Difficulties that can be started about the Circumstances of our Mysteries like as to vindicate the Orders of Nature and Grace in themselves we need but know That God being infinitely wiâ—e frames no Design but upon the admirable Proportion of Wisdom and Fecundity discover'd in the ways capable to bring it to pass as I have explain'd in the First Discourse L. Most Men judging of God by measure of themselves imagines that he first forms a Design and afterwards consults his Wisdom about Ways to execute it For our Volitions generally prevent our Reason and our Designs are hardly ever perfectly Rational But God's Ways are not like those of Men who acts in the following manner if I have well consulted the Idea of a Being infinitely perfect God by the infinite Light of his Wisdom knows all possible Works and at once all the respective Ways of producing them He sees all the Proportions between Means and their End He compares all things by one Eternal Immutable and Necessary View and by the Comparison he makes of the Proportions of Wisdom and Fecundity which he discovers between the Designs and Ways of executing them he freely forms a Design But the Design being form'd he necessarily chooses the general Ways most worthy of his Wisdom Greatness and Goodness For since he forms no Design but through the Knowledge of the Means of executing it the Choice of the Design includes the Choice of Means LI. When I say That God forms his Design freely I would not be thought to mean that he may make choice of another less worthy and reject that which is more worthy of his Wisdom For supposing that God wills the Production of an external Work worthy of him he is not indifferent in the Choice but must produce the perfectest possible with reference to the Simplicity of the Ways he acts by This God owes to himself from following the Rules of his Wisdom and he must always act in the wisest and perfectest manner But I say that God forms his Design freely because he does not invincibly and necessarily love any thing besides his own Substance Neither the Incarnation of the Word nor for a much stronger Reason the Creation of the World are necessary Emanations of his Nature God is fully Self-sufficient For the Being infinitely perfect may be conceiv'd alone and without necessary Relation to any of his Creatures LII As God necessarily loves himself he necessarily follows the Rules of his Wisdom But whereas his Creatures constitute no part of his Being he is so full and sufficient in himself that nothing obliges him to produce them and he is absolutely indifferent or free on their Account And therefore it is that he has made the World in Time For that Circumstance sufficiently shews that the Creatures are not necessary Emanations of the Divinity but essentially depending on the Free Will of the Creator LIII Lo however an Objection that offers it self immediately to the Mind If it were true that God necessarily follow'd the Rules of his Wisdom the World would not have been created in Time For either the World is worthy or unworthy of God If it were better that the World should not be produc'd from Nothing it ought to be Eternal if on the contrary that it should remain in Nothingness it ought not to be created Therefore God is not oblig'd to stick to Rules which his Wisdom prescribes since the World was created in Time But this Objection is easily answer'd 'T is better for the World to be than not to be but it had better not be at all than be Eternal The Creature ought to carry the Essential Character of Dependency If Spirits were Eternal they might have some reason to consider themselves as Gods or necessary Beings or at least as capable of contributing to the Greatness or Felicity of God whilst imagining he could not forego producing them They might in a manner compare themselves with the Persons in the Deity while believing themselves produc'd like them by a necessary Emanation Thus God ought by the Rules of his Wisdom to leave Creatures the Mark of their Dependence and yet give them Assurance that he made them not to annihilate them and that being constant in his Purposes by reason of his unlimited Wisdom they shall eternally subsist LIV. This Difficulty may still be driven farther in this manner God necessarily follows the Rules of his Wisdom and necessarily does what is best But it was at least better for the World to be created in Time than not to be at all And certainly it was fit by the Rules of the Wisdom of God that the World should be produc'd in the Circumstances in which he produc'd it Therefore the Creation of the World in Time is absolutely necessary God was not at Liberty on its account nor capable of hindring its temporary Production For the Resolution of this Difficulty it must be observ'd That though God follows the Rules prescrib'd by his Wisdom yet he does not necessarily what is best because being Master of his Action he may choose to do any thing To act and not to follow the Rules of his Wisdom is a Fault Therefore on supposition that God acts he necessarily acts in the wisest manner conceivable But his Liberty in the Production of the World is a Sign of his Abundance Fulness and Self-sufficiency 'T is better for the World to be than not to be the Incarnation of Jesus Christ renders the Work of God worthy of its Author I acknowledge But whereas God is essentially happy and perfect and as nothing is good on his Consideration but himself or the Cause of his Perfection and his Happiness he loves nothing invincibly besides his own Substance and whatever is exteriour to him ought to be produc'd by an Action really eternal and immutable but that derives its Necessity from Supposition of the Divine Decrees LV. I offer another Principle which I have already mention'd which may afford some Light to the Difficulties that may arise about the Incarnation of Jesus Christ and the Creation of the World Reason and Authority of Holy Writ teach us that the First and Principal of the Designs of God is the Constitution of his Church in Jesus Christ. The present World is not created to remain as it is The Falshood and Errour the Injustice and Disorder that are seen in it give us sufficiently to understand it ought to have an end The future World which Truth and Justice shall inhabit is the Earth which God has settled on inviolable Foundations and which being the Object of Divine Love shall eternally subsist God has not created this Visible World with other Design than to raise by degrees that invisible City whereof St. John speaks so many Wonders and as Jesus Christ shall be the principal Beauty of it he was always had in View by God in the Production of his Work He has made all for Man and with reference to him as the Scripture teaches But he for
no need of Idea's to perceive all these things because they are within the Soul or rather because they are the very Soul it self in such or such a manner just as the real Rotundity of any Body and its Motion are nothing but the Body figured and translated after such or such a sort But as to the things without the Soul we can have no perception of them but by the means of Idea's upon supposition that these things cannot be intimately united to it and they are of two sorts Spiritual and Material As to the Spiritual there is some probability they may be discover'd to the Soul without Idea's immediately by themselves For though Experience certifies us that we cannot by an immediate Communication declare our Thoughts to one another but only by words and other sensible Signs whereunto we have annex'd our Idea's yet we may say that GOD has ordain'd this kind of Oeconomy only for the time of this Life to prevent the Disorders that might at present happen if Men should understand one another as they pleas'd But when Justice and Order shall reign and we shall be delivered from the Captivity of our Body we shall possibly communicate our Thoughts by the intimate union of our selves as 't is probable the Angels may do in Heaven So that there seems to be no absolute necessity of Idea's for the representing things of a Spiritual Nature since 't is possible for them to be seen by themselves though in a very dark and imperfect manner I enquire not here how two Spirits can be united to one another or whether by that means they can open inwards and make a mutual Discovery of their Thoughts I believe however there is no Substance purely Intelligible except that of GOD and that nothing can be evidently discovered but in his Light and that the Vnion of Spirits cannot make them visible For though we be most intimately united with our selves we both are and shall be unintelligible to our selves until we see our selves in GOD and he shall present to us in our selves the perfectly intelligible Idea which he has of our Being included in his own And thus though I seem to grant that Angels may manifest to each other both what they are and what they think I must advertise that I do it only because I have no mind to dispute it provided it shall be granted me what can't be controverted namely That we cannot discern material things by themselves and without Idea's I will explain in the Seventh Chapter what my Notion is of the way whereby we know Spirits and I will make it appear that we cannot at present entirely know them by themselves though they may possibly be united to us But I discourse in this place chiefly of material Things which certainly are incapable of such a manner of Union with our Soul as is necessary to make them perceiv'd for that they being extended and the Soul not there is no proportion betwixt them And besides our Souls never depart from our Bodies to measure the Greatness of the Heavens and consequently cannot see the Bodies that are without otherwise than by the Idea's that represent them And this is what all the World must agree to We affirm then that it is absolutely necessary that the Idea's we have of Bodies and of all other Objects we perceive not immediately by themselves proceed from these same Bodies or these Objects or else that our Soul has the power of producing these Idea's or that GOD produc'd them together with her in the Creation or that he produces them as often as we think of any Object or that the Soul has in her self all the Perfections which she discovers in these Bodies or lastly is united with an All-perfect Being who comprehends universally in himself all the Perfections of Created Beings There is no perceiving of Objects but by one of these ways Let us examine without Prepossession which seems the probable'st of all and not be disheartned at the difficulty of the Question It may be we shall give a Resolution clear enough though we pretend not to give incontested Demonstrations for all sorts of Persons but only most convincing Proofs to such as with thoughtful Attention shall consider them For it probably would look like Rashness and Presumption to talk in a more positive manner CHAP. II. That Material Objects emit not Species which resemble them THE most common Opinion is that of the Peripatetics who pretend That External Objects send forth Species which are like them and that these Species are convey'd by the External Senses as far as the Commune Sensorium They call these the Species Impressae because imprinted by Objects on the outward Senses These Impress'd Species being Material and Sensible are made Intelligible by the Intellectus Agens and are fit to be receiv'd in the Intellectus Patiens These Species thus Spiritualiz'd are term'd Expressae as being express'd from the impress'd And by these it is that the Patient Intellect knows all Material things I shall not stand to finish the Explication of these Notable things and of the diverse ways Philosophers have of conceiving them For though they be not agreed about the number of the Faculties which they attribute to the Internal Sense and Understanding and there are also many that are very dubious whether they have any need of the Agent Intellect for the knowing Sensible Objects yet they almost universally agree in the Emission of the Species or Images resembling the Objects they proceed from And 't is only on this Foundation they multiply their Faculties and defend their Active Intellect So that this Foundation having no solidity as will be seen by and by there is no necessity of standing to overthrow all the Superstructures they have built upon it I maintain then it is not probable that Objects should send out Species or Images in their own likeness and these are my Reasons for it The first is taken from the Impenetrability of Bodies All Objects as the Sun the Stars as well as those that are near our Eyes cannot emit Species of a different Nature from themselves and for this Reason 't is usually said by the Philosophers that these Species are gross and material to distinguish them from the express'd Species which are spiritualiz'd These Impress'd Species of Objects are therefore little Bodies They cannot then penetrate each other nor all the spaces betwixt Heaven and Earth which must needs be fill'd with them From whence 't is easie to conclude that they must needs bruise and batter one another some coming one way and thwarting others coming another and so 't is impossible they should render Objects visible Again it is possible for one standing on one Point to see a great number of Objects which are in the Heaven and on the Earth There is then a necessity that the Species of all these Bodies be reduc'd into a Point But they are Impenetrable since they are extended Ergo c. But
enough from hence that their Argumentations upon Natural things are founded merely on Logical Notions such as Act Power and an infinite number of Imaginary Entities which they take no care to distinguish from such as are Real These Gentlemen therefore finding it wonderful easie to see after their manner what they have a Mind to see imagine they have better Eyes than other Men and that they perceive distinctly Extension supposes something else and that 't is only a Property of Matter which Matter may be divested of as of the rest Yet if you make a Demand of them that they would please to explain that thing which they pretend to perceive in Matter besides Extension they offer to do it several ways every of which makes it apparent that they have no other Idea of it than that of Being or of Substance in general This is extreamly evident if we take notice That this their Idea includes no particular Attributes which agree to Matter For whilst we take Extension from Matter we rob it of all the Attributes and Properties which we distinctly conceive do belong to it and though we leave that imaginary thing which they suppose the Essence of it it being manifest that neither Earth nor Heaven nor any thing we see in Nature could be made of it Whereas on the contrary if we take away what they fancy the Essence of Matter provided we leave Extension and we leave all the Attributes and Properties we distinctly conceive included in the Idea of Matter For it is certain that out of Extension all alone might be fram'd an Heaven an Earth and all the Visible World and infinite others So this Something which they suppose over and above Extension having no Attributes distinctly to be conceiv'd belonging to it and clearly included in the Idea we have of it can have nothing real in it if we will credit our Reason nor can be of any use in explaining Natural Effects And that which is said of its being the Subject and Principle of Extension is said gratis and without any distinct Conception in them that say it that is they have no other than a General and Logical Idea of it as of Subject and Principle In so much that we may further imagine a new Subject and a new Principle of this Subject of Extension and so in infinitum the Mind having the Power of representing the General Idea's of Subject and Principle as long as it pleases 'T is true there is a great probability that Men had not so puzzl'd and obscur'd the Idea that they have of Matter had they not some Reasons for it and that there are many who maintain contrary Conclusions to these of ours upon Theological Principles Doubtless Extension is not the Essence of Matter if that be contrary to our Faith And we willingly acknowledge it We are thank GOD very well perswaded of the Feebleness and Limitedness of an Humane Mind We know it is of too little Extent to measure an Infinite Power that GOD can do infinitely more than we can conceive that he communicates only those Idea's which represent to us the things that arrive by the order of Nature and hides the rest from us Wherefore we are always ready to submit our Reason unto Faith but there is need of better proofs than are generally urg'd to ruin the Reasons we have establish'd Because the manner of explaining the Mysteries of Faith are not of Faith and we believe these Mysteries without conceiving how the manner of them can be distinctly explaind We believe for instance the Mystery of the TRINITY though the Humane Mind is unable to conceive it and yet we cease not to believe that the things that differ not in any third differ not in themselves though this Proposition seems to overthrow it For we are convinc'd that Reason is not to be made use of except in Subjects proportion'd to its Capacity and that we ought not to look steadfastly on our Mysteries for fear of being dazel'd by them according that Admonition of the Holy Spirit Qui scrutator est Majestatis opprimetur à gloriâ However if we thought it convenient for the satisfaction of some Men's Minds to explain how our Notion upon this matter may be reconcil'd with what we are taught by Faith concerning Transubstantiation we probably could do it in a way very distinct and perspicuous and could no ways offend against the Decisions of the Church But we think this Explication may be dispens'd with especially in this Work For it ought to be observ'd That the Holy Fathers have almost always look'd upon it as an incomprehensible Mystery and that they never play'd the Philosophers to explain it but contented themselves for the most part with unexact Comparisons fitter to make known the Doctrine than to give a Satisfactory Explication to the Mind Therefore Tradition is for such as Philosophize not on this Mystery and who sumit their Reason to the Rule of Faith without distracting their Brain to no purpose about most abstruse and difficult Questions We should be to blame should we require the Philosophers to give us clear and easie Explications of the manner of our LORD's Body being in the Eucharist for this would be to demand of them novelties in Divinity And in case the Philosophers should make an impudent Answer to the Demand they must be necessarily obnoxious either to the having their Philosophy or Divinity condemn'd For if their Explications were obscure they would give reason to despise the Principles of their Philosophy if their Answer were easie and apparent we should have reason to be apprehensive of Novelty in their Divinity Since then Novelty in point of Divinity bears the Impress and Character of Error and the World has a right and priviledge of despising Opinions merely on the Account of their being Novel and having no foundation in Tradition we ought not to undertake to give easie and intelligible Explications of those things which the Fathers and Councels have not perfectly explain'd and 't is sufficient to hold the Doctrine of Transubstantiation without offering to make out the manner of it For otherwise we might sow the seeds for fresh Disputes and Quarrels whereof there are too many already and the Enemies of the Truth would not fail to use them to malicious purpose and for the oppressing of their Adversaries Disputes in point of Theological Explications seem to be the most useless and most dangerous of any and they are with greater reason to be fear'd for that even Religious Persons often fancy they have a right of breaking their Charity with such as break with their Opinions We have but too common Experience of this Practice and the cause of it lies not very deep Wherefore 't is always the best and surest way not to be eager to speak of things whereof we have no Evidence and which others are not dispos'd to conceive Nor ought obscure and uncertain Explications of Mysteries of Faith which we are under no
Fourth Part of his Philosophical Principles which runs thus That the former Hypothesis is to be retain'd notwithstanding its being false to find out the true Causes of natural Things he expresly asserts the contrary in these words Though I pretend not that the Bodies of this visible World were ever produced in the manner that has been described before of which the Reader has been already sufficiently forewarn'd yet I must still keep to the same Hypothesis to explain what appears upon Earth For if I may as I hope I can plainly shew by those means the most intelligible and certain Causes of all Natural things and they cannot be found out another way I may thence reasonably conclude that though the World was not at the Beginning fram'd in this manner but created immediately by God yet the Nature of all things it contains ceases not to be the very same as though they had been produced in that very method Des Cartes knew that to understand the Nature of things they must be consider'd in their Birth and Original and that beginning with those that are most simple we ought to drive them up to the Fountain head and that the business is not to examine whether God working by the most simple ways formed the World by degrees or struck it out at a single Blow but that in what manner soever God may have produced his Works they ought to be first consider'd in their Principles if we would understand them and afterwards we should observe how consistent our thoughts are with the Operations of God by comparing them together He knew that the Laws of Nature by which God preserves all his Works in their present Order and Situation are the same Laws with those by which he might have formed and disposed them It being evident to all considering Men that if God had not disposed his Works in an instant in the same manner they would have order'd and postur'd themselves in time the whole Oeconomy of Nature would be destroy'd since the Laws of Preservation would be contrary to those of the first Creation If the whole Universe remains in the Order in which we see it 't is because the Laws of Motion which preserve it in that Order were capable of producing it in it and if God had established it in an Order different from that into which those Laws of Motion should have put it all things would be turned upside down and place themselves by the force of those Laws in the Order which they at present keep A Man desires to discover the Nature of a Chicken to that end he opens every day Eggs taken from under a Brood-Hen he examines what part moves and grows first he quickly perceives that the Heart begins to beat and to drive out Blood through small Conduits on all sides that are the Arteries which Blood comes back to the Heart through the Veins that the Brain likewise appears at first and that the Bones are the last formed By that he frees himself from many Errours and even draws from those Observations several Consequences very useful for the Knowledge of living Creatures What fault may be found with the conduct of such a Man and how may it be given out that he pretends to persuade that God formed the first Chicken by creating an Egg and giving it a competent degree of heat to hatch it because he tries to discover the Nature of Chickens in their first Formation Why then should Des Cartes be accused of being opposite to the Holy Scriptures for that designing to discover the Nature of visible things he examines the formation of them by the Laws of Motion which are inviolably observ'd on all occasions He never doubted but that the World was created at first with all its perfection that there were Sun Earth Moon and Stars that in the Earth there were not only the Seeds of Plants but also the Plants themselves and that Adam and Eve were not born Infants but made adult The Christian Faith teaches us that and natural Reason persuades us the same for when we consider the infinite Power of God we cannot think he should ever have made any thing which was not altogether perfect But as we should better understand the nature of Adam and Eve and the Trees of Paradise by examining how Children are insensibly form'd in their Mothers Womb and how Plants are deriv'd from their Seeds than by merely considering how they were when Created by God at the Creation of the World so if we can find out Principles very simple and easie out of which as out of some Seeds we can manifestly shew the Stars the Earth and all visible things might have been produced though we very well know that it was never so yet that will be more conducible to explain their Nature than if we should only describe them so as they now are or as we believe they were Created and because I suppose I have found out such Principles I shall indeavour briefly to Explain them Des Cartes was persuaded that God formed the World all at once but he also believed that God Created it in the same State and Order and with the same Disposition of Parts in which it would have been had it been made gradually and by the most simple ways And that thought is worthy both of the Power and Wisdom of God of his Power because he has made in a Moment all his Works in the highest Perfection and of his Wisdom because he has shewn that he perfectly foresaw whatever could befall Matter if it were moved by the most simple ways and likewise because the Order of Nature could not subsist if the World had been produced by ways that is by Laws of Motion contrary to the Laws by which it is preserv'd as I have already mention'd 'T is ridiculous to say that Des Cartes believed the World might have been formed of it self since he owns with all those that follow the light of Reason that Bodies cannot move themselves by their own strength and that all the immutable Laws of the Communication of Motions are but consequences of the immutable Will of God who always acts in the same manner His proving that God alone gives Motion to Matter and that Motion produces in Bodies all their different Forms was sufficient to hinder the Libertines from making an Advantage of his System On the contrary if Atheists should reflect on the Principles of this Philosopher they would quickly be forced to confess their Errours for if they can assert with the Heathens that Matter is uncreated they cannot also maintain that it can move it self by its own Power So that Atheists would at least be obliged to acknowledge the true Mover if they refused to confess the true Creatour But the Ordinary Philosophy affords 'em sufficient pretences to blind themselves and defend their Errours for it speaks of some impress'd Virtues certain motive Faculties in a word of a certain Nature which is the Principle of
finite or infinite Time but what is only infinite in one sense is neither finite nor infinite and therefore nothing can subsist in that Manner This is the way of arguing with the Prince of Philosophers and the Genius of Nature who instead of discovering by clear and distinct Ideas the true Cause of natural Effects lays the Foundation of a Pagan Philosophy upon the false and confused Ideas of the Senses or upon such Ideas as are too general to be useful to the Search after Truth I condemn not Aristotle for not knowing that God has created the World in Time to manifest his Power and the Dependency of Creatures and that he will never destroy it to shew that he is immutable and never repents of his Designs But I may find fault with him for proving by trifling Reasons that the World is of Eternal Duration For though he be sometimes excusable as to the Opinions he maintains yet he 's for the most part intollerable as to the Reasons he alledges when he treats of Subjects that are somewhat difficult What I have already said may perhaps be sufficient to evince it though I have not related all the Errours I have met with in the Book whence the former are extracted and that I have endeavour'd to make him speak plainer than is customary with him But for an entire and full Conviction that the Genius of Nature will never discover the secret Springs and Contrivances of it it will be convenient to shew that his Principles upon which he reasons for the Explication of natural Effects have no Solidity in them 'T is evident that nothing can be discover'd in Physicks without beginning with the most simple Bodies that is with the Elements into which all others are resolv'd because they are contain'd in them either actually or potentially to speak in a Peripatetick Stile But no distinct Explication of those simple Bodies can be found in the Works of Aristotle whence follows that his Elements being not clearly known 't is impossible to discover the Nature of Bodies which are compos'd of them He says indeed that there are four Elements Fire Air Water and Earth but he gives no clear Manifestation of their Nature by any distinct Idea He pretends not that those Elements are the Fire Air Water and Earth that we see for if it were so our Senses at least would afford us some Knowledge of them I grant that in several places of his Works he endeavours to explain them by the Qualities of Heat and Cold Moisture and Dryness Gravity and Levity But that Method is so impertinent and ridiculous that it cannot be conceiv'd how so many Learned Men could be satisfied with it which I proceed to demonstrate Aristotle pretends in his Book of the Heavens that the Earth is the Centre of the World and that all Bodies which he is pleas'd to call simple because he supposes that they are mov'd by their own Nature must move by simple Motions He asserts that besides the Circular Motion which he pretends to be simple and by which he proves that the Heavens which he supposes to move circularly are a simple Body there are two other simple Motions one downwards from the Circumference to the Centre and the other upwards from the Centre to the Circumference That those simple Motions are proper to simple Bodies and consequently that Earth and Fire are such Bodies one of which is altogether heavy and the other perfectly light But because Gravity and Levity may be proper to a Body either wholly or in part he concludes that there are two other Elements or simple Bodies one of which is partly light and the other partly ponderous viz. Water and Air. Thus he proves that there are four Elements and no more It is plain to all those who examine the Opinions of Men by their own Reason that all those Propositions are false or cannot at least be taken for clear and undeniable Principles which may afford very plain and distinct Ideas whereon to lay the Foundation of Natural Philosophy 'T is certain that nothing can be more absurd than to establish the Number of Elements upon the imaginary Qualities of Heaviness and Lightness saying without any farther Proof that some Bodies are ponderous and others light of their own Nature For if any thing may be asserted without Proof it may be said that all Bodies are naturally heavy and endeavour to approach the Centre of the World as the place of their Rest. And the contrary may be asserted too viz. That all Bodies are light of their own Nature and tend to rise to the Heavens as to the place of their greatest Perfection For if you object to him who maintains the Gravity of Bodies that Fire and Air are light he needs but answer that Fire and Air are not light but that being less ponderous than Earth and Water they seem to us to be light And that it goes with those Elements as with a piece of Wood that appears light upon the Water not by reason of any natural Levity since it falls down when in the Air but because Water being heavier seizes the lower Place and forces it to ascend On the contrary If you object to him that defends the natural Levity of Bodies that Earth and Water are ponderous he will likewise answer That those Bodies seem heavy because they are not so light as those that surround them That Wood for instance appears to be ponderous when in the Air not because of its natural Gravity since it ascends when in the Water but because it is not so light as Air. And therefore 't is ridiculous to suppose as an undeniable Principle that Bodies are either light or heavy of their own Nature it being on the contrary evident that none has the Force of moving it self and that 't is indifferent to be moved either upwards or downwards to the East or to the West to the South or to the North or in any other possible manner But let us grant to Aristotle That there are four Elements such as he pretends two of which are heavy viz. Earth and Water and the two other light of their own Nature viz. Fire and Air what Consequence may be drawn from thence for the Knowledge of the Universe Those four Elements are not the visible Fire Air Water and Earth but something quite different which we know neither by the Senses nor by Reason having no distinct Idea of them Let all natural Bodies be compos'd of them since Aristotle has said it But the Nature of those Compounds is still unknown and cannot be discovered but by knowing the four Elements or the simple Bodies of which they are made since the Composed is known only by the Simple Fire says Aristotle is light by its own Nature the ascending Motion is simple Fire is therefore a simple Body since Motion must be proportion'd to the Moveable Natural Bodies are compos'd of simple there is then Fire in all natural Bodies but a Fire
them together In a word as it does nothing it must needs congregate nothing Aristotle judging of things by his Senses imagin'd Cold to be as positive as Heat and because the Sensations of Heat and Cold are both real and positive he supposes them both likewise to be active Qualities and indeed if we follow the Impressions of the Senses we shall be apt to believe that Cold is a very active Quality since cold Water congeals accumulates and hardens in a moment melted Gold and Lead when they are pour'd upon it from a Crucible though the Heat of those Metals be yet strong enough to separate the Parts of the Bodies which they touch 'T is plain by what has been said in the First Book concerning the Errours of the Senses That if we relye upon the Judgment the Senses make of the Qualities of sensible Bodies 't is impossible to discover any certain and undeniable Truth that may serve as a Principle to proceed in the Knowledge of Nature For one cannot so much as discover that way what things are hot and what cold amongst several Persons who touch luke-warm Water it feels cold to those that are hot and hot to those that are cold And if we suppose Fishes susceptible of Sensation 't is very probable that they feel it warm when all or most Men feel it cold It is the same with Air that seems to be hot or cold according to the different Dispositions of the Bodies of those that are exposed to it Aristotle pretends that it is hot but I fansie that the Nothern Inhabitants are of another Opinion since several learned Men whose Climate is as hot as that of Greece have asserted it to be cold But that Question which has made so much noise in the Schools will never be resolv'd as long as no distinct Idea shall be affixed to the Word Heat The Definitions Aristotle lays down of Heat and Cold cannot settle that Idea For Instance Air and even Water though never so hot and scalding congregate the parts of melted Lead together with those of any other Metal whatsoever Air conglutinates all sorts of Fat joyn'd with Gums or any other solid Bodies And he shall be a very formal Peripatetick who should think of exposing Mastich to the Air to separate the pitchy from the Earthy part and other compound Bodies to uncompound them And therefore Air is not hot according to the Definition which Aristotle gives of Heat Air separates Liquors from the Bodies that are imbued with them hardens Clay dries spread Linen though Aristotle makes it moist and so is hot and drying according to the same Definition therefore it cannot be determined by that Definition whether or no Air is hot It may indeed be asserted that Air is hot in reference to Clay since it separates the Water from the Earthy Part. But must we try all the various Effects of Air upon all Bodies before we can be assured whether there is Heat in the Air we breath in If it be so we shall never be sure of it and 't is as good not to philosophize at all upon the Air we respire but upon some certain pure and elementary Air not to be found here below of which we can very dogmatically assert with Aristotle that it is hot without giving the least Proof of it nor even distinctly knowing what we understand either by that Air or by the Heat ascribed to it For thus we shall lay down Principles scarce to be destroyed not because of their Plainness and Certainty but by reason of their Darkness and their being like to Apparitions which cannot be wounded because they have not a Body I shall not insist upon Aristotle's Definitions of Moisture and Dryness it being evident that they explain not their Nature For according to those Definitions Fire is not dry since it is not easily contained within its own limits and Ice is not moist since it keeps within its proper Bounds and can difficultly be adapted to external Bounds But if fluid be understood by the Word humid or moist it may again be said that Ice is not moist and that Flame melted Gold and Lead are very humid If by humid or moist be understood what easily cleaves to any thing Ice is not humid and Pitch Fat and Oil are moister than Water since they cleave to Bodies more strongly than it does Quick-silver is moist in that sense for it cleaves to Metals whereas Water is not perfectly moist since it cleaves not to most of them So that 't is unserviceable to have recourse to the Testimony of the Senses to defend the Opinions of Aristotle But without farther examining his wonderful Definitions of the four Elementary Qualities let us suppose that whatever the Senses teach us of those Qualities is incontestable let us muster up all our Faith and believe all those Definitions very accurate Only let it be allowed us to enquire whether all the Qualities of sensible Bodies are made of these Elementary Qualities Aristotle pretends it and he must do so indeed since he looks upon those Four primitive Qualities as the Principles of all the things which he intends to explain in his Books of Physicks He teaches us that Colours are produced from the Mixture of those Four Elementary Qualities White is produced when Moisture exceeds Heat as in old Men when they grow gray Black when Moisture is exhausted as in the Walls of Cisterns and all other Colours by the like Mixtures that Odours and Savours arise from different Degrees of Dryness and Moisture mix'd together by Heat and Cold and that even Gravity and Levity do depend thereon In short All sensible Qualities must needs be produced according to Aristotle by Two active Principles viz. Heat and Cold and composed of Two passive namely Dryness and Moisture that there may be some probable Connexion betwixt his Principles and the Consequences he draws from them However 't is yet a harder Task to persuade us of such things than any of those that have been hitherto related from Aristotle We can scarce believe that the Earth and other Elements would not be colour'd or visible if they were in their natural Purity without Mixture of those Elementary Principles though some learned Commentators on that Philosopher assert it We understand not what Aristotle means when he assures us that gray Hair is produced by Moisture because in old Men Moisture exceeds Heat though to illustrate his thought we put the definition instead of the thing defined For it looks like an incomprehensible piece of Nonsence to say that the Hair of old Men becomes gray because what is not easily contained within its own Limits but may be within others exceeds what congregates homogeneous things And we are as hard put it to believe that Savour is well explain'd by saying it consists in a mixture of Dryness Moisture and of Heat especially when we put instead of those words the Definitions given by that Philosopher as it would prove useful
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
and Body are chang'd no otherwise than that the Union of the former is grown into a Dependence for the Reasons I have given elsewhere For at present we depend on that Body to which before Sin we were only united XLV Now the Laws of Nature are always most Simple and General For God acts not by particular Wills unless Order requires a Miracle Which Truth I have sufficiently prov'd in the First Discourse Thus when a Stone falls on the Head of a good Man and rids him of his Life it falls in consequence of the Laws of Motions and not because that Man is Just and God designs to recompense him When a like Accident destroys a Sinner 't is not because God will actually punish him For God on the contrary would have all Men sav'd But he is not to change the Simplicity of his Laws to suspend the Punishment of a Criminal So likewise when Light breaks into our Understanding 't is because our Desires are the Natural or Occasional Causes of it 't is because we hear some understanding Person and because our Brain is dispos'd to receive the Impressions of the Speaker And not that God has a particular Will on our behalf but that he follows the General Laws of Nature to which he has oblig'd himself I can see nothing Mysterious in the Distribution of these kinds of Graces and I stand not to draw Consequences deducible from these Truths XLVI 'T is to be observ'd that Jesus Christ who is the sole Meritorious Cause of the Goods we receive from God by the Order of Nature is sometimes the Occasional Cause of the Grace of Light as well as of that of Sensation yet I am of Opinion that this but rarely happens because indeed it is not necessary it should Jesus Christ as much as possible makes the Order of Nature subservient to that of Grace For besides that Reason evinces that Order will have it so because that Method is most simple it is sufficiently manifest by the Conduct he takes on Earth and the Order he has establish'd and still preserves in his Church Jesus Christ made use of Speech for the Instruction of the World and likewise sent his Disciples two by two to prepare the People to receive him He has settled Apostles Prophets Evangelists Doctors Bishops and Priests to labour in the Edification of the Church Is not this to make Nature Handmaid to Grace and to propagate the Light of Faith in Mens Minds by ways most Simple and Natural And indeed Jesus Christ on Earth was not to instruct Men by particular Wills since he might instruct them as Interiour Truth and Eternal Wisdom by the most simple and exuberant Laws of Nature XLVII That which lies most hidden and unreveal'd in the Order God has follow'd for the Establishment of his Church is doubtless the Time Place and other Circumstances of the Incarnation of his Son and the Preaching of the Gospel For why should Jesus Christ for whom the World was created become Man Four thousand Years after its Creation Why must he be born among the Jews he that was to reject that wretched Nation Why must he choose to be the Son of David when the Family of David was obscur'd and not rather to be born from Emperours who have commanded the whole World since he came to Convert and Enlighten all the Earth Why to elect his Apostles and Disciples out of the Ignorant and Illeterate to preach to the Inhabitants of Bethsaida and Corazin who remain in Incredulity and to leave Tyre and Sidon who would have been converted by the like Grace afforded them to hinder St. Paul from preaching the Word of God in Asia and to appoint him to pass into Macedonia A thousand other Circumstances which have accompanied the Preaching of the Gospel are no doubt such Mysteries as admit not clear and evident Reasons nor is it my Design to give them My Purpose is only to establish some Principles that may afford some Light to these and the like Difficulties or at least give us to understand that nothing can be thence concluded against what I have said of the Order of Nature and Grace XLVIII 'T is certain that Natural Effects are complicated and mix'd a thousand ways with the Effects of Grace and that the Order of Nature strengthens or weakens the Efficacy or Effects of the Orders of Grace according as these two Orders variously combine together Death which by the General Laws of Nature at a particular Juncture befals a good or ill Prince or Bishop occasions a great deal of Good or Evil in the Church because such kind of Accidents cause a great Diversity in the Sequel of Effects which depend on the Order of Grace But God would have all Men sav'd by the simplest ways Therefore we may and ought to say in general That He has chosen the Time the Place and Manners which in the process of Time and by the General Laws of Nature and Grace must all things consider'd introduce a greater Number of the Predestinate into the Church God does all things for his Glory Therefore among all the possible Combination of Nature and Grace he has from the infinite Extent of his Knowledge made choice of that which could form the perfectest Church and most suitable to his Majesty and Wisdom XLIX This one would think were sufficient to answer all the Difficulties that can arise about the Circumstances of our Mysteries For if it be said that Jesus Christ ought to be born to a Roman Emperour and to perform his Miracles in the Metropolis of the World that the Gospel might spread it self with greater Ease into the remotest Countries It may be boldly answer'd That though this seems so to Men yet that Combination of Nature and Grace had not been so worthy of the Wisdom of God as that which he has chosen I confess Religion had been propagated with greater ease but its Establishment had not been so Divine and Extraordinary nor consequently an invincible Proof of its Reality and Truth So â—hat according to that Combination Religion would at this Day have been destroy'd at least less disseminated abroad in the World Besides when we say that God acts by the simplest ways we ever suppose an Equality in the rest and especially in the Glory that ought to redound to God from his Work But the Church had not been so perfect nor so worthy of the Greatness and Holiness of God if it had been form'd with so much ease For the Beauty of the Heavenly Jerusalem consisting in the Variety of Rewards accruing upon the several Combats of Christians 't was requisite the Martyrs should lay down their Lives as well as Jesus Christ to enter into the Possession of their present Glory In a word this Principle That of all the infinite Combinations of Nature and Grace God has chosen that which ought to produce an Effect most worthy of his Greatness and Wisdom suffices for a General Answer to all the
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