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This indeed is fo plain at the first hearing, to all Men who believe God to be Infinitely Wife, and are fenfible of their own Ignorance, that I fhould have been asham'd to have infifted so long on it, did not all Men know, who know any thing of this Difpute, That most of the Objections against Providence, are wholly owing to this Caufe, That Men will not allow God to do what they cannot understand: And the best way I could take, to teach these Men more Modefty in Censuring Providence, was to fhew them particularly, That if God govern the World wifely, there are a Thousand Things which they muft of neceffity be ignorant of; and then it can be no Objection against the Wisdom, Juftice, and Goodnefs of God in Governing the World, that they cannot in many Cafes, give a fatisfactory Account of the Particular Reasons of Providence.

Fifthly, Let us now enquire, in what Cafes this is a reasonable Answer to all the Difficulties of Providence, That God giveth no Account of his Matters; That the Judgments of God are unfearchable, and his Ways paft finding out. And there is great Reafon for this Enquiry, that no Man may prefume to attribute any thing to God, which can never be reconciled with the common Notions of Good and Evil, Juft and Unjust, upon this Pretence, That the Ways and Judgments of God are unfearchable and unaccountable; and that we ought not to demand a Reason of them.

That there are fuch Men in the World, is fufficiently known to those who understand any thing of fome Modern Controverfies in Religion. I need inftance at prefent only in the Doctrine of Eternal and Abfolute Election and

Repro

Reprobation, on which a great many other fuch like unaccountable Doctrines depend : That God created the far greateft Part of Mankind, on purpose to make them eternally miferable; or at least, as others ftate it, That he Order'd and Decreed, or (which is the fame Thing,) effectually permitted the Sin and Fall of Adam, that he might glorifie his Mercy, in Chufing fome few out of the Corrupted Mafs of Mankind, to be Veffels of Glory; and glorify his Juftice, in the Eternal Punishment of all others, even of Reprobated Infants, as involved in the Guilt of Adam's Sin. Now thus far, I confefs, they are in the right, that these are very unaccountable Doctrines; for to make Creatures on purpose to make them miferable, is contrary to all the Notions we have of Juft and Good..

But tho' we readily confefs, That the Ways and Judgments of God are unfearchable; yet Men must not think (upon this Pretence) to attribute what they pleafe to God, how abfurd, unreasonable, unjust foever it be, and then shelter themselves against all Objections, by refolving all into the Unaccountable Will and Pleafure of God: For God has no fuch Unaccountable Will as this is, to do fuch Things as manifeftly contradict all the Notions which Mankind have of Good and Evil.

We find in Scripture, That God abhors all fuch Imputations as thefe, as infinitely injurious to him; and appeals to the common Notions of what is Juft and Equal, to juftify the General Rules of his Providence. The whole 18th Chapter of Ezekiel, is a plain Proof of this; where God complains of that Proverb, as reflecting upon the Juftice and Equity of his Providence; The fathers have eaten

V. 2,

2

Lowre

V. 4.

foure grapes, and the childrens teeth are Set on edge: That is, that the Children are punished for the Sins of their Fathers. How unreafonable an Imputation this is, God proves from that Equal Right which he hath in Parents and Children, which will not admit of fuch Partiality: Behold, all fouls are mine; as the foul of the father, fo alfo the foul of the fon is mine; the foul that finneth, it shall die: And declares this to be the general Rule of his Providence, That a good Man who does what is juft and right, fhall furely live; That if he beget a wicked Son, his Son fhall furely die; and if this Wicked Son beget a Juft and Righteous Son, he shall live; The fon fhall not bear V. 20. the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the fon; the righteousness of the righteous fhall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked fhall be upon him. That if the wicked Man turn from his wickedness he shall live, and if the righteous Man turn from his righteousness, he fhall die; and appeals to them to

judge, whether this be not equal: Yet ye V.25,29. fay, The way of the Lord is not equal; Hear

now, O boufe of Ifrael, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal?

This plainly proves, That all the Adminiftrations of Providence are very juft and equal; and that to attribute any thing to God which contradicts the common Notions of Juftice and Righteoufnefs, is a very great Reproach to him, and is thought fo by God himfelf: And therefore when the Prophet Jeremiah complained of the Profperity of Bad Men, as a great difficulty in Providence, he lays this down in the first place as an unfhaken Principle, That God is very Juft and Righteous: Righteous art thou, O

Lord

Lord, when I plead with thee, yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments; wherefore doth the way of the wicked profper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously? 12. Jer. 1.

This very Complaint, that there are great Difficulties in Providence; That the ways and judgments of God are unfearchable, and past finding out; is a plain proof, that all Mankind expect from God, that he fhould govern the World with great Juftice and Equity; for otherwise, (tho' fuch a Providence it felf would be a great Difficulty) there could be no Difficulties in Providence, if God were not by the Holiness and Juftice of his own Nature obliged to obferve the Eternal and Immutable Laws of Juftice and Righteoufnefs in governing the World: For upon this fuppofition,what could the Unaccountable Difficulties of Providence be? Is it that we observe fuch Events as we know not how to reconcile with the common Rules of Juftice? And what then? This is no Difficulty, nor unaccountable, if God obferves no Rules of Juftice in his Government; if he act by fuch an unaccountable Will as has no Law or Rule; by fuch a Will as regards not what we call Right and Juft, but makes every thing juft it wills.

The Difficulty and Unfearchableness of Providence, confifts not in the Rules of Providence, but in the Events; not in reconciling the Rules of Providence to the common Notions of Juftice and Righteoufnefs, but in reconciling fome Events to the acknowledged Juftice and Righteoufnefs, of God's Government. This is the Atheists Objection against God's govern ing the World, becaufe they think that the World is not juftly and wifely governed; and tho' we can vindicate the Providence of

God

God, notwithstanding a great many difficult. and unaccountable Events which the Atheists object, yet we can never vindicate the Providence of God, against Unjuft and Arbitrary Rules of Government, which the Reason of all Mankind conclude to be arbitrary and unjust. As for Inftance.

Tho' we fee Good Men afflicted, and Wicked Men profperous, and it may be, can give no particular Account why this Good Man is afficted, and fuch a Wicked Man profperous; yet we can vindicate the Wisdom and Justice of Providence notwithstanding this; and the Unfearchable Wisdom of God, is a good Answer to it. But should any Man turn this into a Rule of Providence, That by the Sovereign and Unaccountable Will of God, fome Good Men fhall be finally miferable, and fome Bad Men shall be finally happy, this we can never vindicate, because it contradicts the common Notions of Juftice and Righteoufnefs. And tho' we cannot always judge of the Righteoufnefs and Juftice of a particular Event, yet we can judge of the Rules and abstracted Notions of Juftice and Righteousness.

Thus God had often threatned the Jews, That he would visit on them not only their own Sins, but the Iniquities of their Fathers; which in fome Cafes may be very wife and juft; of which more hereafter; but when by an ignorant or spiteful Miftake, they turned this into an unjuft Proverb, (which all Men acknowledged to be unjuft,) God declared

his Abhorrence of it: What mean ye, 18. Ezek. 2. that ye ufe this Proverb concerning the

Land of Ifrael, faying, The fathers have eaten fowre grapes, and the childrens teeth are set on edge? As if

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Chil

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