The Christian Life Part 3 Volume 4, Part 1 · Chapter 8
CHAP. VIII. Of the Eternal Reasons of Justice.
I PROCEED in the next place to shew what those Eternal and Immutable Reasons are, which render Justice morally good. I have elsewhere shewed at large, that that which makes a thing to be morally Good is this, that it's Obligation is founded in some Eternal and Immutable Reasons; so that we are obliged to practise it by such Reasons as can never cease or change, or alter with Times or Circumstances: and that this is the difference between Positive and Moral Duties, that the one are founded upon temporary and changeable Reasons, and so may and will one time or other cease to oblige us; as the Sacrifices of the Jews have done, and the Sacraments of Christians will do; whereas the other being backed with everlasting Reasons can never cease to oblige us▪ Wherefore to demonstrate Iustice to be a Moral Duty, or one of those Moral Goods which God hath made known to us, it will be necessary to produce some eternal and unchangeable Reasons whereby it binds and obliges us: and of such I shall produce these Four;
First, The eternal Proportion and Congruity of Justice to the Nature of Things.
Secondly, The eternal Conformity of it to the Nature of God:
Thirdly, The eternal Correspondency of it with the Divine Providence and Disposals:
Fourthly, The eternal Necessity of it to the Happiness of Men.
I. ONE eternal Reason by which we stand obliged to do justly, is the eternal Proportion and Congruity of Justice to the nature of things. For there are in Nature eternal Respects of Things to Things, which are as fix'd and unalterable as the Nature of the Things themselves: as for instance, some things are naturally more perfect than others, such as the superiour Kinds and Orders of Beings; others are naturally equal in perfection, such as are Individuals of the same kind of Beings; others are naturally less perfect, such as the inferior Ranks and Species of Beings; and since Nature hath thus ranked and placed things either above, or below, or equal to one another; every Being in the world must naturally respect every one, either as it is superior or inferior, or equal: and these Respects are as inseparable to their Natures, as those Degrees of Perfection are which constitute their Kinds and Orders. So that were all the Beings in the world Rational, and understood but their mutual Respects and Relations to one another, they would thereby be obliged to demean themselves towards each other suitably to that Rank and Form of Being wherein Nature hath placed them; and by their Actions to acknowledge themselves superior or inferior or equal to one another, according as they excel, or equal, or come short of one another in degrees of Natural Perfection. And herein consisteth the strict and proper Notion of doing justly, viz. in treating my Superiors, Inferiors, and Equals as such, in respecting my Equals equally, and my Superiors and Inferiors according to the degree of Superiority and Inferiority wherein they are placed. So that Iustice consisteth in acting congruously to those eternal Respects, which things bear to one another; or in a practical acknowledgment that the Beings above me, below me, and equal to me, do bear such a Respect to me as they really do; that they are just so much my Superiors, so much my Inferiors, or so much my Equals, as God and Nature hath made them. For among Beings that are capable of understanding those Respects and Relations they bear to one another, it is a natural Due that they should own one another to be what they are, and mutually signifie by their Actions and Behaviour what Respects and Relations they bear to one another; that by Reverence and Submission they should own those above them to be their Superiors; that by Grace and Condescension they should own those beneath them to be their Inferiors; and that by Equity or Equality of Usage and Behaviour, they should own those who are level with them to be their Peers and Equals. These are the Natural Expressions of our Acknowledgments of those mutual Respects and Relations we bear to one another, which not to acknowledge is in effect to deny one another to be what we are, to thrust one another out of our Palaces, and invade each others Rights and Peculiars. So that in short Iustice is nothing else but the great Balance of the Rational World, which weigheth out to every part of it what is due from every one in those respective Ranks and Relations wherein God and Nature hath placed them: and so long as there remaineth any Proportion of Nearness or Distance, of Superiority, or Inferiority, or Equality, among Rational Beings, that will be a firm and unanswerable Reason why they should deal justly and righteously towards one another; because dealing justly is nothing else but a practical Owning and Acknowledgment of these Respects and Relations; which so long as they continue, every Being must be obliged to acknowledge, that hath any capacity to know and understand them. For since God hath given me Reason to understand that all those Beings which are of my own Kind and Order, are my Equals by Nature, I cannot but conclude that they ought to be equally dealt with; since equal Things must necessarily belong to equal Beings in the same Circumstances. And from this Principle whereon that Golden Rule is founded, to do as we would be done by, all the particular instances of Justice between Man and Man are naturally derived. So that the Obligations of Justice, you see, do immediately grow out of the Nature of Things, and those Respects and Relations they bear to one another: and therefore till the Nature of Things be utterly unravelled, and their Respects to one another for ever cancelled and reversed, every Rational Being must be obliged to be just; that is, to acknowledge, so far as he understands it, the Respect and Relation he beareth to all other Beings; by demeaning himself submissively towards his Superiors, equally towards his Equals, and condescendingly towards his Inferiors. And whatsoever we are obliged to by the Nature of Things, we are obliged to by the Author of Nature; whose Works are as real Signs and Expressions of his Will, as his revealed Declarations: and therefore since he framed and constituted us with such Respects and Relations to one another, that is as plain a signification that it is his Will we should demean our selves accordingly, as if he had proclaimed it by a Voice of Thunder from the Battlements of Heaven. Since therefore God hath thus ingraven the Obligations of Justice upon the Nature of Things, they must abide for ever, and be as eternal as those Respects and Relations are which things bear to one another.
II. ANOTHER eternal Reason by which we are obliged to do justly, is the conformity of it to the Nature of God. For Iustice is one of the brightest Jewels of God's Diadem, one of those most glorious Attributes which do eternally crown and adorn his Nature and determine his Will and direct his Actions. Iust and true are thy ways, thou King of Saints; Rev. v. 3. Righteous art thou O Lord, and upright are thy Iudgments. Psal. cxix. 137. Are not my ways equal, and are not your ways unequal? saith God himself, appealing to the Consciences of his Subjects, in Ezek. xviii. 29. Consonantly to all which is the assertion of Plato, foreign. God cannot be said to be unjust in any respect whatsoever, but is in all Kinds just to the utmost Possibility. And indeed the eternal Self-sufficiency of his own Nature sets him above all manner of temptation to deal injuriously by his Creatures: he wants none of their Rights to enrich himself, needeth none of their Happiness to augment his own; which is so boundless and secure, that it can neither admit of any Increase, or be liable to any Diminution. What then should move him either to deprive his Creatures of any Good that is their due, or to inflict on them any Evil that they have not deserved; when he can serve no End of his own, nor reap any Advantage to himself by it? For all Injustice springs out of Want, and Indigence; which being utterly excluded from the Nature of God, it is impossible there should be any unjust Inclination, or Tendency in him. And as by the infinite Self-sufficiency of his Nature he is secured from all temptation to Injustice, so by the infinite Goodness of it he stands unvariably bent and inclined to deal justly and righteously by his Creatures. For Goodness is nothing but an Inclination of Nature to bestow more Good than is due, and inflict less Evil than is deserved; which Inclination being inseparable to the nature of God, it is impossible for him either to with-hold from us any Right, or to punish us wrongfully, without doing Violence to himself and committing an Outrage on his own Nature. So that the Nature of God is a Law of Righteousness to himself, by which his Will and Actions are constantly determined to what is just and equal; to require nothing of us but what is possible, to proportion our Burthens to our Strength, or our Strength to our Burthens, to satisfie all his Engagements to us, and not with-hold from us any of those Goods which we can claim by the Title of his gracious Promises; in a word, to proportion the Evils of our Sufferings to the Evils of our Sin, and not to plague us for nothing, or for what we cannot help, or beyond the Guilt and Demerit of our Fault: and whatsoever else is just from a God to a Creature, he is unchangeably determined to choose and act by the Law of Righteousness in his own Nature. Since therefore the Nature of God is the great Exemplar and Pattern of all Reasonable Natures, as being it self the most perfectly reasonable; whatsoever is imitable in it we are eternally obliged to copy and transcribe into our own; and consequently since he is eternally just, that is an eternal Reason why we should be so. By dealing justly with one another we act like God, whose Nature is the Standard of ours; and 'tis certainly fit that all Reasonable Beings should deal by one another, as God who is the most reasonable, dealeth by them; that they should choose and act in conformity to him who is the Pattern of Goodness, and the Rule of Perfection. And herein consisteth our Conformity to him, that we live by the Law of his Nature; and therefore so long as that Law determineth him to deal justly by us, it ought to determine us to deal justly by one another. So that the Obligations of Iustice are as eternal as the Nature of God; for so long as he is righteous, we are bound to be righteous in conformity to him; and therefore since he cannot cease to be righteous without ceasing to be happy and good, or which is all one, to be God, We can never cease being obliged to be righteous so long as God is.
III. ANOTHER eternal Reason by which we are obliged to do justly, is the Agreement and Correspondency of it with the Divine Providence and Disposals. For God being the supreme Lord and Proprietor of Beings, all those Rights and Properties which we claim of one another must be originally derived from him; even as the claims of the under-Tenants are from the Head-Landlord. All those Natural Rights we are invested with, we derive from him who is the Author of our Nature; who by creating us what we are, and uniting us by Natural Ligaments to one another, hath endowed us with all those Rights, which we claim as Rational Creatures dwelling in Mortal Bodies, and joyned together by Natural Relations and Society. So that to deal justly by one another, or with respect to our Natural Rights, is only to allow one another what God hath entailed upon our Natures, and mutually to render those Dues to each other, which he hath intitled us to by the very Frame and Condition of our Beings: and for us to with-hold from one another those Rights, which God hath consigned to us by the State and Formation of our Natures, is to quarrel with his Workmanship, and declare our selves disatisfied with the State of his Creation. For whatsoever I have a Right to as I am a Man, I have a Right to by the state and condition of my Nature; and therefore he who alloweth me not that, alloweth me not to be what God hath made me; permitteth me not to enjoy that State and Condition of Nature wherein God hath created and placed me▪ For whatsoever I have Right to as I am a Man, I have a Right to from God who made me a Man; and therefore he who denyeth me the Right of my Nature, thrusteth me down from the Form wherein God hath placed me, and useth me as if I were not what God hath made me; whereby he doth in effect fly in the Face of my Creatour, and quarrel with God for making me what I am. In a word, it is eternally reasonable that I who am the Creature of God, should pay so much Reverence to his all-creating Wisdom and Power, as to treat every Creature suitably to the State and Condition of its Creation; and consequently to treat Men as Men, that is, as Beings endowed by God with the common Rights of Humane Nature; which if I do not, I alienate from my own Kind what God hath endowed it with, and so in effect do disallow of his Endowments, and impiously call in question the Rights of his Creation. For either I must own that God ought not to have constituted Humane Nature with such Rights, which would be to impeach his Creation; or that I ought to render it those Rights which result from its Frame and Constitution: and therefore when by my Actions I disown that I ought to render them, I do in effect quarrel with God's Creation for entailing such Rights upon Humane Nature, and declare that I am resolved not to be concluded by it; but that I will for ever defie the Laws of the Creation, and will not abide by that Rule and Order which it hath established in the Nature of Things. If therefore it be reasonable, eternally reasonable for Creatures to act agreeably to the Order of their Creation; this is an eternal Reason why we should render to one another those Rights which God hath bequeathed to us by the Constitution of our Natures.
AND as our natural Rights are derived to us from God by his Creation, so are our acquired also derived from him by his Providence; who having reserved to himself the Sovereign Disposal of all our Affairs, is our Founder and Benefactor, upon whom we all depend for every Right and Property we acquire by our Conversation and Intercourse with one another: and that this is mine, and that yours, is owing to the Providence of God, which carves out to every one his Portion of Right, and divides as he sees fit his World among his Creatures. So that Justice as it refers to acquired Rights, consists in allowing every Man to enjoy what God hath given him by his all-disposing Providence: and if God hath an eternal Right to share his own Goods among his own Creatures as he pleases, then that is an eternal Reason why we should allow one another to enjoy those Portions which he hath shared and divided to us. For by depriving another Man of what God's Providence hath given him, I do not only rob him of his Right to enjoy it, but I also rob God of his Right to dispose it. Fore while I with-hold or take away what God hath given to another, I take his Goods against his leave, and impiously invade his Province of bestowing his own where he pleaseth: and whilst I thus carve for my self out of those Allowances which he hath carved to others, I live in open Rebellion against his Providence, and am an Out-law to his Government. For this in effect is the Sense and Meaning of my wrongful Incroachments upon other Mens Rights, that I will not be concluded by that Division and Allotment of Things which God hath made; but that I will divide and carve for my self, and live at my own Allowance; that I will not suffer him to share his own World, nor endure him to reign Lord and Master in his own Family of Beings, but e'en live as I list, and take what I can catch without asking God's leave, who is the supreme Proprietor and Disposer. So that to deal unjustly by Men, whether it be in respect of their natural, or acquired Rights, is a direct opposition to the divine Ordination and Disposal: and therefore if it be eternally reasonable for us who are God's Creatures and Subjects, to comply with the Order of his Creation and the disposals of his Providence, that is an eternal Reason why we should deal justly with one another
IV. Fourthly and Lastly, ANOTHER eternal Reason why we are obliged to do justly, is the everlasting Necessity of it to the Happiness of Men: For Iustice is the Pillar and Support of all Society, without which it is impossible for Rational Beings ever to live happily with one another. For while I deal unjustly by others, I draw all Men into a Combination against me; who having all the same tender sense of their own Interest and Happiness as I have of mine, must be sufficiently jealous of all Designs and Incroachments on their Rights and Properties; and consequently be ready to conclude from my Injustice towards one, that I am prepared to do mischief to any for the advancement of my own End: so that when once I am remarked for a Person that bears no regard to Right and Wrong, it becometh the joint and equal Interest of all to declare open War ag…inst me, and treat me as an open Enemy without Mercy and Compassion. So that one unjust Man in a Society is a common Disturbance to all the rest, for by every single Injury he doth he alarms the Jealousie of every Man, every Man having reason to conclude that he shall be served by him in the same kind, if he should happen to fall into the same Circumstances: and as he distubs others, so he cannot securely enjoy himself; for how can that Man be secure that acts as an Enemy to Mankind, and for that reason hath just cause to suspect that every Man is his Enemy who is conscious to his injurious Behaviour? The Fear of which must necessarily deprive him of all Satisfaction for the present, and of all Security for the future. So that unjust Persons are a Plague to themselves, and others; and like frighted Porcupins they are disturbed within, whilst they dart their Quils at all without them. What a dark rude Chaos then would this reasonable World be, should Iustice and Righteousness forsake it; should Rapine and Violence, Falsehood and Oppression reign, and the strongest Arm be sole Arbitrator of Right and Wrong; should all Promises and Professions be converted into Traps and Snares; and every Man lay Ambushes in his words, and lurk behind them in reserved meanings, only to wait an opportunity to surprize and ruin every one he converses with? What would the Consequence of this be, but the disbanding of all Society, and the converting of this humane World into a Den of Wolves and Cannibals? For by reason of Mens continued Experience of each others Falsehood and Insincerity, all mutual Trust and Confidence would be banished from among them; and every one would be forced to stand upon his guard, in a constant Expectation of Mischief from every one; and so all their Intercourse would consist in a Trade of Diabolical Knaveries, in doing and retaliating Injuries, and in circumventing and playing the Devils with one another. Which would be such a dreadful State of things, that I verily believe were it left to my own option, I should rather choose to languish out an Eternity in some dismal Dungeon alone, and there converse only with my own silent griefs; than to dwell for ever in the Garden of the World, accompanied with such false and villanous Creatures. But now, do but turn the other end of the Perspective, and imagine that you saw Iudgment running down like Water, and Righteousness as a mighty Stream, that you beheld a world of upright People ballancing all their Actions and Intercourses in the impartial Scale of Iustice, and mutually weighing to one another their natural and acquired Rights without any Respect or Partiality, the Superiors graciously condescending, the Inferiors chearfully submitting and the Equals dealing equally with one another; O good God! what a blessed and happy People would this be? With what Content and Satisfaction, Peace and mutual Security would they deal and converse with one another? Here would be no Quarrels or Contentions, no Jealousies or Suspicions, no dark Designs or false Pretences; but every one would converse with every one with the greatest Openness and Freedom, and all would be inviolably safe in each others Sincerity and Iustice: Here would be no justling or rencountering, no clashing or interfering of Interests; but every one would sit happy and contented under his own Vine, without any unjust Desire of trespassing on his Neighbour's Inclosure, or disquieting Fear of being ejected from his own. O! were I but an Inhabitant of such a World as this, though of the lowest Rank and Form; how should I despise and pity the most prosperous Circumstances of this unrighteous World we live in? And how loth should I be to change my World for any other, but that of Angels and of glorified Spirits? O Iustice, Iustice, would Men but call thee down from Heaven again, and permit thee to rule and govern their Actions, into what a blessed World wouldst thou convert this Stage of Rapine, Cruelty and Blood! How wouldst thou separate this dark Chaos, and distinguish its Confusions into Order and Beauty! How soon wouldst thou reform it into an Emblem of Heaven, or lively Figure of that Celestial Aether, where all is Harmony, and Light, and Peace, and Love, and Happiness! If therefore it be eternally reasonable that Men should study their own Happiness, that is an everlasting Reason why they should deal justly by one another; since without so doing it is for ever impossible for them to be happy. These are the eternal and immutable Reasons, which constitute Justice a Moral Good, and do eternally oblige us to deal justly by one another.
AND now what remaineth, but that we betake our selves to the Conscientious Practice of this great and comprehensive Virtue, to give to every Man what is due to him either by Constitution, or by just Acquisition; to deal with every Man with whom we have any Intercourse, as with a Rational Creature; to treat him equitably, and do him all that good which we might reasonably expect from him, if we were placed in his Circumstances; to allow him the liberty to judge for himself, so far as he is capable, and not endeavour to impose our Opinions upon him by violent and forcible means; to leave him at liberty to follow the Dictates of right Reason, and not seek to debauch him by Persuasion or Threatnings, into immoral and vicious Courses; to treat him humanely and suitably to the Dignity of his Nature, and not use him like a Dog, or as if he were an Animal of an inferior Species? For all those things are due to him as he is a Rational Creature, and cannot be denyed to him without high Injustice. Again, to deal with him as he is a Rational Creature placed by God in a mortal Body; and neither to ravish his Body to satisfie our Lust, nor to maim or destroy it, uless it be in our own Defence; nor to captivate and enslave it, unless it be upon free Consent, or upon just Forfeiture; nor to suffer it to perish for want of bodily sustenance, so long as it is in our power to support and relieve it. These things he hath a claim to, as he is the Tenant of God, and cannot be denyed without foul Injustice. Once more; to use him as a Rational Creature united to me by natural Relations; if he be my Father, to honour and reverence and obey him; if he be my Child, to love and instruct him, maintain and provide for him; if my Brother or Sister or consanguineous Relation, to cherish and advise, support and assist him according to my ability. These are the Dues of Natural Relation, and cannot be with-held without great Unrighteousness. Lastly, to treat him as one whom God and Nature hath united to me in the bands of humane Society; to love him and live peaceably with him, to speak Truth to him, and when I am lawfully called, to swear nothing but Truth concerning him, and perform my Promises and Oaths to him, so far as it is lawful and possible; not to blast his Reputation, but to defend his Person, Good Name and Estate, so far as I am able, and to allow him a competent share of all those Profits which accrue to me from my Dealing and Intercourse with him. These are the natural Dues which Justice requireth me to render him, and which I cannot with-hold from him without being injurious to the Humane Nature within him. And as I am obliged in Justice to render to every one his natural Dues, so I am no less obliged by it to render him his acquired ones; to render him whatsoever is due to him upon the account of any Sacred, or Civil Relation to me; not to intrench upon his legal Possessions either by Fraud or Violence; to render him those Honors and Respects which are owing to his Personal Accomplishments; or to his outward Rank and Quality; and not to defraud, oppress, or over-reach him in his Contracts and Bargains with me. These are the particulars as I have shewed you at large, to which this comprehensive Virtue extends it self; and Oh that now having seen upon what everlasting Reasons it is built, we would be persuaded to betake our selves to the serious Practice of it.