Works of Joseph Hall, Section 8
SECTION VIII. Concerning Free-will.
BOrdering vponupon this is the point of Free-will. To let paſſe all lighter quarrels of the nature of our will; let vsus enquire of the power of it; and that, not in naturall, humane, or morall things, (Heere is all peace, and ſilence, ſaue that the words iangle with themſelues: and when the matter is agreed vponupon, who would not contemne words, as Auguſtine ſaith well?) but in ſpirituall and diuine matters, we do will indeed;Aug. de ordine 2. wee will freely, neither can wee otherwiſe will any thing: who denies it?Aliud eſt velle, aliud velle bonum. Bern. Heere is no Phyſicall determination, no violence; but to will that which is good, or to will well, we cannot. Wee doe freely beleeue; (for faith is an act of the will) yea, and wee doe co-operate with grace; neither are wee heerein like to ſenceleſſe ſtone, as Auſten truely ſpeakes: But whence is all this? Is it of our ſelues, or of God? Is it of grace, or (which the Councell of Arauſica condemned) by the power of nature? This muſt bee our queſtion. Both ſides like well that ſpeech of Saint Auguſtine: To will freely, is the worke of nature; to will well, of grace; to will ill of corruption: but when wee come to the poynt, the Doctors of Trent are not more ſubtile, than the Ieſuits inconſtant: It is yet good and ſafe which Bellarmine cites from his Ruardus; A good worke, as it is a worke,Bell. l. 6. de Grat. c. 15. p. 10. is from Free-will; as it is good, from grace; as both a worke and good, both from Free-will and grace: But that is exceeding ingenuous and truely Euangelicall, which the ſame Bellarmine affirmes againſt ſome Semipelagian Catholickes.Lib. 6. de gratia, c. 4. in titulo. In thoſe things which pertain to piety and ſaluation, that mans will can do nothing, without the help of Gods grace; It is the voyce of Iacob, if the Cardinall would hold him there, curſed be he that ſhould oppoſe him. I goe on to hope, and read; and ſee what ſtuffe I meete with,Lib. 6. c. 15. reſp. ad Secund. ſoon after in the ſame Booke; That our conuerſation is in the power of Free-will, becauſe it may bee alwayes conuerted, when it will; and yet further: That before all grace we hauehave Free-will euen in the workes of pietie, and ſupernaturall things. Before all grace?L. ſexto. de Grat. c. vlt. ſent. prima. better recognitions. Now, then God doth not preuent vsus,Aug. de cor. & Grat. nolentem praeuenit vt velit, volentem ſubſequitur, ne fruſtra velit. (as Auſtin ſaith of old) that wee might will; but wee preuent God, becauſe wee will: But left this ſhould ſeeme too groſſe, this liberty is tyed vp; and is altogether in the ſame ſtate as the facultie of ſeeing, when a ſenſible ſpecies is abſent; wee can freely ſee, while the obiect is abſent: wee can freely will, in the abſence of grace. Let Bellarmine now tell me: are we any whit more free to euill than hee faines vsus to good? Did euer Pelagius dote thus much? Wee can will euill; but yet vnleſſe it be determined (vnderunder ſome falſe ſemblance) by the verdict of our practiall iudgement, wee will it not: But if wee ſhould yeeld him thus much; What helpe is this, that God giues vsus? To preuent, inſpire, excite, and helpe, is of God; to incline the will, is of our ſelues: How are we not now more beholden to our ſelues, than to God? What is this but that Pelagian conceit, ſo oft condemned by Auguſtine, ſo to ſeparate Free-will from grace, as if without it we could doe,Aug. Epiſt. 46. & 47. Petr. Chryſo…. ſer. 114 Chriſtus quicquid ſu…rum virtutum eſt, reſert ad gloriam patris, & homo cu…us ſuum nihil eſt ſibi vendicare quod per Chriſtum reſurrexit elaborat. Leuiores quaſ que titillationes ſuperare. Bellarm. Scot. 2. d. 28. Dur. ibid. qu. 4. Seſſio. 6. c. 5. & Can. 4. Citat. Bell. ibid. Xiphilin. Tiber. De grat. & lib. ar. c. 16. Hier. ad Cteſiphoni. Epheſ. 2. Coloſſ. 3. Pſal. 51. or thinke any thing anſwerable to the will of God? That wee are able by the power of our will to auoid ſins; that we can ouercome the ſlighter motions of temptation, as Bellarm. ſpeaks; that wee can keepe Gods Commandements, as Scotus and Durandus; that wee can reiect or receiue the inſpiration of the Spirit, as the Tridentine Fathers; that wee can diſpoſe our ſelues to the receiuing of grace, as Thomas and Suarez; that wee doe naturally co-operate with grace, and make our conuerſion effectuall, as Tapperus; what is it elſe, but to ſteale glory from God, that wee may pranke vp this carion nature of ours? Yet it was modeſtly done of Tyberius, who of thoſe many buildings which hee repayred and perfected, challenged not one to himſelfe, but gaue them ſtill the names of thoſe men, by whom they were begun to be built: But theſe men challenge the whole houſe, when as they hauehave not laid, ſo much as one Tyle vponupon the roofe. Farre bee this ſhamefull ſacriledge from vsus, when that truely iealous God challenges to himſelfe, to worke in vsus both the will and the deed; yea, that wee can will to beleeue is his worke, as Auſten rightly ſpeakes: See then, hee doth not excite but worke in vsus; (foreign) Hee works in vsus, both that which is firſt, to will; and that which is laſt, to worke. Hierome ſayes worthily, To will and to runne is mine: but without Gods continuall helpe, it will not bee mine: Without me you can doe nothing, ſaith Chriſt; no, not thinke any thing, ſaith Paul: Alas, what can wee doe, who are not lame, but dead in ſinnes? By the influence of Gods Spirit therefore a new life muſt be created in vsus, that was not; and not the former life excited which was; according to that of the Pſalmiſt, Create in me a cleane heart, and not ſtirre vp that cleane one I hauehave; Neither indeed is there as yet any place for this:Ezek 11.36. The firſt heart muſt bee taken out, another muſt bee put in. I will take away their ſtony heart, and giuegive them a heart of fleſh, ſaith God by the mouth of Ezechiel; Hee will giuegive it, but (thou ſayeſt perhaps) into their breſts, which hauehave prediſpoſed and prepared themſelues for the gift. Yea contrarily, to thoſe that doe not a little reſiſt him; The wiſedome of the fleſh is enmitie. But there are ſome enmities more ſecret, and which doe not outwardly bewray themſelues: but behold, heere is publique reſiſtance, (foreign) It is not ſubiect; But, perhaps it will once yeeld of it ſelfe (foreign) It cannot,Xiphil. Epiſt. Dionis. ſayth the Spirit of God. See in how rebellious an eſtate we are to God: What proneneſſe is heere to will good, what abilitie to performe it? Let the Papiſts, (if they will) ſacrifice to themſelues, as Seianus had wont of old; or to their nets, as the Prophet ſpeaketh: As for vsus, come what can come vponupon our oppoſition, wee neither can nor dare arrogate vntounto our ſelues thoſe things, which by an holy reſeruation, & incommunicableneſſe, are proper onelyonly vntounto the Higheſt. It is ſafe indeed for the Papiſts when they will to come vp to vsus: but we cannot goe downe to them without a fearefull precipitation of our ſoules:Conſult. Caſſ. cit. Bonauent. in haec verba; hoc piarū mentium eſt vt nil ſibi tribuunt, &c. Let Caſſander witneſſe this for vsus: Let Bonauenture himſelfe witnes it for him; This is the propertie of holy minds, to attribute nothing to themſelues, but all to the grace of God: So that how much ſoeuer a man aſcribe to the grace of God, hee ſwarueth not from true pietie, though by giuing much to grace, hee withdraw ſomething from the power of nature, or Free-will: but when any thing is withdrawne from the grace of God, and ought attributed to nature, which is due to grace, there may bee great danger to the ſoule; Thus farre thoſe two ingenuous Papiſts: But (to inferre) wee giuegive all to grace, the Papiſts ſomething to nature; and what they giuegive to nature, we giuegive to God; Therefore we doe and ſay that which is fit for holy minds; they (if Bonauenture may be witneſſe) that which ſwerues from piety, and is ioyned with much danger of their ſoule.