A26796:115
The harmony of the divine attributes in the contrivance and accomplishment of man's redemption…
The harmony of the divine attributes in the contrivance and accomplishment of man's redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ, or, Discourses wherein is showed how the wisdom, mercy, justice, holiness, power, and truth of God are glorified in that great and blessed work / by William Bates.The harmony of the divine attributes in the contrivance and accomplishment of man's redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ, or, Discourses wherein is shewed how the wisdom, mercy, justice, holiness, power, and truth of God are glorified in that great and blessed work / by William Bates.
London: printed by J. Darby for Nathaniel Ranew and Jonathan Robinson and Brabazon Aylmer, 1674
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Since God saw that Adam would not resist the Temptation, and that upon his Fall, the whole race of Mankind, which he supported as the foundation, would sink into ruin, Why did he not confirm him against it, was it not within his Power, and more suitable to his Wisdom, Holiness, and Goodness?
Since God saw that Adam would not resist the Temptation, and that upon his Fall, the whole race of Mankind, which he supported as the foundation, would sink into ruine, Why did he not confirm him against it, was it not within his Power, and more suitable to his Wisdome, Holiness, and Goodness?
To this I answer.
1. The Divine Power could have preserved Man in his Integrity, either by laying a restraint on the apostate Angels, that they should never have made ⟨p. 45⟩an attempt upon him; or by keeping the Understanding waking and vigilant, to discover the danger of the Temptation, and by fortifying the Will, and rendering it impenetrable to the fiery darts of Satan, without any prejudice to its freedom. For that doth not consist in an absolute Indifference, but in a judicious and deliberate choice; so that when the Soul is not led by a blind instinct, nor forced by a foreign power,1 but embraces what it knows and approves, it then enjoys the most true Liberty. Thus in the glorified Spirits above, by the full and constant Light of the Mind, the Will is indeclinably sixth upon its supreme Good, and this is its Crown and Perfection.
1. The Divine Power could have preserved Man in his Integrity, either by laying a restraint on the apostate Angels, that they should never have made