munion with any of the other persuasion. Calvin not only taught St. Austin's doctrine, but seemed to go on to the Supralapsarian way; which was more openly taught by Beza, and was generally followed by the Reformed; only the difference between the Supralapsarians and the Sublapsarians was never brought to a decision; divines being in all the Calvinists' Churches left to their freedom as to that point. In England the first Reformers were generally in the Sublapsarian hypothesis: but Perkins and others having asserted the Supralapsarian way, Arminius, a professor in Leyden, writ against him: upon this Gomarus and he had many disputes; and these opinions bred a great distraction over all the United Provinces. At the same time another political matter occasioning a division of opinion, whether the war should be carried on with Spain, or if propositions for a peace or truce should be entertained? it happened that Arminius's followers were all for a peace, and the others were generally for carrying on the war; which being promoted by the Prince of Orange, he joined to them and the Arminians were represented as men, whose opinions and affections leaned to Popery: so that this, from being a doctrinal point, became the distinction of a party, and by that means the differences were inflamed. A great synod met at Dort; to which the divines were sent from hence, as well as from other Churches. The Arminian tenets were condemned; but the difference between the Supralapsarians and Sublapsarians was not meddled with. The divines of this Church, though very moderate in the way of proposing their opinions, yet upon the main adhered to St. Austin's doctrine. So the breach was formed in Holland: but when the point of state was no more mixed with it, these questions were handled with less heat. Those disputes quickly crossed the seas, and divided us: the Abbots adhered to St. Austin's doctrine; while Bishop Overal, but chiefly Archbishop Laud, espoused the Arminian tenets. All divines were by proclamation required not to preach upon those heads: but those that favoured the new opinions were encouraged, and the others were depressed. And unhappy disputes falling in at that time concerning the extent of the royal prerogative beyond law, the Arminians having declared themselves highly for that, they were as much favoured at Court, as they were censured in the Parliament: which brought that doctrine under a very hard character over all the nation. Ꭺ Ꭱ Ꭲ . ART. Twisse carried it high to the Supralapsarian hypothesis, which grew to be generally followed by those of that side but that sounded harshly; and Hobbes grafting afterwards a fate and absolute necessity upon it, the other opinions were again revived; and no political interests falling in with them, as all prejudices against them went off, so they were more calmly debated, and became more generally acceptable than they were before. Men are now left to their liberty in them, and all anger upon those heads is now so happily extinguished, that diversity of opinions about them begets no alienation nor animosity. So far have I prosecuted a short view of the history of this controversy. I come now to open the chief grounds of the different parties: and first, for the Supralapsarians. They lay this down for a foundation, that God is essentially perfect and independent in all his acts: so that he can consider nothing but himself and his own glory: that therefore he designed every thing in and for himself: that to make him stay his decrees till he sees what free creatures will do, is to make him decree dependently upon them; which seems to fall short of infinite perfection: that he himself can be the only end of his counsels; and that therefore he could only consider the manifestation of his own attributes and perfection; that infinite wisdom must begin its designs at that which is to come last in the execution of them; and since the conclusion of all things at the last day will be the manifestation of the wisdom, goodness, and justice of God, we ought to suppose, that God in the order of things designed that first, though in the order of time there is no first nor second in God, this being supposed to be from all eternity. After this great design was laid, all the means in order to the end were next to be designed. Creatures in the sight of God are as nothing, and by a strong figure are said to be less than nothing, and vanity. Now if we in our designs do not consider ants or insects, not to say straws, or grains of sand and dust, then what lofty thoughts soever our pride may suggest to us, we must be confessed to be very poor and inconsiderable creatures before God; therefore he himself and his own glory can only be his own end in all that he designs or does. This is the chief basis of their doctrine, and so ought to be well considered. They add to this, that there can be no certain prescience of future contingents. They say it involves a contradiction, that things which are not certainly to be, should be certainly foreseen; for if they are : XVII. certainly foreseen, they must certainly be: so while they ART. are supposed to be contingent, they are yet affirmed to be certain, by saying that they are certainly foreseen. When God decrees that any thing shall be, it has from that a certain futurition, and as such it is certainly foreseen by him an uncertain foresight is an act of its nature imperfect, because it may be a mistake, and so is inconsistent with the divine perfection. And it seems to imply a contradiction to say that a thing happens freely, that is, may be, or may not be, and yet that it is certainly foreseen by God. God cannot foresee things, but as he decrees them, and so gives them a futurition, and therefore this prescience antecedent to his decree, must be rejected as a thing impossible. They say farther, that conditionate decrees are imperfect in their nature, and that they subject the will and acts of God to a creature: that a conditionate decree is an act in suspense, whether it shall be or not; which is inconsistent with infinite perfection. A general will, or rather a willing that all men should be saved, has also plain characters of imperfection in it: as if God wished somewhat that he could not accomplish, so that his goodness should seem to be more extended than his power. Infinite perfection can wish nothing but what it can execute; and if it is fit to wish it, it is fit also to execute it. Therefore all that style, that ascribes passions or affections to God, must be understood in a figure; so that when his providence exerts itself in such acts as among us men would be the effects of those passions, then the passions themselves are in the phrase of the Scripture ascribed to God. They say we ought not to measure the punishments of sin by our notions of justice: God afflicts many good men very severely, and for many years in this life, and this only for the manifestation of his own glory, for making their faith and patience to shine; and yet none think that this is unjust. It is a method in which God will be glorified in them: some sins are punished with other sins, and likewise with a course of severe miseries: if we transfer this from time to eternity, the whole will be then more conceivable; for if God may do for a little time that which is inconsistent with our notions, and with our rules of justice, he may do it for a longer duration; since it is as impossible that he can be unjust for a day, as for all eternity. As God does every thing for himself and his own glory, so the Scriptures teach us every where to offer up all praise and glory to God; to acknowledge that all is of him, and to humble ourselves as being nothing before ART. him. Now if we were elected not by a free act of his, XVII. but by what he foresaw that we would be, so that his grace is not efficacious by its own force, but by the good use that we make of it, then the glory and praise of all the good we do, and of God's purposes to us, were due to ourselves: he designs, according to the other doctrine, equally well to all men; and all the difference among them will arise neither from God's intentions to them, nor from his assistances, but from the good use that he foresaw they would make of these favours that he was to give in common to all mankind: man should have whereof to glory, and he might say, that he himself made himself to differ from others. The whole strain of the Scriptures in ascribing all good things to God, and in charging us to offer up the honour of all to him, seems very expressly to favour this doctrine; since if all our good is from God, and is particularly owing to his grace, then good men have somewhat from God that bad men have not; for which they ought to praise him. The style of all the prayers that are used or directed to be used in the Scripture, is for a grace that opens our eyes, that turns our hearts, that makes us to go, that leads us not into temptation, but delivers us from evil. All these phrases do plainly import that we desire more than a power or capacity to act, such as is given to all men, and such as, after we have received it, may be still ineffectual to us. For to pray for such assistances as are always given to all men, and are such that the whole good of them shall wholly depend upon ourselves, would sound very oddly; whereas we pray for somewhat that is special, and that we hope shall be effectual. We do not and cannot pray earnestly for that, which we know all men as well as we ourselves have at all times. Humility and earnestness in prayer seem to be among the chief means of working in us the image of Christ, and of deriving to us all the blessings of heaven. That doctrine which blasts both, which swells us up with an opinion that all comes from ourselves, and that we receive nothing from God but what is given in common with us to all the world, is certainly contrary both to the spirit and to the design of the Gospel. To this they add observations from Providence. The world was for many ages delivered up to idolatry; and since the Christian religion has appeared, we see vast tracts of countries which have continued ever since in idolatry: others are fallen under Mahometanism; and the state of Christendom is in the Eastern parts of it under so much ignorance, and the greatest part of the West is under so much corruption, that we must confess the far greatest part of mankind has been in all ages left destitute of the means of grace, so that the promulgating the Gospel to some nations, and the denying it to others, must be ascribed to the unsearchable ways of God, that are past finding out. If he thus leaves whole nations in such darkness and corruption, and freely chooses others to communicate the knowledge of himself to them, then we need not wonder if he should hold the same method with individuals, that he does with whole bodies: for the rejecting of whole nations by the lump for so many ages, is much more unaccountable than the selecting of a few, and the leaving others in that state of ignorance and brutality. And whatever may be said of his extending mercy to some few of those who have made a good use of that dim light which they had; yet it cannot be denied but their condition is much more deplorable, and the condition of the others is much more hopeful; so that great numbers of men are born in such circumstances, that it is morally impossible that they should not perish in them; whereas others are more happily situated and enlightened. ART. This argument taken from common observation becomes much stronger, when we consider what the Apostle says, particularly in the Epistles to the Romans and the Rom. ix.11. Ephesians, even according to the exposition of those of the other side: for if God loved Jacob, so as to choose his posterity to be his people, and rejected or hated Esau and his posterity, and if that was according to the purpose and design of his election; if by the same purpose the Gentiles were to be grafted upon that stock, from which the Jews were then to be cut off; and if the counsel or purpose of God had appeared in particular to those of Ephesus, though the most corrupted both in magic, idolatry, and immorality of any in the East; then it is plain, that the applying the means of grace, arises merely from a great design that was long hid in God, which did then break out. It is reasonable to believe, that there is a proportion between the application of the means, and the decree itself concerning the end. The one is resolved into the unsearchable riches of God's grace, and declared to be free and absolute. God's choosing the nation of the Jews in such a distinction beyond all other nations, is by Moses and the Prophets frequently said not to be on their own account, or on the account of any thing that God saw in them, but merely from the goodness of God to them. From all this it seems, say they, as reasonable to be |