Propositions and Principles of Divinity Disputed, Section 16 – Section 17
PRINCIPLES CONCERNING FREE-WILL. XVI.
THE FACVLTIES OF THE VNDERſtanding, and the will, are alwaies accompanied with that power, which is commonlie called Free-will: whereof wee will now ſpeake.
1 FREE-WILL, which the Graecians cal foreign if the force of the word be ſtrictlie conſidered, is giuen neither to man nor Angell, nor yet ſhall euer bee granted; but trulie and abſolutely doth agree vntounto God alone, for he onlie is foreign.
2 Yet of this high and ſoueraigne authority, there were certaine lineaments ſhadowed in Angels and men, at their firſt creation, when as both the one and other were endued by the Lord with vnderſtanding & will, whereby they were made capable of knowledge and vnderſtanding.
3 For man is not onlie ſtirred to deſire by a naturall & liuelie motion, but euen according vntounto aduiſe or electiō, which cannot be, without either the true, or the apparant knowledge of the thing it deſireth.
4 Such furthermore, was the ſtate of the firſt man, before ſinne, that his vnderſtanding and will, did altogether agree with the wil of God, and were wholly ſubject (which is the cheefeſt libertie) vntounto his commandement, without all reſiſtance or ſtrife that the affections had againſt the minde.
5 At that time therefore, man was in deed the Lord of his owne actions, that is, endued with free-will. Yet becauſe he was mutable and changeable both wayes, he did ſo encline from good to euill, that as AVGVSTINE ſaieth, by ſinning he loſt both him-ſelf, and his libertie.
6 Not that hee was turned vntounto a ſtock, and ſo bereaued of judgement and will. For ſinne hath not vtterlie aboliſhed nature, although it hath lamentablie polluted the ſame: but ſuch a libertie remaineth, as can will nothing, but what is euill, and that euillie, For whatſoeuer is done without faith, is ſinne.
7 Now in things that are ſubject vntounto vsus, as many actions both naturall and morall are: free choiſe is left vntounto man, that he can either will or not will, as he hath will either to ſpeake or to hold his peace, to ſtudie or not ſtudie, and ſuch like.
8 But in ſupernaturall things, as are to know God, to louelove him, and to obey his will as we ought, we are altogether weake, and blinde, or rather deade as PAVLE ſpeaketh.
Wee do condemne therefore the PELLAGIANS, who ſay that the force of will remaineth in vsus vnblemiſhed, and that ſinne may bee auoided by the meere light of nature. And the PAPISTS alſo, who holde, that it is but blemiſhed onelyonly.
9 For we acknowledge as the Scripture teacheth, that wee are nowe, our nature being corrupted, dead in ſinne, the children of wrath, and enemies vntounto God: and wee ſay, that we cannot by our owne ſtrength prepare any way for vsus to come vntounto God, but that if wee will come vntounto him, he muſt draw vsus.
10 It muſt needs be therefore, that hee muſt firſt regenerate vsus, and make vsus the ſonnes of God, and new creatures. In which worke, we are not co-workers with God, but meerelie ſuch as ſtand ſtill while he worketh, that wee may be wrought vponupon, and reformed by him, euen as we were at the firſt created by him, without anye helpe of ours.
11 Nowe after regeneration, wee are by faith drawne from death vntounto life, and to will is preſent with vsus, but ſo, as wee are compaſſed about with manie hinderances, by reaſon of the ſtings of ſinne and the fleſh in vsus, which are not vtterlie done away: yet wee begin to bee co-workers with God, and wee are ſo wrought vponupon, as wee alſo doe work: And we ſhall then whollie obey him, and ſtick vntounto him, euen when our full reſtitution beeing wrought, wee ſhall enjoy that bleſſed and heauenly life.
12. The diſcourſe concerning voluntarie, changeable, and immutable thinges, we thought meete to bee ſeuered from the quaeſtion of Free-will, and placed in the doctrine of Gods prouidence.
Defended by FRANCES BVEFETIVS of Angiers.
PRINCIPLES CONCERNING SINNE. XVII.
1 THe eſtate wherevnto, both ADAM and all his poſteritie did fall; is contrarie vntounto that integritie wherein he was created at the firſt.
2 For whereas the nature of man was then ſuch, as hee could hauehave liued, according vntounto the vpright and aeternall law, (which is nothing els, but the will of God:) Sin hath brought him nowe to that paſſe, that hee doth of a ſet purpoſe diſobay the ſame.
3 Sinne is not a bare want or priuation of good, but a ſwaruing from the will of God.
4 And wee thinke, that it may bee thus fitlie defined: Namely, that it is, whatſoeuer is againſt the law and will of God.
5 For the force of ſinne, dooth not depend vppon the breach of ſome humaine conſtitution; but vponupon the tranſgreſsion of Gods will onelie.
And therfore, the definition of the Philoſophers, is moſt vnperfect, who account ſinne to be that onelyonly, which is repugnant vntounto reaſon. For reaſon it ſelfe, can doe nothing els, but go aſtray vntill it be lightned by the light of God. The Libertines alſo are to bee condemned, who make that onelyonly to be ſinne, which a mans owne conſcience thinketh to be ſinfull.
6 The ſeat or ſubject of ſinne, is the verie ſoule it ſelfe, that is, the reaſon and the will. For the former of theſe, being ignorant of that which it ſhould know, or els ruling amiſſe, as well in commanding, as in forbidding, hath ſinne cleauing vntounto it. And the latter, either when it willeth amiſſe, that which it ought not to will, or when it willeth not that which it ought to be deſirous of, ſinneth: The bodie is onelie the inſtrument of the ſoule in ſinning.
7 Some of the cauſes of ſinne, are inward; as the will, (which before ſinne came, was in ADAM onelyonly mutable; But after ſinne, as well in him as in his poſteritie, was both mutable and corrupt.) Some outwarde, as the Deuill, and the diuerſe objects, that are laied before vsus.
8 But as concerning the Lord, hee in no wiſe can bee thought the Author of ſinne, who is ſo farre from turning men from himſelfe, that hee rather ſeeketh to conuert all men vntounto himſelfe, as vntounto the onelyonly true and perfect end: Yet hee is ſaid to make them, to doe that which is ſinfull, when he doth not reſtraine them from ſinning, the which whole worke, is onelie to bee aſcribed vntounto his wiſedome and juſtice.
We do condemne then the MANICHAEES, the VELENTINIANS, the SELEVTIANS, &c. who affirmed, that ſinne proceedeth from God.
9 The effect and wages of ſinne is death, and that aeternally; becauſe it is committed againſt him, who is aeternall and infinite.
That diſtinction of ſinne then into mortall and veniall, is improper; ſaue onelie in the diuerſe reſpects of the elect and the reprobate. For vntounto the elect, all ſinnes are veniall through Chriſt: But vntounto the reprobates, there are no ſins but they are mortall. And it is manifeſt, that the PELAGIANS doe erre, when they ſay, that death is natural vntounto the bodie.
10 Yet for all this, we thinke not all ſinnes to be equal, in that ſence that the Stoicks did: But wee acknowledge certaine degrees in them, according vntounto the diuerſitie of their objects and circumſtances; yet the originall corruption and guilt is alike aequall in all men: Seeing all men are alike, the ſinfull ſinnes of ſinfull ADAM.
Defended by STEPHEN BLOIVS of Augiers.