Action of God which is of infinite value and the World how perfect soeve◠〈◊〉 might be is not infinitely amiable and cannâ—◠〈…〉 unto God an Honour worthy of him Thus separate Jesus Christ from the rest of the creatures and see if he who cannot act but for his own glory and whose Wisdom has no bounds cou'd resolve to produce any thing from without But if you joyn J. C. to his Church and the Church to the rest of the World out of which it was taken then you will raise to the Glory of God a Temple so august and so holy that you 'l perhaps be surprized that the foundations of it were laid so late Additions See then the order of things All is for men men for J. C. and J. C. for God Whether things present or things to come all are yours and you are Christs and Christ is Gods 1. Cor. 3.22 God hath Subjected all things to J. C. All Power is given to me both in Heaven and Earth St. Mat. 28.18 Heb. 2.9 That J. C. might subject all things to God and give up his Kingdom at the end of the World having destroyed all Principalities and all Powers 1. Cor. 15.24 That the Son himself may be for ever subject to him that put all things under him and that thus God may be all in all Ver. 28. This is the Spiritual Temple which must be altogether filled with the Majesty of God and remain eternally because its immovable foundations are laid on J. C. before those of this world which must Perish * I was set up from everlasting from the begining or ever the earth was Fundavit me 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 apud Sept. Ab aeterno ordinata sum ex antiquis antequam terra sieret Prov. 8.23 God has elected us in J. C. before the Creation of the World Eph. 1.4 His grace is given to us before the world began 2. Tim. 1.9 And J. C. himself in his Prayer after the celebration of the holy Supper beggs of 〈◊〉 Father that glory which he possessed in him before the world was i. e. before he resolved to form the World St. John 17.5 To conclude J. C. being the first of the predestinated since we are not predestinated but in J. C. God who has made the world only for the predistinated Omnia propter electos must as I may so say have thought of J. C. before all things For if these passages and such like be interpreted only of the Eternal prescience it also may be truly said that the motion of a straw is in God before all ages as well as the Incarnation of his beloved Son who renders all the Work of God Amiable to him If the different manner after which the H. Spirit speaks of the works of God in the H. Scripture be observed it cannot be doubted in my opinion that J. C. and his Church is truly the design of God See wherefore it is evident by reason and certain by Faith that God never repents or changes his design God is not as the Son of man that he should repent Numb 23.19 Yet nevertheless the H. Scripture says that God repented he had made man Gen. 6.6 And that the Jewish Priest-hood their Ceremonies their whole Burnt offerings were not at all pleasing to him Isa 1. Psalm 50. Why did God make a World which he was obliged to destroy Why has he established a worship which he is bound to reject he who is constant in all his purposes It is because he would thereby signify that the present world is not properly his work or his true design nor the Jewish worship a true worship or worthy of him But what then is his immutable design The Lord sware and will not repent thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec God will never repent of having made J. C. Sovereign Priest He thereby receives Divine Honours His Priesthood shall continue for ever having been confirmed by an Oath Heb. ch 7. c. God repented that he had made Saul King over the people Saul I say the figure of Herods and the Image of Politick Kings who only seek their own greatness But David the figure and Father of Jesus Christ is after Gods own heart God never repented that he had made him King over his People I have Sworn once by my Holiness that I will not fail David His Seed shall endure for ever and his Seat is like as the Sun before me Psal 89.34 35. Behold thou shalt conceive and bear a Son and of his Kingdom there shall be no end When Abraham by the sacrifice of his only Son had represented Jesus Christ raised from the Dead God assures him and that also with an Oath to render this promise irrevocable that in the Antitpye of Isaac delivered from the Dead that is to say in J. C. raised from the Dead set at his right hand made a Priest according to the order of Melchisedec and a King over his People all the Nations should be abundantly blessed By my self have I Sworn saith the Lord in thy seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be Blessed Thus we see when God speaks of the Incarnation of his Son and of his Priesthood he thereunto adds an Oath to shew that this is his irrevocable purpose or rather his purpose for since God never repents all his designs are irrevocable But I think I ought to advise that what I have hitherto said is not essential to my purpose which is principally to justify the Wisdom and Goodness of God notwithstanding Monsters Sinners and all the irregularities found in the World If I place J. C. at the Head of all things if I make him the principal design of God it is because I hope by this means to justifie the thought or desire which God had to go out of himself by communicating himself to his Creatures and by the regular order of Meditation it seems to me I ought to begin there IV. In the mean time if you observe that the glory which redounds to God from his work is not essential to him if you grant that the World cannot be a necessary Emanation of the Divinity you 'll plainly see that it was not to have been eternal tho' it never should have an end Eternity is the Character of Independence it must needs be therefore that the World had a begining The annihilation of substances is a mark of inconstancy in him that made them they therefore shall never have an end Additions I mean that Eternity does not imply independence But independence implys Eternity for nothing can be independent that is not Eternal Eternal existence therefore is the manner whereby that thing which is independent exists GOD could not give Eternal existence to Creatures To consider only the Power of God he was able to have created the World from all Eternity for he never was without his Power But if his Wisdom which is his inviolable be consulted he ought not to have
distributes to his Members those Graces which by his sacrifice he hath merited for his Church For my part I cannot comprehend how any one can doubt of these Reasons nor upon what foundation a Truth so very edifying and as ancient as the Religion of J. C. can be treated as a dangerous Novelty I grant my Expressions may be new but this is because they appear'd to me very proper distinctly to explain a truth which I could only have confusedly demonstrated by too general terms The words Occasional Causes and General Laws appear to me necessary to make those Philosophers for whom I wrote the Treatise of Nature and Grace distinctly comprehend that which the generality of Men are content to know only confusedly Since new Expressions are not dangerous but when they cover something which is equivocal or may occasion some thought contrary to Religion to arise in the mind I do not think that any candid persons and who are skill'd in St. Paul's Divinity will be offended because I explain my self after a particular manner since it tends only to make us adore the Wisdom of God and to unite us strictly unto J. C. Objection I. XIII It is objected against what I have said That neither Angels nor Saints of the Old Testament received Grace in consequence of the desires of the Soul of Jesus since this Holy Soul was not as yet and thus tho J. C. be the meritorious cause of all Graces he is not the occasional which distributes them to Men. Answer In respect of Angels I answer That there is some probability that Grace was given to them once only So that if we consider things in this respect I confess that nothing oblig'd the Wisdom of God to establish an occasional cause for the sanctification of Angels But if these blessed Spirits be considered as Members of the Body whereof J. C. is Head or if it be supposed that they were unequally assisted I believe there is reason to think that the diversity of their Graces came from him who-is Head of Angels as well as Men and that in this capacity he by his sacrifice not only merited all Graces which God gave to his Creatures but also diversly applied these same Graces to them by his different desires Since it cannot be denied that J. C. along time before he was born or could merit was the meritorious cause of Graces which were given to the Angels and Saints of the Old Testament it must in my opinion be granted that by his Prayers he might have been the occasional cause of the same Graces a long time before they were ask'd For there is no necessary relation between occasional causes and the time of their producing their effects and tho ordinarily these sorts of causes do produce their effects at the very time of their action nevertheless since their action is not efficacious in its self seeing its efficacy depends upon the will of the universal cause it is not necessary that it should actually exist that they may produce their effects Suppose for example That J. C. to day asks of his Father that such an one may receive such an assistance at certain times of his life the Prayer of J. C. will infallibly determine the efficacy of the general Will of God which is to save all Men in his Son This person shall receive these assistances tho the Soul of J. C. actually thinks of quite another thing and tho it should never more think of that which it desired for him Now the Prayer of J. C. which is already pass'd is not more present to his Father than the future for whatsoever happens in all times is equally present to God Thus since God loves his Son and knows that his Son will have such desires in respect of his Ancestors and the People of his own Nation and also in respect of Angels who were to enter into the Spiritual Edifice of his Church and compose the Body of which he is the Head he seems to have been obliged to accomplish the desires of his Son before they were made to the end that the Elect who were before his birth and whom he purchased by the merit of his sacrifice should as particularly belong to him as others and he should be their Head as truly as he is ours I confess it is convenient that meritorious and occasional causes should go before their effects rather than follow them and even order its self requires that these causes and their effects do exist at the same time For 't is clear that all merit should be presently rewarded and that every occasional cause should actually produce its effect provided that nothing hinder but that this may and ought to be so But since Grace was absolutely necessary to the Angels and to the Patriarchs it could not be differ'd As for the Glory and Reward of the Saints of the Old Testament seeing it might be delay'd it was expedient that God should suspend its accomplishment till J. C. was ascended into Heaven and made an High-Priest over the House of God and began to use the soveraign power of an occasional cause of all Graces which he had merited by his Labours upon Earth Thus we believe that the Patriarchs did not enter into Heaven till J. C. himself their Head their Mediator and their Fore-runner was therein entred Nevertheless tho it should be granted that God should not have appointed an occasional cause for all Graces given to the Angels and the Patriarchs I do not see how it can be concluded that at present J. C. does not dispense to the Body of the Church that Spirit which gives it increase and nourishment that he prays not for it or that his Desires or Prayers do not infallibly obtain their effect or in a word that he is not the occasional cause which applies those Graces to to Men which he has merited for them Before J. C. God gave Grace by particular Wills This I grant if it be desired the necessity of Order requires it the occasional Cause could not regularly be so soon establish'd the Elect were but very few But at present when the rain of Grace is generally sent upon all the World when it falls not as heretofore upon a very few Men of one chosen Nation when J. C. may or ought to be establish'd the occasional cause of the goods which he has merited for his Church what reason is there to believe that God should still work Miracles as often as he gives good Sentiments For certainly all that God does by particular Wills is a Miracle since it happens not by the general Laws which he has established and whose efficacy is determin'd by occasional causes But how can we think that to save Men he should work all those Miracles which are useless to their salvation I mean that he should give all those Graces which they resist because they are not proportioned to the actual strength of their concupiscence St. John teaches us that Christians receive
ordinarily it is then only and in those circumstances when one only Miracle i. e. an effect which cannot be the consequence of natural Laws doth happily adjust a great many events and the most that can be For his prescience being infinite he doth not work two Miracles when one will suffice So that in the Divine Providence there is nothing that is not Divine or which doth not bear the character of the Divine Attributes for God acts according to what he is He is wise his foreknowledge is infinite Now to establish general Laws and to foresee that from thence a work will arise worthy of these Laws is a mark of such a Wisdom as hath no bounds and to act by particular wills is to act as Men who can foresee nothing Therefore God acts by general Laws God is the Searcher of Hearts Now to make use of free Causes for the execution of his designs without determining these Causes after an invincible manner is to be the Searcher of Hearts and it is not necessary to have this quality for the execution of his designs if he did determine causes after an invincible manner Therefore God ordinarily leaves J.C. Angels and Men to act according to their natures He doth not communicate to them his power that he may destroy their liberty He gives them part in the glory of his work and thereby augments his own For leaving them to act according to their natures and nevertheless executing by them designs worthy of himself he makes it admirably appear that he is Searcher of Hearts Nevertheless the limitation of Angels the malice of Devils and both these qualities in good and evil Men and many other reasons may oblige God to act sometimes by particular wills For a limited spirit tho perfectly united to Order cannot foresee the connection of free causes which is necessary to bring the work of God to its perfection So that where Order permits God must determine Angels by particular wills and make even the sins of Men and the malice of Devils to enter into the order of his Providence And proportionably the same must be said of Jesus Christ considered as Man and Head of the Church and as Architect of the Eternal Temple God is immutable now immutability in his Conduct imports immutability in his nature to change Conduct every moment is a mark of inconstancy So that God must follow general Laws with respect to this attribute if none of his other attributes do otherwise require that he cease to observe it For God acts not but for himself but for that love which he bears unto himself but to Honour his attributes both by the Divinity of his ways and the Perfection of his work In a word the immutable Order of Justice which he owes to himself and his own perfections is a Law with which he never can dispence Thus experience teaches us that God governs the purely Corporeal World by the general Laws of the communications of motions By these it is that he makes the admirable Vicissitude of Night and Day Summer and Winter Rain and Fair weather By them also it is that he covers the Earth with Fruits and Flowers that he gives to Animals and Plants their growth and nourishment Experience also teaches us that God governs Men by the general Laws of Union of Soul and Body For by these Laws he doth not only unite the Soul to the Body for the conservation of Life but thereby he also diffuses it as I may say over all his works and so makes it admire the beauties thereof It is by these that he forms Societies and makes as I may say but one body of all People It is by them that he teaches Men the truths of Religion and Morality And Lastly by them it is that he makes Christians absolves Penitents Sanctifies the Elect and makes them merit all those degrees of glory which makes up the beauty of the Heavenly Jerusalem When I say that it is by them he doth all this it is easily perceived that I mean they are subservient thereunto in the Order of Divine Providence For it is cheifly by the general Laws which give power to J.C. and the Angels that GOD doth build his Church Further Faith teaches us that it is by general Laws that God punishes and rewards men since Angels who are the distributers of Temporal goods have no efficacy of their own It is by them that God provides for the necessities of his Elect and resists the pernicious use which Wicked Men and Devils make of that Power which they have to tempt and afflict us in consequence also of certain general Laws But all Powers are submitted to that which J.C. has in consequence of the general Laws of the Order of Grace for at present the Angels themselves who command others for there is a certain subordination among them according to the most probable and received opinion are submitted to J.C. their Head and Lord. It is under him that they labour in the building of his Temple They do not now as under the Law proportion Rewards to Merits For the treasures of Grace are opened by the entrance of J.C. into the Sanctuary For it is true that by afflictions the Saints are purified So that it is better that J.C. give unto Men true goods than that Angels should deliver them from their miseries for if good Men were not afflicted in this World J.C. could not give them the form they must necessarily have to be placed in his building Lastly further yet it is by general Laws that God exercises his Providence over his Church that is to say by the Laws which make the Order of Grace Laws which give unto J.C. as Man Sovereign power in Heaven and in Earth It is by J. C that God hath established the different orders which do externally govern his Church 'T is by him that he spreads abroad inward Grace in Souls It is by him that he sanctifies his chosen people that he will govern them in Heaven and recompence them according to their deserts It is by him that he will judge the Devils and the Damned and condemn them to that fire whose eternal efficacy shall only be the effect of general Laws which shall be observed for ever more By him I say enlightned to this end by eternal wisdom and also subsisting in this wisdom by him being advertised by a revelation whose Laws are unknown of all that which Order requires that he should know and of all that he desires to know of what passes in the World to bring his work to its perfection by him lastly acting by practical desires by prayers by endeavours or actions of an infinite merit but of a limited virtue and proportionable to a finite and a stinted work but by him perfectly free absolutely Master of his desires and actions submitted only to immurable Order the inviolable rule of his will as well as of his Fathers and if I be not deceived very rarely determined after
infinite Wisdom of its Author Additions I use the example of the irregularity of ordinary rain to prepare the mind for another rain which is not given to the merits of men no more than the common rain which falls equally upon Lands that are Sown as well as those that lie Fallow I suppose it to be easily comprehended that it is because the rain falls in consequence of natural Laws that it is so ill distributed in relation to the necessities of the Earth But I think I ought to advise that they who don 't distinctly remember the proofs which I have given in the Search after Truth that it is God who does all that he does not communicate his power unto Creatures but by making them the occasional causes of determining the efficacity of the general Laws by which he executes his designs in a way worthy of him I think I say I ought to advise these persons to read and meditate upon at least the first explication which is at the end of the third discourse for to do it well recourse ought to be had to those places wherein I demonstrate my Principles XV. In truth I am perswaded that the Laws of motion necessary to the production and conservation of the EARTH and of all the STARS in the HEAVENS are reduced to these two The first that Bodies in motion endeavour to continue their motion in a right Line The second that when two Bodies meet one another their motion is distributed from one to another proportionably to their bulk so that afterwards they may be mov'd with an equal celerity These two Laws are the cause of all the motions which make that variety of form which we admire in nature XVI I confess nevertheless Search after Truth in the last C. of Method that the second does not always seem to be observ'd in the experiments which may be made upon this subject but this is because we see only that which happens to Bodies that are visible and that we think not at all upon the Invisible that surround them which by the efficacy of the same Law make the spring of visible Bodies thereby obliging them to recoil and not observe this same Law I must not in this place explain this any further XVII Now these two Laws are so simple so natural and at the same time so fruitful that tho there were no other reasons to judge that nature observes them yet we should have cause to believe that they are appointed by him who always acts by the most simple wayes in whose Action there is nothing irregular and who proportions it so wisely with his Work that he does infinite marvels by a very few Practical Resolutions Additions It would require a whole Book to prove that which I say here concerning the fruitfulness of these two general laws of the communication of motion It will be easily seen that I speak not at all adventures by those who are exactly well acquainted with the Physical principles of Mon. des Cartes But this is not essential to my subject It is sufficient that the Laws of Nature are general These three Articles may be looked upon as a kind of parenthesis XVIII We must not judge of the general cause as of particulars of the Infinite Wisdom as of limited understandings God foreseeing all that should follow the natural Laws even before their establishment could not have established them to overturn them The Laws of Nature are constant and Immutable they are general for all times and all places Two Bodies of such a magnitude and such a swiftness striking upon one another will be reflected after the same manner now as heretofore If the rain falls upon certain grounds and the Sun burns up others if a season favourable to the Fruits of the Earth be succeeded by a Prost which destroys them if a Child comes into the world with a monstrous and useless head which grows out of his breast and makes him miserable it is not because God intended to produce these effects by particular wills but because he has established the Laws of the communication of motions of which these effects are necessary consequences Laws otherwise so simple and withal so fruitful that they produce all that we see beautiful in the world and in a little time repair the greatest Mortality and Dearth XIX He that having built an house and then undermines the Foundation discovers his ignorance he that plants a Vineyard and immediately pulls up that which had taken root shews his folly Because he that wills and wills not wants either understanding or constancy of mind But it can't be said that God acts either by caprice or thro' Ignorance when an Infant comes into the world with superfluous members which hinder him from living or when an Hail-Storm destroys the Fruit almost ripe Thus if God makes the Fruit to fall by a Storm before it is ripe it is not because he wills and wills not For God acts not by particular wills as particular causes do He has not established the Laws of communication of motions with a design to produce Monsters or to make the Fruits Fall before they be ripe he appointed these Laws by reason of their Foecundity and not their Barrenness Thus that which once he willed he wills still and in general the world for which he made these Laws shall subsist eternally Additions I have not here proved a Posteriori or by the effects that the general cause acts by general Wills or Laws whose efficacy is determined by the action of occasional or particular causes tho' these sorts of proofs are very many and undeniable 1. Because I supposed in the Advertisement to the Reader that he had read what I have written against the pretended efficacy of second causes 2. Because none can want these sort of proofs for every one knows that a body is never mov'd before it be struck and that it is never stricken without being mov'd Every one knows it is day when the Sun is risen and that it is night when it is set and that thus God produces the motion and the light in consequence of the general laws of nature 3. To conclude because the proofs a priorit taken from the nature of the cause tho more abstracted appear to me clearer stronger and more proper to the subject I Treat of For if I had not proved only by the effects that God does all that we see in nature by simple general uniform and constant ways it might be answered 'T is true but in grace he does quite otherwise he there does all by particular wills Whereas having proved by the Idea of a Being infinitely perfect that he does all that we see by simple ways since God does not bely himself this proves that he does by the like wayes all that we do not see Thus men begin to reflect that God must act after such a manner as comports with his Divine Attributes Nevertheless at the end of this first Discourse
conscious that his will is efficacious he perfectly knows without making any tryal of his strength whatsoever he is able to do Thus Scripture and Reason teach us that it is by Jesus Christ that the world subsists and that it is by the dignity of this divine person that it receives a beauty which renders it agreeable in the sight of God XXVIII It follows in my opinion from this principle that Jesus Christ is the Model or Pattern by which we are made that we are form'd according to his Image and likeness and that we have nothing beautiful but so far as we are his representations and figures that he is the end of the Law and the finishing of the Jewish Ceremonies and Sacrifices that till this succession of generations which preceded his birth had an end it was necessary they shou'd have had certain relations to him by which they were made more agreeable to God than any others That since Jesus Christ was to be the Head and Spouse of the Church to represent him all men were to proceed from one and their propagation to begin after that manner which Moses relates and St. Paul explains In a word it follows from this principle that the present world ought to be the figure of the future and that as far as the simplicity of the general Laws will permit it all they who have or shall dwell therein have been or shall be figures and resemblances of Gods only Son from Abel in whom he was sacrificed to the last Member that shall be of his Church XXIX We may judge of the perfection of a Work by the conformity there is betwixt this work and the Idea which the eternal wisdom gives us of it For there is nothing Beautiful nothing Amiable but by relation to the essential necessary and independent beauty Now this intelligible beauty being made sensible became also in this estate the rule of beauty and perfection Thus all Corporeal Creatures must still receive from him their Beauty and Splendor All minds must have the same thoughts and the same inclinations with the soul of Jesus if they would be agreeable to those who see nothing Beautiful nothing Amiable but that which is conformable to Wisdom and Truth Since then we are obliged to believe that the work of God has a perfect conformity with the eternal Wisdom we have all reason to believe that the same work has infinite relations to him who is the Head the principle the model and the end thereof But who can explain all these relations XXX That which makes the Beauty of a Temple is the order and variety of the Ornaments which are there to be seen Thus to render the living Temple of the Majesty of God worthy of him who is to inhabit it proportion'd to the infinite wisdom love of its Author all Beauties ought to be found therein But it is not with the Glory and Magnificence of this Spiritual Temple as it is with the gross and sensible Ornaments of Material Temples That which makes the Beauty of the Spiritual Edifice of the Church is the infinite diversity of the Graces which he who is the Head thereof communnicates to all the parts that compose it it is the order and the admirable relations they have by him to one another it is the divers degrees of Glory which shine on all sides XXXI It follows from this principle that to establish this variety of rewards which compose the beauty of the Heavenly Jerusalem it is necessary that men upon Earth shou'd be subject not only to afflictions which purisie them but also to the motions of Concupiscence which gives them opportunity of gaining so many Victories by engaging them in so great a number of different Combats XXXII The Blessed in Heaven will doubtless have an Holiness and variety of gifts which will perfectly answer the diversity of their good works These continual sacrifices by which the Old Man is destroyed and annihelated will Adorn and Beautifie the Spiritual substance of the New Man Luke XXIV 26. And if it became Jesus Christ himself to suffer all sorts of afflictions before he entred into his glory the sin of the first Man which brought the evils into the World which accompany Life and Death which follows it was necessary that men having been tryed upon Earth might justly be rewarded with that Glory the variety and order of which will make the beauty of the future World Additions The sin of the first Man was not necessary in it self God might without this sin have found a Thousand means to make the future Church as Beautiful as it shall be but since God acts always as wisely as is possible and according to the character of the divine attributes since he invincibly loves his Wisdom There cou'd be no such means for Men to Merit the Glory which one day they shall possess as that which suffers them to be ingulf'd in sin that mercy might be shewn to them all in Jesus Christ For the Glory which the Elect shall obtain by the Grace of Jesus Christ in resisting their Concupiscence will be greater and also more worthy of God than any other See the 34 and 35. Articles St. Aug. de cor grat C. 10. XXXIII If I had a clear Idea of the Blessed Spirits which have no body perhaps I might clearly answer a difficulty which arises in respect of them For it may be objected either that there is little variety in the merits and recompences of Angels or else that it was adviseable that God should unite Spirits to bodys on which they do at present so much depend I confess that I do not see any great diversity of rewards which ought to answer the merits of substances purely intelligible especially if they have merited their reward by one single act of Love They not being united to a body which might occasion God to give them according to certain most simple and general Laws a succession of different sentiments or thoughts I can see no diversity in their combats nor in their victories But perhaps there may be an order established which to me is unknown And upon this account I ought not to speak of it It is enough for me to have setled a principle whence we may conclude that it became God to create Bodys and to unite Spirits unto them that by the most simple Laws of the Union of these two substances he might in a general constant and uniform way give us that great variety of sentiments and motions which is the principle of our different Merits and Rewards XXXIV To conclude God ought to have all the Glory of the Beauty and Perfection of the future World This Work which infinitely surpasses all others must be a work of pure mercy The Creatures ought not to boast of having any other part therein but that which the grace of Jesus Christ hath given them In a word Rom. XI 32. Gal. III. 22. it was adviseable that God shou'd
the first had caused and there is such a relation between the Sinful and Earthly Adam and the Innocent and Heavenly Adam that St. Rom. V. 14 17 18 19. 1 Cor. 15 48. Paul looks upon the first communicating sin to his Ofspring by his disobedience as the figure of the second giving to Christians by his obedience righteousness and holiness XXVI Order requires that the soul should govern the body and that she should not be distracted whither she will or no with all those sentiments and all those motions which turn her to sensible Objects Thus the first man before sin was so much Master of his sences and his passions that they were silent whensoever he desired it nothing was able to turn him from his duty against his will and all the pleasures which then prevented his reason did only respectfully after a gentle easie manner advertise him of what he was to do for the preservation of his life But after sin he lost all at once the power he had over his body so that not being able to stop the motions nor effuse those traces which sensible Objects made in the principal part of his brain his soul by the Order of Nature and as a punishment of his disobedience became miserably subject to the Law of Concupiscence to that Carnal Law which continually fights against the mind and every moment inspires it with the Love of sensible goods and rules over it by passions so strong and lively and yet at the same time so sweet and agreeable that it cannot nay will not make all necessary endeavours to break the bonds which captivates it For the infection of sin is communicated to all the Children of Adam by an infallible consequence of the Order of Nature as I have else where Explained XXVII The Heart of Man is always a slave to pleasure and when Reason teaches us it is not convenient to enjoy it yet we do not avoid it but that we may find another more sweet or solid We willingly sacrifice lesser pleasures to greater but the invincible impression which we have for our own happiness permits us not all our lives long to deprive our selves of that sweetness which we taste when we suffer our selves to follow our passions Additions In the third discourse you will see how this ought to be understood XXVIII It is certain that pleasure makes him happy who enjoys it at least while he does enjoy it Thus men being made to be happy pleasure always gives a touch to the will and moves it towards that object which causes it or seems to cause it The contrary must be said of grief Now Concupiscence consists only in a continual succession of sentiments motion which prevent reason which are not subject thereunto of pleasures which coming from the objects about us inspire us with the love of them of griefs which making the exercise of vertue harsh and painful give us an abhorrence of them It therefore became the second Adam that he might cure the disorders of the first to produce in us pleasures and aversions contrary to those of concupiscence pleasures with respect the true goods and horrors or aversions in respect of sensible goods Thus the grace whereof J. C. is the occasional cause and which as Head of the Church he continually bestows upon us is not the Grace of knowledge tho he has merited this Grace and tho he may sometimes communicate it as I shall shew by and by but it is the Grace of sentiments It is this previous delectation which produces and entertains the love of God in our hearts for pleasure naturally produces and entertains the love of those objects which cause or seem to cause it It is likewise the horror which sometimes accompanies sensible objects which gives us an aversion to them and makes us capable of governing the motions of our love by our knowledge XXIX The Grace of sentiment should be opposed to concupiscence pleasure to pleasure horror to horror that the influences of J. C. might be directly opposed to the influence of the first man The remedy that it may cure the disease must be contrary thereto For the Grace of knowledge cannot heal an Heart wounded with pleasure to this end this pleasure must either cease or another succeed in its room Pleasure is the weight of the soul which naturally enclines it towards it self sensible pleasures weigh it down towards the Earth That the soul may determine it self either these pleasures must be dissipated or the delectation of Grace raise her towards Heaven and put her almost in Equilibrio 'T is thus that the new Man opposes the old that the influences of our Head resists the influences of our Father Adam that J. C. overcomes all our domestick Enemies Since Man had no concupiscence before his sin it was not necessary he should be carried to the love of good by a previous delectation He clearly knew that God was his good it was not necessary that he should feel it There was no need that he should be drawn by pleasure to love him whom to love nothing hindred and who he knew was perfectly worthy of his love but after sin the Grace of delectation was necessary to him to counter-ballance the continual effort of concupiscence Thus knowledge is the Grace of the Creator delectation the Grace of the Redeemer Knowledge is communicated by J. C. as Eternal Wisdom Delectation is given by him as Wisdom Incarnate Knowledge in its original was no more than Nature Delectation was always pure Grace Knowledge after Sin was not granted to us but through the Merits of J. C. Delectation is given to us through the Merits and by the Efficacy of the power of J. C. In short Knowledge is sent down upon our minds according to our different desires and applications as I shall Explain But the Delectation of Grace is not shed upon our Hearts but according to the various desires of the Soul of J. C. Additions That the Healing Grace of J. C. consists in a preventing Delectation is a thing so much out of doubt with St. Augustine that F. Deschamps who has so Learnedly confuted Jansenius and is so opposite unto him agrees with him in this Point tho they differ from one another as to the manner in which Grace acts in us See Jansenius de Grat. Chr. Lib. IV. c. 1. and Deschamps Lib III. Disp III. c. 16. 19. I cannot perswade my self to continue the Explication of those things which to me seem clear of themselves Insomuch that what follows either needs it not or is not particular to me My Principles are sufficiently confirm'd by what has been said and if they be clearly understood I dont think there will be any difficulty in what follows XXX It is true that pleasure produces Knowledge because the soul gives more attention to the Objects from which she receives more pleasure Since the generallity of men dispise or neglect the truths of Religion because these
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 figure of him who was to come These words who is the figure of him who was to come in the place where they are put it out of doubt that the first Adam represented the second even by Concupiscence it self and the Death which he communicated to all Men together with his Son Hence it is that St Paul makes so many Antitheses betwixt the Earthly Man and the Man from Heaven The first Man was made a living Soul 1 Cor. 15.45.47 the second Adam a quickning Spirit The first Man is of the Earth Earthly the second Man is the Lord from Heaven God by the first Man and Woman did not only represent J. C. and his Church but also by the place into which he put them by their posterity especially those of them whose actions the Scripture doth largely recite The Earthly Paradise represented the Church J. C. keeps and Cultivates it The River divided into Four Streams to water this very Delightful and Fruitful place is the Eternal wisdom which enlightens and animates the Church I also came out as a Brook from a River and as a Conduit * Vulg. Lat. de Paradiso â—ccl 24.30.31 into a Garden I said I will water my best Garden and will water abundantly my Garden-bed It is written of the true Solomon that his wisdom ran down abundantly as the Rivers at the beginning of Harvest Who filleth all things with wisdom Eccl 24.25 26 27 as Physon and as Tygris in the time of the new fruits He maketh the understanding to abound like Euphrates He maketh the doctrine of Knowledge appear as the Light and as Geon in the time of Vintage The Tree planted in the middle of the Garden which brought forth a Fruit able to make Men Immortal is also the Eternal Wisdom according to the words of the Proverbs of Solomon She is a Tree of Life Prov. 3.18 to them that lay hold upon her and happy is every one that retaineth her He who shall overcome the World shall be nourished with this Fruit for certainly these words of St. John To him that overcomes Apoc. 11.7 it shall be given to eat of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God are to be understood of no other Trees but this As for the other Tree which teaches good and evil and whose Fruits Eve found so Beautiful to the Eye and Pleasant to the Taste it represents sensible objects which at present excite in us such a strong Concupiscence and give Death to those who suffer themselves to be surprized by their Charms 'T is plain that all these relations would not be so exact if they were no more than imaginary EVE had two Sons Cain and Abel Gen. 4. they both offered their Sacrifice God rejected that of Cain's and received that of Abel's Cain was troubled hereat and slew his Brother the blood of Abel which was spilt cryed for Vengeance God declared that Cain should be a Fugitive all his Life and that he would hinder him from being slain Doth not this sufficiently represent the Synagogue who being the Elder yet offered not unto God a Sacrifice acceptable unto him That the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ was only Worthy of GOD That Jesus Christ was slain in Abel by the Jews who were his Brethren according to the Flesh That for their Punishment the Jews should be Vagabonds and Fugitives upon the Earth as Cain was and that God will not quite Destroy them tho their Crime was such that they might say more truely than Cain All they who meet me will slay me If we examine after matters of Fact and those especially whose Circumstances the Scripture more particularly recites we shall see Jesus C. expected and figured every where Expected becanse of the promise which God had made that the seed of the Woman should break the Serpents Head Gen. III. 15. And Figured because the Spirit of God takes pleasure in representing unto Men him who was to be their Mediator and render all the Work of God perfectly worthy of its Author I confess that in these things we may be easily deceived and that none but the Spirit of God can make us distinctly and without fear of error see the reality of these Figures But these Figures are so lively and so express that he must be strangely Stupid who is not Affected with them and very rash who looks upon those as Ridiculous Persons and Visionaries who according to the Example of the Apostles and Holy Doctors seek Jesus Christ in the Scriptures as he himself has Commanded us in these words Search the Scriptures for they are they John 5.39 which Testify of me For in short all that is in the Old Testament relates to Jesus Christ and his Church 1 Cor. 10 11. All these things happened to them in Figures The Third Explication Where 't is prov'd that the chief of Gods design is J. C. and his Church that God truely loves Men that he sincerely desires to save all that his Conduct is worthy of his Wisdom Goodness Immutability and other Attributes What is the order of the decrees which contain the Predestination of the Saints I. BY this Term GOD I understand a Being infinitely Perfect II. A Being infinitely Perfect Perfectly knows himself III. By the knowledge which he has of his Being he sees the Essences of all things he sees all possible Creatures or all that which he is able to Produce He is Wise by Himself alone IV. The Being infinitely Perfect necessarily loves Himself He can will nothing but by his will I mean the love which he bears to himself Therefore he can do nothing but for himself V. The Being infinitely Perfect is Almighty He can do all that he knows supposing he can will it with a practical will VI. By a practical will I mean a decree or will executive of a design concluded upon which supposes in God the knowledge and choice of the ways of acting which are most worthy of himself For there are Simple Fruitful General Uniform and Constant and there are Compounded Barren Particular Irregular and Unconstant Ways of Actions The first are to be preferred before the latter for they shew Wisdom Goodness Constancy Immutability in him that makes use of them The other denotes the want of Understanding Malignancy Inconstancy Lightness of Mind VII It is visible that there is something useless in his action who does that by compounded ways which may be brought to pass by simple and he wants knowledge who hath more Practical wills when one sufficeth VIII The Conduct of a Good Wise Constant and Immutable Being must carry in it Wisdom Goodness Constancy and immutability Order requires this IX The Wisdom of GOD renders him Impotent in this sence that it permits him not to will certain things nor to act after certain ways It permits him not to will certain things for if God had made but one animal he could not have made
as 't is written in the book of wisdom of a Saint dying in his Infancy Let every one seek after the best reasons of this and if he shall find any other besides this which I have given which renders a reason that is probable and according to the Analogy of Faith let him embrace it and if it shall be imparted to me I shall embrace it with him The Author of the calling of the Gentiles Lib. 1. c. 13. seq observes the same way of proceeding that St. Augustine doth He every where says that the Judgments of God are unsearchable because he opposes the same errors and that Faith doth not suffer us to give a reason of Gods choice of Men from the difference of their natural Merits * Lib. 2. c. 23. If for example he asks himself whence it is that all Children are not Baptized He is not afraid to say that if this came from any ill use of the general Grace given to the Parents that * C. 24. if all received Baptism the Parents were too negligent not fearing lest their Children should be surprized with Death He says that such answers would give some ground to believe that the grace of Baptism was due to the innocence of age and to deny original sin When the question is about excluding natural merits he cries out that the Judgments of God are unsearchable but yet he nevertheless doth not fail to give some general Reasons thereof upon other occasions * Lib. 2. c. 30. His principle is that a Reason of all the Designs and Works of God cannot be given Tertia Definitio temperanter sobrie protestatur non omnem voluntatis Dei comprehendi posse rationem multas divinorum operum causas ab humana intelligentia esse subductas An undeniable principle But neither he nor St. Augustine nor I believe any of the Fathers ever maintain'd that the Judgments of God were so unsearchable as that it should be a crime to seek and give some general Reasons of them They never forbad Men to represent God Amiable and Adorable by justifying his Conduct by that Idea which we have of a Being infinitely Perfect and by the Truths Faith teach us That which I have endeavoured in The Treatise of Nature and Grace The Last Explication The frequent Miracles of the Old Law do by no means shew That God often acted by particular Wills I Do not well understand how Persons who grant that God does all and that therefore he communicates not his power to Creatures but by making them the occasional causes of producing certain effects can Imagine that the Conduct which he observed in respect of the Jews should be contrary to that which I think I have demonstrated several ways viz. That God acts not by particular wills but when the necessity of Order requires him They are always saying as a thing extraordinary that the Old Testament is full of Miracles that God had promised to the Jews Plenty and Prosperity proportionably to their sidelity and obedience and that it was not possible that nature and morality should be so exactly combin'd together that the Holy-Land should abound in fruits proportionably as its Inhabitants did in virtue and good works For my part I willingly grant all this But I do not yet see how this opposes my sentiments if it be not supposed that I acknowledge no other general Laws by which God executes his designs but those of the communication of motions How troublesome is it for a Man not to be able to explain his thoughts but by words which popular use has introduced and which every one interprets according to his prejucices and temper and above all to have for ones judges such Persons who tho they are nimble and quick yet often want equity and penetration of mind Certainly they do not do me justice who say that I think Manna fell every day of the Week among the Israelites except Saturday by a necessary consequence of the Laws of the communication of motions He who is of this opinion must needs be very foolish and impious I am perswaded that the greatest part of the miraculous effects of the Ancient Law was done in consequence of some general Laws since the general cause ought not to execute his purpose by particular wills and for many more Reasons which I might add to those already mentioned But I am far from believing that these extraordinary effects were only the consequences of the natural Laws of the communication of motions I grant that they may be looked upon as Miracles and that there are more such in the World than we imagine But I must explain my self after what manner that I may not be thought to have changed J. C. as Man received all Power in Heaven and in Earth because God executes all the desires of his holy Soul by the general Law of Grace by which he would save all Men in his Son The Father has given to the Son after this manner all the Nations of the World as Materials which he is to employ in the Building of his Church as I have said elsewhere Supposing then that J. C. for the executing of his designs desires a certain degree of Grace for one of his Members or rather that he desired that the fire which sacrificed St. Lawrance should lose its heat it is certain this would be what we call a Miracle nevertheless God would not work this Miracle by a particular will but in consequence of the general Law the efficacy of which is determined by the actual desires of the Soul of J. C. According to the general Laws of the communications of motions heavy bodys fall towards the Earth my arm is heavy yet nevertheless I lift it up to Heaven whensoever I desire it Certainly God who determines the motion of the Animal spirits for the lifting up my arm according to my desires does not then act but in consequence of the general Law of the union of the Soul and Body by which Law I have power to move my arm nevertheless this motion wou'd be accounted miraculous if we did not own some other natural Laws than those of the communication of motions Now I think I am able to demonstrate by the Authority of the Holy Scripture that the Angels have received from God Power over the present World and that thus God executes their desires and by them his own designs according to certain general Laws so that all which appears miraculous in the Old Testament does no wise prove that God may often act by particular wills St. Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews intending to exalt J. C. above Angels says that God had not subjected the World to come to them as he had to J. C. He believed then as a thing whereof those to whom he wrote had no doubt that God had subjected the present World to Angels If the Angels had had power over nothing it would have been much more easy for