Selected quad for the lemma: nature_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
nature_n	divine_a	humane_a	unite_v	7,632	5	9.5167	5	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A48861	The glory of free grace display'd: or, The transcendant excellency of the love of God in Christ, unto believing, repenting sinners, in some measure describ'd Wherein, 1. The doctrine about election, and the covenant of reconciliation is explained. 2. The error of the antinomians, who assert, that the filth of sin was laid on Christ, and that the holiness as well as the righteousness of Christ is made the elects while in the womb, &c. With their abuse of free-grace particularly detected and confuted. 3. In what sense our sins were laid on Christ, and Christ's righteousness made the believers, according to the sacred scriptures, evinced. 4. The glory of irresistible-grace, as exerted in the conversion of a sinner in opposition to the Arminian, cleared. 5. A modest defence of the sober dominican, about physical predetermination.	Lobb, Stephen, d. 1699.	1680 (1680)	Wing L2724B; ESTC R218819	67,996	163

decree of Grace 't was absolutely necessary that Infinite Wisdom be in exercise for the work was stupendious too great for finite capacities to engage in a work no way beneath God himself A Holy Good and just Law unto which was annexed a severe threatning is transgressed mankind is become unholy and unclean altogether filthy and polluted liable to to the greatest miseries the Lord still Just and Righteous True and faithful a God of purer eyes than to behold iniquity or delight in sin or in the unreconciled sinner Sin must be punished justice must be satisfied Holiness and Truth Glorified but Man in the circumstances he then was unable to do either He cannot appease Gods Wrath nor satisfy Justice nor purifie or cleanse his own heart to perfection how then can he become the object of everlasting love or how is it possible that the Gracious decree be executed I answer Whoever considers these things seriously cannot but cry out and say if this work be accomplished it must be the Lords own doing and marvelous in our eyes The contrivance must be the effort of infinite wisdome and the Glory of that Grace for which such a work must be carried on is Unspeakable and verily the Lord hath shewn himself to be God even in that he hath found out a way for the doing this Wisdom dwelt with Prudence and found out the knowledge of this witty invention Prov. 8.12,30 3. God the Father consulted with God the Son and it rejoyced their soul that Grace might be magnified that Justice and Mercy might greet each other That the Love of God might be made known unto man without the impeachment of the honour of his other Attributes But what was the contrivance 't was this God the Father entred into a Covenant with God the Son in which Covenant there is observable 1. What the Father required from the Son 2. What the Father Promised the Son 1. What the Father required the Son to do which more generally was the exalting Free-Grace in the actual Salvation of some even in a way agreable with the other glorious perfections of God But more particularly several things in order to the obtaining this end must be done 1. A body must be prepared for the Son he must assume humane nature it being necessary that he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified should be of one of one common Parent Adam and therefore God the Son took on him the flesh and blood viz. The nature of the Brethren the humane but not corrupt nature Heb. 2.11,14,16 And therefore a body was prepared for the Son Heb. 10.5 c. 2. In this nature God the Son must come into the World Prov. 8.30,31 And suffer f●… mans sin Isa 53.5 He was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities Gal. 3.13 John 10.18 3. He must render a sinless a full compleat and perfect obedience to Gods Law being made under the Law Gal. 4.4 It became him to fulfil all Righteousness Math. 3.15 He came not to destroy the Law but to fulfil it Math. 5.17 In doing which the end of the Law was answered the honour of Gods Justice and governing wisdom conserved and the door of grace opened to believing repenting returning sinners who were givens to the Lord Jesus 4. The Lord Christ was obliged to keep and preserve these given him This is the Fathers Will that of all that he hath given me I should lose nothing but shall raise it up at the last day John 6.39 2. God the Father moreover doth make rich promises unto the Son on the Sons performing the required conditions The Son shall be greatly rewarded he shall be exalted and made very high Isa 52.13 Yea God highly exalted him giving him a name above every name Philip. 2.9 c. Again God gives him a select number who shall in process of time be actually with him in the eternal glory He shall see his seed and the travel of his soul and be satisfied Isa 53.10.11 yea a select number among the Heathen Psal 2.8 Nations shall run unto him Isa 5.5 Who are called Children given unto Christ Heb. 2.13 So John 10.29 The Lord Jesus Christ speaking of his sheep that is of those that were ordained to eternal life doth say my Father which gave them me Thus you see the terms of the Covenant all ordered for the exaltation of infinitely free Grace The USES 'T is wonderful that the thoughts of God should from all eternity be concerned for faln man's salvation 3. That the Lord Christ God-man must engage in this great work that he who was eternally in the bosom of the Father should empty himself of the Glory of God and take upon him the form of a servant is mightily surprizing That God should humble himself so infinitely as to undergo the wrath of the Father Oh what manner of love what manner of Grace is this Read believingly and considerately the account given in the Scriptures of our Lord Jesus his fulfilling his part of the Covenant in the particulars thereof and you cannot but see free-grace highly exalted 1. God assumes humane nature What a wonder is this and how many miracles were wrought for the effecting it considering humane nature was by sin Corrupted and yet it must be assumed and united unto the divine without Corruption 2. God in this nature suffers not that the divine nature as such is capable of the least sufferings and therefore 't is the humane nature that is the immediate subject of sufferings but passions as well as actions being of persons we may safely say That he who is God suffered for our iniquities were laid on Christ Isay 53. Christ was made sin as 't is 2 Cor. 5.21 yea and a curse that such as do believe might be delivered from an eternal curse Gal. 3.13 But how was Christ made sin or in what sense were the iniquities of any laid on him was the filth of sin laid on Christ CHAP. IV. The difficulty proposed in the last Chapter spoken unto Sin with reference unto its FILTH GUILT and PUNISHMENT distinctly considered and Explained The punishment and Guilt of Sin laid on Christ asserted Concerning the Filth of Sin The sense of some Antonomians reduced to three particulars proposed Their first Error in saying the Filth of Sin was laid on Christ detected and confuted That the Filth of Sin be laid on Christ impossible The consequences of this Error dreadful and unscriptural The Purity and Holiness of Christ asserted and vindicated The Antinomians abuse of the Grace of God hinted IN giving a truely Scriptural a full and satisfying answer unto this difficulty we shall have a fair occasion of shewing How and after what manner Free-Grace is in its Excellencies displayed But that we may entertain right conceptions concerning this thing we must carefully distinguish between the Filth the Guilt and Punishment of sin 1. There is the Sin it self formally considered which is a transgression of a holy good and

esteemed by the Father of our blessed Jesus as clean pure and holy or as if God could not set forth the Excellency of his Grace any other way than by lying under many a mistake These notwithstanding their pretence of exulting Free-Grace denying the Omniscience or Infinite knowledge of him who is All-wise and representing the Infallible God as liable to error do sadly abuse Free-Grace 3. To suggest that Free-Grace is glorified in the actual imputing Christs righteousness unto any while in unbelief as if the swearer or Sabbath breaker the drunkard or unclean person that delights in fornication and adultery might while so be an actual partaker of the special blessings of God or as if the Sanctification of the Spirit had been no way necessary to our Salvation is a sad abuse of Grace tending to the great dishonour of the infinite Holiness and purity of God But since God is not only Gracious but also is most holy Grace is not it cannot be revealed but in a way consistent with the glory of Divine Purity and Holiness But 4. Some there are who magnifie the Free-Grace of God by concealing that glorious discovery God hath made thereof in our Lord Jesus these are they who contend for the actual justification of all the Elect from Eternity as if Jesus Christ died to procure that for the Elect which they had before the Worlds were made or as if the decree of God his electing Will an Immanent act had been transient in the actual creating justifying and saving all the Elect from eternity that is as if they had been created millions of years before there was any creature Thus men on pretence of lifting up the Free-Grace of God do not only trouble the Churches with their confusion and variety of contradictions but morcover do lightly esteem the greatest Instance of Free-Grace the Elect ●…re capable of receiving viz. the Love of God in Christ For hereby God commendeth his Love to us that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us Rom. 5.8 Again God SO loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son Joh. 3.16 and without blood no Remission 5. There are others who in their abuse of Free-Grace do greatly reproach the Spirit of Christ and of God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ by asserting that the Elect are actually Justified in the womb even before they do believe yea while they are in a state of darkness and strang●… to the powerful working of Gods holy Spirit These are they who insist on Faith as necessary only for the procuring the knowledge of that justification which they actually had before 〈◊〉 But how do these men sin against the Spirit of God by reproaching its works as if the gr●…s of the Spirit had been of no esteem as if our Faith and Repentance our Love to God and 〈◊〉 ●…lking according to the Gospel of our 〈◊〉 Redeemer had been our sin T is true the 〈…〉 doth consider the Righteousness of the 〈…〉 and the Apostle concluded that his righteousness which was not done in Faith to be as dung in comparison of the righteousness of Christ And surely because of the many imperfections that attend our best performances we have cause to be humbled daily before the Lord and to apply our selves to the blood and righteousness of Christ for pardoning mercy But yet it must be still asserted that there is a difference between those graces that are the work of God's spirit in us and the imperfections which proceed from the remains of our old corruption for that which is the work of God's Spirit as such is not dung nor dross nor filth nor stinking rags much less filthy sins The Spirit of God is the Author of Faith and Love and other graces but the Spirit of God is not the Author of sin and filth The giving grace to the soul is the renewing the Image of God on the soul but the image of God doth not consist in sin and filth and stinking rags The believer in being a partaker of the graces of God's spirit is a partaker of the divine nature but the divine nature is not composed of sin or any filthy thing 'T is our duty to believe in Christ to love God c. but 't is not our duty to sin or wallow in any spiritual uncleanness Whence then such as do deny the necessity of saith in order to our being actually justified or such as do reproach the working of Gods holy spirit calling what is holy unholy what is pure impure reviling the divine nature reproaching Gods image on pretence of exalting free grace do greatly sin in abusing a great instance of free grace viz. The holy Spirit 's work unto which we are infinitely obliged For 't is the Spirit that doth begin carry on and finish the work of Sanctification on the soul whence although while we are in this life our Sanctification is but imperfect yet there is not one soul in Heaven one instant without perfect holiness But it may be you 'l quaery how it can be that the soul which while on earth is but imperfectly sanc●…fied should 〈◊〉 perfectly purged from the filth of sin when in Heaven I Answer There are several sorts of men who talk as if they had been fully acquainted with the whole counsel of God and as if they could give a particular account of the methods of divine operations hence some are confident enough to assert that the perfect purgati-on of the filth of sin must be either by the Spirit in this life or by a purgatory fire in the other The one asserts perfection not only of parts but of degrees attainable here and consequently denies the necessity of Ordinances c. The other viz. the Papists conclude that as some arrive to perfection here others do not e're they arrive unto the purgatery sire but the Antinomian presumes to say that our perfect Sanctification must be by Christ's Holiness even as our compleat Justification is by Christs Righteousness But I have already shewn That our perfect Sanctification which consists in the removal of the filth of every sin is not done by the Holiness of Christ Neither is it possible that any material flames should be adjusted for the cleansing the soul which is a Being spiritual and Immaterial Materiale non agit in immateriale It is done then by the Spirit when not in this life for until the body of Sin be put off there will be the remainders of old lusts * Note 1 King 8.46 Prov. 20.9 Eccl. 7.20 1 Joh. 1.8 No meer man since the Fall ever arriv'd unto a state of sinless perfection in this life which are inconsistent with a Sanctification that is perfect with a perfection of degrees Doth it you it may be will say enter into Heaven with its imperfections i.e. Spots and Filth Ans No surely for no Spot can have an admittance into that holy place Doth the departed soul make its stay after it passeth from the body e're

currere 〈◊〉 Haec enim omnia nullatenus haberes nisi a Deo manere Gratuitae Donationis acciperes Non hoc homini dat natura sed Gratia Non hoc ex qual●… te condition is humanae habetur sed ex benignitate divinae illuminationis acquiritur Again Quicquid habes bonae voluntatis vel bonae operationis Deo assigna qui dedit Fulgent de convers ad Theod. Epist 6. towards the end 8. To assert That any while in unregeneracy may be united unto Christ or that any who savingly believe may not be united unto Christ is most false unsound and dangerously absurd 1. To be unregenerate is to abide in a state of sin altogether Unclean Filthy and Polluted at a distance from God and Jesus Christ how then can these be One what is Christ joyned to an Harlot or can light have any Union or Communion with darkness 2. A believer doth close with Christ which cannot be without Union 9. T is both unnecessary and unprofitable to dispute about a moment or instant of nature as to the precedency of Faith unto Union or of Union unto Faith e. g. whether Faith or the Union is in order of nature first it being evident that there is no instant supposable in which a soul who hath saving Faith is not united unto Christ or in which One united unto Christ hath not sound saving Faith But 10. This Faith and this union is in order of nature antecedent to an actual imputation of Christs Righteousness and consequently before our actual Justification in the sight of God Communion presupposeth Union and therefore Union must precede an actual imputation which is but the Communication of Christs Righteousness unto us Faith and Union being Simultanecus and at one and the same instant as Union even so Faith must precede the Communication of Christs Righteousness and our actual justification in the sight of God thereby 11. This Faith which doth so necessarily precede and go before the actual justification of a sinner is the † Fidem autem hominum Donum Dei esse fateamur sine enj●s Gratiâ 〈◊〉 currit ad gratiam Prosper Aq. Resp ad Gal. Object ad Obj. 8. gift of God infus'd into the soul by the holy Spirit that doth irresistibly carry on its work 1. Grace being the gift of God the first thing which the soul is capable of in the work of Regeneration or conversion is the receiving the gift or infused habit the soul doth recipere effectum agentis which is as much as Pati whence the soul the first instant or moment of conversion must be considered as passive 2. This Converting Grace is irresistible which may be evinced to any unprejudiced mind that will but consider that antecedently unto conversion the soul is obstinately bent towards sin The inclinations of the will are continually evil averse to what is good and both actually and habitually determined to vanity for which reason the Spirit in carrying on the work of conversion meets with great opposition from the sinner yea with such opposition as would altogether impede and hinder the Spirits work had not the power of the Spirit been great enough to conquer and overcome this habitual obstinacy of the will but the power of God's Spirit being greater than that of the Sinner the Sinner is overcome and converted How but by that Grace that is Irresistible it being most evident that 't is naturally impossible for finite power to prevail against what is infinite So clear 't is that converting grace is irresistible And surely had it not been so never one obstinate sinner no not one child of Adam since all are by nature obstinately rebellious sinners would be converted for such is the nature of our corrupt wills that they will never yield until overcome by an overstrong and irresistible power 12. This infused Irresistible grace is given unto the Adult ordinarily in the use of means as the preaching of the word c. Whence man though passive in the first moment of his conversion yet not so passive as some suggest 1. It must be noted that Man in conversion is not so passive as a Stone when thrown up into the Air For the infusion of Grace being into a Soul that is active life to the end the Soul may be the better prepared for action the Soul must be also active in the great work of conversion The infusion of Grace into the soul that is active life is not like the infusion of the soul into the body that is antecedently to its receiving the soul wholly unactive purely passive No the Lord doth consider the nature he hath given beings and his actions towards such beings are suitable to their natures As a meer passive thing is purely passive in its receptions even so what is essentially active cannot but be active in its receptions To insist on niceties concerning the opposition that is between action and passion and consequently on the seeming inconsistency some may judge to be in this expression active reception q. d. active passion is but to quibble since 't is impossible to suppose an Essentially-active-being to be in every regard as passive as pure matter is God carries on the work of conversion on man in a way agreeable unto that nature God hath given him which is by inlightening the understanding and by suscitating and stiring up the powers of the soul to their being duly conversant about their proper objects influencing and enabling the will to close with what is proposed in the word as good and accordingly understood and believed to be so Although we cannot comprehend how yet nothing more evident than that God doth irresistibly and yet most sweetly without laying any violence on our faculties draw us from sin unto Jèsus Christ * This notion is agreeable to the Sentiments of the Schoolmen as Marius Scrib de lib. Arb. disp 19. qu. 8. doth assert Dionys Carthusianus in 2. d. 39. q. 2. Capreolus d. 45. q. 1. Concl 5. Ferrariensis primo contr Gent. c. 88. Dreido opusc lib. de concordia Lib. arb et praed estinationis 2. p. c. 3. ad primum All these reconciling humane Liberty with the Irresistable Divine Will thus Dicunt enim Dei voluntatem et providentiam Dei tantae esse virtutis efficaciae ut licet et nulla potentia libertas refistere valeat omnes tamen causas quibus cooperatur suaviter moveat infinitae siquidem est virtutis sapientiae cum fit infinitae Sapientiae scit omnia suaviter disponere licet nobis videantur factu impossibilia cum verò infinitae sit virtutis attingit à fine usque ad finem fortiter ita ut per infinitam suam virtutem sciat etiam quae videntur dissonantia concordare et propter Sapientiam sine praejudicio humanae libertatis effectum suae voluntatis semper sortiri Et Cajetanus iisdem pene id videtur profiteri 1. p. q. 4. a 23. 9.19 ar 8.

docens quod talis est cooperatio primae causae quod disponit omnia suaviter juxta scil modum cujusque cooperans unicuique So Austin Et hoc est opus ejus quo continet omnia quo ejus sapientia pertendit à fine usque ad finem fortiter et disponit omnia suaviter lib. 4. de Gen. ad lit c. 12. 2. This Irresistible grace is given ordinarily in the use of means viz. the preaching of the word whence Paul must go to be instructed by Ananias Acts 9. Philip is sent to preach to the Eunuch Peter is sent to Cornelius Acts 10. to the end that by the foolishness of Preaching many might be converted 1 Cor 1.21 13. It is therefore the great duty of all men seriously apply themselves to the use of means that so they may be converted and turned unto God For 1. Our souls are Essentially-active-beings and therefore should be engag'd for God and Holiness and not for sin and the pleasures thereof 2. We are commanded to prepare our hearts in order to our turning unto the Lord 1 Sam. 7.3 Ezek. 14.6 ch 18.31 which Scriptures as they expresly shew it to be our duty to be active in turning unto God even so moreover they imply that if we are active in our work God will be graciously pleased by his blessing abundantly to encourage us therein All men even the wicked must pray they must attend on the word and mind the Salvation of their souls which if they do who can tell but that the Lord may be gracious Thus Peter said unto Simon the Sorcerer pray God if perhaps he will forgive the thoughts of thy heart For when the wicked do pray and hear the word although their prayers c. are an abomination unto the Lord in that they do not pray with that Faith and Love c. they ought yet even in that they do both pray and hear the word they are not so ●…minable as they would be should they totally neglect these duties For he who pray's with an unsound heart fails as to the manner of prayer but he who prays not at all fails as to the matter as well as manner and consequently is the greater transgressor Again he who prays and hears the word is in a fairer way of receiving a blessing from the Lord than he who will neither pray nor hear the word In the discharge of these duties we may meet with God 't is probable because frequently it hath been so but he who lives in the constant neglect of them is in danger of losing his immortal soul eternally But remember that 't is both duty to pray and hear yea and to do so in Faith with hearts sincerely devoted unto God We must engage in duty and yet conclude that all the good we receive is of Grace so Fulgentius * Cum timore tremore tuam salutem operare Nec Lectio desit operibus bonis Nec bona opera desint studio lectionis In Scripturis S. studium tui cordis impende Et ibi si fueris qui sis quique debeas esse cognosce Ad has si humilis mitis accesseris ibi profectò invenies Pr●evenientem gratiam quâ potest elisus surgere comitantem quâ viam recti queat itineris currere subsequentem quâ valeat ad regni caelestis beatitudinem pervenire Ful. de conv ad Theodor. Epist 6. Yea the same Fulgentius in the same Epistle doth encourage us both unto our duty and to give the Glory of all to Free-Grace Hujus Gratiae adjutorium semper est nobis a Deo poscendum sed nec ipsum quod poscimus nostris viribus assignemus neque enim haberi potest ipse saltem Orationis affectus nisi divinitus fuerit attributus Ut ergo desideremus adiutorium Gratiae hoc ipsum quoque opus est Gratiae Ipsa namque incipit infundi ut incipiat posci Ipsa quoque amplius infunditur cum poscentibus datu●… Quis vero potest Gratiam poscere nisi velit sed nisi in eo Deus ipsum voluntatem operetur velle n●…tenus poterit From the whole that hath been said 't is most certain that the manifold grace of God hath been diversly extended to mankind in general and to some in particular 1. To mankind in general and that in these following respects 1. To all mankind in that God the Son assumed Humane Nature in which he suffered and fulfilled all righteousness to the end mans Salvation might become possible The Lord might have left us all in that helpless and desperately miserable state in which we with the fallen Angels were once fixed But God extended the riches of his grace towards fallen man even when the least favour was not shewn the fallen Angels 2. To all mankind in that as the Salvation of all is become possible the Lord moreover affords unto all such a sufficiency of help in order to the doing what is necessary unto an actual entrance into the glories of God as leaves all such as remain in sin most Inexcusable The worst of men who received least receiving more than they improve must acknowledg that Grace was afforded them but they most wretchedly rejected it But then 2. The Grace of God is infinitely exalted in that it is extended after an eminent manner to SOME in special some receive Faith and all such other graces as are necessary to their actual Salvation who must ascribe the glory of their Faith Repentance and Conversion their sincere Obedience and final perseverance to the glory of Free-Grace Here I might enlarge and shew how and in what respect the Grace of God is exalted in the Supporting Refreshing and comforting the believer while in this life diversely exercised But I designing to be short will insist only on what may clear God from the Reproaches are cast on him by the wicked who assert that according to the Opinion of many learned Divines both among the Protestants and Papists it may be soundly argued That God doth lay men under a Natural necessity i.e. a necessity of the consequent or rather of the Effect of sinning which Notion if true would subvert not only the greatest part of the preceding Discourse but even the whole of Religion The Falsness and Unsoundness of which wretched reflection as cast on God by the Irrationally-Athestical Debauchees of our times I will attempt to evince in the following Chapter CHAP. VIII The Grace of God further cleared Divine Providence owned and acknowledged by most God no way the Author of mans sin The Dominican notion about Physical Predetermination vindicated from the Absurdities are said to flow from it The necessity of our being Modest in enquiries of this Nature Several reasons for this drawn from the Depths of the Mystery as well as from the shallowness of Humane Capacities and the General Confusion the Jews Philosophers and Schoolmen run into when too nice in their Disquisitions Some Truths of greatest importance concerning the exalting

Free-Grace the reasonableness of our discharge of Duty notwithstand Predetermination and of mans inexcusableness if he neglect it These Truths known to the Heathen whence Grace appears in its fuller Glory A Recapitulation of some of the most material things insisted on as Instances of Free-Grace The Conclusion with a Caution that none Presume to sin because the Lord is Gracious THus I have shewn in many a respect how the Grace of God is displayed in it● glory It therefore now remains only that I evince That this grace is so infinitely extended towards all men that what man soever perisheth eternally He doth so because He will I have already proved that the Decree doth lay no causal influence on mans will in order to the determining it to a commission of this or the other individuated actual sin in that as 't is acknowledged by all the Decree being an Immanent and not Transient act as such nil ponit in esse I 'le now essay to demonstrate that such is the Transcendency of Free-grace that what influence soever proceeds from the first cause in an execution of the eternal decree it is not such as doth lay a man under a Physical necessity of Sinning But before I make an entrance on a Province so intricate it will be necessary that by way of Prologue I intimate what in this controversy is plain and what seems obscure and difficult 1. What is plain and undoubtedly True 1. That God is the first Being yea and the first Efficient the Holy Just and Wise disposer of all things the Author and Conserver of all Beings 2. That such is the purity of the Divine Nature that 't is Impossible God should be the Author of Sin and consequently have any causal influence on the sinfulness of humane actions The Truth of the first Proposition although denied by Epicurus and by Ennius as Cicero de Divinat lib. 2. Ego Deûm genus esse semper dixi dicam coelitum Sed eos non curare opinor quid agat humanum genus by Averrois and some other Peripateticks contrary to the sense of the great Aristotle as Franc. Patric discus perip tom 4. l. 9. expresseth it ' Quid ergo Averrois quid Peripatetici caeteri aiunt Deum in sui contemplatione in motione primi Coeli contentum haec nostratia non curare Id praeterquam quod nefarium scelestum dogma est contra praeceptoris mentem ac dicta est ' c. I say the Truth of this first proposition notwithstanding it hath been denyed by a few is so plain and obvious as to command the assent of most so Franc. Patric ubi supra tom 12. l. 3. sanè de providentia vetustissimum est omnium nedum Sapientum sed Gentium etiam dogma and the Learned Mornay de verit Christ Relig. c. 11. Antiqui 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seu 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. Deum seu Providentiam promiscue vocabant quia neutrum sine altero concipi potest But Lactantius doth sufficiently evince this lib. 2. de orig erroris where he saith ' Nam Divinâ Providentiâ effectum esse mundum ut taceam de Trismegisto qui hoc praedicat taceam de Carminibus Sibyllarum quae idem nunciant taceam de Prophetis qui opus mundi ac opificium Dei uno spiritu ac pari voce testantur etiam inter Philosophos penè Universos convenit Idem etiam Phythagorici Stoici Peripatetici qui sunt principes omnis Disciplinae Denique à primis illis sapientibus à Socrate usque ad Platonem pro confesso indubitato habitum est donec unus multis post seculis extitit delirus Epicurus ' c. And not only the old Philosophers but among the Jews the Assarian sect as well as that of the Muatzali and the followers of Rambam and of the Schoolmen not only the Dominican and Jansenist but the Molinist yea and Durandus himself own a Providence The Second is a Truth no less evident owned even by the worst of Hercticks excepting the Seleuciani and the followers of Florinus who in opposing the Coluthians fell into this contrary extream vide Aug. de Haeresibus c. 59.65.66 This Mar. Scribonius in Pantal. in cos de pec act dis 18. qu. 5. asserts ' Nefarii quidem ac Scelesti fuerunt haeretici antiqui nullus tamen ita vecors ut Deum totaliter Authorem peccati fecerit Non tamen Deum astruebant esse primarium peccati authorem ut malum morale est sed solùm quia est Creator omnium vel quia nonnulli illorum duo principia ponebant unum boni aliud mali sic unum Deum dicebant bonum alium malum nullus autem ausus est Deum asserere verè ac propriè peccati Authorem ' The same is confessed by Bellarmine de amiss Grat. et stat pecc l. 2. c. 1. Moreover the Protestants do with the greatest Zeal conclude that God is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity And as Durandus the Molinists yea and the Jansenists who have espoused the sentiments of St. Austine even so the Dominicans if not Peter de Aliaco and Abailardus deny God to be the Author of sin for surely as the learned Dr. Stillingfleet has prov'd in his Orig. Sacr. lib. 3. c. 3. Whoever believes the Sacred Scriptures cannot entertain the thoughts of Gods being the Author of sin ' Shall not the Judge of all the World do right will a God of Infinite Justice Purity and Holiness punish the sinner for that which himself was the cause of Far be such unworthy thoughts from our apprehensions of a Deity much more of that God whom we believe to have declared his mind so much to the contary that we cannot believe that and the Scriptures to be true together ' From these two uncontroulable Truths there proceeds another with as much conviction as either of these viz. 3. That what man soever sinneth he doth so freely man being the sole Author of the sinfulness of those evil actions he committeth This is agreeable to the sentiments both of the Schoolmen and Philosophers as hereafter shall be evinced But 2. To what is Obscure Although these things are so there arise great difficulties in all humane attempts how to reconcile the two latter with the first proposition concerning which divers men do diversly descant every particular Sect amongst the learned insisting on different Hypotheses for the solving these Phaenomena In doing which some in order to a more secure establishing the two last propositions express themselves so unwarily as to tempt many to fear they are not right in the former again such as make it their principal design to confirm and illustrate the first about Divine Providence c. have been censur'd as if their Dogmata had been attended with the most black and dismal consequences whence instead of a cordial agreement about these three confessed Truths there are variety of disputes contentions animosities and

quarrels concerning the How can these things be But I humbly apprehend that since these three propositions are so undoubtedly true that few or none presume openly or directly to oppose them t is the great interest as well as duty of all rather to satisfy themselves in the producing plain cogent Scriptural arguments for their confirmation than to make a too nice inquiry into the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the way and manner how these things are so For 1. Is it not concerning the Modes or Media of Divine Knowledge and operations that the great contest is which as they are of what more immediately concerns the Divine Nature must be acknowledged to be infinitely above humane which are but finite capacities Who can by searching find out God who can know him or his ways unto perfection Methinks the arguing of Le blank is admirable de concord libert hum cum decret Div. thes 43. ' Itaque cum r●m tantam scrutanti undique se tenebrae offundant occurrant tricae ac pedicae ex quibus nos non satis extricare valemus nihil magis tutum ingenuum puto quam ignorantiam nostram hic apertè profiteri seriò illud Davidis usurpare Mirabilis facta est scientia tua prae me sublimior quam ut assequi possim Ac quanquam aliorum ingenia nolim ex mea tenuitate metiri super hac re modestam disquisitionem damnare facile tamen adducor ut credam mysterium hoc ad ea pertinere de quibus dicit Sapiens Altiora te ne quaesieris fortiora te ne scrutatus fueris Nec mirum videri debet si mens nostra tam angustis limitibus definita percipere non possit quâ ratione intellectus Divinus cui planè nulli sunt fines ea cognoscat attingat quae sunt à cognitione nostra remotissima ' 2. Is there any thing more certain than that all our discourses about these things can be but about what is Obscure But because we cannot comprehend what is Obscure must we reject what is most plain and obvious Cajetane as I find it in Bellarmine de grat et lib. arbit l. 4. c. 14. expresseth himself as to this most excellently ' Cajetanus in 1. part q. 22. art 4 docet concordiam istam liberi Arbitrii cum Divina providentia videri inexplicabilem non intelligibilem in hac vita Et quidem si ita se res haberet non tamen neganda esset vel Providentia Dei vel Libertas hominum Potest enim facile contingere ut aliquid ab una parte manifestè constet ab altera sit maximè dubium obscurum tunc non est negandum unum propter alterum Nunquid inquit S. Aug. lib. de bono perseverantiae c. 14. ideo negandum est quod Apertum est quia comprehendi non potest quod occultum est ' But 3. 'T is humbly apprehended That whatever is extorted and with the greatest violence forced from the Dominican Hypothesis when laid on the rack by the Molinist and some others it may be easily evinced that these Dominicans in giving God the glory of being the only wise orderer and disposer of all things do no way cast him under the blasphemous reproach of being the Author of the sinfulness of any of our evil actions neither according unto them is Humane Liberty and Physical predetermination Irreconcilable Before I begin to attempt the clearing this I must crave leave to do my self the right of assuring the Reader that although I do engage my self so far in favour of these Dominicans 't is not to discover any Zeal for that faction who in the Roman Church are as bloody as any nor for the Hypothesis which is as Metaphysically and obscurely as boldly worded by some of them but 't is to shew that such is the Grandure of Free-Grace that notwithstanding the seeming severity of this Doctrine none shall be able to say that they following the Dominicans verily believed that they were so Physically predetermined to the sinfulness of those actions they committed that the true reason of their damnation is their doing what they were by an Omnipotent Over-strong and Invincible Force violently compelled to do for according to the Dominican notion what sinner soever dieth in his sin is a self condemned sinner which being so in the sense of these Stoical Schoolmen there can be no scruple but that in the sense of most others such as perish in their iniquity will be found to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 condemn'd of themselves For what more evident than that the Arminian and the Molinist pretend to oppose the Dominican principally to clear God from the reproach of being a destroyer of Humane Liberty and consequently from the being the Author of mans sin and 't is as certain that for the same reason Durandus rejects not only the notion of the Dominican but also that of the Molinist insisting only on a Remote or mediate concourse of the first cause with the second espousing that old Dogma of Origen and the Pelagians as Bellarmine asserts de Grat. Lib. Arb. l. 4. c. 4. ' Quidam enim docuerunt posse homines ut etiam res caeteras opera sua efficere sine ullo Dei auxilio sive generali sive speciali Ita videtur sensisse Origines in lib. 3. de principiis ut annotavit S. Thomas lib. 3. contra Gentiles c. 89. ita etiam senserunt Pelagiani teste S. Hieronymo in Epist ad Ctesiphontem lib. 1. adv●… Pelag. ita sensit ex Scholasticis Theologis Durandus in 2. Sent. dist 1. q. 5. dist 37.1 ' Whence it appears that Durandus was not the Author of this Pelagian Hypothesis Mention being made of it long before him even by the Master of the Sentences Albertus Henricus and others yea and by S. Austin de Gen. ad lit t. 5. c. 20. as I find in Malderus in 12. Thorn q. 79. dub 2. ' Meminit hujus sententiae Magister Albertus Henricus alii sunt enim inquit Aug. qui arbitrantur tantummodò mundum ipsum factum à Deo caetera jam fieri ab ipso mundo sicut ille ordinavit jussit Deum autem ipsum nihil operari ' These things being so I shall no sooner be able to evince the Physical Predeterminant to be one who is so far from casting man under a Physical necessity of sinning as to conclude his destruction to be of himself but this following truth will appear in its splendor viz. That such is the Infiniteness of Free-Grace towards all that whoever is for sin condemned to eternal flames is so most Righteously after the abuse of much patience and forbearing Love In order then to a more clear and convincing procedure it must be observed 1. That the Dominican acknowledge the second cause to be in a proper sense a cause and consequently Man the proper though not the Solitary Efficient of his own actions Herein