Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A36110
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A discourse, proving from Scripture and reason that the life of man is not limited by any absolute decree of God by the author of The duty of man, &c.
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Author of The duty of man.
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1680
(1680)
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Wing D1617; ESTC R14478
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40,954
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140
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although he never regard lesser matters and that Curat magna Deus fortunae parva relinquit By means of these wild conceits this Error has proceeded from bad to worse yet very few of the old Philosophers or any other rank of men Atheists those Anomalus births excepted bad ever that confidence in impiety to say with the Epicureans that the World is perfectly left to its own fortuitous and casual resolutions or that I may express it in their Poets own phrase Sive nihil positum est sed sors incerta vagatur Fertque refertque vices habent mortalica casum That the Period of every mans life is not so casual and fortuitous as these men imagine may be made evident by clear testimonies from Scripture concerning the particular Providence whereby God takes care of every particular thing in the World But because I will have occasion to consider this afterwards I shall now add only an instance or two from Scripture whereby it may appear that the most seemingly casual Periods of men are ordered by an infinite Wisdom and fall under the Divinite Rule and Dominion And first the man-slayer who killeth his Neighbor unawars seems to be as casual a business as can be and yet we may read how far the Divine providence is concerned in this particular Exod. 21.13 But farther one of Epicurus Disciples would readily conclude that Ahabs death was a piece of chance and governed by no Supreme power It was but an Archer's drawing his Bow at a venture which by chance killed Ahab But the word of truth informs us that by this means the prophecy 1 Kings 21.19 was fulfilled and that it came not to pass without the Divine providence who rules among the children of Men. And now I have done with the two erroneous extreams which some men have inconsideratly run to for shelter the next thing I premised was to lay down the two common opinions that offer fair for removing the difficulty but I must say for the thing is palpable that I am now only to give the two former rejected opinions of the Stoicks and Epicureans dressed up in better apparel and much refined from the impure dregs of Heathenism as 1. Some run to the absolute and inconditionate Decrees of God and tell us that from the out-goings of Eternity previous to the Divine consideration of circumstances in which men are to be placed God has so absolutely determined the period of every mans life that it can neither be lengthned nor extended by care and diligence nor shortned by intemperance Sword or Plague 2. Others who see the inconveniences and absurdities that follow upon the granting that opinion to be true are induc'd to believe that the Period of every mans life is ordinarily mutable and may be both extended and shortened yet still they grant that God may as it seems good to him either extend or shorten it There are four very considerable particulars that seem to strengthen the first opinion First There are many plain places of Scripture that conclude the days of every man to be bounded by the Divine determination Secondly There are many examples in Scripture which shew that the Period of every mans Life is from the out-goings of Eternity set and bounded in by the Divine will Thirdly It is a common opinion that the futurition of all things depends upon the Divine will antecedently to which things are only possible and therfore Fourthly we can never give a rational and satisfying account how the Divine knowledg concerning the Period of Humane Life is infallible and certain if it be not founded upon the Basis of the sure absolute Decree Upon the other hand those who plead for the mutability of the Period of every Mans Life end eavor to remove the fore-named doubt and to shew the great inconveniences it is lyable to That it quite evacuates the use of the means and encourages men to expose themselves to any danger c. as I shall endeavor to make appear afterwards And now I come to the chief thing I aimed at in this undertaking viz. To attempt a satisfying answer of the present doubt in the prosecution of which intendment I shall observe this Method First I shall endeavor to shew how the Period of every Mans Life may be said to be determind Secondly I shall shew in what sense it is not determined and Thirdly how it is mutable and may be extended or shortned I begin with the first how the Period of every Mans Life may be said to be determined and I shall endeavor to do this in the two following particulars 1. The Period of every mans Life is so far determined that it is not without a Period To determine signifieth properly to set bounds or limits to any thing Now since it is appointed for all men once to dye every mans life is enclosed bounded within a certain number of years And I must add that if I be not very much mistaken this is the genuin sense of the most if not of all those places of Scripture that express the determination of Mans days and indeed Jobs words seeing his days are determined c. seem to mean no other thing but this and in this sense it is unquestionable that God has appointed our bounds which we cannot pass But 2. the Period of every particular Mans Life is determined in respect of the Divine prescience Now because this is a very considerable particular and as I told in the explaining of the text that which was intended by Job when he says the number of his months is with thee I shall therefore endeavor to make out this truth by the plainest and most convincing evidence that can be In order to this I shall shew that God hath a perfect comprehe sion of all things past present or to come and by consequence fore-knows the Period of every Mans Life Secondly I shall prove this by plain evidence from Scriptural Examples Thirdly I shall make it appear that it is solely the prerogative of our Maker to know the Period of every Mans Life And lastly I shall answer the most Material objections and doubts that are brought against it First that God hath a perfect comprehension of all things past present and to come is so reasonable a principle of natural Religion that it hath been generally owned by the wisest and most learned Heathen And those impious wretches who at every turn take the name of God in vain in attesting him in the truth of what sometimes themselves know is false sufficiently imply that they believe Gods Infinite knowledg Besides the truth of this is planly held out it Scripture it was to this City of refuge Peter did flee when his love was seemingly called in question Lord says he Thou knowest all things John 21.16 And the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews makes use of this Topick to induce us to cricumspection all things are naked and open to the eyes of him with whom we have to
that in man there is a Soul and Body In like manner what altho Humane Reason cannot reconcile the Divine knowledg with the contingency of actions yet may it not rest satisfi'd with this that God knows all contingencies because his understanding is infinite And indeed the predictions in Scripture are so remarkable and plain evidences that God knows all things that now it cannot be reasonably questioned But suppose Revelation had taught us nothing of this yet we might by natural principles know that God is the most perfect being that can be imagined and therefore of Infinite comprehension that he is out Maker and therefore must know all the intrigues of his creatures But Secondly the Divine foreknowledge is not the cause of things for otherwise criminal actions which do not escape his eye should be caused by him who can not tempt any man to sin which is impossible if God should reveal to me that Titius were certainly to do such a thing the next day my foreknowledg does nor necessitate Titius to do that act so that upon the one hand as the foreknowledg of it hath no influence upon the manner of its production nor crosseth the Humane liberty for the Divine foreknowledg is not the cause why things exist but it supposeth the existence of things so upon the other hand the contingency of the Period of Humane Life does not infer that it cannot be certainly known by an infinite understanding who grasps all things and seasons But the great difficulty is how the Divine foreknowledg can be reconciled with the Divine promises commands comminations and prohibitions how it can consist with the Divine wisdom and Goodness to threaten men with shortness of life if they continue wicked and aebellious and to promise length of days if man will obey his commandments while-as he well knows that the wicked man will continue in his wickedness and be filthy still and that the vertuous and good man will persevere in well doing I confess this is a very great difficulty and hath induced many learned men to doubt if God knows things contingently future not that they would impeach any of the Divine perfections or derogate from the infinity of his knowledg but only they think that the nature of things contingently future is such that they cannot be known as it is no diminution from Omnipotency to say things impossible or which imply a contradiction fall not under its object But yet since Scripture hath so clearly revealed to us the Divine foreknowledg of future actions methinks he is very rash and inconsiderate considerate that doubts it it is a remarkable sentence of Tertullian's Praescientia Dei tantos habet testes quantos fecit prophetas Hence the learned Episcopius tells us that his Religion and the reverence he had to the Divine Majesty would never suffer him to admit this argument which reflected so much upon the truth of Divine Predictions But I answer more particularly that Gods promises and threatnings are serious because although God knows that some men who are threatned will continue in their wickedness yet it being in their power to turn from their Sins and the Divine threatning being an argument which should prevail upon men no man can doubt but God is serious with sinners in such cases If a parent did certainly know that his Son were to commit a criminal act would any man think that that Parents threatning of his Son if he did commit that act were void of sincerity But 2. As God knows that some wicked men notwithstanding of the severed threatning will continue in their sins yet 1. He knows that even such obdurate persons may do otherewise and 2. He knows that many men would have continued in their sins if they had not been threatned with punishments We have no reason to think that the people of Ninevie would have turned unto God if they had never been threatned Now though God knew that Ninevie when threatned would repent yet since he also knew that if they had not been threatned they should have continued in their wickedness therefore no man can question the seriousness of the Divine threatnings And thus I have dispatched the first particular how the Period of every Mans Life may be said to be determined I come in the next place to enquire in what sense it is not determined Now because I have already rejected the Stoical fate all that I shall speak concerning this head may be comprehended in these following particulars viz. The Period of every Mans Life is not fatally limited and bounded by any absolute or inconditionate decree of God Almighty Now because many learned men violently urge that God hath from the out-goings of Eternity absolutly decreed the bounds of every Mans Life without any consideration of those circumstances in which they are to be placed so that men do what they please can neither extend nor shorten the lease of their life I shall therefore endeavor to make this assertion plain and remove those objections that it may seem lyable to and the rather because in such kind of assertions as are besides the common opinion men will be ready to suspect some sinistrious deisgn That the Period of every Mans Life is not Fatally determined by any secret inconditional decree will appear from the arguments we shall make use of in proving the inability of the Period of every Mans Life Now I shall only consider those absurdities and inconveniencies that follow upon the admission of the contrary opinion As first if the Period of Humane Life were Fatally determined then those wretched miscreants who with their own hands put a Period to their Lives may easily excuse themselves before their Judg for since it is supposed that they are physically predetermined to do so how can it be imagined that they could do otherwise is there any resisting of the Divine decree alas it was not in their power to help it and how then can they be condemned for it It is a known Maxim Nemo peccat in eo quod vitare non potest The necessity they are placed in seems to excuse their sin but if notwithstanding we shall suppose that such brutish actions are really criminal we run our selves upon another absurdity and that is we reflect upon the Divine holiness and goodness for if God has truly determined those brutish actions by a previous secret and unalterable decree if he hath before irrevocably determined and so intangled in such a train of causes as should necessarily make them offer violence to themselves how can we vindicate the Divine Sanctity from the blot of being the Author of sin Alas dayly experience shews us how apt Men are to make use of this argument for their own vindication when they do what is criminal they tell us they were fatally determin'd by an external power in acting them And with this consideration they solace themselves as if they were as innocent as Fools or Mad-Men Be But let no Man deceive