acts can be foreknown. As the omnipotence of God is his abil- ity to do whatever is possible, so his omniscience is his knowledge of everything knowable. But as free acts are in their nature uncertain, as they may or may not be, they cannot be known be- fore they occur. Such is the argument of Socinus. This whole difficulty arises out of the assumption that contingency is essential to free agency. If an act may be certain as to its occurrence, and yet free as to the mode of its occurrence, the difficulty vanishes. That free acts may be absolutely certain, is plain, because they have in a multitude of cases been predicted. It was certain that the acts of Christ would be hply,_^'et they were free. The continued holi- ness of the saints in heaven is certain, and yet they are perfectly free. The foreknowledge of God is inconsistent with a false theory of free agency, but not with the true doctrine on that subject.
After Augustine, the common way of meeting the difficulty of reconcihng foreknowledge with liberty, was to represent it as merely subjective. The distinction between knowledge and fore- knowledge is only in us. There is no such diffiirence in God. " Quid est prsescientia," asks Augustine, " nisi scientia futurorum ? Quid autem futurum est Deo, qui omnia supergreditur tempora ? Si enim scientia Dei res ipsas habet, non sunt ei futurge, sed prae- sentes, ac per hoc non jam prsescientia, sed tantum scientia dici potest." 1
E. The Wisdom of God.
Wisdom and knowledge are intimately related. The former is manifested in the selection of proper ends, and of proper means for the accomplishment of those ends. As there is abundant evidence of design in the works of nature, so all the works of God declare his wisdom. They show, from the most minute to the greatest, the most wonderful adaptation of means to accomplish the high end of the good of his creatures and the manifestation of his own glory. So also, in the whole course of history, we see evidence of the controlling power of God making all things work together for the best interests of his people, and the promotion of his kingdom upon earth. It is, however, in the work of redemption that this divine attribute is specially revealed. It is by the Church, that God has determined to manifest, through all ages, to principalities and pow- ers, his manifold wisdom.
Of course those who deny final causes deny that there is any such attribute as wisdom in God. It is also said that the use of
1 De Diversis Quceslionibus ad Simplicianufn, ii. ii. 2, edit. Benedictines, vol. vi. p. 195, a. Compare also what he says on this subject, De Civitate Dei, xi. xxi.; Jbid. vol. vii. p. 4C1. VOL. I. 26
402 PART I. — THEOLOGY. [Ch. V. — DivmE Attributes.
means to attain an end is a manifestation of weakness. It is further urged that it is derogatory to God, as it supposes that He needs or desires what He does not possess. Even Schleiermacher says: " Bei Gott is Allwissenheit und Weislieit so ganzlich einerlei, dass die Unterscheidung keinen Werth hat, die Weisheit ware nichts als audi wider absolute Lebendigkeit der Allmacht, also Alwissen- heit." Wisdom is omniscience, omniscience is omnipotence, omnip- otence is simply causality of all that is. Thus God sinks into the mea-e cause or ground of all things. It is not thus the Scriptures speak. We are called on to worship, " The only wise God." " O Lord, how manifold are thy works ! in wisdom hast Thou made them all," is the devout exclamation of the Psalmist. (Ps. civ. 24.) And in contemplation of the work of redemption the Apostle exclaims, " O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! " (Rom. xi. 33.)
§ 9. The Will of aod. A. The Meaning of the Term. If God is a spirit He must possess all the essential attributes of a spirit. Those attributes, according to the classification adopted by the older philosophers and theologians, fall under the heads of intelligence and will. To the former, are referred knowledge and wisdom ; to the latter, the power of self-determination, efficiency (in the case of God, omnipotence), and all moral attributes. In this wide sense of the word, the will of God includes : (1.) The will in the narrow sense of the word. (2.) His power. (3.) His love and all his moral perfections. In our day, generally but not always, the word " will " is limited to the faculty of self-determi- nation. And even the older theologians in treating of the will of God treat only of his decrees or purposes. In their definitions, however, they take the word in its wide sense. Thus Calovius^ says, "Voluntas Dei est, qua Deus tendit in bonum ab intellectu cognitum." And Quenstedt defines it as " ipsa Dei essentia cum connotatione inclinationis ad bonum concepta." ^ Turrettin says, the object of the intellect is the true ; the object of the will, the good. Hence it is said, that God wills Himself necessarily, and all things out of Himself freely. Although the word seems to be taken in different senses in the same sentence, God's willing Him- self means that He takes complacency in his own infinite excel- lence ; his willing things out of Himself, means his purpose that
1 Systema Locorum, Theologicorum, torn. ii. cap. 9; Wittenberg, 1655, p. 439.
2 Theologia, i. viii. § 1, xxvii. p. 418.