A26796:127
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.
2. God is infinitely Good notwithstanding the entrance of Sin and Misery into the World. We must distinguish between natural and voluntary agents. Natural agents have no power to suspend their acts, but are entirely determined, and their Operations are ad extremum virium, to the utmost of their efficacy. If there were infinite degrees of Heat, there would be no Cold, it being overcome by the force of its contrary. But God is a wise and free ⟨p. 48⟩Agent, and as he is Infinite in Goodness; so the exercise of it is voluntary, and only so far as he pleases.
2. God is infinitely Good notwithstanding the entrance of Sin and Misery into the World. We must distinguish between natural and voluntary agents. Natural agents have no power to suspend their acts, but are entirely determin'd, and their Operations are ad extremum virium, to the utmost of their efficacy. If there were infinite degrees of Heat, there would be no Cold, it being overcome by the force of its contrary. But God is a wise and free ⟨p. 48⟩Agent, and as he is Infinite in Goodness; so the exercise of it is voluntary, and only so far as he pleases.
3. God is an omnipotent Good, and 'tis his peculiar glory to bring Good out of Evil, that by the opposition and lustre of Contraries, his Goodness might be the more conspicuous. To speak strictly, Sin is the only evil in the world: for all the rest which appear so to our fancies and appetites, are either absolutely good, or upon the supposal of Sin: viz. either for the reformation of Sinners, or for the ruin of the Obstinate. Now the Evil of Sin God permitted as a fit occasion for the more glorious discovery of his Attributes, in sending his Son into the world to repair his Image which was defaced, and to raise Man from an Earthly to Celestial Happiness. I shall conclude with the excellent Answer of St. Austin to the adversary of the Law and the Prophets: Quibus autem videter sic hominem fieri debuisse, ut peccare nollet,