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,…

647. Such another question many called Arminians much use, Whether ¹Justice &c. be eternally good? Or An dentur rationes boni & mali aeternae & indispensabiles? which needs no other solution than this last. There is no such thing as an Universal, existent per se and not in some Individual: And so no such thing as Love, Justice, &c. Bonum, Malum, which is not alicujus Justitia, Bonum, &c. There was no Creature from Eternity being Just or unjust, good or bad. But Gods perfect Nature ²might be called Eternally Just, in that he must necessarily be Just, if he had been a governor: And necessarily was Just, when he freely became a governor. And also this proposition was Eternally true, (if there were eternally propositions) [Si Homines existerent, Justitia in ipsis debita foret: & quandocunque Homines fuerint, Justitia in ipsis debita fuerit.] But when all the sense of these questions is no more, but what Duties are natural, and what superadded (called Positive,) and what natural duties are immutable and what mutable, it's an unhappiness that the world must be troubled with such uncouth forms of speech as make the question unintelligible, till unravelled.

647. Such another question many called Arminians much use, Whether ¹Justice &c. be eternally good? Or An dentur rationes boni & mali aeternae & indispensabiles? which needs no other solution than this last. There is no such thing as an Universal, existent per se and not in some Individual: And so no such thing as Love, Justice, &c. Bonum, Malum, which is not alicujus Justitia, Bonum, &c. There was no Creature from Eternity being Just or unjust, good or bad. But Gods perfect Nature ²might be called Eternally Just, in that he must necessarily be Just, if he had been a governour: And necessarily was Just, when he freely became a governour. And also this proposition was Eternally true, (if there were eternally propositions) [Si Homines existerent, Justitia in ipsis debita foret: & quandocunque Homines fuerint, Justitia in ipsis debita fuerit.] But when all the sense of these questions is no more, but what Duties are natural, and what superadded (called Positive,) and what natural duties are immutable and what mutable, it's an unhappiness that the world must be troubled with such uncouth forms of speech as make the question unintelligible, till unravelled.