The Eye and Wheel of Providence, Chapter 28
CHAP. XXVIII. Divers Objections againſt this Doctrine of Providence, anſwered. Objection 1. anſwered.
BUt againſt this Doctrine of Providence, divers Objections may be made, which to remove will be very neceſſary.
Some things fall out by chance; therefore all things are not guided and governed by divine Providence. For proof of the Antecedent, Solomon tells us, That the Race is not alwaies to the ſwift, nor the battell to the ſtrong, nor bread to the wiſe, nor riches to men of underſtanding, nor favour to men of skill; but Time and Chance happeneth to them all. Eccl. 9.11. It is ſaid alſo, Luk. 10.31. By chance there came a certain Prieſt that way. So Ruth 2.3. it was Ruth's hap to light on the field of Boaz.
Resp.In reſpect of us, things may be ſaid ſometime to fall by Chance, becauſe we neither know nor can we render a reaſon of them, as in the former examples; But in regard of God there can be none, who knoweth, ordereth, diſpoſeth, guideth, and governeth all things by his Providence: Alas! Chance is nothing, for nothing cometh to paſſe without an order from above.foreign. Jul. Scalig. exercit. p. 188. And it is wiſely noted by a Learned man, Nature bringeth forth that which we wrongfully call Chance, becauſe it often cometh unexpected. We read, 1 King 22.34. that a certain man of the King of Syria's Souldiers drew a bow at adventure, or in his ſimplicity, or ignorantly, peradventure not ſeeing Ahab King of Iſrael, at leaſt not thinking it would be his hap to hit him, but God ſo guided the arrow, as it gave him his deadly wound, to fullfill the prophecy and prediction of Michaiah. Mr. Perkins Mr Perkins in Symbol.tells us, There is Chance reſpectu noſtri, in reſpect of us, but not meer chance. God hath ſet the time to all a man's ſucceſſes and changes. Time (as Mr. Cotten hath well noted) is ſometime put for the variety of conditions of good and evill that befall men,Cotten in Eccleſiaſt. 9. as Pſal. 31.15. Our times are in Gods hand. Now when theſe Times and Changes come, no meanes that the Creature can uſe can prevail to withſtand, Jerem. 46.17.Cfau nòn reſpectu Dei qui omnia ſcit & gubernat, ſed ſacerdotis, qui nil tale praevidit. & ita caſus admitti poteſt reſpectu noſtri qui rerum cauſas ignoramus. Junius & Tremel. in Luk. 10. Chance or occurrence cometh to all ſorts of men, that is, ſome occurrence injected by the providence of God; and when it is ſaid, that the Prieſt came by Chance that way, Luk. 10.31. the meaning is, by Chance, not in reſpect of God, who knoweth and governeth all things, but of the Prieſt, who foreſaw no ſuch thing, and ſo Chance may be admitted in reſpect of us who are ignorant of the cauſes of things. So Ruth, R. Barnard on Ruth.though ſhe went at unawares, making choice of no place, yet ſhe lighted well by Gods providence. It is not therefore unlawfull to ſpeak thus according to men; It happened, it chanced, or it was my hap, ſo that we underſtand thereby that which hapned beyond our purpoſe and expectation, but yet guided by Gods hand and providence, as a Learned man hath obſerved; and alſo that we know and hold no meer Chance as the Heathen have imagined without the hand of God acknowledged therein, as the Idolatrous Prieſt and Diviners of the Philiſtines once ſpeake, 1 Sam. 6.9. alwayes excepting in manifeſt caſes where the apparent hand of God is ſeen;Quae fiunt praeter naturam nòn fortuitò ſed caſu fieri dicuntur. Ariſt. Phyſic. 2. ca. 6. for that was the errour of the Philiſtines. What in the judgment of men could more happen by Chance, then that when Abraham would have ſacrificed his Son Iſaac, a Ram in that ſolitary place ſhould be behind him caught in a thicket by the hornes? Gen. 22.13.Herus è domeſticis duos, herilis conſilij ignaros, diverſis viis ad eundem locum omnino mittit, hic alterum alteri occurrere caſus eſt, nòn Domino ſed ſervis. Ita theſaurum reperiri à paupere foſſore, caſus eſt quidem illi pauperculo, ſed non Deo, qui opes illì ideò recondi voluit, ut eas hic ipſe mercenarius eo loci foſſurus, reperirer & diteſceret, nòn caſu, ſed paterna Dei providentiâ. Drexel. de conform. volunt. lib. 5. cap. 6. yet this came to paſſe by the ſingular providence of God; and when Iſaac ſaid before to his father; Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the Lamb for a buont Offering? Abraham anſwered, My Son, God will provide himſelf a Lamb for a burnt Offering, verſ. 8. It might be thought likewiſe that to have happened by chance, that the daughter of Pharaoh ſhould come down to waſh her ſelf at the ſame bank of the river where the little Ark floted wherein Moſes was, but hereby Gods providence ordered it that Moſes ſhould be preſerved, that in after times he might conduct his choſen people out of the Land of Aegypt. It might likewiſe have been attributed to Chance, that Saul ſhould come into the Cave on the ſides whereof David and his men lay hid; but God's providence ſo ordered it, that by this meanes the righteouſneſſe and innocency of David, and the unrighteouſneſſe of Saul might be the more manifeſted unto all that were preſent.