A26796:257
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. 'Tis above the strain and reach of natural Reason to attain to the knowledge of it. There are seminal sparks of the Law in the heart of Man, 1some common principles of Piety, Justice, and Charity, without which the World would soon disband, and fall into confusion; but there is not the least presumption or conjecture of the contrivance of the Gospel. Though misery sharpens the mind, and makes it more ingenious to find out ways of Deliverance, yet here Reason was utterly at a loss. How could it ever enter into the thoughts of the Israelites that by erecting a Brazen Serpent on a Pole, and looking towards it, the wounds made by the Fiery Serpents should be healed. And how could guilty Man find out a way to satisfy Infinite Justice by the Sufferings of a Mediator, and to heal the wounded spirit by believing on him. The most inquiring Reason, could never have thought of the Wonders of the Incarnation, that a Virgin should conceive, and a God be born, nor of the Death of the Prince of Life, and the Resurrection, and Ascension of the Lord of Glory. We may see how impossible it is for the natural understanding to discover the mystery of Redemption, when those that had the highest reputation for wisdom were ignorant of the Creation. The Philosophers were divided in nothing more,2 then in their account of the Worlds Original. Some imagined it to proceed from Water, others from Fire; some from Order, others from Confusion; some to ⟨p. 110⟩be from Eternity, others in Time. If the Souls eye be so weakened as not to see that Eternal Power, which is so apparent in its effects, much less could it pierce into the Will, and free determinations of God, of which there is not the least intimation or shadow in the things that are made. This Wisdom comes from above and was hidden from Ages, 3and Generations. 'Tis called the Mystery of Christ; he is the Object, and Revealer of it. The Mystery of Faith, the discovery of which was by pure Revelation.4 The Mystery of his Will, 5