Veneer on Article XVII: Of Predestination and Election

[…]

• Epii. i. 4, y. According as he hath chosen u^ in him before the Toimdation of the World, that we flwuld be holy, andwithout Blame before him in Lore : Halving predejii?2ated us unto the adoption of Children by Jesus Chriji to him ( elf according to the good Pleajure of his Will. Mat. xxv. 54. Thenfiall the King fay unto them on his Right Hand, Come, ye Bleffed of my Father, in- herit the Kingdom prepared for yotifro’m the Foundation of the Pf’orld. 2 Tim. i. 9. TVho hathfa”jedus, and called us rpith an holy Calling, not according to our Works, but according to his OTvn Furpofe and Grace -which was given us in Chrifi Jesus before the World be- gan. Ignatius, who is also called Theophorus, to the Church of Ephsfus in AjJa, which is bleffed 111 the Greatness and Ful- ness of God the Father, and predeftinated before the World began unto Etei’nal Glory, iQi’C. Ignatius, v/ho is alio called Theophorus, to the Church among the Trallians in Afia, be- loved by God, the Father of Jeius Christ, holy, eledt, ^c. St. Clement of Rome, The Church of God which is at Rome, to the Church ot God which is at Corinth, called and fandli- fied by the Will of God, by our Lord Jesus Christ, 0’c. See St. Ignatius’s Epiftles, and those of St. Clement of Rome.

is^ Gal. iii. 13. Chrijt hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law, being made a Curse for us.

f I Pet. i. a. Ele^l according to the Fore- knowledge of God the father, through Sanciification of the Spirit unto Obedie?ice, and Sprinkling of the Blood of Jesus Chrifi,

(It

Thirty -Nine Articles. 3 57

[…]

§ Rom. viii. 30. Moreover, whom he did predeJiinMs, them he also called i and tohom he called, them he also jufiified y and rohom he jufiified, them he also glorified.

II Eph.i. 7. In whom vee have Redemption through his Bloody the Forgiveness of Sins, according to the Riches of his Grace.

f Gal. iv. 4, _f . But when the Fulnefs of the Time was come, God fent forth his Son made of a Woman, made under the Law, that we ?night receive the Adoption of Sons.

i: Rom. viii. 29. For whom he did foreknow, he also did pre- dejtinate to be conformed to the Image of his Son^ that he might be the Firfi-born among many Brethren.

• Eph. li. 10. For we are his V/orkmanflnp, created in Chrifi fsfus unto good Works, which God hath before ordained, that we foould walk in them.

§§ Eph.i. II. In whom also we have obtained an Inheri- tance, being predejlinated according to the Furpofe of him who worketh all Things accorumg to the Copmfel cf his own Will.. I Pet. i. 5,4, Bleffed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Chrijly which according to his abundant Mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively Hope, by the Refurreclion of Jesus Chrifi from the Deadj to an Inheritance incorruptible, unikfiled, and that fadsth not away, reserved in Heaven for you.

z 3 fait

358 An Exposition on the

[…]

• John iii. i6. Tor God fo Icved the MorU, that he gave his only begotten Son, that -whofoever belie’veth in him, JJjould not feriflj, but have everia^ing Life, i Tim. ii. 3, 4, 6, For this is good and acceptable in the Sight of God our Saviour ^ who -will have all Men to be saved, and to come unto the Knowledge of the Truth y who gave himself a Ransom for all, to be ieftified in due Time.

f Luke X. 2f, 26, 27, 28. And behold, a certainLawyer flood up and temped him, saying, Mafier, What fljall I do to inherit Eternal Life? He f aid unto him. What is written in the Law’s How readefl thou ? And he answering, said. Thou fljalt love the Lord thy God -ivith all thy Heart, and with all tlyy Soul, and with a\l thy Strength, and with all thy Mind; and thy Neigh- bour as tkyfelf And he said unto him. Thou hafl answered right: This do, and thou fljalt live.

The

Thirty ‘IS me Articles. 359

^, ^ Art. XVII.

The Exposition. \yy\j

H E Texts of Scripture, and Sayings of the Fathers, which this Article is taken from, or is plainly agreeable to, being fet down in the Margin, I would gladly have excused my self, as I did in the firfl Edition of this Book, from saying any Thing farther upon such very nice and difficult Points as are contained in it ; but as the Reafbns which are there urg’d for my declining fo difagreeable a Task as writing about Predeftination, have not had the good Fortune to be fatisfa6tory to every body, I am now resolved to endeavour to perform it in the best Manner that my retir’d Station of Life will give me leave. I am very fenfible, that there may be a great deal more said by those who have better Opportunities of consulting both Books and Men than I have, nevertheless, as moll People are got to be fb cau- tious and wary, with relation to Undertakings of this Kind, it may not, perhaps, be amifs to entertain the Reader in the best Manner that the Materials which I have by me will permit.

Some would have it thought, that this Ar- tide afferts the Doctrine of abfohite Predeftina- tion^ which was condemned in the third Coun- cil oi Mentz^ Anno Dofnini 848, and at several other Times and Places : But theie Men are certainly mistaken, for the Article afferts Pre- destination in general Terms only, which all allow.

The Question is, Whether God paffed these Decrees ahfohUely and unconditionally ? In tkis

Z 4 the

360 Jn Exposition on the

Art. XVII. the Article is filent ; and, why fliould we un- yy” derftand it in die most harsh and severe Sense, when the Words do not, of Neceility, import any such Meaning ? But it will appear unrea- fonable to understand this Article of ahfolute PredefLination if it be consider’d, that in the very foregoing Article it is exprefly declared, that we may fall from Grace given whereas they who are for the ahfolute Decrees must of Confeqiience alTert, hat a Man cannot fall from Grace , for if we may fall from the Means, we may o fall from the End ; and if we are not ahfoliitely predeftinated to per/hvere in Grace we cannot he ahfolutely predeftinated to Salnjation ; and indeed the Puritans in the Beginning of King James the First’s Ke’ign were fenfible, that this Dodlrine of the Defe6tibility of Grace, was inconfiftent with their Opinion o( ahfolute Prede- ftination and therefore desired, thatthefe Words might be added at the End of the aforefaid Clause of the sixteenth Article, njiz. .ho not finally ; but the King and Bishops would not hearken to it *.

‘T I s likewise to be obferv’d. That our Church doth in her Catechifm affert, that God the Son redeemed all Mankind^ which can never be reconciled to the Dodrine of ablblute EletTion and Reprohation. It may not be amifs to ob- serve farther. That this Article is drawn up with a great deal of Caution, Prudence, and Tend^rneis, and that the Grace of £Ie6tion only is afferted, but the Severity of Repro- bation is not meddled with, or fb much as mentioned. And surely if fo judicious and

S.e the Hampton Couit Cg?7ference.

learned

L/^V^^

Tbirty-Nine Articles. 3^1

learned a Body of Men as the Compilers of the Artxvil Articles were fo fhy of mentioning a Dodrine, which, if understood in a ftrid: and rigid Sense, carries in it fo shocking a Refledion upon the Goodness of God, one cannot but furmize that they fufpeded the Truth of it, and modestly infinuated, that those Men are at least very indifcreet, who take upon them to preach to the most common Audiences on Subjedts of this Kind, and that they would have been exceed- ingly furpriz’d to have feen the declining it ranK d among the several Reasons which are urg’d in Defence of separating from the efta- blifh’d Church. Thus much I have thought proper to be said, to Ihew, that we of this present Age have not departed from the Do- drine of our Ancestors as ‘tis contained in this Article, but I know it will be of very little Weight, except we shall be able to fhew, that our Sentiments upon this Article are alfb agree- able to Scripture. In order to this, it will be necelTary to explain, how those Terms of Fore- knowing and Predefiinating are to be understood when they are ascribed to God ; Why the Scriptures Ipeak of God in this Manner, and the Ufe or Application which we ought to make of God’s Forefeeing freely Eleing and Predejlinating a Man to Salvation.

And, I. As to Callings Jfi’fy’- and C/- rifying those of the Froteftant Religion seem to be now pretty well agreed, fb that the Diffe- renee which is among us arises from our under- flanding Fore-knowifig and Predejlinating when afcrib’d to God in a different Manner, which are the Terms in the first Place to be explain’d. And here we may consider, i. That all Men do in effed, agree, that the divine Nature, as

it

3<5z An Exposition on the

Art. XVII. it is in itself, is not to be comprehended by human

L/^‘TX^

Understanding ; and that as the Nature of God is beyond our Reach, fb likewise are his Faculties and Powers, together with the Ways and Me- thods in which he is pleased to exercise and exert them • fo that we are under an absolute Incapacity of forming any just or adequate No- tions or Conceptions of them : Thus holy Job informs us, chap. xi. 7. Canft thou by searching find out God ? Canft thou find out the Almighty to Perfe5lwn ? And St. Vaiil in his Epiftle to the Ro’/naus chzp, xi. 33. O the Depth of the Riches both of the IVtfdom and Knowledge of God ! , How mifearchable are his “Judgments and his Ways f aft finding out ! And, “ver. 34. For who hath ‘knozm the Mind of the Lord or zvho hath been his Counsellor ? 2. It is to be obierv’d, That the Descriptions which we frame to our selves of God, or of the divine Attributes, are not taken from any diredt or immediate Perceptions that we have of him or them, but from feme Obiervations we have made of his Works, and from the Consideration of those Qualifications, that we conceive would enable us to perform the like. Thus, for instance, we observe great Order, Conveniency, and Harmony in all the several Parts of the World, and perceiving that every Thing is adapted, and tends to the Pre- fervation and Advantage of the Whole, we are apt to consider, that we could not contrive and fettle Things in o excellent and proper a Manner, without great Wisdom 9 and thence conclude, that God who hath thus concerted and settled Matters must have Wiidom : And having then afcrib’d to him Wisdom, because we fee the Effeds and Result of it in his Works, we proceed and conclude, that he hath like- wiie Foresight and Understanding, because we

cannot

Thirty-Nine Articles. 363

cannot conceive Wisdom without these, and ;LF- because if we were to do what we fee he hath - done, we could not exped to perform it, with- out the Exercise of these Faculties : And it doth truly follow from hence, that God must either have these, or other Faculties and Powers equivalent to them, and adequate to these mighty Effeds which proceed from them. And because we do not know what his Faculties are in themselves, we give them the Names of those Powers, that we find would be neceflary to us in order to produce such Effc6i:s, and call them Wisdom, Understanding, and Fore-know- ledge ; but at the fame time we cannot but be fenfible, that they are of a Nature altogether different from ours, and that we have no dired: and proper Notion or Conception of them : Only we are sure that they have Effects like unto those that do proceed from Wisdom, Un- derftanding, and Fore-knowledge in us • and that when our Works fail to resemble them in any Particular, as to Perfedion, it is by reason of fome Want or Defed in these Qualifications. Thus our Reason teaches us to afcribe these Attributes to God, by way of Resemblance and Analogy to such Qualities or Powers as we find most valuable and perfed in our selves. .3. If we look into the Holy Scriptures, and consider the Representations given us there of God or his Attributes, we shall find them gene- rally of the fame Nature, and plainly borrow’d from fome Resemblance to Things, with which we are acquainted by our Senses. Thus when the holy Scriptures speak of God, they afcribe to him Hands, and Eyes, and Feet ; not that it is design’d we should believe that he hath any of those Members according to the literal Sig- nification s but the Meaning is, that he hath

a Power

3 64 ^^^ Expofitioli 072 the

Art. XVII. a Power to execute all those Ads, to the effed:- ^^/VN^ ing of which these Parts in us are instrumental ; that is, he can converse with Men, as well as if he had a Tongue and Mouth • he can discern all that we do or fay as perfedly as if he had Eyes and Ears ; he can reach us as well as if he had Hands and Feet ; he hath as true and fubftantial a Being, as if he had a Body ; and he is as truly present every where, as if that Body were infinitely extended. And, in truth, if all these Things, which are thus alcrib’d to him, did really and literally belong to him, he could not do what he does near fo effedually as we conceive, and are sure he doth them by the Faculties and Properties which he really pof- feffes, tho’ what they are in themselves be un- known to us. After the fame Manner, and for the fame Reason, we find him represented as affeded with such Paflions as we perceive to be in our feives, ‘viz. as angry and pleased, as loving and hating, as repenting and changing his Resolutions, as full of Mercy and provoked to Revenge ; and yet, on Reflexion, we can- not think, that any of those Pafiions can, lite- rally, affed the divine Nature. But the Mean- ing confefTedly is, that he will as certainly punish the Wicked, as if he were inflamed with the Paflion of Anger against them , that he will as infallibly reward the Good, as we will thole ’ for whom we have a particular and affeccionate Love 5 that when Men turn from their Wicked- nels, and do what is agreeable to the divine Commands, he will as surely change his Difpen- fations towards them, as if he really repented and had changed his Mind. And as the Na- ture and PaHions of Men are thus by Analogy and Comparison ascribed to God, because theie would, in us, be the Principles of such out- ward

Thirty -Nine Articles. 3<^5

ward Adlions, as we fee he hath performed, if Art. xvii. we were the Authors of them j fo, in the fame -/ Manner, and by the fame Condefcention to the Weakness of our Capacities, we find the Powers and Operations of our Minds ascribed unto him. As for Example : It is the Part of a wife Man to consider beforehand what is proper for him to do, to prescribe Means and Methods to obtain his Ends, to lay down fome Scheme or Plan of his Work before he begins, and to keep refblutely to it in the Execution ; for if he Ihould be conceived to deviate in any Thing from his first Purpoie, it would argue fome Im- perfection in laying the Design, or want of Power to execute it ; and therefore ‘tis after this manner the Scripture represents Gcd, as purpofmg and contriving before-hand all his Works i and for this Reason, Wisdom, and Understanding, and Counsel, and Fore-know- ledge are aicrib’d to him, because both Realbn and Scripture alfure us, that we ought to con- ceive of God as having all the Perfedion that we perceive to be in these Attributes, and that he hath all the Advantages that these Powers or Faculties could give him. The Advantages that Understanding and Knowledge give a Man in the Ufe of them, are to enable him to order his Matters with Conveniency to himself, and Confiftency in his Works, fo that they may not hinder or embarrass one another • and inafmuch as all the Works of God are fo ordered, that . they have the greatest Congruity in themselves, and are most excellently adapted to their ieveral Uses and Ends, we are sure there is a Power in God, who orders them, equivalent to Know- ledge and Understanding ; and because we know not what it is in it idf, we give it these Names. Lastly The Ufe of Fore-knowledge

with

^66 An Expcfitioii on the

Art. xviT. with US, is to prevent any Surprize when Events “yy happen, and that we may not be at a Lois what to do by Things coming upon us unawares. Now inaimuch as we are certain nothing can furprize God, and that he can never be at a Loss what to do in any Event, therefore we conclude, that God hath a Faculty to which our Fore-knowledge bears fome Analogy, and therefore we call it by that Name : But it does not follow from hence, that any of theie are more properly and literally in God, after the Manner that they are in us, than Hands or Eyes, than Mercy, Love, or Hatred are ; but, on the contrary, we mud acknowledge, that those Things which we call by these Names, when attributed to God, are of fo very diffe- rent a Nature from what they are in us, and fb superior to all that we can conceive, that in reality there is no more Likeness between them, than between our Hand and God’s Power : Nor can we draw Consequences from the real Nature of one to that of the other, with more Juftnels of Reaibn than we can conclude, be- cause our Hand confifts of Fingers and Joints, that therefore the Power of God is diftinguifh’d by such Parts. And therefore to argue, because Fore-knowledge, as it is in us, if fuppofed in- fallible, cannot confift with the Contingency of Events, that therefore what we call fo in God cannot, is as far from Reaibn, as it would be to conclude, because our Eyes cannot fee in the Dark, that therefore, when God is said to lee all Things, his Eyes must be enlighten’d with a perpetual Sun-fliine , or, because we cannot Love or Hate without Paflion, that therefore, when the Scriptures aicribe these to God, they teach us, that he is liable to theie AifecSions as we are. We ought, therefore, to

interpret

TJjirty-Wine Articles. ^67

interpret all these Things, when attributed to Art. xvir

God, as thus exprefled only by way of Con- defcenfion to our Capacities, in order to help us to conceive what we are to expedt from hirrij and what Duty we are to pay him ; and par- ticularly that the Terms of Fore-knowledge, Predeftination, nay of Underflanding and Will, when afcrib’d to him, are not to be taken flridlly or properly, nor are we to think that they are in him after the fame Manner, or in the fame Sense that we find them in our selves ; but, on the contrary, we are to interpret them only by way of Analogy and Companion : That is to fay, when we afcribe Fore-knowledge to him, we mean, that he can no more be fur- priz’d with any Thing that happens than a wife Man that foreiees an Event, can be furpriz’d when it comes to pais , nor can he any more be at a Loss what he is to do in such a Cafe, than a wife Man can, who is most perfectly acquainted with all Accidents which may ob- flrud: his Design, and hath provided against them.

S o when God is fald to Pre-determine and Fore-ordain all Things according to the Counsel of his Will, the Importance of this Expreflion is, that all Things depend as much on God, as if he had settled them according to a certain Scheme and Design, which he had voluntarily framed in his own Mind, without Regard had to any other Consideration, besides that of his own mere Will and Pleasure. If then we un- deriland Predetermination and Predeftination in this analogous Sense, to give us a Notion of the irrcfiflible Power of God, and of that fu- preme Dominion he may exercise over his Crea- tures, it will help us to understand what that

Sove-

OO^X^

568 Jn Exposition on the

Art. XVII. Sovereignty is that God hath over us, the Sub- V>Or^ miflion that we ought to pay him, and the Dependance we have upon him.

But it no ways follows from hence. That this is inconfifient with the Contingency of Events of free- Will : And from hence it ap- pears what it is, that makes us apt to think fo -, which is only this, that we find in our feives, when we determine to do a Thing, and are able to do what we have refblved on, that Thing can’t be contingent to us : And if God’s Fore-knowledge and Predetermination were of the lame Nature with ours, the fame Incon- fiftency would be juftly inferred. But I have already fhewed that they are not of the fame Kind, and that they are only afcrib’d to him by way of Analogy and Comparifbn, as Love, and Mercy, and other Paflions are ; that they are quite of another Nature, and that we have no proper Notion of them, any more than a Man born blind hath of Sight and Colours ; and therefore, that we ought no more to pretend to determine what is confiftent or not confiftent with them, than a blind Man ought to deter- mine from what he hears or feels, to what Ob- jed:s the Sense of Seeing reaches ^ for this were to reason from Things that are only compara- tively and improperly ascribed to God, and, by way of Analogy and Accommodation to our Capacities, as if they were properly and uni- vocally the fame in Him and us. If we would Ipeak the Truth, those Powers, Properties, and Operations, the Names of which we transfer to God, are but faint Shadows and Relemblances, or rather indeed Emblems and parabolical Figures of the divine Attributes, which they are de- ^sign’d to signify; whereas his Attributes are

the

Thirty-Nine Articles. 3^9

tbe Originals, the true real Things of a Namre Art. xvil

[…]

thing we discern in his Creatures, or that can

[…]

can’t, with Reason, pretend to make any other

Deductions from the Natures of one to that of

the others, than thofc he hath allow’d us to

make, or extend the Parallel any farther than that

very Inilance, which the Refembiance was de-

sign’d to teach us. Thus. Fore-knowledge and

Predeflination, when attributed to God, are

design’d to teach us the Obligations which we

owe to him for our Salvation, and the Depen-

dance which we have on his Favour, and fo fcr

we may ufe and preis them ^ but to conclude

[…]

Free-Will, is to fuppofe, that they are the fame

in Him and us ; and just as reafbnable as to

infer, becaufe Wifdom is compar’d in Scripture

to a Tree of Life, that therefore it grows in

the Earth, hath its Spring and Fall, is warm’d

by the Sun, and fed by the Rain.

And this brings me to the second Thing proposed, which was to fhew you. Why God and Heavenly Things are, after this manner, repre- fented to us in holy Scripture. And the first Reason I shall offer is, That we must either be content to know them this way, or not at all. I have already fid, that the Nature and Per-* fedilons of God, as he is in himself, are such that it is impoiHble we Ihoald comprehend them, especially in the present State of Iniperfedion, Ignorance, and Corruption \n which the VvorJd lies. He is the Objed: of none of ouf SnikSy by which we receive all our direcb and imme- diate Perception of Things ; and therefore if we know any Thing of him at all, it must be

A a by

570 Jn Exposition on tJje

Akt.xvii. by Dedu6lions of Reason, by Analogy and yy* Comparilbn, by rcfcmbling him to something thit we do know, and are acquainted with. ‘Tis by this Way we arrive at the most noble and useful Notions ve have, and by this Method we teach and inftrudt others. Thus, when we would help a Man to fome Conception of any Thing that hath not fallen within the Reach of his Senses, we do it by comparing it to fome- thing that already hath, by offering him fome Similitude, Resemblance, or Analogy to help his Conception. As for Example, To give a Man a Notion of a Country, to which he is a Stranger, and to make him apprehend its Bounds and Situation, we produce a Map to him, and by that he obtains as much Knowledge of it as serves him for his present Purpose. Now a Map is only Paper and Ink, diversified with several Strokes and Lines, which, in themselves have very little Likeness to Earth, Mountains, Valleys, Lakes, and Rivers j yet none can deny, but by Proportion and Analogy they are very inftruAive: And if any should imagine that those Countries are really Paper, because the Maps that represent them are made of it, and should ferioufly draw Conclusions from that Suppofition, he would expose his Understand- ing, and make himself ridiculous. And yet, such as argue from the faint Refemblances that either Scripture or Reason give of the Divine Attributes and Operations, and proceed in their Reafbnings, as if these mud in all reipeds answer one another, fall into the lame Abfur- dities that those would be guilty of, who fliould think Countries must be of Paper, because the Maps that represent them are fo.

To

Thirty ‘Nine Articles. 371

To apply this more particularly to the Caie Apt.xvii. before us, we aicribe Decrees and Predeftina- L/VN* tion to God, because the Things fignified by these Words, bear fbme Resemblance to certain Perfections that we believe to be in him. But if we remember that they are only Similitudes and Representations of them, and that thete is as little Likenels between the one and the other, as between the Countries and Maps which repre- fent them ; and that the Likeness lies not in the Nature of them, but in fome particular Effd: or Circumftancc, that is in Ibme measure com- mon to both, we must acknowledge it very un- reasonable to exped:, that they should answer one another in all Things ; or, because the different Representations of the fame Thing can’t be exactly adjusted in every particular, that therefore the Thing reprelented is incon- fiftent with itself Foreknowledge and Decrees are only alligned to God, to give us a Notion of the Steadinefs and Certainty of the Divine A6tions y and if fo, for us to conclude, that what is represented by them is inconfiftent with the Contingency of Events or Free-Will, be- cause the Things representing (I mean our Foreknowledge and Decrees) are fo, is the fame Absurdity, as it is to conclude, that Cbi7m is no bigger than a Sheet of Paper, because the Map that represents it is contained in that Com- pass. This seems to me a material Point, and therefore, I will endeavour to iUuflrate it with an Inflance or two more. Every Body is satisfied that Time, Motion, and Velocity, are Subjedls of very useful Knowledge ; and that adjusting and diicovering the Proportions that thele bear to one another, is, perhaps, all that is profitable in natural Philosophy. How is it then that we A a 2 proceed

3/1 An Eipofition on the

Art. XVII. proceed in our Demonstrations concerning -yy** these ? Is it not by representing Time by a Line, the Degrees of Velocity by another, and the Motion that results from both, by a Super- ficies or a Solid ? And from these we draw Con- clufions, which are not only very true, but alio of great Moment to Arts and Sciences , and never fail in our Dedudtions, while we keep juilly to the Analogy and Proportion they bear to one another in the Produdion of natural Effeds • neither is it easy, nor, perhaps, pof- fible to come at such Knowledge any other way. Yet in the Nature of the Thing, there is no great Similitude between a Line and Time and it will not be obvious to a Person who is not acquainted with the Method of the Skilful in such Matters, to conceive how a Solid should answer the compounded Effed of Time and Motion. But if any, instead of endeavouring to understand the Method and Proportions used by the Learned in such Caies, in order to dil cover to them these useful Truths, should rejed: the Whole as a Thing impofTible, alledging, that we make Time a permanent Thing, and existing altogether, because a Line which repre- fents it in this Scheme is fo ; we would think that he hardly defervcd an Answer to such a foolish Objedion : And yet, of this nature are mofl, if not all the Objedions that are com- monly made against the Representations that the Scripture gives us of the Divine Nature, and of the Mysteries of our Religion. Thus the Holy Scriptures represent to us that Di- ftindion, which we are obliged to believe to be in the Unity of God, by that of Three Perions, and the Relation they bear to one another, by .that of a Father to his Son, and of a Man to his Spirit : And those that objedt against this, and

infer.

Th’rty^Kine Articles, 37^

infer, that these must be three Substances, Art. xvir, because Three Persons among Men are fo, do -‘V- plainly forget that these are but Representatives and Refemblances ; and fall into the fame absurd Way of Reafbning that the former do, who conclude, that we make Time a permanent Thing, because a Line is fo, by which we represent it.

Again, if we were to describe to an Ignorant American what was meant by Writing, and told him, that it is a way of making Words visible and permanent, fo that Persons, at any Distance of Time and Place may be able to fee and understand them^ the Description would seem very strange to him, and he might objed:, that the Thing must be impofTible, for Words are not to be feen but heard • they pass in the Speaking, and it is impoffible they fnould affed: the Ablent, much Ms those that live in distant Ages. To which there needed no other An- fwer, than to inform him, that there are other fort of Words besides those he knows, that are truly called fo, because equivalent to such as are spoken -, that they have both the fame Ufe, and serve equally to communicate our Thoughts to one another • and that if he will but have Patience, and apply himfeif to learn, he will foon understand, and be convinced of the Pof- fibility and Ufefulnefs of the Thing : And none can doubt but he were much to blame, and acted an unwise Part, if he refused to believe the Person that offered to inftrud him, or neg- leded to make the Experiment. And, surely, v/hen any one objeds against the PolTibility of the Three Persons of the Trinity in one God, it is every whit as good an Answer to tell such an Objeftor, that there are other fort of Per- A a 3 fons

[…]

Art. XVI. Tons besides those we fee among Men, whole Per- *yY” fona’ity is as truly different from what we call fo, as a Word written is different from a Word spoken, and yet equivalent to it : And though 1 hree Peribns, such as Men are, can’t be in one Human Nature, as a Word spoken can’t be visible and permanent , yet what we call Three Persons by Comparison and Analogy, may con- fift in the Unity of the Godhead. And after the fame manner we ought to answer those who objed; against the Foreknowledge and Decrees of God, as inconfiftent with the Freedom of Choice, by telling them, that though such Foreknowledge and Decrees as are in our Un- derftandings and Wills cannot confift with Con- tingency, if we fuppofe them certain ; yet what what we call fo in God may, being quite of a different Nature, and only called by those Names, by reason of fome Analogy and Proper- tion which is between them. And if Men will but have Patience, and wait the proper Time, when Faith Ihall be perfected into Vision, and Vv e ihall know, even as we are known ; they may then fee, and be as well satisfied, that there is no Absurdity in the Trinity of Persons, or Foreknowledge of Contingency, as the Indian is, when he hath learned to read and write, that there is no Imapoffibility in visible and permanent Vvords. In the last Place, it is observable. That no Care, Industry, or Inftru6lion, can ever give a Ferfon born, and continuing blind, any iNotion of Light nor can he ever have any Conception, how Men who have Eyes diicern the Shape and Figure of a Thing at a Distance, nor imagine what Colours mean , and yet he would, I believe, readily (o” the Account he receives from others of the Advantage of know- ing theie Things) endure Labour and Pain, and submit to the most difficult and tormenting

Operations

Thirty ‘Nine Articles. ^7y

Operations of Phyfick or Surgery, in order to r. xvii. obtain the Ufe of his Eyes, if any realbnable ‘T Hope could be given him of the Success of fbch an Undertaking. And why then should we not as willingly submit to those easy Methods which God hath prescribed to us, in order to obtain that Knowledge of his Nature and Attributes, in which our Eternal Satisfadlion and Happiness hereafter, is in a very great measure to confifl And, ‘tis certain, we now know as much of them, as the Blind man, in the Cafe fuppofed, does of Light or Colours , and have better Reafbn to feek, and more certain Hope of attain- ing in the next Life, to a fuller and more corn- pleat Knowledge, than such a Man can have with relation to the Ufe of his Eyes, and the Advantage of feeing. And then will he not rile up in Judgment against us, and condemn us ? Since he endures o much to obtain Sight on the imperfed: Representations of it made to him by other Men, whilst we will not believe and endure as much for Eternal Happiness on the Testimony of God. If it be asked, Why those Things are not made clearer to us ? I answer. For the fame Reasons, that Light and Colours are not clear to one that is born blind, even because in this imperfed: State we want Faculties to dilcern them : And we cannot expe6b to reach the Knowledge of them whilst we are here, for the fame Reason that a Child, whilst he is fo, cannot speak and difcourfe as he doth when a grown Man j there is a Time and a Season for every Thing, and we must wait for that Seaibn. There is another State of Life for the clear discerning of these Matters j but in the mean Time, we ought to take the Steps and Methods which are proper for our present Condition : And if we will not do fo, we can no more ex- A a 4 pedl

[…]

them plain to us, than a Child can hope he fiiall

ever be able to read and write, who will not be

persuaded to go to School, or obey his Master.

This Analogical Knowledge of God’s Nature and Attributes, is all that we are capable of at present , and we must either be contented to know him thus, or fit down with an intire Igno- rance and Negled: of God, and finally despair of future Happiness. But it concerns us frequently to call to mind the Apostle’s Observation, I Cor. xiii. 12. For noiv -ive fee throu^Jo a Glass darkly^ hut then Face to Face ; now J know in fart^ hit then I fball know even as I am known. Though our present Knowledge of Divine Things be very imperfedt, yet it is enough to awaken our Deflre of more; and though we do not understand the Employments of the Blelfed, yet the Description we have of them is sufficient to engage us to feek after them, and to prolecute the Methods prescribed in Scripture for attain- ing them. And, therefore, let me oifer it as a fccond Reason, why God and Divine Things are thus represented to us in Scripture, viz. Thatfuch Knowledge is sufficient to all the Intents and Purposes of Religion, the Design whereof is to lead us in the Way to Eternal Happiness, and in order thereunto, to teach and oblige us to live reasonably ; to perform our Duty to God, our Neighbours, and Ourselves ; to con- guer and mortify our Paflions and Luil% to make us beneficent and charitable to Men ; and to oblige us to love, to- obey, and to depend Bpon God. Now it is easy to Ihew, that such a Knowledge as I have described, is sufficient to obtain all these Ends 3 for though t know not

what

L/^-TX^-

Thirty-Nhie x^rticles. ‘2,77

•hat God is in himself, yet if I believe that he ;J;,’: h able to hurt or help me, to make me happy or miferabJe, this Belief is sufficient to convince me, that it is my Duty to fear him. If 1 be aflured that all his Works are done with Regu- larity, Order, and Fitness; that nothing can furprize or diiappoint him, that he can never be in any Doubt, or at a Loss what is proper for him to do ; though 1 do not comprehend the Faculties by which he performs fo many admirable and amazing Things, yet I know enough to make me adore and admire his Con- dud:. If I be satisfied that I can no more expedt to escape free, when I break the Laws and Rules he hath prescribed me, than a Sub- ject can, who alfauks his Prince in the Midst of all his Guards , this is enough to make me cautious about every Word I speak, and every A6lion I perform, and to put me out of all hope of eicaping when I offend him. If I am convinced that God will be as fleady to the Rules he hath prescribed for my Deportment, as a wife and just Prince will be to his Laws this alone will oblige me to a flrid Observation of the Divine Commands, and affure me that I must be judged according as I have kept or tranfgreffed them. If a Man be convinced, that by his Sins he hath forfeited all Right and Title to Happineis, and that God is under no Obli- gation to grant him Pardon for them ; that only the free Mercy of God can put him into the Way of Salvation j and that he may as well, without Imputation of Injustice, pardon one, and pass by another, as a Prince may, of many equal Malefadors, reprieve one for an Instance of his Mercy and Power, and suffer the rest to be carried to Execution : If a Man, I fay, finds himself under these Circumstances, he will

have

578 Jn Exposition on the

Art. XVII. have the fame Obligations of Gratitude to his

v^nrv;

God, that the pardoned Offender owes to his Prince, and impute his Escape intireJy to the peculiar Favour of God, that made the Diftin- dlion between him and others, without any Regard to their Merits.

I F we believe that there is a Diflindlion in the Manner of the Subfifting of the Divine Nature, that requires such particular Applica- tions from us to God, as we pay to three diftindl Persons here ; and that he hath such diflindt, and really different Relations to him- self, and to us on this Account, as three Men have to one another ; this is enough to oblige us to pay our Addreffes to him as thus diilin- guifhed, and to expedl as different Benefits and Bleflings from him under this Diflindion, as we expert from different Persons here : And it can be no Hindrance to our Duty, that we are ignorant of the Nature and Manner of that Diftindlion. Let us consider how many honour and obey their Prince, who never law him, who never had any Opportunity of knowing him peribnally, and could not, if they should chance to meet him, diflinguifh him from another Man. From hence we may learn, that in order to oblige us to perform our Duty to oar Gover- nor, it is not neceffary that we should have a Personal Knowledge of him 3 and why should it seem flrange that we are obliged to do our Duty to God, though we are no further ac- quainted with his EiTence or Nature, than that he is our Creator and Governor, fuice many perform their Duty to their Prince, without knowing any thing more of him, than that he is fo ? In the lafl Place, To fhew that this kind of Knowledge is fufEcient to fave us, let us

fuppofe

Thirty ‘Wine Articles. 379

uppofe a Man that understands all the Befcrip- Art. xvit. ions that we have of God in a literal Sense, L/”V who takes him for a mighty King, that hath the Heavens for his Throne, and the Earth for his Footftool ; that forefees at once all 1 hings that can happen ; that hath Thousands and Thousands of Servants and Attendants about him, all ready to obey his Orders, and to put his Commands in Execution , that loves such as obey him, and hates those that do othcrwiie, there is no doubt to be made, but that such a Belief would furnish out Motives strong enough to oblige him to love, honour and obey God 5 and he that believes these Things in the Simpli- city of his Heart, as thus literally represented, vvould be saved by Virtue of that Belief ‘Tis true, that such Representations as these are not exadiy agreeable to the Nature of Things • but as the best and most perfed Notions that we can frame of God, fall infinitely fliort of the Truth, such Reprefeniations will never be imputed to us as a Fault 5 as long as we do not wilfully form any unworthy Ideas or Conceptions of him, and as Jong as those which we do form, are sufficient to prevail upon us to perform our Duty. If it be alledged, that the understanding these Re- presentations in a literal Sense, will neceillirily involve us in a great many Difficulties and In- confiftencies ; it may be answered. That such a Person is very busy and impertinent, who makes it his Bufmefs to trouble and perplex the Minds of honed and well-meaning, though, perhaps, ignorant People, who, by the force of such common and figurative Knowledge, are pre- vailed upon to pradife the great and fubftantial Duties of Religion, which will not fail to con- du5i: them to Eternal Life and Happiness in the W©f Id to come ijohere we JJ:aIl hwWj even as

380 Jn Exporition on the

Art. XVII. rj^^ aic kuowu. ‘Tis Certain, that when such

‘K^ySj

Peribns as are of a busy and curious Temper, do lo abuie their Knowledge, as to raise Ob- jections of this kind, they thereby put us under a Sort of Neceflity to answer them, and to ihew in what Senle these Reprelentaiions are to be understood, that is, by way of Comparison, and in Condefcenfion to the Weakness of our Capacities.

But how easy foever it may be to answer these Objedtions, yet such as raise them are by no means to be excused, because they occasion Disturbances, Scruples, and Uneafmeffes to weak People, and lay Stumbling-Blocks in their Way, by filling their Minds with a refllefs De- fire after such curious Notions as are no way neceffary to Salvation, and in reality take them off from following and improving such as are fo. ‘Tis our Duty therefore, to consider, that the Holy Spirit’s giving us such Representations of God’s Nature and Attributes, was the Eifed: of his great Mercy and Companion to the Igno- rance and Infirmity of Men , he could not but know what fort of Knowledge was most proper for us, and most likely to ftir us up to the Fradlce of our Duty : And if we take Things as they are represented in the Scriptures, it cannot be denied but that they are very well faited to our Capacities, and must, in all probability, as they arc given us by God him- self, be of much greater Ufe in promoting the Pradice of Virtue and Holiness, than all those nice Speculations, which the Vanity and Fancies of conceited Men have fubftituted in their Place and Stead.

Bu

Thirty-Nine Articles. 381

But thirdly. If we descend from the Crea- Art. xvii. tor to the Creature, and beftow a few serious \yy”\j, Thoughts on the Knowledge which we have of those Things, which we are constantly and most familiarly converant with, it will be very plain, that the Notions which we have con- ceived of them are far from being unlike those which Religion gives us of God, and that the EfTedts only which they have in relation to us, not the Nature and Euential Properties of them as they are in themselves, are represented by these Notions and Conceptions , how they affedt us, and what Sensations they cause or produce in us, being, generally speaking, the Whole of what we know concerning them. The Light and the Sun, for Instance, are the most fami- liar and most useful Things in Nature -, we lee, we feel, and enjoy the Benefit of them, and yet we are as ignorant of their Nature as we are acquainted with their Effeds, and the Ad- vantages which attend them. It is, I believe, generally agreed among Natural Philoibphers, that there are really and truly no such Things in Nature as Light and Colours, and that they have no Existence any where but in our own Minds, being nothing but the Effeds and Motions of certain Bodies on our Sense of Seeing. We may, however, be alTured, that Light in the Sun or Air are very different Things from what our Sensations represent them, yet we apply the fame Name to both of them, and call that Light, which perhaps, is only a Motion in the Air, because it produces in us that Conception which is really Light. But the Generality of the World would be exceedingly furprized, if we should tell them, that there is no such thing as Light in the Sun or no Colours in the Rain- bow

582 An Exposition on the

Art. XVII. bow • and yet, ‘tis certain, ftridly fpcaking yy that that which causes the Light in the Sun, is as different from our Representation or Con- ception of it, as our Foreknowledge is from that which answers to it in God. In like man- ner we may oblerve with Regard to our other Senses, that when we are affedted with Pleaiure or Pain, we only feel the Sensations which the Adions of outward Things produce in us : That Fire and Water, for Instance, have no such Pain in them as we complain of, when we are too much affedlcd with the Heat of the one or the Cold of the other. Neverthelels, we fay the Fire is hot, because we are heated by it, and the Sun is light, because it affords Light to us 5 but in the mean time we cannot deter- mine what it is in the Fire and Sun that affeds us in this manner, and how it comes to do fb, but call the Things whose Adions on our Senses cause these Sensations in us, by the fame Name that we give to our Conceptions of them, and treat and speak of them as if they were the fame. And yet we are not deprived, by this Ignorance of ours, of the several Uses and Ad- vantages which these Sensations w-ere designed by Nature to procure us, neither does any ill Consequence enfue from our applying those Names to the Objedts themfclves, which we give to our own Perceptions of them ; but, on the contrary, the Uses of Life are altogether as well served, as they would be if we were ac- quainted with the Nature of the Things them- fclves. We are as much refreflied and direded by the Sun, when it imparts to us its Light and Heat, as we Ojould be if we were ever lb well acquainted with its Nature and Substance. For the Truth is, we are no further concerned to know the Nature of Things than as it relates

to

TJArty-Kine Articles. 38|

to us, and hath fbme EfFedt or other upon us. Art. xvir. And if we are acquainted with the Effeds of L/VN^ outward Things, and in what Cafes they are useful, and in what Cafes they are ufelefs or hurtful, we know as much as we have Occasion for. If, therefore, the Ends and Uses of I.ife be very well served by such a Knowledge of natural Things, as only fhews the EiFeds which they have upon us, though we continue igno- rant of what they are in themselves ; why should not the lame Representations of God and his Attributes be sufficient for the Ends and Purposes of Religion, though both his and their Nature be infinitely above our Reach and Comprehension ? Regularity, Order, and Stea- dineis, as every body knows, do always pro- ceed from Wisdom. And therefore when we observe all these in the highest Degree in the Works of God, we very juftly and reafbnably declare him to be infinitely wife, though we are really ignorant what that is in itself which pro- duceth such wonderful EiFeds ; though at the fame time, Wisdom, as it is in God, is as dif- ferent from Wisdom in us, as the Motion in the Air is from the Light that is caused by \t.

We frequently talk of Gravity in our Dif^ courses of Natural Philolbphy, by which we mean the Tendency of Things towards the Earth, as their Centre ^ but no-body could ever yet give a fatisfadory Account of its Nature or Cause : But since no Man is ignorant that his falling from an high Hill or Precipice will kill him, or very much endanger his Life, it is sufficient to prevail upon him to avoid the Dan- ger. And in like manner, though we are igno- rant of what we call Anger in God, yet as long as we know that the Difbbeying his Commands

is

384 ^i/^ Exposition 071 the

Art XVII. jg sufficient to provoke him to destroy us, this

i./“Y>^

will be sufficient to oblige us to Obedience. I might go through all the Knowledge that we have of Natural Things, and fhew, that we only know and diftinguiih them by such Eiiedls as they produce on our Senses, and make it appear, that such Knowledge is sufficient for the Purposes of Life. And no Reason can be aiTigned, why the Representations which the Scripture gives us concerning God and Divine Things, should not be sufficient to answer the Purpofts of Religion, though they only fhew us the Eifeds which proceed from them. Par- ticularly, since we know, that God cannot pof= fibly be furprized by any thing that happens, nor be at a Loss what to do upon any Emer- gency or Event whatsoever j wt afcribe Fore- knowledge to him, and by fo doing we give him all the Perfection that v/e can, and affure ourselves, that it is not poffible for us to de- ceive him. In like manner, Predeilination is alcrib’d to him, and every thing that comes to pass is fuppoied to be pre-determined by him, because all his Works are as certain, fteadyj and regular, as if he had pre-determin’d them, in the lame manner as the wiser fort of Men do theirs. And further, we represent him as a Being absolutely free, and all his A<5tions as proceeding or arifmg from nothing but his own Will 5 because we are certain, that our Obliga- tions to him are as great as if he ad:ed in this manner. We are as much obliged to magnify his free Mercy and Favour towards us, to hum- ble ourselves before him, and to be grateful and thankful to him, as if our Salvation pro- ceeded entirely from his mere Good-will and Pleasure, without any thing being required on our Part, in order thereunto. Let it be ob-

fervedj

TFirty-^hie Articles. 3 85

served. Fourthly, That as we transfer the Art. xvil Adions, Powers, and Faculties of our Minds -/VNJ. by Analogy to God, and speak of him as if the fame were in him that are in us 3 fo we proceed the fame Way in the Rcprefentations which we make to one another, of the Adions of our own Minds, and express them by luch as are flridly and properly speaking, only ap- plicable to Bodies, and can be ascribed to the Mind in no other than a borrowed Way of Speaking. Thus to rcfledt upon, to weigh Things, to penetrate, and the like, are Adions proper to Bodies, which we transfer to our Minds and Underilandings and likewile to retain or to let flip, to embrace or to reject, are bodily Adions, and yet we afcribe the for- mer of these to the Memory, and the latter co the Will. There’s no doubt to be made but that there’s a vast Difference betwixt confidef- ing a Thing in our Minds, and weighing this or that material Subfiiance in a Scale, between the pairing of one Body through another, and the Understanding’s obtaining a clear Notion of any-thing which we are defirous to compre- hend ; and yet this doth not occasion any Con- fusion either in our Notions or Difcourfe. And fb in all the refl, there is indeed a Resemblance of Analogy between them, which makes us give the fame Names to each ; but it would run us into great Abfurdities, to compare them in all Particulars, and exped they fnould exactly an- fwer. It would be ridiculous, for Instance, to imagine that weighing a Thing in our Minds could have all the Eifeds, and be attended with all the Circumstances that accompany the Weighing of a Bodily Subflance. Now for the Application of this, let us consider, that Love, Hatred, Wisdom, Knowledge, and Fore-* B b knowledge.

|86 An Exposition 07t the

k^Y. XVII.

knowledge, arc properly Faculties or Aftions of our Minds , and we afcribe them to God after the fame manner that we do Refledtion, Penetrating, Discovering, Embracing, or Re- jecting, to our intelledual Actions and Facul- ties, because there is fome Analogy and Pro- portion betwixt them. But then we must re- member, that there is as great a Difference between these when they are ascribed to God and as they are in us, as there is between Thinking, and weighing of material or bodily Things in a Balance, and in Truth, infinitely greater , and w-e may as well expect, that Thinking should in all Things correspond with Weighing, as that the one should be exadtly anf.verable to the other. ‘Tis impoffible there should be Motion in material or bodily Subftan- ces, except they are moved by fome other ex- ternal Agent 3 and it requires a Space to be moved in which is capable of being measured ; but we (hould be amazed to hear a Man affert, that the Mind is incapable of Motion for want of these. And we should think it a sufficient AnfwcT to tell him, that these two Motions are of a very different Nature, though there may be fome Analogy and Resemblance betwixt them. And the fame Answer is sufficient to satisfy those that argue againfl the Divine Pre- science and Predeilination, and other Actions ascribed to God, because many Things which are impoffible to us, are, notwithstanding, pofli- ble to him. If it be objected against this Doctrine, that if it be true, all our Defcrip- tions of God, and Difcourfes concerning him, will be only Figures and Metaphors that he will be Intelligent, Fore-knowing, Just, and Merciful in a Figurative Sense only, and o perhaps. Religion and all its Mylteries, will, in

Time,

IJjWty^‘Nine Articles. 3 87

Time, vanifli into mere Figures : I aniwerjThat J. xvil. there is a great Difference betwixt the Analo- -/""V gical Reprelentation of God, and that which we commonly call Figurative. The common Ufe of Figures is to rcprefent Things, that are otherwise very well known, in such a manner as may magnify or ieffen, heighten or adorn the Ideas we have of them. And the Design of putting them in this foreign Dreis, is to move our Paffions and engage our Fancies more effec- tually, than the true and naked View of them is apt, or perhaps, ought to do. And from hence it very frequently comes to pais, that these Figures are made Ufe of to deceive us, and to make us think better or worle of Things than they really deserve. But the Analogies or Similitudes of Divine Things, which either Scripture or Reason affords us, are of a diffe- rent Nature ; the Ufe and Design of them is to give us fome Notion of Things which we have no diredl Knowledge of, and by that Means lead us to the Perception of the Nature, or at leafl, of fbme of the Properties and Ef- fedls of what our Underftandings cannot - redly reach and in this Cafe to teach m% what Behaviour we are to make uie of towards God, and what we are to do if we are defirous to obtain a more perfect Knowledge of his Attri- butes. And it is obiervable, that in ordinary Figurative Repreientations, the Thing repre- fented is of much less Consequence than that which it is compared to, but that ‘tis far other- wife in these Analogies, and the Things which are represented have a great deal more Excel- lency and Perfedion in them, than those by which we represent them. Thus the Weighing a Thing in our Minds is a more noble Action than trying the Weight of a material Subflance B b 2 in

^88 Jn Exposition on the

Art. XVII. in Scales, which is the Adion this manner of yy Expreffion is borrowed from, and the Refled:ion of the Mind is certainly more excellent than the Rebounding of one Body from another, which is the literal Signification of the Word Reflexion, And after the fame manner, what we call Know- ledge and Fore-knowledge in God, have infi- nitely more Reality in them, and are of greater Moment than any-thing of the fame kind in us, from whence they are transferred to him j and, in Truth, as theie Things are in Man, they are but faint Communications of God’s Perfections, which are the true Originals, and to which our Powers and Faculties, be they never fo perfed:, bear no nearer a Resemblance, than a Shadow or Picture does to the real Substance or Coun- tenance of a Man. And yet, if we reason from them by Analogy and Proportion, they are fuf- ficient to give us such a Notion of God’s Attri- butes, as will oblige us to fear, and to love, to obey and adore him. All these Things being put together, and duly considered, I hope we fiiall be sufficiently satisfied, why Divine Things are represented to us in Holy Scripture by Types and Similitudes, by Compariibns and Analogies, and by transferring to God the No- tions of such Perfcdions as we perceive to be in ourselves and other Creatures , fmce ‘tis ma- nifeft, that when the Matter is duly examined, we hardly know any-thing without ourselves in a more perfect Manner ; that such Knowledge effedually anfvvers all the Ends and Designs of Religion, and that we are not capable of better.

Let us proceed, therefore, to ihew, in the third and la ft Place, what Ufe or Application we ought to make of God’s fore-feeing, freely

eleding

Thirty -Nine Articles. 389

electing and predeftinating Men to Hollnefs Art. xvir. and Salvation. And first, from the whole of OOTN- what hathbeen said, it appears, that we ought not to be under any Surprize, when we find the Scriptures giving different, and seemingly contradictory Schemes of Divine Things. i is manifest, that several such are to be found in Holy Writ. Thus God is frequently said in Scripture, to Repent and “Turn from the Evil which he purpofed to execute upon Sinners ; and yet in other Places we are told, that God is not a Man that he Jloould lyc neither the Son ef Man that he Jloould repent , o Nwnh. xxiii. 19. Thus P//. xviii. ii. God is represented as dwelling in thick Darkness : He made Dark- ness his fee ret Place ; his Pavilion round about him were dark iVaters and thick Clouds of the Sky. And yet, i ir,i. vi. i6. He is described as dwelling in the Light which no Man hath feen nor can fee : And, i John i. 5. God is Light and in him is no Darkness at all. Thus in the Second Commandment God is represented as lifting the Iniquity of the Fathers upon the Chil- dren unto the third and fourth Generation of them that hate him 3 and yet, Ezek. xviii. 20. he Sonfloall not bear the Iniquity of the Father neither jhall the Father bear the Iniquity of the Son 3 and ver. iv. he Soul that finneth it Jhall die. After the fame manner we are forbid by our Saviour, Matth. vi. 7. to uie vain Bepeti- tions as the Heathen do ; or to think tiiat v/e shall be heard for our much speaking ; because, ver. 8. Tour Father knows what ‘things ye have need of before ye ask him. And hvike xviii. i. we are encouraged always to pray. and not to faint. And this is recommended to us by the parable of an importunate Widow, whose in- celTant Applications, Cries, and Petitions ih

B b 3 troubled

390 All Exposition on the

Art. XVII. troubled the Judge, that, to procure his own Ease,

-yy” he did her Jufcice ; “ver. $. Because this IVidcw troubleth me I will aisenge her left by her con- tinual coming floe weary me. Thus it is laid, Exod. xxxiii. ii. I’he Lord fpake unto Moses Face to Face as a Man fpeaketh to his Friend y and yet in njer. 20. he declares to the fame Moses hou canft not fee my Face • for there jJoall no Man fee rne and lin:e. There are Mul- titudes of other Instances of the like Jature, that seem to carry fome Appearance of a Con- trad icTrion in them, but are purposely defigncd to make us underlland, that these are only ascribed to God by way of Resemblance and Analogy, and to correct our Imaginations, that ve may not mii’take them for perfed Reprefen- tations, or think that they are in God in the lam.e manner that the Similitudes represent them ; ar:d to teach us not to stretch those to all Caies, or further than they are intended. We ought to remember, that two things may be very like one another in fome reipedls, and quite contrary in others : And yet to argue againii: the Likcnefs in one relpedl:, from the Contrariety in the other, is as if one should dispute againfc the Likeness of a Pid:ure, be- cause that is made of Canvas, Oil, and Co- lours, whereas the Orignal is Flesh and Blood. Thus in the Cafe before us, God is represented as an absolute Lord over his Creatures, of infinite Knowledge and Power, that doth all Things for his m.ere Pleasure, and is accoun- table to none 3 as one that will have Mercy o?i whom he will ha-ve Mercy and ivhom he will he hardens ; xhdit for e fees predeftinate: calls jufti- fies and glorifies whom he v/ill, without any Regard to the Creatures whom he thus deals with, This gives m a mighty Notion of his Sove-

reignty^

Thirty -Wine Articles. 3 9 1

reignty, at once flops our Mouths, and filen- ,3; ces our Objections, obliges us to absolute Sub- miflion and Dependance on him, and withaj, to acknowledge the good Things we enjoy to be entirely due to his Pleasure. This is plainly the Design and Eifed: of this terrible Reprefen- tation ; and the Meaning is, that we should understand, that God is no way obliged to give us an Account of his Actions ; that we are no more to enquire into the Reasons of his dealing with his Creatures, than if he really treated them in this arbitrary Method. By the fame we are taught to acknowledge, that our Salva- tion as entirely depends on him, and that we owe it as much to his lieafure, as if he had bestowed it on us without any other Ccnfidera- tion but his own Will to do fo. Thus, J-ames i. 1 8. 0/ his own Will hegat he us with the IVord of Iruthj that we fionld he a kind of Firfl-fruit s of his Creatures. And that we might not think that there could beany-thing in our best Works, the Profpedl whereof could move God to fhew Kindness to us, the Scriptures give us to under- stand, that those good Works are due to his Grace and Favour, and the Effeds, not Caiifcs of them. So Eph. ii. lo. For we are his IVcrk- manfloip created in Christ Jesus unto good IVorks which God hath before ordained that we fhoulcl walk in them. All which Representations are defigncd as a Scheme, to make us conceive the Obligations we owe to God, and how little we can contribute to our own Happinels. And to make us apprehend this to be his Meaning, he hath, on other Occasions, given Us an Account of his dealing with Men, not only different, but seemingly contradictory to this. Thus he frequently repreients himself, as proposing no- thing for his own Pleasure or Advantage in his B b 4 Tranfadions

39X j4n Exposition on the

Art. XVII. Tranfadions with his Creatures, as having no ”/y other Design in them, but to do those Crea- tures good, as earneftly defiring and prosecuting that End only. Nay, it is not poffible to con- ceive a good, merciful, and beneficent Prince, that hath nothing elie in View but the Good of his Subjects, more defirous to have his Subje6ts join with him in promoting their own Interest, than he is pleased to represent himself uneasy and troubled when we fail to answer his Ex- pedations. And to make us duly fenfible of his Goodness and Tenderneis towards us, and to let us know that he is very far from impofmg any-thing in an arbitrary manner upon us, he lets us know, that he hath left us to our own Treedom and Choice ; and to convince us of his Impartiality, declares, that he ads as a just and equal Judge ; that he hath no Refped of Perions, and favours none 3 but rewards and punifhes all Men, not according to his own Plea- lure, but according to their Deierts ; and in every Nation he that fears him, and works Righteoufneis is accepted with him, A6ls x. 25. To (hew us that he proposes no Advantage to himself in his Dealings with us, he describes himself as a Person wholly difinterefted ; Job xxii. 2, 3. Can a Man he profit able tinto God as he that is wife may he profitable unto himself ? Is it any Pleasure to the Almighty that thou art righteous ? Or is it Gain to him that thou makefi: thy IVaysperfe ? And, Ch. xxxv. 6,7. If thou finneft what doft thou against him ? Or if thy ranfzrefjions be muJtiplted what dofi thou unto ¥irn ? If thou be righteous what gi-vest thot ’ bim or what receiveth he of thine Hand ? And as to his leaving us to the Liberty of our own Choice, observe how he is represented, Deut. “XXX. 19. / call Heaven and Earth this Day tq

record

T/jirty-Nbie Articles. 395

record against you that I have fet before you Life t. xvir. and Deaths Bkjfing and Cursing ; therefore chufe - Life. And as to his earnest Concern for our Salvation, he orders the Prophet Ezekiel to deliver this Meflage from him : Chap, xxxiii. ii. Say unto them As I live faith the Lord God I ha’ve no Pleafttre in the Death of the IVtcked hut that the IVicked turn from his Way and Hue. urn ye turn ye from your evil Ways ; for why will ye die O House of Israel ? And Uof xi. 8. How Jhall I give thee up Ephraim ? How ffpall I deliver thee Israel ? Hew floall I make thee as Admah ? How floall I fet thee as Zehowi ? mine Heart is turned within me my Kepentings are kindled together. Every one may fee, how dis- tant this View of God, and of his Dealings with his Creatures, is from the former j and yet if we consider it as a Scheme framed to make us conceive how graciously, mercifully and juftly God treats us, notwithstanding the supreme and absolute Dominion he hath over us, there will be no Inconfiftency between the two. We fee here, that though the Creatures be in his Hand, as Clay in the Potter’s of which he may make VelTels of Honour or Difljonour without any Injury, or being accountable ; yet he uses that Power with all the pafHonate Love and Concern that Parents fliew toward their Children : And therefore we are to conceive of him, as having all the Tenderness of Affeifli- Gn, that Parents feel in their Hearts towards their young ones ; and that if he had been fb affeded, he could not (considering our Circum- stances) have gone further than he hath done to fave us - that our Deftrudion is as entirely due to oarfelves, as if we were out of God’s Power, and absolutely in the Hand of our own Counsel. If we take these as Schemes designed

2 to

3 94 ^^^ Exposition on the

Art. XVII. to give US different Views of God, and his -“yJ Tranfadlions with Men, in order to oblige us to diftind: Duties which we owe him, and stretch them no further, they are very recon- cileable : And to go about to clafli the one against the other, and argue, as many do, that if the one be true, the other cannot, is full as absurd as to objed: against that Article of our Belief, that Christ fits on the Right Hand of God, because Scripture in other Places, and plain Reason aifures us, that God hath neither Hand nor Parts. And whilst a Thing may in one refpe6h be like another, and in other re- fpeds be like the contrary • and whilst we know that Thing only by Resemblance, Similitude, or Proportion ; we ought not to be furprized, that the Representations are contrary, and taken from 1 hings that seem irreconcileable, or that the different Views of the iame Thing should giveOccafion to different, nay, contrary Schemes. We ought further to consider, that these are not fo much designed to give us Notions of God as he is in himielf, as to make us fenfible of our Duty to him, and to oblige us to perform it. As for Example , When the Scriptures represent God as an absolute Lord, that hath his Crea- tures entirely in his Power, and treats them according to his Pleasure, as one that is not obliged to consider their Advantage at all, or any-thing but his own Will, that may eled one to eternal Salvation, and pass over another, or condemn him to eternal Misery, without any other Reason but because he will do fb : When we read this, I fay, in the Holy Scriptures, we ought not to dispute whether God really adls thus or no, or how it would agree- with his other Attributes of IVifdom and Jttftice to da fo : but the Uie we ought to make of it is, to

call

O-’^VVJ

Thirty-Nhie Articles^ 39^

call to Mind what Duty and SubmifHon we ‘l: ought to pay to one that may thus deal with 11S5 if he pleases, and what Gratitude we ought to return him, for eleding and decreeing us to Salvation, when he lay under no Obligation to vouchfafe us that Favour. Again, when we find him represented as a gracious and merciful Father, that treats us as his Children, that is fbllicitous for our Welfare, that would not our Death or Deflrudtion ; that hath done all 1 hings for our eternal Happinejfs, which could be done without violating the Laws of our Creation, and putting a Force upon our Natures ; that hath given us Free-lVill that we might be capable of Rewards at his Handsj and have the Pleaiure of chufing for ourselves, which only can make us happy, and like unto himself in the most noble Operations of which a Being is capable ; that hath given us all the Invitations and Encouragements to chule well, that Mercy could prompt him to, or that the Justice which is due to himself and Creatures would allow 5 and that never punifhes us, but when the NecefHty and Support of his Govern- ment requires he Ihould : When we hear these Things, we are not fb much to enquire whe- ther this Representation exadly suits with what really palTes in his Mind, as how we ought to behave ourselves, in such a Cafe, towards him that hath dealt fo gracioully with us. And though these Representations be but Defcrip- tions fitted to our Capacities, through God’s great Condeicenfion towards us ; yet it is cer- tain, that there is as much Mercy, Tenderness, and Justice in the Conduct of God, as this Scheme represents : And on the other Hand, that we owe as much Fear, SubmifTion, and Gratitude to hima if the x were the Me- thod

59 6 An Exposition on the

Art. XVII. thod he took with us. We make no Scruple to /“VN* acknowledge, that Love and Hatred, Mercy and Anger, with other Paflions, are ascribed to God 3 not that they are in him, as we conceive them, but to teach us how we are to behave ourselves toward him, and what Treatment we may expect at his Hands. And if fo, why should we make any Difficulty to think, that Fore-knowledge Purposes Ele6iions and Tie- crees are attributed to him after the fame Way, and to the fame Intent ?

The second Ufe that I fliall make of this Dodtrine is, to put you in Mind, how cau- tious we ought to be in our Reafonings and Deductions concerning Things of whose Na- ture we are not fully apprized. ‘Tis true, that in Matters which we fully comprehend, all is clear and easy to us, and we readily perceive the Connexion and Confillency of all the Parts : But it is not fo in Things to which w^e are, in a great measure. Strangers, and of which we have only an imperfect and par- tial View ; for in these we are very apt to fancy Contraai6tions, and to think the Accounts we receive of them abliird. The Truth of this is manifest from innumerable Instances j as for Example, from the Opinion of the Antipodes^ whilst the Matter was imperfectly known : How many Objediions were made against it ? How many thought they had proved to a Demon- llration the Impoflibility and Contradiction of the Thing ? And how far did they prevail with the Generality of the World to believe them ? And yet how weak, and, in Truth, foolilh do all their Arguments appear to Men that know, and, by Experience, understand the Matter ?

Others

Thirty-Kine Articles. %^j

Others will fay the fame concerning the Art. xvil.

Motion of the Earth, notwithstanding the great Confidence with which many have undertaken to demonstrate it to be impoffible ; the Reason of which is only the imperfect Knowledge we have of the Thing : And as our Understanding of it is more and more enlarged and cleared, the Contradi6lions vanilh. Ought we not then to think, all the Contradictions we fancy be- tween the Fore-knowledge of God and Con- tingency of Events, between Predefti nation and Free-Will, to be the EfFeds of our Igno- rance and partial Knowledge ? May it not be in this, as in the Matter of the Antipodes^ and Motion of the Earth ? May not the Incon- fiftencies that we find in the one be as ill- grounded as those that have been urged against the others ? And have we not Reason to fii- fpe(5t, nay, believe this to be the Cafe ; llnce we are sure, that we know much less of God and his Attributes, than of the Earth and Hea- venly Motions ?

The third Ufe I shall make of this Doc- trine is, to teach us what Answer we are to give to that Argument, that hath fo puz- zled Mankind, and done {o much Mischief in the World. It runs thus : ” If God foreiee ” or predeftinate that I shall be saved, I (hall ” infallibly be ib , and if he foreiee or have ” predeftinated that I shall be damned, it is ’^ unavoidable. And therefore it is no matter what I do, or how I behave myself in this Life.” Many Answers have been given to this, which I shall not at present examine : I shall only add, that if God’s Fore-knowledge were exadlly conformable to ours, the Confe- quence would seem jufl , but inalmuch as they are of as different a Nature as any two Facul- ties

L/^YXJ

^pS Jn Exposition on the

Art. XVII. ties of our Souls, it doth not follow (because .yy” our Foresight of Events, if we fuppofe it in- fallible mufl: pre-fuppofe a NecefHty in them) that therefore the Divine Prefcience must re- quire the fame NecefHty, in order to its being certain. It is true, we call God’s Fore-know ledge and our own by the fame Name ; but this- is not from any real Likeness in the Nature of the Faculties, but from fome Proportion ob- fervable in the Effeds of them ; both having this Advantage, that they prevent any Sur- prize on the Person endowed with them. Now, as it is true, that no Contingency or Freedom in the Creatures, can any way deceive or fur- prize God, put him to a Lois, or oblige him to alter his Measures ; k on the other Hand, it is likewise true, that the Divine Prefcience doth not hinder Freedom ; and a Thing may either be or not be, notwithstanding that Fore- fjght of it which we afcribe to God. When, therefore, it is alledged, that if God forefees I shall be saved, my Salvation is infallible , this doth not follow ; because the Fore-knowledge of God is not like Man’s, which requires Ne- cefiity in the Event, in order to its being cer- tain, but of another Nature confiftent with Contingency ; and our Inability to comprehend this, arises from our Ignorance of the true Na- ture of what we call Fore-knowledge in God. And it is 2iS impoffible we should comprehend the Power thereof, or the Manner of its Ope- ration, as that the Eye should fee a Sound, or the Ear hear Light and Colours. Only of this we are sure, that in this it differs from ours, that it may confift either with the Being, or not Being of what is said to be forefeen or predefli- nated. Thus St. Paul was a chosen Veffel, and he reckons himself in the Number of the Pre-

deflinated.

Th’irty-Nme Articles. 399

[…]

the Adoption of Children by Jesus Christ to himself. And yet hefuppofes it poflible for him to miss of Salvation ; and therefore he looked on himself as obliged to ufe Mortification, and exercise all other Graces, in order to make his Calling and Eledlion sure; left, as he tells us, i Cor. ix. 27. it hat by any Means when I have preached to ethers^ I myself Jloould he a Cast-away^ or a Kepro- hate^ as the Word is translated in other Places.

The fourth Ufe I shall make of this Do- ctrine, is to enable us to discover what Judg- ment we are to pais on those that have manag’d this Controversy j and for my own Part I must: profefs, that they seem to me to have taken Shadows for Substances, Refemblances for the Things they reprcfent ; and by confounding these, have embroiled themselves and theif Readers in inextricable Difficulties. Whoever will look into the Books writ on either Side, will find this to be true : But because that is a Task too difficult for the Generality of Men, I shall represent the Opinions of both Parties, as briefly, and as fully as I can, and I am certain it will easily be perceived, that this Error runs thro’ both.

The Fredeftinarians begin with alTerting, That God is effentially Perfed, and in all that he doth, hath no Dependance upon any other Being whatsoever j that therefore it cannot be that he should have any Regard to any thing but his own Glory ; and consequently, that he deiigned nothing but in and for himself: That to delay his Decrees ‘till ‘tis leen in what manner his Creatures will act, is to make him depend on them, and to deprive him of Infinite Per- fedion 3 that there can can be no other End of

his

L>ors^

400 Jn Exposition on the

!i-$v* Counfels but himfelfj and, that therefore yJ the Manifestations of his own Attributes and Perfedion was all that he could poffibly con- fider or propose : That the Part which is to be adled last, must be the first that Infinite Wisdom must begin its Designs at j and inafmuch as the Conclusion of all Things at the Last Day, will be the Manifestation of God’s Justice, Good- ness, and Wisdom, we ought to fuppofe that God designed this first in the Order of Things, though in the Order of Time there is no Ftrfi or Second in God, this being fuppofed to be done from all Eternity. This great Defige being laid, the Means which were neceffary for the Accomplishing of it were to be designed next. All created Beings, are by a strong Figure said to be Vanity, and lels than Nothing, and in the Sight of God are as Nothing. We make little or no account of Ants, Infeds, and the like, and yet, ‘tis certain, that we are in- finitely more contemptible, when compared to God, than these seemingly insignificant Beings are, when they are compared with us : So that God can have no other End in any thing that he designs or does besides himself and his own Glory. This is the chief Foundation of their Dodrine or Opinion. To which they add, that ‘tis a Contradidion to affert. That there can be any certain Foreknowledge of Contin- gents, or that Things should be certainly fore- iecn, which will not certainly be : That they certainly must be if they are certainly forefeen 3 and, that to affirm them certainly forefeen, is to acknowledge them certainly and unavoidably decreed, though at the fame Time we reckon them among the Number of Contingents : T hat an uncertain Foresight is inconfiftent with the Divine Perfedion, as being an Ad: that ia

imperfed

Jhirty-‘Nme Articles. 401

imperfed in its Nature ; and that Foreknow- Art. xvil ledo-e in God, antecedent to his Decree, is VXi. impoiTible, and therefore to be rejeded. They fay further. That a general Will, or rather a Willing, that all Men (hould be saved, hath also plain Characters of Imperfedion in it : As if the Goodness of God extended farther than his Power, and as if God wished any Thing which he could not accomplish • whereas, ‘tis impollible that Infinite Perfection can wish any Thing which it cannot put in Execution, and that any Thing can be fit for God to wish for, which is not fit for him to accomplish. There- fore the Scripture, when it afcribes Palnons and Affedions to God, and what is in Men, the Eifed of those Pallions is to be understood in a Figurative Sense. They observe, that God very often afflids Good Men in this Life for many Years, and with great Severity, and for no other Reason than for the Manifestation of his own Glory, by making them Examples of true Patience, and a firm and fleady Faith or Belief in his Promises, and yet nobody looks upon this as unjust , fo that we ought not to make our Notions of Justice the Standard or Measure by which the Punishment of Sin is to be tried ; and that if God may do such Things as are in- confiftent with our Notions of Justice for a little Time, he may do it for a greater, since ‘tis as impoflible that he should be unjust for a Minute, as that he should be fo to all Eternity. As God does all for his own Glory, fo the Scriptures dired us to afcribe Every-thing to him, and Nothing to ourselves ; fo that if his eleding us were not an Ad of Free Grace, without any Regard to what he forefaw we should be , and if his Grace be not effedual by its own Force, but by the good Ufe which we make of it, it will

C c followj

401 An Exposition on the

Art. XVII. follow, that the Glory and Praiie of our Obe-* iy T dience, and of God’s eled:ing us, is due to our- selves, and that Man himself hath made himself to differ from others. The Stile of all the Prayers, they fay, that are used, or directed to be used in Scripture, is for a Grace that opens our Eyes, and turns our Hearts, that makes us to go in the Way which God hath marked out for us, that leads us not into Temptation, but delivers us from Evil. By these Expreflions a great deal more is meant than a Power and Capacity to ad:, such as is given to all Men, and such as may prove ineffedual when we have received it for to pray for such AfTiftances as are always given to all Men, and are such, that the whole Good of them shall intirely depend upon ourselves, would found very oddly 3 whereas we pray, when we ufe theie Prayers for fome- what that is Special, and that we hope will be Effectual: We do not, and cannot pray ear- neftly for that which we know all Men as well as ourselves are at all times in Polfeffion of. Humility and Earneftnefs in Prayer, seem to be among the chief Means of working in us the Image of Christ, and of deriving to us all the Elefiings of Heaven. That Dodrine which blafl-s both, which swells us up with an Opinion that all comes from ourselves, and that we receive nothing from God, but what is given in common with us to all the World, is certainly contrary both to the Spirit and the Design of the Gospel. They observe, that the World was for many Ages given up to Idolatry, and that a great Part of it hath continued in it ever since 5 that a great Part of it hath fallen under Mahometifm and that Chriftendom itself is in a deplorable Manner over-run with Ignorance and Corruption j that the far greatest Part of Man- kind

Thirty -Nme Articles. 405

kind hath been in all Ages left destitute of the Aut.XVIL Means of Grace : 60 that the promulgating the O”VNr Gospel to fbme Nations, and denying it to others, must be ascribed to the unfearchable Ways of God, that are past finding out. If he thus leaves whole Nations in such Darkneis and Corruption, and freely chufes others to com- municate the Knowledge of himself to them, then we need not wonder if he should ufe the fame Method with particular Persons that he doth with whole Bodies: For the rejcding whole Nations by the Lump, for fb many Ages, is much more unaccountable, than the feledting of a few, and the leaving others in that State of Ignorance and Brutality. And whatever may be said of his extending Mercy to fbme few of those, who have made a good Ule of that dim Light which they had , yet it cannot be denied, but their Condition is much more deplorable, and the Condition of the others is much more hope- ful ; So that great Numbers of Men are born in such Circumstances, that it is morally im- poffible that they should not perish in them ; whereas others are more happily situated and inlightened. This Argument taken from com- mon Observation, becomes much stronger, when we consider what the Apostle says particu- larly in the Epiftles to the Romans and the Ephefians even according to the Exposition of those of the other Side f : For if God loved Jacoh fo as to chuie his Pofterity to be his People, and rejedted, or hated Efau and his Pollerity ; and if that was according to the Pur- pole and Design of his Election 9 if by the fame Furpofe, the Gentiles were to be grafted upon the

■f Rom.ix, II,

Cc z Stock

404 ^n Exposition on the

Art.xvu. Stock which the Jews were to be cut off from ;

OOTN and if the Counsel or Purpose of God had ap- peared in particular to the Ephefians the most wicked and profligate People in all the East it is plain that the bellowing the Means of Grace, arises merely from a great Design which had long lain hid in God, and was executed at that Time. It is reasonable to believe, that there is a Proportion or Resemblance between the Ap- plication of the Means, and the Decree itself, concerning the End. The one is relblved into the unfearchable Riches of God’s Grace, and declared to be free and ablblute. God’s chufmg the Nation of the Jews in fiich a Diftincftion beyond all other Nations, is by Moses and the Prophets frequently said, not to be on their own Account, or on the Account of any Thing that God faw in them, but merely from the Goodness of God to them. From all this it seems, fay thev, as reasonable to believe, that the other is likewise free, according to those Words of our Saviour, / thank thee 0 Father, Lord of Heaven and Earthy hecaufe thou haft hid these I’hings from the Wife and Prudent, md haft revealed them unto Babes : The Reafbn of which is given in the following Words, Even fo. Father, for it seemed good in thy Sight *. What goes before of I’yre and Sydon, and the Land of Sodom that would have made a better Ufe of his Preaching, than the Towns of Galilee had done, among whom he lived, confirms this. That the Means of Grace are not bestowed on those oF whom it was forefeen that they would have made a good Ufe of them ; or denied to those who as was forefeen would make an ill

• Ai/?/. xi. ^)i i6i and xxi. r.2, 13.

Ufe

ThWtyKine Articles. 40 j

[…]

afferted in those Words of our Saviour. It is farther observable, that he seems not to be speaking here of different Nations, but of the different Sorts of Men of the lame Nation : The more Learned of the Jews the Wife and Prudent rejected him, while the simpler, but better Sort, the Babes received him , fo that the Difference between Individual Persons seems he to be refblved into the good Pleasure of God. It is farther urged, that fmce those of the other Side confess, That God by his Prefciencc forefaw what Circumstances might be happy, and what Afliflances might prove efficacious to bad Men then his not putting them in Cir- cumftances, and giving them Afliflances, which he forefaw they would abuse, if it may seem clear to the Juflice of God, yet it cannot clear his infinite Holiness and Goodness, which mufl ever carry him, according to our Notions of these Perfedions, to do all that may be done, and that in the mofl effedtual Way, to rescue others from Misery, to make them truly good, and to put them in a AVay to be happy. Since therefore this is not always done according to the other Opinion, it is plain that there is an unfearchable Depth in the Ways of God, which we are not able to fathom. Therefore it mufl be concluded, that fmce all are not ad:ually good, and fb put in a Way to be saved, that God did not intend that it should be fb ; For who hath refijied his IVill ? ‘the Coun[el of the Lord ftandeth fafi and the thoughts of his Heart to all Generations Rom. ix. 19. Psalm xxxiii. 12. It is true, his Laws are his Will in one refpedl : He requires all to obey them , he approves them, and he obliges all Men to keep them. Al the ExprefEons of his Desires that all Men c I lhoul4

L>^0^

4o6 Jn Exposition on the

Art. XVII. (hould be favedj are to be explained of the Will yy of Revelation, commonly called the Sign of his IVtll : When it is said, IVhat more could have heen done ? that is to be understood of out- ward Means and BlefTings : But still God hath a secret Will of his good Fleafwe in which he designs all Things ; and this can never be frustrated. From this they also conclude, that though Christ’s Death was to be offered to all Christians ; yet that intentionally and adlually he only died for those whom the Father had chosen, and given to him to be saved by him. They cannot think that Christ could have died in nJaiUy which St. Paul speaks of as a vast Absurdity, Gal. ii. 21. Now fmce if he ‘had died for all, he should have died m vain with relation to the fir greater Part of Mankind, who are not to be saved by him ; they from thence conclude. That all those for whom he died, are certainly saved by him. Perhaps with relation to ibme Bleffings of a lower Kind, which are through him communicated, if not to all Mankind, yet to all Christians, he may be said to have died for all : But as to Eternal Salvation, they believe his Design went no farther than the secret Purpose and Eledion of God , and this they think is implied in these Words, John xvii. 9, IQ. All that are given me of my Father : hlne they “juere and I’hougaveft them me. He alib limits his Interceflion to those only ; / pray not for the Worlds hut for those that ihou haft given me ; for they are i’htne and all ‘thine are Mine and Mine are thine. They believe that he also limited to them the Extent of his Death, and of that Sacrifice which he offered in it. It is true, the Christian Religion being to be iftinguifhed from the Jewiflj in this main Point, hat whereas the Jewijh was restrained to Abra-

Thirty-Nine Articles. 407

ham\ Pofterity, and confined within one Race Art. xvil. and Nation, the Chriflian was to be preached -/VN to every Creature Mark xvi. 15. Universal Words are used concerning the Death of Christ ; but as the Words preaching to every Creature and to all the JVorld are not to be understood in the utmost Extent, for then they have never been verified ; since the Gospel hath never yet, for ought that appears to us, been preached to every Nation under Heaven , but are only to be explained generally of a CommiiTion not limited to one or more Nations, none being excluded from it , the Apostles were to execute it in going from City to City, as they should be inwardly moved to it by the Holy Ghost : fb they think that those large Words that are applied to the Death of Christ, are to be under- stood in the fame qualified manner ; that no Nation or Sort of j\Ien are excluded from it, and that fome of all Kinds and Sorts shall be saved by him : And this is to be carried no farther, without an Imputation on the Justice of God 5 for if he hath received a sufficient Oblation and Satisfadion for the Sins of the whole World, it is not reconcileable to Justice, that all should not be saved by it, or should not at least have the Offer and Promulgation of it made them, that fo a Trial may be made whether they will accept of it or not. The Grace of God is fet forth in Scripture, by such Figures and Expreflions as do plainly intimate its Effi- cacy 5 and that it does not depend upon us to ufe it, or not to ufe it at Pleasure. It is said to be a Creation • IVe are created unto good Eph, il. i o. Works and %ve become new Creatures : It is cor.y, 17 called a Kegenevatton or a new Btrth -, it is’* -Z* called a ackmng and a Reflirrekm : As our - ’ ’ former State is compared to a Feeblenefs, a C c 4 Blindnefsj

4o8 Jn Exposition on the

[…]

T.^ek, xxxvi. his Laws in their Hearts^ and make them to ^6, 27- walk in thefn. Mankind is compared to a Mafs

;. ix. 21. Qfciay’m the Hand of the Potter, who of the fame Lump makes at his Pleasure, Veffcls of Honour or of Difioonoiir. I’hefe PafTages, this last in particular do infinuate an absolute and a conquering Power in Grace and that the Love of God conftrains us, as St. Paul speaks exprefly. All outward Force is contrary to the Nature of Libertv, and all those inward Im- prcOions that drove on the Prophets, fo that they had not the free Ufe of their Faculties, but felt themselves carried they knew’ not how, are inconfiilent v.‘ith it , yet when a Man feels thathisFaculties go on in their Method, and that he afients or chules from a Thread of inward Convidion and Ratiocination, he Hill acls freely, that is, by an internal Principle of Rea- fon and Thought. A Man ads as much accord- ing to his Faculties when he affents to a Truth, as when he chufes what he is to do : And if his Mind were fo inlightened, that he faw as clearly the Good of moral Things, as he perceives fpe- culative Truths, fo that he felt himself as little able to refift the one as the other ; he would be no lels a free and rational Creature, than if he were left to a more unlimited Range : Nay, the more evidently that he faw the true Good of Things, and the more that he were deter- mined by it, he should then a6t more suitably to his Faculties, and to the Excellence of his Nature , for though the Saints in Fleaven being made perfeA in Glory, are no more capable of farther Rewards, yet it cannot be denied, but they ad with a more accomplished Liherti,

because

Thirty-Wine x\r tides, . 409

because they fee all Things in a true Light, R- xvii. according to that of Ffalm xxxvi. 9. In thy -V”N Lhht Jhall zve fee Light : And therefore they conclude. That such an overcoming Degree of Grace, by which a Man is made willing through the Illumination of his Understanding, and not by any blind or violent Tmpulfe, is no way con- trary to the true Notion of Liberty. After all they think. That if a Debate fills to be between the Sovereignty of God, his A6i:s and his Pur- poses, and the Freedom of Man’s Will, it is Modefl and Decent, rather to make the Abate- ment on Man’s Part than on God’s ; but they think there is no need of this. They infer, that besides the outward inlightening of a Man by Knowledge, there is an inward inlightning of the Mind, and a secret forcible Convi6lion ftampt on it, otherwise what can be meant by the Prayer of St. P.nl for the Ephefians who . had already heard the Goipel preached, and were inftruded in it 3 That the Eyes of their Understanding heing inlightened they anight know zvhat was the Hope of his Callings mid what the Kichcs of the Glory of his Inheritance in the Saints and what was the exceeding Greatness of his Power toward them that leltevedj Eph. i. 17, 18, 19. This seems to be somewhat that is both Internal and Efficacious. Christ com- pares the Union and Influence that he com- municates to Believers, to that Union of a Head with the Members, and of a Root with the Branches ; which imports an intnal, a vital, and an efficacious Influence. And though the outward Means that are offered, may be, and always are rejeded, when not accompanied with this overcom.ing Grace , yet this never returns empty : These outward Means coming from God the refilling of hcm is said to be

the

‘410 Jn Exposition on the

[…]

in that Sense we refift the Grace or Favour of

God : But we can never withlland him when he

intends to overcome us.

A s for Ferfeverance, It is a neceffary Con- sequence of abiblute Decrees, and efficacious Gr ICC : For since all depends upon God, and that as of his own Will he begat us, fo with him there is neither Variablcnefs, nor Shadow 7/;w.i. 17, 18. of turning: Whom he loves, he loves to the jom xiu. I. £j . pj jg jj promised, that he will never He . xiu. 5-. forfake those to whom he becomes a God • we must from thence conclude. That the Fiirpofe mid Calling of God is without Kepen— tance : And therefore, though Good Men may fall into grievous Sins, to keep them from which, there are dreadful Things said in Scrip- ture against their falling away, or Apoftacy yet God does fo uphold them, thattho’ hefuffers them often to feel the Weight of their depraved Natures ; yet of all that are given by the Father to the Son to be saved by him, none are loft. Upon the whole Matter, they believe that God did in himself, and for his own Glory, forebwjJ such a determinate Number, whom he pitched upon to be Persons in whom he would be both fandified and glorified. That having thus foreknown them, he predeftinated them to be holv, conformable to the Im.age of his Son : That thcfe were to be called not by a general Calling in the Sense of these Words, Ma7iy are called hut few are chcfen but to be called according to his Purpose ; and those he juOified upon their obeying that Calling, and he will in Conclusion glorify them. Nor ‘ire these Words only to be limited to the Sufferings of

GQpd

Thirty ‘l^tne Articles. 411

Good Men, they are to be extended to all the Art. xvii. EflPeds of the Love of God, according to that v/T* which follows : That nothing can separate us from the Lovq of God in Christ, The whole Reafbning in the 9th of the Romans does fo plainly resolve all the Ads of God’s Mercy and Justice, hardening as well as his pardoning, into abfblute Freedom, and an uniearchable Depth, that more express Words to that Effedi’, can hardly be imagined, njer. 18. It is in general said, That the Children being yet un- born, neither having done Good or Evil 3 that . the Purpose of God, according to Eledion, might Hand, not of Works, but of him that calleth ; Jacob was loved, and Efau hated : That God raiied up Pharaoh that he might fhew his Power in him ; and when an Objedlioa is fuggefted against all this, inllead of answer- ing, it is silenced with this, IVho art thou O Man that replieft against God ? And all iif illustrated with the Figure of the Potter, and concluded with this solemn Question, What if God willing to fhew his IVrath and to make his Power known endured with much Long-ftifering the Veffels of IVrath fitted to Beftrutlion ? t This carries the Reader to consider what is fo often repeated in the Book of Exodus concerning Gods hardening the Heart 0/ Pharaoh, fo that he would not let his People go. It is said, that God ias made the wicked Man for the Day of Evil ; as it is written on the other hand, that as many helieqjed the Gospel as were appointed to Eternal Life, Some are said to he written in the Book

f Rom, ix. 22. Exod. iv. 21. x. 18. xi. 10. xiv. 8* Trov. xvi. 4. ASis i. 48. Kev, ^liu 8. iii. f. xx. 12, xxi. 27. ^om, i. %6, 28.

41 1 Jn Exposition on the

Art. XVII. of Life of the Lamh Jla’tu hefore the Foundation '''ysj of the fForldy or according to God’s Purpose hefor the iVorld legan. Ungodly Men are laid to be of Old ordained to Condemnation and to he given tip by God unto njile Affeions and to he given over by him to a reprobate Mind. Therefore they think that Reprobation is an abfblute free Ad of God, as well as Eledion, to nianifeft his Holiness and Justice in them v/ho are under it, as well as his Love and Mercy is manifested in the Eled. Nor can they think with the Sublapfarians That Reprobation is only God’s pafTing by those whom he does not eledt, this being, in their Opinion, an Act un- worthy of God, as if he forgot them, which clearly implies an Imperfedion. And, in Truth, this seems to be only a fleeing from a Difficulty, to a less offensive Way of talking of it : For it is all one to fay, that God decreed that Adam should fm, and that all Mankind should fall in him, and that then he should chufe out of Man- kind, thus fallen by his Decree, such as he would fave, and leave the rest in that lapfed State to perifli in it ; as it is to fay, that God intending to fave fbme, and to damn others, did, in order to the carrying this on in a Me- thod of Justice, decree Adams Fall, and the Fall of Mankind in him in order to the Saving his Elcd, and the Damning of the rest. ‘Tis true, indeed, that these Men do not declare in e:xprefs Terms, that Adam was under an ab- folute Decree but if the Prefcience of future Contingents cannot be certain, unless they aro decreed, and according to them it cannot, then God could not certainly foreknow Adams Sin, without he had made an absolute Decree about it \ which is just the fame Thing with the Supra* lapfarian Hypothesis as ‘tis commonly called

and

Thirty-Nine Articles. 415

[…]

They begin with this. That God is just, holy, and merciful: That in speaking of him- self in the Scripture, with relation to those At- tributes, he is pleased to make Appeals to Men, to call them to reafbn with him : Thus his Pro- phets did often befpeak the Jewijh Nation 5 the Meaning of which is, that God ads fo, that Men, according to the Notions that they have of those Attributes, may examine them, and will be forced to justify and approve them. Nay, in these God proposes himfeif to us, as our Pattern , we ought to imitate him in them, and by Conlequence we may frame just Notions of them. We are required to be holy and mer- ciful as he is merciful. What then can we think of a Justice that shall condemn us for a Fad that we never committed, and that was done many Years before we were born ? As alio that designs, first of all, to be glorify ‘d by our being eternally miserable, and that decrees that we shall commit Sins, to juflify the previous De- cree of our Reprobation ? If those Decrees are thus originally designed by God, and are cer- tainly eiFeduated, then it is inconceivable how there should be a Juflice in punishing that which God himlelf appointed by an antecedent and irreversible Decree should be done ^ fo this fecms to lie hard upon Juflice. It is no less hard up- on infinite Holiness, to imagine that a Being of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity^ should, by an antecedent Decree, fix our committing fo many Sins, in such a manner, that it is not

pofHble

414 -^^^ Exposition on the

Art. XVII. poflible for us to avoid them : This is to make us yy”**’ to be born indeed under a NccefHty of Sin ; and yet this NecefHty is said to flow from the Ad:s and Decrees of God. God represents himself always in the Scriptures, as gracious merciful flow to Anger and abundant in Goodness and Srutb. It is often said, that be desires that no Man JJjotild per’tjh but that all JJjould come to the Knowledge of the Truth : And this is said ibme- times with the Solemnity of an Oath, As I linje faith the Lord, I take no Pleasure in the Death of Sinners’. They ask what Sense such Words can bear, if we can believe that God did, by an absolute Decree, reprobate fo many of them? If all Things that happen do arise out of the Decree of God, as its first Cause, then we must believe, that God takes Pleasure both in his own Decrees, and in the Execution of them , and by Consequence, that he takes Pleasure in the Death of Sinners, and that in Contradiction to the moll express and most Iblemn Words of Scripture. Besides, what can we think of the Truth of God, and of the Sincerity of those Offers of Grace and Mercy, with the Obtefta- tions, the Exhortations, and Expoftulations up- on them, that occur fo often in Scripture, if we can think, that by antecedent A5ls of God, he determined that all these should be ineffec- tual 3 fo that they are onlv fo many solemn Words that do indeed signify nothing, if God intended that all Things should fall out as they do, and if they do fb fall out, only because he intended it ? The chief Foundation of this Ar- gument lies in this Position, as its Basis, That nothing can be believed, that contradidls the

• Exod. xxxiv. 6, 2 Pet. iii. ^. Ezek. xviii. 12. xxxiii. 11.

Justice,

TJArty’-Kine Articles. 415

Justice, Holiness, the Truth and Purity of God; Art. xvil.

that these Attributes are in God according to our Notions concerning them, only they are in him infinitely more perfect , fmce we are required to imitate them. Whereas the Dodrine of ab- fblute Decrees does manifeftly contradid: the clearest Ideas that we can form of Justice, Holi- ness. Truth, and Goodness. From the Nature of God they go to the Nature of Man ^ and they think that fiich an inward Frcedomg by which a Man is Mailer of his own Adions, and can do or not do what he pleases, is fb neceflary to the Morality of our Adions, that without it our Adions are neither good nor evil, neither capable of Rewards or Punishments. Mad-men or Men asleep, are not to be charged with the Good or Evil of what they do ; therefore, at least, fome Degrees of Liberty must be left with us, otherwise, why are we praised or blamed for any thing that we do ? If a Man thinks that he is under an inevitable Decree, a5 he will have little Remorse for all the Evil he does, while he imputes it to that inevitable Force that conftrains him, fb he will naturally conclude, that it is to no Purpoie for him to struggle with Impoflibilities : And Men being inclined both to throw all Blame off from them- selves, and to indulge themselves in Laziness and Sloth, these Pradices are too natural to Mankind to be encouraged by Opinions that favour them. All Virtue and Religion, all Dii^ cipline and Industry, must arise from this, as their first Principle, that there is a Power in us to govern our own Thoughts and Adions, and to raise and improve our Faculties. If this is denied, all Endeavours, all Education, all Pains, either on ourselves or others, are fruit- less Things. Nor is it pofHble to make a Man

believe

O-TN^

41 6 Jn Exposition on the

Art XVII. believe other than this; for he does fb plainly

CXVN^

perceive that he is a free Agent ^ he {tQ,h him- self balance Matters in his Thoughts, and deli- berate about them fb evidently, that he cer- tainly knows he is a free Being. This is the Image of God that is stamp’d upon his Nature, and though he often feels himself hurried on fb impetuoufiy, that he may fetm to have loft his Freedom, in forae Turns and upon fome Occa- fions ; yet he feels that he might have restrained that Heat in its first Beginning ^ he feels he can divert his Thoughts, and master himself in most Things, when he fets himself to it : He finds that Knowledge and Refledlion, that good Com- pany and good Exercises do tame and fbften him, and that bad ones make him wild, loose, and irregular. From all this they conclude, that Man is free, and not under inevitable Fate, or irrefiftible Motions either to Good or Evil. All this they confirm from the whole Current of Scripture, that is full of Perfuafions, Exhorta- tions, Reproofs, Expoftulations, Encourage- ments, and Terrors ; which are all vain and theatrical Things, if there are no free Powers in us, to which they are address’d : To what Purpose is it to fpcak to dead Men, to persuade the Blind to fee, or the Lame to run ? If we are under an Impotence ‘till the irrefiftible Grace comes, and if when it comes, nothing can with- stand it, then what Occasion is there for all thoie solemn Difcourfes, if they can have no Eifed: on us ? They cannot render us inexcufa- ble, unless it were in our Power to be bettered by them ; and to imagine that God gives Light and Bleflings to those whom he before intended to damn, only to make them inexcufable, when they could do them no good, and they will serve only to aggravate their Condemnation,

gives

Thirty-Nhie Articles, 417

gives fb strange an Idea of that infinite Good- Art. xvii: ness, that it is not fit to express it by thoie VOPj Terms which do naturally arise upon it. It is as hard to fuppofe two contrary Wills in God, the one commanding us our Duty, and requiring us, with the most solemn Obteftarions, to do it j and the other putting a certain Bar in our Way, by decreeing that we shall do the con- trary. This makes God look as if he had a Will and a Utll ; though a Heart and a Heart import no good (Quality, when applied to Men ; the one Will requires us to do our Duty, and the other makes it impoflible for us not to fin : The IVi/l for the Good is ineffedual, while the IVill that makes us fin is infallible. These Things seem very hard to be apprehended 9 and whereas the Root of true Religjioa is the having right and high Ideas of God and his Attributes, here such Ideas arise, as naturally give us strange Thoughts of God ; and if they are received by us as Originals, upon which we are to form our own Natures, such Notions may make us grow to be fpiteful, imperious and without Bowels, but do not seem proper to inspire us with Love, Mercy, and Compaf- lion • though God is always proposed to us in that View. All Preaching and InstruCtion does also fuppofe this : For to what Purpose are Men called upon, taught, and endeavoured to be persuaded, if they are not free Agents, and have not a Power over their own Thoughts, and if they are not to be convinced and turned by Reason ? The Offers of Peace and Pardon that are made to all Men, are delufory Things, if they are by an antecedent Act of God re- strained only to a few, and all others are barred from them. It is further to be considered, fay they. That God having made Men free Crea- D d tares.

41 8 An Exposition on the

Art. XVII. tares, his governing them accordingly, and W-OOO making his own Administration of the World suitable to it, is no Diminution of his own Au- thority ; it is only the carrying on of his own Creation, according to the several Natures that he hath put in that Variety of Beings, of which this World is composed ; and with which it is diverilfied : Therefore, if fome of the Acts of God, with relation to Man, are not fo free as his other A6ts are, and, as we may fuppofe, neceifary to the ultimate Perfe6tion of an inde- pendent Being, this arises not from any Defedt in the Adts of God, but because the Nature of the Creature that he intended to make free, is inconfiflent with such A&s.

The Divine Omnipotence is not leflened, when we observe fome of his Works to be more beautiful and useful than others are • and the irregular Produdions of Nature do not dero- gate from the Order in which all Things appear lovely to the Divine Mind. So if that Liberty with which he intended to endue Thinking Be- ings, is incompatible with such positive Ads, and fb positive a Providence as governs natural Things and this material World ; then this is no way derogatory to the Sovereignty of his Mind. This does alio give such an Account of the Evil that is in the World, as does noway accuse or lelTen the Purity and Holiness of God ; fnice he only iufFers his Creatures to go on in the free Ufe of those Powers that he hath given them 5 about which he exercises a special Pro- vidence, making fome Mens Sins to be the im- mediate Punishment of their own or other Mens, and restraining them often in a great deal of that Evil, that they do design, and bringing out of it a great deal of Good that they did

not

Tfjirty-Ntne Articles, 419

not design ; but all is done in a Way fuit- Art, xvir. able to their Natures, without any Violence to /y\J them.

It is true, it is not easy to fhew how thole future Contingencies, which depend upon the free Choice of the Will, should be certain and infallible : But wc are, on other Accounts, cer- tain that it is lo ; for wc (ee through the whole Scriptures a Thread of very positive Prophe- cies, the Accomplishment of which depended on the Free-Will of Man ; and these Predicti- ons, as they were made very precisely, fo they were no leis punAually accomplished. Not to mention any other Prophecies, all those that related to the Death and Sufferings of Christ, were fulfilled by the free Ads of the Priefls and People of the Jews : They finned in doing it, which proves that they aded in it with their natural Liberty. By these and all the other Prophecies that are in both Teftaments, it must be confeffed, that these Things were certainly foreknown , but where to found that Cer- tainty, cannot be easily relblved : The infinite Perfedion of the Divine Mind ought here to silence all Objedions. A clear Idea, by which we apprehend a Thing to be plainly contrary to the Attributes of God, is indeed a just Ground of rejedling it , and therefore they think that they are in the Right to deny all such to be in God, as they plainly apprehend to be contrary to Justice, Truth, and Goodnels : But if the Objection against any thing fuppofed to be in God , lies only against the Manner and the Uncon- ceivablenefs of it, there the infinite Perfection of God answers all. It is farther to be consi- dered, that this Prefcience does not make the EfFeds certain, because they are forefeen j, but Dd z they

420 An Expofitioti on the

Art. XVII. they are forefeen, because that they are to be 5 yy* fb that the Certainty of the Prefcience is not antecedent or causal, but fubfequent and even- tual. Whatfbever happens, was future before it happened • and fincc it happened, it was cer- . tainly future from all Eternity j not by a Cer- tainty of Fate, but by a Certainty that arises out of its Being once, from which this Truth, that it was future, was eternally certain. Therefore the Divine Prefcience being only the Knowing all Things that were to come, that does not infer a Necefiity or Caufality. The Scripture plainly (hews, on fome Occasions, a conditionate Prefcience : God answered David That Saul was come to Keilab and that the Men of Keilah were to deliver him up , and yet both the one and the other was upon the Condition of his flaying there j and he going from thence, neither the one nor the other ever happened : Here was a conditionate Prefcience, I Sara, xxiii. 11, 12. Such was Chrifl’s Saying, That those of I’yre and Sidon Sodom and Go- morrah would have turned to him, if they had feen the Miracles that he wrought in fome of the Towns of Galilee Matth. xi 21, 22. Since then this Prefcience may be fo certain, that it can never be mistaken, nor mifguidc the De- signs or Providence of God and fmce by this both the Attributes of God are vindicated, and the due Freedom of the Will of Man is afferted, all Difficulties seem to be eaGly cleared this Way. As for the giving to fome Nations and Persons the Means of Salvation, and denying them to others, the Scriptures do indeed afcribe that wholly to the Riches and Freedom of God’s Grace ; but flill they think, that he gives to all Men that which is neceifary to the State in which they are, to answer the Obligations they

are

Thzrty-Wme Articles. 421

are under in it ; And that this light and com- Apt. kvii

mon Grace is sufficient to carry them ib far, that God will either accept of it, or give them farther Degrees of Illumination : From which it mud be inferred, That all Men are inexcufa- ble in his Sight ; and that God is always j lift and clear when he judges^ Pfal. li. 4. since every Man had that which was sufficient, if not to fave him, yet at least to bring him to a State of Salvation. But besides what is thus simply neceifary, and is of itself sufficient, there are innumerable Favours, like Largeffes of God’s Grace and Goodneis • these God gives freely, as he pleases. ^

And thus the great Designs of Providence go on, according to the Goodness and Mercy of God. None can complain, though fome have more Cause to rejoice and glory in God than others. What happens to Nations in a Body may alio happen to Individuals j fbme may have higher Privileges, be put in happier Cir- cumftances, and have such Affiftances given them as God forefees will become effedual, and not only those which though they be in their Nature sufficient^ yet in the Event will be ineffeCiual : Every Man ought to complain of himself for not using that which was sufficient, as he mig;ht have done : and all 9:ood Men will have Matter of Rejoicing in God, for giving them what he forefaw would prove cffediual. After all, they acknowledge there is a Depth in this, of God’s not giving all Nations an equal Measure of Light, nor putting all Men into equally happy Circumfl-ances, which they can- not unriddle ; but still Justice, Goodness, and Truth are saved -, though we may imagine a Goodness that may do to all Men what is abfo- D d 3 lutely

i.>O^N^

421 j4n Expofitioft on the

Art. XVII. lutely the befl for them : And there they con- y’Y’SJ fefs is a Difficulty, but not equal to those of the other Side. From hence it is that they ex- pound all those PaflTages in the New Testament, concerning the Purpose the Ele5non the Fore- knowled:e and the Predeftination of God, fb often mentioned. All those, they fay, relate to God’s Design of calling the Gentile World to the Knowledge of the Mejjias : This was kept secret, though Hints of it are given in several of the Prophets : fo it was a My fiery • but it was then revealed, when according to Christ’s CommiiHon to his Apostles, to go and teach all Nations they went preaching the Goipel to the Gentiles. This was a Stumbling-block to the Jcis and it was the chief Subjed of Contro- verfy betwixt them and the Apostles, at the Time when the Epiftles were writ : So it was necelTary for them to clear this very fully, and to come often over it. But there was no need of amusing People in the Beginnings of Chriftia- nity, and in that first Infancy of it, with high and unfearchable Speculations concerning the Decrees of God : Therefore they obierve, that the Apostles ihew how that Abraham at first, Jfaac and Jacob afterwards, were chosen by a discriminating Favour, that they and their Po* fterity should be in Covenant with God : And upon that Occasion the Apostle goes on to ftiew, that God had always designed to call in the Gentiles though that was not executed but by their Ministry. With this Key one will find a plain coherent Sense in all St. Paul\ Diicourfes on this Subie61:, without afterting antecedent and ipecial Decrees as to particular Persons. Things that happen under a permiffive and di- recting Provid nee, may be also, in a Large- iiels of Exprefiion, ascribed to the Will and

Counsel

Thirty ‘TSl me Articles. 415

Counsel of God ; for a permifTive and direding Li* Will is really a Will, though it be not antece- - dent nor causal. The Hardning Pharaoh’s Hearty may be aicribed to God, though it is said, that his Heart hardened it [elf \ because he took Oc- canon from the Stops God put in thole Plagues that he fent upon him and his People, to encou- rage himself, when he faw there was a new Respite granted him : And he who was a cruel and bloody Prince, deeply engaged in Idolatry and Magick, had deserved such Judgments for his other Sins, ib that he may be well con fider’d as actually under his final Condem.nation, only under a Reprieve, not fwallov/ed up in the firil Plagues, but preserved in them, and railed up out of them, to be a laPcing Monument of the Justice of God against such hardened Impeni- tency. Whom he will he hardneth must ft ill be restrained to such Perlbns as that Tyrant was *. It is endlels to enter into the Difcuilion of all the PalTages cited from the Scriptures to this Purpose; this Key serving, as they think it does, to open most of them. It is plain, these Words of our Saviour concerning those ‘whom the Father had given him John xvii. 12. are only to be meant of a Difpenfation of Pro- vidence, and not of a Decree 3 fmce he adds, And I have loft none of them except the Son of Perdition : For it cannot be said that he was in the Decree, and yet was loft. And in the fame Period in which God is said to work in tis both to will and to do we are required to work out cur own Salvation with Fear and ‘tremhling Phil. ii. 12. The Word rendered, Ordained to Eternal Life A5ls xiii. 48. does also signify.

Exod. vii. 22, viii. ij, 19, 32. Rom. ix. 18.

D d 4 fitted

414 ^^^ Exposition on the

Art. XVII. fitted or pre-difpofed to Eternal Life. That ry Question, IVbo made thee to differ ? i Cor. iv. 7. seems to refer to those Gifts, which in different Degrees and Meaflires, were poured out on the first Christians 3 in which Men were only paf- five, and discriminated from one another by the Freedom of thole Gifts, without any thing previous in them, to difpofe them to them. Christ is said to be the Propitiation for the Sins of the whole World ; and the IVicked are said to deny the Lord that h ought them i ohn ii. 2. 2 Pet. ii. 1. 5 and his Death, as to its Extent to all Men, is fet in Opposition to the Sin of Adam , lb that as by the Offence of one JK” ment ca?ne upon all Men to Conde?72nation fo by the Righteoufnefs of one the Free Gift came upon all Men to Justification of Life - Koni. v. 18. The all of the one Side must be of the fame Extent with the all of the other : So fmce all are concerned in Adam’s Sin, all mull be like- wife concerned in the Death of Christ. This they urge farther, with this Argument, That all Men are obliged to believe in the Death of Christ, but no Man can be obliged to believe a Lye ; therefore it follows, that he must have died for all. Nor can it be thought that Grace is fb efficacious of itlelf, . as to determine us ; otherwise why are we required not to grieve God’s Spirit ? Why is it said, Te do always re- fid the Holy Ghofi • as your Fathers did fo do ye ? Acfs vii. 51. How often would I ha’ve ga- thered you under my IVings but ye would not ? What more could I have done in my Vineyard that has not been done in it ? Matth. xxiii. 3 7. Ifai. V. 4. I’hefe seem to be plain Intimations of a Power in us, by which we not only can, but often do refift the Motions of Grace,

If

Tbirty^Nine Articles. 425

I F the determining Efficacy of Grace is not Art. xvil acknowledged, it will be yet much harder to -/YN believe that we are efficacioufly determined to /tn. This seems to be not only contrary to the Purity and Holiness of God, but is fo mani- feftly contrary to the whole Strain of the Scrip- tures, that charges Sin upon Men, that in fb copious a Subjedt: it is not neceflary to bring Proofs. O Israel thou haft destroyed thy self hut in me is thy Help : And ye will not come unto me that ye might hanje Ltfe : Why will ye die O House of Jfrael ? And as for that Nicety of laying, That the Evil of Sin conHfts in a Ne- gation, which is not a positive Being, fo that though God should determine Men to the Adion that is sinful, yet he is not concerned in the Sin of it ; they think it is too metaphysical, to put the Honour of God and his Attributes upon such a Subtilty : For in Sins against Moral Laws, there seems to be an antecedent Immora- lity in the A6tion itself, which is infeparabhfrom it. But fjppofe that Sin confifted in a Nega- tive, yet that Privation does immediately and neceffarily result out of the Adtion, without any other thing whatsoever intervening : So that if God does infallibly determine a Sinner to commit the A6i:ion, on which the Sin de- pends, as a Shadow upon its Substance, he must be esteemed, fay they, the Author of Sin.

And though it may be said, that Sin being a Violation of God’s Law^, he himself, who is not bound by his Law, cannot be guilty of Sin j

• Hof. xiii. 9. Joh. v. 40. Ezek, xxxiii. 11.

yet

j[i6 Jn Exposition on the

Art. XVII. yet an Adlion that is immoral, is fo eflentially ‘ysj opposite to infinite Perfedtion, that God cannot be capable of it, as being a Contradidion to his own Nature. Nor is it to be iuppofed that he can damn Men for that which is the necejp- fary Result of an Adlion to which he himself determined them. As for Perseverance, the many Promises made in the Scriptures to them that overcotne that continue fiedfaft and faith- ful to the Death Rev. ii. 3. seem to infmuate, that a Man may fall from a good State. Those famous Words in the sixth of the Hebrews do plainly intimate, that ,% Mejt may fo fall away that it may be impoflible to renew them again .by Repentance ; and Chap. 10. where it is said, he Juji fljall live by Faith , it is added, hit if he draw hack (any Man is not in the Original) pty Soul shall have no Pleasure in him. And it is politively said by the Prophet, When the Righteous turneth away from his Righteottfnefs and committeth Iniquity all his Kighteoufnefs that he hath done floall not he mentioned ; /;; his Sin that he hath finned floall he die Ezek. xviii. 24.. Thsfe Suppofitions, with a great many more oi the fame Strain, that may be brought ; out of Other Places, do give us ail poflible Rea- • fon to believe, that a good Man may fall from a good State, as well as that a wicked Man may turn from a bad one.

I N Conclusion, the End of nil Things, the final Judgment at the Last Day, which fnall be pronounced according to what Men have done, whether Good or Evil ^ and their being to be rewarded and puniihed according to it, seems fo effedually to aifert a Freedom in our Wills, that they think this alone might serve to prove the whole Cause.

There’s

Tbirty-Nine x\rticles. 427

T H E R e’s another Sort of Free-IViUefs I Art. xvii. mean, the Socinians who deny the certain Pre- -/‘*V’ Science of future Contingencies ; and therefore they think the Decrees of God, from all Eter- nity were only general • that such as believe and obey the Gospel (hall be saved, and that such as live and die in Sin shall be damned : But that there were no special Decrees made concerning particular Perlons, these being only made in Time, according to the State in which they are : They do alio think, that Man is by Nature fo free, and fo entire, that he needs no inward Grace ; fo they deny a special Predefti- nation from all Eternity, and do alio deny in- ward Afliflances. They make their Plea out of what is said by the one and the other Side already mentioned. They agree with the Re- monftrants in all that they lay agiinft ablolute Decrees, and in urging all those Coniequences that do arise out of them : And they do alio agree with the Calvhufts in all that they urge against the PoiTibility of a certain Prelcience of future Contingents , fb that it will not be ne- ceifary to fet forth their Plea more Ipecialfy or to dwell any longer upon it, eipecially if it be true, as I believe it is, that the Diiciplies of Socinus are, by this Time, pretty well extir- pated, both in thele and all other Parts of the Chriilian World.

Having thus represented the Opinions of both Parties, I think it is easy to obierve, that the great Foundation of the one Scheme is, that God a6ls for himielf and his Glory, and therefore he can only consider the Manifestation of his own Attributes and Perfet^lions in every Adion 3 and hence they conclude, that he must

only

428 Jn Exposition on the

Art. XVII. only damn or fave Men, as his doing of one or ’•” other may most promote his Glory. But here it is manifest, that they who reafbn thus are of Opinion, that the Desire of Glory doth really move the Will of God , whereas Glory and the Desire of it, are only ascribed to God in an analogical Sense, after the lame manner as Hands and Feet, Love and Hatred are : And when God is said to do all Things for his own Glory 3 it is not meant, that the Desire of Glory is the real End of his Actions, but that he hath or- dered all Things in such an excellent Method, that if he had designed them for no other End, they could not have fet it forth more effectually. Now, to make this figurative Ex- preOion the Foundation of fo many harsh Con- clufions, and the Occasion of fo many Conten- tions and Divisions in the Church seems to me the fame kind of Miflake, that the Church of Kome commits, in taking the Words of Scrip- ture, his is my Body literally from whence ±0 many Abfurdities and Contradictions to our Senses and Reason are inferred. Secondly, If w look diligently into those Schemes, we shall find a great Part of the Dispute arises on this Question • W hich is First or Second in the Mind of God 5 whether he first forefees and then determines, or first determines, and by Virtue of that forefees This Question seems the more strange, because both Parties are agreed, that there is neither First nor I.aft in the Divine Understanding, but all is one single A6k in him, and continues the fame from all Eternity. What then can be the Meaning of the Diipute ? Sure it can be no more than this, Whether it be more honourable for God, that we ftiould conceive him as a(5i:ing this Way, or that, since it is confelTed that neither reaches

what

Jhirty-Kine Articles. 429

what really pafles in his Mind. So that the Art. xvii. Question is not concerning the Operations of V-ZTX^ God as they are in themselves, but concerning our Way of conceiving them, whether it be more for his Honour to represent them accord- ing to the first or second Scheme j and certainly the right Method is to ufe both on Occasion, fo far as they may help us to conceive honour- ably of the Divine Majefly ^ and to deal in- genuoufly with the World, and tell them, that where these Schemes have not that Effed:, or where, through our flretching them too far, they induce us to entertain difhonourable Thoughts of him, or encourage Difobediencc, they are not applicable to him. In ihort, that God is as absolute as the first represents him, and Man as free as the last would have him to be j and that these different and seem- ingly contradictory Schemes are brought in to supply the Defeds of one another. And there- fore the Managers of this Controversy ought to have look’d on these different Schemes, as chiefly designed to inculcate fbme Duties to us j and to have preffed them no further than as they tended to move and oblige us to perform those Duties. But they, on the contrary, have stretched these Representations beyond the Scripture’s Design, and fet them up in Oppo- fition to one another ; and have endeavoured to persuade the World that they are incon- fiftent ; infomuch that fbme, to eftablifli Con- tingency and Free-Will, have denied God’s Prefcience ; and others, to fet up Pred eft i na- tion, have brought in a fatal Neceflity of all Events. And not content therewith, they have accused one another of Impiety and Blasphemy, and mutually charged each the other’s Opinion, with all the absurd Consequences they fancied

were

iyy>^

430 Jn Ex-pofition on the

Art xai. were deducible from it. Thus the Maintainers of Free- Will charge the Predeftinarians as guilty of alcribing Injuftire, Tyranny, and Cruelty to God, as making him the Author of all the Sin and iMiery that is in the World : And on the other Hand, the Aferters of Predeftination have acculed the others, as destroying the In- dependency and Dominion of God, and fub- jecting him to the W ill and Humours of his Creatures. And if either of the Schemes were to be taken literally and properly, the Main- ta nrs of them would find Difficulty enough to rid themielves of the Conlequences charged on them : But if we take them only as analogical Representations, as I have explained them, there will be no Ground or Reason for these In- ferences. And it were to be wished, that those who make them would consider, that if they would proiccute the fame Method in treating the other Representations that the Scriptures give us of God’s Attributes and Operations, no less Absurd’ties would follow : As for Example; When God is (aid to be Merciful, Loving, and Pitiful, All-ieeing, Jealous, Patient, or Angry ; if theie were taken literally, and understood the fame Way, as we find them in us, what ahfard and intolerable Confcquences would follow ; and how difbonourable must they be fppofed to think of God, who afcribe such Paflions to him ? Yet nobody i (hocked at them, becauie they underfland them in an analogical Sense. And if they would but allow Predeftination, Eled:ion, Decrees, Purpoles, and Fore-know- ledge, to belong to God with the fame Diffe- renee, they, would no more think themselves obliged to charge those that afcribe them to him with Blaiphemy in the one Cafe than in the other. ‘Tis therefore incumbent on us to

2 forbear

Tloirty^Nine Articles. 4^ \

forbear all such Dedn«5lions, and we fhoiild en- Art, XVIt deavour to reconcile these several Reprefenta- tions together, by teaching the People, that God’s Knowledge is of another Nature than ours ; and that though we cannot , in our Way of Thinking, certainly foresee what is free and contingent, yet God may do it by that Power which answers to Prefcience in him, or rather, in truth, supplies the Place of ir> Nor is it any Wonder that we cannot conceive how this is done, since we have no dired or proper No- tion of God’s Knowledge , nor can we ever, in this Life, exped to comprehend ir, any more, than a Man who never faw, can expe<5l to diU cern the Shape and Figure of Bodies at a Dif- tance, whilst he continues blind. In a Word, ‘tis incumbent on us to follow the Example of the Church in this Article, where the two Schemes are joined together, and we are allow*d the Comfort and Satisfadion of the one, with- out being fet free from the Duties and Obliga- tions which are required and laid upon us by the other *.

[…]

END of Vol, I.

[…]

fins. 1.4. dele the- 565, 14. r. But is it. 569, Not. 1. 5. r. C(9/’;>

[…]

There are fomc other Errors, chiefly literal, and of f mall Confe- quence ; but ‘tis neceflary to remark, that what follows the Word Side, in P. 532. 1. 27. to the Word Presbytery in P. 533- should have been iniferted after the Word Action in R 522, 1. zS.

r

asBci;-:*:^”

■^

-§^^

wmmm^‘Bammm^

“m

O PRINCETON, N. J.

Presented by Mr. Samuel Agnew of Philadelphia, Pa.

Division

Section

Number

A N

Thirty Nine Articles

Church ff/ENGLAND:

On the Holy Scriptures, and the Fathers of the Three First Centuries.

In Two Volumes.

By jrVENEER, Redor of S. Andrew’s in Chkhefter.

Be ready always to give an Answer to every Man that asketh you a Reason of the Hope that is in you^ with Meeknefs and Fear, i Pet. iii. 15.

The Seconi> Edition, with very large Additions, Vol, II,

LONDON:

Printed for C. Rivington, at the Bible and Crown in St, Paulas Church-yard. M.DCC.XXXIV.