performance of the seemingly best Action or actions in the World to be meritorious of Salvation so would it on the other hand inevitably prevent the taking Offence at a decent Habit a reverend Gesture or a significant Ceremony though not immediately enjoyn'd by God but only by his Ministers since the former I mean the Opus operatum if it becomes not an effectual Means to excite cherish or heighten divine love in the Soul answers not at all the End for which it was commanded and the latter to wit a decent Habit a reverend Gesture a significant Ceremony if piously made use of for causing internal Reverence to God or Attention and Regard to the Duty in hand as their Institution requires they should always be will not fail to contribute something to sincere devotion which is evermore acceptable to God so that there can be no place left either for positive or negative Superstition in any Man's Mind who is fully perswaded that to love God with all his heart with all his Soul and with all his strength is as well Man's Felicity as that honour which ought ultimately to be aimed at in every Act of Worship required by God both which the following Treatise makes out to be true the perfect love of God eternal Felicity and the glorifying God for ever being there manifestly prov'd to be the very self same thing under different appellations and expressions so that no endeavours of giving honour to God either by doing any thing commanded or by abstaining from any thing forbidden is ever farther acceptable to him then they promote in some respect or other the Grace of Charity in the Soul of Man and thereby further his Felicity in the obtaining of which is accomplished the ultimate Intention of all divine Precepts Statutes and Ordinances whatsoever given to Mankind to be obeyed kept and observed our Goodness not extending unto God but being only profitable to our selves I shall now no longer Courteous Reader by staying thee in the Porch detain thee from taking thy full view of the grateful sight of the compact Edifice I am introduceing thee to save only while I make this short Apology for my Friend That albeit he labours to shew from the Principle of Reason that there is One only self existent infinitely perfect Being a Trinity of Persons in Vnity of Essence that the World was created by God of nothing that Man was created in a State of Innocency that there was a necessity of the Incarnation of the Divine Word and of the Graces of Faith Hope and Charity in respect of Man's Salvation not to be obtain'd without them yet he has nevertheless well assured one that if there had not been a Divine Revelation of the certainty of their Truth it could never have come into his Thoughts to have ever attempted the framing those Conceptions which he has express'd concerning them But seeing as he has often said to me it pleased the Almighty Goodness to reveal for the benefit of Mankind the sublime Truths of Holy Writ he humbly conceiv'd that the Intent thereof was that Man's Reason should be illuminated therewith and consequently that the more use he made thereof with due Reverence and Humility to meditate and consider how the Belief of divine Truths and Mysteries becomes necessary to Man's everlasting welfare the deeper impression of their Excellency and Vsefulness to that End would be imprinted in his Mind thereby And truly for my own part I must needs own that whatever true Sense of devotion I formerly had towards my Maker and Redeemer I find it not a little improved and enlivened since I became Master of the System of the Theology imported in this Tract and experience in my Soul a sweeter relish in performing holy Duties than I did before which Benefits or some others such like that may influence thy Heart with the Love of God for thy everlasting Salvation is the ardently desired Success good Reader of thy Perusal of this small but comprehensive and elaborate Piece recommended in Charity to thy serious and pious Reading Farewel THE CONTENTS SECTION I. THere is an absolute perfect Being which is Self-existent Eternal only One Infinite Immutable a pure Act entirely Simple one Formality and a Spirit Page 1. SECT II. In the Vnity of the Divine Essence there necessarily is a Trinity of Persons p. 9. SECT III. The Vniverse was created by God. There was no praeexistent Matter whereof it was made It is not of the Nature and Essence of God. It neither could have been Eternal for Duration nor Infinite in Extention There is no endless Number of Worlds The Vniverse is only one The best for kind that was possible to be created p. 21. SECT IV. Man was created by God. He has an immaterial Substance which is the Principle of Motion proper to him immortal and indued with the Rational Faculties of Vnderstanding and Will. He was created in a State of Innocency What the State of Innocency was The End for which Man was made In what his Chief Good and Felicity doth consist p. 35. SECT V. Man is fallen from the State wherein he was created The manner of the Fall explained The eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was forbidden because of the Evil which God certainly knew would ensue from the very eating thereof p. 45. SECT VI. Original Sin the natural Consequent of eating of the forbidden Fruit and how What Original Sin is God cleared from being the Author of it Actual Sin is excited by Original All Miseries incident to Man as well as Sin are the bitter Fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and after what manner they come to be so p. 56 SECT VII Eternal Damnation or the perpetual loss of Bliss inevitably follows from the perpetual Alienation of the Souls Affections from God. Eternal Torments or the Pains of the Damned necessarily for ever accompany their Impious Desires of preferring worldly Vanities before the Enjoyment of God. Hence by these two an Aversion from the Creator and a Conversion to the Creature Man makes himself eternally miserable p. 71 SECT VIII The only Evil prejudicial to Man in respect of the End for which he was created is Malum culpae the Evil of Fault And it is either privative or positive The former consists in an Aversion from God the latter in a Conversion to the Creature Each of them is called Sin the one formal the other material The greatest Alienation of the Heart from God makes the greatest Sinner p. 84 SECT IX Mans Recovery from his lost Condition wherein it consists And how wrought Natural Ways and Means unable to procure it Supernatural Causes only sufficient to effect the same Of these the free Love of God to Man and the Incarnation of his Eternal only begotten Son with the Consequents of it are the chief p. 99 SECT X. The end of Human Laws is the Good of the Community The Breach of them is Evil as
read with diligence and devotion the holy Scripture to frequent the hearing of the Word preached and to meditate often on the Contents of Sacred Writ how can it otherwise be but that he should by so doing acquire a firm and stedfast pious Belief of Divine Truths revealed by Christ and his Apostles 13. And in regard that he whose Petition to God is unfeigned and ardent and withal frequently used for obtaining of Hope and putting his Trust and Confidence in God that he will be graciously pleased to excite his Desires and prosper his Endeavours for the attainment of Bliss will doubtless be induced thereby to refrain from those things which he knows must destroy all hope of Salvation and to addict himself to a stricter Course of Life than he had formerly led and so by the daily Use and Exercise of such Ways and Means as are conducible to Felicity he 'l increase his Hope till it grow by degrees into an Habit. 14. And as for Charity whosoever heartily and with earnestness and constancy of Desire to attain to the Love of God above all things makes his humble address to the Heavenly Throne for the same it cannot otherwise fall out but that he must often be put upon the serious consideration of the unmerited great Love of God to Man in creating preserving and redeeming him of the transcendent value of the immense and endless Joys of Heaven and of the Vanity of the short and transitory Pleasures of this World which if pursued will bring him to intolerable and perpetual Misery whence he 'l learn to despise all sublunary fading Delights in comparison of the everlasting enjoyment of his most gracious Maker Sustainer and Saviour the greater and greater desire of which in his Heart cannot chuse but grow by an ardent constancy in Prayer for the same till Charity be habitually seated in the Soul. 15. Thus we see that Prayer if it be such as God commands doth certainly as a subordinate Cause under himself who is the principal Author of all good whatsoever always prove an effectual Means of instilling every Virtue both Theological and Moral into the Soul of Man so that all other Virtues not here particularly treated of as Humility Patience c. are as effectually got by fervent and frequent Prayer proceeding from a sincere affection and desire of them as those which have been handled be Yea and temporal Blessings both for our selves and others are also obtained of God by devout Prayer when the Divine Wisdom sees the bestowing of them will be a Means to improve in Godliness for the Prayers sake the Souls of those for whom the Prayer is made 16. And if Prayer rightly made be so potent and prevalent to procure the Habits of Virtue as we have seen it is how much more easily will it preserve them being once obtained since every time we seriously pray after the Soul is possessed with the habitual Love of God we are exercising and cultivating Faith Hope and Charity whilst he that loves God above all things firmly resolves that the grand and main Design of his whole Life shall be a continued Tendency through God's gracious Assistance towards the perpetual Fruition of him in Heaven so that whenever he makes his pious Addresses to God in Prayer they are always performed in Faith or a stedfast Belief of the Truth and faithful Performance of all Gospel Revelations and Promises and in an assured Hope and Confidence in the Mercy and Goodness of God towards him from the unfeigned Love he finds he has to God so that the more a pious man pray the more he exercises the Graces of Faith Hope and Charity whence their Habits must needs be confirmed and strengthened accordingly 17. The like is also true of the Moral Virtues whose Habits are corroborated and more firmly fixed by the devout Prayers of a godly person for the better one is established in Faith Hope and Charity the greater Vigilancy and Diligence will he use to subdue and keep under by Temperance his carnal appetite to do right by Justice to every one and to strive through Fortitude against all sinful Temptations and the practice of those Virtues cannot fail to invigorate and fortifie them proportionably to the measure thereof Object 1. Why may not you 'l say the meer Consideration of the necessity of Virtue for the obtaining of Blis put men upon the practice of all such things as are apt either to procure it or to keep it when it is procured And if it may what peculiar Excellency or benefit is there in devout Prayer Solut. That the sole Consideration if serious and frequent of the necessity of Virtue in order to Felicity will excite men to desire and seek after it and if already acquired to preserve it there 's no doubt to be made But nevertheless there is a Benefit peculiar to Prayer above and beyond the Utility of such Consideration For First in applying our selves to God who is our sole supream Good we fix our Thoughts more steadily on the Means available to the gaining thereof when we earnestly beg them of him to that end yea and the very Consideration of the Necessity of Virtue will it self be much improved and heightned thereby Secondly Whenever we devoutly pray we comport our selves with great reverence and Humility as before the Throne of God which rendring the Action of Prayer serious and sacred makes it to work a deeper impression of the Virtue prayed for in our Thoughts than the bare consideration of the Virtue without such Prayer would do Thirdly When with earnestness of Desire we petition our heavenly Father to grant us his merciful Assistance for the obtaining any Virtue we on our parts plainly engage our selves thereby to him to employ our own Care and Endeavours towards the acquiring thereof which must needs cause a stronger inclination in the Soul and a more sedulous diligence in our Actions to obtain the Virtue petitioned for than the sole Consideration of the Benefit thereof towards Bliss could possibly do Fourthly There is nothing more quickens the Desire and encourages the Endeavours after any thing we highly value than a well grounded Hope to obtain it by the Means used to obtain it by and we have his Promises who is no less faithful than able to perform that if we ask not amiss as we never do when we pray for Virtue with Sincerity Fervency and Constancy of Mind as is clear by what has been said in this Section we shall most certainly have our Request Object 2. If Sincerity Fervency and Frequency of Prayer be necessary for the acquiring of Virtue it is but rarely I fear attain'd unto for although many pray frequently and with a real desire of what they pray for yet are there but few that do it with much earnestness or fervency of Spirit Solut. There are several degrees of Fervency or Earnestness the lowest of all which and Sincerity of Affection always implies some degree thereof if
sect 13 14. which perfected is Felicity it evidently follows that there is not any Vice mortally vicious or finally prejudicial to Man's Felicity save only by reason of Charity 's inconsistency with it But it is impossible that those who either through Infidelity never believe or through Apostasie fall from the belief that there is an eternal Being which ought to be belov'd above all things should place their Affections on God and equally impossible that they who either through Presumption or Despair will not make use of the necessary Means should attain to the End to be acquired by them Whence it is manifest that every one of these Vices are Mortal Sins and necessarily if not forsaken destructive of Salvation If it be replied that every Sin is a Transgression of the Law and every Transgression of the Law a Mortal Sin no less than Infidelity Apostasie Presumption and Despair and therefore destructive of Salvation as well as they I grant it to be true in every one abiding in the State of sinful Nature for since such a Man's Will is habitually vitiated with the Love of the World above the Love of God every Act proceeding from that Source or Principle will partake of its Nature and Disposition and all such Love is Mortal Sin Sect. 8. par 5. But to him that is in the State of Grace or endued with the Habit of Charity which is Formal Righteousness sect 11. pa. 6 7 8. I deny that any single sinful Act or Transgression of the Law is Mortal unless it be such as either by the grossness of it or else by the perverse wilfulness of committing it destroys the Habit of Charity in the Soul for it is impossible that that Man should suffer the Pains of Hell who habitually loves God above the World and prefers the enjoyment of him before all Terrestrial Pleasures sect 11. pa. 6 7. albeit thro' infirmity and the frailty of human Nature he sometimes transgress in smaller Matters some part of the Law of God. Object 2. Faith and Hope seem very excellent Virtues in themselves Faith in that it owns the Truth of God in readily assenting and firmly adhering to those mysterious Truths revealed in the Scripture which wholly transcend all our Reason and Apprehension And Hope in that it owns the infinite Power and Goodness of God such Faith and Hope being required as Conditions of our Salvation and that God may be righteous in absolving and saving Sinners Rom. 3. v. 24 25 26 27. Whence it appears that they are on these accounts abstracting from this that they are Ministerial to Charity necessary to Salvation Solut. That the owning the Truth of God by readily assenting and firmly adhering to the Mysterious Truths revealed in the Scripture and the owning the infinite Power and Goodness of God are any Virtues when they are not accompanied with Charity besides for the reason shewn sect 13. par 1. therefore deny because the Devil not only gives a most firm assent to every Divine Truth revealed in the Scripture as knowing it to be the Word of God and therefore infallibly true but also owns upon the same account the infinite Power and Goodness of God as they are there in every respect declared and set forth and yet he is not at all virtuous in doing of either yea the stronger his Assent is to their Truth the more wicked he is because he has not Charity answerable to his Knowledg in that he loves not God as the only Sovereign Good of all rational and intelligent Creatures when he most certainly knows that he ought to be so beloved by them If it be alledged that Faith in the Objection is to be understood of a Divine Faith I return that if an Assent given to a Divine Truth upon the Credit of a Divine Testimony be Divine Faith the Devil's Belief of the Truths revealed in the Scripture is a Divine Faith But if by Faith be meant a Saving Faith then I grant the Devil is void thereof because his Faith is not accompanied with Charity for all Faith without Charity is nothing worth in reference to Salvation 1 Cor. 13. 2. 7. As the principal Aim and Drift of the Precepts of the former Table of the Decalogue is the Love of God as Mans chiefest Good Par. 6. so hath the Loving of our Neighbour likewise its Consummation therein For since Rational Nature is the same in all men and consequently the same End appointed for all Mankind 't is clear that every Man in that he is a Man is obliged to wish and further the same final Good and the Necessary Means conducible to it to every one and this is that which is truly loving a Mans Neighbour as himself whilst every other good one man ought to do to another is a thing extrinsecal to man as man and depends as to the Obligation thereto on prudential Motives or mutual Consent explicit or implicit or formal Contracts for the Preservation or Comfort of the animal Life and is not so much as to be absolutely prayed for even for our selves Sect. 15. Par. 3. and then certainly not of necessity to be absolutely wished or done to others as their final good Estate and what necessarily conduceth to the obtaining of it evermore are 8. Seeing then to love a mans Neighbour as himself is heartily to wish and desire that he may enjoy the same necessary good with himself and to contribute his Assistance when occasion requires to the furthering thereof and that eternal Felicity is that necessary good consisting in the perfect Love of God Sect. 4. Par. 13. it is plain that in heartily wishing and endeavouring also when occasion serves that our Neighbour may attain to the sincere Love of God here and the perfect Love of God hereafter We love our Neighbour as our selves and thereby keep all the six last Commandments 9. And forasmuch as no man can possibly heartily wish to another either Grace or Glory but because of his own real desire thereto for himself first had it is manifest that he who loves his Neighbour as himself doth evermore first at least in order of nature love God as his chiefest Good. 10. And because the sincere Love of God or Charity is formal Righteousness and that formal Righteousness doth formally justifie Sect. 11. Par. 8. it directly follows that a man is formally Righteous or justified before in order of Nature at least he love his Neighbour as himself and consequently that the Love of our Neighbour is not any part of formal Righteousness but a necessary Effect and Consequent thereof which will farther appear to be a Truth from hence that as on the one side he who desires and endeavours by his Council and Prayers his Neighbours Felicity though he never attain thereto performs his Duty to him and thereby fulfils the Precepts of the latter Table if so be he did them for the Love he bears to God because such Love doth justifie so on the other side
sec 2. par 4 5 9 10. For wheresoever there is a Relative Opposition there is of necessity a Distinction Relatio being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sive habitudo vel respectus unius ad aliud and yet nevertheless it is not necessary that where there is such an Opposition there should be always different Subjects separate from each other wherein that different opposite Relation should abide For since Scientia and Scibile are Relatives where Knowledg is the Knowledg of ones self there is a Relative Opposition and yet but one Subject to sustain the same And the like is also true in respect of Love where it is to ones self Whence seeing there are no Accidents in God sect 1. par 6. it must be that the Divine Relates are all of them substantial and not otherwise distinct from the simple Essence of God but in regard of their Relative Opposition to each other Objection 3. The Father knows and loves himself the Son knows and loves himself and the Holy Ghost knows and loves himself and every one of these again knows and loves each other how then can there be only Three Persons and no more in the Divine Essence if so be the Distinction of Persons proceeds from the Different Relations which are said to be in God as you in Sec. 2. affirm it does Answer Each Person of the Blessed Trinity knows himself and the other two by the Second Person which is the Essential Knowledg of God seâ—â— 2. par 4 5 for there is but one Essential Divine Knowledg And every one of the Three Persons loves himself and the other two by the Third Person who is Essential Divine Love sec 2. par 9. for there is One only Essential Divine Love so that there are no more Relatives or Persons in respect of Knowledg and Love than Two. And albeit in respect of being known and beloved there seem to be many several Relations in God in that the Father Son and Holy Ghost are each of them known and beloved of themselves and of the other two likewise yet that falling out by reason of the Circuminsession as the Schools term it or mutual essential Inexistence of all the three Persons and not in respect of a primary-immediateopposite-Relation which alone constitutes a Person sec 2. par 3 4 9. it rightly denotes no Plâ—rality of Relations in God. For since the Divine Nature as Eternal Essential Truth is the alone primary-immediate Object both of Divine Knowledg and Love for Truth is the adequate Object of all intelligent Beings as knowing and loving or of the Intellect and Will as the sole perfection of them it is plainly consequent thereto that the alone Primary-immediate Divine Object known and beloved is eternal essential Truth the Origin and Fountain of the Divine Persons to wit Eternal Essential Divine Truth begetting the Eternal Essential Divine Knowledg of its self is God the Father the Eternal Essential Divine Knowledg begotten of the Eternal Essential Divine Truth is God the Son and the Eternal Essential Divine Love of the Eternal Essential Divine Truth known or which is the same of the Father and the Son is God the Holy Ghost notwithstanding that there is an innate mutual knowledg and love of all the Three Persons by Circuminssession whilst the Father is essentially in the Son the Divine thing known being essentially in the Divine Knower and the Son is essentially in the Father the Divine Knower being the essential Character of the Divine Thing known sect 2. par 5. And the Father and the Son are both of them essentially in the Holy Ghost and He in Them by reason of the essential Union of the Divine Love and the Divine Thing Beloved sect 2. par 9. Whence it necessarily comes to pass that whatsoever can be truly spoken or predicated of God is mutually in all the Three Persons and may be rightly spoken and predicated of every one of them as well as of the Divine Nature Essence or Being save only what the Primary-immediate-relativeopposition which as has been shewn is but threefold as such puts a Bar unto Objection 4. It is worthy of Consideration whether the men of this Age may not make the same use of your Discourse that the Mahometans and Jews do of others like it utterly to dislike the Trinity Answer Since the Reason why the Mahometans and Jews and other Antitrinitarians as have any real love and value for Truth disbelieve the Trinity seems chiefly to be this that they are fully perswaded there can be no part of Divine Revelation which is certainly opposite to right Reason and yet cannot apprehend but that the Doctrine of a Trinity of Persons in Vnity of Essence is contradictory in probability an Essay of this kind should rather do good than harm to men of such Perswasions if so be it afford any the minutest true though never so glimmering Light of the but possibility of the Truth of the Doctrin of the Holy Trinity to human Reason because the Revelation of the Divine Persons in Scripture would be apt to find a more easie reception in their Minds thereby than if they still remain'd strongly possessed with an Opinion that the Doctrin of a Trinity of Persons in Vnity of Essence was impossible to be true through the sense and perswasion they had of its absolute Contradiction to Reason being rationally prepossessed that one Truth cannot be really opposite to another Objection 5. Against what I find writ sect 3. par 7. namely that God ever does of necessity yet voluntarily what is best all things considered I offer an Objection from an ingenious Author in his Treatise of the Nature and Extent of the Divine Dominion and Goodness which is this God has power to take back from us all or part of what he has given us i. e. he can utterly destroy our Beings or take from us so many Comforts of Life and inflict upon us so many Calamities as shall leave us in a condition only preferable to that of Non-existence For all that we have to render our Conditions more valuable than Not-being is the free Product of the Divine Power But 't is a certain and undoubted Truth that every Authority has power to revoke all the free Issues of its own Power unless it have abridged it self from the exercise thereof by some special Compact or Promise For Compact or Promise lays an obligation on him that makes it and vests a Right in the Person to whom it is made and therefore where Benefits are bestowed without these Instruments of conveying Right there the Donor has the same Right to withdraw as he had to give them and therefore that God who has given us our Beings has full Power arbitrariously to destroy them Answer The presumed strength of this Discourse very ingenious and plausible I confess lies in the supposed Certainty of this That every Superior Authority has power to revoke all the free Issues of its own power unless it have abridged it self
RELIGION AND REASON Adjusted and Accorded OR A DISCOURSE WHEREIN Divine Revelation is made appear to be a congruous and connatural Way of affording proper Means for making Man eternally happy through the perfecting of his RATIONAL NATVRE With an APPENDIX of OBJECTIONS FROM Divers as well Philosophers as Divines and their Respective ANSWERS Licensed Sept. 28. 1687. Rob. Midgley LONDON Printed for the Author and are to be sold at the Peacock in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1688. THE PUBLISHER TO THE READER WHen I first look'd upon the Title and cursorily viewed the Contents of the following Tract I severely enough censured in my Thoughts the boldness of the Undertaking and well-nigh condemned the whole Discourse in my Mind before I had read any part thereof But entring upon the Treatise it self I straightway saw sufficient Cause to suspend a while my Judgment on it and by degrees the further progress I made in it to retract my sharp Censure and at length by frequent reading of the entire Discourse instead of blaming the Author's Attempt to admire the happy Success of the Undertaking and to esteem it as one of the most convincing Tractates so likewise of the greatest Vsefulness I have mostly met with For the Contexture of it is such as that it is in appearance to me a continued Chain of necessary Truths inseparably link'd together and those of such importance at this time when Science falsly so call'd is opposed to Revelation that I trust it may prove an excellent Antidote against the spreading Poyson of several Antichristian Errors of late rise amongst us whilst it clearly shews that Divine Revelation is so far from contradicting dethroning or evacuating Right Reason that the very Design of Christianity is to enlighten elevate and improve the same in order to the rendring it more serviceable by Ways and Means agreeable to human Nature to promote the End of Man's Creation than it could otherwise possibly have been forasmuch as the close and amicable Concurrence of Revelation and Reason is declared and explained throughout the Discourse to be but as one Joynt-Principle of directing and conducting Man to the final happy condition for which he was created Wherein because I hold the Author's Sense to be worthy of general Cognizance especially considering the great Advance of Atheism Antitrinitarianism and other abominable Opinions in this Nation all pretending to Reason but in truth repugnant to it as by this small Piece will I am confident though without mentioning any of them be made appear I advised since it was referred to my decision whether the Author's Latin or English Copy should be published that the English should rather at present be Printed than the Latin one being induced and led thereto chiefly from these two Considerations First Because divers Persons of generous Education and great Wit who though they have a competent Knowledg in the Roman Tongue yet cannot without more pains than they are usually willing to bestow throughly understand a Latin Author having been too much carried away by a shew of Reason in prejudice of Revealed Religion will here find not unpleasant Entertainment and very beneficial for undeceiving them Secondly Because on the contrary many others are such Bigots in Devotion that they are all Zeal without Judgment and so run into various Superstitions for want of a due and just estimate of the Nature of God and Godliness whilst imagining meer Obedience to the divine Will abstracted from the consideration of the proper and peculiar Vsefulness of the Duties commanded by God to make Men truly pious to be the design of Religion as if Faith Hope and Charity were therefore only good and serviceable to render men happy because they are commanded and not therefore commanded by reason they are proper Means conducible in their Natures to that end they weakly think the Almighty to receive real Delight Pleasure and Contentment from the Services of Men and contrariwise to be grieved displeased and angry when he is not exactly worshipped accordingly as they apprehend he desires to be neither reflecting that if disobedience to the Precepts of God wrought an affection of Grief Discontent and Anger in him he would be far more miserable than the most wretched Creature alive seeing innumerable Myriads every moment of time heinously transgress his holy Laws nor yet being aware that God requires Honour and Worship to be given him here on Earth for the furthering the end and intendment of the Gospel in bringing Man to everlasting Beatitude whereby he glorifies his Maker and Redeemer for ever but yet not to requite gratifie and pleasure God thereby who being eternally and essentially happy in his own transcendent Perfection is incapable even to contradiction as the Author says and proves to acquire or receive any the least advantage either of Profit or Pleasure to himself from the very best Performances of his Creature The Mistake or Oversight of which Truth often occasions many great Mischiefs both in Church and State in that through an indiscreet fervor for the Almighty's Honour fiery Zelots think they do God good Service if they obstinately oppose or even destroy his supposed Enemies that dishonour as they conceit his holy Name whensoever any thing is enjoyned by Superiors however innocent in it self which God himself has not commanded to be observed in his Worship And as these are guilty of negative Superstition so are there others that are so of positive whilst in conscientiously performing meer external acts of Adoration and Obedience they belive they honour God as they ought to do and thence really content and please him whereas nothing fulfils his Design of giving Laws to Men whereby he exacts the doing of their Duty unless it be done for the desire they have to enjoy him everlastingly the Fruition of his Presence by loving the same with all the might of the Soul being that Honour which God ultimately requires and whereunto all other Acts of Worship and Adoration are of right to tend of which if they fall short they are evermore perform'd in vain as is demonstratively shewn in the subsequent Discourse where good Reader thou 'lt find how each singular Virtue and every distinct Office of Christian Religion directly tends by divine Ordination to the begetting augmenting or perfecting the love of God in the Soul the whole Treatise almost being nothing else but an exemplifying in particulars what that pious Prelate the Bishop of Bath and Wells in his Exposition on the Church-Catechism or the Practise of divine Love writes in general pag. 4. in these few words As all particular Graces are but the love of God varied by diffeferent Instances and Relations so all particâ—lar Sins are nothing but Concupiscence or the love of one Creature or other in competition with or opposition to the love of God. Which remarkable Truth if it were well imprinted in mens Hearts would as on the one side certainly destroy the Opinion of holding the meer Opus operatum or the external
is attainable by Man will alone be the utmost Perfection of the Intellect 11. And forasmuch as the Will is a rational Appetite desirous of good and consequently if it follow the Course of Nature imprinted in it first by God par 4. will certainly desire above all things that which the Rational Faculty of Knowing the Intellect directs unto as the greatest and noblest good it must needs be seeing the Intellect if it judge according to right Reason cannot chuse but determin that the highest Knowledg attainable of the most excellent Object is the greatest and noblest good which a Being whose nature is rational can possibly desire that Man's Will shall never arrive at its utmost Perfection and Satisfaction till the Soul be filled with the highest Knowledg attainable of the most excellent Object which is the prime independent Being or God sect 1. 12. Wherefore seeing it is evident by the two last Paragraphs that the Objective Perfection both of the Intellect and the Will is the prime Being under the Notion of Truth and Goodness it plainly follows that seeing it was proved in the Paragraph above that whatever is the Perfection of the Intellect and the Will the same is the Perfection of the Soul God known and beloved is the chiefest Objective Good of the Soul called by Divines the Beatific Vision or Light of Glory 13. And forasmuch as from the Fruition of the Chiefest Good the greatest and purest Joy Pleasure and Contentment which Man's Heart is capable of must of necessity flow 't is clear that the greatest and purest Joy Pleasure and Contentment must accordingly flow from the clear Knowledg of God or the Beatific Vision and such Joy Pleasure and Content is formal Perfection the chiefest Bliss and ultimate End of Man. 14. Hence it is manifest that Man was not made to enjoy immediatly upon his Creation the Beatific Vision for if he had once enjoyed it he should have been for ever confirmed and established in Bliss For the Beatific Object once clearly seen will most certainly be beloved and delighted in with all the might and power of the Soul as fully satisfying the whole Desire thereof And being so beloved and delighted in the Soul cannot otherwise chuse but with its whole force and strength of affection perpetually desire the sight of it and consequently there can be no Divorce between the Soul and Object of Felicity after it is once fully possessed thereof by either withdrawing its Affections or placing them on any thing besides 15. Although therefore Man by Creation as was proved par 6. understood what his chief good was and wherein the Means convenient to procure the same were placed and withal made use of the latter to obtain the former by yet in regard he was not fully united to God in perfect Love thro' the best Knowledg of him 't is plain that tho the state of Creation was a state of Innocency Uprightness or Integrity in that Man's Heart was right towards God yet was it not a state of Perfection from which he could not depart or fall Object If Man 's own Felicity be the ultimate End for which he was created as was said above Paragraph 13. how is it that God's Glory is so universally held as we know it is to be the Final Cause of the whole Creation Solut. Man's Felicity and the glorifying God for ever by the Saints in Heaven are not two several distinct things but one and the self same thing For since Felicity is the greatest and purest Joy Pleasure and Contentment flowing from the Beatific Vision which Man's Soul is able to contain par 13. and that this very Joy Pleasure and contentment doth not at all differ save only in Words from loving God with all the Heart and with all the Soul and with all the Mind for what is it so to love God but to take delight in him with the whole power and strength of the Soul 't is plain that such Love or perpetual firm and full adherence to God as the most desirable Object with plenary satisfaction being the sublimest perfectest Act which Man's Soul can exhibit to God is to give him the greatest Honour and Glory or to own his transcendent Excellency above all other things in the best and noblest manner which the Soul is able to do And to this only Act of glorifying God all other Acts of Honour to be given unto him as inferior to it do by Divine Designment directly tend For to love God upon Earth above all things is only a lower degree of the glory which is to be consummated in Heaven Neither is that great and just Opinion and Reverence which every created intelligent and rational Being ought to have to and for the Almighties adorable Excellence Attributes and Counsels the final Honour which God requires for an Assent of the Understanding however strongly and reverently given to the Truth of all those is but a subordinate and subservient Act of Honour intentionally designed by the Requirer of it to procure and effect a correspondent Act in the Will of taking Delight in them as the only ultimate and perfect Act of glorifying God whilst every Act of Honour whatsoever done by the Intellect is not only eminently contain'd therein but is also rendred in a more excellent way thereby than immediatly in it self for to place ones whole Delight in the contemplation of the Divine Excellence Attributes and Counsels is evidently a more noble Act of honouring God than only to give a full and reverent Assent to their Truth since he that does the latter does the former also and with all the advantage which the operation of the Will most vigorously re-enforcing and elevating the operation of the Intellect by the Souls strongest Affections can perform To which supream and comprehensive Act of glorifying the Divine Majesty since it is nevertheless impossible that the Almighty and All-sufficient should have any regard at all in respect of an Advantage either of Benefit or Pleasure expected to accrue thereby to himself because Perfection being essential to the Deity sect 1. par 7. the Divine Nature is even to contradiction incapable of acquiring or receiving any manner of Profit or Pleasure from the best Performance of his Creature it is manifestly plain that God's Design in creating Man was not to receive but to communicate good Nor indeed is that Course of doing good without expecting a requital unagreeable to Human Nature it self which in that it is Rational would prompt every one to do good to others without expectation of any Return to be made for the same provided that he himself should not suffer any harm loss or want thereby as the Almighty most undoubtedly can never in bestowing Benefits possibly do who when he has given all that he can will have nothing less himself than if he had not given any thing at all SECT V. Man is fallen from the State wherein he was created The manner of the Fall explicated The
it comes to pass that the external Act conceived to be prohibited by the Divine Law is no real Breach thereof save only when and as it impedes or diminisheth the Souls due Affection or Love which of right it ought to have to God in order to its own Felicity as shall hereafter in the explication of the seventh and Eighth Commandments Sect. 19. be made appear 7. In the greatest Alienation therefore of the Heart from God is the greatest sin which Alienation because it befalls the Damned in that their Aversion from God is perpetual the Damned are the greatest Sinners Object 1. Sin is the Transgression of the Law of God. 1 John 3. 4. and the Transgression of the Law is therefore sinful because it is repugnant to the Divine Will and an Offence to God. Solut. The Definition of Sin given by the Blessed Apostle must needs be infallibly true but the reason offered why the Transgression of the Law is sinful is none of the Apostles and its truth may very well be questioned For in case Gods Will had been absolutely set against Sin rather than it should have been ever in the World neither the Author nor Actors of it had received a Being since he was the Maker and Creator of them both And therefore it is not in respect of any Injury Harm or Inconvenience whatsoever that can befall the Almighty who is infinitely above the reach of any Displeasure or Annoyance possible to be done unto him by the committing of Sin that he forbids it but because it is mischievous and hurtful to the Creature in many respects as hath been set forth in the three preceding Sections last past So that the Reason why the Creator gave Man a Law to observe was not simply this that he required Obedience should be given to whatsoever he commanded but that Man through Obedience to the Law which is a Rule that if rightly observed will make him happy might reap the Benefit of the due Observance of it as from this subsequent Argument will I think be evinced Tho Obedience is due to be performed but in respect of some Command given to be obeyed no Command is to be given to be obeyed but in respect of some good End whereunto it tends for to command a thing either to no End at all or to a bad End would be irrational since to do the former would be an impertinent Vanity and to do the latter would be plain Perversness both which since they are infinitely remote and estranged from the Nature of God 't is impossible he should command any thing but for a good End. And forasmuch as he is utterly incapable of receiving any manner or measure of Good by reason of his infinite Self-perfection he cannot possibly require Obedience from his Creature for any Good either of Profit or Pleasure expected to redound thereby to himself And therefore whenever he gives a Law or Command to his Creature he does it for this sole End that the Creature may be benefited thereby in case a sincere and cordial Obedience be performed unto it Object 2. If God cannot possibly give a Command but such only as tends to the Good of the Creature it will not be in his Power to command a thing of that nature that simple Disobedience to his Will without respect had to some or other definite Good to be obtained by fulfilling the Command should be a sin Solut. That God cannot possibly give a Command but for some good End and Purpose and that he himself is incapable of receiving any good hath been proved before But it doth not thence follow that he cannot command a thing to be done without respect had to some or other express definite Good because he may command a thing purely indifferent in it self to the intent that men by yielding Obedience to his Command for the Commands sake may be inured to submit with readiness and chearfulness to his Will in all things which whosoever doth cannot fail of being at length eternally happy because the most of his Precepts at least as in Sect. 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20. will be seen are proper means in themselves for procuring mans Felicity which the performing of things wholly indifferent in their Nature when enjoyned by God if any such there be by facilitating of Obedience will be apt to further in that a pliableness to observe Commands in things necessary will be promoted thereby But if it were so that Obedience were good for the meer Commands sake without respect had to the benefit intended to accrue to the sincere Observers of it Disobedience would be equally sinful in every sinful Act whatsoever whence a small stroke given in wrath would be as great a Crime as Parricide or Treason to rob a poor Man of all he has would be a Fault as small as to steal a Penny from the richest Person and to commit Adultery or Incest would be no greater a sin than a lascivious Thought or Word since all sin without exception is absolutely forbidden by God and not one single Crime whatsoeever allowed to be committed But if Disobedience to Gods Commands be therefore sinful in that it causes a Want or Privation of some good or degree thereof which is a Means conducible to Felicity then is every sin greater or less than other by how much the good whereof it deprives the Soul is more or less available then other for bringing it to Bliss And therefore although every Sin be a Transgression of the Law yet inasmuch as every Branch and Title of the Law is not of equal Virtue to further Mans Felicity 't is clear that all Acts whereby the Law is transgressed are not equally bad or sinful Object 3. God by the sole Act of Creation or making Man out of nothing to have an Existence or Being obtained a Sovereignty over him by virtue of which he has a Right of Dominion or a just Power to lay what Commands he pleases upon him Whence it must needs be that every Act of Disobedience to Gods Commands is a Wrong and Injury done unto him although the Performance of the Command would neither do him good nor the omitting to do it procure him any harm Solut. That God has a Right of Dominion over Man or a just Power to command him whatever he pleases is an undeniable Truth but the Ground thereof is not solely as the Objection would make it because Man was created by God and received his Being from him but by reason also that such is the unerrable Rectitude of his Understanding and the absolute Goodness of his Will that he cannot possibly command him any thing but what if duly observed will infallibly procure his Good. For if God by the sole Act of Creation abstracting from this that he created Man from an end agreeable to his Nature certainly to be obtain'd if he obeyed the Law of his Maker had a Right to dispose of him after any manner whatsoever without
regard had to his Wisdom and Goodness which always determine his Will to command that which is good for the Creature seeing nothing can be so extrase to himself the Almighty would have been as Benign and merciful being ever of necessity the same Sect. 1. Par. 8. as he now is if so be he had inflicted on all Mankind without any Demerit of theirs the most exquisite and endless Torments because he would have been no less their Creator by doing that then in shewing the greatest Kindness imaginable The truth of this Assertion that God obtain'd not a Sovereignty over Man to command him any thing whatsoever pleaseth him upon the bare account of the Creation may be somewhat illustrated if we take into consideration the Right which Parents have to command their Children who doubtless are not obliged to Obedience upon this sole account that they were begotten by them for otherwise Obedience from Children to Parents would be due to be performed to them however qualified insomuch that neither extream Folly nor raging Madness nor any other thing whatsoever could incapacitate them justly to exact at all times and in all things an entire Observance of all their Commands whatever they should be because their Parental Right of Dominion and Authority over them would be in all Conditions the same if it only arose and grew from this that they were the Issue of their Bodies but who ever was known to assert the Duty of such Obedience The truth is in whomsoever a Regular Power of commanding or giving Precepts to others according to the Principles and Dictates of Reason justly resides there are those three things previously required and presumed to be in him First A Will and Desire to do them good Secondly An Understanding sufficient to judge what will at least in probability procure their good Thirdly A Power enabling him to encourage them to Obedience by proposing a Benefit to be rationally expected by their observance of what he commands and on the contrary to deter them from Disobedience by threatning Harm to befal them if they refuse or neglect to do what is enjoyned Whence appears a manifest Reason why God is always actively to be obeyed but Human Powers are not so For God through the absolute Purity of his Nature has a stedfast unchangeable Mind and Will to do good and by reason of his infallible Wisdom a constant Ability to know what is good and in virtue of his Omnipotency a lasting indeficient Power to benefit the due Observers of his Commands and to denuntiate Evil which will infallibly befall the Violaters of them whereas all Human Powers are at one time or other or at least may be destitute of some one or more of the mentioned Qualifications and thereupon may command what is repugnant to some Moral Precept and so are not necessarily to be actively complied with in every thing they give in Command to some Moral Precept I say because though all Positive Divine Precepts as well as Moral are to be actively obeyed yet the Reason of that is founded on the Morality of this Truth that it is contradictory to the Wisdom and Goodness of God to command any thing that will not certainly be good for him who is required to do what is commanded if he yield a chearful Obedience thereunto Here some might probably interpose and say that Slaves and Servants are bound to obey their Lords and Masters and yet they do not do the things commanded for their own but for their Lords and Masters Profit To this I answer that Masters of Servants and Owners of Slaves are not truly speaking their Governours nor is the Duty these owe them properly a Duty of Obedience but of Commutative Justice arising from a mutual Contract express or tacite Servants selling their Work either all of it or half of it or some part of it only as their Masters and they agree for Hire and Slaves parting with the Property of their Bodies and Goods for the saving of their Lives in their Enemies power to have been taken away so that it is upon the account of Compact and Bargain that Servants and Slaves are obliged to perform their Masters and Lords Wills and Pleasures and not from strict Obedience which is properly a Duty tending to the Advantage of those who are obliged to it If it be replied that Subjects however owe Obedience to their Sovereigns in a proper sense and yet These seek their own as well as their Peoples Benefit I rejoyn that since Sovereign Princes cannot without the Aid and Help of others maintain their Authority as the Almighty can do his which makes a difference in that respect between him and all other Governours for the Preservation of the People they are to rule unless They themselves be preserved in Person Power and Wealth agreeable to their Office it is absolutely requisite that They should reap such Benefit by the Obedience of their Subjects as is necessary to preserve Themselves and their Government no less then the People committed to their Charge If it be yet still further urged that admitting God cannot give a Command but only such as tends to the Good of the Creature yet it does not follow thence that this End is the Ratio formalis the very Reason of the goodness of the Command but a necessary Consequent only of it for whatsoever is agreeable to the eternal Rectitude of the Divine Wisdom to be made a Law Obedience thereunto must of necessity be good to Man but such a Law however is good in it self of which sort are all the Precepts of the Moral Law. I answer it is an uncontroulable Maxim that Cessante ratione Legis cessat Lex i. e. as to the Equity of it or the reasonableness of its being put in execution for a Legislator may sometimes prudently forbear the direct express Repealing of a Law tho it be not for the present beneficial or fit to be made use of and the Reason of a Law evermore then ceaseth when it becomes unserviceable to the End or unuseful to procure or further the Good for which it was made so that if it were possible that the Moral Law could cease to be serviceable to as many as use it aright to the End for which it was given namely to advance Humane Nature towards its Perfection by the Fruition of Mans Chief Good it would cease to be a Law. For let Aquinas be in the right that Scientia Dei est causa scitorum ab ipso 1 ma. par Quaest 14. Art. 9. 3 m. and consequently that Gods seeing a Law to be perpetually good makes it to be really so yet it is no otherwise then by seeing it to be a perpetual fit apt and proper means to further the procuring of the End designed to be obtained by the true Observers of it thereby From which consideration it is apparent why a perpetual Obligation lies upon all Men to keep the Moral Law namely because it is at all times
willing and ready to suffer for that his Refusal in case it be required that he should either actively obey or undergo the Penalty enjoyned for not so obeying I answer that there is no Law can oblige a Man to be willing to suffer for not actively obeying what is unlawful to be done for by what Law is it possible he should be obliged Not by the Law of God for that commanding him not to yield an Active Obedience cannot also enjoyn him to be willing to suffer for no other Cause but that he observes what is commands Nor by the Law of Reason for how should this oblige him to be willing to be punished for Nor-observance of that which it tells him he ought not to observe Some of the Roman Emperors set forth Edicts that the Christians should either Sacrifice to their Idol-gods or be put to Death the Active fulfilling of which unjust Commands was to do Sacrifice the Passive to be put to Death and yet divers good and godly Christians fled on purpose to avoid both and doubtless did no wrong therein being warranted by Christ himself saying When they persecute you in this City flee ye into another Matth. 10. 23. albeit they neither answered the Letter of the Edicts nor the Intention of the Emperors which was that one of the two either sacrificing or suffering Death for not sacrificing should be done And by the way this is a remarkable Instance that Disobedience to a Command is not an Offence as it meerly contradicts the Will of the Legislator But there is not however the least Encouragement to be gathered from hence for Resisting or forcibly opposing the Higher Powers for tho there be no manner of Obedience due to an unjust Command for that Command which is unjust has no obligatory Virtue in it but is unlawful that is truly speaking no Law. Yet in that a Sovereign looses not by commanding something which is unjust his Legislative Power or a Right to command whatsoever he deliberately thinks to be for the general Good which is not against the Divine Law Moral or Positive he ought not to be forcibly withstood For whosoever has by Law the Supreme Judgment and Will which together constitute the Supreme Power the same Law presumes that the common Safety depends on his Government and therefore without violating of the Law and through that the Common Safety the Sovereign is not even in the Abuse of Government to be opposed by Arms because it is more convement in respect of the Whole that some Part suffer unjustly than that the Government it self should be rendred useless or so obstructed that it could not protect and secure the Laws which it is always presumed by the Law will fall out when Subjects with Violence oppose the Supreme Governour Object 3. Albeit the Lex Talioni be no part of the Law of Nature yet seeing it is not disagreeable thereunto as 't is evident by the Instance of Adonibezek Judges 1. 6 7. that it is not does it not rightly follow that Punishments may be justly Vindicative though they are not necessarily so Answ No it does not for notwithstanding that it may be reasonable at sometimes to take an Eye for an Eye a Hand for a Hand c. yet will not Vindicative Punishment be found thereupon to be lawful for if the taking Eye for Eye Hand for Hand c. be at any time prudently thought by a Law-giver to be the best Expedient either for reclaiming Offenders or for terrifying others or for both as it may peradventure on occasion fall out to be the exercise of that Strictness will be just yet not Vindicative For that which Men will have to be Vindicative Justice looks not at all forward but wholly backward being purely design'd and intended for Recompense or Satisfaction for a presumed Injury or Contempt done to the Law-giver in disobeying his Will and violating his Law whence Vengeance executed upon a Transgressor of the Law is the very End and Scope which Vindicative Punishment aims at and therefore the Punishment of Adonibezek was not vindicative unless it was inflicted on him for no other end save only to repay like for like without any intention that it should be a Motive to him of Repentance or that others might be warned to abstain from such Cruelty as he had used by the remarkable manner of his being plagued himself as he had plagued others which cannot in reason be thought to be true because Adonibezek saith As I have done so God hath requited me which shews that the manner of his Punishment proved a Motive of bringing his Sin to remembrance and was either so intended to be or elso to deter others from the like Wickedness or rather for both and not barely for strict Retaliation or executing of Vengeance upon him for his Crime 10. In fine then it appears from what has been said of Human Laws and Law-givers First That Sovereign Powers make not Laws out of meer design to have their Wills obeyed but to procure their own and their Subjects Good. Secondly That Laws therefore are more or less good as they contribute more or less to the general Good. Thirdly That hence again the Breach of any Law is a greater or less Offence as it is more or less prejudicial to the Common-weal Fourthly That from this it moreover follows that Penalties inserted in Laws are not intended as pure Revenge for the Breach of them but to be a means to enforce the observing the directive Part of the Law. Fifthly That Laws duly executed are proper Ways or real Causes of advancing the Public Good. 11. From the Consideration of all which concerning Human Laws compared with what was writ before Sect. 8. of the Divine Laws the Analogy between them is obvious and the Certainty of these following Truths apparent First That God gave Man a Law to observe not that he sought to be obeyed for the meer Obedience sake but that Man by obeying it might benefit himself in obtaining the Possession of his chiefest Good. Secondly That because of this the several Branches of that Law are of more or less virtue and value as they are more or less serviceable for procuring the Fruition of the same Sovereign Good. Thirdly That from hence again it must be that the Breach of any part of the Divine Law is a greater or less Evil or in the Language of Divines a greater or less Sin as the keeping of it is more or less available towards the Enjoyment of God. Fourthly That it will hereupon follow that the Punishment of Sin is not vindicative but always either corrective for the Amendment of the Offender or exemplary for a Terror to others or for both as in this World it perpetually is or else a necessary and natural Product and Consequent of Sin as it is ever in the World to come Fifthly That the keeping of Gods Law or the pious Practice of Virtue and Holiness is a proper effective Means or an