done it and consequently in one sence he could not for it is not in the power of God to belie himself or to despise the Laws which his wisdom prescribes to him The same thing must be said concerning the annihilation of substances If you consider only the power of God he may annihilate them But if you consult his wisdom it appears that he will do no such thing for God acts alwayes after the wisest manner that he can or which best comports with his divine attributes He may chuse whether he will act at all in this he is very indifferent for he is altogether sufficient to himself But if he acts he cannot change His conduct must alwayes bear the impression of his wisdom and his immutability It seems to me that order which is his inviolable law requires it should be thus See the 2d discourse Articles 50 51 52. V. If therefore it be true that the World ought to have a beginning and that the creation of J. C. could not be so ancient as the eternal generation of his divine Person an eternity must needs have preceded time Thus do not think that God delayed the production of his work he too much loves the glory which he receives thereby in J. C. It may be truly said in some sence that he has made it as soon as he could For tho' in respect of us he might have created it ten Thousand years before the begining of the World yet ten Thousand years having no relation to eternity he could not have made it sooner or later since an eternity must needs have gone before VI. It is plain that soon and late are the properties of time And if it should be supposed that God had created the World sooner than he did by so many Millions of years as there are grains of sand upon the Sea-shore might it not still have been asked Why God who so much loves the glory which he receives by the Establishment of his Church had not begun many Ages before Thus it is sufficient to say that an Eternity * Ought to have gone went before the Incarnation of the World to shew that this great mistery was accomplished neither too soon nor too late It was therefore necessary that God should have created the World for the Church the Church for J. C. and J. C. for to find in him a Sacrifice and a Sovereign Priest worthy of the divine Majesty This order of the designs of God cannot be doubted of if it be observed that he cannot have any other end of his actions but himself And if it be understood that eternity is not proper to creatures it will be granted that they were made when they ought to have been These truths being supposed let us endeavour to discover something in the conduct which God observes for the execution of his great design Additions Read the Objection and Answer which is at the end of the third explication where I shew that St. Augustine did not pretend that the Judgments of God are impenetrable in this sence that the truths which Faith teaches us being supposed it is unlawful to justifie his wisdom and goodness in the execution of his intentions 'T is certain that the Fathers and all Divines have endeavoured to give a reason of their Faith and we ought to meditate upon the truths of Religion to attain unto the understanding of that which we already believe But to remove all scruple concerning my way of proceeding I shall now shew that St. Augustine himself approves it by his Example and his Reasons Consentius had some difficulties concerning the Trinity he had proposed them to Alipius that he might obtain the resolution of them from St. Augustine But having learnt that St. Augustine was in a place of retirement and proper for meditating and clearing up his doubts he writ to him himself as unto a man whose spirit * Sensum altissima mysteria perscrutantem penetrated into the highest mysteries that he would give him those explications he desired if he thought convenient Nevertheless he openly declares that 't was his opinion the reasons of our mysteries ought not to be sought after but that men should depend upon Faith only These are his words Epis 221. Ego igitur cum apud memetipsum prorsus definierim veritatem rei divinae ex fide magis quam ex ratione percipi oportere si enim fides Sanctae Ecclesiae ex disputationis ratione non ex credulitatis Pietate apprehenderetur nemo praeter Philosophos atque Oratores beatitudinem possederet Sed quia placuit Deo qui infirma Mundi hujus elegit ut confundat fortia per stultitiam Praedicationis salvare credentes non tam ratio requirenda de Deo quam autoritas est sequenda Sanctorum Nam profecto neque Ariani qui Filium quem genitum confitemur minorem putant in hac impietate persisterent neque Macedoniani Spiritum Sanctum quem neque genitum neque ingenitum credimus quantum in ipsis est a Divinitatis arce detruderent si Scripturis Sanctis magis quam suis ratiocinationibus accomodare fidem mallent But see St. Augustin's Answer Quod autem petis ut questionem Trinitatis hoc est de Unitate Divinitatis discretione Personarum caute prudenterque discutiam ut doctrinae meae sicut dicis ingeniique serenitas ita nebulam vestrae mentis abstergat ut quod nunc cogitare non potestis intelligentiae a me lumine declaratum quodammodo videre positis Vide prius utrum ista petitio cum tua superiori definitione concordet superius quippe in eadem ipsa Epistola in qua hoc petis apud temetipsum definisse te dicis ex fide veritatem magis quam ex ratione percipi oportere Si enim fides inquis Sanctae Ecclesiae ex disputationis ratione non ex credulitatis pietate apprehenderetur nemo praeter philosophos atque Oratores beatitudinem possideret sed quia placuit inquis Deo qui infirma hujus Mundi elegit ut confundat fortia per stultitiam Praedicationis salvos facere credentes non tam ratio requirenda quam autoritas est sequenda Sanctorum Vide ergo secundum haec verba tua ne potius debeas maxime de hac re in qua fides nostra Consistit solam Sanctorum autoritatem sequi nec ejus intelligentiae a me quaerere rationem Neque enim cum caepero te in tanti hujus secreti intelligentiam utcunque introducere quod nisi Deus intus adjuverit omnino non potero aliud disserendo facturus sum quam rationem ut potero redditurus quam si a me vel quolibet doctore non irrationabiliter flagitas ut quod credis intelligas Corrige definitionem tuam non ut fidem respuas sed ut ea que fidei firmitate jam tenes etiam rationis Luce conspicias Absit namque ut hoc in nobis Deus oderit in quo nos reliquis animantibus
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
it monstrous or given it useless or ill proportioned members that being contrary to his wisdom which he loves invincibly It would not permit him also to act after certain ways for supposing that a work equally Perfect might be produced by ways unequally Simple Uniform Constant c. God is impotent in this sence that he cannot chuse the ways of acting which are less worthy of his Wisdom or which less resemble his Goodness his Immutability or his other Attributes X. Thus God is Almighty because he does every thing that he undertakes to do and because there is nothing without him which can resist him or hinder him from executing his design 'T is not because there is nothing how irregular soever which he cannot do or no ways of acting which he cannot observe But let us suppose God to act XI God cannot act but for himself if he will act 't is because he resolves to do something worthy of himself but no Creature can give unto God an Honour worthy of him All the Honour that meer Creatures can give cannot be worth the action by which he produces them It is unworthy of God to maintain that there is any thing in the Creature which can determine him to act God therefore will do nothing for he acts only for himself XII God cannot receive any Honour worthy of himself but from himself No Person can Honour himself God therefore can never be Honoured with an Honour worthy of him XIII Nevertheless I am sensible that I do actually exist Therefore I can give unto God an Honour worthy of him Therefore I am Eternal Uncreated Divine I am not made and God can make nothing XIV Further I know that I offend God and that I cannot satisfie him for my offences Now God would not be offended and would be fully satisfied Therefore I am not the work of god for if I was God only acting for his glory he would have been deceived in his designs XV. Nothing can satisfie God but God himself Now one and the same Person cannot make satisfaction to himself God therefore can never be satisfied for our offences The wicked therefore are not the work of God they subsist whether he will or no they cannot be annihilated Behold consequences altogether false But see them cleared up in two words by my Principles or rather the Principles of Christian Religion XVI God cannot be Honoured with an Honour worthy of himself He cannot be fully satisfied for our offences if he himself does not undertake for them Now no person Honours himself or satisfies himself Therefore there is in God a plurality of Persons This is also that which Faith teaches us XVII I am Created therefore I can render to God an Honour worthy of himself God is offended therefore he may be fully satisfied A Divine Person united to my nature may sanctifie my devotions and render them worthy of God A Divine Person united to a criminal nature may justifie and satisfie for it This is the solution wherewith Faith supplies Reason when she is Non-plus'd for Faith and Reason mutually sustain one another XVIII It is clear therefore that tho Man had not sinned a Divine Person would have been united to the work of God to sanctisie it and render it worthy of its Author since it is necessary it should subsist as I may say in a Divine Person to the end it might be worthy of him XIX Men offend God they cannot satisfie him for their offences God foresaw and permitted this Therefore he had in view the satisfaction of his Son which is full and entire therefore the work of God repair'd is more worthy of God and Honours him more than the same work before its corruption God therefore who acts for his glory must necessarily have permitted sin which he foresaw would come to pass All this is clear and I have proved it elswhere but I speak too much of it for at present 't is sufficient that the first and chief design of God was J. C. and his Church that the present World was for the future that the natural order was for the supernatural And I prove it thus XX. God made all things for his glory He loves that the most which most Honours him Now Jesus Christ Honours him more than all Creatures put together since J. C. is a Victim and a Sovereign Priest who infinitely Honours God Therefore the chief of Gods designs is J. C. and the Church which is his Body which with J. C. offers but one Victim and one Worship For all Creatures have access unto God and pay their Obligations unto him only in J. C. Therefore the Present World is for the Future the Natural Order for the Supernatural this Succession of Generations to supply the living Temple which J. C. raises to the glory of his Father with Materials Every thing passes away every thing tends to destruction every thing vanishes but Gods chief design the Object in which he is well pleased shall remain for ever XXI The great design therefore of God is to build to his own Honour a Spiritual Temple of which J. C. is the chief Corner-stone the Architect the Sovereign Priest and Victim His design is that this Temple should be as Large and Perfect as it can be as far as its greatness and Perfection can consist with one another Thus God wills that all Men should enter into this Spiritual Building for thereby it would become more ample God would that all Men should be saved 1 Tim. II. 4. He hath also sworn by his Prophet that he wills not the Death but the Conversion of the Wicked God also desires that Men shou'd merit the highest degrees of glory His will is our Sanctification 1 Thess IV. 3. His Temple would thus be more Perfect Certainly if God loves Men and the beauty of his work these Truths cannot be denyed Now all Men are not saved there either are none at all or very few Saints but are capable of the highest Rewards and of a more Illustrious Glory than that which they possess and no Creature even Man himself cannot hinder God from Converting and Sanctifying him if God undertakes his Conversion and Sanctification for God is the absolute Master of Hearts Therefore there must necessarily be something in God himself which hinders him from executing his wills or rather from forming certain designs or decrees XXII God in his infinite Wisdom saw all possible works and all possible ways of executing them He doth not blindly resolve upon any design but always compares the means with the end He loves his Wisdom and he consults it always Now there are some ways of acting more Simple more Uniform more Regular than others and the Conduct of a Wise and Immutable Being must carry in it the Character of Wisdom and immutability Therefore the Wisdom of God resists his wills in this sense that all his wills are not Practical wills I do thus further explain my self XXIII God loves all Men.