The Eye and Wheel of Providence, Chapter 31
CHAP. XXXI. Divers Corollaries drawn from this Doctrine of Providence. Corol. 1. Corol. 2. Corol. 3.
FRom what hath been ſaid, divers Conſectaries will ariſe.
The firſt is;Cor. 1. If all things come to paſſe by God's Providence, and that Providence be ever working; then there is no meer Chance, or any ſuch as the Lady Fortune in the world; concerning whom, ſome of the beſt Philoſophers have confeſſed her to be the daughter of Ignorance; and ſhe is no where ſo much talkt of, as among ignorant people. It was a great errour of the Paynims to hold Fortune in ſo high an account,Te nos Fortuna Deam Coelo que vocamus. Juvenal. Sat. 10. Pier. Hierolog. lib. 29. Quint. Curt. lib. 7. Pacuvius in Rhet. ad Heren. Otho Caſman. mund immun. cap. 4. Benef. in Amos Lect. 10. Fortunae motus ludunt mortalitatem, nùnc evehentes quoſdam in ſidera, nùnc ad Cocyti profunda mergentes. Marcellinus. Ignoratio cauſarum Fortunam induxit. Ariſt. Phyſic. 2. cap. 6. Ʋrſin. Catech. de provident. for they eſteemed her as a Goddeſſe, and aſſigned her a place in Heaven, they preſented her by the image of a woman, ſitting ſometime on a Ball, ſometime upon a Wheel, ſometime on a Roller; ſome picture her ſailing among the waters of the Sea; others ſitting upon the top of an high Mountain expoſed to all winds. Some have pictured her without feet, having only hands and wings like the finnes of Fiſhes; others picture her ſtanding upon a ſtone as round as a Bowl, voluble and turning; ſhe is repreſented as having with her a raſour, bearing in her right hand the ſtern of a Ship, in her left hand the horn of abundance. By the raſour they would give us to underſtand, that ſhe can at her pleaſure cut off our happineſſe; by the ſtern on her right hand, that the courſe of our life is under her government; by the horn of abundance in her left hand, that all our plenty is from her; by the Ball, Wheel, Roller, or Stone, that ſhe is very prone to volubility and change. Fortune hath her name from turning, it cannot ſtand long in one caſe. But this groſſe Idolatry of the Heathen, giving the glory (due to the moſt high God) to their baſe abominations; we that profeſſe our ſelves Chriſtians, muſt utterly renounce. We aſcribe this honour to the Lord of Hoſts, and to him alone, and to no other do we attribute the Sovereignty, Dominion and Government of the whole world. Baſil ſaith of Fortune, That it is an Heatheniſh device, and ought not ſo much as once to be named among Chriſtians: It is a denial of providence. And Urſinus ſaith, All the grounds of Religion are ſhaken in pieces, if Providence be denied. St Augustine Nòn Deam aliquam, ſed tantum fortuitum rerum eventum in externis vel bonis, vel malis. Auguſt. Retract. lib. 1. cap. 1.in the beginning of his Retractations, confeſſeth with grief and ſorrow, That himſelf in his younger years had too often uſed the word Fortune: And yet he cleareth himſelf from ſuperſtition by expounding his meaning, ſaying, That he never underſtood thereby Deam aliquam, any Goddeſſe or Divine Power,Calvin. inſtit. l. 1. c. 16. Fortuna ex hominum quaeſtu facta eſt Dea. Publ. Mimus. Fortunam & caſum Ethnicorum eſſe voces, quarum ſignificatione piorum mentes occupari minimè deceat. Baſil. Quaenam eſt illa mulier, quae velut coeca atque inſana ſuper lapide quodam rotundo conſiſtere videtur? Fortuna illa vocatur: Ea nòn ſolum coeca, ſed inſana quoque & ſurda eſt. Cebes Thebanus in Tabula. Quod Scriptura utitur hoc vocabulo foreign, i. e. bona Fortuna, nòn hìnc imaginari licet Fortunam numen eſſe, ſed accipi pro rebus fortuitis quae fortuitò videntur accidere, etſi aliae earum cauſae occultae divinitùs dantur: vel fortè haec verba foreign retinebat Lea Jacobi uxorex antiqua forma loquendi apud Gentes uſurpata. Auguſt. Quaeſt. de Geneſ. 91. Fortune is a word without ſubſtance, begotten by a fond conceit, brought forth with fading breath, no ſooner come but gone. That which is Fortune to the Servant is none to the Maſter; that which is Fortune to the Child is none to the Father; that which is Fortune to the Fool, is none to the Wife: So that take away Ignorance, and her daughter Chance will be quite baniſhed. Ral. Walker. Treat. de provid. He ſaid truly, which ſaid, Sunt qui in Fortunae tam caſibus omnia ponunt: Juvenal. Sat. 13. Et nullum credunt mundum rectore moveri. There are which Fortune ſay by chance all things doth guide, And therein do the Ruler of the world deride. See the blindneſſe of men concerning Fortune; they accuſe Fortune of injuſtice, but they believe in her power; they blame her as a blind diſpencer of her gifts, but they extoll her as the onelyonly diſpoſer of worldly goods; they ſay ſhe is inconſtant, full of levity, and of no aſſurance; yet in all attempts whether of Warre or Peace, they pray for themſelves, and wiſh to their friends above all other things good Fortune. So blindly are men led to thinke all things to be ruled of that which of it ſelf is nothing. Geo. More Demonſtrat. but only a caſual event of things in externals, either in things good or evil: Yet he ſaith, That he was very ſorry, that he had ſo often uſed the word, becauſe he ſaw corrupt cuſtom had ſo farre prevailed, as it was much abuſed, and he feared leſt his example might be ſome occaſion thereof, as Calvin hath obſerved. Where the wiſe, All-ſeeing God is attended, as the Ruler of all, there is no place for that blind Idol, for ſo they pictured Fortune. Struth. Obſerv. Cent. 2.
This ſheweth the nature of our God that he is moſt wiſe,Cor. 2. knowing all things; now it is the property of wiſdom to govern all things in a good order, and to direct them to a certain end; and that he is moſt good, ordering all things to the beſt, moſt powerfull, being every where preſent to theſe purpoſes. Therefore Hagar, when the Lord ſupplieth the want of her ſelf, and her ſonne, ſhe giveth him the titles of videntis & viventis, as him that liveth and ſeeth his people in all their afflictions. An Heathen could ſay,
Lucan. 9.Jupiter eſt quodcun que vides, quocun que moveris,
Eſt que Dei ſedes, niſi terra & pontus & aer,
Et Coelum, & Virtus—
Thine eye thou canſt not turn,
nor move thy foot abroad
The Earth, the Sea, the Air,
is but the ſeat of God.
So Heaven and Power alſo—
No man can turn away from God, no place is without the view of his eye, and the authority of his preſence: the wiſdom of God is ſufficiently manifeſted in the creating, preſerving and governing the world, and all things therein contained; he hath diſpoſed all things in number, weight and meaſure. Was it not wonderfull wiſdom ſo to frame all creatures, as that they ſhould keep their continual and indefatigable courſe without alteration ever ſince the time of their Creation, till their diſſolution? He hath ſo placed all the Elements that they are not noxious to one another; he hath ſo tempered them in the creature, as is beſt for the preſervation of them; he hath ſo ordered heat and cold, drought and moiſture, as beſt fitteth the ſeaſons of the years, the ſituations of places, and conſtitutions of mens bodies; he cauſeth the Earth to hang as it were in a pair of balances, no man knoweth how, by his mighty power ſuſtaining it; he cauſeth the Heavens to run round about the Earth once in four and twenty hours, by the motion of the Primum mobile; he hath placed the celeſtial creatures, viz. the Sun, Moon, and the Stars, as that they exhale from the Earth things hurtfull, and with their ſweet influences cheer and comfort theſe ſublunary things.
This proveth the Deity of Chriſt,Cor. 3. it being proper to God to create and to conſerve: For ſo doth he, Col. 1.16. All things were made by him, and proceed from him, as from their efficient cauſe; all things were made for him, and are referred to his glory, as the final cauſe; all things conſiſt in him; and as at firſt they were created ad eſſe, ſo ſtill they are continued in eſſe by him; as he made them, ſo he maintaineth and upholdeth all things by the word of his power, Heb 1.3. as the creation of things, ſo the ſuſtentation of them is a work of Omnipotency. My Father worketh hitherto, and I work, ſaith our Saviour. Socinus ſaith,Socin. lib. de ſervat. p. 176. Non ſequitur Chriſtum carne ſua omnia portare, ſed tantum Chriſtum hominem omnia portare verbo potentiae, hoc eſt divinitatis ſuae communicatione idiomata naturarum perſonae communia. Paraeus in Heb. 1.3. To uphold all things, is to have all power in Heaven and Earth, and that this power Jeſus Chriſt received as man: But the Son hath upheld, and upholdeth all things before he was incarnate, even from the beginning: Therefore he doth not uphold all things as Man, but as God Almighty by the word of his power. And whereas it is ſaid, That all power is given to him in Heaven and in Earth, Matth. 28. The meaning is, that it is given to him as Mediatour; thence it doth not follow, that Chriſt upholdeth all things in his fleſh; but only the Man-Chriſt upholdeth all things by the word of his power, that is of his Deity; by a communication of Idiomes, which is a manner of ſpeaking, whereby that which is proper to one nature, is attributed to the whole according to that nature.