as 't is written in the book of wisdom of a Saint dying in his Infancy Let every one seek after the best reasons of this and if he shall find any other besides this which I have given which renders a reason that is probable and according to the Analogy of Faith let him embrace it and if it shall be imparted to me I shall embrace it with him The Author of the calling of the Gentiles Lib. 1. c. 13. seq observes the same way of proceeding that St. Augustine doth He every where says that the Judgments of God are unsearchable because he opposes the same errors and that Faith doth not suffer us to give a reason of Gods choice of Men from the difference of their natural Merits * Lib. 2. c. 23. If for example he asks himself whence it is that all Children are not Baptized He is not afraid to say that if this came from any ill use of the general Grace given to the Parents that * C. 24. if all received Baptism the Parents were too negligent not fearing lest their Children should be surprized with Death He says that such answers would give some ground to believe that the grace of Baptism was due to the innocence of age and to deny original sin When the question is about excluding natural merits he cries out that the Judgments of God are unsearchable but yet he nevertheless doth not fail to give some general Reasons thereof upon other occasions * Lib. 2. c. 30. His principle is that a Reason of all the Designs and Works of God cannot be given Tertia Definitio temperanter sobrie protestatur non omnem voluntatis Dei comprehendi posse rationem multas divinorum operum causas ab humana intelligentia esse subductas An undeniable principle But neither he nor St. Augustine nor I believe any of the Fathers ever maintain'd that the Judgments of God were so unsearchable as that it should be a crime to seek and give some general Reasons of them They never forbad Men to represent God Amiable and Adorable by justifying his Conduct by that Idea which we have of a Being infinitely Perfect and by the Truths Faith teach us That which I have endeavoured in The Treatise of Nature and Grace The Last Explication The frequent Miracles of the Old Law do by no means shew That God often acted by particular Wills I Do not well understand how Persons who grant that God does all and that therefore he communicates not his power to Creatures but by making them the occasional causes of producing certain effects can Imagine that the Conduct which he observed in respect of the Jews should be contrary to that which I think I have demonstrated several ways viz. That God acts not by particular wills but when the necessity of Order requires him They are always saying as a thing extraordinary that the Old Testament is full of Miracles that God had promised to the Jews Plenty and Prosperity proportionably to their sidelity and obedience and that it was not possible that nature and morality should be so exactly combin'd together that the Holy-Land should abound in fruits proportionably as its Inhabitants did in virtue and good works For my part I willingly grant all this But I do not yet see how this opposes my sentiments if it be not supposed that I acknowledge no other general Laws by which God executes his designs but those of the communication of motions How troublesome is it for a Man not to be able to explain his thoughts but by words which popular use has introduced and which every one interprets according to his prejucices and temper and above all to have for ones judges such Persons who tho they are nimble and quick yet often want equity and penetration of mind Certainly they do not do me justice who say that I think Manna fell every day of the Week among the Israelites except Saturday by a necessary consequence of the Laws of the communication of motions He who is of this opinion must needs be very foolish and impious I am perswaded that the greatest part of the miraculous effects of the Ancient Law was done in consequence of some general Laws since the general cause ought not to execute his purpose by particular wills and for many more Reasons which I might add to those already mentioned But I am far from believing that these extraordinary effects were only the consequences of the natural Laws of the communication of motions I grant that they may be looked upon as Miracles and that there are more such in the World than we imagine But I must explain my self after what manner that I may not be thought to have changed J. C. as Man received all Power in Heaven and in Earth because God executes all the desires of his holy Soul by the general Law of Grace by which he would save all Men in his Son The Father has given to the Son after this manner all the Nations of the World as Materials which he is to employ in the Building of his Church as I have said elsewhere Supposing then that J. C. for the executing of his designs desires a certain degree of Grace for one of his Members or rather that he desired that the fire which sacrificed St. Lawrance should lose its heat it is certain this would be what we call a Miracle nevertheless God would not work this Miracle by a particular will but in consequence of the general Law the efficacy of which is determined by the actual desires of the Soul of J. C. According to the general Laws of the communications of motions heavy bodys fall towards the Earth my arm is heavy yet nevertheless I lift it up to Heaven whensoever I desire it Certainly God who determines the motion of the Animal spirits for the lifting up my arm according to my desires does not then act but in consequence of the general Law of the union of the Soul and Body by which Law I have power to move my arm nevertheless this motion wou'd be accounted miraculous if we did not own some other natural Laws than those of the communication of motions Now I think I am able to demonstrate by the Authority of the Holy Scripture that the Angels have received from God Power over the present World and that thus God executes their desires and by them his own designs according to certain general Laws so that all which appears miraculous in the Old Testament does no wise prove that God may often act by particular wills St. Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews intending to exalt J. C. above Angels says that God had not subjected the World to come to them as he had to J. C. He believed then as a thing whereof those to whom he wrote had no doubt that God had subjected the present World to Angels If the Angels had had power over nothing it would have been much more easy for
desire of J. Christ We may also look upon the desires of the soul of J. C. which generally relate to all the minds of one certain character as particular desires tho they comprehend many persons because these desires change every moment as those of particular causes do But the general Laws by which God acts are always the same because his wills must be firm and constant seeing his wisdom is infinite as I have shewn in the first Discourse Additions I think I have demonstrated that J. C. as man is the occasional cause of Grace Now since God acts not if Order doth not require or some occasional cause determine him thereunto and that in respect of Grace altogether free Order never requires that God shou'd give it seeing it cannot be merited 'T is evident that all the difficulties which we find in the distribution of Grace must be ascribed to J. C. as man This is that which I have already done in a general way for it was not at all necessary that I should particularly justifie the wisdom and goodness of God which was my only design in the construction of his Church as I did at first advertise But that the minds least able to discern the usefulness of the principles laid down may not fail to apprehend it I shall endeavour as clearly as possibly I can to shew the consequences which may be drawn from these principles There are many difficulties in vindicating Gods Conduct in his way of distributing the rain of Grace as well as in that by which he sends down the ordinary rain the chief of which are that it is not always proportioned to the need of sinners and that even in respect to the just tho it answer their necessities yet it does not always hinder them from falling into disorder God is wise he wills the conversion of sinners he has sworn so by his Prophet A Being infinitely wise proportions the means to the end How then can it be that the Grace which the sinner receives shou'd not be strong enough to make him quit his sin Or to take away all equivocation Why shou'd not such an Infant be Baptised Why should there be so many Nations who know not J. C. It is easily comprehended by what I have said in the first Discourse that this is a consequence of the simplicity of Gods ways and must proceed from the occasional cause which God has established for the executing his design after such a manner as best resembles his Divine Attributes For if it rains upon the High-ways upon the Sand upon the Sea as well as upon the Sown Lands it is because these rains are necessary consequences of the simplicity of those ways which God has established for making the Earth Fruitful But whence does it proceed that J. C. who is an intelligent occasional cause abandons so many sinners and so many nations Or to come to the greatest difficulty Whence is it that J. C. forsakes even the just the members of his body who are straight united to him by charity For as to sinners and they who do not call upon him it may be said that he neglects them as unworthy of his care But whence comes it to pass that he gives to the just exposed to temptation such a Grace which he well foresaw notwithstanding his assistance wou'd be overcome This Grace was altogether sufficient I grant and that it only depended upon the just to make it efficacious But why did not J. C. give it more force since he foresaw the fall of one of his well-beloved Children If my principle can clear up these difficulties without injuring the love of J. C. towards men as well as it defends the wisdom and goodness of God against the reasonings of Libertines certainly the consequences thereof will be very advantageous to Religion This is that which I am about to examine J. C. may be considered according to two respects one as Architect of the Eternal Temple the other as Head of the Church I have partly explained the manner after which J. C. acts as Architect because this manifested the fruitfulness and necessity of my principle But I wou'd not speak of the way by which he acts as Head of the Church by reason of the difficulty of the fall of the just which supposes certain things whereof I thought not then to speak That I may explain more particularly the manner after which J. C. acts as Architect upon the materials which do not as yet make part of his Temple and as Head in respect of the Just who are members of his Body I am obliged to say what I think concerning the holy Soul of J. C. which regulates all his desires with respect nevertheless to the divine Law the immutable and necessary order for the wills of J. C. are always agreeable to those of his Father Tho several of the * Athan. Orat. 4. in Arianos S. Iren Lib. V. S. Basil Ep. 391. ad Amphil. S. Greg. Naz. Orat 36. S. Cyr. of Alex. Thres lib. 9. C. 4. Theod Tom. 4. p. 731. Fathers and those especially who wrote against the Arrians as Athanasius were contented to attribute to Jesus Christ as God the knowledge of all things and expounded concerning J. C. as man that which St. Mark reports The Day of the Lord knoweth no Man no not the Son of Man himself and some of them feared not even to say that Ignorance is one of the defects of Humane Nature which J. C. took for our sakes Nevertheless I am far from this thought For I am perswaded that J. C. as man knows all Sciences and hath a perfect knowledge of all things that he not only knows all the Beings which God hath created with all their Modifications and all their relations but also upon much greater reason all those which God can create In a word all that which God contains in the immensity of his Being I say that J. C. knows upon much greater reason all possible Creatures than the existence and relation of those which God hath made because he knows the first by the right which his union with the Word which contains them as the Word gives him whereas he knows not the other but by a kind of a Revelation as I shall shew hereafter I believe then that J. C. as man knows all things but it ought to be observ'd that there is a great difference between knowing all things habitually and knowing all things actually between knowing all things and thinking of all things which is almost always confounded There is no man but knows that two and two make four and yet there are but few who actually think of it A Geometrician knows his Enclid but he is often a long time without thinking of any of the propositions of this Author A man knows a truth or Science when by his Labour or otherwise he has gain'd a right thereunto insomuch that he can no sooner think of these things but they immediately present
suffers us not to doubt of this truth when he assures us that we are made of the Bone and Flesh of J. C. and that we are his Members and that the Marriage of Adam and Eve was the Figure of J. C. and his Church LVI God might have form'd Men and Animals by ways as simple as the ordinary Generation is But seeing this way figured J. C. and his Church since it bore the Character of the Chief of God's Designs since it represented as I may say the well-beloved Son of his Father that Son by whom the whole Creation subsists God was obliged to prefer it before all others whereby to teach us that as intelligible Beauties consist only in the relation they have to eternal Wisdom so sensible Beauties must in some manner much unknown to us have some relation to the Truth incarnate LVII Doubtless there are many relations between the principal Creatures and J. C. who is their model and end For all is full of J. C. all expresses and figures him as far as the simplicity of the Laws of Nature will permit them but I dare not enter into the particulars of this For besides that I am afraid of deceiving my self and that I don 't sufficiently know either Nature or Grace the present or the future World to discover the relations thereof I am sensible that Mens Imaginations are so witty and delicate that one cannot by Reason lead them to God much less to J. C. without tyring them and exciting their railery The greatest part of Christians are accustom'd to a Philosophy which rather loves to shelter its self in fictions as extravagant as those of the Poets than have recourse to God and some are so little acquainted with J. C. that a Man shou'd pass with them for a visionary if he shou'd say the same things with S. Paul and not quote his words For 't is rather this great Name than the Sight of the Truth which engages them The Authority of the Scripture hinders them from blaspheming against that which they are ignorant of but seeing they think but little of it they can't thereby be much enlightned LVIII It is certain the Jews were a figure of the Church and the most holy and famous amongst the Kings Prophets and Patriarchs of this People did represent the true Messias our Saviour J. C. This truth can't be denied without undermining the Foundations of Christian Religion and making the most learned of the Apostles pass for the most ignorant of Men. J. C. not being yet come it was necessary he shou'd at least be prefigured He ought to be expected he ought to be desired he ought to disperse by his Figures some sort of Beauty in the World to make it pleasing to his Father Thus it was necessary he shou'd have been in some sense as ancient as the World it was necessary he shou'd die presently after Sin in the person of Abel Agnus occisus ab origine Mundi principium finis Alpha Omega heri hodie est erat venturus est These are the Qualifications which S. John gives to the Saviour of Men. LIX Now supposing that J. C. ought to be presigured it was expedient he shou'd chiefly be so by his Ancestors and that their History dictated by the H. Spirit shou'd in all times be preserv'd to the end that J. C. may still be compar'd with his Figures and acknowledg'd as the true Messias Of all the Nations of the Earth God loving that best which had most relation with his Son the Jews were to have been the Ancestors of J. C. according to the flesh and to have received this favour of God since they were the most lively and most express Representations of his Son LX. But if this Difficulty be further urg'd so as to demand a reason of the choice which God made of the Jews to be the principal Figures of J. C. I think I may and ought to affirm first That God always acting by the most simple ways and discovering in the infinite Treasures of his Wisdom all the possible Combinations of Nature with Grace chose that which wou'd make the Church most ample most perfect and most worthy of his Majesty and Holiness as I have already said In the second place I think I ought to answer That God foreseeing what wou'd happen to the Jews by a necessary consequence of natural Laws had more relation to the design which he had of representing J. C. and his Church than any thing which cou'd happen to any other Nation it was expedient that he shou'd chuse this People rather than any other For in conclusion the predestination to the Law is not like the predestination to Grace and tho' there is nothing in Nature which may oblige God to dispense his Grace equally to all People it seems to me that Nature might merit the Law in the sence wherein I here understand it LXI It is true that all that happen'd to the Jews who represented J. C. was not a necessary consequence of the order of Nature Miracles were necessary to render them the lively and express Images of the Church but Nature must have furnish'd the Fund and the Matter and perhaps the principal Stroaks in several things Miracles finish'd the rest But no other Nation wou'd have been so proper for so just and high a Design LXII It appears to me that we are oblig'd to think that God's Wisdom foreseeing all the Consequences of all the possible Orders and all their Combinations never works Miracles when Nature suffices and that thus he was oblig'd to chuse the Combination of Natural Effects which saving him as I may say the expence of Miracles might nevertheless very faithfully execute his Intentions For example 'T is necessary that all Sins shou'd be punish'd but not always in this World Supposing nevertheless that it was expedient for the glory of J. C. and the establishment of Religion that the Jews shou'd be punish'd in the face of the whole Earth for putting to death the Saviour of the World it was convenient that J. C. came into the World towards the end of Herod's Reign supposing that according to the necessary consequence of the Order of Nature that People shou'd be divided amongst themselves about that time that Civil Wars and continual Seditions shou'd weaken them and that lastly the Romans shou'd destroy and scatter them abroad after the total destruction of their City and Temple It is true there seems to have been something extraordinary in the desolation of the Jews But since it argues more Wisdom in God to produce such surprising Effects by the most simple and general Laws of Nature than by particular Wills I know not whether on this occasion we ought to have recourse to a Miracle For my part I don't dispute of it here this is a thing which is not easie nor indeed very necessary to be cleared I give this Example for to make some application of my Principles and to make them the
of J. C. John 1.17 abundant Graces because says he the Law was given by Moses but true Grace by Jesus Christ. For in truth the Graces which were before J. C. ought not to be compared to those which he distributed after his triumph If they were miraculous it must be thought they were very rare Even the Grace of the Apostles before the Holy Spirit was given to them was not to be compared with those which they received when the Soveraign Priest of good things to come being entred by his Blood into the Holy of Holies by the strength of his Prayers obtain'd and by the dignity of his Person sent the Holy Spirit to animate and sanctifie his Church The strange Blindness of the Jews their gross and carnal Sentiments their frequent relapses into Idolatry after so many Miracles do sufficiently shew they had scarce any love for true goods and the fearfulness of the Apostles before they received the Holy Spirit is a sensible mark of their weakness Thus Grace in this time was very rare because as yet our Nature was not made in J. C. the occasional cause of our Graces as yet J. C. was not fully consecrated a Priest according to the Order of Melchisedech and his Father had not yet given him that immortal and glorious Life Heb. 5.5 10. Heb. 7.16 17. which is the particular character of his Priesthood For it was necessary that J. C. should enter into the Heavens and receive the glory and power of being the occasional cause of all goods before he sent the Spirit according to the words of St. John John 7.39 John 16.7 The Spirit was not yet given because J. C. was not yet glorified And according to these words of Christ himself It is expedient for you that I go For if I go not the Comforter will not come But if I go I will send him unto you Now it is not to be imagined that J. C. considered as God is the Head of the Church He has obtain'd this honour as Man the Head and the Members ought to be of the same nature It is as Man that J. C. interceeds for Men it is as Man that he has received of God soveraign power over his Church For since God does not interceed at all he as God has not received that Name which is above every Name he is equal to the Father and absolute Master of all things by right of his birth These Truths are evident and J. C. himself assures us of them John 5.22 to 27. since he says that his Father gave him power to judge Men because he was the Son of Man Thus we must not think that those Expressions of Scripture which teach us that J. C. is the Author of Grace ought to be understood of J. C. considered according to his Divine Person For if this was so I confess I should not have demonstrated that he is the occasional cause of it he would have been only the true cause thereof But since it is certain that the three Persons of the Trinity are equally the true causes of Grace seeing all the outward Operations of God are common to the three Persons my Arguments cannot be denied since the Holy Scripture says of the Son and not of the Father nor of the Spirit that he is the Head of the Church and that under this character he communicates Life to all the Members which compose it Object II. XIV It is God who gives to the Soul of J. C. all Thoughts and Motions which it has in the formation of his Mystical Body So that if on one hand the Wills of J. C. as natural and occasional Causes determine the efficacy of God's general Will on the other hand it is God himself who determines the divers Wills of J. C. Thus it comes to the same thing for assuredly the Wills of J. C. are always conformable to those of his Father Answer I confess that the particular wills of J. C. are always conformable to those of the Father but this is not because the Father has particular wills which answer to those of the Son and determine them This is only because the wills of the Son are always conformable to Order in general which is necessarily the rule of the divine wills and of those which love God For to love Order is is to love God it is to will what God wills it is to be Just Wise Regular in his love The Soul of J. C. would form to the Glory of his Father the most Sacred Magnificent and Perfect Temple that can be Order requires this for nothing can be made too great for God All the divers desires of this Soul ever intent upon the Execution of its design come also to it from God or the Word to which it is united But the occasional causes of all these thoughts most certainly are its divers desires for it thinks on what it will Now these divers desires are sometimes altogether free probably the thoughts which excite these desires do not always invincibly determine the Soul of J. C. to form and resolve to execute them It is equally advantagious to the design of Jesus Christ whether it be Peter or John who does that which the regularity of his work requires It is true that the soul of Jesus Christ is not indifferent as to what respects the glory of his Father or that which Order necessarily requires but it is altogether free in every thing else nothing out of God invincibly determines its love Thus it ought not to be wonder'd if it have particular wills tho there are no such wills in God which determine those of the soul of Jesus Christ But I grant that the wills of Jesus Christ are not free I grant that his knowledge determines him to will and always to will after a certain manner in the construction of his Church But it must be Eternal Wisdom to which his soul is united which determines these wills if it is not necessary for this end to suppose particular wills in God It must be observ'd that the wills of the soul of J. C. are particular or have not any occasional cause which determines their efficacy no not the will of God For the soul of J. C. not having an infinite capacity of thinking his knowledge and consequently his wills are limited Thus 't is necessary that his wills be particular since they change according to his divers thoughts and applications For it seems to me that the soul of J. C. otherwise employ'd in contemplating the beauties and tasting the infinite sweetness of the true good ought not according to the rule of Order to think at the same time upon all the Ornaments which it designs to bestow upon his Church and the different means of executing each of his intentions J. C. desiting to render the Church worthy of the infinite Majesty of his Father he desires also to adorn it with infinite beauties and that by such means as are most
those whom I had chiefly in my mind when I wrote the Treatise of Nature and Grace and whom I should extreamly desire to content as well as others Additions The Will of God can be nothing else but the Love which he bears to himself Now he cannot will and act but by his own Will Therefore he cannot act but for himself But the World is not worthy of God It has no Proportion to God for there is no relation betwixt finite and infinite God therefore cannot form the Design of producing it God cannot act with a design of doing nothing for himself since he cannot act but for himself Now the World with respect to God is nothing for the relation of finite to infinite is a Cypher God therefore cannot resolve to make any thing if a Divine Person does not joyn himself to his Work to render it Divine and thereby worthy of his Complacency or answerable to the infinite Action of his Will Thus I. Since God cannot act but for his own Glory nor finding it but in himself he could have no other design in the Creation of the World but the Establishment of his Church Additions But what Divine Person shall sanctify the Work of God It must be the Eternal Word For it is the Word or the Wisdom of God which ought to be as I may so say first consulted to regulate the Divine Operation and in some sort make way for God's Action A Prophane World being unworthy of God the Wisdom of God rendred God impotent or hindred him from acting Thus supposing that God would procure to himself an Honour worthy of him which nevertheless is every way indifferent to him since he is altogether sufficient to himself his Wisdom would fail him in some sence if it did not in the first place offer its self to him to be united to his Work since otherwise his Work would not be worthy of him The Word is universal Reason 'T is he therefore who was to come and enlighten Men who could not be reasonable but by Reason 'T is according to him and by him that we are form'd 'T is therefore by him or according to him we must be perfected or reformed Thus since a Divine Person must render the Work of God Divine make Gods of us or the Adopted Children of the Eternal Father it was necessary that his only Son should be the First-born amongst many Brethren and that we all should receive of his Abundance or of that Fulness of Divinity which dwells in him I might therefore say according to these Principles speaking of the Church that it is the great Work which the Son built to the Glory of the Father Eph. 1.21.22 23. c. 2.21 22. c. 4.13.16 Col. 1.15.16 17 18 19. Eccl. 24.14 1 Pet. 1.20 Eph. 1.4 Joan. 17.5 24. Apoc. 13.8 Psal 72.17 Eph. 2.10 Rom. 8.29 II. Jesus Christ who is the Head thereof is the Beginning of the Wayes of the Lord He is the First-born of all Creatures And though he was born amongst men in the fulness of time yet he is their model in the Eternal designs of his Father It is according to his Image that all men were made they who were before his Temporal birth as well as we In a word it is in Him that all things subsist for it is he alone who could render the work of God perfectly worthy of its Author Additions Jesus Christ who is the Head of the Church is the beginning of the Wayes of the Lord. I use these Expressions because Scripture uses them The Title of Head plainly shews that Jesus Christ as Man is not only the Meritorious cause of Grace but also the Occasional Physical Distributive since He gives his Spirit to his Members which compose the Church as I shall explain more largely in the Second Discourse And it may be said That Jesus Christ is the Beginning of the Ways of the Lord Because God by the Creation of the World goes out as I may say of himself since the term of his Operation is not his own substance as in immanent Operations by which the Son is continually begotten and the Holy Ghost proceeds It is upon this account that the Wise man after these words in the Eighth Chap. of the Proverbs The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his Wayes adds for Explication * Before his works of Old Antequam quidquam faceret a principio That Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church is without dispute But that he is the beginning of the Ways of the Lord in this sence is that which may be doubted I have followed the common opinion of the Fathers upon the 22. ver of the 8th ch of the Prov. for almost all of them understand this passage which the Arrians abused Dominus possedit or as they then read according to the 70. Creavit me in initio viarum suarum of the incarnate Wisdom It is useless here to transcribe all the Quotations of Salazar upon this place of the Proverbs Jesus Christ is the first-born of every Creature primogenitus omnis creaturae Col. 1.15 He is our model since St. Paul exhorts us to put Him on or to become like unto Him Therefore as we have born the Image of the Earthly let us also bear the Image of the Heavenly It is according to his Image that all men were made in the purpose of God For the Word is universal Reason and immutable Order and God has made us to conform us to Reason and Order There are none but the Elect whom God has efficaciously predestinated to become conformable to the Image his Son Quos praescivit predestinavit conformes fieri imagini Filii sui Rom. 8.29 I confess it But God would Save all men He wills there Sanctification This is the will of God your Sanctification 1. Thes 4.3 The Wisdom incarnate is moreover our model after a sensible manner and suitable to men who only harken to their senses God foreseeing sin resolved to give unto Jesus Christ a body that it might be a victim which He might offer unto Him for every Priest must have something to offer Necesse est hunc habere aliquid quod offerat Heb. 8.3 Now God thought on the body of his Son when he form'd that of Adam and hath given unto us all a body by which we may Merit or which we ought to sacrifice as Priests and according to the Example of our Sovereign Priest Obsecra vos ut exhibeatis corpora vestra hostiam viventem sanctam Deo placentem Rom. 12.1 To conclude all things subsist in Jesus Christ Omnia in ipso constant Col. 1.19 Every thing was created in J. C. and by J. C. Omnia per ipsum in ipso creata sunt Col. 1.16 Omnia in omnibus Christus Col. 3.11 III. There ought to be some relation betwixt the World and the Action by which it is produced Now the Action by which the World was drawn out of nothing is the
Action of God which is of infinite value and the World how perfect soeve◠〈◊〉 might be is not infinitely amiable and cannâ—◠〈…〉 unto God an Honour worthy of him Thus separate Jesus Christ from the rest of the creatures and see if he who cannot act but for his own glory and whose Wisdom has no bounds cou'd resolve to produce any thing from without But if you joyn J. C. to his Church and the Church to the rest of the World out of which it was taken then you will raise to the Glory of God a Temple so august and so holy that you 'l perhaps be surprized that the foundations of it were laid so late Additions See then the order of things All is for men men for J. C. and J. C. for God Whether things present or things to come all are yours and you are Christs and Christ is Gods 1. Cor. 3.22 God hath Subjected all things to J. C. All Power is given to me both in Heaven and Earth St. Mat. 28.18 Heb. 2.9 That J. C. might subject all things to God and give up his Kingdom at the end of the World having destroyed all Principalities and all Powers 1. Cor. 15.24 That the Son himself may be for ever subject to him that put all things under him and that thus God may be all in all Ver. 28. This is the Spiritual Temple which must be altogether filled with the Majesty of God and remain eternally because its immovable foundations are laid on J. C. before those of this world which must Perish * I was set up from everlasting from the begining or ever the earth was Fundavit me 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 apud Sept. Ab aeterno ordinata sum ex antiquis antequam terra sieret Prov. 8.23 God has elected us in J. C. before the Creation of the World Eph. 1.4 His grace is given to us before the world began 2. Tim. 1.9 And J. C. himself in his Prayer after the celebration of the holy Supper beggs of 〈◊〉 Father that glory which he possessed in him before the world was i. e. before he resolved to form the World St. John 17.5 To conclude J. C. being the first of the predestinated since we are not predestinated but in J. C. God who has made the world only for the predistinated Omnia propter electos must as I may so say have thought of J. C. before all things For if these passages and such like be interpreted only of the Eternal prescience it also may be truly said that the motion of a straw is in God before all ages as well as the Incarnation of his beloved Son who renders all the Work of God Amiable to him If the different manner after which the H. Spirit speaks of the works of God in the H. Scripture be observed it cannot be doubted in my opinion that J. C. and his Church is truly the design of God See wherefore it is evident by reason and certain by Faith that God never repents or changes his design God is not as the Son of man that he should repent Numb 23.19 Yet nevertheless the H. Scripture says that God repented he had made man Gen. 6.6 And that the Jewish Priest-hood their Ceremonies their whole Burnt offerings were not at all pleasing to him Isa 1. Psalm 50. Why did God make a World which he was obliged to destroy Why has he established a worship which he is bound to reject he who is constant in all his purposes It is because he would thereby signify that the present world is not properly his work or his true design nor the Jewish worship a true worship or worthy of him But what then is his immutable design The Lord sware and will not repent thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec God will never repent of having made J. C. Sovereign Priest He thereby receives Divine Honours His Priesthood shall continue for ever having been confirmed by an Oath Heb. ch 7. c. God repented that he had made Saul King over the people Saul I say the figure of Herods and the Image of Politick Kings who only seek their own greatness But David the figure and Father of Jesus Christ is after Gods own heart God never repented that he had made him King over his People I have Sworn once by my Holiness that I will not fail David His Seed shall endure for ever and his Seat is like as the Sun before me Psal 89.34 35. Behold thou shalt conceive and bear a Son and of his Kingdom there shall be no end When Abraham by the sacrifice of his only Son had represented Jesus Christ raised from the Dead God assures him and that also with an Oath to render this promise irrevocable that in the Antitpye of Isaac delivered from the Dead that is to say in J. C. raised from the Dead set at his right hand made a Priest according to the order of Melchisedec and a King over his People all the Nations should be abundantly blessed By my self have I Sworn saith the Lord in thy seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be Blessed Thus we see when God speaks of the Incarnation of his Son and of his Priesthood he thereunto adds an Oath to shew that this is his irrevocable purpose or rather his purpose for since God never repents all his designs are irrevocable But I think I ought to advise that what I have hitherto said is not essential to my purpose which is principally to justify the Wisdom and Goodness of God notwithstanding Monsters Sinners and all the irregularities found in the World If I place J. C. at the Head of all things if I make him the principal design of God it is because I hope by this means to justifie the thought or desire which God had to go out of himself by communicating himself to his Creatures and by the regular order of Meditation it seems to me I ought to begin there IV. In the mean time if you observe that the glory which redounds to God from his work is not essential to him if you grant that the World cannot be a necessary Emanation of the Divinity you 'll plainly see that it was not to have been eternal tho' it never should have an end Eternity is the Character of Independence it must needs be therefore that the World had a begining The annihilation of substances is a mark of inconstancy in him that made them they therefore shall never have an end Additions I mean that Eternity does not imply independence But independence implys Eternity for nothing can be independent that is not Eternal Eternal existence therefore is the manner whereby that thing which is independent exists GOD could not give Eternal existence to Creatures To consider only the Power of God he was able to have created the World from all Eternity for he never was without his Power But if his Wisdom which is his inviolable be consulted he ought not to have
themselves to his mind very clearly without putting him to any trouble Now the soul of J. C. is personally united to the Word and the Word as the Word contains all possible being with their relations he contains all immutable necessary eternal truths J. C. as man can no sooner think of any truths but they are instantly discovered to his mind J. C. therefore knows all Sciences he knows all possible things since he may without any effort of mind see all that the Word contains as the Word For the same reason J. C. knows all the divine Perfections since the Word is a substantial representation of the divine Nature and the Father communicates to his Son all his Substance He knows even the Existence the Modifications the relations of the Creatures but by a kind of revelation which the Father gives to him whensoever he desires him according to those words of J. C. himself I know O Father that thou always hearest me For since the creatures are not the necessary emanations of the Divinity the Word as the Word does truly represent their Nature or Essence but not their Existence for their Existence depends upon the free will of the Creator which the Word meerly as the Word does not contain seeing the Divine Decrees are common to all the three Persons Thus the Existence of the Creatures cannot be known but by a kind of Revelation J. C. therefore as man knows all things In him are hidden all the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge of God but he does not actually think upon all things and this is evident For the soul of J. C. has not the capacity of an infinite mind And those who maintain that there are no succession of thoughts in J. C. and that he always knows whatsoever he does know thinking to attribute to the soul of J. C. a sort of immutability which is due only to God they necessarily make him liable to very great ignorance See the proof of this It is certain that natural effects are combined amongst themselves and with those of Grace after an infinitely infinite manner and that these combinations are every moment changed after infinite ways by reason of the mutability of Mens wills and the irregular course of the animal Spirits which change all our traces and all our Ideas in consequence of the Laws of Union of Soul and Body Now the capacity of thinking which the Soul of J. C. has as Man is finite Therefore if he knew or always actually thought upon that which he knows he must necessarily be ignorant of an infinite number of things Furthermore it is certain that the properties of numbers are not only infinite but infinitely infinite That in respect of Figures there may be for example an infinite number of Triangles of different kinds each of their sides being capable of being lengthned or shortned to infinity Now to say that J. C. knows not the properties of such Triangles or the relation of one of their sides or its Square or its Cube or its Quadrata-quadrate c. with other Sides or their Squares or their Cubes or their Quadrata-quadrates c. this is to suppose that J. C. is ignorant of that which the Geometricians know But if it be maintained that J. C. as Man always actually knows every thing that he knows it is necessary that he be ignorant of an infinite number of the properties of these Triangles Nevertheless let us suppose that Natural effects are not combined with the effects of Grace and that likewise all the thoughts of men their circumstances their combinations were something finite which the mind of man might discern all at once certainly to suppose that the Soul of J. C. does always think of them is to give unto him a very useless and troublesome knowledge It is troublesome for that which renders the soul of J. C. happy is the contemplation of the perfection of the Sovereign good Now the knowledge of all the Chimaeraes which do have and shall pass in our minds according to this supposition continually distracting the capacity of the soul of J. C. otherwise entertain'd in beholding the Beauties and tasting the sweetness of the chief Good would not be very agreeable to him For it must be observed that it is one thing to see God and another thing to see the Creatures and their modifications in God I think I have demonstrated that we see all in God in this life but this is not to see God or to enjoy him Thus it cannot be said that J. C. sees all our thoughts without dividing his capacity of thinking because he sees them all in God This actual knowledge therefore which some wou'd give to J. C. is troublesome for it is very irksome to think actually upon those things upon which we do not desire to think of A Geometrician who should have found out the Squaring of a Circle or any other more surprising Truth wou'd be very miserable should it be always present to his mind J. C. has an Object more worthy of his application than the modification of the Creatures therefore always to have an actual knowledge of our thoughts and needs pass'd and future would be very troublesome Moreover it would be altogether useless to him and to us Certainly it is sufficient that J. C. thinks of assisting me when I shall have need without thinking thereof for two or three Thousand years or rather from all Eternity For J. C. must actually think thereof from all Eternity if there be no succession of thoughts in his soul As in the Treatise of Nature and Grace which I composed for those Persons who are not over credulous I resolved not to propose any Principles which might be contested and since if I had supposed that the soul of J. C. had actually known all things my supposition might have been opposed by the reasons which I have produced and perhaps by others better I have therefore only supposed that J. C. has a clear Idea of the soul and the modifications of which it is capable to produce a noble effect in the Temple which he builds to the glory of his Father that which Reason and Faith do demonstrate Thus I suppose J. C. to act in consequence of this only supposition in the XIII XIV XV XVI Articles where I compare him to an Architect and to a Soul which should have power to form all the parts of its Body For as an Architect may form a Design and build an Edifice without concerning himself from whence the materials come he employs therein so J.C. by his union with the Word may form his designs and desires without thinking on the actual dispositions of all men He hath admonished them by his Counsels in his Gospel to put themselves in such a condition that Grace may not be useless to them It becomes him not to order his desires the distributive causes of his Graces according to the negligence or wickedness of men but according to the condition
distributes to his Members those Graces which by his sacrifice he hath merited for his Church For my part I cannot comprehend how any one can doubt of these Reasons nor upon what foundation a Truth so very edifying and as ancient as the Religion of J. C. can be treated as a dangerous Novelty I grant my Expressions may be new but this is because they appear'd to me very proper distinctly to explain a truth which I could only have confusedly demonstrated by too general terms The words Occasional Causes and General Laws appear to me necessary to make those Philosophers for whom I wrote the Treatise of Nature and Grace distinctly comprehend that which the generality of Men are content to know only confusedly Since new Expressions are not dangerous but when they cover something which is equivocal or may occasion some thought contrary to Religion to arise in the mind I do not think that any candid persons and who are skill'd in St. Paul's Divinity will be offended because I explain my self after a particular manner since it tends only to make us adore the Wisdom of God and to unite us strictly unto J. C. Objection I. XIII It is objected against what I have said That neither Angels nor Saints of the Old Testament received Grace in consequence of the desires of the Soul of Jesus since this Holy Soul was not as yet and thus tho J. C. be the meritorious cause of all Graces he is not the occasional which distributes them to Men. Answer In respect of Angels I answer That there is some probability that Grace was given to them once only So that if we consider things in this respect I confess that nothing oblig'd the Wisdom of God to establish an occasional cause for the sanctification of Angels But if these blessed Spirits be considered as Members of the Body whereof J. C. is Head or if it be supposed that they were unequally assisted I believe there is reason to think that the diversity of their Graces came from him who-is Head of Angels as well as Men and that in this capacity he by his sacrifice not only merited all Graces which God gave to his Creatures but also diversly applied these same Graces to them by his different desires Since it cannot be denied that J. C. along time before he was born or could merit was the meritorious cause of Graces which were given to the Angels and Saints of the Old Testament it must in my opinion be granted that by his Prayers he might have been the occasional cause of the same Graces a long time before they were ask'd For there is no necessary relation between occasional causes and the time of their producing their effects and tho ordinarily these sorts of causes do produce their effects at the very time of their action nevertheless since their action is not efficacious in its self seeing its efficacy depends upon the will of the universal cause it is not necessary that it should actually exist that they may produce their effects Suppose for example That J. C. to day asks of his Father that such an one may receive such an assistance at certain times of his life the Prayer of J. C. will infallibly determine the efficacy of the general Will of God which is to save all Men in his Son This person shall receive these assistances tho the Soul of J. C. actually thinks of quite another thing and tho it should never more think of that which it desired for him Now the Prayer of J. C. which is already pass'd is not more present to his Father than the future for whatsoever happens in all times is equally present to God Thus since God loves his Son and knows that his Son will have such desires in respect of his Ancestors and the People of his own Nation and also in respect of Angels who were to enter into the Spiritual Edifice of his Church and compose the Body of which he is the Head he seems to have been obliged to accomplish the desires of his Son before they were made to the end that the Elect who were before his birth and whom he purchased by the merit of his sacrifice should as particularly belong to him as others and he should be their Head as truly as he is ours I confess it is convenient that meritorious and occasional causes should go before their effects rather than follow them and even order its self requires that these causes and their effects do exist at the same time For 't is clear that all merit should be presently rewarded and that every occasional cause should actually produce its effect provided that nothing hinder but that this may and ought to be so But since Grace was absolutely necessary to the Angels and to the Patriarchs it could not be differ'd As for the Glory and Reward of the Saints of the Old Testament seeing it might be delay'd it was expedient that God should suspend its accomplishment till J. C. was ascended into Heaven and made an High-Priest over the House of God and began to use the soveraign power of an occasional cause of all Graces which he had merited by his Labours upon Earth Thus we believe that the Patriarchs did not enter into Heaven till J. C. himself their Head their Mediator and their Fore-runner was therein entred Nevertheless tho it should be granted that God should not have appointed an occasional cause for all Graces given to the Angels and the Patriarchs I do not see how it can be concluded that at present J. C. does not dispense to the Body of the Church that Spirit which gives it increase and nourishment that he prays not for it or that his Desires or Prayers do not infallibly obtain their effect or in a word that he is not the occasional cause which applies those Graces to to Men which he has merited for them Before J. C. God gave Grace by particular Wills This I grant if it be desired the necessity of Order requires it the occasional Cause could not regularly be so soon establish'd the Elect were but very few But at present when the rain of Grace is generally sent upon all the World when it falls not as heretofore upon a very few Men of one chosen Nation when J. C. may or ought to be establish'd the occasional cause of the goods which he has merited for his Church what reason is there to believe that God should still work Miracles as often as he gives good Sentiments For certainly all that God does by particular Wills is a Miracle since it happens not by the general Laws which he has established and whose efficacy is determin'd by occasional causes But how can we think that to save Men he should work all those Miracles which are useless to their salvation I mean that he should give all those Graces which they resist because they are not proportioned to the actual strength of their concupiscence St. John teaches us that Christians receive
are abrogated than the ways of God that are changed for those Laws which God had given to the Jews by the Ministry of Angels were to be abrogated at the coming of J. C. The Figures were to cease in the presence of the true Messias and his Mysteries But the Power which the Angels have over Men shall never be changed because the general Laws by which God hath given them this power shall never be abolished unless perhaps when the holy City shall be built and Jesus Christ shall have given up his Kingdom to his Father and brought to nought all Powers and God shall be all in all till this happy time the Angels in dependance upon J. C. their Head will always work in the Spiritual Building of the Church and God acting in them and by them according to the same Laws will produce a thousand and a thousand different effects and yet according to my Principles cannot be supposed to be in the least unconstant For tho by particular wills he cures as I may say the defects which might follow these Laws when order requires it I have sufficiently explained this elsewhere tho he guides our Conductors that they may faithfully execute his designs yet since his ways are always the same it sufficiently appears that it is not through inconstancy that he sometimes acts against the ordinary course of his Providence but because he is obliged to have respect unto all his Attributes as well as his Immutability Object VI. The Author of the Treatise says That he is perswaded that these two natural Laws which are the most simple of all viz. That all Motion proceeds or tends to proceed in a right line And that when Bodies strike upon one another their motions are communicated proportionably to the magnitude of the Bodies which strike upon one another are sufficient to produce such a World as we see I mean the Heaven the Stars the Planets the Comets the Earth the Water the Air and the Fire in a word the Elements and all Bodies except those which are organized and animated This therefore would have been the most simple way of producing the World to have stayed till it had formed it self of the matter which God had created and put into motion according to these two Laws without imploying therein particular wills This supposed I see not what the Author could answer to a Libertine who should thus accost him Therefore according to you that which is said in Genesis is not true For on the one hand you maintain It is evident that God cannot falsifie himself and being infinitely wise cannot but act wisely and that it would not to be to act wisely to do that by compounded ways and particular wills which he may execute by simple ways and general wills And on the other you teach me that the World such as we see it to be might have been produced by these two natural Laws which are the most simple of all other Therefore God has made it after this manner and not as it is said in Genesis where the Creation is described as if it had been made by particular wills and not by these simple ways which yet you teach us is unworthy of the wisdom of God Would you tell him that God has his Reasons for this But this Libertine will answer That there can be no reason why God should falsifie himself why he who is infinitely wise should not act wisely why it being in his power to have form'd a work worthy of himself by an uniform constant and regular Conduct he has chosen one which is unequal changeable irregular and which shews inconstancy and ignorance in him who observes it c. Answer I should say to this Libertine that he little understands what he says and he who undertakes to overthrow the sentiments of any Author should take them aright for nothing is more easie than to confound things when the matters treated of are obscure in themselves According to your opinion says this Libertine that which Moses relates of the Creation of the World in Genesis is not true Fairly and softly I should answer you neither understand what the Scripture saith nor what my sentiments are as for Genesis I shall not explain it to you But this is my sense observe it well I maintain that God always acts by the most simple ways but it must be always supposed that there is an equality in all things else whether in the ways or in the works as I have so often explained it must also be supposed that Order doth not require that he should compound his ways God never falsifies himself Very well But to change Conduct is not always to falsifie himself God may nay he ought to compound his ways when that which he owes to his Wisdom his Justice to any one of his Attributes is more considerable than that which he owes to his Immutability God would falsifie himself if upon some occasions he did not change his Conduct for he would not do that Justice which he owes to himself and his divine attributes and thus would not observe that immutable Order which is properly his Law or the inviolable Rule of his proceedings He would cease to love himself to act for himself he would sin You look upon things only on one side You compare the Conduct of God only with his Immutability Compare his ways with all his attributes and you may easily comprehend that tho there can be no reason which obliges God to falsifie him self there may be many which oblige him to change his Conduct And do not ask me in such and such occurrences what are his reasons for neither I nor any person else can be assured that we know them This in reason is enough to silence this Libertine for tho I do not take upon me to know the particular reasons why God ceases to follow his general Laws or to act by the most simple ways I think I know that he never ceases to follow these Laws and that he never compounds his ways but when Order obliges him thereunto And this I think I have proved so many ways that it is to no purpose to do it any more Nevertheless let us examine the difficulty to the bottom I maintain that God has made the World by the most simple ways For I say that in forming the World he has observed these two Laws as far as 't was possible The form of Bodies proceeds only from the various motions of those Bodies which are about and within them Now I maintain that this variety of motions which is at present observed and that of the Motions which have been made from the beginning of the World is the effect of the same Law of the communications of motions by which this Libertine would have had the World made successively by little and little that God might have spared his particular wills This Libertine doth not observe that he puts into his consequence that condition which renders it
necessary that in the order of Grace there be some occasional cause which establishes these Laws and determines the efficacy of them and this is that cause which we must endeavour to find out IV. Tho we never so little consult the Idea of Intelligible order or consider the sensible order which appears in the works of God we clearly discover that the occasional causes which determine the efficacy of the general Laws and establish them must necessarily have relation to the design for which God appoints these Laws For example we see by experience that God has not and Reason convinces us that he ought not to have made the motions of the Planets the occasional causes of the union of soul and body He could not have willed that our Arm shou'd be moved after such and such a manner nor the soul suffer the pain of the Tooth-ach at the time of the Moons conjunction with the Sun if this conjunction does not act upon the body The design of God being to unite the Soul to the Body he cou'd not give to the Soul the sentiments of grief but when some changes happen in the body which are contrary to it Thus we ought not to seek any where else but in the Soul and in the Body the occasional causes of their union V. Hence it follows that God having a design to form his Church by J. C. could not according to this design seek any where else but in J. C. and the Creatures united by reason to J. C. the occasional causes which serve to establish the general Laws of Grace by which the spirit of J. C. is shed upon his Members and communicates unto them his Life and Holiness Thus Grace is not showered down upon our hearts according to the divers scituation of the Stars nor according to the meeting of several bodies nor even according to the different motion of the animal spirits which give unto us motion and life No bodies can excite in us any motions and sentiments but what are purely natural for all that comes to the soul by the body is only for the body The Angels themselves are not made occasional causes of inward grace They are as well as we Members of that body of which J. C. alone is the Head they are Ministers of J. C. for the salvation of the Saints I grant that they may produce some change in the bodies which surround us and even in that which we animate and that thus they may remove some impediments of the efficacy of Grace But certainly they cannot distribute to men such a precious gift they have not immediate power over the minds of men which by their nature are equal to them To conclude St Paul teaches us Heb. 11.5 to believe that God has not subjected to them the future World or the Church of J. C. Thus the occasional cause of Grace cannot be found but in J. C. or in man VI. But seeing it is certain that grace is not granted to all those that desire it nor as soon as they desire it and it is often given to those who do not ask it it follows that even our desires are not the occasional cause of Grace For this kind of causes always have readily their effect and without them the effect is never produced For example the striking of bodies upon one another being the occasional cause of the change which happens in their motion if two bodies do not meet one another their motions are not changed and if they be changed we may be assured that they did The general Laws by which Grace is poured into our hearts do find nothing in our wills which may determine their efficacy like as the general Laws which govern the rains are not founded upon the dispositions of the places where it rains For whither Lands lye Fallow or whither they be cultivated it rains indifferently in all places even upon Sands and in the Sea VII We are then brought to maintain that since none but J. C. cou'd merit grace there is likewise none but he who cou'd give the occasions of the general Laws according to which it is given to men For the principle of the foundation of general Laws or that which determines their efficacy being necessarily either in us or in J. C. since it is certain it is not in us for the reasons above mentioned it must needs be found in J. C. Thus it was necessary that God after sin should have no regard to our wills Being all in disorder we cou'd no more be the occasion of Gods giving us Grace A Mediator therefore was necessary not only to give us access to God but also to be the natural or occasional cause of those favours we hope to receive from him VIII Since God designed to make his Son the Head of his Church it was convenient he should make him the natural or occasional cause of Grace which sanctifies it for it is from the Head that Life and motion ought to be given to the members And it was even with this foresight that God permitted sin for if man had continued in his Innocence without being assisted by the Grace of J. C. seeing his wills wou'd have merited Grace and even Glory God should have established in man the occasional cause of his perfection and happiness The inviolable Law of order requires this so that J. C. wou'd not have been the Head of his Church or such an Head whose influences the Members wou'd have had no need of IX If our soul had been in our body before it was form'd and all the parts which compose it disposed of according to our different wills with how many divers sentiments and motions wou'd she have been affected by all the effects which she would have known ought to have followed from her wills especially if she had had an extream desire to have made a more Vigorous and better form'd body Eph. I. 22 23. IV. 16. Col. 11.19 Act. IX 5. Col I. 24. 1 Cor. XII 27. c. Now the Holy Scripture does not only say that J. C. is the Head of the Church but it also teaches us that he begot it that he form'd it that he nourishes it that he suffered in it that he merits in it that he acts and influences it without ceasing The zeal which J. C. has for the glory of his Father and the love he bears to his Church inspires him continually with a desire of making it the most ample the most magnisicent and the most perfect he can possibly Thus seeing the soul of J. C. has not an infinite capacity and yet desires to give infinite beauties and ornaments to his Church we have all the reason to believe that there is a continual succession of thoughts and desires in his Soul in respect of his Mystical body which he continually forms X. Now these continual desires of the Soul of Jesus which sanctifie the Church and render it worthy of the Majesty of his Father
God hath made the occasional causes of the efficacy of the general Laws of Grace For Faith teaches us that God hath given to his Son an absolute power over Men by making him the Head of his Church and this cannot be conceived if the different wills of J. C. be not followed by their effects For it is visible I should have no power over mine arm if it should move it self whether I would or no and if when I desire to move it it should remain as if it was dead and without motion XI J. C. has merited his Sovereign power over men and this quality of Head of the Church by the Sacrifice he offered upon Earth and after his Resurrection he took full possession of this right Ioh. VII 39. 'T is upon this account that he is now Sovereign Priest of future good things and that by his many intercessions he continually prays unto the Father in the behalf of men Heb. 7.25 Rom. 8.34 1 Joh. II. 1. Joh. XI 42. And seeing his desires are occasional causes his prayers are always heard his Father denies him nothing as the Scripture teaches us Nevertheless he must pray and desire that he may obtain For the occasional physical natural causes for all these words signifie the same thing have no power of themselves to do any thing and all creatures even J. C. himself considered as man are in themselves nothing but weakness and impotence Additions I don't think that hitherto there is any difficulty if it be not in this last Article where I say that J. C. prayeth unto his Father for there are some Persons whom this very much offends For I speak as St. Paul to the Romans and to the Hebrews and as Jesus Christ himself I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter which is to be understood of J. C. after his resurrection according to these words of St. John The spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified For the Spirit fell not upon the Apostles till Ten days after J. C. was entered into the Holy of Holies a Sovereign Priest of true good things In all these Articles I speak only of J. C. as to his humanity according to which he received all power in Heaven and Earth because all his prayers or his desires which certainly are in his power or otherwise he has no power are executed in consequence of his qualities as Sovereign Priest of the House of God King of Israel Architect of the Eternal Temple Mediator betwixt God and men Head of the Church or to speak like the Philosophers for whom I chiefly write this Treatise the occasional natural or distributive cause of Grace The cause which Determines the Efficacy of the general Law by which God wou'd save all men in his Son XII J. C. having then successively divers thoughts in relation to the divers dispositions whereof Souls in general are capable these divers thoughts are accompanyed with certain desires in relation to the Sanctification of these Souls Now these desires being the occasional causes of Grace they must pour it down upon those persons in particular whose dispositions resemble that upon which the Soul of J. C. actually thinks And this Grace must be so much the stronger and more abundant as these desires of J. C. are greater and more lasting XIII When a person considers any part of his body which is not form'd as it ought to be he has naturally certain desires in relation to this part and the use he desires to make of it in common life and these desires are followed by certain insensible motions of the animal Spirits which tend to give that proportion or disposition to this part which we desire it shou'd have When the Body is altogether form'd and the flesh firm the motions change nothing in the construction of the parts they can only give them certain dispositions which are called Corporeal habits But when the body is not altogether form'd and the flesh is very soft and tender these motions which accompany the desires of the Soul do not only give the body certain particular dispositions but may also change the construction thereof This sufficiently appears by Children in the Womb for they are not only moved with the same passions as there Mothers but they also receive the marks of these passions in their bodies from which yet the Mothers are always free XIV The Mystical body of J. C. is not yet a perfect man Eph. IV. 13. it will not be so till the end of the world J. C. forms it continually for it is from the Head the whole body joyned together receives nourishment by the efficacy of his influence according to the measure which is proper to every one to the end it may be form'd and edified in love These are the truths which St Paul teaches us Now since the soul of J. C. has no other action but the divers motions of its heart 't is necessary that these desires be succeeded by the influence of grace which only can form J. C. in his Members and give them that beauty and proportion which must be the eternal object of the divine Love XV. The divers motions of the soul of J. C. being the occasional causes of Grace we ought not to be surprised if it be sometimes given to great sinners or those who make no use of it For the soul of J. C. designing to raise a Temple of vast extent and infinite beauty may desire that Grace may be given to the greatest sinners and if in this moment J. C. thinks actually for example upon Covetous persons the Covetous shall receive Grace Or else J. C. having need of Spirits of a certain merit for the construction of his Church which is not ordinarily acquired but by those who suffer certain persecutions of which the passions of men are the natural principle In a word J. C. having need of Spirits of a certain character for bringing to pass certain effects in his Church may in general apply himself to them by this application bestow upon them the Grace which sanctifies In like manner as the mind of an Architect thinks in general upon square stones for example when these sort of stones are actually necessary for his building XVI But as the soul of J. C. is not a general cause there is reason to think that it often has particular desires in respect of certain particular persons When we pretend to speak exactly of God we ought not to consult our selves and make him act as we do we ought to consult the Idea of a Being infinitely perfect and make him act according to this Idea but when we speak of the action of the soul of Jesus we may consult our selves we may suppose it to act as particular causes would act which yet are joyned to eternal wisdom We have reason for example to believe that the calling of St. Paul was the effect of the efficacy of a particular