my wishes to you and the earnest desire of my soul which is That we were all most eager in the pursuance of those Concerns which are really of most importance to us Securus What Concerns do you mean Diotrephes The great Concerns of our Souls the Concerns of Eternity that we would post more hastily to Heaven than after the World Securus I am jealous Sir that in the way you speak of there are a great many who make more haste than good speed their zeal out-runs their knowledge and discretion Diotrephes We must not discourage zeal for Gods Cause and Gods glory and things should be esteemed and pursued according to their excellency Is not the soul incomparably more precious than the World And is not Heaven infinitely of more value than Earth Or can we do too much for God who hath done so much for us Securus Sir we know God is so freely bountiful he doth not set his goodness out to sale before his Creatures Besides 't is evident men may be so passionate and eager that they may run down the Laws and Lives of men that stand in the way of their pretended zeal and yet as we say they may be early up and ne're the near they may slatter and please themselves in such things as God is not pleased in at all The time will come 't was one of the predictions of our Saviour when they that kill you will think they do God service Sometimes this zeal miscarries the child is come to the Birth and there is no strength to bring forth and then the furious Zelot making himself obnoxious to the Law and Power of the Civil Magistrate brings upon himself a swift destruction and so perisheth with his burden Hereupon the Preacher giveth us sober advice Be not righteous over-much neither make thy self over-wise why shouldst thou destroy thy self Eccles 7. 16. Diotrephes Rash men 't is true may over-shoot themselves but the Apostle doth commend zeal and fervency of Spirit in Gods service 't is good saith he to be zealously affected alwayes in a good matter and he exhorts the Romans to Gal. 4. 18. be fervent in Spirit serving the Lord. Rom. 12. 11. Securus I shall not need to tell you that other Copies read it not serving the Lord but serving the time and in this you have no reason to complain of mens slothfulness but I am afraid most of that which is called fervency of Spirit in Gods service are but heats of the flesh such I am sure are hatred variance
decreed that I shall or I shall not use the means to escape it So that all the Absurdities that dog the Stoâ—câ—l dream of fatal necessity at the heels are inseparable attendants of this Opinion For I may not onely say If I shall die of the Infection I shall if I shall not die I shall not and therefore I need not use means to avoid it But also if I must use means I must if I must not I must not Seeing Gods decree necessitateth as much to use or omit the means as to obtain or lose the end For if their opinion be true all things whatsoever end or means of little or great moment come to passe necessarily and unavoidably by reason of Gods eternal Decree Here they have two Evasions The first is this A beit say they God hath most certainly determined what shall or what shall not be done concerning us Evasio 1. yet his Decree is hid from us and we must use lawful and ordinary means for the obtaining of such and such good Ends keeping on the ordinary course which he hath revealâ—d to us See the vanity of this shift our Opposites teach that whatsoever God hath decreed shall be dâ—ne and whatsoever is omitted Confutatio shall be undone If therefore God hath determined that we should not use such and such means it is impossible for us to use them iâ— he hath decreed that we should it is impossible that we should omit them And therefore it is more than ridiculous to say that although God in his secret will hath determined that we should not do such a thing yet we are to do it seeing his decree though it be sâ—cret yet it will have its effect and it is absolutely impossible we should do that which God hath determined we shall not do Howsoever say our Opposites our opinion is far from Stoicism for the Stoâ—cks thought that all things came inevitably to pass by reason of an indissoluble Chain and Connexion of natural Evasion 2. causes but we teach that all events are irresistably necessary by reason of Gods everlasting dâ—crees and His Omnipotency daily executing them This reason is so poor a one and yet so much made on by some worthy men that I am more troubled to wonder at it Confutation than to confute it yet that I may satisfie it distinctly I will divide the opinion of the Stoâ—cks into two particular Tenets 1. They hold that all things come to pass inevitably 2. They thought the reason of this inevitablenesse of events to be an unchangeable connexion of natural causes Our Opposites stifly maintain the former of these Tenets Now let the Reader observe that the most prodigious absurdities accompanying this Stoical error follow the first part of their opinion though sequestred from the second For if all things come to pass unavoidably what need I care what I do yea if I shall care I shall care whether I will or no and a thousand the like horrid conceits follow the opinion of the necessity of events whatsoever we make to be the cause of this necessity It is a great point of Turkish Divinity at this day that all things are done unavoidably and they with our Opposites make Gods will to be the cause of this unavoidableness and therefore they judge of Gods pleasure or displeasure by the event Yet there is no Christian but abhorreth this Turcism and gives it no better entertainment than Anathema Maranatha It s too apparent therefore that albeit our Adversaries are true Christians yet in this point their opinion is guilty by reason of its consequence both of Stoicism and Turcism Again if we consider the second part of the Stoicks opinion we shall perceive that the opinion which we confute cannot be minced but that it will be compleat Stoicism The Stoicks thought the connexion of causes to be the cause of the necessity of events its true but what did they think to be the connexion of causes doubtless the eternal Laws of Nature which they supposed to be a Deity It is very probable they thought the Fates to be but Natures Laws but whatsoever they meant by the Fates its evident they made their decrees to be the cause of the connexion of causes How often read we both in Philosophers and Poets of Fatorum Decreta Parcarum Leges c. Yea the word Fatum it self is as much as a Decree as Edictum from Edicere so Fatum from Fari Quid aliud est Fatum quam id quod Deus de unoquoquâ— fatur saith Minutius Well then to apply Do not our Adversaries in this point suppose an inviolable linking of all things together one necessarily following in the neck of another Do they not make the cause of this linking to be Gods irresistable decree Do they not defend compleat Stoicism What part of Stoicism do they disclaim Do they not maintain inevitable necessity Do they not teach an indissoluble connexion of all things Do they not believe divine decrees to be the cause of this connexion Certainly they must needs confess themselves Stoicks in this point unless we will give them leave to grant the prezmises and deny the conclusion I know the Stoicks had mis-conceits concerning the Deities as accounting those to be Deities which are not whose decrees they made the causes of all things but they were the common errors of Paganism and are beside the point in hand And truly these set aside I see not wherein our Adversaries differ from the Stoicks I have prosecuted this Argument more copiously because it includeth many others I mean all those which Scripture or Reason furnish us with against the error of the Stoicks and they are many for I think verily there are few opinions which have a greaâ—er retinue of ridiculous and erroneous consequences than this of the unavoidable necessity of events Some of them may make one laugh and some of them may make one tremble I omit the former because they are obvious to every mans conceit and I would not willingly make sport of so serious a matter Of the last sort I will specific one in a second Argument That opinion which being admitted maketh God the Author of sin is gross and erroneous that I may say no worse but so I Arg. 2. speak it with horror doth the Opinion of our Opposites I know they are renowned Christians and as they abhor Stoical errors so they hold this damnable doctrine which is worse than ever any Heretick held which transformeth God into a Devil to be most accursed yet so the case standeth that as the See this Argument confirmed in the Answer to the 4th Objection error of fatal necessity so this of the cause of sin fatally followeth their opinion which I prove thus They teach That nothing is done in the world nor can be done but what God hath decreed to be done Now it 's too certain that three quarters of the things which are done in the world are
Now then God leaving to His creatures free liberty to work or not to work after this or that manner so that for any necessity imposed upon their actions by Him whatsoever they omit was as possible to be done as what they did And yet from all eternity fore-knowing whatsoever his creatures would do or not do his fore-knowledge must needs be infinite and most admirable Infinite I say not in respect of the number of objects for so as I said before no knowledge can be infinite but in respect of the omnipotent and boundless manner of actual comprehending those things with an infallible fore-sight which in respect of God were contingent their not being being as possible as their being And indeed this fore-sight of future contingents is the true character and Royal prerogative of Divine knowledge and Ergo in the 41 of Esay God upbraideth the Pagan Deities with this priviledge peculiar to Himself though juglingly pretended by them in their lying Oracles vers 21. The Lord biddeth them produce Gnatzumotheken the strongest Arguments by which they could prove themselves Gods and in the next verse he particularizeth and thrice bids them tell if they can what shall happen in the times to come It s worth the observing how that there was never any sort of Diviners Artificial I speak not of Devils Witches Gypsies and such palpable Impostors that undertook to fore-tell future contingents for if you prove those things which Astrologers and Physiognomers undertake to foretell to be meer contingent in respect of the Horoscope or Complexion and no way to depend on them as natural causes you have proved their Arts to be but Impostures How much then do our Opposites dishonor God in this case making the great miracle of his foresight of future contingents to be as much as nothing seeing they say that albeit they are contingent in respect of us yet they are necessary in respect of Him When any man hath answered any of these four Arguments then will I change my opinion In the mean time I proceed to the vindicating of it from such exceptions and objections as our enemies in this case make against it The dissipating of those mists wherewith they endeavour to obscure this opinion will not onely clear the truth of it for belief but also the sense of it for understanding First they say That while we avoid their Stoicism as we term Objâ—ct 1. it we fall into flat Epicurism for while we make so many things in the world to fall out according to the inconstant bent of voluntary Agents we Deifie Chance and make Fortune a goddess we do in effect deny Gods providence which they say makes all things come to pass according to a most wise and constant method I will be as forward as any man to Anathematize him whosoever he be who holdeth any thing to fall out fortuito in respect Answ of God I will make it most evident that our opinion makes no Chance in respect of God and most sweetly illustrates Gods Providence First There is a vast difference between Contingency and Casuality Contingency is an equal possibility of being or not being 〈◊〉 Casuality is the coming to pass of an event eximproviso beside the fore-thought as I may say of the thing Now it is our assertion that many things fall out contingently in respect of God because he imposed no necessity upon their being but left them to the pleasure of the inferior causes that they might as well not have been as been But we say withall that nothing falleth out accidentally or casuâ—llâ— in respect of God because nothing cometh to pass without his most certain and unerring foresight he knowing from all eternity what his creatures would do though he left it to their pleasure to do what they list In events there is a great difference between Contingency and Casuality of events in respect of men for most things we do we do contingently we being not bound by any inevitable necessity to do them yet as long as we do them upon certain persuasive reasons for certain ends we do them not by chance The same events yet are not after the same manner contingent in respect of God as they are in respect of us for He out of the Prerogative of His Deity fore-knoweth them but we by reason of our mortality cannot have infallible foresight of them and what foresight we have is in a very little distance And indeed if this point be punctually canvased we shall perceive that in that same proportion we have any knowledge of them they are not contingent but necessary for every thing so far forth as it is in existence or in near preparation for it is necessary Contingency is the middle point between necessity and impossibility of being and therefore so much as any thing inclineth to existence it is necessary The want or neglect of the distinction between contingency and casualty hath been a great cause of the error we confute for our Opposites still taking fortuâ—to and contingenter ☞ for Synonyma because they would have nothing casual in respect of God therefore they would have every thing necessary not discerning the middle path which we walk in between Epicurism and Stoicism Concerning Gods Providence we teach that although according to that ordinary course which we call nature which he 2. hath prescribed for the operation of his creatures in the decree of Creation many things fall out according to the free choice of voluntary Agents no way by Him necessitated yet God is still busie with a double providence The first is universal by this whatsoever natural Agents do contingently He fore-seâ—th most clearly and ordereth it most wisely according to His glory the preservation of the Vniverse and good of His creatures The second is particular by this He puts in oft-times a miraculous finger into such contâ—ngent business as respects his Church and oft-times so worketh the heart of the voluntary Agent that sometimes he doth that which if he had been left alone to himself he would not have done and sometimes is secretly diverted from the doing of that which otherwise he would most willingly and in all likelihood could most easily have done And here our Opposites may please to observe how our opinion is so far from denying particular Providence that it onely maintaineth a Providence properly termed Particular for that particular Providence which our Opposites so much talk of if it be well looked into will appear to be in no better sense particular than the Roman Church is universal They say That there is not any numerical act performed by any creature without an eternal decree from God this they call particular providence Alas this is the general which concerneth all the actions performed by all things or at least one mixt of general and particular As for example Because it raineth to day God so ordering that it should is it any sense to say This rain was by the