The Orthodox Evangelist, Treatise · Chapter 1
CHAP. I. Of the Divine Eſſence.
THough nothing is more manifeſtly known, then that God is; yet nothing is more difficultly known, then what God is.
Philoſophy is here dumb, or worſe. Simonides being asked what God was,Cicero de natura deor. lib. 1. asketh a days time to anſwer the queſtion: At that days end he asketh two, at the end of theſe two he asketh four; and ſo often doubling the time, being asked the reaſon thereof, Becauſe (ſaith he) the longer I ſtudy, the difficulter I find the queſtion.
We in this life only ſee his back-parts, Exod. 33.23. viz. what he hath revealed of himſelf in his Word and Works, according to our manner and meaſure.
So much we ſee of him that we may live, more we cannot ſee of him and live: To ſee him as he is, is reſerved to glory.
God in his Word revealeth himſelf to be Iehovah Elohim, i. e. one God ſubſiſting in three Perſons. Though Eſſence and Subſiſtence, that is, the divine Nature, and the Trinity of Perſons in that Nature, are the ſame thing, they being diſtinguiſhed not as a Being and a Being, but as the manner of a Being or thing is diſtinguiſhed from the Being or thing it ſelf: yet for the help of our apprehenſion, God being pleaſed ſo far to condeſcend to our capacity (as delighting to be underſtood by us) we firſt conſider of the Eſſence, then of the Subſiſtence.
The Eſſence of God abſolutely conſidered, is that one pure and meer act, by which God is God. Becauſe through weakneſs of our underſtanding we cannot apprehend it in any meaſure by one act, it hath pleaſed God to give unto himſelf many Names and Attributes, by the help of which we may the better conceive thereof.
The Hebrew Names more eſpecially tending to this purpoſe, are obſerved by Authors to be about ten in number.
1. Iehovah, Exod. 6.3. ſignifying Gods Being of himſelf, and alſo his giving Being to all creatures, and to his Word both Promiſes and Threatenings.
2. Iah, Pſal. 68.4. ſignifying that God is an abſolute Being of himſelf, and gives Being to all creatures.
3. Ehjeh aſher Ehjeh, Exod. 3.14. I am that I am, or I will be that I will be; It ſignifieth Gods eternal and unchangeable Being in himſelf, and that he is now and will be for ever that which he was before to Abraham, Iſaac, and Iacob: To this Name Chriſt alludeth, Iohn 8.58. Before Abraham was, I am.
4. El, Iſai. 9.6. ſignifying that God hath all Power in himſelf, and giveth to all creatures the power which they have.
5. Eloah, Pſal. 18.32. of the ſame ſignification.
6. Elohim, Gen. 1.26. ſignifying that he is the Object of divine Worſhip, he that alone hath power to make happy and miſerable: it is a word of the plural number, aptly pointing us unto a plurality in the divine Eſſence; and ſo may note the myſtery of the Trinity, or three Perſons of the divine Eſſence.
7. Adonai, Pſal. 2.4. Lord; it is alſo of the plural number, and ſignifieth the abſolute Lordſhip of God, alſo that God ſuſtaineth and upholdeth all things, and ſo holdeth forth the proof of his Providence.
8. Shaddai, Gen. 17.1. ſignifying the Alſufficiency of God, or that God is he who is alſufficient, wanting nothing, and able to provide for all.
9. Iehovah Tſebaoth, Lord of Hoaſts; who (as is well obſerved) hath two general Troops, as his Horſe and Foot, the upper and the lower Troop, or the creatures above and beneath, already preſt and ordered, waiting for the word, to do him ſervice.
10. Ghnel-jon, Pſal. 9.2. tranſlated the moſt High, ſignifying that God in his Being and Glory is far above all creatures.
The firſt three come from Being:Paſor in voce foreign. The ſecond three from Power: The third three from Government: The laſt is from Eminence.
In the New Teſtament two Names are more eſpecially obſervable.
Theos, Mat. 4.7. God, ſignifying a Being that is to be feared of all, which diſpoſeth of all things, and beholdeth all things.
Kurios, Col. 4.1. Lord or Maſter, ſignifying that God is the only Lord, and hath abſolute power over all creatures.
The divine Attributes are certain eſſential Properties, which God is pleaſed in Scripture to aſcribe or attribute unto himſelf; they are alſo called the Perfections of God, or divine Predications, or Titles.
They are not diſtinguiſhed from the Eſſence really, but notionally; that is, they are not diſtinguiſhed at all in God, but only to us-ward, according to our manner of conceiving.
All the Attributes in God are one and the ſame Perfection. It is better ſaid of God that he is his Attributes, then that he hath Attributes: The Attributes are not diſtinguiſhed in God, but in our manner of underſtanding,Est inadequatus conceptus ſed non falſus. See Weemſe Of the Image of God in man, cap. 13. who being unable to comprehend that meer act at once, do conceive thereof after the manner of many acts. The Sun when it is perpendicular, had it an eye would behold all that at once, which we, by reaſon of the inadequateneſs and unproportionableneſs of our ſight, are neceſſitated to view by parts. In God all things are one and the ſame, according to the Nature of God; though out of God many, and divers, according to their own proper and created nature. The ſame heat in the Sun produceth divers effects, according to the various diſpoſition of the objects: Hardneſs in Clay, ſoftneſs in Wax: Life in Inſects and Plants, &c. The ſame lines are one in the Center, but diſtinguiſhed and multiplyed in the Circumference. Water that is the ſame in the Sea, out of the Sea is variouſly and diverſly qualified, ſweet, bitter, Sulphureous, &c. The matter in the Liver is the ſame, but the four humors of Blood, Choller, Melancholy, and Flegm, that proceed from thence, are very divers: The Soul which is one and the ſame produceth very differing effects, as appears in the operations of the underſtanding, will, and affections. The ſum is: The Attributes, as was ſaid before, are not diſtinguiſhed in God, that is, from the divine Eſſence, or one from another really, but only notionally, or virtually in our conception, and in their objects, in reſpect of the various effects thereupon: For every and all the Attributes are the divine Eſſence it ſelf; according to that received Propoſition,Fenner Theol. lib. 1. c. 3. Alſted. Theol. ſect. 3. loc. 2. Zanch. de Nat. Dei. lib. 2. cap. 5. qu. 2. Whatſoever is in God, is God: And this is the reaſon why ſome well deſcribe the Attributes from the Eſſence of God: which manner of deſcription, beſides many uſeful notions clearly intimated thereby, doth in the deſcribing of the Relative Attributes, principle and fortifie the underſtanding againſt that perilous Tenet of Arminianiſm, concerning the Decree paſſing upon good or bad foreſeen, with the evil conſequences following thereupon.
The divine Attributes, though they can neither exactly be numbered or diſtributed, yet for our better underſtanding we may conſider of them as
Negative.
Relative.
Poſitive.
Negative Attributes are ſuch as remove from God all imperfection:Negative Attributes. by theſe we help our underſtanding in our meditation of God, by way of Negation. The more principal of them are in number five, viz. Simplicity, Eternity, Immenſity, Immutability, Infiniteneſs: to which, or ſome of which, any other of like nature may conveniently be referred.
Simplicity is God, one meer and perfect act without all compoſition. God calleth his Name, I am, Exod. 3.14. that is, meer Eſſence, wherein is nothing paſt, nor to come. Becauſe ſpirits are immixt in reſpect of bodies, to ſhew that he is not compounded, he ſaith he is a Spirit, Iohn. 4.24. When we ſay that God is a meer and perfect Act, the meaning is, that God is a Cauſe without any Cauſe, a Being that is not from any Being; not compounded of an Act, by which he is; and Poſſibility, by which he might not have been, or may not be: of whom it never could nor can be ſaid, that any thing was to be in him, which was not; or cannot be, that is.
That God is a pure and ſimple Act without all compoſition, is evident, Becauſe of his Perfection; all compoſition ſuppoſeth imperfection, becauſe he is the firſt Being. Were there any compoſition in God, it would follow there were firſt and ſecond in God: Something in God that were not firſt, or that there were more firſt Beings.
Becauſe God is a Being of abſolute neceſſity:Deus eſt ens neceſſe eſſe. Smiſing de Deo uno. tr. 2. diſp. 2. n. 49. Compoſition implyeth either that there muſt be more Beings of abſolute neceſſity, or that there is ſomething in God that may not be. Compoſition ſuppoſeth Succeſſion, i. e. ſomething paſt or to come in God; contrary to his Name, I am. Nay it ſuppoſeth that not-being is not repugnant to the Nature of God: Where there is Compoſition, there may be Diſſolution; Diſſolution is the way to not-being. It much helps us in the contemplation of the Simplicity of God, to look upon it as oppoſed to Compoſition, all the ways whereof the Learned have referred to theſe ſeven Heads.
Compoſition is either of
1. Parts, which are bounded by quantity; as a body having one part upon another.
2. Matter and Form; as a man of body and ſoul: theſe two compoſitions are only found in corporeal things.
3. General and ſpecial Nature: as every ſpecies, whoſe common nature is to be found, in ſome other thing, where the ſpecial nature is not; as a living creature and a man.
4.Dicimus deum eſſe bonum justum, veracem foreign, creaturam, foreign Alsted. Metap. Part. 1. cap. 23. A Subject and an Accident; as every created ſubſtance: There are no accidents in God, he is wiſe, holy, juſt, eſſentially: there is not a ſubſtance and a quality in him. When God is ſaid only to have Immortality, 1 Tim. 6.16. it is to be underſtood by way of Eminency; he ſo hath it as none hath beſides him, he hath it originally, not derivatively and by participation.
5. An Act and a Poſſibility, objective, that is to be, if the thing looked at, as yet is not, in being; or paſſive, that is not to be (though that not-being never ſhall be) if the thing be looked at, as in actual being: this compoſition holds concerning Angels.
6. A Perſon and Nature; as Chriſt, compounded of the divine Perſon, and humane nature; which yet is not properly compoſition of parts, but of number.
7. Being and Individuation; that is, that by which we have ſuch a particular Being, as humanity and Peter.
Obj. Where there is a Plurality, there is not Simplicity: But in the divine Nature there is a Plurality: therefore.
Anſ. The Objection holds, where there is a plurality of Eſſences, Beings, or things, but not where there is only a plurality of Subſiſtences. In the divine Nature, though there be a Trinity, therefore a plurality of Subſiſtences or Perſons, yet there is but one Eſſence: In the Trinity there is diſtinction, but not compoſition.
Obj. 2. The Attribute of Simplicity concludes that all the Attributes are God himſelf, and conſequently that there is no inequality amongſt them: yet we read, that his tender mercies are over all his works; ſo, as it may ſeem, Mercy exceeds the other Attributes.
Anſ. The meaning is, that his mercy is over, that is, upon all his works; not that Gods Mercy exceeds all his other Attributes, as if one Attribute were greater then another: for all the Attributes of God are equal, not one higher or greater then another, becauſe they are all God himſelf.
From the Simplicity of God it followeth:
1. That whatſoever is in God, is God.
2. Whatſoever God willeth he willed from Eternity, and always willeth.
3. Whatſoever God willeth he willeth ſimply, abſolutely and independently.
4. God is Juſtice, Wiſdom, Love, &c. eſſentially: although he be ſaid to have them eminently, yet he hath them not derivatively.
Eternity is God without beginning, without end, and without all manner of ſucceſſion; there is nothing paſt, nor to come.
It was well ſaid of him, who unto the queſtion,Quid autem ſit aeternitas, quaerat aliquis? Hîc ſi reſpondeam per verbum modestiae neſcio recta ingenia per ſe intelligent, a byſſum eſſe. What was Eternity? anſwered by that word of modeſty, I know not: It is the meaſure (without meaſure) of the duration of God, according to our apprehenſion. Three things are requiſite thereunto, viz. to be without Beginning, without End, and without all Change: An unalterable and independing Duration: It is all at once, where there is nothing paſt, nor to come; A remaining NOW.
Duration is either increated, viz. Eternity, proper to God; or created, viz. Eviternity, the duration of the bleſſed in Glory: or Time, which is the duration of the corruptible creature. Eternity is a Duration, conſiſting of an eternal NOW; without beginning, and without ending; there is nothing paſt, nor to come. Eviternity is a Duration, having a continuing NOW, with a beginning, but without ending. The duration of Angels and of the Bleſſed, in reſpect of their perſons and ſubſtances, admit of no inſtant, concerning which it can be ſaid, that it is paſt: but in regard of their operations and other accidents, their duration admits of ſucceſſion. Time is a ſucceſſive Duration, having a beginning and ending, without any remaining NOW.
Immenſity is God preſent every where, neither included in,Deus eſt ſphaera, cujus centrum eſt ubique, circumferentia nuſquam. Enter proeſenter Deus …ic & …bi que potenter. nor excluded from any place or thing, Pſal. 139.7. Iſai. 60.1. God is a Sphere, whoſe Center is every where, the Circumference no where. God is no where, and God is every where: he is no where, in that he is not contained any where; he is every where, in that he containeth all: Hence God, in reſpect of his Omnipreſence, is compared to an infinite Point. God is in every place by his Eſſence, as the univerſal Cauſe of the Being and operation of all things; by his Preſence, beholding all things; and by his Power, upholding all things.
Beſides that Omnipreſence of God, whereby he is always preſent with all creatures, there are certain peculiar ways of his preſence with divers creatures. In Chriſt he dwelleth bodily, that is, perſonally, Col. 2.9. and filleth the Manhood with the Spirit out of meaſure, Iohn 3.34. In the Saints he dwelleth as in his Temple by the preſence of his indwelling Spirit, the effect of his ſpecial grace, 1 Cor. 3.16. He is ſaid to dwell in Heaven, becauſe it is the place wherein he is pleaſed to manifeſt his glory immediately, and in moſt excellent manner unto the bleſſed. God is ſaid to come to us, and depart from us, not in reſpect of his univerſal Preſence, or change of place; but in reſpect of the degrees of his in-dwelling Spirit, aſſiſting grace, and other ſpecial effects of his favour towards his people: The ſame alſo holds true, in reſpect of the common effects of the Spirit, in regard of others.
Bodies are in places circumſcriptively, bounded by their dimenſions, without penitration. Angels are in places definitively; that is, though they are not bounded by dimenſions of height, bredth and depth, as bodies; yet they are not in two places at once; whileſt they are in this place, they are not in another. God is in every place always.
Immutability is God without any alteration in reſpect of Being, Will, or any Accidents, Pſal. 102.27, 28. Mal. 3.6. Jam. 1.17. With whom is no variableneſs, nor ſhadow of turning.
Obj. God might have willed, or not willed the being of the creature, elſe he were not free. He that may both will and not will, is mutable. The ſum is, the liberty and immutability of God, ſeem not to conſiſt together.
Anſ. That immutability and liberty conſiſt together,Vide Smiſin. Tr. 2. diſp. 3. qu. 1. num. 23. is evident from the nature of God, who willeth his own being freely. If he were ſubject to co-action and mutability, he were not God. If by reaſon of our weakneſs we are leſs able ſo diſtinctly to diſcern the liberty of God, as concerning the creature in the act of God willing; yet it is clearly to be ſeen in the object willed, viz. the creature: becauſe nothing is more manifeſt then that there is no neceſſary connexion between the being of God, and the being thereof. God had been the ſame, perfect and bleſſed for ever, though the creature had never been.
Obj. 2. Gods will in his decree, and his will in the command, are often contrary one unto another, therefore he is not immutable.
Anſ. No ſuch thing. The Decree determineth what ſhall be, the Command ſheweth what ought to be. Gods willing the futurition of the betraying of Chriſt by Judas, and yet willing it to be Judas his duty not to betray Chriſt, have not the leaſt appearance of two wills in God.
Obj. 3. God ſometime promiſeth, and performeth not: threatneth, and executeth not: therefore he may ſeem not to be immutable.
Anſ. Such promiſes and threatnings are to be underſtood conditionally, not abſolutely. See Jer. 18.7.10.
Obj. 4. God in Scripture is often ſaid to repent, he that repents is not immutable.
Anſ. Such ſpeeches though ſpoken after the manner of men for the help of our underſtanding: yet, are to be underſtood as becometh the nature of God. God is therefore ſaid to repent, becauſe he doth as men do when they repent, that is, he changeth his deeds: yet without any change of his will. Nay, thoſe changes of his deeds are the executions of his unchangeable will.
Infiniteneſs is God of univerſal, unlimited, and incomprehenſible perfection, Job 11.8, 9. 1 Tim. 6.16. His underſtanding is infinite, Pſal. 147.5. What is there ſaid of one attribute, is true of all. God receiveth not his being of any, but hath it of himſelf: yea, he is his own being, therefore illimited; for there is none to limit him. God willeth himſelf freely, yet neceſſarily; that which acts neceſſarily, acts with all its might. God therefore having all perfection in his own power, cannot deny any to himſelf.
All things are contained in God: that which is increated, eſſentially; that which is created, to be created, or poſſible to be created, eminently; God is all. He is of every name, yet above all name.
The more principal Relative Attributes are in number,Relative Attributes. ſeven. 1. Creation. 2. Providence. 3. Lordſhip. 4. Benignity. 5. Mercy. 6. Redemption. 7. Juſtice. To which, or ſome of which, the reſt of like nature may conveniently be referred.
Though the terms Creator, Governor, Redeemer, and Lord, do more clearly hold forth the relation between God and the creature: yet (after others) the fore-named terms are here made uſe of: both as ſufficiently containing the relation, and better conducing to teach the Doctrine intended.
A new Relative Attribute or Praedication doth not alwayes preſuppoſe a change in that thing unto which that new relation is given, though it alwayes preſuppoſeth a change in that whereunto ſuch relation doth really belong: for example ſake, Peter may ſit at the right hand of John, without any change in Peter, the change being only in John, who placeth himſelf at Peters left hand. The Princes are ſaid to ſtand on the right hand of the wall, Neh. 12.31. without any change in the wall, the change was only in them ſo placing themſelves. So God who was not a Creator from eternity, is a Creator in time: yet this new appellation puts no change in God, but only in the creature. The ſecond Perſon who was not incarnate from eternity, becometh incarnate in the fulneſs of time, yet without any change: the change was, and is only in the humane nature aſſumed, not in the divine nature aſſuming. In theſe Relative Attributes, (the Creator being above the order of the creature) the extreams not being alike: the relation is not alike. The relation on Gods part is only a relation of Reaſon: that is, ſuch a reſpect of the Creator to the creature, as is without any change in him: but on the creatures part, it is a real relation: that is, ſuch a relation as inferreth a change in it.
Relative Attributes adde a new predication, or title to, but cauſe no real mutation, or change in God: as concerning the creature they both add a new predication to it, and cauſe a real mutation in it.
In all Relative Attributes, there are conſiderable (but eſpecially in Creation, Providence, and Redemption) an eternal immanent act, whereby God willeth ſuch a thing to be; and a tranſient temporal act, whereby he worketh the thing according to his will.
Creation (whence God hath the Title of a Creator) is a tranſient act, whereby God according to his will, created all things of nothing very good.
Providence (whence God hath the Title of Governour) conſiſts in thoſe acts whether permanent or tranſient, whereby according to his will, he preſerveth and governeth all things with the circumſtances thereof, unto their ſeveral ends, for his own glory, and the good of the elect.
Lordſhip is Gods having abſolute right and power to, and over all his creatures, and diſpoſing thereof according to his will, 1 Sam. 3.18. 1 Tim. 6.13. Matth. 20.15. Dan. 4.25.
Abſolute Soveraignty is due unto God by four Titles: Of Creation, Rom. 9.20. Of Conſervation, Heb. 1.3. To give the creature to continue in being, is more then meerly to give it being: as the ſhadow dependeth upon the body, ſo the creature dependeth upon the Creator. Of Redemption, 1 Cor. 6.20. this exceeds both the former. Of the laſt end, Prov. 16.4. The end of the creature is the manifeſtation of the glory of the Creator.
Lordſhip is in God after the moſt eminent manner: he hath Subjects of himſelf, Authority of himſelf, Legiſlative Power of himſelf. He appoints the rule with recompence to the obedient, and puniſhment to the diſobedient according to his meer good pleaſure. He is his own rule, his will is the moſt abſolute reaſon. He giveth no account of his matters, Job 33.13. Every creature dependeth eſſentially and univerſally upon the Creator: that is, the creature cannot be, but it muſt be at the diſpoſing of God. We do not acknowledge our ſelves to be creatures, nor God to be Lord, if his pleaſure be not acknowledged to be a ſufficient and ſatisfactory reaſon, of whatſoever he doth.
The Lordſhip of God is of himſelf, not by occupation, as a Title of Property, ariſing from a thing found without an owner; nor by Donation, Succeſſion, Purchaſe, or Conqueſt, as created Lordſhips are. All created Juriſdiction deſcendeth from this abſolute Lordſhip of God. The Juriſdiction that Chriſt as man received from God is univerſal over all the creatures reſpectively, Matth. 28.18. The Juriſdiction of other men is limited according to the ſeveral objects thereof: whether Eccleſiaſtical, where their Authority and Office is immediately received from Chriſt though the deſignation of ſuch perſons to ſuch offices be by the call of men. Or civil, whether natural, as parent, and child: Or voluntary, as Magiſtrate, and Subject.
4. Benignity is God willing freely to communicate his grace and goodneſs unto his creatures proportionably to their ſeveral capacities, Exod. 33.19. Matth. 5.45. Pſal. 33.5.
Goodneſs according to ſome, admits of a three-fold Conſideration: Of Nature, which is called perfection. Of Manners, called holineſs. Of Beneficence, id eſt, a diſpoſition to do good to others;foreign. this is properly called Benignity: Thou art good, and doeſt good, Pſal. 119.68. Goodneſs is either eſſential, or by participation. God is eſſentially good: he is good of himſelf, he is goodneſs it ſelf: the creature is good by participation, i. e. by a goodneſs received of God. The Sun, if compared with other creatures, you may ſay (in that reſpect) it hath light of it ſelf, but the Moon and Stars are light by participation: that is, they receive their light from the Sun. God is a full Fountain, or rather a Fountain which is fulneſs it ſelf; willing to communicate, as the Sun ſends forth its light, a fountain its ſtreams, and the prolifical virtue in plants, inclineth them to fruitfulneſs; as the ſeminal virtue in living creatures, diſpoſeth them to generation: the peculiar affection in parents towards their children, renders them propenſe to do them good: and the ſoul full of matter (like wine which hath no vent) propends to pour out it ſelf; ſo is the Lord affected to do good according as he hath willed concerning the creature.
The goodneſs communicated from God unto the creature, is either ſpecial, beſtowed upon Angels and men: Or common, beſtowed upon the reſt of the Creation: The Earth is full of the goodneſs of the Lord, Pſal. 33.5. The impreſſion of his Image is upon the reaſonable, the impreſſion of his Footſteps, is upon the unreaſonable creature.
God, who is the increated good, communicateth himſelf without diviſion, effuſion, or multiplication of himſelf: all that he communicates, notwithſtanding, he remaineth infinite and the ſame. God were God bleſſed for ever though he had never willed of his goodneſs unto any, but if he were not a God of Benignity, he were not our God.
Goodneſs ſo deſcends and cometh from God unto the creature, as that it ſtops not there, but aſcends and returns again unto God: either by way of manifeſting of his glory as a meer ſubject, and repreſentative glaſs of his goodneſs, in the unreaſonable creature: or, by way of giving glory to him, not only as a meer ſubject whereon his goodneſs is legibly engraven, but alſo as a ſubject yeilding obedience to the command in the reaſonable and ſanctified creature.Amor eſt, foreign. Circulus perpetuus eſt in amore. Hence love is ſaid to be both extatical, that is, carrying the lover as it were out of himſelf unto the loved; as it is with the ſoul removed out of the body in a Trance: and circular, the beginning and end of which Circle is God, that Alpha, and Omega: from whom, and to whom are all things. Unto that infinite and increated Sea, whence all created rivers of goodneſs come, thither they return again.
Mercy is, God willing, to ſuccour the creature in miſery.
Mercy in God is either eſſential: namely that which is in him by neceſſity of nature, and had been in him though he had never willed the manifeſtation thereof by ſhewing mercy to any; this is Gods ſufficiency to ſhew mercy. Or, Relative, namely, that which is in him with reſpect to the creature, and is his will to manifeſt mercy to whom he pleaſeth; Exod. 33.19. Rom. 9.18.
Mercy is increated, viz. the Attribute of God: or created, viz. a tranſient act of God in time, or the effects of ſuch tranſient acts: ſo Vocation is ſaid to be an act of mercy, Rom. 11.30, 32. 1 Pet. 2.10.
Remiſſion of ſin, Luke 1.78. Mat. 18.33. Salvation, Jude 21. Increated mercy is Gods will to ſhew mercy. Created mercy is Gods actual ſhewing mercy according to his will.
The Effects of Mercy, are either ſpecial: proper to the Elect, as flowing from ſpecial grace, Rom. 9.23. The Elect are called (and by effectual calling ſo made) veſſels of mercy. Or common, extended to thoſe who are not elected, Luke 6.35, 36. Ʋnto the beaſts of the field, Pſal. 104.27. Yea, over all his works, Pſal. 145.9.
Redemption is that whereby God gave his Son; and Jeſus Chriſt God-man gave himſelf, and accordingly in due time became a Ranſom for the Elect: whence it cometh to paſs, That Juſtice is no hinderance to the application of Mercy, John 3.16. Gal. 2.20. Rom. 3.26.
Creation, Providence, and Redemption, conſidered as they are in God, i. e. as immanent acts, belong unto Gods ſufficiency, and may be placed amongſt his Attributes; but if they be looked at as tranſient acts, i. e. as acts paſſing, and done in time; ſo they belong unto Gods Efficiency, and are placed amongſt the works of God.
Though God by his abſolute Power might have ſaved man without Redemption wrought by Chriſt: yet having conſtituted that Rule of relative Juſtice, In the day that thou eateſt thereof, thou ſhalt ſurely dye, Gen. 2.17. He could not in reſpect of his Power now limited to proceed by this rule, ſo that man having ſinned, man muſt dye, and ſatisfie the Law that man may live. Juſtice requireth the Surety ſhould dye, that the Debtor may live: That he might be juſt, and the juſtifier of him which believeth in Jeſus, Rom. 3.26.
Juſtice is, God willing, to render unto the reaſonable creature what is due thereunto according to his word: whether by way of grace, or puniſhment, Deut. 32.4. Dan. 9.16. 1 John 1.9. Pſal. 62.11, 12.
Juſtice in God is either eſſential of the abſolute nature of God; whence it is, that God can do no wrong. To be in God eſſentially, is to be in God by neceſſity of nature: that is, it is of the neceſſary Being of God, ſo as if God is, that is, and if that were not, God were not. Or Relative: viz. The Juſtice of God in reſpect of the creature; that is, in God neceſſarily. This is in him freely, and is nothing elſe but Gods conſtant will to give unto the creature what is its due. The Will of God is the Rule of Juſtice. That which Gods Law is unto man, that is Gods Will unto himſelf. Juſtice conſiſting in rendering to every one their due; and Gods Will being the Rule of Juſtice; it followeth, that and only that to be due unto man, which God hath willed concerning him. The Moral Law it ſelf, the Rule of Manners, the Recompence contained in the Promiſe in caſe of obedience, the Puniſhment contained in the Curſe in caſe of diſobedience: are all the effects of Gods free pleaſure.
It being a truth, That Gods Will is the Rule of Juſtice between him and the creature: and conſequently, That the deſert and puniſhment of ſin determined by him is therefore juſt, becauſe he hath ſo determined. It followeth, that in caſe God had appointed a greater puniſhment, it had been juſt the damned ſhould have ſuffered more: And in caſe he had appointed a leſſer puniſhment, it had been juſt they ſhould have ſuffered leſs.
Though the Rule of relative Juſtice be a free conſtitution, yet God having conſtituted this rule, hath freely obliged himſelf to the obſervation thereof; and can now no more fail to execute juſtice according to this rule, then he can be unjuſt.
Poſitive Attributes,Poſitive Attributes. are ſuch which ſo aſcribe ſome perfection to God: as not inferring any reſpect unto the creatures exiſting, or in preſent being; by theſe, our underſtanding is helped in our meditation of God, by way of eminency; The more principal of them, are in number Six: 1. Holineſs. 2. Wiſdom. 3. Will. 4. Liberty. 5. Omnipotency. 6. Perfection. To which, or ſome of which, the reſt of like nature may conveniently be referred.
Holineſs is God, conformable to himſelf, 1 Sam. 2.2. Hab. 1.13. As created holineſs (which ſome call moral goodneſs or perfection of manners) is the conformity of the reaſonable creature to the Rule; ſo (God being his own Rule, and the Fountain of all created perfection) we may conceive of increated holineſs, as of Gods Conformity unto himſelf.
God is holy eſſentially, and ſo is none but he, 1 Sam. 2. There is none holy as the Lord, the creature is holy only by participation. He is the Authour of all created holineſs; both of the Moral Law, which is the rule of holineſs; and of the infuſed grace of holineſs, whence the reaſonable creature is made conformable to that rule, and of all other holineſs whatſoever: therefore juſtly called, the Holy One of Iſrael, Iſai. 41.20. Wiſdom is, God underſtanding all things intelligible by his Eſſence, 1 Tim. 1.17. Acts 15.18. 1 John 3.20.
God comprehending his own Eſſence, ſeeth all things; becauſe all Poſſibilities, Futuritions, and Beings; that is, all things that might have been, ſhall be, or actually be, are eminently contained in the Divine Eſſence. Whence, by the way it may appear, That the Divine Eſſence as willing the futurition of things, is that increated Idea of all things: which God comprehending, underſtandeth the creature better in himſelf, then it is to be underſtood in it ſelf. God ſeeing himſelf, ſeeth all things, without exemption of any; alwayes, without intermiſſion; perfectly, without defect: at once, without ſucceſſion. He is all eye, yet without an eye: all memory, yet without a memory.
God underſtandeth all things by his Eſſence, Angels are thought to underſtand by an infuſed habit of the ſpecies, or images of things concreated with their nature. Men underſtand by the Species, or Images of things abſtracted, and received from their objects.
Men underſtand by way of ſyllogiſtical diſcourſe, viz. by reaſoning; that is, by deducing and gathering concluſions from principles by ſeveral acts of their underſtanding: and by compounding and dividing: that is, by laying the ſubject and predicate together, or by taking them aſunder: and thereby collecting what may be ſaid, or not ſaid truly concerning ſuch a ſub-ject.
Thoſe truths which men by reaſon of the weakneſs of their underſtanding, apprehend not without diſcourſe,Tho. Part. 1. qu. 58. Art. 3. & 4. Polan. Syntag. l. 5. c. 11. and by compounding and dividing: Angels by reaſon of the quickneſs and ſtrength of their underſtanding, apprehend readily, and as it were at firſt ſight. Whence albeit they underſtand ſyllogiſtical diſcourſe, compoſition, and diviſion, yet (at leaſt compared with men) they may be ſaid not to underſtand by diſcourſe, nor by compoſition and diviſion, but intuitively; and as it were at firſt ſight.
The Will of God, is God by one ſimple act, abſolutely willing, the being of whatſoever he pleaſeth.
That Diſtinction of the Abſolute and Conditional Will, as alſo that of the Antecedent, and Conſequent Will of God, are both unſound. God willeth it to be a truth, That wheſoever believeth ſhall be ſaved: he likewiſe willeth it to be the duty of Judas to believe: Hence followeth (in caſe) A Will of Approbation concerning things in their own nature poſſible, which yet never ſhall be: as namely, the acceptation of the obedience of the Reprobates; but it doth not follow that God hath conditionally willed the acceptation of the obedience of the Reprobates. God decreeth the coexiſtence of two extreams conditionally cohering, as the faith and ſalvation of Judas, the ſight of ſuch miracles and repentance in the Tyrians: the Being of which Extreams themſelves he hath not decreed. Though the things willed be conditioned, yet the Volition or Willing of God concerning thoſe things is abſolute.
The Authours and Approvers of the ſecond Diſtinction, underſtand by the Antecedent Will of God,Johan. Damaſcen. De Orthod. Fide. lib. 2. cap. 29. his Will concerning the creature looking at it as in it ſelf, without any conſideration of after-circumſtances: ſo they ſay God willeth all men, even the Reprobate to be ſaved: this they call his firſt Will, and it is, ſay they, uncertain. By the Conſequent Will of God, they underſtand his Will concerning the creature looked at, not only as in it ſelf, but together with after-adjuncts and circumſtances, as ſin, &c. This they call his ſecond Will, and it is, ſay they, certain. As a Judge looking upon ſuch a perſon as in himſelf, accounteth it beſt that he ſhould live; but looking upon him in ſecond reſpects, as a Murtherer, &c. he accounts it beſt that he ſhould dye.
The vanity of both theſe Diſtinctions appeareth, in that they are repugnant to the ſimplicity, perfection, and independance of the firſt cauſe. The Will of God in the Decree, and the revealing of part thereof in the Command, do not infer divers wills in God: The Command ſheweth what is the duty of man, the Decree contains Gods purpoſe concerning our doing, or not doing our duty: To will ſuch a thing ought to be, and not to will that it ſhall be; yea to will the not being thereof, are not oppoſite, but both may, and do proceed from the ſame will.
Liberty is,Scot. lib. 1. diſt. 39. Libera terminatio divinae voluntatis in creaturum petuit adeſſe vel abeſſe ſine ulla mutabilitate ſubjectiva in Deo. Smiſin. Tr. 2. diſp. 3. qu. 1. num. 23. God willing himſelf freely and neceſſarily, but what ever is beſides himſelf not neceſſarily, but freely: that is, not of any neceſſity of nature, but of his meer good pleaſure, Pſal. 115.3. Iſai. 49.3. Dan. 4.5.
Though nothing be more manifeſt then that God willeth freely, and not neceſſarily, whatſoever is beſides himſelf: yet the manner of his willing thereof, exceedeth our capacities.
Created Acts of Liberty being limited, and bounded by their objects, cannot tend unto divers objects, without tending to divers acts: but increated Liberty being infinite, is illimited by its objects; and tends unto divers objects by one and the ſame act.
Increated Liberty, is not to be looked at, as conſiſting in an indifferency to divers acts of willing, or nilling: For that would argue imperfection in God: but it is clearly ſeen in reſpect of its divers created objects, which as they have their being from Gods good pleaſure; ſo, had he ſo pleaſed, they had never been: but continued for ever in their nothing; himſelf notwithſtanding eternal, all bleſſed, and all glorious.
Omnipotency is God able to do whatſoever his wiſdom doth conceive, Gen. 18.14. Matth. 19.26. Iſai. 46.10.
All Contradictions, Impoſſibilities, and Repugnancies unto the revealed Will of God, are excluded in this Propoſition: God is Omnipotent, or God can do all things. That, things which imply a contradiction: as namely, for the ſame thing to be, and not to be; and impoſſibilities, as namely, for a man not to be a reaſonable creature, and the like: fall not under the compaſs of Omnipotency, is not from any defect (it is indeed from the perfection) of power in God; but from the impoſſibility of the things: ſo that concerning matters of this nature, it is more convenient to ſay,Ʋnde convenientius dr: Ea non poſſunt fieri, quam quod Deus ea non poſſit facere. Tho. Part. qu. 25. art. 3. that they cannot be, which ſheweth their non-poſſibility to be, then that God cannot do them; which ſeemeth to touch upon Omnipotency. So likewiſe that God cannot ſin, lye, or deny himſelf, is not from defect, but from the Eminency of his Power, and Abſolute Perfection, whence he is uncapable of being touched with any imperfection.
Obj. God cannot deſtroy Sodom, until Lot be gone out of it, Gen. 19.22. Like ſpeeches whereunto are uſed elſewhere, it ſeems therefore God is not Omnipotent.
Anſ. The Power of God is either abſolute, and unlimited; by it he is able to do all things that are poſſible, though he never do them: or ordinate, and limited by his Decree, and revealed Will: according to which God having freely bounded himſelf, changeth not, being immutable. Theſe words, and the like ſpoken elſewhere, are to be underſtood of his limited, not of his unlimited power. Though God be Omnipotent, yet he is not Omnivolent; that is, though God can do whatſoever he pleaſeth, yet God is not pleaſed to do whatſoever he can.
Perfection is God all-ſufficient, and all-excellent: not having need of any thing, giving ſufficience unto, and having in him the perfection of all things, Gen. 17.1, 2. Exod. 6.3. This Attribute renders God as that infinite Sea of all happineſs,
Perfection is increated Glory: that is, all the Attributes in one word; as Happineſs is the Sum of Mans good, ſo Glory is the Sum of all Gods Attributes. The Perfection of God is Eſſential, Independent, Unlimited, without increaſe, or decreaſe: As the Power of ſubordinate cauſes is contained in the firſt cauſe virtually: and as the Authority of Under-Officers is in the Prince after a more excellent manner; ſo the virtue of all ſecond cauſes is contained in the firſt cauſe eminently.
The word Eminently taken in its ſtrict and proper ſence, ſeemeth to intend the effect to be in the cauſe, not only in a more excellent manner then in it ſelf, but alſo in a ſupercreated manner. Things are in God agreeable to the Nature of God: in themſelves according to their proper natures.
Eminential Continency, and Virtual Continency, (that is, for one thing to be contained in another eminently, as the Excellency of the creature is in the Creator: Or Virtually, as all things ſaleable are in money, Eccleſ. 10.9.) are not the ſame: the firſt is proper to the Creator, the ſecond is found in the creature.
The Eſſential Perfection of God, is Increated Glory, Eternal, alwayes the ſame; from which nothing can be taken, to which nothing can be added. The acknowledgement of the manifeſted Perfections of God, is Glorification: viz. The Act of the creature done in time, admitting more or leſs according as God is known, or acknowledged.