First, For his conservation or sustaining of all things, they affirm"
' " Dftindc ctfii in isto casu flostinatum aliquod consilium ac voluntas Dei detcrmi- DJita con.sidcranda CHSot, tarnen in omnibus actionibus ot in iis quidcm quic ex dclibe- rato liominum consilio et libera voluntatc et male (juidem fiunt, ita 8e rem habere inde condudi non jKjHsit, puta, quia bic nullum consilium et arbitrii Jibertas locum liabcnt." — (Jorv. a/J. Molin., cap. iii. s<;ct. 14, p. 88.
* " lUiHpcctu contin^cntisD quam res habent in se, tum in divina scicntia Deo cxpcc- tatio tribuitur."— lU^m. Defen. Sent, in Act. Syn., p. 107.
* " Potontia voluntatis, ab omni interna ct externa necessitate immunis debet ma- nere." — Pu;m. Confes., cap. vi. sect. 8. Vid. plura. Rem. AjkjI, cap. vi. p. Oil, a.
* " In arbitrio creatuifc scmjjcr est vel intluerc in actum vcl infiuxum suum sus- p<;ndere, et vc^l sic, vel aliter influere." — (Jorv. ad. Molin., cap. iii. sect. ir>.
* "An con.servatio ista sit vis sivo actus fjotentia! an actus merus voluntatis nega- tivus, quo vult rca creatas non destnicre aut annihilarc, — postcriuB non sine magna
OF THE rROVlDEXCE OF GOD. 39
it to be very likely that this is notLiug but a negative act of his will, iL'herehy he luilleth or determineth not to destroy the things hy him created; and when we produce places of Scripture which atfii-iu that it is an act of his power, they say they are foolishly cited. So that, truly, let the Scripture say what it will, (in theu- conceit,) God doth no more sustain and uphold all his creattu^es than I do a house when I do not set it on liiv, or a worm when I do not tread upon it
Secondly. For God's conctuTing- with inferior causes in all their acts and working, they ailirm it to be onlj" ^a general injluence, alike upon all and every one, tvhich they viay use or not use at their pleasure, and in the use determine it to this or tliat effect, be it good or bad (so Cor\-inus), as it seems best mito them. In a word, to the will of man "it is nothing but what suffei"s it to play its o^vn part freely, according to its inclination: as they jointly speak in their Confession. Observe, also, that they account this influence of his pro- vidence not to be into the agent^ the will of man, whereby that should be helped or enabled to do any thing (no, that would seem to grant a self-suflicieucy), ^but only into the act itself for its pro- duction: as if I should help a man to lift a log. it becomes perliaps unto him so much the hghter. but he is not made one jot the stivnger; which takes off the proper work of providence, consisting in an in- ternal assistance.
Thirdly, For God's determining or circumsciibing the will of man to do this or that in particular, they absolutely explode it. as a thing destructive to their adored liberty. ''"It is no way consistent with it," say they, in then- Apolog}'. So also Arminius: '" The providence of God doth not determine the will of man to one part of the contra- diction."' That is, " God hath not determined that you shall, nor doth by any means overrule your wills, to do this thing rather than that, to do this or to omit that " So that the sum of their endeavour is, to prove that the will of man is so absolutely fi^ee. independent, and uncontrollable, that God doth not, nay, with all his power cannot, determine it certainly and infallibly to the pertormance of this or
T^ri specie itffii-uiatur : locus ad Heb. L S inepte adducitur." — Sem. ApoL. cap. vL sect. 1, p. 68, a.
' " Curandvim diligenter, ut Deo quidem utuTersalis. homini vero particularis in- fluxus in actii? tribwatiir. q\io imiver^em Dei iBfluxum. ad particalai«in actum dc- tcrminot," — t.\n-v. ad \[olin.. cnp. iii. sect. 5.
* '• Ita oonourrit IVus iu agendo, cvim honiinis Tohuitate, ut istam piv> genio suo agere et libere s\u\i^ jvirtes obire siiiat," — Eem. Cootes.. cap. vi. sect. 3.
' •■ laliuxiis divinus est in ipsum actum non in voluntatem.'^' — Armin, Antip., aKi passim.
* " Determinatio cun\ libertate Tera nullo modo coimstejpe potest" — ^Bou. ApoL, cap. vii. M. S±
* •' Providentia diTim non determiuat Toluntaton libexam ad unam contr>di<:ti»ni.s Tcl coutrarietatis partem," — Armin. Artie. Perpen.
40 A DISPLAY OF ARMINIANISM.
that particular action, thereby to accompUsh his own purposes, to attain his own ends. Truly, it seems to me the most unfortunate attempt that ever Christians lighted on ; which, if it should get suc- cess answei'able to the greatness of the undertaking, the providence of God, in men's esteem, would be almost thrust quite out of the world. " Tantffi molis erat." The new goddess contingency could not be erected until the God of heaven was utterly despoiled of his do- minion over the sons of men, and in the room thereof a home-bred idol of self-sufficiency set up, and the world persuaded to worship it. But that the building climb no higher, let all men observe how the word of God overthrows this Babylonian tower.
First, then, In innumerable places it is punctual that his provi- dence doth not only bear rule in the counsels of men and their most secret resolutions, (whence the prophet declareth that he knoweth that "the way of man is not in himself," — that " it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps," Jer, x. 23; and Solomon, that " a man's heart deviseth his way, but the LoRD directeth his steps," Prov. xvi. 9; David, also, having laid this ground, that "the Lord bring- eth the counsel of the heathen to nought," and " maketh the de- vices of the people of none eft'ect," but " his own counsel stand- eth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations," Ps. xxxiii. 10, 11, proceedeth accordingly, in his own distress, to pray that the Lord would infatuate and make ^"foolish the counsel of Ahithophel," 2 Sam. xv. 31, — w^hich also the Lord did, by working in the heart of Absalom to hearken to the cross counsel of Hushai) ; but also, secondly. That the working of his providence is effectual even in the hearts and wills of men to turn them which way he will, and to determine them to this or that in particular, according as he pleaseth: " The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord," saitli Solomon, Prov. xvi. 1 ; — which Jacob trusted and relied on Avhen he prayed that the Lord would gTant his sons to find favour and mercy before that man whom then he supposed to be some atheistical Egyptian, Gen. xliii. 14; whence we must gTant, either that the good old man believed that it was in the hand of God to incline and unalterably turn and settle the heart of Joseph to favour his brethren, or else his prayer must have had such a senseless sense as this: " Grant, O Lord, such a general influence of thy providence, that the heart of that man may be turned to good towards my sons, or else that it may not, being left to its OAvn freedom." A strange request! yet how it may be bettered by one believing the Arminian doctrine I cannot conceive. Thus So-