Richard Baxter's Catholic theology plain, pure, peaceable, for pacification of the dogmatical word-warriors who,…Richard Baxter's Catholick theologie plain, pure, peaceable, for pacification of the dogmatical word-warriours who,…

But the ordinary Christian that understandeth but what Disobedience signifieth, needeth none of them all.

556. ^*Though the five acts of God forementioned about sin, are as far as we need to go, to the common Ends which we agree in, yet many objections are made against this much as not sufficient, but God must have a greater hand in sin: And 1. They object, that to make God but an Universal Cause, is to put something in being, viz. the Act in specie morally, which God is not the Cause of; And so, 1. To make Him idle and unactive as to that: 2. To deify man by making him a first Cause of that moral species. To which I shall lay down such answers as I think will satisfy the considerate, to this Objection which is indeed their All: But I am sorry that the subject occasioneth me to repeat what I said before.

556. ^*Though the five acts of God forementioned about sin, are as far as we need to go, to the common Ends which we agree in, yet many objections are made against this much as not sufficient, but God must have a greater hand in sin: And 1. They object, that to make God but an Universal Cause, is to put something in being, viz. the Act in specie morali, which God is not the Cause of; And so, 1. To make Him idle and unactive as to that: 2. To deifie man by making him a first Cause of that moral species. To which I shall lay down such answers as I think will satisfie the considerate, to this Objection which is indeed their All: But I am sorry that the subject occasioneth me to repeat what I said before.

1. *It is not only Dr. Twice (after confuted) that supposeth sin to be willed of God as conducible to the perfection of the World, but even Ruiz the Jesuite de Provid. dis. 2. sec•. 4. p. 27. maintaineth that Minus perfectus evasisset Mundus si nulla permitterentur peccata; nune autem asit perfectior occasion peccatorum: and citeth Aquin. Alexand. Albert. Bonav. Richard. Agid. Caiet. Ferrar. Marsil. for the same. But 1. An occasion is no cause nor medium, as such, and therefore never the more willed, if that were true. 2. But I have before briefly confuted the Schoolmen on both sides about this question, viz. Particular Creatures would be to themselves better, were there no sin: but whatever possible alterations were made by God, the Universe would be neither worse nor better than it is, as to that proper Goodness which must absolutely denominate it: For the Goodness of all Creatures is to be conform to the Creators Will, which is the denominating measure of fundamentum; And so they are, and so they would be, were they altered: But sin is disform to his Commanding Will, and not conform to his Complacence or Efficient Will. He argueth, Had there been no sin, there had been no such exercise of Liberty, no Saviour, &c. Answ. And are te Angels worse than man? And had not all this been as good, if God had willed it?